The Things That Ruined Transformers Forever

🌟There's lots of ways to support the channel!🌟
✅Shop Entertainment Earth at this link and get 10% off your order!
▶ ee.toys/TJOmega @entearth
✅ Support on Patreon for perks, Discord access, requests and more!
▶ / tjomega
✅Leave a quick one-time tip on Ko-fi!
▶ ko-fi.com/I3I7BFWT
✅ Or just hit Like, Share, Subscribe, and the bell!
We never recovered from these things.
⚠ Ways to keep track of TJ ⚠
Twitter: / tjomega
Twitch: / tjomega
Facebook: / theplasticaddict
Instagram: / theplasticaddict
Tumblr: / tjomega
Outro Music: Ginger Grant by Derek R. Audette
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
Disclaimer: All videos produced on this channel are intended for adult collectors and hobbyists.
#Transformers #GenerationOne #TransformersG1 #BeastWars #EntertainmentEarth

[@TJOmega]

So let's clarify. Gatekeeping is being in the fandom and actively trying to keep others from joining it, because you think new people will ruin it or you don't want people like them in it. If you're removing toxic and/or evil elements from the fandom that is not gatekeeping, it is policing, and it's something we need to do to because it has no place in any fandom, much less this one.

[@lavafoxx]

i dunno, i would say that things like He-man, she-ra and scooby doo should have had a healthy dose of gatekeeping. the resulting shows are proof enough.

[@jetseekers]

Guess that fits what I said in my comment, and I do agree. But imo, there is a gray area where policing meets gatekeeping. (Specifically that of seemingly well intentioned or nice new people trying to change said fandom or property in the name of accessibility in a way that fundamentally changes it.)

[@jetseekers]

​@@lavafoxx guess what you could call it is some element trying to remove the existing toxic element by replacing it with an opposite, but equally toxic element. Kinda like how swapping a guy whose just a 'matcho' 'manleyMAN' dick with a Karen isn't exactly an improvement in any way. That seems to be more or less what happened with stuff like She-Ra, Gem, and Scooby Doo. (Which is a massive shame for Scooby-Doo....)

[@prognemesiss]

I agree with you on that part of gatekeeping, but not on another part of it, namely; canon. There are certain rules to world building, what can and cannot exist, this also applies to transformers. The insistance that stories have adhere to "modern sensibilities" really hinders any media. Female transformers can exist, no reason why they cant, but how they are entered into the story, or the lore, matters. The fact that gender is even made an issue for a show about robots, which have no reproductive organs, atleast in the beginning, shows how annoying those KARENS are. its a freaking kids show, lets kids be creative. if some kid thinks starscream looks and behaves like his aunt, therefor is female, so be it. If another kid thinks starscream looks and behaves like his uncle after drinking too much beers, therefor is male, whatever. This could be applied for any character, too bad people had to ruin this creativity by insisting every robot is male.

[@jetseekers]

@@mudjumper even if it is, it's one that should be entirely encouraged. Just like a local bar not allowing literal local Nazis into the place under any circumstances for similar reasons

[@racer164]

I'd say the evergreen designs are stopping designers from making unique designs for preexisting characters. Not ruining the franchise but putting it in a sort of loop of merch being made

[@Skullkaiser]

@@mpsorrentino Also why do the shows have to take place in either the persent or the near future where everything looks the same give us a story 1000 years in the future and design new vehicles instead of the suv that is parked across the street or the semi at the super market.

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

@@Skullkaiser remember when cybertron took place 15-25 years in the future and had some interesting vehicle modes, also we could’ve had transtechs. Animated 50 years later though the vehicles don’t look 50 years later. After that all one can find is cybertronian vehicles

[@Cdr2002]

I don’t think brand consistency is a terrible thing but they could vary things up a bit more. Personally I’m ok with what we have now where only Optimus, Bumblebee, Starscream, and Wheeljack look the same across kids merch and characters like Megatron, Soundwave, Grimlock, and so on are still getting new spins on their designs

[@ryanpenrose3194]

I once had a classmate who didn't want to buy the Animated toyline because he didn't like the linewide design. So I brought in some of my own and played around with them. When he asked me if he could play with them himself, I took a risk and let him. He was very respectful, he didn't seek to damage the toys, he just played with them. After he was done, he admitted that he was wrong and wanted to find some more figures from Animated. If I had adopted a gatekeeping attitude, things would have been very different. So yes, TJ, I do believe that gatekeeping is one of the worst things you can do as a fan. If someone tries to do that, ignore them because you are welcome, so long as your own actions exercise good will in turn.

[@TristenSarelvun]

I don't think "not letting someone touch your toys in fear they'd do something bad" is gatekeeping at all. But it was really cool of you to take the risk and introduce him to something he liked.

[@alexthibodeau979]

I hate myself for being that same kind of person too. I avoided animated because it looked "too babyish" for me, and I regretted it so badly after I started to watch the show when the toys were leaving the shelves. I was able to get a few of the toys that I wanted and I am still on the lookout for discounted grails

[@wyldefyr4116]

As someone who started in G1, i think every era brought something good to Transformers. yes some are better then others, but everything brings something to the table

[@LowellLucasJr.]

I agree one hundred percent! Each one contributes something to that ever-growing transforming Cog we know as the great franchise as a whole!❤

[@alwaysabiggafish3305]

Except Bayformers

[@purplewolfranger22]

@@alwaysabiggafish3305 ope, found the problem child.

[@Mecha82]

@@manborg84 When you bring "true fan" as argument your opinion is invalid.

[@sp33d4l0l]

@@alwaysabiggafish3305 One word: Barricade.

[@AwesomeMooseSmile]

I like how at the bottom of the page after all of the jokes, the last one says "no seriously, these things are unironically terrible" and it links to the Transformers NFTs.

