The Energon Pub

Thu Aug 19, 2010 5:48 am

So, what got you into Transformers? For me it was my dad. He's been an avid follower of the series ever since it first came out, and I guess it rubbed off on me. I remember playing with his G1 toys when I was growing up. I used to spend hours transforming them from robot to alt and back again.

News Credits: 241 · Thu Aug 19, 2010 8:02 am

The cartoon, definitely the cartoon. At the time I started watching we were already in Season 3 in Europe, but thankfully the UK station Sky One kept re-running the episodes of Season 1 and especially 2. Once my parents got the Micromaster Off Road Patrol, I was hooked. Always had a special place in heart for years without realising it :oops:

Thu Aug 19, 2010 8:49 am

g1 movie i loved it so much my parents weekly rented it from blockbuster

News Credits: 7 · Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:58 am

The interessing stories and characters and many others.

My first cartoon was Beast Wars.

Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:23 pm

Well, my dad bought by Bluestreak back in 1984, then MTMTE premiered...

Not sure what it was about it, since I was all of five or so. :lol:

Thu Aug 19, 2010 4:06 pm

RK_Striker_JK_5,

I share a similar experience -- my Dad bought me a Transformer around 1987 and I was hooked ever since. I think my first Transformer was Soundwave...I wish I still had him!

- Bob

Thu Aug 19, 2010 4:17 pm

My brother, who is an avid fan. It also helped that we had season 1 on VHS

Thu Aug 19, 2010 7:07 pm

I'll start with a sad little story...
My parents were getting a divorce in 1985, so life was kinda miserable for awhile. My mom, not being able to afford TV, had to shut it off and I was forced to either climb the mountain behind our house or read for entertainment. I found a lot of time to ponder life as I climbed mountains, but the reading gave me an escape.

Now, the story gets a little happier...
My brothers bought comic books with their allowance, so when they were done, I'd get to read them. One of my favorites was Transformers and it wasn't long before I was hooked and buying my own. We never did get TV back, but thankfully, my grandparents lived next door and I'd to catch the G1 cartoon once in a while.

I made a few friends because of the the Transformers, too. I had a fan letter published, and from that had quite a few pen-pals for awhile. I was a pretty lonely kid back then, and finding a bunch of people with the same interest was a blessing. Though, as life went on, I lost touch with most of those people simply because my time was spent raising my son, going to school, working and all those everyday things that bring a broader meaning to our lives.

When the movies came out, I was hooked all over again. I was at a time in my life when I could relax an little and rediscover some of those things I'd loved in the past. I dug out the old comic book collection and my tiny collection of Transformers toys - it was like visiting old friends! I've even found a couple of those pen-pals here on this site, which is cool - it's been like 20 years since I've heard from any of them!

When I'm 95, I'm still going to have a special place in my heart for TF!

Thu Aug 19, 2010 7:17 pm

Walked by the window of KB Toys in the local mall in 1984, and they had a Transformers display in the window. I was hooked immediately. They were the prettiest toys I had ever laid eyes on, and I had to have them. I bought as many as I could, and then some, for 5-6 years, and then lost interest (Thank you Headmasters and Targetmasters). I walked away from collecting and sold my original collection, save for a few...I was just uninterested at the time.

Fast forward 17 years. I was bored and Googled Megatron....right around the time MP Megatron came onto the market. I saw the pic of the figure and it was on again.

I am living proof that once plastic is in your blood, it never..and I mean NEVER....goes away.

Thu Aug 19, 2010 7:53 pm

Well, back in the early 1980s, my favorite show, even more than Voltron, He-Man, and GI Joe, was Transformers. I loved the theme song, I was amazed at the transforming, and I loved the personalities and humor of the characters, especially Starscream, Optimus, Megatron, Grimlock, and Soundwave. I actually admired Soundwave so much I was wistful that he was a Decepticon, because he seemed like a good guy who fell in with the wrong crowd.

Anyway, my mom got me G1 Starscream for Christmas, I guess in 1984 or 1985. I loved it. After that I got one Transformer every Christmas and one for my birthday. That continued until 1988 or 1989 when G1 was winding down. I was always excited to figure out how to transform them and they were by far the coolest toys I ever saw, though I did find many somewhat disappointing even as a child because of the lack of poseability and how lots of them came in pieces (the fists, the wings, etc.). The lack of diecast metal in later Transformers was also disappointing.

Unfortunately in grade school I sold most of my Transformers off to a friend because I had no money and no allowance and wanted to buy things like candy. I still have a couple of the originals from the later years, but they were abused by various siblings or guests, and they really weren't that great to begin with--things like the Autobot clones and a Pretender.

