I hope nobody minds my resurrecting this thread, I figured that would be better than creating a new one. I'm not really sure how this became a zombie thread in the first place.

I finally got around to continuing my G1 watchthrough. Finished S3 and started Rebirth, which I won't be able to finish until next month because my PS3 and the TF DVDs are now packed for our move to Indiana. I just wanted to post because I've never been a big fan of S3, but The Burden Hardest to Bear really impressed me. Better animation than most S3 and a character-driven plot.

I also appreciated Face of the Nijika, which I remember not liking the last time I saw it. The execution is a bit haphazard, but I respect the intentions of telling a story about the Autobots saving a race that had been oppressed by the Quints because they were afraid of their potential.

 

I've started watching Headmasters, again. This time I've made it to "Daniel Faces His Biggest Crisis Ever". I just get bored reading the subtitles. Of course the Omni dub is terrible. I'll make it though, just so I can say I've seen every G1 episode.

 

I'd like to find a way to watch Victory online, saw every other show but it seems I need to buy it on DVD.

 

Yeah, I'm not sure why that is. A few years back all the Victory eps one could easily find on YouTube, but they've all since either been taken down or blocked in my area. Not sure why that is.

You can find either the Omni dub of the TFCog fan dub fairly easily, strangely enough. Though I don't see why anyone would want to watch either of those over the original.

 

TFCog's Victory FDP Minus the last 6, which they haven't completed. There are subs on YouTube, tho.

--Moony

 

I've benn considering re watching all of the G1 episodes... well I might pass on the episode "Web World" because the episode isn't bad by all means, it just kind of scared me to the point both me and my brother were watching the screen with horrified expressions to which he asked "We're still watching Transformers right?"

 

I'm about to watch every episode from S1-S3 and the movie in between. Even headmasters with my son. Some episodes are hard to watch. But I still adore and appreciate them still. The one thing is when I watch them, I remember watching them as a kid. I really love that feeling. I hope someday they are done on Blu-ray.

 

G1 will always be my favorite incarnation of Transformers. I'm glad this thread started because any time I see people discussing the G1 Cartoon (or any of the past series at this point), it's a bunch of adults pointing out the scripting problems and "animation errors". Give me an f-ing break. It's a show I loved as a kid, I didn't care about "animation errors" when I was 7. I remember the first time I saw the first episode, after school I would always come home and watch "He-Man" with my dad, then one day there was that 80's bumper that said HE-Man would not be seen for the next three days for a special presentation, which turned out to be "More than Meets the Eye Part 1". I was hooked ever since then. I watched it religiously for the next three years, then didn't see it as much after "The Rebirth" aired. I remember waking up early on Sundays to watch the Season 5 episodes with the giant Optimus Prime and "Tommy Kennedy". I lost track of the show a little after that because I was getting older (in middle school, discovered girls) and because it wasn't airing that much. It's strange how today if you want to watch something you can (DVDs, streaming), but back in the 80s-90s, that was a foreign concept. Anyway, I re-discovered the series when Generation 2 came out and back in 97 someone on the internet actually had a complete set of the series on VHS which I bought for like $100. I think it's safe to say this was my favorite cartoon ever and really left a lasting impression, as a result, that's the reason I only collect Masterpieces and 3rd party MPs, as I always wanted figures that looked like they did on the show. Sorry for the long rant, as far as my favorite episodes:
1.) Quest for Survival: This one is my all time favorite for sentimental reasons, I had never actually seen it as a kid, and I thought I had seen all the episodes. The first time I saw it was when I purchased the aforementioned set of episodes on VHS in 1997 and it was awesome because it was like watching a new episode of the show after not seeing it for so many years. Still my favorite.
2.) The Master Builders: Everyone's characterization is spot-on, I love Grapple and Hoist and remembered feeling sorry for Grapple when I was like 7 after his tower got wrecked. Plus as a kid, I loved it because it was also a total "To sell toys" episode with a ton of characters and a Devastator fight
3.) The Ultimate Weapon- Great artwork/animation and a spotlight on First-Aid, who I always liked as a character
4.) Fire on the Mountain - Again, I loved this one as a kid, because you got Skyfire returning, a nice action sequence with Windcharger, Brawn and Skyfire fighting the Decepticons, and the whole thing ends with Optimus Bodyslamming Megatron off the top of a temple
5.) Return of Optimus Prime - I remember almost losing my shit when they first aired the promo saying he was returning the next week. I couldn't wait for that day at school to end so I could get home to watch that episode. Everyone in my class was talking about it the next day.
6.) Ultimate Doom- Great multi-part episode. I remember a few times in the 80s on Saturday they would run the whole thing, and that would keep me occupied for an hour and a half.

