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Television Media

Transformers On the Move Again 435

Posted by CmdrTaco from the more-than-meets-the-eye dept.
jonerik writes "In a sequel of sorts to Monday's post on Max Headroom, the Associated Press (by way of CNN) is reporting on the revival of the Transformers. Perhaps the ultimate '80s TV cartoon experience, the Transformers were (and still are) also marketed as a seemingly endless collection of toys; robots that could transform into cars, trucks, planes, and almost anything else their designers imagined. Rhino Records has just released a 4-DVD boxed set of the show's first season, and Hasbro is considering a reissue of the original '80s toy line, something that Japan's Takara Toy Company has already done, with great success."
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Transformers On the Move Again More

Transformers On the Move Again

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  • I caught the new transformers on TV a few weeks ago and didn't like it. Actually I'm not into a lot of old TV shows I used to watch as a kid. They seem boring and childish now.
    • Do you remember how bad some of the shows you used to watch actually were? I mean, it's nearly impossible to sit through an episode of Thundercats and actually enjoy it. Or try "Transformers: The Movie"... though the VAs they picked up were impressive at the time, there were some horrible parts to that movie. And it didn't even exploit the full potential of the Stunticons ;)

      We don't remember how bad these shows were. This is because there were a lot of shows that made the popular ones look great by comparison....

    • Indeed. Which makes Looney Tunes all the more remarkable... even after 50 years, they are still damn funny to children and adults alike.

    • The Robots in Disguise series did lose some of the original Transformers spirit. But they do balance that somewhat by providing some really good visuals. They even seem to understand the underlying 'transforming' technology better.

      Ever find it interesting that Megatron can transform into a gun that one of his soldiers can handle? There's a theory going around (do a Google search for 'Transformers FAQ' for more info...) that works along the lines that the Transformers have a 'pocket of subspace' they can store extra mass in.

      The reason I bring that up is the new cartoon seems to take advantage of that. I caught an episode where there were Autobot trains that had tracks magically appear in front of them. I thought that detail was pretty cool. That new show is loaded with interesting new details that were never really brought out in the original series.

      I found value in that show for that, but I agree it's just not the same as the original. Still, it's fun. :) I am a little tired of them announcing the weapons they're using. Those guys have a never ending supply of new weapons.

  • Oh Lord (Score:2, Funny)

    by Arsewiper ( 535175 )
    Not the "bread van that turns into a killer robot" again. I hate those toy tie-ins.

    • Re:Oh Lord (Score:2, Funny)

      by Asprin ( 545477 )

      Not the "bread van that turns into a killer robot" again. I hate those toy tie-ins.

      I swear when I read this I thought it said "...WEB van that turns into a killer robot" and it got me thinking - what if they came out with a FAILED DOT COM line of Xformers? All your favorites would be there: WebVan, Pets.com and (the most terrifying) BOO.com!

      Better yet, create them as a line of piggy banks that explode as soon as you stop stuffing money into them! ;)

    • Re:Oh Lord (Score:3, Funny)

      by jonerik ( 308303 )
      Not the "bread van that turns into a killer robot" again. I hate those toy tie-ins.

      TV Announcer: The new, improved Kidz Newz...has been canceled! Stay tuned for the Mattel and Mars Bar Quick Energy Choc-O-Bot Hour!

      (The program begins. The Choc-O-Bots are at their command center.)

      Choc-O-Bot: You can count on us, Mr. President. Major Nougat! Gooey! Cocoa! Put down those entertaining Mattel products! Colonel Kataffy is up to his old tricks!

      Cocoa: Let's power up!

  • The DVD Set is Good (Score:4, Informative)

    by NetJunkie ( 56134 ) <`jason.nash' `at' `gmail.com'> on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @11:30AM (#3436207)
    The new DVD set is very good. They remastered all of the sound to DD5.1 and touched up the color on the film. The sound is very good, as they split up the channels and really use the sub-woofer and rears. The video is very clear and doesn't look dated or faded like some others.

    I hope they reissue the toys in the US, I'd buy some. I just won't pay what the Japanese imports cost.
  • i wish stations like maybe cartoon network would play more original 80's cartoons like transformers...even more then that, i'd love for them to play the original 80's G.I. Joe...although, i think i read somewhere that it would just cost too much money for someone to aquire those rights...but to me it seems silly, becuase if this transformers thing works, then there will be millions to be made with toy lines, and video game tie ins...the same thing could work with G.I. Joe....could you image a G.I. Joe vs. Cobra real-time strategy game like Red Alert, or Galactic Battle Grounds...now that would be cool...

    excpet no one ever dies in G.I. Joe...

