The History of Transformers: 1988 Edition 

I was 15 in 1988, and whilst I was considered too old for toys, I did buy the odd toy still, I loved powermaster Optimus Prime, the comic kept my interest in these

I can’t wait for “the history of Transformers: 1989 edition“ whenever that comes out.

That was a massive amount of toys for one year. Now I know why my parents didn't like my idea of getting them all.

I bought and still have my Power Master Optimus Prime in the Summer of 1988. I was 13 and considered too old for toys, but I didn’t care what anyone said.

I find it really crazy how much better Japan did this time period. They had a cartoon/manga and often better toys. I also find the Japanese version of the concepts to be much more compelling. Always hated the idea of them giving up their heads to random aliens. I much prefer the headmasters just being the guy and the body being an unmanned transtector. Or the human controlled transtectors of Super God Masterforce. I especially love the lore of Ginrai’s body being originally intended for Convoys resurrection. Such a cool story.

Wow what a labor of love this was, tons of work, much appreciated. The late 80's TF's definitely get confusing to me and become a mish-mash. It's definitely a lot of "a hat on a hat" as the great Jim Cornette would say. I discovered Powermaster Optimus existed when I opened him as a present in 88 and wow, my mind was blown. I also had Spark-Stalker, the Firecon, and I can't believe they sold toys that shot flames, even back then.

This is one of my favorite years in G1 era if only because The Masterforce cartoon is just so good and I do really think it has some of the coolest looking design especially on the Autobot side.

My brother actually has his complete G1 overlord in the original box (the box is not in the best condition) tucked away in his attic , kept safe since the 80's

Things got too weird for me at this point. Luckily, I was moving on to building model cars, BMX and BB guns anyway.

1988 was the last year of G1 that I was really into Transformers. For 89-91, it was all TMNT, GI Joe, Kenner Batman and Nintendo.

I was born way after all the 80s toylines you cover, but I've always been so fascinated by them. Your videos do a great job showcasing them, this one being no different. I always felt 88 was the peak of post 86 G1 Transformers. Powermaster Prime in particular is one of my favorite toys of all time.

I love 1988!!! I was watching Season 3 of the cartoons, and the next year the REBIRTH was shown on singapore channel 5. We were introduced to the Headmasters and Targetmasters

I was 10 in 88, I had power master prime,thank you for bringing back my childhood again Michael, I really appreciate the time and effort you put into editing, awesome as always 😊

Great review of all the Transformers toys of 1988. The lenght of the video is absolutely justified. I definitely appreciate how thorough the video was. Lots of great information of each robot. Those were gorgeous toys! My favorites were Doubledealer and, of course, Powermaster Optimus Prime. Good job!

45:05 In the Marvel UK comic Catilla was originally a Decepticon who later defected to the Autobots.

so dope. as soon as life stops beating me up, i am definitely rejoining the patreon squad. Happy Holidays, Michael! Thanks for these love letters toour childhood.

Wowzers...😮...those Pertenders🤖Transformers thingys were heIIa frickin' awesome...🤘🏼💯✔️ And I totally❤dig King👑Poseidon...👍🏼

Back in ‘88 my family lived in LA and I remember getting the sparker Flamefeatherin the summer and Piranhacon for Christmas. I had no idea who they were since I was only familiar with the animated series, but I loved them just the same. In ‘89 we moved to Germany and that’s where I discovered Pretenders, powermasters, microbots and then action masters. I was naive to think that Germany just had weird versions of American toys especially since He-Man toys had gone to outer space and he had a pony tail. Thank you for your hard work in putting this together. It really brought me back.

Lovedddd the Gerald Brisco call out, "A shooter doesn't do anything he doesn't" is probably the most underrated line in this video hahaha

As an idw fan, simply hearing getaway’s name sent a cold wind blowing through my door and shivers down my spine

I cannot really express just how much I enjoyed this video. I smiled all the way through it. It brought so much nostalgic joy back. Figures I had and ones I'd never seen. Truly great work your videos are of such high quality. They are outstanding.

