25 Years of Transformers according to us!

[GoktimusPrime]

I was fairly disappointed with the "25 years of Transformers" feature on the ROTF DVD and I figure that we fans could probably tell a more interesting story about what it's been like living with this hobby for a quarter century. I'll get thing started...

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1984: After playing with Go-Bots for a year I come across Transformers. Holy crap, these are way better! After visiting a friend's house, he and his cousin show me Transformer comics from Marvel. Ooh!

1985: One Saturday morning I sit down to watch cartoons... there's a Transformers cartoon! Ooh, new toys and mail-aways! So that's what these robot points were for. Sweet. zOMG, there's a kid at my school with the largest Transformers collection ever... 56 Transformers! Visiting his house after school is like going to paradise. For the next 13 years he would be the only person I knew who had a not KO G1 Megatron. Dang. For some spastic reason, some other kids at school decide to tease me for collecting Transformers, deciding that we were too old for these "kids" toys... despite being kids ourselves. Weird. I also compile my first Transformers collection database on our Commodore 64. Got all the mail-away Transformers which was split between my brother, cousin and myself. My cousin ended up with Reflector, Time Warrior, F-1 Dasher and Sky-Dasher. He's managed to keep all of his Transformers but has since lost Time Warrior (otherwise you know I would've totally bought it off him)!! Bah!

1986: More new toys! Man, Ultra Magnus is fantastic!! In July my dad takes my brother, cousin and me to Hoyts on George St. to watch "Transformers The Movie." Phwoar! I find a newspaper competition asking for people to send in a drawing of their favourite Transformer I sent in about a dozen drawings, all in colour. Didn't hear anything about it after that, so meh.


1987: One morning as I'm about to go to school there's a knock on our door. A man delivers a package with my name on it. It's a prize from the newspaper competition that I'd entered last year! My prize is Battletrap! My friends and I also start having Throttlebot races in the playground. Zoom! We also started doing speed transformation competitions to see who could transform a toy the fastest. We soon discover that doing this gives Transformers _really_ loose joints, so that practice soon stops. :/ What the... these Nebulans look like humans (in the comic books)! Whoa... never saw The Rebirth during this year, although I heard about from another kid at school. My friend with the "biggest" collection decides that he's "too old" for Transformers and sells his collection. If our school's biggest collector can 'fall', then could I?? The thought of ever not collecting Transformers begins to baffle me (still does).

1988: More and more kids are getting out of Transformers. Traitors! Buh? Where did all the rub signs go? Awww... these Pretenders seem kinda funky. I finally watched The Rebirth. Gee... how disappointing was that. Anyway, Transformer collecting becomes more and more "uncool" and I begin becoming more of a closet collector.


1989: Micromasters are so cool... with a small amount of money they really jack up my collection count! Wahahaha. And they have playsets! So much fun. These new Pretenders are pretty cool too.


1990: I discover Phantom Zone and establish a standing order. No more shall I miss out on getting Transformer comics because my local newsagent was sold out or I couldn't get there on time! Kids at school are now becoming more accepting of individual differences, and I even see some kids in my year being open about collecting toys and bringing toys and comics to school! I start coming out of the closet about being a TF collector. What the?! Action Masters?!? Oooohhhhhh! G1 reissues! Alright, I can start getting toys I missed out on during the 80s. Sweet!

1991: More... Action Masters. Right. Oh look, more reissues! As a school art project I create a Transformers comic book which wins an award. When I pick up US#78 from Phantom Zone I'm told that #80 will be the last one and that Marvel is cancelling Transformers. No way... he must be lying right? No?! CRAP!

1992: Light piping!!! <cheers> Shame about the limited range of toys though. :/ Buh?! The UK comics are cancelled?! CRAP! I also come across some episodes of "Transformers Masterforce"... dubbed really badly in English. Guh!

1993: Man... colour change everything is a massive fad. All my friends have Hypercolor T-shirts, clearly the fashion statement of the future, so I nag my parents to get me one. And now so many toys are changing colour according to temperature too... oh look, colour-changing Transformers (and G.I. Joes, Batman and many other toylines!). This is clearly the way of the future. What's this? "Transformers: Generation 2"?? They just look like G1 reissues with different colours. Heeeey, now they're turning up in G.I. Joe comics. Heeey, now they have their own comic. Heeeey, now there's a TV show... no wait, it's just G1. Okay, that was a let down. My quest to find other Transformer fans online begins using the online handle gokuu.

1994: I become a fully out-of-the-closet loud and proud collector. My friends and I watch the animé mockumentary "Otaku no Video" which we found inspiring. Whaddaya mean the G2 comics' been cancelled?! CRAP!

