The Energon Pub

Hey!

So, I have been struggling with a few G1 lines, as far as whether or not they deserve a spot in my collection.

I was curious as to why you do or do not inculde or plan on including these in your collections.

My primary concern is whether their presence diminishes the display and nostalgic quality of a G1 collection.

Please bear in mind that I am not questioning their worth as a toy, but their worth as a piece of an adult collection.

Pretenders - Ones like Monstructor and Bludgeon have been featured in IDW and are in, but what about the rest?

Actionmasters
Micromasters

I've really struggled with this a long time, especially because I had Micromasters as a kid and had fun with them. I just don't know if they have any worth in my collection anymore. I'm a big believer in keeping a display concentrated keeps its display value at thighest. Too may points of interest of little importance takes away ones concentration from the items that realy matter.

Your thoughts?

Dude, that isnt "true" G1. It's "extended japanese G1". Typical wacky stuff japs come up with.

I really think it tarnishes true G1. Like how beast wars 2 and beast wars neo tarnish beast wars.

Toyotus Superion wrote:Dude, that isnt "true" G1. It's "extended japanese G1". Typical wacky stuff japs come up with.

I really think it tarnishes true G1. Like how beast wars 2 and beast wars neo tarnish beast wars.

These were all released lines in the US.

Bonger wrote:

Toyotus Superion wrote:Dude, that isnt "true" G1. It's "extended japanese G1". Typical wacky stuff japs come up with.

I really think it tarnishes true G1. Like how beast wars 2 and beast wars neo tarnish beast wars.

These were all released lines in the US.

I thought the cartoons of those series though were all japanese. Or is that all season 4 stuff? Im barely on season 3 of g1.

Well, I Started Out As A Serious G1'r So I Guess I Can Ring In... The Pretender Line Was Kind Of The Deathknell Of The G1 Series. The Manufacturing Got Cheaper, The Styles Got Sillier And The Concept Just Got Weird, But I'll Respect Your Choice To Add Them To Your Collection.

On To The Meat Of Your Question: The Micromasters Were Okay For What They Were (Basically Micro Machine Competitors). Some Of The Designs Were Neat, But Too Many Of The Figures Had The Exact Same Sort Of Transformations, Making Them Really Boring As Far As Play Value. The Base Concept Stayed Solid Though, They Transformed... Making Them An Ok Extension To The Line.

Now With That Said, This Brings Me To The Next Group You Mentioned: The Actionmasters. This Is What Nearly Made Me Drop Transformers Completely, I Just Don't Know What They Were Thinking; Robot Action Figures Using Recognizable Personalities From The Previous Line That DIDN"T Transform, Had Zero Posability (sp?), And A Lame Excuse For The Change (They LOST The Ability To Transform, Whaaa?).
The Transforming Vehicle Idea Was An Awful Gimmick (It Was Like They Were Trying To Copy The Greatly Superior M.A.S.K. Toys).
Plus, The Quality Of The Figures Were Almost KO Level, A Sad Tribute The Previous Incarnation And A Mockery Of The Original Figures. In My Opinion This Line Isn't Worthy Of Adding To An Adult Collection, It Just Didn't Reflect Anything That Was Good About Transformers.

As A Final Thought, When G2 Came Out After These Oddballs, It Renewed My Faith In The Transformers Franchise(At Least Until I Thought I Outgrew Them, Silly Me),So I Started Collecting Them Again.

Sorry If This Seems Like A Rant, I Wasn't Trying For That...
I'll Add This In, I Have A Fair Portion Of The Micros (And Pretenders)In My Collection, But, I Was So Disappointed With The Actionmasters That Most Of The Ones I Got (About 5) Became Pellet Gun Targets Or Firework Fodder (Something I Would NEVER Consider With Any Other Transformer Toy).

If you collect G1, you have to go all the way.
If you say I have Bludgeon because he is in the IDW comics, than you don't collect G1, you collect comicbook characters!
If you collect G1, you go all the way; even up to the Actionmasters!

My 2 cents!

Toyotus Superion wrote:

Bonger wrote:

Toyotus Superion wrote:Dude, that isnt "true" G1. It's "extended japanese G1". Typical wacky stuff japs come up with.

I really think it tarnishes true G1. Like how beast wars 2 and beast wars neo tarnish beast wars.

These were all released lines in the US.

