There's a lot of the same behaviors in fandoms for the major 'nerd' properties like superhero comics, star wars, star trek, or even in more general "genre" fandoms like sci-fi literature and anime.

 

Pffft...
Hey i can do it too  

 

You might be onto something.

 

This seems to be a common sentiment for US fans, but it is not true for me from my Swedish perspective. I only watched bits and pieces of the cartoon and I never saw the movie back in the day, and hence I don´t share that childhood memory with thousands of other fans, yet I am as hardcore of a G1 fan as they come. In fact, I only watched TFTM a couple of years ago when I reentered the fandom. Hence, no big childhood shock for me cartoon-wise, my main source of This seems to be a common sentiment among American fans, and might be true for them, but as for me, I never saw the 1986 movie as a child, living in Sweden even the regular cartoon was aired on cable TV on odd times and I only caught bits and pieces of S2 and S3. So, no shocking moment for me other than Prime dying in the comics as well, but coming back eventually as PM Prime, the biggest "shock" for me was was the comics (mixing US and UK stories) and characters died there too, the only one that bothered me was Shockwave being killed by Death´s Head. If anything, it is those awesome designs that made ME revisit the franchise as an adult!

In general, I think that rather than "the characters were killed off on the big screen", there is a complex combination of reasons for TF´s longevity, but speaking from my own experience, I think the toy designs are at its core. Sure, Takara failed to market Diaclone/Microman in the US on their own, but the story in Europe is more complex, and, if we consider the TF cartoon and comics as advanced marketing vehicles, I think it was more of a question of visibility than anything else; once enjoying broad public awareness, the toys could stand on their own feet, as evidenced by G1 never really dying off in Europe despite little or no media support.

But that´s just my opinion!  

 

Transformers fans aren't just interested in and knowledgeable about cars, but also jets, animals, insects, dinosaurs, construction vehicles, motorbikes etc... also, puzzles and storytelling about a non-human alien race. Plus there are examples of every type of character in the fiction - we have heroes, we have villains but we also have detectives, doctors, terrorists, con-artists, scientists...

Did he really die? Remember that Shockwave knew he would be killed by Death's Head twenty years in advance so its obvious that he would create his own clone to be killed instead of himself.

Of course, this assumes that the timeline that Ravage tells Shockwave to plan ahead with knowledge of the future leads into the future where it actually happens. I personally like to believe that it doesn't.

 

We may critique on another, but at least we aren't the steven universe fandom.
Our fandom is a lot better than we make it out to be. It's one of the few fandoms were opinions are so diverse ,one can always find vitriolic criticism or approval. Some may hate you for calling windblade trash, and others will call you an idiot for liking her. It's a balance, we are a melting pot of anger and joy.

 

I've always felt as though the TF fandom has more of a jaded attitude towards things. Opinions are expressed and often they are passionate but it never really seems to quake the fandom to its core like other things do with other fandoms. We've got thirty years of constant content that's been ruining the franchise vs once every couple of years or more.

 

I think what makes us unique is that, despite heavy criticism of our brand in mainstream media mostly because of the movies, those who choose to make the plunge and dive deeper into the franchise discover that literally, the Transformers are more than meets the eye. They discover G1, Beast Wars, Animated, the Unicron Trilogy, Prime, etc. They discover the different toylines and comics and pretty much everything else that makes this franchise great.

 

What makes us Transformers fans unique?

Transformers...................

 

It, honestly, is pretty much that we like Transformers and nothing else. There is one fandom I am also in, which is the Godzilla fandom, which based on lurking is exactly the same in behaviors. Discussion involves the same factors, including some insults (direct or otherwise) being thrown the other party's way. There's splintering factions. There's complaining. There's cool people that are fun to talk to. It is really all the same.

The Five Nights at Freddy's fandom has splintering too, it seems, but I haven't actively took part in either being a member or browsing a community to say anything substantial.

 

We were constructed cold.......Honestly , I was here for one year and I do not really see the fandom(tfw2005 at least) as bad as some of us here are making us sound.Every time I ask a stupid question, some one actually care and answer me. Every one here is a supportive ,kind, and a loving person.That is how I see you guys ...........but when it comes to the movies 

 

Same here. We al have things we feel are important to us, we all go to far getting into discussions, we all get nasty for no good reason, we all have something that irritates us about someone or something. But i dont see the peerpressure or the dictatorial behaviour towards individuals who are not happy with some things that you get in other groups. TFWorld is a pretty fine place. Thats not about Transformer fans as a whole but in response to mr convoys post wich i agree with (except for the movie-part)
When it comes to the OPs question: Transformers and nothing else as far as i can see.

 

Our devilish good looks.

 

I believe what makes us unique is our primary focus on Transformers toys and media. Most other fandoms tend to focus on other things.

 

There is that offcourse  

 

Aside from the fact that fans are usually the same across the board, no matter what they like, the TF fandom has a ton of different types of entertainment to enjoy. Whether it be the countless toys, movies, cartoons or comics, there is something for everyone in this fandom.  

 

Can't remember if I commented in this thread before, but I can think of a few things.

1. I like to think we're one of those fandoms who can actually usually have civil discussions with only the occasional accusation of one's devotion to Satan and everything evil and twisted. (Except in the movie forums, which are a more vicious war than the one between the Autobots and Decepticons.)

2. I'm not sure if there's any other fandom that revolves around toys as much as we do.

 

Our passion.

 

In my honest opinion, we're not that different from the other fandoms. We have a lot of divided opinions, sometimes we complain about the newest change, newest show, or newest toys, but, we have more reasonable and civil conversations than most fandoms. There are new fans, regular fans, old fans, and lore fans. Some are in it for the toys, others for the shows, even others for the expanded lore/continuities. Our opinions vary but as long as we respect each other, we could get better.

 

In my honest opinion:
We don't diss other people about their fanbase.