The Energon Pub

I just pondered this recently. I remember some years back back, being a little younger and had recently become mesmerized by the concept of Transformers toys for the first time. I walked into my local (now sadly closed TRU) and proceeded to the action figures. A good portion of the aisle's shelving was filled with Transformers, from Armada, Energon, Universe, and classic G1 figures. They had Omega Supreme, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Galvatron, and anything else I could possibly want. Many of the figures could "powerlink" together, or came with a Mini-Con that could serve several purposes. Some Mini-Cons could combine into larger figures so you could put them up against a larger enemy. Then we had Cybertron, which I think had great redecoes and new molds alike. Then they all sold out.
We then go from the Classics, to the Movie, to Animated, to a different Universe line, and back to another Movie line. These all, to me, were missing something. Most of these post-Unicron trilogy lines had little or no connecting media, the toys were less dynamic, and they were short lived. Now, TF is pushed to the end of the aisle with a choice of Tuner Mudflap, Tuner Mudflap, and 5 more Tuner Mudflap's.
Has TF really lost the magic it had when it had a longer period of connecting media?
Were the products really more intriguing, or are they still as good as they used to be?

How old are you, OptiMagnus? If I may ask? (Just curious).

The G1 magic never left IMHO. For the present figs, I feel it 's been diluted with multiple figures/molds/repaint of a single character. Too much of a good thing is not necessarily good.

it hasn't lost it's magic for me it's just shifted or more accurately plateaued.

I'm primarily a G1 collector for the most part.

I'm a picky collector that really only gets what i like. I also only display my collection and it caters to my particular nostalgia. I mainly collect vintage. Although i do buy , in my opinion, choice newschool figures. i.e classics,some animated,MP and FP.

I like the new designs and sublines for the sake of forward momentum of Transformers but a lot of them aren't really my style so i haven't bought any new figures accept for MP or FP which are catering to what i want and those are few and far between.

I still keep my eyes wide and ears open though for all new and upcoming news and figures but i don't open my wallet to every new figure that hits the shelves.

I'm always pulling figures from my shelf and posing them or just plane looking at them in all their glory. It's not about really adding figures to my collection rather than liking the ones i've got and enjoying them. So really the magic is never lost for me.

i beleive i answered the first time incorrectly. sorry
As for the magic of TF having a holding affect on the current culture you have to understand the show originated in the 80's where we didn't have the internet or any other way of following the phenomena other than the T'V and that was only on Saturday mornings one day a week and intermittent toy commercials throughout the week.
We didn't have the internet and the huge amount of information and other **** that you can check out at the tips of your fingers.
No cell phones or computers. Nothing.
So we were GLUED to the T'V to get what we could and it, for me, totally captured my undivided attention all week as a kid waitng for what was to happen next.
Whether it was TF's, Voltron, Heman, or Thundercats.
We couldn't just look it up on the net and chek out **** and watch episodes on youtube.
So yeah...some magic is lost in that sense but as a whole the concept still holds it's own.
Sure it loses something being able to have easy access to it via the internet. IMOP

I could type for ever here but i feel i'm rambling...must be the beers

OptiMagnus10 wrote:I just pondered this recently. I remember some years back back, being a little younger and had recently become mesmerized by the concept of Transformers toys for the first time. I walked into my local (now sadly closed TRU) and proceeded to the action figures. A good portion of the aisle's shelving was filled with Transformers, from Armada, Energon, Universe, and classic G1 figures. They had Omega Supreme, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Galvatron, and anything else I could possibly want. Many of the figures could "powerlink" together, or came with a Mini-Con that could serve several purposes. Some Mini-Cons could combine into larger figures so you could put them up against a larger enemy. Then we had Cybertron, which I think had great redecoes and new molds alike. Then they all sold out.
We then go from the Classics, to the Movie, to Animated, to a different Universe line, and back to another Movie line. These all, to me, were missing something. Most of these post-Unicron trilogy lines had little or no connecting media, the toys were less dynamic, and they were short lived. Now, TF is pushed to the end of the aisle with a choice of Tuner Mudflap, Tuner Mudflap, and 5 more Tuner Mudflap's.
Has TF really lost the magic it had when it had a longer period of connecting media?
Were the products really more intriguing, or are they still as good as they used to be?

