The Energon Pub

I'm putting my toys away and I am no longer gonna care about TFs anymore! This is a horrably mismanaged franchise and badly treated fanbase. Let's face it! We're being abused financally and we just take it!
First when they killed off the first line of bots in 1987, second with the Bay-formers romp in the magical world of explosions and third with Transformers animated getting canceled this...this throwing away a perfectly good series! I was going to see the sequal but then again I hate sitting in a movie where I'm shown sex objects, no plot and no real repect for the viewing audience's intellegence. I'm done you want me to care again then show you care.

I don't know why you think it's mismanaged. Personally, I find Hasbro to be very smart about what they've been doing. Sure they may not always give us what we want, but they get around to it eventually. Besides, if they gave us everything we wanted, we'd have nothing to look forward too.

The fact that the Transformers have survived for 25 years and more if you count Diaclone, I don't think it's a badly treated franchise.

Just because they're not catering to your tastes, doesn't mean you're speaking for the majority.

Mis-managed? HA! What a crock.

Have you read the stuff coming out of BotCon?

Animated was cancelled because Hasbro have decided to set up their own network and as such needed to end the agreement with CN.

They're still looking to produce a number of Animated toys that didn't get released.

The movie? Yeah, okay, you don't like it. Fair enough. That's why Hasbro put out other lines like Animated and Classics/Universe.

Oh and you know, Animated wasn't meant to last forever. A/E/C each only had one-two years of release, that's Hasbro's business plan to keep things "fresh".

No really, go read the stuff coming out of BotCon then try to tell me Hasbro doesn't give a fudge what the "fans" think. They're clearly doing their best to not only cater for the fans, but to keep a franchise going that appeals to more than just hardcore fans and I think they're doing a great job.

So much hostility towards a toy company.

Sky Glory of Iacon wrote:First when they killed off the first line of bots in 1987

You can always go back and play with your toys and watch the dvds.

Sky Glory of Iacon wrote:second with the Bay-formers romp in the magical world of explosions

You don't have to watch the movie or buy the product. Thats how buisness works. If enough people agree with you and they don't spend their money, Hasbro will change their product. Case in point: the Classics toyline was only supposed to be filler until the new movie line came out (I read that on here somewhere). When collectors responded positively to it, Hasbro decided to continue Classics as the Universe line.

Sky Glory of Iacon wrote:Transformers animated getting canceled

That is a shame, but they released the dvd's and from what I hear there is something new coming out.

Don't dispair. I am sure TF's will come up with some way to get your money!

Oh, how it pains me to say this, Sky, but Burn's exactly right. Go read through all the BotCon stuff, or give me a call and I'll tell you all about it firsthand. The stuff Hasbro has in store for us puts the first movie line to shame. Arcee. Bludgeon. Leader class movie Starscream (with hands, a slightly narrower body, and less gimpy legs!). I could keep going. Sure, it sucks to see Animated going away, but that's how TFs is. We get something totally new and fresh every few years. Gotta keep the kids interesting, and keep appealing to a new crowd.

At least wait to see all the goodies coming out in 2010 before you decide to leave the hobby.

I can totally see where Sky Glory's coming from, honestly, but I'm not ready to throw in the proverbial towel. (Leader...class...Starscream---eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!)

Let's face it, though, Hasbro has complete control over the franchise--even to the game and the comic books and tv shows. They decide things not based on fan luv, but on fan dollars. When one line is more or less reaching saturation, it makes perfect business sense to scrap it and start again with all new molds and characters to force people to reach into their wallets anew. It doesn't mean I like it.

And all y'all jumping on Sky Glory, even you must admit that sometimes (Beast Wars, anyone?) Hasbro's gotten kind of obnoxious about it--transmetals, new molds every season, etc. Yes, that was *then*, this is *now*--I have to admit that the Hasbro people I saw this weekend seemed more into creating AWESOME molds and figures than just crankin' out more stuff.

