@@retroandreissue well season 5 is just a selection of the same episodes with an annoying boy talking to a Prime puppet so I'd say just skip it...unless you want to recap before moving on.
@@retroandreissue well yeah, it's interesting to see the movie split into a five parter with Prime doing the narration at the beginning instead of Victor...Also, l feel like the Five Faces of Darkness episodes look better in the lower quality vhs recording that's available on here..the animation errors don't stand out half as much as they do on the dvd. But maybe that's just me ☺
@@retroandreissue by the way, for the first season in particular, there's loads more animation errors in the dvd/Hasbro YT channel versions than there was in the originally aired episodes. It really spoils the episodes.
@@retroandreissueone other thing I’d raise. Why weren’t the Dino bots given a filth bot so they could conbine or why both Megs and prime could make laser weapons from their hands but never used.
@@Grant80 I'm glad they weren't..why are people so obsessed with the Dinobots combining. It defeats the whole point of having robotic Dinosaurs...They didn't need to combine, being robotic dinosaurs was what made them bad ass.
Great video! My head theory for why Megs keeps Starscream around, is because he secretly respects his ball bearings for directly challenging him. No other decepticons ever try to take over so defiantly. Megs is trying to groom a true warrior out of him. None of this is supported by the show of course, but i think its a fun idea.
That theory certainly applies to the TF: Armada version of both those characters. This clip from the show really shows it: m.ruclips.net/video/3F_kCtHi-E8/видео.html&pp=ygUuVHJhbnNmb3JtZXJzIGFybWFkYSBzdGFyc2NyZWFtIGZpZ2h0cyBtZWdhdHJvbg%3D%3D
I think it’s still by far the best Transformers series. No other has the scope of characters, stories, and imagination G1 had. Every time they try to reinvent the wheel, they fall short.
@blammers Dreamwave comics did VERY well for VERY long time if you had a chance to check them out. They successfully conveyed the size, complexity and scale of the Cybertronians conflict.
Speaking as a fellow fan who is also clear-eyed about his nostalgia and struggles to take this stuff seriously despite loving it tremendously, I say yes please, do produce more retrospective videos!
I just rewatched some of the old season 1 G1 cartoons this week. Little here and there each night. Its nice to hear another adult fan on well-thought points on the series. I've always acknowledge and just blindly accepted (cause what else can one do) the animation errors and continuity, and still love it for all that. I grew up with it, collect thed comics, kept what toys I could then add to it when I got into my 20s.
I wish I'd kept my original toys (like most collectors do!) The only one I have left now is a beat up Prowl. I got back into collecting and that re-ignited my interest in the cartoon again (also re-reading all the original Marvel comics). Thanks for watching by the way!
@@retroandreissue I've been enjoying your channel great deal so keep it coming. I only had few TFs from my child-hood cause there was this . . . that shouldn't keep them due to not being that age anymore. I've bought quite few old G1 as adult taht I didn't have and enjoying new G1/Legacy toys.
@@SlashTheWeasel I'm still focused on Studio Series 86 but recently bought my first vintage - Pipes! But mainly so I can compare him to the Kingdom version for a vid. Found a really good vintage seller on eBay though so I'll probably pick up more in the future
@@retroandreissue I'm on Studio Series/Legacy G1 so I get it. Its little bit at time and when you can. And I got some in not the best shape while others are in good varying on price. I figure I'll never truly be done which is fine with me.
@@SlashTheWeasel No, I don't really have an end goal in sight either. I'd like to get some boxed vintage since they stopped doing the reissues but the prices are scary!
I don't give a damn about what anybody else says to me the original gen 1 Transformers is always going to be worth watching because if you don't have the original you don't have anything else afterwards
The voice cast adds so much to the characters and Hasbro owes them so much. I have a hard time watching today but it still has its moments. Brawn snagging Meg’s fusion canon was a high point since he was the only toy I owned at that point.
I love it cuz of the warm family vibes the autobots give out. The snowball fight, the TV show they were watching, heck, watching them speak, instead of sounding like serious war torn brothers in arms they sound like co workers in an office job! Lol that would be funny, a Transformers version of the office...
I grew up watching G1 Transformers during the 80's and although I thought it was great, I always noticed there was continuity and scaling issues like in the first 5 episodes the Autobots could fly then later on they can't or how did Starscream have an Earth based alternate form when it was millions of years before they came to Earth or the biggest 2 errors of all, the orgins of the Constructions and Insecticons. Even though I thought about these I still loved the show
Very similar to me. I wonder why they didn't change Starscream's jet mode for the episode with Jetfire to one of the triangle seekers we see on Cybertron?
It was probably a time issue. They were pumping out episodes like crazy and in a short time frame. There were 16 episodes in the first season and then 49 (repeat 49!!!) in the second season. Something tells me they were likely working on the second season during the first season. Lol. Anyway, there probably wasn't enough time to work out those kinds of continuity details with that kind of output.
@@avenuePad That's a good point since Transformers were selling like hotcakes they're were probably under a lot of pressure to keep up. I know that the movie we in pre-production pretty early and that's one of the reasons later additions to the cast (like the Aerialbots) were absent
Actually the Technobots don't break canon with their creation, but it does take some reading between the lines. What I would argue is that when Grimlock gained super-intelligence in "Grimlock's New Brain", he actually gained a tiny portion of the spark of Unicron, through being hit with an energy burst which stemmed from the blood of Unicron, which I would argue had been infused with the energy of Unicron's spark. However it wasn't a direct infusion of Dark Energon, so it didn't cause Grimlock to be zombified. What happened was that the Technobots were initially each designed with a generalised AI, which each of the 6 Technobots had. However when Grimlock transferred the resonant energy from himself to Computron, it gave each of the 6 Technobots a proper spark. I think this can be somewhat deduced through the fact that Unicron's powers suggest that he is as capable of creating sparks as Primus is - especially when you consider that Scourge and Cyclonus weren't actually Thundercracker and Skywarp, but rather original sparks, inside the reformatted corpses of both Seekers.
That makes sense to me. I'm pretty sure Retro's idea that the Dinobots are dumb because they were made without Vector Sigma is fine, too. These don't feel like inconsistent cases. Honestly, the Technobots are better made by Smart Grimlock than by Vector Sigma anyway. Remember how like half the Aerialbots thought the Decepticons were pretty cool? Almost makes you wonder if Vector Sigma chose sides, lmao.
You have no idea how refreshing it is to click on a video titled "retrospective" and it's actually a retrospective analysis and not a boring summary where the narrator reads wiki articles and occasionally makes snide comics. Bravo for including both analysis and biographical experience. Makes the video worth watching.
Fire in The Sky is one of my favorite G1 episodes. Though oddly enough despite really liking Skyfire I kind of wish he had stayed buried, since he doesn't do much past his debut episode, and if he stayed buried I think the episode would feel more profound.
In this cartoon series the Transformers just hold a memory when it comes to space fantasy and adventure. The stories have this way with telling its adventure through familiar incidents that remind U of even historical events.
I definitely preferred Season 2 compared to Season 1. Although there were some goofy episodes, overall it was still much better and I liked what it did with the lore. Would love to see a breakdown of it.
I really enjoyed this and definitely relate as I have been doing the exact same thing recently. Season 2 is far better, especially near the end and I am doing s3 at the moment. So look forward to your next addition and comments.
I really enjoyed this video as it truly struck a cord in me. I watched the show and was a massive fan as a kid. I mainly had the mini bots but also Megatron. I was fortunate to have many of the season 3 and on figures once the movie came out. I basically only rented that movie or the pilot episodes as a kid and did that up until I was maybe 12. My love always stayed with me as an adult. I had a son at 18 and when I won custody I was able to get him to into Transformers which as a dad is one of the coolest things as he still has that love today. He started collecting Studio Series as they first came out and has a really great collection. In May of this year I decided to start collecting myself. I’m going for Masterpiece scale as I want close to the original characters as I can get. You seem to have the same sentiment towards Transformers as I have. I just rewatched all of seasons 1 & 2 recently. I completely agree with your take on the first season. The nostalgia is why I love the show so much but it can be a bit of chore to watch all in a binge I must admit. The silliness that occurs to me now in the show was definitely not noticed by me as a kid, and it does not take away from my enjoyment to this day. I do really appreciate your insight on Transformers and enjoy your videos as you give a take us middle aged folks who grew up with this have. It’s unique to combine the nostalgia of our childhood and how that relates to us as adults now. You do that in a way that’s entertaining yet insightful. I do hope you continue making these as I look forward to watching them as they come out.
An honest and authentic take. Thank you! I am currently watching through with my 12-year-old son. His sensibility are definitely more than mine were at his age. he laughs at some of the strange character choices, but he also does not notice the amount of inconsistencies in plot and especially animation errors. It’s really a joy to watch him watch it and even reconnect to his love of playing with toys, a physical act to play that is more and more lost on our screen bent culture. That’s what I think my take away has been. It is nice to reconnect with a virtual medium that is meant to connect you to the physical world and effectively does so.
