The Energon Pub

hmmm, lots of contrasting opinions here. i guess this only signifies the phrase, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" to be truth, doesn't it?

but to be honest, I_AM... MEGATRON!'s got a point. i really liked G1 toys, having grown up on them (though i layed off when G2 came), but it doesn't make me less of a fan when i opine that compared to the toys today, the G1 toys (ok, SOME G1 toys - not all) were pretty ugly compared by today's standards. (i still find the dinobots "beautiful", and OP is, well, OP, if that keeps me from being mauled here.)

to me, "ugly" is defined as having inaccurate heads (aka seekers), non-proportional parts, and so on and so forth. mind you, the "ugly" comparison slate here is from toys to cartoon, so bite your words before flaming my opinion.

but what the heck? we used our imaginations back then right? back then we thought they were just perfect and dear. but frankly, now with the release of the classics line, let's face it; in terms of physical appearance, i guess G1 gets the leftovers. IMHO.

on topic: i used to think BW fuzors line was the bugliest, most craptacular TF line ever, until the release of IDW's BW: The Gathering. man, that comic series (and Don Fig's art) bought me back to my senses!

i_amtrunks wrote:If there was ever a toy made from the Megatron/Ratchet merger, that would win ugliest toy easily

eeeeeww, that comic book storyline gave the the creeps. butt-ugly, that would have been, hands down.

Damolisher wrote:Hang on, HotRod, Counterpunch was just replying, because this dude's been saying he hates G1 over and over again, and Counterpunch was disagreeing saying that there were more than just a few toys better than modren toys, and YouFearGalvatron was providing examples. And I agree, a majority of G1 surpass the toys of today. Ultra Magnus- Still fun. Sixshot, still one of the best multi-changers around today, Any city bot, etc.

And back to the original post, Recurring theme with me- Cindersaur. I HATE THAT TOY! (The Firecons are something I wish we could forget from G1.)

No, that is not what has happened. I read this thread twice and a third time just now very carefully. He said in his opinion that most of G1 were the ugliest toys by todays standards. He never said he hatted G1. In fact he has said he like some G1 toys. Counterpunch and YouFearGalvatron have told him his opinion is wrong. They can disagree with his opinion, but they should not ridicule him for it.

Cormaster628 wrote:Anyway on a more serious note How about G1 Galvatron. I never had him as a kid but in 2002 a friend who was working for goodwill picked him up for me. I let him keep it. absoloutly horrid, and it aggravates me that they still to this day have not made a good Galvatron toy. There was rumor that he would appear in the classics line, but yet he still hasn't appeared.

Hey, Galvatron's one of my favourite G1 figures! I still have mine from when I was a kid and I still like it.

As for a new decent Galvatron, what about Energon Galvatron? He looks awesome. Sure, he's a jet, not a cannon, but the colours are great and he definitely is identifiable as Galvatron in robot mode.

Damolisher wrote:Hang on, HotRod, Counterpunch was just replying, because this dude's been saying he hates G1 over and over again, and Counterpunch was disagreeing saying that there were more than just a few toys better than modren toys, and YouFearGalvatron was providing examples. And I agree, a majority of G1 surpass the toys of today. Ultra Magnus- Still fun. Sixshot, still one of the best multi-changers around today, Any city bot, etc.

And back to the original post, Recurring theme with me- Cindersaur. I HATE THAT TOY! (The Firecons are something I wish we could forget from G1.)

I have to agree with you Damolisher.

That said, I will glady comply, HotRod. You have always been one of the fairest seniors on this board, so it never troubles me to honor what you say.

I love a lot of G1 for several reasons. I love applying the decals that they often have, it makes me feel like I have "completed" the figure, and that it is now mine because I was the one who applied the decals. It feels great to use tweezers and apply the decals just right, a feeling of patience mixed with accomplishment...ended with a sigh of relief! I also love their heftiness, especially the BaseFormers/CityFormers. I also love the MOSTLY (Compared to a lot of today's TFs) low-key, muted colors...for me, that makes them better display pieces, to slightly blend into the background, and not jump out and smack you in the eyes with very very bright colors and translucent plastics. But that's just me. I still keep in mind, that all of these are KIDS TOYS.

Let me put this out there, while I am on the subject: I have 4 G1 Scorponoks, mostly due to my overzealousness on ePay, but that does not matter. Not one is broken. All of the ratcheting joints are still tight. There are no stress marks in the plastic on any of them. That is not to say their are no broken G1 toys...just try finding a non-broken seeker or Megatron to learn that much. But, with Scorponok at least, he is made of "sterner stuff" than most of the larger and new toys. The plastics are of such better, more dense quality. They have their scratches from the dozens of hands that have handled them, and the hundreds of times they have been transformed, no-doubt. But they are all, structurally-speaking, all STILL solid. I find this appealing. G1 Scorponok was made in 1987. That is 20 years this year...let that sink in. I often wonder where a magnificent piece of similar size, but of more frail nature (broken wings, anyone?) like, say, Optimal Optimus will be in the year 2027? I am not taking away from what anyone may prefer, it is all Transformers to me, but I just prefer the BrickFormers, by far.

