"holding an interest in something for 2 or 3 years is a massive commitment for a 7-8 year old" is this really where i find out i have undiagnosed autism
I think one important step in the development of the franchise was how early on, the show and comic were often weirdly true to the toyline. Characters in the show would have heights relative to how big their toys were. Bumblebee came to prominence because he had a little toy and was a little guy, so he was small enough to interact with humans. The movie felt the need to kill off all the characters in order to introduce the new toyline. That approach has since changed where characters can get reissued as new designs instead of replaced, and often important characters come in multiple sizes, with more important characters getting bigger, more expensive toys. But wow, what a big, very informative video. Pretty dang impressive.
Sixth time watching this. This single video is one of those videos I didn't know I wanted to exist but I'm so happy it does. Your level of quality is excellent and I treasure everything you upload. Keep up the amazing work and I hope your actual career is doing well!
What a video. As an 80's and 90's kid, this tells me what I've missed, showed me some things I haven't seen in many, many years, and brought joy. Well done.
That 1985-6 Christmas when I asked my parents for Prime and my grandma I asked her Megatron but she decided to get me Prime because she wasn't approving buying me a gun. So I ended up with 2 Optimus Primes under the tree.
I still remember the first day I saw the Transformers toys in my local Ben Franklin (Five and Dime store). I was amazed even though I hadn't yet seen any of the cartoons. My first was Windcharger. We could only afford mini bots at the time. I remember my mom telling me she would have to work a full day just to buy Optimus Prime. A Christmas later, however, I got Optimus under the tree.
I never like Transformers much. I dislike the movies and only watched the Beast Wars cartoon when I was a kid... but I just pre-orderer de new hardcover comic, so I am SO ready to watch this video
I just got into transformers a month and a half ago. I just got my first few comics and figures and now this video couldn’t have come at a better time!!
Thank you so much for this video, it was such a joy to watch! I recently got into Transformers because of TFone and then went on to watch TFP, but I've been hesitant to get into the series and figures due to the sheer amount of stuff out there. I especially wanted to get into MTMTE and Skybound, but I was so worried I had to read/watch stuff from other continuities before to understand and properly enjoy the comics, making it very confusing and daunting to start. Knowing the history of the franchise and that honestly I can start with any random series makes this much easier! :))
Just recently finished my Yolopark PMK Optimus, nice to hear the brand reference. Awesome video!! I loved hearing more from the industry side of things
Great video that opened the curtains to so many why Transformers is doing this or that. Growing up watching the Transformers in the 80s only had a few TF like Soundwave, laser beak, and one of the stunticons. Even thought at the time could not afford to watch Transformers the Movie, was satisfied. When my kids were young I took them to watch the first Michael Bay TF movie. One of my son got hooked into it and started to throw the TF toys into the shopping carts when we shop at Target and would not leave unless they were brought. The boxed TF toys I had like Optimum Primal, arialbots, sound wave, etc. were ripped open and played with. For the past few years that same son been buying all these TF toys and comics and it was hard to keep up with the 50 different variations of Optimus Prime. So this video explained really well why all these revisions. I might get back into collecting these toys again.
I'm pretty much enamored by this topic and have been for the better part of 6 years after growing up with this stuff in the early 00s and i will cherish a 2 hour video on my hyperfixation
i got into transformers a few years ago and my first show was beast wars at the vague recommendation from my dad who watched it as a kid, i felt insanely seen by the intro as someone who has distantly wanted some of the older toys but doesn’t have the disposable income to really buy any of them. this video felt very thorough as someone who hasn’t done a lot of research on the various toylines throughout the years, and its super neat to see the evolution of the pricepoints and how they started as a beast wars thing.
This video is amazing, very comprehensive and informative. I'd like to add a few points especially for those that collect toys: Be careful of degrading plastic in the CHUG line, Some figures in the Generations lines like Windblade and Wreck-Gar have their plastic that hold the metal swivel pins become brittle and break off. In comparison, my Cyclonus and other figures from the Universe line are still as solid as the day I bought them and stil have tight joints. Also, some 3rd party figures are worth buying as they're much better designed in terms of movie or show accuracy and articulation. An example would be APC Toys' Night Countess which is a much better Airachnid than the official release.
I really liked the siege micro masters. Felt like faithful updates to the original micromasters from the 80’s. The two that combine to form a tiny rocket shuttle are my personal favorites.
