Diaclone and Micro. Change toys were subsequently discovered at the 1. Tokyo Toy Fair by Hasbro toy company product developer Henry Orenstein, who presented the concept to Hasbros head of R D, George Dunsay. Enthusiastic about the product, it was decided to release toys from both Diaclone and Micro. Change as one toyline for their markets, although there were eventual changes to the color schemes from the original toys to match the new series. By 1. U. S. regulators had removed many of the restrictions regarding the placement of promotional content within childrens television programming. The way was cleared for the new product based television program. Hasbro had previously worked with Marvel Comics to develop G. I. Joe A Real American Hero for a three pronged marketing scheme the toyline, a tie in comic book by Marvel, and an animated mini series co produced by Marvels media arm, Marvel Productions, and the Griffin Bacal Advertising Agencys Sunbow Productions animation studio. Given the success of that strategy, the process was repeated in 1. Hasbro marketing vice president Bob Prupis approached Marvel to develop their new robot series, which Jay Bacal dubbed Transformers. Marvels Editor in Chief at the time, Jim Shooter, produced a rough story concept for the series, creating the idea of the two warring factions of alien robots the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons. To flesh out his concept, Shooter called upon veteran editor Dennis ONeil to create character names and profiles for the cast, but ONeills work did not meet with Hasbros expectations, and they requested heavy revisions. ONeill declined to make said revisions, and the project was turned down by several writers and editors approached by Shooter until editor Bob Budiansky accepted the task. Hastily performing the revisions over a weekend, Budianskys new names and profiles were a hit with Hasbro, and production began on a bi monthly four issue comic book miniseries, and three part television pilot. Both comic and cartoon would wind up continuing for years beyond these short term beginnings, using Budianskys original development work as a springboard to tell the story of the Transformers in very different ways from one another, forming two separate, unrelated continuities for the brand out of the gate. Japanese designer Shhei Kohara was responsible for creating the earliest character models for the Transformers cast, greatly humanising the toy designs to create more approachable robot characters for the comic and cartoon. The Triplets Of Belleville Downloading. His designs were subsequently simplified by Floro Dery, who went on to become the lead designer for the series, creating many more concepts and designs in the future. Broadcast historyeditPilot miniserieseditThe three part pilot miniseries later retroactively titled More than Meets the Eye first aired in the United States in September 1. The story follows Optimus Primes heroic Autobots and Megatrons evil Decepticons as they leave their metallic homeworld of Cybertron to search for new sources of energy to revitalize their war efforts, only to crash land on Earth, where they remain entombed and offline for four million years. Awakening in the present day, the Decepticons set about pillaging the energy sources of Earth, while the Autobotsaided by human father and son Sparkplug and Spike Witwickyattempt to protect the new world on which they find themselves. The miniseries concludes with the Decepticons believed dead after their space cruiser is sent plunging into the ocean depths, while the Autobots prepare to return to Cybertron. Season 1editThe thirteen episode first season, commissioned and produced before the pilot miniseries aired, was broadcast between October and December on Saturday mornings. Story edited at Marvel Productions by Bryce Malek and Dick Robbins, the season begins with the revelation that the Decepticons have survived the events of the pilot and follows them as they set about constructing a space bridge to teleport resources back to Cybertron. A loose story arc centered on this technology spans the season, culminating in The Ultimate Doom a three part miniseries in which the Decepticons teleport Cybertron itself into Earths orbit. Paraplegic computer expert, Chip Chase, joins Spike and Sparkplug as a new human ally for the Autobots. The season also introduced several new characters from the upcoming 1. Skyfire, the Dinobots, the Insecticons, and the first combiner team, the Constructicons, able to merge into a giant robot, whose introduction was set alongside a climactic one on one duel between Optimus Prime and Megatron that served as the season finale. Season 2edit4. Compared to the first season, season twos stories are more episodic, able to air in whatever order networks chose. Episodes would often spotlight individual characters or groups of characters as a means of promoting their toys, and later in the season, the lore of the series would be expanded on, as the history of Cybertron and the origin of Optimus Prime were explored, and significant cartoon original characters like Alpha Trion and the first female Transformer characters were introduced. A new recurring human cast member was also added in the form of Spikes girlfriend Carly. Partway into the season, the remainder of the 1. Dinobot Island. These new characters, like the first year cast, were largely derived from Takaras Diaclone and Micro Change lines, including new Autobot car and mini vehicles, new Decepticon jets, and the Decepticon Triple Changers. To expand the line, however, Hasbro also licensed several toys from other companies, including Takaras Japanese competitor, Bandai. Legal complications that arose from incorporating the first of these, Skyfire, into the first season resulted in the character quickly being phased out early in season 2, and meant that none of the other Bandai derived characters featured in the series. Toward the end of the season, the first 1. Aerialbots, Stunticons, Combaticons, and Protectobots, four combiner teams based on an unmade Diaclone line that was aborted in Japan in favor of importing the Transformers toyline itself.