In 1993, Hasbro hooked the jumper cables to its landmark brand, and tried to revive and revamp The Transformers for a new decade. Now operating under "Hasbro Toy" in the US, it released Generation 2. Bright colors, italics, and plastic clamshell packaging were in, and Hasbro decked out the robots with all of these. Using the new logos designed by the European division, Hasbro tested the waters by issuing several 1984 and 1985 molds with a couple modern add-ons like electronics and firing projectiles. Basically, the sales gimmicks that were being applied to G.I. Joe (especially Battle Corps) throughout the same period were being used on the Transformers.
As the year wore on, Hasbro trickled out some new designs, each fitting into gimmick-centered subgroups, such as the Color Changers. Almost all of these designs were a subset of the new toys for Europe's ongoing Generation 1. The series eventually became supported by a short comic book series and a halfhearted TV series (re-edited Generation 1 episodes) in the US.
In Europe, Generation 1 carried on in an official capacity, despite adoptiong many of the trademarks of G2's new look. Many new molds were introduced, going above and beyond the scant few new designs sold in the US. However, the redeco original characters from the US were omitted in Europe for now.
In Japan, the line had finally died. Takara, while still cooperating with Hasbro, decided to focus on its Brave Series for the time being. Brave Series, supported by a traditional mecha anime, coincidentally used many recycled Transformers designs for its toys. For now, there was no reason to produce or revive Transformers in the Japanese market.
