Slashdot Mirror
Transformers On the Move Again
jonerik writes "In a sequel of sorts to Monday's post on Max Headroom, the Associated Press (by way of CNN) is reporting on the revival of the Transformers. Perhaps the ultimate '80s TV cartoon experience, the Transformers were (and still are) also marketed as a seemingly endless collection of toys; robots that could transform into cars, trucks, planes, and almost anything else their designers imagined. Rhino Records has just released a 4-DVD boxed set of the show's first season, and Hasbro is considering a reissue of the original '80s toy line, something that Japan's Takara Toy Company has already done, with great success."
I caught the new transformers on TV a few weeks ago and didn't like it. Actually I'm not into a lot of old TV shows I used to watch as a kid. They seem boring and childish now.
Not the "bread van that turns into a killer robot" again. I hate those toy tie-ins.
and I watched a couple the other day. Is it just me or do the transformers seem a little...camp?
I could be wrong, but I didn't think they stopped making transformers? I remember flipping the channels on a saturday mornign to find a show. It was all done with CG and they were dinosaurs, instead of cars and stuff, but it was called Transformers...
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
I remember how much time I spent colleting those toys. Didn't they try and bring back the actual show one before? I seemed to me that is was nothing more then the orignal with quasi high tech scene transitions.
Go Transformers, Go-Bots, and Vultron, the bane of my youth.
The new DVD set is very good. They remastered all of the sound to DD5.1 and touched up the color on the film. The sound is very good, as they split up the channels and really use the sub-woofer and rears. The video is very clear and doesn't look dated or faded like some others.
I hope they reissue the toys in the US, I'd buy some. I just won't pay what the Japanese imports cost.
Can slashdot slashdot itself?
I think it is rather funny that 2 posts down we are talking about how sucky the IT job market is now and pay cuts and living paycheck to paycheck, but at the same time here we are talking about DVD sets and toys. Just an interesting observation.
i wish stations like maybe cartoon network would play more original 80's cartoons like transformers...even more then that, i'd love for them to play the original 80's G.I. Joe...although, i think i read somewhere that it would just cost too much money for someone to aquire those rights...but to me it seems silly, becuase if this transformers thing works, then there will be millions to be made with toy lines, and video game tie ins...the same thing could work with G.I. Joe....could you image a G.I. Joe vs. Cobra real-time strategy game like Red Alert, or Galactic Battle Grounds...now that would be cool...
excpet no one ever dies in G.I. Joe...
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
I saw this story in my Sunday paper.
75% of 'news' is 'new'
I had purchased some transformer toys not too long ago, but they sucked. They were made out of plastic and only had like two moving parts. I hope if they really bring back the toys there made out of metal like the old days.
The 1986 _Transformers The Movie_ included cast voice cast:
Lenard Nimoy
Robert Stack
Orson Welles
(the guy who did the micro-machines commercials)
Judd Nelson
It was not a small thing to be able to assemble a cast like that for any animated film.
Craig Steffen
http://www.craigsteffen.net
There is also always a lot of Transformers stuff for sale at Ebay pretty much at all times.
Transformers were my life when I was in second grade. Soundwave! Braun! Starscream! Damn, I couldn't do math or read out loud worth a crap, but I could transform those sucksers in about 1 second. I still have a box of them in the basement back home where I grew up... maybe I'll drag them out next time I'm home and pop in the dvds :)
Oh yeah, anyone remember MASK? I really got into these, too, after Transformers. Cars turning into tanks, cool little action figures, fun story... still love that crap and I'm 26 years old! Ahhhhhh....
If Slashdot is where the spelling-challenged go when they die, I'm in heaven.
My nephew is now 5. About a year or so ago, I gave him one of my old transformers - the last one I had left (after selling most of them, loosing them or violently throwing them against my bedroom wall)
It was the same one as is the cover picture for the transformers home page
He was absolutely thrilled and has spent many hours playing with it
and thats all without the TV series to get his interest going
I do hope they bring transformers back
but I think it would be better as a new cartoon rather than just reshowing the old ones...
get some new high tech transformers too
has been out for some time on dvd, i own it, it's very good with some extra stuff and cool menus =)
Here's a question. When did we all grow up? I mean, I loved the Transformers and still do, but every time I taslk to any of myfriends I get a ration of disdain from them about watching cartoons. In the meantime, they watch Invader Zim and that's alright... Hrrrmmmm... Viva La Tranformers!!!!
Wherever you go, there I am...
Hey, wait, hasn't Transformers been revived so many times that it should be shut down for illegal cloning?
There was Transformers, then the Hypercube, then me in college so I'm not sure what incarnation happened, then Beast Wars.
G.I. Joe ranks second for The Series That Wouldn't Die. And that's not a close second.
This now concludes our broadcast day.
Yep, this story is not a surprise. A couple of months ago, I sold the last of my Transformers collection for about 3x the original price to finance the purchase of a PS2.
Craig Steffen
http://www.craigsteffen.net
Anybody know of a site that has the storylines for various episodes/archs?
Some of that stuff was pretty cool, but I only remember bits and pieces..
I must say this is something i have been hoping they would do for a long time. I love transformers, there are about 12 of them in my cube now :) I got my copy pre-ordered and the beer chilling in the fridge. Who's up for a season 1 party?
Phil
Later,
Phil
Me: "Why when I was young toys were made of metal. And you could hurt yourself with them! We used to swallow parts of toys and almost die, and we liked it!"
Child: "Meh-tul? Is that like a plastic?"
You might also be interested to know that He-man is returning with a spectacular looking new toy line as well as a new cartoon. Information and pictures can be found here.
This is perfect. Just think about the advertising crossovers.
Who here wouldn't be interested in a bright yellow BumbleBee Edition VW Beetle, complete with AutoBot logo on the hood?
------
Today's Top Deals
Excellent engrish for "More Than Meets The Eyes!" found on takara site.
"Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out."
From what I can tell of the current line, it still reeks a bit of the beast wars transformers crap they pulled.... let's face it, robots that transform into animals make even less sense than the robot buildings Tom Hanks showed off on "Big". Cars and other machinery are still the way to go, and those poor decepticons aren't going anywhere if some of the best of them transforms into nothing more than a shark. Anyway.....
;)
The 2-for-$10 packs they sell at Wal-Mart are good enough to make me and my 3-year-old daughter happy. She loves her "bobot cars".... All they need is to pull down on the nosecone, or pull up the spoiler, and poof, it transforms
You are correct, it was rated PG.
I believe _Transformers The Movie_ was the only time that Transforms swore ("dammit" was used), and just about the only time that they died.
Several characters in the series were killed, like dead, for real, and it changed the cast around for the seasons following the movie.
Craig Steffen
http://www.craigsteffen.net
I mean look at how well that show took off when this generation of rug rats caught site of it on Cartoon network.....
:-)
now they have a full product line of toys, they have a movie on its way, they have a live state show.
transformers is next, then Heman, then thundercats, then thundar the barbarian......my god I feel like a kid again
I just hope that the reisuence of the transformer toys are Quality, not the plastic crap that they came out with later on, that stuff sucked and barly worked.
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
I never could get into the original transformers. The animation was so bad -- but beast wars. That show was gorgeous. And the story line was completely cool for a kids show.
I would hurry home every afternoon to watch it. And there are still some episodes that I missed. If all the episodes of Beast Wars are available on DVD I would buy that in a heartbeat.
.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
According to sites that monitor this sort of thing, demand has already oustripped the first run. So if you're late in coming, you'll have to wait for a second run of DVDs.
