| The name or term "Legacy" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, seeLegacy (disambiguation). |
Transformers: Legacy (akaTransformers Generations: Legacy)[1] is asubline imprint of theGenerations toyline, and the successor to theWar for Cybertron Trilogy.
First revealed in late2021 atHasbro Pulse Con 2021,Legacy commemorates the approaching 40th anniversary of theTransformers brand by featuring new toys of characters from across theTransformersmultiverse. The toys are largely in thescale and style of those from theWar for Cybertron Trilogy, including numerous 3 mm posts and5 mm ports from theC.O.M.B.A.T. System. Characters from franchises known for a more unique art style, such as Prime andAnimated, are updated with the modernGenerations aesthetic to fit with the rest of the toyline, with some featuring significant redesigns. The toyline also sees the return ofcombiners from Hasbro for the first time sincePower of the Primes, starting with theStunticons in2022.
The storytelling ofLegacy follows characters brought together from across themultiverse as their universes collide[2] for an extra-dimensional battle.[3] As such, characters are given prefixes associated with their series of origin, such as "Cybertron Universe". Certain characters have also been given these prefixes to denote specific iterations, such as"Comic Universe" Impactor. Replacing the packagebios of old is a QR code on the back of each box, or for Core Class figures, on the instructions, which leads to the character's bio on theTransformers website. A full list of the bios can be foundhere.
Unlike its predecessors,Legacy was not replaced by a new line with its own distinct title for its second and third years. Instead, it was given a refresh in the form ofsubline imprints titledLegacy: Evolution andLegacy: United, with the existing assortments continued in terms of distribution. Similar to its predecessors, theLegacy toyline featurespackage refreshes of several figures from previous lines, even all the way back toSiege, thoughLegacy elects to remove the battle damagepaint applications from these toys where applicable.
Legacy will conclude withUnited in2025 and be succeeded byAge of the Primes the same year.
Legacy
We did it. We put the "s" in Generations.
The first year ofLegacy (theoretically) focuses on characters that can "harness the power ofEnergon", with many toys including an often-translucent accessory that the figure can wield in multiple ways and combine with others branded an "Energon-infused weapon"[2], not too dissimilar to the2003Energon series. In keeping with this theme, the first wave of Core Class includes weapons specifically designed to combine into a large sword, but the gimmick was quietly dropped immediately after. Moreover, toys that do not utilize clear plastic in any part of their construction are still refered to as Energon weapons in their product descriptions.
General retail
Core Class
Deluxe Class
Voyager Class
Leader Class
Big ticket items
| Commander Class | | Titan Class | | HasLab campaign[4] | | |
Exclusives
Please note that the exclusivity listed for toys below applies to the United States. Also, most ofLegacy's exclusives were available throughHasbro Pulse as well, but in much smaller numbers than their "main" outlets.
Walmart
- Walmart had alarge number of exclusives; first came a trio of normalLegacy-packaged Deluxe beast-bots (which were sold as Farmers exclusives inNew Zealand).
- Next came the "Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection", which focused on characters on the namesakeplanet participating in the namesakerace. The first assortment was revealed on theJune 23 2022Fanstream. A second assortment of Deluxe Class toys was revealed in early October, without prior announcement.[5] Distribution of this second wave of product has been... let's politely call it varied. These toys wereKmart exclusives in New Zealand.
| Deluxe Beast Assortment | | Velocitron Deluxes | | Velocitron Voyagers | | Velocitron Leaders | | |
Other outlets
- TheAmazon-exclusive "Wreck 'N Rule Collection" was themed around theWreckers team. Each set in this collection had part of a buildable cardboardWrecker hammer, the base of which translates to "Creator of the Wreckers Resistance - EmirateXaaron". All five boxes could be stacked to form a display mural.
