The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[M'Kyuun]

16 hours ago, tekering said:

G1 was exhausted a decade ago, both by HasTak and the various 3P manufacturers.  They just keep doing and redoing the same characters, over and over again.

Having achieved the pinnacle of cartoon accuracy -- at every conceivable scale, for some characters -- now they're going back to the more stylized interpretations from 20 years ago, and collectors are STILL buying. 😲

They'll never stop producing G1 toys, that's for sure. 🙄

 

Well, G1 started it all, those characters are iconic at this point, and they're proven sellers. However, I'm thinking once they're done with the combiner teams and crank out toys of any obscure characters or outliers like the Omnibots (fingers crossed!), they'll slow down on G1 for a while to focus on other series and comics-based stuff. I'm not sure how much the recent generations of kids are into "vintage" Transformers; I'm thinking us old fogies in our 40s and 50s are the main audience and consumers of G1-related merch, esp toys and models, and to that end, how much longer will it remain relevant or marketable except as Ebay/Amazon fodder or just the domain of dedicated collectors? I collect b/c I have a passion for transforming toys and of course, Transformers has all but monopolized and dominated the genre in the West. Too, growing up with the Sunbow toon, I have a connection to the first season bots (never cared much for successive seasons, but I'll still buy the toys b/c transforming robots are awesome). To the point, once all of us older fans start losing interest or quit collecting altogether, will the younger generations still demand G1 toys? I'll take 'em while they still make 'em.

[mikeszekely]

We're hitting a point where people who were kids and watched Transformers during the Unicron Trilogy or the first few Bayverse movies are about the same age as G1 kids were when Classics '06 hit, and for all the people who complain about G1 endlessly getting rehashed (especially the Bayverse fans who cry about SS86 invading what was previously a line for the live action movies) I've been told by reliable sources that it's the G1ers who are voting with their wallets, which is why we keep getting new and slightly improved versions of the G1 cast for the umpteenth time while even big names like the TLK version of Megatron haven't gotten a figure since the TLK movie line.

[M'Kyuun]

8 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

We're hitting a point where people who were kids and watched Transformers during the Unicron Trilogy or the first few Bayverse movies are about the same age as G1 kids were when Classics '06 hit, and for all the people who complain about G1 endlessly getting rehashed (especially the Bayverse fans who cry about SS86 invading what was previously a line for the live action movies) I've been told by reliable sources that it's the G1ers who are voting with their wallets, which is why we keep getting new and slightly improved versions of the G1 cast for the umpteenth time while even big names like the TLK version of Megatron haven't gotten a figure since the TLK movie line.

Well, let's be honest, the Bay films weren't good, successively becoming worse with every new film. And while the Sunbow toon wasn't exactly high art either, I think it's far more relatable than Bay's chaotic films. Too, by virtue of age, the G1 look is more pervasive, with many Geewunners introducing their kids to it thus bringing a new generation of fans into the fold. I don't have kids, but I'm curious how many fans here who grew up with G1 have introduced their kids to it and which your kids prefer, the old G1 stuff or the Bay stuff? Or maybe they don't like either and Earthspark is their "G1". I know that, had I had kids, they most certainly would've been introduced to all the cool 80s stuff from my childhood. Moreover, they'd see my Transformers collection, mostly G1, every time they came into my mancave.

Anyway, as a fan of G1, I'm just happy that it's still going strong, that the toys have improved in certain ways, especially more toy/toon faithfulness, and that the options have extended well beyond official toys to fulfill the desire for more G1y  goodness. I would shed nary a tear to see all of Bayformers consigned to the dustbin of history; like Robotech which introduced Macross, and in many cases, anime, to the West, Bay's films served a good initial purpose by reinvigorating the TF brand, which was stagnating, and generating a lot of revenue for Hasbro, which also benefitted Transformers beyond just the Bayformers toys. The brand has since sustained well, not b/c of Bayformers, but b/c of G1's continued popularity. I think that's vindication for the oldest designers at Takara who first invented and introduced these things over forty years ago, and by succession, for those of us G1 fans who defended it in the wake of the Bay era.