I was born in the 70s back in 84 this series was on a different level, before that we had Gobots it was kinda kiddy, Optimus Prime and the Autobots was must see TV. I just posed out Jazz, Wheeljack, and Blaster on my shelf. After 40 years still a fan, Got the complete G1 series on DVD, of course this is still worth watching, especially season 1 and 2.
Showing Dangermouse while talking about better cartoons was perfect. I loved DM so much. But it also illustrates that one was a show and one was a commercial.
I recently watched the whole cartoon series and film. Loved the whole thing. Fun, nostalgic and made me want to start from the beginning again, which I have done. I laughed at all the dumb or bad stuff, laughed at all the fun bits, warm and fuzzy fun.
This was amazing, brother! I'm definitely down for a Season 2 retrospective. I was (and still am) more a fan of the figures than the lore and media surrounding them.
Yeah, it's something I only realised after really starting this channel. Where does my actual interest lie? But I'm enjoying picking things about and thinking about them more in-depth. Glad you're interested in a season 2 vid!
I think however you learnt their character, be it comics or cartoon, goes along way towards playability and the enduring like of them. The Toy being part puzzle, part action figure and toy vehicle is enough for initial interest though.
@@iridescent6685 It's true! The two things are very much tied together - I would add the comics were also a big deal for me getting into the story (although it goes in quite different directions at times!)
I'm pretty much in lock step with you through your entire assessment of the show. 34:19 - When that War for Cybertron video game came out back in 2010 it took all the wonky, goofy, slanted, stuff and realigned it into something incredibly mature while maintaining the nostalgia and charm of the source material. For me it was the PERFECT updated digestible form of Transformers media we needed. The massive scale of that game and the pacing of the story just blew me away. The developers were huge G1 fans who all grew up and got dream jobs working on this game. The game really got down to the nitty gritty of war too. That game's story was so well written that there were moments I sympathized with Megatron's motivation and was actually rooting for him. If your inner child has a warm soft spot for the 80's cartoon, then your adult self should appreciate it. I've never seen anything come close to the multiplayer modes it ever since. I have yet to see any other iteration of the franchise retain so much G1 but still being on a more advanced mature level.
I loved the High Moon games also - of all the modern Transformers takes that's probably my favourite. My friend @DeltaTrion did a vid on the game recently which is worth checking out if you haven't seen it ruclips.net/video/Yf66aBienz0/видео.htmlsi=-n_aFYZyMFWPNRrG
Having watched all of the 80s show not long ago, I also found it a great source of comedy, both intentional and unintentional haha. I think assuming it's all unintentional would do the writers a disservice, there was plenty of goofs and gaffs I adore, especially come Season 2 with episodes like Triple Takeover, or the one where Optimus gets challenged by a Big Game Hunter. Seeing the Decepticon goons bumble about will never get old. I think the popular consciousness of G1 has been painted much more seriously, because of both the Marvel US/UK comics and the '86 Movie - they took the G1 setup into much more of a sci-fi drama direction, which led to people forgetting what the Sunbow show was like. (This reputation not helped by Beast Wars/Machines, or the G1 comics from the 21st Century, which primarily took inspiration from Marvel and The Movie. They're all wonderful of course lol, and have plenty of great jokes and lighthearted episodes themselves, but still serve to diminish the 80s show's original tone from memory). In fact, I'd say the Show and Comics both complemented each-other back then, despite being separate continuities: Marvel provided the elaborate on-going drama, massive stakes and world-building/lore, while Sunbow did an invaluable service in endearing you to the cast, giving each of them the memorably distinct personalities everyone remembers them for, to the point of entire dedicated spotlight episodes for many. I don't think that should be understated. I'd love to see your opinions on the G1 anime later, if you decide to continue this past Sunbow; I consider them wonderful examples of continuing the Sunbow show's comedic, character-focused spirit, while infusing it with some wonderfully flashy, late-80s Super-Robot mecha pulpiness, that would later evolve into the Brave/Yuusha franchise. Same goes for shows like Beast Wars Neo, Car Robots, and Galaxy Force. Seeing how wildly Transformers media varies is what makes the whole franchise so enticing to me. Being someone who grew up with Animated and the Bay Trilogy, hot off the heels of the Unicron Trilogy (plz watch them subbed if you ever get around to them), *Transformers* to me has always been defined by how deftly it can reinvent itself entirely, adopting not just different tones, settings, and casts, but outright different genres, and somehow make them its own. It's unlike nearly any other franchise I can come up with, in that regard.
I LOVED the first season with the Toei animation. The art quality sank when the producers switched to Akom to cut costs for the second, third and three-episode season of Rebirth.
An animated movie or short series detailing the relationship between Starscream and Megatron would earn my attention unlike any iteration of Transformers since G1. I think that Starscream is connected to someone Megatron respects, reveres, or owes his position explains why he puts up with Starscream. Even as a young teenager, I couldn’t understand why Megatron didn’t just kill Starscream.
@@retroandreissue really! It's hard to find others my age who share a love for g1! I personally feel that it is just an overflowing well of untapped potential!
I've heard a few people cite Prime as their favourite - it's one I plan to get to (I have this crazy idea to watch through all the series and do videos like this one about them all but that's such a massive project it's sort of a "soft target". Something to aim for having done years from now
Great video! I appreciate your efforts to do these season long retrospectives and hope you continue. I know there are better episodes later on, but--for me--this first season is the heart of Transformers. I got a lot of the toys in the early '80s; Transformers was perhaps my earliest fandom, before being overtaken by G.I. Joe, Star Wars, Marvel superheroes, and other stuff. Bu I never *loved* the toys. Some of them were hard to transform, and some of them just looked... dumb (Ironhide!). I fell in love with the Autobots and Decepticons through the television show; this was how I imagined the characters; this is how I wanted them to look. That's why I only started collecting Transformers toys again a couple years ago when they started the War for Cybertron line and the characters looked a lot more cartoon accurate to me. Over the summer I did a podcast on "The Ultimate Doom" three-parter. It's probably my favorite Transformers story ever told, and at the crux of this planetary destruction threatened by Cybertron entering Earth's orbit is a very real, very human drama playing out between Spike and his father. I was just a kid when I saw it and Sparkplug turning evil and betraying his son rocked my world. The trauma Spike felt hit me in my soul because as a child I could think of nothing more horrifying than my parents rejecting me and calling me their enemy. "The Ultimate Doom" also had some of the best action sequences and dialogue by Brawn (my favorite) and Skyfire and Wheeljack. Because of my emotional tether to that story, I've always felt that the Transformers work best with a human POV character like Spike or Buster in the comics or Sam in the movies. Likewise, I've also always preferred stories with the Transformers set on Earth as opposed to Cybertron or other planets. For me--again, this all stems from being a little kid when this came out--the coolest aspect about the Autobots and Decepticons was the "robots in disguise" part; that they could change into the same cars and trucks we see on the road every day. Any ambulance could be Ratchet. Any jet could be Thundercracker. Without the Earth-based alt. modes, the transformation is just a cool mode of transportation, but it lacks the disguise element. Anyway, for all those reasons, as well as financial considerations, I've limited my Transformers collection to only the Autobots and Decepticons that appeared in season 1 of the cartoon (omitting the Dinobots, because that was too much and I missed the chance to get Grimlock the first time around and didn't want to overspend to get him on the secondary market). So the only figures I still need are the Constructicons, who are all coming out in 2025, and Windcharger, whenever they get around to him. I would like to update a few figures like a Studio 86 Megatron, and better versions of Sideswipe, Mirage, and Bluestreak, but those aren't priorities right now. Okay, like I said, great video. Thanks for going through these episodes and sharing your thoughts.
Loved your take on The Ultimate Doom! I think that's why Sparkplug was such a key feature in both the comic and cartoon - because really at that age your parents are still your best friends. Best friends that you admire and look up to - the idea of them turning on you is, as you say, traumatic. I have forgotten if I ever looked at vehicles on the road and wondered if they could be Autobots but I must have done. I loved cars as a kid and that was the route into Transformers for me. Please let me know the name of your podcast (links are turned off in RUclips comments but you could always email it - my email is on the about page).
@@retroandreissue I tell a joke based of this where a kid asks if something they see is a transformer. Their parent replies "that's just one of your run of the mill mechanical dinosaurs."
I was there watching from the first time the three part special aired. Do I still remember the Saturday morning that Grimlock Slag and Sludge lumbered onto the scene, solidifying them in my mind as THE Dinobots. And to this day I consider Snarl and Swoop to be the ‘new guys’.
Great video dude, as someone in the UK who grew up watching G1 (and yes I had the Vector Sigma VHS too haha) I went back when I started collecting 4yrs ago, starting with the new ones (Siege onwards) I had as a kid and now 150+ deep I've rewatched all G1 seasons + Japanese mini series after S4 I echo alot of what you said atleast regarding S1...defo do Season 2!!
