My first encounter must have been Beast Wars then Robots in Disguise (2000) as I grew up watching a lot of anime. RiD was a fun show in a way that the current shows fail to match.

 

Christmas 1984 was the day I was introduced to "Transformers"; between my brother and me we got the entire first wave; I was 8 and he was 10. There were a few duplicates between us to keep the in fighting down (we all know how it can be between siblings and shiny new things). I still have almost all of those transformers from Xmas 1984. While my brother moved on to heavy metal and black t-shirts I kept the fire burning. Every time my father would go to South Korea when I was a kid he would bring back a ton of Diaclone branded transformers and I would be the only one in town with characters Hasbro would not market here for months or years. It seems petty now but I would be so proud that I had a transformer no one in my school had; and it did cause some issues too. Still trying to find that one reasonably priced MIB G1 Hound to replace the one that got lost. Now my collection numbers more than I want to admit to; but nearly every purchase was worth it. My comic collection has swelled to the point it takes 16 long boxes to contain its massive wealth of fun and diverse worlds; I still go back and re-read them just to relive the joy of immersing myself in a world different than our own. My dearest figure still is my G1 Skyfire (Jetfire is you must); he has his own complete shelf in one of my display cases. May Transformers be as strong in another 35 years as it is today.

 

Me, being more of a young’un, was introduced to Transformers when the first Bay film came out. I admired it, and admired the franchise even more when I discovered all other forms of Transformers. Transformers is the pinnacle of sci-fi, it has created unforgettable characters with diverse personalities. Unlike most mecha shows of the time, Transformers related to humans in a way more than being piloted by them, and that’s the least I can say about the uniqueness that makes Transformers amazing. ‘Till all are one!

 

I tell this story all the time, but the first Transformer I wanted was G1 Starscream. I saw him at the mall and asked my mom for him, but she told me I would have to save up. I don't remember how much he was, but I saved and saved and saved. Finally, I was ready. I had mom take me back to the mall and I picked up Starscream and it was then that I realized I was 3$ short. I begged my mom to advance me the difference but she was teaching me a lesson and she wouldn't budge. And you know how kids are: I left with Hound, whom I could afford. I was probably 5 then. I never owned a Starscream until 39 years later when I realized there was a MP version and bought it, coronation accessories and all.

 

Man, I remember waking up early in the morning when I was like 3 or 4 just to see Armada on TV. My first TF toys were Sideways and Optimus and I loved playing with them every minute. It’s why Transformers will always have a special place in my heart. Happy 35th!!!

 

I was 9 in 1984 and remember getting my first Transformer as if I just got home to open it. Prowl was my very first and I got him at Kmart and I've had a passion for them ever since. Now 35 years and over 1300 figures from all eras in my collection, official and third party alike, I have no plans to stop anytime soon. My favorite character has always been Starscream, always scheming, backstabbing, sneaking, and looking for his chance to seize power. Caring only for himself and how he can rise to the level of greatness that matches his ego and not caring how he gets it or who has to suffer along the way. He is the personification of pure evil, and the purest example of a Decepticon. PEACE THROUGH TYRANNY, or betrayal.

 

This is something I wrote in Captain Slayer’s TFP viewing thread when he finished the show. As a foreword, I was part of a Formspring RP during the show’s run and played Ratchet, and later Wheeljack as well. I have two other memories I’m going to write about later on. But honestly, the Formspring Prime RP probably was indeed my favorite TF memory.

“I've been talking about the Formspring RP for the entirety of this blog and I'll happily admit it was one of my absolute favorite Transformers memories.

I loved the months of Orion Pax (who in our RP actually fought alongside the Cons before oops the season 2 premiere picked up immediately after season 1). I loved the months on the run without a base and being hunted. I loved the semi-OC's we had in Slipstream, Thundercracker, Skywarp. I loved Airachnid of all people thanks to Formspring. I loved the non canon fights we'd have. Optimus taking the time out to have Fowler buy a traumatized Raf some chocolate chip cookies and milk. June and Fowler actually dating. Miko drawing cute doodles of the cast. [Derrick J.] Wyatt mercilessly heckling us sometimes.

