Videos Then and Now

" 'What's a VCR...?' "

As of Christmas 2008, a chapter in media history finally ended: the production of VHS cassette tapes ended once and for all. But for those of us who are Transformers fans and Children of the Eighties, the videotape lives on in our memory--not to mention in our collections! So take a trip down Retro Lane with us and peruse the box art from Kid Rhino's 1999-2001 video releases. Then we'll go WAY back and sample the box art from the 1980's F.H.E. (Family Home Entertainment) releases of classic episodes. It's not only a great guide for collecting videos, but also a good start to educate those young 'whippersnappers' who don't know what a videotape or a VCR is!

On this first page are the Kid Rhino videos running from right to left in order of release, and all episode synopses are taken from the back covers.

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Volume One: Prime Threat
A Prime Problem - Megatron comes up with a devious plan to lure the Autobots into a crevice filled with Korlonium crystals, a deadly mineral that destroys electronic circuitry. To do this he must first make an exact duplicate of Optimus Prime. Starscream, Soundwave and the other Decepticons create a diversion while Laserbeak knocks Optimus Prime unconscious and scans him into a computer. Now it's time to put their deadly plan into action--replace Optimus Prime with an imposter who will lead the Autobots to self-destruction.

City of Steel - The Decepticons have secretly established an underground base beneath New York City's busy streets. Their goal is to steal its tallest structure, the Empire State Building, and turn it into their indestructable headquarters. From there they will conquer New York. When Optimus and the Autobots arrive, Megatron springs his trap in Central Park. Long Haul and Scavenger dig a hole underneath Optimus who falls in and is turned into scrap. It's up to Bumblebee and the others to save the city and put their big leader back together.

Volume Two: Revenge of the Decepticons
The Search for Alpha-Trion - A race of female Autobots attack Decepticon headquarters on Cybertron only to be captured. Megatron uses their leader, Elita-One, as bait to lure Optimus back to Cybertron, where he has set a trap. Optimus rescues Elita-One, but not before she is severely injured. His only hope of saving her is to find a wise old Autobot named Alpha Trion. Prime finds the old one and learns one of Cybertron's most important secrets--who their true creator is. Meanwhile, his Autobot buddies are fighting Decepticons, thinking their fearless leader has been turned into a pile of molten steel.

Dark Awakening - Optimus Prime returns from the grave to lead his Autobots once more. Their current boss, Rodimus Prime, couldn't be happier. Now he can relax and become carefree Hot Rod again. Things turn ugly when it becomes clear that this is not the same Prime they once knew. He has been secretly reprogrammed and is leading them into an ambush. Hot Rod now faces his greatest challenge ever--a duel to the death with his mentor and friend in order to save his fellow Autobots and Cybertron.

Volume Three: Programmed For Evil
Starscream's Brigade - Evil takes a new form when Starscream injects the essence of five renegade Decepticons into ancient World War II military vehicles, creating the Combaticons: Brawl, Swindle, Blast Off, Vortex, and Onslaught. Starscream promises to equip them with energy absorbers from the Autobots and has them kidnap Jazz and Cliffjumper. Optimus blames Megatron, and the two are at odds until Prime discovers Starscream is behind everything. The Decepticons call for an all-out war, and Starscream is ready, willing and able to oblige. His Combaticons merge to form a giant called Bruticus, and Megatron has his constructicons form a huge metallic monstrosity named Devastator. Whoever is victorious will lead all Decepticons against the Autobots, Cybertron and galaxies beyond.

Auto Berserk - Because Inferno has abandoned his post, Red Alert's circuits are damaged in a battle over Wheeljack's newest invention, the Negavader. Red starts to think that his friends are all against him, and runs off before they can help. Hiding out in an old warehouse, Red Alert encounters Starscream, who convinces him to steal the Negavader so the two can be all-powerful. They break into level 9 of Autobot headquarters and are soon joined by Megatron and his Decepticons. All Optimus Prime can do is stand by and hope Red Alert comes to his senses before the Megavader explodes and turns them all into molten metal.

