Transformers Collecting: Then and Now

Choose any past year from your Transformers collecting, think about what TF collecting was like during that year and compare it with how you think/feel that TF collecting is like today. :) Your opening statement may compare what your overall life was like then and now, but otherwise try to focus on TFs.

I'm going to get the ball rolling with...

1997 v 2017
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psqarsx2ia.jpg

Life:
In 1997 I was still a student studying at a university in Japan on a scholarship. Today I live in suburban Sydney NSW with my family and we just recently had a holiday in Japan.

Transformers:

+ In 1997 Beast Wars debuted in Japan and Transformers was making a serious comeback. In the top photo I am standing in front of Maccas near Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo holding a newly purchased Rhinox vs. Shadow Panther in my left hand. In the bottom photo I am standing in front of the same McDonalds trying to recreate the same pose (although it was nighttime so lighting sucked) and I am holding MP36 Megatron in my left hand.

+ 1997: BW was the main game in town when it came to Transformers. HasTak were understandably still being rather cautious with TFs after the failure of Generation 2. Hasbro USA had released MW which was still a US store exclusive line, but otherwise everything was BW.
2017: There is so much diversity in the TF brand. MPs, RiD/TAV, TR/LG, Movieverse, QTFs etc.

+ 1997: Takara's BW was the first line to standardise the practice of trading card sized tech specs cards. This became widespread practice among Japanese Transformers although it's wound back in recent years. My recently acquired TAV Warrior Class Ratchet didn't come with a tech specs card but MP35 & MP36 did (as do most MPs).

+ 1997: BW had also popularised the practice of fully articulated robot modes - Transformers as action figures. This is now standard practice.

+ 1997: BW was airing on TV... dubbed in Japanese :p
No sign of TFs on free-to-air TV here. :( Although we do have a fifth live action TF movie coming out this year, something which was unimaginable back in '97.

+ 1997: While TFs were thriving in the toyline and on TV, there were no comics, and there wouldn't be any (excluding convention exclusives) until 2003. Now we have IDW who have printed more TF comics than Marvel! :eek:

+ 1997: I had just discovered the online fandom and joined an Australian group known as "Austrans." Until then it felt like I was the last TF fan in the world. Now Austrans is OTCA and there are many fan groups across the interwebs.

+ 1997: Hunting for TF toys exclusively consisted of physically travelling between stores and searching. Lots of fun when you don't have a car (on the plus side you can see that all that walking and cycling made me incredibly fit - which I'm totally not anymore :p). These days we have online stores, although I still occasionally check out actual stores - I still prefer buying from real stores over online stores. Oh, and since online shopping didn't exist then, I occasionally would shop for online friends outside of Japan too.

+ 1997: The only TF forum that I posted on was a Japanese forum. The now defunct "Transformers Net." I did interact with non-Japanese fans via electronic mail. Now we have tried various online forums, but OTCA is the only one that I use - I have tried others but they're generally not as civil. And of course, social media. I've given up on Japanese TF forums because they always go off-topic and there are some really nasty trolls on some of those boards. I maintain contact with some Japanese fans via social media.

+ 1997: I changed my online name from "Gokuu" to "Goktimus Prime" or 孫コンボイ (Son Convoy) in Japanese. I still use this alias today, although in 2000 one anime fan abbreviated it to "Goki," and eventually others shortened it to "Gok," names which people still call me IRL. :)

+ In 1997 TakaraTOMY was still just "Takara," and their toys all came with a self-addressed survey card. Hasbro's packaging included the tag-line, "We Really Do Care!" with a phone number, which directs you to a voice mail. :rolleyes: Takara's survey card on the other hand asked meaningful questions about their toys. Today Hasbro doesn't bother to elicit direct feedback from fans and TakaraTOMY does so through their takaratomyfans.com site, but in late 2014 they geoblocked it so that users from non-Japanese ISPs are unable to access it. :(