Review of Transformers: Matrix of Leadership Edition DVD setI originally set my San Diego Comic-Con 2009 budget to $300 on merchandise. Last year’s budget was around the same price so I figured it was a good number. However, on the first hour on the floor I destroyed that budget. I saw the Transformers and GI Joe boxsets for $150 and $155 respectively. A number of thoughts went through my mind as I stared at these beautiful looking DVDs.
“I can save money on shipping now and pick these up.”
“I already have the Rhino sets. Hell, I just paid $140 to get Season 2 Part 2 and Season 3 Part 2/Season 4. Do I really want to double dip?”
“Where the hell am I going to put these?”
“OCD collector Supreme Convoy needs these.”
“Shiny!”
The Shout employee wanders over to me and says they include a GI Joe poster and Megatron poster signed by Frank Welker with purchase at San Diego. Needless to say, I gave him my credit card immediately.
Of course, I had to increase the budget during Comic-Con as the weekend went on.
On to the set…
Video & AudioThe video quality is practically identical to the Rhino release. I couldn’t spot any differences between the two. However, Shout didn’t include the extra sound effects that Rhino made for the previous release. While this didn’t necessarily bother me, Shout does a great job on presenting what the cartoon would’ve been like during the 80’s without any artificial alterations.
The greatest improvement that Shout made is the simple menu screens. Rhino had a complicated menu screen when you wanted to pick individual episodes where you slowly had to move the cursor to start the episode. With the Shout release, all you have to do is go down a list and pick an episode.
PackagingI absolute love how the box pulls open like the actual Matrix of Leadership. The set includes a souvenir book and magnets with the Autobot and Decepticon logos. The souvenir book is a bit misleading. It’s mostly an episode listing for the entire series; it also includes bios for characters like Optimus Prime and Megatron. These bonus items aren’t exactly a draw for me.
Though for $5 more, the GI Joe complete boxset is made of metal and plastic and includes a dogtag flashdrive with two comics on it (the comics are very brief but the flashdrive itself is pretty neat!). That set is classier looking and feels more durable. I’m concerned about damaging the cardboard Matrix box. Though there is a charm to opening the Matrix box like Rodimus Prime!
Bonus FeaturesFor me the highlight of Shout’s release are the documentaries, each running about 30 minutes:
1. Triple Changer: From Toy to Comic to Screen – The Origins of The Transformers
2. The Combiner: Forming The Transformers Animated Series
3. The Headmasters: Voicing The Robots in Disguise
4. The Autobots, The Decepticons & The Fans
5. Into the Creation Matrix: A Conversation with Bob Budiansky
The documentaries are fascinating and go into details that I don’t believe have been covered before in either the Rhino DVD’s or even Michael Bay’s Transformers bonus features. We learn things such as a Hasbro executive’s son named the toyline Transformers and created the Autobot and Decepticon fraction names. The documentary even goes into how the Marvel Comics did the heavy lifting on the Transformers back story. Bob Budiansky even presents original documents and treatments he used to create profiles such as Starscream and Megatron.
While the Rhino sets has interviews from different actors and creators, they always felt like the filmmakers took out the interview tapes and edited down to 10 minutes. It’s serviceable but doesn’t go too in depth and frankly boring to watch. Shout Factory has created compelling documentaries that are entertaining yet informative.
The most bizarre thing is that commercials for the toyline blur out the child actors. I suppose Shout could not secure the likeness rights to those children. It’s a bit distracting while watching the commercials but I’m sure you can find those easily on YouTube. (Note: I also did not realize that the faces were blurred out on Sony’s release of Transformers: The Movie).
The voice actor roundtable doesn’t include Peter Cullen but it’s still pretty fun. It’s great when the actors go on a tangent and talk about other things such as old time radio shows and the process on voice acting.
The greatest bonus materials for me? The original scripts! The DVD includes PDFs of the Transformers series bible, scripts, and and dialogue scripts. For someone who wants to know the pre-production side of a cartoon, this is an incredible look!
Of course, I love the Transformers fans documentary… mostly because it features Seibertron.com and my screen name is featured for a few seconds!
Closing ThoughtsMy main focus while tearing through the boxset was to look at the brand new extras and check out the quality on the episodes. I didn’t really feel the need to review the series as a whole because most of us have seen them all. Though in my case, I still haven’t seen a handful of them so it’s a treat to watch them and feel like a kid again.
Once I’m completely through watching the series, I will be jealous of the people that have never seen the original Transformers cartoon and will watch it for the first time through this set.
Since the video and audio qualities are almost identical to the Rhino release, this would be a cautious purchase for those that already own them. I went in wanting the extras and actual Matrix box. For those who never owned the Rhino DVDs and want a better deal, I believe the individual season sets might be cheaper to purchase as opposed to the Matrix boxset. Even though I love the GI Joe box better, this packaging is still excellent and will look spectacular on a collector’s shelf amongst toys. I highly recommend the Shout's Transformers sets and the Matrix set for the hardcore fans.
DO WANT!!!!!!!!! 
