The 2000s, 7: Something Completely Different
How do you follow up a super-successful live action movie with a distinct aesthetic and feel? By debuting something that looks nothing like it... so now you have TWO flavors of awesome. Delayed a bit by the ongoing success of the movie line, Transformers Animated proved to be an enjoyable followup in 2008, changing things up to feature a distinct look brought on by godfather Derrick Wyatt and leading to some very memorable toys that, like the live-action movie toys (while being so unlike them), made us say "how did you get that out of that?'. Animated was a true feat of committing to a style, and I don't know how likely it is to ever see the like of it again in these somewhat homogenized Evergreen days.
(Whenever I think back to this era, for some reason I keep misplacing Animated as following up ROTF -- which is weird because I lived through this period, and was as annoyed as anyone at Animated getting marginalized in favor of movie-based stuff around the sequel's incredible hype. But no, it shook things up after the FIRST movie, and the timing worked out for it to land as a series that took some inspiration from movie elements and ventured forth into a whole new aesthetic and narrative direction.)
The packaging was as kinetic as the toys and show themselves, with light colors giving us a break from the onslaught of black and red from the year before. With a base of very light blue/white/gray bordered and punctuated by tapering red and blue diagonals, the Animated packaging really stood out on shelves. The very logo of the line was Trans Formers in lines set at opposing angles with "Animated" providing the base, all dynamic angles and action, and the rest of the packaging look played with these sorts of shapes.
Carded figures had tall cards and large (about 3/4 of the card generally) bubbles that took on some of the internal card shapes; the size of the bubble was at least partly due to the similarly big front card. The logo was big up top, and similarly large action-pose character artwork complemented the nameplates on the front card, which would be faction color text on angular boxes with pointy ends. The other end of the nameplate would have a bordered "silver" faction sigil, and the card would have red, silver, and blue borders with dynamic diagonal cut edges. A character headshot would dominate one side of the front bubble. A similarly off-kilter text box identified the price point, and a wavy-edged bubble provided a gimmick callout not commonly seen on the front of packaging at the time. At least one of the wide surfaces (usually white on red) ended in halftone dots (more visible on, for example, the lower left corner of the boxed packaging) continuing the comic book-y vibe.
Grounding this line as "animated" showed a clear commitment to embracing a bright 2D feel to contrast the CGI 3D-ness of the movie, and it looked sharp on all levels, packaging included. Behind the toy was a light blue cityscape in the stylized art style of the show (and in remarkably better condition than Classics' cityscape). This would appear in dark gray on the back of the packaging.
Boxes were similarly angular and dynamic, taking advantage of the experiments Hasbro had done with multi-sided boxes to have what seemed like a wide right-facing arrowhead shape (or a stylized serif D) with a big window featuring the toy in altmode. At least one packaging variant of Optimus Prime had him in robot mode, with the box just... turned 90 degrees (and the elements moved around). Character artwork and the big logo provided visual anchors on the lower end.
Toys would generally be packed in altmode, with exceptions like the Activators line (which was set on wider versions of the card), the Jetfire/Jetstorm twin pack, the Megatron/Optimus Prime "The Battle Begins" pack, the Leader Class assortment (which had taller boxes as a result), and the massive Roll Out Command Optimus Prime.
The back of the packaging repeated the same design vibe, of course. I wasn't as fond of this because it looked somewhat cluttered and messy, but the use of color to organize things was quite good. Large red curves framed the stock photos of the toy in both modes, with blue panels set at an angle bordering it from top and bottom. The stock photos of the toy were accompanied by a character-art headshot (and quote) set at a rakish angle, a bio (and function!). Tech spec numbers were replaced on cardbacks with a new profile element: a faction color-themed box listing the character's "Galactic Powers and Abilities" and an invitation to learn more on the website. This certainly cemented the greater focus on "character" as part of the presentation that would complement the cartoon. Boxes had a layout guided by a large oval cutout showing the city backdrop bordered by red with a blue "floor".
Multipacks would be a feature later in the line. There was the now-familiar "two Deluxes on conjoined cards" format, which went the extra mile of having mirrored individual packaging (bubbles, front cards, layouts) rather than just two of the same, and a sunburst/explosion up top behind the logo, flanked by character headshots. Other formats were available: the new "Deluxe plus two Legends" packs took on Voyager-ish boxes, while the Target-exclusive "Voyager plus Activator" versus packs used new uneven-hourglass boxes with wider bases, with each side having opposing packaging elements and artwork. Apparently, the UK (at least, maybe elsewhere too) also had some Deluxe 2-packs in Voyager-style boxes.
Some markets also had Allspark Power-ish
cylinder/canister packaging for the Deluxes in robot mode. These weren't the only ones to get that treatment, as somehow someone got the idea to repackage the massive Roll Out Command Optimus Prime in that too. A lot of packaging in those days was much heavier on the plastic than usual.
Botcon would pick up a lot of these packaging design staples for its windowless box release of Cheetor. This kept the color scheme and repurposed the starburst on the front of boxes: instead of a gimmick callout, it bore Cheetor's name in the classic Beast Wars font. The 2011 Botcon box set was slightly more of a departure, sort of the animated vibe through a Menasor-colored lens. It used a cooler-hued Animated logo, and provided character artwork headshot insets for its included characters in the show style. These were arranged atop straightforward graphic elements (no wild angles), with a a purple/white checkerboard and crash test Decepticon logo being the central visual anchors on top of a gray-on-black version of the city artwork, all bordered in purple. Never got that set, sadly (and I
really had my eye on that G2 Sideswipe, but never could find it at an agreeable price, and now it's insane). Best I can do is repurpose Universe SE Drag Strip. But a handsome box!
