[67], IDW Publishing introduced The Transformers: Evolutions in 2006, a collection of mini-series that re-imagine and reinterpret the G1 characters in various ways. So far four novels have been published: Transformers: Exodus,[87][88] Transformers: Exiles,[89][90] Transformers: Retribution,[91][92] and Transformers: The Covenant of Primus. It didn't take long, though, for the AllSpark to be folded into Primus' tale, adopted by 2010's "Transformers: Prime" cartoon as the vessel through which he created Transformer life. easy your wrong tranformers rise of the galvatron it might come. But weave in and out of the different universes that make up the Transformers' incredibly complex multiversal tapestry, and you'll soon realize that most sagas are variations of the Generation 1 narratives:the original stories first told in the Transformers' eponymous 1984 cartoon and Marvel comic book series. In 1982 they put out a line of car-robots that also was able to transform. The Autobots are now in control of Cybertron and Galvatron still leads the Decepticons. Patterns emerge, commonalities appear, and from the many we can pull one. [35] Female Autobot Arcee also appeared, despite the comic book stating the Transformers had no concept of gender, with her backstory of being built by the Autobots to quell human accusations of sexism. At this point, the Transformer is . Instead, 2001's "Transformers: Robots in Disguise" cartoon tells the story of Optimus Prime leading his Autobots to protect Earth when Megatron and his Predacons (not Decepticons)target it. This story doesn't take place in our present, though, but our future - the 22nd century to be exact, as we learn in the sixth episode, "Blast from the Past.". [111] The series also had a tie-in toyline. The Transformers began with the 1980s Japanese toy lines Micro Change and Diaclone. [2] The term "Generation 1" covers both the animated television series The Transformers and the comic book series of the same name, which are further divided into Japanese, British and Canadian spin-offs, respectively. Aaarnhide19 and Kuhlio come out to play as they discuss the scant news since last episode, some of . [31] There was a G.I. The toys have always been going pretty strong. Besides the death and violence, it even had some cursing and would lead to the death of Optimus Prime. It's never established exactly how far into the future they come from, but their inclusion, along with various comics like 2006's IDW "Beast Wars" series and the 2021 "Beast Wars" reboot, have made this beastly future all but an inevitability in "Transformers" continuities (we'll even see "Beast Wars" characters again in 2022's "Transformers:Rise of the Beasts"). I dont remember any other toys leaving me spellbound and in awe. Transformers were a toy line and cartoon series from 1984 produced by Hasbro and became one of the best-selling toys of all time. -, The G.I Joe USS Flagg: The Best Toy Ever? A live-action film series was launched in 2007 by director Michael Bay and had 5 movies. This is when things promotion wise stepped into high gear. The story would be developed by editor-in-chief Jim Shooter (Mcgavin) and Dennis ONeil while a guy named Bob Budiansky would be the guy to create the Transformers names and characteristics. Ultimately, the Transformers revolt and explore the cosmos before coming to Earth about 19,000 years before modern times. The only way to get your hands on it today is to shell out between $1,700 and $2,500 on eBay. Finding one definitive "Transformers" timeline is impossible, as Hasbro has never declared a for lack of a better term "Prime" reality. In the world of the "Transformers: Prime" television series, the Quintessons had infiltrated ancient Cybertron, bringing technology and prosperity as they secretly prepared the Cybertronians for slavery. In two of the most modern continuities - the "War for Cybertron Trilogy" and 2018's "Cyberverse" cartoon the exodus begins when Optimus ejects the AllSpark into space to keep it out of Megatron's hands. -, John Moschitta Jr (the voice of micromachines commercials), Beast Wars and Beast Machines (1996-2001), Transformers: Kiss Players. THE WHOLE TRANSFORMERS SIEGE EXPERIENCE: Netflix Show to Toys! And, of course, there's Megatronus, The Fallen, from whom Megatron takes his name in the "Transformers" movie universe. They probably should have re-branded him as Optimus Prime Classic and if you dont remember that check out the history of New Coke as its one of the craziest marketing stories of the 80s. Or not but we can finish this up together. So, in my opinion, the whole progression of the movies went from disappointment to unwatchable. After he was defeated, he headed over to Marvel comics, threatening their universe beginning in 1990. The franchise began in 1984 with the Transformers toy line, comprising transforming mecha toys from Takara's Diaclone and Micro Change toylines rebranded for Western markets. It incorporates all the elements of technology, machines, cars, planes, action and a cool back story to create something that is a definitive part of the 80s. The show was airing on Saturday mornings between October and December and served an important function of introducing new characters that would be added to the 1985 toyline. So now everything is heating up, kids like me are freaking the hell out after seeing this show and the subsequent toy line and we want, actually DEMAND, more. It definitely was part of mine, and probably yours, that the first thing you would do when you got home from