Volume Four: The Key To Vector Sigma
The Key to Vector Sigma: Part 1 - Megatron decides it's time for some ground support after he and his Decepticons suffer yet another defeat to the Autobots. After stealing a few racecars, Megatron transports them to Cybertron to infuse their metallic frames with cybernetic personalities, creating an indestructable group know as the Stunticons: Wildrider, Breakdown, Dead End, Drag Strip, and Motormaster. To accomplish his dastardly deed, Megatron must first get his steely fingers on the circuit key that activates a megacomputer named Vector Sigma. By the time Optimus and his Autobots arrive on Cybertron, Megatron has accomplished his plan, leaving an old guardian, Alpha Trion, in pieces but not destroyed. The ancient machine reveals the Decepticons' plans and something more devastating.

The Key to Vector Sigma: Part 2 - Stranded on Cybertron, Optimus must create a force of five flying robots: Silverbolt, Skydive, Slingshot, Air Raid and Fireflight. He calls them Aerialbots. Now it's time to get back to Earth and crush Megatron's army before he finds out how powerful the stolen circuit key really is. When Air Raid and his fellow Aerialbots abandon Optimus, Megatron's forces prove too powerful for Optimus and his Autobots. Luckily Silverbolt convinces his companions to rejoin their bot buddies. Even then victory is not ensured. Megatron's still got a few tricks in between his bolts but so does Optimus Prime.

Volume Five: Return to Cybertron
War Dawn - The Aerialbots are trapped 9 million years in the past when Optimus Prime destroys Megatron's time travel machine. Silverbolt and his Aerialbot buddies end up on Cybertron. It's a planet of great beauty and peace, but soon Megatron and his Decepticons rear their evil heads and war breaks out. While battling Decepticons, Silverbolt meets Orion Pax, a robot of great honor who, unbeknownst to him, will one day become Cybertron's greatest hero: Optimus Prime. Back in the present, Optimus is devising a plan to repair Megatron's time travel machine long enough to rescue his pals, but the Decepticons won't go away without a fight. They've rebuilt an indestructable Guardian robot against whom the Autobots seem powerless. There's only one thing left to do before time runs out for Silverbolt and his buddies: form Superion, the Autobot giant.

Forever Is A Long Time Coming - Autobot slave masters, the Quintessons, are back! They've opened a rift in time, and it's up to Rewind, Superion and Ramhorn to find out why. Before that happens, Rewind and his friends are attacked by an army of Sharkticons, and the five Autobots are sent into the past. Rodimus Prime doesn't know what to do. His chief science officer, Perceptor, is out of commission, and time ripples are starting to warp reality. The Quintessons call a truce long enough to reveal that if they're not allowed to shut the time machine down soon, its effects will destroy the entire universe. Rodimus Prime will have to make the toughest decision of his life, and time's running out quicky.

Volume Six: Evolution Revolution
Heavy Metal War - Megatron challenges Optimus Prime to a one-on-one battle. The loser will be exiled to deep space forever. According to Cybertron law, Optimus has no choice but to accept. As usual, Megatron is up to no good. His Constructicons have stolen some top-secret energy discs from a power plant that will enable him to absorb all the power and abilities of his fellow Decepticons. But Megatron's plans go beyond destroying Optimus. He will use their battle as a diversion so his Constructicons can capture Autobot headquarters. While their fight rages on, Autobot security system, Teletran 1, discovers both of Megatron's plans and alerts the Autobots. Is it too late, or can Optimus and his Autobots battle back?

The Insecticon Syndrome - Megatron and Starscream form an alliance with their arch enemy, the Insecticons. In exchange for breaking into Iron Mountain, Megatron will treat them to the Nova Power Core, a feast that will make the Insecticons indestructable. Megatron knows that once his foes have ingested the energy, they will become flying time bombs, and he'll be rid of them forever. Optimus learns of Megatron's evil plan and comes up with an antidote. How will he convince the Insecticons of Megatron's treachery? Thinking they're indestructable, what will stop the Insecticons from destroying everything in sight, including Megatron and his army?

Volume Seven: The Return of Optimus Prime
Part One - An evil scientist and his assistant decide it's time to rid Earth of Autobots and Decepticons. Their plan is to use Optimus Prime's lifeless body to lure every robot to their lab, then infect them with Sun Spores, an alien plague that instills a hatred so overwhelming that Autobots and Decepticons will want to destroy one another. It's too late to stop the madness when it's clear the Sun Spore virus is deadly to all life. The Universe's only hope is to revive Optimus Prime.

