Yea, I kinda know what you mean about the super ups and stuff like. It was like Transformers became Dragon Ball Z, but with Transformers. I might not have liked the cartoons of A,E,C. But I liked some of the figures.
But when all was said and done, Armada, Energon, and Cybertron felt very sidetracked. With Armada and the Minicons it was like Hasbro was saying, "Heeey! Transformers has a gimmick!" Well yea...Transformers transform...that's their gimmick, right? "Noooo!!! They have other gimmicks now! Gimmicks on top of gimmicks! Isn't that swell!?"
Well sorta...but not really. What about the gimmick of......wait for it.....WAIT FOR IT.....transforming!?
But to me it seems like Hasbro lost their focus.

 

My 2c

HELL NO  

 

Wait... haven't most of those lines you've listed been cancelled or whose G1-related products are one-offs or released at irregular intervals?

Statues are secondary merchandise for Transformers. Sure, its important for whomever is producing them, but they're otherwise a blip on Transformer product lines.

Blackout and Barricade are G1 names that were resurrected for the Armada, Energon and Cybertron. There's a big difference because those two characters were developed as different characters under various names before Bay, Dreamworks and Hasbro agreed upon 'Blackout' and 'Barricade'.

Arguably, Blackout and Barricade are more well-known among TF fans as Armada Demolishor's mini-con partner and the leader of the Energon Combaticon team.

What? Transformers is, by tradition, a gimmick-loaded toyline.

How has Hasbro lost its focus? Its focus is making child-friendly robot toys with things that interest children in new ways. Transformers still transform, but with kids having access to 'cooler' things like video games and cell phones these days, gimmicks act as an added incentive to buy them. Even Classics toys had gimmicks, they were just individual rather than line-wide. It's focus is not on making Transformers as how collectors remembered them as children.

And besides, Armada was one of the most successful Transformers lines ever made. I wouldn't call that 'sidetracking' or 'losing their focus'.

 

Many G.1 names have already been reused in several other shows - e.g Optimus Prime ! might as well be his Armada reference instead of G.1.

No, what I want would be original names/characters not even used in the TF universe before. We need new faces !

 

Yes, they should be able to include characters from ALL Transformer series. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Hot Shot in a sequel, as oppose to Hot Rod...

 

I've never been a big fan of Energon, Beat Wars or Cybetron (The Armada DW books were ok) but loved G1 growing up mostly for 3 characters,-Prime, Jazz and Megatron- and also for the design aesthetic. For me it was the characters that made the series so appealing, the transforming was like an added bonus.

I've since went back and looked at Beast Wars and other incarnations of the various TF series and have found some really cool characters. Beast Wars especially had some really well fleshed out characters that were very intriguing.

As far as the new movie is concerned I really don't care who they use in the new movie as long as the character is interesting and he's not a boring rehash. I already like the new movie aesthetic so I'm not worried about how the bots are gonna look so much.

I just wish that the fandom would quit the "G1 purists" labels and vice versa. People always feel the need to tear down what others like and to conveniently label others so they can move on about their business and still feel good about themselves.

 

I was wondering the same thing myself. Why stop at G1? The TF world is limitless with potential. I would love to see characters like a Wing Saber, or Nemesis Prime. OMG!! Could you imagine Blackarachnia in the TF Movie??? She alone would be badass!! Match her up against Arcee (if they end up having her in any of the sequels). That just gave me goose bumps!

 

Maybe we will get lucky and have more than 2 or3 movies, Harry p will have like 7 or 8, and this is way more interesting.

By the way, mexi-con..dont get mad but, we gotta have more cowbell. work on it!

 

Well, I dont know if there should appear but probably a mention to some of them will be nice ^^. I would love to hear the name Star Saber in the big screen XD

 

"Opinions are the right of all sentient beings!"

I grew up with Beast Wars. Loved the show. Honestly, a lot of G1 is just plain silly. Besides, weren't there at least three conflicting G1 stories going on at the same time? (TV show, Marvel, Marvel UK... and then we get into that whole powermaster/ pretender thing, it's just a big mess all around.)

Dinobot would be a cool character to have in the movie, but they don't have to call him Dinobot (kind of like how in Armada, they called him Starscream  ). In fact, they could go with an orignal character so long as he becomes an established character in the movie-verse (in the Autobots case: about 13 lines of dialogue, in the Decepticons case, Raar Grrr Growl Smash). Longarm has become one of my favorite toys despite being invented solely for the video game and the toy line. I don't think he has a historical precedent, and if he does, I've never heard of him.