  • This IS a big deal, actually (Score:3, Interesting)

    by gevmage ( 213603 ) on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @11:37AM (#3436265) Homepage
    Remember, that in 1986, Hasbro (producer of the transformers) was KING of the toy market. They had GI Joe and Transformers, the two best selling toy lines of that era.

    The 1986 _Transformers The Movie_ included cast voice cast:
    Lenard Nimoy
    Robert Stack
    Orson Welles
    (the guy who did the micro-machines commercials)
    Judd Nelson
    It was not a small thing to be able to assemble a cast like that for any animated film.

    • And 'Weird Al' Yankovic was on the soundtrack album.

    • Re:This IS a big deal, actually (Score:5, Interesting)

      by barawn ( 25691 ) on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @12:27PM (#3436733) Homepage
      You're also forgetting Eric Idle (I think...?) - whoever was the voice of Wreck-Gar, that is.

      My personal opinion about TF: The Movie was that the people who wrote the script looked at the cartoons, and said "how the HELL do we write a coherent plot with decent dynamics with these characters?" I mean, seriously, Optimus Prime has little/no flaws, other than being overly trusting (though that always seems to benefit him in the end), and most of the other characters have very little unique personality (other than muttering a few choice phrases unique to their character).

      So, what do we do? In the first 10 minutes of the film, we kill EVERYONE off except a few people we leave around for continuity, and we replace them with a cast of characters that has a much more dynamic set of personalities.

      Optimus got replaced with Hot Rod (Rodimus) who is naive, eager, a little too hotheaded, but generally good-natured. I always liked Rodimus and I was really upset when Optimus came back and took the Matrix from Rodimus...

      Megatron got replaced with Galvatron, who didn't have a whiny voice (big plus) and showed a BIT of personality: megalomania, mainly, but a bit of humor ("Coronation, Starscream? This is bad comedy.") - seriously, listen to the way Megatron speaks ("Die, Autobot!") and the way that Galvatron speaks ("It's a pity you Autobots die so easily... if it were harder, it might be enjoyable." - or something like that).

      The new characters added all had quite a bit of personality to them as well, which is what made it interesting. There was weird sexual tension between Arcee, Springer, and Hot Rod, there was a wizened father figure with Kup, and Ultra Magnus was the perfect example of an uncertain leader. Grimlock mainly stayed in for comic relief along with a bunch of new guys (Wreck-Gar, Blurr - god, how I wanted him to die..., and Wheelie) whose presence was solely for amusement. Plus Unicron, which was a very good overarching all-powerful evil force. It was really impressive to see Galvatron basically wallowing in misery as he realized that there was something far more evil and destructive in the universe than his own quest for power.

      Note that I'm not saying that there wasn't some dynamism in the old characters: it's just that certain characters were just there to serve functions and to show up from time to time, rather than actually have some sort of personality, whereas the cast in the movie was almost solidly there for personality or comic relief (save Blurr. Kill Blurr. I hated Blurr.)

      Of course, that's the optimist in me. Everybody knows the real reason they axed everyone was so they could make more money with new toys.
  • Transformers Encyclopedia [geocities.com]


    There is also always a lot of Transformers stuff for sale at Ebay pretty much at all times.

  • Second grade, baby! (Score:5, Funny)

    by phallen ( 145919 ) on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @11:39AM (#3436282) Homepage
    Transformers were my life when I was in second grade. Soundwave! Braun! Starscream! Damn, I couldn't do math or read out loud worth a crap, but I could transform those sucksers in about 1 second. I still have a box of them in the basement back home where I grew up... maybe I'll drag them out next time I'm home and pop in the dvds :)

    Oh yeah, anyone remember MASK? I really got into these, too, after Transformers. Cars turning into tanks, cool little action figures, fun story... still love that crap and I'm 26 years old! Ahhhhhh....
  • My nephew is now 5. About a year or so ago, I gave him one of my old transformers - the last one I had left (after selling most of them, loosing them or violently throwing them against my bedroom wall)

    It was the same one as is the cover picture for the transformers home page

    He was absolutely thrilled and has spent many hours playing with it
    and thats all without the TV series to get his interest going

    I do hope they bring transformers back
    but I think it would be better as a new cartoon rather than just reshowing the old ones...
    get some new high tech transformers too

  • Cmon... (Score:5, Funny)

    by NiftyNews ( 537829 ) on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @11:44AM (#3436332) Homepage
    This is perfect. Just think about the advertising crossovers.