1995: Mmm... Laser Optimus Prime is pure awesomesauce. Eewww, what are these Power Masters?! Yuck... I'll pass on those thanks. My quest to find Transformer web sites on the internet begins, but all I find are sites on electrical transformers. I cosplay for the first time (as Son Gokuu from Dragonball Z; not directly TF related, but years later I would begin my Transformers cosplay)


1996: I get involved with an anime club on campus and one of the first things we screen is "Transformers The Movie." Yeah! Oh look, Beast Wars. Funky. I grab a few toys which are pretty cool.

1997: More Beast Wars! Oh wow, there's a computer animated TV show. This is cool. I _finally_ find other Transformer fans online allowing me to make several friends and contacts in other countries, very handy for purchasing online (especially in the days before eBay). An American known as Benson Yee tells me about an Australian club called "AusTrans" and introduces me to griffin. I sign up. I've also changed my online handle from gokuu to "Goktimus Prime." Hasbro releases the US KayBee exclusive Machine Wars line which I promptly import with help from one of my US contacts.


1998: I attend my first Sydney fan meet; comprised of dirge, griffin, dsaint and myself. By this stage every other kid I used to play Transformers with have grown up and are no longer collecting (although most of them have given me their collectors for free ). It's a great feeling to finally be able to meet and interact with fellow Transformer collectors in real life for the first time since I was a kid. Hasbro Australia releases Machine Wars Transformers everywhere! I arrange my first overseas group order, allowing other AusTran members to "piggyback" onto my order of Beast Wars II toys from Japan and save on the cost of postage per person. I also establish my own Transformers web site, "Planet Sabretron" featuring toy reviews, photo skits/comics and the "Transformers of the Month" section which would spotlight a different Transformer each month (in a style somewhat similar to TFwiki in terms of having a different section for comics/cartoon/toys etc.)

1999: I establish the first Planet Sabretron message board for members to use, essentially becoming the first (albeit 'unofficial') online forum used by OzFormers members. It was around this time that we registered the #transformers IRC channel on austnet. I manage to obtain several Japanese Transformer cartoons on VHS (copied from LD) such as the entire series of The Headmasters, Scramble City, Zone and a whole bunch of Japanese Transformer, Diaclone and Microman commercials. I show these to one of my toy-collecting friends at uni and for the next several months every time we see each other on campus we shout, "DI-A-CLONNNNE!" I'm unable to find any of the Ultra Transmetal 2s locally... Hasbro USA is told about my woes and sends me both TM2 Megatron and Tigerhawk for free! Thankyewverymuch!

2000: Transformers Car Robot finally gives us a fusion between toy engineering developed during late G2 and Beast Wars with licensed vehicles like G1! Takara starts making G1 reissues and gets me all excited. I attend my first little fan meet in Canberra.


2001: Hasbro Australia decides not to release Battle For The Spark so I'm left to import them from the U.S. An online friend of mine that I'd met on a Japanese Transformers board decides to come live in Sydney for a year on a Working Holiday. I introduce him to the local Transformers and animé/manga communities. We trek down to Melbourne and attend a meet with fans from Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide! I attend an Xmas Cosplay party where I see Cataphract cosplaying as Optimus Prime! First time I'd come across a Transformers cosplay IRL. Sweet!


2002: The first e-Hobby toys are released, which is cool. But otherwise this was a very dry and frustrating year devoid of any new Transformer moulds aside from Go-Bots and 1-2-3 Transformers. :/ I make my first Transformers cosplay; Megatron. Yeah, go ahead and laugh. I actually caught public transport, walked around in public and had dinner at a restaurant dressed like that. Dreamwave, having acquired the Transformers licence, gives us Transformer comics for the first time since G2 ended.


2003: Armada/Micron Legend breaks the drought. Along with the help of several other members (griffin, dirge, Jhiaxus, excelonzero etc.), we organise the OzFormers booth at Sydney SupaNova and Animania. We produce the first Australian convention exclusive merchandise (comic, posters). After 17 years we finally get a UNICRON toy!! At the end of that year I cosplay as Optimus Prime for an Xmas party and Binaltech Smokescreen blows my effing mind out! Wow! Suddenly Transformers aren't just for kids anymore.


2004: Masterpiece Convoy blows more chunks out of my mind. Whoa! I cosplay again as Optimus Prime at SupaNova and meet George Takei who talks to me as if I'm in character and asks me about "my world and people"! And he was genuine too, not condescending or anything, so I obliged by telling him about Optimus Prime and Cybertron in-character. With the help of fellow members we organise Australia's first Transformers convention in Sydney, Sabretron 2004. We produce more exclusive merchandise (comic, toys) as well as events like trivia, Throttlebot racing etc. I really wanted to get Energon Megatron as my 666th Transformer, but the toy doesn't come out soon enough and I just couldn't wait, so I ended up getting Scorponok instead. All of my web sites (including Planet Sabretron) are abandoned or shut down at the end of the year for reasons I can't mention in public (nothing to do with HasTak).


