Transformers entered its 25th year and celebrated with a big bang – in the form of director Michael Bay’s signature explosions, with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Revenge of the Fallen was not the only big thing to come out in 2009, since Hasbro rebranded the Universe line as a full-on 25th anniversary celebration incorporating new versions of characters from Beast Wars and Transformers Armada as well as reinterpretations of the classic characters. Transformers Animated concluded with its third and arguably greatest season, although the ending was somewhat soured with the knowledge that the series was cut down prematurely. IDW marked the 25th anniversary in their own fashion, by giving Transformers an ongoing comic series, while in Japan, Takara-Tomy introduced the world to the Alternity…
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen theatrical trailer. Uploaded to Youtube by Paramount Movies[/size]
The biggest event of 2009, overshadowing even the 25th anniversary of Transformers, was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The summer blockbuster Transformers sequel set out an ambitious story, involving the return of Megatron, the death and resurrection of Optimus Prime, the big-screen debut of combiners in the form of Devastator, the introduction of the Matrix into the movie continuity and the backstory behind the original Primes, including the introduction of The Fallen to the live-action movie continuity.
Revenge of the Fallen kicked off two years after the ending of Transformers, with Sam going to school while Lennox and Epps are now part of a secretive multinational force called NEST alongside the Autobots, charged with containing and exterminating Decepticons wherever they should appear. After coming into contact with a shard of the Allspark, Sam found himself a target for the Decepticons once again. Those hunting Sam included a resurrected Megatron, revived from his watery grave through the machinations of Soundwave and his minion Ravage. The hunt culminated in a three-on-one battle between Megatron, Starscream, Grindor and Optimus Prime in a forest. The forest battle was a huge set piece for the film, culminating in the death of Optimus Prime at the hands of Megatron. And with Optimus Prime dead, Megatron’s shadowy master, The Fallen, was free to make his move, safe in the knowledge that the last Prime, the only one that could truly kill him, was no more.
Sam went on a quest to find a way to revive Optimus Prime, guided by the visions in his head to seek the Matrix of Leadership, a journey that led him to former Sector 7 agent Seymour Simmons and Jetfire, a crotchety old ex-Decepticon. The journey ultimately took the party to the middle east and Egypt. The Fallen also wanted the Matrix, to allow him to use a powerful relic concealed in Egypt, the Solar Harvester. The final battle was another massive set piece with multiple action sequences running at once, including a battle involving the gigantic Decepticon combiner Devastator, who was felled by a shot from a prototype railgun on a US destroyer which happened to be in the area at the time.
As usually happens when Optimus Prime dies, he was revived, and was powered up through the addition of parts from a dying Jetfire. The powered up Optimus Prime faced off against The Fallen and Megatron, blowing off a portion of Megatron’s face before violently executing The Fallen, growling “Give me… YOUR FACE!” as he struck the final blows. It was very out of character for Optimus Prime! Megatron, witnessing the destruction of his master, was persuaded to escape by Starscream, and the day was once again won by the Autobots.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was a box office smash, overtaking the takings of the previous movie. Fans were at best lukewarm about the movie though, and critics panned the movie as a mindless action film with a weak story and too much reliance on set piece action scenes. However to the credit of Michael Bay and Dreamworks, the action scenes were a true treat for the eyes, addressing the criticisms of shaky camera from the previous movie and delivering action with incredible intensity that was very well composed and executed.
The same, unfortunately, could not be said for the story, which suffered from being shot on an early draft of the script due to a Hollywood Writer’s Strike, and the unavailability of the writers during the strike meant that several important decisions had to be made without their input. Additionally, the scope of the film’s story, resurrecting Megatron, killing and resurrecting Optimus Prime, and introducing The Fallen with all the mysticism and backstory he brought to the table, would have been hugely ambitious and very difficult to execute, even if the writer’s strike had not got in the way.
