@@glenngriffon8032 meh not a big fan of action masters but most of the new characters of it are interesting and appeared on tv and the comics I'll give you that
I digress. It happened when they released the g1 mini cons. They had the reveal the badge sticker and also didn't transform. They were just pocket size figures.
@@misterbadguy7325 I'm probably alot older than you. Sit down. They were reveal the badge figures. They didn't transform. They were made to be pocketable. I forget what age I was. Towards the end of elementary school. So like 10 or 11?
@@iankelly4008 What were they named? Do you mean clones? Those rubbery things? They didn't have rubsigns. Mini-Spies are the closest to what you refer to (they were small, had rubsigns and usually came with other figures), and they absolutely could transform. I mean, you don't know me, so frankly, why do you think you're older? If anything, being older would be a bad thing, since it seems like you're running on extremely bad memories.
It (alongside Micro-Masters) wouldn't be bad idea, if series would be a spin off. But for some reason Hasbro insisted on incorporating obvious gimmicks into the lore, even if Head-Masters were initially widely unpopular. As far as shows go, not the toys.
It was actually really exciting when I was a kid to finally have a Megatron, Soundwave and Shockwave toy, even if they were Action Masters. I also loved the extra articulation which made them so playable and having more cartoon accurate designs. It was the scale more than anything that bothered me. Devastator and Bumblebee being the same size for example.
They could have addressed that by having a figure of, say, Scrapper, rather than Devastator. Scale was one drawback, but so was proportion. Giving them more human proportions should make them look better to our eyes, but by then we knew what proper Transformers proportions were, and that means having a tiny head! ;)
As someone who fell out of Transformers fandom during this time period, I was surprised by how DETAILED these little guys were. Like, normally when you think "smaller action figure that removes the central gimmick to be more affordable", what comes to mind are those little, blocky, sometimes unpainted knock-off figures. These? Someone put legit time and attention into their design and I can respect that dedication.
Despite how coldly received the idea was back in the day, it's at least nice to see a gimmick as "controversial" as Action Masters still have some following and even have a chance to continue in some small way that isn't gelled into the main line. Best of all some characters have made it back and have had a chance to be fleshed out so as not completely fall into obscurity. As ever Chris, good stuff!
Also my mom was a single working mom and she was no able to get transformers regular toys for how expensive they were and she got me this line i still take care of them and the started my toy collecting till this day great video
The Action Masters inadvertently saved Transformers by making Hasbro realize that people actually cared about the Transformers as characters, and not just product names
@Foxfire Inferno Optimus did receive more toys during G1 and G2. It's usually explained as him getting injured and having to be rebuild into a new, more powerful body.
Macadam isn't sold on his own, though. He's more in line with the Build-a-Figure gimmick, as you need to buy all eight Cyberverse Deluxe figures to assemble him.
@Screaming Soldier She also got a toy in TFCC (I think) that was a repaint of TFP first edition arcee. It was sold in a two-pack with rampage, who was a repaint of TFP first edition megatron.
it just goes to show, Even if 1 gimmick didn't work, it doesn't mean the end of everything. After Action Masters I believe Generation 2 and Machine Wars was the next line up and it did moderately well, but the big change and return to form for the franchise would be when the Beast Wars line came out. From there it had 1 road bump with the Beast Machines era before getting a second wind with Car Robots and later the Armada line up and ever since then the franchise has still be going. Moral of the story: Don't ever let 1 set back be the end, it's just another thread in the tapestry that is your work/life. Keep trying things and be innovative and daring, but don't be reckless. (thanks for another great video Chris!)
I myself was first introduced to the Action Masters via a commercial bonus feature on my Deluxe Edition DVD box set for Season 1 of the original cartoon. At the time, I was pretty befuddled as to why they'd make non-transforming Transformer figures. But, over time, I've come to better appreciate the Action Masters, and personally feel that they deserve more attention. :)
You should do an episode talking about the when Transformers and Star Wars had like crab location on figures where they had transforming ships from Star Wars
The only Soundwave I was ever able to find when I was a kid was the action master. Thankfully that was been remedied, however, I do have very fond memories of playing with the non-transformer.
Really, Soundwave is probably the G1 character who suffers the least from not being able to transform. (Not having his opening chest, on the other hand...)
Hah, I thought "religious, political or medical reasons" sounded familiar - that's a sentence I added (albeit in the opposite order) to TFWiki's Action Masters page!
Haha, genuine coincidence! I wrote the line, and happened to notice later that the wiki article was almost identical - thought about changing it entirely so people wouldn't think I was wiki-copying, but didn't!
I never owned many of the Action Masters but as a kid I liked them for two reasons. 1) The opportunity to own characters I'd never had the chance to own before and 2) having a more sort of "traditional" action figure i.e. a swiviling head and more possability in the legs. If only they had the idea of ball joints back then for the Action Master line because it did wonders for the TF lines that followed afterwards.
