The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[mikeszekely]

6 hours ago, rsvictor1976 said:

I don’t get the appeal of these neon colored transformers.

Sludge isn't my favorite... but he's not my favorite in G1 colors, either.

I unironically love blue-and-green Swoop. My second-favorite deco after yellow Grimlock.

[Chronocidal]

19 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I kinda dropped out of TF collecting during the G2 era, and while I was back in the US for the latter part of G2, I didn't really become interested again until some of the small ball-jointed jets started appearing (the Cyberjets). I bought the orange-tiger-striped F-14ish  one, but I've always wished I could have gotten the black F-117. Anyway, Beast Wars was what pulled me back into TF collecting- just a different direction, something new, and the level of articulation astounded me (bots with hip and knee joints!!!!). I laugh now in hindsight, as they were still pretty limited, but frame of reference is everything.  While my druthers would be for vehicle/inanimate object alt modes, or robotic animals like the Dinobots, the show sucked me in and I became a fan. All this is to say that G2 doesn't really register on my radar as my interest had waned and, yeah, so far as I can remember, the toys at the time didn't appeal to me all that much. I honestly have very little recollection of the early 90s so far as Transformers goes. Those little jets are the things that stick out to me more than anything. Imagine that.😉

I'm still a young'un with TF stuff, since I missed out on G1 entirely, and until G2 all I had was the deluxe Spay-C Gobot shuttle, and a Robotech-branded Bandai Joke Machine VF-1.

I fell down the rabbit hole when I saw the fancy G2 commercials though, and asked for a G2 Starscream for Christmas of 93.  He wasn't available, so I got a Ramjet instead.. which confused me for years, since he was essentially colored like Skywarp.  G2 is also why I thought Megaton was always a tank.  

My younger brother got pretty into Beast Wars, so he had a bunch of them, but I think the next actual TF I picked up was the Walmart MP Skywarp.

[M'Kyuun]

24 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

I'm still a young'un with TF stuff, since I missed out on G1 entirely, and until G2 all I had was the deluxe Spay-C Gobot shuttle, and a Robotech-branded Bandai Joke Machine VF-1.

I fell down the rabbit hole when I saw the fancy G2 commercials though, and asked for a G2 Starscream for Christmas of 93.  He wasn't available, so I got a Ramjet instead.. which confused me for years, since he was essentially colored like Skywarp.  G2 is also why I thought Megaton was always a tank.  

My younger brother got pretty into Beast Wars, so he had a bunch of them, but I think the next actual TF I picked up was the Walmart MP Skywarp.

The very interesting thing about a 40+ year old franchise is the varied points of entry into fandom and collecting. I consider myself fortunate to have been there at the beginning- just the amazement of experiencing this whole concept of realistic vehicles and things turning into nifty looking robots, as well as the story being told through the animation, not to mention through the bios included with the package art. It was such a well-done roll-out for the toys, as all that info made them feel like characters and I think that was the real brilliance to Transformers in those early years and why it maintained longevity. Prowl was my entry toy, and he's still one of my absolute favorite TF designs. I'm ever grateful to Hasui-san for the gorgeous MP figure, a dream come true for me.

I also consider myself fortunate to have experienced Saturday cartoons. There was just something cool about it, as there was so much choice, even with the limited channels back then. I was always checking out the TV Guide to determine what shows I could watch (pre-VCR days), as I had to channel hop back and forth between the three or four networks we had to catch my shows. It was a different time, but I look back upon it fondly.

I still remember a lot of the G1 commercials, and a lot of them have been preserved via YouTube and such, but I was out of the loop, I guess, when it came to G2, as I have no recollections of the commercials from that time. Likewise, I only vaguely remember the toys. I still had my G1 stuff, but as I've mentioned over the years, my interest in G1 pretty much started and ended with first season, as I felt that the show became much sillier in S2, losing the more focused and mature storyline of the first. I had pretty much lost all interest in the show come seasons three and four, and to this day, I've not watched either in their entirety, nor do I wish to. First season is where I live and breathe when it comes to G1 Transformers, with a little S2 bleed over when it comes to the toys. After that, Beast Wars, Animated, and Prime remain my favorite entries in the franchise, both shows and toys. Transformers: Robots in Disguise, which directly followed Prime, was also pretty good, so I guess I can include that, too. Bad voice acting choices made the WFC series unenjoyable for me, and while I tried to get into Earthspark, it just didn't grab me like previous series. I need to sit down and start it from the beginning and watch it straight through, I think. I'm still pretty peeved that deluxe Earthspark Soundwave, arguably one of the best toys in that line, never released in my area, and he goes for way too much on eBay and the like. Grrr

[sh9000]

The only G2 toys I had were G2 Optimus, Sideswipe, and a Cyberjet.  I used to see the G2 Dinobots in stores but skipped them.  Wasn't really a fan of their clear packaging.