And you KNOW I'm right with Sky Glory about the "why I gotta see Megan Fox's gluteal fold every five minutes?" thing. (Oh, SkyGlory--wait till the movie comes out. I'll give a hint: They're in the desert, and she's wearing skin tight *white* pants. Not practical, not tactically useful. And probably before Memorial Day.)

Still, the franchise has survived worse.

And they more or less flat out stated that there WOULD be a new TF cartoon on the new network. So, hey, why not at least wait and give that a shot?

HK, so jetlagged it is not even funny.

Buh-bye. Remember, the door's never locked.

Omega Charge wrote:Buh-bye. Remember, the door's never locked.

Completely un-necessary.

One thing I forgot to add Sky. You're not the first to feel this way and I should have said to you what i've said to others.

There's 25 years of TF history. There's so much stuff out there to go back over and enjoy it'll keep you happy until something else comes along.

It's no secret I don't like Animated, but i've got my G1, BW, BM etc dvd's to watch, i've got comics to read, i've got a crap load of toys from all seasons to fiddle with, believe me, it keeps me entertained while I wait for something other than Animated to roll along!

10... 20... 30... 40... 50
I've got $50 in TRU gift cards that I'll give you for your old nasty TF's so that you can go out and start a new hobby.

How about Pokemon or Power Rangers? I hear they don't change much.





But seriously. What Burn said.

Savage wrote:Oh, how it pains me to say this, Sky, but Burn's exactly right. Go read through all the BotCon stuff, or give me a call and I'll tell you all about it firsthand.

It's okay here hold me!

The stuff Hasbro has in store for us puts the first movie line to shame. Arcee. Bludgeon. Leader class movie Starscream (with hands, a slightly narrower body, and less gimpy legs!). I could keep going. Sure, it sucks to see Animated going away, but that's how TFs is. We get something totally new and fresh every few years. Gotta keep the kids interesting, and keep appealing to a new crowd.

At least wait to see all the goodies coming out in 2010 before you decide to leave the hobby.

I won't leave most of my fustration is with other things non transformers related One of them being the internet at the house is down! (stupid router! Had to die a slow death!) I am posting at school before I leave for the night.

Bun-Bun wrote:10... 20... 30... 40... 50
I've got $50 in TRU gift cards that I'll give you for your old nasty TF's so that you can go out and start a new hobby.

How about Pokemon or Power Rangers? I hear they don't change much.





But seriously. What Burn said.

How bout no...well excpet for burn but still no moneies!

Burn wrote:Mis-managed? HA! What a crock.

Have you read the stuff coming out of BotCon?

No Not really beause ya see this thng called a router died and I haven't even got the abilty to even send smoke signs with this 900 dollar door stop. Hey Ya know what I have been reading is Snow Crash awesome book!.

Animated was cancelled because Hasbro have decided to set up their own network and as such needed to end the agreement with CN.

Nice...I want the new network to be called Discobro! The mascot can be a blue rapper who raps and does hip hop moves.

They're still looking to produce a number of Animated toys that didn't get released.

So I can still get a make me pretty Starscream? Hurray!

The movie? Yeah, okay, you don't like it. Fair enough. That's why Hasbro put out other lines like Animated and Classics/Universe.

Yeah about that...

Oh and you know, Animated wasn't meant to last forever. A/E/C each only had one-two years of release, that's Hasbro's business plan to keep things "fresh".

My big question is what are they doing for kids and women?

No really, go read the stuff coming out of BotCon then try to tell me Hasbro doesn't give a fudge what the "fans" think. They're clearly doing their best to not only cater for the fans, but to keep a franchise going that appeals to more than just hardcore fans and I think they're doing a great job.

I wanna know what they are doing for the girls so parents can have Sally instead play with Disney Princesses She can play with some fembots! I want Fembot figures!

I can understand where you're coming from. After all, Hasbro has pulled the plug on things/changed things before just for the sake of "omg new toy buy now lolz advertising." But aside from a few minor annoyances, I think we've been treated pretty well.