I remember these as a second chance to get some of my favourite characters that I wasn't able to get in the eighties. I had Shockwave, devastator, tracks and megatron
Was born in 91 so I totally missed out on them,especially since they probably weren’t being sold when I was old enough for toys, and my dad gave me some of his g1 toys and bought me g2 toys
I got a action master set that had Optimus from my buddy when we went through his old collections from the good ol days. Then to see this video I never knew this till today thanks Chris!
Let's be real, non-transforming figures are the only you can totally get screen or print accurate robots at a reasonable price point because they're not burdened by their transformation. The only other option would be the Masterpiece line but how often would you actually transform them back and forth, as well as their expensive price.
I don't know; taking out the basic fundamentals of the brand and its namesake is kinda going too far. What are supposed to call them ers? You do have some good points however.
As a kid I really liked having that level of articulation in a Transformers toy and being able to get characters I didn't have that hadn't been available for years like Shockwave, Soundwave, Megatron etc.
it would have been cool to have a sidestory of nucleon drunks losing the ability while on the stuff. then gradually find it more difficult to transform after extended benders, eventually getting stuck halfway, losing it entirely, etc. a PSA from a bot stuck half in truck mode: "nucleon, not even once."
I remember getting Jackpot and Sights as a kid from a local store, I still own him and dig him. The only other Action Master that I own is the utterly bonkers Devastator figure from the line, I was attracted to the weird fact that he's a massive combiner but is the same size of the rest of the Action Masters, weird character choice but cool toy.
Devastator was the only one I owned myself! I think I was won over by Scorpulator, I had a fondness for the critters that media taught me were "evil animals" as a kid!
This is gonna be a bad take but I'd like to see this gimmick being used for Power Rangers. Why not? This might be better for something a little action packed and would take the toyline of Power Rangers to new heights.
@@misterbadguy7325 I think the name of Action Masters on Transformers really left a bad taste. Megazords with more play patterns would be an intriguing take. And yeah, I just wanna see how Hasbro tackles this since non-transforming Megazords are cool.
Okay, I've worked out a headcanon for the Action Master Elites, they're former Triple Changers, while the nucleon fused the system needed for one alt-mode, the other mode's systems remain intact.
My first issue of the Transformers comic was when Grimlock went off in search of Nucleon to revive his fallen Dinobots. I managed to score the follow-up issue (a rarity for me at the time. . . for me to remember to look for and ask my parents or grandparents for the next issue in the series, and for them to agree to buy it at the time), but then I couldn't continue the series. It was a fun focus bit for Grimlock, though.
I owned a ton of them at a time. I loved Skyfall and Jackpot a lot, and Prowl's motorcycle was something I kept long after the rest of my figures were gone. I have often wished they would bring the unique characters back as Generations Selects figures with alt-modes. I would buy those up in a heartbeat.
Man, I loved Action Masters! Action Master Bumblebee was my first actual Bumblebee toy. I loved him a lot as a kid, but never thought to specifically ask for a Bee because I had friends that had Bee and I'd just play with theirs. I lost him moving from Germany to the US, so I eventually bought him again when I was older- when eBay auctions were more "I don't want this anymore, get it out my house" and less "I want all the money I can get for this" haha! We also had Mainframe and Skyfall, so I'm particularly fond of them as well. Actionmaster Thundercracker always has a gorgeous color scheme! : D
Wow, actually this is a part in Transformers history I completely missed out on. This whole episode was complete news to me. Thanks for filling in the gap.
Me at beginning of the video: "How the hell is he gonna get any kind of interesting video out of such a blip in the history of the franchise???" Me at end of the video: "Oh snap, son." =o
Personally I'm fascinated by the Decepticon Action Master Treadshot. According to tfwiki, he was based on a toy that I presume Hasbro attempted to get the rights to, but couldnt for whatever reason? He apparently would have transformed into a .357 Magnum. It's an interesting story if nothing else
I loved the fact that they were unintentionally modular. I'd constantly pop off arms and legs and swap them around as power ups and customizations when I was playing.
Oh man, I loved my Action Masters! I didn’t get into Transformers until my Grandma bought me my first ones. I had a whole bunch of the Action Masters before Gen 2 came along and brought back the Classic Transformers with new paint Jobs.
great video as always chris! personally I'm not interested in non transforming transformers, but I do really love the designs of a lot of the action master original characters and enjoy seeing them made into traditional transformers, one thing that i really love about late g1 is all the wild new characters it was constantly creating, still holding my breath for generations laser rods!
*Hasbro meeting board in 1989* *Chairman #1:* Gentlemen, TF is dying and we need new ideas to keep afloat! *Chairman #2:* What if we make Transformers not Transformers? *Chairman #1:* #2, that's a... BRILLIANT IDEA!
I bloody love Action Masters. Yeah, they don't fulfil the promise of the brand name but they look great and they were affordable for a poor kid. In fact, my only solo TF: Mosaic comic starred Jackpot. Nice treat to finally see that Grimlock page in the correct colours too, thanks Chris!
Remember when you wanted transformers as a kid, but your mom just got you generic action figures? It was me Barry. I convinced Hastak to replace their entire toyline with action masters!
