Forty Years of Transformers Hot Takes

[CoffeeHorse]

They were a valid experiment at the time. It was a chance to see if Transformers was just a specific gimmick or if the characters were marketable in a form that transforming toys couldn't yet deliver.

Obviously it didn't work. But the brand was in such bad shape that we don't really know whether Action Masters killed it or just failed to save it. I think it was doomed either way.

I do agree that non-transforming stuff today serves no purpose.

 

[Sabrblade]

I do agree that non-transforming stuff today serves no purpose.

Sure it does. It served the purpose of finally giving us this Unicron:

 

[lastmaximal]

As a main line, non-transforming Transformers are an easy pass. But I've never understood the "durr why put TRANSFORMERS on them when they don't transform", like seriously, mac, do you expect your Transformers branded underoos to have a robot mode?

Separate, ancillary product lines with non-transforming representations of the characters are fine, but only when they're recognized and priced accordingly. The various figurine type ones we've gotten over the years, from Takara's SCFs to Super 7's 5poa stuff, have been charming. Super 7's pricing for these retraux offerings all but kills the appeal, but that's a separate thing.

But I do agree that it's still a hard sell in an era where the regular lines are getting to great levels of show fidelity and articulation anyway. RED has been a bit of a waste in that regard, as it really should have leaned into stuff that wouldn't fit into the converting lines. I suppose that does make it less marketable, but it's already so far behind the 8-ball that maybe it'd take getting weird with it to make it work.

 

[Sabrblade]

like seriously, mac, do you expect your Transformers branded underoos to have a robot mode?

I am the robot mode!

 

[unluckiness]

They have infinite points of articulation and can transform from folded undies to unfolded undies in 3-4 steps.

optional stege “battle damage” to be applied by owner

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Sure it does. It served the purpose of finally giving us this Unicron:

But it's a design that could transform while still looking like that. It transformed in the first place. If that's the best argument for modern non-transforming toys, I don't know where to go from there.

But I've never understood the "durr why put TRANSFORMERS on them when they don't transform",

Even Action Masters acknowledged that transformation is an essential part of the brand identity. It's why they have transforming accessories. Most of those "transformations" are barely anything, yes. But they're there. It's an acknowledgement that they had to give us something.

Action Masters really didn't deserve the hate.

 

[Sabrblade]

But it's a design that could transform while still looking like that. It transformed in the first place. If that's the best argument for modern non-transforming toys, I don't know where to go from there.

The was meant to indicate facetiousness.

 

[lastmaximal]

Even Action Masters acknowledged that transformation is an essential part of the brand identity. It's why they have transforming accessories. Most of those "transformations" are barely anything, yes. But they're there. It's an acknowledgement that they had to give us something.

Action Masters really didn't deserve the hate.

I agree with all of this. But those complaints were typically accompanied by "yeah so Starscream's ride transforms, Starscream doesn't", followed by a return to the original "logic", so this isn't lost on them, just dismissed because of course it was.

Never bought into it myself. As a kid the marketing worked -- there's still SOME transforming going on -- and later as an adult looking at the business and brand side I could see that they were still hoping to keep a hold on the transforming part of the play pattern and brand identity. But the characters themselves not transforming was still a big shift. The first new Optimus Prime in a while and he doesn't transform, just rides in another truck (not even a robot or character) that has two modes. And so on.

Still, vehicle play was also a strong play pattern for the time. MASK and GI Joe and even TMNT had vehicles that were a big part of the play pattern, so these didn't seem like SUCH a radical departure from the paradigm of the time. For Transformers it was, but as a toylines it fit right in. And that gave Hasbro just enough room to spin it to seem cooler (the ads and comic ran with it well). Stronger, faster, more alive!

 

[Spin-Out]

my hot take is that despite reigniting a lot of public interest in the franchise at first, a decade of five increasingly shitty bayformers movies ultimately did irreparable harm to transformers as a franchise. bay turned transformers into a ******* joke in the eyes of the general public, the toylines for DOTM and TLK sold like crap (and DOTM's toyline bombing as badly as it did hurt following TF toylines bc of budget cuts made after its failure), and the five movies strangled the life out of all the TF cartoons made before the bayverse mercifully ended.

 

[Blot]

Sparks being a legit physical object instead of a metaphor or something was a bad decision.

 

[lastmaximal]

Oh, here's one. Not sure how hot this take is since we've had time to get used to either, but I miss the days when TFs were packaged in vehicle mode.

 

[Princess Viola]

Oh, here's one. Not sure how hot this take is since we've had time to get used to either, but I miss the days when TFs were packaged in vehicle mode.

God same.

It's so much more fun to transform a vehicle to a robot for the first time than it is to transform a robot into a vehicle.

 

[Sciflyer]

Oh, here's one. Not sure how hot this take is since we've had time to get used to either, but I miss the days when TFs were packaged in vehicle mode.

100% this! I miss the "big reveal" of seeing what the robot mode looks like after transformation. And I know that images in both modes are generally shown on the packaging. It's just that it made that first transformation into robot mode more exciting and rewarding.

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

It also lets you see how the robot is supposed to be folded up into the alt mode, which makes learning the transformation more intuitive.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

my hot take is that despite reigniting a lot of public interest in the franchise at first, a decade of five increasingly shitty bayformers movies ultimately did irreparable harm to transformers as a franchise. bay turned transformers into a ******* joke in the eyes of the general public, the toylines for DOTM and TLK sold like crap (and DOTM's toyline bombing as badly as it did hurt following TF toylines bc of budget cuts made after its failure), and the five movies strangled the life out of all the TF cartoons made before the bayverse mercifully ended.

And here's one. The DOTM toyline was actually good. It was strangled by the runaway success of ROTF. We didn't really have an off year between movie lines, so by the time DOTM came around the market was completely saturated. Collectors were still satisfied by ROTF's more complex offerings while parents were scared off by the same. It never had a chance.

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

In any property that has endured for 40 years, there are bound to be all sorts of hot takes that a fan can have on one topic or another. What are your hottest, most controversial takes on Transformers topics over the last 40 years?

You wouldn't think these would be a controversial takes -- just silly ones -- but then again, this fandom, I tells ya.....

Anyway, in spite of getting a lot of opprobrium for it back in the day, I still hold now to what I held then:

Beasties? Needed more penguins. (I must say more because, of course, Break. Whose heart burns bravely with herring.)
Beast Machines? Ditto.
2001 Robots in Disguise? Yeah, I tried to improve on perfection, but thanks to Chi I had a spare Transmetal 2 design....
Armada.... it's just fine. Although Armada Transmetal Rhinox was arguably the wrong Horseman, and Demolishor should have been a Ninja Pirate Tank. (I watched a lot of Weebl and Bob back then....)
Energon: should have been followed up with Transformers: Rocket Fuel.

 

[unluckiness]

Hasbro can keep using that one shade of gray plastic they like so much if they stop using the terrible mustard-y “gold” plastic.

 

[Spin-Out]

"King Kong Adventure hug" is the best Transformers fandom meme

 

[Sabrblade]

Having actually read and listened to the first year's worth of Kiss Players fiction, the level of scorn and vitriol that it received from the fandom over the years has been seriously overblown.

In all honesty, this fandom led me to believe it was like some irredeemable X-rated gross-fest, when it's really just... mid-tier gross, at worst.

Like, sure, there were plenty of parts of that I sighed at and rolled my eyes at, but nothing that made me vomit, scream from mercy, or have a panic attack. There is so so SO much worse out there than this.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

This is what happens when you trust TFWiki.