The Energon Pub

The first time I heard of the Transformers, was from some friends who had seen the movie on good old VHS. It was the movie, so they had no clue about the animated series before, or after. Moreover, Transformers never sold much here in India- the most popular action toys were He-Man and GI Joe.

Then in 1995 STAR Plus, then our international TV channel, started airing Marvel Comics animated adaptations early in the morning, starting with the Hulk on weekdays. Weekends, however, had a pleasant surprise, as I had first seen The Transformers. In hindsight, though, it was a bit strange as a few Season 1 episodes and several Season 2 (it surely was long) episodes were deleted. They, however, aired nearly all episodes of Season 3, but I missed a few because it was aired early and I often got up a little too late, but knowing this channel, they may have cut out those as well.

So I'm essentially a Generation One Animated Series fan. My next brush with the Transformers was buying Go-Bots (at an affordable Rs. 99- can't translate into dollars due to fluctuating exchange rates) Mirage and Soundwave. I was, obviously, unimpressed with the Soundwave toy- radio, not racecar! They also sold Power Masters (Ironhide, Staxx, Meanstreak and Bulletbike), and looked interesting. Luckily, I chose not to buy them- I found out, only a few weeks ago, that these were mere bricks with motors in them. Original G1 toys, though, are still missing here.

I then came across a BW toy of Optimus Prime. I couldn't quite relate to it. I even saw the animation Beast Machines, and maybe because G1 Animation is ultimate Transformers, but it didn't interest me at all- this began with Megatron in Optimus' supposedly old body (some space cruiser) chasing Optimus in 'munky' mode. Later on, I saw a few episodes of Transformers' Armada. And I knew a lot was amiss. It seemed to resemble Force Five, Robotech, Ninja Robots or Voltron (all Japanese animated shows that I'd see till then) in artistry, slow pace of story, lack of action until the end of an episode and slow transformations. I wouldn't claim it has 'ruined Transformers FOREVER', but it's not quite Transformers. Can't call it Pokeformers because I tried to avoid Pokemon as much as possible- hated it a lot, but I'd call it Forceformers, Roboformers, Voltformers, oh well...

I am a student at a prominent animation/film-making institute here in Mumbai (or rather, off Mumbai) and they seem to be studying the new Transformers film (appeared and vanished without much fuss) by Michael Bay. I saw a few clips of the movie, shown on Vh1, and realised, oh well, the wheel reinvented again. That said, the animation is very interesting and I like the realistic adaptation of the Transformers- real vehicles, no parts shifting shape or appearing/disappearing, as in all the rapid animations of the much-revered G1 animation. The lack of robot action (read from [url]cracked.com[/url]- is it an anti-Transformers site?), though, is disappointing. I'd love to buy at least one movie toy, but I don't have the money.

I also make paper models, mostly of airplanes. I even tried constructing one of the old 'Paperformers', but with no visual help, my construction of Prowl had rear wheels way above front. I regularly sketch the old Hasbro toys to visualise the parts to construct, and I am trying to work out a cross between the animated series and the toys- and avoid partsforming as much as possible.

So I am here, with a lot to talk about Transformers, not just my favourite G1 animation, but also other forms about which I'm still curious. Like, what was the best post-G1 adaptation of Transformers? And the one you don't really like? Why didn't the post-Rebirth shows 'Ruin Transformers FOREVER'? And why is that last word often capitalised? And do you call Blitzwing's jet alt-mode a MiG-25? Or why was a Japanese locomotive chosen as Astrotrain's additional alternate mode ahead of Big Boy? And of course- toys, comics or television? Questions, so many of them, but I'd get onto them a little later. I'm still new to the fanbase.

Welcome. You've taken your first step into a larger world. Right, questions. Ooh, I do love questions!

Like, what was the best post-G1 adaptation of Transformers?

R.I.D. I liked the humour, I liked that it wasn't really trying to tie into G1 (one of the reasons I didn't like Beast Wars), I liked that it was fun. And the toys were a good mix of well-chosen repaints and fantastic new designs.

And the one you don't really like?

Beast Wars/Machines. TFs as organics didn't work for me, and I didn't like the more spiritual aspects they brought in.

Why didn't the post-Rebirth shows 'Ruin Transformers FOREVER'?

Transformers is too awesome a concept to be killed easily.

And why is that last word often capitalised?

http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Ruined_FOREVER. It's just convention, like the end of a Russian Reversal always ends with two italicised exclamation marks.

And do you call Blitzwing's jet alt-mode a MiG-25?

Suppose I would, if I thought about it that much.

Or why was a Japanese locomotive chosen as Astrotrain's additional alternate mode ahead of Big Boy?

Japanese toy originally. Do you know the history of the TF toy line before they were TFs?

And of course- toys, comics or television?

Toys and (G1) television. Never really been impressed with any of the comics.

Welcome to the Transformers Funny Farm that is Seibertron, Arjun_M! Hope you enjoy your stay here!

Welcome to the fandom.

And
Warning!!!!!! Seibertron contains Nuts!!!!!!!!


Now to answer a few of your questions.

Arjun_M wrote:Like, what was the best post-G1 adaptation of Transformers?

I say Beast Wars and Beast Machines.They had better writting and characterastion then any TF show after and before it.

But TF Animated is doing quite well in that Department as well.

Arjun_M wrote:And the one you don't really like?

TF Armada,Energon and Cybertron.I couldnt stand any of the 3.

Arjun_M wrote:Why didn't the post-Rebirth shows 'Ruin Transformers FOREVER'?

You cant keep a good thing down.

Arjun_M wrote:Or why was a Japanese locomotive chosen as Astrotrain's additional alternate mode ahead of Big Boy?

The toys that would become Transformers in 1984 started life about 5 years earllyer as several toylines from a Japan toy company called Takara.

Arjun_M wrote:And of course- toys, comics or television?

All of the above.

Hey there, welcome to the board, lemme know if you need anything. I'll do my best to get it done.

Totally forgot about Diaclone. Anyway, with all these reissues turning up, I thought Astrotrain would be rebuilt as a Big Boy, and it would possibly be a better choice, given his huge Space Shuttle proportions. That jet that Blitzwing transforms into looks like some spacecraft, and not too close to a MiG-25, or maybe there was a single-wing Foxbat around, like there was that F16XL.

About those post-Rebirth animations, I was surprised that there were not too many complaints as there were about that 1986 movie.

Blitzwing was as close to a MiG-25 as you're going to get with something that also turns into a tank.