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."

Comments

Second grade, baby!

[phallen]

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....

Cmon...

[NiftyNews]

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?

But don't take those toys on planes!

[rosewood]

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.

transformers are stupid

[tps12]

Never understood transformers. Why can't people just choose AC or DC and stick with one instead of all this waffling back and forth.

Re:This IS a big deal, actually

[barawn]

You're also forgetting Eric Idle (I think...?) - whoever was the voice of Wreck-Gar, that is.

My personal opinion about TF: The Movie was that the people who wrote the script looked at the cartoons, and said "how the HELL do we write a coherent plot with decent dynamics with these characters?" I mean, seriously, Optimus Prime has little/no flaws, other than being overly trusting (though that always seems to benefit him in the end), and most of the other characters have very little unique personality (other than muttering a few choice phrases unique to their character).

So, what do we do? In the first 10 minutes of the film, we kill EVERYONE off except a few people we leave around for continuity, and we replace them with a cast of characters that has a much more dynamic set of personalities.

Optimus got replaced with Hot Rod (Rodimus) who is naive, eager, a little too hotheaded, but generally good-natured. I always liked Rodimus and I was really upset when Optimus came back and took the Matrix from Rodimus...

Megatron got replaced with Galvatron, who didn't have a whiny voice (big plus) and showed a BIT of personality: megalomania, mainly, but a bit of humor ("Coronation, Starscream? This is bad comedy.") - seriously, listen to the way Megatron speaks ("Die, Autobot!") and the way that Galvatron speaks ("It's a pity you Autobots die so easily... if it were harder, it might be enjoyable." - or something like that).

The new characters added all had quite a bit of personality to them as well, which is what made it interesting. There was weird sexual tension between Arcee, Springer, and Hot Rod, there was a wizened father figure with Kup, and Ultra Magnus was the perfect example of an uncertain leader. Grimlock mainly stayed in for comic relief along with a bunch of new guys (Wreck-Gar, Blurr - god, how I wanted him to die..., and Wheelie) whose presence was solely for amusement. Plus Unicron, which was a very good overarching all-powerful evil force. It was really impressive to see Galvatron basically wallowing in misery as he realized that there was something far more evil and destructive in the universe than his own quest for power.

Note that I'm not saying that there wasn't some dynamism in the old characters: it's just that certain characters were just there to serve functions and to show up from time to time, rather than actually have some sort of personality, whereas the cast in the movie was almost solidly there for personality or comic relief (save Blurr. Kill Blurr. I hated Blurr.)

Of course, that's the optimist in me. Everybody knows the real reason they axed everyone was so they could make more money with new toys.

Transforming our minds...

[Junior J. Junior III]

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.