The G1 Renaissance or how long it will stay 1984 for? 😜

[Lord_Zed]

Parts of G1 will be around as long as Transformers exists as a brand. Like them or not the live action movies catapulted Bumblebees, Optimus and Megatron into the limelight once again and made them household names for the first time since the 80's. Hasbro will just keep reinventing the core characters over and over again as companies like Marvel do with their core heroes. I seriously doubt we will ever see a new Transformers story that doesn't involve Optimus or Bumblebee.

The core characters will endure though this G1 renaissance may start to fade in time when the buying power of the current g1 fans declines, new generations will no doubt still want more Optimus and co, but I imagine the ancillary characters (IE: pretty much everyone who hasn't been in 3 live action movies) will start to fade.

Already I think they are pushing the G1 thing maybe a little too far with some of those forced repaints, like the Combiner Wars Autobot cars. other than Scattershot and Armada Megatron they are the only Combiner Wars toys I've shelf warm.

Anyway while I'm happy that there are so many nostalgia miners at work with G1, it would be nice to see something new in Transformers again, Beast Wars was cool because it was a little bit different to what came before but still linked to it. It seems like we are trapped in various iterations of the same thing now.

[GoktimusPrime]

Armada Megatron is possibly one of the worst shelfwarmers we've seen in Classicsverse. Just today I walked into Target and saw a whole bunch of them gathering dust on the shelf.

The Armada kids are now in their late teens and early 20s, around the same age bracket that we G1 kids were when Beast Wars came out. That was the age when many of us "matured" as collectors, becoming more interactive with other fans and joining fine fan clubs like AusTrans^OzFormers. But it's also that age where people are still students, and thus lack the same level of disposable income that they'll have in a few years' time when they've entered the workforce.

The G1 Renaissance
The first big push of the G1 renaissance happened in the 00s, which is when most of us G1 kids had completed our education and were participating in the workforce. We suddenly had this thing called disposable incomes. And for those still living at home, unburdened by things like needing to pay rent, bills etc. HasTak (especially Takara) took advantage of this. This was the period when Takara started producing toys explicitly made for the collector market, labelled 対象年齢15歳以上 ("For Ages 15 and Up"). We got toys like:
* G1 reissues (now with fully powered launchers that would choke a child!)
* Smallest Transforming Transformers
* Binaltech/Alternators
* Masterpiece
* Alternity
* Various busts and statues, as well as PVC figurines
This was also when Transformers shifted away from beasts and towards vehicular alt modes. Hasbro were a bit slow to start, giving us Beast Machines in 2000 with mechanical looking bestial Maximals vs fantasy vehicle-moded Vehicons. It shelf warmed. Takara on the other hand, gave us Beast Wars level engineering with licensed vehicle modes; Lamborghini, Dodge, Mercedes etc.; Hasbro released them a year later as Robots in Disguise. They sold like hot cakes. And of course, every Transformers series since then has primarily maintained that G1-esque theme. Sure, we get a few individual figures that are a nod to Beast Wars here and there, but not entire lines (except for BW reissues in 2006 for the 10th Anniversary; but those weren't new moulds). Armada finally gave us a Unicron toy, and Cybertron gave us Primus!

It was also the heightened enthusiasm in Transformers in the 00s which prompted Hasbro to green light production for a live action movie; announced in 2003 and first debuting in 2007. And of course, the movie in turn helped to massively boost interest in Transformers, but let's not forget that it was already the rapidly increasing interest in Transformers that prompted the creation of the movie franchise in the first place. 2000 was also the first time that "Generation One" entered official currency (before then it was an unofficial fan term for all pre-G2 Transformers). So our love for G1 actually pushed that term into official usage.

Why Haven't We Seen The Same Thing With Post-G1 TF fandoms?
Uh... this is a really good question, and I'm not entire sure where the answer may lie. The Children of Armada are probably still too young for Hasbro to thoroughly exploit; they would the around the same age that we G1 Kids were when Beast Wars came out. But the Children of Beast Wars would be around the same age that we G1 Kids were when the G1 Renaissance began. So where are all the BW reissues? Where are all the new BW figures and merchandise? Masterpiece is actually doing pretty well, with MP Beast Convoy coming out and also Cheetor being announced. That's actually better than how G1 MP started with just MP1 Convoy and MP2 Ultra Magnus (which was just a white MP1). So hopefully the BW MPs will mean more good things to come for the Children of Beast Wars. The Armada kids are probably still too young a demographic group for HasTak to commercially exploit, but give 'em a couple of years (i.e. once they begin entering the workforce and earning disposable incomes), then they should be.