[@SixshotRevan]

Honestly, Transformers is a Rosetta Stone for how an IP has its ebbs and flows over time. Not every series is going to resonate with a large audience, and almost every Transformers fan has a part of it they would rather forget happened. But sometimes an amazing series will come along. Then the continuity gets rebooted again, and the audience is given a chance to find something new. The debates about whether it's good or bad spring up, and the cycle starts all over again.

[@pillarsofsnow7940]

My biggest problems is distribution, can’t retain/create fans if the product isn’t available

[@ruination9428]

When theres a change in the franchise it is considered ruined for some

[@russellharrell2747]

Broken base. Most infamously as seen in Star Wars every time a trilogy happens.

[@dn22pkkdd476]

​@@russellharrell2747 "every time Anything happens" Fixed that for you.

[@ORLY911]

@@russellharrell2747 Let's not pretend The sequel trilogy didn't ruin it though, it is very very hard for me to consider those films as anything but an incoherent, made by committee mess. The prequels might not have been nearly as good as the originals but they were consistent with what the originals put in place, and dared to tell a different kind of story rather than rehashing the originals like VII IIX and IX did.

[@NobleRaider2747]

​@@ORLY911 VIII is the exception to that rule

[@youwayo]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@ORLY911lol are you kidding me? Up until The Force Awakens came out people were nitpicking and bashing the Prequel Trilogy to the ground, no mercy. I would even say that part of the reason why The Prequel Trilogy is gaining some positive recognition is BECAUSE of the Sequel Trilogy.

[@andrewmichael9201]

Content like this reminds me how rare I am as a fan for having such a diverse consumption of media as a kid. My dad showed me the old g1 stuff. Watched some rid01 episodes on KZbin back in the day. I grew up loving the Unicron Trilogy, Aninated, and movies 1-3. Movie 4 was the first movie I saw and knew was bad and nearly caused me to loose interest, but then Prime brought me back into the fold. Almost every era of transformers holds a place in my heart

[@springbonnidreamer87]

I've seen the pokeformers era Transformers: Cybertron and seeing Transformer fans being babies over something new for the series makes me feel like an adult, and I was a 4 year old

[@jacobfoster9185]

I was 9 years old and the theater was full of YOUNG children and right off the bat we witnessed the first on screen killings/beloved characters DYING and very violently...savagely. then when Optimus died a LARGE number of kids were outright bawling..sobbing moms and dads covered the kid's eyes. It was legitimately traumatizing for a lot of people. It's hard for people these days to even comprehend how this affected people. In those days there was NO internet. Kids just weren't exposed to killings and death like these days.

[@MikeD974]

I actually loved transformers more for killing off characters and going in a new direction in season 3 it felt more adult themed because of it plus optimus's death gave the movie an emotional moment and is part of the reason its great

[@russellharrell2747]

Every kid in 1986 that was a transformers fan begged their parents to go see that movie. I know, I was one of them.

[@jetseekers]

Holy crap I just realized what G1 hardline fans may want (at least according to TJ's example): they want G1 transformers to run like a sitcom and just always kinda be there with a continuous open loop narrative

[@DJPrimeAmvs]

Kinda interesting that a majority of the list revolves around "try hard nostalgia fans hating change" and then there's kiss players that no one wants to touch 😂

[@brandonpettitt1740]

I loved RID and Armada and I grew up with Beast Wars it was because of RID that for the first time ever we got to see Optimus combining with other Autobots.

[@pauricboylan960]

Got into Transformers through Beast Wars!😊

[@themysteriousmista4922]

Same, brah.

[@munchies8244]

I will say that one more thing should be added to that list. Scalpers

[@ORLY911]

I'm a "leave politics at the door" sort of guy, It's never fun to enter a fandom and then one person drops toxic messaging and everyone gets down and out after that. At the very least, politics that act as ad hominems in debates need to be avoided.

[@nassahdeys92]

Sees Kiss Players. "You might be right here." I died.

[@rexveritate]

I don’t think gatekeeping in this franchise is warranted, but when some people who actively hate the source material and want to interject their own ideas, regardless if it aligns with the core elements of the source material, it’s very much warranted. Amazon’s failed LOTR and The Witcher come to mind, and I’m not even a fan of those or Star Trek, which I admire. Modern creators lack understanding of science and can’t write optimism, so we get modern problems, conflict, and pessimism. It worked for DS9 because it was handled well but shouldn’t be the standard for the franchise

[@rayvenkman2087]

It’s stuff like that I can’t agree with gatekeeping as a concept being a bad one because more often than not, those types of people inadvertently proves the gatekeepers right. Even if they’re not trying to. And I agree. DS9 worked because it existed as a counterbalance to TNG and Voyager. Helps that you had options if you didn’t enjoy DS9’s grittier nature. Just hate how nearly every series after Enterprise all tries to copy DS9 like how half of comics tries to copy Watchmen but not understand why they were excellent to begin with. Shit, I think DS9 fell off a cliff towards the end with Pah-Whatever shite worse than TNG did with Season 7 and that season had some real duds but was at least saved by All Good Things.

[@krimsonklaww611]

Changing from G1 style to anime with the Unicron trilogy is just fine, but changing from G1 to Americanime with Animated is where I draw the line! -old men screaming at the local cumulonimbus, C.A. early 2000s

[@zullumaster123]

Not going to lie, I saw pokemon transformers and thought of somehow remolding rattrap into pikachu somehow.

