Anyone else remember these? These were toys, but I think they had comic books and a movie too.
In middle school, there was some kid who was obsessed with that advertising jingle and the toys, even though he was too old for the toys.
I always loved Transformers. The after school cartoon series was the best.
Oh, yeah. I had quite the collection of Transformers as a kid of the 80's. Them and GoBots, their competition.
Really the only toy I was hardcore into collecting in the mid-80's. I was so happy when the live-action movies started up, and progressively got more and more depressed as an already weak first movie descended into complete stupidity since.
The animated movie from 1987 is awesome, and even has a very solid hard rock soundtrack (plus, at random, "Dare to Be Stupid" by Weird Al Yankovic).
Quote from: bandit957 on November 17, 2018, 07:13:42 PMAnyone else remember these? ... I think they had ... a movie too.
Have you just got out of a coma? Or do you suffer from the joyful experience of forgetting Michael Bay exists?
The Last Knight was a summer blockbuster just last year, though 'only' made $600m, a failure compared to the other 4 films in the recent life action film series, a big-budget spin-off from which is coming out in a month, so I'd imagine marketing is ramping up on that in the 'we have no taste, but love explosions' community.
I had Prowl (first one I ever got...for a Christmas), Optimus Prime, Hoist, Hound, Jazz, Shockwave, & Megatron. For some reason, we had more good guys than bad guys.
I was particularly fond of Bumble Bee when it was a VW Beetle. I had pretty much all of them back in the 1980s, I recall my Mom was pretty pissed that Megatron was a hand gun.
By the time they came out, I was too old for Transformers. My mother, though, would've cheered the one that becomes a gun. My brother and I had plenty of toy guns. We each had toy Tommy guns that when the trigger was pulled made a machine gun sound in the ammo drum. And full-size M-16s that had a "bolt" you pulled back to spring-load the sound mechanism. Spent many quality hours playing cops and robbers, "Army," and good-guys-and-bad-guys.
Good times.
Anywayz, perhaps it was because I was older (and already a little jaded) but I saw the Transformers cartoon as a half-hour commercial for the toys, a cynical attempt to sell more. Like a male version of the My Little Pony cartoon. [Ducks as incoming objects thrown by nostalgic guys sail past head.]
Quote from: english si on November 18, 2018, 06:50:41 PM
Quote from: bandit957 on November 17, 2018, 07:13:42 PMAnyone else remember these? ... I think they had ... a movie too.
Have you just got out of a coma? Or do you suffer from the joyful experience of forgetting Michael Bay exists?
The Last Knight was a summer blockbuster just last year, though 'only' made $600m, a failure compared to the other 4 films in the recent life action film series, a big-budget spin-off from which is coming out in a month, so I'd imagine marketing is ramping up on that in the 'we have no taste, but love explosions' community.
Some Bumblebee movie is coming out as well with him as the VW Bug. Have to say the Camaro thing bugged me in the first movies.
Quote from: Rothman on November 19, 2018, 09:50:18 AM
Quote from: english si on November 18, 2018, 06:50:41 PM
Quote from: bandit957 on November 17, 2018, 07:13:42 PMAnyone else remember these? ... I think they had ... a movie too.
Have you just got out of a coma? Or do you suffer from the joyful experience of forgetting Michael Bay exists?
The Last Knight was a summer blockbuster just last year, though 'only' made $600m, a failure compared to the other 4 films in the recent life action film series, a big-budget spin-off from which is coming out in a month, so I'd imagine marketing is ramping up on that in the 'we have no taste, but love explosions' community.
Some Bumblebee movie is coming out as well with him as the VW Bug. Have to say the Camaro thing bugged me in the first movies.
All the Transformers in the Bumblebee film are their G1 models, they look great.
Last Knight was absolute garbage of a film.
I collected a few of these as a kid; I think I had about 10-12, and my brother about the same. My brother and I split up our collection a few years back; fortunately, my mother had to the good sense to save them (along with our beaten-up Star Wars figures) when I stopped playing with them around the time I entered 7th grade. (I think you couldn't talk about them in middle school, for fear of being uncool, but many of friends still had them at-hand in their homes!) They probably jump-started my initial geeky interest in cars, to be honest.
Some of the plastics have discolored and cracked after 30+ years. I've since learned that several toy manufacturers were involved in production, hence the odd build qualities and weird scaling. Hound (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Hound_(G1)) was the first one I bought. I never saw the recent movies, caught half of the original movie one sleepy afternoon. I think Beachcomber or Warpath was the last I bought. I probably bought 2/3 Autobots to Decepticons (I thought the Insecticons were kind of cool).
