Here is a wrap up of the key points from the live coverage!
Transformers Prime Wrap Up Sounds like they are going for a very character oriented series – exploring who they are, where they are going, how they changeFull CG show!
a small group of Autobots are on Earth in case the Decepticons come back
Cast – Optimus Prime, Arcee, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper
Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, not a boombox, more later
Show is named “Prime” because they are delving into what it means to be a Prime
Trying to make the Prime name stand for what it should, as the bearer of the Matrix and stuff
WELKER IS MEGATRON
Prime’s design is a bit of a cross between movie and WFC
Megatron’s design is a bit like his WFC version, not the Movie one
And a hint of the Animated Deluxe Megatron, the Cybertronian design
Saturday June 26, 2010 10:33
Meg’s also has the buckethead
Megatron turns into a jet
Cybertronian vehicle, thinks Earth modes are beneath him
Prime, classic colors, much like WFC
26 eps per season, goal is 65+, may not air on 10/10/10 when hub launches.
Sue Blu voice director.
Continuity is non commital to one previous generation, but there is a bible at the offices that is 350 pages containing transformers lore they reference.
Recurring humans, but not the focus.
Prime, long nose truck
Starscream, very alien looking jet, but still true to classic form. Stylized.
Going to do battle damaged versions of CGI models, wont always be shiny and pretty.
Arcee is a single normal TF, no split like movie.
Ceasar121
Yeah and Avatar would only be 34th. Hate to say it, but adjusting for inflation means very little… it's like saying baseball teams from today would beat ones from 1903. What really matters is what you did in your time… and ROTF is 22nd all time, indicating it's popularity. Not to mention all the ticket sales that are lost today due to rampant bootlegging.
Don't try the toy sales numbers thing. The amount of dedication put into the movie line by Hasbro tells you that the sales were the best ever. It's influence on all things Transformers indicates this as well.
Shelves weren't empty because retailers ordered alot more stock this time. That's just obvious supply and demand. Not to mention you can only speak for your area, and that doesn't factor in online business. You think they release 100 dollars movie exclusive because they DON'T think they're going to sell like hot cakes?
What you're doing is called number fluffing. You can twist numbers to prove your point easily. Example. I had an investment where the guy told me I gained 5 percent on my investment, which in reality was about 50 dollars. The reality is that the movies slayed the box office, were really popular and moved toys. If it wasn't true we wouldn't be having this debate. Noone's having this debate about the Vampire's Assistant.
And the MTV awards? You're really bringing that up as a point of argument? MTV has nominated so much bull$#!t for awards it makes no sense. Independence Day wasn't nominated by them, effin Ace Ventura II (aka the dumb one) won awards for Jim Carrey, Scream has won best movie… just no. Ticket sales does equal popularity. If you go to a store and ask someone what their most popular item is, they're probably gonna show you the one they sell the most of.
Ash from Carolina
Given all the improvement Hasbro has made across all the Transformers sublines over the past few years I think it's a safe bet that not only will the toys look great but that they will look like the characters do in the cartoon.
Midnight
Ive been a skeptic in the past but this news pleases me. *evil finger clasp*
I hope the toys kick ass…
SoundFire Prime
"Beast Wars characters won't appear in season 1, but may appear in the series later."
Hmmm, this is relevant to my interests. Now I'm a tad more excited about the new show. If they can actually work in characters from Beast Wars/Machines, the Unicron Trilogy, and Japanese characters like Dai Atlas and Grandus the way Animated did, I may just be willing to give the benefit of the doubt…
Ash from Carolina
And yet with that 800 million dollars the film can't even mange to get nominated at the MTV movie awards so it's big haul is a nice load of Razzies.
Number of toys sold is hard to know since Hasbro and retailers don't release those sorts of numbers to the general public. Yet there weren't the empty shelves or parents scrambling to find Bumblebee like with the first movie.
Oh and just one last tidbit before we declare most beloved film ever because of the box office when you factor in inflation to the equation Revenge of the Fallen comes in at 79th on the all time domestic box office.
einis
awesome
RedAlert Rescue
People like me Buy Animated toys and Movie toys and find items they like in both such as Animated Swindle or Blurr or Movie Brawn or Lockdown.
But that does not mean while doing that I'd not prefer more Classic toys instead.
I've said for years that I like toys that look like Transformers…. what I mean by that is ones that don't visually clash…. Movie toys sometimes don't visually clash and then I support them. Of they look a bit to bizarre then I'm a bit less interested.
Animated to me is something fun that I don't mind having but I can't see it getting much of my shelf space in 5 years time – I worry that Transformers : Prime will not work as a continuence of Animated and won't be visually consistant with prior lines.
Cybertron toys for example still had a bit of G1ishness to them even though they were unrelated items.
