Toys weЯe Us.

Geoffrey Prime, too precious for this world.

From bikes to trains to video games,Toys"R"Us (stylisticallyToysЯUs in the logo) is a toy retailer chain, originally based in theUnited States but with branches in many other countries. According to various sources, it accounted for anywhere from 15 to 20% of major toymakers' sales. Those days are pretty much over in the US market, although their regional branches still have a major presence in some European and Asian countries.

Over the years, they carried manyexclusiveTransformerstoys, in addition to regular mass retail releases. Many of those exclusives have been carried not only by US retailers, but also by international Toys"R"Us branches.

Japan also has its own branch of Toys"R"Us (トイザらスToizarasu), which has its own exclusive toys fromTakaraTomy, independent of the toysHasbro provided Western Toys"R"Us stores with (well...mostly. We'll explain when we get there).

History

"Before the dark times... Before private equity."

Birth and golden era

Originally founded by Charles P. Lazarus as Children's Supermart in 1948, the store later changed its focus entirely to toys. By 1957, Lazarus came up with the tagline "Toys"R"Us", eventually operating several additional stores under the Children's Supermart brand. Nine years later, the company was acquired by Interstate Department Stores, Inc., who already owned the toy store chain Children's Bargain Town USA, which featured the original version of Geoffrey the Giraffe as its mascot. Following the bankruptcy of Interstate Department Stores in 1974, Lazarus himself took control of the bankrupt corporation and rebranded the merged Children's Bargain Town USA/Children's Supermart company into "Toys"R"Us", which subsequently grew into the biggest toy store chain in the United States, eventually expanding into other markets around the globe to the point where the company was considered a prime example of a "category killer".^[1]

After many decades of success, Toys"R"Us failed to realize the growing importance of the internet during the 1990s, and as a result added its own online store very late in the game. Following a disastrous 1999 holiday shopping season, during which the company fell behind on shipping online customer orders, it struck a ten-year deal withAmazon, who would subsequently act as Toys"R"Us's online presence. Following a brief period of financial success that exceeded Amazon's expectations, the partnership was prematurely ended by Toys"R"Us after Amazon had allowed competing merchants to begin selling toys through the website, and following a lawsuit, Amazon paid Toys"R"Us $51 million in settlements. In 2006, Toys"R"Us reopened an independent website, but by that time, the damage had already been done.^[2]

Downfall

In 2005, Toys"R"Us was bought out by three major private equity firms: Bain Capital, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and Vornado Realty Trust. As a result, the chain was saddled with amassive debt when the cost of paying back the loan used to buy the chain was then dumped onto it, with interest. Despite rebounding sales-wise and making a profit above its nominal operating expenses, the sheer size of the debt was too much, and Toys"R"Us eventually declared bankruptcy onSeptember 18,2017, leading to their planned liquidation, resulting in all stores in the United States to be closed byJune 29,2018. And in the middle of all these tumultuous times, the original Toys"R"Us founder Charles Lazarus, who had parted ways with the company in 1994, died on March 24, 2018, at age 94.

Operations in other markets were also affected, though not all cases ended in all-out job losses: The United Kingdom division entered administration in February 2018, with the last remaining stores being closed onApril 24 of the same year; the Australian division entered administration in May 2018, with the last remaining stores expected to close in July. The divisions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, which were still profitable, were taken over by Irish family-owned toy giant Smyths in April 2018, who rebranded all stores in those three countries into "Smyths" in 2019.

Meanwhile, other regional branches have survived: for instance, Toys"R"Us declared bankruptcy in Portugal and Spain by March 2018, but was eventually purchased by the Green Swan group and it still continues to soldier on using the same branding. The Canadian division, which was also still profitable by that point, was bought out by Fairfax Financial Holdings in April 2018 (with the takeover completed in May), and similarly, they've continued operations under the original branding. Most notably, operations in Asia have also continued as usual since.

