First off please answer this question honestly

This is something I've wondered about from time to time

Am I honestly the only mid 20's(I'm 27)TF fan who simply watched the cartoon back then just because it was the popular thing for boys my age?Because from some posts I read on here and other TF boards,that's what it sounds like.And I'm not afraid to admit that to be honest

*TF show premiered in '84,I was born in '78 therefore I was 6 or 7*

Because I'm not afraid to admit it,I mean I was 6 yrs old.8 when the TF cartoon died off.I remember TFs being the popular thing at the time(something everyone brought to show and tell).The one exception is that I stuck with the Marvel comic to the end.Don't know why to be honest,I guess I just liked Furman's writing

In fact I think I'm a better fan now at 27 then I was at 6,7 & 8 yrs old.Back then it was just one of the DOZENS of toons I watched.But now I can honestly say I like it.

What brought on this line of thinking was the numerous times I've seen posts of people saying "I cried when Optimus Prime died" To be honest although I seriously can't remember,I'm pretty I would've cried more at Bambi's mom being shot then at Prime's death.

I got bored of TFs & forgot about them till YTV premiered "Beasties" in '96.It's only because of Rhino that I even remembered the old show at all

 

Dude, I'm 35 and I watched the toon when I was in high school. Why? I just liked it.

Well... I liked the toys. To tell the truth, be it the cartoon or the comic, I just liked seeing some character given to what I thought and still believe are some of the best toys ever made.

 

I don't think there's a comparative "better" or "worse" fan when it comes to any television show. The simplest breakdown of a fan is this: A member of the target market who has taken interest in and appreciates a certain television show. If you appreciated giant Autobots and Decepticons beating the crap out of each other along with your GI Joes beating the crap out of each other (and He-man, Lion-o, etc. doing the same) then you were a good fan - you received the media and you enjoyed it.

Hell, I really don't feel like I'm a better or worse or more powerful or more know-it-all fan because I like the series now. I'm 24 and I just like Transformers. They're cool. To be bluntly honest, Hasbro reached a target market in my case and did exactly what they intended to do - hooked an age group on a product. I'm hooked! No denying that. And I love it.

 

Forgot to add this to my initial post HP

I realized that you and Dragonclaw are an exception to what I just said.Honestly I never knew any teens who were into TFs(Be it the comic,toon or toys) In my teen years the big draw was Sailor Moon and DBZ.Although like I admitted I stuck with the comics to the end.Meaning I collected the G2 comic series.

IMO that makes you & Dragonclaw TRULY hardcore,the both of you can easily say you ACTUALLY liked TFs/Robot toys.As you were nearly an adult when the show and comics appeared.When TFs premiered I was a fickle 7 yr old kid.And you know how 7 yr olds like to follow the crowd.Adults don't tend to follow the crowd as much as young kids do IMPO

I guess I'm just being me,sometimes I over think things.But I thought it could make for an interesting discussion

 

I'm 23, so I watched the cartoon because it's what all the boy my age did but I stuck with it through every variation(Beast Wars, Machines, Rid*shudders*, etc). After the show had stopped airring and I hadn't seen it in about 10 years, I saw some VHSs in a video store(about 6 years ago) and I bought all I could, I spent over $130 on VHS and I loved it as much as I did as a kid and I hadn't seen it in years. Whenever I had parties at my house in high school I'd play my TF VHSs(and my Army of Darkness) much to the delight of my follow mid to late teens.

I guess I didn't really answer the question just felt like sharing.

 

I watched it because i liked it when i was younger. Never forgot about them but never bought them when i was in high school because i didn't have the money. Still talked to some people about them. Got back into them when i started earning money. Does that break mean i'm not a "hardcore" or "real" fan?

 

I was 4 when the cartoon started, and can't remember ever seeing it on TV. But I do remember renting episodes of Heavy Metal War and MTMTE from Errol's (Erol's?). I loved it then, and got pumped when it was rereleased as G2. And I read the comics when they were at the PX. But I don't think I was any bigger a fan of TF than the average kid who gets them today is...it was just the cool show/toy series out then, along with GI Joe and He-Man.
BW definitely brought me back into the fold, and set me off hunting for my old G1 toys and anyone else's I could get my hand on. If it hadn't been for BW, I don't know if I'd be the broke completist fan I am today.

 

I was a huge Transformers fan (cartoon and toys) before I started Kindergarten, and my brother was still in diapers at the time, so my enjoyment of Transformers definitely wasn't because it's what all the other kids were doing. Hell, I knew very few other kids before Kindergarten (country boy, not a lot of neighbor kids to play with), and those that I did know weren't in to Transformers. Of course, that's not to say that Hasbro's marketing didn't play a big roll in it  

I'll tell you, the big fold out checklist that Hasbro included with G1 Transformers that showed all the toys (namely all the ones I didn't have) was the most ingenious marketing gimic ever. They did the same for GI Joes, too. Nothing will keep a kid glued to a toyline more than showing him all the toys he has yet to get, and continuously introducing new characters in an ongoing cartoon.

