Given that the Hub has been airing reruns of G1 are they ever going to dub the Japanese portion of G1? It just kinda sucks the way it ended and I'm sure kids watching G1 for the first time will be confused about how there are no other episodes because it was canceled some time back in the late 80's/early 90's. I would imagine kids asking "How can it be canceled I'm watching it right now!"

Plus I'd just really like more new Transformers... well it technically is like 20 years old now but sense the shows never aired in the U.S. it's new to me.

They should get all the original voice actors that they can. Recast anyone who can't be in the show for obvious reasons. (Like the fact that Jazz's original voice actor is dead.)

Starting with Headmasters, start dubbing all the Japanese cartoons.

Super-God Masterforce I'd really like to see done especially sense Ginrai had an American toy already as Powermaster Optimus Prime. They should probably just call the American version Masterforce.

Transformers Victory really needs to be released on the Hub because that series has some really good Transformers designs.

Then there's Zone which apparently only has one episode... I guess even in Japan it got canceled, just took longer for them. Maybe make Zone part of Victory and then maybe write a movie to wrap things up because I hate leaving the series unfinished.

Then there's Beast Wars II which could have a whole new cast except they need to bring back Gary Chalk for Optimus Primal in the movie. I think it should have a different title though. Something better than just the Roman numeral for the number two. I guess sense Beast Wars Neo follows the same story line they could use that title and combine them into one series. They already did that for Beast Wars Metals which in the U.S. is the 2nd and 3rd season of Beast Wars.

I will probably never see any of these shows unless Hasbro starts dubbing them for the Hub. I could watch them in Japanese but I won't be able to understand what the hell is going on. I don't speak Japanese. Besides I'm kinda curious how Hasbro would rename the Japanese characters. I'm just imagining that every Autobot leader, even the ones that aren't meant to be the same character would end up being named Optimus Prime, or at least the ones that look like him. And every Decepticon leader would end up being Megatron or Galvatron. Which is kinda confusing for Beast Wars because there would then be 3 Optimus and 3 Megatrons existing in the same universe. Yeah I know one is Galvatron but I was referring to his Brother Megastorm who is actually a G2 Megatron. I don't really care, I just want them to be dubbed, officially, the fan dubs kinda suck.

 

That is one of those pipe dreams you hope for, hehe.

 

Just air the StarTV dubs. I am entirely serious.

 

What is the purpose of the Hub? To sell toys, specifically those that Hasbro currently has on the shelves. They'll make room for one or two classic shows (although G1 was aired at weird times as far as I know) but going to the expense of dubbing shows that have no direct product on the shelf? Forget it.

 

They could make classics versions of the characters. I've seen pictures of some of the G1 era toys and they appear to have been basically plastic bricks. They're nice looking bricks but it would be nice to have them remade up to today's standards.

Thrustor who was a retool of Dinobot anyway could be retooled again from the Classics Dinobot toy.

Anyway, if they release a few of a major characters in the Generations line then they have a product to sell.

 

Just watch the subbed dvds. They are perfectly fine.

The Takara shows are never at this point going to find a mainstream audience with kids. They are way too dated. Kids today don't want that stuff. I seriously doubt Headmasters would hold any 7 year-old's attention for more than five seconds today.

If they put them on Boomerang and aimed them at the nostalgia crowd of 30 year-olds, they might find a small audience. But nothing big enough to justify the expense of dubbing.

If it happened back in the 1980s when the toys were being sold, it would have made more sense. But that ship has sailed.

 

So let's start putting up fan casts for the English dubs.

David Kaye as God Ginrai/Victory Leo
Roger Craig Smith as Metalhawk
Jamieson Price as Giga
Barbara Goodson as Mega
Karen Strassman as Minerva
Maulik Pancholy as Cab
Cindy Robinson as Shuta Go!
Brianne Sidalle as Cancer
Crispin Freeman as Hydra
Steve Staley as Buster
Steve Blum as Blood
Paul St. Peter as Dauros
Dave Mallow as Devil Z
George Newbern as Star Saber
James Horan as Deathsaurus

 

Then comes the Heavy Edits.