I thought the cartoons of those series though were all japanese. Or is that all season 4 stuff? Im barely on season 3 of g1.

They are not in the carton here. But they were released in the US toy lines.

real_Angel wrote:If you collect G1, you have to go all the way.
If you say I have Bludgeon because he is in the IDW comics, than you don't collect G1, you collect comicbook characters!
If you collect G1, you go all the way; even up to the Actionmasters!

My 2 cents!

Ah but thats what I struggle with. I do not disagree with you. But, do they not detract from the rest of the collection. Instead of admiring Megs, people will be starting at the AM Megs on his battle platform wondering what the hell that is. Not realy the desired affect ya know?

Equus, good analysis, but you are missing the punch line. Did you or do you plan on buiying the 3 series in question?

Sorry, I Got An Attack Of Long-Windedness, I Edited My Entry To Correct My Opinion...

Equus Maximus wrote:Sorry, I Got An Attack Of Long-Windedness, I Edited My Entry To Correct My Opinion...

Hah, no worries. The best of us succumb to long windedness.

Hmm. This is a tricky one for me, as I consider them toys over display pieces (in fact I don't actually have a display, as such). But I see what you're getting at.

Pretenders, I probably would mostly skip in your situation. Your theme seems to be a tribute to 'the best' of what Transformers had to offer, rather than everything, and I don't think the Pretenders fit into that; they're okay, but with limited articulation in both robots and (even moreso) shells, and barely recognisable alt modes (not all are guilty, but most just look like folded robots with wheels etc), they were almost like a pre-imagining of the movie protoforms. A nice idea that never really fulfilled its potential.

Action Masters... probably also a skip. When they came out, I liked them a lot for what they were supposed to be - more poseable versions of the characters I loved (and bearing in mind when this was, they were pretty poseable compared to most of what we'd had before) - and I actually liked quite a few of the accessories too.
Of course, then G2 came out fairly soon after, and showed us that we could have both the articulation and the transformation, and suddenly Action Masters didn't seem as revolutionary any more.

Micromasters, however, I think I appreciate more now than I did even then. They may not have all had unique transformations, as Equus said, but the variety of shells, I think, really helped disguise that well.
Of course, aside from the size, the big selling point is the playsets. All those little transforming buildings and vehicles, linking up as they do, make for a kick-arse Micromaster city.
I don't know what your limitations are as regards money and, probably more importantly in this case, space, but if you can, frankly I think Micros are worthy of a display all their own.

Money and space are not really an issue. Though I keep my collection in my den and do not want it to get to the point wherein it overwhelms everything else in the room, if you know what I mean. I enjoy keeping it to one wall for toys with statues mixed in with my books.

If you start to buy Pretenders, you're going to end up loving them. Not all of them of course, but most of them are actually cool toys.

MicroMasters are a must.

ActionMasters...er, the gimmick of not transforming sets them aside as much as Robot Heroes for me.

As for Japanese stuff...It absolutely counts as G1 and should be considered for your collection. Some of the most unique pieces out there are Japanese only. Hell, it's usually the amount of G1 Japanese Transformers that will actually make me take a second look at a collection.

my 2 cents:

get the Pretenders. seriously. sure, they look silly (big humanoid figures & monsters plus barely-transforming robots?) but they have collector AND sentimental value. i dunno but i like them (though not all of them) being a fan of the Masterforce Anime series. i'd consider you one of the luckiest people in the world if you can get Metalhawk in good condish.

plus, it's really cool to have people pause in your collection and say, "what the? are these mutated Joes or what?"

Toyotus Superion wrote:

Bonger wrote:

Toyotus Superion wrote:Dude, that isnt "true" G1. It's "extended japanese G1". Typical wacky stuff japs come up with.

I really think it tarnishes true G1. Like how beast wars 2 and beast wars neo tarnish beast wars.

These were all released lines in the US.

I thought the cartoons of those series though were all japanese. Or is that all season 4 stuff? Im barely on season 3 of g1.

Toyotus, I think I know where you're going to; you only want the toys backed by US cartoons, right? OK, then you should go no further than the Head- and Targetmasters of the Rebirth saga. The rest of the line was backed by the Marvel Comics, even then it wasn't completely.