But I would be remiss to mention Formspring without telling you all about Moosetron.

He played Armada Megatron and later Galvatron, and... damn. He was just like the big brother of the RP. He was a great friend and support to all of us. He was always funny and silly and such a smartass as the big Moose. It was awesome when he either spared with or fought Prime Megs (who was WAY more interesting on the RP than he was in the show). And his character even became the Conjunx Endura of TFP Starscream. And G1 Skywarp.

Yeah that was kinda... odd. But nevertheless, Moosetron was a big rock of our RP. The official leader, who played TFP Optimus and Megs, as well as Movie Megs, wasn't around as often as he'd like. So Moosetron was like, well, like I said, the big rock.

But he got sick. Really sick. Around the time Prime ended, he made an announcement that he wouldn't live to see Christmas 2013, because of leukemia. And he worked it into his character too. Galvatron was dying, and eventually died peacefully mere days before Moosetron died too on New Years Eve 2013. So yes, he got to live to Christmas, which was his last wish. David Kaye and Steve Blum, bless them, both made videos for Moosetron. I don't know the exact content because they were private, but I do know they did a little bit here and there in character as Galvatron and Starscream.

I can't say I knew Moosetron that well, but I was sad and hurt nonetheless. The loss of Moosetron was a loss of a lifeline of the RP. Truth be told, it really mostly ended in late 2014 after Age of Extinction. Some players left because the happy memories of Moosetron hurt too much. Some, including me, are still there.

The night that Deadlock aired, I made a post commemorating the end. I'll recreate it now.

"Tonight, Transformers: Prime's run comes to an end with its 65th episode. Prime has seen some really huge ups and some really, really huge downs. But for all of us on the RP, it was always a source of fun, and friendship, and laughs. Through all the relic BS and the season breaks and the sudden character deaths, we've had fun this whole time. And that's what's important, and I'm grateful to the showrunners for giving us this opportunity to get to know each other and have fun together the past three years."

And some more like that.

When I look back on Prime that all still holds true to this day. Yes, it absolutely earned the epic Burnout rants it's gotten since its end. But yes, it also gave me one of my favorite memories in this fandom and in my life.

Thank you Cap for giving me this opportunity to remember all the fun times both in the show and on the RP. And still, RIP to that big gay Moose.”

And thank you, Transformers. I’m with you to the end of the line, till all are one.

 

I know that I am not like many that his fanaticism for Transformers started with G1 I did not have the happiness of being born at that time when the G1 series made the popularity of the Transformers grow to unsuspected levels, Hasbro had seen the potential of a robot franchise that was transformed into vehicles and one day as 3 and a half decades ago Transformers born in the hands of Marvel Comics, it's a shame not to have seen the birth of the Transformers but a movie of 2007 I marveled at that time maybe now and bigger I can see its flaws but thanks to that movie I became a fan of this great franchise I only saw these movies that many call Bayverse on television due to my economy, but it was in 2014 that I went to the Internet and I became aware that the movies they were just a corner of this universe and I saw how wonderful it was, from that moment I saw series some I liked others not so much, I played video games, I read one or another comic and I was maturing with the TF. More than meet the eyes

 

The early period of me being in the franchise actually dates back to my wee years, maybe 5, and I actually encountered the brand first through getting my mom to rent the old VHS tapes from Hollywood Video. SOS Dinobots was my jam and even though I think the Dinobots themselves are highly overrated these days...I can't lie that episode still makes me feel nostalgic.

Armada though is more my G1 since that was the first series I really was able to follow - I was just too late to get into Beast Wars (and I doubt mom would ever have let me get a Waspinator because he's a giant wasp and she hates wasps) but Armada was just a cascade of joy. I watched the show, got the comics, and one of my personal childhood victories was proving my mom wrong when I'd been misbehaving once and she said I wouldn't get Optimus Prime for Christmas...and then I got Optimus Prime for Christmas from my grandparents that same year. I will never forget the look of shock on her face. Kinda wish I could find replacement smokestack pieces and a spare big gun for him, though, since I think those got lost in a move at some point.