One thing that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen brought to the table were some very unique concepts on robot designs. Sideswipe, one of the new Autobots, featured wheels on his feet, which made him extremely agile and mobile. Three female Autobots collectively referred to as Arcee, who transformed into motorcycles, featured unicycle styled lower bodies where a single wheel formed their lower bodies, rather than legs. A gigantic Decepticon featured in the opening sequence in Shanghai, Demolishor, was called Doomwheels in production due to how his design consisted of a head in the middle of a body framed by two large wheels. While cool, none of the series since, including the two movies that followed Revenge of the Fallen, have experimented with robot designs in quite the same way.
On the more traditional robot design front, Revenge of the Fallen introduced the duo of Skids and Mudflap, two characters who caused a great deal of controversy due to their stereotypical depictions, and generally offensive characters. The two were originally planned for an appearance in the sequel, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, but were unceremoniously dropped from the final cut of the movie (though they were still in the novel and comic adaption of the film).
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was a huge success, in spite of its weak story. Paramount was evidently extremely confident in the production, as in April 2009, three months before Revenge of the Fallen premiered, they announced that Transformers 3 would be released on July 1st, 2011. While Michael Bay initially protested that he wished to do Transformers 3 in 2012, not 2011, by October 2009 pre-production on Transformers 3 started, with target release date back to July 2011.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was once again accompanied by a suite of tie-in videogames from Activision. The main one, for PC, Xbox360 and PS3 was developed by Luxoflux and was the final title they ever worked on. As with the 2007 movie game, Revenge of the Fallen’s game featured an Autobot and Decepticon campaign which loosely followed the plot of the movie. Each stage would be unlocked in turn, and on the first play through you would be given a Transformer to play through the stage with. Once cleared, you could revisit a stage and you would be able to choose from a range of Transformers, each with different abilities, to challenge the level again. The game had a few high points, including a major set-piece battle with Devastator. Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox lent their voice talents to the game as Sam and Mikaela, alongside Peter Cullen and Frank Welker who reprised their roles as Optimus Prime and Megatron.
This version of the Revenge of the Fallen game was an improvement over the previous 2007 movie game, with overall better gameplay than its predecessor. It was also the first Transformers game to feature online play in the form of a selection of player vs player deathmatch modes. It was also the first Transformers game to feature downloadable content in the form of a character pack adding extra characters to the single player and multiplayer modes, including Jazz and Generation 1 versions of Optimus Prime, Megatron and Starscream.
A separate tie-in game was produced for the Wii and PS2, which was developed by Krome Studios. This version of the game went with a single campaign rather than separate Autobot and Decepticon campaigns, and switched between the Autobots and Decepticons as the story progressed. Like the Transformers Animated game, the game was divided into robot levels and driving levels, with transformation only available in driving levels. The robot levels were straight-up 3D run and gun action, with some quicktime button presses used for bosses. The driving levels were extremely fast-paced, although the vehicle forms had no means of attacking, hence the need to transform to robot mode to engage in combat. This version of the game was critiqued heavily for its repetitive gameplay, and also for restricting transformation.
Lastly a pair of Nintendo DS titles were made, an Autobots edition and a Decepticons edition. Like the previous movie games, the DS titles put you in the boots of a new Protoform Autobot or Decepticon, however this time out you did not get to scan alternate modes on the fly. Instead you selected the class of character who you wanted to play as when you started the game (consisting of agile but weak, balanced, or strong and slow) and then stuck with that choice for the whole game. As you played, you earned points to spend toward upgrading different attributes of your character. The game featured story missions where you mainly played as your custom character, and challenge maps where you got to play as one of the main Autobots or Decepticons. The game was overall fairly well-received, although some pointed out that the differences between the Autobot and Decepticon editions this time around were much less than the two versions produced for the 2007 movie, with most of the levels and missions being the same in both games.