Part Two - Sky Lynx returns with the only being able to repair Optimus Prime--a Quintesson. If Optimus recovers, he and his Autobots will need a metal alloy that will protect Prime from the Sun Spores while he ventures inside a virtual world containing the wisdom of the ages. Their destination lies deep inside heavily guarded Decepticon territory. Now both Autobot and Decepticon must put aside their differences and work together if either expects to survive.

Volume Eight: Evil Experiment
The Killing Jar - An evil Quintesson scientist assembling specimens from throughout the galaxy has decided to complete his collection. Next on his list: Ultra Magnus, Cyclonus, Wreck-Gar, and Marissa Faireborne. Using his superior intellect and advanced technology, he lures them aboard, and once there, runs ghastly experiments. When an unforseen incident occurs, the Quintesson must turn to his specimens for help if any of them expect to survive.

Webworld - When Galvatron's rage is turned on his own troops, Cyclonus and his Decepticons lure Galvatron to Torkulon, a hospice planet. There he's imprisoned and forced to undergo one radical treatment after another. When all fail, only one last hope remains, a radical procedure called Maximal Intervention. Even if cured, Galvatron may end up a shell of his former self. The caretakers interface their patient directly into planet Torkulon, and what happens next could spell doom for everyone.

Volume Nine: Grimlock the Hero
Madman's Paradise - Grimlock and the ambassador's son, Daniel, are accidentally transported to another dimension where magic rules supreme on a planet called Minonia. Saved from a barbarous band of thugs, Daniel and Grimlock dine alongside their savior in his castle and learn of the Red Wizard and his plight against Minonia's tribal bands. Little do they know their rescuer is not what he appears to be. Back on Cybertron, the Autobots must decipher some ancient hieroglyphs in order to rescue Daniel and Grimlock.

Grimlock's New Brain - Grimlock turns into a genius after shutting down a power core gone critical. That intelligence will come in handy when Galvatron gets his hands on some anti-electrons--a substance capable of scrambling Autobot circuits. The last remaining source is within Unicron's decapitated head floating in space. It's a race to Unicron, where both Autobot and Decepticon alike will have more to deal with than just battling one another.

Volume Ten: Megatron's Master Plan
Part One - Wealthy Shawn Berger is brainwashed by Megatron, who convinces him that it is the Autobots, not the Decepticons that are a threat to Earth. So Berger plans his scheme and actually videotapes the Autobots raiding an oilfield, blaming it on the Decepticons. Spike gets his hands on the videotape and learns the truth, revealing the Autobots as Decepticons in disguise. But it is too late, as the Autobots are tried in court on the videotape evidence and banished from Earth. They blast off, unaware that Megatron has diabolically set the controls to carry them on a one-way irreversible journey to the sun.

Part Two - Megatron and Berger watch the Decepticon monitors as the Autobot ship speeds closer to the sun--and explodes! Megatron chortles over having sabotaged the ship; Berger is horrified realizing what he has done. But is it the end for the Autobots or does an unlikely hero save the day?

Volume Eleven: The Decepticon Possession
Ghost in the Machine - Starscream's back and this time he's in Scourge's body--that is, until they cut a deal with the head of Unicron. Unicron agrees to give the sly Decepticon his old body if he will perform three labors for him. Starscream quickly agrees and soon learns Unicron's ulterior motives!

The Burden Hardest to Bear - The Decepticons steal the Autobot Matrix, and Rodimus Prime--now the happy-go-lucky Hot Rod again--doesn't want it back! Will he desert his fellow Autobots, or come to grips with the burden imposed on him by destiny?

Volume Twelve: Size Matters
Child's Play - As the Decepticons complete construction of a new spacebridge in the middle of a baseball stadium, the Autobots come to the rescue of the terrified spectators and players. The spacebridge is accidentally activated, and several Autobots, Decepticons and a stack of energon cubes caught in the receptor are transported to an alien planet. They find themselves in the bedroom of a giant alien boy, Aron, who treats the Transformers as his toys.

Microbots - At the excavation site of a Decepticon starship that crashed eons ago, the Decepticons find the "Heart of Cybertron", a special power booster still working within the stardrive. Megatron has the device installed within his chest, knowing it will make him many times more powerful. The only way to disconnect the device is to shrink to microscopic size and infiltrate Megatron's internal system before the newly powered Megatron destroys Autobot headquarters.

Currently in progress, FHE videotapes from the Eighties! Click on: