Slashdot Mirror
Complete Transformers Generation One Set on ebay
doogles writes "I ran across quite a blast from the past today on ebay. A complete Transformers: Generation One set is for sale on ebay starting at $10,000 although at this time there are no bids." I was never allowed to have transformers as a kid. I had go-bots (a cheap knockoff if I've ever seen one). My friends had Optimus Prime, Starscream, and the rest. God I loved all those things. The show was allright, but those toys are a huge part of my childhood. Course the other interesting thing is how over the years the sets grew, and got... well, silly. But that first year... wow.
The privilege of asking a ridiculous price for action figures is supposed to be reserved strictly for those who keep the toys in the
original sealed package! What's next, Beanies
with the ear tags ripped off?
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
The original set was cool. I always wanted the Megatron that transformed into a life-sized gun. That would never have made it past the PR department these days.
I remember one i had that transformed into a boombox. He had "cassettes" which transformed into small animal robots. I can't remember his name, though.
I remember on Christmas I got a really, really awesome Transformer who turned into a white metal jet. Man, he was cool. An I remember how there was something wrong with him, so we had to return him, but they didn't have any more (being right after Christmas and all) so I got some truck dude who was Optimus Prime's cousin or something.
I remember the occasional toy that would be really "stiff"; the joints would be very difficult to move. They tended to stay in one form most of the time.
I remember making the obligatory "chi-choo-choo-choo-choo-chi" sound as I transformed these toys.
I remember seeing the Transformers movie with my mom.
I thought it was cool when, a couple years ago, my little brother started getting into "Beastwars", which, as you may not know, is a descendant of the original show/merchandising empire. Personally I don't think they're as cool as the originals, but hey, they're still Transformers.
I remember seeing the original TV show somewhere a few months ago and being astounded at how awful the animation and voices are. This happens whenever I see one of the cartoons of my early years, such as Thundercats and He-man. What was that cartoon with the metal cyborg people with wings? Silverhawks? Oh well, I forget. These days I watch a lot of Japanese animation (although I don't subscribe to CmdrTaco's "anime newbie cheerleading club" here on /.) and it's amazing to compare even kids cartoons from Nihon with the crap kids watch today. Your parents may have though the cartoons you watched were trash... well, most modern cartoons really are. The few imported anime shows don't help much... I'm always amazed at the awful English dubbing. American TV people seem to think that because a show is animated, it should have cheesy "kiddy" voices. Dubs always seem stupid and immature. That's why I actually hope the American TV industry halts its current "anime is hip and cool, kids like it, so do we" before they fuck up too many series. I've heard that Rurouni Kenshin is going to be shown, dubbed, on Cartoon Network... God help us all. Maybe I should kill myself now?
Anyway, I think this story is like most of Slashdot's stories over the past six months (mostly stupid and irrelevant), but thanks for the memories anyway. Transformers were a big part of my life too.
All generalizations are false.
--
I like to watch.
Gobots may have been cheap, but IIRC, Transformers were a rip-off of Gobots. A good rip-off, but a rip-off.
ticks = jiffies;
while (ticks == jiffies);
ticks = jiffies;
Have you read my journal today?
Just FYI, they're re-releasing a bunch of the most popular original Transformers, and some new (and very very good) designs under the moniker Transformers 2000. http://www.planetanime.com has them, along with just about every other Japanese toy retailer on the net. Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus (the Optimus cab with the car-carrier trailer), and a couple very nice new cars are available today, along with Fortress Maximus (which is the ungodly huge one you see in those pictures). I also have in my pocket the reserve slip for the original Megatron, due for release in June. I was as giddy as a schoolgirl when I found out about that.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
A while back, I purchased a copy of the1986 animated classic, 'Transformers: The Movie'. This mini-epic starred Leonard Nimoy, Judd Nelson, and Orson Welles in his final performance. It opens with a Decepticon (the bad guys, for those who aren't in the know) attack on the Autobots' (good guys) city on Earth, wherein the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, is killed, and the Decepticon leader, Megatron, is transfigured by a world-eating planet called Unicron into a far more powerful being, Galvatron, in order to destroy the Autobots' Matrix of Leadership, a mystical artifact which has the power to destroy Unicron. Combine top-flight Japanese animation with the best in cheesy 1980's pseudo-metal, and you have a cinematic delight.