As of now, the original Toys"R"Us brand in the United States is owned by Tru Kids. They've returned to retail in 2022, opening up a few dozen stores in the US, but their current presence is still only a modest fraction of what it once was.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

A Toys"R"Us store was inTimes Square.All Hail Megatron #1

Commercial appearances

At a Toys"R"Us store in aQuadwal stream where toys are sentient, Snackin' Sara theBaby Alive toy informed anunboxed Optimus Prime toy about the store's Price Match guarantee, wherein if Optimus was found at a lower price at another retailer, Toys"R"Us would match their prices. The Optimus toy was confused as to the existence of another one of himself and was advised by Sara to look to his left. When he did so, both he and his doppelganger were distraught at their existence, a panic which soon spread to his entire shelf, fully populated by Optimi.Toys"R"Us Commercial

Hasbro market Toys"R"Us exclusives

Robots in Disguise (2001)

Scourge, major baddie and major pain to obtain in the US.

Toys"R"Us's first exclusives were for the2001Robots in Disguise toyline, and they snagged a pair of absolute doozies: a major villain character from theRobots in Disguise cartoon, and a huge toy that had been canceled the year prior that fans thought would never see the light of day.

Commemorative Series

Skywarp, with "safe" firing missiles.

Ricochet, former holy grail

"Enhanced" re-releases of classic"Generation 1" toys, the entireCommemorative Series toyline was originally intended to be exclusively available from Toys"R"Us stores. However, two toys from the later series were ultimately made available through other venues, at least for the United States market, particularly "closeout" chains, sold at a massive discount.

The "Commemorative Series" branding would pop up again in later lines; we're listing those items both here and under their respective lines so you don't have to go searching for them.

Unicron Trilogy (Armada / Energon / Cybertron)

Armada

Powerlix Cyclonus with bonus Iceberg

The chain'sArmada offerings were not particularly special, but theywere a great bargain: standard-issue "Super-Con" toys with a bonus pack-inMini-Con from one of the normal retail three-packs, but sold at a costbelow a Super-Con on its own!

Energon

Optimus Prime / Megatron

ForEnergon, once again the bulk of their exclusives were just repackagedArmada toys, and even then, two of them, the Road Wrecker/Night Attack Team and Race/Space Team packs, were also available atWalmart stores. However, there was the big draw of an Optimus Prime & Megatron two-pack using molds that had previously been exclusive to theTakaraSuper Link version of the line!

Cybertron

Starscream vs. Vector Prime

Cybertron content was light, being mostly "Value Packs" which were just fully-packaged normal Deluxes sold at less than the total cost of the toys bought individually. And the two-pack versions of that were another "exclusive" shared withWalmart. However, there was one truly exclusive multi-pack that provided Western fans with access to a mold previously available only by importing it from Japan, and in unique colors to boot.

Go-Bots

Yes, Toys"R"Us even got some exclusives for thePlayskoolGo-Bots line, done up in shiny chrome. Delightful!

Universe (2003)

TheUniverse offerings were limited to a single multi-pack, but it was a sizable one!

Ramjet withThunderclash,Gunbarrel,Terradive, andThunderwing

Alternators

The chain had an "exclusive"Alternators "Mega Alternators" assortment... which ultimately turned out to be merely shrinkwrapped combos of regular-retail singleAlternators releases. The most common combinations wereSmokescreen/Side Swipe and Smokescreen/Silverstreak, but Smokescreen/Windcharger, Smokescreen/Autobot Hound, and even Smokescreen/Smokescreen(!) combos have been found as well.

Titanium Series

Grimlock,War Within style

Titanium Series was Hasbro's short-lived line of mostly-die-cast-metal toys for various brands, with small "Robot Masters" mini figurines and 6-inch "Cybertron Heroes" fully-transformable toys. Most of the Toys"R"Us exclusives fall under theWar Within comic styling... despite that series having ended (prematurely) years prior. And the comic license having changed hands since then to boot.

Beast Wars 10th Anniversary

For theBeast Wars 10th Anniversary line, Toys"R"Us got a repackaging of the Japanese "Beast Wars Reborn" set, featuring extensively-redecoed re-releases of the Ultra-class Optimus Primal and Megatron molds.

