The History of Robotech by Toy Galaxy

[no3Ljm]

Would be nice to include this to the 'Guide to the Differences Between Macross & Robotech' thread.

The History of Robotech Vol. 1
Harmony Gold & The Birth of Robotech
by Toy Galaxy

 

The History of Robotech Vol. 2
The Movie, A Lawsuit, & Government Trouble
by Toy Galaxy

 

The History of Robotech Vol. 3
Games, Comics, Books & Licensing Nonsense
by Toy Galaxy

 

The History of Robotech Vol. 4
Lots of Lawsuits, Failed Kickstarters, & The Future
by Toy Galaxy

 

The History of Robotech 2021 Edition
Everything Is About To Change
by Toy Galaxy

 

The (Mostly) Complete History of Robotech Compilation
The Whole Dumb Story
by Toy Galaxy

 

Edited January 14 by no3Ljm

[TheLoneWolf]

I think the mods want to limit Harmony Gold/Robotech threads to actual (or potential) products. This place became more peaceful after the "HG and Robotech Debates" threads were closed.

[JB0]

35 minutes ago, TheLoneWolf said:

I think the mods want to limit Harmony Gold/Robotech threads to actual (or potential) products. This place became more peaceful after the "HG and Robotech Debates" threads were closed.

That's just because we drove out all the people that genuinely wanted the franchise to move forward and made this a haven for weak-willed Macross apologists!

...

Actually, I thought the thing that really made it more peaceful was the death of the Mac7 flame wars.

 

[tekering]

I'm not sure what purpose YouTube videos like Toy Galaxy's are meant to serve.  I know fans love to make 'em, but who are they intended for?

As someone intimately familiar with Robotech, I found the information summarized in their "History of Robotech" videos to be mostly accurate, but a little oversimplified.  Facts come fast, images appear and disappear even faster, so interest is maintained despite already knowing the story presented... but I'm obviously not who the videos are intended to educate, since there's nothing new for me.

As someone largely ignorant of Voltron, I found the information summarized in their "History of Voltron" video to be confusing and nonsensical.  Facts come too fast to process, images appear and disappear without context to establish their relevance, and I'm left with more questions than answers... so I'm obviously not who the video is intended to educate, since the presentation is not sufficiently informative.

So if these videos fail to educate curious onlookers or entertain hardcore fans, what purpose do they have?

[TheLoneWolf]

1 hour ago, tekering said:

I'm not sure what purpose YouTube videos like Toy Galaxy's are meant to serve.  I know fans love to make 'em, but who are they intended for?

To make their creators money?

[Big s]

I actually find their videos entertaining and mostly a good time waster at work. I found the battle beasts episode very surprising since growing up in the U.S. that there was a connection with transformers. I had a bunch of those little toys and never knew their origin.

[Einherjar]

14 hours ago, tekering said:

As someone intimately familiar with Robotech, I found the information summarized in their "History of Robotech" videos to be mostly accurate, but a little oversimplified.  Facts come fast, images appear and disappear even faster, so interest is maintained despite already knowing the story presented... but I'm obviously not who the videos are intended to educate, since there's nothing new for me.

Standards on the creator side of YouTube have really gone down in recent years.

[TangledThorns]

Interesting videos to watch, painful too. The Robotech movie was such a mess. Still, I give credit to Carl Macek making a great story with the separate anime series.

 

[Old_Nash]

On 02/04/2018 at 10:39 PM, JB0 said:

That's just because we drove out all the people that genuinely wanted the franchise to move forward and made this a haven for weak-willed Macross apologists!

...

Actually, I thought the thing that really made it more peaceful was the death of the Mac7 flame wars.

 

WAIT!!!

They ended Mac7 flame wars???
 

[JB0]

They ended the oldschool take-no-prisoners-personal-insults ones, at least. People can have opinions without forming lynch mobs these days.

[tekering]

18 hours ago, Big s said:

I found the battle beasts episode very surprising since growing up in the U.S. that there was a connection with transformers. I had a bunch of those little toys and never knew their origin.

