Born in 77, child of the 80's madness that was Cabbage Patch Kids, My Parents, being a 2 working family we were to support me & my sisters, did the back alley navigating, the late night private home visits etc. I've been through the gauntlet of toy madness: Gobots, Transformers, LaserTag, Simon, The Smurfs, Cabbage Patch Kids, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, He-Man, Voltron, G.I. Joe, Garbage Pail Kids, Atari 2600, Thundercats, Centurians, M.A.S.K., Teddy Ruxpin, My Little Pony, Pogo Balls, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the N.E.S. & Captain Power & the Soldiers of the Future just to name a few...School was horrible as kids fought to outdo one another...

My very first Transformer was Optimus Prime for Christmas 1984. However, my first love was what I got for my Birthday in '85 when Soundwave crossed my hands. Turned into a wonderful birthday overall too cause I also received a diecast Voltron as well. A lot of mileage on both of those later, I have a collection spanning 12 versions of Soundwave from the 80's, 12 versions of Blaster, 12 versions of Devastator, 210 cassettes, some GI Joe Crossovers of Ravage & a dream complete - the W Cassettes   Once the anniversary releases of Blaster & Soundwave land, I can retire & enjoy the tales with my 5 year old nephew as I read him the comics from volume 1!

As for memories with emotional ties, somehow obtaining a special Transformers movie poster with Unicron on it & having it on my room door was totally awesome. Might have been from the mail in club. Coming home from school & seeing it torn had me crying for hours. Turns out to have been good for me since I happened to later get for my next Birthday Sixshot! Was a good replacement for Megatron since many of us lost them when the Police teamed up with parent groups to get rid of him to prevent child shootings...Still want my Megatron! Fondly think of my time in the Principal's Office on Show & Tell Day...Mr. Skinner GIVE IT BACK!!!

 

I was born a year later. I remember all that, Saturday morning cartoons, the early morning G.I.Joe and Transformers shows, and the after school lineups. I got the car version of Voltron (I preferred the lion version, but it was a gift) and Tranzor-Z (huge toy!) I got Blaster as a birthday gift (preferred Sound wave lol). I wish weekday morning cartoons were a big thing now. We grew up during a great decade!  

 

I was almost eleven-years-old when "Transformers" hit in 1984. Loved both the Marvel comics and the cartoon, but favored the comics a little more. I don't remember the first toy I bought...I'm sure it was Bumblebee or Cliffjumper or one of the other mini-cars (most of which I still have), but my first "big" toys came at Christmas of '84, when I got Optimus and Soundwave. Still have both of them, too.   My father owned a small grocery store in my hometown, and I started working there when I was ten-years-old. One of my favorite things to do back then was to look out the door of the store at the cars in the parking lot and try to figure out how they would transform; I'd also try to figure out how the mechanical items we had (cash register, meat slicers in the market, copy machine in the basement) would transform. I was fascinated with the concept. Then, my dad would yell at me for standing around and not working.  

I gradually lost touch with Transformers as I got older, but I'd read up on them on the internet from time-to-time. Then, in early 2011, I stumbled across the first episode of "More than Meets the Eye"...which I hadn't seen in YEARS...on The Hub one night, and I was hooked all over again. Been collecting various Generations figures (and several from the "Prime" line from a few years ago) ever since. Transformers fascinated me as a kid, and they fascinate me every bit as much now. I'm happy that they were part of my youth, and I'm even happier that they found their way back into my life as an adult.  

 

hopefully I would b able to celebrate their 50th birthday 

 

I was eight then when I saw the 1984 cartoon series.

Now that I know more about it, Transformers ran for three seasons.

But where I hail from, that time was full of political tensions and this cartoon was aired in one of the government networks. After awhile, they must’ve taken it off, although it was still going on in the US.

After 1986, it came back on a new private channel, starting from the first episode of season 1.

What I’ll always remember is Optimus Prime driving around the mountain, being blasted and falling off the mountain in his truck and trailer mode. I remember it when I first saw it and I remember it when they came back.

I also remember a couple of the Autobots in labcoats.

I was a fan then. I tried to make my own take of the Transformers when I was doing my drawings.

My exposure to the toys was when we went to malls or from classmates at school. I used to see Grimlock, Optimus Prime in either the toy shelves or some packets some classmates brought to school.

Was not really able to buy one. They were too pricey and what my parents could only afford were LEGO sets and later G.I. Joe action figures.

And Zoids. And some knock off Transformer toy with a bot that you could turn into a scorpion and I even remember it was colored pink.

I guess that’s one of the things I missed during childhood, but the cartoons made me a fan.

Once again, since this was not the US, the episodes we saw were disjointed and after awhile the cartoon series was just gone. This was a time where there was no cable or satellite TV in the country.