But does the demand exist? I honestly don't know...

[Gofigure]

BigTransformerTrev you highlight a very big reason for the continuation that I missed. Legacy.
G1 continues in my household because of Dad. I reintroduced the cartoon via DVD and it was a big hit. The chug stuff I picked up because of my kids and their demand (with my approval of course hehe) They saw the characters and wanted specific figures.
Heck, just a few hours ago I told a transformers bedtime story to my 7 and 4 year olds to go to sleep. It's was given the title of megatrons ultimate doom part 1. Sure it was partially for me but the kids really love that stuff. And I'm happy to oblige.

I reckon I'm not the only Dad doing this stuff.

[Jaxius._]

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DOB **/11/00

I am as much of a G1 fan as the next guy, I think after my generation stops collecting (damn now i sound old) G1 will cease to exist and they will be reissuing Prime figures... But thats decades away!

[GoktimusPrime]

I think that G1 will remain staple, but other generations may become blended. We've already seen it happen. All post-Beast Era (arguably including Car Robot) series are basically G1-inspired, but some also include elements from other series or introduce new characters...
* Car Robot; the original Japanese concept stood more on its own than Hasbro's version (RiD), as it didn't any names from G1. Even redecoed G1/G2 moulds (e.g. Brave Maximus, Spychangers, Vuldigus, Black Convoy) were given new names. Hasbro went and gave most of them G1 names, arguably making their version more "G1" than Takara's. But Hasbro did give some of their characters new names such as W.A.R.S., Rev, Hot Shot (cos they'd lost the rights for 'Hot Rod' ), Sky-Byte, Ruination, Ro-Tor, Armourhide, Movor etc.
* Armadaverse; introduces lots of new characters including a third Mini-Con faction.
* Animated; introduces some new characters (Lugnut, Bulkhead etc.) as well as characters from BW/BM (Blackarachnia, Waspinator, Strika)
* Movieverse; most characters are G1-derived, but there are some post-G1-era characters too, e.g. The Fallen, Drift, Lockdown) and a few new characters (e.g. Stinger), and of course the idea of the Vehicons originates from Beast Machines.
* Prime; mostly G1-derived characters, but a few new ones (Airachnid, Makeshift, Darksteel, Thundertron), and of course the Vehicons are conceptually descendant from BM.

One could make a valid argument that the "G1 inspiration" in these newer series is quite light; often just name reuses because Hasbro is maintaining trademarks. So does this count as maintaining G1? I don't know if there's a definitive answer for this, but we see this happen in many other franchises too - characters which seem to bear limited or superficial relation to their original namesakes, such as Deadpool (Wolverine Origins), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Deadpool) etc.

Going back to my first point, we have already seen Transformers series blend post-G1 or new characters with G1, but G1 still arguably remains the 'core inspiration' of these series. Especially whenever an Optimus Prime or Megatron continue to lead the warring factions. This is why I quite liked how the current RiD series has Bumblebee leading the Autobots (who remains in power after Optimus Prime's return) and Steeljaw being a de facto leader of the Decepticon remnant (I haven't watched much of S2 yet, so please no spoilers). I personally have grown sick and tired of always seeing yet another Optimus Prime or Megatron in charge. Let's face it, Hasbro are making enough toys of these characters that their trademarks are not going away any time soon. And considering that Hasbro now has multiple TF lines running concurrently, would it hurt to have at least one of them without an Optimus Prime or Megatron in it? They seem to have at least staved off bringing Megatron back to RiD, and I hope it stays that way (again, no spoilers please). I quite like how the IDW comics have placed Optimus Prime and Megatron in positions where neither have executive command of their respective factions anymore.

I suspect that future generations will be a continuation of what we're already seeing; G1 will continue, but Transformers will continue to become blended with post-G1 and new characters. We've seen similar things happen with other non-TF series, such as...