    Who here wouldn't be interested in a bright yellow BumbleBee Edition VW Beetle, complete with AutoBot logo on the hood?

    • Re:Cmon... (Score:2, Funny)

      by KillboyPHD ( 82897 )

      So, I was walking around downtown SJ, where I spotted a New Beetle, yellow, with the license plate "BMBLBEE".

      No AutoBot logo.

      I was insensed. I've carried around a AutoBot sticker in my car, just in case I ever see that car again. (To slip under the windshield wiper, with an explanitory note, of course)
    • Volkswagen has already put out a New Beetle Special Edition in a similar brilliant yellow. The color was called Reflex Yellow [1hwy.com] (this is not me; my VW is a 2000 Golf and is white) and was only available in a limited number 2,000 and only available online. However, if you wanted to purchase one of these used and add an Autobot logo with either a vinyl sticker or having a body shop paint one on (relatively expensive, but the best shops will do a wonderful custom job ...)

      I was not able to find any photos online of a Beetle being painted to look like Bumblebee, but there is a vast aftermarket out there for Volkswagens and finding a tire and wheel combination that would be similar to that seen on the cartoon would not be hard. You could even have the wheels powdercoated Reflex Yellow (the paint code for the car should be in the spare tire well if it's in the same place as it is on Golfs). I personally think it would look mean with the wheels powdercoated black...

      Honestly, Goldbug [monumental...tibles.com] is a much better replica of a Beetle, though I'm glad the New Beetle isn't offered in that garish yellow. Looks like a late '70s model from the elephant's-foot taillamps...

      For more news, take a look at the VWVortex.com page on the Special Edition New Beetle [vwvortex.com]. This site is a wonderful resource for VW owners -- take a look in the forums and poke around the main page [vwvortex.com]; ignore the whining for best results. (I'm personally looking forward to seeing what that Jetta Coupe looks like they're building...)

    • Re:Cmon... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by misterklaw ( 26739 )
      I actually saw one of those last week in Herndon, VA. Parked at an office building on Sunrise Valley if anyone lives near there.

  • My experience, now with my daughter.... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Rahga ( 13479 ) on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @11:46AM (#3436358) Journal
    From what I can tell of the current line, it still reeks a bit of the beast wars transformers crap they pulled.... let's face it, robots that transform into animals make even less sense than the robot buildings Tom Hanks showed off on "Big". Cars and other machinery are still the way to go, and those poor decepticons aren't going anywhere if some of the best of them transforms into nothing more than a shark. Anyway.....

    The 2-for-$10 packs they sell at Wal-Mart are good enough to make me and my 3-year-old daughter happy. She loves her "bobot cars".... All they need is to pull down on the nosecone, or pull up the spoiler, and poof, it transforms ;)
  • I mean look at how well that show took off when this generation of rug rats caught site of it on Cartoon network.....

    now they have a full product line of toys, they have a movie on its way, they have a live state show.

    transformers is next, then Heman, then thundercats, then thundar the barbarian......my god I feel like a kid again :-)

    I just hope that the reisuence of the transformer toys are Quality, not the plastic crap that they came out with later on, that stuff sucked and barly worked.
    • You forgot Heman and Skelator. (sp?)

    • "Began"? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by mblase ( 200735 ) on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @12:28PM (#3436754)
      Scooby Doo didn't "begin" the Transformers resurgence. Transformers never actually died out -- Hasbro's been keeping the brand active ever since the mid-80's, in one form or another.

      What's new here is the activity with the "Generation One" line of toys, from the mid- to late-eighties before "Generation Two" and, eventually, "Beast Wars". And the reason is simple: all the fans who've been actively demanding DVD releases of "Transformers: The Movie" for years and snatching up mint-in-box versions of every TF toy that's come out since 1990 are now in their mid- to late-twenties, with oodles of disposable income. It's now economically feasible for a company to release the entire first season of TF cartoons on DVD, or for a fairly small company to license a new comic book based on the original toys, because the fans now have money and even the people who haven't thought about TF since the movie was released have enough money to start reliving their childhoods.

      If Hasbro decides to re-release the original G1 toys the way Takara is in Japan, rest assured there will be a sizable audience of buyers. Meanwhile, the new "Armada" toys, comics and cartoons coming out are being targetted towards children, not collectors (despite reusing many G1 names and faces) -- because, hey, they're still toys, right?

      There's just something about these toys that people love, and never forgot about. You ask me, it's the attention to detail -- all of the G1 vehicles were modelled on real cars, trucks and planes, and even the Dinobots and Insecticons were identical enough to their organic counterparts to impress. The robots were a bit chunky (okay, a lot chunky in most cases), but still beautiful in their own way.