I didn't even know Action Masters existed until the early 2000s when I started collecting the Cybertronian toy guide. By 1990 I had moved on to collecting Batman toys and reading comic books, Spider-Man being my favorite. I do remember seeing the Transformers comic available for subscription in one of my Spidey comics around that time and thinking to myself, "This is still a thing?" Transformers would slowly but surly come back into my life in the mid 90s as I started collecting vintage toys, Generation 2 toys and even Machine Wars toys.
I personally love the line it was the thing that started my current collection till this day i still have them and because of them i love transformers so much i always like the transformers line but lack of articulation and the so much different of scale drove me of getting this figures and today i got almost all the characters of the g1 line updated version since the classic line that gave us transformation and articulation and detail and that all stated with action masters so love them and keep them forever
Back in 97-98 I was one of the early transformers collectors who used internet stores and eBay to buy and sell them. Since there was no market for action masters, I collected a lot of them. I liked them the way we like statuettes and legends figures today. They didn’t transform but they displayed nicely as good representations of the characters. Plus I didn’t really care if the hot sun damaged or anything like that. I guarded my “actual” transformers carefully to maintain them and only displayed ones I had a a a kid since they were already in played with condition and had a history with me. Looking back now I still like the action master line that way, and I’m glad people have started to appreciate them more.
Given how limited the articulation in G1-era Transformers tended to be, I can understand why Hasbro thought sacrificing the transforming feature in favor of more posability was a good idea. In hindsight, it could have worked if it wasn't the only Transformers line available that year.
I often roll my eyes when people scoff at the non-transforming figure lines, toting the principal of a figure transforming is worth more to them than anything the figure could gain by not having to, while at the same time most likely keeping shelves and/or display cases full of figures left in one mode or the other never to be touched again. To me the character a figure represents takes priority, their alt mode and transformation is secondary, so I'd happily sacrifice those things to have a better robot mode with more articulation that's not weighed down by the budgeted necessity to change into a vehicle... the problem being that any time someone does this it is either a mega expensive premium collectors item, or a cheap as hell pile of nonsense that doesn't live up to the potential, and it is beyond aggravating that there is just no decent middle ground.
As a kid I thought the Action Masters idea was stupid and never asked for any; however I somehow wound up with a second-hand figure anyway (I think a cousin gave it to me). I could never figure out what character it was, but this video inspired me to finally look at a list of Action Masters and figure it out. (It turns out it was Inferno. He never made much of an impression on me, so I suppose it's not too surprising I didn't recognize him.)
About non-transforming toys… As of 2022, there is a form of Transformers that don’t transform which is doing well. And this kind of toy’s name is… PLASTIC. MODEL. KITS.
Well this was filling information about Action Masters. I'll say it's neat that handful of this Action Master characters get actual transforming toys in modern era. Fun Publication nailed some of them, matching they original robot looks with modern toy like Krok who used T30 Deluxe bomber Megatron mold which really matches Krok's Action Master look.
I never really owned any ACTION MASTERS but it was good to see how they had a toyline with everyone's favourite characters along with new characters but I guess it wouldn't be the same without any transformation on the robots.
I was not a big fan of the Action Masters originally, and like many blamed them for the end of G1 here in America. As time went on, I grew to like the concept more and more. I am working on a fanfic right now that fits the Action Masters smoothly into the G1 American cartoon timeline, albeit with some changes.
Incidentally I am surprised you didn't mention that Nucleon was the Titan Master head of Galvatron in the Titan's Return line who had unpredictable effects on those he bonded with.
I had the Sideswipe Action Master as a kid and I really wished I took better care of it so I could display it with my ROTF Jetfire Prime keychain and Sideswipe / Sideways ROTF Robot Heroes. I'm going to get at least the RED Prime Arcee; because I like to collect at least one Transformer from each line. I hope I can find a way to get the Flame Toys Kuro Kara Kuri IDW Stealth Bomber Megatron because that just looks SO AWESOME!!
From what I’ve seen of them online the old Action Master toys actually look pretty good, minus the arm articulation being more limited compared to GI Joe figures. But them being the main line of Transformers toys of that year definitely wasn’t a good idea. Them being just a sub-line definitely would have been a better option. Also, I remember seeing an alternate storyline/explanation for the Action Masters in a random toy catalog scan somewhere online. A nicely done informative video overall, Chris.
i LOVED the action masters when i was a kid, having toys of the cartoon characters that actually had a decent degree of articulation was so much fun. Sprocket is probably my favorite of this line
Actionmasters were kind of the first 'display' figures, seeing as most of them were styled to look like their animated or comic appearances rather than the toy figures.
Everyone way back "Transformers... that do NOT transform? What, what, WHAT???!!!" I got Actionmaster Optimus Prime for Christmas way back when I was like 4 years. It was awesome! I am often looking out for a good and complete one to add it back to my current collection, as well as getting Megatron and his Fusion tank!
