The Energon Pub

[Nekoman]

So now that we know what people dislike about it, I want to know what people like so much about this line?
Usually the only thing I hear is that its not Unicron trilogy or not movie repaints, but I haven’t come to understand the redeeming aspects of this line besides those two facts. So what's so great about Animated?

[JazZeke]

Well for one, the writing/characterization seems to be on par with that of Beast Wars. It'll focus more on a core cast of characters rather than putting the latest toy of the week up.

Plus, no more stock overused footage of characters transforming! I always hated those. Spend more time telling the story, instead of showing us the same damn flashy-background thing every five minutes.

[Geekee1]

Well, believe it or not, people find things aesthetically pleasing for different reasons. Personally, I enjoy the style of animated. I find it to be sleek, fluid, colorful, and I like the character and alt mode designs. Also the stylized designs lend themselves well to animation. You can get a lot of squash and stretch out of these characters to make them move very dynamically.

One of the biggest things that I like about the toys is how accurate they are to the cartoon (ignoring Bulkheads size). I remember watching G1 as a kid and wishing that the toys looked just like characters in the show. With animated we have that.

Also the toys look like they will be very solid, unlike a lot of the movie toys. I hate transforming the movie toys. I find them tedious, cumbersome, and usually feeling like they are going to fall apart (and then there's Payload who actually does fall apart). Stone me if you will, but I believe that I would rather have animated Bumblebee than CC Bumblebee. I find CC Bumblebee to be highly overrated in the fandom. I'll take just about any classic figure over him.

[No Death for Prowl]

Well, I can't truly say I will like this line until I actually get my hands on some of the toys, but here are some reasons why I think I WILL like this line:

1) The highly stylized look is something different. It seems like Animated is truly love or hate when it comes to its conceptual design. Many folks seem they don't look enough like traditional TFs, borrowing too much from other toy lines. I'll admit, some of the prototypes don't do it for me(the Primes in particular), but I think what I really like is that this is a truly different direction for the TF franchise, rather than just continuing the trend of some of the recent cartoon lines of highly colorful, blocky robots with elaborate alt modes that look too futuristic and abstract to be anything close to the original idea of "robots in disguise".

Change for the sake of change doesn't always work, but I like to see Transformers that look different from each other. It's part of the reason why I like the Movie line and I think the fact that Animated follows the movie line while being nearly on the opposite end of the aesthetics spectrum is both bold and fascinating.

2) The characters have *character*. The highly individualized styling lends itself well to different robots having different personalities and being truly unique. So far, of the early Autobots, Prime, Prowl, BB, Bulkhead, Ratchet are all highly distinguishable. Of course, most lines probably start that way and this distinction fizzles has multiple new characters are introduced and start to look like others, but the Animated line really seems to introduce a different looking character with each new toy.

3) A more "clean" look. The dimensions of the character are well outlined, you really get a sense of the robot's proportions and there seems to be a minimum of kibble. The colors are also practical enough that they don't distract from the overall character. Recent lines like Energon and Cybertron had colors that were often clashing and made it difficult to really appreciate any detail on the character. You also don't seem to get so many extraneous parts that the toy becomes cumbersome and ill-defined(I'm thinking Galaxy Force Prime with his backpack, though I still think he's a great toy).

Again, it's hard to say how this line with shake out, but I am eager to see if these toys live up to the expectations I have after seeing pictures of them.

[Bumblethumper]

I like that they're so simple. In some ways I think it's a greater challenge to design something simple than something with endless detail. Simplicity is much less forgiving.

When I saw the drawings I didn't think it'd be possible to turn them into functioning transforming toys, yet they've apparently pulled it off.

I also like that the designs are more individual and character driven. Each character design reflects that particular personality, much moreso than in the past.

[Magnimus]

While I appreciated the more realistic take on the Transformers in the live action film, and although I really do like the movie toys for the engineering it took to capture the complexity of movie designs in toy form, it is quite clear that a realistic style does not always a good toy make (see movie Ironhide). The movie toys look kid of dark and alien and unfriendly (except for Ratchet). The Animated toys, on the other hand, appear to be very fun in a pop-sense - brightly coloured, skewed angles, simple yet effective transformations - which I enjoy in contrast to the movie line.

Overall, I still think the shortlived Classics figures are the best Transformers ever produced, but I look forward to the animated figures more than I did the movie figures for the simple reason they seem more fun in that childhood sense whereas the recent slate of movie figures don't seem to capture that same sense of childish glee.

[Bumblethumper]

it is quite clear that a realistic style does not always a good toy make (see movie Ironhide).