I think all TF rime will be is a stand alone line that people won't love in the long term like Beast Machines seems to be regarded by many now and Animated might be in the future.
Where as lines like G1, Armada, Energon, RID, Cybertron, Universe/Classics/Generations share a family resemblance.
There's no or minimal such resemblance with g1ishness between some Movie, Beast Machines, or Animated toys.
I hope Prime retains some G1ishness and is a line I can display and play with the lines that have that older look.
Otherwise Like Animated i'll be buying them – but perhaps with less enthusiasm – unless the designs are exceptionally good.
Ceasar121
You know what I love? I love how fans know more than Susan Blu who been working in the industry most of our lives. Because its obvious that their perception that ONE VOICE that he's he supposedlyy can't do anymore, determines that he's lost it. I mean heck, everyone in the industry, who think he's still one of the best, are wrong, and the fans opinion of his interpretation of him based on work in a movie videogame, is right. I mean the weight of one voice far outweighs his entire body of work. He can't possibly do the voice any differently, its IMPOSSIBLE.
Seriously, wait until you hear the voice before bitching. Complaining about the unheard and unknown is just stupid. I doubt that all those involved in the casting know less than some fans.
Which fanbase are you referring to? The tiny minority on these websites? Or the ones that made the movie 800 million dollars, and then bought the toys in record numbers?
Ash from Carolina
It's kind of sad though that this is something the fans have to point out when it should have been something Hasbro should have made clear with their panel. If they are keeping tabs on the fan base then it's not some big secret that the fan base has been divided on the films.
The information that has been reported makes what was said sound far too generic and really didn't hit the points you want to hit when you are preaching to the choir. Maybe it was different being there in person but it doesn't seem like they were really pushing the buttons to start building fan buzz and excitement for the new cartoon.
thedreaded1
Hmm…Beast Wars. Maybe we'll get a Headmaster Optimus Prime that comes with Optimus Primal. The Munkey Truck will rule!!!!
RedAlert Rescue
How I'd rate the Megatron Voices :
1) Animated
2) Beast Wars etc…
3) 1980's cartoon / 1980's Movie
The only reason 2 is 2 is because I prfer to associate that voice with Beast Mode Megatron and not vehicle mode ones…. The Animated one seems the best balance to me so far.
I wonder if Hasbro think it's a good idea to try to Market Transformers 3 & Prime at the same time and launch them at the same time when the 3rd movie comes out in the hope that retailers will order more when a new movie is out and Prime can biggy back on that ?
It might work…. But would require careful handling to stop Prime being totally swamped especially internationally.
Digilaut
I have no problems with Welker voicing Megatron in a different way.
I think the G1 Megatron's voice has aged, and doesn't sound right for any other incarnations (movie Megs with G1 voice is hilariously bad )
But the man is among the best voice actors in the industry – I have no doubt if they change the voice to something more fitting, he will deliver.
Shadowbreaker
Beast Wars character might appear later, huh?
I can't wait to see this!
Fort Max
Likewise, all I need to hear now to really set me off is that Lugnut will be there to continue his rivalry with Bulkhead.
RedAlert Rescue
Pity About Welker being on it – it would be nice to have some who's voice isn't ruined by old age – I'd have been fine with him being involved but not as Megatron.
I also hope that Starscream's voice doesn't suck.
I suppose Hasbro might put some pictures on their website in a couple of days like they sometimes do, or if not we may have to wait for the next Comic convention.
I don't know what to think about it at the moment it might compound all the errors possible by taking all the worst bit of Animated and movie and hasbro deluded insanities about blending continuities lately.
Or if they restrain themselves a bit it might be OK…. but I remain sceptical. and expect another 'Animated' for good or ill and i'm sure the Marketing will be a disaster and they will fail to handle the DVD's and international distribution in a sensible fashion.
I think waiting for months after the show debues before the toys show up is an epic fail – they need to toys out no later than the beginning of 2011 as they need to be out before the 3rd movie toys – if they clash at retain – that would be the worst possible result.
Generations / Hunt for the Decepticons should be tailing off in early 2011 and being replaced by PRIME and the 3rd Movie toyline but I feel it's ESSENTIAL that Prime's toy line is out well before the 3rd movie.
bumblebot98
All of that news is good except for the fact that Welker's back as megatron, I got nothing against the guy and I love the G1 megatron voice but his recent work as megs is pretty bad.
SentinelPrime
Im also excited because although I dislike the movie continuity, I really love some of these new movie line toys from NEST and the HFTD stuff, so if they can blend in together, and Prime is a great show…then perfect!
guard convoy
this makes me UBER happy
SentinelPrime
Ok, so far, this sounds amazing.
MrSoundwaveGuy
You'd think people would be smart enough to come to the conclusion that it be impossible to come up with a 65+ episode series that could fit in the, already messy, movie continuity, but hey that's the fanbase for ya