The Transformers Thread

[Darkside55]

None to get the whole thing at once unless you're looking to buy the box sets, for which I suggest eBay. If you don't mind streaming them, Veoh's got a lot of the G1 episodes on there, and I know Youtube has all of the Beast Wars episodes, and if for some God-only-knows reason you want to watch RiD, I came across those on Youtube as well. Some of the vids might seem to mess up on Veoh, but just click the little reload button in the window and they work.

You might want to watch too, Stern. Maybe you'll see why people love a cartoon meant to sell toys. Actually I do recommend you watch some Transformers (if only to say that you have), and then you might want to watch Gobots or even...the Rocklords.

...I can't believe I just suggested somebody go watch the Rocklords. I am so, so sorry. But, y'know, just so you understand the difference between them. One is cool, two are not.

 

[CptStern]

you dont want me to watch the cartoons ..no really you dont, you dont want to give more fuel for my fire

but to sate your curiosity I have seen some of the cartoons ..the old ones (even the gobots) beast wars and even the latest incarnation that looks like the art direction was designed by the guy who did Justice League (fan) or teen titans (not a fan)

pure and utter dreck ..I'm sorry but it's just horrid on the level of the 80's gi-joe, chuck norris and his commandos or even the rambo cartoon ..really really bad ..ok beast wars/later incarnation was better but the original show was just awful ..Fantasy Island awful ..Love boat awful ..Full House awful

 

[Darkside55]

I actually would want you to watch it, if only because it lends more credibility to your hating it. You know I'm a frothing-at-the-mouth fan of Transformers, but even I will say that G1 had it's share of problems. It isn't perfect. I'm on this Transformers documentary somewhere, and there are a LOT of fans who hate what I have to say, but I can tell it like it is. G1's got its share of problems. Well, the series...not the movie. The movie can do no wrong whatsoever.

Also aww man you hate FULL HOUSE? You're a monster. Comparing it to the Rambo and Chuck Norris cartoons breaks my heart too. I remember those cartoons; Chuck Norris fighting Super Ninja. God those were terrible. I'd rather watch the Mr. T cartoon. Also G.I. Joe could be retarded at times, but 80's G.I. Joe gave us Cobra Commander, and how can you hate on this:

Now THAT'S a villain! He even showed up one time in Transformers season 3 and said of the new Decepticons, "They just don't make villains like they used to. COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" I mean, he IS the only human to capably wield Megatron. He and Megatron had a shaky alliance.

Oh, and high-five for Justice League. Damn good show that also deserves a thread.

 

[CptStern]

there is only one gi-joe ..and he didnt fight in some made up war against some clownish organisation (spectre was more evil) so as to not offend anyone

my 4 year old son is obssessed with justice league/superheroes in general



speaking of superheroes I used to love the superfriends when I was a kid ..bought a dvd collection of the superfriends recently for my son and it's awful ..love boat awful ...Full House awful ...transformers awful

 

[Pesmerga]

I wanna know which history book Transformers is in.

 

[Eejit]

The thing I don't like about Transformers is it's one of those universes with multiple continuities. That always puts me off. In fact it's one of the reasons I generally prefer Marvel to DC, who really went too far with their multiverse - and every time they do an Infinite Crisis they just make more worlds again. Meh.

 

[ríomhaire]

Darkside, I'm afraid the new Transformers film is quite bad. Starscream is brilliant in it though, even if he doesn't show defiance against Megatron once <_<

The thing I don't like about Transformers is it's one of those universes with multiple continuities. That always puts me off. In fact it's one of the reasons I generally prefer Marvel to DC, who really went too far with their multiverse - and every time they do an Infinite Crisis they just make more worlds again. Meh.

Very true. But unlike DC comics Transformers generally don't let their universes stupidly intersect (at least not that I know off). I don't have a problem against multiple retellings of the same story, as long as they don't try to link them up badly.

 

[Sheepo]

Star scream owns

Also the animal version didn't have shiite on the other

 

[CptStern]

oh I almost forgot Darkside my brother in law gave my son a few of his old transformers ..the steel ones ..one is a triceratops looking slivery heavy thing and the other is ..starscream? one of the transformers that turns into a jet/f-14/whatever ..my son uses it as Wonder Woman's invisible jet

wonder woman:

he has almost the entire justice league collection

 

[ríomhaire]

Can you post a pic of the jet? In G1 there are 7 named Decepticon jets that I remember. The 3 originals, the coneheads and blitzwing. Starscream should be the red one that doesn't have a conehead (red conehead is Thrust).