- Almost all ofTarget's exclusives were part of the long-runningBuzzworthy Bumblebee series, a multi-franchise set of toys with increasingly-smaller amounts of Bumblebee in it. Red Cog, however, was sold in normalLegacy-style packaging.
| Amazon "Wreck 'N Rule Collection" | | Generations Selects (multiple outlets) | | Hasbro Pulse | | Target | | |
| Walgreens |
Legacy: Evolution
Legacy: Evolution, the second year ofLegacy product, was announced in fall 2022 atthat year's Pulse Con. Thissubline imprint not only broadened the range of pastTransformers franchises characters could be pulled from, it retired the Energon-infused weapons in favor of a series of integrated weapons referred to collectively as "Evo-Fusion." Admittedly, many of these are just the same "combine and mount weapons somewhere on the figure" play gimmick that has been part of theGenerations line for years, but hey.
Supporting this is a continuation of the "Weaponizer" concept with a new tribe of modularJunkions that can mix and match body parts and accessories to create your own robot and vehicle modes, or armor and weaponry for other bots. FollowingMenasor, this subline's combiner isVolcanicus, made up of sixDinobots in the smaller Core Class.Evolution also puts some more focus onArmada characters to commemorate the series' 20th anniversary, although these new releases do not include any of the series' originalMini-Cons. The line also notably features the first mainlineAnimated toys since the show's cancellation in 2009; 2023 also marks the 15th anniversary of theAnimated cartoon, but we doubt this was intentional.
General retail
Core Class
Deluxe Class
Voyager Class
Leader Class
Big ticket items
| Commander Class | | Titan Class | | HasLab campaign[4] | | | | |
Exclusives
Walmart
- Walmart's "Toxitron Collection" capsule featuredgloriously garishly-decoed toys based on unreleased concept redecos fromGeneration 2 (and one from2003'sUniverse). The series was revealed onMarch 13 in 2023 as part of Walmart's "Collector Con", showing off the first three toys as well as putting them up for preorder. The toys eventually started shipping in mid-July, with the remaining toys being officially revealed atSan Diego Comic-Con (though they had been found at Walmarts before the show). However, distribution has reportedly been spotty at best, with many stores missing out on some or even all of the capsule.
| Toxitron Deluxes | | Toxitron Voyagers | | Toxitron Leaders | | | | |
Other outlets
- Amazon's "Pre-Cybertronian War" capsule is inspired by the beginnings of the war in both comic continuities fromIDW Publishing. The boxes of the "Rise of Tyranny" and "Humble Origins" packs can be displayed next to each other as one image. Target'sEvolution exclusives were all under theBuzzworthy Bumblebee banner.
| Amazon "Pre-Cybertronian War" | | Generations Selects (multiple outlets) | | Hasbro Pulse | | Target | | |
| Walgreens | | San Diego Comic-Con 2023 |
Legacy: United
Into the fire! / Feel the burn!Give into the flame / And never return! Legacy: United, the third and final year ofLegacy product, was once more announced in fall 2023 atthat year's Pulse Con. A celebration of the franchise turning 40 years old,United continued the previous year's focus on expanding the pool of characters to bring back into the toyline, including furtherAnimated toys as well as toys from franchises such asRescue Bots andBeast Wars II.
This year also introduced another iteration of the mix-and-match "Weaponizer" gimmick in the form of "Armorizer" toys, rock-like beings who can turn into vehicles, weapons and armor for other toys. These characters take inspirations from both theRock Lords of the sisterGoBots franchise, as well as a race of rock aliens from planetDaira who appeared ina single episode ofThe Headmasters. The name of their home universe even shouts out the molten realm within the core of the Earth in theInhumanoids cartoon. Talk about a literal deep cut.
The line would see a fifth wave added that consisted almost entirely of toys that fans in the U.S. reported were very hard to find, all receiving package refreshes with no changes to the toys themselves. This wave would serve as the final wave of theLegacy line;Hasbro Pulse Con 2024 announced that the line would be succeeded byAge Of The Primes in 2025.
Unfortunately, unlike its predecessors,United has omitted the QR codes on the packaging.