I had received a couple of the big guys like Prime and Megs and a couple of the smaller vehicles as gifts back in the day. These damn things gave me a mental breakdown as I rotated between resentment and mild fondness for TF themed Gijoes. Now in my old age, I've totally softened my stance on em, I really miss my Prowl.
It’s a testament to how good the Marvel comic was that a concept like “non-transforming Transformers” was made into an interesting subplot.
It’s the most “pure” version of the G1 story other than the tech specs on the back of the toys.
@@jeremytung1632 The Marvel comic was better than the cartoon like 90% of the time.
Heck, it’s still being felt with triple M: militant monoformer movement.
The Action Masters line is ultimately offlined by cosmically-powered fan complaints.
Hasbro's new R.E.D. figures beg to differ
@@doomfry680 nobody likes those
@@MassHystarix i do : (
@@doomfry680 well I'm happy for you then
@@doomfry680 You do you, my friend.
Action Masters: just as much as meets the eye
as we said in the 90's "What you see is what you get"
Wowww
@@glenngriffon8032 meh not a big fan of action masters but most of the new characters of it are interesting and appeared on tv and the comics I'll give you that
Robots in no form of disguise whatsoever
Transformers robots in plain sight
This is when the toy line truly jumped the sharkticon.
I digress. It happened when they released the g1 mini cons. They had the reveal the badge sticker and also didn't transform. They were just pocket size figures.
@@iankelly4008 I have no idea what you're talking about. Mini-Cons weren't a thing until Armada. Do you mean Mini-Spies? Because those transformed.
@@misterbadguy7325 I'm probably alot older than you. Sit down. They were reveal the badge figures. They didn't transform. They were made to be pocketable. I forget what age I was. Towards the end of elementary school. So like 10 or 11?
@@iankelly4008 What were they named? Do you mean clones? Those rubbery things? They didn't have rubsigns. Mini-Spies are the closest to what you refer to (they were small, had rubsigns and usually came with other figures), and they absolutely could transform. I mean, you don't know me, so frankly, why do you think you're older? If anything, being older would be a bad thing, since it seems like you're running on extremely bad memories.
@@misterbadguy7325 how snobbish.
Optimus: Who will give up the ability to transform?
Jazz: You high?!
But Jazz, I'll give you this sweet skateboard...
What brand of high octane brew energon have you been smoking.
It (alongside Micro-Masters) wouldn't be bad idea, if series would be a spin off. But for some reason Hasbro insisted on incorporating obvious gimmicks into the lore, even if Head-Masters were initially widely unpopular. As far as shows go, not the toys.
@@originaluddite "A skateboard!? Count me in!"
"And for Wheeljack, this souped up Ferrari Testarossa!"
"...wait, what?"
It’s extra funny because nucleon becomes a drug.
“Offlined by a cosmic powered Starscream.”
The basics of hot rod?
@@supersonicdj6389 yesssssssssss
@Austin Wood IDK
Offlined by a cosmic-raged fanbase.
Why does starscream get all the power??
Prime: Lets bring on some Action Gimmicks!!!
Jazz: But I can't transform Prime!
Optimus Prime: Exactly!
It was actually really exciting when I was a kid to finally have a Megatron, Soundwave and Shockwave toy, even if they were Action Masters. I also loved the extra articulation which made them so playable and having more cartoon accurate designs. It was the scale more than anything that bothered me. Devastator and Bumblebee being the same size for example.
Yes that’s still a major bugbear in the sub line.
They could have addressed that by having a figure of, say, Scrapper, rather than Devastator.
Scale was one drawback, but so was proportion. Giving them more human proportions should make them look better to our eyes, but by then we knew what proper Transformers proportions were, and that means having a tiny head! ;)
The action masters were great for younger kids
Scale? This is G1 still, Scale means nothing!
I had Prowl with his motorcycle, and Shockwave. My cousin and I pretended they were paralyzed Transformers.
Yoooo WHAT?!?! 🤣
Haha you're depressing
BT Clark no, we were all inclusive and had a diverse selection.😂
Not a bad explanation tbh
@@chadkimmel8957 It’s weird we never really got any disabled transformer characters even in IDW.
*Sits down with scrambled eggs breakfast"
"Chris McFeely uploaded 1 minute ago"
Thank You, Life! Sometimes Your a champ
It’s literally evening for me
Any opportunity that could get to watch, usually Saturday mornings 😁😁
As someone who fell out of Transformers fandom during this time period, I was surprised by how DETAILED these little guys were. Like, normally when you think "smaller action figure that removes the central gimmick to be more affordable", what comes to mind are those little, blocky, sometimes unpainted knock-off figures. These? Someone put legit time and attention into their design and I can respect that dedication.
Take transformers.
Remove the transform.
Now you just got ers.
Take transformers.
Remove the transform.
Now you just got trans.
*Wait never mind*
DIamondbolt, eneterd the chat.
Ers! Exactly what you see! *Du-Du-DUN-du-DUN*
ection rasters.
T
Would not be opposed to Banzai-Tron getting a proper Generations figure.
Please
That would be cool. We did get Krok as a Titan Master after all.
