COUNTDOWN: 42 unreleased Generation 2 toys (part 3)

Welcome to part 3 of our tour through some unreleased Hasbro Transformers toys from the Generation 2 era in the 1990s. If you missed part 1 and part 2, check them out first before continuing for more gaudy goodness below!

 

#10: G.I. Joe Crossover

Picture credit: yojoe.com

I recently wrote about this figure as part of a summary of Transformers crossovers with G.I. Joe. It was presumably planned in line with the Marvel Transformers comic’s history of twinning with the ‘Real American Hero’ franchise, especially during the G2 era. By all accounts, it was conceived with the idea of Joe minifigures being able to ride inside it. However, it’s unclear if it ever made it past the mock-up stage.

Picture credit: yojoe.com

The vehicle mode is that of a 1:18 scale Armoured Personnel Carrier and appears to feature a similar air-pressure-activated missile gimmick to the G2 Hero Optimus Prime & Megatron toys from 1994.

 

#9-8: Sgt. Hound & General Optimus Prime

As well as the two newly-moulded Auto Rollers that were glimpsed in part 2, there was to be a further repainted release of the Road Block and Dirtbag designs. These new versions included the camouflaged white and silver ‘Sgt. Hound’ and the green army-themed ‘General Optimus Prime’. They were seen in the 1995 Toy Fair catalogue, indicating that they were planned for what became the very end of Generation 2, not making it to release before the line was unfortunately cancelled.

 

#7: Combat Hero Optimus Prime

That same Toy Fair catalogue featured an abundance of unreleased G2 goodies, also included this planned repaint of the Hero Optimus Prime from 1994, now known as a “Combat Hero”, and given a new dark blue and red colour scheme. Again, this one just didn’t quite make it before the line was given the axe.

Picture credit: Seibertron.com

However, in this case, numerous copies of the toy have surfaced since, including some sealed in the finished packaging. Seibertron.com has an excellent gallery of one such example. 

 

#6: Combat Hero Megatron

Where Optimus Prime goes, Megatron often follows. So it was with the Combat Hero idea, as that same catalogue also reveals a very snazzy repaint of Hero Megatron from 1994, now with a white, green and stripey grey appearance.

Picture credit: TFWiki

As with Optimus, there are examples of this toy in the wild, again often sealed in finished packaging. Seibertron.com has another fantastic gallery of this one too. The toy is also the inspiration for the recent Generations Selects Combat Hero Megatron release. 

 

#5-4: Laser Rod Sound Wave & Jazz

The final toys glimpsed in that same Toy Fair catalogue are these repainted releases of the two Laser Cycle designs from 1995. They’re both given familiar character names, with Jazz being a white, green and yellow version of the Road Rocket mould and Sound Wave (sic) now a blue and chromed silver repaint of Road Pig. Again, it appears these were ready to go and would have been released had the G2 line not been cancelled, which explains why both toys have popped up in their finished packaging since.

Picture source: eBay

Although these toys would get new life again in Robots in Disguise in 2001, there’s no doubt that Sound Wave, in particular, looks really remarkable, so it’s a crying shame they never saw release.

 

#3: ATB Megatron & Starscream

Picture source: eBay

Now we come onto what must surely be one of the most famous examples of unreleased toys from the era, the so-called Advanced Tactical Bomber Megatron (or ATB Megatron for short). While the design was already released in Generation 2 (as the blue Dreadwing and Smokescreen), this new version was scheduled for late 1995. As with other toys on this list, it was so close to production that numerous copies have been found over the years, often in finished packaging. It’s never been conclusively proven if any ever actually made it onto retail shelves, but there are some noteworthy galleries out there, including one from Transformers at the Moon.

Picture credit: Transformers at the Moon

This colour scheme would eventually be used on this design as part of Beast Wars II, with BB and Starscream bearing a close resemblance to the toys as initially planned (though with differences such as a black head on the smaller figure). Still, ATB Megatron remains a legend of the time and a definite grail for collectors.

 

#2: Racing Rig & Greasepit

Picture credit: Transformerland

We looked at some of the unused G2 Go-Bots in part 2, but there was at one stage to be an additional use of the Gearhead mould, now repainted in bright green and blue and released under the name Greasepit. What makes this version genuinely unique is the “Road Rig” toy it was planned to be packaged with, which was a scaled truck that also turned into a Hot Wheels-styled ramp playset.

Picture credit: Transformerland

It’s unknown why this was never fully realised, although it appears Greasepit himself only exists as a hand-painted mock-up, so potentially it never made it too far down the line of production. However, packaging artwork was drawn for the toy, and a subsequent eBay auction revealed that an Autobot tech spec bio was written up too!

Picture source: eBay

Apparently, he was canonically going to be Gearhead’s brother. What a shame he never made it!

 

#1: Buffalo-Dump

Picture source: eBay

OK, *technically* this last entry isn’t Generation 2 at all, I admit it! In fact, it was a concept considered as part of the latter-day European-exclusive Generation 1 line. But hey, enough people conflate that with G2 already and besides, I couldn’t not mention something as outlandishly awesome as Buffalo-Dump, right?

Yes, Buffalo-Dump was nearly a thing, transforming from a robot to a buffalo-themed dump truck. Hence Buffalo-Dump. Sadly, this drawing is seemingly as far as the whole thing went, meaning the world was deprived of Buffalo-Dump. Just look at what we could have won! Buffalo-Dump.

 
 
So, that’s our list! Which of the various releases would you like to have seen the most?

TTFN