A selection of the Transformers Animated toys released in 2009, including the Jetfire and Jetstorm two-pack who could merge to form Safeguard, plus Wreck-Gar, Samurai Prowl, Electrostatic Soundwave and Waspinator. Cliffjumper at the front was released in the Activators assortment, while the purple Shockwave at the rear was a Target exclusive[/size]
From the big screen to the small screen, 2009 saw the third and final season of Transformers Animated. The last season took much more of an action-oriented approach, with human villains completely phased out (at the request of Hasbro) and Decepticons being the opponents in the majority of the season’s thirteen episodes. The season did not have as much of a running theme as the first two seasons, but transwarp energy and Spacebridges featured in several episodes. The season brought back Sentinel Prime for some more guest appearances, along with new Autobot recruits Jetfire and Jetstorm, who could combine into the mighty Autobot Safeguard. Jazz was promoted to main cast later in the season, and would appear in roughly half the season’s episodes. Lockdown made a further appearance, with more of his backstory explained, and Soundwave made a much-requested return. An episode “Predacons Rising” introduced Waspinator to the series, although he’d been set up as a former Autobot cadet named Wasp in the second season. The final season also featured lots of cameos from characters from all eras of Transformers’ then 25 year history.
The series concluded in a two-part finale titled Endgame, which saw a final showdown between Optimus Prime and Megatron, an Autobot making a heroic sacrifice, and Omega Supreme getting to have one last battle. All in all, it ensured that even if the Transformers Animated series was to end, it would end in true style, and the final episode was a suitably satisfying finale.
The truth was though that Transformers Animated had actually been cancelled, and although no official reason for the show’s cancellation has ever been given, several theories and rumors abound. One rumor is related to the late arrival of the Animated toyline meaning the line did not gain traction in the marketplace, combined with retailers dropping orders for later waves in anticipation of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen merchandise. Conjecture goes that retailers wanted “more realistic toys, like the Movie toys” rather than the cartoony Transformers Animated toys.
Another reason might relate to one of the major events of 2009, which was Hasbro and Discovery striking a deal, leading to the creation of a shared TV network, The Hub, and the founding of Hasbro Studios. Cartoon Network may have broken off the Transformers Animated deal because they did not want to work with a “competitor”.
Whatever the reason, Transformers Animated was a series which was cut down before its time. It was a great series, full of wit and humor, a series which was not as deadly serious and arc-based as the Unicron trilogy, nor as dark as the Movie series or the Transformers Prime series which followed it. Moreover, Transformers Animated was a series which knew its place in the wider Transformers multiverse and worked in many cameos to all the myriad eras, especially in the final season – a fitting anniversary celebration for Transformers’ 25th year, if you look past the ugly detail of the show’s cancellation.
The 25th anniversary of Transformers received a toyline celebrating the occasion, in the form of the Transformers Universe line, which had the packaging updated to add a prominent “25 years” motif to the corners of the packaging. These latter waves of the Universe line featured characters not just from Generation 1, but representatives from other series, including Beast Wars in the form of a new Cheetor and Dinobot, and Armada in the form of a new Hot Shot.
The Transformers Revenge of the Fallen toyline featured updated versions of many of the main cast from the 2007 movie such as Optimus Prime and Bumblebee as well as new toys for new additions to the cast, like Sideswipe, Sideways, Demolishor, Skids and Mudflap. There were even toys inspired by scenes or vehicles featured in the movie, such as Ransack the biplane and Ejector the evil toaster.
All toy lines quickly gave way to the toyline for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in May of the year, though. Revenge of the Fallen released toys across all size classes – Legend, Scout, Deluxe, Voyager, Leader and Supreme – and like the first movie toy line, featured some additional sub series including Power Bots, Gravity Bots, Robot Replicas, and Fast Action Battlers. A new series was also added for the Revenge of the Fallen line called Human Alliance, which released Alternators-style versions of the cars from the movies, with realistic interiors and included small human driver figures who could drive the cars in vehicle mode, or interact with various weapons in robot mode.
