Transformers Hall of Fame 2024 voting now open - until Sept 9
- Thread starter lastmaximal
- Start date
Ha, totally forgot to vote in this for like the third year in a row. I miss the days when we were picking new characters.
Anywho, I do find it very interesting how, despite the incredibly large presence the '86 film has within the public consciousness, the fandom and just the franchise as a whole: that Rodimus Prime so quickly got relegated to being the the exception more than the rule. Hell, even as Hot Rod, he frequently finds Bumblebee stealing his lunch out of the breakroom.
Anywho, I do find it very interesting how, despite the incredibly large presence the '86 film has within the public consciousness, the fandom and just the franchise as a whole: that Rodimus Prime so quickly got relegated to being the the exception more than the rule. Hell, even as Hot Rod, he frequently finds Bumblebee stealing his lunch out of the breakroom.
It's what happens when you traumatize a legion of children who, whether they grow up or not, become adults and dominate the discourse.
But more seriously there's the branding element of it as well; for better or worse they somehow didn't know what they had in Optimus and the rest of the brand at the time (to be fair, it was early days for the modern toy IP/brand framework), and Hot Rod and the New Generation was an unsuccessful attempt at reinvention at the wrong time. From then the corrective steps were to restore the status quo (or at least the Optimus Prime of it all), reinforce early-year presence in branding (84-85 characters would be in Pretenders and Action Masters, and led G2), and find ways to keep trademarked names active. But by the time all were in place, Transformers was in need of a refresh as a whole.
(I think the presence of the movie in the public consciousness is also a bit overstated there. At most casuals will recall they killed Optimus Prime, and also know they brought him back after. Many may not even recall Megatron becoming Galvatron; I've seen more cases of the next memory after OP being Unicron. It's more the fandom and franchise, and even then the trauma/distaste for that plot point and the need to restore and maintain the brand icon took precedence over novelty/change, ironically.)
But more seriously there's the branding element of it as well; for better or worse they somehow didn't know what they had in Optimus and the rest of the brand at the time (to be fair, it was early days for the modern toy IP/brand framework), and Hot Rod and the New Generation was an unsuccessful attempt at reinvention at the wrong time. From then the corrective steps were to restore the status quo (or at least the Optimus Prime of it all), reinforce early-year presence in branding (84-85 characters would be in Pretenders and Action Masters, and led G2), and find ways to keep trademarked names active. But by the time all were in place, Transformers was in need of a refresh as a whole.
(I think the presence of the movie in the public consciousness is also a bit overstated there. At most casuals will recall they killed Optimus Prime, and also know they brought him back after. Many may not even recall Megatron becoming Galvatron; I've seen more cases of the next memory after OP being Unicron. It's more the fandom and franchise, and even then the trauma/distaste for that plot point and the need to restore and maintain the brand icon took precedence over novelty/change, ironically.)
I never got to see TFTM in theaters. We rarely went to theaters back then. I'm sure I must have seen some movies before then, most likely Disney animated movies, but the first movie I actually remember watching in a theater was Jurassic Park. And that I mainly remember for how funny it was that my mom kept falling asleep during it. 
Instead, I got to see TFTM when it came out on video. I never got my own copy, but we had a video rental store nearby that I would often rent videos from, including several TF videos. I'm guessing that must have been in late '87, when I would have been 8. I remember bawling my eyes out when Optimus died. I'd continue watching till the end, then promptly rewind it and watch it again. And then I'd bawl when Optimus died again. Repeat until it was time to return the video...
Suffice it to say, his death really hit me hard. Despite that, I really liked Rodimus. I never got the hate for him. Today, he's my Prime. Optimus is great and all, but I'd happily leave him in the graveyard if it would get Rodimus back to center stage.
Instead, I got to see TFTM when it came out on video. I never got my own copy, but we had a video rental store nearby that I would often rent videos from, including several TF videos. I'm guessing that must have been in late '87, when I would have been 8. I remember bawling my eyes out when Optimus died. I'd continue watching till the end, then promptly rewind it and watch it again. And then I'd bawl when Optimus died again. Repeat until it was time to return the video...
Suffice it to say, his death really hit me hard. Despite that, I really liked Rodimus. I never got the hate for him. Today, he's my Prime. Optimus is great and all, but I'd happily leave him in the graveyard if it would get Rodimus back to center stage.
Hasbro PulseCon 2024:
Hall of Fame
Special guest host - Marcelo Matere!
Megatronus is the favorite of the Thirteen - shown with artwork of the Dreamwave The Fallen
Legacy United winner - Commander class Magmatron
Second place was Voyager class Animated Optimus Prime, third place was Deluxe class Gears
Studio Series winner - Commander class Optimus Prime
First official Studio Series Hall of Fame inductee
Exclusive toy of the year - Party Wallop
Human inductee - Marcelo Matere! He's so surprised because he was invited to be a guest host only. They deliberately didn't tell him that he won.
Hall of Fame
Special guest host - Marcelo Matere!
Megatronus is the favorite of the Thirteen - shown with artwork of the Dreamwave The Fallen
Legacy United winner - Commander class Magmatron
Second place was Voyager class Animated Optimus Prime, third place was Deluxe class Gears
Studio Series winner - Commander class Optimus Prime
First official Studio Series Hall of Fame inductee
Exclusive toy of the year - Party Wallop
Human inductee - Marcelo Matere! He's so surprised because he was invited to be a guest host only. They deliberately didn't tell him that he won.
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Pretty much what I expected.
My votes were Liege Maximo, reasoning that they made quite a bit of G2 characters in Legacy specifically Jhiaxus and the G2 Cybertronian Trooper, so why not the 13 member that was introduced at the end of G2.
Legacy United I focused on Silverbolt.
Studio Series, I figured Optimus would win, so I went with Steeljaw.
My votes were Liege Maximo, reasoning that they made quite a bit of G2 characters in Legacy specifically Jhiaxus and the G2 Cybertronian Trooper, so why not the 13 member that was introduced at the end of G2.
Legacy United I focused on Silverbolt.
Studio Series, I figured Optimus would win, so I went with Steeljaw.
Stop the count! Stop the count! Stop the count!
They did?
Because the Hall of Fame vote never yields a new toy?
Why? Did the Count make too much lightning with his laugh?
Likely to many numbers that he cannot consume all of them at once
It's highly likely we're getting toy of the 13, I just voted for the one I want to see more of.
I noticed the poll at the end named Prima Prime and I'm sorry, I hate it.
It feels like they named him Tom Thomas or something, and I know there are real people with that name, but this is the first prime and leader of them, Prima was fine.
"Likely" nothing. The leaks revealed it months ago, long before this poll was put up. We're getting Solus, Alchemist, Micronus, The Fallen, Prima, Onyx, and Alpha Trion, along with more Legacy-style multi-series characters.
Not just this poll, both his POTP toy and the PulseCon trivia challenge used that silly name too, unfortunately.I noticed the poll at the end named Prima Prime and I'm sorry, I hate it.