When can I see this on a TV channel near me??? I have satellite and TiVo and a wishlist for Voltron but no results. :(
I remember waking up early on saturday mornings to be the first in front of the TV, remote control in hand, ready to battle my brothers for TV supremacy... me fighting for Transformers, Robotech, and other psuedo-anime cartoons, them battling for Hulk Hogan's Rock n Wrestling and other assorted WWF trash.
/NetworkCensor
How times change...
Now I battle with my boyfriend for TV supremacy when I want to watch my Macross and Neon Genesis DVDs or an anime toon marathon while HE wants to watch wrestling... *sigh* i couldn't just pick a fellow geek, could i?
What's that old parable about 'the more things change, the more they stay the same'?
On another note, as much as we might lambast the squeaky-clean lather, rinse, repeat beating the old anime imports took from the network censors, these were what introduced me to the entire genre in the first place. Had it not been for those cheesy edits of Robotech on Saturday mornings, I might never have started picking up the Macross movies when I came across them in the video stores. And god knows they would NEVER have made it on in their original formats... Network Censor "WHAT ARE THOSE?! NIPPLES?! ARE YOU *** CRAZY??"
Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo - H. G. Wells
Watch this stuff transform!
http://deimos.siliconsamurai.net/stuff/
Compared to the toys from the first series the line of toys now don't look all that nice to me...
This is more or less a tryout of re-introducing series which were hits back then.. probably hoping they could have the same impact on toy sales as their first line...
MY GOD! Don't tell me some people really think that! I mean, can anyone seriously think that these cartoons are worth anything...
Anyway, if you are into that kind of thing, you should look over at X-Entertainment.
There are some pretty funny revious of old cartoons over there (including Transformers and the incredibly stupid Master of the Universe)
Black holes occur when God divides by zero.
Taco, can you give us updates on the Thunder Cats fan club? Idiot.
Anyone remember those cartoons and toys? Remember having to explain to your parents how Go-Bots were different than Transformers, and why you had to have both! =)
Like most American animation (which we call "cartoons") Transformer storylines weren't all that deep. One particular thread that was pretty cool involved the last fight between the Autobots and Decepticons, particularly when the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, "dies," and Megatron is transformed by some planet-sized robot (Omicron?). The storyline advances a bit to the figure where a Prime successor has to deal with Galvatron, a crazier, more powerful version of Megatron.
Sure, it was a little reaching, but for the time (pre-"Batman:TAS", which I consider the start of the American animation renaissance where storyline and animation quality began anime-like improvements) Transformers was pretty good. Its animation was better than many other shops. However, Batman:TAS and other WB shows ("Justice League" being the most recent) is, in my opinion, good American animation that has matured and doesn't insult young or old. Imagine a Transformers show directed by Paul Dini...
Mind you, I was watching this stuff first-run in my latter years of COLLEGE, so not only am I old and still remember this stuff, but I would still pick the series Voltron (I prefer the Lion Robot over the Car Robot) over Transformers any day. I would recommend Transformers to my son for some early-years robot geek action since I think he's a little young to handle Dad's obsession with BattleBots.
And don't get me started about that pesky Sabon and his Power Ranger crap that stole ideas for both Transformers and Voltron, and even the "G-Force" old anime. Ugh.
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
Do you remember how bad some of the shows you used to watch actually were? I mean, it's nearly impossible to sit through an episode of Thundercats and actually enjoy it. Or try "Transformers: The Movie"... though the VAs they picked up were impressive at the time, there were some horrible parts to that movie. And it didn't even exploit the full potential of the Stunticons ;)
We don't remember how bad these shows were. This is because there were a lot of shows that made the popular ones look great by comparison....
There are 8 cartoon series and the movie. The movie was given an average score of 6.3/10 by over 3800 voters.
"Transformers" (1984)
Transformers: The Movie, The (1986)
"Transformers: The Headmasters" (1987)
"Transformers: Chôjin Master Force" (1988)
"Transformers: Victory" (1989)
"Beast Wars: Transformers" (1996)
"Beast Machines: Transformers" (1999)
"Transformers: Beast Wars Metals" (1999)
"Transformers: Robots in Disguise" (2001)
-- Adam
As seen on this slate article:
According to information released by the Dallas Fort Worth Airport, an even more detailed list (requires Adobe Acrobat) was issued by the FAA in February that helpfully advises passengers not to bother trying to bring automatic weapons, hand grenades, blasting caps, or meat cleavers. Also banned are corkscrews and toy transformer robots.
The ultimate network admin tool needs HELP!
I had Go-Bots, too! But get this: Go-Bots had this cheesie magagize that you could subscribe too, and little kids could write letters saying stupid stuff like "RoboMax is my favorate Go-Bot because he always saves the day!" That's more or less what I wrote and I got published in the letter's section.
The funny thing is that I didn't care about the letter; I drew a picture of one of the bots and wanted them to publish that! They didn't.
The memories flood back...
If Slashdot is where the spelling-challenged go when they die, I'm in heaven.
Just be gentle... it's off DSL :)
The coolest voice ever.
This site has popups, unfortunately, but it's one of the best I've ever been to. Nearly non-stop laughs. Great stuff for all the people who grew up watching He-Man, Transformers, Thundercats, GI Joe, etc etc etc.
X-Entertainment
This is not the greatest sig in the world, no. This is just a tribute.
Out here in Southern California, I've periodically noticed cars that have window cling-ons featuring the Decepticon logo. And a store chain called Hot Topic sells really nice shirts (not t-shirts) featuring Megatron (with a large Decepticon logo behind him). There's also a new Transformer comic book that will be coming out in the summer that will feature the old Transformers in "updated versions." And while you're at it, you might as well pick up The Transformers Movie on DVD. :)
The non-recursive link to Rhino Records
I went to Toys R Us and Kay Bee the other week and was VERY happy to see the transformers line on the shelves. But I became depressed when all I saw was cheap plastic characters, and they were about half the size of the originals from when I was a kid. But I bought one anyway just for Shits and giggles and still wasn't impressed.
I'll probably be buying the DVD, but I'm not going to buy the toys until they were like when I was a kid. Big (at least the same size they were back in the 80's) and Metal, not all plastic that will blow over in any wind, or has a hard time standing up on carpets because they have no weight to them.
Slashdot # 199661 the number that's the same upside down and right side up
Never understood transformers. Why can't people just choose AC or DC and stick with one instead of all this waffling back and forth.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
In the toy re-issue, I really hope they go with the die-cast metal that the 1st and 2nd generation Transformers were all made from. Not entirely, sure, but a h311 of a lot better than the plastic, "breaks-in-10-minutes" schtuff they hawk now.
Die-cast or bust! (wow, a double pun. That should set me for the week...)
AHHHHHHH! I'm burning with goodness again!
- Reakk, Sluggy Freelance
Is anyone else tired of nostalgia like me? I have become so frustrated at the entertainment industry that can only recycle crappy shows and cartoons. Next thing we will see are the "Baby Transformers" or the "Tranformer Kids". Don't even start me on Joise and the Pussycats or Jabber Jaws.
Sorry, I have been real bitter about modern cartoons since Scrappy Doo fscked Scooby Doo. Those meddling marketing executives!
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
...happened to catch an episode of the more recent version last year or so.
:)
:^)
Please oh please, if they ever bring them back, I hope they get rid of the nonsenses I saw and bring back Megatron and (the real) Optimus Prime!! Those are (were) _the_ real Transformers.
