We're discussing this in 2017 and I am working my way through Japanese Headmasters episodes so I don't think it declined at all. I remember when it disappeared from the air I was crushed so I get the point that it did go dormant, but the post '86 storylines and characters has a lot to do with why we're still here. The real world alt modes, Optimus and the original seasons will always be their strength.....but as a diehard Optimus fan I would not be into Transformers right now without Sixshot, Fort Max, Ultra Magnus etc. what bothered me about the post movie cartoons, including the Japanese series, is it just wound up back being about Autobots fighting Decepticons for the most part again. Using the Quintessons or synthesizing something new would be cool.

Personally I have never understood how Transformers has not used the idea of Cybertron tech or Earth tech being used ala ExoSquad, but for the purpose of hunting Transformers. Some cool toy opportunities and very fertile for storylines

 

I'm pretty sure that happened in IDW

Anyway, some of my favourite episodes and characters are from S3 and later, so yeah, I think it did get a lot more interesting as it went along

 

There's no doubt the 1986 movie and third season made G1 better. The first and second seasons were far too repetitive with the exceptions of episodes like Starscream's Brigade and The Ultimate Doom.

The earlier seasons are nice to rewatch but the third season is leagues better due to its originality. The movie also greatly benefited the franchise by introducing much of the lore we know today.

 

It did, Earth Resistance or something, I just think it would be a cool toy execution too.

 

I absolutely agree. I think there are a lot of major elements that Post Movie TF gives us that completely shape the brand. Let's take a look at some things. What are the major contributions that pre-Movie G1 gives us, aside from the characters themselves? Which, I know sounds ludicrous, but hear me out. I think just having the characters isn't good enough, you need the world built around them. Pre-movie gave us Alpha Trion, Vector Sigma, and the Orion Pax origin. We also received combiners, and the concept of Transformers each having individual superpowers.

Then comes the movie. The biggest things are the introduction of the Matrix, and Unicron, two hugely major things that shaped the entire brand, but that's not all. We also got the Quintessons who helped shaped the first creation myth, and although we don't necessarily still hold that one to this day, they still end up playing a part in the lore as enslavers of the planet. It also gave us the initial Autobot/Decepticon origin, where autobots were regular workers and cons were gladiators. I don't know when Megatron was mentioned to be a gladiator in Marvel, but still, cons initially being gladiators that rose up is something that also plays a huge part in many continuities. It also gave us Headmasters and Targetmasters, who I whole heartedly believe are the precursor to minicons.

But the absolute biggest thing that I'd say Post-Movie did for the series, was demonstrate what a "Prime" is. Prior to the movie, Optimus Prime, well that was just his name. But with the movie, and renaming of Hot Rod into "Rodimus Prime" followed by S3 happenings. Really, think about how widely different the whole series would be if "Prime" just remained Optimus' last name. I think that's honestly far more important than even the Matrix, because what series hasn't had something about what a Prime meant? Even in Animated where there was no matrix, Prime had its own meaning as a rank. Or how you have continuities where Megatron wants to be a Prime. I think that's honestly the biggest thing to come from post-movie.

 

We sure owe the 1986 movie some of the lore.

The Matrix, Unicron, Quintessons....I think we owe them that.

 

The Movie and Season 3 were without a doubt the better half of G1's cartoon. I feel the characters were interesting, the designs were better, and it didn't destroy the whole concept of "robots in disguise" as bad as the first two seasons did.

 

Personally, I thought the movie was the high point of the series. It had a good balance of action and one-liners, with actual deaths. ...If only to sell toys...
After that I never really cared for G2. It wasn't the usual desert setting with the ten Autobots that got used in every episode. It was Rodimus struggling to be a leader and trying to diplomatically interact with alien races while Galvatron SCREAMS like the depraved lunatic he is.
That's not robots shooting robots! That's robots being in space running from other robots until they find the trouble to resolve for the plot. And then shooting other robots.


I wish they would do a new G1 cartoon like the movie and Prime, where it feels like the shots fired have actual consequences instead of just being essentially a big laser tag game with the occasional super ocean draining laser added in so Megatron would have something to yell at Starscream about.

 

Sorry friend but you are a bit confused

Rodimus prime and the stuff for you complained about are not from G2, they over from season three of G1

 

My bad, 1:30 ranting. .-.
I tend to confuse G2 with season three G1 since season three seems like a different show from one and two.

 

yeah no big deal

 

The Movie was a positive influence. It inspired Simon Furman to write classics like Target 2006 and Time Wars though it's a shame he followed a similar route with Galvatron going insane though he did give a better explanation.