Well, there's the intended audience, then.  Casual fans who aren't motivated enough to do their own research.  

43 minutes ago, Old_Nash said:

They ended Mac7 flame wars???

Yes, they produced Macross Delta, giving us a whole new series to bitch about.  

[Mommar]

32 minutes ago, JB0 said:

They ended the oldschool take-no-prisoners-personal-insults ones, at least. People can have opinions without forming lynch mobs these days.

There were personal insults?  When was this?

[Einherjar]

If one of those people ended up becoming that infamous pie thrower, who cares.

[JB0]

8 hours ago, Mommar said:

There were personal insults?  When was this?

Years ago. 

[Old_Nash]

9 hours ago, tekering said:

Well, there's the intended audience, then.  Casual fans who aren't motivated enough to do their own research.  

Yes, they produced Macross Delta, giving us a whole new series to bitch about.  

I  don't dislike much Macross Delta... Ok have much failures int he project, but the final result was better if you compare with M7.

[peter]

13 hours ago, Old_Nash said:

WAIT!!!

They ended Mac7 flame wars???
 

I just post less and steer clear of M7 threads.

[Knight26]

Finally watched these, pretty truncated and a bit sanitized, but it does hit the key points of the early days of Robotech before it's initial demise.  If they ever do a third video, I am curious as to how they will present the legal battle and the looming loss of rights.

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

I don't really have a problem with Robotech.. it's HG that is where my anger goes..

And to be honest.. if they weren't such  douchnozzles on blocking the import of anything Macross (especially back in the late 90's early 00's)  I probably wouldn't care enough to post anything.

 

[Focslain]

Watched the Robotech and a few other of their history of series. Not bad, quick and to the point and for the other parts I watched a neat trip down memory lane.

Personally waiting on FourBento's take on the HG/Robotech saga.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Focslain

[TangledThorns]

Anybody here meet Carl Macek before he passed away? I met him back in Spring of '86 at a sci-convention outside Washington, DC while promoting Sentinels. Nice guy, answered all the questions a 12 year old fan like myself had. My dad offered to buy the animation cels that Carl had on display for me even though I didn't ask for them, lol.

Edited April 4, 2018 by TangledThorns

[Big s]

I guess I prefer short to the point YouTube videos that I can watch on my phone at work. When I’m home I watch Netflix or something similar. Things like half in the bag just feel really long at almost an hour reviewing one or two movies an episode, even though those guys are funny. The other thing about toy galaxy that I like is the nostalgia factor. I like seeing a bit of quick history about my childhood favorites and sometimes not so favorites and sometimes they surprise me with their info.

[Old_Nash]

8 hours ago, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

I don't really have a problem with Robotech.. it's HG that is where my anger goes..

And to be honest.. if they weren't such  douchnozzles on blocking the import of anything Macross (especially back in the late 90's early 00's)  I probably wouldn't care enough to post anything.

 

Me too, I knew the Macross through him, and have some feelings (not many) for her.

It's sad a good backgound don't receive a good sequel or decent reboot

[Seto Kaiba]

I have to wonder... why bother making a video like this now, of all times?

Robotech has literally never been less relevant.

All the franchise has had going for it for years has been the lawsuits it's involved in.  The last serious effort to continue the Robotech series was the Shadow Chronicles OVA that ended up canceled after just one episode... and that was eleven years ago.  What little they've done since doesn't even bear mentioning.

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

10 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

I have to wonder... why bother making a video like this now, of all times?

Robotech has literally never been less relevant.

All the franchise has had going for it for years has been the lawsuits it's involved in.  The last serious effort to continue the Robotech series was the Shadow Chronicles OVA that ended up canceled after just one episode... and that was eleven years ago.  What little they've done since doesn't even bear mentioning.

Simple answer..  because it was a Gateway for people like myself from that time period..     As mentioned in the videos,  it did something no other "cartoons" were doing.

And was the jump off point of many people into anime.      

