Transformers: Robots in Disguise returned Transformers to its roots, at the same time breaking sharply with the previous Beast Era lines while setting important precedents both in terms of fiction and design. When Hasbro abandoned plans for Transtec, the successor to Beast Machines, they made the decision to import the then current Japanese Car Robots line.(Saix) From a fictional perspective, this would prove to be a taste of things to come. Robots in Disguise has no fictional ties to Beast Wars or the Generation 1 cartoon continuity whatsoever, making the series the first full reboot in the history of the brand. After RID, almost every new transformers franchise would be a reboot of some sort. From the perspective of toy design, RID was much more traditional. Although it still included several characters with animal alternate modes, most of the cast transformed into real earth vehicles, ranging from cars to trains to construction vehicles. For a toy line as small as it is, RID has lots going on. Although the franchise itself is often considered somewhat forgettable, especially when compared with such titans as Armada and Beast Wars, it manages to explore with many intriguing concepts and achieved considerable influence on subsequent lines.
The most defining feature of the 2001 Robots in Disguise toyline is its diversity. Although many of the primary show characters were new mold figures drawn from the Takara Car Robots line, many others were redecos of figures from almost every other franchise in the brand; “Robots in Disguise included molds from Generation 1, Generation 2, Beast Wars, Machine Wars, and Beast Machines—in other words, every American toyline that had been produced to that point.” (Saix) What this means is that the line includes a huge variety of gimmicks, complexity, and articulation in its figures. At the simpler end of the spectrum were the Spy Changers, many of which were imported directly from the Generation 2 line. (ZacWilliam) These figures featured 3-4 step transformations from a hot wheels style car to a very simple robot with articulation only at the shoulders. On the more complex side of things, we find the massive Super Class Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus figures, which have very involved, partsforming transformation schemes, intricate weaponry, and also combine with each other.(Derik, ItsWalky) While it makes sense to talk about some overarching features of the line, many size classes don’t have unifying elements. Because of the widespread use of multipacks, for example a pack of two basic figures from Machine Wars and G2 sold at the deluxe price point, it is also difficult to say exactly what constitutes a size class.(Saix) As a result, our basic unit of analysis will not be the size class, but rather the loose groups of toys that share similarities. For example, the Autobot brothers all share real car alternate modes and intricate, shellforming transformation schemes, while their fellow deluxe class toys, the build team, feature similar designs on account of their flexible combination mechanic.(Interrobang, Omegalink)
One of the other consequences of the diversity of molds present in RID is a corresponding diversity of factions. Instead of the usual two, there are three factions present in the Hasbro version of the show; the Autobots, the Decepticons, and the Predacons. (Saix) The series marks the first use of the iconic original factions since the end of G1. (Nova81426) In many ways, this return to the origins of the brand is intuitive, as it is accompanied by the aforementioned realistic vehicle modes found on many characters. Although there are more factions, each of them has fewer members. There are a mere five Predacons present, and six Decepticons. (Nova81426) Despite the presence of both Autobots and Decepticons, the initial conflict is between the Autobots and the Predacons, a completely unprecedented pairing. (Nova81426) Moreover, the Predacons and Autobots are completely unconnected with any of their previous incarnations. Although Megatron is a Predacon, his motivations and character are completely distinct from Beast Wars Megatron. (DrSpengler, Megatron) Similarly, none of the other predacons are pre-existing characters. (Nova81426) The use of different factions in RID is an excellent microcosm of the franchise as a whole; it uses old elements and recombines them into something unprecedented.
As mentioned earlier, one of the defining characteristics of RID is the return of earth based vehicle modes. Although Beast Machines had reintroduced vehicles to the brand the previous year, all of them were cybertronian.(Monzo) RID is the first time since the end of the initial G1/G2 lines that transformers characters turned into recognizable cars.(Saix) Although much of our discussion of Beast Wars was centered around its lasting influence, it did not manage to fully transition transformers away from vehicles and towards animal based alternate modes. In returning to the more traditional cars and trains and construction vehicles, RID laid the groundwork for what would prove to be a permanent pivot back to vehicle focused lines. However, even in this traditional move, RID demonstrated its characteristic willingness to use successful elements from multiple points in the brand. As we have already noted, RID featured the Predacon faction; these figures were, with the exception of Megatron, redecos of Transmetal 2 figures from Beast Wars. (Saix) RID did not dedicate itself entirely to vehicular figures; rather, it opted for a mix of vehicles and robotic animals, much as G1 had so many years earlier. In many ways, this would prove to set the tone for most subsequent toylines. Although primarily focused on cars and such, lines such as Armada and Universe left themselves the option of including more animal themed characters if that became appropriate. In this, RID’s mix and match philosophy of toy design would prove very influential.