General retail
Core Class
Deluxe Class
| Wave 1 | | Wave 2 | | Wave 3 | | Wave 4 | | |
| Wave 5 | |
Voyager Class
| Wave 1 | | Wave 2 | | Wave 3 | | Wave 4 | | |
| Wave 5 |
Leader Class
Big ticket items
| Commander Class | | Titan Class | | HasLab campaign[4] | | | | |
Exclusives
- United continues the exclusive "capsules" trend with Amazon's "Doom 'n Destruction Collection", based on theMayhem Attack Squad to rival the earlier "Wreck 'N Rule Collection", and Walmart's pirate-themed "Star Raider Collection". With the apparent end ofBuzzworthy Bumblebee in 2023, this year's Target exclusives use standardUnited packaging.
Walmart
| Star Raider Deluxes | | Star Raider Voyagers | | Star Raider Leaders | | | |
Other outlets
| Amazon "Doom 'n Destruction Collection" | | Generations Selects (multiple outlets) | | Hasbro Pulse | | Target | | |
| San Diego Comic-Con 2024 |
Post-series releases
Legacy kinda-sorta returned just as its successorAge of the Primes was getting underway as2025'sHasLab campaign inexplicably retained its branding rather than swapping over to that year's theme.[7][8] Liokaiser is set for a Fall 2026 release.
Hasbro Pulse
This item is currently scheduled for release, but is not yet available at mass retail. |
Legacy (TakaraTomy)
TakaraTomy's normal-retailTransformers Legacy (トランスフォーマーレガシーToransufōmā Regashī) toyline is largely the same as Hasbro's, with no notable changes to the toys proper (other than the omission of the tampographed Hasbro product code numbers); the one "big" change is that the packaging addsID numbers for each item (sadly, Hasbro'sLegacy toyline ditches the number system seen in the previousWar for Cybertron Trilogy toyline). But the TakaraTomy line is markedly smaller than Hasbro's, having omitted all of the package-refresh figures and the first-year Core Class figures (the Cores were eventually picked up again with theEvolution Dinobots,et al.). On top of that, the list ofexclusives for the line released by TakaraTomy is a more limited selection.
Beginning with Wave 9 (corresponding to Hasbro'sEvolution imprint), TakaraTomy's bios began making reference to the characters' arrival in "Legacy World", presumably the same enigmatic location featured extensively throughout Hasbro promotional images and stock photography.
Comic
TakaraTomy's iteration of theLegacy franchise is accompanied by a series of (very) short comics on their website by brand veteranHayato Sakamoto, thus far uncharacteristically continuity-light for a TakaraTomy outing as befittingLegacy's grab-bag approach:
| Transformers Legacy | | |
|---|
Legacy VS500 Collection Special Comic:1 |2 |3 |
General retail
Exclusives
"Universe" designations
The universes featured in theLegacy toyline include (as the line names them):
The "Universe" naming conventions are, at times, arbitrary:
- Toys inGenerations Selects, the HasLab program, and the "Pre-Cybertronian War", "Doom 'n Destruction" (except Breakdown), and "Star Raider" (except Calcitron) capsules lack any universe label.
- "G1 Universe", "Beast Wars Universe", and "Beast Wars II Universe", did not appear on the toys' boxes prior toUnited.
- TheDiaclone-adjacent items in theBuzzworthy Bumblebee and the previously mentionedGenerations Selects are not given the "Diaclone Universe" label.
- "Headmasters Universe", "Super-God Masterforce Universe", "Beast Wars Neo Universe", and "Beast Machines Universe" are not on any boxes, despite their shows being named in product descriptions.United Metalhawk and Magmatron in particular are given the "G1 Universe" and "Beast Wars Universe" labels, respectively.
- Laser Optimus Prime lacked the "G2 Universe" label on his box, until hisUnited package refresh.