G1 grew up with it's audience . At first we got the "Strangers in a Strange Land ” with season 1, only to move on to a more mixed season 2, where the Transformers sometimes took us with them to new and fantastic worlds, to the movie that I saw a bit too late, hence the understanding of a script that looked more like "action sequences taped together with tape" than an actual movie came much too early for me . Followed by 1.2 seasons that were almost always in space -- in a way cheapening that wonder of a space adventure that was so strong in season 2 .... -- while also providing some characters that seemed to be of interest to older viwers .
I'm 41 years old and grew up with the cartoon on vhs and the toys in the late 80s cause my dad and his buddies collected them back then so I've always have been a transformers g1 fan. I still pop the g1 cartoon on on Saturday mornings on tubing to get my day started. My 11 year old son watches it with me and we both collected the g1 modernized toys that come out. It's still a great show and the 86 movie is still the best transformers movie to those day in my opinion 👍
I think I pretty much laugh a lot more now than I did as a child, because I get it more. I think it's amazing that they saw, we have these different toylines, make a cartoon to sell em... lightning in a bottle! God Bless Japan! I always think how things could have been not if we had had the Japanese animation we had without terrible dub changes, censorship, and episode removals, but if we had stations more willing to carry more Japanese programming, which we still often suffer from to this day.
I have a headcanon as to the mixup in canon concerning vector sigma's creation of the cybertronians vs wheeljacks creation of the dinobots. So just as megatron was able to create the stunticons, wheeljack was also able to create the dinobots. So obviously, it appears that cybertronians can "reproduce" artificially (at least in this continuity), but vector sigma is the only one who can give these artificial life forms true sentience and character traits. But it seems that with the dinobots, judging by how sporadic, buggy, and primitive their behavior is compared to the rest of the cybertronians, I like to think that the dinobots were wheeljack's (or possibly any cybertronian in this case, depending on if any others like shockwave has ever attempted something like this before in cybertronian history) first attempt at creating fully sentient, artificially intelligent cybertronians, but just as with weeljack's many other inventions, they have a tendency to have lots of glitches, and, because he doesn't have the vast amount of intelligence or technological complexity like that of vector sigma, hence there is bound to be many imperfections with the dinobots' artificial sentience and intelligence, as the show clearly portrays in many episodes. But that's my 2 cents.
It makes sense and explains their very basic nature. I always thought on Vecta Sigma as containing some kind of elemental force that was beyond any Transformer to reproduce. Now that I think about it I wonder why they decided Vecta Sigma was needed at all - since they were just making things more difficult for themselves when it comes to adding new characters
As a fellow transformers collector, it’s absolutely fine to be critical to G1 cartoons, ot has it’s up and down. And yes i want season 2 retrospective too
Great cartoon if you just want to lay back and enjoy a fun series, wouldnt say its the best Transformers series, foolish to say it based purely on the liked as kid and as an adult. Being episodic in nature, having a lot of inconsistencies, corny 80's stuff, animation errors, and some episodes really suck. But its a really fun cartoon
That's an odd episode with a strange animation style..not quite Akom bad but not quite Toei good either. I didn't like the storyline either..it made the Triple Changers seem as insane as Galvatron but they were never portrayed that crazy before or after that episode...it was so random that they suddenly wanted to overthrow Megatron just for one episode.
@@TF80s Not really, if Astrotrain knew he had to errands for Megatron, and being used as space bus, he wouldn't sit with it. Blitzwing wanting to make a throne, made out of Autobot parts & scrap seems very in character for him. And Starscream wanting to prove many ways to be a better Decepticon leader, than Megatron.
It can/should be reimagined....after the first 5 episodes the animation and stories are hard to watch- I've tried. However G1 is the best for so many reasons
I just watched G1 Season 1 and 2 on Hasbro Pulse on RUclips. And it stood up to the time, it's a kid's show but some dialogue is very mature. I enjoyed re watching it and if you never have seen it , it's definitely worth the time. ❤
Despite a lot od the episodes feeling very similar in the first series, it is the one that I enjoyed the most. The second series felt very dumbed down.
The “ color seeker “ was just random color wasn’t meant to be. Look at Transformers the movie 86, they so much background random appear . But now a day third party you make those toy color lol. Only true color seeker is star scream , thunder cracker , and sky warp. Just like so many extra cyclonus in movie .
I re watched seasons 1-4 in 2007. I think I had the same thoughts as you on them then. I watch the odd one on Samsung TVs Transformers channel nowadays - very few episodes are actually 'good'. I still love the movie though.
I really enjoyed this video and totally agree that episodes where new characters are introduced are the best. I would love to see a video like this for season 2 and possibly even beyond to see your take on the random introduction of many more characters.
So many more get introduced in those later seasons so those episodes were something I was always looking forward to. I mean, all the Headmasters in Season 4! Thanks for letting me know you would like to see more - it will definitely help me decide what to do in the future
This was a fantastic video! I appreciate your capacity to articulate your love of the toys and IP, but not the blind defense of all things transformers. Foolishly thinking the movie was being played in the movie theater several mo the ago, I ended up seeing the first four episodes of season one. To be honest, I was rather bored! I love the toys and the feelings I felt as a kid watching these episodes after school. But seeing them now and not loving it doesn’t in the slightest spoil my nostalgia and fandom.
Anyone can create an origin story for the transformers and people can feel anyway about it. But… G1 to me makes sense and is unique. Yea there is inconsistency and contradictions, but what lore doesn’t.
Excellent video yet again fine sir! And Please continue! I must agree with you assessment in this video. I have also noticed that I too was more a fan of the figures, and the comics, than the cartoon overall, but the the 86 movie was amazing (nostalgia talking there)! I also feel the same way with Transformers: One. It was a fun movie, but it was not a good movie... Many things about the film bothered me, but I realize that it was not made for me. Unfortunately, we live in an era of tribalism where if you are not for something, then you are against it. Ironically, it is how I feel about the Original Star Wars movies. I was born in 1968... And got to see SW as a kid in theaters, and it was awesome! I then watched subsequent films, and they were GREAT! And now I watch them, and I am still entertained, but man those films are not really good for various reasons, and the Prequels and sequels, all have some varying issues for me. I am still a fan of both Transformers and SW, as I collect the figures till this day, but the visual media surrounding them are just eh to me. I do not by any means hate them, but they are just nostalgia for me, not great pieces of science fiction... And I would say I enjoy them.
Still fun to watch just like Gi joe Masters of the universe yeah sure it might be cheesy but who cares they are still fun to watch I still watch the Flintstones, looney tunes and I still have fun
2:10 I disagree with this; I actually _liked_ that the comic initially had Ironhide and Ratchet in their toy forms (even as a 7-year-old), and I think they pulled it off well. They read as "people" because of how they speak and act, not just because of what they _look_ like. They could have given them something like their final heads, attached to the toy bodies, and I think they'd have looked great. But maybe they'd have thought it harder to animate... 18:35 Of course, in modern lore, there are several different ways that new Cybertronian life can come about, so the multiple takes in the cartoon have all found ways to be reconciled... 21:35 I get the impression that's supposed to be a bizarrely-placed chain-link fence. Or maybe a volleyball net, who knows. 26:20 Like the Dinobots and Jetfire, the Constructicons weren't actually part of the '84 lineup, which is why they got spotlight episodes to introduce them later when they became available. 27:10 "How do inertial dampers work?" "Very well, thankyou." 29:05 More recent versions of the backstory have had Prime and Megatron originally fighting together for the same goals, until Megatron's methods become too extreme, and he transitions essentially from "freedom fighter" to "terrorist". 33:00 I'm the same here; my entry into the world came with seeing the toys in W H Smith, and my mum telling me I could have one of the mini-Autobots. Huffer sucked me into a 40-year (so far) black hole... While I enjoyed the cartoon, I had (and have) more fondness for the stories in the comics.
You should have used the broadcast versions, not MP4 converted from the rhino vob. Not only has too many errors (Heavy Metal War becomes awful), but it gains the grainy blurr due to the conversion.
I understand the gripes about continuity and even logic in many of the episodes. I’ve complained about them to myself while watching, but…it’s still a CARTOON. Based on NOTHING. why complain about it? We all enjoyed it (or else we wouldn’t be here) and I’m not at all a fan boy when it comes to it. But why not just have a productive conversation about some of the things that went on in the episodes? Why not speak about the creative aspect of it? Criticizing a cartoon is like…criticizing a cartoon.
