A Transformers Thread

Man, that looks interesting!

Also digging the fresh voice cast. I know from the voices that it's not the usual celebrity reprisals.

So far, I'm cautiously optimistic.

Edited by BrightLight on Feb 23rd 2020 at 12:43:29 AM

The animation and story looks pretty decent, closer to Prime's cinematic style rather than the sillier fun of RID and Cyberverse. I get it's based on the G1-esque Siege line, but I've gotten cynical with designs that are too G1 because you're limiting the personality and esoteric look of the characters. The big, blocky heads with glazed over eyes just don't emote as well as more modern designs.

The Studio Series line from New York, and the official Hasbro images including Sentinel Prime, Cliffjumper (an original Cybertronian mode, not a redeco of any current Bumblebee figure), Satelite Soundwave, Blitzwing and Topspin, along with Overload, Scapper and the final design of the full Devastator combination. Pretty much all of them look exceptionally good, some extra license is taken for Soundwave and Overload since they never seen clearly in certain forms.

Toys for the War for Cybertron Netflix series. Rather notable in that they have some more detailed paint jobs, along with battle damage.

Lastly Cyberverse figures, many of them appear to be CG renders rather than actual prototypes.

I find it devilishly cool how Studio Series is classified as a Decepticon instead of an Autobot since he turned out to be the bad guy in DOTM.

The WFC redecos for the Netflix show really crank up the battle damage, don't they? I get not everyone jazzed about battle damage, but that Megatron is worth grabbing just for that silver paint.

Pretty sneaky that the Ultra Magnus box claims to have spoilers to the point where we aren't shown the toy itself...

Speaking of the Netflix shows, we have something of a cast list even if it's incomplete:

Autobots:

• Jake Foushee as Optimus Prime
• Linsay Rousseau as Elita-1
• Joe Zieja as Bumblebee
• Rafael Goldstein as Ratchet
• Todd Haberkorn as Red Alert
• Edward Bosco as Ultra Magnus
• Bill Rogers as Wheeljack
• Sophia Isabella as Arcee
• Kaiser Johnson as Ironhide
• Miles Luna as Cliffjumper
• Mark Whitten as Sideswipe

Decepticons:

• Jason Marnocha as Megatron
• Frank Todaro as Starscream
• Todd Haberkorn as Shockwave
• Edward Bosco as Soundwave
• Mark Whitten as Skywarp
• Keith Silverstein as Jetfire
• Brook Chalmers as Impactor
• Shawn Hawkins as Mirage

Todd Haberkorn's presence caught me by surprise, but it's a good surprise since I love his work.

Fun fact: this will be the first animated appearance of Impactor, future leader of the Wreckers!

This is giving me strong Prime Wars vibes, and that was kinda crap.

Holy shit! Alastor is voicing Ultra Magnus.

Minor correction: Alastor is voicing Ultra Magnus AND Soundwave.

... Did Megatron steal Overlord's lips?

Is the Transformers franchise in the middle of some kind of union dispute? Between this and Cyberverse it seems like they're using different voice actors then they normally do, I'm not sure people from either show are a part of SAG-AFTRA.

Edited by Kaiseror on Feb 23rd 2020 at 8:13:45 AM

It's either that or Hasbro just decided that the non-union voice talent was cheaper (and good) enough that they felt that the LA union voice pool wasn't worth using anymore.

Yeah, feels less like a union dispute and more like cost-cutting.

At a certain point there is also an exhaustion factor for the actors themselves, there are a few times where Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime and Kevin Conroy as Batman were just not as strong as they normally are. Bringing in new blood into those roles can be a good thing.

They have been at it for decades now & yeah they aren’t spring chickens anymore.

It’s kinda a necessity to find new voices.

I find it neat that Jason Momocha is playing Megatron again in the War for Cybertron Netflix series. He had played the character in the Prime Wars (and was, I think, the only actor to stay consistent between the three shows).

That being said, I don't really have that much maintained interest in the Netflix series. Might just be general apathy toward the G1-style designs or the Darker and Edgier tone (the trailer feels really generic in that regard).

It probably doesn't help that I feel Rooster Teeth (the co-producers of the series) are much better at comedy occasionally intermingled with serious moments, with an emphasis on characterization-based humor. Not that I expect the series to be completely serious all the way through (there needs to be a little levity), but eh.

Granted, their last serious work I tried to watch was RWBY in its earlier seasons, but it didn't really hook me despite my fondness for Fairy Tales and their motifs.

Regarding the fact that Cyberverse is wrapping up only after 3 seasons, anyone want to comment (or rant) on that "3 season curse" topic?

Well, it's not like Cyberverse was cut short.

I mean Season 2 was pretty much the entire Earth conflict wrapped up at the very end. And everything else was about going back to Cybertron and restoring Cybertron and protecting Cybertron from harm.

Really, Cyberverse makes me wish for humans to return. They really gave life to the stories and characters of the Transformers.

Heh that is a hilarious statement & I don't mean that mockingly just you know the irony of it.

I still need to catch up but it is weird how humans are basically nonexistent despite the war being fought on their planet nor do any of the bots interacting or exploring Earth even if they are in a war.

Edited by slimcoder on Feb 28th 2020 at 1:51:04 AM

So does this mean Japan was right about how the story needs humans in it?

Beast Wars says no.

I think there is a certain disconnect when you pare the story down to just Autobots vs. Decepticons. Including humans in the mix only makes the Autobots more heroic and the Decepticons more villainous, leaving them out kind of shines a spotlight on the fact it isn't particularly deep sci-fi. And you can't say the Alien Invasion aspect of the story isn't rooted into the franchise.

Beast Wars benefited immensely from its rather small, intimate cast. In comparison, how many people are in Cyberverse?

Edited by Beatman1 on Feb 28th 2020 at 11:21:44 AM

Cyberverse has well over 20 characters.

It has one of the largest casts among the shows.

The original cartoon had 20+ characters in their first season. It's much larger when you account all the additions from later on in the series.

Beast Wars is a different beast.

It definitely didn't need humans and they had no place there.

but I do agree that a series on contemporary earth with no puny fleshlings is kinda weird.

It's more of the fact that humans emphasize the fact they are on an alien planet that they have adapt to as well as giving a sense of scale for these robots.

Beast Wars didn't have humans but they did have proto-humans and regular wildlife that reminds you that these are robots disguising themselves in a different world.

Earth just feels utterly lifeless without humans for the Transformers to interact with.

Honestly, one idea I like is when the Bots and Cons use different Alternate forms.

Like, the Autobots take vehicle forms to blend in, while the Decepticons take the form of beasts of all types (predators, extinct animals like dinosaurs, and mythical beasts like dragons) to intimidate.

I feel like it says a lot about the methods of the two groups.