Like Beast Wars before it, once RID proved successful, Hasbro sought to pad the end of the line with other figures. Unlike Beast Wars, this primarily took the form of exclusives, such as KB Toys exclusive Destructicon Bludgeon, a redeco of G2 Megatron. (Saix) However, RID did employ two of the other strategies Beast Wars used, namely redecoing figures from earlier in the line and revitalizing unreleased molds for which much development had already been done. For example, many of the KB Toys exclusives were redecos of the already released Spy Changers, and figures such as Air Attack Optimus Primal and Megatron Megabolt were Beast Machines figures that had gone unreleased due to the truncation of the line. (Saix)
The three ‘Autobot brothers’ are among the most iconic molds and characters to arise from the RID toyline. The three deluxe class molds each employed intricate shellforming to achieve hyper accurate earth vehicle modes. These molds, Sideburn in particular, are notorious for their high level of transformation difficulty. The Autobot brothers represent the first time that the strategy of shellforming had been applied to cars. In some respects, these figures presage the complexity of the subsequent 2007 movie line, and the widespread use of that same technique of shellforming to achieve hyper-realistic licenced vehicle modes. Although influence is often conceived as having elements of a design present in subsequent works, these molds are arguably the most influential in what they caused to be omitted from subsequent designs. Although the Movie figures would rely heavily on shellforming, the highly asymmetrical designs of the Autobot brothers are notably absent. Similarly, one of the most difficult features of the Autobot brothers is that it is often unclear or unintuitive where a specific part is supposed to end up in vehicle mode; later movie figures developed a coherent design language (eg. arms go on the side of the car) that made it much easier to figure out a figure’s transformation simply by fiddling with it. It could be argued that these figures represent Takara’s designers beginning to learn their way around these sorts of designs, providing both the tools and ability to execute the movie line successfully all those years later. Even here, RID mixes two preexisting design elements, namely shellforming and car based alternate modes, to create something novel.
After the 1997 Beast Wars line, combiners had been largely absent from Transformers toylines until RID. RID featured no fewer than three different combiner teams. The first of these Team Bullet Train, a set of three robots with shinkansen altmodes that combined into Rail Racer. They were among the last toys to use the Mega price point; after RID, the size class that had struggled throughout Beast Wars and Beast Machines was discontinued entirely as part of a revamp of the size class structure.(Singularity) Even Team Bullet Train themselves were not fully in this size class; “The Bullet Trains, which were developed with Takara’s flexible pricing structure, really did not fit into Hasbro’s more rigid existing price-points, budget-wise. They cost too much to be sold as Deluxes, but weren’t really up to Mega-costs.” (M Sipher, Railspike) They are also one of the vanishingly few novel combiner architectures in the history of the brand; most combiners are of the ‘scramble city’ type, where four interchangeable limb robots are attached to a central body. (Steve-o) Three robot combiners are comparatively uncommon. (Steve-o).
The second group of combiners from RID were the deluxe class build team. Three of the four team members shared much engineering, as any two of them could form the legs of the combiner, with the third forming the arms.(Omegalink) This architecture is also extremely uncommon. (Steve-o) It is of particular note that the Build Team represents an entirely different concept of interchangeable combiner, completely distinct from the scramble city architecture. Unlike much of the rest of the line, the Build Team does not turn into any specific earth vehicles; rather, they turn into generic construction vehicles of no particular make or model.
The third and final combiner team present in RID were the Decepticon Commandos. (M Sipher, Commandos). These figures are noteworthy for being essentially the only Decepticon characters in the show; aside from that, they are straightforward redecos of the G1 Combaticon figures.
Aside from the Commandos, there was one other Decepticon figure present in the line. In the cartoon, Scourge was a Decepticon based on Optimus Prime; in the toyline, he was a redco of the G2 Laser Optimus figure. ()Scourge is the earliest mainstream figure to sport a deco that would become infamous over the history of the brand. After the release of this figure, it became common practice to rerelease Optimus Prime and other Autobots in black, teal and red decos to represent an evil version of the character.(Andrusi)
Three mildly interesting asides; First, RID is one of the more show accurate toylines around. (williamjames-88) Second, it contains the mold with the most alternate modes of any in the history of the brand; the Galvatron use of the Megatron mold clocks in at 10 official alternate modes. (DrSpengler, Megatron) Third, RID introduced one of very few characters in the history of the brand to become arguably as popular as G1 staples; Sky Byte, the comic relief villain. Everyone’s favorite charmingly inept, haiku composing flying shark has appeared in subsequent franchises and comics, and, unlike almost every other minor character from obscure franchises, continues to receive figures to this day. Not too shabby, all things considered. (M Sipher, Sky-Byte)
Although Robots in Disguise is not the most famous Transformers toyline, nor the most fondly remembered, it did make its share of contributions to the brand as a whole. RID was able to combine many existing elements of the brand, such as Decepticons, shellforming, tail end exclusives and others, into something new and effective. Although it featured Autobots and Decepticons, it shared effectively no characters with any previous continuity. Although alternate modes were now vehicular, the complex engineering of Beast Wars and Beast Wars Neo found its way into the designs. Indeed, in its capacity as the first reboot in the brand, and because of its tendency to poach successful elements and figures from other lines, RID paved the way for almost every subsequent Transformers franchise.
Works Cited
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Transformers Aesthetics 