It's a Darn Good time to Love Transformers I'm relatively new to collecting TFs. I loved them as a kid in the 80's (and always hated never getting enough of the season 1 and 2 toys, but my parents did what they could), but I skipped pretty much everything since then. I watched Beast Wars a few times with no great interest. When things went back to real robots with RiD I tried out the show and picked up one of the car brothers (I don't even know which one). The show didn't really hit me and the robot looked a bit too stick-figure like for my tastes. I prefer beefier robots. So I was somewhat aware of, but not participating in, TFs since then. But when I passed through the store and saw 20th Optimus, I about fell down in awe. Of course I grabbed him immediately, as well as the two Alternators out at the time, Sideswipe and Smokescreen (OMG, there's more?!?) I got involved on the Internet side of things when I saw no new Alternators forthcoming, and I was hooked from there. I've followed the Alternators line, grabbed reissue Predaking, and a couple of others that I missed from when I was a kid (Blitzwing!). I see a lot of negativity on these boards, but also a lot of fans who love what I love, and I just thought I'd comment as something as an outsider... It's a darn good time to love TFs. Amazingly good. Unbelievably good. There's something for everyone, from Beast Wars and G1 reissues, to Armada-Cybertron for those who are into that, Alternators... and now Classics?!? Potentially a Masterpiece Starscream!?! A Movie!? Amazing. Perhaps it's just my own preferences (and optimism), but I suspect that Classics (if not the Movie line also) will do very well, not just among hardcore fans, but casual fans and the kids as well. Judging from the Astrotrain protos, they appear more slick and humanoid, and I think those toys are easier to identify with. Maybe we'll even get a better written cartoon as well out of the deal. Although, who knows with kids. Heh. Truly, my Kup runneth over. It's a good time to collect Transformers.
Why do people think that the Beast Wars TFs weren't "real robots"? They were supposed to be made of metal (just like most other TFs), not meat. What exactly disqualifies them as being "real robots"? The fact that, despite being completely mechanical, they resembled real animals in their alternate mode? Or is it simply a matter of not liking them?
Severus, I love the enthusiasm of your post! There's too much good stuff for collectors right now... I can't get everything I want (but maybe that's good for me ). Enjoy!
Nice thread, Severus; I think the fandom needs more like this one. And, glad to have you around during such a great time. Off topic, I prefer the TFs I grew up with. BW had a great TV series (better than G1 in a lot of ways, IMO), but I still prefer the G1 bots I knew as a kid. I think, maybe, we gravitate toward the TFs we were first exposed to. Case in point, my nephew loves Cyb. but thinks my G1 stuff looks "stupid and wimpy".
Hamburgers don't count But seriously to a lot of people from the G1 era they just are wrong. The G1 Beasts were cool because they were animal like mechs. Fur and the like just did not work for us.
The thing is, they're not made of meat at all. Sure they're smaller and not nearly as powerful as the G1 Transformers, but they're still mechanical, and still robots; the droids from the old Star Wars movies were small, and much wimpier than any Transformer, but I don't think most rational people would argue that they weren't robots simply because they weren't giant kill-bots. I fully understand that: I grew up with G1, and I initially hated the idea of Beast Wars. Obviously my views have changed since then. People are entitled to their prefences: i'm just arguing that whether people like them or not, they're still robots, and they're still Transformers (and most certainly not made of meat- I think people are confusing them with Animorphs or something).
I agree for the most part with the original post. It was the Alternators line that got me back collecting TFs again wholeheartedly, and I really like the Cybertron line too. I didn't have a whole lot of interest in RiD, Armada, and Energon because I didn't like the TV shows, and only limited interest in some of the toys. I loved Beast Wars, although I hated it at first. Took nearly three seasons before it finally grew on me. I quickly lost interest when Beast Machines spun off because I was travelling a lot at the time and kept missing episodes and couldn't figure out what was going on anymore. It was just too dark and not as much fun as BW was. But I completely agree that it's truly a great time to be a Transformers fan, especially with the movie coming up, and lots of cool new toys forthcoming. Getting Primus alone is going to wipe out my toy-buying budget for a while.
I can relate to that more than you know, I have come to love the BW Show, I just dislike most of the toys and the premise. I think it's a testament to the writers of the show that in my eyes it overcame it's limitations. then there was Beast Machines, that in my eyes had everything going for it premise and toy wise (Noting that I am a G1 fan and favor Machine Alt Modes) and the writing burried it. In all there have been only 3 Transformers shows I have truely liked, G1, BW and R.I.D. While Campy, I think R.I.D. came the closest to the fun and feel of G1, the Armada, Energon, Cybertron Trillogy feels like they are doing everything they can to pander to stereotypical beliefs of what Adults Think Kids Want, not what they really want.