I love your projects and I'm pissed this video never popped up in my "recommended" despite being subscribed... I clicked on your channel to look for your Phantom Menace rewrite video and saw there was something I hadn't watched. Dammit RUclips...
My favourite era of Transformers was the Unicron Trilogy, my first experience was Armada, I completly forgot about Transformers until Transformers Cybertron came on Telly and I was starstruck. Starscream is still my favourite bot and in the last series of that trilogy he became HIMSCREAM.
More of a Gundam fan myself, and boi, that female representation... It took till 2022 for a female main pilot in Witch From Mercury, and it did do something, sells did increase. Kinda sad, tho, how things get gendered. But that's just me.
Ummm yeah, they are robots. I could be wrong.... I did drop out of college just prior to senior level course work in mechatronics engineering, so maybe I missed out and never quite got to the robotics gender studies and reproductive cycles processes part of the course work that is undoubtedly part of the required curriculum.... but I didn't think that robots have gender. They have pair schemes and voice modulator chips. Silly humans mistaking these things for gender. 😂 All joking aside, I don't understand people's obsession with making male toys more female friendly. Did they do this with barbie and I have never heard about it? Did she trade in the purses for camo and a rifle. Ohhh did they have the bad boy Ken, who now goes by Kenneth thank you very much because he is a man now, rebrand, where he has fully articulated testicles (ball joints indeed) and is packing heat now? If not, then maybe it is okay to have toys that predominantly appeal to male and female audiences. If anything, forcing the female element is basically guys saying that female toys are bad and that girls are being somehow gatekept from having "real toys". Not those piddly child like things you call toys. What is the target audience for these things again? Admittedly, I am sure the executives would love to sell to both, but then you take the risk of well another Star Wars situation. (Someone made a really good series of RUclips videos about those as I recall, but I can't recall who....) Where they took what was predominantly a male series about fathers and sons that resonated with people and made it into a nothing burger that connects with no one because it was made for "all people", which is code for no one. Let's make something so bland and generic that it becomes like homogenized gruel, so everyone can be forced to choke it down. I mean it literally had sperm operas, how much more masculine can you get? Oh yes, and then called all the fans of the original racists or misogynists because this new thing didn't speak to them the way the old thing did, which left them disappointed because that was what they were excited about; the idea that they would have something made for them. But instead the future is female, so boys aren't allowed to have nice things anymore. (Not saying racists and misogynists don't exist or weren't among that group, but I think most were just afraid that Disney was going to do with the series.... well what they did. At least Skeleton Crew is supposed to be kind of good I hear. The brand is sort of dead because apparently the future being female means nothing male can live, but maybe they have learned their lesson and stopped with the toxic feminity? Not hopeful, but maybe.) Not to mention that only plays that way in the US. In other countries a lot of our gender politics and stuff are even more unwelcome. Rahm Emanuel tried to be progressive in Japan, and let's just say he will not be missed as Japan's US ambassador. I am trying to be humorous here if it does not come across. I am afraid this is going to come across as far more serious and angry than I intend. But honestly, some serious points about that. Why is it they only do this with male stuff? Why is our stuff always perceived as better or that has to change? Makes no sense to me. I mean they are all lumps of overpriced plastic representing Mattel's intellectual property anyways right? So they do make a female transformers, it is called the Barbie day night set. See she transforms from her casual but fashionable day wear to her sophisticated and stunning evening attire. It just comes in a slightly different box to appeal to its core female demographic.
I remember looking at haslab fire convoy and thinking- Welp…Another figure I’m never going to buy…Eh dreams are meant to be crushed anyways. I’m still hoping to one day get a more affordable modern fire convoy toy one day.
A quick recommendation to anyone who wants to read mtmte (because you should, its awesome!) In the tf wiki theres a page for every issue of the comic, and every issue has a soundtrack! So if you enjoy indie rock/folk music, you might find a new favorite!
In the game me and my brother had made, Transformers featured. But they were competing with Bionicles which were bigger and stronger. Dead End had the size to compete, and I had a big Lockdown, but his luck with the cards was abysmal.