[mikeszekely]

G2 Swoop & Sludge as well as Timelines samurai Optimus & Starscream are available to preorder on Pulse.

[Hikuro]

I still have G2 Optimus Prime, Megatron and Sideswipe. I used to have Starscream, Constructicons, some laserods and color changers when I was a kid.....most of the TF figures I had back in the day were G2. And the majority of them were bought at KB Toys except Megatron....I think I got him at a Bi-rite or a Big Lots.....it was somewhere rather random and just saw him at the top of a shelf with a few other toys and my mother bought it. Prime and Starscream I remember my dad buying me Optimus and Starscream at KB Toys. INFACT the day I got those figures was the same day Star Trek DS9 had first aired. 

[M'Kyuun]

21 minutes ago, Hikuro said:

I still have G2 Optimus Prime, Megatron and Sideswipe. I used to have Starscream, Constructicons, some laserods and color changers when I was a kid.....most of the TF figures I had back in the day were G2. And the majority of them were bought at KB Toys except Megatron....I think I got him at a Bi-rite or a Big Lots.....it was somewhere rather random and just saw him at the top of a shelf with a few other toys and my mother bought it. Prime and Starscream I remember my dad buying me Optimus and Starscream at KB Toys. INFACT the day I got those figures was the same day Star Trek DS9 had first aired. 

That's impressive recollection. I struggle to remember what I bought let alone where I bought it a week ago. My memory was always terrible, but when you accumulate as much crap as I have, it kinda gets lost in the fog of time.

Regarding G2, I can't say I feel a sense of FOMO. I far, far prefer the color schemes of the G1 toys- I never was a fan of gaudy color schemes- pastels and such. Yuck!😄

6 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

G2 Swoop & Sludge as well as Timelines samurai Optimus & Starscream are available to preorder on Pulse.

 I applaud Takara, and Hasbro by extension, for doing something different. That said, I'm just not moved by the Timelines stuff. However, I wouldn't mind a Grimlock that turns into a Mark V tank (actually, I'd rather it was its own character without having to conform to Grimlock in any way shape or form, but it's already a thing). That said, I'm sure these will find an audience, especially among Japanese collectors whose history they embody. For those fans who complain that all Hasbro does is rehash G1, this is something new and different and definitely not G1, and that's a good thing, IMHO, even if it doesn't strike a personal chord.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

That's impressive recollection. I struggle to remember what I bought let alone where I bought it a week ago. My memory was always terrible, but when you accumulate as much crap as I have, it kinda gets lost in the fog of time.

Regarding G2, I can't say I feel a sense of FOMO. I far, far prefer the color schemes of the G1 toys- I never was a fan of gaudy color schemes- pastels and such. Yuck!😄

 I applaud Takara, and Hasbro by extension, for doing something different. That said, I'm just not moved by the Timelines stuff. However, I wouldn't mind a Grimlock that turns into a Mark V tank (actually, I'd rather it was its own character without having to conform to Grimlock in any way shape or form, but it's already a thing). That said, I'm sure these will find an audience, especially among Japanese collectors whose history they embody. For those fans who complain that all Hasbro does is rehash G1, this is something new and different and definitely not G1, and that's a good thing, IMHO, even if it doesn't strike a personal chord.

I'd love to see Hasbro explore lots of designs for lots of characters, but they seem fixated on Timelines doing endless versions of Optimus vs Starscream and Bumblebee vs. Megatron.  And sadly, at a sort of "Deluxe+" price.  I'd personally love a version of the IDW stealth bomber Megatron that scales with the SS86 toy.

[sh9000]

The only Generations G2 releases I want are G2 Wildrider and Motormaster.