What are they doing for kids?

ummmm ... the entire franchise is geared towards kids.

As for what they're doing for women ... well ... they need to do anything?

I mean let's be serious here, they're a toy company. Transformers has, and will for a long time yet, be aimed at male children.

And to be serious a bit more, just how many females are fans compared males? (Yes I realise they're out there but everyone knows it's a minority) Do you really want a toy company suddenly changing the line to appeal to the majority of young females? Come on, that's just bad business.

Oh no! Transformers is [url]RUINED FOREVER[/url] because Hasbro are doing things I don't particularly like!

Honestly, if you don't like Hasbro, the LAM, or whatever, don't spend money on them. No one's forcing you to. Although according to some 'fans' out there, it's better to waste money on toys you don't want, and then bitch about it on the internet.

If you only like G1, then fair enough. Same goes for Animated, and any and all continuities. But everyone likes different things, some of us even like pretty much everything. If you don't like a certain continuity, then just move on. But don't threaten to stop playin and take you ball home because you don't like the current show or movie. It's slightly petty.

NO...

i am fairly new to this community im still a teenager, who watched the G1 series while my friends watched
Bays movie, but i know that we are not a destroyed fan-base there are people who are still ready to insert crazy amount of money in the TF saga. For good and for bad. NO you are wrong, because we are Seibertronians

Burn wrote:What are they doing for kids?

ummmm ... the entire franchise is geared towards kids.

As for what they're doing for women ... well ... they need to do anything?

I mean let's be serious here, they're a toy company. Transformers has, and will for a long time yet, be aimed at male children.

And to be serious a bit more, just how many females are fans compared males? (Yes I realise they're out there but everyone knows it's a minority) Do you really want a toy company suddenly changing the line to appeal to the majority of young females? Come on, that's just bad business.

As gender roles start to bleed togeter it's something to start looking at. Esspally since you don't need to change much just release the figures of fembots like Elita-one, Moonracer E.T.C. as part of the Universe line.

When I was a girl I wanted to have Scarlett and The Barroness from GI Joe cause I related to them being a girl. There are girls out there who hate Hannah Montana and Disney Princesses and love to have something not so girly. Socially aware parents as well. You just gotta get their attention from.

One more day till the internet is mine again!

Sky, I feel the same way about most if not all of the points you made.
Lately, I have been very obnoxious about my opinions surrounding the whole franchise and I have had many of the same folks responding with the same counter arguments. Some of my "attitude" has been because of, like you, misplaced frustration from outside influence. Some of it has been because of the need to change tact since logic and reason have been falling on deaf ears on this and other TF sites. Don't allow yourself to be swayed too easily into jumping back into things. Even if your feelings seem to have "mushroomed" into a huge cloud they still had to have a base to grow from. And you are not the only one out there who is seeing what others are apparently blind to.
Likewise, for the folks trying to "bring you back in", you people should take the time to really look into the pattern of things and not just follow blindly. I've been obnoxious lately for a reason and that being to shock you folks into listening and stop behaving like sheep. Despite my irritating and seemingly biased rants at times I have actually taken a thought out approach, from both sides, into how the structure of everything has gone lately.
Hasbro is a major corporation, money is their number one goal and their only obligation to us is to tell us exactly what they think we want to hear. Hasbro is not your friend, it is not your acquaintance. You are a consumer and not even it's target consumer at that, and that makes YOU Hasbros bitch! Never forget that!
I know it's just one persons opinion and most of you have dismissed it as a nut-jobs rant. That's your right and that's cool. I would just hope that, since more than one of us now share similar views, that would at least inspire some to stop and question.

And for you gals, I'm behind you as far as the sexist approach with the movies and the lack of female aimed toys. I'm a straight male and yet I still feel that the overexposure of Megan Fox is totaly unnecessary in the movie franchise. Personally, I was more turned on by Maggie grabbing a shotgun and try to cap Frenzy than any Mikaela scenes.
So Sky Glory while I won't say throw in the towel entirely, I will say that cautiously withdrawing and playing the watch and see game would be totally justified. There is something to your gut feelings so don't completely dismiss them.