 

[CptStern]

it's black with purple wings


edit:

I think it's this one:

skywarp

 

[Darkside55]

I wanna know which history book Transformers is in.

"The Consummate Guide to the 80s," written by D.S. Ide. The only history book worth reading in my opinion.

The thing I don't like about Transformers is it's one of those universes with multiple continuities. That always puts me off. In fact it's one of the reasons I generally prefer Marvel to DC, who really went too far with their multiverse - and every time they do an Infinite Crisis they just make more worlds again. Meh.

Yeah but Marvel messes up its regular universe all the time, so you have to wonder which is worse.

Plus as Riom said, the universes in Transformers don't intersect. The only tie between them is Unicron, who's said to exist in all the universes and is aware of himself in every universe. And that's only because he's a God.

Darkside, I'm afraid the new Transformers film is quite bad. Starscream is brilliant in it though, even if he doesn't show defiance against Megatron once <_<

I enjoyed the new film. I was actually talking about the 1986 film in my previous post, but I enjoyed the new one. Also, you're wrong; watch the final fight between Megatron and Prime, pay VERY close attention to the F-22s. When Starscream transforms, he takes position behind the lead Raptor. Then watch. It isn't the first F-22 that fires on Megatron...

...it's the SECOND.

..one is a triceratops looking slivery heavy thing and the other is ..starscream? one of the transformers that turns into a jet/f-14/whatever ..my son uses it as Wonder Woman's invisible jet

...it's black with purple wings

OH MY GOD

Your son has two of my favorite transformers of all time. Lucky kid.

The jet is Skywarp. He's the most evil of the Seekers, the Decepticon air force.

The triceratops is named Slag. He was like, my favorite toy as a child. I used to go around knocking the Decepticons down with him and mimicking his voice, saying, "EXCUSE ME!" Here's a good video of the Dinobots; it's mostly Grimlock but Slag's in there. After the 3 minute mark there's some good Slag footage. "Me Slag say you full of baridium bologna!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtGdfulu5KI

 

[CptStern]

so it worth monies? cuz my son doesnt play with it much ..besides as jet/bad guys for his justice league toys

 

[Darkside55]

If the Slag has all its parts, it could go for up to $80, more if in the box. I've seen Slag for a few hundred in the package.

Skywarp...maybe $30-50 out of the box?

 

[CptStern]

it's out of box ..I wouldnt sell it cuz my brother in law gave it to him

 

[Darkside55]

Introduce your son to Transformers and it might get more play.

 

[CptStern]

but it's sooo boring ...besides superheroes should keep him preoccupied for a long time

 

[Darkside55]

Well I'll tell you, the Transformers have a really good new show on TV right now. Superheroes have that Legion of Super Heroes show, which is really, really terrible. So you might not want him to watch the ridiculous adventures of boy Superman in the 31st century. Transformers though...

 

[CptStern]

ya he wouldnt understand the future superman so I've avoided it ..again the transformers is just a vehicle for selling toys, we dont need more toys ..so no. The problem is that there's nothing left to the imagination ..I mean they transform from a barely moveable robot to a barely moveable car/jet ..at least with superheroes he can role play the good guy


I'm moving on to classic cinema next ...probably start with three stooges or Laurel and Hardy ..if I can find a copy

in case some of you dont know (shame on you)

 

[ríomhaire]

ya he wouldnt understand the future superman so I've avoided it ..again the transformers is just a vehicle for selling toys, we dont need more toys ..so no. The problem is that there's nothing left to the imagination ..I mean they transform from a barely moveable robot to a barely moveable car/jet ..at least with superheroes he can role play the good guy

Sure, Transformers started to sell toys, but it is possible to watch the shows and not buy any of the toys! *gasp* (don't tell Hasbro).

All the current Transformers toys suck. Why? Because they're all so sperate from eachother. You get the two CYBERSTOMPERS and then you get a different type of Decepticon that is a completly different style of toy and a different scale. There's loads of them, but there doesn't seem to be any coherent set, which just plain sucks.

 

[CptStern]

Sure, Transformers started to sell toys, but it is possible to watch the shows and not buy any of the toys! *gasp* (don't tell Hasbro).

ya but there's nothing besides the toys to appeal to a 4 year old ...they dont follow plot all that well and there's no real clear defining of motivation (superheroes are easy: motivation = save people from bad guys) there's nothing that appeals to a 4 year old way of playing, where it's role playing the character ..how do you roleplay a 50ft giant robot who turns into a 1976 volkswagon beetle?