      These are exactly the reasons I love the "Robots in Disguise" [transformers.com] toys, incidentally -- authenticity and elegance, with the added bonus of much, much more posability for the robots. "Armada" may take the posability tack, but the vehicles aren't "real" anymore and the robots are far less elegant. I may buy them, but probably not. G1 is where it's at for me.

    • I just hope that the reisuence of the transformer toys are Quality, not the plastic crap that they came out with later on, that stuff sucked and barly worked.


      Same here. Around or just after the time the headmaster's came out Hasbro seemed to switch to some super nasty cheap grade plastic for the toys. While they could get away with this for the physically smaller toys and insignificant characters (like the micromasters) I think they lost credibility with PowerMaster Prime (I think that was the one). So plasticy and the paint and colours were too dull. Having said that the orginal Optimus Prime was pretty fragile - it's rare to see which was "used" and doesn't have a broken trailer...
  • I never could get into the original transformers. The animation was so bad -- but beast wars. That show was gorgeous. And the story line was completely cool for a kids show.

    I would hurry home every afternoon to watch it. And there are still some episodes that I missed. If all the episodes of Beast Wars are available on DVD I would buy that in a heartbeat.

    .
    • Yick; this must be a generational thing. I can't stand any of the new "cartoons" that use low-quality computer animation.

      GI Joe, He-Man, Transformers...the plots might have been absurdly childish, but at least the art didn't make me cringe...

      -jon

      • I'm not sure about generational. I'm not old yet (I don't think so anyway) but I did grow up on cartoons. (I'm 33)

        I did not think the animation on Beast Wars was low quality. I thought it was awesome. It wasn't Final Fantasy but it was pretty cool. But wat also hooked me was the story line and the characters. They were consistent in their behavior and had some interesting querks. I fealt like I got to 'know' them.

        The original transformers was boxy and looked awful in my opinion. The only transformer I liked was the one that they ripped off from Robotech. (Now there was a great show)

        .
  • Compared to the toys from the first series the line of toys now don't look all that nice to me...

    This is more or less a tryout of re-introducing series which were hits back then.. probably hoping they could have the same impact on toy sales as their first line...

  • Like most American animation (which we call "cartoons") Transformer storylines weren't all that deep. One particular thread that was pretty cool involved the last fight between the Autobots and Decepticons, particularly when the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, "dies," and Megatron is transformed by some planet-sized robot (Omicron?). The storyline advances a bit to the figure where a Prime successor has to deal with Galvatron, a crazier, more powerful version of Megatron.

    Sure, it was a little reaching, but for the time (pre-"Batman:TAS", which I consider the start of the American animation renaissance where storyline and animation quality began anime-like improvements) Transformers was pretty good. Its animation was better than many other shops. However, Batman:TAS and other WB shows ("Justice League" being the most recent) is, in my opinion, good American animation that has matured and doesn't insult young or old. Imagine a Transformers show directed by Paul Dini...

    Mind you, I was watching this stuff first-run in my latter years of COLLEGE, so not only am I old and still remember this stuff, but I would still pick the series Voltron (I prefer the Lion Robot over the Car Robot) over Transformers any day. I would recommend Transformers to my son for some early-years robot geek action since I think he's a little young to handle Dad's obsession with BattleBots.

    And don't get me started about that pesky Sabon and his Power Ranger crap that stole ideas for both Transformers and Voltron, and even the "G-Force" old anime. Ugh.
    • There were two really "serious" plotlines from Transformers, IMHO: the movie plotline, and the return of Optimus Prime -> the end of the original Transformers (incl. the Headmasters thing...). The movie plotline I discussed elsewhere here: mainly, it's amazing for as much as they changed things in the first ten minutes, mainly (in my optimistic hope) to get to a solid footing with which to base the rest of the film.

      The second plotline, the Headmasters plotline and the return of Optimus Prime has a few interesting choice ideas in it. Daniel (Spike's son) is paralyzed in the Headmasters plotline, and they have to carry him around and take care of him. In the end, he ends up being invaluable (as he gets fitted into an exo-suit allowing him to move again). The Return of Optimus Prime (first and second-fold) have some interesting dynamics as you see Rodimus Prime clearly hesitant about Optimus Prime returning, even though everyone else is overjoyed.