As opposed to the (genuinely generic at this point) samurai tank.
They could do him in generations selects
Yes BanzaiTron. And Sprocket and Skyfall too, please.
Despite how coldly received the idea was back in the day, it's at least nice to see a gimmick as "controversial" as Action Masters still have some following and even have a chance to continue in some small way that isn't gelled into the main line.
Best of all some characters have made it back and have had a chance to be fleshed out so as not completely fall into obscurity.
As ever Chris, good stuff!
Also my mom was a single working mom and she was no able to get transformers regular toys for how expensive they were and she got me this line i still take care of them and the started my toy collecting till this day great video
Respect: To all the single parents / struggling families that still managed to somehow put a smile on our faces!
That's a beautiful story
I’ll never get the point of non transforming transformers but I can appreciate a touching story like this.
Thank you for your awesome story. Single parents deserve respect your mother is super
@@Terryfan thanks 👍😊
You could say Emirate Xaaron was the first Action Master because he was stuck in robot mode as transforming would likely kill him.
He was also, not coincidentally, colored gold. :P
This episode made me feel...stronger, faster, more alive!
*You also gave up the power to reproduce*
@@TerminatorTheory So win-win?
in honor of his getting a new figure in the Kingdom line I think we need a basics on Rattrap.
Assuming we all don't die before then.
"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE"
Well we're already trapped like rats
What in the name of my great-aunt Arcee is goin' on here?
After all his coming to the basics are in his capable hands...we're all gonna die.😑
@@adawnicusautocon Now I'm thinking about a Basics on Tf/ BW quotes!
The Action Masters inadvertently saved Transformers by making Hasbro realize that people actually cared about the Transformers as characters, and not just product names
@Foxfire Inferno Optimus did receive more toys during G1 and G2. It's usually explained as him getting injured and having to be rebuild into a new, more powerful body.
How many times has prime died?
@@W_2.0 How many TV Series have their Been? take that Number, Round up and add 5 just to be safe...
@@TJ52359 25 ish?
Sometimes you gotta break some eggs to make an omelette
I had Grimlock. I could see Grimlock giving up his robot mode to be a dinosaur full--time, but he would never give up his dinosaur mode.
I could see that, seeing as he was in dino mode for most of season 3 anyway.
Honestly that was probably one of the biggest missteps in this line, the dinobots were usually in the dinosaur modes by default.
I really like Krok, but I think that's more because of his involvement with the Scavengers then anything else
I’m surprised Macadam didn’t appear in that toy group shot.
Macadam isn't sold on his own, though. He's more in line with the Build-a-Figure gimmick, as you need to buy all eight Cyberverse Deluxe figures to assemble him.
@@DetectiveBarricade But he’s still a non-transforming toy. He should’ve been there.
@Screaming Soldier I forgot about that one. Did she ever get a toy?
@Screaming Soldier She also got a toy in TFCC (I think) that was a repaint of TFP first edition arcee. It was sold in a two-pack with rampage, who was a repaint of TFP first edition megatron.
HASBRO: "We've got to have *moneyyyyyy..."*
TAKARA: "There seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere."
European Hasbro: "This is a certified hood classic."
it just goes to show, Even if 1 gimmick didn't work, it doesn't mean the end of everything.
After Action Masters I believe Generation 2 and Machine Wars was the next line up and it did moderately well, but the big change and return to form for the franchise would be when the Beast Wars line came out.
From there it had 1 road bump with the Beast Machines era before getting a second wind with Car Robots and later the Armada line up and ever since then the franchise has still be going.
Moral of the story:
Don't ever let 1 set back be the end, it's just another thread in the tapestry that is your work/life. Keep trying things and be innovative and daring, but don't be reckless.
(thanks for another great video Chris!)
Hope the same can be said about the tf video games. Second game that looks worse than a mobile one is a time for panic for me.
@@ls_rus4666 dark spark and battle grounds intensify
@@W_2.0 not the dark spark, there is a new one for VR.
@@ls_rus4666 battle grounds?
@@ls_rus4666 or the one yet to release
That commercial gets stuck in your head once you hear it it’s very catchy it’s alive
I myself was first introduced to the Action Masters via a commercial bonus feature on my Deluxe Edition DVD box set for Season 1 of the original cartoon. At the time, I was pretty befuddled as to why they'd make non-transforming Transformer figures. But, over time, I've come to better appreciate the Action Masters, and personally feel that they deserve more attention. :)
You should do an episode talking about the when Transformers and Star Wars had like crab location on figures where they had transforming ships from Star Wars
Wat
... you mean collaboration, right?
What-now-location!!?
I'm gonna start using "Crab Location" whenever I can!
BW Rampage liked this comment.
I been watching you for a long time and wanted to say how amazing your content is. I only had one action master and this made me miss him.
The only Soundwave I was ever able to find when I was a kid was the action master. Thankfully that was been remedied, however, I do have very fond memories of playing with the non-transformer.
Really, Soundwave is probably the G1 character who suffers the least from not being able to transform. (Not having his opening chest, on the other hand...)
@2:00 LOL “is nostalgia”. 15 year olds pinning for the good old days when they were 10.
"Everything changes when you hit the big 1-0. Your legs start to go, candy doesn't taste as good anymore."
Kids experience the passage of time differently. Think about it, the time between being 10 and 15 is one third of your entire life.
Yeah when I was 15 I missed being 14
I mean it happened to me xD
I'll take anything over this decade
Hah, I thought "religious, political or medical reasons" sounded familiar - that's a sentence I added (albeit in the opposite order) to TFWiki's Action Masters page!
Haha, genuine coincidence! I wrote the line, and happened to notice later that the wiki article was almost identical - thought about changing it entirely so people wouldn't think I was wiki-copying, but didn't!
@@ChrisMcFeely Great minds, I suppose!
I had all Action Masters Elites as a kid and some other figures as well. Memories. Thanks for this episode!
I never owned many of the Action Masters but as a kid I liked them for two reasons. 1) The opportunity to own characters I'd never had the chance to own before and 2) having a more sort of "traditional" action figure i.e. a swiviling head and more possability in the legs. If only they had the idea of ball joints back then for the Action Master line because it did wonders for the TF lines that followed afterwards.
I remember these as a second chance to get some of my favourite characters that I wasn't able to get in the eighties. I had Shockwave, devastator, tracks and megatron
Was born in 91 so I totally missed out on them,especially since they probably weren’t being sold when I was old enough for toys, and my dad gave me some of his g1 toys and bought me g2 toys
I got a action master set that had Optimus from my buddy when we went through his old collections from the good ol days. Then to see this video I never knew this till today thanks Chris!
Actionmasters are overhated. They are fun, look great, have awsome accesories (there is never too much robo animals).
Let's be real, non-transforming figures are the only you can totally get screen or print accurate robots at a reasonable price point because they're not burdened by their transformation. The only other option would be the Masterpiece line but how often would you actually transform them back and forth, as well as their expensive price.
I don't know; taking out the basic fundamentals of the brand and its namesake is kinda going too far. What are supposed to call them ers? You do have some good points however.
As a kid I really liked having that level of articulation in a Transformers toy and being able to get characters I didn't have that hadn't been available for years like Shockwave, Soundwave, Megatron etc.
@@darkwoods1954 Yeah, I have the Takara Encore re-issue of Jazz(or Meister, as he's called in Japan) and it's basically a brick aside from the arms.
I was never a fan but they are wonderful compared to the non-transforming and ill-proportioned Titan Heroes.
I really liked the action master line. New characters and a neat story for it.
This is one of my favourite episdoes of the basics
it would have been cool to have a sidestory of nucleon drunks losing the ability while on the stuff. then gradually find it more difficult to transform after extended benders, eventually getting stuck halfway, losing it entirely, etc. a PSA from a bot stuck half in truck mode: "nucleon, not even once."
Optimus- Who will give up the power to transform to become faster and stronger?! Jazz and ironhide- Are you high?
"Stronger, faster and More alive".- Fitnessimus Prime
I remember getting Jackpot and Sights as a kid from a local store, I still own him and dig him. The only other Action Master that I own is the utterly bonkers Devastator figure from the line, I was attracted to the weird fact that he's a massive combiner but is the same size of the rest of the Action Masters, weird character choice but cool toy.
Devastator was the only one I owned myself! I think I was won over by Scorpulator, I had a fondness for the critters that media taught me were "evil animals" as a kid!
This is gonna be a bad take but I'd like to see this gimmick being used for Power Rangers.
Why not? This might be better for something a little action packed and would take the toyline of Power Rangers to new heights.
Like power rangers that can't morph or power rangers that are always morphed
You mean nontransforming Megazords? Those have been a thing for a long time.
@@themostbritishpersonalive868 Yeah,something like that. I would rather they take the Megazords. Why not? That would be interesting to see.
@@misterbadguy7325 I think the name of Action Masters on Transformers really left a bad taste. Megazords with more play patterns would be an intriguing take.
And yeah, I just wanna see how Hasbro tackles this since non-transforming Megazords are cool.
Okay, I've worked out a headcanon for the Action Master Elites, they're former Triple Changers, while the nucleon fused the system needed for one alt-mode, the other mode's systems remain intact.
My first issue of the Transformers comic was when Grimlock went off in search of Nucleon to revive his fallen Dinobots. I managed to score the follow-up issue (a rarity for me at the time. . . for me to remember to look for and ask my parents or grandparents for the next issue in the series, and for them to agree to buy it at the time), but then I couldn't continue the series. It was a fun focus bit for Grimlock, though.
I owned a ton of them at a time. I loved Skyfall and Jackpot a lot, and Prowl's motorcycle was something I kept long after the rest of my figures were gone. I have often wished they would bring the unique characters back as Generations Selects figures with alt-modes. I would buy those up in a heartbeat.
Yes, me too. I would love to see a Skyfall, Sprocket or Banzaitron.
