I'd be interested to know-

DJ_Convoy · Post by **DJ_Convoy** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:49 pm

-Are Transformers FUN for you any more?

I realize that my curmugeonly status of liking pretty much NO official TFs media over the past few years is probably not widely shared.

I just can't help but wonder when the fun fell out of the property for me. I don't think it's me- I wanted to like things. I had my misgivings about the live-action movies... but I gave the first one an honest try. Nothing I could say about the first movie could ever be better than the Rifftrax for it- as a tractor trailer zoomed by in one scene, one of the guys quipped "Looks like they're bringing in another truckload of explosions and confusion."

The last couple of cartoons just haven't been my cuppa, either. I feel like some kind of philistine for not appreciating Animated which everyone loves so damned much... but I thought it was mostly pretty lame. Prime is no great shakes, either. Again, no offense to those who are diggin' any of it... but they're just not doing it for me.

And don't even get me started on the ongoing comics. Oh wait, I guess they're awesome now, and there were never any problems with them in the first place. I retract my statement and beg IDW for forgiveness.

But again, I stuck thru AHM and did give the ongoing more than one try (four by my last count- more than enough)... still no joy. Oh, and coming back with HoD pretty much turned me off from getting anything IDW puts out in the future. Barring drastic changes, of course.

Seriously, I wish I could get some of the joy from Transformers that I used to feel back. I think I'll always like them; I'll never stop loving the old comics, or the (good) toys (altho' my enthusiasm for the toys really comes and goes of late... very little Hasbro's done lately has grabbed me)...

In short, I wish there was something, media, toy or otherwise that I could get EXCITED about in regards to Transformers again.

Do you ever feel the same way? Is this a phase? Or, as an old man, have I finally outgrown Transformers? I hope not.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:25 pm

I feel similar, at least toward the comics. Can't get arsed to be excited. The Universe Classics are great toys, and I liked what I saw of Animated, although I wanted something a little more along the Furman/Beast Wars line of cosmic and Shakespearian.

But yeah... I have no desire to pick up any IDW comic. I think I could even stand to miss Roberts' upcoming issues as they are part of the general clusterf@ck that has been Costa's run.

DJ_Convoy · Post by **DJ_Convoy** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 11:07 pm

I wrestled with myself (uh, not in that way) over buying James' issues- I think the man is the real deal... and eventually, I thought that voting with my dollar would mean more than a million angry message board posts.

Unfortunately, picking up his two issues will mean nothing, anyway. They'll attribute any boost in sales to Chaos, not Roberts. But yeah, I almost didn't buy them. Guilty by association and such.

I dug the last set of classics too (mostly)- never thought I'd own a Straxus, f'r instance.

Hot Shot · Post by **Hot Shot** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 12:41 pm

The toys are still fun for me. TF: Prime is good but I have the hardest time making myself watch it. I don't regret it, but I keep finding myself preferring to do other things, like reading, making custom heads, or working on my Death's Head custom(Coming soon...in about a year. Overhauling a Titanium Man figure into the blue outfit).

I've pretty much given up on IDW. They'll have to drop Costa and get someone competent to lure me back in. Even then, they'd have to drop the "Optimus/Megatron is dead, we're ruined!" ********. TF #81 would be awesome, but my lack of faith is disturbing.

As far as current fiction goes, my interest is pretty dry. However, I think new toys and flea market finds will keep my interest until that changes.

DJ_Convoy · Post by **DJ_Convoy** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 3:00 pm

Yeah- I do love finding junker G1 toys at flea markets and whatnot and trying to fix them up.

Post by **Best First** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 3:34 pm

i'm torn.

There have definitely been occassions where being a TF fan has felt like more of a chore than a joy since the nostalgia wave kicked in.

And at present the toys are providing more joy than the comics.

I think one of the big ballaches of the last few years is that we got pretty close to TF utopia (for a subset of us anyway) with the -ations. Sure it wasn't perfect but it was better than i had ever hoped for.