      There WERE some interesting "first half" original Transformers episodes, but many were one shot, never hear from it again, nothing changes in the world plotlines as seen in so many cheesy anime flicks of the time (AND in Voltron, which was even worse than Transformers for this - how many Robeasts did they fight, for chrissakes?). I personally thought the "second half" episodes were much more intriguing (there was one episode where Galvatron had to "reform" in order to escape a planet. That was damn funny).
      • Good point--cool as the Voltron lionbot was, the Robeasts were getting a little tiresome. Only in a special where both Voltrons combined forces to mop up the universe did things really get interesting! A great scene from that special was when the two black-haired leaders of the two bots where competing in pistol target practice. Members from both teams became bored watching because neither of them missed.

        Yeah...I remember the two Optimus Prime returns, too. Now that you define the "second half" episodes--yeah, those were pretty good. It was interesting on how they had Spike grow up--that's something you never saw in typical USA animation.

  • But don't take those toys on planes! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rosewood ( 99925 ) <rosewood@ c h a t.ru> on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @11:55AM (#3436443) Homepage Journal
    As seen on this slate article [msn.com]:

    According to information released by the Dallas Fort Worth Airport, an even more detailed list [dfwairport.com] (requires Adobe Acrobat [adobe.com]) was issued by the FAA in February that helpfully advises passengers not to bother trying to bring automatic weapons, hand grenades, blasting caps, or meat cleavers. Also banned are corkscrews and toy transformer robots.

  • transformers are stupid (Score:5, Funny)

    by tps12 ( 105590 ) on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @12:01PM (#3436508) Homepage Journal
    Never understood transformers. Why can't people just choose AC or DC and stick with one instead of all this waffling back and forth.
  • In the toy re-issue, I really hope they go with the die-cast metal that the 1st and 2nd generation Transformers were all made from. Not entirely, sure, but a h311 of a lot better than the plastic, "breaks-in-10-minutes" schtuff they hawk now.

    Die-cast or bust! (wow, a double pun. That should set me for the week...)
    • "Die-cast construction. It's a lost art."
      --Optimus Primal, referring to the Ark, in The Agenda

      I'm afraid it just won't happen, not with the new plastics they've come up with to replace them. Heck, the plastics are a lot better than the old versions ever were; you didn't see very many ball-and-socket type joints on those old toys, did you?

      You can long for die-cast metal all you like, but the fact is, it can be rather brittle, and create a safety hazard from sharp, jagged edges when it breaks.
  • ...now move along. The Transformers were crap. They had stupid story lines and were poorly animated. Give me Chuck Jones and his politically incorrect cartoons of the 40s, 50s and 60s.

    Is anyone else tired of nostalgia like me? I have become so frustrated at the entertainment industry that can only recycle crappy shows and cartoons. Next thing we will see are the "Baby Transformers" or the "Tranformer Kids". Don't even start me on Joise and the Pussycats or Jabber Jaws.

    Sorry, I have been real bitter about modern cartoons since Scrappy Doo fscked Scooby Doo. Those meddling marketing executives!

  • Check out Robotech.com [robotech.com] for information on the complete series DVD boxed sets, new toys and the release of the upcoming video game.
  • ...That if they do it, they do it properly. The ORIGINAL Optimus Prime had a die-cast cab. None of this cheap plastic crap, there were some real METAL parts in there.

    And while the Beast Wars toys were complete crap, the show (made by Mainframe...the guys that did Reboot) was fantastic. They even made little comments that appealed to old Transformers fans, like Optimus Primal looking at the screen and saying that Die Cast construction was a 'lost art'. :D

  • I believe this says it all:

    http://truemeaningoflife.com/oldwisdom.php?topid=2 4605&responses=4 [truemeaningoflife.com]

  • It's "Thundercats are on the move, Thundercats are loose."

    Transformers are "more than meets the eye."
  • Those were much better toys in the late '70s, early '80s era.
  • Ahh, now there was a show, Galaxy Rangers. It was IMHO, the precursor to the modern Batman/Justice League cartoons (called here, the "Renaissance").

    Galaxy Rangers was well animated, with a more adult darker storyline. It didn't run for very long, but hell, if Cartoon Network is bringing back the Thunder Cats, they should at least bring back Galaxy Rangers... and leave the transformers where they belong, in the trash bin.

  • Transforming our minds... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Junior J. Junior III ( 192702 ) on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @12:28PM (#3436756) Homepage
    Here's an excerpt from a memo I found in the dumpster behind Hasbro Corporate HQ.