But when I saw a teaser trailer in 2006 for the upcoming 2007 movie, all those memories came back. I was extremely skeptical of the new toys due to the lack of die cast metal and rubber tires, but eventually (in March 2008 or so) decided to buy one to see how it was. I was so impressed that I bought a couple more. And then a couple more. And at that point, it was the amazing design and art of the toys that hooked me. I did not like what Michael Bay did with the bots in the films, and I don't like a lot of the toys based on the bots that appeared in the films, but many of the toys that were designed independently of the movie art are awesome.

News Credits: 22 · Fri Aug 20, 2010 12:12 pm

My very first experience with Transformers was issue #13 of the marvel comics, "Shooting Star." Then I got G1 Prowl and then Powermaster Prime toys, and never looked back. 20 years, all the comics and a shitload of toys later, I can call myself a "GEEWUNNER." Even though I like most of the TF lines and series, save for Beast Machines.

News Credits: 2 · Fri Aug 20, 2010 3:04 pm

The G1 cartoon is the catalyst for me. When I was a kid in the early 90s, the cartoon's run was over and was in syndication so I was able to watch a couple of episodes of Transformers each day at various times and totally out of episode order, haha. Beast Wars also started up a few years after I got into G1 and that definitely kept my interest alive.

Fri Aug 20, 2010 9:43 pm

Combination of my mom and the movies.
I was born in 94, she used to watch G1 and when Beast Wars came out she set me and my brother up watching that. My interest dwindled during RID and then when Armada and Energon were for cable(which we didn't have) I lost all interest except for the toys.
Cybertron then came out for normal channels and I started recording it, I liked it, had a few toys from it.

Then the movies came and that was where I REALLY got interested, this was when I began to look things up and research TransFormers, I had continuity issues(thinking ALL continuities are tied together) but I straightened them out eventually.

News Credits: 3 · Fri Aug 20, 2010 10:15 pm

i had the toys and watched the cartoon for as long as I can remember. My parents had me set up to be a life long tf fan basically from birth. I even remember my aunts boyfriend running into a kb toys to pick me up g1 Blur (pre-targetmaster). i dont think I was 5 yet. I remember balling during the g1 cartoon movie when i was about 3 and it was in theaters.

I literally dont remember a point in my life that tf's werent part of it

Sat Aug 21, 2010 8:54 pm

Absolutely loved them as a kid. Watched Tf cartoons more than any other, and had lots of the toys. Grew up and forgot about them until 2004 or 5 when I first learned of the Classics line and the upcoming live action movie... I doubt i'll ever forget them again.

Sat Aug 21, 2010 9:06 pm

The G1 cartoon was part of my after school TV regimen. It was a 2 hour block of Thundercats, M.A.S.K., GI Joe, and then Transformers before dinner and homework.

News Credits: 1 · Sat Aug 21, 2010 9:36 pm

Pyrostrata wrote:I am living proof that once plastic is in your blood, it never..and I mean NEVER....goes away.

Heh, I like the way that sounds!

I have NO idea how I was introduced to Transformers as a kid; it had to be the G1 cartoon I'm guessing. I fell away from it all in 1987 sometime (the Predacons were the last TFs I remember having), but I came back with a vengeance sometime shortly after ROTF came out. I don't know exactly why, but it brought me back into the fold big time.

Sun Aug 22, 2010 8:51 am

The G1 show. I just happened to tune in on the right channel at the right time. That series along with Voltron made me a fan of robots till this day. However the Voltron series just has aged well IMO.

Sun Aug 22, 2010 9:56 am

Energon Is My Drug wrote:
Pyrostrata wrote:I am living proof that once plastic is in your blood, it never..and I mean NEVER....goes away.

Heh, I like the way that sounds!

I never had that affliction until just recently...

Sun Aug 22, 2010 9:38 pm

When growing up I can remember waking up early in the morning so that I could get my school clothes and backpack together. Then grabbing my cereal so I wouldn't miss the very first episode. I think it was during He-Man or Inspector Gadget when they advertised the cartoon to premire in the morning at 6. Then I went to the store with my dad and he told me to pick a transformer that I really wanted. So I had to have Jazz. From there I would pick up figures for birthdays, Christmas, good grades and such. After moving from Ill to SC. Money for us got rough and was able to get figures from time to time, but stopped for a long time. Got interested in bikes, cars, and girls. Then BW came out and here I am steadily trying to collect as many figures as I can. I do remember a trade I did a long time ago, I thought it was the best trade ever. My brother bought me Starscream, but I didn't like him. I wanted Soundwave or Skyfire/Jetfire. So I traded a kid in class. I remember my brother being so mad at me so I never traded again. But that figure had so many battles at my friends house.

