COUNTDOWN: 12 ’90s Transformers teams that may or may not be Generation 2!

One of my favourite eras of Transformers toys is the 1990s.

The brand went on a significant journey during this time. From the end of what later became known as Generation 1 through Generation 2 and the Beast Wars years, it was a huge evolution with many wild and varied concepts.

Yet one bit still so often misunderstood is the niche of European-exclusive toys that hit shelves after the original series had halted in North America but before the big G2 reboot took hold. Many of these (now often quite desirable) releases are commonly misconstrued as being from the second generation line itself or sometimes erroneously given the halfway-house catch-all moniker “G1.5”.

However, today, we set the record straight by looking at the major Euro-exclusive teams from 1992 onwards and determining which, if any, belong to the follow-up line or if they more correctly fit as part of the initial G1 roster.

#12: Turbomasters

Pretty much the poster boys of the era, the 1992 Turbomasters are also some of the more sought-after specimens in the eyes of collectors nowadays. Along with the four smaller carbots (also released in Japan under the latter-day line Operation Combination), the troupe consisted of fan-favourites Rotorstorm and Thunderclash, both of whom have become breakouts after featuring in IDW comics. The central gimmick to the group is built-in cannons capable of firing small yellow missiles, which sounds simple but threatens to have your eye out at a moment’s notice (or cause a severe choking hazard, explaining why Hasbro gutted the feature from the larger releases for their re-use in 1997’s Machine Wars). The other thing to make these toys so noteworthy is that they introduced light-piping to Transformers, and – at least in my opinion – it’s rarely been surpassed in terms of execution ever since, with those hot-pink optics never failing to sing!

Though many often refer to the Turbomasters as either G2 or G1.5, they’re actually original series G1 toys through and through, despite not being released in the USA.

#11: Predators

Every good-guy car-bot needs a bad-guy jet-bro as its nemesis, and so it was in 1992, with the Predator team presented as the opponents of the Turbomasters. Again, the roster consisted of four regular-sized toys alongside a ‘medium’ and much larger release in Stalker and Skyquake, respectively, the latter pairing of which Hasbro also recycled with new colour schemes for Machine Wars. Though not as immediately well-known as their Autobot counterparts, the Predators are essentially just as enjoyable, boasting equally fab light-piping – now in cool bad-guy neon green! – and similarly hazardous missiles (although without any means of utilising the guns in their vehicular modes). Similarly, the smaller jets also found their way to a Japanese release, paired with the Turbomaster cars in ‘vs’ 2-packs, and Skyquake was made available as an import item alongside Thunderclash.

Naturally, like their Autobot enemies, all six of these toys are honest-to-goodness G1 and not G2 or even G1.5 in any way.

#10: Rescue Force

Everything about 1992’s Rescue Force is weird! Firstly, they’re repaints of 1989’s Japanese-exclusive Liokaiser team. However, with only four of the six toys represented and no helmet accessory in sight, they’re left unable to complete their own equivalent Big Man mode (despite the released examples still possessing the functionality to do so). They’re also missing their mouldmates’ signature Breastforce ability, swapping out the original animal chest partners for a newly moulded series of weapons and accessories (available in two variant colours, no less), which feels like some bizarre lengths to go to. Next, the designs have been granted extensive makeovers, with eye-catching new Autobot-flavoured colour schemes and updated hazard-themed decals. Yet, none of this effort extended to granting them names or personalities of their own, as instead, they’re identified simply as “Rescue Force jet” and the like. Still, they remain a very charming set of toys!

Unlike the Turbomasters and Predators, this lot is rarely misidentified in terms of which line they originated under, but for clarity, they’re pure G1 all the way!

#9: Constructicons

Wait, the Constructicons are surely G1, aren’t they? Well, you would think it might be obvious, but this 1992 Euro-exclusive release of the team still causes a fair bit of confusion, and for good reason! You see, it’s just one of three -yes, three! – separate examples of the team being rendered in yellow during the ’80s and ’90s, and that’s saying nothing of 2022’s Tonkanator update. You can find all the major details and differences in an already-published article, but the TL;DR of it all is that this particular crew was put out alongside the likes of the Turbomasters and Predators (without the ability or parts needed to merge into Devastator, it should be noted!). In contrast, a fully combining release of the team was then dropped in both yellow and orange as part of Generation 2 in 1993 (though not in Europe, for perhaps obvious reasons!).

