Blaster

This spotlight is on Blaster, the Autobot counterpart to the popular Decepticon Soundwave! Similar to Soundwave, Blaster transformed into a stereo cassette player. Blaster definitely felt like an Autobot with his bright red, yellow, and gray color scheme. His transformation was pretty simple. You simply unfold the speakers to form the legs, flip out the arms, slide out the fists and elbows, and flip up the head. In the beginning, Blaster wasn't marketed with cassette forces of his own like Soundwave. Blaster eventually had some cassette warriors released during year three of the original Transformers toy line. The first four cassettes included two robots (Rewind and Eject) and two animals (Steeljaw, the lion, and Ramhorn, the rhino). Blaster was a great figure and a great addition to the Autobot forces.

The only problem with Blaster was his scale. The figure transformed into a decent size radio, but his robot mode ended up being massive. In Blaster's original toy commercial, two children had Optimus Prime and Blaster figures battling Soundwave, and Blaster was double the size of Prime. However, in the animated series, they are the same height. Go figure. If you want to get your hands on Blaster, Hasbro recently reissued the figure with some of his cassettes as part of this year's Comic-Con.

Making Sense of Generation One: Part 4

The aftermath of Transformers: The Movie left a lot of fans wondering what was coming next for the robots in disguise. In the span of 90 minutes of animation, a huge percentage of everyone's favorite characters had been killed off or reformatted into new characters. Also, the setting shifted to twenty years in the future. If there was ever a time that people didn't know what was next, this was the time. In September of 1986, season three of the animated series began. What fans discovered is this season was more than meets the eye.

Season three began with a five part mini-series called Five Faces of Darkness. This series took place one year after the events of the film (2006) with Rodimus Prime in command of the Autobots and Galvatron still missing from the Unicron War. The Decepticons have been forced off of Cybertron and Earth and have taken refuge on the burned out planet of Charr. The mini-series also explained the origin of both Cybertron and the Transformers themselves revealing the mysterious five faced Quintessons were their creators. With the conclusion of the mini-series, the Autobots now had to face not only the insane Galvatron and the Decepticons, but also the evil Quintessons intent on reclaiming Cybertron and destroying both the Autobots and Decepticons.

The third season was a season of highs and lows. The first half of the season was animated by a new animation company called AKOM. Their work was pretty poor with AKOM only producing a few quality episodes (Dark Awakening for example). Other episodes like Carnage in C-Minor were some of the worst episodes ever animated in the series with errors and inconsistencies every few seconds. Toei Animation took back the duties of animating the show close to halfway through the season which meant there was a huge step up in animation quality. The season's writing however was among the best right from the beginning with only a few episodes that were just bad (Surprise Party anyone?). The previously mentioned Dark Awakening along with Ghost in the Machine, The Ultimate Weapon, The Burden Hardest to Bear, and The Return of Optimus Prime (Parts 1 & 2) were incredible episodes to watch. There was also a greater continuity between episodes which was a welcome revision, and head writer Flint Dille made an effort to make the show more mature in its story lines.

Overall, season three was a great season. The largest problem for fans with the season was the complete overhaul of the show. All of the familiar faces were missing (barring cameos from Bumblebee, Starscream, the Airealbots, and memories of Megatron), and fans were still bothered by the death of Optimus Prime (even though Hasbro restored Optimus Prime to life in the season finale). The human characters were also different with Spike being all grown up with his son Daniel as the new teenaged character for the fans to connect with. Also, the futuristic style and the new focus on adventures on different planets was a shift as well. It was a season of a many changes, and some fans found it hard to embrace these changes. Although the 1986 toys were amazing and selling very well, this year began the decline in the popularity of the Generation One franchise in the United States.

European Classics Octane

Here is another one of the "Classics" figures released in 1991 overseas in Europe. This is a rerelease of the classic Generation One Triple-Changer Octane. The toy was originally released in 1986. I have never owned Octane, so I won't be able to go into detail about his transformation. However, as a figure he is pretty solid. He transforms from tanker truck to jumbo jet to robot. As one of the first original molds from Hasbro (especially a triple-changer), the designers did the best job they could with available design technology. The truck mode looks great with a nice chromed trailer, and the jet mode looks awesome with the chromed wings. The robot mode is pretty good, but I think it could have been better. There are large indents in the front of both of his legs due to the transformation, and his arms don't have much (not that any G1 figure did) articulation. Overall, Octane is worth picking up if you have the chance, especially if it is the rare European Classics version. However, I would definitely recommend Blitzwing or Astrotrain before Octane.

