Monday, October 14, 2013

The history of Transformers and Battle Beasts

When you think of Transformers, do you think of Battle Beasts too? Most people do not. Looking at these little animal creatures and you will think that the only real resemblance is that they both have heat sensitive stickers. Battle Beasts, like Transformers, were toys made by Takara Tomy in Japan during the late 1980s. They were cross marketed by Takara for the Japanese exclusive cartoon Transformers Headmasters. Headmasters was Japan's first exclusive Transformers cartoon and the substitute for season four of the series. They first appeared in episode 5 of the series. The toys, in Japan, were dubbed "Beastformers." They came in little boxes that resembled Transformers and belonged to either the Autobot or Decepticon factions. Usually the mammels were good guys and the amphibians, reptiles and marine life were bad guys. Now the only difference between the U.S.A. and the Japanese versions were the display art. The Japanese went with a Transformers feel to the toys and Hasbro went with brand new card art that was unrelated to the Transformers franchise. I posted a picture of Autobot and Decepticon Beastformers / Battle Beasts, some Japanese box art and the American Battle Beast package.