Dynamite Celebrates Transformers Day With 40th Anniversary Trading Card Kickstarter Details
by Erik Amaya
40 years ago today, The Transformers debuted on syndicated television. The first episode told the tale of warring robot factions on the planet Cybertron facing an energy crisis. The heroic Autobots decided to abandon the planet for a new source of Energon — the substance that powers everything on their world. The villainous Decepticons follow them and the ensuing battle leaves all of the transforming robots stranded on Earth in suspended animation for millions of years. When they revive, it’s the late 20th century and they use their fantastic abilities to hide as ordinary cars, planes, and a Walther P38 with accessories.
The idea took root in the minds of children everywhere and now, four decades later, Hasbro is inaugurating September 17th “Transformers Day.” For Dynamite, this means releasing more details about their planed Transformers trading card set, which will be come available first to those who back the upcoming Kickstarter campaign.
The cards will focus on what is now referred to “Generation 1 ” — the characters based on the Takara toys Hasbro imported from Japan and ultimately tasked Marvel Comics editor and writer Bob Budiansky with devising, including Optimus Prime (although that name was contributed by fellow editor Archie Goodwin), Bumblebee, Megatron, Starscream, Ironhide, Soundwave, and more. The complete set features 110 base cards, 55 rainbow holofoil cards, 10 animation art cel cards, 5 ultra-rare enhanced cards. Additional cards include 6 Creator Art cards dedicated to Budiansky and another 6 devoted to legendary Transformers comic book writer Simon Furman. There will also be 40 “One-of-One Unique Single Print” cards randomly inserted in select packs, alongside random drops of signed and sketch art cards.
More details will be revealed soon, but those already interested in pledging can go to the campaign’s landing page.