However, after watching the film several (yes, several) times, and discussing it with a group of my friends, I've come to some conclusions about a certain way in which the film can be interpreted. I believe that a Marxist/socialist/Communist interpretation can be applied to the film, analyzing its elements in terms of the Cold War scenario of the 1980's.
For example, the Autobots represent to the forces of Capitalism, i.e. the Western World. Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus, their leaders during the majority of the film, are both colored red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag. They live in a society which is governed by 'energon', a power source which they use as a form of currency. Also, they are governed by a concensus, even though their leader holds veto power over their government.
The Decepticons, on the other hand, represent the forces of Communism, specifically the power of the Soviet Union, and the oppression of industry. For example, the Decepticons flee the battle of Autobot City in Astrotrain, a robot with the power to transform into a locomotive; this represents the Decepticons' dependence on industrialization, much like the Soviets'. The Decepticons are ruled in an autocratic manner, where those who can defeat or supplant the leader become absolute monarch over their society. The giant robot, Devastator, is the avatar of the 'collective' concept of Communism.
Other elements of the film represent other elements of the repressive Soviet society as well. For example, several of the Autobots find themselves trapped on the world of the Quintessons, imperial judges whose verdicts always result in death. They represent the unreasoning Soviet legal system, which was state-controlled and made no allowance for mercy or jurisprudence. The Quintesson's servants, the Sharkticons, are mindless, all-consuming drones; they represent the Army, which enforces the decisions of the judicial system without question or apprehension.
The Autobot Grimlock, who expresses his world-view in "Me Grimlock no kisser; Me Grimlock king!", eventually turns the Sharkticons against the Quintessons, with his superior physical presence. He is the analog of the Communist dictator, such as Joseph Brosz (Marshal Tito) of Yugoslavia and Ncolai Ceauescau of Romania; he enforces his desires through phyiscal means and terror, inducing those who serve the system to turn against it.
When Megatron is transfigured into Galvatron, he slays the Decepticons who disagree with him, namely Starscream. This is much like Stalin's purges of the old Leninist regimes in the early 1920's, getting rid of those who don't agree with your policies in order to make your government work. Galvatron's transformation is not only physical and mental but also ideological.
Several Autobots land on the planet of Junk, inhaited by the Junkions. The Junkions are ramshackle robots who are built and regenerate from the endless scrap heap which comprises their planet. They are addicted to television transmission, and much of the lingua franca of the Junkions is composed of phrases from common TV shows. They represent the endless proletariat of the Communist state, kept placid by the various media and endlessly regenerating from the wellspring of procreation.
Unicron is a monolithic figure within the movie, instigating much of its action. He changes Megatron into Galvatron, initiating the subsequent disruption of the balance of power between Autobot and Decepticon. Imagine if something had given Communism a clear advantage over Capitalism, leaving the concept of capitalism in the dust; that is what Unicron is. He represents the inevitability of economic change from barter, to capitalism, to socialism, as proposed by Karl Marx. Unicron is the inevitable dialectic of history.
The Autobots' Matrix represents the variable which economic analyses cannot predict, that is the desire of the human being for freedom and equality (Yeah, it's kind of hokey, but so's the plot). The Matrix is able to destroy Unicron, which is much like human consciousness disrupting the dialectic of history, resisting communism in favor of capitalism. When the Matrix destroys Unicron at the end of the film, it is much like the residents of East Berlin breaking down the Berlin Wall; they as well are resisting the inevitability of economic, social, and historical change from one system to another. These are just some of the elements in "Transformers: The Movie" which support the Marxist interpretation of its storyline. I encourage you to rent, buy, borrow, or steal it; it's great fun.
Vulvasaur? Is that like some Pokemon with vaginal powers?
...spend more time on the HTML!
BTW, if you're the author of this, or you know the author, drop me a line. I've had it up on my website for a while, and I'd really like to ask him for permission to have it there.