I think those recents episodes were too much like japanimation. Anime is not bad, it's was just too different from what I remembered.
And what happened to those Energon cubes. Didn't they look tasty to you?
/me is happy to see that I'm still growing younger
Something I didn't realize until a few years ago at the San Diego Comiccon is that there's a real collector's market out there for the old Transformer toys, particularly if they're still mint and unopened, still in the box. Of course it's because most everyone actually actually played with their toys (a la the first Star Wars Kenner action figure line)...
Wasn't it Gargoyles that started the animation ren in America?
Check out Robotech.com for information on the complete series DVD boxed sets, new toys and the release of the upcoming video game.
http://www.kubuntu.org/
Is it just me or do most of the series out today seem to have pretty poor bad guys?
I miss the decepticons. They were evil cruel and a fair match for the autobots. Now, the common villians are always out numbered by the protagonists and usually not bright enough to know their head from a whole in the ground. Not to meantion the fact that they just don't seem threating any more.
Come to think of it, G.I. Joe was a lot like the transformers in that aspect.
Maybe my maturity is obscuring my view point here, but where did all the good bad guys go?
Star Pirates
seriously transformers aren't back they never went away. just a lot of the nostalgiac people are just only looking back to find out the series never died. you had the generation one show and a comic. and while the cartoon ended(what many thought was the death of the entire line) japane continued by making several more series
B attlestars4 84/TF / F.html
Headmasters
Masterforce
Victory
Zone
and Operation Combination
check here to learn more about japanese TFs
http://www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/manwood/
each of these supported by a toy line. Victory considered by many to be the best. but I bet you're saying "what about america?"
well fret not because although transformers did continue in the US as well. the toyline and the comic series continued on long after the show ended and blossomed into an epic story. when finally the comic ended at issue 80 the toyline still continued. although given it was struggling through the action masters.
and just when everyone thought it was gone there came Generation 2 (G2) and to support it the old G1 series went into reruns and an entirely new comic series containing 12 issues was released telling yet another great story with art far superior to G1. new toys also were released while also releasing reissues of the old toys.
incase you're wondering G2 also got a manga in japan as well though shorter and more action centric.
and when came beast wars. many fans had a hard time accepting it thinking that the gorilla was optimus prime. although primal is actually not meant to be prime and is a seperate character. beast wars carried for 3 seasons with a story that blew G1 out of the water.
once again japan got new series that america missed out on. Beast wars the second and Beast wars neo which told another side of the story in traditional cell animation. and
in the US we got Beast machines. a more dark and grown up series that stands as the most contraversial of all transformers series. although it brought back a number of beast wars characters and did reintroduce vehicle transformers in the form of the Vehicons (all of which had some great toys)
Beast machiens carried for two seasons telling a full story arc before ending. in japan car robots was released which was a more kid centric series but contained many characters based on real vehicles akin to G1. it followed the story of Fire convoy battling against Gigatron for controll of Brave Maximus.
this series was just recently dubbed and renamed Robots in disguise. although the dubbing was poorly done, the music, names and many plot elements were changed. leading to the complain of optimus prime being a firetruck (that's fire convoy actually) but this was really just a filler series in the US although toy sales were just plain spectacular.
now that this series has run in the US and the last wave of toys is due to ship soon the next series comign up is Armada. featuring vehicle based transformers and will be for the first time in years supported by a comic as well as a TV show.
armada is planned to last for a two year run and will feature optimus prime as a big red truck although more stremlined now. and megatron as a mean looking slightly alien tank.
and at the moment between series dreamwave comics is producing a G1 comic series with an original story and will be producing the armada comic later.
over the years transformers has split off into a number of containuties but I love all of them. I didn't even get to include the UK comic series which I still haven't read (but I will eventually)
if you want the latest transformers news check out http://www.transfandom.com
okay that's all out of the rabid transfan who never let go
Unicron gets my vote for baddest villain ever. You just have to love a guy who eats planets for breakfast. He even beats the Borg on my top ten villain list!
Actually, last week me and a bunch of friends saw Transformers: The Movie and had a blast, not to mention all the nostalgia. Leonard Nimoy as Galvatron! Eric Idle as Wreck-Gar! And, probably coolest of them all, Orson Welles as Unicron!
I used to have a poster with all the toys that were released at the time, and knew the name of every single robot that existed.
I also had all the Transformers comics that were released in Swedish. Too bad my mom decided to throw them away since they were "worthless"... I could probably make some cash selling them to a collector i I still had them.
Leveling up builds character.
I hadn't thought much about transformers until my nephew became obssessed with them.
I think 95% of what I did with him over christmas was look at the transformers website (which was down because of server load occasionally) over and over and over again, and write down the names of all of them over and over and over and over and over again (he can't read or write yet, would lose the list, and ask me to reread it).
Then we would watch old transformer movies from my brother-in-law over and over.
The interesting thing to me was how much he was in to it. It was also interesting to explain to him that some of the bots he wanted weren't available anymore--he'd see them in the movie and want to see them on the website, but of course, they weren't there because they weren't issued anymore. Then he would get all interested in "old" transformers and ask all sorts of questions about what they did, etc. etc. etc.
It also got me to thinking about Voltron, which I explained to him and showed him.
The transformers were really neat... Until Voltron came along! I think it would be neat if they did something like this for Voltron instead.
My little cousin in almost 11. A few years ago, he discovered some old Voltron toys lying around somewhere, and he fell in love with them right away. Voltron is timeless!
...That if they do it, they do it properly. The ORIGINAL Optimus Prime had a die-cast cab. None of this cheap plastic crap, there were some real METAL parts in there.
:D
And while the Beast Wars toys were complete crap, the show (made by Mainframe...the guys that did Reboot) was fantastic. They even made little comments that appealed to old Transformers fans, like Optimus Primal looking at the screen and saying that Die Cast construction was a 'lost art'.
In fact, if anything they said there would not be a re-release in the States (i beleive they stated that in an interview awhile back). Currently the only re-releases you will find in the U.S. are key chains (Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, and soon two more I believe). There are only rumors that Hasbro will be re-releasing the G1 toys at the mark of the 20th Anniversary. Right now there are some items in the Toys R Us system that appear to be re-releases of Rodimus Prime and Ultra Magnus, but no one has confirmed their existence yet. I check TF websites daily and have begun collecting again since Beast Wars came out, so I consider myself fairly "in the know."
It just makes me sad to see such a bold and completely unproven statement made in a Slashdot headline. If you want G1 remakes now, you'll need to get the Takara versions.
_______
I just wish I could c:\format Internet
I believe this says it all:
http://truemeaningoflife.com/oldwisdom.php?topid=2 4605&responses=4
BilldaCat
I always thought that Voltron was much cooler. Not that new computer animation stuff, but the old, anime one. I had the small set of lions as a kid, but always wanted the big, metal ones. Course, the Transformers had those Decepticons that formed together to make Devastator, but it wasn't the same...
You know what they say about people who use too many elipses...
I've wanted Shockwave for 15 years. My mom always told me he was "Too expensive".
For those who don't know, he was the best transformer ever. Basically, he was a "tape player" type transformer, but he looked like a really mean robot. No anthropomorphic stuff like Optimus Prime or Megatron.
He had these little robots in the forms of tapes that you could carry in the cassette part. They transformed into Jaguars and stuff. Very cool.
See, and the best thing is that even though you can't bring toys on the school bus, you *can* bring tape players, so you can just tell the bus driver it's a tape player.