19:05 oh if only Rob “the choda” Smith knew. Talk about aged like milk. Beast Wars will always be the best the brand ever produced. The toys put the G1 toys in a coffin and shipped them out to sea to be buried
I've had to get 80 percent of my modern transformers off ebay at scalper prices because I can never find them on store shelves. Sometimes I get lucky and find them on Amazon for their recommended price. Also big bad toy store is also a good online toy store to go to. I collect anything G1 and hasbro has been putting out less g1 to make room for other transformers toy lines. So I've been collecting gi joe 25 anniversary.
Transformers Galaxy Force was supposed to be the sequel to Power links and Super links with even prerelease material with that information then they changed it to be stand alone the about half way thru the series with first DVD release they return the show back into continuity with the two previous series and all of this before cyber from episode 1 aired in Hasbro markets
I'm 1 of the many who had Breakdown PREORDERED since the day it dropped & never received it. Instead I get a cancellation notice stating that it was DISCONTINUED by HASBRO.
![Running on Fumes - The History of Transformers: 1989 Edition [USA Releases]](/img/1.gif)
"holding an interest in something for 2 or 3 years is a massive commitment for a 7-8 year old" is this really where i find out i have undiagnosed autism
Thank you for the credit. Transformers is what really got me into VFX. Even those who know me well think it was star wars.
I think one important step in the development of the franchise was how early on, the show and comic were often weirdly true to the toyline. Characters in the show would have heights relative to how big their toys were. Bumblebee came to prominence because he had a little toy and was a little guy, so he was small enough to interact with humans. The movie felt the need to kill off all the characters in order to introduce the new toyline. That approach has since changed where characters can get reissued as new designs instead of replaced, and often important characters come in multiple sizes, with more important characters getting bigger, more expensive toys.
But wow, what a big, very informative video. Pretty dang impressive.
Supreme Class Cheetor for example
2 hour empire wreckers video it really is christmas 😭😭
Sixth time watching this. This single video is one of those videos I didn't know I wanted to exist but I'm so happy it does. Your level of quality is excellent and I treasure everything you upload. Keep up the amazing work and I hope your actual career is doing well!
My heart skips a beat whenever a new Empire Wreckers video drops. Your videos have a quality that’s unmatched on YT. So excited to watch!
What a video. As an 80's and 90's kid, this tells me what I've missed, showed me some things I haven't seen in many, many years, and brought joy. Well done.
That 1985-6 Christmas when I asked my parents for Prime and my grandma I asked her Megatron but she decided to get me Prime because she wasn't approving buying me a gun. So I ended up with 2 Optimus Primes under the tree.
Now that is Christmas.
I still remember the first day I saw the Transformers toys in my local Ben Franklin (Five and Dime store). I was amazed even though I hadn't yet seen any of the cartoons. My first was Windcharger. We could only afford mini bots at the time. I remember my mom telling me she would have to work a full day just to buy Optimus Prime. A Christmas later, however, I got Optimus under the tree.
34:48 top OR bottom you say? So one could say they SWITCH based on what bot they are PARTNERED with?!
I think that was intentional.
another great deep dive video. you guys deserve far more support than the majority of creators on this website
Not sure how you made this so interesting, but you did. Great job.
I already know this will be a great vid. Have not even watched it yet but I can tell. Keep up the hard work.
I've barely touched the Transformers brand at all, but man this script was GOLD
I never like Transformers much. I dislike the movies and only watched the Beast Wars cartoon when I was a kid... but I just pre-orderer de new hardcover comic, so I am SO ready to watch this video
Fantastic video as always, Empire Wreckers never miss
I just got into transformers a month and a half ago. I just got my first few comics and figures and now this video couldn’t have come at a better time!!
Thank you so much for this video, it was such a joy to watch! I recently got into Transformers because of TFone and then went on to watch TFP, but I've been hesitant to get into the series and figures due to the sheer amount of stuff out there. I especially wanted to get into MTMTE and Skybound, but I was so worried I had to read/watch stuff from other continuities before to understand and properly enjoy the comics, making it very confusing and daunting to start. Knowing the history of the franchise and that honestly I can start with any random series makes this much easier! :))
Just recently finished my Yolopark PMK Optimus, nice to hear the brand reference. Awesome video!! I loved hearing more from the industry side of things
Incredible video, great audio + visuals!!
Great video that opened the curtains to so many why Transformers is doing this or that. Growing up watching the Transformers in the 80s only had a few TF like Soundwave, laser beak, and one of the stunticons. Even thought at the time could not afford to watch Transformers the Movie, was satisfied.
