What Brought You Back?

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 10:24 pm

Transformers ended for me around S2 of Beast Wars--it basically stopped airing in Greece afterwards. Did catch BM on another channel a few years down the line, but I was not buying toys at the time.

Came back when by total chance came across the Armada episode where Jetfire first combines with Optimus. Dubbed, but made me go out and search a little.

My first toys were Armada Sideswipe and Thrust. Went on toy-hunting after that, still remember seeing Armada Prime next to RID Prime and Prowl. Was confused, thought the RID ones were knockoffs, hah. All of this was around the time Energon had just started airing in the US and the first waves of toys released.

Downloaded the 1986 movie, some episodes of armada here and there and that was it.

Post by **Denyer** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:04 pm

Insofar as I ever "left" (had a few TFs such as Warpath, Starscream and Diaclone Browning as a kid, started the UK comic at #268, snapped up a lot of stuff as the original line was on the wane) it was teh interwebs, pre-re-release media piracy (US G2 and a low resolution rip of TF:TM to stand in for a knackered VHS copy were revolutionary) and a handful of people.

It's nice that firms have realised there's money in repackaging old content, which has seen made available things like Ian Watson's W40K novels, 2000AD ABC Warriors comics, the TF:TM score, etc.

Post by **Clay** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 12:55 am

I want to say it started with a trip down the toy aisle in 2001 or so with my then-two year old nephew. I saw what turned out to be a Transmetal 2 Megatron and thought, 'hey, a dragon robot. neat."

That stuck in the back of my mind for a couple more years before I read something about a Unicron figure, and I thought that looked pretty neat too. So I bought that, and got the dragon off ebay, and basically proceeded to read everything I could on the Archive and bwtf.

I'd say it's kept my interest because I like the puzzle aspect a lot. Every wave of new figures is like another little bunch of challenges and ideas, more or less.

Thunderwave · Post by **Thunderwave** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:23 am

Clay wrote: I'd say it's kept my interest because I like the puzzle aspect a lot. Every wave of new figures is like another little bunch of challenges and ideas, more or less.

This is part of why I stay around as well. I have wandering hands and when i'm watching something on my computer I like to have something to fiddle with on hand in case I need it. Better then biting my nails or snacking on something just because I can.

The other reason is I'm a sucker for reboots and seeing what new takes can be had on old characters.

sto_vo_kor_2000 · Post by **sto_vo_kor_2000** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 6:32 am

the Beast Wars cartoon "piqued" my interest in the fiction, but Takara's Super Fire Convoy brought me back to buying the toys.

moonbaseone · Post by **moonbaseone** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 4:04 am

Right around summer of 2001 after I got a good/better job and got my first computer and found eBay. I started thinking of the stuff I always wanted as a kid but never really got or the things I had but have since lost.

1st order of business. G1 Optimus Prime complete. Not boxed though. Un-opened, so I could enjoy it alittle. Then I ordered a few others, and decided to make a website based on my favorite cartoons and toys as a kid.

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 8:27 am

Again, I'm another one for whom Transformers never really went away. I used to borrow runs of Marvel UK's Transformers comic off a friend of mine and picked up the Collected Comics holiday specials which shored up my interest (still gutted that Time Wars never got completed in this format!). Having started secondary school in 1989, it was terribly important to pretend to be all grown up, so the toys were off my radar, although I was cheered to see adverts for the colour changing European figures and that Transformers still rolled on.

I'd got into comic books through Marvel UK's dabblings with the format in the late 1980s and was very excited to read about the return of Transformers in Comics International in 1993 and that series remains probably my favourite TF comic arc of all time. When that was brought to an untimely end, I thought that was it. Marvel UK continued to publish holiday specials collecting the old UK material though so there was still something to keep my interest and enthusiasm. Whilst at art college in 1996, I was suprised to discover Generation 2 toys still available and snapped up whatever I could lay my hands on and ended up with a smattering of Auto Rollers, Laser Cycles, Cyber Jets, Mini-bots, Laser Rods and the large tank version of Megatron and the (still great) Laser Rod Prime. I liked them, but the sometimes garish colourschemes I didn't like so much.

The collecting bug really hit for me with Beast Wars. Perhaps the last Transformers toyline to really stand out and have an impact at UK retail, rather than feeling like something put out as an obligation for Hasbro Europe's US masters, the designs felt so fresh and exciting to me. I liked the organic designs and they really fired the imagination (in my head, the Beast Wars Transformers are more akin to cyborgs than robots in fur coats). The shell-former nature of the figures seemed acceptable to me (and still does) as the designers worked out how best to make these new forms work. The level of imagination and creativity in the line really impressed me, even if the execution was sometimes a little lacking (er, most of the Fuzors - hello Noctorro). I liked that you can see the concept really pushed culminating in the raw, savage looking Transmetal 2 toys. The TV show was likewise impressive, with a depth and scope that matched the old Marvel UK comics. I was disappointed that the line was cut short to make room for sequel series Beast Machines as Hasbro worked on synchronising international release schedules, and enjoyed the imaginative vehicular designs that line spawned, if not the disappointing beast figures.

Around this time, nostalgia TV was all the rage over here and the BBC's excellent 'I Love 1960s / 1970s / 1980s / 1990s' run of TV shows gave Transformers the spotlight on 'I love 1984', although they didn't get the favourable apprasial that He-Man did on the previous weeks' show (we'd have to wait for 'I love Xmas' for that - and an amusing lesson in buying collectables purely as an investment from Jane Goldman), but it was nice to see clips of old toy adverts and the cartoon. US toy mags had some interesting adverts for some new Japanese figures that would eventual make it to the western world as Robots In Disguise and also glimpses of the first of reissues of the original Transformers toys and I think this period remains the time I was most enthused by Transformers and its various developments. The following year and the onset of Dreamwave's Transformers comic and the start of mass market reissues of older Transformers toys buoyed my interest and it was great to be able to pick up the figures I wanted as a young 'un but never could.