Now I just need to find a school bus that'll take me to work.
<?php while ($self != "asleep") { $sheep_count++; } ?>
Must be "More than Meets the Eye!"
... one wikked series. The characters and the storylines were so DEEP, containing sometimes genuinely haunting images - Starscream's delightfully two-faced antics to become Decepticon leader, Unicron's battered and severed head whirling through space at the of TF: The Movie, a half-dead Optimus Prime coming back to haunt those that disturbed his crypt in a post-Movie episode... bring them back, and quick!
---- scrm
It's "Thundercats are on the move, Thundercats are loose."
Transformers are "more than meets the eye."
I just got an image of a Autobot that transforms into an electric shaver. LOL!
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
Those were much better toys in the late '70s, early '80s era.
Ahh, now there was a show, Galaxy Rangers. It was IMHO, the precursor to the modern Batman/Justice League cartoons (called here, the "Renaissance").
Galaxy Rangers was well animated, with a more adult darker storyline. It didn't run for very long, but hell, if Cartoon Network is bringing back the Thunder Cats, they should at least bring back Galaxy Rangers... and leave the transformers where they belong, in the trash bin.
Toddlers are the stormtroopers of the Lord of Entropy.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fudgetransformers/
Transformers RPG, played weekly via Yahoo!Messenger. Check it out!
-Ed
Ed Wedig
Graphic design services
docbrown.net
Scooby Doo didn't "begin" the Transformers resurgence. Transformers never actually died out -- Hasbro's been keeping the brand active ever since the mid-80's, in one form or another.
What's new here is the activity with the "Generation One" line of toys, from the mid- to late-eighties before "Generation Two" and, eventually, "Beast Wars". And the reason is simple: all the fans who've been actively demanding DVD releases of "Transformers: The Movie" for years and snatching up mint-in-box versions of every TF toy that's come out since 1990 are now in their mid- to late-twenties, with oodles of disposable income. It's now economically feasible for a company to release the entire first season of TF cartoons on DVD, or for a fairly small company to license a new comic book based on the original toys, because the fans now have money and even the people who haven't thought about TF since the movie was released have enough money to start reliving their childhoods.
If Hasbro decides to re-release the original G1 toys the way Takara is in Japan, rest assured there will be a sizable audience of buyers. Meanwhile, the new "Armada" toys, comics and cartoons coming out are being targetted towards children, not collectors (despite reusing many G1 names and faces) -- because, hey, they're still toys, right?
There's just something about these toys that people love, and never forgot about. You ask me, it's the attention to detail -- all of the G1 vehicles were modelled on real cars, trucks and planes, and even the Dinobots and Insecticons were identical enough to their organic counterparts to impress. The robots were a bit chunky (okay, a lot chunky in most cases), but still beautiful in their own way.
These are exactly the reasons I love the "Robots in Disguise" toys, incidentally -- authenticity and elegance, with the added bonus of much, much more posability for the robots. "Armada" may take the posability tack, but the vehicles aren't "real" anymore and the robots are far less elegant. I may buy them, but probably not. G1 is where it's at for me.
Here's an excerpt from a memo I found in the dumpster behind Hasbro Corporate HQ.
Step 1: Create line of toys.
Step 2: Create TV show about said toys.
Step 3: Use TV show (see step 2) to brainwash an entire generation of children in the wealthiest market on the planet.
Step 4: Children spend all parents money in attempt to collect entire production line of toys.
Step 5: Children grow up, discover sex, lose interest in silly toys.
Step 6: Repeat steps 1-6 using a new line of toys to brainwash a new generation of children. By this time, the children from the first round of brainwashing will be adults and entering the workforce.
Step 8: Reissue toys and tie-ins from original product line. Brainwashing still intact; all disposable income funneled to toy manufacturer.
So, yes, I'd say it's definitely more than meets the eye.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
There is a tribute to Blaster (got to love that transformer) at X-Entertainment.
This is just hilarious!
Black holes occur when God divides by zero.
I'd buy a re-release of the original G1 Megatron in a heartbeat. If you had parents who disapproved of 'gun' toys, you know how much you lusted after that beautiful silver Walther P-38 with all the accessories you can imagine.
Of course, I really wouldn't try to walk around with it on the street. You've heard enough stories of the police shooting someone who had a replica gun that was actually a cigarette lighter.
Interesting to see that the new design for "Megatron" does not transform the bot into a life-sized pistol, like the old design. I guess after Columbine, Erfuert, etc., the designers of the Transformers decided to tone down the blatantly militaristic tone of their toys (a bit). The last thing we need is another gun toy; though of course all the bots have little guns anyway...
I mean, let's face it: why didn't they just kill Mum Ra?
The AP story mentions it somewhere, but the /. story neglects the new transformers comic book line, which is quite literally bringing all those original favorites back to life. The artwork on it is friggin' incredible (i am an artist, i know! er, yeah.)-- the series running right now is sort of the original cartoon crossed with anime in style, while the artist on the upcoming Armada series draws incredibly detailed robotic forms (he's a technical illustrator by training, and damn does it show!)
Perhaps most importantly, the comics are what's showing in hard terms that this 'revival' isn't all hype. Their first issue topped the sales figures in April, and their second issue looks to be doing a repeat performance- mind you, it's rare for anyone besides Marvel, DC and Image to even get in the top ten.
----- I don't believe in wisconsin.
The first issue is long sold out (poor you, it was really, really good); the second issue should be out next week.
Moderators should have to take a reading comprehension test.
....I had all of my old transformers up in my cube in my last job, and people would come in, hell bent on asking me some question.
They would see the giant pile of transformers, stop in the middle of what they were asking me, point at their favorite transformer, say "I remember THAT one!", and be gone for the 10 minutes as they played with all the transformers.
Often, they'd leave without asking me anything. They were great!
Now maybe I can get a replacement Soundwave to sit on top of my like-named MP3/File Server!
"To lead the people, you must walk behind them"
(Ripped from my Transformers webpage...)
TV Guide: Cybertron Edition
7:00 AM - Amazing Inventions!
Infommercial. Host: Swindle. This week includes a home fusion cannon kit, a plant that grows After Dark screen saver modules, and a one-way dimensional portal. All for only 12 trilitres of energon resin.
Operators are standing by.
8:00 AM - Cooking with Slag.
Yet more barbecue recipes. Today, Slag shows us why flamethrowers and cooking assistants don't mix.
8:30 AM - Transmaniacs.
Cartoon. Yakko decides to play with Shockwave and learns the meaning of "radiation sickness". Broadside sings the "International Friendship Song"
8:00 AM - Time Machine.
Science Programming. Eight o'clock??? erceptor, will you turn that #@^^%#! thing off?!
10:00 AM - Decepticon Workout.
Trypticon demonstrates how to tear apart vicious and deadly Autobot enemies.
Today's victim: Bumblebee.
10:30 AM - Rush Limbaugh.
Rush gripes about the growing controversy sweeping the nation: Rumble and Frenzy -- which is which? Also, a commentary on Megatron's and Optimus's new looks, and why Transformers would want to put their own names across their bodies..
11:00 AM - Special: Funeral.
Rumble and Frenzy locate the station Rush broadcasts from. Special appearance by Scavenger.
11:30 AM - Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Science Fiction. [Yes, even Cybertron gets this show] Riker tries to make the moves on Elita-One, only to get stomped on when he asks to see her hard drive interface card. Also: Data learns to transform into a warp nacelle.
12:30 PM - Movie Matinee: "Terminator 3."