Heya.

I had a careful little think about your post and the replies.

Obviously, I can only judge from my own example, but these are my thoughts:

It might be the Sociology of it all.

I noticed that your introduction into the freedom to investigate toy aisles alone (technically different from your intro to TFs) is marked by a theme of groups and combining.Your "now" is all mudflaps.
The Replies go straight to G1 before moving on.

I, too, both entered at G1 and was associated with the groups in it.
In my case, PROVIDED the Sociology notion has any standing at all, I had the freedom to be alone with each TFfor a few minutes,even when accompanied to the toystores by adults,from before I gained the freedom to visit toystores alone, because of the Tech Specs on the back of the packs.(I know some other forum members will groan and say Tech Specs are all I ever talk about, but consider:)

The tech specs united my world of TFs the way the Powerlinking and MiniCons united yours.We both could tangent out from one purchase to the next, maybe something like shopping for skills in the final fantasy games for the characters-there's a general direction and slow stepping back of the unreachable that works with us to maintain the pace we want to set,in a way, but no particular sphere of specialization is unattainable in the end, and they always compliment each other.

A generic rule of thumb in Sociology states that a person who learns something one way will have trouble learning it any other way,and always enter advances on the particular issue from the original vector.
For example,folks who are taught to believe in God usually have trouble believing that's a lie, whilst folks who are taught not to believe in God have trouble believing that's a lie as well.In the end-according to rule of thumb- only a revelation or epiphany can honestly sway the full stance of a being to the opposite polarity.

So each of us are taught to accept that TFs manifest around us in a certain way.I DARESAY that 99% of us have some variant of spiritual connection to them going back to day 1.Don't like Spiritual connection? call it Emotional gratitude,or just say "every time I see one of the ones of the type I had as a kid, my brain remebers the good times I had back then and leaks a few endorphins out again,making me happy"-you get the idea.

The folks who design TFs today didn't all necessarily play with the same TFs or even watch the same TF shows,or even own TFs at all.Personally,I was ENTERTAINED by the TFs under their fighting style in G1: "run here,run there,pull out special trick-yell to buddy,throw wisecrack at "Decetibum" enemy,fall over when big guy barrels past,big buddy jumps in to take the strain,use specially selected weapon to assist nearby melee,collect senses, get up,jump back in,don't stop moving,don't stop yelling out assists to all buddies who can't see what's going on behind them-choose next combat,hit-on-the-run every enemy between here and next designated target...

Fast forward to Armada-I can't stomach it-to me, they're all posers, and all I see,correctly or not, is dragonballZ (show starts,"last episode we saw",commercial break,show returns,dude hovers in sky saying"last time you defeated me,now I went to SpecialMonasteryStation and learnt MegaBypassFistMoveThrowdownStrike and with it I am unable to be defeated by any of you yadda yadda",commercial,show returns,friends talk"I'll fight him,he ate my mum","No you're too weak,I'll fight him with my DiamondPicknoseFinger","Nah,that's ancient and too defeatable,I can use my curlyRibbons"-show interrupted,"NEXT EPISODE..."
-next episode starts,"LAST EPISODE WE SAW..."

Once MiniCons get done as animals, I get my epiphany, and once Soundwave and Blasters cassettes get referred to as MiniCons, I get my personal revelation.Once,I considered Powerlinking a weakness-Now, I'm cool with it.Armadas 'initial contribution to the magic' fits just right into the TF universe for me,but I needed something from my entry vector into our world to help me along, which was Totem style interpretations rather than little transforming cars stopping gigantic transforming cars from being pathetic weaklings.

So if you ask me about Armada, I'll tell you the magic was gone at least from the show,BUT just because me and the writers don't see eye to eye doesn't make me right: as far as the writer is concerned, I can run around as many combats as I like-his solution,his reality,and therefore the MAGIC,to him,is the supreme victory grabbing move,minicon,starsabre,powerlink or whatever.In actual fact, his solution might be more logical,tho I prefer my G1s carefully selected weapon loadouts,and the Beast Wars subconciously manifested weapons loadouts, which kept TF presentation to reality alive long enough to get to Armada.(Gotta admit the 'sleeping' weapons that the MiniCons unlock/reawaken are brilliant thinking,too!)

