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Transformer By Nikola Nikolov
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The Transformers (トランスフォーマー, Toransufomā) is a line of toys produced by the American toy company Hasbro. The Transformers toyline was originally created and produced by Japanese company Takara Tomy (Formerly Takara) and branded as Diaclone and Microman. In 1984, Hasbro bought the distribution rights to the Diaclone and Microman toylines and rebranded them as the Transformers for distribution in North America. Hasbro would go on to buy the entire toy line from Takara shortly after giving them sole ownership of the Transformers toy-line, branding rights, and copyrights, while in exchange, Takara was given the rights to produce the toys and the rights to distribute them in the Japanese market. The premise behind the Transformers toyline is that an individual toy's parts can be shifted about to change it from a vehicle, a device, or an animal, to a robot action figure and back again. The taglines "More Than Meets The Eye" and "Robots In Disguise" reflect this ability.
The Transformers toyline is typically divided into two main factions: the heroic Autobots and their opponents, the evil Decepticons (known in Japan as the Cybertrons and Destrons, respectively, except for the live-action franchise). Transformers toys are sold at a number of price points, and various Transformers series utilize unique play features.
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