Dang, no off-topic Toy Fair talk? No tears from the people who can't bear to listen to something unrelated to Transformers for even a minute?

 

Praise the lord! I was just wondering when the Toy Fair EP would be up haha

 

Yaaaaaaay.

Don't worry Seth, I'll be there to root for your off-topic heelness every single time.

 

I read HyperFire as Hipfire when I was just scrolling through. Imagine my disappointment when I heard you call it....Hyperfire.

 

I'm digging that Grimlock in the RiD set. I really want him, but again, I hope the price isn't insane.

As for the Hyperfire fan fic... I'll work on it.

 

the return of the star spangled luchador!!!!!

 

I love an override retool of chromedome with headmaster named nitro. But yeah blurr and scourge look fine but there decos are a little dull

 

I also gotta say, that part where you talk about nostalgia and how far we can go with it. Very interesting. It made me realize, for the first time ever, that one day I might be able to stop collecting.
I would like a new Rodimus though, even if it means the end.  

 

Perfect timing! A fresh new podcast to get me through my last 4am shift before my vacation starts!

 

People are skipping Sentinel Prime for Astrotrian? More Sentinel Primes for me  

 

As far as nostalgia vs. wanting something fresh goes, I'm definitely in agreement.

But that also means the movie Generations lines became way more interesting to me. Despite my sadness of not having mainline new designs made for us, we do have a bi-annual dump of toys with all new designs and a few new names every time.

Of course that's speaking toy-only

 

It will be interesting to see the future of Generations... After Headmasters was essentially the end of G1 in the States. Most collectors have moved on to MP as well. What could keep their interest? Could it be even more G1'ified versions of the early Classics figures?

I definitely think TF Prime is under appreciated. It was well done, and new characters like Airachnid and Knockout definitely stand out as ones that it would be great to see live on past just that show.

Toyfair reveals would have been great if it wasn't for all the leaks.

 

I would love to see more new characters added to the Generations and comics rosters. As a 39 year old Gee Wunner that stopped watching after G1 stopped airing in the States, I love seeing the characters from the later series incorporated into the Generations line and comics. I almost bought Skybite after he showed up in the comics simply because of how IDW used him. Of the Combiner Wars figures I have, Rook is easily my favorite, which is my way of saying I am open and willing to accept new toys into the mix of old stand-bys. I keep hoping Bulkhead will get a more prominent role in the comics, but that seems unlikely. He is a great character with an awesome look.

It seems like there's hope, though. Drift is a hit with fans and it seems like Windblade is fitting in nicely, as well. I am actually surprised that Hasbro doesn't sneak a completely new bot in, every year, just to keep things fresh. All things considered, it's kind of a bummer that RID didn't do better, if only for the multitude of completely new character designs we got. I also totally side with Vangelus in his hope that Strongarm doesn't disappear when the show does.

 

Do slovish G1 designs come from Prague?

 

I dig RiD Windblade if only because this version actually looks like it can pose.

 

My apologies for the double post.

As for Vangelus' musings on Transformers becoming too referential...
I think he's taking too narrow of a view of "referential" vs "new." I would argue the two cross over far more often than many of us realize. I would argue that Transformers has always been about leaning on referential material, at least since RiD 2001. Sure, RiD Prime doesn't seem very G1ish now, but back then? Coming off the Beast Era? A red truck named Optimus Prime was banking on G1 nostalgia HARD.
Armada, Energon, Cybertron, Animated, everything wrapped up in the Aligned continuity, and the Bayverse...they all did their own, new things. They were all also heavily referential. Even the Beast Era leaned heavily on a certain level of familiarity with G1.

Even now, with the divide between mainline "new" and Generations, which is referential? There's bleedover. Lugnut, Knock Out, Lockdown, Slipstream, Blackout, and Barricade have all crossed over to the wider Transformers universe from their original continuities. Meanwhile new characters and concepts like Victorian, Windblade, and Drift got their start in Generations. At least as far as toys go.

I guess my point is that Transformers has proven to be a dynamic brand that can both offer something familiar while doing something new and offer something new while doing something familiar.

 

Hmm, Tankor w/ Rhinox headmaster, Mindwipe and Skullcrack(unch)er as Primal and Megs, and the presumably Beastformer Alpha Trion as a Voyager mold? That's 4/5ths of a Botcon set right there.