The Revenge of the Fallen toyline is known for two things among the fans – the slavish accuracy of the new toys compared to the on-screen robots, and the sheer complexity of transforming the toys. Some of the toys featured an absurd amount of moving parts – all to better convert robot to vehicle, accurately – and some of the transformations taxed even adult fans. The new Leader class Optimus Prime was one such example, with the difficulty of getting him from truck to robot spawning a short-lived meme among this site’s staff.
The Revenge of the Fallen toyline offered a mixture of new and reused molds from the first movie line, and blended on-screen and off-screen characters much as the first movie line did. This time out, the gimmick on the toys was “Mech Alive”, a variation on Automorph where parts within the toy would move when other parts were moved, but this time, purely as a decorative feature rather than any form of transformation. New and updated versions of the cast from the first movie were offered alongside toys of all-new characters; notably, Starscream got a new and more accurate Voyager class toy and Optimus Prime got a new Leader class toy viewed by many as the pinnacle of toys based on this incarnation of the character.
Nearly all of the new characters got toys, although a few of the Constructicons were limited to Legends class releases, and one of the three bikes that made up the Arcee sisters was only released as a redeco, with a combination feature for the three of them dropped (exactly how far the combination had progressed is questionable, since the combining bike sisters also did not feature in the final cut of the movie). The Leader class Jetfire toy notably did feature the ability to combine with Optimus Prime to form the gigantic Jetpower Optimus Prime featured in the final battle of the movie, and did it without splitting up into components for Optimus Prime to wear – the whole combination was done without dismantling either toy, impressively.
As with the 2007 movie toyline, the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toyline made it to Japan under the name of Transformers Revenge. It was largely unaltered and again was released mainly in US packaging with Japanese language stickers added. There were only a couple of Japanese market-only releases, one of whom was a retooled Leader class Optimus Prime named Buster Optimus Prime. The Buster Optimus Prime was a premium grade redeco of the already impressive Leader class Optimus Prime, and also retooled to allow the truck’s gas tanks to detach and form a cannon for Optimus to wield. A black redeco of the Leader Optimus Prime was also available with the DVD of Revenge of the Fallen.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Legends class toys from 2009-10, including the Devastator combiner which featured individual robot and vehicle modes for all seven component Constructicons[/size]
The Fast Action Battler series came back for Revenge of the Fallen, once again to offer simplified versions of the main cast to younger audiences, and the Legends class also made a return to offer pocket-sized versions of the cast. A large, Supreme class Devastator was also released. The toy featured six construction vehicles merging to form a single gigantic robot. They did not feature individual robot modes and the toy as a whole was a bit simpler than the rest of the Revenge of the Fallen line. Those wanting a Devastator with all seven Constructicons which also featured the individual member’s robot modes were in luck, as a Legends class combiner set was released. It was initially available as seven separate released in Japan, before being offered in the US as a single giftset.
Gravity Bots were a cool new addition to the toyline. They featured an automatic transformation gimmick where if they were stood up, they would transform into a robot automatically, and they would automatically turn back into a car if they were laid down. They were cool “desk toys”, although the sub-series disappeared by the end of 2009 and has not been revisited since.
Another sub-series of the Revenge of the Fallen line introduced in 2009 was the Transformers RPMs (Robot Powered Machines) series. The RPMs were Hot Wheels sized die-cast cars, based on the licensed vehicle forms of the various Autobots and also the vehicle forms of the Decepticons. The line incorporated characters from the 2007 movie line as well. Each release featured an embossed image of the robot mode of the character on its underside, so that the cars could be stood on their back bumpers to “transform” them. The series came in both single packs and two-packs, and was an average success, but hardly flew off shelves and saw many later releases in the line not make it to retail, the general feeling being that the RPMs were overpriced when compared to the average retail price of a Hot Wheel car at the time.
