Transformers are alien robots hailing from the planet Cybertron. They are divided into two factions: heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons. Autobots and Decepticons have been locked in an apocalyptic civil war for millennia. The line was launched in the United States in 1984 with an accompanying animated television series, it followed in Europe later that same year. Many of the Hasbro-distributed toys were actually rebranded versions of the existing Japanese ‘Microman’ and ‘Diaclone’ toylines made by Takara. The combination of vehicle and robot, and the often complicated series of movements required to change between the two modes, meant Transformers were extremely popular children’s toys during the mid-1980s.

Kickback is part of a sub-group of Decepticons known as the Insecticons, he transforms from a robot into a grasshopper. The Insecticons were introduced in the fifteenth episode of the original animated television series (‘A Plague of Insecticons’), in which their spaceship had crash-landed on Bali in prehistoric times. The three robots had then resided for millions of years in a swamp, emerging occasionally to steal food from local people, who regarded them as legendary beasts. All three Insecticons were killed-off in the 1986 animated feature film, ‘Transformers the Movie’, along with many other members of the original cast. Kickback’s toy was derived from an earlier Takara line, ‘Diaclone’, in which the character was known as Battas.