However, tell me that Armada figures won't be put into the Generations/2010 lines,and I'll go on campaign,because I still believe that they belong with all the rest.The sociology of it all has gone a step forward,see? Fan A is around to like the things Fan B doesn't see as magical,and Fan B is around to like the things that Fan A doesn't see as magical,but whatever both manage to preserve gets pooled into the next sociological advance,and it's all reGENerated into a new type of magic that fan C will inherit.The Magic to fans A and B,to me, is that Fan C appreciates Transformers,and is willing to exhibit them to fan D.Now,BECAUSE FAN D no longer has connectors and tech specs and accompanying fluff, he makes up his own games, which fans A and B re-inherit and start moving forward again,together with Fans C and D, towards fan E.
Catch my Drift?

There's this,too,tho: when we're shopping for a homage line, the models are from everywhere, and can regularly have nothing to do with the versions of them that we spent hours with: Since homage toys are from all over the place and a line won't be completed as an older line-up (because it prevents us from having to collect the set in the next homage line),the whole tangent and connectivity thing is looser and more roundabout.When we've LEARNT that this goes with that, yes, the Magic will threaten to fade.

No. If the only thing thats left is Mudflaps, then that means that the others are selling. I remember for about 2 weeks at 2 different Targets over this summer, the only Transformer they had in the whole store where 2 Mudflaps. At 2 completely different stores!

fenrir72 wrote:The G1 magic never left IMHO. For the present figs, I feel it 's been diluted with multiple figures/molds/repaint of a single character. Too much of a good thing is not necessarily good.

Thank you for the point about the repaints. Last sentence there is completely true to me.

Rodimus the Prime wrote:How old are you, OptiMagnus? If I may ask? (Just curious).

Well I figured the statement about me being younger would bring this up, and please do not criticize me for it because I am simply here because I love TF in general. I am 16 years old, and I became a TF fan in 2003.

Autobot Smoketreader wrote:

OptiMagnus10 wrote:I just pondered this recently. I remember some years back back, being a little younger and had recently become mesmerized by the concept of Transformers toys for the first time. I walked into my local (now sadly closed TRU) and proceeded to the action figures. A good portion of the aisle's shelving was filled with Transformers, from Armada, Energon, Universe, and classic G1 figures. They had Omega Supreme, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Galvatron, and anything else I could possibly want. Many of the figures could "powerlink" together, or came with a Mini-Con that could serve several purposes. Some Mini-Cons could combine into larger figures so you could put them up against a larger enemy. Then we had Cybertron, which I think had great redecoes and new molds alike. Then they all sold out.
We then go from the Classics, to the Movie, to Animated, to a different Universe line, and back to another Movie line. These all, to me, were missing something. Most of these post-Unicron trilogy lines had little or no connecting media, the toys were less dynamic, and they were short lived. Now, TF is pushed to the end of the aisle with a choice of Tuner Mudflap, Tuner Mudflap, and 5 more Tuner Mudflap's.
Has TF really lost the magic it had when it had a longer period of connecting media?
Were the products really more intriguing, or are they still as good as they used to be?

Heya.

I had a careful little think about your post and the replies.

Obviously, I can only judge from my own example, but these are my thoughts:

It might be the Sociology of it all.

I noticed that your introduction into the freedom to investigate toy aisles alone (technically different from your intro to TFs) is marked by a theme of groups and combining.Your "now" is all mudflaps.
The Replies go straight to G1 before moving on.

I, too, both entered at G1 and was associated with the groups in it.
In my case, PROVIDED the Sociology notion has any standing at all, I had the freedom to be alone with each TFfor a few minutes,even when accompanied to the toystores by adults,from before I gained the freedom to visit toystores alone, because of the Tech Specs on the back of the packs.(I know some other forum members will groan and say Tech Specs are all I ever talk about, but consider:)

The tech specs united my world of TFs the way the Powerlinking and MiniCons united yours.We both could tangent out from one purchase to the next, maybe something like shopping for skills in the final fantasy games for the characters-there's a general direction and slow stepping back of the unreachable that works with us to maintain the pace we want to set,in a way, but no particular sphere of specialization is unattainable in the end, and they always compliment each other.