    Step 1: Create line of toys.
    Step 2: Create TV show about said toys.
    Step 3: Use TV show (see step 2) to brainwash an entire generation of children in the wealthiest market on the planet.
    Step 4: Children spend all parents money in attempt to collect entire production line of toys.
    Step 5: Children grow up, discover sex, lose interest in silly toys.
    Step 6: Repeat steps 1-6 using a new line of toys to brainwash a new generation of children. By this time, the children from the first round of brainwashing will be adults and entering the workforce.
    Step 8: Reissue toys and tie-ins from original product line. Brainwashing still intact; all disposable income funneled to toy manufacturer.

    So, yes, I'd say it's definitely more than meets the eye.
  • There is a tribute to Blaster (got to love that transformer) at X-Entertainment [x-entertainment.com].
    This is just hilarious!
  • I'd buy a re-release of the original G1 Megatron in a heartbeat. If you had parents who disapproved of 'gun' toys, you know how much you lusted after that beautiful silver Walther P-38 with all the accessories you can imagine.

    Of course, I really wouldn't try to walk around with it on the street. You've heard enough stories of the police shooting someone who had a replica gun that was actually a cigarette lighter.

  • Dreamwave's new comic book (Score:3, Informative)

    by melatonin ( 443194 ) on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @12:35PM (#3436809)
    What? How can you bring up the topic of a Transformers revival and not talk about Dreamwave's [dreamwaveprod.com] excellent [dreamwaveprod.com] comic [dreamwaveprod.com] book?!

    The first issue is long sold out (poor you, it was really, really good); the second issue should be out next week.

  • a fun tool as a motivation eliminator (Score:4, Funny)

    by mikester911 ( 223866 ) on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @12:37PM (#3436835)
    ....I had all of my old transformers up in my cube in my last job, and people would come in, hell bent on asking me some question.

    They would see the giant pile of transformers, stop in the middle of what they were asking me, point at their favorite transformer, say "I remember THAT one!", and be gone for the 10 minutes as they played with all the transformers.

    Often, they'd leave without asking me anything. They were great!
  • (Ripped from my Transformers webpage [claws-and-paws.com]...)

    TV Guide: Cybertron Edition

    7:00 AM - Amazing Inventions!
    Infommercial. Host: Swindle. This week includes a home fusion cannon kit, a plant that grows After Dark screen saver modules, and a one-way dimensional portal. All for only 12 trilitres of energon resin.
    Operators are standing by.

    8:00 AM - Cooking with Slag.
    Yet more barbecue recipes. Today, Slag shows us why flamethrowers and cooking assistants don't mix.

    8:30 AM - Transmaniacs.
    Cartoon. Yakko decides to play with Shockwave and learns the meaning of "radiation sickness". Broadside sings the "International Friendship Song"

    8:00 AM - Time Machine.
    Science Programming. Eight o'clock??? erceptor, will you turn that #@^^%#! thing off?!

    10:00 AM - Decepticon Workout.
    Trypticon demonstrates how to tear apart vicious and deadly Autobot enemies.
    Today's victim: Bumblebee.

    10:30 AM - Rush Limbaugh.
    Rush gripes about the growing controversy sweeping the nation: Rumble and Frenzy -- which is which? Also, a commentary on Megatron's and Optimus's new looks, and why Transformers would want to put their own names across their bodies..

    11:00 AM - Special: Funeral.
    Rumble and Frenzy locate the station Rush broadcasts from. Special appearance by Scavenger.

    11:30 AM - Star Trek: The Next Generation.
    Science Fiction. [Yes, even Cybertron gets this show] Riker tries to make the moves on Elita-One, only to get stomped on when he asks to see her hard drive interface card. Also: Data learns to transform into a warp nacelle.

    12:30 PM - Movie Matinee: "Terminator 3."
    In a misguided attempt to get a date for the Skynet dance, the T-1000 pursues Linda Hamilton across Cybertron. Guest stars (in order of appearance) Prowl, Optimus Prime, Groove, Blades, and Octane.

    3:30 PM - Cybertronian Gladiators.
    Game Show In the season premiere, the Gladiators replace the rubber balls in the cannon with Prowl's acid pellets. Will the competitors notice?

    4:30 PM - Baywatch: The Director's Cut.
    Don't even ask.

    5:30 PM - The Simpsons.
    Mr. Burns buys the smelting pits and gets Homer thrown in. Bart accidentally says "Eat me!" to Weirdwolf.

    6:00 PM - Kung Fu: The Legend Lives On.
    Ultra Magnus, a very, very distant relative of Kwai-Chang Cain, conveniently loses all his weapons and has to face Devastator in one-on-one personal combat for the fate of the planet. Again.