school was watch Transformers. The Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy is a 3D computer-animated three-part series that was developed as a co-production between Rooster Teeth, Netflix and Hasbro. The designs for the original 28 figures were made by Shji Kawamori,[3][4], In 1986, film critic Richard Martin called the original toy series a more fun counterpart to Rubik's Cube in "[helping] children develop their hand-eye coordination and their spatial reasoning skills, but Hasbro kept quiet about this, believing no self-respecting 10-year-old boy would bug his parents half to death to buy him an educational toy". [5] Unhappy with O'Neil's work (although O'Neil created the name "Optimus Prime"), Shooter chose Bob Budiansky to create the characters. In 2004's hardcover "Transformers: The Ultimate Guide," we're told The One created Unicron, then split Primus off of him. Sometimes the humans even bond with Transformers, becomingHeadmasters. [33] It led on to the main title resurrecting Prime as a Powermaster.[34]. [112][114], A trailer for the second series, dubbed Earthrise, was published on December 7, 2020[115] The second series debuted on Netflix on December 30. The Transformers here, we learn in "Age of Extinction," are not creations of Primus, but of a mysterious alien race cleverly dubbed the Creators. Conception [ edit] The Transformers toy line was created from toy molds mostly produced by Japanese company Takara in the toy lines Diaclone and Micro Change. He forms what would become the planet Cybertron around him and creates robotic beings in his likeness to do battle against the chaos bringer. The extended Japanese run consisted of The Headmasters, Super-God Masterforce, Victory and Zone, then in illustrated magazine form as Battlestars: Return of Convoy and Operation: Combination. [3], Generation One is a retroactive term for the Transformers characters that appeared between 1984 and 1993. Megatron pursues them in the Nemesis, and the ensuing attack causes both ships to crash to Earth, where the bots lie dormant for millions of years until they awaken in the original cartoon. No matter the reason, Optimus and Megatron leave Cybertron, and the war and planet are never the same. Factory released the complete series of Beast Wars on DVD. [103] In 2019, Machinima shut down[104] and folded into Otter Media. Everything that came out over this time span was going to be the foundation of the Transformers universe.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'everything80spodcast_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_7',107,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-everything80spodcast_com-large-leaderboard-2-0'); Heres a big thing to point out that is often overlooked. Thanks, bastards. We have our first look at the bot mode for the upcoming Rise of the Beasts Bumblebee transforming mask from a Baidu. Animation was done by Tatsunoko Productions. [105] After the shutdown, a number of former Machinima creations returned to the web via Rooster Teeth. [6], The Transformers mecha were largely designed by Shji Kawamori, the creator of the Japanese mecha anime franchise Macross (which was adapted into the Robotech franchise in North America). So in the shows instead of: Hey Snake Eyes, hop in the jeep.., You would get: Hey Snake Eyes, hop in the Desert Fox. However, the Japanese broadcast of the series was supplemented with a newly produced OVA, Scramble City, before creating entirely new series to continue the storyline, ignoring the 1987 end of the American series. Ditto Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp. The two factions are born from the scant remains of the surviving Cybertronians and live under constant threat from Galvatron and Nemesis, Unicron's lackeys reborn from Megatron and Optimus' dead bodies. The story introduces a number of fascinating concepts, like making Transformers more like cyborgs as they embrace their organic sides and become "technorganic" creatures who do more morphing than transforming. Remembering the greatest decade, the 80s. The original TV series has a number of spin-offs and reboots. [8], The primary concept of Generation One is that the heroic Optimus Prime, the villainous Megatron, and their finest soldiers crash land on pre-historic Earth in the Ark and the Nemesis before awakening in 1985, Cybertron hurtling through the Neutral zone as an effect of the war. Transformers may live for millions of years, but few still surviving were among the first born on Cybertron. The cartoon series, which well get to in a bit, was one of the earliest, and most successful examples, of a show being made to primarily launch a toy line. The definitive toy and cartoon series to me growing up in the '80s. They would change the paint and the accessories but the physical actions to transform them would be the exact same. [64], Throughout the years, the G1 characters have also starred in crossovers with fellow Hasbro property G.I. While youre here you might like to see my rundown of what I think are the 13 best toys of the 80s. By the time the Autobot and Decepticon war finally explodes into the public consciousness in the 21st century, Earth is old hat to the Transformers. [47] This minor cliffhanger was not resolved until 2001 and 2002's Transforce convention when writer Simon Furman concluded his story in the exclusive novella Alignment.