2005: Dreamwave loses its licence to Transformers amidst much controversy, just as their comics were starting to get good. A few months later IDW picks up the ball and creates its own Transformers universe. I conduct the first collection count poll using the "Substitution Rationale" system of counting. This creates much debate with many people calling for a fairer system rather than imposing any individual's method upon a community. I win a cosplay competition with little more than just a black Autobot T-shirt and a piece of paper stuck to it (the category was "Most Original Cosplay")


2006: My home is burgled. My original G1 Optimus Prime, Megatron, Ultra Magnus, Galvatron and Binaltech Asterisk Alert and Broadblast are stolen. Classics gets everyone excited as we wait with much anticipation for the upcoming live action movie. Ooh! On June 6 I really wanted to get a Decepticon to commemorate the date 06-06-06. Alas the only Decepticon I could find that I didn't have was Cybertron Jetfire... who of course turned out to be an undercover Autobot! Gah!! A series of polls is held throughout the year to create a Universal Counting Method. Extensive debates are held by fans across the world and votes are cast to democratically establish a method of counting by popular vote. I attend the second Transformers convention in Sydney, OzToyCon, run by griffin. I also cosplay as Ratchet at Animania and SupaNova.


2007: The live action movie comes out! I meet Michael Bay, Megan Fox and Rachael Taylor at the biggest movie premiere I've ever attended! The first collection count poll is held using the Universal Counting Method. I cosplay as Optimus Prime at SupaNova in my first transformable costume.


2008: Transformers Animated comes out giving a new generation of children an opportunity to get into Transformers, and giving mature fans the first new Transformers (TV) series since the Unicron Trilogy. Fans are scratching their heads as we begin reading All Hail Megatron. :/ Eric Siebenaler meets up with fans and interacts with the fandom!


2009: Revenge of the Fallen comes out as we celebrate 25 years of Transformers. I watch the premiere at IMAX, the first time I'd ever seen a movie on IMAX. Phwoar! With help from fellow members, we run an OzFormers stall at the Smash! animé/manga convention.

[Gutsman Heavy]

impressive!

[Seraphim Prime]

As Gutsman has said, your personal TF history is very impressive.

However, I think the special that was included on RotF was designed to show a bit of Hasbro's perspective on the TF franchise and a little bit behind the scenes with the design team - particularly focusing on how TFs have evolved in terms of engineering and as a concept and a franchise - which I think they did quite well.

The only thing that I would have added, the lack of which was what I think first annoyed you Gok, was that there have been groups of fans who have supported the brand for the last 25 years, each with their own stories to tell, who have created and joined discussion boards, who actively support the franchise online and at conventions like Botcon.

[mknell]

Nice work there man

[Jetfire]

Cool what did you get signed by Bay?

Sorry, just realised that might not be yours

[5FDP]

2003: Along with the help of several other members (griffin, dirge, Jhiaxus, excelonzero etc.), we organise the OzFormers booth at Sydney SupaNova and Animania. We produce the first Australian convention exclusive merchandise (comic, posters).

I'm still waiting to see what I get after signing up on your mailing list

[GoktimusPrime]

You get love. Platonic love. For more information and discussion about the convention project please see this thread.

However, I think the special that was included on RotF was designed to show a bit of Hasbro's perspective on the TF franchise and a little bit behind the scenes with the design team - particularly focusing on how TFs have evolved in terms of engineering and as a concept and a franchise - which I think they did quite well.

What focus? They just looked at how G1 was conceived and its early beginnings then leapt forward and ignored over two decades of history and evolution to what the franchise has become now. That would be like looking at the history of life on Earth and starting with simple unicellular protozoans and then leaping to humans. :/ It tells the audience next to nothing about what happened in between.

But anyway, the purpose of this thread isn't to complain about this feature, I only mentioned it as the inspiration for making this thread. But I don't just want this thread to be only my story, I want it to be our story. So I invite you all to please share your own stories about what it's been like living with the Transformers franchise/hobby for 25 years. I've only scratched the surface of my own story, and I'll fill in some more details later, but please... do tell us about your own stories too everyone.

[5FDP]

You get love. Platonic love. For more information and discussion about the convention project please see this thread.

Ummm... this is information on the 2009 fan convention if I'm not mistaken I was referring to the 2003 Supanova event when I signed up to a mailing list. Doesn't matter... I'll just take the platonic love instead

[foor]

Great read. I love it that every year you had a significant Transformers moment. I totally shared some of the same experiences, like a friend of mine who had the biggest collection and sold it all off within a couple years because he discovered girls. PFAH.

[Vector Sigma 13]

Thats awesome Gok- I can see why you are so passionate about Transformers!