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."
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.
Screw the kids. Optimus prime needs to be in my computer room next to his 20 year old brother.
There is also always a lot of Transformers stuff for sale at Ebay pretty much at all times.
i wish stations like maybe cartoon network would play more original 80's cartoons like transformers
That's what Boomerang is for. Its a 24 Hour network of "Classic Cartoons"... their focus might be a little earlier than the 80's, but they still show a lot of of the cartoons that I used to watch when I was younger.
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 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.
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
Actually, the decision to kill off all the 1st generation characters in TF: The Movie came from the corporation itself, not the TF managers.
Hasbro, which also owned GI Joe, decided to release three movies through Sunbeam Productions that summer: GI Joe, TF, and My Little Pony. GI Joe, which had an slightly older audience, wanted to kill of Duke strictly for dramatic purposes. The management figured they could just phase new characters into the show to generate more toy sales and didn't need to actually kill anyone else off. However, the idiots upstairs decided that killing off all the previous characters was a great idea and instructed the authors of TF: The Movie to do so, over the objections of the managers.
This turned out to be a HUGE mistake, as the body count caused TF: The Movie to be a dismal box office failure. GI Joe: The Movie ended up as a multipart TV series and the ending was quickly changed so the Duke turned out OK. A great example of how top-down creative management can severely screw with a entertainment powerhouse.