- The "Comic Universe" label is not on Blurr, Scarr, the previously mentioned "Pre-Cybertronian War" capsule, andUnited Bludgeon, Orion Pax, and Gladiator Megatron. Jhiaxus and the Cybertronian Trooper are given the "G2 Universe" label despite beingMarvel Comics-original characters, like "Comic Universe Impactor".
- The first "Victory Universe Galaxy Shuttle" toy is the only toy to receive the "Victory Universe" label, including the previously mentioned HasLabs, Dinoking/the Dinoforce... and Galaxy Shuttle'sUnited package refresh!
- Toxitron has the "G2 Universe" label, but he is fromUniverse.
- The "Robots in Disguise 2000 Universe" label was changed to "Robots in Disguise 2001 Universe" forUnited, matching the AmericanRobots in Disguise release year as opposed to its original Japanese version, 2000'sCar Robots.
- United Origin Bumblebee, Autobot Cosmos, and Overcharge are missing the "G1 Universe" label, unlike the rest of the main lineUnited G1 toys.
In TakaraTomy's take on the line, everyone is established as visiting the "Legacy World" (レガシーワールド), alternatively "Legacy Spacetime" (レガシー時空) or "Transformers Legacy World" (トランスフォーマーレガシーワールド) in full. Their origin universe descriptions are largely similar, to the point of using Hasbro's names for the lines rather than their own (in line with their use of Hasbro's names for the characters), but there are still some notable differences and inconsistent terminology:
- Ancient Time Universe
(エンシェントタイムユニバース) - Animated Universe
(アニメイテッドユニバース) - Armada Universe
(アルマダユニバース) - Beast Wars Universe
(ビーストウォーズユニバース)
| | - Beast Wars World
(ビーストウォーズワールド) - Beast Wars Metals Universe
(ビーストウォーズメタルスユニバース) - Comic Universe
(コミックユニバース) - Cybertron Universe
(Cybertronユニバース,
サイバトロンユニバース)
| | - Cyberverse Universe
(サイバーバースユニバース) - Energon Universe
(エネルゴンユニバース) - G1 Multiverse
(G1マルチバース) - G1 Universe
(G1ユニバース)
| | - G2 Universe
(G2ユニバース) - Prime Spacetime
(プライム時空) - Prime Universe
(プライムユニバース)
| | - Rescue Bots Universe
(レスキューボッツユニバース) - RID Universe
(RIDユニバース) - Victory Universe
(ビクトリーユニバース)
|
The change from "Diaclone" to "Ancient Time Universe" is because TakaraTomy has a concurrently-runningDiaclone revival line entirely separate fromTransformers (focusing on the original pre-Car Robot aesthetic).
Notes
- Emiliano Santalucia was responsible for the concept art of the various "energon weapons".[9]
- Prior to the toyline's reveal in October 2021, much of its roster was found through internal online listings from retailers such asTarget.
- Some toy listings featured "Evolution" as part of the toyline's name in its first year,[10] far before theEvolution branding was officially introduced.
- Much like 2022'sStudio Series lineup, Leader Class toys feature window-less packaging, which allows for expandedartwork. The others largely utilize the same minimized window and plastic tray-less boxes from the previous line,War for Cybertron: Kingdom, though with many hard-to-stack (but cool!) angles for the sides and no plastic window.
- The lack of a plastic window in the packaging has led to several drawbacks, most prominently the lack of support offered by the plastic window makes the packaging more susceptible to stress-based wear-and-tear, as well as tampering with the figures inside such as pushing Voyager Bulkhead's head into his chest cavity, making it appear as though the figure is missing his head... or many,many cases of figuresactually missing their heads, having been stolen out of the packaging.