In a misguided attempt to get a date for the Skynet dance, the T-1000 pursues Linda Hamilton across Cybertron. Guest stars (in order of appearance) Prowl, Optimus Prime, Groove, Blades, and Octane.
3:30 PM - Cybertronian Gladiators.
Game Show In the season premiere, the Gladiators replace the rubber balls in the cannon with Prowl's acid pellets. Will the competitors notice?
4:30 PM - Baywatch: The Director's Cut.
Don't even ask.
5:30 PM - The Simpsons.
Mr. Burns buys the smelting pits and gets Homer thrown in. Bart accidentally says "Eat me!" to Weirdwolf.
6:00 PM - Kung Fu: The Legend Lives On.
Ultra Magnus, a very, very distant relative of Kwai-Chang Cain, conveniently loses all his weapons and has to face Devastator in one-on-one personal combat for the fate of the planet. Again.
7:00 PM - Tales of Earth.
Documentary (part 6 of 12). The Cybertronians first encounter the Swarm, Megatron takes Optimus apart, and Omega Supreme invents the galaxy's largest Oreo cookie. Narrated by William Shatner.
8:00 PM - Vilnacron 90210.
Drama. Orion Pax runs against Decatron for class rep, and Groove tries Enerweed in the little robots' room. Arcee meets her evil twin sister and gets her boyfriend stolen. As always, Hot Rod just stands around looking cool, doing nothing, and occassionally giving out sagely advice.
9:00 PM - Combiner Variety Hour.
Variety. Bruticus does a puppet show, and Superion tries to reassemble himself while running on stale Pepsi instead of energon. Predaking shows off his latest magic act: walking through the Great Wall of China *without*
alerting local authorities.
10:00 PM - Brady Bunch: The Next Generation.
Comedy. The Dinobots kill several dozen innocent humans and are sent to bed without supper. Arcee asks Davy Jonesicon out on a date.
10:30 PM - The Gunman.
Galvatron meets a diabolical new villain with the power to destroy the planet -- and promptly blows his head off. Flashbacks provide blatant filler for the rest of the episode.
11:30 PM - Saturday Night Live.
Host: Soundwave. Musical guest: Ratbat. Sketches consist of recycled old skits, except that they occasionally change some of the names in them. Concludes with scenes from the time Sludge hosted the show and was startled by a loud noise.
1:00 AM - Late Night Theater. Tonight: "Godzilla vs. Wheelie." A highly emotional story about a lone Autobot who gets really drunk one night and calls someone "a stupid overweight squishy." For mature (over 5 million vorn) audiences only.
3:00 AM - Closing Commentary.
Grimlock points out several flaws in the philosophy of Socrates and meditates for continued peace in the universe. Guests include Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Wrapper, a new Autobot who transforms into a straitjacket.
Just give me a new shiny optimus prime to buy. Not a new version mind you, just one that doesn't look like it's been played with for 20 years.
:)
I would buy it
Yeah, I know it's off topic, but even though my annoying little brother had thousands of transformers, I was to old at the time to really get into them. So, what other toys would people like to see re-released? My fondest memories are playing with Fisher Price's Adventure People. Now that I have my own kids, I love to be able to buy the toys for them. These things rocked. I don't know how many times I fell off the roof of my house while I was throwing the daredevil with real working parachute in the air.
www.sguil.net
The Analyst Console for NSM
Just when I bought a batch of copied tapes for a small fortunes, I see DVD that are released... dang...
:)
:) (gun, lights, buzzer :) ) Megatron kept breaking up at the rotation axis of the gun (who got one that isn't slacked or glued?) but overall they were VERY educative toys (remember building omega supreme as a kid the first time?) and very durable (with a few exeptions). Too bad today the tv series of the newer generation totally suck and the toys as well.
I should do that with all the shows that I loved when I was young, lucky how I am they would probably all come out in DVD... of course if I expect that... oh forget about it
But seriously, transformers the 1st and second generation were really cool, as I kid I really loved playing with these toys, Soundwave was the coolest robot in the show and shockwave was one the coolest toy
If they can release the full G1 and G2 original in DVD I'll buy them all.
--- Metamoderating abusive downgraders since my 300th post.
These aren't reissues of the original toys. These are cheap plastic copies of the original toys. The original toys were made with die-cast metal parts and heavy duty joints, in order to withstand frequent transformations and active play. These... things will not give you the feeling of solidity and value that made the originals so collectible.
So it begins... the market flooding of transformers, gijoe, he-man, voltron, thundercats merchandise and the exploitation of gen x nostalgia. I guess we're in line to fill the void the aging baby boomers will leave as they die off.
How long until I can order my Optimus Prime commemorative plate set?
The xxAAs mist be so proud. No copyrights to pay, no original thought to interfere with the ads. And its all gravy as far as they're concerned.
Look forward to the annoying theme music to play in the next elevator you ride. Look for the posters to be in front of your face at the urinal next time you take a piss in a bar.
And its so great. Computer animation... Like computers don't go on strikes or demand a salary. And its not like the Transformers are likely to demand a Union is it?
Look forward for Final Fantasy 2 through N as soon as production costs come down and Squaresoft's copyright has lapsed or been bought for a off-key song.
And as for plot, writers, cartoonists and any of those creative PainsInTheAss. Well they can just starve in the street. And if their clothes rot off, they'll just be arrested and carted off to somewhere where they won't cut off the view of the billboards.
You have NO IDEA of how much retro sucks or how well it plays into the hands of the xxAAs.
Are we so unimaginative, so bereft of creativity that we have to revisit Gilligan's fuckin' Island every fuckin' year while he original cast and crew drop fuckin' dead of old age? Is someone building a fuckin' shrine to Burt fuckin' Ward yet? Are they playing William Shatner's greatest hit in the chapel?
And some moron is trying to get Elvis a (post-humous) honorary degree in MUSIC. Like give me a fuckin' break already. I didn't like him all that much when he was alive. He was mouthing along with the Check Records list. He couldn't sing that well either. Like Billy Idol with his sneer and his failure to properly pronounce the title on "White Wedding."
Jeez... Got a fuckin' hand-basket? Lets set it on fire and climb the fuck in.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
IMHO, I think if it wasn't for the transformers movie, which had a very good script and storyline, people might have forgotten about the transformers the way they did, super mario bros, mortal kombat and all the other toy and game phenomenon that have come and gone. The movie left smart kids and even some adults with a good taste in their mouth about the whole phenomemnon that made it last.
That was a cool show too! I had the big rig, camero, motorcycle, and some others. I'd like to see some of those old episodes too.
:(
Sure wish I had all my old toys still.
Dude! MASK rocked! I was more into V.E.N.O.M (the baddies) than M.A.S.K (good guys). I wish I had more still around, but when I hit my early teen years, a friend of mine introduced me to the wonders of WD-40 and a lighter. Between homemade blowtorches and M-80s, I destroyed the majority of my toys. Oh well, you live and learn.
E.
-
This Post has been brought to you by the letter "E".
IIRC, I don't think you missed anything between that cube nonsense and beast wars.
Mod point free since 2001
I replied to the wrong parent! sorry.
I don't know how much air-play it got outside Canada (though it must have got some), but Mainframe Entertainment [mainframe.ca] (best known for their "Reboot" CG animated series) put out a series of CG-based animated television programmes called "Beast Wars" and subsequently "Beast Machines" back in the late-90s. At first these struck me as simply Mainframe strutting out it's incredible CG capabilities. But as the series progressed I realized that this was actually Transformers-for-Adults. They created a fairly sophisicated story line and some some decent characters for an animated series. A few episodes would even qualify as half-decent SF, IMHO. I have since gone back and watched some of the old Transformers cartoons from the the 80's and must say, they are best left to the eight year-olds that many of us were when Hasbro first brought them out. I hope Hasbro considers using Mainframe again for any new "Armada" cartoons.