Optimus Primal vsMegatron

Classics

While the focal point ofClassics was modern-mold reinventions of classic characters, there were a few exceptions.Classics Soundwave was a reissue of the original toy, originally slated for theCommemorative Series line (above).

Soundwave

Masterpiece

Acid Storm

The big, expensive, complexMasterpiece toys were an instant hit with collectors, and of course Toys"R"Us got in several exclusives. However, in many non-US Hasbro markets,all of the Hasbro-releaseMasterpiece toys were Toys"R"Us exclusives, so we won't be listingall of those here.

As some of these were sold as part of the2010Transformers toyline, we'll list them in those lines' sections as well. It just kinda makes sense to have them all gathered up here too.

Live-action movie toylines

With the absolute explosion ofTransformers popularity due to thelive-action film series, naturally a vast number of exclusives for said series were made, with Toys"R"Us getting quite a lot.

Transformers (2007)

Inferno w/ Longarm

For the2007Transformers toyline, most of the exclusives were redecoed "Unicron Trilogy" molds used to quickly boost the amount of "new" product in the wake of the first film's staggering success, as well as a pair of multi-packs of normal-retail-release toys.

Revenge of the Fallen

"Back Road Brawl" Mixmaster

Revenge of the Fallen's exclusives were entirely focused on multipacks, with a fair amount of new decoes and characters.

Transformers (2010)

Rampage Among the Ruins

The2010Transformers toyline waslargely an extension ofRevenge of the Fallen product, but some "Generation 1"-based stuff made its way into the line towards the back end. In the case of Toys"R"Us exclusives, this was in the form of a trio ofMasterpiece toys.

Dark of the Moon

Scan Series Ironhide

The exclusives forDark of the Moon were given the branding "Mission Earth". Many of the toys also had "Scan Series" decos, where the toys were cast in clear plastics then extensively painted, but only on thefront halves of their vehicle modes, making them look like they're in mid-reformatting.

Age of Extinction

"Evolution" Optimus Prime

ForAge of Extinction, the exclusives were all part of the "Evolution" theme, packing a toy of the movie character with a toy of their "G1" inspiration... in theory. There's a bit of jank going on with a couple of them.

Also at this point, theKre-O line hadfunctionally, if notofficially, become a Toys"R"Us exclusive in the US, with the nigh-entirety of the 2014 lineup taken up byAge of Extinction-themed sets, plus an explicitly-TRU-only DVD/Kreon combo pack.

The Last Knight

Skullitron

Exclusives forThe Last Knight were given the "Mission to Cybertron" branding, plus a few had the added "Premiere Edition" marking to denote more elaborate paint jobs.

Studio Series

Good luck.

The very last Toys"R"Us exclusive (in the US at least), this figure in the then-newStudio Series was the first "off-screen" figure in the line, and was kind of hard to find in the US thanks to the chain being liquidated right about the time the toy was released.

Animated

Rodimus Minor

ForTransformers Animated, Toys"R"Us scored several toys that had been slated for regular retail release, but budgets kept them out of the main line. Consideringwho some of these characters were, this led to something of a rush to grab them.

Universe (2008)

Darkwind

The2008Universe offerings were mainly some pretty big-ticket items, with a few more vintage toy molds thrown in the mix.

Kre-O

Autobot Assault Devastator set: the buildable Ironhide, Gunner and yellow Devastator Kreons are exclusive to the Toys"R"Us version of the set.

Hasbro's second attempt at aLEGO-like building-brick-based toyline, there are only a couple of explicitly Toys"R"Us-exclusiveKre-O items in the line. However, by 2014, by the time theTransformers part of the line pivoted entirely toAge of Extinction (and the reveal of theG.I. Joe andDungeons & Dragons sets), the entireKre-O line becamefunctionally a TRU exclusive in the US, as most other retailers had dropped it.

