Rise of The Beasts is now finishing up in theatres, the 7th instalment in the live-action Transformers Movie franchise and the 8th Transformers movie overall. More than any other part of Transformers, be it the comics or cartoons or toylines, the movies have divided fans. Many Transformers fans have grown up on the live action movies, or were first attracted to Transformers by it hitting the big screen. Others have lamented films with more humans than robots, convoluted and contradictory storylines, unrecognisable classic characters and even coined the term ‘Bayverse’ – a derogatory term to refer to this part of the franchise as more concerned with big explosions than any form of storytelling.
But love them or loathe them, most fans who has seen all the movies has in their head their own personal list of ‘best to worst’, judging the films by their own personal criteria.
Saw this in the cinema, and have watched the Blu Ray a total of twice, both times at the behest of someone else. This is a movie that ran for over 2 ½ hours and may have been better received if they had shaved a lot of that runtime off. Even upon multiple viewings the storyline jumps around too much to coherently follow – first they are hiding out in a junkyard, then they are racing through the streets of London, then they are undersea looking for a tomb and then finally up in the air fighting on broken bits of Cybertron. Throw in a few human storylines, most of which were superfluous, the appearance of Unicron’s horns which were never properly investigated, and Merlin to boot and you had too much going on to properly sit back and enjoy.
The movie did have some positives going for it. The reemergence of Barricade, Welker finally voicing Megatron, Optimus Prime becoming Nemesis Prime and having a smackdown with Bumblebee, finding out what happened to Cybertron after TF3 etc. Also a few good battle scenes; Crosshairs jumping from the back of a stolen Con flyer, deploying parachutes and blasting enemies will always stick in my head as one of the best visuals of the entire series.
But in the end none of this could make up for a French-sounding Hot Rod, Marky-Mark removing his shirt for no reason, Combiners that seemed to flow together instead of actually transforming and a plotline that left you going ‘huh?’.
If only the movie had been as awesome as the toyline!
I feel part of the reason this movie is so disliked by much of the Fandom is that it seemed such a letdown after the relatively well received first movie, and many feared such a sequel would put an end to the live action Transformer flicks altogether. Bay blamed much of the movies faults on the writers strike. Since another strike is currently occuring lets hope it doesn’t adversely affect next years animated Transformers One movie
This was a movie made for 13 year old boys. Considering its Transformers perhaps that should not be too surprising. The crass humour was dialled up big time and for me (as someone who has avoided even learning about Kiss Players) the most cringeworthy thing to ever happen in all of Transformers was watching Wheelie hump Mikalya’s leg. Devastator having testicles, dogs humping other dogs, a fleshy tongue on the end of a metal tendril trying to lick Sam, a sidekick in his underwear demanding toilet paper, a stoned mother and Jetfire farting a parachute – the childish humour seemed to never end. Add to this… urgh… the Twins, the most racially insensitive thing in Transformers since Carbombiya, and this movie felt like it was written by Beavis & Butthead after they discovered pot.
Like TLK, this movie still had some good points. The introduction of The Matrix, the Original Primes, The Fallen and the Pretender concept were welcome parts of Transformers lore to be included into the live action universe. Soundwave becoming a Communications Satellite was a clever idea and him ejecting Ravage in order to infiltrate an installation was very cool. This is also where Soundwave got his tendrils, a concept carried over into TF3, Prime and RID15. The way Devestator combined was dramatically done, even if he subsequently only smashed bricks and sucked sand. Despite only being a byproduct of the movie, it is also worth noting that ROTF brought us one of the best and most expansive toylines of the live action franchise, indeed Bludgeon who wasn’t even in the movie receiving the best toy he has ever had!
But once again despite all the positives, too many negatives were contained in this film to overlook, and thus Revenge of the Fallen comes second last in the Transformers list of fav movies.
Number #6 – Age of Extinction
Grimlock on the big screen baby!
The previous two movies are widely regarded as the worst of the Transformer flicks so I doubt them coming in at numbers 7 & 8 will raise many eyebrows. Likewise I doubt this movie will cause a lot of contention by not being #1. Age of Extinction had a lot going for it, a new human cast (Shiah LeBouf having taken to wearing a paper bag on his head by this point), new robots whilst still retaining a few fan faves that survived the slaughter of DOTM, an interesting plotline and a cool bad guy. Yes, Lockdown (imported from the Animated universe) made a refreshing change; a bounty hunter not involved in the Autobot/Decepticon conflict who could turn his face into a sniper cannon. The Autobots on the run, hiding out from being hunted down by the government was also a nice change of pace from being teamed up with Lennox and his crew. Throw in a few Dinobots, an evil Fraiser and the old trope of Megatron being reborn as Galvatron and you’ve got a winner right?
