Interview: Takio Ejima

Takio Ejima, Head of the GIRLS Development Engineering Department 

Interview from the official Takara Transformers website 2004

Translated & Interpreted by Jeremy Barlow © Soundwave's Oblivion 2026

I’m Ejima, and I was primarily responsible for the overseas versions of Transformers products starting with the 1993 lineup. As for products released in Japan, I was responsible for developing the majority of the Versus Sets from the year of Gattai Daisakusen, as well as most of the G2, Beast Wars, Beast Wars II, Beast Wars Neo, and Beast Wars Metals lines.

Just six months after joining the company, I was put in charge of developing around 36 different robot figures for the Hasbro European line, all at the same time. Looking back now, there are certainly some of those products that give me things to reflect on. However, the following year, I presented Hasbro with prototypes for the Laser Rod series (G2), the industry’s first super-poseable transforming robots. I feel that this helped create the path that eventually led to the hugely successful Beast Wars series that everyone knows so well.

At the time, I had concerns about things such as the cost calculations, but thanks to the “VERY NICE!!” comment from someone on Hasbro’s marketing team, we were able to get the product to market.

Around that time, action figures based on realistic American comic book heroes were becoming increasingly popular in the US market, and Hasbro approached us with questions such as, “Would it be possible to bring that macho image to Transformers as well?”

With that background, I created and proposed prototypes for super poseable Transformers based on a poisonous spider and a wasp, and eventually the plan to introduce Beast Wars to the United States got underway.

It was a major decision made while still carrying some uncertainties, but the series went on to become a huge hit in countries around the world, becoming a landmark in the history of boys’ toys. In particular, the main characters Convoy and Megatron remained in production for such a long time that I wondered, “Could these end up being the products I’ve handled with the highest production numbers?” But then Magnaboss surpassed them, and for a while Hasbro and Takara were even competing with each other over the moulds!

The Beast Wars Metals versions of Convoy and Megatron also achieved very good results.

One difficulty with TV programmes produced overseas is that the image of the toys isn't always reflected as strictly as it is in Japan. Back then, I would often design things while thinking, “If this were an overseas animated series, wouldn’t they want to show off a gimmick like this?” The large wheels I had added to Metals Rattle turned out to fit the bill perfectly. It was just like something straight out of an old American cartoon.

After that, I was also responsible for Beast Machines, which was never released in Japan, and the people at Hasbro came to call me by the nickname “BIG E.”

Well then, until next time.