Mon Aug 23, 2010 7:38 am

watching the cartoons when i was little

News Credits: 104 · Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:59 am

Seeing the original commercial in 1984 with cars turning into giant robots.. What more can you ask for??

Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:59 pm

When i was seven in 2002 i found the 1986 movie at a yard sale i thought it looked really cool so i asked my mom to buy it for me. When i got home i dashed straight for the VCR and put it in, and back then the unicron sceane were he ate the planet scared the **** out of me. :sad:

But after that it went back to Hot rod in the mountains with daneil

and they were fishing, now they said this movie took place in 2005 and when daneil got on the hoverboard i was like "I WANT THAT!!!!!....Only three more years" not really :sad:

but then i met kup the awesome old timer. Later, It went to Perceptor, Ultra Magnus, Springer!!!!!, arcee, and blurr the funniest autobot out there. all of these guys were just plain amazing. Then there was soundwave and minions vs Blaster and sidekicks(the ultimate battle of cassettes). now optimus primwe the greatest leader in autobot history aside from A3 or Alpha trion. When optimus came in to battle and the touch played it was awesome when he crashed into trust dirge and blitzwig was cool! Then it happend Prime beat the living **** out of megatron but megatron hit him with a cheap pistol shot. AWESOME!!!!!!!!! :grin:

Galvatron creation sceane AWESOME!!!! :grin:

Junkion Sceane AWESOME!!!!!!! :grin:

Prime dying :sad:

buntch of other funny and awesome stuff like RODimus Prime :grin:

and the scary unicron died and his head will forever orbit around cybertron

after all that my head hurt :lol:

but i had just witnessed the greatest transformers movie ever and then i watched the two g1 seasons before and 3 & 4 and then came Headmasters HEAD ON!!!! such a cool idea but i couldnt understand it cause it was in japanese im still waiting for those english dubbings (fat chance) :sad:

but thats what got me into transformers

Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:28 pm

Like many I suppose I've always been into them, in some form or another. Granted I was only 2 when them whole thing started, so not much memories of that time, but mebbe when I was five or six, catching the original series on TV after school, and getting up early on weekends for the classic WB cartoons and Hanna-Barbara cartoons, Jetsons, Flintstones, Bugs bunny an what not.

Gifts were pretty much either Legos or Tf's, some years both. Never have sold any of my collection, although a few have been lost/damaged beyond the point of keeping. In middle school it was Beastwars, and Reboot as my go to animated entertainment.
When high school came round my interest flagged, as I focused on my studies, but then one year I was in a used vid store with my then GF and I saw an original VHS of the movie, it was mine for christmas that same year. I'm still working on collecting the DVD re-relesaes of the G1 series, and recently got into the comic book/ Graphic Novels last year.

so ya.

Pyrostrata wrote:I am living proof that once plastic is in your blood, it never..and I mean NEVER....goes away.

i totally agree.

News Credits: 22 · Mon Aug 23, 2010 3:42 pm

Protectorite wrote:When i was seven in 2002 i found the 1986 movie at a yard sale i thought it looked really cool so i asked my mom to buy it for me. When i got home i dashed straight for the VCR and put it in, and back then the unicron sceane were he ate the planet scared the **** out of me. But after that it went back to Hot rod in the mountains with daneil and they were fishing, now they said this movie took place in 2005 and when daneil got on the hoverboard i was like "I WANT THAT!!!!!....Only three more years" not really but then i met kup the awesome old timer. Later, It went to Perceptor, Ultra Magnus, Springer!!!!!, arcee, and blurr the funniest autobot out there. all of these guys were just plain amazing. Then there was soundwave and minions vs Blaster and sidekicks(the ultimate battle of cassettes). now optimus primwe the greatest leader in autobot history aside from A3 or Alpha trion. When optimus came in to battle and the touch played it was awesome when he crashed into trust dirge and blitzwig was cool! Then it happend Prime beat the living **** out of megatron but megatron hit him with a cheap pistol shot. AWESOME!!!!!!!!! Galvatron creation sceane AWESOME!!!! Junkion Sceane AWESOME!!!!!!! Prime dying buntch of other funny and awesome stuff like RODimus Prime and the scary unicron died and his head will forever orbit around cybertron after all that my head hurt but i had just witnessed the greatest transformers movie ever and then i watched the two g1 seasons before and 3 & 4 and then came Headmasters HEAD ON!!!! such a cool idea but i couldnt understand it cause it was in japanese im still waiting for those english dubbings (fat chance) but thats what got me into transformers

Just had to quote that because it reminds me of when I was a kid and got into Transformers, though I didn't have TF:TM as my first impression...