First Transformers was a portentous attempt to indoctrinate 2-5 year old children into the plastic robot obsession. Initially marketed by Hasbro in 1986 and Takara the following year, the line included three nameless Transformers.
The stars of First Transformers were designed in a cute, sturdy fashion and sold by Hasbro subsidiary Playskool. The line featured a large dump truck, a red race car, and a white airplane-thing. All were cast in primary colors and decorated with some large, bright stickers. They bore an emblem reminiscent of a rounded, blushing Autobot symbol. Their transformations were designed to be simple and easy for young children’s small hands to perform, however they are a great deal more nuanced than many main-line releases since, including large proportions of One-Step figures introduced in 2014’s Age of Extinction.
First Transformers quickly faded to obscurity, forgotten by G1 fans who never thought to trawl the preschool toy aisles, though Hasbro would be sure to try to connect to the innocent young again in the future. The three blocky heroes were re-issued in 1993, with slightly altered decos and new sticker colors (thoug not nearly as dissimilar as the contemporary G2’ reimagined ‘80s toys). After this and one more furtive attempt to bring Transformers to the youngest children, Playskool would finally hit on a winning toyline with Big Adventures / Go-Bots in 2002. Beyond being the first such attempt, these three adorable mystery bots remain in relative obscurity. However, given that IDW comics is running out of obscure Transformers to feature prominently in its storylines, be on the lookout for these three!