 

[ríomhaire]

ya but there's nothing besides the toys to appeal to a 4 year old ...they dont follow plot all that well and there's no real clear defining of motivation (superheroes are easy: motivation = save people from bad guys) there's nothing that appeals to a 4 year old way of playing, where it's role playing the character ..how do you roleplay a 50ft giant robot who turns into a 1976 volkswagon beetle?

Decepticon motivation = plunder the worlds energy supplies (which makes more sense than some supervillains motivations)
Autobot motivation = save people from bad guys

That said, I see where your roleplaying point comes from, but kids are rather good at it I think. I used to roleplay with a Biker Mice From Mars figure that didn't have a head (dog ate it).

 

[Darkside55]

All the current Transformers toys suck.

Have you seen the prototypes for the Animated toys? They look so cool. Also the Classics are really good, and they're in good scale with each other.

ya but there's nothing besides the toys to appeal to a 4 year old ...they dont follow plot all that well and there's no real clear defining of motivation (superheroes are easy: motivation = save people from bad guys) there's nothing that appeals to a 4 year old way of playing, where it's role playing the character ..how do you roleplay a 50ft giant robot who turns into a 1976 volkswagon beetle?

When I was younger, the toys were secondary to me. I had lots of the toys, don't get me wrong, but the appeal was the show itself. To this day my fondest memories are of the movie, not the toys I bought because of the movie. Don't be too sure about kids not following the plot; I was younger than your son when I started watching Transformers and I remember it all very clearly. Might be because I watched the movie at least two-to-three times every week for two months straight while it was in the theaters, but it was easy to follow the plot. Hence why I kept going back.

As for roleplaying, well, me personally I would play with the toys as I saw them in the movies. Sometimes I'd play out scenes from the movie or TV show, or I'd create my own adventures with them. I was kind of a persnickety kid about scale, so I tried not to mix-and-match figures that would normally be out of scale to each other (like having a ninja turtle fighting alongside Optimus Prime), but sometimes y'know Prime and Hot Rod along with Kup and the Dinobots had to defeat a rampaging Dinoriders T-Rex. What was the T-Rex doing there? I dunno, but he had lasers on his head, and he was clearly evil and rampaging, so SOMEONE had to take him down. It sure wasn't going to be those MASK guys I had, and the Ghostbusters only handled ghosts, not laser cannon-wielding T-Rexes. Kids can be very ingenuitive; you give them a bucket of toys and define them, and they start playing out their own scenarios.

 

[ríomhaire]

Have you seen the prototypes for the Animated toys? They look so cool. Also the Classics are really good, and they're in good scale with each other.

I was refering to the ones based off the film. I must have seen ads for 5 different Bumblebees. I agree with you about the scale thing too. My collection of toys were pretty rag-tag but I wouldn't use guys that are twice the size of everyone else.

 

[Darkside55]

Oh, yeah, some of the film toys are arse. The Voyager Class Prime's good, though; a friend of mine has that one. Voyager Class Megatron WOULD be good if he wasn't covered in ice. :hmph: They both need to be repainted though to look their best. The Bumblebees are good though, and I own a Barricade who's pretty cool. You can buy some lights at Radio Shack and wire him to have working sirens, too.

 

[French Ninja]

Oh yesh.

 

[Jintor]

Why Universe haaate Waaaspinatooor?

 

[Pesmerga]

Meggatrrronnnnnnn will be pleeeeeeeeeeeeezed!

Wait, that's not waspinator!

That's the ass kicking ant!

 

[Jintor]

FOR THE RoYALTY!

 

[CptStern]

When I was younger, the toys were secondary to me. I had lots of the toys, don't get me wrong, but the appeal was the show itself.

ya but that was because it still held some popularity with young kids at that time ..young kids today watch Go Diego Go or SpongeBob (pretty funny if you ask me) not transformers ..it's not what's "hip" with that demographic

To this day my fondest memories are of the movie, not the toys I bought because of the movie. Don't be too sure about kids not following the plot; I was younger than your son when I started watching Transformers and I remember it all very clearly.

but do you remember it from repeat viewings? did you get it the first time you watched it? also again that movie was out at that time ..the transformers movie (2007) would scare most 4 year olds ..too loud, too violent too fast paced, it's not targeted at 4 year olds ..it's not really a fair comparison because the movie was popular in your day ..it's not popular now

Might be because I watched the movie at least two-to-three times every week for two months straight while it was in the theaters, but it was easy to follow the plot. Hence why I kept going back.

again you cant remember if you got everything or even if what you understood was after several viewings ..again you also had an incentive to go back because the transformers were popular in the day

3 year olds (you were age 3?) dont understand basic plot devices ..their understanding even of things like Dora the Exploraer or Diego is rudimentary at best ..I know this from first hand experience and because it's a normal part of a 3yr old's developmental stage.

