Transformers was the name of the successor series to Revenge of the Fallen, but branched into one of the oddest Transformers toylines in memory. Referred to internally as “Autobot Alliance” (expanding on the concepts of Autobots and humans working together as a military force), the toyline was originally thought by fans to be called “Hunt for the Decepticons” (HFTD). However, this was simply a promotion within the series. Before long, the toyline changed style altogether, to the new subline “Reveal the Shield” (RTS). Both Reveal the Shield and Hunt for the Decepticons are part of “Transformers”. To remove confusion, it is often denoted as “Transformers (2010 toyline)”. It should also be noted that “TF 2010” can be confused to mean the second portion of the Japanese Generation 1 cycle, Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: 2010, and should not be used.
With THAT out of the way…Transformers started out looking very much like an extension of ROTF, much in the way that “Allspark Battles” was the final segment of the Movie toyline. It included many redecos and retools of ROTF molds, and introduced new molds of Movie universe characters. Even the packaging looked similar, differentiated primarily by a palette shift from red to yellow. The toys fit into only the primary size classes, leaving ancillary classes behind, or launching them into their own toylines. During the HFTD promotion (corresponding to the movie-style toys), each figure came with a special code that could be entered online for additional content. The primary focus was a series of online games.
During the Reveal the Shield subline, characters were equipped with a good old-fashioned rubsign, although in the shape of the inner black “shield” with no silver border. Further, the RTS packaging did not give any actual information on the figure's allegiance- the buyer had to “reveal the shield” to find out. The series was scantly differentiated from the contemporary waves of Generations, since many of its figures represented reimaginings of Generation One characters. In fact, many molds were shared directly between the two toylines as redecos.
The primary enduring contribution of Transformers (2010 toyline), however, was the creation of Breacher, believed by the author to be one of the finest Transformers toy designs ever.
The line was cancelled somewhat abruptly at the end of the year, as retailers curtailed ordering until the new Dark of the Moon toys could be released. This initially caused great scarcity in the US of the final toys from the line, until the already-produced stock was dumped on the market through discount retailers sometime later.