    7:00 PM - Tales of Earth.
    Documentary (part 6 of 12). The Cybertronians first encounter the Swarm, Megatron takes Optimus apart, and Omega Supreme invents the galaxy's largest Oreo cookie. Narrated by William Shatner.

    8:00 PM - Vilnacron 90210.
    Drama. Orion Pax runs against Decatron for class rep, and Groove tries Enerweed in the little robots' room. Arcee meets her evil twin sister and gets her boyfriend stolen. As always, Hot Rod just stands around looking cool, doing nothing, and occassionally giving out sagely advice.

    9:00 PM - Combiner Variety Hour.
    Variety. Bruticus does a puppet show, and Superion tries to reassemble himself while running on stale Pepsi instead of energon. Predaking shows off his latest magic act: walking through the Great Wall of China *without*
    alerting local authorities.

    10:00 PM - Brady Bunch: The Next Generation.
    Comedy. The Dinobots kill several dozen innocent humans and are sent to bed without supper. Arcee asks Davy Jonesicon out on a date.

    10:30 PM - The Gunman.
    Galvatron meets a diabolical new villain with the power to destroy the planet -- and promptly blows his head off. Flashbacks provide blatant filler for the rest of the episode.

    11:30 PM - Saturday Night Live.
    Host: Soundwave. Musical guest: Ratbat. Sketches consist of recycled old skits, except that they occasionally change some of the names in them. Concludes with scenes from the time Sludge hosted the show and was startled by a loud noise.

    1:00 AM - Late Night Theater. Tonight: "Godzilla vs. Wheelie." A highly emotional story about a lone Autobot who gets really drunk one night and calls someone "a stupid overweight squishy." For mature (over 5 million vorn) audiences only.

    3:00 AM - Closing Commentary.
    Grimlock points out several flaws in the philosophy of Socrates and meditates for continued peace in the universe. Guests include Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Wrapper, a new Autobot who transforms into a straitjacket.

  • JOY!!! (Score:2)

    by tcc ( 140386 )
    Just when I bought a batch of copied tapes for a small fortunes, I see DVD that are released... dang...

    I should do that with all the shows that I loved when I was young, lucky how I am they would probably all come out in DVD... of course if I expect that... oh forget about it :)

    But seriously, transformers the 1st and second generation were really cool, as I kid I really loved playing with these toys, Soundwave was the coolest robot in the show and shockwave was one the coolest toy :) (gun, lights, buzzer :) ) Megatron kept breaking up at the rotation axis of the gun (who got one that isn't slacked or glued?) but overall they were VERY educative toys (remember building omega supreme as a kid the first time?) and very durable (with a few exeptions). Too bad today the tv series of the newer generation totally suck and the toys as well.

    If they can release the full G1 and G2 original in DVD I'll buy them all.
  • These aren't reissues of the original toys. These are cheap plastic copies of the original toys. The original toys were made with die-cast metal parts and heavy duty joints, in order to withstand frequent transformations and active play. These... things will not give you the feeling of solidity and value that made the originals so collectible.
  • The xxAAs mist be so proud. No copyrights to pay, no original thought to interfere with the ads. And its all gravy as far as they're concerned.

    Look forward to the annoying theme music to play in the next elevator you ride. Look for the posters to be in front of your face at the urinal next time you take a piss in a bar.

    And its so great. Computer animation... Like computers don't go on strikes or demand a salary. And its not like the Transformers are likely to demand a Union is it?

    Look forward for Final Fantasy 2 through N as soon as production costs come down and Squaresoft's copyright has lapsed or been bought for a off-key song.

    And as for plot, writers, cartoonists and any of those creative PainsInTheAss. Well they can just starve in the street. And if their clothes rot off, they'll just be arrested and carted off to somewhere where they won't cut off the view of the billboards.

    You have NO IDEA of how much retro sucks or how well it plays into the hands of the xxAAs.

    Are we so unimaginative, so bereft of creativity that we have to revisit Gilligan's fuckin' Island every fuckin' year while he original cast and crew drop fuckin' dead of old age? Is someone building a fuckin' shrine to Burt fuckin' Ward yet? Are they playing William Shatner's greatest hit in the chapel?

    And some moron is trying to get Elvis a (post-humous) honorary degree in MUSIC. Like give me a fuckin' break already. I didn't like him all that much when he was alive. He was mouthing along with the Check Records list. He couldn't sing that well either. Like Billy Idol with his sneer and his failure to properly pronounce the title on "White Wedding."

    Jeez... Got a fuckin' hand-basket? Lets set it on fire and climb the fuck in.

