I’m 46 years old and had no idea this existed.

The "Activity Center" is where you drop off your Transformers when you go to work.

At least with the ones that originated in Diaclone, the figures WERE the playsets, as they included 1-inch pilots meant to drive them in both vehicle mode and robot mode. Omitting the pilots leaves vestigial features all over those figures, especially Prime's trailer.

I've been a Transformers fan and collector from day one. This is the first time I've heard of this thing.

"Three Optimi high"...that made me literally laugh out loud! Good one!

Even in Japan they had playsets for robot toylines and tv shows. Bandai had multiple playsets based on the hangar bases for their robot toys in the 70s/80s. Why Takara didnt do this for TF or even Hasbro is such a letdown

whatever you do...DON'T reenact the first time the Dinobots went online with that playset

I had this playset in the 80s . All cardboard . We got it from Dollar General in Maryland for 15.00💯💯💯💯💯💯

Funny enough, cause we had many vhs tapes, those served as my Transformers playset. I could stack them in a way like a deck of cards. Flat at the front with sides and stacked as a lid with the back exposed and layered on top of each other. So I had like six empty rooms in the back to place figures with a flat wall in front. Did the job.

I loved learning about this playset. Much like you, my foray into Transformers with short lived, and I always wanted a playset/base for my Autobots. Ah, when toy companies built playsets (even small companies that made them out of cardboard) and didn't need to crowdfund them.

The 1986 catalogue directly mentions Metroplex as a "city playset" also all the photos of Metroplex and Trypticon have other cars placed onto them so they were supposed to be used as playsets for your trasformers - just some would not fit onto them, but many would. If you are going to talk about playsets for transformer you gotta mention the 1989 Micromaster series and their multiple stations, transprts, command centres and bases. Those were playsets that fit the micromaster transformers and adhered to the transformers theme of transformations - since these were stations hiding as regular gas stations, restaurants or workstations and transforming into battle stations - those were playsets as you could fit multiple micromasters into them and you could combine several playsets and form a micro "city" for your micromasters. I had the decepticon greaspit and it was quite fun, but I sure wish I had more. I couldn't afford many of the bigger transformers but even I could affort a set of 4 micromasters and 1 hidden stations to play.

ive always loved this playset but have never seen anyone review it. So happy you got one to review.

I missed out on these cardboard playsets. I remember seeing the STARS and Warren Playsets, I never got them. Still, as a cardboard hobby enthusiast, I LOVE THESE! I really enjoyed this video. FANTASTIC WORK!

I received this play set as a kid. Thank you for bringing back some memories.

I love the combination of positive and negative videos on this channel. Hearing Michael sincerely talk about something he appreciates is just as fun as seeing him rip a product a new one.

My brother and i actually owned this playset back then. And yes it was a fragile cardboard structure. Carelessness eventually led to it's demise when the moments of "cheap crap has another tear" was more often than "just use imagination". Really cool to see it again in this video after all these years. Thank you.

I used to collect transformers but never heard of this playset. Activity center always makes me think about a small kids coloring set with crayons, colored pencils, stickers and stamps.

The City Bots can be both and there's... no issue? I don't see the problem with saying they can be both playsets and bots themselves, that's the lines whole gimmick. As for scale, sure, some of the bigger carbots and up don't scale, but the mini bots and especially the Scramble City bots that were made to interact with Metroplex and Trypticon certainly do, and Transformers IN G1 would go on to do an entire line of playsets.

Thank you so much for the nostalgia fix, Michael. I live in the UK and you have reminded me that I owned the Warren 3D Starscream as a kid. I had completely forgotten this item existed! Wonderful memories.

Oh man I remember this clearly years ago! At my Kmart! I wanted it so bad but my parents said no! So I made my own with cardboard and construction paper. Mine was a terrible parody of the factory printed and die cut pieces! Nice to see it again!