I own both G1 and a few of the newer designs, and there is enough varitey to suit most any taste. In short: ALL series have their dogs and thier prom queens...I just prefer the senior cutizens!


That said, let's all try to get along, eh?

Old and new, let's join hands...

I was always not too crazy about Armada Jetfire.

YouFearGalvatron wrote:

Damolisher wrote:Hang on, HotRod, Counterpunch was just replying, because this dude's been saying he hates G1 over and over again, and Counterpunch was disagreeing saying that there were more than just a few toys better than modren toys, and YouFearGalvatron was providing examples. And I agree, a majority of G1 surpass the toys of today. Ultra Magnus- Still fun. Sixshot, still one of the best multi-changers around today, Any city bot, etc.

And back to the original post, Recurring theme with me- Cindersaur. I HATE THAT TOY! (The Firecons are something I wish we could forget from G1.)

I have to agree with you Damolisher.

That said, I will glady comply, HotRod. You have always been one of the fairest seniors on this board, so it never troubles me to honor what you say.

I love a lot of G1 for several reasons. I love applying the decals that they often have, it makes me feel like I have "completed" the figure, and that it is now mine because I was the one who applied the decals. It feels great to use tweezers and apply the decals just right, a feeling of patience mixed with accomplishment...ended with a sigh of relief! I also love their heftiness, especially the BaseFormers/CityFormers. I also love the MOSTLY (Compared to a lot of today's TFs) low-key, muted colors...for me, that makes them better display pieces, to slightly blend into the background, and not jump out and smack you in the eyes with very very bright colors and translucent plastics. But that's just me. I still keep in mind, that all of these are KIDS TOYS.

Let me put this out there, while I am on the subject: I have 4 G1 Scorponoks, mostly due to my overzealousness on ePay, but that does not matter. Not one is broken. All of the ratcheting joints are still tight. There are no stress marks in the plastic on any of them. That is not to say their are no broken G1 toys...just try finding a non-broken seeker or Megatron to learn that much. But, with Scorponok at least, he is made of "sterner stuff" than most of the larger and new toys. The plastics are of such better, more dense quality. They have their scratches from the dozens of hands that have handled them, and the hundreds of times they have been transformed, no-doubt. But they are all, structurally-speaking, all STILL solid. I find this appealing. G1 Scorponok was made in 1987. That is 20 years this year...let that sink in. I often wonder where a magnificent piece of similar size, but of more frail nature (broken wings, anyone?) like, say, Optimal Optimus will be in the year 2027? I am not taking away from what anyone may prefer, it is all Transformers to me, but I just prefer the BrickFormers, by far.

I own both G1 and a few of the newer designs, and there is enough varitey to suit most any taste. In short: ALL series have their dogs and thier prom queens...I just prefer the senior cutizens!


That said, let's all try to get along, eh?

Old and new, let's join hands...

Thank you kind sir.

It's a tie: G1 Ironhide and G1 Ratchet. Even when I was 5 I thought they looked stupid, or at least nothing like the cartoon versions.

Actually, the cartoon is to blame here. They look liberties with the character models and added real chests, etc. The toys were first.

Damolisher wrote:Actually, the cartoon is to blame here. They look liberties with the character models and added real chests, etc. The toys were first.

You're half right. Convoy, starscream, and most of the autobots came before the series (I may be wrong, someone plz clarify). All the rest (especially megatron, which I consider to be the ugliest toy now that I think about it) were created for the show, hence their Show un-accuraness stems from a bad design team and/or limitations of toy making at the time

Damolisher wrote:Actually, the cartoon is to blame here. They look liberties with the character models and added real chests, etc. The toys were first.

Regardless, Ironhide and Ratchet were ugly pieces of poop. Ironhide was one of my fav G1 transformers. maybe thats why I disliked it so much.

I_AM... MEGATRON! wrote:

Damolisher wrote:Hang on, HotRod, Counterpunch was just replying, because this dude's been saying he hates G1 over and over again, and Counterpunch was disagreeing saying that there were more than just a few toys better than modren toys, and YouFearGalvatron was providing examples. And I agree, a majority of G1 surpass the toys of today. Ultra Magnus- Still fun. Sixshot, still one of the best multi-changers around today, Any city bot, etc.

And back to the original post, Recurring theme with me- Cindersaur. I HATE THAT TOY! (The Firecons are something I wish we could forget from G1.)

