Redecos and characters we've had umpteen times before, sixteen more Optimus primes and another fundraiser from a massive corporation.
I spent some time today at the Transformers Expo in Tokyo. What a wonderful celebration of Transformers, in Japan and abroad this is. couple of notes At just north of 40, I was probably the youngest dude there there were a few small groups of younger women (maybe mid 20s through early 30s) A few foreign families with kids who seemed to be having a great time on the 40th anniversary of the franchise, it’s amazing to see how much it means to so many people of all shapes, sizes, colors, ages, genders, etc. happy transformers day, everyone!
wow, 40 years? this has been a longtime love-affair with THE BRAND since it began way back I think I was first aware of the Transformers when that animated ad for the Marvel Comic #1 hit the air...it was exciting, dramatic animation and a catchy theme song that naturally hooked me and everyone else...primed by the earlier GIJOE comic book ad, I think we all knew this was going to be another special thing... My first recollection of seeing any of the toys was on a vacation trip rest stop and a toy store had some of the Autobot cars...they looked pretty cool, and I think the comic may have been out before the first episode aired... At least in my area, because the local station had a bit of a different strategy broadcasting the show. Rather than air the season one episodes on a weekly basis, it instead opted to air them in a special Monday-Friday afternoon block over a couple of weeks. That was a bit problematic as I couldn't be home in time to watch some of the episodes, so I had my younger brother tape record the episodes on Tuesday and Thursday. Yes. AUDIO tape record. This was before we had a VCR (that's Video Cassette Recorder to you young'uns) so while I couldn't see some of the episodes, I could rely on the audio, like a radio play and a description from my brother about what happened. We later figured out a UHF station we could receive in grainy-static-y images but perfect audio aired the show weekly and could get a sneak peek ahead of my friends as to stuff like the Insecticons coming. Later that year we did get a VHS recorder and I made it my mission to video-record every episode when they came back on air, as well as every animated toy commercial because they were catchy bits of animation that did they job well in mesmerizing its target audience into wanting those robots in disguise... those commercials were like a lightning strike when they came on because we never knew when something new would pop up (I did figure out new TF toy commercials would air during GI JOE and vice versa but kept a finger primed on pause-record whenever commercial breaks happened during any other shows)...FOMO at its earliest... I remember the strategy that went into purchasing the toys...first ones were one of the twopacks of cassettes, because Soundwave was so cool, and he was quickly one of the next buys...choosing a seeker came down to the color scheme of Skywarp vs Thundercracker, and, as in a lot of cases, the tech specs was the determining factor...Wheeljack and Trailbreaker were my deluxe cars...the minicars were cheap enough to get them all eventually... I even picked up a diaclone Swoop at a shop that had imports of the pre-TF versions and customized it with a spare Autobot sticker to make the look the official version was lacking... I would usually go over the catalog to try and figure out how complex the transformations were, how many accessories were included, visual aesthetics in deciding what toy to get, but the tech specs bios were a real thing that gave personality quirks (such as Thundercracker not being 100% sure of the Decepticon cause, or someone thinking stoplights were sentient, or a good quote) and tipped the balance often as to someone I would want to get... when the scramble city toys came out I would end up getting all the limbs for the most part, most of the bodies (my Hotspot was one of the first mis-assembled TF toys I got...had to do some surgery on his leg to allow for proper movement...my first 'custom' job)... While the G1 toon was by far the primary influencer of the time, I did come to appreciate the Marvel comics book stories. They tended to be a bit behind the times as far as reflecting current releases in the line, but as time went on and the toon shifted focus post-movie, the comics stories became a lot more enjoyable because of their unique storytelling. the movie was impressive on the big screen...even better animation, some shocking deaths and a profanity that was just as surprising! All good things come to an end however, and it wasn't long before Action Masters were on clearance at stores like KB or Toy Liquidators...I remember picking up some headmasters at a small local toy shop that still had stock a couple years past that point... and things were quiet, until G2 announced itself in cgi animated movie trailer and television commercials...Comics were back too! But only briefly, it was a flash in the pan...KB had some Machine Wars toys but it was not until Beast Wars that the brand truly was resurrected, and I discovered the greater fandom that was on the nascent internet...BW was familiar from its premise right from the get-go, maybe too overtly with parallels to the Ark's landing...but the show proved to have its own path, and I grew quite attached to it... webpages and message boards dedicated to the latest episodes and the older series as well...robust discussions and a mostly friendly community developed and the fans were really the drivers (even influencing some of the show writing)...perhaps the most shocking thing to happen on the show was a full tie-in to G1 continuity with the Ark's discovery, and that brought G1 back from the dusty dim memories of just a decade before... and then, based on the guest list that was published, I knew I had to attend my first BotCon in 1997...that was an eye-opener to how fandom was far bigger than I realized...It was a small convention, compared to the latter 2000s cons, but Peter Cullen, Garry Chalk and David Kaye (Frank Welker was announced but cancelled) all at the same con? That was pretty cool (and I actually shared a cab with Bob Forward, one of the writers, on the way to the con from the airport)...I found out a lot more on the Japanese toys and TF shows that had continued on, as well as the UK toys and comics that had their own history...things I had only fleetingly seen pics of in early toy collector magazines... It was kind of neat to have a little secret community, but it was also great to see it grow...the cons got more attendance and the new shows post Beast Wars had their plusses and minuses, but it was undeniable the brand was getting bigger, the fans more passionate... And then the first live-action movie hit, and things really exploded after that...the brand had a huge exponential leap in quantity and variety of merchandise...awareness of the brand doubled, tripled maybe among the general public and brought back some who had long forgotten about it...I remember the trek to Rhode Island's BotCon and being lucky to get onto the tour of Hasbro HQ...they really pulled out all the stops on that and the brand continues to evolve to this day, now with ONE in theatres, and hopefully reaching a new younger audience that will keep the interest growing as the old guard starts to step down... It's been an amazing journey, over 40 years now...I didn't think that these robots in disguise would become such a long-lasting franchise after they quietly disappeared in the early 1990s ,but they have proven to be more than meets the eye, coming back bigger, evolving into an evergreen brand enjoyed by a couple generations now...flourishing and showing no sign of stopping... I can't wait to see how it continues to transform in the future...
Idk, play with my transformers toys and eat transformers one theme Lunchables while watching every transformers show at once with no break in-between shows.
Because this was the day that the first episode of G1 (more then meet the eyes part 1) would Air on TV in 1984
So... Transformers Day was spectacularly unimportant. I was really sad. Then it was over, so now I'm happy.
Got to say Hasbro, this was a serious let down and you could have easily saved it with a G2 Magnus, just saying…… Seriously though, I didn’t realize shit had even been announced till people said the listing where taken down lol