As for roleplaying, well, me personally I would play with the toys as I saw them in the movies. Sometimes I'd play out scenes from the movie or TV show, or I'd create my own adventures with them. I was kind of a persnickety kid about scale, so I tried not to mix-and-match figures that would normally be out of scale to each other (like having a ninja turtle fighting alongside Optimus Prime), but sometimes y'know Prime and Hot Rod along with Kup and the Dinobots had to defeat a rampaging Dinoriders T-Rex. What was the T-Rex doing there? I dunno, but he had lasers on his head, and he was clearly evil and rampaging, so SOMEONE had to take him down. It sure wasn't going to be those MASK guys I had, and the Ghostbusters only handled ghosts, not laser cannon-wielding T-Rexes. Kids can be very ingenuitive; you give them a bucket of toys and define them, and they start playing out their own scenarios.

this is what I mean about your memory being sorta fused together over a period of time ..young kids dont think about scale except in that one is bigger than the other ..my son is this guy

I play as this guy (robin)

I'm easily 2" taller than batman ..sometimes I bend Robins knees so that I'm at least at eye level with batman ..my son doesnt seem to mind that he's a midget



sometimes this guy joins us in the batmobile (I have to sit on top cuz I'm too big)

oh and for some reason Batman is wonder woman's father

 

[Narvi]

The only G1 episode I can remember is the one where Ghost Starscream steals Metroplex's eyes. That was an awesome episode.

But the only way you can make a new fan is to get them to watch Beast Wars. Beast Wars was the shiznit.

And I don't get why people don't like the new movie. It focused a bit too much on the human characters, yes, but in its own way that was its strength. The movie wasn't about Bumblebee or Optimus Prime, but really about Sam dealing with his car becoming a giant humanoid alien robot. And it worked.

 

[CptStern]

if only the car turned into the giant robot while Sam was still in it ...the movie would have ended after 5 minutes


i joke I joke ..but the visual is pretty morbidly amusing


"GO GO GOBOT TRANSFORM!!"

"YEARRRGH!!!!!"

"oh shit I forgot to tell the driver to get out ..I lose so many drivers that way, now who's going to clean up this mess, it's like someone stepped on a tomato ewwww"

 

[French Ninja]

FOR THE RoYALTY!

What a psycho...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBvT48o8D5M
<3

Edit:

if only the car turned into the giant robot while Sam was still in it ...the movie would have ended after 5 minutes


i joke I joke ..but the visual is pretty morbidly amusing


"GO GO GOBOT TRANSFORM!!"

"YEARRRGH!!!!!"

"oh shit I forgot to tell the driver to get out ..I lose so many drivers that way, now who's going to clean up this mess, it's like someone stepped on a tomato ewwww"

 

[Darkside55]

but do you remember it from repeat viewings? did you get it the first time you watched it? also again that movie was out at that time ..the transformers movie (2007) would scare most 4 year olds ..too loud, too violent too fast paced, it's not targeted at 4 year olds ..it's not really a fair comparison because the movie was popular in your day ..it's not popular now

I do remember getting it the first time. The basics of it, you know...this guy's good, that guy's bad, that giant talking planet is REALLY bad, he wants to destroy the Matrix which is obviously important because they keep showing it over and over. Subsequent viewings tightened all that up and I was able to get more out of it, but the general plot points I understood.

You're right about the new movie though; that one would be a lot harder to follow. I remember watching it with some of my neighbor's kids and it was hard for them to follow--and they're 10, I believe. We watched the original too though and they got that one pretty quickly, although I will say that kids today don't really get down on the old one. I used to try and get my younger cousins to watch it and none of them really cared except for one. It was funny because she was trying to memorize all the lines in it like I have.

The new movie might actually be kinda scary to young children too. Barricade...

young kids dont think about scale except in that one is bigger than the other

I remember caring. I hated that, like if I KNEW someone was bigger, that'd tick me off. It'd set off some kind of "this isn't physically possible" alarm, because I knew transformers were a lot bigger than a man, they're shown onscreen with humans all the time. And then you watch a show like Ninja Turtles and they're human-sized, so if you've got a toy that's SUPPOSED to be the same size as a human but is as big as a Transformer, that makes no sense. One of those has got to go back in the box.

Lego men on the other hand were the perfect size. MASK guys worked too, because they were a good scale to their vehicles. But I couldn't have MASK guys and Lego men out, because they were both supposed to be humans yet they were different sizes. Which was crap. I just couldn't pretend that the Lego men were midgets or children.