"Aligned" toylines (Prime / Robots in Disguise)

Prime: Beast Hunters

• Optimus Prime vsPredaking

Robots in Disguise (2015)

Warrior Megatronus

For 2015'sRobots in Disguise, Toys"R"Us was the home of the "Clash of the Transformers" series, a pretty sizablesubline imprint of exclusives; a mix ofredecos,retools and even some wholly-new molds. The line-up was released in Australia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, though Warrior Class Megatronus was only released in the US, and the "Decepticon Island Showdown" set was not released in Europe at all.

Titans Return

Parsec & Nautica, the only Nautica toy so far. Good luck!

With the emphasis onTitan Masters (akaHeadmasters) inTitans Return, naturally these sets are loaded to the gills with tiny head-bots. Of particular note is the Arcee set, which was originally aHasCon 2017 exclusive.

Buzzworthy Bumblebee (Canada)

While theBuzzworthy Bumblebee line is exclusive toTarget stores in the US, Canada does not have Targets, so all of those toys go to Toys"R"Us... and seemingly at quite a markup. We're honestly not about to list the entire line here, sorry.

Takara market Toys"R"Us exclusives

As its own entity, Toys"R"Us Japan had its own considerably different run of exclusives. Of particular note are the "USA Editions" (unchangedHasbro-market product in nigh-unchanged Hasbro retail packaging), and the many, many,many "campaign item" promotional giveaways, typicallyMini-Cons and comparably-sized toys, given as freebies with a qualifying purchase on certain dates (be it a specific toy, or just a certain yen-value of toys total)

Beast Wars series

Beast Wars

Black Lio Convoy

Takara'sBeast Wars product was very light on the exclusives. In fact, most of them are actually straight-up imports of Hasbro-packagedTransmetal 2 toys released during theBeast Wars Metals portion of the line.

Beast Wars Returns

Vehicon Thrust

Released many years after the "Beast" series had run its course in Japan, 2004'sBeast Wars Returns was an entirely Toys"R"Us exclusive line, featuringBeast Machines molds extensively redecoed into (usually) much more show-accurate appearances. It also included a single "USA Edition" import, a practice that had seen a lot of use in the prior few years.

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers

As Takara took its first steps into reissuing oldTransformers molds in the early 2000s, Toys"R"Us got one of the first exclusive redecoes of said reissues.

Nucleon Quest Super Convoy

Car Robots (Robots in Disguise)

The overwhelming bulk of exclusives for 2000'sCar Robots was actually releasedafter the line had properly ended, with a glut of USA Edition toys from Hasbro's 2001Robots in Disguise version of the line.

Unicron Trilogy toylines

All right,here we go. The number of exclusives takes a big jump here.

Legends of the Microns (Armada)

Shot Ultimate Edition

With the arrival of the tinyMini-Con toys in 2003'sLegends of the Microns, Takara launched into aton of store promotional giveaways across multiple chains, and the era of large numbers of unique exclusives began (plus even more USA Editions).

Superlink (Energon)

Throttle

With Mini-Cons taking a bit of a back seat inSuperlink, Takara added exclusiveEnergon weapons promotional campaigns, on top of the usual multi-packs and USA Editions.

Galaxy Force (Cybertron)

Coby's Exclusive Rumble (aka "Cobybot")

TheGalaxy Force exclusives pretty much followed the usual pattern. But boy, that big box set ispretty.

Smallest Transforming Transformers

Hot Rodimus, TRU packaging version

Exactly what they say on the box,Smallest Transforming Transformers are/were the smallestTransformers toys to actually transform. Both of these were promotional items given away with the purchase of other toys.

Live-action movie toylines

While thelive-action film series resulted in a massive boom of exclusives in Hasbro markets, Takara's exclusive output wasquite a bit smaller in scope.

Transformers (2007)

The only Toys"R"Us exclusive for the first movie wasn't even terribly "exclusive", as it was just a repackaging of the Hasbro Leader-Class Brawl, and an unchanged re-issuing of a previous regular-retail item.