Hey lets get something straight right now. I DO NOT HATE G1. I love the series, and I love the movie. If I dispise the toys, its only because the newer ones are so much better. What I DO hate are the G1 Purests that think every other toy and series after G1 is inferior, and bash anyone that disagrees with them, thats what I hate

Actually, G1 boasted the best, most real world accurate alt modes, (excluding BT/MP) that we have seen from any TF line.

Most of the later series alt modes would stick out like a sore thumb on the road.

G1 also had way better quality compared to most of the recent lines. It seems that the toys are being branded as ugly because they have no poseability. Those are 2 very different categories.

Oh, and G1 Megs may not be aesthetically pleasing, but he sure as hell is one masterful transformation.

Bonger wrote:

I_AM... MEGATRON! wrote:

Damolisher wrote:Hang on, HotRod, Counterpunch was just replying, because this dude's been saying he hates G1 over and over again, and Counterpunch was disagreeing saying that there were more than just a few toys better than modren toys, and YouFearGalvatron was providing examples. And I agree, a majority of G1 surpass the toys of today. Ultra Magnus- Still fun. Sixshot, still one of the best multi-changers around today, Any city bot, etc.

And back to the original post, Recurring theme with me- Cindersaur. I HATE THAT TOY! (The Firecons are something I wish we could forget from G1.)

Hey lets get something straight right now. I DO NOT HATE G1. I love the series, and I love the movie. If I dispise the toys, its only because the newer ones are so much better. What I DO hate are the G1 Purests that think every other toy and series after G1 is inferior, and bash anyone that disagrees with them, thats what I hate

Actually, G1 boasted the best, most real world accurate alt modes, (excluding BT/MP) that we have seen from any TF line.

Most of the later series alt modes would stick out like a sore thumb on the road.

G1 also had way better quality compared to most of the recent lines. It seems that the toys are being branded as ugly because they have no poseability. Those are 2 very different categories.

Oh, and G1 Megs may not be aesthetically pleasing, but he sure as hell is one masterful transformation.

And therin lies the problem. It seems to me that when it came ti G1 toys, it was the alt mode that had top priority, i.e. most of the design went into the alt mode looking realistic, the robot in many cases seemed to be an after thought. Soon hasbro /Takara realized that people wanted a better robot and wisely began to focus on the robot mode, leaving vehicle modes with varying degrees of kibble but ensuring that the robots modes had good posability and were show accurate. This has all culminated into the Classics/Masterpiece/movie lines, which show us that a figure can have both a realistic vehicle mode AND a show/movie accurate robot mode with good posability, no longer do we have to sacrifice one for the other. Hence the focus on the Alt modes is WHY I think the G!1 robot robot modes are so bad...

i dont know if this is the appropriate thread for this, but i didnt want to create a new one.... is it just me or does the real gear long view' head have a really sh*tty paint job.... dont get me wrong, hes a good figure with a great alt mode and great robo mode.... he does have a pretty cool head sculpt too, but is it just my longview or is his head paint job one of the ugliest paint jobs hasbro has ever done?

Well I agree, however, one must take into account that the first series of G1 should get a free pass as the robot modes were not designed to look like the cartoon, but the other way around. If the show had come first, who knows?

Hell, what if the cartton versions were drawn to be identical, and walked around like zombies, then G1 toys would be 100% anime accurate.

I mean, due to the nature of the time, these toys are beyond bashing. They were designed before there was a show and were meant to portray real everyday things that could transform into robgots. This goal they accomplished perfectly.

I think we must grade today's transformers on a harsher scale as they now have the benefit of not only a cartoon and prior designs to work from, but amazingly advanced software to design with and produce the toys with.

However, I think the gorgeous alt modes for the first 3 series alone would warrant them being elevated to works of art.

Bonger wrote:Well I agree, however, one must take into account that the first series of G1 should get a free pass as the robot modes were not designed to look like the cartoon, but the other way around. If the show had come first, who knows?

Hell, what if the cartton versions were drawn to be identical, and walked around like zombies, then G1 toys would be 100% anime accurate.

I mean, due to the nature of the time, these toys are beyond bashing. They were designed before there was a show and were meant to portray real everyday things that could transform into robgots. This goal they accomplished perfectly.

I think we must grade today's transformers on a harsher scale as they now have the benefit of not only a cartoon and prior designs to work from, but amazingly advanced software to design with and produce the toys with.

However, I think the gorgeous alt modes for the first 3 series alone would warrant them being elevated to works of art.