Reality has a liberal bias
(As long as this story about Transformers is up, I should probably plug the rec.toys.transformers.moderated newsgroup which I help to moderate, as well as the article about Transformers fandom that I wrote a while back. And the yearly Transformers convention, BotCon, which will be in Carolina this year.)
--
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
I bet, 10 years from now, there's some kid all "Dude, when I was a kid, my Vulvasaur kicked ass all over these lame-ass intelligent robot dogs like those kids have today..."
The thing that transforms from a bot into a handgun that looks so real you could hold up a seven eleven and steal the rest of the transformers off the shelf. The cost of megatron and the small fine for robbery is probably cheaper than it'll be to get them off ebay =)
I am !amused.
If so, I want Jazz back, damnit.
----
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
The odd thing is, the Transformers toys sold a lot better than the original Japanese toys on which they'd been based--revitalizing Japanese toy manufacturer Takara, who made most of the original Generation One toys, and still continues (in partnership with Hasbro) to make Transformers to this day. In fact, the Transformers cartoon became popular enough in Japan itself to spawn three new animé series (Headmasters, Masterforce, and Victory), an OAV (Zone), and myriad manga, after the franchise's demise in America. In Japan and Europe, Transformers never really died out--a lot of the "Generation Two" and "Machine Wars" toys were American re-issues of European or Japanese product.
Why do so many people think fondly of Transformers? Well, the writing of the shows, though occasionally juvenile, still managed to be sufficiently mature that not just kids but teens and even some adults could enjoy it. It portrayed all the characters as being three-dimensional--even the villains, who could have friendships, motivations, and respect for their adversaries, and who never resorted to the kiddie-show characterization of referring to themselves as "evil". To this day, there is a strident faction of Decepticon devotees active in fandom, who insist that the Deceps were misunderstood and that their "survival of the fittest" philosophy was actually in Cybertron's best interests. The show had some silly episodes, and some that make even the most devoted fans cringe--but at its best, it could really make you stop and think. You just don't find that kind of depth in most other kids' shows of that day, and even less in such shows of today.
And that's just the TV show. There were comic books, too--80-some in the US (plus the 12-issue Generation 2 miniseries), 300-some in the UK--whose storyline was nearly entirely different from the show, and which featured some terrific writing--especially toward the end, during Simon Furman's run. These were a lot more mature than the TV show, with a more serious storyline and more room for characterization.
As for the later stuff--while not as good as the original, Beast Wars did have quite a few good points. It's too bad they fired the creative staff and went on to make that god-awful Beast Machines thing afterward.
As for GoBots . . . well, I'll agree with you that the toys were pretty cool (the ones I saw, at least). But the episode or two of the TV show that I caught didn't seem to live up to the sort of thing I saw in Transformers. It may just be a matter of personal preference, though.
Anyway, I've written a bit more about TF fandom in this article. Feel free to check it out.
--
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
- Transformers: The Movie - Yes, the original with tons of great voice actors--Judd Nelso, Leonard Nimoy, Orson Wells, Robert Stack, Peter Cullen. (and the DVD just came out a few weeks ago!)
- Transformers MUSHes - Roleplay as your favorite Transformers with loads of other people. There's a whole lot more then just these two.
- Transfans - Probably the biggest organized Transformers club
- Botcon - The biggest and best Transformers convention. I went in 95 and 97--great toys, movies, people, and artwork.
Have fun getting your Transformers fix.You obviously know how to get good advertising.
its sad to see kids playing with pokemon.. back when i was a kid.. we had REAL toys.. transformers, gi joes.. none of those wussy pokeshits.. bring back the real toys!!!!!!!!! /rant
. . . but I've held off enough. You can get your Transformers fix right here.
--
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Consider: How much fun can you have with toys when you're being really, really careful with them? Peeling stickers, chipped plastic, loose joints and collateral damage are par for the course in protecting the world from the Evil Decepticons.
----
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
That is why many children of the era, including me, became such great programmers.
You know exactly what to do-
Your kiss, your fingers on my thigh-
You know exactly what to do-
Your kiss, your fingers on my thigh-
I think of little else but you.
but when i look in my wallet, $10,000 is:
MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
sorry, couldn't resist.
-=tonyt=-