My first experience with Transformers that I can remember was Armada. I remember watching the cartoon whenever I got the chance to, though for some reason, I didn't get to see the end of the series until years after it was over. The last one I remember seeing was the one where Optimus died, and I didn't know he returned until Energon came out.

My first experience with G1 was when my stepfather showed me the 20th anniversary edition of the 1986 movie, though I didn't watch the series until my biological father showed it to me years later. Watching the movie for the first time was a bit strange for me because I was so used to Armada. I remember thinking Rumble and Frenzy were Mini-Cons, and that Optimus Prime's voice sounded weird, since the only Optimus I had heard before then was Gary Chalk. But despite the strangeness of it all, I very much enjoyed the movie and still do to this day. And while I still hold Gary Chalk in very high regard, Peter Cullen is definitely my favorite Optimus now. His work in the live-action movies and the High Moon games won me over.

I don't remember exactly which Transformers toy was my first, but some of my earliest ones included Armada Optimus Prime (the one that combined with his trailer) and Hot Shot, G1 Optimus, Megatron and Rodimus, and the original Masterpiece Optimus Prime. I know one of my younger brothers threw Armada Prime down the stairs and broke an arm off while I was at school, but I have no idea what happened to the rest. I haven't seen them in a long time.

 

Technically I found it myself, but only because my Grandma and Grandpa took me to a beach house on vacation, and when flipping through the channels I found BW's "Chain of Command" as it first aired. The rest is history.

 

Former best friend would ramble on about how much this fucker named Hot Rod sucked balls.

 

My first exposure TFs was the tv ad for the Marvel comic. Memory's a little fuzzy if I got a toy first or saw the cartoon after that ad.

 

I did, just happened to see Beast Wars one morning before starts back in 96.

 

The G1 cartoon and toys got me hook, line, and sinker!

 

I guess my dad did but not really. I’m still a youngster so when I was like 6 I saw my dad watching Revenge of the Fallen on the TV so I decided to watch it with him because big robots fighting on TV were cool.

And then I started watching Prime. I don’t know how I found about it, I just remember watching it on my dads phone when we were in the car.

 

I guess the G.I. Joe cartoon miniseries introduced me to Transformers, though technically I believe it's called a "lead-in.".  

 

No one, I just saw it myself on TV back in the day around 87-88.

 

Saturday morning kids television showing the cartoons and adverts for the toys. Instantly hooked!

Damn Hasbro and their clever marketing tactics.

 

I'm pretty sure my mum bought the 1986 movie and my dad got a Chinese copy of the 3rd and 4th seasons of G1. Seeing Hot Rod's opening sequence blew my child mind away

 

Myself, I was 5 or 6 when G1 toys came out, I had seen the commercials for the toys, but hadn't read the comic. Then one day when I came home from school, they pre-empted He-Man to show the first G1 mini-series and I was hooked ever since

 

1) I remember watching the original G1 cartoon on TV, that got me interested back in the '80s.
2) In 2005 I was deployed with the AF, my room mate showed me some TF stuff on his computer. When I got back to the states I found an Energon Storm Jet at the local BigLots, and the rest is collecting history.

 

I absolutely cannot remember. The cartoon first aired in Italy in 1985 when I was 6 and I discovered it by myself because it was announced by lots of advertising, but I already had transformers toys since kindergarden. I probably saw them in the GiG (Italian distributor of Transformers and Diaclone) catalogues and asked for them, or maybe my mom bought me one because she thought I would like it.

 

Found it myself on TV and instantly fell in love.

 

I just happened to catch the first episode of Beast Wars when it aired on GMTV, and the rest is history. I suppose Michael Bay/Paramount is responsible for my reintroduction many moons later as well.

 

My grandparents bought me gobots! My mom took to the theaters in 1986 to see the TF movie, but I don't remember. Saw Beast Wars and TV and became obsessed.

 

My cousin, who's about six years older than me, got me into Transformers. I was five years old in 1986 and he was 11. What was kinda nice is that around the time that he became a teenager, I inherited his pre movie Transformers toys, as virtually all of my Transformer toys were post movie toys.

 

I'm certain I just sort of stumbled upon it myself. I saw the G2 cartoon, and overall had a strong fondness for bipedal beings hewn from steel as a little'un.

I forget just how it came to be, but I figure that I saw the toy commercials and begged my parents for a toy robot, and somehow ended up with a G2 Bonecrusher as a birthday gift around... Age 5 or 6, maybe? Some relatives of mine had a few Transformers laying around that I'd always play with during visits, and they eventually gave 'em to me. (G1 Blaster and a G2 Slag.)

Still have at least two of those super-early-memory Transformers. Blaster's MIA, but I still have my floppy Bonecrusher.

 

My uncle John did (incidentally) when I was eight years old back in 1984. I washed his truck (and did a nice job too I might add) and he was going to take me to the store and buy me something. I wanted the soundtrack album for "Ghostbusters" but instead he saw a row of Transformers and said, "Hey, what about these ?" so I looked them over, thought they were fascinating, and got him to buy me Windcharger.

I still have that same Windcharger, BTW.

EDIT: Years later, when I was 12-13 years old I STILL bought Transformers. Though I didn't "play" with them anymore I still loved them and bought them as I knew that at the very least they would be a nice financial investment. Well, all of my uncles, my old man, grandfather all thought something was really wrong with a 12 year boy still buying toys and all spent many a day making fun of me while thinking that I was going to become, well, gay. (LITERALLY! Calling your 12 year old nephew/son/grandson gay slurs b/c he hadn't knocked up a girl by 14 ? WTH!?).

Idiots thought that a 12-13 year old should spend all their days drinking beer, smoking pot, breaking the law, getting in the pants of every girl they met, and getting in trouble. Thankfully, I had a good role model in Optimus Prime to set a good example for me. (I mean, really. If you were low class white trash and made bad mistakes your entire life wouldn't you want to make sure your nephew didn't do what you did ?)

They ALL thought I was insane when I said that all of my old figures were going to be worth money one day and they tried to make me throw them out. Instead, I talked them into a compromise to have all of my old boxes thrown out instead. I was able to save them before the garbage man got there the day they were out at the street. I put them all up in the rafters of the garage wood trusses but they eventually turned moldy, and wet and had to bethrown out.

All of this said though - make your kid THROW THEM OUT ? I mowed lawns, picked up cans, cleaned bathrooms, did yard work, etc.. to get the money to buy them and they wanted ME to throw them out ? Eff them. TF's are my REAL family. And my cats. And you guys too I suppose, lol...