I much preferred the sane Galvatron from the movie and Target 2006.

He also wrote Rodimus Prime very well and still does given that Rodimus was the best thing in Regeneration.

Not forgetting the movie inspiring the Primus origin. As a kid I loved the Transformers having their own theology. It really added weight to the mythology. Primacron was and is a horrible idea.

Cartoon wise, I much prefer season 3 to season 2 which I can never forgive for crap like Alpha Trion, Orion Pax and Kremzeek.

Don't get me wrong, I did like some S2 episodes and thought certain characters were portrayed very well like Tracks, Hoist and the Stunticons. Overall though I found it the weakest season.

My only misgiving with season 3 was the smaller cast but that's because it focused on characters I don't like such as Wreck-Gar, Kup, the Predacons, Blitzwing and Arcee. I never minded Wheelie.

When I was younger I didn't like the Quintessons or even Death's Head because I didn't like any non Transformer character getting the spotlight.

As an adult I grew to really appreciate the Quints as villains and liked how the Universe comics reconciled both the Quintesson and Primus origins without cobtradincting either.

Though I grew up on Marvel UK which was usually better written, I did prefer certain portrayals from the cartoon over the comics. The loyal, capable lieutenant Cyclonus was in the cartoon was far more likeable than the 2d thug he was in the comics.

Rodimus was more of a badass and could actually be quite funny.

But I digress, the movie definitely contributed positively to the franchise. The highlight for me being the death of Optimus Prime.

 

Was the movie the beginning of the end of G1? No. That actually goes to "Five Faces of Darkness". Despite the death of beloved Optimus Prime, as a kid, I was eager to watch more. The movie set a REALLY high bar.

And all that came crashing down with FFoD. Despite shoehorning some of the soundtrack into the episodes, the undeniable dip in animation, Rodimus willing to "kill" himself and making Galvatron just a weird nutter completely dampened my enthusiasm.

That being said, the absolute REAL reason G1 began to die around 1987 was because kids like me were aging out of the franchise. I was seven when Gobots and Transformers began appearing in stores. In 1987, I was 10 going on 11...and quickly running out of friends to "play toys" with. As such, the kids that launched the franchise were simply dropping out. Pair this with, I'm sorry fans of 1988-90, the atrocity that was Pretenders and the obvious cash-grab on the latest toy craze that was Micromasters and the death knell was rung. Non-transforming Transformers sealed the casket.

 

I prefer the first two seasons. Season three has some gems in both characters and episodes, but the plots got weird/boring/cringeworthy and some of the characters they introduced were awful. (Plus Rodimus is a piss-poor excuse of a Prime)

Don't get me wrong, the first two seasons had some dumb, shitty episodes and obnoxious characters too. Like, I think Warpath and Powerglide are annoying, but they don't show up as often as Wheelie and Daniel do.

I notice a lot of cartoons that last several seasons are like that. They start off decently, hit their peak and then begin either a very weird, or very boring decline.

 

G1 only got more interesting as time went on. I think it would have been a fascinating (and rather depraved) show if it had continued past '87 and clung closer to the tech specs. Lots of absolutely insane Decepticons, asshole Autobots, and other in-betweens from '88 to '90.

 

Yes! I would have absolutely loved that!

 

Season 3 did a whole lot of world building that never happened like this in the previous seasons. I also prefer the space opera style. Robots turning into vehicles is already cool enough, I don't need puny humans beside them to see that they are big. Of course there are also some great episodes in the previous episodes like War Dawn or Starscream's Brigade. I wish we could have gotten a full season 4 and not only 3 episodes  

 

Yeah, but it's nice to know there are aliens who make them look like teensy figurines in comparison.  

 

I loved a lot of Season 3 clearly as I have been a huge Rodimus Prime fan for so long. The world building was interesting and could have been explored even more if they didn't stop making episodes after Rebirth. I've often argued that G1 did NOT decline after the Movie, it was just the budget was completely blown after the Movie and Sunbow basically went under afterwards. I also think that the Return of Optimus Prime should have waited a Season until his Powermaster toy came out, but that's just me.

 

Even though most 'casuals' usually only think of the early characters and stuff when recalling anything Transformers (other than the Bay films). I can't help but wonder what the Transformers franchise's impact on pop culture would be today if it stuck with the "Optimus, Megatron, rotating side-characters, energy raids and macguffins" statis quo for its entire run, much like many other '80s toy properties did.