 

[Focslain]

31 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

I have to wonder... why bother making a video like this now, of all times?

Robotech has literally never been less relevant.

All the franchise has had going for it for years has been the lawsuits it's involved in.  The last serious effort to continue the Robotech series was the Shadow Chronicles OVA that ended up canceled after just one episode... and that was eleven years ago.  What little they've done since doesn't even bear mentioning.

The history of series the channel is doing is mostly centered on the toys or series that more directly or were directly influenced by toy sales. In this case it might just be something that can generate content as opposed to the other short segments that they have been doing.

Plus as a brand Robotech is all but merchandise at this point since HG is failing hard or just not caring to make new media content.  

[Seto Kaiba]

40 minutes ago, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

Simple answer..  because it was a Gateway for people like myself from that time period..     As mentioned in the videos,  it did something no other "cartoons" were doing.

That's not really an answer to my question.  What you're talking about was thirty-three years ago, a brief period of a year or two between Robotech's broadcast debut and the one-two punch of having both Untold Story and Sentinels fail to launch that dragged it into the abyss it's been in ever since.

It would've made sense to cover Robotech seventeen years ago, when Harmony Gold was making a real effort to salvage the franchise and start fresh.  Covering it now feels like wasted effort when it's got nothing going for it but a series of increasingly comical and self-destructive lawsuits, a couple of Kickstarter disasters, a laughably bad comic, and a merchandise line that's mostly ugly apparel.

 

40 minutes ago, Focslain said:

The history of series the channel is doing is mostly centered on the toys or series that more directly or were directly influenced by toy sales. In this case it might just be something that can generate content as opposed to the other short segments that they have been doing.

I suppose the first one might be justified on those grounds, since Robotech was the spawn of that attempt Revell made to create a Transformers knockoff based on Japanese model kits.

For Robotech proper it feels a bit out of place, since toys weren't exactly something Robotech did well... or at all, for most of its lifespan.

 

40 minutes ago, Focslain said:

Plus as a brand Robotech is all but merchandise at this point since HG is failing hard or just not caring to make new media content.  

Granted, but it's mostly ugly apparel rather than toys... to an even greater extent than before now that Palladium Books lost the RPG and tabletop game license.

[Vifam7]

Toy Galaxy is at times a nostalgia channel. It seems they'll cover whatever 1980's cartoon and toys when they feel like it. In other words, the timing, of when the channel covers a certain past cartoon series and its related toys doesn't really matter. I mean, just a few weeks ago, they covered Centurions. 

Personally, I enjoy the channel. I don't really care to research stuff like Centurions, Sectaurs, or Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, but I do remember them from my childhood so brief and light content like what Toy Galaxy provides is nice for when I need entertainment while eating lunch.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Vifam7

[no3Ljm]

And to top it off -- they rarely or never at all use bad words in their reviews just to make a point. I mean, I've seen some review videos that the host is so preachy and keep on saying a doses of $#!+, F@ck, Dumb, etc. Sometimes, it's not so healthy anymore. With Toy Galaxy, it's nostalgia first, then you simply understand the backgrounds or explanations given without cursing the said topic. As much as I hate what HG did to the whole franchise esp Macross, but it's what they did that kick off the anime influence to western culture.

[TheLoneWolf]

Just got a chance to watch those videos. In the 2nd video, Toy Galaxy claims that Harmony Gold's very first Macross/Robotech legal action was taken against Hasbro for selling the 1/55 Jetfire. They also imply that Harmony Gold brought about the demise of the 1/55 Jetfire. Did I miss something, or is Toy Galaxy pulling random crap out of their asses?

And they weren't talking about the SDCC Jetfire lawsuit either, since they kept mentioning the 1/55 mold.

Edited April 6, 2018 by TheLoneWolf

[Focslain]

8 hours ago, TheLoneWolf said:

Just got a chance to watch those videos. In the 2nd video, Toy Galaxy claims that Harmony Gold's very first Macross/Robotech legal action was taken against Hasbro for selling the 1/55 Jetfire. They also imply that Harmony Gold brought about the demise of the 1/55 Jetfire. Did I miss something, or is Toy Galaxy pulling random crap out of their asses?

