Transformers Prime - News & Speculation Thread

But that's just it. I don't collect things because the concepts are good, I collect them because the stories are good, and had IDW's G1 comics not starting sucking hard I'd be tempted, but I'm not. And Megatron was never said to be the original Megatron, he's just one of many iterations of the character. And the creators of Prime don't have to say anything bad, but to think this is anything but another job to them gives them far more credit than they deserve. And how in the heck can Prime look more G1 than Animated? Have you seen Bumblebee and Arcee? Or how about Megatron or Prime? 'Heavier G1 style influences' my butt. If the show's style's homaging anything, it's the movie franchise.

And con panels are never a good barometer for overall reception, especially when you've got those peppy press-cheerleaders hyping the hell out of it at the panel. The rather lukewarm online reception could have fooled me outside of people that will probably stop fawning once they get tired of Cullen and Welker. They're good, but they're not everything there is to Transformers.

Besides, like I said, trot out Cullen and all of a sudden even the crappiest thing is apparently gold to the fanboys. Not saying Prime will be complete crap, but you can't deny the bias.
 
I get that you are a hardcore fan of the Transformers: Animated era Sprocket. I also understand you wanted Animated to continue. Unfortunately that's not going to happen. I for one will give Prime a chance the same as I did Transformers: Animated which continually disappointed and underwhelmed me. But honestly when it comes to business, the reason Transformers has arguably been able to survive this long is because it's constantly reinventing itself every several years.

Is there a bias in favor of Cullen and Welker? Yup. For a lot of fans, G1 is their era and why they love Transformers. Cullen and Welker basically originated the roles for them. A big part of it is nostalgia. I for one was always a fan of the work Gary Chalk did as the character. Gary Chalk rarely gets acknowledged despite playing Optimus Primal for 78 episodes of Beast Wars/Machines and Optimus Prime in numerous other shows. And Chalk IMHO did a great job with the character for a long time that Cullen was never even associated with the role until the movies came out.

I've seen all the designs. And there is clearly a movie influence there yes, but I there was also a movie influence in the Animated designs as well. Megatron however has a toned down look from the movies. He has the buckethead design of his head back and he also has the arm cannon again which the movie design lacked.
 
I understand the realities of business, and I've accepted that Prime is going to be the next Transformers show for the next 3-5 years, but that doesn't mean I have to give up completely on ever seeing them revisit the Animated universe, no matter how impossible the likelihood of that is. You can accept reality while hoping for the unlikely to happen. That's what being a fanboy's all about. :)

Glad to see you like Chalk: Beast Wars being my gateway, I'm rather tired of how people keep fawning over the same two voice actors over and over and over. And of course, they're in for a rude awakening when no other character is voiced by their G1 equivalent. Hell, they might not even bother getting Corey Burton back again as Shockwave, wouldn't that be hilarious.

When your only example of movie influence in Animated is Megatron's Cybertronian mode, which only appeared in the first episode and never again, you're standing on flimsy ground there. Never mind that Animated Megatron has the bucket helmet, the G1-style fusion cannon, and hell, is an out-and-out homage to Return of Convoy's Super Megatron design. Compare that to that rather tiny, barely peeking out fusion cannon Prime's Megatron has, and if there's one thing we shouldn't even bother debating, it's style influence.
 
Actually Animated has been given it's second life. Animated Arcee sold so well the toyline is going to continue as a TRU exclusive line with two figures a wave and then apparently get picked up on a wave-by-wave basis, and if the resource books and comic continue to sell well we might see more book material. Animated might not return to cartoon form, but there are plenty of ways for fans to show support for other outlets.

Personally I'll give Prime a chance but I'm not all that optimistic. What's the point of getting attached to this season when movie 3 is probably going to roll around and get the show canceled? I'm kind of getting sick of things like that happen to this franchise. Reinventing itself is great, but there such a thing as overkill.
 
You...have some misconeptions there, gambit.

1) Animated has not gotten its second life, it's on life support. There are several toys they showcased at San Diego Comic Con 2009 that they are struggling to find a venue for. These aren't new figures we've been getting, they're ones we would have gotten in Target and Wal-Mart as well if Animated hadn't been prematurely ended, or did you not notice the cross-sell for Arcee and Ratchet on the back of Freeway Jazz and Electrostatic Soundwave? Among the ones still in limbo are Thundercracker, Mudblaster Bulkhead, Goldfire Grimlock, Blackout, Wingblade Optimus Prime, Hydrodive Bumblebee, Mercenary Swindle, Vortex Blurr, and Fugitive Waspinator. Odds are at least a few of the products I listed will never be released. Which is why I'm entering the lottery these days: If a miracle can't happen, I'll make my own damn miracle, someday.