Absurdly high quality choices for some of these insert voices. My favorite Death Wish 2 quote, even. Excellent. Norm MacDonald as a Pretender- extraordinary. Exceptional. Perfection.

Cool video! Fun fact: Dogfight was supposed to be a Decepticon and Windsweeper was supposed to be an Autobot. The Autobots had chromed springloaded weapons while the Decepticons had "motorized" colorised plastic weapons. But then they mixed them up for some reason. You can also tell by their headsculpts, Dogfight definitely has a Decepticon facial expression. Also, Overlord was first envisioned as an Autobot (Cybertron). That's why he has a friendly, heroic looking face.

Great presentation and effects for this detailed look at the 1988 era Transformers collection. Great job, thanks! The original US box/card art of the older generations was unbeatable IMO.

I have Hori-bull. That was the last gift my aunt gave me before she died of cancer.

R.I.P to my first rival Woody. I remember when i stole his micro masters and his grandmother came by my house and seen me playing with them ( i actually showed her bc i was so happy to have them) but you are missed my friend im still collecting ill see you in the kingdom brother ❤

Thank you Michael for the 1988 and final US G1 amd so much more.

Excellent stuff as always, good brother. I've a real soft spot for the '88 releases. The back of the box art owned by childhood brain for so long, and a lot of the characters - Dreadwing, the Seacons, the Sparkabots and, of course, Powermaster Optimus Prime - are favourites, both in terms of toy and personality, to this day.

