I've been harboring a secret for awhile now and I feel it's time to come clean. I don't know all that much about Transformers lore. Yes I was a kid that was 7 in 1984 and watched the cartoons. But it was always more about the toys that I had, or the toys my friends had that I was jealous of.

I got a little older and I strayed away for a long long time. I always seen Transformers on the shelves and was like, "That would be cool to buy.", but never did. The 07 movie came out, and I didn't see it in the theater. I didn't even buy the toys for a while. My coworker wanted the concept Bumblebee cause he was a car guy. So while my wife was out at Walmart she found it and bought two, One for me and one for him. And with that one purchase I entered the fandom.

With that purchase, I went apeshit. I bought anything I could find, and me and the kids played with them every night. The thing is, when Galvatron came out in the classics series, everyone was like "This is awesome!" I had no clue who Galvatron was. Now with the recent homages of Bludgeon and Mindwipe, I am out in the dark again. I pick up all the toys though because they look cool and because of the engineering behind them.

But back to the history thing, when I listen to WTF@TFW and Gogdog starts talking about storylines, I feel left out. But they start talking about the toys again and it's all good. I stay out of a lot of the subforums because of my lack of knowledge. I am slowly educating myself as each new homage comes out, but really don't have all that much interest to go back and find in depth storylines. Plus when I am playing, I have lots of fun making up my own story lines as I go along.

Thanks for reading.

 

i am pretty much in it for the toys. i know most character names and homages, when there is a name i dont know i always wiki search it to find out. I dont read the comics or follow any story lines.

i had all the toys and watched the cartoons in the 80's and the 86 movie. didnt start collecting until BW.

i know the story lines by watching the different cartoon series. but i am not as hardcore into the lore like some are on here.

 

As a kid growing up in the 80s, my love for the toys and cartoon were about the same. As I got older, my attention shifted to other things and I was no longer playing with the toys. I have to say that I didn't really develop an interest until news of the first live action movie surfaced back in 2006, coupled with the 20th anniversary release of the animated movie. I only cared about the media at that point. I saw a Classics Starscream at Walmart once and thought how awesome it was, but passed on it because I considered myself "too old" for toys. But once the movie came out in 2007, I didn't care. I bought some TFTM, Classics, and Revoltech Megatron and I've been a collector ever since. I think I'm more in it for the toys than anything else at this point.

 

Yeah I'm here because I like the toys, and I can't even say I know a lot about them. But I like TF toys because they aren't supposed to be just plastic renditions (?) of cartoon robots/mechas. I like them because they are characters, and that much I care about their background.

But there are a couple of TF cartoons I love, and it definitely helps me appreciate the toys more. So sometimes I wonder if I should "study" more.

 

Growing up in the '80s I was into the toys, comics, and toon. Ofcourse as I grew up and put them away. Now with a 5yr old daughter, I've gotten back into them and I'd say that her and I are into the toys and toon. I also just downloaded a tf comic app for my iPhone, which is pretty fricking sweet.

 

I'm in it for the stories, cartoons, and toys

 

Since I didn't grow up in the 80s, I never grew very attached to the stories. I know the basic stuff, but it's usually the toys for me.

Unless they shift back to Beast Wars  .

 

It's definitely the toys. And it's the same with me. The 2007 movie got me in. Back in '84 LOVED the toys. Die cast, rubber wheels, cars that turn into robots. That was it. Oh and the cartoon was cool too. Although, I can't remember which I saw first, the toys or the cartoon.

 

I'm learning along while I buy the toys. The toys are really cool, that's a major reason why I love Transformers.

Let's say I bought a toy, and the character is someone I'm not really familiar with (but I bought it because it's a neat looking toy). I do my reading online about the character, and that makes me appreciate the figure and the franchise more.

And I would like to think that, that does not make me less of a fan. Yeah.  

 

I am in it for the toys, mostly. Animated is the only TF show I care about enough to watch. Now if they just need to release the damn 3rd season already.

 

ya i loved beast wars and beast machines and animated shows but even if i didnt know those shows. i would still be here for the toys..........i likes em a-lot

 

Been hard-core since 84, rock on! 

 

Well it used to be as much abt the toys, comics & cartoons but now it's mostly toys.

As for the comics I've been totally outta the loop with what's been goin' on in the IDW TF universe & cartoons I'll never get tired of watching G1, Masterforce & BWs (as of lately I'm pretty digging TFA too).

 

At first for me it was the toys. I started out as watching RID as a kid and bought some toys. As I grew up and watched the Unicron Trilogy I just thought Transformers were a stupid property meant for nothing but to sell toys and show off their gimmicks. I bought toys here and there but it was really the 07 movie that made me go back and look at more TF fiction which made me see that the franchise had alot of cool stories with in it. But honestly I'm more in it for the toys because the TF fiction still seems to be a virgin property, yes there's alot of different fictions in the TF universe but only so many of them are actually good

 

Well, it was toys that got me out of it for a while.

After G1, I was SOOOOOO put off by Beast Wars toys. Couldn't stand the idea of a TF turning into an actual animal with fur an' stuff.

Never was able to catch the BW show on TV, so by the '90s I had moved away from TFs, save the '86 movie and a few left over G1 toys from my childhood.

Fast forward to 2005/6 and I suddenly found myself earning a solid wage and was able to pick up a few G1 figures off ebay and some reissues at retail, and that's how I came back into the 'fold'. I guess I had never really left in spirit, just hadn't bought any actual toys for the best part of 15 years.

But once the live action movie hit in '07 that was the start of an avalanche for me and I have been keeping up to date with figures AND mythology since then.

Granted, I don't know as much as some people round here, but that's part of the fun cos I'm learning new stuff all the time.

I think overall, the toys are the most important aspect of TFs to me (heck that's where it all started anyway), but the stories, characters and mythology come a very close second.

 

It was the lore that piqued my interest in TFs and made me start collecting. The characterizations/storyline are what make the toys special. Therefore, I'm in it for the lore as much as I am for the toys.

 

My greatest interest is in the toys (G1 for the most part), but I also love the Complete Marvel Saga comics, and have a passing interest in the newer comics as well.

Zero interest in any of the cartoons.

 

I'm in the TF fandom because of the free beer.

 

I'm in the fandom for all things TFs... not just the toys.

 

Toys for sure.. For the most part, the cartoons haven't really interested me with the exception of animated. I never watched or owned (Now I own Bruticus) any Armada, Cybertron, or energon figures. Also, I own zero movie figures....

In regards to the HISTORY of transformers. Some of it is interesting but like any other childrens program, its really scattered to the point nobody knows what happened when. IS this an alternate Universe, how does G1 fit into animated, So who built the Transformers?...

The only part of Transformers that isn't confusing is the Toys!