In full agreement with you on that example ... not really a figure you'd want to play with, though what a fantastic automorph.

[shortround]

Well the figures are faithfully to the animated series sometimes to a fault but hey at least there trying something new.

[zemper]

since this is a toys forum, i'll just focus on the toys (as i have seen so far in pics).

first off, they all actually look very PLAYABLE. playable in the sense that i can transform these many times over without having to "line up" the panels and do some "massaging" in order to turn them back into their alt modes. plus with all the joints, they all look very posable, and having less kibble compared to movie toys (with the possible exception of Bulkhead) definitely aids in that aspect.

second, SIMPLICITY. sure, i'd like a challenge, but not to the point where you're actually afraid of transforming the toy itself for fear of breaking some parts. this is where TFTM fails and (HOPEFULLY) Animated will rectify. plus, hopefully no full-blown Automorph to mangle and break.


third, CHARACTER. i dunno about you, but the TFTM toys all looked the same to me. no character at all. same design concepts. it got old pretty quick. compare that to Animated, where each character has a "personality" evident even on their faces. and i'm not talking about the Jay Leno chins either.

fourth, ACCURACY. last time we had show-accurate bots was during Energon and Cybertron. it's really nice to see these toys shaping up to be almost exactly like their cartoon counterparts.

[WasPWNator]

As I've repeatedly said (I'll stop saying it eventually I promise!) I really like the new style. It was a bold move and I think it's really paid off; but what I really like about the toys is how high quality they look. I've only seen pictures so I can't certain about this, but they look really durable to me. This is one of the reaosns why I like the Cybertron toys more than the movie or other lines, (and why I prefer Hasbro toys to Takara ones) because Cybertron was sturdy. It looked like it could take a beating and be transformed over and over and still keep its shape and not have pieces fall off. Animated has that look. They appear to be tough, nicely designed, nicely made and just plain good toys!

Also, on a lesser note, I'm really excited to have some proper transformer feet! I hated the Movie characters feet- especially the Decepticons, most of them looked like insects or some kind of goat feet. The Animated characters get back nicely to the good old bulky stompfeet that are quintessesntially transformer.

[Jazz Reborn]

to me, nothing. but thta'smy opimion.

[Jaw Crusher]

I'll also keep my answers related to the Animated toys:

1) So far the figures we've seen have amazing show-accuracy for their design, which is more than G1 has.

2) The assortment of characters so far looks pretty awesome - outside of the 'main' cast, we know we'll also be getting Soundwave and the Dinobots.

3) Cybertronian AND Earth modes. Not quite the same as having DECENT (translation: PLASTIC) War Within toys, but a good step anyway.

4) We finally have a MAIN line where Prime has an ax and Megatron's got his fusion cannon back.

[Bumblethumper]

4) We finally have a MAIN line where Prime has an ax and Megatron's got his fusion cannon back.

That's another big plus: The key characters are there, and most of them look pretty close to what they're s'posed to. Some very solid representations of popular characters here. There's reinvention, but it's like they haven't thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

[Sowndwave76]

I honestly agree with all of the positive feedback...
Character "personality"
Simplicity
Variety of characters
Show accuracy...

For me personally, all of that stuff is icing for the STYLE.
Even if these WEREN'T show accurate, I love the look of these...
I said this in another thread,
that for me, the look of the bot mode is pretty much the determining factor as to if I like or dislike a TF toy.
Luckily, for everyone we've seen, I think both modes are on point.

[Agent 007]

Nothing much, the shows not bad, cept some of the characters (cough Sari) (Cough, Bumblebee) The only toys I can stand to look at are the voyager Prime and Megatron. I might pick em up but I won't go out of my way for em either.

[Sherade]

Well, I agree with all the good stuff, and even though I'm no G1 purist, the sheer similarity to G1 is great. I mean, it has:
-What I propose to be the same Ratchet as G1
-A small major human cast
-Bumblebee
-G1 type look (but heavily refreshed)
-Great G1 references in general
Plus it carries some of the movie type story and has reinvented the usual storyline with the Autobots and such.

[Raymond101]

BLACKARACHNIA!!!!!










Well, there's also the entire Decepticon cast... I reckon they would kick the arses of the movie Decepticons. And then there;s Ultra Magnus as Supreme Commander, which is a strange but welcome change... it's just so fresh and new but still Transformers.

Oh, and am I the only one who actually likes Sari as a character? I think she's the most likeable human character since Spike (and I didn't like him that much).

[Blurrz]

Blurr is back! That's why Animated rocks! Haha.. well actually.. I don't know. It's a completely different style of Transformers.. that's why I think everyone likes it.