I fizzled out around Energon, though - show was shit and I was entering the teen years. A friend in High school, incidently enough, reintroduced me into the brand right before the first film. I won't lie in that the films did bring me back and I was big in this franchise for ages - my collection having swelled from less than 10 figures to probably around 200 (and that's just Transformers, stuff that I got introduced to on the side like Gunpla, Figma, and the infamous Busou Shinki continue to hold my interest) within the last decade or so.

However, right now I'm kind of burned out with Transformers, since it's in a G1 holding pattern recovery and the one-two punch of shit that was AoE/TLK left me disgusted with how the brand was being handled - and don't even get me started on the burning dumpster fire that Prime became. Bumblebee was a good film, but I need to see that the people in charge understand why Bumblebee was good before I'll put my faith in the films again. Something on the level of Animated would be a surefire ticket but until then, I've got other interests to pursue. Maybe I'll finally get around to watching Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta, apparently the Beast Wars of Gundam.

 

I grew up playing with Beast Wars toys and saw a few episodes of it and Beast Machines. I remember that Botanica scared me and gave me nightmares. I got into Star Wars around this time (Episode I had just come out) and lost interest in Transformers until I saw a commercial for the 2007 movie. I thought "Huh? Transformers? But why aren't they turning into animals?" 'cause I only knew of Beast Wars at the time. Saw the movie and loved it and went to Toys R Us (RIP) and bought Deluxe Bumblebee, the figure that started my collection.

 

Beast machines and Armada used to air locally during weekendS (they didn't air at the same time, but the TV station loved airing one of the other to fill time in during weekend mornings). As a kid I gravitated towards the lighter, episodic, and anime style of Armada, which is why I have some nostalgia for it and what compelled me to watch the show properly when I became a proper TF fan. That said, they were just that, weekend cartoons, while they were cool they didn't make me a TF fan yet.
Then one night when my father, who used to buy DVDs for us kids as a treat, bought home the 2007 Transformers film.
It instantly converted me into a fan. It was a huge spectacle, it really gave me this "epic" feeling as Blackout landed in the base and attacked the soldiers, when Optimus and the rest of the autobots transformed in that alleyway and introduced themselves to the human characters, the entire final battle. The combination of amazing special effects and fantastic musical score made the film really memorable, and I watched that film religiously until the release of ROTF.
Now ROTF wasn't by all means a great movie, but it tried to one-up the first movie in many ways and I really enjoyed it. It had more robots, more action, more spectacular scenes (the Fallen's landing on the aircraft carrier is still one of my favorite moments in the Bayverse).
While all this was happening I was saving up to buy the toys. My first figure was the 2007 legends Blackout, and i had a lot of fun making him destroy the makeshift bases I made. I continued buying random figures that caught my eye as a kid, even if I didn't know the character personally (in the Philippines, you have to pay cable to see Cartoon Network so I didn't see Animated until I was an adult!) and one of the figures I bought at the time that I really loved was Animated Shockwave. Sure the alt modes were weak but I really love how he had two robot modes.
At the same time our family just got internet connection. For the first time I was able to find out news about the then-upcoming ROTF which greatly intensified my hype for the film, and the ever-informative and fun to read TFwiki introduced me to the other aspects of the franchise.
Then, for no real reason, it just petered out. While I watched DOTM and AOE, I wasn't as into TF as I once was.
Well that all changed with Combiner Wars. The chance to build my own giant robot was too enticing to resist. As i was college at this time I was able to buy TFs with money i saved up and I was able to sort of complete Superion (sans Skydive with Ironhide substituting).
Then Titans Return happened, and I got sucked in helplessly into the collecting vacuum. The toys were so much fun and there as such a huge variety of characters available.
To make sure I don't get out of the rabbit hole anytime soon, Siege and Studio Series continue putting out quality product, this i such a great time to be a TF fan!

 

Happy anniversary!

