The New Transformer Toys

What’s the difference between the old Generation 1 Transformer toys and the new ones? To find out, we asked Hasbro’s toy designer, Aaron Archer.

GEN. 1

GEN. 2

Jazz
AARON ARCHER: “The G1 version of Jazz transformed into a Porsche race car, complete with number and sponsor decals. For the flick, we kept him sporty, but went with a Pontiac Solstice.”

GEN. 1

GEN. 2

Bumblebee
AARON ARCHER: “Michael Bay and the writers wanted to make Bumblebee cool and relevant, so they went with a concept Camaro instead of a Volkswagen Beetle. But he’s still got the yellow paint job and the same head shape from the ’80s.”

GEN. 1

GEN. 2

Optimus Prime
AARON ARCHER: “Since

Optimus is the hero, we remained loyal to his original design—he’s a

truck, his chest is red [accented with flames], and his head is the

same. But in order to make it believable that a thirtysomething-foot

robot could physically manipulate itself from the vehicle’s parts, we

used a long-nose truck instead of a short nose. The toy’s just a

scaled-down replica.”

GEN. 1

GEN. 2

Starscream
AARON ARCHER: “We

upgraded Starscream from an F-15 to and F-22 fighter jet, so we took

him a little further away from his G1 roots. The robot looks much

different too. We figured we could get away with some reinvention since

he doesn’t get a lot of on-screen time.”

GEN. 1

GEN. 2

Megatron
AARON ARCHER: “Megatron

is way different. For a movie about a space invasion we basically had

to design the scariest robot ever. He also transforms into an alien

jet, cause you can’t have your villain transforming into a tiny pistol!”