Alongside the Japanese release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’s toys, Takara-Tomy kept the market for non-movie Transformers going with the introduction of the Transformers Device Label and Disney Label series and more Encore reissues, including four packs reissuing the original cassettes for Soundwave and Blaster.
The Device Label series was an interesting one. The series featured two designs – a working USB memory stick and a laser mouse – which were both capable of transforming, the memory stick into a feline and the mouse into a dinosaur. The designs were sold in a selection of different decos, the memory stick as Ravage, Tigatron and Cheetor, the mouse as Grimlock and Trypticon. In a way, the sets were a spiritual successor to the Music Label series of working MP3 players and iPod docking stations. A version of Broadcast / Blaster, who transformed into a USB hub, was planned but subject to a very long delay.
The Disney Label series was another fun oddity from Takara-Tomy. The line consisted of crossing over Disney and Transformers concepts, with the first release being a Mickey Mouse crossed with Optimus Prime. The toy was an Optimus Prime styled truck-trailer, which had Mickey as a driver. The robot form was a Mickey Mouse styled version of Optimus Prime, and could additionally feature Mickey Mouse riding on the top of the robot’s head.
A much loved Masterpiece rendition of Grimlock, MP-8, was also released this year. A big, bold and sturdy robot, Masterpiece Grimlock was more welcoming to fiddle about with than the Masterpiece Starscream or Megatron. Grimlock featured a light-up fist, to illuminate his Energo Sword or blaster. The toy also featured the option to swap the eye color of both the robot and dinosaur modes between toy accurate red and cartoon accurate blue. Grimlock’s accessories included his apron and serving tray from Madman’s Paradise and the brain transfer helmet from Grimlock’s New Brain. An E-Hobby exclusive recolor based on the Marvel Comics colors of Grimlock and including a crown was released later in the year.
Transformers: Alternity, a successor to the Binaltech series, featured four different car designs over its run, each in a variety of colors to suit all tastes
Lastly Takara-Tomy also introduced the Transformers Alternity series in 2009. The series was a successor to the Alternators / Binaltech series, and featured die-cast licensed cars with realistic interiors, but at a smaller size than the Binaltechs. The line only consisted of four releases – a Nissan GT-R, a Nissan Fairlady Z, a Suzuki Swift and a Mitsuoka Orochi. Each design was redecoed multiple times, though, with the initial Nissans being simply different decos of Convoy and Megatron. The Suzuki Swift was retooled to make both Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, while the Mitsuoka Orochi was used to make Starscream, Skywarp and the line’s final release in 2010, Thundercracker.
The Alternity line though was not just known for bringing back realistic, die-cast cars – it was also known for its completely mad storyline. The pack-in fiction for the line established that these were Transformers with near-on godlike, reality warping powers, including blasters which could be fired backwards through time to destroy something before it existed; swords which could cleave apart targets on the far side of the universe, two realities removed; forcefields which loop time and allow a single bullet to hit a target multiple times; and a gun which retconned you from reality based on how long you were hit with it. (Disappointingly, Starscream did not possess the ability to simultaneously betray all incarnations of Megatron in all possible realities at the same time).
On the convention front, Botcon 2009 was held in Pasadena for the first time under Fun Publications, with Pasadena becoming a popular venue for movie years due to the close proximity to Paramount Studios. Fans were treated to a glimpse of footage from Revenge of the Fallen including the Devastator combination, which was introduced by Michael Bay. The convention exclusive boxed set, Wings of Honor, told a flashback tale of a young Kup and the early days of the Great War. It kicked off a second microcontinuity among the convention exclusive toys, called the “Wings” universe which also took in the events of the Generation 1 cartoon, plus the 2010 Generation 2 Redux, 2013 Machine Wars and 2014 Pirates VS Knights exclusive sets. 2009 also marked the release of the fifth annual Transformers Collectors Club subscription figure, Heatwave, and with his release the completion of the club exclusive combiner that had been in the works since the club was founded and released its first exclusive in 2005. The completed combiner, dubbed “Nexus Maximus” as Hasbro vetoed the original proposed Nexus Prime, was in fiction one of the first 13 Transformers who had divided himself into five forms. He would go on to be formally adopted into the Aligned Continuity as Nexus Prime and feature in the 2011 Transformers: Exiles novel.
