RID Boxset 2.1 in UK soon.

[Autobloke]

Just been checking prices on the 'net and I came across mention of the second RID boxset on DVD (well, technically the THIRD release as they scammed us on a two disc set first before rereleasing the initial eight eps again). HMV had the UK release date down as 11/04/05. Of course this could (probably will) change, as when have TF DVD releases ever been on time?
No bloody extras though - let's just hope it has all the remaining episodes on it.
RID always seemed to be the forgotton series 'cos it was just a stop-gap line, but I'm glad the series will finally be complete on disc.

[bobaprime85]

RID always seemed to be the forgotton series 'cos it was just a stop-gap line, but I'm glad the series will finally be complete on disc.

I always thought RID was forgotten because it was a piece of flaming poo.

Just saying.

[spiderfrommars]

I'd buy BW and BM box sets in a jiffy. I'd even consider Armada. But RID... not sure.

[Darth Aux]

I bought the set, I'd never seen the series. Not sure if I want to finish the set off now.

Is BW worth checking out. I was never a fan, well never watched it (I think 2 eps). Tried getting into BM but didn't find it all that good.

Problem is I either like traditional anime style or amazing GGI, I was never a fan of the BW graphics. But I'm older now and if there's a decent storyline in there, I'll give it a go.

Back on topic though R.I.D is kinda lame, I expected more.

[Autobloke]

I'm sensing a lack of love for RID.
I can certainly relate - it was the start of TF shows that relied on human kids too much, had utter morons for bad guys and tranformations that were for the most part just two frames of animation, but it was way better than Energon and Armada ever were.
RID charaters at least HAD character, and there was a slightly more directed story to follow than Energon's 'attack this, run away from that, argue amongst themselves' continual drudge that makes it hard to distinguish individual episodes from each other.
Okay, most of it was nonsense - but I'd rather watch RID (the later eps especially) than settle down for a session of Energon or Armada.

As for Beast Wars, Darth, the stories (and CG) got way better in the latter series, so I'd recommend checking the rest of it out. Beast Machines I'm still undecided on really, but it does address a load of G1 lore (unfortunately mostly from the cartoon and not the comic), so it's fun to spot in-jokes. I'd buy it if I could.

I haven't seen too much of Galaxy yet, but what I have seen seems to have too many humans in it again - BW and BM avoided that so it can only be a good thing. And at least RID didn't have as much human stuff as Energon and Armada - the humans didn't save the day so much in RID (hurrah!).

[spiderfrommars]

Is BW worth checking out.

Hell yes!

[Backscatter]

Actually, I miss RID. I hope someday Rhino will release the DVD set here in the US.

Good points about RID:

It never took itself seriously, it was just good fun.

No Unicron! Hadn't see that since the early G1 days.

Autobots beating up on Beasts! (and Decepticons)

Optimus Prime for the first time as an acting Fire Truck. How's that for a terroism-era hero?

The human friend wasn't annoying. (None of the humans were)

The AI was cute and a novel upgrade over Teletran 1. (She was his grand daughter)

The Autobots had the Space Bridge, and it was cool.

Skybyte was very funny. There's even "Haiku" honoring him. He has the best series ending.

As for the action figures:

It re-introduced Bots & Cons as opposed to Beasts. Something for which I will always be grateful.

Good (and sometimes complex ) transformations.

Fans, once again had a chance to get Fortress (Brave) Maximus.

Best of all, no gimicks. No chips, keys, Minicons or anything else.

If a Transformers fan could just accept RID for what is is, not for what it's not, it's a great series with a very good action figure line.

[Autobloke]

Finally, someone with a positive view on RID - how refreshing.

You make some good points:
It was indeed fun - especially Sideburn's tricycle story.
No Unicron is a 'Good Thing'.
Cars not animals - ah, the halcyon days return.
No gimmicks - the blessed relief of just transformin' robots.
Brilliant toys. Although I had to import most of them to the UK.

That said:
Humans: argh! Kid ones: ARGH!!! At least he didn't ever really save the day.
I prefer Prime as a truck (nostalgia). His personality also completely disappeared from RID onwards.
T.A.I. - did we really need her? She got all messed up near the end of the series and thankfully disappeared. She was fun for a while though.
The space bridge was cool, but I missed the 'driving through the desert and being attacked by Decepts' stuff of G1. What's the point of becoming a car if you can transport everywhere by bridge?
Although funny, the Preds - especially Skybite - did get annoying with their ineptitude. Did we ever doubt the Autos could trash these guys?
As for Brave Maximus - I already had him (the original G1 one - bought in the UK!!!), I wasn't fussed. At least I got Scourge though.

All that said and done though, I really liked RID (it isn't on disc in the US yet!?!). It all went downhill after that cartoonwise.
Just glad there's someone else out there who actually liked the show.

[Autobloke]

Unsurprisingly, the RID boxset didn't turn up on the date specified. Also, I just noticed I put 2.1 when it should have been 1.2 (the shame!).
I just checked on the HMV site and it's still there with that date - I suppose that means that they might only be selling it online. Personally I'd much rather just go into the shop and pick one up off the shelf instead of risking the internet shopping horror. I'd also get the damn thing on the same day. IF it was in the shops...

Anyway, I'll let you know as things (probably won't) develop. If anyone else has an idea as to what's happening, do say, as I want to finish the series on disc (the later RID eps were the best ones).

[HoistKeeper 2.0]

RID was enjoyable, but enyoable trash none the less, an easy way to spend 30 minutes. Not as bad as Armada though, agreed (which only got decent after episode 20.

Actually, I miss RID. I hope someday Rhino will release the DVD set here in the US.

Good points about RID:

It never took itself seriously, it was just good fun.

Agreed.

No Unicron! Hadn't see that since the early G1 days.