- Due to the polarizing reception to the Generation-1-fied redesigns ofPrime characters, Hasbro announced they were trying to find a better balance between preserving the original designs for non-G1 characters whilst updating them for the current aesthetic for later toys, particularly theAnimated character updates,[11] and has not ruled out onStudio Series for more accurate redos ofPrime characters.[12] ComeLegacy: Evolution, the newAnimated Prowl showed off this new approach, being basically the original design, just made more boxy. Meanwhile,Prime Skyquake ended up as a pretty even blend between thePrime andoriginal Skyquake visually, while theArmada characters added to the line all had sculpts that wereincredibly faithful to their original iterations (minus loads of gimmicks, of course, but the visuals were there).
- The original listings included a lot of entries titled "Energon Monster". TheseFossilizer/Weaponizer-style Core and Deluxe toys were dropped andPretender characters were approved at the last minute to fill in those slots.[13]
- ALegacy animated series, conceptualized as a sequel to theWar for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon, was in the discussion stage at one point, butNetflix passed on the pitch,[14] as it didn't fit with Netflix's mandates at the time. Hasbro chose not to shop it to other platforms or services, as they wanted to maintain their good relationship with the streaming giant.[15] The show was intended to be much lighter in tone thanWar For Cybertron, and would have been set centuries after the events ofKingdom.[16] The main villain was intended to beStraxus, who had a space in the toyline and preliminary concept art when the show was canned. His toy was cancelled and its place taken by Transmetal II Megatron.
- TheLegacy line saw the release of the very first Titan Class figures from beyond G1, includingCybertron Metroplex and the much-requestedArmada Tidal Wave. Design directorJohn Warden stated in 2024 that he expected they wouldn't ever run out of toys to release in thissize class.[17]
- However, these figures and most of the otherArmada updates in the line were notably missing their trademarkMini-Con partners. Hasbro had found theMicromaster price-point introduced inWar for Cybertron: Siege to be unviable, as the low price-point struggled to justify the high cost of cutting steelmolds for small figures which were not much less intricate than their larger equivalents. A couple of Mini-Cons were eventually designed to be packed into exclusive sets, but for the most part, the designers seem to have struggled to find an appropriate release vector for more—despite obvious enthusiasm from the team![18]
- Similarly, the "Cybertron Universe" figures inLegacy lacked their trademarkCyber Keys; there were vague plans to release someCyber Planet Keys in anaccessory pack.[19] Evidently in response to fan feedback, when the series was revisited in more detail withLegacy: United, the figures all included smaller-scale Cyber Keys that could attach in various ways—though of course, these were just for show, the original toys' gimmicks being impossible to replicate on a modern budget.
References
- ↑ The official in-house title of the toyline is "Transformers Generations: Legacy", which is often used in online product descriptions given to retailers. The name used for the line's logo, however; is just "Transformers: Legacy".
- ↑2.02.1 Pre-reveal ofLegacy on theTransformersFacebook: "Celebrating an almost 40-year legacy of Transformers, universes collide as fan-favorite characters are brought together from across the multiverse, updated with Generations styling. You can harness the power of Energon, with all-new Energon-infused weapon accessories that come with figures across the line."
- ↑ "So the way the Legacy line is handled right now, it’s an extra-dimensional battle, it invites all of the different continuities to join under a single umbrella."—John Warden, TFW2005, "SDCC 2024 Hasbro Interview – John Warden’s Return, Generations, Studio Series, Combiners, More!", 2024/08/03
- ↑4.04.14.24.3 Due to their sheer scale, all HasLab campaigns are kept in-house and are thus sorta kinda joint exclusives betweenHasbro Pulse,TakaraTomy Mall, and a very select list of secondary retailers with Hasbro and TakaraTomy's blessing to cover additional regions around the globe.
- ↑Transformers Velocitron Speedia 500 Deluxe G2 Shadowstrip & Crasher Out In New Zealand – First In-Hand Images at TFW2005
- ↑ Wave 1's Breakdown was, despite beingEvolution product, released in standard year oneLegacy packaging to match the rest of the Stunticons. Hisinstructions initially featured the "Evolution" branding and green color scheme, but arunning change variant replaced those with the vanilla "Legacy" branding and purple color scheme.