 

My first introduction to the series were episodes of Armada but the first seires I ever watched fully was Cybertron. Guess I was lucky I ended up missing Energon since I have no memory of ever watching it.

The Optimus, Megatron, and Scourge from Cybertron were the first Transformers toys I had, though I only into collecting recently with Siege.

 

My most enduring memories are how much interactions it gave me with my father. As far as first interactions, I can't remember if it was the G1 toys or the cartoon. As far as I'm concerned, It's always been a part of my life.

 

I've been celebrating since the start of the year, under the #TheTransformers35 hash on Twitter. I'm up to 1996 so far.  

I was introduced to Transformers by the MTMTE 3-parter cartoon, and wanted more. My first toy was a late 1984 birthday present. TF was already a "hot holiday season" toy by that point, so they weren't easy to find, but my mom (no longer with us today) managed. According to her, there were two Autobots on the shelves, and she meant to get both, but ran into another mother looking for TFs for her child. My Mom took pity and gave up one, keeping the one she thought looked better.

She had no way of knowing then, but Mirage was an excellent 1st toy choice, having basically saved the day at the end of the 3-parter (spoilers!) and a great toy to boot. Based on what I was told, the toy I didn't get back then was (probably) Ironhide. Who knows what my feelings about Transformers today might be if my first impression was the G1 Ironhide toy?

 

"Transformers, More Than Meets the Eye!"
Indeed, and much more than ever, even after 35 years.
Happy anniversary to the best transforming robot franchise in history.

 

Retired Staff Checking In.

It all started for me in 1983. My Father was a Corporate Executive and would travel a lot for Business and he would bring me back a toy from wherever he want. On trip to Japan he came back with Micro Change Cassette Man (Pre-TF Soundwave) and I was amazed, and so were my friends. Until Transformers Launched in 1984 and even after to augment my Transformers my Father would bring me Micro Change and Diaclone Figures from his trips all over the world and later Transformers from other Countries.

 

The one thing that got me fully in to Transformers was when I passed a magazine shelf in my local newsagents and saw this on the rack. I had bought the first two issues for the free stickers and transfers about a year earlier but then forgot about Transformers. I wondered about the image and who it was that could kill all of the Transformers. It was of course Shockwave and he has been my firm favorite ever since. This is truly the one iconic Transformers cover in my opinion. It brought me back and I am forever grateful.

 

The original cartoon series came along at an interesting time - Star Wars had begun to wind down (Return of the Jedi had capped off the original trilogy in \'83, and the toyline had retracted to non-existence) and then Transformers hit.  In some ways, it felt like a parallel sort of story - civil war, clearly defined (heroic) protagonists, evil villains - and the original cartoon relied so very heavily on Star Wars (and Star Trek) sound effects, it was like a weird sort of easter-egg feedback loop.  This was also in the era when you went into department stores and could stand in the toy aisles and see wall-to-wall toys - not that we could generally afford many of them, but there was something very special about going into Zellers or K-Mart (in Canada) and just seeing a vertible wall of toys in person.  Wholly different than shopping online.

The first Transformer I had was Wheeljack, and although it is somewhat worse for wear, I still have it, and still happily transform it to this day.  A handful of others followed (Prowl, Hound, Thrust, Slag, Thrust and \"Shackwave\" being among my childhood favorites) - although I never really did manage to land either of the leaders, at the time - although the G2 reissues brought me Optimus Prime, and the rest of those constructicons - although it always nagged at me that (for a while) Devastator was 1/3 G1 green and 2/3 G2 yellow ...

Of course, since then there have been the newer toys, the live action movies, G1 reissues, Ebay purchases ... childhood me standing in the toy aisles and exictedly reading the tech specs on the back of boxes I couldn\'t afford would never know what hit him, now.  I do envy people that have been able to spin this sort of interst into a more social experience, though - I have never been good at that, and then living in (fairly) small communities probably does not always help - it has always been a bit of a solitary hobby, for me,  Still and all, there remains something refreshingly stressfree in putting aside all the usual real-life concerns, now and then, to re-visit the innocent joy of childhood whimsy rendered in plastic.