I am still home for the Holidays, and today I am going to show you all my figures from Transformers Generation 2.

Yes, I admit it, I have G2 TFs. In my “About” page and some other posts, I mentioned that my TF “hiatus” ran from 1988 to 2004. That is not technically accurate. In the summer of 1994 (right after sophomore year in college.. oh how I miss those days) I bought several G2 figures, all of them you see in the pics below. 1994 was also the first year that I attended Anime Expo (and had a blast), and I think that may have helped to get me looking at toys again. But this TF love affair lasted only a few short months, and let’s face it, G2 was a very forgettable era in TF history. So can you blame me when I usually don’t mention G2? Heck, most casual TF fans don’t even know what G2 is.

Back in college I never thought I buy toys again for myself (oh how wrong I was!). I remember the first time I saw them in 1994, I was at Fedco. I kinda miss Fedco. Anyway, I went to the toy section looking for video games for my Sega Genesis. Back then I was not in the habit of going to the TF aisle so I’m not sure how I ended up there, but now looking back, I’m glad I did. I saw the G2 version of Sideswipe and my jaw dropped to the floor. I was under the impression that TFs were dead for good (again how wrong I was), so you can imagine my amazement when I saw them revived. I have always loved the G1 Sideswipe mold and I never had him during G1. I wasn’t really digging the black, but heck, I was beyond thrilled at seeing TFs make a comeback. And so I quickly bought him. I think in that same trip I also saw some G2 Aerialbots and a G2 blue Grimlock. But being the poor college student that I was, Sideswipe was really all I could afford at $14.99.

G2 may have started out as all repaints of G1, but eventually G2 came out with brand new figures of original characters. They were mostly forgettable. G2 certainly had very little impact as a whole, and even I stopped buying them after that summer was over. But it did make one lasting contribution: it indirectly coined the term “Generation 1”. The 80s toy line were retroactively termed G1 to distinguish itself from G2, and are officially referred to as such even though the term was never used during its original run.

Below are pics of all my figures from G2.

G2 figures, like G1, have no articulation whatsoever. About all you can do with them in robot mode is have them stand there with raised arms. All my G2 figures are in pretty good shape still. I would rate them C8 or better. I think I got most of them at either Fedco or K-Mart.

I have a total of 7 figures from G2. I will describe each of them in depth, starting with the G1 repaints.

Sideswipe
He needs no introduction. Mold-wise, the G2 version is identical to G1. I think this mold still holds up well today. He is diecast, something sorely lacking from today’s figures. The black and red colors on this figure appears to be swapped from the G1 version. I don’t like the green stickers that say “Sideswipe”, and instead of his G1 shoulder-mounted launcher, G2 gave us a green hand-held launcher with blue missiles that look completely out of place. It is also possible to mount this launcher on him in alt mode, but having this awkward weapon attached on the car takes away from the sexiness of the Lambo, so I rather leave it off.

Beachcomber
He is the florescent green dune buggy in the front. In G1 he was blue. Another mold where G2 is identical to G1. He’s got rubber tires and he rolls well on a flat surface.

Cliffjumper
Officially, he is Hubcap. But my theory is that Hasbro meant to do Cliffjumper and someone simply messed up when it came time to do the profile. I mean, why do Hubcap? Cliffjumper is much more recognizable. Plus he’s got the red. I think of this figure as Cliffjumper and I’m listing him as such.

The following are unique G2 figures.

Rapido
He’s the red sports car with number 19 on it. He’s part of a group called Axelerators. I guess the gimmick here is that their engines “become” their weapons. Notice I didn’t use the word “transform”, because it doesn’t. I know this sounds silly today, but back then this was a new-ish feature. All the Axelerators have fairly simple transformations, but for the size you can’t really complain. I like Rapido’s alt mode, nice and sleek. He’s the leader of this bunch.

Skram
Another Axelerator, he’s the blue Corvette-looking one. Kinda reminds of Tracks.

Windbreaker
The last Axelerator in the pic, he’s the orange Camaro-looking one. In the pics here he looks more yellow, so he kinda reminds me of Movie Bumblebee.

Jetstorm
The only Decepticon in this post, he’s the larger Dune Buggy in the back. He’s part of a sub-group called Color Changers. The gimmick here is there are parts of him that will change color on contact with water. Not only that, his weapon can be loaded with water. Pushing the pump will squirt it out thru the nozzle. Kind of a crazy gimmick, but entertaining. As for the figure itself, I like his alt mode and his bot mode.

Well, there you have it, my G2 Collection. G2 figures are pretty cheap on Ebay so I may buy more if I see some good deals. They’re not as cool as G1, but can be a fun distraction from time to time.

G2 Transformers… Transform and Roll Out!

Teletraan I Communiques