The G1 toys were all designed by Hasbro, except those released solely in Japan: those were by Takara.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:The G1 toys were all designed by Hasbro, except those released solely in Japan: those were by Takara.

hmmm, i don't think so. Jetfire was released by Hasbro and it was not an original Hasbro design in the first place. so are other G1s that came from Diaclone and Microman (i.e. Perceptor).

zemper wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:The G1 toys were all designed by Hasbro, except those released solely in Japan: those were by Takara.

hmmm, i don't think so. Jetfire was released by Hasbro and it was not an original Hasbro design in the first place. so are other G1s that came from Diaclone and Microman (i.e. Perceptor).

Substitute characters for toys and he is dead on right.

Toyotus Superion, yeah, the Marvel comix line had the Pretenders and Micromasters. Many of the Pretenders played a key role in the Matrix Quest, a great bit of story telling IMHO.

The Jap cartoon had Headmasters, Pretenders, and Micromasters. Always looking for a gimmick. The US toy line was in it's death throws at that time, so Jap took it and ran.

I always considered the Jap series as G1, only the jap side. Many of the Jap only TF's f'n rock!

Now on to the question at hand.

I don't have any Actionmasters, "no transformation, no thank you!" So , I can't help out there.

However, I dig Micromasters, some pix for your pleasure.

MM and MM base TF's

...and don't forget the Gestalt MM's.


Now, I only have a few Pretenders, Cloudburst(incomplete), Octopunch(also incomplete), and KO Dinoking with Shells!

I feel that MM's and Pretenders need the TF loving. However, they are better displayed together as a whole, a few thrown about look out of place in a TF collection.

zemper wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:The G1 toys were all designed by Hasbro, except those released solely in Japan: those were by Takara.

hmmm, i don't think so. Jetfire was released by Hasbro and it was not an original Hasbro design in the first place. so are other G1s that came from Diaclone and Microman (i.e. Perceptor).

That's it, I need to watch my wording next time Add "after the the movie".

Personally, I like the Pretenders a lot more now than when I was young. I'd recommend the Decepticon Pretenders, the larger monster ones. I have hunted all six of them down and also have the Monstructor team and they make for good display pieces. I don't think they cheapen a display at all, at least if you group them together, and the Autobot ones are kind of stupid looking, as well as the smaller Pretenders like Stranglehold nad Doubleheader.

Action Masters I have no frame of reference.

Micromasters, I'd pass personally. Maybe the bases like Countdown but not the individual patrols....if your concern is the Pretenders looking dumb, the Micros would (my opinion only) look worse.

I have to say as far as the pretenders go yeah there part of g1 weather you like them or not so include them without shame. micromaster are very important I look at it this way without them we wouldn't have the mincons of today. As far as action master go I have no opionion one way or the other.

ConDrewfus wrote:Toyotus Superion, yeah, the Marvel comix line had the Pretenders and Micromasters. Many of the Pretenders played a key role in the Matrix Quest, a great bit of story telling IMHO.

The Jap cartoon had Headmasters, Pretenders, and Micromasters. Always looking for a gimmick. The US toy line was in it's death throws at that time, so Jap took it and ran.

I always considered the Jap series as G1, only the jap side. Many of the Jap only TF's f'n rock!

Now on to the question at hand.

I don't have any Actionmasters, "no transformation, no thank you!" So , I can't help out there.

However, I dig Micromasters, some pix for your pleasure.

MM and MM base TF's

...and don't forget the Gestalt MM's.


Now, I only have a few Pretenders, Cloudburst(incomplete), Octopunch(also incomplete), and KO Dinoking with Shells!

I feel that MM's and Pretenders need the TF loving. However, they are better displayed together as a whole, a few thrown about look out of place in a TF collection.

heck yeah! i had one of that yellow base when i was younger, that one had the windmill and came with a Micromaster truck, right? i forgot the name of the robot, but the base was called Ironworks or something, correct?

Hmm. Some good points made here.

For those who liked to Pretenders and Micromasters, do you actually have a connection with the toys as you would, with say, a character that was featured in the sunbow series?

I'm glad someone mentioned the Micromaster playsets. They're wonderful.

I think the collection should be entirely based around your nostalgia for certain characters.

I only want G1 characters I have some attachment to, otherwise you are spending money simply to catalogue TF history. Nothing wrong with that mind you, but the collection should make YOU happy, if pretenders dont make you geek out, then pass on them, if headmasters are your thing, grab as many as you can.

In the end, your collection is to be enjoyed primarily by you, not a TF historian.