Excellent video! Never knew of this. I love learning about obscure, forgotten 80’s toys.

Transformers fandom needs to pick a lane”….by that logic Scarlett is a play set.😂😂😂😂

Thank you for doing this video. I had this set as a kid, and it was so great. Haven't thought of it in many years until now.

Thanks, Michael. I never knew this thing existed. Entertaining and educational as always. 👍

I literally just found out about this at BotCon last week when I saw someone selling one. I was tempted to pick it up but ultimately passed. Now thanks to Michael I'm realizing I kind of need it.

This is pretty amazing! I had never heard of any of these before this, thanks for sharing!

I was listening to the livestream which you and the others were talking about this. Thanks for making a video about it!

Should be golden color like the Ark.

Interesting. I'll be honest, oddly, I didn't know there were toys until the 90s even though I saw the tv show in the 80s. Lol.

“Under specific conditions, Scarlett is a Playset” 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

Michael in Soundwave's voice: "Rumble, Frenzy, Laserbeak . . . eject. Operation: Playset Track Down." Very nice work, Michael. You always do really in-depth research for your videos--I very much appreciate it!

I didn’t have a lot of Transformers, but I did have this set and it got a ton of use - from the few TFs I did have, to the GI Joes I was more focused on primarily, to even my Matchbox/Hot Wheels/Stompers. I loved it, and despite the limited durability of the cardboard construction, I made it last throughout my childhood

As an avid and lifelong G1 collector, I've always wanted Hasbro to give us a playset for our Transformers. I used to imagine a Giant Unicron head as being a playset as an idea. I was never really into cardboard playsets. To me, a real playset is made of plastic and it's far more sturdy and durable than cardboard..

2:25 they could though,as could other figures from the minibot/combiner limb/throttlebot range,and they are playsets in there own right. Takara expanded on this in "car robots 2000" by giving there repaint of fort max a playmat

I forgot about this because I never gave it much credit in the first place. I lumped it in with the non-Hasbro electric racetracks and and microphones. The STARS set seems so junky now, but I sure wanted it back then, because it was official. I still want a STARS shoulder patch, even now. And I also consider the goofy electric racecars legit too, just to make the G1 robot roster even bigger in my mind. My little brothers and I just built a fort in the living room and imagined it was the Ark. A lot of the fun was in the custom construction process anyway. Now they have made an actual Ark spaceship, admittedly at a very small scale, but they had to go and turn it into a transforming robot, too.

i will always be there qwhen retroblasting posts transformers content

The logic of the city bots not being playsets just because some larger figures were too big for them is really strained. By that logic Most GI Joe bases failed because they couldn't accommodate all the vehicles. Optimus's trailer was technically a playset. I had an original Scorpinok and while it wasn't the most impressive base ever, it certainly had more play features than this thing.

Very cool video Michael! I had never heard of that play set! It must of been hell for kids trying to keep it intact!

I’ve heard about this set, but I’d quickly forget about it. Thanks for bringing attention to this set, more collectors need to know about this sets existence.

I remember seeing this exactly ONCE in a store. I didn't have any money at the time so I never bought it, and never saw it again until now. If my brother hadn't also been present, I wouldn't have even been sure I actually saw it.

I had both the STARS and the Activity Center. What a blast from the past to see it again.

You're completely wrong, but I still enjoyed the video. Both Metroplex and Trypticon are playsets (scramble City line). And of Course Fortress Maximus is a huge playset for both minibots and most of the gimmick bot releases... Ah, and good joke about poseability of toys in the eighties (excepting GI Joe, most were bricks) Good to know about this rarity. :)

I had this as a kid.I got it for Christmas.

Confirmation that a childhood fever dream was a reality. Like a Mandela effect in reverse.

Awesome video, I know of this playset, but I've never got a good look at it till now. Thank you!