And everything since has been either ghastly or not enough - even LSOTW wasn't sufficient as great as it was.

I think if you are of a 'transfans' sensibility (if there is such a thing), which basically mreans you are a nostalgic old fart with excellent taste and standards others don't seem to aspire to - it's easy to feel like there is a lot of TF stuff, IDW ongoing, movie-verse, TF: Prime but somehow non of it's really for you.

And more pertinently the thing your really wanted has been and gone and has apparently been dismissed as not the way for the franchise.

Conversely: Reveal the Shield Wreck Gar is the tits.

DJ_Convoy · Post by **DJ_Convoy** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 4:08 pm

That's me all over.

And I shoulda bought two Wreck-gars, dammit!

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 8:02 am

I find the new films fun for the most part. But I gave up on most of the rest when I realised my house was becoming full of **** comics.

Legion · Post by **Legion** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 8:39 pm

What is this thing called "fun"?

Post by **Kaylee** » Sat Jun 18, 2011 7:29 am

Feels like for some years now Transformers has been aimed at someone very different to me, so I've just barely engaged with it. I still like some of the toys, particularly some of the more esoteric Takara stuff.

Comics? Meh.
Movies? Meh.
Cartoons? Meh.

I'm not even at the point of thinking they're 'bad', I just don't care about them even remotely.

I think the last comic I bought was Furman's little run on Armada, back in about 2004. The cartoons I've tried to give a go but I've had a really hard time engaging with any of it. The movies I torrent and watch to be outraged by how stupid, loud and expensive they are.

I suppose an interesting question would be what might get me 'excited' about Transformers again... thassa good question. I'm honestly not sure anything really could. I think I'll always find some of the toys cool (robots that turn into stuff? Awesome!) but the rest passed me by years ago.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Sat Jun 18, 2011 7:55 am

Yep. TFs are still fun for me. Just not in the same way they were years ago. They're kind of my "go-to" hobby when I need a pick-me-up.

This weekend, I finally got around to unboxing a bunch of TF:Animated figures I'd been picking up. Looking forward to setting up a nice display.

...then probably sealing them all up in ziplock bags and putting them in the closet in a few days/weeks. But until then? Woo!

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Sat Jun 18, 2011 9:43 am

These days TFs are like Smooth says, a bit of a back-up hobby. I've been picking up the odd toy here and there (Straxus! Cybertronian Prime!) but at the same time I've been getting heavily into other stuff - zombies, Warhammer 40K and Lego, to name just three - so Transformers have necessarily taken a bit of a back seat. The 40K is partially Dan Abnett's fault, after taking my TF comics to get signed I ended up with one of his 40K novels and I found it was a far, far superior read. Apart from LSOTW I haven't really enjoyed any of the IDW comics lately. Still can't get into the stupid movieverse stuff even though I coughdownloadedcoughloadsofit and I've read through it, it just doesn't seem like "proper" TFs.

I'll probably still go and see DOTM, though everything I've heard tells me I'll get into some sort of fanrage over Bay's interpretation of the Wreckers and it'll spoil my day unless I can get into the right "take my brain out and enjoy it as a big stupid explodey robots fighting movie" frame of mind.

Having said that, I still love going through the old comics and creating pages on the wiki for the really obscure characters like, I don't know, Zeke Heilmann, Corrinne, Jolup and Zabra, to pick a few at random. At the moment I'm going through and adding all the Titan paperbacks which is kinda fun as I'm reading through all the Earthforce stories again, and it also keeps me up to date on stuff like Prime which I'm enjoying watching on Saturday mornings on youtube.

So I guess I'm still a fan, just maybe the focus of my fandom has shifted. Or remained the same while the focus of the franchise has shifted. I dunno, something like that.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Sat Jun 18, 2011 3:20 pm

I would say that after getting what I waited for all these years--an extended Furman run--everything else has been rather a letdown, bar the Furmanesque Last Stand.