[@dn22pkkdd476]

Do it

[@jacobfoster9185]

Honestly, I don't think anything ruins these brands for all time...although toxic Fandom that hate and rage against anything that isn't a exact carbon copy of what we've already seen and had. As well as the other side of that coin the Karen Kennedys and sadly Kevin Smiths, discovery trek, all female ghost busters etc which actively tear down these cherished mythos that shaped generations and then telling the fans that their heroes were bad, toxic and that the feelings of betrayal, sadness bereavement meant that they too were toxic and bad. Claiming inclusivity but actively, cruelly EXCLUDING those who loved these franchises. The audacious hypocrisy of race, orientation, gender swapping...but ONLY one way. Have Bucky take over for The Black Panther and the internet would burn..even though that actually makes a lot of sense in universe. A lot of people would have new TVs and whatnot without paying.."peaceful protests"...but the same self serving calculated selective outrage is just as prevalent if not more so on the other side...it's sad and wasteful to allow ourselves to be manipulated and pitted against eachother so that we aren't watching those who start the fires..BOTH SIDES..Truthfully the REAL sides are those in power and the other 99 % those who are at the top care not at all for the concern or values of their followers/parties. Kinda off topic. Seemingly but it's toxic, manipulative interference from any/either/both sides that come closest to actually ending our beloved mythologies.

[@octobotimus]

When I read the title all I could think of is “budget”.

[@dragonjester03]

Also...Fuck gatekeepers, I say everyone is welcome. There's beer in the fridge and food is in the oven, let's talk Transformers for a bit and have some fun

[@MrTonyJ]

The price. They priced out children and many adults.

[@elxr9434]

Yep totally agree granted I'm not a completionist anyway but I can't afford half of the figures I want, I had to go into debt to get skyquake, shrapnel and tarn and I can't even get half of the other figures I want and that's not even including FINDING them that's just paying for them it's ridiculous like I'm still looking for crasher and galaxy shuttle and haven't seen either not once

[@comicbookfan124]

I'm surprised bad writing wasn't there? Because there have been comics and episodes that have not been the greatest of quality or have some controversial material in them. I like transformers for mythology, and it's ever branching incarnations. There are times when I don't like forms of the series, but I'd never take the enjoyment away from others. Like for me, I personally didn't care for a lot of the IDW comics, mostly due to how much I had to read, and also the inconsistent continuity can stories. I mostly just read self-contained stories that explored the mythos and lore of the series. What if stories don't always interest me, like I didn't personally care for Beast Wars Uprising. But you have your own personal likes and dislikes. That's amazing. For me, my favorites are the Aligned Continuity with Transformers Prime, the novels, and the War for Cybertron games. Along with original Beast Wars and the rebooted comic. I like well written characters and stories, I don't care who is represented as long as I'm having fun. That's all that matters to me is quality and fun characters and stories.

[@dreadfury2485]

Did the G1 episode “Thief in the Night” not have a big enough impact at the time outside of getting Casey Kasem to quit to warrant being on here somewhere? I’m honestly surprised that, for every Transformers reboot that was supposed to desttoy the brand and obviously didn’t, stuff like that episode didn’t get the franchise into some serious hot water.

[@katsomeday1]

As a G1 fan, I have no problem with changing things up. There's a lot I don't like in some new stuff, but it's not like everything has to be made for me. There is plenty of G1 out there for me and plenty of stuff like Armada for those fans, live and let live. I do take issues with some aspects of the Bay movies, such as the super cringe characters like Skids and Mudflap. Of course some these problems popped up in G1 too, such as "Thief in the Night". Other things I dislike are professional problems like some of Bay's behavior behind the scenes and DreamWave not paying creators. Also, as mentioned in the video, Simon Furman writing any female character and Kiss Players. This stuff I can really do without.

[@MichaelAlexKawa]

I have been a Transformers fan since 1985, so I have a few opinions on this matter. I don't really disagree with you, just giving a differing perspective. Even though I love the 86 movie, and when I first saw it in theaters, I thought it was the best movie I have ever seen, still kind of have that opinion. Anyways, I did cry with the death of Optimus, but it didn't effect me the way it did others, and I do feel that it was one of the reason why some fans became disenchanted with the series. The thing I do hate is when Action Masters get the majority of the blame for the "death" of G1. Back in the 80's all my friends loved Transformers, just like me, but unlike me they gave up on the series, and it was not the Action Masters fault. Some of them "moved on" because they were growing up and didn't want to "play" with toys anymore. Some hated the movie (86), but it was the whole "changing" the concept, first it was the Headmasters, back in the day some of my friends hated it. The comic, the animated 3-parter, the figures. Then the straw that broke the Transformers back......The Pretenders. Even I, the most die-hard fan among my friends almost left the series, If it wasn't for my love of the movie, the non-Pretenders of 1988, and the comics by Furman, I might have left the series behind in my childhood. The thing with the Action Masters is they were a last ditch effort of the brand, or perhaps a carefully planned "conspiracy". I don't know how much you know about "New Coke", but according to some, it was created, just so when they released "Coke-Cola Classic" people would be so "happy" that the taste they "love" is back.....and it worked. So I have wondered if this was the plan all along with the Action Master, they used classic legacy characters, most of which was released two years later during G2. And no one found it odd that on the packaging of the G2 figures, it brings up the fact that they can "transform", almost like Action Master was their inferior competition, even though they weren't......just like how "New Coke" tasted so bad you are thankful for "Coke-Cola Classic", we are now given you Transformers that can "transform" .........you're welcome. Also just want to say, in defense of the Kiss Players.....yes you read that right, I don't believe they "Ruined" Transformers, they are just a small black mark in the history book of the brand that no one wants to talk about. The reason I say this is they really didn't make a major change to the brand, they are like a little "dirty" footnote, that can be ignored. Also how many casual TF fans really know about the Kiss Players, it is not like they are the live action movies, that can't be ignored since they do have a major impact on the brand. BTW, I am not a gatekeeper like most from my generation, I embrace new ideas and series, don't know why so many complain, it is not like you are forced to like what is new, nor does it erase what you love about Transformers.

