The Energon Pub

I started really getting into Transformers about a year and a half ago. Not sure why, I am a child of the 80's. I guess it was the nostalgia factor. Either way, I started collecting G1, but quickly turned to classics. Now I hardly have any G1, just the few from my childhood. But I have a nice classics collection. I can't hardly even look at G1 anymore. I guess the classics/generations line gives the adult me a feel of wow and excitement I had as a child with that still familiar feel and look. I will ne'er give up the few G1 that were originally mine or my complete G1 Jetfire. That was my favorite as a kid. My grandmother gave me one as a child. I played with it so much all the time. I destroyed with fun and love. I guess transformers bring back so many wonderful memories.

I don't have a profound love for them, but I still can't get over the novelty of having 2 toys in 1. They're always a lot of fun.

What do they mean to me? They're fun. They last longer than a bottle of wine. I like looking at them. I like transforming them. I like posing them. I like painting them so I can look at them some more.

They are fun to transform... And make great display pieces.

They remind me of my happy childhood, spending countless days lost in the war between autobot and decepticon!

It took me a while to figure out what I found interesting in Transformers that separated them from other collectible toys. Then it hit me about a year ago - each one is different. Now let me explain; a silhouette of a transformer is unique to that character (repaints not withstanding) because of the second mode. Compare that to Marvel legends, or star wars or GI Joe and most of the figures are all pretty much alike aside for aesthetic details. Transformers are a variety of shapes, sizes and colours meaning that I have a dynamic display no matter how I organize them.

What do they mean to me? My life!

What a minute, nevermind, I have no life.

They're just a part of me.

ausbot wrote:They remind me of my happy childhood, spending countless days lost in the war between autobot and decepticon!

Almost every battle I staged between my Autobots and Decepticons ended in nuclear destruction. Cold war paranoia, I guess! To the OP, Transformers combined cool aesthetics plus a cartoon, comic, and they were challenging to learn the transformations, and satisfying when you did This all still applies, despite me now being a reasonably sane adult.

A big relieve of the day as I usually touch them in the late night before bed. I also love the fact that when I look at mine, each one of them may have its own story (besides some other toys are just for looking good). Even a repaint/retool is different than the other one.

they mean a great piece of my childhood memories, artistic inspiration and less stress than my main hobby

triKlops wrote:they mean a great piece of my childhood memories, artistic inspiration and less stress than my main hobby

What's your main hobby? Interested..

To the OP, transformers means to me 2 things:
1. Retail Therapy (I have no idea why but every time I got one, I'm really overjoyed)
2. Interesting Mechanics (combiners, transformation, engineering and the fact that it looks really awesome as a display piece(s))

freaky777 wrote:

triKlops wrote:they mean a great piece of my childhood memories, artistic inspiration and less stress than my main hobby

What's your main hobby? Interested..
)

graffiti writer since 93
http://www.flickr.com/triklops
Transformers has always been a part of that inspiration

They mean childhood, cool toys and a rather underrated cartoon series back in the day.

Collecting TFs definitely lets me connect with my childhood. As a kid TFs were by far my favorite carton and I had some TFs but not many. As an adult the movies rekindled that feeling and I started getting some of the movie figures. That wained off after a while until I started seeing the generations line and decided to collect as many as I could and try to replicate all the guys from the series (which I always wanted to do as a kid).

Now I try to collect any new figures related to the original carton. I like the articulation of the new figures and shopping for them gives me something to do when my GF drags me to Walmart, Target, TJ Max, etc. I also think its a lot less of a money waste than some of my former hobbies like cars and going out. At least the toys dont depreciate as much and I try to get double of figures I think will be valuable down the road.

I'd also like to add that they've been a great source of fun and time passing during periods of loneliness in previous years. When times have been bad they're always there in their scores waiting to play. They never run away from me like my rabbit sometimes does!

I couldn't afford many TF's as a kid, and collecting as an adult allows me to sort of fulfill a childhood wish.

To be honest, it didn't occur to me to start a collection until the Bayverse movies came out. The figures looked so good in terms in engineering that I just had to buy a few. Those few turned into several shelves of TF's over the years.

At first it was something that reminded me of happier times. and i have always loved robots. later in life i went threw alot of hard times, and focusing of my collecting and a few members/ former members of this site helped me threw that dark time. now though i cant really collect the way i used to or want to. they still are a big part of me. good memories, a distraction from the hardships of life, something cool to look at and display.

In the end Transformers mean alot of different things to me. Though mostly they keep me sane...if that makes sense.

As mainstream society has discovered (and severely banked upon)...nostalgia SELLS. Now that the "baby boomer" generation has grow up (and mostly gotten rich off the interwebs), they want a little piece of thier childhoods back, especially the ones they wanted but never had.

