Does anyone else just not care anymore?

[Skullcruncher]

Whether someone became a Transfan long ago or recently, I think the key factor is commitment to the franchise. Those of us who've been active in the fandom long enough have seen plenty of people come and go, and almost everyone claims to be a 'die hard fan' when they sign up. But actions speak louder than words; if we're all still here in 10 years' time and we're still just as passionate about Transformers, then we'll know that we're absolute fanatics (which is what the word "fan" is short for).

And its the fanatics that are usually outspoken, who quite often get on their soapbox and spout their opinions that everyone has heard many times before and will hear many times again. Yay for fanatics.

Anyone who became a fan because of the movies, and years later is still solely a fan because of the movies is definitely at the bottom of my perceived fandom hierarchy.

Replace movie with comics for me

[Gouki]

How about we just let this one go guys before it spirals further.
A fan is a fan in my book and just leave it there

These supposed 'lesser' fans then to get less involved in the e-penis waving and tend to be less blinkered to a specific era in the franchise... we need more of them.:P

The more fans the better, regardless of when they became interested.

[MayzaPrime]

The thing that bugs me more, is people that put an Autobot badge on their car and the only reason they do it is cause it looks cool.

I have a Con badge on my bike, but I have been collecting TFs for 28yrs so I can get away with it

[Gouki]

The thing that bugs me more, is people that put an Autobot badge on their car but the car looks like total shit and is falling apart

Fixed.

[GoktimusPrime]

These supposed 'lesser' fans then to get less involved in the e-##### waving and tend to be less blinkered to a specific era in the franchise... we need more of them.:P

Actually I find some new fans can be more blinkered to a specific era than long-time fans. I've come across some (not all!) newer fans who seem to be caught in a time warp; e.g. the stereotypical Gee Wunner. Whereas I find long time fans are more likely to be inclusive of almost all TF lines. Again, I said some, not all. And this is just my personal observation.

The more fans the better, regardless of when they became interested.

Agreed. Hopefully these new fans will commit themselves to the franchise and stay for the long haul, otherwise the benefits of having a large fan base will also diminish. e.g. late G1 - as the franchise slowed down we saw a large drop in the fan base as more and more kids decided that Transformers was no longer "cool" or they were "too old" for toys or other such nonsense, and as such we started to see the toy line being affected, cancellation of the cartoon, cancellation of the comics, reduction in production of merchandise etc.

The thing that bugs me more, is people that put an Autobot badge on their car and the only reason they do it is cause it looks cool.

I have a Con badge on my bike, but I have been collecting TFs for 28yrs so I can get away with it

+1!

I'd rather see a TF badge on a scratched up car belonging to a TF fan than on a shiny fancy car belonging to a non fan. The quality of the driver (as a TF fan) matters more than the quality of the vehicle. If I wanna see fancy cars I'll go to a car show or something.

[UltraMarginal]

The thing that bugs me more, is people that put an Autobot badge on their car and the only reason they do it is cause it looks cool.

I have a Con badge on my bike, but I have been collecting TFs for 28yrs so I can get away with it

I have a con badge on the front of my bbq, I plan on putting a Autobot badge on my bbq apron... for it is a mighty battle

[billygoat]

I have a con badge on the front of my bbq, I plan on putting a Autobot badge on my bbq apron... for it is a mighty battle

Behold.... Snaggertron! And these... shall be your onions...

/unicron (bbqnicron?)

On topic though, this conversation for the last few pages strikes me as being really odd. Is this still a thing that happens in fan communities? Are we still evaluating people by their entry (or re-entry) point into Transformers or their join date on whatever forum or their "committment" as fans?

I mean... it's a mass market toy and media franchise. One that I love dearly and am very sentimental about but all the same. It's not a church where I feel the need to be debating whether one kind of fan is more righteous than another or whether they've got the right version of holy book. Why is this kind of thing important?

That said, FIRRIB. And all you FIBRIR heathens need to think about how you're ruining your lives by turning away from the one, true colour scheme. I can only hope The Cassette Twins come into your hearts and show you the true way one day.

[Sky Shadow]

That said, FIRRIB. And all you FIBRIR heathens need to think about how you're ruining your lives by turning away from the one, true colour scheme. I can only hope The Cassette Twins come into your hearts and show you the true way one day.

It's a little-known fact that the Transformers themselves only started their war when Amalgamous Prime convinced Megatronus Prime and Liege Maximo that Rumble was purple, while Prima and the rest of the Thirteen believed Rumble was red. Millions of years later, the Autobots and Decepticons have no idea what they're fighting about, but they're sure it's important.

[UltraMarginal]

Behold.... Snaggertron! And these... shall be your onions...

/unicron (bbqnicron?)

HAHAHA, I like it.

[Iriorne]

/unicron (bbqnicron?)

Hehe, I got a chuckle out of that. I'd buy one if it transformed.

Are we still evaluating people by their entry (or re-entry) point into Transformers or their join date on whatever forum or their "committment" as fans? [...]

I liked Transformers before it was cool the first second time it was cool.

It's the old "mine's bigger than yours" argument. At the end of the day it shouldn't matter why someone likes Transformers (or Star Wars, or Star Trek, or Batman, or whatever), only that they do. Without new iterations, the franchises we love would have run their course decades ago and been forgotten.