Oh, yeah! Panthro would kick your ass.
Okay, so the soundtrack is pretty awful.(Including Wierd Al's "Dare to Be Stupid" and that "You got the touch" song from Boogie Nights) The opening song is really very good though. And of course, some of the characters are downright annoying/useless (Writers: "okay guys, we need a robot that turns into a Telescope!")
On the other hand, it also has Orson Welles' final role. Whether it was Welles or Nimoy, the "I...am...Unicron..." still sends chills up my spine.
Other voice acting from Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Stack, Scatman Cruthers, one of the Monty Python guys, and the Micromachines guy.
As far as plot goes, I can think of few things that are more devestating than watching a childhood icon, Optimus Prime, die. There is the surprise ending where it turns out that Magnus isn't the leader after all. Or what about the gut wrenching scene where a robot stands on an unfair trial as the last of his race, only to be sentenced to death in the maws of those Pirhanna bots.
Even the humor is several notches above the usual crap from Hollywood Sci-Fi. Mean ol' Grimlock would rather hear another of Cup's old war stories than go out to kick Decepticon butt. I'll take Grimlock over Jar Jar any day of the month.
Don't go bashing the Transformers Movie, it's really pretty good sci-fi if you can look past the soundtrack.
I remember my friend had the Japanese Soundwave. It looked exactly the same as the US ver, but the colors were different. It was white and red(?) or blue. The coolest difference was it was a working AM radio. Of course the US ver was just a toy. :)
I think the "having a whole burned through your chest by a Whistling Pete" method was the best.
Hollow words will burn and hollow men will burn.
For those that don't know www.transfandom.com is the place to get up to date information on transformers. Also this past year they re-released most of the original 1984 tranformers and some from 1985. Optimus prime, the evil jets, many of the cars etc. Ultra magnus is scheduled to come to the USA shortly and if you go down to your toys-r-us you will see it in there computer. A new comic is coming out (is out actually) with some really good artwork done. Just about each page could be a poster. They are also putting out a number of high quality posters
v e/autobots 4.jpg
Also if you want a in box brand new Optimus Prime the have re-released him and you can pick him up at any transformers site. www.bigbadtoystore.com is one such place.
For those that missed it the Robots In Desgise were pretty good. The autobots being cars, firetrucks, etc ruled and I even imported the (2 foot tall) fortess maximus from japan (which might come to the us this christmas)
Remember Jazz, well you can buy him for $35 come June, but don't expect this reproduction to last very long (being one of the most saught after repros)!
Also those expensive pvc's from japan are coming to america shortly and also will be at toys-r-us for a _lot_ less.
Good luck actually finding this box set. Everywhere you go you wont be able to find it. So if you do think ebay... Rihno even stated something about being sold out.
Some Posters:
http://www.cableone.net/skydive/dreamwa
http://www.tfgen3.com/comics.shtml
The one of Prediking vs protectobots and arialbots is my favorite and I have that one to be framed.
Do you changes clothes while making the "chee-chee-cha-cha-choh" transformation sound?
I am a space shuttle miniatures collector and occasionally pick up well-made replicas of the Shuttle (mostly orbiters so far) when I see interesting ones that I wouldn't mind showing to visitors. One evening I was shown a photo of the original Sky Lynx in an eBay auction, and I was hooked -- I bid on one that same week and now am the owner of an original, though decal-less, Sky Lynx shuttle orbiter in excellent condition. It now resides next to several other miniature shuttles and is by far the best of the collection (and the largest; I haven't yet assembled the huge 1/72-scale full stack kit I have in the closet.)
...
While this one is not made of metal like many of the others were, the detail is right on. While the crew access door on the port side is missing, it does have a lot of other details that I'm stunned a Transformer would have considering the age range of the intended audience. It has the radiator panel lines inside the payload bay doors (half-length bay only due to the way it transforms), the various lines on the wings where different groups of tiles meet each other, the gray (on the real thing) carbon-carbon tiles on the wings' leading edges, hints of the actuators for the rudder on the tail, nearly all of the maneuvering jets (there are 44, total, on the real thing) and even the star tracker portion of the navigation system is there! It's even got the two upper windows just forward of the payload bay (used for docking with the ISS and when working with large payloads.)
I was absolutely wowed when I took it out of the shipping box. Here's a few photos for those who are feeling nostalgic:
With main engines temporarily not installed; with HST repair mission patch
"Mother, is that you?" (transformed)
Nose-up reentry attitude (supported by its feet; seems to be flying!)
and finally
Half-length payload bay with "satellite" covering tunnel for tail transform mechanism
It's not for sale.
i am a soviet space shuttle
Maybe using Jetfire would be a bit rough... consider the He-Man universe though. My weapon of choice would be Ram-Man, of course!
mark
If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. -- Carl Sagan
Anyone else notice this? The run of the orignal (read: best) cartoon was 98, two short of being eligible for syndication.
Those hollywood fat cats have ben keeping us from watching the old show for years to promote their new CGI ones! Argh! I can't tell you how crazy that makes me.
For those of us who liked another show, Voltron, visit this link for a start on more about the show's Japanese origins:
http://www.arus.org/voltron/anime.html
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
Just thought I'd point out rec.toys.transformers.moderated (which I help moderate) and alt.toys.transformers. They're the big discussion centers of Transformers fandom, and a good place to keep up with what's going on in the fandom world.
:)
And don't forget BotCon! I've been there a couple of years...it was a blast. I'm looking forward to a time when I might be able to go again.
Heh. CNN is actually coming fairly late to this whole Transformers revival thing. I was there while it happened.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
I received the conclusion to the American (and UK) comics in a graphic novel for Christmas and surprisingly it was still facinating to read. I would love to see the DVDs released here in the UK - my boxed video collection is starting to suffer over the years.
In terms of links for Transformers, I'm told the place to go in general is BigBot. Another good link is the Transformer Episode Guide - I was amazed at just how few I'd actually seen.Finally if you like the UK comics don't miss Steve's Transformers fansite - Homepage which has links to the original Marvel comics. If you ask me, I think the comics were better than the cartoons but the movie did a remarkable job of trying to bridge the two.
Same here. Around or just after the time the headmaster's came out Hasbro seemed to switch to some super nasty cheap grade plastic for the toys. While they could get away with this for the physically smaller toys and insignificant characters (like the micromasters) I think they lost credibility with PowerMaster Prime (I think that was the one). So plasticy and the paint and colours were too dull. Having said that the orginal Optimus Prime was pretty fragile - it's rare to see which was "used" and doesn't have a broken trailer...
-nt-
While it looked pretty cool as a gun, the original Megatron was a bad toy. As a robot toy Megatron looked awful and the number of pieces that the scope had were just annoying. Coupled with that the thing was just too fragile and there was barely anything to "transforming" it.
I sooooooooooooo want a real transformer robot car. I think within 2-3 years, balance technology would be there, just some genious engineer needs to step up so the thing can stand without crushing itself...
For movement, all you need is a ton of electromagnetic clutches...
Well back to writing true artificial intelligence... I'll give them the brains if you build them.
www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~sager
God spoke to me
Oh yeah, anyone remember MASK?
