Transformers 1985 (Hasbro)

By 1985, Transformers was a household name. Kids were watching the cartoons, collecting the toys, reading comic books, and more. The second series of toys was much larger than the prior series, and though the majority of primary characters were already released, Hasbro had several secondary ones in the wake which were produced for the series.

Once again there were three sizes of characters; large, medium and small. The large and medium were packed in boxes with Styrofoam/cardboard form fit padding, while the small were released on bubble cards.


Omega Supreme

Jetfire

The 1985 series included the highly popular Dinobots.


Whirl, Roadbuster
Sludge, Swoop

Grimlock, Slag
Snarl

Hoist, Inferno
Tracks, Skids

Smokescreen, Grapple
Red Alert, Blaster

Topspin, Twin Twist
Perceptor

Warpath, Beachcomer, Seaspray
Powerglide, Cosmos

There were two seperate mail away promotions. The first was the three pack Omnibots which were packaged in a medium size box.


Mail Away Omnibots
Overdrive, Camshaft, Downshift

The second series of mail away figures was the Powerdashers. The way it worked was that by ordering one, you essentially joined a mail away club. Over the next few months, the next two figures were sent (individually) to members. Each Powerdasher was sent in a clear plastic bag inside of a brown box.

The characters had no names, and were known simply by there vehicle forms.


Mail Away Powerdashers
Car, Drill, Jet

Shockwave

Barrage, Chop Shop
Ransack, Venom

Series two was the first to see the release of Triple Changers. These were Transformers that had two vehicle forms, and one robot form. A perfect example of this is Astrotrain who can transsform from a robot to a train to a space shuttle.


Astrotrain, Blitzwing
Dirge, Ramjet

Thrust, Kickback
Bombshell, Shrapnel

The Constructacons could be combined together to form Devestator.


Bonecrusher, Scavanger, Scrapper
Hook, Ong Haul, Mixmaster

For those who wanted to get all the Constructacons in one fell swoop, Hasbro released the Devestator set as one piece.


Devestator

Transformers continues today, but the first generation of toys officially ended in 1990. Today the classic Gen1 figures are highy sought after by collectors, and incredibly difficult to come by mint in the packages, or on cards.

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