I find it hard to remember things clearly from such a young age.

I am pretty certain that my first Transformers were Ravage and Rumble, received as Christmas presents in 1984. They were definitely Christmas presents and I recall Ravage's tail being broken accidentally at my birthday party in 1985 which means it would have to be Christmas Day 1984. Rumble is in very poor condition, but except for the tail and some chrome wear, Ravage is still in good shape.

I remember the first Transformers I bought were Powerglide and Gears from the Target store at Waverley Gardens. Gears' leg broke (possibly by my own excessive force) and my Dad took it back and it was replaced with Beachcomber. And I later got a new Gears a few months later who to this day still hasn't broken.

Ratchet, Perceptor, Mixmaster and Bonecrusher were all Christmas presents in the early years too but I assume they were from Christmas 1985, rather than 1984.