MASK? Hell yes! I remember one of my most vivid memories from my childhood was that, when the Challenger blew up, I wanted to watch MASK but my Mom wouldn't let me and we had to watch the news.
Ok so it was inconsiderate but I was six at the time!
What is music when you despise all sound?
>don't buy these DVD's. The shows on them are >awfull. My 7 & 9 yrs old, boy and girl, said the >same.
Robotech series 1, macross has mature content that people under the age of 13 would not understand. Its heavily weighted down with the feelings of the late 70s/early 80s though so actually people under 23 shouldn't understand it either. The time period had a feeling of space being within our grasp, with Starwars and 2001. It dealt with video game and local culture such as discos(lol). As there was a race of aliens who knew nothing but war... Its a great refresher coming from transformers and GI Joe which was shown 2 years previous... Even though fighting and war is cool, there's other stuff to do.
Series 2 sucks. Its one of the early attempts at girl power shows.
Series 3 is the genre of mad max, wasteland, red dawn. Survivalist shows are something people can relate with since its basic. Gathering of resources, and trying your best yet you're doomed.
Series 1 and 3 are worth a watch, but I'd say not to buy the DVDs unless you're a big fan. To me, its like watching Starwars.
God spoke to me
You do realize that Nintendo is still pumping out Mario-related games every month, and some of these are the most anticipated releases for the 80s/Nintendo/whoever crowd?
Altough I do agree with you, the TF movie was about as ahead of its time as anything kids ever see. Picked up the movie soundtrack CD and movie DVD (UNEDITED, yes, Spike DID say "shit") within the past couple of months myself, and they're both still very watchable/listenable.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
When I was a kid I had a ton of Transformers (they might still be in a box at home somewhere) but the one Transformer that I always wanted and never got was Optimus Prime. If hasbro re-releases these (hopefully exactly the same as the originals; most of the original transformers were very well-built) I will go out and buy him and tear open the box... damn the "collectors value" ten years from now (and the fact that I'm 23 years old)! :-) If I decide I care about that I guess I could buy a second "untouchable" one...
:-D
Optimus Prime would live on top of my monitor for eternity!
sudo eat my shorts
You're too young to understand, son.
. . . you're maturing. I mean, c'mon. These are freakin' kids cartoons! I would probably be the last person on this planet to call anyone a loser for liking anything (as long as it was for their own reasons), but I think that liking Transformers marks you as a loser.
I mean, if you *really* like them, well, whatever, to each his or her own. But I didn't even like Transformers when I *was* a kid. I think it's just all bullshit kitsch and nostalgia. I for one could use less of these "ooh, look at the neat cartoon!" headlines that slashdot seems to find necessary to post so often.
I'm 26. I understand fine.
Cor!! I remember Danger Mouse from the early days of Nickelodeon. I don't suppose there's any chance of the Tomorrow People coming back, is there?
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
I was realy into transformers when i was a kid....untill the new generation came out that is. It was the new generation and there cheap design that used plastics instead of metal that was one of the factors that killed the transformers. Plus I was realy pissed that they just killed of all the older transformers..ah optimus prime, jazz, bumble be, sound wave (and that tape that would jump out of his chest and turn into a cat/Panther) etc. This looks like its only the new generation only the Japanese understand.
You were six and you weren't in school? IIRC, the Challenger explosion happened on a weekday, because we were forced to watch the news in school (Lakenheath Elementary, whoo-hoo!)
Don't get me wrong--I'm as much a fan of the original '80s series as anybody else. It's just that having followed the hobby from the beginning, through practically all the other series.... well, honestly, folks, I think your nostalgia is misplaced. The '80s Transformers show was just the *beginning*. Sure, it's the one you may remember most clearly (or the only one you know of at all), but as the line developed and advanced, it became a lot more clever and--dare I say it?--sophisticated. "Transformers: Beast Wars" was an Emmy-winning series (not kidding!) written by acclaimed sci-fi authors like Babylon-5's Larry DiTillio and Star Trek's D.C. Fontana. The computer animation of the first season now looks pretty cruddy, because it was '96, but once you get to seasons 2 and 3 that's no longer an issue. The series had great character development and very long-reaching story arcs, not to mention prominent crossovers and tie-ins with the original '80s cartoon.... including quite a few of the original characters who show up to see what all this new fuss is about! ;)
It was the huge success of Beast Wars which probably made much of the subsequent "original" Transformers merchandising rebirth possible.
The current TF series, "Robots in Disguise", is a rather cheaply-produced anime import. To their credit, Hasbro made it watchable in spite of this by having the dub team fill the dialogue with slapstick and obscure past continuity references. It's as if an old-time fan were writing the dubbed dialogue. It's a really fun show, if you can look past the sad frame-rate. It's also a runaway success and a huge profit-maker for Hasbro, in no small part due to the hyper-realistic vehicle modes and high playability of the RID toys. Prime and Magnus have never looked better.
I've seen many people on this board suggest that the modern TF toys are clearly inferior to the original '80s figures.
I wonder if those people have ever actually held the new ones.
The loss of die-cast metal was a BLESSING to the line. The die-cast parts only *seemed* sturdy--they actually made the toys much more prone to shattering at joints and axes, and hindered poseability. Part of the reason why "vintage" toys are so expensive now is precisely because so few of them are left in one piece, after all. The modern figures, hyper-articulated and made of no-nonsense plastic, have much more well-thought-out design features and are relatively indestructible.
I'm not asking you folks to "grow up" and stop liking the old '80s TF show. Why would I? Even after all this time, it's still fun. But if you like what it showed you and you remember its toys fondly, then you would probably also enjoy the stories and toys made available in more recent lines. If you give a show like Beast Wars a fair trial, I think you'll find that both its storyline depth and toy design quality are, well, decades beyond what the original show was able to offer in 1985.
But don't just take my word for it.
Here's a great website that lists and shows what's been going on with Transformers, toy- and story-wise, for the past several years:
http://www.bwtf.com
And to see what's coming up *next*, with this summer's "Transformers Armada" line:
http://www.alteredstatesmag.com
http://www.takaratoys.co.jp/TF/scf/mega_01.html
What's with this naming stuff? All the other names are right.. Optimus Prime (arguably the coolest damn cartoon character ever) is Convoy/Conboy?
On the website http://www.takaratoys.co.jp/TF/scf/mega_01.html they attempt to translate the expression "More Than Meets They Eye" From English to Japanese back to English. Check out what it translates to!
I thought I was reading The Onion for a second...
Alexander Weiner, 25, plays with some of the Transformers in his toy collection at his home in Philadelphia.
Mmmm, -funroll-loops
Now transformers was cool...
but reboot was AWESOME! All i can remember is the really bad guy who lived at the top of that skyscraper, and his 'sister' or something hissed a lot and wore tight red spandex.
And there was the guy who always hung out at dots diner (or something) and had a convertible-like hover car.
Man that show was great
>seb
Gone are those halycon days of sitting in a corner playing with my small legion of transformers, imitating the "ch-ch-choo-choo-ch" sound, while vocalizing a whole scenario. I had a small black box I kept those things in, and constantly would feud with a kid down the street that Gobots were for little kids, and Transformers were for the more sophisticated crowd.
I kept it up until one day (7th grade) I discovered I was out-growing the stuff. Maybe it was the advent of DinoBots that did it in for me. Honestly, were there any true DinoBot fans out there? My favorites were the triple-changers and stunticons. And what was the name of the blue corvette? Tracks? The best one of all IMHO
Anyway, today is so much more different..I know if I sat down again and watched the cartoon, it just wouldn't be the same. Too bad about that box of transformers, though. What I tried to collect sneakily ended up in my younger brother's hands, only to be lost or destroyed...