The only G1 episode I can remember is the one where Ghost Starscream steals Metroplex's eyes. That was an awesome episode.

"BRING ME TRYPTICON'S EYES!"
"Do it yourself."
*ZAP*

Also there's a lot of talk of Wasssssssssspinator, but all the pictures and videos are of Inferno!

 

[CptStern]

I do remember getting it the first time. The basics of it, you know...this guy's good, that guy's bad, that giant talking planet is REALLY bad, he wants to destroy the Matrix which is obviously important because they keep showing it over and over. Subsequent viewings tightened all that up and I was able to get more out of it, but the general plot points I understood.

you were age 3 right? dont take this the wrong way but you either cant remember correctly or the movie is oversimplistic (which is kinda embarrassing cuz you think it's best movie ever made) which is why you understood it ..I can rightfully say that a 3 year old doesnt undertand 70% of Disney movies ..they just cant follow something complex for long periods of time ..they can get the gist of it ..sort of but for the most part all they remember is individual scenes and only then certain parts of it, never the plot or the dialogue

You're right about the new movie though; that one would be a lot harder to follow. I remember watching it with some of my neighbor's kids and it was hard for them to follow--and they're 10, I believe. We watched the original too though and they got that one pretty quickly, although I will say that kids today don't really get down on the old one. I used to try and get my younger cousins to watch it and none of them really cared except for one. It was funny because she was trying to memorize all the lines in it like I have.

not knowing her I think it was more about being like you than actually enjoying the movie to that extent ..kids mimic everything..which is why I have stop myself from cursing other drivers when I'm with my son in my car

 

[Darkside55]

you were age 3 right? dont take this the wrong way but you either cant remember correctly or the movie is oversimplistic (which is kinda embarrassing cuz you think it's best movie ever made) which is why you understood it ..I can rightfully say that a 3 year old doesnt undertand 70% of Disney movies ..they just cant follow something complex for long periods of time ..they can get the gist of it ..sort of but for the most part all they remember is individual scenes and only then certain parts of it, never the plot or the dialogue

I'd have to disagree with you there. Following the plot's not a very hard concept; you mentioned Disney movies, the first Disney movie I ever watched was The Great Mouse Detective. Actually that's the first movie I ever watched in theaters, which came out before Transformers. That movie wasn't one that I had watched more than one time at the theater, and to my recollection it wasn't one that was released on VHS (or if it was I could never find it), yet I remembered the whole thing from beginning to end. I did remember specific scenes more than others, but the whole thing, the plot behind it...it really wasn't that hard to follow. Little girl's father is kidnapped by a bat, she goes to Basil, Basil says Ratigan's involved, Ratigan kidnapped toymaker to replace queen, Basil knocks Ratigan off a clock tower. Not exactly a difficult thing to follow. And all the other little bits that stand out in the movie too, like the toy soldiers or the scene at the bar, I remembered those.

The plot of most any movie basically boils down to protagonist, antagonist, situation. As a kid you can understand that...this guy's a good guy. This guy's a bad guy. What're they doing? What does that person want, who's trying to stop them and how? Why do they want what they're after? It's not so much that the movies are simplistic, it's just a simplistic formula.

not knowing her I think it was more about being like you than actually enjoying the movie to that extent ..kids mimic everything..which is why I have stop myself from cursing other drivers when I'm with my son in my car

Oh, it definately was. Which is why I found it cute; she wanted to know the movie to get my approval.

 

[Narvi]

The Great Mouse Detective was released on VHS. I loved that movie as a kid.

 

[Darkside55]

When, though? Was it after the rerelease in 92? Because I could never find that movie, otherwise I would've rented it all the time. Same with Oliver and Company. 80s Disney had a bad track record of releasing films.

Anyway, tomorrow should be episode 9 of TF Animated, "Along Came a Spider." Which is Blackarachnia's debut. And episode ten is SOUNDWAVE.

 

[Narvi]

Hmm. Not sure. Got it around 1997 or 1999.

I don't like that they're reusing characters. Optimus Prime is fine, and Bumblebee is fine, but the added Beast Wars trappings just remind me of Beast Wars, which was a lot better than Animated, sadly. "Bigbot". Indeed.

 

[Darkside55]

Show's still early and I think it's great so far. You gotta remember, early Beast Wars wasn't all that good either. Rather it was GOOD, but it wasn't exceptionally good...a lot of the reason people are so fond of it is because of what started happening in Season 2.