Sure I was already exposed to other franchises, the very first ones I saw with my parents were Superman, Star Wars and Terminator, which was before Transformers.

So when Transformers was taken off air, I drifted back to Terminator and Star Wars. Then The Neverending Story. Then Ghostbusters. Short Circuit with Johnny Five.

Sure I saw the likes of He-Man, She-Ra, Thundercats and others. But by the early 1990s, Batman, Star Wars and Terminator had more of an impact on me.

After that I was just basically a Star Wars, Terminator and Batman fan. Never got into X-Men who my friend was a big fan of. But Terminator, Star Wars and Batman were what I fell on during the mainstream absence of Transformers. I realize other Transformers iterations came on after G1, such as Beast Wars, Animated, etc. but I never quite followed them.

During the 90s, I was a hardcore Star Wars fan. I saw the special edition release in theaters and I bought them on VHS.

The Star Wars prequels came. But as time went on, I guess I just fell off it. Generally, I probably was not a hardcore fan of anything at this point.

Then Superman had sort of a reboot in 2005. I liked it although many people hated it. I would’ve preferred Brandon Routh over Henry Cavill.

I even got into the whole Lady Gaga craze then which reached its peak in 2007.

Then came the 2006 to 2007 period, with the announcement of a Transformers live action movie.

Saw first glimpses of the yellow Camaro on some political discussion message board where one of the users also happen to be a huge fan and he posted some stills from the production in the general interest section of the board. I still had no idea what was going on. Well, my interest piqued, but at that point probably not to the extent I’d watch it in theaters.

What convinced me, was when I saw the first teasers where this long nose truck comes off at many parts and then the scene switches into the back of the head of someone which looked familiar. I recognized it and realized it was the head of Optimus Prime. This was the scene when the Autobots arrive. I got excited. Optimus Prime for real, made possible with the magic of 21st century photorealistic CGI.

Then the scene where this Cybertronian comes out of a swimming pool.

So a girlfriend and I went to see it in 2007. I was just absolutely floored. Blackout. Barricade. The Autobots arrival. The Decepticon roll call.

After that, I was a fan. Hell I put Decepticon stickers on the rear sides and front of the rear trunk of my 2007 Camry. Many people liked it. I remember when we were moving from New York driving through I-95, some kids had their faces on the window of their car as I passed them on my lane looking at the Decepticon decals on my Camry.

I made this police officer’s on his motorcycle turn his head as I passed by him. I’m sure he was getting a gander on the Decepticon decals. He didn’t pull me over or anything. But I did notice him turning his head towards my car as I passed by. Or maybe he thought I stole the car. Pretty sure it was the decals.

While parked at New York, this guy comes up to his car, saw the metallic Decepticon emblem on the trunk of my car and complimented me by saying it looked nice. That was awesome people noticing the symbols. Which is the reason why, at a decent amount, the live action movies need to emphasize the symbols more as this is what people readily see and make associations with.

But life became hectic during this period and Transformers Prime and Rescuebots have gone by. I saw Prime and Rescuebots in commercials but I was too busy.

But by then, I was back into a full-fledged, unwavering Transformers fan. The thing I like about them is that they’re not really a superhero franchise. They’re still vulnerable in many ways. But they fight, they are tough and they are durable and they’re more human than any of the other superhero franchises with them being able to lift mountains and fly through ships and wreck them or they can create tornadoes, generate storm and lightning and shit. I cannot relate to superheroes and whenever I see them, they just remind me of how fragile I am. Cybertronians relatively speaking are highly relatable. They’re of a different species, but their struggles are the same as mine and other humans.

Since then, I own all of the Bay movies, Rescuebots, RiD15 and Transformers Prime. I have the High Moon games. But I’m not really into the games that followed it. Im still looking for quality and a multiplayer set up where the the participants can re-enact the Cybertronian Civil War. I’m catching up to what I missed during my childhood.

I could not bring myself into getting the toys. at my age, I’d rather spend it on the real thing and entertainment. Or, If I could be like a Cybertronian, I’d put all my money into it, live for a million years and work and study with a fighter jet alt mode. So I probably already outgrew the toys in many ways. But digital media, that’s what I’m on.

That’s why I emphasize that Hasbro needs to do a better job with managing the stories from both their cartoon series and live action movies and make buying them all worth it. Which is my I’m optimistic about the Transformers franchise and its best, best days are yet to come, if handled the right way and the right people are chosen.

Since then, I’m just a Transformers fan through and through.

 

I would have been four, going on five when Transformers came out. I loved it from the first episode. I really wish I could remember my first Transformer. I'm sure I got several for my fifth birthday and I know I got several for Christmas. Back then, we had half days for Kindergarten and I remember watching the first season before I got started and watching the second season when I got home. It wasn't until the third season that I stopped watching. Not because I wanted to, but because I didn't get home in time.

