Toy Line
Generation 2 Transformers toys were notable because of the changed Autobot and Decepticon symbols, changes made to the toys for child safety purposes, and the common use of bright vivid colors. The first and second years of toys in Generation 2 were filled with many remolds of classic original Transformers (now referred to as 'Generation 1' or 'G1') toys. A larger percentage of toys featured electronic lights and sounds, and the re-release of the G1 Optimus Prime featured an additional electronic soundpack.
A large percentage of the characters featured in the show did not feature in the toyline, and vice versa. The G1 toys re-released for G2 which did feature in the show sometimes had their colour-schemes radically altered and no longer matched their animated counterparts.
The second year of Generation 2 featured many new characters and molds, but with the popularity of the classic names among the fans, many of the original Generation 2 toys started being recolored and given classic names from the original series.
The final year of Generation 2 saw many of the toys in its line packaged on cards that did not carry the "Generation 2" subtitle under the Transformers name. The two most prominent lines under this banner were the Cyberjets (3 small jet fighter/robots in 6 color schemes with ball-and-socket joints when transformed to robot mode) and the Go-Bots. The Go-Bots were 1:64 scale cars (compatible with some Hot Wheels and Matchbox tracks) that transformed into equally small robots carrying guns. Although there were 6 different car models used to create them, each car transformed similarly with only details setting them apart. There were about 15 different Go-Bots produced, with several seeing color variants due to a partial tooling change (to accommodate newer Go-Bots being modeled after classic G1 characters). Despite the 3 Cyberjet molds being sold as 3 Autobot and 3 Decepticon characters respectively, 2 of the Autobots (Jetfire and Strafe) were decaled with G2 Decepticon emblems on their tailfins.
Many molds and recolors intended for release in Generation 2 never made it past prototypes. Some were utilized in later lines like Machine Wars (as the basic sized flip changers) and Robots in Disguise (as Spy Changers).
Read more about this topic: Transformers: Generation 2
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