Why I Love Transformers as a Franchise (and What I Hope for the Future)

If there's anything that says something about me, I'm a massive Transformers fan. I've just about seen every bit of fiction in existence, own a ton of toys, and have seen other fans' works on the series. It's a series that I've been excited for any new series or movie, even when things got a little less creative around recently. Unlike most other franchises that tend to have other incarnations that are easily forgettable, Transformers has tons of variation with its brand, and the only other series I can think of where other incarnations or variations exist prominently is Power Rangers. That being said, what makes me love Transformers so much? Well, I may have mentioned everything about my history as a fan, so why not sum it all up in one post? Let's.

The Massive Amount of Universes

While many things I love like superheroes have plenty of different arcs, TV shows, and movies, it kind of feels a little hard to catch up with most of their incarnations unless they're characters like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Hulk. That's something I'll mention when I tackle comic stuff, but Transformers has plenty of different incarnations to love, whether it's G1 or the Beast Era, the Unicron Trilogy or the movies, and Animated or the Aligned continuity. Truth is, it's great to have a series that's got a diverse history of stories, versions of characters, and unique takes on mythos to enjoy! Also great to have them feel refreshing whenever a new show or series shows up to take over the other, and I'll always be happy when different universes operate simultaneously.

The Many Characters to Witness

While some franchises can only allow me to know so much about their identities and origins, Transformers thankfully encourages me to see all the characters they have within their varying franchises, no matter how large or small their roles can be. It's also neat to see that they have unique body designs in general and even have stories new and old from time to time. It's great seeing different versions of Optimus Prime and Megatron clash, and I also love it when a sequel series expands on what was made while still feeling fresh in terms of story. It was neat seeing the Maximals go from being the victors of the Beast Wars to taking on the Vehicons to restore Cybertron. or seeing the Autobots go from heroes of Earth in DOTM to reclaiming their status as heroes in AOE. Still, I do wonder what lies ahead for the future of Transformers characters. Will we get new versions of familiar characters or will they all adhere to the Evergreen designs introduced in 2017-ish? We'll see, but I hope the characters can at least be exciting in terms of how they act individually.

Merchandise To Dig Into

Some may think that Transformers is merely a franchise that's about selling toys, but I think what sets Transformers apart from most merchandise is the quality. Yes, I do miss when older Transformers made 10 years ago had great engineering, larger sizes, and lower prices compared to now, but in general, it feels great to see what the toys are like in terms of how they represent a character or the engineering put into them. Obviously, the Generations-styled lines are what I'm digging into with the likes of Studio Series and War for Cybertron, but I'm also happy to contend with older releases, the occasional spinoff novelty, the rare Masterpiece, and seeing what comes out soon. I'm sure fans will want me to try out 3P stuff at some point, but there's generally something irreplaceable about the new Hasbro stuff, especially with G1 Legacy toys where they beat their older counterparts in terms of having better execution with their designs (Siege Ironhide compared to Universe Ironhide for instance).

Multiple mediums worth enjoying

What's great about the Transformers universes is having them on different platforms, and when they all pop up simultaneously. It was a trend that especially began in 2007 when there was a new movie, a new cartoon, and an ongoing comic series with their own identities, which is something I love seeing in Transformers as I got to be more aware of the other universes that were around. Even when a disappointing movie like The Last Knight, a mediocre cartoon like RID15, or a messy comic run like the Hasbro Universe may have each left a sour taste in my mouth, I at least appreciated that they all felt different in terms of aesthetics and characters. Compare that to 2018, where Bumblebee went full-on G1 nostalgia BS to appease an audience that hated them and the Cyberverse cartoon almost looking like a throwaway show had it not been for the actual animation combined for the characters involved.

Limitless Imagination

When Transformers isn't trying to aim for making every required-by-law reference to the G1 cartoon, it manages to bring in so many new ideas to the table that add beautifully to the mold used to make a new series. It's especially awesome to see what has come from the past explorations of the lore, whether it's obscure characters with cult-followings or evolutions to one particular character throughout the years. I also love seeing the line-ups for the two factions across different universes, especially when they have unique designs from one another as well as maintain a decent amount of characters to focus on. I love checking out how different familiar stories can be under different universes or circumstances, and hey, alternate universe takes on other Transformers franchises is not a bad thing in my eyes if they can manage a good story that's more than just "Hey, he's the opposite of who he is!"

With all that said, I'm sure this post may seem a little short and doesn't quite have the same sort of effort seen with the other posts I made, but I wanted to say that I'm kind of hoping Transformers doesn't maintain the same level of repetition that I feared would have happened in 2018. It's funny how the kid's show, Cyberverse, is the only piece of fiction that I'm currently interested in while WFC doesn't, and I've even lost interest in New IDW and worry about what's to come from the next Transformers movie. While I'm willing to step into any media based on what once came out and support the line, let's just say I won't be too happy if the next show feels more like filler compared to Cyberverse and if the movie and comics start to be pretty dull compared to even what already came out from each medium. I'm sure people at Hasbro won't care about what I've got to say, but all I'm saying is to make Transformers feel unique again.