Why do we have to use the same names for similar characters in different universes? For example: why can't the Tank be Devastator? Is there a law stating that the name "Devastator" has to go with a green and purple combined construction robot?

Just my two Galactic Credits.

 

Wait, hold on a second, you missed my point entirely. When I said I think Hasbro lost its focus. It seems they were more interested in Minicons, or energon weapons, or cyber planet keys, or even power master engines for that matter, when the real gimmick of Transformers is TRANSFORMING.
Take Classics for example, it's only gimmick, is Transforming, and I like Classics because of it. The gimmick is pure and simple, Transform the truck into robot. No corny power up, or leaching robot, or Super Saiyen Optimus Prime, or nothing like that, just pure transforming love.
And I don't think you're entirely correct about Hasbros focus not being entirely how the collectors remembered them because in almost every spin off you're going to find a G1 homage floating around. The G1 homages remind some of the older fans, 'hey remember this guy? He's back in a new form!' So yea part of their focus is to remind some of the older fans that their favorite characters have been resurected in newer molds.

 

Well hold on, the conflicting story part isn't exactly a fair argument considering that their about ten times more conflicting stories today then their were 20 years ago. I wish thier were only three conflicting stories today. It would make the waters less muddier.
I mean we have the IDW story line, Transformers/G.I. Joe WW2, TF meets the Avengers, TF animated, A,E,C, The latest Transformers movie. Transformers Universe, Classics. I mean each one has it's own story line, and every now and then they'll even cross over. Let's not forget the differences between the Armada cartoon, and the Armada comic book series. They were polar opposites. I mean to say that G1 had conflicting stories is not exactly a fair thing. Of course the comic book is going to be diffirect from the cartoon. And also I could say that the differences between the G1 comic, and the cartoon series could also contribute the multiverse that has now been establised in Transformers Universe. They're all just differect realities.

 

Yes, this is our chance to see Wheelie live-action1!!111one

 

Well for the most part, the only non-G1 series to have some sort of 'line wide, toy-ruining' gimmick were the A/E/C ones. Headmasters, Targetmasters, Pretenders etc etc etc were all within the realm of G1 and all line-wide gimmicks of their times. But G2, RiD, BW/BM, Universe, Classics and even the Tit and Alt/BT collectors lines were all about Transforming as it's main gimmick. Yes, some figures had toy or group specific gimmicks, but they weren't the rule for the entire line. So I don't think Hasbro has been too far off 'focus'. Especially with Universe 2, Animated, and the vast majority of Movie Figures being mainly transformation oriented.

Again I think this is more a cultural thing because JPs, the ones who really were responsible for A/E/C (as you yourself stated, the Armada comics, which were made in the US, were way different then the show), more often *like* those line-wide gimmicks.

And as for the conflicting stories, that's not something that will ever change. But it also proves one thing. That a name does not determine a bots' personality. Take Starscream for example. In Armada he was a brave, young, confused warrior, in Energon he was an en-slaved zombie/weapon thing and in Cybertron he was as big of a threat to everyone as Megatron was. That's the same name with three different personas. Energon Ironhide was nothing like G1 Ironhide and he barely had anything in common with Movie Ironhide. So in the end, it doesn't matter what name they use as it will most likely be completely different from it's previous selves.

That said, I can't see them ever using non-G1 fanfavorite 'bot names in the movie-verse because those are the most widely recognized names of all the TF universe. Case in point, it was rumored that Movie Bumblebee was originally supposed to be Hot Shot.

 

I've got no problem using bots from the other gens. I will have a problem if they use any of the annoying brats from the other gens. Anyone really want to see Kicker on the big screen? I for one vote No Kicker in TF2!

 

Should non G1 characters make an appearance?

No.

 

I'd say yeah, throw in whatever characters you want from any line as long as it reasonably works. It's actually why I think it'd be okay if Arcee was in the movie--The design indicates it was closer to Energon Arcee than G1 Arcee, and puts a bigger message that it's far removed from G1.

 

Exactly. Though the film draws mainly on G1 (the Autobot crew, Megs and Screamer, the Matrix/Allspark) I think Tidal Wave would be the best name for the aircraft carrier Bay expressed interest in.

 

as long as there are giant robots on the screen killing things, im happy.

 

Okay I just need to say something if you don't like G1 atleast just a tiny bit heck just admire it but don't care for it then your not much of a tf fan