Since then, my interest has started a protracted period of cooling. Whilst there's still been stuff that's captured my interest, like the big ball of FUN that was Animated, a lot of the more modern lines haven't really done it for me - which is as it should be, toys are a child's perogative after all but the thing that's been the biggest turn off for me has been IDW. Maybe its with being a British Transformers fan and having more credence in the four colour adventures of the battling 'bots than any other facet of the franchise, but to not have a decent, well written Transformers comic out there has been a constant source of disappointment, as the lurching, sales chasing volte face that IDW continue to put the Transformers through makes a nonsense of the whole enterprise and make IDW look like at worse careless and best crass, but then looking around the wider comics market they're not alone in this activity as publishers foolishly try and sell more books to a shrinking market through ther increased use of 'big events' - the twenty first century's equivalent of a die-cut, glow in the dark, poly bagged embossed holographic comic book.

relak · Post by **relak** » Wed May 16, 2012 7:18 am

I was in and out at least twice.

I got in with the TF:HEADMASTERS anime then MASTERFORCE got me out for being just plain crappy. (at this point, the G1 USA cartoon had not made its way to our shores yet so i had no idea who "optimus prime" or "megatron" were).
.

Then a year or so later came "Transformers Generation 2" on TV and Beast Wars.
And here i was, my pre-school mind making the connection that Generation 2 was a sequel to Headmasters since there were some familiar faces (like Convoy who was for some reason renamed "Optimus Prime")
I didnt like it cos there were no "Ultra-formers" (my fan-nickname for combiners, city bots and pretty much anything bigger than a regular transfomer). I was hooked back in when Devastator and Omega Supreme were featured.

BEAST WARS gets the credit for making me a fan again. A true fan who would follow the show and tape down every single ep.
I need not explain why i think other than the fact that it was pure awesome.

I stuck around for Beast Machines but it was TF: RID that ruined TF for me.

By then i was into my "realistic is better" phase of media appreciation and TF shows like RID, Armada, Energon were all just "unrealistic". It bugged me that the vehicle modes no longer reflected the "Robots in Disguise" tagline.

At that time i was also getting into comics.
I did pick up a titan book reprint of the original marvel series (i think it was Matrix Quest) from the library but IMO the art sucked and i recognised NO ONE. (yes that was also my "New art rocks, old art sux" phase of comic book fandom. I was going for the more realistic looking artwork like Alex Ross or the Image style like Jim Lee and Marc Silvestri)

So i was out of the fandom again.
Not even Dreamwave worked. (what the heck truck looks like that abomination that Prime turns into????)

IDW's TF:Infiltration got me back in.
It was a realistic and darker take on the Transformers mythos. Slower paced and putting more emphasis on intrigue than on action. The art was awesome too. The Transformers were recognisable but given a more realistic upgrade without looking like the live action scrap heaps. From there, my fandom expanded to include the comics, got to appreciate the older stuff and discovered TF:Uk comics.

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:19 pm

Transformers ended for me in 1988 when I cancelled my subscription to the Marvel UK Transformers comic. I thought I was growing up at the time, because I was getting into computer games and music. I remember buying TRoOP and Headmaster around that time though.

After that my mate got me the first two issues of Generation 2 in 1993 but I never followed them up. Then it went dead quiet until seeing an episode or two of Beast Wars on TV in 1998.

Then in perhaps 2000 I found the TF Archive and joined a year later.

Oh, and I never grew up.

Clogs · Post by **Clogs** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:58 pm

Auntie Slag wrote:Oh, and I never grew up.

Me neither

Peter Pan has nothing on Archivers!

numbat · Post by **numbat** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 9:07 pm

Auntie Slag wrote:Oh, and I never grew up.

Growing up's for losers.

optihut · Post by **optihut** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 5:51 pm

TRUCK, NOT MONKEY! (that was for Cliffjumper).

Ahem, anyway, I think the old transformers cartoon has aged quite well. At least I didn't have to cringe all that much when re-watching it.

Played that Transformers game (the one from 2010) over the Christmas break and might pick up the recent one.

How is everybody doing these days?

Double Dealer · Post by **Double Dealer** » Sat Jan 05, 2013 9:10 pm

I've been a fan of Transformers since the 1st Marvel comic the toys and the show followed.I collected the comics till the end of the G1 run and bought G2 till it was canceled.Beast Wars and Beast Machines didn't interest me so I was never into either series.I came back when I saw Masterpiece Skywarp at wal-mart on clearance for 30 dollars to say he's awesome just wouldn't give the figure his due. I Passed on the movie figures and went about buying the DVD sets of the G1 cartoon.Thundercracker is my next Target on my list, I'd add Sunstorm but he's kind of pricey.

Cyberstrike nTo · Post by **Cyberstrike nTo** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 5:58 pm

I honestly don't think I ever left The Transformers at least 100% out (at most I would say 75% is the most I've ever been out) when G1 ended in the states my thoughts were along "it's time to move on" then G2 started up and suddenly I was back reading the comics, watching the TV show, and buying the toys.

There have been times where I stayed out because money and/or personal problems. The most was after Stormbringer #2 came out I had to stop buying comics because I was going through a chapter 7 bankruptcy, a foreclose on my house, and I was generally burned out on comics as a whole.

Then when the LAM came out I bought all of the IDW G1 TPBs after seeing it and after suffering through Revelation and Maximum Dinobots I thought I was done with TF comics, then I bought All Hail Megatron TPB vol. 1 and it was like falling in love with franchise and comics all over again.

starlord · Post by **starlord** » Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:11 am

I like to the idea of a new movie.