No, we weren't that slow!
Here's a picture of me taken in July 1986 and you can see G1 Hot Rod (a 1986 figure) there. I got quite a few other 1986 figures that year too (including a lot of Kups cos that toy was a horrid shelfwarmer and Grace Bros. discounted them to $5 each so my mum just went and bought a truck load of them (for the next year or so all my relos and friends received a Kup for their bday, Xmas etc.)).
This photo was taken in 1989, and you can see some 1989 TFs there like Pretender Bumblebee, Pincher, and some Micromasters.
There were a LOT more toys out that are out of frame (maybe about 80-90 TFs), but my mum who took the photo just wanted to get us in the frame, so unfortunately most of the toys weren't captured on film.![]()