Who is your favourite Autobot Car?

[Skullcruncher]

You are way off track now so please stop. FYI - He helped bring it back!

[Ozgardian]

You are way off track now so please stop. FYI - He helped bring it back!

Ok, this thread is officially tainted now. Transformers would've come back anyways without the help of this blasphermer(Mr. Bay)! FYI it was Us fans that kept the spark of Transformers from fading & on that note I thank you all. To keep on track I voted for Tracks (no pun intended), just can't beat a flying car. Always wished Override had made an appearance in the G1 cartoon as he was the only other flying car for the Autobots. Why are Override, Camshaft & Downshift not in this poll?

[GoktimusPrime]

Ok, this thread is officially tainted now. Transformers would've come back anyways without the help of this blasphermer(Mr. Bay)! FYI it was Us fans that kept the spark of Transformers from fading & on that note I thank you all.

That, and a little company in Cincinnati called Kenner. It had been acquired by Hasbro by the 1990s and by the mid 90s Hasbro had practically given up on Transformers after the dismal failure of Transformers Generation 2. The Transformers franchise was then given to Kenner who were then tasked with doing something with the brand. That way, if Transformers continued to tank, it would look like Kenner's fault and Hasbro's name wouldn't be tarnished (initial TF packaging from Kenner only featured the Kenner logo). Kenner did this amazing thing called market research, and discovered that, following the craze of 1993's blockbuster Jurassic Park, kids at the time were more into animals and dinosaurs than vehicles. Beast Wars Transformers was born. As we remember, the Transformers franchise was practically dead in 1995. A few toy stores were still clogged with shelf-warming G2 toys, but most stores had none because retail buyers had stopped ordering TF stock ages ago. I remember walking into a TRU looking for the G2 Axelerators and when I asked a staff member where the Transformers were, he told me, "Transformers? I don't think they make those anymore." Rage... building! And I did find where the Axelerators were that day... only one left, and I bought it. And even though Beast Wars first came out in 1996, retail buyers were slow to regain confidence and a lot of stores didn't carry stock until 1997. I found my first BW TF in a little independent toy store, but it wouldn't be until 1997 when Transformers stock became readily available everywhere, making it much easier to find and purchase toys!

Then the sales figures came in. By 1997 Transformers had risen to become the third best selling toy line after Toy Story and Star Wars. Hasbro was no longer embarrassed by Transformers and by 1998 they'd put the "Transformers" logo on top of "Beast Wars" in larger print. In 1999 they even put the Hasbro logo back on the packaging, now proud enough to visibly take ownership of the Transformers brand (but thanks Kenner, we'll never forget what you did! ). From Beast Wars, Transformers went from strength to strength and it was because of the increasing strength of the Transformers franchise that, in 2003, Hasbro announced that they would go ahead with making a live action Transformers movie.

Now this isn't to detract from the importance that Bay's movies have played on the franchise either. The films have significantly boosted the Transformers franchise, with toy sales doubling in the year after the 2007 film came out. But in effect, the film franchise took what was already a robust Transformers franchise and made it super-strong. Kudos. But Beast Wars took a dead franchise and resurrected it. Super kudos (and happy 20th Anniversary, Beast Wars!).

To keep on track I voted for Tracks (no pun intended), just can't beat a flying car. Always wished Override had made an appearance in the G1 cartoon as he was the only other flying car for the Autobots. Why are Override, Camshaft & Downshift not in this poll?

Camshaft and Downshift are Omnibots, who aren't part of the Autobot Car sub-group. I'm talking about "Cars" as a sub-group, not as a descriptor of their alt mode. These are the toys which Hasbro explicitly marketed as "Cars" in the catalogues. Also, the Omnibots are derived from Diaclone's Double Changer series, whereas the Autobot Cars come from Diaclone's Car Robot line. The Omnibots did briefly appear in the G1 manga, but they never appeared in any Anglophone continuity during the original G1 run.

Override's not included because he's a Triggerbot who transforms into a Suzuki touring motorcycle. Override make several appearances in the Marvel Comics... although he was killed by G2 Megatron. Don't worry, I do intend on making more polls for other sub-groups in the near future.

[Sinnertwin]

Trailbreaker.
I've got the reissue sitting on my coffee table at home now

[PROVOST]

Bluestreak / Prowl / Smokescreen