[@autobotzapof0002]

I’m glad you’ve kinda let the fandom feel more free to express themselves lately. I’m okay with anyone being with us, or just the chill boys who role play characters on Facebook. It’s nice to make others feel happy, ya know?

[@primeoetgrunn]

I've lived through most of the latter half of this list. I've even been a part of the hateful crowd as a teen (we've all had an awkward phase we'd rather not talk about). However after Animated proved itself to be really good, I just hope that whatever direction the brand goes in, it'll turn out at least decent enough to sell toys and gain new fans. It's just a shame the modern cartoons aren't as easily accessible as back in the day...

[@SamanthaS92]

Your community has been very open and accepting of my part of the fandom even though I have almost no knowledge of the Unicron Trilogy. I have been to many other groups who have attacked me for not thinking or acting just like them… I really dislike people like that. 😅

[@bobismad1362]

6:52 I’m glad the Ben 10 fandom has the reboot band-aid ripped off now. We were really lucky to have gotten the same continuity for as long as we did, honestly. It’s kind of ridiculous to expect these constantly rotating creative teams to maintain the same continuity for years on end.

[@queen_sectonia]

I think what ruined transformers forever was when the started to have vehicle modes. In a story with a species of alien robots, I just can't believe that they can change into a semi-truck

[@Dualbladedscorpion7737]

😂 they are bio mechanical shape shifters of course they will change their shape from a biped or quadrualped into truck mode.

[@GladDestronger]

Then find another franchise to become a fan of. Problem solved.

[@MunkyDrag0n]

On that topic, i never understood "robots in disguise" when they operate out in the open, adopt conspicuous alt modes, and fight guns blazing. Where is the disguise?

[@queen_sectonia]

@Carl Gunderson don't worry, this is a joke

[@queen_sectonia]

@@MunkyDrag0n they need to fight with some kinda outer shell that takes the form of something else like a skeleton samurai or a giant iguana thingy

[@tmntman3086]

It's probably worth pointing out that for three of the items on your list, specifically "Pokeformers", Animated's style and the addition of so many female characters, they are/were less an argument about what is going to ruin Transformers forever as they were larger trends that worried/annoyed people and happened to have specific examples of them happening in Transformers. It wasn't that Armada was horrible because it was like Pokemon. It was that a huge number of shows were trying to imitate Pokemon at the time, and Armada was just one of them. The same is true of the anime influence of Animated. The issue isn't that animated looked too much like anime. It was that so many shows being released at the time were using that style. It's hard to stand out from the crowd if you are always doing exactly what the crowd does.

[@winfieldbell1590]

I didnt know there was a term for package swappers til now, in my walmart someone bought the flocked and non flocked MOTU panthor and returned the non flocked in the flocked box which was a $15 price difference and i brought it to walmarts attention and the next day it was on the clearence shelf marked $10 down so still $5 over the correct price and i was so pissed cause i knew some parent was gonna think it was cool for their kid and they would get screwed and wouldnt know any better

[@beaudavis3808]

Of all the things that we may argue about, Kiss Players is absolutely undefendable. There is no defending it at all. Even Chris McFeely had to put a warning on a video that he did on this topic.

[@TFGourmet]

In my case what I like is engineering, how a robot transforms into another element, be it a car, plane, boat, motorcycle, a washing machine and even a toaster... any other machine, and I also like beastwars, I have any problem with the fact that they are organic beings... of course I prefer the cybernetic ones... but it depends on the type of animal, what does a giraffe, a horse, a rabbit and even a penguin do? come to think of it, Kung fu Panda was good... but still...

[@vxrdrummer]

I'm G1 first and foremost, but I'm also everything Transformers. The Gatekeeping does me in. Some of the Facebook groups are insane for it. G1 Hard-core or whatever it is called...most of them know very little about G1 anyway except they have some toys, and I find it embaressing that they push people away but know so little themselves, and quite frankly, why wouldn't uou want to include more people in your group and share the joy of G1 with them, and share the joy of the rest of yhe franchise at the same time.

[@daishomaru7682]

In defense of Bayformers ruining Transformers forever, It's not the first movie that was bad, but the problem with the sequels is that they are almost the same movie every single time. You can basically sum up every Bayformers movie in a nutshell: 1 million years ago, there's an ancient Cybertronian Artifact/A Cybertronian that crashes into the Earth/Moon/Our Solar System. In the present Day, Humans and Transformers are living together. The First third of the movie involves the Human and some Mundane Life event. This isn't exactly relevant to the Transformers, but we have to have it in to pad it out. Something brings back the Decepticons together, whether it's the allspark, someone repairing them or they all decide to get together. The Autobots find out about a Cybertronian Artifact that can restore Cybertron, and take it. The Human of the Movie will get into some Cybertronian Conspiracy or something like that, bonus if it's a million years old or some shit. There's a plot twist that Transformers were among us longer than what humanity realized. Humans distrust Autobots DESPITE THE AUTOBOTS SAVING THE ENTIRE SPECIES MULTIPLE TIMES. Come Evil New Decepticon that's Not Megatron (Unless he's Megatron but he's Galvatron) comes over and takes over the Decepticons. Decepticons attack and win first battle, causing Humans to exile the Autobots even though they are their only hope against the Decepticons. Naturally this bites them in the ass, because Decepticons then enslave humans/nearly drive the species to extinction because of their stupidity. Autobots come back and save the humans. The Cybertronian Artifact gets destroyed and everyone accepts that Cybertron can't be brought back again because of course it won't be. The decepticons die until the next movie when someone revives them. Then Optimus Prime says in his Journal that speech at the end of every movie. Like, I agree with you that the movies sell well, but the problem is that with Bayformers, they tend to follow a repetitious pattern that seemingly only gets worse and worse over time.

