Transformer Fan First, Or Robot Fan First?

['07Camaro]

For me, I became a Transformers fan first; got introduced to the first live action movie, loved it, then got introduced to the Generation 1 cartoon. But over the years, I realised that the franchise influenced my interest in Japanese mecha such as Gundam, Evangelion, Macross etc. Since then, I became a huge sucker for giant robots, whether they are fighting each other, or just stand there to look cool.

Besides the movie/film aspect, I was always intrigued by the engineering that went into the figures/model kits of the robots. In fact, it's what made me interested in the franchise to begin with. Both the Transformers Masterpiece figures and the Master Grade Ver.Ka Gundam model kits are among my favourite lines of all time because their engineering and designs were more unique, complex and distinct in comparison to any other toy line or model that I had ever experience before.

[GoktimusPrime]

Same here.

Love for Transformers generated interested in mecha generated interest in anime generated interest in all things Japanese.

[Ark-Ivor]

For me it was Dinosaurs, loved the latin names.

As a 6 year old I was given a couple of Transformers as gifts, and I loved the conversion gimick, but I preferred Lego (afterall the conversion there was practically anything I could imagine). I didn't become a Transformers fan until the Dinobots appeared in the cartoon, and what seemed like years later (at the time) on the toy shelves. There weren't any decent Lego Dinos at the time, I couldn't afford the decent Technic sets to make better ones, and the olny other Dinosaur toys were those tiny rubbery ones, and it'd still be a couple of years before Dino-Riders (the next series I really liked), plus several of the Transformers had psuedo Latin names.
I didn't become a serious colletor though until 1989 when my local newsagent started getting the Transformers UK and US comic books, and the characters got decent showcasing stories. IMO the only good stories were in the comics and Animated Movie, the TV series (apart from those episodes with the Dinobots) were just forgettable for me.
I've never been able to get into other Mecha series much.

[dsaint]

Transformer fan first - I have fuzzy memories of watching the original show and they were enough to get me enthused when the cartoon was shown in syndication during my primary school years.

It was the fiction behind the toys that spurred me to ask my mother to buy the
"Classic" G1 releases out at that time. I was one of the happiest kids in the world when I got an original Starscream for my birthday because I loved the character so much.

The only other robot fiction I got into in between my toddler days and reacquaintance with Transformers was the Lionforce Voltron series but that did not last long...