Aaron Archer
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Aaron C. Archer (born 1972 in Canton, Ohio) is an American illustrator and creative professional who spent over 18 years at
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...
, designing for toy brands like ''
Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms ...
'', ''
G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), Ac ...
'', and others. Archer worked on the Transformers brand for over 13 years, collaborating with
Takara Takara Co., Ltd. (株式会社タカラ) was a Japanese toy company founded in 1955. In March 2006, the company merged with Tomy Co., Ltd. to form Takara Tomy. The Takara motto was 遊びは文化」("playing is culture"). Products Toys In 1 ...
on hundreds of toys. Archer acted as the Creative Lead for all Transformers partnerships including four feature films, four video games, five animated series, theme park rides, and countless publishing projects. In 2013, Archer retired from Hasbro in order to pursue independent projects. Archer worked on other Hasbro/Kenner toy lines including various '' Batman'' lines, '' Star Wars'' and ''
Alien Resurrection ''Alien Resurrection'' is a 1997 American science fiction horror film, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, written by Joss Whedon, and starring Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. It is the fourth installment of the ''Alien'' franchise, and wa ...
'', amongst others. Archer's earliest Transformers work were designs for the later ''
Beast Wars Beast most often refers to: * Non-human animal * Monster Beast or Beasts may also refer to: Bible * Beast (Revelation), two beasts described in the Book of Revelation Computing and gaming * Beast (card game), English name of historical Fren ...
'' toys, including Transmetal 2 Megatron, Dinobot, and Cheetor. Archer was the Design VP on the ''Transformers'' brand, a role that essentially made him the highest-ranking creative ''Transformers'' staffer on the Hasbro side of the business (Transformers are produced in partnership with Takara). Archer managed a design team that is responsible for concept design, both for larger storyline concepts (Archer claims the idea for the show '' Transformers: Cybertron'' was initially created on a
Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includin ...
napkin over lunch) and for the look of individual characters, while Takara's engineers are responsible for converting Hasbro designs into three-dimensional action figure form. Takara also has say in design choices. Archer is also known in Transformers fandom for his brief stint posting on the website TFW2005.com's boards under the assumed name "Orson" (a reference to
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
, voice of
Unicron Unicron is a fictional villain from the ''Transformers'' media franchise. Designed by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film '' The Transformers: The Movie'' and has since reappeared in '' Transformers: Armada'', '' Transformer ...
). Archer responded to fan questions in an unusually cryptic style, answering either-or type questions with a straightforward "NO" and only answering specific parts of multi-part questions (most likely due to
non-disclosure A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish ...
issues). The "Orson's World" message board was eventually shut down by Hasbro and issued a statement that they wanted to treat all fansites fairly. Hasbro statement
/ref> Prior to working for Hasbro, Archer self-published a comic book, ''Gumbo'', with Jeff McCormack. Both attended the
University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classifie ...
, in
Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...
. Some homages to Aaron include the Transformers movie toy Longarm having "Orson's Towing" on the door, the early name for Universe Skalor being listed as "Archerbot", and the '' Transformers: Animated'' character "Angry Archer".


References


External links


An interview with Aaron Archer
at Field's Edge. * An article o
Aaron Archer
from the
Canton Repository ''The Repository'' is an American daily local newspaper serving the Canton, Ohio area. It is currently owned by Gannett. History Historically, the newspaper had strong Republican connections, most notably with President William McKinley, who was ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Aaron 1972 births Living people University of Akron alumni Toy designers People from Canton, Ohio