The Soapbox VIII: 2008: A Year in Review
We’ve reached the end of another year. A year that brought with it the usual highs and the usual lows. Though sometimes it might not seem so, a year is a long time in a collector’s life. New figures stampede their way into the market, new feats of engineering emerge, and new perspectives surface. Nothing seems to change yet it happens so fast that before you know it, so much has changed.
Too often, as a fandom do we focus on what’s to come, what’s the next release that excites us, but let’s take this opportunity as 2008 draws to a close to slow down and remember the year that was, the year of change. Without further ado, join me as we take a stroll through 2008’s memory lane.
A New Board
The onset of 2008 brought about a new board. It seems like only yesterday now since our migration here when the new clinical blue at first replaced the homeliness of the faded shade of pink of our old board. Gone were the member numbers that had seemed so ridiculous yet were a reminder of how long we had been around. It was like moving to a new house. You appreciated the move but it took some getting used to.
Server Troubles
And it didn’t help with the server troubles that plagued us throughout periods of the year. For a long time, the ability to post pictures was lost which all would agree did hurt the liveliness and energy of this board. Even the useful information or eBay links were a annoyance to post. Little things, yes, but frustration personified they were. In due course though, these problems were rectified but in hindsight it was a lovely little reminder of some of the important little things that are important to our little humble abode.
The Conclusion of the Movie line
Board issues aside, at retail, we began to see the slow death of the movie. It was almost a saddening and tragic affair. Given the heights at which the movie had reached where even the finding of an actual Transformer on a shelf was a rarity, the sudden flood of toys on pegs in the stores was a sad sight to see.
Not only that, it soured what was an exciting time for Transformers. The brand had been thrust into unchartered territory and an air of expectation was in the air. Yet the slow movement of new toys onto the shelves in the first five months of this year almost choked whatever enthusiasm that we had had. Uninspired repaints such as Off Road Ironhide and First Strike Prime did little to fill us with alacrity. Cybertron repaints in All-Spark packaging came way too late and too close to Animated for anyone to care. By the time the All-Spark Cybertron repaints had reached us, all enthusiasm had died and attention had turned elsewhere.
The only noticeable exception was Big Daddy, the butt of many jokes yet a toy regarded with much more affection than his Cybertron counterpart, Downshift. But even then it wasn’t enthusiasm for a toy in movie line but a toy that would join his Classics compatriots. So even Big Daddy can hardly be chalked up as a win for the movie line.
By the end of the movie line, everyone was happy to see it go. The saddest part though is that the toys still litter many shelves, a weary reminder of how sick we are of the line. And that was in itself a sad way to end the beginning of a new era in Transformers success.
The Bombardment of Ozformers
The Griffin-led reporting team from Australian Toy Fair resulted in a bombardment of our humble Australian board like we had not seen before. The board slowed down as fans from across the globe came to see the news of the upcoming Marvel, Animated and Universe toys to come. Yet while it was annoying no one could deny just how lovely it was to have our little moment in the sun. But that wasn’t all, we had an influx of many members who discovered our humble little abode and its all helped to make this place a merry little joint.
The Arrival of Animated
Animated could not come soon enough. The cartoon appeared first and the response was mixed. Some fans didn’t accept the supposed immaturity and lack of depth of it while some loved the throwbacks to G1 that the writers had taken while some could just not come to terms with the animation style. The toys though were another story. Despite pockets of discontent, most boards have been amazed by the personality and poseability of the Animated toys and while its been a mix bag, every single line is but Animated has really tested the way we look at Transformer toys, giving us a new outlook on Transformers and the way they’re designed.
The Emergence of Customisers
The customisers hit fast and hit hard. We started with seemingly harmless forays into Spike and Sparkplug, energon cubes, coronation sets and heads but the individual customiser became a thing of the past. City Commander changed the landscape of customization. It was now not just something that the skilled fans did for their own personal satisfaction. It was something that could now be shared. And the skill, care and diligence applied to City Commander showed how much success a custom could have if done right. It has already sparked more projects and there is no doubt that more are on their way.
And we as a fandom have a lot to be thankful for because it just adds a new layer to the fascination we have with Transformers. And of course, it would be remiss to not express our gratitude to Kyle and his friend for all their help to us as a community.