I'm waiting for someone to come along and write a bloody good TF comic who is not necessarily steeped in the mythos. Doesn't look like it will happen for a while, unless James Roberts takes over full time.

Post by **Best First** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 6:28 am

I'd say he was fully mythos steeped tho?

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 2:49 pm

Marinated for years and tenderized.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:33 am

I still follow the comics in a bit, I yearn for some gritty, well written, plot twisting action packed adventure, ala G1/G2... I keep hoping it will come back as it probably allows me to visit my youth once more, but my head tells me it probably wont happen.

Oddly enough About the same time I was reading TF comics I got into WH40K, and I still love this franchise, it evolves it doesnt sit still and there are so many aspects to it that I can choose what I like. If anything 40K is entering a golden era where anything could happen.
They call it 'plastic crack' - and even though I dont play much any more I still buy models as they are simply incredible:

This is what you send to kill greater daemons... epic isnt it?

Anyhows I recently turned my artistic talents towards 40K, and for inspiration i read the books, I notice MV is reading 40K now after meeting Dan Abnett. He is one of the most amazing sci-fi writters I have ever read from, awesome guy and fills my mind with creative joy...

What you reading MV?

And can anyone here whos intersted please check out the http://www.blacklibrary.com/
I think this highlights where 40K is today, its huge!

Anyhows, enough gushing about 40K, what am I getting at?
Well, when i think TF i think G1. My mind always returns to that point, and no matter how much i try to get on with the new stuff it just doesnt work for me. I cant help but thing TF is a wonderfull IP treated so very,very wrong.
Is it just me or did anyone else find the bits on cybertron the most interesting, the off world instances on an alien world? - these are the bits that took my imagination off to distant lands. Its daft really as the concept of TF is 'Robots in disguise' ie. a shoe horning of kids toy car and robot packaged into one toy. And heres me saying that i dont care for the earth forms and all that, im about the sci-fi, the future.
Dont get me wrong I like the earth stories but what im getting at is the TF live in this big universe and they dont seem to use much of it in the recent comics. All we get is a re-tread of the past, leave it alone, move on! go some place new. TF are huge inter-galatic space robots, they must have more enemies and friends out in the cosmos? Lets see some expansion instead of another car hiding in a parking lot out-witting the stupid humans...

I must admit the trailer for the 3rd films looks pretty cool, ive even mellowed my resistance to the designs or the TF, as to be honest, they are far more realistic and i dont think the comic version would hold water on screen.

Well heres hoping to a G1 continutation with Furman at the helm.

One other thing, A few years ago before the films, we didnt have much, some DW comics... and then the films hit, TF interest was on the up, people began to ask me questions about robot club (I didnt talk by the way) and now I see it coming to and end again, are we about to enter a winter period once more?

Oh, ONE more thing, I came here for the comics, I stayed for the people, if it wasnt the people on this website would i still follow TF?...

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 6:06 pm

That's a damn good question. I'm almost tempted to buy the Costa run just because bitching about it on Transfans is fun. 3.99$ a month of fun, even?

JawBreaker · Post by **JawBreaker** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 2:02 am

I have to admit, I haven't touched the comics since Revelation; it simply became difficult to justify the price for what amounted to a handful of minutes enjoyment. That said I have enjoyed the Movie-verse toy lines and Transformers: Prime has its good days.

But like many of you chaps, I'm somewhat ashamed to say I've been drawn back into 40k, though the Grey Knight pictured above will always look as if he's strapped into a baby carrier in my mind.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 7:00 pm

True but there's so much plastic crack out there...

The Last Autobot · Post by **The Last Autobot** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 6:40 am

I do tooooooooo much for Tfs that Its like I work for Hasbro 24/7.

Well, I work and coordinate with them a lot so maybe its like the same thing.

I direct TfsPerú since I founded it 8 years ago. And we ve been doing a lot of things these years. Exhibitions, conferences, contests, movie screenings, the 3 Tfs Avant Premieres, Pre Screenings, tv interviews, newspaper articles, magazine articles, and a long etc.

