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.

Comments

I still remember the original megatron

[11thangel]

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 wonder

[Skyshadow]

You know, this guy could be that bully who used to beat me up and steal my transformers at school. Maybe he had an agenda larger than small-minded terrorism.

If so, I want Jazz back, damnit.

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In Defense of Transformers

[Robotech_Master]

Neither Transformers nor Gobots were really a "ripoff". In both cases, what they were were American toy companies buying up overstocks of Japanese toys that hadn't sold very well, renaming them, changing the background around, and marketing them as something completely different in America. You can read all about the history of it in the Generation One section of the Transformers FAQ.

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.
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Let us not forget ...

[doogles]

I submitted the story, so obviously I am a huge Transformers fan. Let us not forget other Transformers-related outlets available:

• 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.

kids these days

[Kewjoe]

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

Transformers forged the first programmers....

[Urban Existentialist]

...of our generation. Along with lego and Mechanno, such toys gave children of the era experience in manipulating objects in an object orientated environment. They could create classes of these objects, but would often skip classes to play with them. Parents of the era would also complain about their childrens skills in garbage collection, as I myself can testify. I learned to use pointers to shift bits of blame for these incidents to my younger siblings.

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-

i would buy these but...

[tonyt]

but when i look in my wallet, $10,000 is:

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

sorry, couldn't resist.