How.... recently did you rewatched season 1? I mean the First Season is running on loop on the Hasbro Pulse Channel here on RUclips, so it's not hard to see things you're... missing? So below are the ones I found really egregious, because they're typically answered in the same episode. "Why the constant need for energy when the energy crisis is solved by the end of the third episode?" Megatron consistently afterwards states they'll use the energy to construct weapons to destroy the Autobots. That's a different use, and because the very stuff they need to live and revive their planet is also the bullets they shoot, they can use the same basic plot, with different desired outcomes. The same is the issue with the Insecticons. The Decepticons and Autobots have been asleep for 4 million years, the Insecticons, who arrived earlier than they did weren't asleep, and have adapted for more than 4 million years to be able to consume organic matter and turn it into Energon. They also are shown drinking Crude Oil, which in prior episodes have been shown to turn into energon with Energon Cubes, so while they adapted, they could have leeched off of fossil fuels or the 'magical' energy sources like the Burmese Rubies from episode 2. "Introduce powers seen once and never seen again" You mention Starscream using his lasers for a concussive blast and his Null Ray. Ratchet's specifically saying it's a concussive blast, because every episode prior, Starscream or Megatron would notate him using his Null Ray on Generators to stop them from working so they could extract energon. So it is for clarity's sake that they note "This one does damage" because he's been shown to use it as a stun gun. It's the same reason Star Trek always had the command, "Set Phasers to" so the audience would know which is dangerous and which is safe. The more frightening thing is, if Megatron can mind break someone with a little doodad on his chest, he could do it again. How many of his "Allies" he has now because he used it in the past. And, fun fact: When Omega Supreme talks about protecting the Crystal City with the Constructicons in the past, it was Megatron who brainwashed them into being Decipticons. So it absolutely was used again. "Why Kidnap and use Sparkplug?" For one, it's to prove that the Decepticons are STILL a threat. They may get humbled every episode, but if they can do something like attack the back lines so effectively, they're a clear and present danger. Secondly, exactly what happens HAPPENS. They manage to mind control Sparkplug, and when he gets taken back to the base, the mindcontrolled man gets busy sabotaging everyone. If they had failed, they killed one of the Autobot helpers, Win-Win. Later on, with all the humans they did kidnap and control, they can use the humans as a shield to stop the autobots from taking the easy win by shooting the machine. I do enjoy hearing your review, since you say you come from toys first with the cartoon as garnish. I came from a family who did record every episode, but I still recall running home from school to watch reruns when I could. I didn't have many of the toys because not exactly the wealthiest, so I absolutely am the opposite only starting to collect now I'm an adult with disposable income So I'd like to hear about what you think about Season 2, the Movie, and Season 3&4. Regarding Long Form Media on RUclips, You'd be surprised how often Longer videos get recommended to people who watch longer videos as background noise. Like I first saw this video come up while at work and am now subscribed so I can wait for more.
Another Great Video. I do disagree with the thoughts on Season 2. For me the S2 stories were a bit more silly in nature. And the influx of new bots was just a bit too over the top. G1 Season 1 for me. Keep up the good work.
oh wow you watched the entirety of season one. Ive never seen a video so well versed Transformers Lore. Its a good thing you warned me while pretending to know what your talking about. well done Chap. next your gonna tell me that Transformers One was based on War for Cybertron.
Know the rights issue surfaced a little bit later that's why you never see Skyfire in season 2. There was a memo circulating don't use his animation model or the name anymore going forward
@@retroandreissue l think he last officially appears in the season 2 episode, "Day of the Machines"....but the animators did sneak a mis coloured version of him into a scene in the season 3 episode, "Dark Awakening", where we see him as part of an Autobot fleet going to attack the Quints..the Jet gets destroyed in that scene and in some people's head cannon, that's Skyfire's unofficial death scene.
A more appropriate question is: Is this video worth listening to? Probably. Especially if you weren't raised on G1, probably born in the 90s and after not questioning why should I watch this cartoon now or why should I listen to someone/anyone on YT about it. If you grew up around the ages of 8-16 years old then this was/is the best living cartoon franchise that still exist with a billion dollar IP today. The only ppl that really need this nostalgia are the gen z, & after & maybe some who haven't really thought about watching but they may have that itch.
I tried watching the whole series, but tapped out in early season 2. I dearly love Transformers, especially G1, but some of the stories are so corny and the animation/continuity errors are laughably bad. I hate the notion that, "It's a kids show, it doesn't have to be good." There are mountains of "kids" entertainment that hold up because they took the time and effort to craft a good story and didn't cut corners. There I'm done.
great video. yah just gotta accept the stupidity but admire that they knew what they were doing. like putting facial hair like mustaches and goatees on some older transformers to represent age even though it's ridiculous for robots to have a human trait like facial hair.
G1 is always the OG and I give it a lot of respect, but I wouldn't call it the _best_ Transformers show. That goes to Beast Wars, which had largely good writing. Personally I really like Animated. Prime learned a lot of lessons from earlier shows and is honestly better than G1 in general too.
I really don't get adults review a kid's tv show with adult eyes. This is a kid's tv show now a grown up show. It's a null ray when Starscream calls it that, and its a concussion blast when Ratchet calls it that; that is is, no need to ask the difference; that's how kids think. If things don't make sense because you are a grown up. Kids do not care at the time. If you want to review a Transformers' show, review Beast wars tailored to the same audience who are at the time are all grown up.
Season 1 is good season 2 is hit or miss alot of dumb episodes but great ones too . The movie is awesome and season 3 is the best with maybe 5 episodes that are bad but the rest are great and 4 is ok but sad that it was the end until headmasters anyways . But that's my take growing up with g1
Thanks for the insights Mike I would put Season 2 as the best just for the range of episodes and some episodes just focusing on one character (Changing Gears is so daft!) Season 3 I found to be the wonkier one - I got the sense the writers didn't really know what to do with the characters and locations introduced in the movie (even deciding to blow one of them up!)
@retroandreissue 1 thing I love about season 3 is they not just stuck on earth plus get more cybertron episodes and it gets away from the Megatron scam of the week theme . But season 2 is great too and has alot of episodes but some I just find super boring can't wait to see you do the other seasons though
I'd say its the opposite. Season 1 and 2 are pretty consistent, while season 3 you either get an amazing episode or a terrible one. The new main cast overall is pretty much devoid of charisma, specially compared to the likes of Jazz or Bumblebee. Oh yeah, and the horrible animation.
![CHILE vs. BRASIL [1-2] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 9](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5ObJt_71AYc/mqdefault.jpg)
Accepting that the film is both a commercial and something that can be remembered fondly is a great take. G1 will always have so much charm to it
Indeed! I've got through G1 - do you think I should bother with the hacked together Season 5 or just move straight on to Beast Wars?
@@retroandreissue well season 5 is just a selection of the same episodes with an annoying boy talking to a Prime puppet so I'd say just skip it...unless you want to recap before moving on.
@@TF80s It might be fun to just document the fact it existed - and maybe a good opportunity for some comedy!
@@retroandreissue well yeah, it's interesting to see the movie split into a five parter with Prime doing the narration at the beginning instead of Victor...Also, l feel like the Five Faces of Darkness episodes look better in the lower quality vhs recording that's available on here..the animation errors don't stand out half as much as they do on the dvd. But maybe that's just me ☺
@@retroandreissue by the way, for the first season in particular, there's loads more animation errors in the dvd/Hasbro YT channel versions than there was in the originally aired episodes. It really spoils the episodes.
I watch it regularly, almost daily.
Favourite episode?
@@retroandreissueone other thing I’d raise. Why weren’t the Dino bots given a filth bot so they
could conbine or why both Megs and prime could make laser weapons from their hands but never used.
@@Grant80 I'm glad they weren't..why are people so obsessed with the Dinobots combining. It defeats the whole point of having robotic Dinosaurs...They didn't need to combine, being robotic dinosaurs was what made them bad ass.
Great video! My head theory for why Megs keeps Starscream around, is because he secretly respects his ball bearings for directly challenging him. No other decepticons ever try to take over so defiantly. Megs is trying to groom a true warrior out of him. None of this is supported by the show of course, but i think its a fun idea.
I like that take!
That theory certainly applies to the TF: Armada version of both those characters. This clip from the show really shows it:
m.ruclips.net/video/3F_kCtHi-E8/видео.html&pp=ygUuVHJhbnNmb3JtZXJzIGFybWFkYSBzdGFyc2NyZWFtIGZpZ2h0cyBtZWdhdHJvbg%3D%3D
The answe is YES, YES, YES!!!!! Everyone should watch and continue watching the G1 Transformers series of all time.
I think it’s still by far the best Transformers series. No other has the scope of characters, stories, and imagination G1 had. Every time they try to reinvent the wheel, they fall short.
Still my favorite,but beast wars was great and prime was pretty good as well.
@blammers Dreamwave comics did VERY well for VERY long time if you had a chance to check them out. They successfully conveyed the size, complexity and scale of the Cybertronians conflict.
@@durreallduncan4710 Dreamwave? Or did you mean IDW?
@blammers both but yes IDW...my bad
Definitely. Well to speak of that, the worse is just hyping up actions to put it on a blast for a rush for action thrills.
