Introduction

The Toys That Made Us is an American documentary web television series created by Brian Volk-Weiss.

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Outline

In 1983, when Hasbro was looking for a fresh, new line to sell alongside G.I. Joe, they bought the license of the Diaclone and Micro Change toys from Takara, then commissioned Marvel Comics to come up with a story-line and character names for the toys. The result: Transformers. Despite Tonka releasing the cheaper Gobots line six months earlier, Hasbro’s Transformers took the toy market by storm in 1984, raking in US$150 million that year. At the peak of the toy line’s popularity, The Transformers: The Movie hit theatres to further capitalise on its success, but the film polarised fans and collectors with the death of Optimus Prime and majority of the original characters. As Hasbro took full control of Transformers from Takara by the late 1980’s, sales declined until the toy line was discontinued in 1991. After the failed Generation 2 reboot, Beast Wars rejuvenated the franchise in 1995. In 2007, the live-action Transformers film solidified Transformers’ position as Hasbro’s flagship toy line.

Special Guest: Peter Cullen.

The Toys That Made Us Series

You can find a full index and overview of The Toys That Made Us here.

Production & Filming Details

• Creator(s): Brian Volk-Weiss.
• Narrator(s): Donald Ian Black.
• Director(s): Brian Volk-Weiss and Tom Stern.
• Producer(s): Brian Vol-Weiss, Tom Stern, Cisco Henson, Anne Carkeet, and Edwin Zane.
• Writer(s): Nicholas Ferrell and Benjamin J. Frost.
  Music:
• Cinematography: Samuel Brownfield.
• Editor(s): Benjamin J. Frost, James Anderson, Dan Cerny, Nick Ferrell, Dan Cotter, and Doug Nolan
• Production: The Nacelle Company.
• Distributor(s): Netflix.
• Release Date: 25 May 2018.
• Running Time: 43-51 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

Video Link