---->There are more, I'm sure, but this is just off the top of my head. As far as how often I still watch them, it's pretty regularly. I need the TV on to fall asleep, so I usually just put the DVDs on, my wife allows it because it's the only show that's not too loud.

Really great to read everyone else's memories

 

I laughed out loud when I saw the thread's title - I tend to be pretty critical and cynical, even (especially) with things I love.

Was the animated series "good"? Probably not truly, as art or cinema, anyway.

BUT....:

It did have an amazing voice cast, an infinitely underrated and undervalued score, and those unforgettable characters that Bob tattooed on our brains.

It's brain-dead, dated, and hokey, but it's a guilty pleasure I still enjoy somehow. And if you compare it to MOTU, Silverhawks, Thundercats and other long toy commercials from those years, it holds up SOOO much better.

There should be a thread for the Marvel comics.

 

I didn't especially like the cartoon when it was airing in 1984 -- I was deeply into anime like Macross and Gundam. I still am, of course, but Beast Wars brought me around to appreciating G1. So now I love it all.

For favorite episodes, that's a hard one. Buuuut...

Having watched, rewatched, re-rewatched, rewound, freeze-framed, and generally overanalyzed every single moment of "Call of the Primitives," I've come to a radical conclusion: the little Igor-like fishmonkey guy isn't Primacron. Oh, he CLAIMS to be Primacron, but he lies. I think he usurped the title from the real Primacron -- the Oracle (the glowing entity, who was once an apelike mechanoid). That was Primacron, and fishmonkeyboy was Igor to his Dr. Frankenstein. When Unicron destroyed Primacron, fishmonkeyboy finally got his chance to be the man.

I know, I know, it contradicts what we're told. But upon very careful analysis, I'm certain it's true.

 

The cartoon is my favorite of the original G1 Media   and my favorite cartoon overall. I love how many characters it had, the many different adventures they had and the backstory and history it added. I loved especially the time travel episodes and Season 3  

 

I loved the first two seasons. I could watch them over and over and not get bored. I liked season 2 the most because of how random and creative some episodes got with the characters. Season 3 I didn't really enjoy. None of my favorite characters were there besides Grimlock and company but he wasn't really important besides in a few episode. The only new character I liked was Magnus. I never watched anything after season 3 but I should give it a chance. Season 1 and 2 though just will always be something special I hope to share with when I have kids one day.

 

G1 will always have a special place. Everytime I watch it it's like visiting old friends.

 

Wow, long time subscriber and now digging up your old messages and realise you are a UK fellow.

I too shared the pain of my parents sometimes missing a recording due to the ridiculous splitting on Wacaday (it worked to keep us watching but sigh). Even after only watching half of the episode, SOS Dinobots was a firm favourite and I never watched the first half until Youtube was around. Watching Slag absorb Thundercracker's "burn you up" and firing back was an amazing sight.

I was turned off by the comics (some upsetting scenes, characters portrayed in a way I did not feel correct) as I was (and still am) a huge fan of the cartoons. Having older brothers, we would watch the show together, during which we would allocate who got which toy (being the youngest I missed out on some of the better characters) and say things like "my one beat yours"

Due to what seemed to be a weird run on terrestrial tv, most of my viewings were from buying, renting or borrowing VHS tapes.

I watched the movie in the cinema with the whole family and remember having an odd feeling when Prowl got shot...he was one of "my" characters and was wondering why he didn't get up like usual. But I only cried (quietly) during Prime's death scene. I ended up with the toys of characters I have grown up to think a little annoying or uncool (Wreck-gar, Blurr and Gnaw)

 

I remember watching G1 Animated back in the day, seeing it premiere. It has its faults, lord it has its faults. But it's also got some strengths, too.

1. Some remarkably good continuity. The background for the Great War is pretty consistent, barring if it's the Third or Fourth Cybertronian War. but that's small potatoes. There were some good arcs. Season one's first six episodes flowed well into each other, and then you had the Ultimate Doom/Countdown to Extinction.

2. Some of the best humans in the franchise. Spike, Sparkplug, Carly, Chip, Marissa. They manage to contribute, be useful.

3. Some of the best human/Autobot interactions/relations, barring some idiocy like Megatron's Master Plan. And I did like the Transformers being out in the open.

4. Great voice cast.

5. I love the transformer's origin. I wish it was used more.

Now, of course, some stuff sucked. the animation... *Shudders* And I'll be honest. I don't like the movie much at all anymore. But the show did stuff right. And I'll take G1 Animated Optimus over that loser idiot from the Marvel comics any day of the week.