Speaking as a fellow fan who is also clear-eyed about his nostalgia and struggles to take this stuff seriously despite loving it tremendously, I say yes please, do produce more retrospective videos!
I just rewatched some of the old season 1 G1 cartoons this week. Little here and there each night. Its nice to hear another adult fan on well-thought points on the series. I've always acknowledge and just blindly accepted (cause what else can one do) the animation errors and continuity, and still love it for all that. I grew up with it, collect thed comics, kept what toys I could then add to it when I got into my 20s.
I wish I'd kept my original toys (like most collectors do!) The only one I have left now is a beat up Prowl. I got back into collecting and that re-ignited my interest in the cartoon again (also re-reading all the original Marvel comics). Thanks for watching by the way!
@@retroandreissue I've been enjoying your channel great deal so keep it coming. I only had few TFs from my child-hood cause there was this . . . that shouldn't keep them due to not being that age anymore. I've bought quite few old G1 as adult taht I didn't have and enjoying new G1/Legacy toys.
@@SlashTheWeasel I'm still focused on Studio Series 86 but recently bought my first vintage - Pipes! But mainly so I can compare him to the Kingdom version for a vid. Found a really good vintage seller on eBay though so I'll probably pick up more in the future
@@retroandreissue I'm on Studio Series/Legacy G1 so I get it. Its little bit at time and when you can. And I got some in not the best shape while others are in good varying on price. I figure I'll never truly be done which is fine with me.
@@SlashTheWeasel No, I don't really have an end goal in sight either. I'd like to get some boxed vintage since they stopped doing the reissues but the prices are scary!
I don't give a damn about what anybody else says to me the original gen 1 Transformers is always going to be worth watching because if you don't have the original you don't have anything else afterwards
This was a great retrospect and I can’t wait for season’s two three and four
Thanks for watching and for commenting! I really need people to do that so I know there's that interest for more - cheers
I’m 46 . I was 7 yr when this cartoon came out .
One factor that I noticed watching as an adult was the highly entertaining voice acting and puns and humor
The voice cast adds so much to the characters and Hasbro owes them so much. I have a hard time watching today but it still has its moments. Brawn snagging Meg’s fusion canon was a high point since he was the only toy I owned at that point.
I love it cuz of the warm family vibes the autobots give out. The snowball fight, the TV show they were watching, heck, watching them speak, instead of sounding like serious war torn brothers in arms they sound like co workers in an office job! Lol that would be funny, a Transformers version of the office...
It's the ONLY generation of transformers i like. And the reason the brand still exists.
Same
I grew up watching G1 Transformers during the 80's and although I thought it was great, I always noticed there was continuity and scaling issues like in the first 5 episodes the Autobots could fly then later on they can't or how did Starscream have an Earth based alternate form when it was millions of years before they came to Earth or the biggest 2 errors of all, the orgins of the Constructions and Insecticons. Even though I thought about these I still loved the show
Very similar to me. I wonder why they didn't change Starscream's jet mode for the episode with Jetfire to one of the triangle seekers we see on Cybertron?
It was probably a time issue. They were pumping out episodes like crazy and in a short time frame. There were 16 episodes in the first season and then 49 (repeat 49!!!) in the second season. Something tells me they were likely working on the second season during the first season. Lol. Anyway, there probably wasn't enough time to work out those kinds of continuity details with that kind of output.
@@avenuePad That's a good point since Transformers were selling like hotcakes they're were probably under a lot of pressure to keep up. I know that the movie we in pre-production pretty early and that's one of the reasons later additions to the cast (like the Aerialbots) were absent
Got the whole series on DVD . .still my favorite cartoon.
Actually the Technobots don't break canon with their creation, but it does take some reading between the lines. What I would argue is that when Grimlock gained super-intelligence in "Grimlock's New Brain", he actually gained a tiny portion of the spark of Unicron, through being hit with an energy burst which stemmed from the blood of Unicron, which I would argue had been infused with the energy of Unicron's spark. However it wasn't a direct infusion of Dark Energon, so it didn't cause Grimlock to be zombified. What happened was that the Technobots were initially each designed with a generalised AI, which each of the 6 Technobots had. However when Grimlock transferred the resonant energy from himself to Computron, it gave each of the 6 Technobots a proper spark. I think this can be somewhat deduced through the fact that Unicron's powers suggest that he is as capable of creating sparks as Primus is - especially when you consider that Scourge and Cyclonus weren't actually Thundercracker and Skywarp, but rather original sparks, inside the reformatted corpses of both Seekers.
That makes sense to me.
I'm pretty sure Retro's idea that the Dinobots are dumb because they were made without Vector Sigma is fine, too. These don't feel like inconsistent cases.
Honestly, the Technobots are better made by Smart Grimlock than by Vector Sigma anyway. Remember how like half the Aerialbots thought the Decepticons were pretty cool? Almost makes you wonder if Vector Sigma chose sides, lmao.
You have no idea how refreshing it is to click on a video titled "retrospective" and it's actually a retrospective analysis and not a boring summary where the narrator reads wiki articles and occasionally makes snide comics.
Bravo for including both analysis and biographical experience. Makes the video worth watching.
It's better than any of the Transformers series since 2000.
Dunno, not sure i would say it’s better than Animated and or Prime
@@dal5x5 Agree.I still trying to find it download it save it and back it up.I will never forget this version of Transformers.NEVER.
I've been watching episodes for the first time recently and I say absolutely yes. It's not high cinema that's for sure but it's very entertaining.
Fire in The Sky is one of my favorite G1 episodes. Though oddly enough despite really liking Skyfire I kind of wish he had stayed buried, since he doesn't do much past his debut episode, and if he stayed buried I think the episode would feel more profound.
It's true - he shuttles people around a lot but doesn't have the same impact as say The Dinobots on the rest of the characters
That's due to the rights issues know not their fault and why he is thased out in season 2.
In this cartoon series the Transformers just hold a memory when it comes to space fantasy and adventure. The stories have this way with telling its adventure through familiar incidents that remind U of even historical events.
G1 forever!
I definitely preferred Season 2 compared to Season 1. Although there were some goofy episodes, overall it was still much better and I liked what it did with the lore. Would love to see a breakdown of it.
I really enjoyed this and definitely relate as I have been doing the exact same thing recently. Season 2 is far better, especially near the end and I am doing s3 at the moment. So look forward to your next addition and comments.
I really enjoyed this video as it truly struck a cord in me. I watched the show and was a massive fan as a kid. I mainly had the mini bots but also Megatron. I was fortunate to have many of the season 3 and on figures once the movie came out. I basically only rented that movie or the pilot episodes as a kid and did that up until I was maybe 12. My love always stayed with me as an adult. I had a son at 18 and when I won custody I was able to get him to into Transformers which as a dad is one of the coolest things as he still has that love today. He started collecting Studio Series as they first came out and has a really great collection. In May of this year I decided to start collecting myself. I’m going for Masterpiece scale as I want close to the original characters as I can get.
You seem to have the same sentiment towards Transformers as I have. I just rewatched all of seasons 1 & 2 recently. I completely agree with your take on the first season. The nostalgia is why I love the show so much but it can be a bit of chore to watch all in a binge I must admit. The silliness that occurs to me now in the show was definitely not noticed by me as a kid, and it does not take away from my enjoyment to this day.
I do really appreciate your insight on Transformers and enjoy your videos as you give a take us middle aged folks who grew up with this have. It’s unique to combine the nostalgia of our childhood and how that relates to us as adults now. You do that in a way that’s entertaining yet insightful. I do hope you continue making these as I look forward to watching them as they come out.
An honest and authentic take. Thank you! I am currently watching through with my 12-year-old son. His sensibility are definitely more than mine were at his age. he laughs at some of the strange character choices, but he also does not notice the amount of inconsistencies in plot and especially animation errors. It’s really a joy to watch him watch it and even reconnect to his love of playing with toys, a physical act to play that is more and more lost on our screen bent culture. That’s what I think my take away has been. It is nice to reconnect with a virtual medium that is meant to connect you to the physical world and effectively does so.
I was born in the 70s back in 84 this series was on a different level, before that we had Gobots it was kinda kiddy, Optimus Prime and the Autobots was must see TV. I just posed out Jazz, Wheeljack, and Blaster on my shelf. After 40 years still a fan, Got the complete G1 series on DVD, of course this is still worth watching, especially season 1 and 2.
Showing Dangermouse while talking about better cartoons was perfect. I loved DM so much. But it also illustrates that one was a show and one was a commercial.
I recently watched the whole cartoon series and film. Loved the whole thing. Fun, nostalgic and made me want to start from the beginning again, which I have done. I laughed at all the dumb or bad stuff, laughed at all the fun bits, warm and fuzzy fun.
This was amazing, brother! I'm definitely down for a Season 2 retrospective. I was (and still am) more a fan of the figures than the lore and media surrounding them.