Well… sorta. In a franchise that often let its movies run too long in order to fit in as many Michael Bay explosions as possible, this one was the longest coming in at a whopping 165 minutes! Even if you are enjoying yourself, that’s too damn long! By the time Lockdown’s ship was using its gravity weapon to suck up boats and building, simply to dump them down again, your average viewer was exhausted. Like TLK, it may have been better received if it had cut at least half an hour of superfluous material. The Dinobots were very cool, but seemed to be more monsters than Dino’s, whilst Hound had transformed from a nature lover to a rotund, gun-toting drill sergeant. The whole storyline of Tessa Yeager was just fricken creepy! All the skimpy outfits and sexual innuendos attached to a 17 year old girl dating a 20 year old was just…. bleegh! Don’t get me wrong, I like looking at pretty girls on a big screen as much as the next guy, but this just made you feel gross, especially that ‘Romeo & Juliet Law’ thing. The Lucas Flannery character stating ‘There goes a couple of dune bugs’ while he leers at other underage girls paled in comparison and that’s saying something. The other negative for die hard fans was Transformium (not to be confused with the fantastic Transformatorium) – we want to see robots cleverly turn into vehicles and back – turning into a bunch of pixels is just cheating.
This was a movie that had more positives than negatives, yet one cant help think that if Cade was bereft of children this movie would have been shorter and less creepy on the whole.
Number #5 – Dark of the Moon
Optimus, save me from another movie like ROTF!
Okey Dokey, now we are getting to the better stuff! DOTM (in my opinion, remember – these are just my opinions. But because they are mine they are fantastic!) brought Transformers back from the depths that ROTF sent it tumbling into, giving us an action-packed and interesting movie full of battling bots destroying everything in their path. No street fight with a dozen bots, no skirmish out in the desert in Qatar – this flick gave us huge battles where Chicago got ripped to shreds as the Bots and Cons went head to head! This movie had a coherent storyline that seemed to stay on track and kept the plot moving forward at a good pace. It was not frantic enough you lost the plot, nor slow enough you got bored. The humans were at least tolerable (for the most part) though that toilet scene was plain weird and Sam’s mother had gone from amusing to disturbing. Optimus having his trailer, the appearance of The Wreckers, buildings toppling over from some giant driller thingie – all pro’s. With the addition of Laserbeak becoming a pink version of Bee so he could kill some kids Dad and you’ve got yourself a bonifide action movie boys and girls!
Was the movie perfect? Oh my no, hence why it sits at No #5. Sam’s as big a loony as ever, jumping around with a Con-watch attached to his wrist. The Autobots are far more brutal than the Decepticons, examples being the Wreckers ripping an enemy limb from limb and Optimus killing both Megs AND Sentinel at the end of the movie, even as the latter asked for mercy. Shockwave is grossly under-utilized for such a major character, and lets all thank the powers that be that they decided to make Wheeljack named Que instead, because he looked like Einstein got reanimated as a robotic skeleton.
Quibbles aside, this was a pretty good movie and if nothing else, acted like TF:TM by killing off a lot of the old bots so we could enjoy some new ones the next time round.
Number #4 – Transformers
Off to finally see some live-action Transformers!
Now, to clarify, I actually like DOTM more than the 2007 Transformers movie. But credit where credit is due, this is the flick that brought the franchise into the world of live-action movies and was successful enough those movies are still being made 16 years later, so ya gotta give it some props.
Yes, this was the movie that had some sections of the fandom crying ‘Michael Bay raped my childhood’ – and what a stupid platitude that was. You still see social media groups today that have vowed after the first live-action movie to never watch another one, or have deemed anything not purely G1 as an abomination. To these people I say: once you’ve closed yourself off to anything new, then stagnate you will, and so will the franchise you apparently love so much.
For me nothing will ever quite match the magic I felt as I watched Blackout transform for the first time. And as for Optimus transforming from Truck to Robot – I had to put a hand over my mouth and stifle a little sob of joy. It may not have been G1 but here was the Transformers finally done in live-action, and they weren’t f’ing it up!
Oh the Geewunner in me decried a lot of the movies aesthetics. Megatron and Starscream were as ugly as sin, Ironhide and Ratchet were the wrong colours and so on. And that’s when they were actually on screen – for a lot of this movie you sat there wondering ‘When are the robots going to come back?’ For a movie called Transformers, they certainly seemed to take a back seat a lot of the time.
The humans? Well besides taking up too much screen time they weren’t too bad. Sam hadn’t gone insane yet and neither had his mother, her short performances being the comedic highlights of the film. Mikayla was quite a strong character for someone who the male audience was supposed to primarily drool over, and Lennox and his team did their best to not be simple jarheads, actually adding to the plot nicely.
