While they were waiting for Beast Machines to be completed so they could bring it over, Takara decided to produce their own Transformers line, called Car Robot. (The name is an homage to one of the Diaclone sublines.) It featured new and old molds (many really old) for the Cybertrons and Destrons and was kind of Beast Machines in reverse. Instead of heroic Maximals versus evil Vehicons it brought back the Autobots and Predacons to do battle, just under their Japanese names. Later the Predacons would get vehicle allies, which led to the return of Decepticons. It’s a transition between the waning “Beast Era” and the return of vehicles, although outside of the movie line all you got were vehicles and the occasional robotic animal. Outside of Beast Wars homages the organic animal alt mode are pretty much dead.
Meanwhile, after Beast Machines Hasbro had planned their own vehicular line but continuing the continuity unlike Car Robot, which was the start of a brand new continuity. I find that odd given their comics usually continued the G1/Beast continuity. There have been other continuities since but Japan hasn’t really let that go. Hasbro’s idea however was to be called Transtech, and while it also would bring back vehicles the idea was to make technorganic vehicles, much like the Maximals of Beast Machines. For whatever reason the idea was scrapped. (My guess is they couldn’t figure out how to take the story in this direction.)
To make up for the time needed to create a replacement line and wanting a new main series Hasbro opted to just import Car Robot as a sort of filler line called Robots In Disguise, an homage to the line from the classic theme song. (The toy package slogan was “more than meets the eye”.) While they would thrown in a few reused molds of their own (I’ll get to those someday over at The Clutter Reports) they were the same reissued and new molds of Car Robots. Of course, Hasbro would bring the name back for yet another line in the 2010s but we aren’t there yet, as well as IDW using the name for one of their Transformers comic series just to add to the confusion. Each show only had one intro, which is easier on me. This should be a short one.
See you tomorrow.
