Animorphs
From Transformers Wiki
| This article is about the toyline based on the book series and television show. For the organic beings empowered with the ability to "morph", see Animorph. |
In 1999, Hasbro released a small toyline based on the popular Animorphs book series by K. A. Applegate. The line was released under the Transformers brand name, though the two franchises have no relation to each other, story-wise. Animorphs toys were stocked on shelves alongside Beast Wars Transmetal 2 toys, and their presence may explain why the Transmetal 2 series was so small (only 17 toys).
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Toys
Animorphs toys featured a small cast of human characters that transformed into various animals. Most figures also had a third "mid-morph" mode that represented a halfway point in the morphing process. There were also 2 alien "Andalite" characters, one hero (Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, referred to as "Ax" for short) and one villain (Visser Three).
As the line trickled to a close, two of the later figures (Marco/Beetle and Ax/Panther) became fairly rare and difficult to find. A very small third wave of figures, Jake Stingray/Manta and Taxxon/Alien, never saw release in the United States at all, though they were produced in limited numbers in European markets.
With the cancellation of the line, a series of planned animal-to-animal toys was retooled and released under the Beast Wars banner as the Mutants.
Deluxe
Each Deluxe toy came packed with a small Yeerk figure in either orange, purple, or red translucent plastic.
| Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Wave 3 (Europe only) |  |
Mega
| Wave 1 | Wave 2
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Ultra
Wave 1
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Super
| Wave 1 |  |
Fiction
Ask Vector Prime
Vector Prime clarified that the Animorphs universe takes place elsewhere in the Megaverse and was only associated with Transformers due to a small bit of reality drift. Ask Vector Prime
Notes
- The Animorphs line was poorly received by Transformers fans due to its unrelated mythology as well as the execution of the action figures. On the bright side, the Animorphs toyline paved the way for later crossovers, including the Star Wars Transformers and Crossovers brands.
- Several Animorphs toys with a human form feature articles of ragged clothing being worn by a character... But what exactly is happening to them is unclear. The clothing being ripped and wrecked seem to imply that the clothes are being destroyed due to the characters morphing, as is described happening in the Animorphs novels. Yet, the toy line advertises more heavily the television series over the books, and in said program the characters' clothes morphed alongside them into their animal forms, and the toys' sculpting and paint details hint that this is what is also happening with these figures. It can be speculated that either their garments are getting first torn to shreds and then subsequently morphing along the character into their animal forms, or that the Animorphs' clothes are in shambles due to being worn in combat.
- Had the line continued and the Mutants remained Animorphs, future waves would have followed comprised of a hornet/poison dart frog (Andalite), ram/Komodo dragon (human), and vulture/piranha (human). These never got past the control art stage.[1]