 

subtitles or GTFO

 

Kids enjoy older entertainment all the time. It's usually adults who assume kids wouldn't be interested.

 

I'm happy with the subtitles.

 

Maybe your kids do. It hasn't been my experience, outside of maybe Looney Tunes.

 

I'd like dubbed versions of those series while Hasbro does updated homage molds of those characters in Generations. It worked well with RiD/Car Robots.

 

Plus kids are now being exposed to older entertainment anyway. G1 Is outdated but they're watching that now. The Japanese shows actually aren't really dated at all because the vehicle modes aren't based on vehicles from 1984. The first 3 seasons of G1 that feature Bumblebee as a '84 VW and Soundwave as a tape deck are the only ones that are really dated. Kids today don't even know what G1 Soundwave is. I seen someone leave a comment on a YouTube video that thought he was a VCR. I'm not kidding someone didn't know the difference between a cassette tape and a VHS tape. Gawd I feel old.   When these kids grow up I wander if technology will change so their kids don't know the difference between a music CD and a DVD movie.

They also have Sliders, Mork and Mindy, Batman the Animated Series, Adam West Batman, Lois and Clark, which are all old TV shows. The Adam West Batman and "Mork and Mindy" were old shows even when I was a kid but I still loved them. I also use to watch Bewitched, I dream of Genie, Wonder Woman live action series, The Hulk live action series. I believe Wonder Woman and the Hulk were made around the same time as Adam West Batman. All of these shows had stopped airing new episodes before I was even born.

I never really liked the original Star Trek though. I did watch Next Generation with my dad though. Compared to that the original series just looked so fake to me. Of course I started to like the original series when I got older and started to realize about the limitations of technology when the show was made but as a little kid I didn't like it. Pretty much around the time that TNG switched over to DS9 is when I started to like the original Star Trek. I still kinda prefer TNG and DS9 though. TNG just because that was the crew I grew up with and DS9 because they first appeared on TNG before they got their own spin off series and 2 of the Enterprise crew transferred over to DS9. Voyager and Enterprise I didn't get into that much.

Anyway, point being, the portion of G1 that they're already showing is way more dated than any of the Japanese stuff. Kids would probably be more interested in the Japanese series than they would with the American G1 series. I mean seriously, they think Soundwave is a VCR, how more dated can you get?

 

Make the Shout! DVDs a midnight showing like they're doing with G1 on the HUB. Those interested can just DVR it. Leave the subtitles be.

 

This. Many cartoons and TV shows I watched as a kid, were made before I was even born. I watched even Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy or Charly Chaplin, although I did not understand why they did not speak. I found it even entertaining before I could read and had no clue what was going on.

 

Nice idea, but I think the costs would outweigh the profits, even if Classics versions were available. The shows have not aged all that well - looking mostly at Headmasters, and also the Masterforce / Victory "slow-mo" fight sequences. They'd appeal to a niche but probably not to the wider audience.

 

I'm not going to say that kids these days aren't interested in cartoons of by gone. Animaniacs is one such cartoon that while not as old as say looney tunes still attracts the attention of younger audiences. What I will say though there is a greater chance that younger viewers will gain interest if they had someone else interested as well. Take for example an older sibling, parent or relative that used to watch it. This is pretty much how I got into watching the Three Stooges, Charlie Chaplin, Looney Tunes, and quite a few other older shows.

As for the Japanese exclusive shows I don't know. Quite frankly I think it would be too much work. For one thing you'd have to write up an entirely different script and then get a cast for all the characters. Of all the series the only one I'd say is possible is maybe Victory and that's only because of all the silly comedic bits.

 

Well, I was going to go on a lengthy tirade about the subject but seeing I've been beaten to the punch multitude of times, I'll just cut the chase; kids love watching cartoons. And they're not gonna care when it was made or how dated it is!

Victory would probably enjoy the benefit of rewritten dialogue; they might actually give the autobots personalities!

 

If that was true, every cartoon ever would be a success and never fail.

It's not that clear cut.