So. Speaking of the 20th anniversary. This guy on my own personal fan page is bugging the hell outta me. He keeps on saying this....

"Here in Canada it premiered in the summer of 1995."

Help me out here Canadians. Is he right or wrong. Thanks guys. xD

 

Honestly? I can't dispute him. And I have the weirdest, niggling doubt that it actually was 1995. See, my very first exposure to BW ever was watching it on the TV at a beach house I went to with my sister and grandparents. Thing is, I distinctly remember being five, and I was born in January 1990, so it does seem like that matches up.

Unfortunately I have no evidence I'm remembering that right. I wouldn't be surprised, though.

Where're you finding all these cool pics?

 

No, it aired in September 1996 in Canada as Beasties Transformers on YTV.

 

So, wait...did they change the end of the theme song for the Canadian market?!?

"BEASTIESSSSS!!!" lol

XD

 

not from Canada, but i did some research and would say your friend is wrong for a few reasons.

why would it air in Canada first?...l know it was animated in canada, but it was a Hasbro america show, the states was is original prime market

G2 figures like lazor Optimus Prime and many others were still being released in the spring of 1995

the first beast wars toys were not released till March/May of 1996, the show would not have been out a year before the toyline

[if they are right] production dates on the first season of beast wars are dated with fall and winter of 95 dates, so the show could not air in the summer of that year because it wasnt produced yet

my guess is your friends is mixxing up info
the regular 1st season started running in September of 96
but before they aired the pilot episode as a preview.

 

I feel like it did, since I remember it being on the same time as Reboot and Insektors (and Insektors was only on for 1 year).

For the life of me I can't find any physical records that confirm this. I never would have guessed it would be that hard to find TV listings from 20 years ago.

Yes. Yes they did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfkGgI0HiTQ


You couldn't have a kid's show with "war" in the title for some reason, necessitating the change. Mainframe (the company that made the show) got dinged again only a short time later on their show War Planets, and called it "Shadow Raiders" in the Canadian Market.

 

Even today lots of shows air in other countries first, 20 years ago it'd probably be even more likely.

Yet Machine Wars was also released as BW was airing. Lines overlap all the time.

Just like Animated and many other shows and toys. Also, official release dates are not always the real release dates, and the toys are stamped 1995.

I'm not saying his friend is even right, either. Just that there's nothing really concrete against his claims.

 

in todays market i could buy that.
20 years ago, from Hasbro/Kenner, it'd probably be not likely at all...

my point was not exactly an over lapping toyline
it was that the failure of g2 is what brought the idea of bws to hasbro

you cant compare the releases of TFA and other recent shows.

at the time of BW, they were desperate to keep the line going, the first released figures were timed to be released with the show.

as the seasons continued, the release of new figures was also timed to he airing of the episodes hey first appeared in

right, as in made

depends on how much credit you give any one source.

for me,i find that tfwiki has been very reliable when it comes to episode air dates

 

Look, if you can find conclusive, indisputable proof that Beasties did not air in Canada until 1996, so be it, but other than that, I don't think you're going to get anywhere in this discussion, because others (like myself) have just as much circumstantial evidence and circumstantial evidence to go off of.

I can tell you that I distinctly remember many of the Beast Wars figures hitting shelves in Canada long after their characters appeared on TV, and some of the various things like bat primal and alligator megatron and the mutant faces were considered odd as they had not been used on the show. Ultra-scale Primal and Megatron were considered glorious and fully lived up to what we'd seen on the show, though.

 

Why? With less instant communication back then, you think it'd be more likely for incongruities like that to exist.

It's failure would've likely been projected well ahead of it's actual cancellation.

Really, it would've had to have been anyway for BW to start in 1995. They didn't cook up the whole thing in a year.

Why not? Again, if it can happen nowadays you'd think it'd be more likely back when Hasbro was smaller, and global corperate synergy was lessened.

Except they weren't. Depth Charge, for example, released well before he showed up in the show.

And again, what was intended and officially stated isn't always what actually happened. Different countries get product at different times.

Exactly. They could have been released in 1995 as they were made in 1995. Not saying they were, just playing devil's advocate. And TBF, the stamps on toys aren't the production dates but the copyright dates. You could produce a figure in 2015 with a 2016 copright stamp on it. Persoanlly I don't think they were released early, but rather that the show and toys weren't synced up in Canada at all.

Which is ultimately my point, we don't know for sure, and release dates of things have and still continue to get screwed up time to time.

This is true, I loved how much Megatron looked like the show.

 

I believe I just found something concrete against his claims.
its a pic, page 1 ,pilot episode of beast wars.

1st draft date 12/95
final draft 1/96

see above

well i was talking in the u.s.
and im not suggesting the releases were perfectly timed either
sorry if i confused you

 

instant communication is not a factor in my conclusion

but the lesser "world marketing planning" of the time is my point

true enough

answered this already

im willing to accept that some weren't but some were, as as i said above i was talking the u.s.

point taken

 

Part of me really really hopes, since they're doing Primal, and since they've reissued various Primal molds, and keep reissuing or making updated Generations molds of other characters, that the reason we've not seen a Megatron is simply because they really are planning an MP of him.

But my fear is that in reality the others were convenient retools whereas a Megatron wouldn't be or rather, no existing mold works for Megatron. I could see them doing a Gator Megatron though out of Skull possibly.

Still... I think we all want an updated original BW Megatron in some form, and this is the year to do it if it's going to happen. I keep debating getting the ultra used on ebay or something when I have some money laying around that I'm willing to part with for it. MP Primal needs a decent Megatron companion. But part of me has this sneaking suspicion there might be something coming we don't know about so I hold off.

 

Yup, that's more conclusive. I'd still think some YTV schedules would put a nail in the coffin though.

 

Google. Same as always.

 

i am trying to find some
so far no luck

 

Happy late birthday to Beast Wars! Being 30, this was the show and toy line that got me hooked on Transformers. They are also the only toys I still have today from when I was that young!

 

My childhood and how I was introduced into the brand. I don't recall fond memories of watching it but I do remember being glued to the screen.

Being introduced to the brand through this franchise made encountering other adaptions weird. Going into Robots in Disguise 2001, I was weirded by the Maixmals having been replaced by the Autobots. I was even more weirded out by Armada where the Autobots as a team were solidified and the Predacons were gone completely entirely replaced by the Decepticons.