Yeah, it's something I only realised after really starting this channel. Where does my actual interest lie? But I'm enjoying picking things about and thinking about them more in-depth. Glad you're interested in a season 2 vid!
@@retroandreissue Keep up the great work, my dude! Hope this video blows up! All the best ☺️
@@jasonsteel9335 Thanks for watching buddy!
I think however you learnt their character, be it comics or cartoon, goes along way towards playability and the enduring like of them. The Toy being part puzzle, part action figure and toy vehicle is enough for initial interest though.
@@iridescent6685 It's true! The two things are very much tied together - I would add the comics were also a big deal for me getting into the story (although it goes in quite different directions at times!)
I'm pretty much in lock step with you through your entire assessment of the show. 34:19 - When that War for Cybertron video game came out back in 2010 it took all the wonky, goofy, slanted, stuff and realigned it into something incredibly mature while maintaining the nostalgia and charm of the source material. For me it was the PERFECT updated digestible form of Transformers media we needed. The massive scale of that game and the pacing of the story just blew me away. The developers were huge G1 fans who all grew up and got dream jobs working on this game. The game really got down to the nitty gritty of war too. That game's story was so well written that there were moments I sympathized with Megatron's motivation and was actually rooting for him. If your inner child has a warm soft spot for the 80's cartoon, then your adult self should appreciate it. I've never seen anything come close to the multiplayer modes it ever since. I have yet to see any other iteration of the franchise retain so much G1 but still being on a more advanced mature level.
I loved the High Moon games also - of all the modern Transformers takes that's probably my favourite. My friend @DeltaTrion did a vid on the game recently which is worth checking out if you haven't seen it ruclips.net/video/Yf66aBienz0/видео.htmlsi=-n_aFYZyMFWPNRrG
@@retroandreissue I’ll definitely check it out! Thanks
Having watched all of the 80s show not long ago, I also found it a great source of comedy, both intentional and unintentional haha. I think assuming it's all unintentional would do the writers a disservice, there was plenty of goofs and gaffs I adore, especially come Season 2 with episodes like Triple Takeover, or the one where Optimus gets challenged by a Big Game Hunter. Seeing the Decepticon goons bumble about will never get old.
I think the popular consciousness of G1 has been painted much more seriously, because of both the Marvel US/UK comics and the '86 Movie - they took the G1 setup into much more of a sci-fi drama direction, which led to people forgetting what the Sunbow show was like. (This reputation not helped by Beast Wars/Machines, or the G1 comics from the 21st Century, which primarily took inspiration from Marvel and The Movie. They're all wonderful of course lol, and have plenty of great jokes and lighthearted episodes themselves, but still serve to diminish the 80s show's original tone from memory). In fact, I'd say the Show and Comics both complemented each-other back then, despite being separate continuities: Marvel provided the elaborate on-going drama, massive stakes and world-building/lore, while Sunbow did an invaluable service in endearing you to the cast, giving each of them the memorably distinct personalities everyone remembers them for, to the point of entire dedicated spotlight episodes for many. I don't think that should be understated.
I'd love to see your opinions on the G1 anime later, if you decide to continue this past Sunbow; I consider them wonderful examples of continuing the Sunbow show's comedic, character-focused spirit, while infusing it with some wonderfully flashy, late-80s Super-Robot mecha pulpiness, that would later evolve into the Brave/Yuusha franchise. Same goes for shows like Beast Wars Neo, Car Robots, and Galaxy Force.
Seeing how wildly Transformers media varies is what makes the whole franchise so enticing to me. Being someone who grew up with Animated and the Bay Trilogy, hot off the heels of the Unicron Trilogy (plz watch them subbed if you ever get around to them), *Transformers* to me has always been defined by how deftly it can reinvent itself entirely, adopting not just different tones, settings, and casts, but outright different genres, and somehow make them its own. It's unlike nearly any other franchise I can come up with, in that regard.
9:47 *THE FRAME!!!*
I am rewatching with my 4year old.
It's grwst seeing him be entranced just as we all were the first time around.
I LOVED the first season with the Toei animation. The art quality sank when the producers switched to Akom to cut costs for the second, third and three-episode season of Rebirth.
You mean third season? As most of animation in second season is brilliant with certain exceptions but most 3rd isn't great.
An animated movie or short series detailing the relationship between Starscream and Megatron would earn my attention unlike any iteration of Transformers since G1. I think that Starscream is connected to someone Megatron respects, reveres, or owes his position explains why he puts up with Starscream. Even as a young teenager, I couldn’t understand why Megatron didn’t just kill Starscream.
Im 23 and still is my favorite series. And yes i have seen prime, but that takes the number 2 spot to this
I have a friend about your age who says exactly the same thing!
@@retroandreissue really! It's hard to find others my age who share a love for g1! I personally feel that it is just an overflowing well of untapped potential!
Better than anything that came afterward. Prime though is a very close second..
I've heard a few people cite Prime as their favourite - it's one I plan to get to (I have this crazy idea to watch through all the series and do videos like this one about them all but that's such a massive project it's sort of a "soft target". Something to aim for having done years from now
Great video! I appreciate your efforts to do these season long retrospectives and hope you continue. I know there are better episodes later on, but--for me--this first season is the heart of Transformers. I got a lot of the toys in the early '80s; Transformers was perhaps my earliest fandom, before being overtaken by G.I. Joe, Star Wars, Marvel superheroes, and other stuff. Bu I never *loved* the toys. Some of them were hard to transform, and some of them just looked... dumb (Ironhide!). I fell in love with the Autobots and Decepticons through the television show; this was how I imagined the characters; this is how I wanted them to look. That's why I only started collecting Transformers toys again a couple years ago when they started the War for Cybertron line and the characters looked a lot more cartoon accurate to me.
Over the summer I did a podcast on "The Ultimate Doom" three-parter. It's probably my favorite Transformers story ever told, and at the crux of this planetary destruction threatened by Cybertron entering Earth's orbit is a very real, very human drama playing out between Spike and his father. I was just a kid when I saw it and Sparkplug turning evil and betraying his son rocked my world. The trauma Spike felt hit me in my soul because as a child I could think of nothing more horrifying than my parents rejecting me and calling me their enemy. "The Ultimate Doom" also had some of the best action sequences and dialogue by Brawn (my favorite) and Skyfire and Wheeljack.
Because of my emotional tether to that story, I've always felt that the Transformers work best with a human POV character like Spike or Buster in the comics or Sam in the movies. Likewise, I've also always preferred stories with the Transformers set on Earth as opposed to Cybertron or other planets. For me--again, this all stems from being a little kid when this came out--the coolest aspect about the Autobots and Decepticons was the "robots in disguise" part; that they could change into the same cars and trucks we see on the road every day. Any ambulance could be Ratchet. Any jet could be Thundercracker. Without the Earth-based alt. modes, the transformation is just a cool mode of transportation, but it lacks the disguise element.
Anyway, for all those reasons, as well as financial considerations, I've limited my Transformers collection to only the Autobots and Decepticons that appeared in season 1 of the cartoon (omitting the Dinobots, because that was too much and I missed the chance to get Grimlock the first time around and didn't want to overspend to get him on the secondary market). So the only figures I still need are the Constructicons, who are all coming out in 2025, and Windcharger, whenever they get around to him. I would like to update a few figures like a Studio 86 Megatron, and better versions of Sideswipe, Mirage, and Bluestreak, but those aren't priorities right now.
Okay, like I said, great video. Thanks for going through these episodes and sharing your thoughts.
Loved your take on The Ultimate Doom! I think that's why Sparkplug was such a key feature in both the comic and cartoon - because really at that age your parents are still your best friends. Best friends that you admire and look up to - the idea of them turning on you is, as you say, traumatic.
I have forgotten if I ever looked at vehicles on the road and wondered if they could be Autobots but I must have done. I loved cars as a kid and that was the route into Transformers for me. Please let me know the name of your podcast (links are turned off in RUclips comments but you could always email it - my email is on the about page).
@@retroandreissue Email sent.
@@retroandreissue I tell a joke based of this where a kid asks if something they see is a transformer. Their parent replies "that's just one of your run of the mill mechanical dinosaurs."
I was there watching from the first time the three part special aired. Do I still remember the Saturday morning that Grimlock Slag and Sludge lumbered onto the scene, solidifying them in my mind as THE Dinobots. And to this day I consider Snarl and Swoop to be the ‘new guys’.
Great video dude, as someone in the UK who grew up watching G1 (and yes I had the Vector Sigma VHS too haha) I went back when I started collecting 4yrs ago, starting with the new ones (Siege onwards) I had as a kid and now 150+ deep I've rewatched all G1 seasons + Japanese mini series after S4 I echo alot of what you said atleast regarding S1...defo do Season 2!!
After getting to the end of Season 4 I definitely want to see where the Japanese series took the Headmasters - thanks for watching bud!
