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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.
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
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.
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?
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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
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!
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)
I just got an image of a Autobot that transforms into an electric shaver. LOL!
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
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!
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!
Unless, of course, Cobra Commander was a Sicilian...
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
Not the "bread van that turns into a killer robot" again. I hate those toy tie-ins.
TV Announcer: The new, improved Kidz Newz...has been canceled! Stay tuned for the Mattel and Mars Bar Quick Energy Choc-O-Bot Hour!
(The program begins. The Choc-O-Bots are at their command center.)
Choc-O-Bot: You can count on us, Mr. President. Major Nougat! Gooey! Cocoa! Put down those entertaining Mattel products! Colonel Kataffy is up to his old tricks!
Cocoa: Let's power up!
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!