The rise of the AUD
The happy times rolled on as the Australian $ reached unheralded heights, signaling an onslaught on the international markets by Australian fans. It brought about all sorts of acquisitions, allowed many to chase down expensive G1 toys they’d been holding back on and boy was there an explosion in those acquisition threads.
Real packaging.
Overlooked at first and then brought to my attention by Paulbot, the packaging of Transformers has changed drastically. Once upon a time, you bought the toy, removed it and then really couldn’t display with it since it looked so bare. But Hasbro changed all that with wonderful simplicity. The images on the side of the boxes in not just Universe but Classics as well have since become a highly attractive part of collecting now, giving us an all new, but welcomed, dilemma as to whether to dispose of the packaging.
Botcon bubbles
The success of 2007 Botcon set attracted the scalping vultures in full force. But as the stock market soon would collapse, so too did the Botcon bubble. Prices slumped as initially over optimistic prices were not met and in the end you could get most of the toys for a modest mark up of about 25-30%. Not bad if you didn’t have to fork out the cost of traveling to the TFdom’s biggest annual event.
All Hail Confusion
The Furman “-tion” had flopped and IDW had to try something new. They labeled it All Hail Megatron. It was a new direction supposed to invigorate interest in the dying series but IDW seemed to want to insist it was all part of continuity despite the significant change in art and storytelling which served to only draw the ire of the remaining faithful fans. Confusion ensued as time elapsed and IDW continually found itself on the backfoot, defending the feisty frustrations of fans unable to reconcile just exactly how this was to be in continuity.
Encore Giants
Many said that it would never happen. Many scorned the hopeful wishes of younger fans for a complete G1 Giant. Many proved to be wrong. TakaraTomy came through with one of the biggest moves in reissues and gave us Encore Omega Supreme and Metroplex. It sent one message to all of us. Nothing is impossible anymore. And that my friends, is the wonder of collecting.
The Growth of the Melbourne Meets
Perhaps centric to one state, these become an enjoyable, regular meet that expanded beyond the once very modest beginnings of Paulbot, Iceburn, the occasional Sifun, and STL. The camaraderie has grown to the point where the two mainstays like Paulbot and STL didn’t have to be present for them to keep going ahead. And that’s exactly how it should be and has helped us to become a closer fandom and give us a real-life rather than merely virtual environment to share our affection for Transformers.
Price-matching Bonanza
Along with the increased meets, so too did the hunts increase. No time of the year is bigger for the hunt than the mid year toy sales. Golden Phoenix worked his magic to only initiate an explosion of price-matching that helped us to assert our rights as consumers and hold the retailers to their promises. The mid-year K-Mart sale at Melbourne will forever be a fond moment down memory lane as a moment filled with unbridled excitement and energy. Not only that, it has helped changed the way we hunt and made us more informed consumers, a change that should be welcomed.
Henkei Skywarp/Thundercracker
The news item of the year. It saw the TF forums far and wide explode. If you tuned into TFW2005’s thread, it was a ground zero of some of the most bitter arguments about the release. Of course, most already had Skywarp but it was Thundercracker who was the talking point. Supposed to be a Fun Publications exclusive, his arrival meant he wasn’t so exclusive anymore. The price point wasn’t as good as many would’ve thought but it was a moment of great joy for many in the fandom and sparked a frenetic frenzy as there was a fear of missing out. The day came when the orders were supposed to be up and the Japanese sites taking those orders were absolutely bombarded as people flocked to the site, fearing again not having the 3rd core seeker because numbers would be limited. Those fears proved incorrect and anyone who wanted one would have a Thundercracker. It was a great moment for the fandom though perhaps not for Fun Publications who must have felt some level of frustration.
PM boxes to 100
This is one of the small things that we’re all too quick to forget. But the change from the bossbot helped remarkably to smoothen communications between board members, allowing us to hold onto more messages, to run more PMs smoothly without having to wait for a person to clear their PM box. And we should all really thank llamatron for this as it was he who tabled the idea. A great move and it just helped make our little corner in cyberspace a lot cosier.