I spoke perhaps a bit hastily. I understand intellectually that they're robots, but the big warm fuzzy feeling that lets me just stare at and enjoy giant robots just isn't there for me with Beast Wars. I can appreciate the show for what it is, and it always had good writing. I can appreciate the toys too though most of them seem to suffer from the same stick-figureitis that some of the very good RiD designs had, at least to my eyes. But they just don't hit me where I live the same way. Not that there's anything wrong with liking them best, or even the droids from Star Wars. I've got enough quirky hobbies that I learned long ago not to knock someone for genuinely enjoying something. Well, unless it's hitting me in the face or something. But Voltron's the same way. I loved it as a kid, and am still planning on getting the Masterpiece edition, but it just didn't grab me and yell BUY ME in my face like Predaking did. On another note, I think it's great what Hasbro has got going on right now. There are obviously some great people behind the scenes making this stuff happen, but there's a lot of stuff they don't have to do that they do for the fans. It's a tribute to Hasbro that they allow this stuff to happen. The fact that similar stuff appears to be happening in another one of their divisions, Wizards of the Coast, makes me hopeful that this trend may be part of a larger corporate culture of "do what you want, as long as it makes money" that Wizards seems to share will continue for a while to come. I mean, we've all seen other toy lines with lackluster, cruddy toys that were meant to just drag more money out of people while the property was hot. Heck, if the TV shows were better, or at least got better support from the network, the toys could probably be half as complex and still make buckets of money. Some of the Pokemon toys I saw were lumps of plastic with posable arms. Of course, who knows? People generally don't talk about the inner workings of their company. I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Oh, and thanks for the love, guys. Makes a guy feel welcome. Edit: apologies in advance for writing a novel if it bothers folks. I seem incapable of short replies.
Severus, that's very nearly my story. I loved TFs when I was a kid, kinda stopped following for a while, didn't get much interest in the Beast Wars stuff, but somewhat paid attention to what was going on, and one day while looking around at Wal-Mart, saw Alternators Smokescreen and thought it was just the most awesome thing ever. Actually, now that I think about it, this was when I was looking for 1:18 and 1:24 scale model cars to display in my room. Needless to say, Transformers quickly replaced those. I missed a couple of Alts when I was struggling with money and things, but now I'm back and have gotten most of them, whether through hunting all through my city, or using Ebay to get discontinued ones. I still need 20th Op, but if he's coming back out again, I'll get him then. Also, Masterpiece Starscream has my SERIOUS interest. I do like some of the Cybertron characters, and I just got my Universe Constructicons today; very interested in this new movie... I totally agree with you that now is a great time to be a Transformers fan. I think I might cry.
You can say that all you want, but from the very few episodes I exposed myself to, they certainly looked the part of real animals. And a real looking gorrilla suddenly spliting up into sections is just wrong on so many levels. Beast wars is a series I have zero interest in. So to me, seeing the BW 10th anniversary stuff draws out a large yawn. Transformers are not real animals. If they are going to be animals, then bring on the mechanical animal modes like the predacons. Anyways, it could also be that while beast wars was on, it was a time in my life that I had lost interest in transformers and was doing other things. I only got back into them last year when I bought a brand new DYRL macross vf-1a. That thing is the most awesome thing (robotech wise), that I had ever seen. I then got to thinking, "hang on, whatever happened to transformers"? So I then had a look around and thought the WST series was pretty cool, so I bought soundwave. And also right then was when cybertron was starting to get underway here, and also TRU had their huge specials on alternators, so I bought 3 $20 alternators and a vector prime and kept collecting, as well as buying some G1 stuff that I never had, and also buying some G2 stuff that I had no idea ever existed (I stopped collecting transformers originally near the end of G1, (about 1988)). And also we had the hasbro commemorative and the takara reissues, and man, I was in heaven. I bought a few that I never had, and also managed to pick up an optimus prime (commemorative), as I never had an optimus EVER before. And I managed to find a mint complete metroplex. This was a toy that I remember a mate of mine had 20 years ago, and now I finally got one. Also I picked up MP ultra magnus, which filled me with the same awe as the valkerie above. This thing is the best damn toy ever created. Anyways, now I'm dedicated to the cybertron line. If anything, I just want a complete series, and cybertron is it. So yea, have to agree with the first poster, it is a good time to be collecting. EDIT: I also think another factor, (probably the most major one), to it being a good time to collect is the total ease that we can aquire these toys from anywhere in the world with the current state of the internet, Ebay, paypal and other online stores. Without these, collecting right now would be nowhere near as good as it is.
Sounds like my story. I liked BW and RID, but the toys never caught my attention. I never grabbed Armada toys. I started with some Alts because I collected model cars at the time. I got into the main line with Energon Starscream. Then I saw Cybertron Optimus and was blown away. And now we get the TI and Neo-G1!! I truelly is a good day to be a Transfan. Not a good day for wallets though.
Yes it is truley a great time to so be a Transfan! Welcome aboard I think you will like it here. Sorry to hear about your Kup BTW