A generic rule of thumb in Sociology states that a person who learns something one way will have trouble learning it any other way,and always enter advances on the particular issue from the original vector.
For example,folks who are taught to believe in God usually have trouble believing that's a lie, whilst folks who are taught not to believe in God have trouble believing that's a lie as well.In the end-according to rule of thumb- only a revelation or epiphany can honestly sway the full stance of a being to the opposite polarity.

So each of us are taught to accept that TFs manifest around us in a certain way.I DARESAY that 99% of us have some variant of spiritual connection to them going back to day 1.Don't like Spiritual connection? call it Emotional gratitude,or just say "every time I see one of the ones of the type I had as a kid, my brain remebers the good times I had back then and leaks a few endorphins out again,making me happy"-you get the idea.

The folks who design TFs today didn't all necessarily play with the same TFs or even watch the same TF shows,or even own TFs at all.Personally,I was ENTERTAINED by the TFs under their fighting style in G1: "run here,run there,pull out special trick-yell to buddy,throw wisecrack at "Decetibum" enemy,fall over when big guy barrels past,big buddy jumps in to take the strain,use specially selected weapon to assist nearby melee,collect senses, get up,jump back in,don't stop moving,don't stop yelling out assists to all buddies who can't see what's going on behind them-choose next combat,hit-on-the-run every enemy between here and next designated target...

Fast forward to Armada-I can't stomach it-to me, they're all posers, and all I see,correctly or not, is dragonballZ (show starts,"last episode we saw",commercial break,show returns,dude hovers in sky saying"last time you defeated me,now I went to SpecialMonasteryStation and learnt MegaBypassFistMoveThrowdownStrike and with it I am unable to be defeated by any of you yadda yadda",commercial,show returns,friends talk"I'll fight him,he ate my mum","No you're too weak,I'll fight him with my DiamondPicknoseFinger","Nah,that's ancient and too defeatable,I can use my curlyRibbons"-show interrupted,"NEXT EPISODE..."
-next episode starts,"LAST EPISODE WE SAW..."

Once MiniCons get done as animals, I get my epiphany, and once Soundwave and Blasters cassettes get referred to as MiniCons, I get my personal revelation.Once,I considered Powerlinking a weakness-Now, I'm cool with it.Armadas 'initial contribution to the magic' fits just right into the TF universe for me,but I needed something from my entry vector into our world to help me along, which was Totem style interpretations rather than little transforming cars stopping gigantic transforming cars from being pathetic weaklings.

So if you ask me about Armada, I'll tell you the magic was gone at least from the show,BUT just because me and the writers don't see eye to eye doesn't make me right: as far as the writer is concerned, I can run around as many combats as I like-his solution,his reality,and therefore the MAGIC,to him,is the supreme victory grabbing move,minicon,starsabre,powerlink or whatever.In actual fact, his solution might be more logical,tho I prefer my G1s carefully selected weapon loadouts,and the Beast Wars subconciously manifested weapons loadouts, which kept TF presentation to reality alive long enough to get to Armada.(Gotta admit the 'sleeping' weapons that the MiniCons unlock/reawaken are brilliant thinking,too!)

However, tell me that Armada figures won't be put into the Generations/2010 lines,and I'll go on campaign,because I still believe that they belong with all the rest.The sociology of it all has gone a step forward,see? Fan A is around to like the things Fan B doesn't see as magical,and Fan B is around to like the things that Fan A doesn't see as magical,but whatever both manage to preserve gets pooled into the next sociological advance,and it's all reGENerated into a new type of magic that fan C will inherit.The Magic to fans A and B,to me, is that Fan C appreciates Transformers,and is willing to exhibit them to fan D.Now,BECAUSE FAN D no longer has connectors and tech specs and accompanying fluff, he makes up his own games, which fans A and B re-inherit and start moving forward again,together with Fans C and D, towards fan E.
Catch my Drift?