Oh my gosh!!! I had this, but I had completely forgotten it. Wow! Thank you for this trip down memory lane! I remember getting mine shortly before Transformers: the Movie came out and continuing to use it through at least 1988 when I got Powermaster Optimus Prime.

Oh wow, I had completely forgotten about this, I had one but it is long since gone, thank you for sharing this.

Always learn something new on this channel. I've never seen or even heard of this playset! And yes I was an obnoxious kid who absolutely had to have a figure when the transformer was in vehicle mode which is why I nearly shit my Oshkosh-B'goshs when headmasters came out.

Great video!

The crowd boo'ing you was gold. I feel you're overlooked for your sense of humor. Wishing you the best!

Good stuff as always!!

Excellent video Michael!

That scarlet scene made me spit out my soda!!! Good show sir!! Lol

Wow! I actually first learned about this over 10 years ago from a now defunct KZfaq channel. At the time I thought they were talking about the mail away playset, until I saw this thing sitting next to Michael.

I made a playset for the Transformers as a child that was the mountain with the Ark crashed into it. Inside of it, it had control panels, a working elevator, and electric lights. It was made out of a school desk and parts of a Zenith VCR.

When it came to building my own Autobot base I used my extra millennium falcon, and a couple of suitcases to make look like a mountain and took part of another playset That was supposed to be teletraan 1 that's how I compensated for them not making an Autobot playset

I never saw this. Looks interesting. However, I had many cardboard playsets. I made them myself. I had a cardboard USS Flag, Cobra command center (with a snake throne and a brainwave scanner) a space shuttle for GI Joe (that doubled as a Transformers ship and Klingon Bird of Prey), a Unicorn disembodied head (a feature in G1 Season 3), a swamp cabin base for Zartan, and lots of other gizmos and doohickys. A large long box on its end also substituted for the "Extensive Enterprises" tower. Oh yeah, I had probably a dozen Enterprise bridges, but I kept destroying them. Darn self destruct mechanisms and all that. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of big toys too - the actual Joe command center, helicopters, tanks, and numerous Transformers. But the cardboard playset was usually either something I saw in a comic book, or something I couldn't wait for. I remember being so happy with my four foot long USS Flag substitute that I wasn't interested in the monster Hasbro was selling.

Very nicely done!!!

I 1000% never heard of this. Sure, never knowing this existed as a kid makes sense because you’re barely coherent in life. But I’ve never come across this being a thing as an adult collector either.

Great stuff. Love the T-shirt too!

I actually still have mine. I played with this set a lot and the tabs you inset to put it together certainly show that. In one room i had my collection in, i had it set up with all my childhood transformers i got back in the day. Currently it sets on top of my G1 display case back in the box.

I loved this set. Could find them in the toy section of the supermarket. And they were cheap enough (only a few bucks) so that a child could likely leave the grocery store with one.

Funny enough Michael, I found out this existed at BotCon last week. Biggest mind f**k of my life finding out about it. They had it set up in a little space they had blocked off to look like a kids room in the 80s filled with TF memorabilia. This was one of them. Great video!

Fort Max, Metroplex and other city bots were totally play sets……many smaller bots work with them, plus they were designed to interact with the Micromasters and the transforming Micromaster play sets. Including connectable ramps.

Hasbro's attempt to give Transformers a playset is probably with the legends and then core class figures.

The Jetfire hanger could also be the Dinobots chamber they would be kept in until a mission required the Autobots to reactivate them for battle:)

G1 figures were scaled for action figures, 1 inch Dianauts. Decepticons like Megatron and Soundwave were scaled for Microman action figures, the very inspiration for new GI Joe. 🤷 What you featured though? That is a for real playset and cool as hell. I wish more playsets, especially for set pieces from the show came out, like the oil rig that the Decepticons attacked where the Witwickys were introduced. A human city set would have been perfect. I cobbled stuff together as a kid from books and boxes, so the desire for playsets beyond just what the cityformers has was there. I think I started to notice third party accessories too late in the 80s (not to mention the competition - if you could only get ONE toy that might, are you going with the 3P from, like, Arco? Or are you going with the real deal? I always went with the real deal, though we a kid I wish I got the Mad Scientist toys that Arco put out to supplement the Mattel line.

