The file
Robots that turned into trucks, jets and a cassette player, with a comic and a cartoon launched in the same year. Transformers were the toy of 1984, and Optimus Prime, the one that turned into a semi with a trailer, was the box every kid stared at.
The 1986 animated movie killed Optimus off and the letters from children changed Hasbro's plans. The line has never stopped, but the original G1 figures with the metal parts and the rub signs are the ones that mean something.
Sources: Wikipedia — Transformers (toy line)