All in all, there’s no doubt the 1992 crew is G1, but it’s also clear why it gets confused with the subsequent G2 releases.

#8: Axelerators

We move into 1993 from here on in, and at this point, the fan-created term “G1.5” becomes applicable for those who choose to use it! You see, the title was explicitly created to reference the toys of this exact year and not the entire European-exclusive era, as some now erroneously believe, as they were still branded as original series Transformers toys in Europe (despite having largely moved to being adorned with G2 faction symbols) whilst Hasbro had now rebooted the franchise under the Generation 2 banner in North America. What’s also true is that many of the Euro G1 examples from 1993 were then additionally released as G2 bots in the USA and Canada in the same year, as well as re-used as part of the 1994 European line but now in G2 packaging, further compounding the confusion!

It means that some examples, such as the Axelerators – tiny quick-change Autobot cars with shiny chromed engines that turn into their handheld weapons – are legitimately both G1 *and* G2, depending on which version you have. In this case, their North American release did at least feature some changes to help you tell the difference, with dark green-tinted windshields instead of their initial hot pink (and new identities for the individual robots to boot!). However, the European 1994 G2 releases kept the latter option (and their non-American names) to make the situation even more perplexing!

#7: Skyscorchers

As stated above, there’s an evil jet for every heroic car, and so it was again with the Skyscorchers. These four pint-sized planes were 1993’s opposite number for the Axelerators and featured a similar gimmick whereby the weapons could be stored as part of the alternate modes (although they weren’t quite as integral as a car engine). Also notable for this set are the surprisingly intricate transformations, offering a surprising number of twists and turns well beyond your typical fare at this size and price point and certainly above anything their land-based opponents could claim. However, they’re not nearly as commonly-known as the Autobot troupe, which explains why they’re frequently candidates for mistaken identity, commonly being confused with either 1992’s Predators, 1995’s G2 Cyberjets or the 1997 Machine Wars flipchangers! Four different series of equally tiny jets will do that.

Like the Axelerators, the Skyscorchers can be considered as both G1 and G2, especially because, in this case, the different releases are all identical, with no regional or generational colour changes to speak of. All four toys were initially released as European G1 and North American G2 in 1993, with their Euro re-release a year later again adopting the G2 banner. What’s confusing here, though, is the identities of each, as despite being the same exact toys, they go by different individual names depending on which continent they were released on. Only *real* completionists would insist on doubling up to represent both sets of characters in their collection!

#6: Lightformers

Moving deeper into 1993’s product line, we have two pairs of toys sharing a central gimmick across factions: a large transformable artillery platform which could either be mounted as an integral part of the vehicular form or positioned for the robot to wield. The weapon also featured a scope that you could look through whilst activating a geared mechanism to make it appear as though laser fire was attacking your intended target through the sight – rather niche but creative and unique nonetheless! The Autobot contingent consisted of Deftwing and the more well-known Ironfist, who would become a prominent feature in IDW comics much later.

Like the Axelerators and Skyscorchers, these toys can be considered equal parts G1 and G2, given they were released under both banners a year apart. In this case, however, there was no North American release to speak of, and their 1993 and 1994 G2 outings kept the same identities.

#5: Trakkons

Like the heroic Lightformers, the evil Trakkons were a duo of 1993 toys with an identical weapons-platform gimmick. Neither character is hugely well-known in terms of the wider franchise, though the incredibly-named Fearswoop is sometimes conflated with the rest of the commonly muddled jets from the era mentioned above.

Again, like the Lightformers, both toys were European exclusives, debuting as original series G1 in ’93 before coming back for a second-generation encore release in 1994, meaning you could consider them as either/or.

#4: Aquaspeeders

Now, we move into the deeply ultra-bewildering territory. If you thought multiple concurrent releases of Axelerators were a head-scratcher, get ready for the various water-themed bots of this era! First up is 1993’s Aquaspeeders, a group of four Autobots who all wield weapons which form integral parts of their vehicle modes and feature a fun water-squirting gimmick. Moreover, they’re coated in colour-changing paint, which reacts to being squirted, although the various decals they’re covered in won’t necessarily survive the process! Still, they’re super fun designs and some real gems of the year.

