The Live Movies have lots of haters, G1 purists, general fans. They don't like the designs, poor plot, Bay sucks... I admit, at times I have been like that, but think about it, Transformers has never been more popular. I got into TFs through Animated, not the Live Movies, but it's something I enjoy and I collect the toyline.
But to be honest, Transformers has never been more popular than now. Maybe during the 80s, but I don't know about that. I really can't see how Transformers can gain more popularity and a bigger fanbase without the Live Movies. Unless there's a spectacular new cartoon then I'm an idiot, but for now, I think the Live Movies, at the moment, is the heart of Transformers, maybe not for TF fans, but for kids and parents.

 

You make a very good point. Transformers has done well throughout the fan base even without a live action movie. The lore has proven enough in comics, cartoons and toys but the general public will most likely lose interest without a movie every two or three years though.

 

Have you been Following the News on Transformers: Prime?, or that The War For Cybertron was actually a good game and thus their may be a sequel? even tough i think their new Hasbro channel is gonna tank, they are gonna be able to put more into advertising the new series and stuff once the movies are done. and regards to the hasbro channel i think they should just move transformers to Nicktoons, cause honestly thats where all the good shows are, DBZ, the last airbender, invader zim, sabans new power rangers.

 

When G1 finished, I'm sure people were wondering how the hell Transformers could stick around. After all, it was ending, all over, and that it must have been it for them.

The difference, I think, is that the movies have really reached a non-TF fan base and made some TF fans out of regular folks (heck, '07 got me back into it all). It was easier to write off a cartoon series as a kid's show, but these movies have hit so many people. I'm curious to see what'll happen now. How many non-TF fans or people a little curious will tune into TF: Prime when the same kind of person wouldn't have done that to Beast Wars/Machines, RID, Armada, etc...?

It's going to be an interesting little future for Transformers after this wave of movies is finished.

 

Transformers is going to do just fine after the movies. Sure, there won't be the same popular consciousness that there is now about the franchise, but the Bayformers will have created another generation of TF fans who are willing to spend money (be it their own or their parents') on toys, games, comics, clothes etc. We won't see such a large and diverse toy line as the Movie lines for quite some time, but I know that my kids are going to grow up with TFs.

 

The end of Transformers? Please.

Think of it this way: Trek cinema died. It was no longer a money maker. Then it came back (no comment about its quality tho).

They'll be around for years to come. It's a no-brainer.

 

Transformers will still go on through the children. It's gotten as far as 2007 without live-action movies. Just because they end doesn't mean Transformers will. I'll be sad to see them go but I don't think there's anything that could kill TFs at this point. It's a household name, a marketing monster.

But it is quite possible Hasbro will have more live-action movies made after this series is over.

 

If they do make more lie action movies, please have beast-formers and make it beforethe war.

 

I only named it that because it's more interesting, more people will click on it. I meant that Transformers won't be as popular, the Live Movies made TFormers a household name.

 

The franchise will be fine. There's no doubt in my mind that post TF3, Hasbro will focus on 'Prime' and the a reboot of the live-action franchise in 2016.

 

I see the live action films in their current form as nothing more than a fad. Look at how many films are so hot for a while and then they just fade away into something you might catch one slow day on cable because nothing interesting is on. Sort like how vampires were red hot for a while thanks to the Anne Rice books but then they were off the radar of most people until the Twilight books came along.

It's the stuff with story and character that lives on which is why Star Wars is still adored even though special effects have moved beyond the effects of the 70's and 80's.

If you want to know where Transformers lives on it's things like Transformers Prime. The cartoons even the ones you might not have watched give kids the stories and characters that make Transformers stick in their imaginations. Prime the noble leader, Megatron the iron fisted tyrant, Starscream the arrogant back stabber.

Heck I even doubt we've seen the forever end to live action movies. Yes some things can't come back like Robo Cop due to legal issues but since Transformers is by the backing of Hasbro it's just a matter of when Hasbro and a Hollywood studio feel like the time is right.

Spiderman, Batman, and Superman stay in the public imagination even when there isn't a live action movie or cartoon so Transformers will get along nicely even after the Bay films are just a foot note in Transformers history.

 

Are you kidding. Transformers will be around forever.


If the franchise can survive two years (1991/92) without transformers on the shelfhere on this side of the hemisphere, I think we can defintley survive without the Bayformer Films. WE made through 1993-2006 (G2-Cybertron) fine. Transformers: Prime will be the focus from 2012 on.


Besides Personally I think we were fine without the Bayformers films. Even though i like the first one.

 

I highly doubt this'll be the end of Transformers. The movies are just a simple marketing ploy. You are right, however; Transformers has become even more popular through the movies because it began showing itself to more people through cinema. But the heart of the Transformers franchise is people buying the products. Making new toys for people to buy and new shows/movies for people to watch is what draws people in to buying them. The reason Transformers have changed drastically over the years is NOT because someone doesn't care about Transformers, it's because if they never changed the design of Optimus Prime for the past 25 years, everyone who wanted Optimus Prime would have one, and sales would drop after a few months (the 25th Anniversary Prime from last year was a limited release, so Hasbro would NEVER rely on it to save the franchise).

Transformers toys are like vegetables at the grocery store - when they start getting old, they'll put out brand new ones to keep the freshness of what they're selling. That's marketing for ya.

 

Man, you guys have really good points  

Though one thing which I really like in it's uniqueness is that people always think the good guys can't kill the bad guys. But it shows that even te good guys can be dark.
Still not convinced by TF-P though, the designs look silly and if there's a toyline I won't buy, though if the show's good... Then that's a different story

 

For some people it will be. I know plenty of people who say the movies are cool but everything else about Transformers is dorky. The general audience is full of moviegoers who just want to see something that will give them a good time. They don't go to the cartoons or toys afterwards, they go to other movies.

But when it comes to the TV shows, the kids will still be into it then and War for Cybertron got a lot of gamers interested in TF games now.

 

It won't be the end of Transformers, just the end of Bay's involvement with it. Considering the money that's been made off the first two movies already, Paramount would be stupid just to let the TF movie franchise go...the trick will be in finding a director willing to take over who can still keep the cash flow coming in, whether they continue the quote-unquote "storyline" of Bay's films or decide to do a totally new take on the mythos.

 

Transformers will not die without the live movies. Look at Star Wars. I still can't go hunting without having to pass over mountains of that shit, and it still keeps getting made.

 

I've always been a fan of Transformers since a kid in the 80's. But the first TF movie from Bay just sparked my interest in collecting the figures. That and seeing the G1 re-issues at TRU years ago with Jazz, Red-Alert, and Silverstreak.

 

Alot of good points here.

I'd like to chime in and say that it's interesting to note that although alot of the general public and moms w kids are what make up alot of the film being a household name, but Bay really burned alot of those bridges with ROTF. The trashiness in that movie really pissed off alot of people that weren't in the fan base, specifically the family sector, which is where so much MORE money could've been made had they focused on a feel like the first movie, but with the heart of a Pixar film.

TFs would've been even MORE popular had ROTF not put so many people off. Imagine if it was loved on the level of say Toy Story? TFs could've been much bigger had Bay not stooped to the level he did with dialogue.

He can maybe save face by ditching all the trash and focusing the feel on something that even a 10 year old could see, but without being childish.

Just my thoughts.

 

"It never ends"