No toys are beyond bashing. Also as I stated earlier NOT ALL TF TOYS CAME BEFORE THE SHOW. Megatron and all the decepticons except starscream were created FOR the show. Hence why I think G1 meg and most (BUT NOT ALL) of the G1 toys) are so ugly

im not really sure which bone is the ugliest there are so many like swindle from the transformers movie toy line, insecticon from energon.
I think that another that springs to mind would be Unicorn he just looks so ugly.

I_AM... MEGATRON! wrote:

Bonger wrote:Well I agree, however, one must take into account that the first series of G1 should get a free pass as the robot modes were not designed to look like the cartoon, but the other way around. If the show had come first, who knows?

Hell, what if the cartoon versions were drawn to be identical, and walked around like zombies, then G1 toys would be 100% anime accurate.

I mean, due to the nature of the time, these toys are beyond bashing. They were designed before there was a show and were meant to portray real everyday things that could transform into robgots. This goal they accomplished perfectly.

I think we must grade today's transformers on a harsher scale as they now have the benefit of not only a cartoon and prior designs to work from, but amazingly advanced software to design with and produce the toys with.

However, I think the gorgeous alt modes for the first 3 series alone would warrant them being elevated to works of art.

No toys are beyond bashing. Also as I stated earlier NOT ALL TF TOYS CAME BEFORE THE SHOW. Megatron and all the decepticons except starscream were created FOR the show. Hence why I think G1 meg and most (BUT NOT ALL) of the G1 toys) are so ugly

Firstly, there is a difference between bashing and evaluating. Everything everywhere has weaknesses. Bashing is just straight hating for the sae of hating, like me and BW.

Secondly, here is a list of all "Pre-Transformers" ripped fro, Himwari. I believe that would imply, not made for the cartoon?

Also, it was in 1986, the third year, when Takara began designing new original models specifically for the Transformers brand for the release of The Movie.

The numbers below represent price at the time/year released/month released.

FTW?





Microman micro cassette robo ‚c‚w‚R piece set \1,980 1983/1
Microman Micro change series[MC-01] Micro cassette robo Micros

Ugliest toy eh?

Because I haven't got into a fan of Transformers until the Movie came and Energon an Cybertron little bit.

So I would have to say Robot Replicas Barricade... though I reckon there are more out there, which I don't know of.

I_AM... MEGATRON! wrote:No toys are beyond bashing. Also as I stated earlier NOT ALL TF TOYS CAME BEFORE THE SHOW. Megatron and all the decepticons except starscream were created FOR the show. Hence why I think G1 meg and most (BUT NOT ALL) of the G1 toys) are so ugly

No dude, you're totally wrong. ALL of the G1 toys released during the two years were either Diaclone, Microchange, or some other licensed Japanese property. Hasbro didn't start designing original figures until 1986 when the TF movie came out. No offense man but do your research:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers:_Generation_1

It would have to be some of the pretender shells of g1. Remember how pudgy jazz and grimlock looked? I hated those things with a passion.

Phenotype wrote:

I_AM... MEGATRON! wrote:No toys are beyond bashing. Also as I stated earlier NOT ALL TF TOYS CAME BEFORE THE SHOW. Megatron and all the decepticons except starscream were created FOR the show. Hence why I think G1 meg and most (BUT NOT ALL) of the G1 toys) are so ugly

No dude, you're totally wrong. ALL of the G1 toys released during the two years were either Diaclone, Microchange, or some other licensed Japanese property. Hasbro didn't start designing original figures until 1986 when the TF movie came out. No offense man but do your research:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers:_Generation_1

QFT.

I have come in here late, but Bonger, I agree: G1 Megatron, aka "trigger ****" has a masterful transformation.

Just a little factoid for you all, some may be aware, some may just now discover this: Megatron's stock is compyrighted...



1974.



Comparing a toy from 74, wayyyy before mass-computing, where every engineering was DRAWN by HAND, versus a piece of new awesomeness, like say, Classics Jetfire, who benefits from computers, etc. is just one-sided.

You have to look at them for what they are, before ball joint sockets, Perfect Grade Gundams, Yamato 1/48 Valks, etc.

For 1974, the Diaclone Megaman was from a different planet. For his time, he was awesome, and for this reason, he still deserves an occasional nod of respect (IMHO).

Hell, the poor Japanese salaryman at Takara who was told "design this to work!" deserves our thanks, and an expensive sushi meal, damnit!

I guess I have a lot of respect for the people who must engineer these damned things because I know how hard it can be designing just a freaking door locking mechanism! Imagine using mostly plastic for something half as complex!

I can't say G1 Megatron is pretty...he is no Powermaster Prime...but he gets my respect at least. I still love him, and he sits proudly atop my shelf, lording over the carpeted planet beneath him.

Danish-Liokaiser wrote:Simple! : Generation 1 Wheelie!

QFT.

The Pretenders

beast machines deluxe optimus primal
such a terrible looking thing