[@p0laris74yt8]

17:39 To quote a tweet that resonate with immensely, “I do the opposite of gatekeeping. You will be forced to like my interests. You will listen.”

[@shawnkarg3794]

In terms of story, I think Transformers needs to move beyond G1. Sure, Beast Wars was still tied to G1 in a way, but it focused on new characters. You can pepper in some G1 concepts and characters, but the IP needs to grow.

[@grayj7441]

86 a movie ticket was like a dollar. Popcorn, drink, candy was like $5.00 altogether. Watched alot of matinee on Saturdays.

[@cartkart1]

why would anyone not like animated it’s a great transformers show and very 2000s kids cartoon, which even though i never watched animated during that time it has a vibe i love

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

The presentation probably gave people the impression it was gonna be something ages 3-6 when it was closer to 5-13 with themes that encroached very mature territory at times

[@aaryarajmondal5532]

I will say something that could cancel me. I don't care who is who in transformers like nightshade being trans doesn't bother me all I care if it is a likable character. Which it is thank god. I don't care about diversity in transformers as well, when they're doing press tours for the ROTB movie saying that there is diversity and inclusivity in the movie. I am like I don't care about f#$$ing humans give me more screen time with transformers. It just makes me worried about the movie. When they say will focus more on useless humans, it does spell bad things. Like in Earthspark, the kids are useless compared to their parents who are very much competent and don't do stupid stuff. Again the transformers are likable characters over here. So, I hope we get a cyberverse repeat with the main focus being transformers only no human turd partnering them.

[@MunkyDrag0n]

Right on! What is great about transformers is that it takes place across many, many different continuities with little to no relationship among them. Take star wars or lord of the rings for example. Timeless classics. Any attempts to add or subtract from them will be met with fan backlash, thereby "ruining" the franchise. Transformers doesn't have this problem.

[@EltonPCorrea]

RID 2001 and Animated will always have a place in my heart

[@jetseekers]

Since it's been mentioned here, may as well drop a hot take about gatekeeping. I honestly think it's ok in very measured amounts and in the right places. But the examples I've seen around bands, anime, other series where new fans are grilled or discounted for not liking a certian thing a certain way, that's just bullying straight up But when a new influx in a fandom/community try to change fundamental aspects of it to fit with what they like rather than what the vast majority have liked over the brand/fandoms' lifetime, then maybe something should be said. Example for the latter that come to mind are the Sonic Movie (fans forcing the studio into a redesign and rewtite) and all the rumors around 10th edition Warhammer 40k which turn it basically into a game you can play with gray armymen and some borrowed DnD dice. In the end, yes, new people should be welcome and accepted even if they're different from the old guard, but then again, a fan group or series shouldn't have to sacrifice it's identity for the sake of attracting new people. Heck, that almost happened with Transformers itself when Michael bay originally wanted to make them all non-speaking roles.

[@NotMyRealName6]

My issue with reboots is when the people in charge of said reboot insult fans of the original before the reboot ever starts and show general disrespect for what came before. Do I expect the original to be treated as this sacred thing nobody should ever touch? No. Do I expect the team behind the reboot to make existing fans feel welcome? Yes, yes I do.

[@rashounjohnson9562]

I remember getting the studio series dark of moon shockwave But instead it was seige shockwave. (Still have it now) 😆

[@glucosefructose]

Anyone remember DiamondBolt's Ruined Forever series? The title reminded me of those videos.

[@ShadowWingTronix]

Transformers has never had a solid "this is it" continuity. I was hopeful that the Aligned Continuity would finally be it, but that didn't happen. It's a bit different from, say, DC rebooting their universe as a whole a number of times and then having numerous "soft" reboots whenever they screwed up too much. The toys are the source material. Even in G1 the comics and cartoons were completely different continuities. So rebooting Transformers doesn't bother me so much. Also, I like Mini-Cons and feel they were never used to their full potential, which I've brought up many times in comments. Bay didn't ruin Transformers but it did ruin live-action Transformers outside of Bumblebee, and that only works aesthetically when you really think about it, and does have less of Bay's more questionable moments. Bumblebee is my favorite Autobot but you can have too much of a good thing. The whole gender thing is a long running confusion. The comics decided there were no females, the cartoons added them in season two. I don't mind them but gender and Cybertronians have never been really thought out. Package swapping is worse than collectors not letting the kids have first shot. This is a line for kids and if you hate kids that much why are you collecting something made for kids? Transformers wasn't designed for 80s kids, it was designed in the 1980s for kids, and that's true for any other time period. You have collector lines now, let the kids have first shot.

[@weirdkitty07]

RiD 2001 had a freaking cool Megatron toy. Six modes. The Fire Convoy and Magnus though looked cool, but were the hardest to transform ever.

[@ampeater777]

3:20 I love everything about that picture of the tank. The comfy seats on the front, how Megatron is sticking out the turret from the waist up because it's so small, the missiles bolted the side, the machine gun firing directly over Megatrons head. Hell, even the video game-esque charge up meters on the side. What an amazing disaster of a design lmfao

[@galaxycamerata]

Krok is straight-up lounging.