• The Avengers
  Note: also including villains (☆) and allies who weren't members of the Avengers (※)
  "G1" = Thor, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Iron-Man, the Hulk, Loki☆
  "G2" = Thor, Giant-Man (formerly Ant-Man), the Wasp, Iron-Man, Captain America, Baron Zemo☆, Kang the Conqueror☆, Wonder Man☆, Count Nefaria☆
  "G3" = Captain America, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Giant-Man (as Goliath; later becoming Yellowjacket), the Wasp, Hercules, Black Panther, Vision, Grim Reaper☆, Black Knight※, Black Widow※, the X-Men※
  Many generations later...
  (Current?) Avengers Alliance = Captain America, Black Panther, Iron-Man, Captain Marvel, Star Lord, Gamora

• The Justice League
  Silver/Bronze Age = Superman, Batman, Aquaman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, The Atom, Black Canary
  Challenge of the Super Friends = Superman, Batman, Aquaman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, Samurai
  JLI (Batman: The Brave and the Bold) = Batman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Fire, Ice

Disclaimer: I'm not a fan of these series; this is just information that I've found from a cursory Google search and may not be completely accurate. Apologies to any actual fans reading this, but you get the point that I'm trying to make.

As we can see, subsequent incarnations of these franchises have seen a blend of characters from the first series with new characters. The current RiD series is an eclectic blend of characters who are either derived from G1 (e.g. Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Sideswipe etc.), derived from post-G1 (e.g. Strongarm, Drift, Megatronus etc.) and new characters (e.g. Fracture, Underbite, Thunderhoof etc.). So I think that Transformers will continue along the line of maintaining characters derived from G1, but also those from other series and new characters too. Removing G1 characters entirely may be deemed as removing the "original spirit" of Transformers; much like say if they were to release a new Avengers series where none of the Avengers came from any of the previous incarnations (i.e. 100% new characters). I'm not saying that this is an inherently bad concept from a story-telling perspective, but from a marketability POV I think that consumers always demand at least some ties with the original series. I think one reason why the Doctor's Tardis' chameleon circuit is never fixed is so that the Tardis' iconic blue police box disguise remains a constant visual fixture throughout every incarnation. The Doctor may change his looks and persona (and potentially even ethnic appearance and gender), and of course, he goes through many companions; and the interior design of the Tardis has undergone many changes, but the iconic blue box has always remained. It wouldn't be the same if he finally fixed the chameleon circuit and we saw a new Doctor travelling in a new Tardis, say, shaped like a wardrobe or something. Even the very concept of having Autobots and Decepticons as factions is still a carry over from G1.

The only times I can think of when G1 is completely removed from Transformers is in lines that cross over with other franchises, which I think many fans don't consider to be the "proper" or "main" staple of Transformers. These include:
* Transformers Animorphs
* Transformers Crossovers, Star Wars
* Transformers Crossovers Marvel
* Disney Label
* Hello Kitty
...although with those last two, some figures have alt modes still inspired by G1 (e.g. Mickey Mouse & Hello Kitty being influenced by Optimus Prime, Donald Duck's alt mode being a yellow VW Beetle like Bumblebee). When I was in Japan in 2012, I tried to get a free bonus Arms Micron figure when I purchased my Disney Label Mickey Mouse TF, but the staff member who served me initially said that this toy didn't count as a Transformer. I then asked to speak with her manager who also made the same assertion. We then perused through the campaign's Terms and Conditions, which explicitly said 「トランスフォーマー商品」 ("Transformer product") without specifying any kind of series. They reluctantly conceded to my point and gave me the free Arms Micron figure. Now of course these staff members most probably weren't Transfans, but through their eyes we can see the general public's perception of what a Transformer "should be." i.e. something that ties in or feels like G1.

IMO Beast Wars was the closest we've seen in terms of a successful (very successful) Transformers series that tried to step out of the shadow of Generation 1. And unlike Animorphs, Star Wars, Marvel, Disney or Hello Kitty, Beast Wars ran on their own steam; they didn't rely on the popularity of another franchise. But we also know that Beast Wars was initially met with a lot of skepticism and even hostility, and while BW was able to triumph over this, it was still a significant hurdle which I think Hasbro are now keen to avoid by sticking to the 'tried and true' with G1. Hasbro (well, Kenner) branched off with BW because the G1 formula had proven to be a dismal failure with Generation 2, they had to step away from G1 in order for Transformers to survive. I think that it's highly unlikely that G1 will ever suffer a "dark age" like it did in the early to mid 1990s, so it's likewise most unlikely that we'll ever see G1 go away from Transformers.

[Sinnertwin]

In my head, it's always 1984

Preach!