(continued)
The movie being the runaway success that it was, a copious amount of ancillary product was churned out to meet demand, especially in the realm of store exclusives. Somewhat impressively, there weren't too many variations on the look resulting from this, and just as surprisingly, from experience in my neck of the woods, this didn't seem to burn audiences out as quickly as one might expect.
Even store exclusives kept to this theme for the most part, with Target's exclusives (Scouts) mostly taking on shortened versions of the Deluxe cards (no headshots next to nameplates). Other exclusives like Robo-Vision Optimus Prime and Deep Space Starscream took on unique octagonal packaging, carrying on the same design elements as much of the line.
Some multipacks would have larger (some
really large) versions of the boxed type of packaging, right down to just gathering the nameplates/headshots at the bottom; some would apply the packaging elements to smaller or different boxes, which might also pack the toys in robot mode or a mix of modes. The box shapes for some reflected some of the experimentation of recent years, going with single or combined trapezoids rather than the half-curve of the standard movie line boxes.
The biggest toy in the line, Ultimate Bumblebee, got a big red box (using the distressed metal and vents and such) with a flap (that had a foil Autobot sigil) that opened for a better view of the huge toy. A toy photo of the vehicle mode would be visible on both sides of the flap (and the robot mode in an action pose on the inside), with a bio and tech specs on a side panel and the back of the packaging maintaining the standard space/Earth design.
Later packaging variations, such as for the Premium Series, would use foil silver (bearing that subline name, replacing the Automorph callout) for the arc around the bubble/window, also replacing the nameplate with bright silver. This is after the first two (not actually labeled as Premium Series) Best buy exclusives Megatron and Ratchet, took on unique packaging of their own, being packed in robot mode in display-friendly large-window boxes. These had smaller versions of the flared base, trapezoid-on-trapezoid style design that Classics packaging-themed Masterpiece Skywarp would also get, but with a rearranged version of the movie packaging's red elements (and nameplate, headshot) at the bottom front.
The later Allspark Power subline imprint played with the base packaging design a bit, with the bordering arc electrified in blue and changing the backdrop for the figures to an energized Allspark cube, surrounded by blue tendrils creating a bright field of energy. An energized Allspark cube render would also be visible on the back of the card/box off to the side (the tech spec colors also shifted blue from the original warmer colors, a nice touch), with the Earth curvature arc still the main backdrop graphic. Cybertron redecos would reuse the graphics from their original line for the Cyber Key callouts (sadly, the Scout class redecos got no headshot art).
In terms of packaging shifts partway through the line, this was between Cybertron in the "small changes for subline imprint" sense and Energon/Universe's "change the card color enttirely", maintaining a degree of visual consistency that was juiced by some novelty. As with Cybertron, I can remember not questioning this at the time -- why bother when the original design was so strong -- but it does make sense to cement this new impression. This would not quite work out the same way even one movie later; I remember being very burned out by ROTF packaging. Not even necessarily that that did anything wrong (although it doesn't really touch the quality of this movie's), just... two extended runs in a row can be tough (especially since both were so heavy on the red... as was the Universe 2.0 toyline that ran alongside them).
Some Allspark Power-era exceptions were deco-tweaked reissues of Deluxes with blue paint accents, which were packed in robot mode in full clear cylinders (with the standard packaging elements mostly confined to a strip at the bottom). Like much of the window/shell-heavy packaging designs of this era, these had various ways of playing with the clear plastic (embosed faction sigil on the lid, the character's name picked out in white). Again, different stores all wanted in on the action, and Target (whose these were) didn't shy away from distinct packaging formats that would add visual interest.
The core packaging look would be applied to some sublines (some contemporaneous and some later in the line's life cycle), like Real Gear Robots, T.E.C.H, roleplay items, nd even the Mr. Potato Head tie-in release, Optimash Prime (if only for the red on the box, the shadowed faction symbol, and the movie logo).
One departure from the packaging look was the non-converting Robot Replicas subline, which distinguished itself by having a squarish bubble without the signature curve, packing figures in robot mode (well, their only mode), and eschewing the red-and-black for a bright and busy backing card that was entirely taken up by a posed character render and a lot of text on the front (Robot Replicas twice, the character's name big on the backing card). I sometimes wonder what might've happened if the main line stuck with the altmode packaging but used similar cards. Maybe it wouldn't have worked as well.
Screen Battles was a notable latter addition to the line, taking the toyline's design elements and applying them to a "display box" diorama structure. In what would be a sort of precursor to Studio Series' backdrop pack-ins, Screen Battles included a simple
backdrop against which toys were posed in the package, all covered in a clear plastic shell that had the name of the scene embossed and picked out in white up top. The backdrop image would also take the place of the Earth-surface backdrop from standard packaging on the back of the box.
One interesting thing about the movie line is how it was a unified effort in the US and Japan, down to identical packaging for releases in both (save for some stickers denoting Japanese release). While this is more the norm now, this was kind of unusual at the time, especially after a good few years of different semi-simultaneous lines. There were some unique deco releases that were exclusive to Japan, some even coming with their own little Allspark cube, but the line and its packaging were largely the same. Some retail and exclusive releases just reused existing boxes but at least one at least had her own packaging and recolored headshot.
Japan did have a little Trans Scanning subline, consisting of just Optimus and Bumblebee. These basically had thinner versions of the curved-block boxes with the red borders more tightly enclosing a window that showed the trans-scanning skeletal frame and the kit parts; this was flanked by upsized toy images of the kit decked out in the protoform kibble and Earth altmode kibble. The back showed posed versions of the same, as well as the assembled "Entry Mode" and Earth altmode. The packaging was, like most of the imported US line, in English, except for subtitle-like Japanese translations for character names and a little blurb explaining "What's the Trans Scanning?" on the back.
Other related sublines like Fast Action Battlers negotiated some of the packaging elements into a different, more kid-accessible overall look. This retained the mostly red card, shadowy faction sigil, movie logo, and silver backdrop, but used bright yellow and blue accents with somewhat softer-edged artwork of the robot mode. Cyber Slammers, another younger-audiences subline, also used this overall design. Robot Heroes started with mostly red packaging and a large, eye-catching movie logo (and the use of a monochromatic, partly shadowed faction sigil) with a clear plastic j-hook atop it, and used similarly rounded-edge, cute artwork of the paired characters.
There was a TON of product around this line, and I am missing probably 75% of it; I've meant to try and include as much of it as I could think of to illustrate the sheer scope of this new chapter in the brand's history -- as well as the pervasiveness of the line's main design elements, persisting either as is or remixed into something brighter and more accessible.