2) Prime is planned to run 3-5 years. It will not end because of movie 3, because it won't have its own toyline. Rather, it exists to keep interest in Transformers high to strengthen it as an intellectual property. Unlike Animated, which was a Cartoon Network co-production, Prime is actually owned and controlled by Hasbro every step of the way. They created their own TV studio, Hasbro Studios, to have full creative control over their intellectual properties. The studio itself is basically Sony's old boy's action cartoon division from Jackie Chan Adventures, The Batman, Extreme Ghostbusters, Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, etc. Whether you end up loving or hating Prime, it'll be around until at least 2013 if not 2015.
 
Wait, are you serious? Because if this is true, this will probably make Prime the first American Transformers show ever to not have it's own toyline. What genius at Hasbro came up with this "brilliant" idea? :confused:
 
Perhaps I should have checked my writing: it might not have a toyline, but it will have toys. It will run for at least a year with no toys running alongside it, because between the movie line and Generations there simply isn't room for it, plus they're way behind on developing the show to get it done in time for it's October 10th premier. Prime's 'primary' goal is to promote the brand of Transformers, as Hasbro is moving beyond toys and like Marvel and DC, selling it's brands out as viable intellectual property with value.

Hasbro developers at Botcon already said they're developing toys for Prime Optimus Prime and Bulkhead (although they're only in the sketch design stage), so they'll get toys at some point. The real question is will they get their own toyline or will they be released in the current general 'Transformers' yellow/black box line? The latter option is looking more and more likely by the day.

Will Prime have toys? Signs point to absolutely. Will it have its own complete unique toyline like Animated and every other Transformers TV show before it did? That's a little more uncertain.
 
New designs for Bulkhead, Starscream, and a very different look for Soundwave. There are also character profiles up on the website mentioned in the link. In case you were wondering, yes, Bumblebee is mute again like in the movies.

Also, the story has been revealed:



Along with the voice cast:



Steve Blum also gave an example of what his take on Starscream will sound like at a recent convention.

With that burst of recent information, I think we should move this topic to the new Hub animation forum.
 
Hm, I'm not so sure about some of the decisions they've made with this show. Having Bumblebee as a mute probably won't do much to make him an interesting character, and I hate how they've seemed to have gone the usual "girl character is superior to all boy characters" route with Arcee. Plus, while I can't see the human character's profiles, their designs indicate that they'll be the typical three-man-band group we see in so many other products aimed at childreen: nerdy young kid, spunky teenage guy, and girly girl. I always liked how in Transfomers Animated, Sari kind of combined all those traits into one character, as well as a good dose of sincerity and a really interesting origin.

However, there are two things I am very pleased with. One is Bulkhead's new design: I've got to say, if they were trying to make him look tougher while still having plenty of charm, they've really suceeded. The second thing is the confirmination that Steve Blum is voicing a Transformer - and Starscream no less! While I'm not sure I care for Starscream's design, I have no doubt Steve will make him a really standout character on the show - perhaps even more so than Tom Kenny's Starscream was on Animated! :D

So, my feelings are overall mixed, but I haven't given up on the show yet. There's still a good chance this could be as good as Animated and Beast Wars, and if nothing else, then hopefully it will at least be a fun 22 minute diversion. :)
 
Wow, those are some badly-written bios. Here's hoping the toy bios are a little more substantial, 'cause these aren't just vague, they're downright poorly written, with poor sentence structure and everything.
 
I'm still trying to get over The Rock playing an Autobot.

Other than that, well, it looks like they've completely abandoned the characterizations from War for Cybertron. I dunno, I liked how the characters were in the game.
 
I'm surprised about The Rock voicing anyone in this show as well. After what happened in Why Did I Get Married Too, this is a big step since we've been used to seeing him beating the crud out of others.

While you may have liked the characterizations in War for Cybertron, the video game and this series will be two entirely different entities with no link with each other besides the characters and by the Transformers name only. That's what I think.
 
Forgive me, but I remember hearing this show was supposed to be a direct sequel to War for Cybertron. If they were two separate properties, that might actually be preferable, but that's what I remembered hearing (even if they had to retcon the prequel novel)
 
It seems to me as though they decided to make Bumblebee a mute because they can. Seriously, I don't think this is really necessary. To me, this might indicate a focus on showing off how "creative" the writers are in order to appease certain viewers, and less on actually telling a story. Of course, the final product will tell us for sure, but at this point it's not looking good. I hope this show will be its own thing, but at the same time, I don't want this show to become another DCAU in terms of writing. I came to watch a story about the Transformers, not another display of how dramatic and realistic the writing is in comparison to most "cartoon" shows. I know it's going to be dramatic and realistic, but like I said in the G.I. Joe Renegades discussion thread, I don't want this show to keep reminding me of that fact. Also, it seems that for Bumblebee's design, they just simply took his movie design, and modified it by adding an engine block, and are calling it an original Bumblebee design for the show. However, a reference to the movies is still a reference to the movies no matter how modified it might be.

Again however, one the show actually premieres, we'll know for sure what's going on. Also, I'm not trying to judge the show before it does premiere, I'm just saying that based on what I've seen in other dramatic animated shows, I'm hoping that the drama doesn't overtake the rest of the show.
 
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