Transformers was launched in 1984, but the history of many of the toys actually goes back slightly further. Many of them resembled real-life vehicles and are wonderful pieces of design they twist and swing and snap into place in a highly satisfactory manner, providing a sense of accomplishment the first time the toy is successfully transformed. The clever combination of robot and vehicle toys, and the often-complicated series of movements required to change between the two modes, ensured that Transformers were some of the most popular children’s toys of the mid-1980s. The name ‘Transformers’ comes from the robots’ ability to transform their mechanical bodies to alternate modes, resembling cars, aeroplanes, animals and many, many other things. Copyright Victoria and Albert Museum, London These represented piloted rather than sentient robots, hence his lacking a proper head. B.105-1994, Copyright Victoria and Albert Museum, London Ironhide, a character derived from the Diaclone range of toys made by Takara. Ironhide, the Autobots’ second in command, shown transformed with his ‘battle sled’. At this point, their war resumed on earth. They lay deactivated inside the Autobots’ spaceship, beneath a volcano, for four million years, until awakened by an eruption in 1984. Transformers came to Earth by accident: a chase through an asteroid field caused them all to crash-land in North America. The differences between these two factions are absolute: Autobots are peace-loving, kind and curious about humanity Decepticons are bellicose, authoritarian and contemptuous of other lifeforms. Transformers are alien robots hailing from the planet Cybertron, a metallic world riven by aeons of civil war between Heroic Autobots and Evil Decepticons.

Transformer gun toy