Hi Micheal, Great video about The History Of Transformers: 1988 Edition, keep them coming, Also your latest video was outstanding, Also my favorite 1988 Transformers are the following for the Autobots: they are:1.Small Headmaster Autobots(1.Nighbeat w/Muzzle,2.Siren w/ Quig,& 3.Hosehead w/Lug,) ,2.Small Targetmaster Autobots(1. Scoop w/Tracer & Holepunch,2.Landfill w/ Silencer & Flintlock, & 3.Quickmix w/Boomer & Ricochet),3.Quickswitch Autobot Six Changer,4.Sparkabots(1.Fizzle,2.Guzzle,& 3.Sizzle,), 5.Triggerbots(1.Backstreet,2.Dogfight,& 3.Override,),6.Autobot Power Masters/Power master Autobots(1.Optimus Prime Autobot Leader w/ Hiq,2.Godbomber(Roller),3.Getaway w/Rev,4.Slapdash w/Lube, & 5.Joyride w/Hotwire),7. Off Road Patrol(1.Powertrain,Patrol leader,2.Highjump,3.Mudslinger,& 4.Tote) 2.Race Car Patrol/Micromaster Race Car Patrol(1.Road Handler(Patrol Leader),2.Free Wheeler,3.Tailspin, & 4.Swindler,) 8.Autobot Pretenders/Autobot Pretenders(1.Cloudburst w/Shell,2.Landmine w/shell,3.Waverider w/shell,4.Groundbreaker w/Shell,5.Sky High w/shell, & 6.Splashdown w/Shell) Also from Japan Grand Maximus with Grand/Pretender Shell, & 2.Metalhawk With Pretender Shell, Also for the Autobots The Autobot Pretender Beasts(1.Catilla(sabertooth Tiger w/shell) & 2.Chainclaw Bear with pretender Shell) and Autobot Pretender Vehicle Gunrunner Squadron Leader Hypersonic Jet With Pretender Outer Shell(All Terrain. ground Vehicle), for the Decepticons they are: 1.Small Headmaster Decepticons(1.Fangry w/Brisko,2.Horribull w/Kreb, & 3.Squeezeplay w/ Lokos,) 2.Small Targetmaster Decepticons(1.Needlenose with ZigZag & Sunbeam,2.Spinster w/Singe & Hairsplitter & 3.Quake w/TipTop & Heater),3.Powermaster Mercenary Doubledealer with Knox(Autobot/Nebulan),Skar(Decepticon/Hive) 4.Decepticon Power Masters(1.Darkwing with Throttle, & Dreadwind with Hi-Test) 5.Godmaster Overlord with Mega & Giga, 6.Decepticon Cassettes Squawktalk & BeastBox/ Squawkbox, 7. Firecons(1.Cindersaur,2.FlameFeather, & 3.Sparkstalker) 8.TriggerCons(1.Crankcase,2.Ruckus, & 3.Windsweeper,) 9.Seacon Super warrior Prianacon/Seacons(1.Snaptrap Seacon leader/Commander,2.Skalor,3.Overbite,4.Tentakil, 5.Seawing, & 6.Nautilator) 10. Decepticon Micromasters: Air Strike Patrol(1.Whisper,2.Nightflight,3.Storm Cloud, & 4.Tailwind,) 11.Decepticon Pretenders(1.Bomb-Burst with Pretender Shell,2.Skullgrin with Pretender Shell, & 3.Submarauder with Pretender Shell),4.Bugly with Pretender Shell, 5.Finback with Pretender Shell & 5.Iguanus with Pretender Shell) 12.Pretender Beasts(1.Carnivac(Wolf With Pretender Shell, & 2.Snarler(Boar with Pretender Shell) & Decepticon Pretender Vehicle Road Grabber Gunner/Hoverjet Outer Shell (road car) Also from Japan Black Zarak 1.Scorpion,2.Base,3.Spaceship,robot, Also from The Heroic Autobots & the good guys side: Autobot Cassettes: Grand Slam Tank/Cassette, and Rain Dance Jet/Cassette/Slamdance, also The Transformers Storybooks from Autobot Hostage to Decepticons At The Pole from LadyBird Books/Publishing was superb, Also The Transformers Lunchbox from Aladdin was spectacular, Also The 1988 Transformers Season 5 Toyline mini booklet and poster was incredible, Also the Japanese Animated Cartoon Tv Show Transformers Super God Masterforce was outstanding, Also Great but incredible video ! 1988 was certainly a wild year for the robots in disguise. The Comics were excellent but also remarkable at the time and did a great job keeping the boys in the loop here in America. Good times Also You never Disappoint Micheal! Excellent review and video! Also Just brilliant, Also Best Toy Channel ever. Also Excellent Shout outs to some of the websites that have mastered the power of Transformers they are:1.TFwiki with a database resources on Transformers that would put Teletran One to shame,2.Botch The Crabs Box Art Archive with beautiful clean unadorned scans of G1 Transformers Box Art as well as Catalogs, 3.Seibertron.Com featuring many beautiful galleries of Transformers also looking at these pictures is still the next best thing and Big Bad Toy Store with over 30 pages of officially licensed Transformers items, Also thank you for sharing Micheal, All I can say is: keep up the good work stay safe out there in Canada, Have a goodnight, good luck, God bless, Have A Merry Christmas, Nerdmaste, and until next time TILL ALL ARE ONE or should I say TILL ALL ARE FUN.🦸🟢🙂🇺🇸🏋️🇺🇸🇨🇦🌆11:10 pm.

Great video!!! 1988 was certainly a wild year for the robots in disguise. The comics were excellent at the time and did a great job keeping the bots in the loop here in Australia. Good times!!

Optimus prime being nice and caring and Wise is what we learned in school to be a hero not a muder is not what we learn at school

This is much appreciated. I can tell it becomes more of a slog when it comes to highlighting the not-so glamorous portion of the latter G1 line. But keep on going on, my friend. You do a great job.

I never knew about GrandSlam or RainDance before watching this video. It's cool how their individual contrasting personalities became a complementary whole when they combined into SlamDance. His undying determination for seeking truth is inspiring.

I needed this, I've been so depressed the past few I lost my aunt in October, and watching this made me a 10 year old kid again for an hour, thanks so much

Fun fact in the UK marvel comic Catilla used to be a member of the decepticon’s Mayhem Attack Squad, but he and Carnivac ended up joining the Wreckers, but new members of the attack squad would kill him and Carnivac would seek revenge.

custom commercial bumpers are AwEsOmE

The cutscene prior to real ad is nice touch of video.