Revenge (Revenge of the Fallen)

Mighty Dozer

Revenge exclusive product was positively restrained compared to the Hasbro output, with the big items being toys released at normal retail in Hasbro markets (and one a notoriousshelfwarmer at that).

It is important to note that the two promotional Microns come with instructions that are simply labeled as generic "Transformers" product. But they were only given away with the purchase ofRevenge product, so we're listing them here. This will be a bit of a theme going forward with many promotional Microns over the next few years, across multiple lines.

Darkside Moon (Dark of the Moon)

Darkside Optimus Prime

Again,Darkside Moon product was light, with the big draw actually being a model kit with an extra piece. Whee!

Lost Age (Age of Extinction)

Rusty Ver. Optimus Prime

Lost Age toys was heavy on the promotional Microns, though again they were not directly branded as such.

The Last Knight

Arm Gun Bumblebee

The exclusives line-up for Takara'sThe Last Knight was more or less the same as in the Hasbro markets, as the two companies were in the process of a "brand unification" that would see the two release much the same product in both markets.

Studio Series

As with the Hasbro line,Studio Series marked the end of Takara's run of Toys"R"Us exclusives, even though the chain still operates to this day in Japan.

Autobot Drift withBaby Dinobots
(Autobot Drift,Dinobot Sharp-T,Dinobot Pterry,Dinobot 'Tops)

Henkei! Henkei!

Skyglide

Takara's take on theClassics toyline,Henkei! Henkei! only resulted in a single promotionalMicron.

Animated

Skywarp Clear Purple Ver.

United

Caliburst

The spiritual follow-up toHenkei!,United went with new versions of old characters... on molds pretty wildly not meant for those characters in the case of these two Microns.

Aligned series (Prime / Adventure)

Prime

Pure Energon B.B.

Takara went absolutelynuts with the promotionalArms Microns duringPrime. The initial batches were fully-assembled and painted redecoes of past weapon-bots, but as the line kicked into gear, they shifted to the unassembled, on-sprue "model kit" style Microns that came with Takara'sPrime toys. Speaking of, their big in-store exclusive even came with three extra exclusive Arms Micron kits!

Go!

Ex, the one Arms Micron availableonly at TRU.

For the Takara-onlyTransformers Go! series, Toys"R"Us got an exclusive redeco of the main new Autobot of the series, as well as a promotional Arms Micron meant to go withGo!'s new version of Autobot leaderOptimus Exprime, plus a few promo Microns shared with a whole bunch of other stores.

Adventure (Robots in Disguise 2015)

Toys"R"Us Prime

Exclusives forAdventure ran the gamut of small molds. Some were originally Arms Micron kits, but this time came already-assembled.

Q-Transformers

Clear Bumblebee

Notes

• Toys"R"Us was also supposed to carry aredeco ofArmadaJetfire done up as aGeneration 1Astrotrain homage that would have been released as aUniverse toy namedSpacewarp, together with redecos of theArmadaSpace Mini-Con Team. Ultimately, however, Toys"R"Us backed out of the deal, and Spacewarp was never released. While the Space Team redecos remain unreleased to this very day (Takara claims that themolds have become unusable), the planned Spacewarp deco was later used as the basis for theCollectors' Club exclusiveAstrotrain redeco ofArmada Jetfire, with a new head sculpt.
• Despite the closing of the US branch, multiple Toys"R"Us branches are still often used by Hasbro worldwide for distributing figures that are otherwise exclusive to some specific US retailers:
  • As of 2019, the Canadian Toys"R"Us branch has picked up the rights to the USTarget exclusives, beginning with theWar for Cybertron: Siege toyline.
  • In the early 2020s, the Iberian (Portugal & Spain) Toys"R"Us branch also released a few toys from theNetflix-labelledWar for Cybertron Trilogy exclusives.
  • The 2024Walmart exclusiveTransformers One figures were released internationally across a few branches like Hong Kong, Singapore, and the aforementioned Iberian stores.

References

External links

• Official Toys"R"Us USA website
• Official Toys"R"Us Japan website