Well Maggie was far hotter than Mikela anyways!

I mean Mikela rarely if ever actually closed her mouth. But Maggie had brains, she had a sexy accent AND she ran around in short skirts and high heels and KICKED ASS!

See, I have no problem with some women being somewhat more blatant "sex objects" as long as they can still stand toe to toe with the guys and have a brain. Megan Fox is hot, but she's not particularily brainy. The gal that played Maggie had both. Its basically coming down to, these are strong women who can still be very feminine and yet aren't waiting to be 'saved' or if they do need some 'saving' its because no matter who was in need of saving, they'd need saving. If it was her or a burly Army dude shouting "I NEED BACKUP! BACKUP! I NEED BACKUP!" while laying suppressive fire or hot girl yelling "HEY WE NEED SOME HELP!" while firing away.

I agree that they need to show some strong female characters eventually in the TF franchise, Sari was actually probably the closest we ever really got after Marissa Fairborne in G1 to be a take charge, 'I don't really need saving, but since I'm hanging by my fingernails... I could use the help!' female. Arcee was pretty good, but then sometimes she seemed to devolve into the 'girlfriend' character. We really need a good strong few fembots that while they can be tough should still be comefortable being the 'female' of the species. And as for human allies, it would be nice to have a few take charge ladies, but not so take charge they're basically the male characters in skimpier outfits and higher voices. I'm sorry there's no way a 4'10" slim woman can fight a robot hand to hand or single handedly be a "Rambo-ette". Not unless they bulk her up somewhat and show that she's really well trained. That always bugs me in cartoons. They have these ultra skinny things that aren't super powered, acting all super-strong, super agile and super enduranced.

I can see where Sky is coming from. Hasbro only cares about money and if I were in charge things would be alot better. As for those of you saying read about Botcon stuff...where? Some of us aren't rich and can't go to Botcon. Also it's hard to get excited about Hasbro's channel until we know who's (like Dish network) is going to carry it.

Sky Glory of Iacon wrote:When I was a girl I wanted to have Scarlett and The Barroness from GI Joe cause I related to them being a girl.

Relating to them is one thing.

But when I stop and think about it, yeah, those two girls were tough, respected by their peers.

Now you're biggest gripe with Megan Fox is you feel she's nothing more than eye candy, that's fair enough. But take a look at the character, she's very much a tough character who can hold her own. She dove back into the middle of a war zone. And to be honest I don't think it's fair of you to be writing her off because she carries herself a sex symbol. Would you have found it more accepting if she'd worn something that covered her body more?

Sorry, but I really think the character of Mikaela was far from a eye candy when you stop and analyse things. She stood up to her jock boyfriend, she knew her way around an engine bay (sorry NickRyder but she actually does have brains) and she was quick to jump back into the middle of a war zone.

Character - Tough and smart
Megan Fox as a person - Good body and not ashamed of it. And is it so wrong to be proud of your body?

SentinelA wrote:Hasbro only cares about money and if I were in charge things would be alot better.

No it wouldn't.

As for those of you saying read about Botcon stuff...where?

ummm read the news on this site perhaps?

Burn, thanks for bringing up some of those positive points. I had overlooked those. That moment of contemplation during the city battle with her in the tow-truck was wicked powerful and a lot of guys would have cracked.
Megan Fox as a person, I have no issues with, she plays her part (as it is written) quite well. I just wish she had been given more moments like the ones you had pointed out. (Having her character humiliate Trent would have been a good start )

Burn wrote:Now your biggest gripe with Megan Fox is you feel she's nothing more than eye candy, that's fair enough. But take a look at the character, she's very much a tough character who can hold her own. She dove back into the middle of a war zone. [/quote)

She can't act. I guess she's pretty, if you like skank, but she's about as talented an actress as my seven-year-old cousin playing the corn at the Thanksgiving pageant. At least my cousin knew how to smile.