Octane played a small role in the third season of the animated series. He was seen in multiple episodes as a background character, but Octane got starring roles in the episodes Thief in the Night and Starscream's Ghost. Thief in the Night saw Octane try to take control of the Decepticons by stealing Trypticon and learning how to create Super-Energon. In Starscream's Ghost, it was hard to tell if the writers mixed up Octane with Blitzwing (Blitzwing was expelled from the Decepticons in Five Faces of Darkness: Part Five), but it would be safe to assume that Octane was also on the run after stealing Trypticon. In this episode, Octane enters into a partnership with ghost of the traitorous Starscream.

Slapdash

Here is another one of my favorite figures from the Generation One era of the Transformers. Slapdash was one of the Autobot Powermasters. The gimmick behind the Powermasters was they each had an engine which could transform into a robot (or a binary bonded Nebulan depending on which continuity you follow). Slapdash had a really unique transformation that would be a little too complicated to discuss here. His upper body was simple, but the front of the car actually flipped and rotated around the body to form the legs. Overall, next to Powermaster Optimus Prime and Overlord, Slapdash is my favorite Powermaster. His color scheme was awesome, and the figure's design was excellent. My only complaint is he is another one of the characters who felt the sting in the United States from the animated series going off the air in 1987. Slapdash (a 1988 figure) did appear in animated form briefly in the commercials, and he did play a small role in the Marvel comics. If you really wanted to see Slapdash in action, check out the Japanese exclusive series Transformers: Super-God Masterforce where he was known as Road King. If you have been keeping up with my Making Sense of Generation One series, don't worry. We'll be talking about Super-God Masterforce soon.

Making Sense of Generation One: Part 3

By 1986, the Transformers franchise had gone beyond being a simple success to becoming a worldwide phenomenon. The toys were selling with like crazy, the Marvel comic book series was a smash, and kids were tuning in every weekday to check out the animated adventures of the robots in disguise. It was inevitable that the Transformers would eventually hit the big screen. In the summer of 1986, Transformers: The Movie hit movie theaters every where (except Japan).

Production on the movie began around the beginning of season two's production. For this reason, many of the season two characters featured in the film didn't have speaking roles as they hadn't had their characters established yet. Toei Animation returned to animate the film, and their work proved to be some of the best on screen animation ever produced at that time. The animation was far superior to the animated series with highly detailed visuals and very few animation errors. Also, Vince DiCola (who had arranged the soundtrack for Rocky IV) was brought on board to create the film's iconic 80's rock soundtrack. Flint Dille took the helm as the head writer of the film, and Nelson Shin directed. Jay Bacal of Hasbro said in a 2006 interview that "what we were going for was to bring in the older audience". Hasbro's thinking was that the original fans were growing older, and so it was time to make the story more appealing to the older audiences and the college aged crowd. Hasbro also used the film to introduce a new era of heroes and villains and subsequently wipe out the characters that had forged the franchise.

The film was set in the then future world of 2005 (twenty years after the events of season two which took place in 1985). It told the story of a powerful planetoid called Unicron which could devour other worlds. After destroying a planet called Lithone, Unicron made his way towards Cybertron. Meanwhile the Decepticons (who have taken control of Cybertron) are planning to make a final strike against the Autobots by destroying Autobot City on Earth. Megatron and his forces capture an Autobot shuttle and kill its crew (Brawn, Prowl, Ironhide, and Ratchet) and they infiltrate the city on Earth. At this point, Autobot City is guarded by a new group of Autobots (Ultra Magnus, Hot Rod, Kup, Arcee, Blurr, and Springer) who along with Autobots of the past attempt to repel the Decepticons. Optimus Prime eventually arrives and in an absolutely epic battle defeats both the Decepticons and Megatron, but he is mortally wounded. The Decepticons retreat back to Cybertron. On Earth, Optimus Prime dies and passes the Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus. In route to Cybertron, Starscream betrays Megatron and jettisons Megatron into deep space. Megatron is discovered by Unicron and is reformed into Galvatron. Several of his soldiers who were cast into space with him are also reformatted into Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps. Galvatron returns to Cybertron, kills Starscream, and retakes control of the Decepticons. All of this took place in the first 35 minutes of the movie. Talk about epic change!