There's this,too,tho: when we're shopping for a homage line, the models are from everywhere, and can regularly have nothing to do with the versions of them that we spent hours with: Since homage toys are from all over the place and a line won't be completed as an older line-up (because it prevents us from having to collect the set in the next homage line),the whole tangent and connectivity thing is looser and more roundabout.When we've LEARNT that this goes with that, yes, the Magic will threaten to fade.

Actually, I should add something, I never watched the tv show, I just think that when we had longer periods of connecting media, there were more products andmore creative ones. You do make some very good points, but I'm sorry I didn't read the whole thing. And maybe my opinion was definitely is influenced by the fact I was introduced to TF during Armada, even though I knew about TF during the Beast Era and RID but never really cared.

The way this looks to me is a lot like us Geewuners look at TF.Many of us on the board are older and started off with G1.We were young and just the wow factor and the advertiseing and the who something new was there for us.The show was kinda crappy the toys were bricks but we still love them.They were the first and all the gimmicks we see today started with G1.Now we grew up and all the gimmicks have been done in G1 are now done thru a whole line and we seen it before.Some collectors beleive all the magic is gone till we get revamps of old figures we loved.You started with Armada and you got the ohhh and ahhhs back then now your growing up and nothing will beat those Transformers like the ones when you started off.There are kids now growing up with the movie verse figures that will hate everything else not like the movie figures.

vulgar_wraith wrote:The way this looks to me is a lot like us Geewuners look at TF.Many of us on the board are older and started off with G1.We were young and just the wow factor and the advertiseing and the who something new was there for us.The show was kinda crappy the toys were bricks but we still love them.They were the first and all the gimmicks we see today started with G1.Now we grew up and all the gimmicks have been done in G1 are now done thru a whole line and we seen it before.Some collectors beleive all the magic is gone till we get revamps of old figures we loved.You started with Armada and you got the ohhh and ahhhs back then now your growing up and nothing will beat those Transformers like the ones when you started off.There are kids now growing up with the movie verse figures that will hate everything else not like the movie figures.

I actually love everything before the movies, even though I wasn't even alive or had no interest in TF at the time. So I am the exception to the last sentence you said, even though most of my collection is of movie figures now. What I really want are figures I couldn't have or figures I dismissed that now appeal to me now. Although I think G1 needs to be taken down a notch nowadays. And sorry if I give you GeeWunners a lot of crap, I just think G1 is overdone now.

There can only be G1......

OptiMagnus10 wrote:Although I think G1 needs to be taken down a notch nowadays. And sorry if I give you GeeWunners a lot of crap, I just think G1 is overdone now.

Hey man, that's okay...because one day, those who are kids now will have grown into adults, and they will chastise you and make fun of you for being all stuck in the past over TF:Armada getting the Classics treatement. They will tell you that what you love and cherish is overdone and that it's time for the series to move on. On that day, which will come quicker than you realize, you too will become a Geewunner, and you will understand us.

As for your question, yes, ironically, your sentiments echo that of many G1 fans.
For my part, I do feel that there is some 'magic' missing from the entire franchise. What I feel the answer would be is for there to be a new show or set of films that does a better job of uniting fans from different eras than dividing them. The perfect example of this would be the Star Wars Clone Wars series.

Rodimus the Prime wrote:

OptiMagnus10 wrote:Although I think G1 needs to be taken down a notch nowadays. And sorry if I give you GeeWunners a lot of crap, I just think G1 is overdone now.

Hey man, that's okay...because one day, those who are kids now will have grown into adults, and they will chastise you and make fun of you for being all stuck in the past over TF:Armada getting the Classics treatement. They will tell you that what you love and cherish is overdone and that it's time for the series to move on. On that day, which will come quicker than you realize, you too will become a Geewunner, and you will understand us.

As for your question, yes, ironically, your sentiments echo that of many G1 fans.
For my part, I do feel that there is some 'magic' missing from the entire franchise. What I feel the answer would be is for there to be a new show or set of films that does a better job of uniting fans from different eras than dividing them. The perfect example of this would be the Star Wars Clone Wars series.

Rodimus, you are always spot-on with these topics. You are probably right about me sticking to the old stuff, because this is how I am with music and automobiles also. And I usually associate GeeWunners with those who absolutely despise everything that succeeded G1, and try to convey the message to all fans as much as possible that we should hate everything post-G1. Check out the "Ruined FOREVER" pages on the two TF wikis. They sadden me. I'm not sure if you follow this belief or not Rodimus, since you seem to be a pretty loyal and intelligent fan from your posts.