Fantastic video! I loved it.

I've never seen or heard about this playset. Thank you Michael for enlightening us all

I know I'm going to sound like a broken record, but I had no memory of this sets existence. It looks pretty cool. It reminds me a lot of the Palitoy sets. Kid me would have loved this!

I didn't know this existed till I started to seriously collect Transformers. I've seen 1 boxed but never assembled. I had no idea of the size of this thing.

Retroblasting posting a new Transformers video. Never thought I'd see the day. Awesome!!

I remembered getting a big playset for Christmas around 35 years ago, but i always thought it was a knockoff. You just unearthed a ton of great memories of my childhood!

I have no memory of this. It looks more like something from GI Joe than Transformers. I feel this was repurposed from another toy line.

I never knew this existed! Thanks for doing this video.

Never knew this playset existed (Australia). I still have my Gen 1 Jetfire & Grapple ☺️

Wow. Thanks for teaching me something new

It’s good to see a retroblasting toy/playset review, feels like it’s been awhile.

The moment you hold megatron in gun mode you become the play set

Great stuff Michael. I had to laugh so hard at that cut in of Duke Scarlett and Snake Eyes! 🤣

I had a great time playing with this, but it was always a Cobra temple. I always thought integrating the box was brilliant.

I love this channel!!!

I remember that set very well a friend of mine found one at the flea market for cheap with the original box. Interesting video thanks for sharing

Wow, I remember having Transformers as a kid, and I don't ever recall seeing any playset for them! 😮

You just unlocked a core memory. I saw the stairs and immediately remembered having this. Totally forgot I had it.

I just assumed that kids would accumulate duplicates of Optimus Prime's trailer and arrange them in a grid pattern across their living room floor so they could allow the Transformers to inhabit a trailer park. I'll show myself out.

I was reading about this the other day! Very cool!

As a three time castle greyskull owner I endorse thise message . So muchhhh fun potential and room for imagination ...plus battle damage

Transformers came in different sizes. Metroplex worked perfectly for combiner teams like the Safetybots, AerialBots, Constructicons, Combaticons, etc or the mini cars.

Props to Michael for dragging this playset out and putting it together for this video knowing you have to disassemble it in order to move it or put it away.

Cool! Thanks for this.

I remember having this but i was young and ended up punching all the parts out while my dad was at work, he was never able to put it together, as a result. never got to enjoy it.

Great video Michael. Such a trip to see the Ark crew altogether in their homebase.

Jeez, I'd love one, even though I'm not collecting G1 that much, this playset would still fit the current Generations figures perfectly.

Metoplex is a play set to be used with scramble city/combiner teams. Originally intended for the Diaclone Jizai Gattai toyline, which consisted of Metroplex, and all the scramble city transformers. The combiner leaders actually have a third mode that connects to the playset.

I am among those who had this thing way back when, I even used it for other toys, not just TransFormers. Thanks for bringing back some good memories. That Scarlett joke 😅

I remember seeing this at my local Dollar General as a kid

Well if you argue that cityformers can't be playsets due to their size, there IS a third party Fortress Maximus that might be of interest to you regarding how ridiculously gargantuan it's going to be.

Great coverage of an obscure but undeniably cool bit of TF history, Michael 😁👍 I vaguely recall hearing rumors about this piece swirling around the early collecting community back in the day. Its tab & slot panel construction reminds me of the not-nearly-as-obscure Super Gobot Guardian Headquarters, also by a third-party company, but made out of chipboard, IIRC. I guess the same scale issues brought about its creation as well, as Super Gobots couldn’t fit inside Thruster or the Command Center 😅

The Pedanticon faction is well represented in this channel.