I was 5 in 88...so awesome

Wonderful comprehensive tour.

25:05 Nice 👍 you got all the monsterbots

I love in MP scale, we've been getting a lot of the Powermasters/Godmasters and Headmaster Jr's from Fans Hobby. In the original G1 line, these figures really got simplified in designs in 1988... still some great characters though. Well done as always, Micheal!!!

4:43 Its funny, the line had come full circle to its Diaclone roots with this depiction.

I'm surprised no one thought of bringing back Megatron as a Powermaster. He would have been a tank, though.

Just brilliant, Michael! Best toy channel by far.

Nice use of the Water World SNES soundtrack during the aquatic Decepticon portion.

Found the car for Gunrunner at Goodwill today. I wouldn't have recognized it if I hadn't just watched this video. Thanks

I turned 11 in 1988 and did feel a weird sense of nostalgia already for the 1984-1986 version of the toy-line. Not having the animated series coupled with the toy line literally shifting into something else I just kind of stopped caring. I did buy the occasional comic book and a few more toys from the series in 1988-1989 because they did put out a few that did look cool, but my imagination just took over with what I had from that period and they just became something else for me.

13:00 I had the yellow race car Power Master growing up! Never did learn what happened to it.

I never put two and two together for the name of ‘Cancer’ the walking crab guy

I was getting a little old for them in 1988 and did NOT care for Pretenders, but I definitely picked up Quickmix, Race Car and Air Strike Patrols.

This was a truly depressing time to be TF fan if you liked the show.....because there was no more show.

Thanks for the video man, did that bring back memories, had completely forgotten how many of this range of toys I had back in 88, think I even still have The Headmasters comic book series somewhere in my parents attic..... that was a flood of memories for sure

Metalhawk sounding like Norm is my new head canon.

I love the Pretenders. Some of my first Transformers I ever got were Pretenders.

I had VHS recordings of all the "hosted by Optimus Prime" episodes that I had transferred to DVD packaged in slim cases with custom TF artwork. But sadly my entire collection of Transformers, entire comic collection and videos were stolen October of 2020.

Excellent work Michael, thanks for all your hard work it must have taken to make this 👍

The Pretender inner robots were outstanding

I’m a big fan of your channel. Thanks for letting me know about the botch the crab website it brings back old memories from when I was the kid

This video just answered the question of a mystery transformer I have. Carnivac, I didn’t know he was a pretender, or what his name was. I bought him loose at a toy show, and he didn’t have his shell.

From today on, Metalhawk will always be Norm McDonald in my head, and I am forever grateful.

Norm Macdonald as Metalhawk is absolutely perfect

I finished high school and started college in 88 and I still picked up the occasional transformer. I’ve still got all of the transformers acquired over the course of my teens. A friend worked at a toy store called “Child World”. In storage, I’ve got Fortress Maximus, metroplex, power master Optimus, nearly all the head master and power master autobots and many of the deceptions as well. Also a couple of the triple changers. Still have many of them in storage.

Being born in 89, I have truly come to appreciate the absolute full throttle excess world of toys, hair and testosterone that I was born into. Everything was just so "go big or go home". It's no surprise Baywatch then came out in 89

Why does stone cold’s voice fit so well with Cloudburst?, heck whenever I read his lines in a comic I’m just gonna be hearing Steve Austin’s voice! Not that I’m complaining at all, I love it! And Vader being Skullgrin? SOLD!

Hell yeah. 87-88 were my favorite years. Love this series. Perfect video to watch while organizing vintage toys on a rainy Sunday

I thought it would never happen Truly a Christmas miracle ❤

Then most annoying sound in the world always makes me laugh😂 Thanks Mike! You rock!

I never knew i wanted Norm Macdonald as Metal Hawk before, but now in my headcanon, its Metal Hawk's voice.

You never DISAPOINT Michael!!!! Excellent review and video!!!!