When my kids were young I took them to watch the first Michael Bay TF movie. One of my son got hooked into it and started to throw the TF toys into the shopping carts when we shop at Target and would not leave unless they were brought. The boxed TF toys I had like Optimum Primal, arialbots, sound wave, etc. were ripped open and played with.
For the past few years that same son been buying all these TF toys and comics and it was hard to keep up with the 50 different variations of Optimus Prime. So this video explained really well why all these revisions. I might get back into collecting these toys again.
I must say, I have no interest in transformers, but your humor and wit make it worth the investment. Much more than meets the eye indeed.
I'm pretty much enamored by this topic and have been for the better part of 6 years after growing up with this stuff in the early 00s and i will cherish a 2 hour video on my hyperfixation
i got into transformers a few years ago and my first show was beast wars at the vague recommendation from my dad who watched it as a kid, i felt insanely seen by the intro as someone who has distantly wanted some of the older toys but doesn’t have the disposable income to really buy any of them. this video felt very thorough as someone who hasn’t done a lot of research on the various toylines throughout the years, and its super neat to see the evolution of the pricepoints and how they started as a beast wars thing.
Praise be the guy with the final word on media
I enjoyed watching this video. Even though I knew some of the history, it was still enjoyable to watch, and I watched the entire video.
I'm loving the Sega Genesis game music in the background!!
This was great, thank you!
The soundtrack to this video is unfathomably based. Oh, and the video itself is pretty good too, I guess.
This is rather in-depth. I think the only corner of Transformers it didn't touch on was the Tabletop RPG.
Can't wait for your to somehow expose that Optimus has once again been the main antagonist all along
This video is amazing, very comprehensive and informative. I'd like to add a few points especially for those that collect toys: Be careful of degrading plastic in the CHUG line, Some figures in the Generations lines like Windblade and Wreck-Gar have their plastic that hold the metal swivel pins become brittle and break off. In comparison, my Cyclonus and other figures from the Universe line are still as solid as the day I bought them and stil have tight joints. Also, some 3rd party figures are worth buying as they're much better designed in terms of movie or show accuracy and articulation. An example would be APC Toys' Night Countess which is a much better Airachnid than the official release.
The first 30s of this video were so goddam relatable
I have notes but this video is effectively perfect
I really liked the siege micro masters. Felt like faithful updates to the original micromasters from the 80’s. The two that combine to form a tiny rocket shuttle are my personal favorites.
The first one to come in. And cute to see Power Rangers brought up at the start with my eecent love of Tokusatsu.
I love your projects and I'm pissed this video never popped up in my "recommended" despite being subscribed... I clicked on your channel to look for your Phantom Menace rewrite video and saw there was something I hadn't watched. Dammit RUclips...
I’m so glad you included the dommy mommy Nemesis clip
My favourite era of Transformers was the Unicron Trilogy, my first experience was Armada, I completly forgot about Transformers until Transformers Cybertron came on Telly and I was starstruck. Starscream is still my favourite bot and in the last series of that trilogy he became HIMSCREAM.
I’ve never cared about Transformers before even as a kid, and I still don’t. But this is a very well made video.
More of a Gundam fan myself, and boi, that female representation... It took till 2022 for a female main pilot in Witch From Mercury, and it did do something, sells did increase.
Kinda sad, tho, how things get gendered. But that's just me.
Ummm yeah, they are robots. I could be wrong.... I did drop out of college just prior to senior level course work in mechatronics engineering, so maybe I missed out and never quite got to the robotics gender studies and reproductive cycles processes part of the course work that is undoubtedly part of the required curriculum.... but I didn't think that robots have gender. They have pair schemes and voice modulator chips. Silly humans mistaking these things for gender. 😂
All joking aside, I don't understand people's obsession with making male toys more female friendly. Did they do this with barbie and I have never heard about it? Did she trade in the purses for camo and a rifle. Ohhh did they have the bad boy Ken, who now goes by Kenneth thank you very much because he is a man now, rebrand, where he has fully articulated testicles (ball joints indeed) and is packing heat now? If not, then maybe it is okay to have toys that predominantly appeal to male and female audiences. If anything, forcing the female element is basically guys saying that female toys are bad and that girls are being somehow gatekept from having "real toys". Not those piddly child like things you call toys.