I am no different. Transformers were always my favorite toys growing up (I am 35 now), and they often went to war with the Thundercats, enslaved my G.I. Joes, stormed Castle Greyskull many times, and had many close wars with the Ninja Turtles (my #2 close favorite...almost a tie). Also used to built little fortresses and obstacles for them out of Legos.

So naturally as an adult I started to snatch them up, put them on shelves, and take them down every once in a while for some "selective action posing" (we dont PLAY with TOYS...lol).

Thankfully, I am at a place in my life where I dont have to skimp on much of anything...so I can pretty much afford to spoil myself with whatever I want...including the toys I never had as a kid but always wanted.

Never had the original constructicons as a kid...now I have Herc. Never had G1 megatron as a kid...now I have Hegemon.
I DID have the airielbots as a kid...until two of their little square peg-heads broke of INSIDE the should joints of Silverbolt...and you better be sure I am jumping on TFC's Uranus as soon as its available.

Looking forward to new releases, ordering them, getting them in the mail, looking at them on the shelf (am going to build a table-sized diarama for then), and the occasional "selective action posing" reminds me of a simpler time before bills, taxes, and other such piles of adult responsibility.

I grew up with them. 1984 was the first memorable birthday I had ever had. I had wanted Megatron, but ended up with Optimus Prime. (I don't regret it, not one bit.) I loved the show and movie when I was a kid, and I was just in love at first sight.

In the late '80s/early 90's, I drifted away towards Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Batman The Animated Series. G2 helped me drift back a bit, for a little while, but then it somewhat faded again.

Beast Wars...it really brought me back. Then I found out about the internet and ordered Megatron...I finally had him, after all those years of waiting. As time went on, the designs became more complex and more articulation was added. Then new characters came along, and new series such as the A/E/C trilogy, and I just drifted away from G1, altogether.

I can't find much to like about G1, anymore. I can't sit through the movie and keep my sanity, even though I own it on the anniversary DVD. But, I can't forget that G1 made TFs possible. So, for that I am thankful.

I just LOVE Transformers, on the whole. Not all aspects work, but the core idea, the core gimmick...it never changes and because of that, they will always be our good ol' reliable TFs. Each generation might see them differently, such as today's kids connecting to the Bayverse movies, or multiple generations connecting to Prime, but the core values and gimmicks remain and no matter the age, we can all agree that they're just awesome.

That's what Transformers mean to me. A piece of my youth I don't have to let go of, a way to connect with likeminded people and bridge a gap.

Childhood Memories + Fun to Transform = Tranformers <3

I just love giant robots and Transformers have that combined with nostalgia and the fact they are the cheapest option. My Gundam and Evangelion model habit was... very expensive in the past.

Though at the rate I am buying Transformers, they might mean divorce for me.

what it meant to me can be summed up in one figure masterpiece prime.

walking into walmart and finding one of my all time favorite bots in supersize form sealed the deal. before i heard of classics,titanium,alternity,or the movies there was mp prime.
when i found out about classics i was enthralled with the idea of owning updates of the figures i had as a kid. even those who never had figures before were now interesting.its why i love yellow giant,why i had to have perceptor, and why i needed a titanium rodimus prime for my "classics collection" as well as soundwave.
with each new addition im reminded of fond memories from my childhood and thats never a bad thing

i love robots. i love vehicles of all kinds. combine the two and you have my favorite thing on this planet hobby wise. they are my life. i will do some crazy stuff to get one that i really want. each one is different in character, shape size and paint. plus all i wanted growing up was more and more transformers so my parents got them for me. also i like how a character can be in another characters body. like drift in wheeljacks body in TF:prime. its a refresh on the character so its not the same thing over and over again, also the unicron trilogy was famous for this. and there are some bad ass and cool little alt modes they can have. the process on how the toy is made i find amazing. they will and forever will be in my life.

datguy86 wrote:I just love giant robots and Transformers have that combined with nostalgia and the fact they are the cheapest option. My Gundam and Evangelion model habit was... very expensive in the past.

Though at the rate I am buying Transformers, they might mean divorce for me.

I hope you're joking, if not, believe me, I speak from experience when I say this hobby isn't worth losing someone you love.

Autobot032 wrote:

datguy86 wrote:I just love giant robots and Transformers have that combined with nostalgia and the fact they are the cheapest option. My Gundam and Evangelion model habit was... very expensive in the past.

Though at the rate I am buying Transformers, they might mean divorce for me.

I hope you're joking, if not, believe me, I speak from experience when I say this hobby isn't worth losing someone you love.

I am mostly joking, but she does remind me there is a toll it take on the physical space of the house and our income (though bills always come first). We have a "toy room", but it's filled to the brim with totes right now. We're working on getting it set up with our stuff (she collects mini-Lalaloopsy dolls, some My Little Pony ,and old video game systems), but the Transformer habit is by far the most prevalent.

My hobbies have alienated people close to me in the past, so I have; at least, an understanding of where you're coming from. My condolences.