[@ardrethshadow9338]

My first transformers series was Beast Wars, so them turning into vehicles later on kind of surprised me. I was there like "wow, I didn't know they could be cars and trucks, too!" the first time I saw RID2001. Luckily the internet wasn't as big back then, so it wasn't like I could make comments like that. Otherwise my kid self would've been eaten alive by the geewhiners, I imagine. On the topic of gatekeeping... not entirely transformers related, but it is fandom related. In my younger years, I was a fan of this singer and I ended up making friends with other fans online through twitter. A few years later, the music started to change (ie, become less good) and the singer started doing some weird things I wasn't into. Well, by not liking all the songs and not appreciating everything she did, I was a "fake fan" and deserved to get beat up in a dark alley. I'm not joking. I was just a dumb teenager back then, but that terrified me to the point I deleted my old twitter account, made a new one, and just isolated myself away from all of those psychos. Keep in mind though, those guys worshipped that singer like some kind of goddess or royalty. Very unhealthy. So probably best I did break off from them, because seriously, how disturbed and pitiful can a person be where they threaten someone because they don't like all the same things or have a different opinion? So I can agree with you on gatekeeping. It's also why I'm just not involved with fandoms anymore. I don't have as much time to anymore and because I'd rather not have to deal with any creeps like that who are going to attack me for no reason. And believe me, they will. I remember someone using my weight as an insult all because they didn't agree with me on something. Like wow. Just wow. Thankfully I haven't met anyone like that in the TF fandom, but that's mostly since I just ignore anyone I feel might be up to no good. Outside of some other collectors/sellers that've tried to scam me somehow, I've thankfully had a positive time overall in the fandom and nothing like back then.

[@NotMyRealName6]

Every community has toxic members, it's just a fact of life. When the toxic members of a community are the most vocal, it makes the _entire_ community look bad, and those people sadly create even more hate for the community as a whole, because you have to ask yourself. What will someone on the outside looking in, who has never encountered the group of people I identify with in real life before, think if they see my actions?

[@TFEES2005]

22:06 bet he's talking about orbital bacon

[@TheCastellan]

What's interesting most of the people who hate kiss players are men. Most girls I've spoken to said they like it. I also got the kiss players cassette set, it's pretty nice.

[@Roboshi2007]

the funny thing is, once you get rid of the boxes, the actual figures are perfectly normal they're just repacks of other transformers with minifigures

[@lowriderking68]

​@@Roboshi2007 i think that every kiss players figure was just alternators figures repacked

[@TheCastellan]

@@Roboshi2007 boxes dont bother me, either.

[@elxr9434]

Kiss players is fucking creepy bro (then again most laddies like twilight and that is borderline rape) but still

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

Huh, wonder what that says about people. What came in the wake of kiss players was quite the amount of continuity gap filling that would make many hardcore nerds into that kind of thing go crazy so I think it’s at worst neutral to the franchise, I enjoy continuity webs and gap filling

[@neolabcustoms]

Let’s add assumed “stolen” figures to the list. For shame! For shameeeeee Even though it is probably Hasbro leaking the figures and getting a MASSIVE hype boost without any effort.

[@Isolder74]

And scalpers.

[@SixshotRevan]

I was starting to not care about Transformers after Beast Machines & RID, but Armada rejuvenated my interest. I get why some people hate on it, but it was better than both the previous series in my opinion, and I'll take my wins where I can find them.

[@jamesblanco7323]

Armada was the series that got me into the franchise. The first part of Armada was pretty rough, but having rewatched it after many many years, once they get to the Star Saber storyline, it’s an awesome show. I love when the Autobots and Decepticons join forces.

[@weirdkitty07]

Well at least one of them was the Bumblebees was a Night Racer type mold, and that BotCon lady, Raksha, (she was kind of strange) with the snake, who created Night Racer, at least got some sort of mention, even if they never officially went there.

[@kaijuguy19]

As someone who knows people who basically DESPISES every TF Media post the year 2010 with the exception of Rescue Bots and go out of their way to insult both the series and fans I can safely say that yeah, it's both ridiculous and damaging for certain fans who think they ultimately know what's best for the brand and fandom yet have no self awareness on what they're doing is not only hurting people and pushing away potential fans but it's also only re-enforcing the negative sterotype of nerds being entitled sociopathic assholes who think they're smarter then they actually are which in turns hurts fellow fans who just want to enjoy their product in peace. What makes it feel worse for me is that years ago I had a similar mindset going on being very vocal on what I didn't like about stuff and pushing too hard what I do love but once I took a step back and looked at myself I realized what I was doing wasn't helping me or others and since then I made sure to not do that again. It's pretty infectious so to anyone who wants to talk about what how they feel about things in general be it good or bad don't take it too far because if you do at best you'll lose friends and at worst make enemies.

[@BainesMkII]

I lived through the death of Optimus Prime. For me, my interest vanished because the post-movie TV series seemed so much lower quality and just not interesting. I'd later see it partly as an age thing, not that I'd outgrown Transformers, but rather that the post-movie series felt like it was being written for an even younger audience than the original series had been (much less the "more adult" movie). The dangerous Megatron and movie Galvatron was replaced with joke goofy TV Galvatron. They went to increasingly goofy planets. New characters (and even classic characters) seemed more shallow, were often either dull or annoying, and it felt like "character" received less attention in general. Mind, some of this downgrading happened within the movie itself, with many of the new additions. Wheelie was a pain. Hot Rod/Rhodimus felt like the dream character for all those "experts" who believed kids would rather pretend they were Robin than Batman. Ultra Magnus was always a bore, and his non-death in the movie was both a disappointment and a sign that the kids gloves were not only firmly back on, but had been surrounded by cotton and bubblewrap.

[@NotMyRealName6]

If you want a visualization of what trying to please toxic fans is like, look up the clip of Courage the Cowardly Dog cooking for a de-aged Muriel.

[@DragmaKerp]

People who wants to join fandoms just to change everything to the point of not being recognizable as what it was and call names to the people who don’t want those changes, are toxic and should be gatekeeped.

