COUNTDOWN: 42 unreleased Generation 2 toys (part 2)

Welcome to part 2 of our tour through some unreleased Hasbro Transformers toys from the Generation 2 era in the 1990s. If you missed part 1, check it out first before continuing for more gaudy goodness below!

#29: Sandstorm

Picture credit: TF Square One

Here’s one that a lot of collectors will no doubt be more familiar with nowadays, if only because of the recent Generations Selects take on this colour scheme from 2020. Yes, as Hasbro and TakaraTomy begin mining the depths for obscure references to trot out in modern mainline form, it’s fantastic to see this niche bit of unproduced G2 history given the nod, especially as the toy in question could have been something really quite special.

As with the Autobot cars we looked at in part 1, Sandstorm has both a hand-painted mock-up and a finished piece of packaging artwork to his name, giving a relatively decent idea of what the retail product could have looked like. Although this character would have had a new name (confirmed by a label on the artwork as shown in the 2011 publication, The Transformers Vault), the toy was another extensive repaint of the Ramjet mould, featuring a desert-themed camouflage motif and a rather striking face painted on the nosecone.

Picture credit: TF Square One

However, in addition to those sources, an unpainted test shot also exists, as shown from a 2012 Taobao auction. This indicates that Sandstorm was much further along in production than the Autobot car examples, presumably meaning it was cancelled not long before it was due to be released.

Picture source: Taobao

Despite never having made it at the time, it’s incredible to see an idea like this finally coming to fruition in a new line at long last.

#28: Blackout

As well as an additional recolour of Ramjet, it seems Hasbro intended for at least another use of Starscream during Generation 2. In this case, a hand-painted black and silver mock-up popped up alongside some early packaging artwork, depicting what appeared to be a black recolour of the classic design but with the words, ‘Black Death’ scrawled on the nosecone. For years, it was unknown if this was the intended name for the toy, although a subsequent Taobao auction for an unpainted test shot revealed that it had evidently been reasonably far down the line towards release.

Picture source: Taobao

A more polished version of the packaging artwork was later published in the 2014 book Legacy: The Art of Transformers Packaging, showing what appeared to be numerous changes to the original design. These include new detailing on areas such as the feet and the shoulder intakes and the presence of the familiar G2 missiles launchers already found on the released Starscream and Ramjet toys. 

However, it wasn’t until 2020 that an annotated copy of the artwork was unearthed, revealing that this character’s name was actually intended to be ‘Blackout’.

#27: Jungle Starscream

Picture source: eBay

It appears as though more uses of the Seeker mould were considered, as this hand-painted mock-up testifies. It popped up on an eBay auction in 2007, although nothing indicates if it was intended as a new character or simply a recoloured version of an existing name. It is commonly referred to as ‘Jungle Starscream’ in lieu of a better designation.

#26: Navy Ramjet

Picture source: Whiz-Bang.com

Another new Seeker design to emerge was this rather bizarre repainted Ramjet in 2000. It shows a cloud-themed blue design with ‘Navy’ written on the wings. Quite what the idea behind this release would have been is anyone’s guess, but it’s commonly referred to as either ‘Navy Ramjet’ or ‘Cloud Ramjet’ in fan circles. Were there more Seeker ideas besides these? We may never know!

#25-20: Go-Bots

Picture source: eBay

1995 saw the release of the G2 Go-Bots subline, which included six moulds of tiny Matchbox-sized cars. They would become more well-known under the name Spychangers as part of Takara’s Car Robots in 2000, although when Hasbro started to put out their own Robots in Disguise versions a year later, they included four moulds that had never seen release before. These fresh designs also hailed from the G2 era, but along with two other toys, they all went unreleased at the time.

The six additional releases have all cropped up in seemingly finished form a few times over the years, with loose samples and carded mock-ups appearing for auction, although often for a hefty sum.

Picture source: eBay

Despite the examples seen above all featuring the card for the G2 Go-Bot High Beam, packaging artwork for at least four of the unused designs was finished, again indicating that they came close to release at the time.

Names for these new Go-Bots have never been fully confirmed, although the red, blue and white Chevrolet has “Rumble” printed on its bumper and the green Jeep has “19HOUND960” adorning the doors, so that gives some indication. The others are typically identified in fan circles as 911, 4X (or GTP Racer) and Black Viper, both as a result of their markings but also online auction listings. The bright purple Mercedes-Benz is the only one to not have a designation of any kind.

Picture credit: Seibertron.com

Although four of these moulds would eventually find new life as part of RID 2001, it’s a great shame that the Jeep and Mercedes-Benz designs have been lost to history, with a new lease of life looking exceptionally unlikely.

#19-18: Autolauncher & Autojetter

Picture source: eBay

One thing the G2 line often doesn’t get enough credit for is all of the many unusual gimmicks and new concepts that originated during its run. One of those is 1995’s Auto Rollers, a pair of green construction vehicles that would transform automatically using a series of gears when the vehicle modes were rolled forwards. The designs have been used a few more times over the years, but the line-up was initially conceived as more extensive, with two additional designs at the unpainted prototype stage.

Picture source: eBay

These included a blue and white tank and a green and yellow jet, both of which remain unidentified in terms of the characters they were meant to portray. However, of all the items on this list, they’re one of the more common on the second-hand market, with various copies listed for sale over the years.

Picture source: eBay

Takara would eventually use both these designs as part of the Beast Wars II line in 1998. They were given new colour schemes and released as Autolauncher and Autojetter (alongside repaints of the two moulds realised during G2). Interestingly, Takara also considered new designs during the development of Beast Wars, but these appear to have never made it beyond the concept stage.

#17-14: Flipchangers

Picture source: eBay

If you’re looking at these designs and thinking you’re already familiar with them, that should be no surprise. After all, they’ve all been used multiple times over the years, first cropping up as part of the KB-exclusive Machine Wars roster in 1997, where each mould received two releases in different colour schemes. We’ve since seen various examples pop up in lines such as Beast Wars II, Car Robots / RID 2001 and Robot Masters. Yet they all hail back to the days of Generation 2, as these prototypes from the time will attest.

Picture source: eBay

There’s no indication whether what you see here was even close to the final colour schemes intended for release at the time, much less what names they would have been given if they’d made it to retail. Still, at least we’ve been able to enjoy these designs many times over the subsequent years.

UPDATE (May 2024): more information has come to light on these toys, which is now detailed here!

#13-11: Dinobots

I’ve written about the Generation 2 Dinobots a few times already, but this list would not be complete without them. It’s common knowledge that only three of the original five Dinobot designs were used in G2 (although each was released in three separate colour schemes), with Sludge and Swoop nowhere to be seen. You’ll commonly find people online suggesting that this might be because the moulds for those toys were either lost or broken, but I don’t believe that to be the case (especially as Sludge received a gold box Classics reissue release in 1991, and there were examples of newly-made Asia releases in the ’90s too). It seems more likely that decisions were made about which toys would sell the best, which might explain why the red and blue Sludge and green, silver and blue Swoop designs never made it. 

Photo credit: Spurt Reynolds

Packaging art for both has come to light since, and although no evidence of mock-ups or prototypes has ever been seen, we have some idea of how the finished versions of these toys might have looked, thanks to the incredible custom work seen above.

Photo credit: @pripyatbeast

Similarly, the ‘tiger Grimlock’ artwork has become one of the most notorious pieces of unused G2 design, especially as no subsequent toys have ever seen fit to try and bring it back to life! Again, we’re left to imagine what could have been with another exceptional custom effort, as shown. Gorgeous!

That’s part 2. Be sure to check out part 3!

TTFN