Maz's Articles & Reviews

Another first for the Interview slot on TFSource Blog, our first collector from Mexico! Eduardo ''Lalo'' Cardenas has an extensive boxed G1 collection as well as the kind of Mexican variant gems you would expect, which adds to the mystery as to why there aren't more high profile Mexican Transformers given their treasured vintage variant history. Eduardo takes us through his history with Transformers, the plight of the collector in Mexico and a few interesting tales from his time in the hobby.

Collector Interview 37 – Eduardo Cardenas | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READ

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All the best
Maz

Were the live action Transformers movies directed by Michael Bay good or bad for Transformers? That’s the question that I put to a number of respected collectors and community members, and not just in regards to Transformers toys, but the general health of the brand and the people who now count themselves as fans. Four movies in, and everyone has an opinion on how the Transformers movies have affected our hobby. Significantly, though, a whole host of people outside our hobby have an opinion too, one of the most noticeable outcomes of the big screen exposure afforded Transformers today.

Were The Movies Good For Transformers? | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READ

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All the best
Maz

Interesting article Maz. I am in the small minority here who actually like the movies, and I think they have done wonders for the brand. If the movies and there toys hadn't come along, we we still be watching cartoons of "OPTIMUS PRIME, SUPER MODE!" (which I like, but kids might find repetitive) and we wouldn't have Prime and the New RiD, as their designs are based of the movies, and Animated probably wouldn't exist either as they have Bumblebee as a main character.

Without the movies the Transformers franchise would slowly die away, but now kids are introduced to shows like Rescue Bots and RiD they will grow up loving Transformers, and so will there children, etc.

Great Article

Nice little survey and analysis of some varying perspectives. From my own perspective, the key is pointing to the diversity now available within the brand and the role that the movies (and their box-office success) have had in bringing that about. Not only diversity between the various incarnations of TF but even within. One thing that I've really liked about the movie designs is the interesting diversity in what Transformers can look like. Not all of them are these big blocky anthropomorphic cartoon robots. The ROTF constructicons make for a great example of originality and imagination that have gone into creating something different. The important question isn't whether it appeals to those already in the fandom, but whether it can expand out to others.

We have recently floated the possibility that we are experiencing another golden age of Transformers collecting, and a majority seemed to agree with us that the live action Transformers movies have been good for the health of the brand. With so much choice available, the topic of choosing my purchases has never been far from this blog and the articles seen in the last year. Being that I feel a bit less of a newbie to the 3rd party scene now, and considering how much of the new official product I have tried, I decided to have a think about who I feel is winning the battle for my funds.

Who’s Winning? | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READ

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All the best
Maz

3rd Party companies are producing the same (or better) quality MP stand ins faster then Hasbro, but at ridiculous prices.

There is no real winner.

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Originally Posted by UltimateGalvatron

3rd Party companies are producing the same (or better) quality MP stand ins faster then Hasbro, but at ridiculous prices.

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I still feel that the official product leads in the use of better quality materials, engineering/design and playability.

Third party products just don't have... polish. The end result looks good - i.e. either mode is good for display - but the process of getting from one to the other of third party products is significantly less impressive than official.

So as a package deal, official all the way for me.

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Originally Posted by zzyss

I still feel that the official product leads in the use of better quality materials, engineering/design and playability.

Third party products just don't have... polish. The end result looks good - i.e. either mode is good for display - but the process of getting from one to the other of third party products is significantly less impressive than official.

So as a package deal, official all the way for me.

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Do you have any of FansProject F(x) series? The transformations there are some of the most impressive ever.

I agree that official always wins, unofficial TFs can be very good. The new Toyworld Astrotrain is another example that wowed me with its transformation. Not so much the conversion process, but the fact that in each alt mode the is virtually no kibble and no indication that it turns into anything else.

But to each their own :)

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Originally Posted by Trent

Do you have any of FansProject F(x) series? The transformations there are some of the most impressive ever.

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Not as yet - haven't really liked any of the characters to prioritise them over other stuff, but will definitely try and find one to have a fiddle around with now!

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I agree that official always wins, unofficial TFs can be very good. The new Toyworld Astrotrain is another example that wowed me with its transformation. Not so much the conversion process, but the fact that in each alt mode the is virtually no kibble and no indication that it turns into anything else.

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Part of it for me is the efficiency of the transformation as well. For example, I first came onboard with third parties through a cheap deal on a Uranos, which had a bunch of transformy bits purely for the sake of "aesthetics tweaking", rather than being actually essential to the transformation. No idea how the Astrotrain rates in that regard but I agree it does look great.

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But to each their own :)

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Indeed! (A few articles back from Maz... :-P)

Official Transformers toys are released in most of the world by Hasbro, and in Japan by Takara Tomy, formerly Takara. Takara, a Japanese toy manufacturer, produced the first toys that would become Transformers in Japan in the early 1980s. Hasbro saw these Diaclone and Micro Change Series toys and licensed them, creating the Transformers brand. Today, both companies perpetuate the toy line, but is it true to say that Takara (Tomy) Transformers toys are regularly better than Hasbro releases? This is the question we asked a number of collectors this week, and their contributions can be found below.

The Takara Version | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READ

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All the best
Maz