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After the news from the other day that season three of Transformers Animated will be released along with a box set of all three seasons, I revisited that show and toyline. Looking through Seibertron's wonderfully extensive photo guide I grew really nostalgic for the standards of that toyline.

I've been a collector and fan of Transformers since they first appeared. I have followed them in many of their incarnations and have collected them over the years. I never really got serious until the 20th anniversary. After I got MP-01 I started to really pay attention to what was being done to my beloved franchise. I collected Alternators during this time and stayed away from Armada. It wasn't until 2006 when Classics hit that I really wanted to get everything a line had to offer. I was really excited for Transformers again and the movie seemed like a great shot to the arm. The brand was booming again and a new cartoon was in the works. Even at this time, I was only casually concerned about a new series. I didn't catch the premier. Instead I watched it in a rerun the next week. I knew they aesthetics were not to everyone's taste and I got that. Honestly, the cheap and fast look didn't really hook me either.

No, what did hook me was the earnest storytelling and the writers obvious love and respect for what came before. There is some silly stuff in the show, primarily the constructicons and Wreck-gar, both of which have some cringe-worthy moments. The Dinobots were handled very well as was re-imagining the entire story of the transformers. Gone was the stalemate war and in its place a bloated false peace. Gone was the experienced Optimus Prime, the first and best, and instead we have leader whose greatness is thrust upon him. Gone is the maniacal Megatron and in his place is a truly fearsome and calculating version. This new universe was very different, but that was a fresh jolt of story telling.

Not only did we see fresh versions of fan-favorites but we were introduced to Lockdown as voiced by Lance Henrikson, one of the coolest characters created for the show. Honestly, I was disappointed that Lance would not be voicing him in the movie.

While the show deserves praise, I think the toyline deserves it even more so. Hasbro had a tough job on it's hands to bring these exaggerated characters to life. They did and incredible job. Not only was the cartoon form kept, but the transformations were smooth.
Many TFA transformers are my default representation for the character. Generations may have seen a new version of Waspinator but for me, the definitive Waspinator came out in TFA.

The show and toyline have their faults but I can't help but wish I could walk down a toy isle and see Transformers Animated than much of what I see today.

I def agree. Animated is top notch in my book. I am slowly working on completing my animated collection. I love the sculpts although they have their flaws.

Story...........above average so its okay except for the bad guy humans..........barf

Toyline? Well, I hated it! But kudos to Hasbro/Tomy for even trying that stunt. The toys are near carbon copies of their animated renders so I give them a 5/5.........except for the d@mn chins!

I am a fan of TFA. I liked both the cartoon and the toys. They were colorful and some of them were actually quite ingenious when it came to transformation. Also, the only BotCon I have attended so far was in 2011, and other than some personal issues, it was a great time. I am probably in the minority when it comes to the TFA Stunticons being liked as a convention set, but I like them because they weren't just a bunch of characters thrown together like in all the other sets, but they were an actual team who were together before BotCon, even if they weren't in the cartoon. I liked the cartoon, all its little nuances and nods to G1 and other parts of the TF Universe. TFA is probably my 3rd favorite continuity behind the Marvel G1 comics (sans ReGen) and Beast Wars story-wise, and my 3rd favorite behind Generations and Armada toy-wise. Overall, TFA is a definite positive in the history of Transformers.

weren't they supposed to make a comic continuation? Thats the last thing I heard before animated fell silent.

I didn't like the show, but the toys were cool, particularly the later-wave figures and the Leader-class figures.

Animated was fun, I agree. I still have regret of not getting many of the toys.

Well, except the Voyager Megatron. I absolutely hate him.

Animated is right up there with Beast Wars in terms of my favorite Transformers shows, and Beast Wars is what brought me into Transfrmers. It was taken from us too soon (and not having another cartoon toyline between the second and third movies didn't help), and I regret not getting in of the Allspark Almanac and the Fan Club exclusive stuff when I had the chance. I managed to pick up Animated Cheetor and the BotCon 2011 comic during the fan club clearance last week, Cheetor is a beautiful figure and I'm looking forward to reading the comic as soon as I have some time to spare.

Time to take a walk down memory lane, and wait for my pre-order of the DVD box set to ship next month.