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THE EVER-MORPHING TRANSFORMERS are not only the core of a classic toy line, introduced by Hasbro in the 1980s, but have also been developed into several television series, comic books and an animated feature. Transformers has generated over $3 billion over the life of the brand, and was voted the #1 Toy Line ever by collectors in the Toy Fare magazine. The first Transformers live-action feature film was a huge hit in 2007 and a sequel is planned for June 2009, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
A secret group of sentient robotic beings, alive with purpose and reason, strength and struggle. A universal clash of titanic wills... one for good, one for evil... Autobots vs. Decepticons! In a world of continuous change, few know the secret and even fewer recognize the disguise of the Transformers. Only those selected can see more than meets the eye!
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©
Hasbro, Pawtucket, R.I. U.S.A. All rights reserved.
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The Transformers toys from Hasbro were originally released in 1984. In the first toy line, known as Generation 1 and sold until 1990, the good robots transformed into vehicles (hence the name "Autobots") while the evil ones could morph into various articles from everyday life, which gave them the name "Decepticons". A successful comic book from Marvel was also released at this time.
As the Transformers TV series was launched in the US in 1985, the toy line achieved 75% penetration with retail sales over $400 MM. In 1987, the animated feature Transformers the Movie was released.
Since then, the program has transformed into new shapes and forms! In 1996, the Transformers were relaunched with a Beast Wars theme and unique CGI programming. The storyline was enlarged and restaged, starring Optimus Prime vs. Megatron. In 1998, the brand had surged to over $100 MM globally. As the Beast Wars evolved into the top rated show Beast Machines in 2000, Transformers once again proved that they had evolved into a property of iconic status. Beast Machines was followed by a Japanese carry-over line, Robots in Disguise in 2001, supported by an all new, cutting edge comic book from Dreamwave.
In 2002, a revolution took place in the Transformers universe with the discovery and introduction of a new breed of Transformers - the mini-cons launched in the new series Transformers Armada. July 2004 saw the release of the new Transformers Energon toy line, with new characters and features as well as media support from a new television series. Subsequent toy lines and television series in the "Unicron Trilogy" series were Transformers Energon (2004-05) and Transformers Cybertron (2005-06). There are 52 x 25’ episodes of each series.
The first Transformers movie performance exceeded all expectations in 2007 (over $707 millions at the box-office) and was successful around the world regardless of varying degrees of history in the markets. The DVD release was also a major hit with more than 20 million copies sold worldwide. In June 2009, Transformers return to the wide screen with a new live-action motion picture, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, distributed by Paramount and DreamWorks Pictures in association with Hasbro, directed by Michael Bay and with Steven Spielberg as executive producer.
Plus Licens represents Hasbro for merchandising, publishing and promotional rights to Transformers in Russia (C.I.S.), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Bulgaria.
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