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Thread: 30 years ago today-ish - Happy 30th Birthday to Transformers

  1. #21
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    Apparently there was enough activity on what was to become the "World Wide Web" (internet), that someone was already posting online their thoughts on that first issue of The Transformers comic... yes, 30 years ago this week.

    It seems that the first recorded internet posting about Transformers in May 1984 was not a favourable review...

    My vote for worst comic of the year would have to go to Marvel's TRANSFORMERS #1. Has anyone out there seen it? I'm still trying to figure out why I wanted to spend $.75 on it in the first place, but any reason I may have had was inadequate.

  2. #22
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    While on the topic of the birth of Transformers, I feel this is a suitable place to share an excerpt from a book published in 1990 called "Toyland - The High Stakes Game of the Toy Industry".
    Thanks to Sky Shadow for recently mentioning this book, as it was worth tracking down and has been hard to put down. It is just a shame that it is focussed mostly on the 80s (which was really the golden age of Action Figure toys and the birth of their marketing through TV shows), and ends in 1989.
    The book itself centres on the creation and development of the Dino-Riders toyline by Tyco, but draws in history and statistics of the major Companies and Brands during those years in the 1980s... including a chapter focusing on the creation of Hasbro as a Toy Company, and its success in the first half of the 80s.
    This is a scan of just that chapter.
    There is just so much in this book that I wanted to share, but even though the book is out of print (and a bit of a challenge to find), it is still protected... so an excerpt for promotional or personal purposes is all I want to risk.
    As such, I heavily recommend tracking down one of these books if you are a significant/dedicated fan of toys, as it gives a huge insight into the industry and Brands that exist even today.


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  3. #23
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    On the Good Morning America news this morning was a note that the "father" of GIJoe had died... so I looked up their website article, and it seems that it was the Hasbro Executive (Donald Levine) who developed the line, not the person who created the soldier doll idea (Stan Weston as noted on pages 112-113 above) and sold it to Hasbro.

    It's kinda like with Transformers - the toys were first designed and created by various Japanese people (some of whom are known by fans), but it was a Hasbro Executive in 1983 that would ultimately be credited as the "father" of Transformers by creating the storyline and Brand of Transformers (putting together a team of people to create characters and bible).

    This 50th Anniversary of GIJoe is not shaping up to be too memorable, as Hasbro stopped the toyline, and, we have one of its creators dying.

  4. #24
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    Can't believe I didn't stumble on this thread earlier, a very interesting read! I also didn't realise how close this Australian community came to not being what it is today on multiple occasions! :shock:

  5. #25
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    24th Jun 2014
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    I was very late compared to many here, but I was born during the RID era, and I ever so vaguely recall a Hightower toy, but I don't think they were mine. My first proper Transformer was Energon Inferno, purchased in the states when I was a wee one, and I still hold him dear to my heart, and my first Decepticon was Scorponok of the same line, which I got for christmas in 04. Love those figures to bits.


    My interest took a bit of a dive when I was six and seven, but by the time the new movie came out I was frothing at the mouth for them, whihc still continues seven years later.

    Happy birthday transformers.

  6. #26
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    Energon Scorponok was my 666th Transformer. I intentionally wanted to get a 'big bad' Decepticon for my 666th TF. I actually wanted to get Energon Megatron, but that toy wouldn't come out until much later, so I got Scorponok instead.

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
    Energon Scorponok was my 666th Transformer. I intentionally wanted to get a 'big bad' Decepticon for my 666th TF. I actually wanted to get Energon Megatron, but that toy wouldn't come out until much later, so I got Scorponok instead.
    I appreciate the attention & approach you gave to that particular numerical value Goki.

  8. #28
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    Today in America it is still the 17th of September, and that was the day 30 years ago that saw the first screening of the Transformers cartoon (in America).

    That makes today the only other known commemorative date in the 30th Anniversary of Transformers, as the Comic was released some four months earlier... and we might never know when the toys were first officially released or first sighted.

  9. #29
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    24th Nov 2009
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    I remember seeing the first episode of MTMTE on TV and being instantly hooked. I managed to record the last half of the episode to BETA and re-watched it over, and over again. Ahhh, memories...
    New Acquisitions:
    TR Astrotrain, Skullsmasher, & Hardhead
    Scouting For:
    G1 Boxes & Cardbacks
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    [COLLECTION] [CREATIVE] [MK COLLECTION]



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