In comics, Titan UK rebranded their Transformers comic to Transformers Universe briefly, coinciding with the issues printing the remaining three stories planned for the Transformers Animated comic and resolving the Afterburn plotline. The alternate universe movie plotline was also hurriedly concluded in a matter of pages.
The Titan UK series then rebooted in May with a new number 1 as Transformers Revenge of the Fallen. The initial 8 stories which covered the rest of the comics released during the year focused on the adventures of Skids and Mudflap in a very loose Revenge of the Fallen prequel story. The storyline went that Skids and Mudflap had critical information about The Fallen to deliver to the Autobots, making them targets of Soundwave and Starscream. However on finally being accepted into the Autobots, they decided there was no longer any point in handing the information over, figuring “these guys can handle it just fine”. Each of these eight issues also reprinted IDW’s All Hail Megatron, although this was terminated with the retool after issue 8 leading to a hurried ending and a plug to buy the All Hail Megatron trades to find out what happened next.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Defiance issue #2 cover, one of the many Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen tie-in comics published by IDW in 2009
IDW rolled out with a pair of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen prequel series, Alliance and Defiance. Alliance was another story set after the events of the 2007 movie, and consequently after the Reign of Starscream miniseries. It chronicled the time period between the two movies, resolving the plot thread of Wreckage, who had been taken into Sector 7 custody in the first Transformers Movie prequel, and dealt with the founding of NEST and their first missions. The finale of the miniseries led to Lennox getting reports of Decepticon activity in Shanghai, leading directly into Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
The second Revenge of the Fallen movie prequel, Defiance, chronicled more events on Cybertron before the war, and dealt with how Megatron first came into contact with The Fallen, thus how Megatron was inspired to found the Decepticons. A running plot point in the series was of how the combat-oriented Ironhide was originally one of Megatron’s men, before switching to the Autobot side – a fact not present within the movie series proper. Notably the miniseries used the original script treatment, where The Fallen was sealed away until being freed by the death of Optimus Prime, rather than the final movie version where he was apparently never sealed (or at least, was unsealed by the time of the movie’s events).
In addition to a four-issue movie adaptation, a further six issue Revenge of the Fallen miniseries was released later in 2009, titled Transformers: Tales of the Fallen. The series consisted of mostly self-contained issues in the style of IDW’s Spotlights, telling the backstories of some of the new characters of Revenge of the Fallen, such as Sideswipe, Jetfire, Arcee and The Fallen himself.
Transformers: All Hail Megatron issue #6 cover. This issue featured the first appearance of the Autobot Drift, who is shown prominently on this cover[/size]
In the main IDW Generation 1 universe, All Hail Megatron continued on through the rest of its run, expanded from 12 issues to 16 by the addition of a four issue Coda. The first issue released very early in January introduced Drift, a new character created by Shane McCarthy and IDW as an all-new character. A Spotlight: Drift issue fleshed out his backstory as a former Decepticon turned Autobot samurai. All Hail Megatron’s conclusion consisted of the Autobots, reunited on Cybertron, managing to repair Optimus. The Autobots made their way to Earth and engaged the Decepticons in a huge battle, with Omega Supreme going toe-to-toe with Devastator, this continuity’s version of Spike scoring a headshot on Megatron to finish him off, and Thundercracker saving the day, only to be shot by Skywarp and abandoned by the rest of the Decepticons.