 

i remember before the first bay movie came out my uncle showed me Beast Wars since that was the Transformers he grew up with. I instantly feel in love and i gravitated towards dinobot and hes still my fave character from the beast wars timeline and when my dad heard i was liking transformers he bought me a g1 box set around the same time and i obviously loved the first movie since i was a kid my brother being 3 years old than me also got into it a little later so every christmas we got transformers for years i remember in the christmas of 2008 i got the first movies leader class prime,

Man im super nostalgic for this figure, my brother got a megaton figure to go along with my optimus prime that figure wasent terrible but neither of these were amazing looking back

so skip to christmas 2009 and

I got the movie Optimus prime figure to have until mpm-4 came out i loved this toy i had it for years hell even when i fell out of transformers i never threw it away sadly i lost it with the rest of my figures when out garage caught fire where i was keeping all the toys that i didnt play with often
on another note i remember loving transformers animated as a kid its still my fave transformers show , i remember seeing transformers prime on tv sometimes but i was never able to catch it and then we lost the channel it was on when we switched tv services but ive watched the series recently and i loved it
i do have nostalgia for the first transformers movie but yeah its not a great movie after revisiting it i also had some dvds of the cyber-tron trilogy and they always confused me since i never knew of their existence nor could i find any toys of them around but i enjoyed armada and energon bored me as a kid i didnt know how bad it was
all i knew is that it bored me and cybertron again i liked. i happy i got back into transformers last year via my figure collecting and ive rewatched beast wars and animated so good shows sorry for my rambling i just thought id put my memorys with the franchise heres to another 35 years of transformers !

 

I have loved transformers since I was 5...I remember watching the G1 cartoon and having so many treasured memories from some of my favorite characters...I'll name some of my favorites

My favorite autobot Skyfire:

I remember the first episode he was in...I always found him so cool and polite...he was the former best friend of Starscream who was my second favorite decepticon. Skyfire was my favorite because he was refreshing and unique...to this day he still is my favorite and I have preordered Siege Skyfire


My favorite Decepticon Soundwave:

Soundwave was my favorite from the beginning I loved His color scheme his voice and his cassettes I remember so many of his lines such as "all talk no shock" and "soundwave superior constructicons inferior". Seeing him in TFP Re-ignited my intrest in him and when I saw siege soundwave I had to have him


My number 2 autobot Springer:

Springer was amazing...he is a Wrecker (my favorite group of autobots) his colors are great and he has better things to do than die tonight I liked him because he was new and unique like Skyfire and I remember opening thrilling 30 Springer on one of my birthdays...and yes I preordered siege springer


My Second favorite Con Starscream:

Ahh starscream was hilarious the whole way through...I remember some of his quotes too
"Megatron is dead! I am the new leader of the decepticons!" "Decepticons! Feast your eyes on your new leader!" "Megatron please! I'm useful!" "I'm stupid I'm stupid!" Starscream had me laughing a lot


My best memories of transformers were about those 4 bots...every second of screen time (minus starscream dying) was amazing...they truly are amazing bots for me

Cheers to 35 years! Let's stick around for 35 more!

 

I was five, going on six when I first saw Transformers G1. My first toy was Bluestreak. I don't have the original anymore, but I do have one of his reissues. God, I was so into it. I saw the movie opening week-and I almost never do that. I usually wait a while. My love kinda died off during the mid-90's... and then Beast Wars came roaring in. And holy crap that show is still probably my favorite series.

Ever since then I've been in it. I saw the 2007 movie with my friends, most of which went specifically to see my reaction to it.   Transformers is neck-and-neck with Star Trek as my favorite franchise of all-time.

Here's to 35 years, Robots in Disguise. And here's to a lot more to come!

 

I think the first Transformer I ever saw was a Shockwave that some kid had on the local park playground. I begged to see it, and the kid graciously let me check him out for a minute. I was instantly in love with the whole idea.

My first TF was Soundwave. Got him and a space lego set for Christmas. He was GREAT. Still feel really lucky that I was given one of the, IMO, best toys of the original line. Sideswipe was the next, and for a long time last, addition to my collection. A great choice in the dead of the 80s, with the ‘82 and then the ‘85 Countach on every other poster and trapper keeper. I played with them both till they were floppy. Buzz-saw’s poor neck.

I was ten when the movie came out, and devastated that nobody would take me to see it. I would gladly have exchanged the times I WAS taken to the movies - Dolph Lundgren’s mish-mash of a He-Man movie for example - for seeing that one in theaters. But later I bought it on VHS at Kay-Bee and adored it. I finally did get to see it on the big screen at Botcon! Man that was fun!