Even though most fans have seen the film by now, I'll be nice with this post and not spoil the rest of the film. In the final hour of movie, a lot of amazing things occur including the introduction of the Junkions and Quintessons; the Unicron War (Unicron transforms from planet mode to a gigantic robot to attack Cybertron); and the rise of the new Autobot leader, Rodimus Prime. The film was definitely a much darker film than anyone in the summer of 1986 expected. The film was rated PG at the time, but in today's world, it easily would have been rated PG-13 (in 1986, there was no PG-13 rating). The film was brutally violent with many of the franchise's key characters being killed off on screen to make way for the next round of characters (toys). There was also two swear words dropped in for good measure which Jay Bacal said was done intentionally to make sure the film got a PG rating. It has been reported that one child locked himself in his room for two weeks after seeing Optimus Prime die on screen. The public and critical outcry to the film was pretty negative due to the film's violent nature and its borrowing of several Star Wars elements. However, the film has earned its status today of being a "cult" classic, and in 2006 it earned the honor of being released once again but in a sort of "ultimate" edition by Sony BMG with the two-disc Transformers: The Movie: 20th Anniversary Special Edition.

The film is hailed by fans and most people as the most recognizable and important story in the history of the franchise. The negative outcry mainly arose from the drastically different nature of the film compared to the animated series. In the animated series, the wounded Transformers would always be repaired or ride off into the sunset to fight another day. This film brought the conflict into a sort of reality never touched on by the show in such a strong fashion. The Cybertronian wars were filled with "real" violence and not every character was going to make it out alive. Also, the events of the film are what has enabled it to become the classic film that it has. Flint Dille said in another 2006 interview "I never would have thought I would be sitting here twenty years later talking about the Transformers movie." Optimus Prime's on screen death, as well as the first appearance of the Matrix and Unicron are now staples in the Transformers mythology. Hasbro at the time had no idea how iconic the characters had become, and it was this lack of knowledge that hurt the series going into the third season. If you have never seen the 1986 movie, it really is the highlight of the original Transformers franchise. The movie would end up being a part of the animated series canon and would bridge the gap between seasons two and three.

Making Sense of Generation One: Part 2

Today is a really lazy Saturday, so why not post another part of this series. With the success of the first season of Transformers, Hasbro commissioned a second season to be produced. The series moved to weekdays and began its broadcast run in September of 1985. The second season contained a titanic 49 episodes in order to bring Transformers up to the required 65 episodes to make it into syndication.

The second season featured improved animation, a larger cast, a new intro, and a new theme song. Thirteen of the episodes focused on the original cast from season one. After which, there were many new Autobots and Decepticons who joined the show. In a really weird move, these characters just seemed to appear out of no where with no explanation of how they arrived. All of the season one characters acted as if these new Transformers had always been at their side. The broadcast order of the episodes helped with the transition, but if you were to watch the episodes in chronological order, it was a bit of a shock. The second season also dropped the sequencing of the first season episodes. Up until the final thirteen episodes, you could pick up and watch the episodes in any order. The style was redone in order to make sure every character/ toy had a spotlight episode. The final thirteen episodes had more continuity but it wasn't always concrete. These episodes featured the origins of the Airealbots, Stunticons, and Combaticons. The Protectobots pulled a "season 2" and just magically appeared in the final two episodes of the season.

Season two was the high note of the Transformers animated series. The episodes from this season are among the most remembered by long time fans. The highlights of this season included the introduction of the combiner teams and triple-changers, the first appearance of Alpha Trion, the introduction of Carly (Spike's future wife), and a first look into the crafting of Transformers mythology. The season also saw a maturing of the themes and stories as the stories became darker and certain characters (Megatron and Starscream in particular) became more intense. Some of the best episodes of season two included The God Gambit, Starscream's Brigade, The Key To Vector Sigma (Parts 1 & 2), Day of the Machines, and Traitor.