@@retroandreissue brace yourself for the Japanese Headmasters' series...it's a chore..no a punishment 😉
I think Season one especially. Two has some great episodes, but the first season really laid the groundwork for the property as a whole.
G1 grew up with it's audience .
At first we got the "Strangers in a Strange Land ” with season 1, only to move on to a more mixed season 2, where the Transformers sometimes took us with them to new and fantastic worlds, to the movie that I saw a bit too late, hence the understanding of a script that looked more like "action sequences taped together with tape" than an actual movie came much too early for me .
Followed by 1.2 seasons that were almost always in space -- in a way cheapening that wonder of a space adventure that was so strong in season 2 .... -- while also providing some characters that seemed to be of interest to older viwers .
I'm 41 years old and grew up with the cartoon on vhs and the toys in the late 80s cause my dad and his buddies collected them back then so I've always have been a transformers g1 fan. I still pop the g1 cartoon on on Saturday mornings on tubing to get my day started. My 11 year old son watches it with me and we both collected the g1 modernized toys that come out. It's still a great show and the 86 movie is still the best transformers movie to those day in my opinion 👍
I think I pretty much laugh a lot more now than I did as a child, because I get it more. I think it's amazing that they saw, we have these different toylines, make a cartoon to sell em... lightning in a bottle! God Bless Japan! I always think how things could have been not if we had had the Japanese animation we had without terrible dub changes, censorship, and episode removals, but if we had stations more willing to carry more Japanese programming, which we still often suffer from to this day.
I love how masculine the show is. All the robots are guys, and their earth friends are blue collar oil worker guys and a guy computer nerd.
Yes.
Now the one where that Pretender kicked the puppy, on the other hand....
I have a headcanon as to the mixup in canon concerning vector sigma's creation of the cybertronians vs wheeljacks creation of the dinobots. So just as megatron was able to create the stunticons, wheeljack was also able to create the dinobots. So obviously, it appears that cybertronians can "reproduce" artificially (at least in this continuity), but vector sigma is the only one who can give these artificial life forms true sentience and character traits. But it seems that with the dinobots, judging by how sporadic, buggy, and primitive their behavior is compared to the rest of the cybertronians, I like to think that the dinobots were wheeljack's (or possibly any cybertronian in this case, depending on if any others like shockwave has ever attempted something like this before in cybertronian history) first attempt at creating fully sentient, artificially intelligent cybertronians, but just as with weeljack's many other inventions, they have a tendency to have lots of glitches, and, because he doesn't have the vast amount of intelligence or technological complexity like that of vector sigma, hence there is bound to be many imperfections with the dinobots' artificial sentience and intelligence, as the show clearly portrays in many episodes. But that's my 2 cents.
It makes sense and explains their very basic nature. I always thought on Vecta Sigma as containing some kind of elemental force that was beyond any Transformer to reproduce. Now that I think about it I wonder why they decided Vecta Sigma was needed at all - since they were just making things more difficult for themselves when it comes to adding new characters
As a fellow transformers collector, it’s absolutely fine to be critical to G1 cartoons, ot has it’s up and down. And yes i want season 2 retrospective too
Thanks for commenting Olivia - good to know there is some interest in a follow up!
I really hope you do season 2. This was really good, I recently rewatched Season 1 with my sons. I agree with a lot of what was said here
Great cartoon if you just want to lay back and enjoy a fun series, wouldnt say its the best Transformers series, foolish to say it based purely on the liked as kid and as an adult.
Being episodic in nature, having a lot of inconsistencies, corny 80's stuff, animation errors, and some episodes really suck. But its a really fun cartoon
Triple Takeover is still my favorite piece of Transformers media.
That's an odd episode with a strange animation style..not quite Akom bad but not quite Toei good either. I didn't like the storyline either..it made the Triple Changers seem as insane as Galvatron but they were never portrayed that crazy before or after that episode...it was so random that they suddenly wanted to overthrow Megatron just for one episode.
@@TF80s Not really, if Astrotrain knew he had to errands for Megatron, and being used as space bus, he wouldn't sit with it. Blitzwing wanting to make a throne, made out of Autobot parts & scrap seems very in character for him. And Starscream wanting to prove many ways to be a better Decepticon leader, than Megatron.
A very well done video essays. Subscribing. Great job dude. Looking forward to seeing what's next.
Transformers Season 3 Episode Web World was Comedic & Hilarious. 😂
It can/should be reimagined....after the first 5 episodes the animation and stories are hard to watch- I've tried. However G1 is the best for so many reasons
I just watched G1 Season 1 and 2 on Hasbro Pulse on RUclips. And it stood up to the time, it's a kid's show but some dialogue is very mature. I enjoyed re watching it and if you never have seen it , it's definitely worth the time. ❤
Transformers is not only iconic cartoon . Don’t forget Voltron ,He-Man, Thunder Cats, M.A.S.K, Robotech, Silver Hawk, G.IJoe .
Many more to do Retrospectives on! Thanks for the comments and insight
Please continue with these reviews!
Great video. Can't wait to hear why Webworld is the best episode of the show and why Galvatron is the greatest character ever.
Despite a lot od the episodes feeling very similar in the first series, it is the one that I enjoyed the most. The second series felt very dumbed down.
I love G1 but Beast Wars, Machines and Transformers Prime were the best. But i LOVED all of their characterizations.
I do.My early childhood.
Yes give us more G1 toon reviews !!
Optimus technically fought 3 Dinobots at once so it wasn’t a one on one with Grimlock
The “ color seeker “ was just random color wasn’t meant to be. Look at Transformers the movie 86, they so much background random appear . But now a day third party you make those toy color lol. Only true color seeker is star scream , thunder cracker , and sky warp. Just like so many extra cyclonus in movie .
Nacelle, Acid storm. There are Hasbro versions of them.
If you have Pluto TV...g1 transformers is on every weekend on the transformers channel
I re watched seasons 1-4 in 2007. I think I had the same thoughts as you on them then. I watch the odd one on Samsung TVs Transformers channel nowadays - very few episodes are actually 'good'.
I still love the movie though.
I really enjoyed this video and totally agree that episodes where new characters are introduced are the best. I would love to see a video like this for season 2 and possibly even beyond to see your take on the random introduction of many more characters.
So many more get introduced in those later seasons so those episodes were something I was always looking forward to. I mean, all the Headmasters in Season 4! Thanks for letting me know you would like to see more - it will definitely help me decide what to do in the future
Currently watching season 3 and enjoying it. Would love to hear your thoughts on the seasons following season 1.
Starscream forever!
Your video was effective. It earned a subscriber.
This was a fantastic video! I appreciate your capacity to articulate your love of the toys and IP, but not the blind defense of all things transformers. Foolishly thinking the movie was being played in the movie theater several mo the ago, I ended up seeing the first four episodes of season one. To be honest, I was rather bored! I love the toys and the feelings I felt as a kid watching these episodes after school. But seeing them now and not loving it doesn’t in the slightest spoil my nostalgia and fandom.
Exactly the same with me! Thanks for for the feedback mate
G1 is always worth watching Peter Cullen is Optimus Prime. Even though they are cheesy I still watch the Gobots when I can.
The answer is yes. It is still worth watching.
Anyone can create an origin story for the transformers and people can feel anyway about it. But… G1 to me makes sense and is unique. Yea there is inconsistency and contradictions, but what lore doesn’t.
Yes continue look foward to Hotrod and Rodimus Prime
Excellent video yet again fine sir! And Please continue!
I must agree with you assessment in this video. I have also noticed that I too was more a fan of the figures, and the comics, than the cartoon overall, but the the 86 movie was amazing (nostalgia talking there)! I also feel the same way with Transformers: One. It was a fun movie, but it was not a good movie... Many things about the film bothered me, but I realize that it was not made for me. Unfortunately, we live in an era of tribalism where if you are not for something, then you are against it. Ironically, it is how I feel about the Original Star Wars movies. I was born in 1968... And got to see SW as a kid in theaters, and it was awesome! I then watched subsequent films, and they were GREAT! And now I watch them, and I am still entertained, but man those films are not really good for various reasons, and the Prequels and sequels, all have some varying issues for me. I am still a fan of both Transformers and SW, as I collect the figures till this day, but the visual media surrounding them are just eh to me. I do not by any means hate them, but they are just nostalgia for me, not great pieces of science fiction... And I would say I enjoy them.
Still fun to watch just like Gi joe Masters of the universe yeah sure it might be cheesy but who cares they are still fun to watch I still watch the Flintstones, looney tunes and I still have fun
I'm seriously considering a watch through of The Real Ghostbusters since I remember that one being particularly good
2:10 I disagree with this; I actually _liked_ that the comic initially had Ironhide and Ratchet in their toy forms (even as a 7-year-old), and I think they pulled it off well. They read as "people" because of how they speak and act, not just because of what they _look_ like. They could have given them something like their final heads, attached to the toy bodies, and I think they'd have looked great. But maybe they'd have thought it harder to animate...