[quote="OptiMagnus10"

Actually, I should add something, I never watched the tv show, I just think that when we had longer periods of connecting media, there were more products andmore creative ones. You do make some very good points, but I'm sorry I didn't read the whole thing. And maybe my opinion was definitely is influenced by the fact I was introduced to TF during Armada, even though I knew about TF during the Beast Era and RID but never really cared. [/quote]

It's absolutely fine that you didn't read it all (gotta admit, my posts are tedious business!) and I'm doubly as cool about it because you're telling me straight and even took the trouble to add another reply for me, so I can keep up-so thank you!!!!

Basically, I guess the connecting media is a pretty major vessel for it all.Your words "longer periods of..." jump out at me the most.
I can't decide if the connecting Media is installed with intent to boost the overall intended length of a line or as a factor of the projected intended lifespan of a line, but the Unicron tricycle was a huge project (for its' time) and one of the few TF stories that actually plugged directly in to other TF stories of the same time period (both realtime and storytime-wise).

I wasn't a real g2 follower, tho I tried quite hard, it wasn't what I knew to look for, and although I tried again to get re-involved with the Beast Wars saga, I needed the Transmetals to really capture my interest (and they did that with absolute effect!).

OptiMagnus10 wrote:

Rodimus the Prime wrote:

OptiMagnus10 wrote:Although I think G1 needs to be taken down a notch nowadays. And sorry if I give you GeeWunners a lot of crap, I just think G1 is overdone now.

Hey man, that's okay...because one day, those who are kids now will have grown into adults, and they will chastise you and make fun of you for being all stuck in the past over TF:Armada getting the Classics treatement. They will tell you that what you love and cherish is overdone and that it's time for the series to move on. On that day, which will come quicker than you realize, you too will become a Geewunner, and you will understand us.

As for your question, yes, ironically, your sentiments echo that of many G1 fans.
For my part, I do feel that there is some 'magic' missing from the entire franchise. What I feel the answer would be is for there to be a new show or set of films that does a better job of uniting fans from different eras than dividing them. The perfect example of this would be the Star Wars Clone Wars series.

Rodimus, you are always spot-on with these topics. You are probably right about me sticking to the old stuff, because this is how I am with music and automobiles also. And I usually associate GeeWunners with those who absolutely despise everything that succeeded G1, and try to convey the message to all fans as much as possible that we should hate everything post-G1. Check out the "Ruined FOREVER" pages on the two TF wikis. They sadden me. I'm not sure if you follow this belief or not Rodimus, since you seem to be a pretty loyal and intelligent fan from your posts.

Thanks, mate!
Though imo, I would say that everyone here is a loyal fan, regardless of the era or incarnation of TFs they love most.
Any how, I didn't realize the full connotations of 'Geewunner,' until now. Before, I just thought it was a general term for us Old-school fans. So, now that I know it's full meaning, no, I'm not a G1-only dude. I have enjoyed succeeding incarnations of TFs since then, in varying degrees.

I haven't watched or read every single series, but even the ones I didn't watch or read, I've usually found something to enjoy out of them. Usually; some incarnations haven't been my thing at all, in any way, though I wouldn't slag someone for liking what I don't like. That to me is more than just a bit hypocritical because I'm sure, as toy collectors, we've all had the experience of someone telling us that we shouldn't like what we like simply because they don't get it.
There's still a larger world out there that thinks we're all nuts, so I would rather see us be more supportive of one another, rather than be at each-other's throats and calling each other silly names over whichever form of TFs is truest or best or whatever.

I think the constant rebooting is definitely a factor contributing to the loss of magic. It's not just the newer series like Armada or the Movie, but the re-release of G1 every few years. There are so many different versions out there and it gets kind of head wrecking.

In the old days you just had the cartoon and comics and while the continuities differed in a lot of ways, the characters were basically the same. The tech specs on the toys elevated the TF's above the generic robots of other lines and formed the basis of the characters in both media so they didn't feel too different.