The two low points about this season were definitely the lack of a proper season finale and Hasbro's focus on Transformers as a "toy" show. B.O.T. is one of the worst episodes in terms of story telling in the series, and it was no way to properly end the season. In Japan, an OVA called Scramble City did appropriately tie off the season with the introduction of Ultra Magnus, Metroplex, and Trypticon. However, the OVA was meant to be a filler for the Japanese audience to bridge the gap between seasons two and three since they wouldn't get Transformers: The Movie until 1990. Hasbro's focus of Transformers being a "toy" show became far more evident in this season due to all of the spotlight episodes. The series is still one of the best cartoons ever produced, but it really did start to feel like an advertisement rather a series of great stories at times.

Making Sense of Generation One: Part 1

Inspired by a recent comment from a friend about there being six seasons of the original Transformers, I thought I'd start a new series to make sense of the original Transformers animated series from the 1980's. In this series, I will discuss each season of the U.S. series and then the show's jump to Japan to wrap up the story. Let's start first with season one in 1984.

In the beginning, Hasbro contracted Sunbow (who had done the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series) and the Japanese animation company Toei Animation to produce a three part mini-series which told the origin of how the Transformers came to Earth and how the Autobots got connected with the humans. The mini-series in conjunction with the new four issue Marvel comic book proved to be a huge success, and Hasbro commissioned the both mediums to continue their series past their end points. Transformers launched its first season in September of 1984 with the original three part mini-series added in as its premiere now dubbed "More Than Meets the Eye". In addition to the mini-series, the season consisted of 13 original episodes which aired on Saturday/ Sunday mornings across the U.S.

The design of the first season was more consistent with how current Transformers cartoons operate in that the episodes could stand alone, but they were really designed to be watched in order. Although there was no overlying story arc for the season, events from one episode usually carried into the next. Highlights of the season involved the introduction of both the Autobots and Decepticons; the introduction of the main human characters Spike, Sparkplug, and Chip Chase; the first appearances of Skyfire, the Dinobots, the Insecticons, and the Constructicons; and also the brief appearance of the evil human scientist Dr. Archevil. The season also contained fan favorite episodes S.O.S. Dinobots, The Ultimate Doom (Parts 1, 2, & 3), and Heavy Metal War. The episodes from this season are among the most remembered although there were some inconsistencies at times as the core mechanics of the characters were still being developed. The season also contained the now iconic theme song of the Transformers.

The Transformers franchise proved so popular that Japan ended their Diaclone and Microman toy lines (which are the lines Hasbro imported, combined, and rebranded as the Transformers) to import the Transformers. The first season of the animated series would air in Japan as Fight! Super Robot Life Form Transformers!

Cindersaur

I have long made fun of these (and the Gobots). This is one of three of the most ridiculously designed Transformers of all time. This is Cindersaur of the 1988 Firecons. The gimmick with each Firecon is that they could shoot sparks from their chests. This wouldn't be allowed nowadays due to child safety laws. His alternate mode is basically an overweight, barely mobile dragon. To transform him, all you have to do is pull back the arms and pull out the head. That's it. The robot mode looks just plain bad. There are not many G1 figures that I can't stand, but I really wish Hasbro hadn't wasted anyone's time with these. The Sparkabots were great figures, and they could easily outmaneuver and outlast these poor Decepticons.

Transformers Artwork #18

It's been a while since my last artwork posting. This pic comes from the European exclusive era of Generation One. This image was used on the back of the boxes of the toys and featured the formerly Japanese exclusive Overlord and Brain Masters. Let's just say I am very jealous of the Europeans from 1991 as they got so many amazing figures that we here in the United States have never seen. If you have read my past entries, you guys know that Overlord is one of my all time favorite Transformers. The Brain Master cars pictured here consisted of vehicles with robots who entered the larger robot's chest and they transform into their faces. The three cars could also combine to form the powerful Autobot Road Caesar! Just like the European exclusive Earth Force (repaints of the Transformers: Victory Liokaiser combiners), the three cars didn't come with the parts to combine for their European release.

