Generation 2

The Transformers: Generation 2
Logo
Genre	Science fiction Action Adventure
Production company(s)	Takara-Tomy / Hasbro

The Transformers: Generation 2 (also known as Generation Two or G2) was a Transformers television series which ran from 1992–1994, in conjunction with a corresponding toy line and comic book series. The prior Transformer television series, comic books and toys became known as 'Generation 1' or G1 retroactively, and are now officially referred to as such by toymaker Hasbro, even though the term was never used during the days of G1. Generation 2 was discontinued as the first Beast Wars: Transformers toys began hitting the shelves.

Generation 2 Transformers toys were, for the first two years, reissued versions of G1 toys from the 1980s. Some of them were given new spring-powered missile launchers or electronic accessories with flashing lights and sounds, and many of them sported new, vivid color schemes. The trade dress for the toy line included a new logo with alternate Autobot and Decepticon symbols.

Because the G1 toys released during G2 represented only a small fraction of the existing G1 toy line, many of the characters featured in the show did not have G2 counterparts in stores. The fact that many of the color schemes were radically altered meant that these characters no longer matched their animated counterparts. 1994, the second year of Generation 2, featured all-new characters, including European toys that had never been offered in America.

In 1995, the final year of Generation 2 saw many of the toys in its line packaged on cards that did not carry the "Generation 2" subtitle under the Transformers name. The two most prominent lines under this banner were the Cyberjets and the Go-Bots (using a trademark acquired by Hasbro from Tonka). The Go-Bots were 1:64 scale cars (compatible with some Hot Wheels and Matchbox tracks) with working axles that transformed into equally small robots. There were initially six different Go-Bot styles produced, all of which were eventually given new colors and were assigned the names of G1 characters. The Cyberjets were small jet planes with missile launchers, and among the first Transformers to incorporate snap-together ball-and-socket articulated joints for the robot mode. There were three designs available in a total of six styles, three Autobots and three Decepticons. Interestingly, two of the Autobot Cyberjets (Jetfire and Strafe) were decorated with G2 Decepticon symbols on their tail fins.

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