G-2 (with a hyphen) was Takara’s feeble attempt at reviving the Transformers brand in Japan after two years of silence. Roughly correlating to the final year of Hasbro’s Generation 2, the series included only a selection of the unique new designs from Generation 2. Of these, G-2 omitted the Autorollers, Rotor Force, and several of the Go-Bots, among others.
The diminutive toyline was weakly branded and poorly distributed, so sales were poor. The line included 18 toys, varying in size from the Go-Bots to Dreadwing. Excepting the Go-Bots, the toys selected were the most articulated (and arguably modern) designs from G2, such as the Laser Rods and Cyberjets. In 2006, Takara retroactively added the “Primes of Justice” to G-2, both e-HOBBY redecos of Laser Optimus Prime.
As G-2 was a financial wash for Takara, they once again abandoned Transformers until the 1997 debut of Japan’s Beast Wars line, and continued to focus on their ongoing Brave Series instead.