I have a box of those toys in my office for the kids to play with...they're probably not worth a dime, but they can't leave the office. I paid for all of them with my own scratch. So...no, Wheeljack can't be chased by the dog for fun.
Quote from: qguy on November 19, 2018, 06:45:31 AM
By the time they came out, I was too old for Transformers.
Anywayz, perhaps it was because I was older (and already a little jaded) but I saw the Transformers cartoon as a half-hour commercial for the toys, a cynical attempt to sell more. Like a male version of the My Little Pony cartoon. [Ducks as incoming objects thrown by nostalgic guys sail past head.]
Yeah, fair enough. It gives me a chuckle when my 11-year-old has figured out that each toy seems to have a 2-year-lifespan and then the next fad appears.
By the time Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came out, I was rather cynical and feeling that the Newest Thing was just for kids. I guess we all go through it.
The nerds ruined the Transformers. Then they made those horrible live action movies and pissed on it even more.
Nexus 5X
Quote from: bugo on November 26, 2018, 07:58:20 AM
The nerds ruined the Transformers. Then they made those horrible live action movies and pissed on it even more.
They try to commercialize everything again for the sake of nostalgia, so parents will indoctrinate their kids.
Used to be nuts about G1. Then I had an existential crisis kick in year or so ago and for the first time in my life I don't care about them.
Junkions got the best dialogue. "I speak very good television!" sure led to a lot of parodying of our modern culture. My youngest brother was into Transformers and other cartoons like "Star Blazers" (AKA "Space Battleship Yamato"), which I found to be quite the epic tale. The 80's was a lot of fun!
Rick
QuoteTransformers! More than meets the eye!
Sure is!
(https://i.imgur.com/QcXzomZ.gif)
Quote from: ET21 on November 19, 2018, 02:35:17 PM
Quote from: Rothman on November 19, 2018, 09:50:18 AM
Quote from: english si on November 18, 2018, 06:50:41 PM
Quote from: bandit957 on November 17, 2018, 07:13:42 PMAnyone else remember these? ... I think they had ... a movie too.
Have you just got out of a coma? Or do you suffer from the joyful experience of forgetting Michael Bay exists?
The Last Knight was a summer blockbuster just last year, though 'only' made $600m, a failure compared to the other 4 films in the recent life action film series, a big-budget spin-off from which is coming out in a month, so I'd imagine marketing is ramping up on that in the 'we have no taste, but love explosions' community.
Some Bumblebee movie is coming out as well with him as the VW Bug. Have to say the Camaro thing bugged me in the first movies.
All the Transformers in the Bumblebee film are their G1 models, they look great.
Last Knight was absolute garbage of a film.
ANY movie based on a cheesy line of toys is absolute garbage by definition. Sad how Hollywood seems to have lost all sense of creativity.
Quote from: roadman on December 21, 2018, 01:46:46 PM
Quote from: ET21 on November 19, 2018, 02:35:17 PM
Quote from: Rothman on November 19, 2018, 09:50:18 AM
Quote from: english si on November 18, 2018, 06:50:41 PM
Quote from: bandit957 on November 17, 2018, 07:13:42 PMAnyone else remember these? ... I think they had ... a movie too.
Have you just got out of a coma? Or do you suffer from the joyful experience of forgetting Michael Bay exists?
The Last Knight was a summer blockbuster just last year, though 'only' made $600m, a failure compared to the other 4 films in the recent life action film series, a big-budget spin-off from which is coming out in a month, so I'd imagine marketing is ramping up on that in the 'we have no taste, but love explosions' community.
Some Bumblebee movie is coming out as well with him as the VW Bug. Have to say the Camaro thing bugged me in the first movies.
All the Transformers in the Bumblebee film are their G1 models, they look great.
Last Knight was absolute garbage of a film.
ANY movie based on a cheesy line of toys is absolute garbage by definition. Sad how Hollywood seems to have lost all sense of creativity.
It's been like that for decades. Nothing new.
Now this will show my age -- my first transformer experience was with my first Lionel set when I was 5 years old. Eventually progressed from a 45 watt transformer to a 90 watt, and then to a big-ass 275-watt unit (a ZW, for all you Lionel fans!). When I first got into the audio industry at age 19, the term took on a totally different meaning. And having only one kid -- a daughter -- the toy "Transformer" craze was bypassed in our household (this was the '70's, pre-divorce). So when the films emerged, my reaction was no more than a shrug.
But now I purchase transformers (toroidal) on a regular basis for audio power-supply use. Go figure!