[@soularprimestudios5930]

When I was 8 years old I literally was next to an older g1 fan during transformers 1 premiere 😅 his reaction was priceless lol. Why do they look like that?! This is not transformers.. When clone wars movie came out(OT Fan:Jabba would never deal with the jedi this is not star wars)😅

[@thenuclearsandwich]

Anybody who thinks Action Masters killed Transformers doesn't know what they are talking about. These weren't the only TFs on the shelves when they were released. There was also a second wave of Micromasters that did transform. So that theory is bullshine. There just was a lot of other hot new properties that caught the attention of the younger generation like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the group of kids that started with Transformers were becoming older teens to adults. Even my interest waned by 1990.

[@twistedgaming9185]

Nintendo's rise also didn't help.

[@treebotreviews]

10:53 dude. This literally sums up some of my inner circle being entry level to transformers. Jesus Christ, we started talking about kiss players in our gc and one friend wasn’t there. When he came back and saw the pictures he had MANY questions.

[@LowellLucasJr.]

It's weird hearing G1'ERs Hate such and such, as I am one; yet, I love beast wars and other incarnations of my favorite franchise. Each one is unique!

[@skybite]

When my little bro shared his transformers with a brony, the brony would not let my little bro let Sideswipe or any autobots join the ponies to fight the Decepticons by slapping the toy out of his hand and almost broke them until my little bro would take his transformers away from the brony, and the brony begged him.

[@Jazzer995]

You should show that Brony the crossover comics, mind you I've seen some Transformers fans ask 'WHY?' about those comics as well (not me I bought both Tradepaper Backs, I loved MLP G4).

[@skybite]

@@Jazzer995 the autobots got sidelined pretty badly in that crossover. It basically Ponies vs Decepticons. They don’t need to put the Autobots in the crossover special.

[@FairladyZ2005]

Agree. TF fans aren't better than other franchise fans but we are wiser because we know there really is no such thing as ruined forever. Well, except KissPlayers which deserves to be melted in a smelter pool.

[@TheDaxter11]

I'll be the first to admit when Earthsparks first trailers came out I absolutely fucking hated it. The only thing that interested me was good guy Megatron since it was such a cool idea to me since it had only been done one other time in a form I hear nothing but praise for from a comic I hadn't seen. (Edit: Not counting shattered glass, talking regular continuity here.) I decided to give it a try, and while it still has a *_L O T_* of shit I don't like or is straight up _cringe,_ its a good show. Its lows are fucking _low_ but its highs are pretty damn good. It has surprisingly good combat when it wants to, Optimus and Megatron fighting Skywarp and Sunstorm and Megatron grabbing Skywarps face and using his cannon to fucking blast down and slam her face into the ground was badass as shit. I haven't been able to see season 2/season 1 part 2/whatever the hell they're calling it yet but I'm looking forward to it. Also, to be specific about what I find cringe about it... Stuff like *_episode 3 with the fucking childish screaming contest bullshit in the barn in front of Bumblebee._* And yes I know they're kids but jesus fucking christ it was unnecessary and, like I said, cringe. I also still don't 100% like the kids but there is a plot point I'm actually interested in with humans and that's learning more about Mandroid's past.

[@elxr9434]

Yeah I love the scene where Megatron slammed sunstorm into the ground

[@TheDaxter11]

@@elxr9434 Oh, was it Sunstorm? Its been a while, thought it was Skywarp. Edit: Oh yeah, I remember now, Skywarp was hyperfixated on Optimus.

[@Alzeal07]

bro went from ''funny monke saved the robots'' to spitting facts

[@harrisonwhaley7872]

It’s sad some people hate the Bay Movies. Like I know they aren’t cinematography or anything but as a kid when they began, it really showed me that TF could be way more than just a cartoon for kids. I always enjoyed it but it was like being shown that even the big kids liked it too if that makes sense. Now I’m in my mid twenties and I can’t deny that they have greatly influenced my appreciation of the franchise. Besides, we got some really cool designs even if it’s very excessively detailed, it’s better than a half assed grab of what they originally looked like

[@rashounjohnson9562]

If it wasn't for the bayformer my fandom of transformers wouldn't have come back with vengeance.

[@SonicArchitect]

The only thing I don’t like is going into a store and finding a person buying many copies of one transformer and you look online and the toy is really expensive, why? It’s a kid’s toy don’t resell it for at least three times what it was in stores.

[@ShockUzer]

About Beast Wars: Even though it's true that general audiences do associate TFs with cars and vehicles, it isn't the fact that they changed into animals what didn't sit well, it's because they transformed into *organic* beasts (even though the monsterbots exist, but I don't think many noticed the organic parts on those), which I can see why someone may have a problem with if they're very tradicional about their mecha (that wouldn't be me, though).

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

Wonder how much flack one would get for saying Kiss Players isn’t that bad and people gotta get their priorities straight. Also Energon is fine, great even and that specifically is the biggest controversial hill in transformers I am willing to die on

[@haydenreviewscustomcombos]

I’m still waiting for a Transformers character to triple change into both a walker and wheelchair, and for old Chipchase to come back and get his own series.

[@Fuzzy_Barbarian]

I grew up with a diverse Transformers experience; RID2001, the Unicron Trilogy, some Beast Wars, and the Bayverse movies and Animated started when I was like 12, so I've never really felt Transformers only needed to be one thing. If something's not for me, then it's not for me. Not everything will be. Like you said, they're separate things, one existing doesn't invalidate another. Some have negative effects on the franchise, but that doesn't mean people can't like them. The logic leaps people go to for these just makes me sad, because the Transformers fandom, for the most part, is one of the more open-minded ones I've seen. But almost all of this stems from the idea that Transformers can only be a certain thing or should only appeal to a certain type of person, with some entitlement and rose-tinted glasses thrown in. Thank you for speaking up about this stuff.