I was primarily following the UK comic. I looked forward to it every week and while I got a handful of toys each year, the comic sustained me with an ever expanding cast and coherent universe.

I'd look at the toys in the shop every week, reading the tech specs, knowing I'd see them soon in the comics.

Don't get me wrong, I like something about every version of TF's but I just miss that feeling of a coherent, singular TF universe. Transformers had a distinct look to them that's been lost in recent years whether through Beast Wars, Movie, Star Wars or Animated. All good in their own right but too radically different to mesh with each other.

The Armada trilogy and RID could easily have been worked as an expansion of G1/2. I know I sound like a G1-er but I'm only trying to express a desire for a singular TF universe ala Star Wars. I miss walking into a shop and seeing TF's that were instantly recogniseable as such.

Also, the multiple versions of characters is ridiculous. Every remake is a lost new character. I remember passing up the re-release of G1 Jazz and Inferno because I already had the Pretender and Actionmaster. I had no interest in buying a character I already had when I could get a new one. People say it's because of the recognisability of the iconic characters like Bumblebee and Prime but that never meant anything to us as kids. A good tech spec got me hooked. Look at Kick off. A non transforming TF but I loved him to bits because of his cool bot mode and exciting character as a vengeful gladiator. Misters Roberts and Roche obviously liked him too as evidenced in Revenge of the Wreckers.

Rodimus the Prime wrote:
There's still a larger world out there that thinks we're all nuts, so I would rather see us be more supportive of one another, rather than be at each-other's throats and calling each other silly names over whichever form of TFs is truest or best or whatever.

Exactly!!!

Windsweeper wrote:I think the constant rebooting is definitely a factor contributing to the loss of magic. It's not just the newer series like Armada or the Movie, but the re-release of G1 every few years. There are so many different versions out there and it gets kind of head wrecking.

In the old days you just had the cartoon and comics and while the continuities differed in a lot of ways, the characters were basically the same. The tech specs on the toys elevated the TF's above the generic robots of other lines and formed the basis of the characters in both media so they didn't feel too different.

I was primarily following the UK comic. I looked forward to it every week and while I got a handful of toys each year, the comic sustained me with an ever expanding cast and coherent universe.

I'd look at the toys in the shop every week, reading the tech specs, knowing I'd see them soon in the comics.

Don't get me wrong, I like something about every version of TF's but I just miss that feeling of a coherent, singular TF universe. Transformers had a distinct look to them that's been lost in recent years whether through Beast Wars, Movie, Star Wars or Animated. All good in their own right but too radically different to mesh with each other.

The Armada trilogy and RID could easily have been worked as an expansion of G1/2. I know I sound like a G1-er but I'm only trying to express a desire for a singular TF universe ala Star Wars. I miss walking into a shop and seeing TF's that were instantly recogniseable as such.

Also, the multiple versions of characters is ridiculous. Every remake is a lost new character. I remember passing up the re-release of G1 Jazz and Inferno because I already had the Pretender and Actionmaster. I had no interest in buying a character I already had when I could get a new one. People say it's because of the recognisability of the iconic characters like Bumblebee and Prime but that never meant anything to us as kids. A good tech spec got me hooked. Look at Kick off. A non transforming TF but I loved him to bits because of his cool bot mode and exciting character as a vengeful gladiator. Misters Roberts and Roche obviously liked him too as evidenced in Revenge of the Wreckers.

BINGO! First sentence sums it up well. Maybe we are in fact getting too much of the exact same stuff every year.

Autobot Smoketreader wrote:

Rodimus the Prime wrote:
There's still a larger world out there that thinks we're all nuts, so I would rather see us be more supportive of one another, rather than be at each-other's throats and calling each other silly names over whichever form of TFs is truest or best or whatever.

Exactly!!!

Yes, and this is why I always put away my TFs in a secure place before I have my friends over, because they do not understand that people like ourselves are just enjoying a hobby, not dismissing leading a successful life to stay as a kid playing with "stupid f*****g s**t" (as my father calls my TFs) forever in his parents' basement with no motivation (sci-fi freak stereotype). And a lot of people do waste their time on here throwing slag at each other, which is why I'm so surprised so many intelligent people put some great incite into this thread.