  • Beast Wars (Score:2, Informative)

    by IronJohn ( 567273 )
    I don't know how much air-play it got outside Canada (though it must have got some), but Mainframe Entertainment [mainframe.ca] (best known for their "Reboot" CG animated series) put out a series of CG-based animated television programmes called "Beast Wars" and subsequently "Beast Machines" back in the late-90s. At first these struck me as simply Mainframe strutting out it's incredible CG capabilities. But as the series progressed I realized that this was actually Transformers-for-Adults. They created a fairly sophisicated story line and some some decent characters for an animated series. A few episodes would even qualify as half-decent SF, IMHO. I have since gone back and watched some of the old Transformers cartoons from the the 80's and must say, they are best left to the eight year-olds that many of us were when Hasbro first brought them out. I hope Hasbro considers using Mainframe again for any new "Armada" cartoons.
  • For those that don't know www.transfandom.com [transfandom.com] is the place to get up to date information on transformers. Also this past year they re-released most of the original 1984 tranformers and some from 1985. Optimus prime, the evil jets, many of the cars etc. Ultra magnus is scheduled to come to the USA shortly and if you go down to your toys-r-us you will see it in there computer. A new comic is coming out (is out actually) with some really good artwork done. Just about each page could be a poster. They are also putting out a number of high quality posters

    Also if you want a in box brand new Optimus Prime the have re-released him and you can pick him up at any transformers site. www.bigbadtoystore.com [bigbadtoystore.com] is one such place.

    For those that missed it the Robots In Desgise were pretty good. The autobots being cars, firetrucks, etc ruled and I even imported the (2 foot tall) fortess maximus from japan (which might come to the us this christmas)

    Remember Jazz, well you can buy him for $35 come June, but don't expect this reproduction to last very long (being one of the most saught after repros)!

    Also those expensive pvc's from japan are coming to america shortly and also will be at toys-r-us for a _lot_ less.

    Good luck actually finding this box set. Everywhere you go you wont be able to find it. So if you do think ebay... Rihno even stated something about being sold out.

    Some Posters:
    http://www.cableone.net/skydive/dreamwav e/autobots 4.jpg
    http://www.tfgen3.com/comics.shtml

    The one of Prediking vs protectobots and arialbots is my favorite and I have that one to be framed.
    • A few more comments:

      The dreamwave comic has been the #1 comic for the last two months. and issue number 2 was ordered by retailers more than any other book that month.

      Fortmax coming this chrismas:
      http://tfexchange.com/article.php?sid=2 82

      fantastic prediking poster:
      http://dreamwave.safeshopper.com/117/cat1 17.htm?28 3
      http://www.pinkyching.com/theyareamongus/dreamw ave / redaking_litho.htm
  • For those of us who liked another show, Voltron, visit this link for a start on more about the show's Japanese origins:

    http://www.arus.org/voltron/anime.html

  • rec.toys.transformers.moderated (Score:4, Informative)

    by Robotech_Master ( 14247 ) on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @01:43PM (#3437373) Homepage Journal
    Just thought I'd point out rec.toys.transformers.moderated [news] (which I help moderate) and alt.toys.transformers [news]. They're the big discussion centers of Transformers fandom, and a good place to keep up with what's going on in the fandom world.

    And don't forget BotCon [botcon.com]! I've been there a couple of years...it was a blast. I'm looking forward to a time when I might be able to go again.

    Heh. CNN is actually coming fairly late to this whole Transformers revival thing. I was there while it happened. :)
  • I received the conclusion to the American (and UK) comics in a graphic novel for Christmas and surprisingly it was still facinating to read. I would love to see the DVDs released here in the UK - my boxed video collection is starting to suffer over the years.

    In terms of links for Transformers, I'm told the place to go in general is BigBot [bigbot.com]. Another good link is the Transformer Episode Guide [thetransformers.net] - I was amazed at just how few I'd actually seen.Finally if you like the UK comics don't miss Steve's Transformers fansite - Homepage [gazliter.co.uk] which has links to the original Marvel comics. If you ask me, I think the comics were better than the cartoons but the movie did a remarkable job of trying to bridge the two.

  • Japanese Translations (Score:4, Funny)

    by Peale ( 9155 ) on Tuesday April 30, 2002 @03:39PM (#3438255) Homepage Journal
    On the website http://www.takaratoys.co.jp/TF/scf/mega_01.html [takaratoys.co.jp] they attempt to translate the expression "More Than Meets They Eye" From English to Japanese back to English. Check out what it translates to!

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