Horri-bull

This fan really has a soft spot for not only Transformers: Generation 2, but also the 1987 and 1988 years of the Generation One era. This figure is one of my favorites from when I was a kid. This is the Decepticon Headmaster Horri-bull! The gimmick behind the Headmasters was simple. The pilot of the vehicle or trainer of the beast could transform into the head of the robot. Horri-bull was part of the second wave of Headmaster Decepticons released in 1988 (the first wave was part of the 1987 line). The bull transformed into the body while the trainer became his head. To transform the body, you remove the tail (becomes the gun), flip back the rear portion to form the legs, flip out the hands on the front legs to form the arms, and flip back the bull's head. Then you would take the trainer and fold him in half to transform him into head mode, and the you plug the head into the body.

This figure was another Generation One brick with his only articulation being in his shoulders and his knees. However, all Generation One toys have a certain charm that plays with the imagination of the kid in all of us, and unless they are the Firecons, it is impossible to not enjoy the classics of Generation One (someday I'll review a Firecon, and you'll know why they were so bad). The chest piece could also open to reveal a power meter for the robot's tech specs. With all Headmasters, their heads could be swapped and the specs would change for the body.

Due to Horri-bull being released in 1988, he faced the same problem as all toys in the United States from 1988 onward. Horri-bull only appeared briefly in the comics, and he had no appearance at all in the animated series. Horri-bull never even appeared in animated form in the commercials. Horri-bull did appear in the Japanese exclusive animated series Transformers: Super-God Masterforce which detailed the adventures of the Powermasters, Headmasters, and Pretenders.

Swerve

Here is a spotlight on one of the Mini-bots from the Generation One era of the Transformers. I figured it has been a while since I have said anything about the Mini-bots, so let's get another one on the ol' blog. Swerve was released in 1986 as part of the third year of the Transformers toy line. He is remold and slight retool of the year one Autobot Gears. Swerve transforms exactly the same as Gears. You simply flip the legs back and pull out and flip up the arms, that's it. The retooling is obvious in robot mode as Swerve has a new face. Also, the paint apps are different with the red and blues of Gears being replaced with red and whites. Swerve was a cool little Mini-bot, but he had only one appearance in season three of the animated series. Swerve first appeared in Five Faces of Darkness: Part Five as the Autobots tried to protect the Ark from Trypticon. Swerve got stomped into the ground by Trypticon. Since it was the animated series in the 1980's in the United States, it is safe to assume Swerve survived.

Dirge

This is another spotlight on a Generation One version of an upcoming Transformers: Generations figure. This is another one of the Seekers, Dirge. Dirge is another remold/ retooling of the original Starscream mold from year one of the original Transformers toy line. Like Thrust, the figure had a new set of wings crafted for him. Also, as seen in the animated series, when transforming Dirge, it is common to leave his nosecone on the top of his head as seen in the cartoon. The Seekers are simply classic toys, and I am excited to see that fans of Generation One will finally be able to complete their Classics Seeker set. The only figure left to be released is Thundercracker.

Transformers: War For Cybertron

According to most gaming websites and magazines, it looks like Transformers: War For Cybertron is the best Transformers game to be released since Transformers: Armada, and this title surpasses Armada in every way. So far, I think the best review is a 9.6 out of 10 from ign.com who called the game "outstanding". The game is a third person shooter telling the story of the beginning of the war on Cybertron before the Transformers came to Earth. The title is also based in the Generation One universe (about time). This means the gamer is playing as Cybertronian versions of classic characters like Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Megatron, Starscream, and more! Also, a huge number of Generation One characters make cameos in the game including Omega Supreme and Trypitcon as bosses. While I am sad a PS2 port will not be developed, I would rather play the original game than the port they released for Wii (Cybertron Adventures, which would most likely be the version released on PS2) which has received terrible reviews. If you have a capable PC, a Playstation 3, or an Xbox 360, what are you waiting for? Go pick up the best Transformers game ever released!

One Year Anniversary!

Even though you may be looking at the side bar and seeing this blog started in October, it really started in July of 2009 as the Teletran 3 Transformers Fan Blog. In August, I shut the blog down with no intention of continuing it. However, I relaunched it in October of 2009 as Rodimus Convoy's Transformers Fan Blog with all new posts and info. Although its not really a big deal (especially since nobody really knows this blog exists ;) ), it's exciting that this has been going for a year. Thanks to anyone who does read this blog, and thank you Hasbro for continuing to keep the Transformers franchise alive! Here's to the start of the another year, and happy Fourth of July!