Just in this month we ve had a gazillion things and tomorow Ill watch DOTM 3 **** times: Press screening, Avant Premiere and our TfsPerú DOTM premiere show (at full 359 seats capacity) at the same time we have a major Tfs exhibition (that started this saturday and wil go on for 3 weeks) and a couple more around the country.

At the present time Im like coordinating 10 different things and almost all my thousand transfans expect like a lot of me.

So in short its still fun for me but ************** EXHAUSTING AND DEMANDING.

But well Ive done like my fair part for a million transfan years!

Post by **Best First** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:20 am

haha - awesome pic man

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:28 pm

I love big dumb turn my brain off action movies with lots of explosion and very little plot.

So yes, that's fun for me.

I stopped buying the toys ages back as I didn't have space/cash... once I was out of the habit, it stopped being an issue. I can still look at a pic and go "that's cool" but the "must have it!" urge just isn't there anymore.

Do IDW still publish comics? I don't even know.

I've not watched any of Prime yet. I'm narked about the lack of season 3 of Animated on shiny disc though.

I have my ticket for tonight's 9pm showing of DotM already. I hope there'll be some explosions and slow motion. Maybe some things exploding IN slow motion. That'll be fun for me.

saysadie · Post by **saysadie** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:55 am

Yeah, sure.

I'm lukewarm on the newer shows... Movies are okay, but I've not go them memorised. I do like the toys, though I often can't justify their purchase. I still plan on getting the Neo stuff at some point though, plus I have plans to buy back some of the stuff I've sold/given away.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 5:36 pm

Comics: Been off the comics since Revelation. Not EXACTLY sure what I want, and not sure anyone beside SF has ever come close to what I want.

Toys: Stopped buying these before Cybertron. Still holding on to my MPs and Takara Bookstyles. I imagine procreation will have to occur before I'll have the justification to the wife to sink cash into these again.

Toons: Was never really into these aside from watching G1 as a kid. Watched BW/BM long after the fact. However, I'm definitely going to buy the Headmasters US release, and hopefully they'll continue to put out US releases of the later G1 Japanese cartoons.

I really think Bayformers, TF: Animated, and IDW sucking all created a perfect storm to make me kind of give up on TF for the time being. But I'm primarily a comics guy and as long as the property is in SOMEONE'S hot little hands, I hold hope for the future.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 6:07 pm

Best First wrote:haha - awesome pic man

QFT. Amazing.

Predabot · Post by **Predabot** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 10:52 pm

The latest movie was actually rather entertaining, in that mindless way that I crave at times. =)

And the War For Cybertron GAME, was awesome! Some excellent fun there. Eagerly expecting the sequel to that one.

So, I suppose the answer is... sort of? A little bit fun at least. Something to come back to now and then, and have a laugh with, but perhaps not to follow religiously, as in the past.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Sat Jul 09, 2011 3:52 am

I'm still just a comics and occasionally TF guy. Certainly, my interest in both has waned significantly, but like Shanti, as long as there is a TF comic, I remain hopeful.

Aaron Hong · Post by **Aaron Hong** » Sat Jul 09, 2011 12:17 pm

The local TV people have been pretty inconsistent with the cartoons, we missed season 3 of BW and everything between RiD and Animated. So I'm mostly getting just the toys now. I just bide my time and the missing ones pop up again on clearance, so it's all good.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:05 pm

Aaron Hong wrote:The local TV people have been pretty inconsistent with the cartoons, we missed season 3 of BW and everything between RiD and Animated.

You didn't miss much.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 11:46 pm

And then things come along, like that time they announced WildFur were doing Transformers #81, and somehow, all the disillusionment can be washed away with an ear to ear grin. A grin that breaks out almost involuntarily, and you realize that deep down, no matter how many times you're burned, you love Transformers as more than a friend.