state of Transformers

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Dominic
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state of Transformers

Post by Dominic »

Shockwave recently mentioned starting a "state of..." thread.

Where do you see the franchise? Are you more or less interested than you were a few years ago? What are you looking forward to? What are you hoping to avoid?
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Shockwave
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Re: state of Transformers

Post by Shockwave »

For the most part I'm pretty excited for where it's at now and has been for the last few years. The comics have held my interest, the Prime Wars trilogy toy line has really cranked out a lot of good stuff and we've even gotten updated versions of characters that I thought would never see an update. Characters like Battletrap, the Clones, the Headmasters and Targetmasters... I like the fact that we're getting to see some of the more obscure characters shine. And we've even got some new characters like Nautica and Windblade. Not to say that it's all perfect, the Bayformers movies have gotten worse with each new movie and the aesthetic is still one that I hate but as of right now, even that seems to be ending. The RID'15 cartoon was pretty good for the most part and was interesting, but not enough to keep me watching it religiously. I did eventually see all of them (I think), but it wasn't a high priority. I did like the fact that it kept Optimus and Megatron out of it. Megatron didn't show up at all and Optimus was only a supporting character in a few episodes. Also on the downside is that, even though we've gotten a lot of obscure character updates, we've also had a ridiculous glut of Optimus and Megatron. There have been no less than 7 different Optimus Primes (including variants) in the last three years. Megatron has seen at least 2 and this reminds me of something Prowl said a while back: About how we keep getting new toys of the same characters over and over again. I feel like the CW Prime should have been "the" Optimus Prime for the Prime Wars Trilogy or maybe one of the others later on, but one version per "continuity" (for lack of a better term) is enough. The MP line also seems to be going strong and doesn't show signs of slowing down anytime soon.

So yeah, all things considered, I'd say it's a good time to be a Transfan and I'm excited for what comes next.
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Sparky Prime
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Re: state of Transformers

Post by Sparky Prime »

Personally, I'd have to say I'm less interested in the franchise than I was a year ago. I thought Hasbro has had a strong showing with the first two parts of their Prime Wars Trilogy with Combiner Wars and Titans Return. It's been great seeing updates on G1 characters, and characters that haven't been visited again in the last 30 years. And in some aspects, Prime Wars has continued that, but it has also totally broken away from it in others. I'm not a fan of some of the Prime Masters figures coming with Pretender shells that belong to other characters. It's also disappointing to me that rather than making the 13 Primes themselves, it's just Prime Masters that are only meant to represent their sparks/power. So why do they transform into robots? I mean, I get they're essentially the Power Masters for this toyline, but then they should have modified the story behind the Prime Masters to reflect that, rather than saying they represent sparks. I like the 'Prime Evolution' versions of Rodimus and Optimus Prime but Primal I feel could be better. It is great to see Beast Wars getting some attention in Generations after a few years, although that was because of the fan vote that ended with him the winner.

The cartoons... The Machinima series have been pretty bad. I'm surprised they've gotten such big name actors for it. The RiD series, I felt could be better but it's not the worst. It was kinda nice to see a series that didn't focus on Optimus and Megatron. The plots could be pretty repetitive, but not as bad as Prime was, and it was nice to see some continuity between the two series. I miss the animation style of Prime though.

The comics in general I feel has been pretty good. Little disappointed IDW is rebooting, because it has been interesting to see a post-war setting. But at the same time, I'm interested to see how they'll change things up.

The MP line I feel is going strong, despite not seeing the point of a third version of Optimus Prime. I wish Hasbro would bring more of these figures over.
Last edited by Sparky Prime on Mon Jun 25, 2018 1:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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andersonh1
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Re: state of Transformers

Post by andersonh1 »

I don't want to be a downer after Shockwave's great post!

I"m still a fan, and I've see a lot of great figures in the last few years, but I've only bought a few here and there. Collecting is not the priority it used to be. I hit most of my goals, and so the occasional figure is fine with me at this point. I haven't enjoyed the comics for years, but I'm optimistic and looking forward to the reboot, and hoping for a fresh take that I can get on board with. I would enjoy buying a monthly Transformers comic again.

I think the Transformers media I've enjoyed the most in recent years was watching Victory on DVD. I never did finish my episode reviews. Might be time for a re-watch.
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Dominic
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Re: state of Transformers

Post by Dominic »

For the first time in 30+ years (arguably ever), the toys are the thing that have captured and held my interest.

The guy at the local hobby shop had Slag, Swoop and a few other new figures. I was not looking for them initially. But, the fiddling value on the new figures was enough to make me look around, if only opportunistically. The "evergreen" line (sold at Wal*Greens) is not bad. I have been tempted by the Prowl. (But, I already have a better Prowl, which is a powerful disincentive to drop $20 on a larger-scale Scout class toy.)


Ironically, the comics have degenerated in to everything that I dislike about comics. Barber treats TF like a generic capes and tights comic, complete with back-written fixes and no sense of progression. His writing is driven by plot and minutia, but not ideas. I am interested in "Unicron" for event-value. But, if Barber is the only writers sticking around after "Unicron", I doubt I will keep reading.


The movies have never been a staple for me. I like the 3rd and 4th movies better than the others. But, much of my interest was pre-existing for the hobby. (And, had the 4th movie dropped a month or so later in 2014, I probably would not have bothered at all.) Not sure if I am going to see "Bumblebee". Ultimately, it will depend on how busy I am around the holidays.


Past the end of the year, it is going to depend on what Hasbro and IDW offer. The studio series toys are excellent. Frankly, they are better toys than are merited by Bayformers. But, I am only so interested because the movies are so unimpressive. \

"Power of the Primes" is heading towards an ending, and most of what I am still looking for is customizing fodder (making it a relatively low priority). On the other hand, the fact that I am customizing so much is a sign of my interest. At the very least, I plan to have a set of Diaclone colored Dinobots.
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Re: state of Transformers

Post by Shockwave »

I think one of the good things about the state of the franchise at this point is that there is something to interest everybody. Not everything's perfect, but has it ever been?
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