Where it gets confusing is their various releases, which again span the G1 and G2 branding, although this time involving multiple different colour schemes, subgroup names, identities and even allegiances! 1993 saw the release of both the European G1 Aquaspeeders (pictured here) alongside the G2 Color Changers (I’ll adopt the American spelling in this case!). However, although the moulds are identical, all four toys were repainted to various degrees, with some looking very different to their continental cousins (especially G2 Jetstorm, which is black and aquamarine, as opposed to G1 Aquafend’s magenta and dark green). Equally, Hasbro gave them all entirely new individual names to go with the updated team title, and two of them became faction-swapped into Decepticons, leading to a very different line-up overall. What made this even more confusing was that two of the names – Deluge and Jetstorm – were used for both sets of releases… but on different moulds in each instance! So G1 Deluge is the second from the left above, but G2 Deluge uses the toy design second from the right. Try wrapping your head around that when you go completionist on all this!

We’re not done yet, though, because, of course, all four Euro G1 specimens saw re-release for the rebooted 1994 range, meaning they exist as different region G2 examples in both colour schemes and additionally as G1 toys for the line-up shown above.

#3: Stormtroopers

If you’re still with me, the Stormtroopers are at least a little easier to understand than their 1993 water-squirting opponents, the Aquaspeeders! These toys remained as European exclusives, never seeing release in North America in either generation, despite featuring the exact same gimmicks as their Autobot equivalents. Clearly, Hasbro determined they only needed four of the eight available toys and thus split the good-guy crew in two for a partially faction-swapped solution, which is a shame as these rival releases are pretty spectacular in their own right. Still, they have a claim to being both G1 and G2 as they also saw release in 1994 under the new banner, and there’s yet more confusion into the bargain given one of their number, Drench, features the same name as a member of the American G2 Color Changers (who also happens to be the mould used by the aforementioned Deluge, somehow adding yet more complexity to an already chaotic situation!).

#2: Obliterators

Obliterator? I hardly… ok, now’s not the time! Anyway, we’re nearly at the end, and it’s relatively – but not entirely – plain sailing from here on out. Feast your eyes on two of the finest toy designs of the entire early ’90s era with this pair of undeniable beauties. Pyro and Clench first debuted in 1993 as what I consider to be the spiritual successors to Rotorstorm and Stalker, given they stand around the same stature, feature many similar design elements and boast a comparable level of charm and in-hand appeal. Though one is good and one is evil, they share a cross-faction gimmick, that being how the rear half of their sizeable vehicle forms transform into rather imposing-looking battle platforms with firing missiles! They’re honestly some of my absolute favourites from Generation 1 as a whole, and despite Pyro sadly so commonly succumbing to the dreaded GPS, I would otherwise wholeheartedly recommend them.

Anyway, it’s another example where they have a claim to being both G1 and G2, despite initially seeing release as the former during their ’93 debut (albeit with the updated faction logos). However, for their 1994 re-release, they were rather inexplicably given new names into the bargain – now Spark and Colossus respectively – although these updated monikers have been all but forgotten about since. To me, though, they’ll always be pure latter-day G1 goodness, representing the finest of what the line had to offer in its dwindling days.

#1: Sparkabots

Finally, and to round off this list, we have a set of toys that are unequivocally Generation 2, given they were only ever released as such but still manage to cause confusion in their own way! Many will be familiar with the G1 Sparkabots and Firecons from 1988, tiny toys featuring simple transformations and a signature shared gimmick where running an embedded friction motor along a hard surface would produce a shower of sparks in a dazzling (and fairly worrisome) display. Well, they later saw a 1994 G2 re-release in bold new translucent colour schemes, now looking like suckable sweets more than anything! What’s unusual is that these were never part of the North American range, making them the sole second-generation European exclusives where the repainted moulds hadn’t originated as such (outside of the odd regional variant and also acknowledging the “Power Masters”, which were original Euro designs making their debut the following year). Add to that the Firecons were now also rebranded as Sparkabots (though they remained Decepticons, in a bit of a conundrum for naming conventions), and only two of the three designs from each team made the leap, leading to four toys overall. Still, when they ended up being this colourful, you’re not quibbling the details!

So that’s our list! Are you confused yet?

TTFN