And they weren't talking about the SDCC Jetfire lawsuit either, since they kept mentioning the 1/55 mold.

Well HG sued over JetFire twice, once back in the G1 days and again recently over his return in a SDCC exclusive toy. The time in the video seems to be referring to the first time.

[Seto Kaiba]

9 hours ago, TheLoneWolf said:

Just got a chance to watch those videos. In the 2nd video, Toy Galaxy claims that Harmony Gold's very first Macross/Robotech legal action was taken against Hasbro for selling the 1/55 Jetfire. They also imply that Harmony Gold brought about the demise of the 1/55 Jetfire. Did I miss something, or is Toy Galaxy pulling random crap out of their asses?

That'd have to be referring to the original G1 Transformers Jetfire toy having been a redeco of the Takatoku Toys 1/55 VF-1S Valkyrie.  All I've ever seen from Hasbro WRT the reason the G1 series staff were instructed not to use Jetfire and eventually replaced him with Skyfire was a non-specific "for legal reasons".

[TheLoneWolf]

4 hours ago, Focslain said:

Well HG sued over JetFire twice, once back in the G1 days...

Can you provide a source?

[Focslain]

20 minutes ago, TheLoneWolf said:

Can you provide a source?

Not an official one at the moment, it has been mentioned in a few articles linked with the 2013 SDCC lawsuit that HG has hit Hasbro prior. First example of of a google search: 

http://news.tfw2005.com/2013/07/24/harmony-gold-sues-hasbro-over-sdcc-2013-jetfire-skystriker-178084

I'm sure there is more.

[TheLoneWolf]

4 hours ago, Focslain said:

Not an official one at the moment, it has been mentioned in a few articles linked with the 2013 SDCC lawsuit that HG has hit Hasbro prior. First example of of a google search: 

http://news.tfw2005.com/2013/07/24/harmony-gold-sues-hasbro-over-sdcc-2013-jetfire-skystriker-178084

There's no mention of any actual adversarial legal action from the 1980's in that article. Just a vague reference that the controversy's origins date back to the 80's. If that's what Toy Galaxy is basing their information on, then they're doing sloppy research.

 

4 hours ago, Focslain said:

I'm sure there is more.

There isn't, because Harmony Gold never did take any legal action against Hasbro in the 1980's. Hasbro's contract with Bandai and Tatsunoko Production predates Harmony Gold's own contract with Tatsunoko (source: Robotech Art 1). Likewise, the 1/55's design patent was filed on April 13, 1984 (source: U.S. Patent No. 287,037), which also predates Harmony Gold's contract with Tatsunoko (signed on Sept. 11, 1984). Since they predate Harmony Gold's contract, there's nothing Harmony Gold could've done to Hasbro and Bandai back then.

[Seto Kaiba]

47 minutes ago, TheLoneWolf said:

There isn't, because Harmony Gold never did take any legal action against Hasbro in the 1980's.

Perhaps not an actual lawsuit in court, but it's possible there was a sealed arbitration or an exchange of cease-and-desists.  The "production bible" used by the staff of the Transformers cartoon mentions that Jetfire's design was changed for "legal reasons", but no specifics are given as to what the "legal reasons" were for redesigning Jetfire in the eleven month period between HG acquiring their license to the SDF Macross merchandising rights and Jetfire/Skyfire's first appearance in the cartoon.

 

Quote

JETFIRE has been changed to SKYFIRE with a new model due to legal reasons. Do not use the character unless necessary in small scenes.

http://tfarchive.com/cartoons/bible/#012

 

It's a popular theory among Transformers fans that the change was to avoid a legal fight with HG, but nobody aside from one staffer has commented, and only to affirm that there were "legal reasons" for the change.

Edited April 6, 2018 by Seto Kaiba