The four issue All Hail Megatron Coda followed. The Coda to All Hail Megatron was a series of short stories, generally two per issue, which set up various elements for the ongoing Transformers series, which was released after All Hail Megatron ended. Crucially, some of the Coda stories did explain some of the backstory elements for All Hail Megatron, such as how Kup went from mentally unstable the last time we saw him in his Spotlight to perfectly fine (and Cygar chomping) in All Hail. However, other elements were inconsistent, such as the appearance of Scourge alongside Galvatron and Cyclonus, even though he had previously not been established as being a part of the Dead Universe cast.
Transformers: Maximum Dinobots issue #1 cover[/size]
Simon Furman’s part of the IDW Generation 1 continuity reached its conclusion with Maximum Dinobots, a miniseries released in the early part of the year, which wrapped up many of the last hanging story points from his run on IDW’s Generation 1 continuity. The series was set pre-All Hail Megatron, and had Grimlock, Sunstreaker and Hot Rod all individually fighting against Scorponok, and the Machination, who had the other four Dinobots in their possession. Things only got more complicated once Skywatch tried to coerce Shockwave, who they had recovered following Spotlight: Shockwave, into taking action, and instead ended up with Shockwave seeking out Soundwave, who was mode-locked as a tapedeck.
The series concluded with separating Sunstreaker from Hunter, resolving the Headmaster Sunstreaker plot thread. Grimlock was taken into custody by Ultra Magnus along with the other Decepticons, but he made a deal to allow the other four Dinobots to keep their freedom, setting up where the characters would find themselves in their next appearances in the More than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise ongoings. The series also notably gave the Monsterbots, criminally underused characters from Generation 1’s middle years, some page time.
IDW’s comics for the year concluded with the launch of a Transformers ongoing series. The ongoing kicked things off with a bang, when following an encounter with Skywatch, Ironhide was killed and Optimus Prime stepped down as the leader of the Autobots, which in retrospect seemed like a very strange way to end a year that had been the 25th anniversary of the Transformers brand. But that’s how the year ended…
Superquad7
Agreed! Maybe @Sol Fury can give another one soon!
Back in
Need a update but that ok
Phantformer5533
Thank you for all these links! I definitely needed this in order to make my own list. Glory to transformers!
Vik
Awesome, such a dense history!
Metro Prime
Thanks. I have been doing that since that post. TF Wiki has been answering a lot of questions.
batfan007
You can always read some pages over at TFWIKI to catch up on those years, covers pretty much everthing.
John Does
Awsome looking forward,…
Metro Prime
It took me days to read all of this!
Excellent and informative write up. I'm impressed and it filled in a few blanks for me. I've been collecting since G1 with a few years of breaks until I started a major effort into collecting through the Energon era, the beginning of the Classics line, and intermittently through the years til I saw Titans Return and have been heavily collecting since. This write up has shown me where some of my more eclectic figures have originated.
Is there an update from 2015 to current in the works? I'd love to see what else I've missed.
Excaliberprime
good info here
Abishai100
Gen 1 – Gen 2
I think a good way to think about the immense shift in style and content between TG1 (Transformers Generation 1) and TG2 is to think about how the toys, cartoons, and comics focused more on variability of character significance for various storylines. TG1 offered stories relevant to particular characters, but TG2 offered a more liberal attitude towards who could be a randomized figurehead in a given storyline!
That's why TG2 was the 'gateway' to the modern Transformers era which focuses much more on general concepts and character randomization than did TG1.
That's also why TG1 is the ideal intro for anyone looking to become a Transformers fan. Hey, isn't that why we all love Transformers: The Movie (1986), the real art-piece that began showing us conceptual bridges between TG1 and TG2?
ChromedomeMaster
35 years of transformers, and i have only been apart of it for 10 years
3 Wheeler
I like the Long Haul Pic!!!
Djin
Great read
Blam320
That's really too bad. You're missing out on a lot, and I mean a lot of really good Transformers stuff by only caring about G1.
Rodimus Prime BetterPrime
For years I've wanted the G1 series in a blu-ray release. With this year marking its 35th anniversary, hopefully we'll finally get it. I don't care about anything but G1.