Before my fiancé and I started dating, it was obvious that he is a Transformers fan. Once our relationship took off and I spent more and more time at his place, I was spending more and more time admiring the Transformers on display, watching him transform new figures when he got them, and listening to how much he loved the characters. Transformers was never something I had gotten into as a kid because shows about cars and robots were “for boys”. But now I am older and wiser and I love all things sci-fi and robotic so I thought “Robots from space? Why wouldn’t I like that?” At the very least I wanted to be able to learn the basics about Transformers so that I could participate in one of my partner’s favourite fandoms the way he has participated in mine. So once we moved in together I started asking to watch the original Transformers series with him. And let me tell you, it certainly didn’t take long for me to fall in love with these “robots from space”. It’s been about a year and a half since I got started and I can’t stop!
Transformers G1: I’ll admit, I got a good laugh out of some of the early episodes. But once I really got into it, I was hooked. Personally, I prefer the first two seasons. Not only was this classic series good enough to turn me into a fan, I really want to re-watch it now that I am more familiar with Transformers as a whole. I used to mock Starscream when I first started watching because I felt that he was just too ridiculous, but now he is my favourite character. So I am interested to see how my opinions about this series will change now that I am more familiar with the stories and characters.
Transformers Animated: I have only watched the first season and did not enjoy it all that much. I think the problem was because I watched it immediately after watching the original series. I was not prepared for the major differences in characterization and I’m not really a fan of the animation style. Overall, I liked the way the Decepticons were depicted better than the Autobots as there were some interesting choices made here and there, like having a triple changer with multiple personalities. I am not giving up on it, though. Now that I have more experience with transformers I’m willing to give it another try.
Transformers Prime: This is probably my absolute favourite Transformers series to date. The story was perfect as it felt like the kind of show that could appeal to both adults and children. I enjoyed it so much I binge-watched the whole thing and cried at the end. I am also a fan of a lot of voice actors in this show, so I really enjoyed the acting. The animation was more my style compared to Transformers Animated and I really liked some of the newer interpretations of classic Transformers characters. I wish there were more seasons; I was not ready for this to end.
Transformers Headmasters: Still making my way through this one. I hope to eventually make my way through all of the Japanese Transformers series, but I have a feeling that may take me a bit longer. I feel like I should enjoy Headmasters more than I do, but I just haven’t been able to make much of a connection with the characters yet. Also, I find the stories get really repetitive (Yes, I am aware that Transformers in any form is basically a toy commercial, so plot really isn’t important). I guess I was just expecting more from the Japanese anime.
The Original Transformers Movie: I have seen this film twice already and I love it! Mark made me watch it in between seasons 2 and 3 of the original series as that is where it falls in the timeline. He made such a fuss about me watching it that I was horrified to find out that most of the G1 characters (some of them are my favourites) die in the opening of the film. I spent much of the movie complaining about this. When a local movie theatre was playing it on the big screen we bought tickets immediately and I loved the film even more the second time. I frequently have the soundtrack stuck in my head.
Michael Bay Movies: Mark warned me about them. Memes and pop culture warned me about them. I still had to watch them. And when I was at home sick I thought “why not marathon them?” That was a mistake. Although there was the odd good moment here and there, I found the movies were difficult to watch. Not only did I disagree with the majority of the creative decisions and directorial choices, but I hated most of the character designs for the Transformers themselves. Don’t do what I did: don’t ever marathon the Michael Bay Transformers movies.
Bumblebee Movie: If you have read my Rapid Fire Movie Review you’ll know I adored this movie. Finally, a live action Transformers film done right. The story was better, the soundtrack was better, the character design was better. Everything was better! Director Travis Knight certainly has more of an appreciation for the Transformers universe, and his apparent love of the 80s is ever present thoughout this movie. I hope that there are many sequels for this particular branch of the film franchise, and I hope we get a chance to see more of the characters we only caught glimpses of in this film.
Transformers Devastation: I have only just recently started playing this game and I am enjoying it so far. I am not really good at video games and don’t play them a whole lot, and I found that this game is fairly easy for someone like me. I’m not a fan of the way the camera doesn’t auto-track as I lose sight of destinations and characters when I can’t move the camera quickly enough, especially when I am in vehicle mode. I also wish I had the opportunity to unlock more characters than what’s available because I think this would be fun to play as some of my favourites.
Transforming my first transformers: I bought my first Transformer at TFCon last year: a Transformers: Prime Starscream. And then for Christmas, Mark gave me a Power of the Primes Grimlock and G1 replica Starscream. I really like Starscream, ok. Mark then dumped all three packages in my lap and declared “Christmas is for playing with toys.” My biggest fear was that I would break something while I was transforming them. Mark had to constantly remind me that Transformers are built to withstand children and that it was highly unlikely that I would break one. There was a close call on one of them, but I survived without breaking anything.
My First TFCon 2018: I had so much fun! I ended up spending most of the weekend hanging around Retro Joad’s booth and did a little walking around but never got around to any of the panels. And I still had a blast. I wore two cosplays, Knit Optimus (aka Yarnimus Prime) and a human interpretation of Perceptor. As Optimus, I got to talk to a lot of other really cool Transformers cosplayers. As Perceptor, I was worried people wouldn’t understand such an abstract cosplay; but even when I wasn’t carrying around my prop microscope I still had people coming up to me telling me that they loved my Perceptor cosplay!
The Next TFCon 2019: Now that I have a better idea of what to expect from TFCon I have plans: I want to see panels, enter the costume contest, walk around the dealers room, and hang out with more cool Transformers fans. I am also really excited about cosplay possibilities thanks to last year’s Perceptor cosplay. As long as I get my colours and my style just right, I have a bit more freedom in my interpretations of Transformers. This year’s cosplay plans: Knit Grimlock and Human Blaster! I am so excited and I already have a shopping list started. One month left until TFCon! Can’t wait!
