Animated Popularity

[1orion2many]

AAAAHHHHH my eyes As I said before, Not a fan of JLA style

[GoktimusPrime]

I can understand that.

Transformers designs are traditionally based off Japanese Mecha aesthetics, and it's understandable how the far more simplistic and 'cartoonishly' stylised designs of Animated can be off-putting to some people. I remember when Animated came out some people were calling it "Disneyformers."

Anime'd---> <---JLA'd!

But I remember FFN explaining it as being Hasbro's back-up incase the Bayformers failed. Animated was conceived around the same time as the first live action movie was meant to come out. And as we know the movie franchise made the Transformers look all super-complex and alien; so with Animated they jumped to the complete opposite end of the spectrum and made them look simplistic and cartoony. That way in the event that the 2007 TF movie turned out to be a complete failure, Hasbro could drop it like a hot potato and move on with Animated in a different direction. As it turned out of course, the live action movie franchise was very successful, so they went ahead and released Animated as a filler line.

If not for the live action movie franchise, Animated would have turned out very differently. The original concept for Animated was "Transformers: Heroes", and the designs there did look a LOT more orthodox; more like detailed Japanese Anime-Mecha stuff (you can check out some of the TF: Heroes concept sketches in the Animated Almanacs!). But now that both the movie and Animated franchises have enjoyed success (especially the former), Hasbro's decided to blend both aesthetics together; hence the hybrid moofie-cartoony aesthetics of TF Prime.

[kaiden]

Personally I liked the designs but the writing was horrible though and the constructicons didn't merge for the kill.

Animated was a real mixed bag. the story just so many highs and lows i thought the writers were all bipolar. omega supreme was awesome but the humans sucked as usual. they really should have kept it going.

the only i would change is the writers. the story sucked so bad.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

omega supreme was awesome .

Omega is always awesome. The only not-awesome thing about him in animated was that he didn't get a toy.






I am not bitter

[llamatron]

The Animated toys are overall excellent, some of the most interesting Transformers ever made. However in terms of $$$ value most of them are next to worthless, I wouldn't suggest paying more than 50% of retail value for these guys if you're buying second hand (there are a few exceptions for slightly rarer figures like the Takara-only ones and TRU exclusives).

The show is a mixed bag as people have covered already. First season is pretty much garbage, second is good and bad, third is pretty good. Far better than the horrific dull bland quasi-movie junk we're getting with TF:Prime though.

[Doubledealer]

I had never seen Transformers Animated until very recently, I just hadn't been interested and I never bought a single figurine. I was doing a little browsing and there doesn't seem to be a very big market for second hand figures around.
Are the figures extremely popular and therefore not for sale so much? Or were they not produced as much as other lines?
Having almost no knowledge of TF Animated I'm curious.

*Begins episode 3...*

Great stuff. Enjoying the show so far?

For me, when Animated came around it made Transformers fun again. And it's hand drawn! This is of huge importance to me as I find it very hard to care about CG Transformers, they lack soul!

Apart from featuring a brilliant cast of Transformers on both sides, what I really love about the show is how well it strikes a balance between humour/light-heartedness and intrigue/unpredictability. Don't be mistaken, Animated absolutely has a dark side to it which at first is unexpected (at least I found it so!) but this escalates as the show goes on and really makes for exciting viewing.

There are more than a few scenes after which you'll be thinking "What the, did that really just happen??" (in a good way hopefully ) and it's these sort of moments that make an already great show something truly memorable.

For once I actually really cared about Prime too (usually he bores me to death). His relationship with Sentinel Prime is particularly fascinating!

In terms of the toys...Well, others have said it already but I'll say it again. They capture the very essence of their on screen counterparts amazingly well. Why is there a small second hand market for them? Because you'd have to be a mug to part with them!

If wanting to start a collection, I highly recommend testing the water with Cybertron Optimus Prime.

[liegeprime]

Omega is always awesome. The only not-awesome thing about him in animated was that he didn't get a toy.

I am not bitter

+1

nah just sour