Return of the Dinobots
The Dinobots staged a remarkable and highly anticipated return. There is no mistaking the love they attract amongst the fandom. We’ve got to remember that while they have long been fan favourites, it was not till 2008 that the Dinobots have been part of a cartoon series. Even though it was only Animated, you couldn’t miss the excitement across the fandom. Virtually every fan made it their personal mission to get the Dinobots despite their limited role in the Animated cartoon hardly warranting that adulation. Sure, we were short by two Dinobots but three is a promising start.
Classics/Universe 2.0/Henkei
The triumphant return of this line was one of the best things to happen to fans this year. It allowed us to pursue the classics favourites that we all know and love. The toys were mixed results but this line was always destined to be a favourite among fans. The one thing the line also brought along with it was the return of the Ultra size class. It opened brand new possibilities for customisers and to fans to expand their modern G1 toys.
All Good Things Come to an End
The Australian dollar crashed and burned as the global turmoil sunk in and we realized we were at the behest of forces beyond our control. Henkei at near retail parity prices disappeared, overseas buying dropped off unless it was necessary and more returned to retail. Importing toys from the US no longer became very attractive at all.
Hasbro Does Love You
After a long time thinking that Hasbro didn’t really care all that much about the adult collector, Hasbro happily proved us wrong as it announced it would take questions from the fandom. No one can mistake the importance of the Q & As in Australia since our release information is not the same as the US and it was a bold move by Hasbro to invest time into helping us and helping to keep us better informed, a move that signals a change in the way Hasbro is thinking these days.
Drift
A first. IDW would be allowed to introduce the first new toy through its comics, something rarely done anymore. The prototypes aren't even up yet and even the stories have not arrived but already there has been a undercurrent of contempt towards this new character and the writer responsible to ushering him in. But it's still a change, a big change, to what we were used to, of comics simply being the stomping grounds of loyal, diehard fans.
MP-08
It was never supposed to happen. It was the stuff of dreams. But it became a reality. MP-08 Grimlock is coming. From the completist to the most selective of TF fans, there was no doubting how much love MP-08 would attract. One of the things though that has perhaps held back the full measure of enthusiasm is the crashing $AUD meaning that this will be one pricey but adored Transformer.
While it was a move initiated not by TakaraTomy but Hasbro, it signals too that there exists more possibility for the line. At one point most fans had no real idea what the future of the line was other than the fact that it would eventually include Thundercracker to round out the Seekers.
Oh Quality, Where have You Gone?
One of the disappointments of the year had to be the disappointing quality control across the board from both Hasbro and TakaraTomy. Both were immensely disappointing and many a fan had trouble with breaking parts, wet paint or flimsy joints. Not even exclusives like Henkei Thundercracker and Skywarp could escape the poor quality control. Some lived with it, others refunded countless times in the hope of finding a more suitable replacement. It was a severe frustration but perhaps one should keep in mind that perhaps in the case of Animated and Universe it had more to do with the fact that Hasbro and TakaraTomy are pushing the boundaries of TF engineering and have not yet quite perfected the process yet. That’s not a justification of course but perhaps it might go someway to explaining why the fragility of toys such as Animated Bltizwing or Lockdown.
Henkei Thrust/Dirge
Another surprise that shocked many but perhaps not as much as the first time that Skywarp/Thundercracker were announced. There was the usual bickering on the international boards but at home on Ozformers, we greeted the news with much gusto. Orders were organized but the deflating Australian dollar proved to be a bit of a downer. But that didn’t stop our fervor for it and we should all be grateful to Jaydisc and Tober for their hard work coordinating these complicated endeavours. In any event, before we knew it, we were staring at the reality of having all the Seekers, a reality few would have believed at the beginning of this year.
Christmas Explosions
The year had started to die as Universe and Animated crawled along slowly but the month of Christmas exploded our wallets, seeing new wave after new wave of toys hit the shelves like a flood. You’d be hard pressed to find a quiet week in the last month prior to Christmas. There was always something new one week. If it wasn’t cheap $30 combiners, it was Special Editions. If it wasn’t Special Editions, it was the Jetfire/Jetstorm two pack. It was a frenetic period but welcomed and ended what we were starting to feel would be a very quiet end to what was a year of change.
And that was 2008. A year that brought many new things, a year that tested the skepticism of the fans too used to the old ways, a year of opportunity seized, a year of change.
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I actually sat and read through the whole bloody thing :b I like! 
Great year. Has been great getting to know so many of you too 
Originally Posted by STL