 

Oh my God, I use to carry that thing around like it was fine gold. The numerous hours I spent drooling at all the cars I wished I had, and all the Decepticons.

I'm the exact same age as Shaun, but I have absolutely no memory of what got me into the Transformers. It was more than just some cartoon to me tho. When we got a VCR, I was always renting tapes. When I learned how to record it, I programmed it for the daily episodes. I remember Little Rascals was on before it  

 

I like Transformers because its "my thing" I was never forced in to being a fan, I just got in to it myself. It is only recently that I have made friends with other collecters.

 

I absolutely loved watching the show as a kid. I was 7 when it started, and I remember quite well coming home and watching it along with GI Joe, Masters of the Universe, Voltron, Tom and Jerry, and Bugs Bunny   damn those were good times! I didn't have too many comic books, but I damn sure remember the two where Shockwave and Megatron went head-to-head!! That mini-story absolutely sold me on getting the Shockwave toy, and forever influenced my view of him in all his tiny appearances in the show.

Andy

 

i don't really remember how it started, i was born in '82 but i know i loved it from the moment i first saw it, as a kid (and adult!) i always loved robots and showing a young boy a robot that turns into a vehicle just blew my mind. about 18 months ago i bought 20th prime and started collecting again. when i was a kid i used to stare at the catalogues for ages studying each pic of each character and wishing i had the toy. and now i'm living the dream man!

 

I happened to see MTMTE on tv when it premiered and from that point on I was hooked. My older brother and I both bought the toys so that got me even more into them because like any little kid, I wanted to be like big bro. I watched the show until the very end of rebirth and read the comics into the end of G1 and picked up G2 as a result of reading the set up in GI JOE, which I still read after G1 ended.

 

Im 27, so I was in the TF mix from age 6 to 16, Thats G1 to the end of G2. I stopped collecting durning the BW era, but I watched semi- loyaly. I became a FT collector again when RiD/CR came out, and when I also discovered BW JApan. But originally my mom was against the military when I was a kid so I couldnt watch GI Joe. TFs were better anyway.

 

I'm 20, I caught Transformers in reruns and loved it. But it was dead to pretty much all my freinds in school. So I didn't have anyone to talk about it with. While all the other kids were saving money for TMNT or Nintendos or whatever. I was saving my money to go to flee markets and try and find G1 figures.

 

I'll be 32 in a bit more than a week.

When TFs came out in 84-85, I was absolutely Hooked (pardon the pun). There simply was nothing that could surpass TFs, toys or show-wise. Like most kids of my generation, I was took by storm. In fact, when I became a teen and got rid of my toys, I couldn't get rid of my TFs. I kept them all. Heck, I continued buying TFs at the age of 14-15!

 

I'm 27 as well, and I watched Transformers because I liked it and because it was one of the multitude of boys' cartoons airing at the time. And then I grew out of Transformers sometime after the Micromasters came out. I didn't get back into TFs until the very ass-end of the RiD, and only then it was just for the toys.

 

i think the whole concept of robots that turn into vehicles is one that appeals to all different age groups. there are so many ways to do it, as shown with all the different generations and tv series, so no wonder those of us who grew up with them stayed hooked in one way or another.

 

27 as well, I know I watched it as a kid but I forget if I saw the first start or caught another ep and then was watching it. I got into too many series when I was a kid but Transformers & GI Joe were my toppers , reason I am keeping only those two lines when I finally get around to selling my old toys. Only a couple of years ago did I get into the comic. I did have one as a kid but I can't find it now, Optimus Prime Autobot Killer I think was the issue. Think it spooked me when I was a kid so I probably tossed it. Though now I have collected a few of the old books have a copy of #1 & 2 for my oldest books next to #5.

I died out of it when Action Masters came around, I just did not like that concept, came back thanks to Beast Wars. I saw the toys first before the show started though and I snagged a Cheetor during that time frame, I didn't start buying toys untill the Transmetal 2's were out.

 

I was 9 or so when G1 hit I remember my best friend had cable, (I Didn't) and I would go to his house to play. if TF was on, I did nothing but watch the show, he on the other hand, was one of those who just watched because it was what was in, but I was hucked bad.
I got out in my teens, not to mention I didn't care for Pretenders, and Micromasters at the time BW I found the toys before I seen the show, it was like 1 or 2 years before I seen the show on Fox Kids, but they where in the back of my mind when G2 came out, I never bought any but I looked everytime I could.

Now I'm 31 and so deep into them, I don't think I will ever get out of collecting, and my friend looks at me like I'm crazy,( I think its his wife that put that in his head)