Action Masters

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Action Masters was a sub-line of the Transformers toy line. The Action Masters were first made available in 1990. Unlike traditional Transformers, the Action Masters did not actually convert from one form to another. Instead, they were 3 3/4 inch action figures designed to represent Transformers characters (some classic characters, some new). The Action Masters' body construction was based on G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Hasbro's other successful action figure line (also 3 3/4" tall). The text of the back of the Action Masters packaging indicated that, in a desperate effort to find a new energy source, the Transformers found a supply of Nucleon, an immensely potent form of energy. While it had the desired effect of making the Transformers "more ALIVE than ever before," it had the side-effect of eliminating all conversion processes.

To compensate for this loss, all Action Masters toys came with transformable weapons or vehicles.

The Action Masters were part of the very last year of the original Transformers line as produced by Hasbro in United States. However, there were additional Action Masters figures created for the European/Australian and Japanese market in 1991, including Action Masters with Exo-Suits and Motorized Exo-Suits, as well as Action Master Elites who could transform.

[edit] European exclusives

Several new figures in the Action Masters subline were released exclusively to Europe in 1991. Some were entirely new figures while others were repaints of existing characters (usually in bright or unappealing colors). However, four "Action Master Elite" figures were released, three of them inspired by pre-exisitng characters. These figures were able to transform into vehicles: Doublepunch (a homage to Black Zarak), could transform into a scorpion, Omega Spreem (a possibly misspelled homage to Omega Supreme) transformed into a tank, Turbo Master (a homage to Bruticus) transformed into a helicopter and Windmill (a loose homage to Metroplex), could also transform into a helicopter. While all the European figures are rare due to their original locality, the Action Master Elites are particularly hard to find since they were released at the very end of the line.