[48]. It followed The Movie's example by killing Prime[29] and Megatron,[30] albeit in the present day. Factory released the entire G1 series in a 16-DVD box set called the Matrix of Leadership Edition. So the idea of Transformers as you know it may not have been an original idea. Transformers led to an . He moves from miner to gladiator champion, gaining followers until he has enough to overthrow the corrupt senate with Orion Pax - who would go on to become Optimus Prime. The Autobots and Decepticons leave Cybertron looking for new resources, they fight aboard a ship and crashland on earth. It received mostly negative reviews, but was a commercial success and grossed more than its predecessor. After the war, the Transformers upgrade to be smaller and more energy-efficient, creating new factions in the Maximals (the Autobot descendants) and Predacons (the Decepticon descendants). Paramount has released the new trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts starring Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback. Transformers: Legacy brings together fan-favorite characters from across the Transformers multiverse. In 2008's "Transformers: Animated," the Autobots win the Great War by shooting the AllSpark into space and keeping its power out of Megatron's hands. Joe publisher Devil's Due Publishing occupy their own separate real life universes. Transformers were a toy line and cartoon series from 1984 produced by Hasbro and became one of the best selling toys of all time. [70] IDW editor-in-chief, Chris Ryall hinted at elements of it being carried over into the main continuities,[71] and that a sequel is possible. Hasbro had the great foresight to know it wasnt always an ideal move to just release a new toy line out of the blue. Fun fact: Hasbro put out 250 G.I Joe vehicles. . Two seasons, named "Chapters", were planned, with the first aired in 2018 and with the second, subtitled Power of the Spark, planned for 2019. The entire Transformer race is reborn into fully technorganic beings, and the whole experience seemingly ushers in a Golden Age of Cybertron. [61] Beast Wars was also retroactively stated as the future of this continuity, with the profile series More than Meets the Eye showing the Predacon Megatron looking at historical files detailing Dreamwave's characters and taking his name from the original Megatron. [117], The trailer for the final series, Kingdom, debuted on July 5, 2021[118] and the series premiered on Netflix on July 29. In 1987 they would also release the Micromasters which were tiny versions of Transformers meant to compete against the hugely popular Micro Machines. ", "Transformers: Power of the Primes Trailer Offers First Look At Final Chapter Of The Prime Wars Trilogy", "This Week in Animation: 'OK K.O.! The series was delayed as Hasbro did not want to confuse newcomers with too many fictional universes before the release of the live-action film. [14] The TV series would also differ wildly from the origins Budiansky had created for the Dinobots,[15][16] the Decepticon turned Autobot Jetfire[17] (known as Skyfire on TV[18]), the Constructicons (who combine to form Devastator),[19][20] and Omega Supreme. nearly four decades later, the Transformers, official "Ask Vector Prime" Facebook page, Megatron is an especially complex villain, beloved corner of the "Transformers" universe, "Transformers," kicking off an uneven series, 2022's "Transformers:Rise of the Beasts". A fifth film, Transformers: The Last Knight was released on June 23, 2017. Battle Masters was available at Target on November 4th, after the launch of Siege toys at the end of October. He said the resulting TV show "has topped the ratings every week since its debut in 1985, thus setting the stage for The Transformers: The Movie (1986) [which is] designed to sell more toys to more kids. Animation Action Adventure Two opposing factions of transforming alien robots engage in a battle that has the fate of Earth in the balance. This is it. Evil is a relative term, and Megatron is an especially complex villain: From his perspective, the Great War is nearly always begun as a rebellion against an unfair system. [note 1] Michael Bay directed the first five films: Transformers (2007), Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Dark of the Moon (2011), Age of Extinction (2014), and The Last Knight (2017), [1] [2] [3] and has served as a producer for subsequent "Robots in Disguise" cut the timeline loose and gave creators free reign to explode "Transformers" lore in every direction imaginable. An interesting side note and if you know your 1980s robot toys is that at the exact same time of all this the Gobots were also being launched but just didnt catch on and Ive written about that whole story and why they didnt work. Some of these were the epic Dinobots, Skyfire, the Insecticons, and the Constructicons who were able to combine to form Devastator and that was just awesome. They then continue their war on our planet, dragging humans into their endless conflagration. Megatron, in other words, doesn't start the Great War this time. Subsequently, the universe depicted in the animated series Challenge of the GoBots and follow-up film GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords was retroactively established as an alternate universe within the Transformers multiverse. At #19, it became Transformers Energon. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Generation 1 characters underwent two reboots with Dreamwave Productions in 2001 and IDW Publishing in 2005, with a third starting in 2019. [57][60], Three Transformers: The War Within limited series were also published. ", "Starting the beast war: dreamwave talks tformers: beast war", "BotCon 2006 - Transformers Comics: Past, Present & Future", "IDW Loses GI Joe, Transformers License at the End of the Year", "IDW's Plans For Transformers Revealed At The 2006 San Diego Comic Con", "Stuart Moore Talks New Avengers/Transformers", "Ryall answers fans' questions on TF/Avengers crossover", "NYCC, DAY 2: MOORE, ROSEMANN AND RYALL TALK "NEW AVENGERS/ TRANSFORMERS", "A New IDW Comic Is Mashing Up Star Trek and Transformers in the Most Glorious Way Possible", "Transformers Comics For April 2007 From IDW", "Hasbro Confirms The Transformers Cinematic Universe - Transformers 5 In 2017? When "The Transformers" cartoon first aired back in 1984 to let's be honest sell toys, few back then could have foreseen that nearly four decades later, the Transformers would be bigger, bolder, and more popular than ever. [43] They also released the same content as individual seasons.[44]. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'everything80spodcast_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_10',151,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-everything80spodcast_com-large-mobile-banner-2-0');They would also introduce the remainder of the 1985 toyline with a two-part episode called Dinobot Island. Many other versions of the Quintessons aren't creators, though, but conquerors. Polygon Pictures was chosen as the animation studio. Joe. Though the year-long arc wrapped itself up with an alliance between Optimus Prime and Megatron, the final panel introduced the Liege Maximo, ancestor of the Decepticons. Their story first appeared back in 1989 in Marvel's "Transformers" #61, then changed pretty much every time a different character told it. Primus and Unicron may wax and wane in importance through the different realities, but they're almost always there, setting the cogs in motion for billions of years' worth of stories. After the first season of Beast Wars (comprising 26 episodes) aired in Japan, the Japanese were faced with a problem. They did change Megatron from a handgun to a tank due to safety and security concerns so thats something.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[120,600],'everything80spodcast_com-leader-3','ezslot_15',143,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-everything80spodcast_com-leader-3-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[120,600],'everything80spodcast_com-leader-3','ezslot_16',143,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-everything80spodcast_com-leader-3-0_1');.leader-3-multi-143{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:15px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:15px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:600px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}. [95][96] The cast of the Combiner Wars was predominantly made up of famous YouTube personalities. His story almost always begins the same, with him rising to power millions of years ago in the gladiator pits of Cybertron during some sort of Golden - if not necessarily benevolent - Age in Cybertronian history. The TV series shows the Autobots looking for new energy sources, and crash landing as the Decepticons attack. Transformers is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. By 2012 the series had split into three ongoing series; The Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye, The Transformers: Robots in Disguise (which later changed in 2015 to "The Transformers") and The Transformers: Till All Are One. (Note: This appears to contradict background presented in the first two seasons of the series.) The second NTFA convention with official support from Hasbro Nordic, now renamed "NordCon" (to avoid copyright problems with the name "Mini-Con") was held in Aalborg, Denmark from 19 June to 20 June 2010. [4] Marvel Comics was hired by Hasbro to create the backstory; editor-in-chief Jim Shooter wrote an overall story, and gave the task of creating the characters to writer Dennis O'Neil. Example: Ironside and Ratchet were exactly the same and so were Prowl, Bluestreak and Smokescreen. [41] The U.S. comic would last for 80 issues until 1991,[42] and the UK comic lasted 332 issues and several annuals, until it was replaced as Dreamwave Productions, later in the 20th-Century. Out of these 28 toys, eleven of the Autobots would transform into cars, six into mini cars and one into a semi-tractor trailer. These three shady bots technically answer to the Maximals but still plot to regain power, even as they brand this era's Megatron a criminal for taking similar actions in the past. Megatron is now repackaged, sorry converted into Galvatron. Cyberverse uses characters and elements across G1, Beast Era, the live-action film series, Animated, and the Aligned continuity. All in all the first movie had more of an alien invasion feel to it and didnt seem to capture the essence of what made the Transformers so beloved. Initially a line of transforming mecha toys rebranded from Takara's Diaclone and Micro Change toy lines,[1] it spawned the Transformers media franchise. [65], The following year, IDW Publishing rebooted the G1 series from scratch within various limited series and one shots. [112], A trailer of for the first installment Siege was released on July 8, 2020, with the show following on July 30, 2020,[111][113] The first series focused on the civil war on Cybertron and the conflict between the two leaders of the opposing factions, Optimus Prime and Megatron, along with the introduction of a third, mercenary, faction.