What is the target audience for these things again?
Admittedly, I am sure the executives would love to sell to both, but then you take the risk of well another Star Wars situation. (Someone made a really good series of RUclips videos about those as I recall, but I can't recall who....) Where they took what was predominantly a male series about fathers and sons that resonated with people and made it into a nothing burger that connects with no one because it was made for "all people", which is code for no one. Let's make something so bland and generic that it becomes like homogenized gruel, so everyone can be forced to choke it down. I mean it literally had sperm operas, how much more masculine can you get?
Oh yes, and then called all the fans of the original racists or misogynists because this new thing didn't speak to them the way the old thing did, which left them disappointed because that was what they were excited about; the idea that they would have something made for them. But instead the future is female, so boys aren't allowed to have nice things anymore. (Not saying racists and misogynists don't exist or weren't among that group, but I think most were just afraid that Disney was going to do with the series.... well what they did. At least Skeleton Crew is supposed to be kind of good I hear. The brand is sort of dead because apparently the future being female means nothing male can live, but maybe they have learned their lesson and stopped with the toxic feminity? Not hopeful, but maybe.)
Not to mention that only plays that way in the US. In other countries a lot of our gender politics and stuff are even more unwelcome. Rahm Emanuel tried to be progressive in Japan, and let's just say he will not be missed as Japan's US ambassador.
I am trying to be humorous here if it does not come across. I am afraid this is going to come across as far more serious and angry than I intend. But honestly, some serious points about that. Why is it they only do this with male stuff? Why is our stuff always perceived as better or that has to change? Makes no sense to me. I mean they are all lumps of overpriced plastic representing Mattel's intellectual property anyways right? So they do make a female transformers, it is called the Barbie day night set. See she transforms from her casual but fashionable day wear to her sophisticated and stunning evening attire. It just comes in a slightly different box to appeal to its core female demographic.
the outro had me WHEEZING LMFAOO
had a fuckin INSTANT neuron activation moment when i heard zellers, holy shit did NOT expect that
8:00 So basically Transformers has the equivalent of the Entry Grade, High Grade, Real Grade, Master Grade, and Perfect Grade of Gundam
I remember looking at haslab fire convoy and thinking-
Welp…Another figure I’m never going to buy…Eh dreams are meant to be crushed anyways.
I’m still hoping to one day get a more affordable modern fire convoy toy one day.
A quick recommendation to anyone who wants to read mtmte (because you should, its awesome!) In the tf wiki theres a page for every issue of the comic, and every issue has a soundtrack! So if you enjoy indie rock/folk music, you might find a new favorite!
In the game me and my brother had made, Transformers featured. But they were competing with Bionicles which were bigger and stronger. Dead End had the size to compete, and I had a big Lockdown, but his luck with the cards was abysmal.
19:05 oh if only Rob “the choda” Smith knew. Talk about aged like milk. Beast Wars will always be the best the brand ever produced. The toys put the G1 toys in a coffin and shipped them out to sea to be buried
“A *short* introduction…” brother, this video is 2 hours long
Columns at 41:50!
49:40 timestamp, Genesis Batman and Robin Music???
Strong finish
I've had to get 80 percent of my modern transformers off ebay at scalper prices because I can never find them on store shelves. Sometimes I get lucky and find them on Amazon for their recommended price. Also big bad toy store is also a good online toy store to go to. I collect anything G1 and hasbro has been putting out less g1 to make room for other transformers toy lines. So I've been collecting gi joe 25 anniversary.
Oh no I’m in too deep now
Awesome video, although Skybound Transformers started in 2023 not 2013.
Transformers Galaxy Force was supposed to be the sequel to Power links and Super links with even prerelease material with that information then they changed it to be stand alone the about half way thru the series with first DVD release they return the show back into continuity with the two previous series and all of this before cyber from episode 1 aired in Hasbro markets
Wait... did I miss Bot Bots?
Kino vid ty
Wow
4:40 No im autistic
wtf Kiss Players 😝
Millennials have the most interesting things to say, its a shame that they get passed over in favour of untalented, boring zoomers.
I'm 1 of the many who had Breakdown PREORDERED since the day it dropped & never received it. Instead I get a cancellation notice stating that it was DISCONTINUED by HASBRO.
1:29:58 recommending people skip Sky-Byte/Gelshark?! Heresy!