18:35 Of course, in modern lore, there are several different ways that new Cybertronian life can come about, so the multiple takes in the cartoon have all found ways to be reconciled...
21:35 I get the impression that's supposed to be a bizarrely-placed chain-link fence. Or maybe a volleyball net, who knows.
26:20 Like the Dinobots and Jetfire, the Constructicons weren't actually part of the '84 lineup, which is why they got spotlight episodes to introduce them later when they became available.
27:10 "How do inertial dampers work?"
"Very well, thankyou."
29:05 More recent versions of the backstory have had Prime and Megatron originally fighting together for the same goals, until Megatron's methods become too extreme, and he transitions essentially from "freedom fighter" to "terrorist".
33:00 I'm the same here; my entry into the world came with seeing the toys in W H Smith, and my mum telling me I could have one of the mini-Autobots. Huffer sucked me into a 40-year (so far) black hole... While I enjoyed the cartoon, I had (and have) more fondness for the stories in the comics.
I hope you do season 2.
Hasbro pulse have a complete G1 transformers season on the RUclips
Indeed - I have linked it in the description if anyone fancies watching
You should have used the broadcast versions, not MP4 converted from the rhino vob. Not only has too many errors (Heavy Metal War becomes awful), but it gains the grainy blurr due to the conversion.
I understand the gripes about continuity and even logic in many of the episodes. I’ve complained about them to myself while watching, but…it’s still a CARTOON. Based on NOTHING. why complain about it? We all enjoyed it (or else we wouldn’t be here) and I’m not at all a fan boy when it comes to it. But why not just have a productive conversation about some of the things that went on in the episodes? Why not speak about the creative aspect of it? Criticizing a cartoon is like…criticizing a cartoon.
How.... recently did you rewatched season 1? I mean the First Season is running on loop on the Hasbro Pulse Channel here on RUclips, so it's not hard to see things you're... missing? So below are the ones I found really egregious, because they're typically answered in the same episode.
"Why the constant need for energy when the energy crisis is solved by the end of the third episode?" Megatron consistently afterwards states they'll use the energy to construct weapons to destroy the Autobots. That's a different use, and because the very stuff they need to live and revive their planet is also the bullets they shoot, they can use the same basic plot, with different desired outcomes. The same is the issue with the Insecticons. The Decepticons and Autobots have been asleep for 4 million years, the Insecticons, who arrived earlier than they did weren't asleep, and have adapted for more than 4 million years to be able to consume organic matter and turn it into Energon. They also are shown drinking Crude Oil, which in prior episodes have been shown to turn into energon with Energon Cubes, so while they adapted, they could have leeched off of fossil fuels or the 'magical' energy sources like the Burmese Rubies from episode 2.
"Introduce powers seen once and never seen again" You mention Starscream using his lasers for a concussive blast and his Null Ray. Ratchet's specifically saying it's a concussive blast, because every episode prior, Starscream or Megatron would notate him using his Null Ray on Generators to stop them from working so they could extract energon. So it is for clarity's sake that they note "This one does damage" because he's been shown to use it as a stun gun. It's the same reason Star Trek always had the command, "Set Phasers to" so the audience would know which is dangerous and which is safe. The more frightening thing is, if Megatron can mind break someone with a little doodad on his chest, he could do it again. How many of his "Allies" he has now because he used it in the past. And, fun fact: When Omega Supreme talks about protecting the Crystal City with the Constructicons in the past, it was Megatron who brainwashed them into being Decipticons. So it absolutely was used again.
"Why Kidnap and use Sparkplug?" For one, it's to prove that the Decepticons are STILL a threat. They may get humbled every episode, but if they can do something like attack the back lines so effectively, they're a clear and present danger. Secondly, exactly what happens HAPPENS. They manage to mind control Sparkplug, and when he gets taken back to the base, the mindcontrolled man gets busy sabotaging everyone. If they had failed, they killed one of the Autobot helpers, Win-Win. Later on, with all the humans they did kidnap and control, they can use the humans as a shield to stop the autobots from taking the easy win by shooting the machine.
I do enjoy hearing your review, since you say you come from toys first with the cartoon as garnish. I came from a family who did record every episode, but I still recall running home from school to watch reruns when I could. I didn't have many of the toys because not exactly the wealthiest, so I absolutely am the opposite only starting to collect now I'm an adult with disposable income So I'd like to hear about what you think about Season 2, the Movie, and Season 3&4.
Regarding Long Form Media on RUclips, You'd be surprised how often Longer videos get recommended to people who watch longer videos as background noise. Like I first saw this video come up while at work and am now subscribed so I can wait for more.
Transformers G1 was fantastic far better than the ones that came along
Didn't have to watch your video to tell you the answer. Yes.
Another Great Video. I do disagree with the thoughts on Season 2. For me the S2 stories were a bit more silly in nature. And the influx of new bots was just a bit too over the top. G1 Season 1 for me. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Jim!
Yes it is. Season 1 is by far the best. Season 3 is just awfully with its animation.
Will you review headmasters after you're done with G1?
oh wow you watched the entirety of season one. Ive never seen a video so well versed Transformers Lore. Its a good thing you warned me while pretending to know what your talking about. well done Chap. next your gonna tell me that Transformers One was based on War for Cybertron.
Seasons 1 and 2 are worth watching.
Know the rights issue surfaced a little bit later that's why you never see Skyfire in season 2. There was a memo circulating don't use his animation model or the name anymore going forward
Thanks - I plan to look closer during Season 2 for when his last appearance is
@@retroandreissue l think he last officially appears in the season 2 episode, "Day of the Machines"....but the animators did sneak a mis coloured version of him into a scene in the season 3 episode, "Dark Awakening", where we see him as part of an Autobot fleet going to attack the Quints..the Jet gets destroyed in that scene and in some people's head cannon, that's Skyfire's unofficial death scene.
@@TF80s Good to know - thanks!
A more appropriate question is: Is this video worth listening to? Probably. Especially if you weren't raised on G1, probably born in the 90s and after not questioning why should I watch this cartoon now or why should I listen to someone/anyone on YT about it. If you grew up around the ages of 8-16 years old then this was/is the best living cartoon franchise that still exist with a billion dollar IP today. The only ppl that really need this nostalgia are the gen z, & after & maybe some who haven't really thought about watching but they may have that itch.
I tried watching the whole series, but tapped out in early season 2. I dearly love Transformers, especially G1, but some of the stories are so corny and the animation/continuity errors are laughably bad. I hate the notion that, "It's a kids show, it doesn't have to be good." There are mountains of "kids" entertainment that hold up because they took the time and effort to craft a good story and didn't cut corners.
There I'm done.
Thanks for taking the time to comment Tom. I have a higher opinion of the show but share some of your frustrations with it!
great video. yah just gotta accept the stupidity but admire that they knew what they were doing. like putting facial hair like mustaches and goatees on some older transformers to represent age even though it's ridiculous for robots to have a human trait like facial hair.
Wreck-Gar just wouldn't look right clean shaven!
G1 is always the OG and I give it a lot of respect, but I wouldn't call it the _best_ Transformers show.
That goes to Beast Wars, which had largely good writing.
Personally I really like Animated.
Prime learned a lot of lessons from earlier shows and is honestly better than G1 in general too.
I really don't get adults review a kid's tv show with adult eyes. This is a kid's tv show now a grown up show. It's a null ray when Starscream calls it that, and its a concussion blast when Ratchet calls it that; that is is, no need to ask the difference; that's how kids think. If things don't make sense because you are a grown up. Kids do not care at the time. If you want to review a Transformers' show, review Beast wars tailored to the same audience who are at the time are all grown up.
The movie, rebirth red dawn
🤩🤩🤩❤️🔥‼️
Season 1 is good season 2 is hit or miss alot of dumb episodes but great ones too . The movie is awesome and season 3 is the best with maybe 5 episodes that are bad but the rest are great and 4 is ok but sad that it was the end until headmasters anyways . But that's my take growing up with g1
Thanks for the insights Mike I would put Season 2 as the best just for the range of episodes and some episodes just focusing on one character (Changing Gears is so daft!) Season 3 I found to be the wonkier one - I got the sense the writers didn't really know what to do with the characters and locations introduced in the movie (even deciding to blow one of them up!)
@retroandreissue 1 thing I love about season 3 is they not just stuck on earth plus get more cybertron episodes and it gets away from the Megatron scam of the week theme . But season 2 is great too and has alot of episodes but some I just find super boring can't wait to see you do the other seasons though
@@MikeD974 That's true. Season 3 for me felt like episodes of Star Trek at times as the Autobots go about trying to solve galactic problems!
I'd say its the opposite. Season 1 and 2 are pretty consistent, while season 3 you either get an amazing episode or a terrible one. The new main cast overall is pretty much devoid of charisma, specially compared to the likes of Jazz or Bumblebee. Oh yeah, and the horrible animation.