Agreed, i'm sick to the back teeth over Unicron in TF cartoons now, he's been far too overused now.

Autobots beating up on Beasts! (and Decepticons)

True although the three predacons before ruination & scourge turned upwere kinda pathetically spinless. (fear your master but at least have a back-bone! Nothing more than comedy characters).

Optimus Prime for the first time as an acting Fire Truck. How's that for a terroism-era hero?

Agreed.

The human friend wasn't annoying. (None of the humans were)

All humans are annoying ultimately. I personally hated whiney.cry-y whatever his name was, son of the scientist.

The AI was cute and a novel upgrade over Teletran 1. (She was his grand daughter)

Ugh she was more anonying than the other kid who actually was real.

The Autobots had the Space Bridge, and it was cool.

Agreed.

Skybyte was very funny. There's even "Haiku" honoring him. He has the best series ending.

To start with yes, a great character who they turned into yet another formulmatic comedy character for that reason only. Shame, he was the best of the best.

As for the action figures:

It re-introduced Bots & Cons as opposed to Beasts. Something for which I will always be grateful.

Your view, not mine.

Good (and sometimes complex ) transformations.

Fans, once again had a chance to get Fortress (Brave) Maximus.

Best of all, no gimicks. No chips, keys, Minicons or anything else.

Agreed on all

If a Transformers fan could just accept RID for what is is, not for what it's not, it's a great series with a very good action figure line.

I wouldn't say great series, average yes, formulmatic like G1 yes but at least better than Armada.

As you can see i'm very 50/50. I think there were alot of let downs also like Predacons that were too spinless, bad anime style with manga like sweat beads (But then it was mainly for the kiddy kiddies), Uber annoying Sideburn chasing red cars. *shudder*, annoying kid again, annoying lame AI and woman afraid of sideburn etc etc etc

It had good points but just as many low spots for me.

Armada started off bad, gotta catch em all, not giving the minicons the full feel of a third race as they should've been, rather than a gimmick, annoying kids, unicron again. But after episode 20 it got decent, unfortunetly the limited mindset again of some transformer fans just tags it with the first half, even if it did slightly lode it's way towards the end.

Energon started of good but had annoying people bar kicker, annoying ironhide getting worse as it progressed, some annoying animation ascpects were cell and cgi didn't quite add up and thick black lines in far shots of the TF's, But fundamentally a good idea.
Once they got beyong the "other side" it be came protect the planets! and ruined it, IMO.

[Autobloke]

Armada got ruined at the end 'cos the kids seemed to be the key to saving the universe.
And then in the last ep of Energon, Kicker went up against Galvatron - surely Galvy should have just squashed the annoying t*t. Also, once again Galvatron sacrifices himself to save the universe by jumping into the big glowy thing. G1 Megatron would have NEVER done that.
And finally, wasn't Megatron now 'Galvatron' at the end of Armada? So how come in Energon everyone calls him Megatron while he's trapped inside Unicron, and then continues to do so when he escapes? Of course, then there's that thing where everyone (even the Autobots) seem to be aware of his change back to Galvatron when it happens in Energon - even when they have no way of knowing.
RID may have been flawed pap, but at least it made more sense at times. That Koji kid never really saved the day either.

[Autobloke]

RID 1.2 is finally out on DVD in the shops! It's in HMV at £24.99 (bah! ).
I think I'll get my copy online for less than £20 instead.
Dumb shops.

[jazzblaster]

Has anyone heard anything to indicate that RID will be brought out on DVD in the US?

[Autobloke]

While trying to track down the UK releases, I can't say that I've come across anything about a US release. Annoyingly, these things tend to be owned by different companies in different territories, so where one company may consider it worth releasing, another company may feel differently. The US has had Beast Wars on DVD for ages, but we're still waiting for it in England. (bah!)
Was RID ever shown on Fox Kids in America? That's who released it here, under their 'Jetix' banner. If they showed it in the US, then it's likely they'll put it out for you too. Perhaps they just wanted to get Region 2 out of the way first.
Have a look at the Fox Kids site - they may have some info somewhere, although I looked and didn't see anything.
I think it's just the usual annoying waiting game. It just bugs me when crappier, newer shows get a full disc release while they're still on air, but TF stuff is passed over. Let's hope the new movie causes a deluge of delayed releases when it premiers, eh?

[jazzblaster]

Yes, it aired on Fox Kids weekdays a few years ago. All of the Beast Wars episodes are on DVD (as a matter of fact, I have seasons 2 and 3 on DVD). Strangely, aside from G1, the only Transformer DVDs to come out have been episodes that have aired on Cartoon Network. Beast Wars, Armada, and Energon have all been on the Cartoon Network and have come out, although they were released by Rhino. However, RID and Beast Machines have only been seen on either Fox Kids or what was the Fox Family Channel. I haven't seen either of them for sale. Can you tell me who I might be able to contact?
I do appreciate all of the data, thanks.

[Autobloke]

RID was released by Maximum Entertainment in the UK, but of course someone else may hold the US rights. You may want to try them for info - even if they don't have the US rights, they may be able to tell you who does, if anyone.
Regardless what people say, I find the internet hugely frustrating when I want very specific information.
As for Beast Machines, I'm afraid I can't help you there because it isn't out in the UK yet either (DVD or VHS). I taped it when it aired on Fox Kids, but they never showed the end cridits so I don't know who produced it (although I'm guessing it was Universal, like Beast Wars was). I saw BW when it was on terrestrial TV here, so I don't know if that aired on Fox Kids at all (I didn't have Sky at the time). So Universal or perhaps Fox Kids again might be a good place for you to start looking for news on BM.

[jazzblaster]

Well, I have an idea of who to talk to now. Thank you very much for all your help.

[Autobloke]

No problem. Good luck.