Sniff..
-jc
Maybe you are too old, then. I'm 24 and it's important to me!
Said in the style of FatBot from the Mars University episode of Futurama...
:)
:)
"Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!!"
I am 21 now.. and I fondly remeber having a pretty huge Transformers collection.. this special edition DVD is pretty much one of the reasons I got a DVD player in the first place.. and now they have been released I plan to get them
And as for the toys.. well, if they re-release them in the UK I will be buying them. All.
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
'cept a neck and some tendons! My favorite cartoon line ever!
I really thought I would read about more people here into collecting their childhood memories. I'm still a big kid at heart, and Transformers is the only one I actively collect nowadays. I got back into the whole scene when Beast Machines was out, but I still have all my Generation One toys from when I was a physical kid :) I pretty much have the whole line of Beast Machines and Robots in Disguise (I can't believe someone said RiD is small, I guess he didn't see Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus). Beyond Transformers I still have my GI Joe, He-Man, MASK, Centurions, and Star Wars toys from the 70's and 80's. Someday I'll have my "Toy Room" put together with all displayed. I really think it's pretty important to keep the kid in you.
I remember when Transformers came out. It was about the time that I stopped watching cartoons. This was NOT a coincidence--Transformers were about as fun and clever as Hercules or any of the other terribly animated brainless cartoons. They seemed to exist solely to sell toys, clothes, and HappyMeals(tm).
Ironically, I find Saturday cartoons far more entertaining now. I think that everyone of my generation who got disgusted with the new state-of -the-art turned to writing cartoons with the same sort of humour and cleverness (not to mention animation quality, thanks mostly to computers) that we had 'back when.'
Transformers? Bah!
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
When I was your age...
We didn't have none of them Transformers - We had "Conformers", and your Transformers ripped off their theme song from us:
Conformers.
Campaigns full of lies.
Democrats wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Republicans.
Skevin
"Twice half-assed makes an ass whole." --Solomon K. Chang
Only on Slashdot...
Breakfast served all day!
They were among my faves of the 80's and later when Beast Wars came around I was a fan of that as well. Too bad Beast Machines didnt do as well.
For thsoe that wonder, the current cartoon: TF: Robots in Disguise, is an adaption of Car Robots from Japan. IT was meant ot bring TF back to it's "Roots" and drop the beast angle. Overall it was an ok cartoon, but ARMADA comes this fall to TOONAMI. Armada is allegedly a continuation of the classic cartoon.
A cool site to visit for the TF's
robotsindisguise.crosswinds.net
It covers the classic toon, Beast Wars, and a whole lot more.
It's being published by Dreamwave Studios and has turned out to be very popular in the direct market (comic stores etc.)
;) but they are getting some good reviews.
I haven't read any as Transformers don't do it for me
- ROLL OUT!
*shnee-nu-ah-ksh-mn-fh-nn* (sound of vehicles turning from robots into toys)
What's interesting about the comic book is, besides the fantastic artwork -- that is it actually has an interesting story so far:
To quote from TheFourthRail:
"Sure, this book will appeal to the grown-up reader who cherished the Autobots and Decepticons during his childhood, but it's not just the reader that's grown up. There's a darker edge to this incarnation of Optimus Prime and company. This is Transformers as conspiracy-theory book, and it's far more interesting than I ever would have expected."
Also, check out the cover of the page. The art style is in a high-quality anime-like style. It looks like something you'd find in a cell animation than in a manga-type book. This is how Transformers are suppose to look! You'll find more at the comic's producer, Dreamwave Productions.
Sweet! And then there were Megatron! Optimus Prime! Prowl! I think I must have practised my reading and math by putting the piece of red cellophane over the stats chart in order to read the "secret" stats for each robot.
Now I realize that I don't have to BUY the robot to read the stats. You can do one of two things:
-Screw your eyes up and ignore the red junk, and make out the black line that indicates the robot's stats
-Buy just ONE transformer, and carry the red cellophane with you into the store. Sneak it in your sleeve. Then, when no one is watching, slip it out and put it over the Transformer's box. Read the stats! Yeah! SWEET! Bumblebee has 20 firepower!!!
After posting the previous message, I realized to my horror that I might have suggested a way of circumventing a protection device. Therefore, I take back everything I said. Don't try to hack Transformer packages!
Well, the DVD box set came with an ad insert for the Transformers: Generation One toys (the rerelease of the original toys), so i'm guessing it's probably already clear to go...
You know, a little potting compound will usually prevent your transformer from vibrating, it's usually a good idea to fix them, the constant 60 hz vibration will eventually wear joints and wires out.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
email address xup2u@aol.com
Never mind "The Transformers". If you want to see the Series that Won't Die, have a look at fuckin' Star Trek.
Starblazers. The ship was the WWII Japanese battleship Yamato that was refitted to be a space cruiser.
:-)
And no I am not getting a kick back.
http://www.tvvideos.com/starblazers.html
"Die cast construction...it's a lost art", said by Optimus Primal in a Beast Wars ep when they were having trouble cutting through the hull of the old Autobot ship.
One of the funniest lines I've ever heard on TV, IHHO.
Was I the only one who watched that? Filmation goes out of business, and now Bravestarr and Heman are never seen on TV again.
I have 3656.9 Bogomips. How many Bogomips do you have?
HELL YEAH!
The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers is one of the best cartoons of the 80's and a very unique production (American written/produced/acted, animated in Japan) that was far more complex than anything else out at the time. Heck as a kid the "Scarecrow" episodes actually managed to creep me out. It is also one of the few shows where the good guys do not always win. Only lasted one season, but 65(!) episodes were produced for that season.
Probably the biggest problem with getting this series re-released in syndication or DVD is that it is almost impossible to describe the concept of the show without getting snickers or laughter.
Then again Cowboy BeBop showed that fairly literal merging of the Old Western and Sci-Fi can work rather well so maybe Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers has a chance at resurrection afterall.
Once more unto the breach dear friends...
Anybody ever consider a Beowulf cluster of Transformers?
The 3 good guys (Leader-1, Turbo, and Scooter) and the 3 bad guys (Cy-Kill, Crasher, and Cop-Tur) were the main characters, but there were lots of other Go-Bots. For some reason, the only one I can think of right now is Vamp.
"Dave, I stand still--the conclusions jump to me!" - Bill McNeal, NewsRadio
Spike said that line. The other curse word was uttered by Ultra Magnus when he couldn't get the Matrix to open ("Open, dammit! Open!"). Good times, good times...
"Dave, I stand still--the conclusions jump to me!" - Bill McNeal, NewsRadio
Spike said the line. The worst part of the movie was the complete absence of my favorite human, Chip Chase. I didn't mind no Sparkplug, but the lack of Chip really sucked. Anyway, Duke didn't actually die. Well, he did, but they added a line at the end of the movie saying he was OK due to the backlash over Prime's death in TF:TM.
"Dave, I stand still--the conclusions jump to me!" - Bill McNeal, NewsRadio
The new line of transformers are much crappier though. I remember my transformers being heavy, made of metal, and *real* rubber for tires, and real tank treads, etc. Now it's all just plastic crap, plastic wheels and treads that don't move, parts that don't fit together perfectly, etc.
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
Fortree Maximus
Fortress Maximus Photos.