Man, I loved Action Masters! Action Master Bumblebee was my first actual Bumblebee toy. I loved him a lot as a kid, but never thought to specifically ask for a Bee because I had friends that had Bee and I'd just play with theirs. I lost him moving from Germany to the US, so I eventually bought him again when I was older- when eBay auctions were more "I don't want this anymore, get it out my house" and less "I want all the money I can get for this" haha!
We also had Mainframe and Skyfall, so I'm particularly fond of them as well. Actionmaster Thundercracker always has a gorgeous color scheme! : D
MASK meets Transformers in the worst way possible.
The Action Masters though were unpopular, they were interesting toyline! At least the the vehicle transformed! 👍👍👍
Thanks !
Thanks!!
Wow, actually this is a part in Transformers history I completely missed out on. This whole episode was complete news to me. Thanks for filling in the gap.
Me at beginning of the video: "How the hell is he gonna get any kind of interesting video out of such a blip in the history of the franchise???"
Me at end of the video: "Oh snap, son." =o
Personally I'm fascinated by the Decepticon Action Master Treadshot. According to tfwiki, he was based on a toy that I presume Hasbro attempted to get the rights to, but couldnt for whatever reason? He apparently would have transformed into a .357 Magnum. It's an interesting story if nothing else
The only thing I remember about this was Grimlock's comicbook storyline. I think the psychiatric term is "repressed memory". :)
I loved the fact that they were unintentionally modular. I'd constantly pop off arms and legs and swap them around as power ups and customizations when I was playing.
What paved the way for G2
The Scorpion ultimate Action Master was MY Scorpinok growning up. Not as cool as the real one - but he served Megatron well
As stupid as most think it sounds, I think it was worth the attempt to come up with the concept of Action Masters!
Jazz: So as action-masters, how do we transform?
Optimus Prime: That's the neat part, you don't.
6:04 oh, so Hasbro tried to "New Coke" the Transformers, is what you're saying :p
That is... oddly accurate
This is the video I never knew I wanted. I love the integration of the action masters into modern transformers media.
Oh man, I loved my Action Masters! I didn’t get into Transformers until my Grandma bought me my first ones. I had a whole bunch of the Action Masters before Gen 2 came along and brought back the Classic Transformers with new paint Jobs.
great video as always chris!
personally I'm not interested in non transforming transformers, but I do really love the designs of a lot of the action master original characters and enjoy seeing them made into traditional transformers, one thing that i really love about late g1 is all the wild new characters it was constantly creating, still holding my breath for generations laser rods!
One thing I've noticed in your videos. You always end with a very strong last sentence.
Remember kids,
Nucleon: Not even once!
Oh so that's why tarn has to steal T-cogs lol
*Hasbro meeting board in 1989*
*Chairman #1:* Gentlemen, TF is dying and we need new ideas to keep afloat!
*Chairman #2:* What if we make Transformers not Transformers?
*Chairman #1:* #2, that's a... BRILLIANT IDEA!
Ah, Nucleon. We briefly tested it, found it worked great, then later discovered it had massive side-effects. Feels strangely topical.
I bloody love Action Masters. Yeah, they don't fulfil the promise of the brand name but they look great and they were affordable for a poor kid. In fact, my only solo TF: Mosaic comic starred Jackpot.
Nice treat to finally see that Grimlock page in the correct colours too, thanks Chris!
We need the basics on hot rod
[The Touch playing in the distance]
[Slow pan on Optimus’s dead body]
We got hot rod!
@@jawaboi9698 yup finally
Like for rattrap
Remember when you wanted transformers as a kid, but your mom just got you generic action figures? It was me Barry. I convinced Hastak to replace their entire toyline with action masters!
I didn't even know Action Masters existed until the early 2000s when I started collecting the Cybertronian toy guide. By 1990 I had moved on to collecting Batman toys and reading comic books, Spider-Man being my favorite. I do remember seeing the Transformers comic available for subscription in one of my Spidey comics around that time and thinking to myself, "This is still a thing?" Transformers would slowly but surly come back into my life in the mid 90s as I started collecting vintage toys, Generation 2 toys and even Machine Wars toys.
I personally love the line it was the thing that started my current collection till this day i still have them and because of them i love transformers so much i always like the transformers line but lack of articulation and the so much different of scale drove me of getting this figures and today i got almost all the characters of the g1 line updated version since the classic line that gave us transformation and articulation and detail and that all stated with action masters so love them and keep them forever
Back in 97-98 I was one of the early transformers collectors who used internet stores and eBay to buy and sell them.
Since there was no market for action masters, I collected a lot of them. I liked them the way we like statuettes and legends figures today. They didn’t transform but they displayed nicely as good representations of the characters. Plus I didn’t really care if the hot sun damaged or anything like that. I guarded my “actual” transformers carefully to maintain them and only displayed ones I had a a a kid since they were already in played with condition and had a history with me.
Looking back now I still like the action master line that way, and I’m glad people have started to appreciate them more.