Love how you dubbed the Anime clips. 👏👏👏

Great documentary. I wasn’t playing with toys at this time in life and while I kept reading GI Joe, I stopped reading Transformers comics. This was an interesting look at a bunch toys I wasn’t at all familiar with. I think quality went down a lot after the first couple of years in terms detail. I liked the original line and how faithful so many were to the look of the real world vehicles they transformed into . There are still some gems even at the late time though.

Watching the SuperGod MasterForce Dub and Japanese series really inspired the structure for my Secondary school leadership!!! Michael, Only my brother had Powermaster Optimus Prime and Victory's Deathsaurus plus Squeezeplay (SGMF). Not going to lie, this is one of the continuity series you did since the 1987 video!!! Keep it up, dude!!!

I miss our Officer and the dramatic/re-enactments. THAT BEING SAID, EXCEPTIONAL Job Michael! AS ALWAYS

Halfway through; enjoying this so much. I love the Baja references!!!

You did awesome on all years of the transformers, great work and you got a new subscriber!

6:59 That Transformer reminds of a meerkat from Meerkat Manor called Yossarian.

The Pineapple Express and Jesse Ventura clips were hilarious!!

I could recognize some of the audio you used for some characters like Norm McDonald as Metalhawk, Zartan as Doubledealer and Mr. T for Skullgrin/Dauros but you think you could list all of the audio you used cause i don't recognize all of them

I’ve got loads of these. I remember thinking mine sucked next to my mates older brothers ones (the original line).

A great era to collect. Glad i still have all of mine. Really enjoying these longer video's

I was still faithful to Transformers but 1988 was my last time I got a TF which was the Pretender Waverider and that was just because I wanted the checklist insert of that years TF toys, I was 12 and the TF's were no longer resembled the classic '84-'85 toys and instead started looking more like Fisher Price toddler cars.

Thoroughly enjoyed this, no pretenders…

God bless St. Jude. I wouldn't be here today without them.

I was still all in with transformers in 88. Still have my power master prime and a couple of the targetmasters and junior headmasters.lot of masters in 88

Excellent review, Mike. I generally have no visibility from stuff 88 onwards (until the early 2000s). It’s awesome to see such a comprehensive video.

Love the Powermaster Optimus design. Wish I still had mine

15:15 and in the Marvel comics he was Marvel Jesus. 😂 😎👍🏻

Still have this toy

Your vids are on another level. Thanks MM

Thank you for such an awesome work !

Great job, I can't imagine how much time and work this took.

I really like the concept of Masterforce. How cool would it be to become a Transformer? Too awesome to describe in words!

It's great to had the power to surprise!!!!

I always enjoy a visit to the Michael Mercy Toy Museum! 😁 Man, Siren, Landmine, and POWERMASTER OPTIMUS PRIME were my three big scores from this year, back when I was a wee lad. Really takes me back. I loved this new Prime sooooo much!!! My brother even used cardboard boxes to make me armor so I could look like HiQ. I always love the little inserts you do, taking dialogue from one spot to repurpose over different footage! I've done a little of that to my own Transformers on my channel. :) Another amazing video, man!!! Looking forward to the next!!!

I’ve been waiting for this one

Wow 😮 you really did a great job putting this together and took me down memory lane. I appreciate your hard work 💪🏿 you gotva new subscriber tonight thanks bro

Even as a kid, I recognized the huge downgrade in quality. G1 was die-cast metal, and by the time the headmasters rolled around, everything looked and felt cheap.

This was the year I really started to lose interest in Transformers. I only had some of these toys, none of the Pretenders. I do still have some of the Micromaster toys. I didn't really get into Generation 2, and I only got back into Transformers during Beast Wars.

Was alway's a Fan of Gen 1 Transformers so when I found subbed/dubbed version of Headmasters I was happy about that. Gotta check out Super God Master Force.

Transformers, Mike Mercy and Norm MacDonald. THERE IS NO BETTER COMBINATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!