As for being a 'tough character who could hold her own'--I'm not sure we saw the same movie. I seem to remember her shrieking "SAAAAAMMMMMM!" an awful lot. She did ONE tough thing: she chopped up Frenzy. Kudos for that. The rest of it? She pouted and flounced around. From what I see of the new movie, she pretty much covers her mouth and looks helpless and weepy. I'm sure that'll hurt a few Decepticons.

If she'd really stood up to Trent, she'd've told him to shove his 20 inch rims up his (booty).

We never actually saw her do a damn thing to repair the car. She held up the hood and looked at the engine block and commented on how nice it was. *I*, mechanical idiot, could do as much. She didn't even have a *tool*.

Character - Tough and smart
Megan Fox as a person - Good body and not ashamed of it. And is it so wrong to be proud of your body?

Character, nope. See above. We never see her do or say anything 'smart'. I mean, are you kidding me? Tough? Like I said, I give her credit for cutting up Frenzy. But it WAS two against one and Frenzy did have his back to her. Coward's odds.

Proud of her body? I seem to recall in an interview she (Megan Fox) said something like "Noooooo! I'm so ugly! I mean I'm hideous! I look like Alan Alda or something!" (Okay, I don't remember the exact words, but she did say she thought she was ugly and that she looked like Alan Alda, which is pretty damned rude to Alan Alda, who was a total heartthrob to my mom.)

I'll snipe me for you: I'm old and unattractive (the word 'warthog' has been used to describe me, and not just my breath!), and even at my best physical shape, I wasn't *hot*. (I could ruck 110 pounds, which, to do that, incidentally, one isn't exactly *willowy*) I am proud of my body, but for what it CAN do and what it HAS done. Not for something as shallow and temporary as how it looks.

And I'm totally with Sky Glory's point: as a little girl, brunette, with glasses, it was Velma from Scooby Doo or the Baronness for me. Not really a tough choice. And either of them is a vast improvement over Mikaela.

HK, on par with Eleanor Roosevelt.

hellkitty wrote:Character, nope. See above. We never see her do or say anything 'smart'. I mean, are you kidding me? Tough? Like I said, I give her credit for cutting up Frenzy. But it WAS two against one and Frenzy did have his back to her. Coward's odds.

Given that she'd just seen two giant alien robots go at it (which would have been a completely new experience for her) and then went after one (yes she had backup). I think a lot of people would have seized up and freaked out at the site of the other two giant alien robots beating the holy heck out of each other.

But hey, that's just my opinion, if it happened to me i'd probably soil my pants.

Proud of her body? I seem to recall in an interview she (Megan Fox) said something like "Noooooo! I'm so ugly! I mean I'm hideous! I look like Alan Alda or something!" (Okay, I don't remember the exact words, but she did say she thought she was ugly and that she looked like Alan Alda, which is pretty damned rude to Alan Alda, who was a total heartthrob to my mom.)

And considering how she dresses outside of acting, yeah, it's a safe bet she likes her body and doesn't mind showing it off.

And of course she's going to say she's ugly, what better way to connect with ordinary pleebs than to act humble?

I'll snipe me for you:

You mistake me for someone who gives a toss what people look like, and for someone who would resort to hiding behind his compute to belittle others on their looks.

And I'm totally with Sky Glory's point: as a little girl, brunette, with glasses, it was Velma from Scooby Doo or the Baronness for me. Not really a tough choice. And either of them is a vast improvement over Mikaela.

Again, your opinion, entitled to it and what not, to each their own etc etc. I see where you're both coming from, I just see a different aspect to Mikaela than you guys. (And i'm not talking sexual either)

if you dislike it so much then don't see ROTF. Personally, I had very very low expectations for the movie, even after the first trailer came out (in what was it March?) But now after seeing the three new commercials - I'm pumped up more for this than the first movie!!!! It might rival Wolverine or Terminator it looks so good. May not best Star Trek though. They win so far. (And I'm a diehard SW fan too)