It was years before I saw any of the post-movie cartoons. My friends had caught them at the time and I spent years wondering about Galvatron’s madness and Starscream’s ghost. But it just wasn’t on TV when I could catch it. So it wasn’t until VHS trades arranged over the early internet in the 90’s that I got to see any of it. But Beast Wars I got to watch as it aired, and what a great ride that was!

 

It's been 35 years since i was 2 when the show first aired and me with my big brother who was 8 years old when the show first aired as we dug it. He taped every episode of the show and he had some toys, i had bumble and stuff at 3 and 4 and i still remembered when i was 4 years old as when my big brother was 10 as we saw the movie on the big screen in one of my city's theaters and had the soundtrack on cassette even poster and comics then i later replaced the cassette with CD when i was 11.

This franchise has gotten a lasting legacy for a long time and it's impressive.

 

Yes i was also into He-Man, GI Joe and Thundercats besides Transformers and by 1987/1988 i got into Ducktales, C.O.P.S. (the animated show and toys not the dumb reality show) and Ninja Turtles too.

And did you too saw the TF movie in theaters as a kid?

 

The 80s rocked it for toys and cartoons. No decade better! And don’t worry about feeling out of place, plenty of people on here in their 30s-40s. I just turned 42 last week. Hope you enjoy yourself and welcome to the forum!

 

I was introduced to Transformers via Transformers Animated, and my first Transformer was a Voyager Class Optimus Prime from that toyline. The memories are nice and I still have the toy to this very day, although it is unfortunately missing the water hose gun.

 

I was probably in 3rd grade about to enter 4th. I distinctly remember seeing this commercial (at the 1:30 mark) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26r6RrCkXGE first, and that was all I needed. I have two older brothers so my appreciation of Japanese-style robots started with the Shogun Warrior Jumbo Machinder toys in the late 70's. I knew I needed these toys, specifically Prowl, who has the best silhouette. I expected a cartoon, since Hasbro was responsible for GI Joe, which I was also into.

But my first exposure to the lore wasn't the cartoon, but the first issue of the Marvel comics series. I loved the two-page spread that explained who each Autobot car was. My brother and I would go on to collect that series well into the 50's.

By then, I already had purchased Jazz by default, because I couldn't find Prowl at a local Bradlees in Manchester, CT. I would have gotten Bluestreak, but my brother claimed him first, and his toy looked nothing like the box art! Before I got anymore Autobot deluxe cars, my Jazz broken in the midsection. I eventually got several more Transformers during the following Christmas(es) or through chore money, including Prime, Megatron, Most of the mini-cars, Sideswipe, Prowl (finally!), Rachet, Mirage, Shockwave, Soundwave, Jetfire, Omega , yadda yadda yadda...

I watched the TV show religously. I dragged my brothers to see Transformers the Movie at a discount UA theater. My only birthday party I ever had was Transformers themed. I stayed with G1 up until they introduced the Pretenders, and I finally broke off to other fandoms. But in the 90's I came back, and I have been collecting ever since.

 

I remember the Dinobots...more than anything.

Cooler than Jurassic Park, right?

 

I was 11 @ the time(1984). I had seen the mini series and loved the cartoon. In 6th grade
I had heart problems and ended up having surgery. My class bought me Soundwave and Buzzsaw to cheer me up, and while recovering, my mom bought me Bluestreak.
Now, I collect Soundwave( and Soundblaster) and Bluestreak figures. They mean alot.

 

I literally grew up with Transformers. I was 4 years old when season 1 hit the airwaves. I have memories of coming home every day to watch it after school.

I would always save up my allowance and buy a Transformer. $10 for the big ones in a box and $5 for the smaller ones on a blister pack card.

I never got an original Optimus Prime, he sold out fast! but I got an extra Ultra Magnus and very crappily painted him red and blue with model paint. LOL. Then when Power Masters Optimus Prime came out, you bet I had that one! And I played with it all the time!

I've seen nearly every iteration of the Transformers through the years. Through comics, movies, new TV series, and toys. Transformers has been a constant.

If you ask my mom today what my favorite toy was, she'd tell you Transformers (or TMNT)

If you asked her what was the one toy I never found, and they regret not finding for me, she'd say Optimus Prime. Guaranteed.

 

Time certainly flies by.

And welcome to the forums!

 

Last year I watch the 5 mainline cartoon transformers series for the 35th anniversary.
Primax (g1, Beast era, Car Robots, and Prime Wars Trilogy)
Aurex (The Unicron Trilogy)
Malgus (Animated)
Uniend (aligned)
and Cyberverse
I doing that again but time for the 35th anniversary of the Cartoons and released in Japan as well the 10th anniversary for the Aligned.