Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Image | Tagged: skybound, transformers

Skybound's The Transformers Kickstarter Campaign Sets Day One Record

Skybound’s The Transformers Kickstarter campaign sets a Day One record to kick things off...

Published Wed, 09 Apr 2025 10:57:07 -0500

Article Summary

Skybound's Transformers Kickstarter smashes day one record with $1.8M in pledges, set to top G.I. Joe.
Legendary Transformers creators join Kickstarter, ensuring them paid roles as part of the campaign.
The Transformers campaign ranks among Kickstarter's Top 3 most-funded comic campaigns ever.
Skybound's Energon Universe dominates the market, selling over 4 million units in under two years.

Last year, Skybound and Hasbro's GI Joe: A Real American Hero Compendium Set became the most-funded comic book campaign in Kickstarter history (just as we predicted) with over $3,700,000 in pledges. But now that record seems on track to be toppled by…Skybound and Hasbro launched their The Transformers Compendium Set campaign on Kickstarter, collecting both the US and UK comics published by Marvel in the 80s and 90s.

In just one day, the campaign has pledges of over $1,800,000, setting a new Kickstarter record previously established by the aforementioned G.I. Joe campaign ($933k in 24hrs) and making it already one of the Top 3 most-funded campaigns in the platform history.

It's also notable that this campaign – like G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero – is taking steps to involve the creators who helped create the material. Talent like Simon Furman, Bob Budiansky, Andrew Wildman, Geoff Senior and more all appear to be getting paid roles with this campaign, much as Skybound prominently involved writer/artist Larry Hama in their GI Joe promotion with paid opportunities. This is to make up for the fact that simply reprinting these comics, as a recent of licensed contracts, will not pay any royalties to the creators. So instead they all get paid roles within the Kickstarter.

And it's another feather in the cap of the Skybound and Hasbro partnership, that has sold over 4 million units in less than two years when many were skeptical about the power of these legacy franchises in comic shops. Robert Kirkman's The Energon Universe – powered by Void Rivals, Transformers and GI Joe outsells nearly every other ongoing series on the market without an Ultimate, Absolute, H2SH or Turtle in its title.

Now, the question remains – when (not if) will The Transformers top GI Joe as the #1 most-funded comics campaign in Kickstarter history? With nearly a month left to go and loads of stretch goals to be unveiled, there's a good chance that Skybound's own record may be topped very soon by Skybound itself. The Transformers Compendium Kickstarter Campaign is live now and ends on the 7th of May but I expect we'll be hearing a lot more about it soon given the first day performance.

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