"You will see a regular Legacy box sitting on the shelf with all of our new Legacy: Evolution stuff for Wave 1 so that if you are a MIB collector you can actually collect these all in the right same packaging."—Ben MacCrae, YouTube, "Hasbro Pulse Con 2022 | DAY ONE" - ↑HasLab Liokaiser campaign page
- ↑NEW TRANSFORMERS HASLAB! Legacy Liokaiser Combiner - The Ultimate Combiner Awaits! at the Hasbro Pulse YouTube channel
- ↑ "Then you will actually see the concept art Emiliano Santalucia drew up even before we had the rollout of characters planned for the year. I think this will provide great insight for all yall as alot of the planning for weapon combinations was to obviously utilize our 5mm peg across all scales but this was all sold in before character selects were figured out."—Mark Maher, Instagram, 2022/06/21
- ↑BigBadToyStore listing : "Transformers Generations Legacy Evolution Voyager Wave 1 Set of 2 Figures" (outdated, "Evolution" has since been removed)
- ↑ "[Animated figures would be given a "more G1-ified" style], however they have heard the stylization feedback about the TFP figures, so they are working on trying to find a better balance regarding G1-ification."—TFW2005, "SDCC Hasbro & Kotobukiya Show Floor Q&A", 2022/07/25
- ↑ "Entirely possible [to have screen-accurateAnimated andPrime figures inStudio Series], they’re talking about expanding Studio Series beyond movies."—TFW2005, "SDCC Hasbro & Kotobukiya Show Floor Q&A", 2022/07/25
- ↑ "Last minute these Pretenders were approved for slots slated for dropped characters."—Mark Maher, Instagram, 2022/08/17
- ↑ "Per FJ DeSanto: they had a series for Transformers Legacy planned out, but Netflix passed on it. #TFconLA"—Mike Seibert, Twitter, 2022/03/13
- ↑ "To be clear Mike even though i may have said it, Netflix didn’t “hate” the pitch, in fact they liked it. But their mandates had changed and what we were proposing didn’t fit that. Hasbro didn’t want to shop it elsewhere cause they want to keep their relationship w Netflix."—F.J. DeSanto, Twitter, 2022/03/13
- ↑ "Also the show was a dramatic change from WFC as it was lighter and more colorful as it was set centuries after WFC and would emphasize the fun of everything. See how colorful the legacy packaging is and you’ll get the idea."—F.J. DeSanto, Twitter, 2022/03/13
- ↑ "I don’t think we’ll ever run out of Titans."—Nate Purswell, TFW2005, "SDCC 2024 Hasbro Interview – John Warden’s Return, Generations, Studio Series, Combiners, More!", 2024/08/03
- ↑ "Absolutely. The Armada universe is filled with incredible Minicons. When I first came to Hasbro, I worked at Kenner years ago – a lifetime ago – and I was in a boardroom with Archer when he was pitching the idea of Minicons. And so I’ve been along the ride for the lifespan of it, sort of in a tertiary sense. I was working on Pokemon at the time, but what’s cool about Minicons is they came to rise in the same time Pokemon sort of came to rise. And I always admired, in Archer’s office, they had one of these like, acrylic cases with all the Minicons in it. And I would just stand there, like a dork, and just stare at it. On of the things I love about the Minicons and the Armada series in general is the groupings of them. I know that in Thrilling 30 we touched on it, but I think that there’s absolutely potential for more. What I don’t want to do is kind of shortchange these characters and make them like, not meaningful redecos, because a lot of them really have – at the time the style was asymmetrical, really unique heads, the deco colorways are really, really nicely done. So I can see a world where we bring some of those guys back."—John Warden, TFW2005, "SDCC 2024 Hasbro Interview – John Warden’s Return, Generations, Studio Series, Combiners, More!", 2024/08/03
- ↑ "May release the keys as a weapons pack."—Hasbro, TFW2005, "SDCC Hasbro & Kotobukiya Show Floor Q&A", 2022/07/25
External links