Given how limited the articulation in G1-era Transformers tended to be, I can understand why Hasbro thought sacrificing the transforming feature in favor of more posability was a good idea. In hindsight, it could have worked if it wasn't the only Transformers line available that year.
I often roll my eyes when people scoff at the non-transforming figure lines, toting the principal of a figure transforming is worth more to them than anything the figure could gain by not having to, while at the same time most likely keeping shelves and/or display cases full of figures left in one mode or the other never to be touched again. To me the character a figure represents takes priority, their alt mode and transformation is secondary, so I'd happily sacrifice those things to have a better robot mode with more articulation that's not weighed down by the budgeted necessity to change into a vehicle... the problem being that any time someone does this it is either a mega expensive premium collectors item, or a cheap as hell pile of nonsense that doesn't live up to the potential, and it is beyond aggravating that there is just no decent middle ground.
As a kid I thought the Action Masters idea was stupid and never asked for any; however I somehow wound up with a second-hand figure anyway (I think a cousin gave it to me). I could never figure out what character it was, but this video inspired me to finally look at a list of Action Masters and figure it out. (It turns out it was Inferno. He never made much of an impression on me, so I suppose it's not too surprising I didn't recognize him.)
About non-transforming toys… As of 2022, there is a form of Transformers that don’t transform which is doing well. And this kind of toy’s name is…
PLASTIC.
MODEL.
KITS.
One of few TH-camrs who doesn't whisper,. So even my rubbish phone speakers can bump him loud!
Transforming weapons...
Why am I reminded of RWBY all of a sudden?
7:43 Look at my boy, this is probably the closest we’ll get to a The Basics On Krok
OMG, the Action Master Bumblebee was my favorite! I liked the line but was glad when Generation 2 came along.
Well this was filling information about Action Masters. I'll say it's neat that handful of this Action Master characters get actual transforming toys in modern era.
Fun Publication nailed some of them, matching they original robot looks with modern toy like Krok who used T30 Deluxe bomber Megatron mold which really matches Krok's Action Master look.
In my head Canon the action Master elites were all triple changers who lost one alt mode to Nucleon.
I still have quite a few Action Masters. I even made Treadshot my Decepticon leader for a while because I liked his design so much.
I never really owned any ACTION MASTERS but it was good to see how they had a toyline with everyone's favourite characters along with new characters but I guess it wouldn't be the same without any transformation on the robots.
Transformers: we're officially out of good ideas.
I was not a big fan of the Action Masters originally, and like many blamed them for the end of G1 here in America. As time went on, I grew to like the concept more and more. I am working on a fanfic right now that fits the Action Masters smoothly into the G1 American cartoon timeline, albeit with some changes.
Incidentally I am surprised you didn't mention that Nucleon was the Titan Master head of Galvatron in the Titan's Return line who had unpredictable effects on those he bonded with.
I had the Sideswipe Action Master as a kid and I really wished I took better care of it so I could display it with my ROTF Jetfire Prime keychain and Sideswipe / Sideways ROTF Robot Heroes.
I'm going to get at least the RED Prime Arcee; because I like to collect at least one Transformer from each line.
I hope I can find a way to get the Flame Toys Kuro Kara Kuri IDW Stealth Bomber Megatron because that just looks SO AWESOME!!
From what I’ve seen of them online the old Action Master toys actually look pretty good, minus the arm articulation being more limited compared to GI Joe figures. But them being the main line of Transformers toys of that year definitely wasn’t a good idea. Them being just a sub-line definitely would have been a better option.
Also, I remember seeing an alternate storyline/explanation for the Action Masters in a random toy catalog scan somewhere online.
A nicely done informative video overall, Chris.
i LOVED the action masters when i was a kid, having toys of the cartoon characters that actually had a decent degree of articulation was so much fun. Sprocket is probably my favorite of this line
The Action Masters is indeed the paradox of Transformers toys.
Actionmasters were kind of the first 'display' figures, seeing as most of them were styled to look like their animated or comic appearances rather than the toy figures.
The idea of the Action Masters is so stupid, I just can’t help but love it.
You can tell this toyline was made in the 90s when one of the Action Masters was named “Rad.”
Does he want to tell us about the Transformers?
Everyone way back "Transformers... that do NOT transform? What, what, WHAT???!!!"
I got Actionmaster Optimus Prime for Christmas way back when I was like 4 years. It was awesome! I am often looking out for a good and complete one to add it back to my current collection, as well as getting Megatron and his Fusion tank!
Action masters: *shoots at megatron
Megatron:such shooting nonsense *kills off alot action master autobots*
I had received a couple of the big guys like Prime and Megs and a couple of the smaller vehicles as gifts back in the day. These damn things gave me a mental breakdown as I rotated between resentment and mild fondness for TF themed Gijoes.
Now in my old age, I've totally softened my stance on em, I really miss my Prowl.
Transformers: more than meets the eye
Action Masters: what you see is what you get
I can't believe someone came up with the idea to make the Transformers not able to transform and wasn't fired for it
What’s next, a Superman movie where he has no powers?