[@hazeyd3ch]

didnt know about kiss players until now and man, i really wish i kept it that way

[@charlesturner3436]

TJ, I wasnt a fan of yours at first but after watching this video I have to say... you are a really good dude. I mean that. I'm a member of so many toxic fandoms. Star wars, lego, transformers, and am disgusted by my brothren daily on the innerwebs. I'm impressed, your opinions and statements are solid and you are what all fandom should emulate. there are not that many good humans out there, and you are one of them. keep it coming! gate keepers are the worst! i was an 80's G1 kid and one of my favorite lines was animated!

[@onsanyo]

Coming from a beast wars and power rangers as a kid to now I must admit, it's been fun. I still deeply love the beast wars franchise but actively seek G1 characters and lore. The comics only intensified that urge more

[@TrapToise]

What bizzare timing, I had just stumbled upon this page randomly just a mere week or so ago and now you’re discussing it, can’t complain though it’s kind of funny it worked out this way lol.

[@stormscream2384]

Gatekeeping people from a fandom based on anything in their personal lives or having to do with who they are is obviously wrong. However, I will always have a problem with disrespectful new fans who think franchises need to cater only to them or that everything old or before they entered the fandom is bad. It's always said that old fans are the toxic ones, but I've witnessed a lot of new fans who are toxic just in the reverse way. You don't need to be a fan of everything in Transformers, maybe you only like one iteration or aspect, but you should be respectful about what most existing fans seem to like as well.

[@rayvenkman2087]

So, James Roberts fanboys in a nutshell? I kid I kid but I do heavily dislike those types of people who have the audacity to act like their shit don’t stink and trashing the original works however old they are is a surefire way to get the existing fans to dislike you.

[@soundwavedoesthings]

Ironically I just started to come around to the Michael Bay transformers designs by getting some studio series figures. Movies could have been better, but the toys and designs are not bad in the slightest

[@benjamingomez1761]

I remember going to see the movies, and thinking how bad they were, the thing that kept me interested was Animated

[@project4061]

Personally I came into the Transformers franchise between the end of the "Pokéformers" and the start of "Teen Titans," yet I still love those eras and would like to see them revisited again in better detail. I can understand where the G1 community is coming from, I fully fell in love with the Pokémon franchise in Gen. 5, and still love it to this day! But it's important to understand what other things can bring to the table like you said with your Beast Wars, Transmetal transition. Do I like the aesthetic bashing that Legacy has done with Prime and Animated? Not really, but I can see how others might enjoy it, while I enjoy what I call the "Forged to Fight" mentality. (Basically not caring for aesthetics and enjoying the thought of bots from different continuities fighting in a pocket dimension.) Although I am glad that I didn't know about K.P. until a year ago, I still wish I was ignorant of its existence.

[@treebotreviews]

Why is gatekeeping STILL a thing? I’ve had Facebook groups attacking me because I have an interest in the bayverse as well as the fact that I’m a young reviewer. Seriously!

[@antonharmacinski276]

Being a child of G1 I was instantly initially appalled at the idea of Beast Wars, but being a nerd I had to check it out because of the CGI. And, I'm glad I did because that show was amazing. The writing and depth of characters were more intriguing and outweighed the fact they they converted into animals. I didn't collect then and I wouldn't own any of the "modern" Beast Wars figures if it weren't for how much that show made me care about the characters.

[@weirdkitty07]

Beast Machines, they gave angst fueled 90s fans what they wanted, 'let the bad guys win' which was a bad idea. So they tried to course change and it didn't work.

[@perfectsplit5515]

I hated Beast Machines. They didn't even satisfy the criteria of the robot mode having 2 arms and 2 legs! Thrust's so-called "robot mode" didn't even have 2 legs! Rattrap's so-called "robot mode" didn't even have 2 legs! And they had that stupid hover mode for Jetstorm, where his robot mode always had his 2 legs fused together! He didn't even look like a robot!

[@Billssock]

I do not think kiss players belongs on this list because nobody outside of whatever country it came from had even heard of this until we got more content creators who talk about it.

[@WendythePuppet2023]

As someone who grew up with the Unicron Trilogy and never watched G1 I was always open to new designs and concepts

[@rhaeasoul8531]

Gatekeeping fandoms is good as long as you’re looking at who you’re gatekeeping. Not refusing everyone new just toxic people whether they be right, left, up, down, behind, or whatever; keep those types far away and welcome new people that genuinely like the fandom topic.

[@ShadrackMeduson]

Gatekeeping should be to keep away people who dislike the hobby and want to change it. Imagine if i hate the pokemon games and demand to change them to be like call of duty because thats what i like.

[@rhaeasoul8531]

@@ShadrackMeduson yes. If someone genuinely likes transformers then yes let them in but if they Immidiatly start complaining about basic stuff and wanting to change it to what they want you rightfully kick them out.

[@skybite]

My former friend threatened me showing some creators my ideas. He should cosplay as Sentinel Prime or Homelander.

[@Transformoholic]

i love watching your videos so much tj even when i was a young teen collecting transformers universe and armada

[@weirdkitty07]

I was 15 when Transformers 1986 came out. I thought it was great. My friends and I watched the video over and over dozens of times while in high school. It didn't ruin anything. Ha, it did make them change the ending to GI Joe, and later bring back Optimus.

[@larenzobraxton7494]

Armada, Energon, Cybertron and beast wars This was my entry to the series. Watching armada when I was a kid this is some of my favorite memories Gary chalk was the only Optimus I knew until Michael bay. Then I learned about g1