So yes, this movie had a lot of faults, but for bringing Transformers into the mainstream and giving the franchise a gigantic shot in the arm which it still benefits from today, Transformers 2007 comes in at Number #4 for me.
This is the movie that so many die hard fans wish that Transformers 2007 had been. First we are treated to a scene with all the bots battling on Cybertron, and they look like themselves again! No weird colour schemes, no faces and bodies so mashed and distorted that once they move you cant tell what part of a bot you are looking at, all those aesthetic quibbles gone. Cybertron looks like Cybertron again too, its not some Hexagonal mesh covered in bots that are the same colour as its surface and it’s not in bits and pieces flying over the Earth either. It was all so beautiful it could bring a tear to the hardest Geewuners optic sensor.
Of course this did not last long and off to Earth they went, but not many of them. Yes, by only having Bumblebee, Shatter and Dropkick on Earth you got to see their characters actually develop, interact with humans, interact with each other – you know, actually act like characters in a movie instead of murderbots.
Charlie Watson remains to this day the most likeable human out of the entire movie franchise. You empathise with her woes and you celebrate her victories. She’s not going nuts, or trying to shag someone, or being overly heroic or sexualised or insane. You hate Tina Lark and laugh when Bumblebee smashes up her car, you root for Memo as he tries to step up to be a hero despite being scared shitless, and manages to show his romantic interest for Charlie without being sleazy.
And how much 80’s nostalgia could they pack in eh! The music, the aesthetics – all spot on. Bumblebee is a Volkswagen Beetle as we always wanted him to be and reprising his role as the sweet best friend of the central human rather than just bashing up Barricade a lot.
There is very little to fault with this movie. Oh sure, Blitzwing looked more like Starscream than the live-action Starscream ever did so the ‘changing bots beyond recognition’ concept from the Bayverse movies hadn’t completely disappeared. It was also confusing to many fans that this was billed as a prequel rather than a reboot, yet it contradicted so much that had come before, such as Bee hitting Earth in 1986 rather than having been around so long he had been battling Nazi’s.
This was a wonderful movie, with a lot of heart and fully deserves it’s place in the Top 3 Transformer movies of all time.
Yes, I have to give it to the latest instalment of the franchise, Rise of the Beasts has been the best live-action movie so far. With far less humans and far more Bots, new factions and – gasp – Unicron himself, we get a fantastic movie with Transformers banding together to save the world itself!
I love Bumblebee, I do. He’s a great character and my son’s favourite. However many of us were suffering from Bumblebee overload. Every movie, every cartoon, every toyline, everything from 2007 onwards he has been front and centre. And sure, it makes sense as he’s the posterbot for the franchise now. But enough was enough, so I was very happy to see Mirage step up to take his place and Bee to be sidelined for much of the adventure.
Was this the Mirage of old. Well, no. In fact when you first see his altmode you think ‘Jazz is back!’ It’s rather odd how much they made his vehicle look like Jazz, though they did give a holographic shout out to his old mode. His invisibility is gone, but his holographic powers from the original tech specs and the Netflicks cartoon are in evidence. For me he was a tad too cheery, a tad too immature and he was able to swap altmodes far too easy – he can have the bulk of a garbage truck but be as small as an exosuit? Transforming seems less special when you make it almost limitless.
Optimus is sounding old and weary. And who can blame him, Cullen is 82 now! The poor old bloke will be on his deathbed and still have a boom hanging over his head so he can voice Prime. One wonders if they cast Prime in the ‘concerned weary leader’ role just to take into account the voice actors age. That said, he still rocks it as he always does and he is respected and loved by beast and bot alike.
Scourge makes a passable bad guy, an amalgamation of his G1 and RID(01) incarnations, being a black truck with his Sweep minions (looking like Frenzy’s cousins). Battletrap is awesome in the battle scenes with those chains of his, it’s only Nightbird that doesn’t add much to the trio. The Maximals Optimus Primal and Airazor get a lot of dialogue and screentime, though fan favourites Cheetor & Rhinox do little indeed. Arcee seems a good mix, looking similar in bot mode to the Bumblebee movie and similar in altmode to her ROTF incarnation. Its just Wheeljack that got fans annoyed, and it turned out there was a lot of noise over a character that barely appeared. And like many fans, I’m remaining hopeful of a Stratosphere action figure.
And perhaps this is why this movie ranks for me as the highest of the live-action movies – I can spend all this time taking about the robot characters. Yes, they were finally characters with dialogue and weren’t one-dimensional killing machines, a precedent set in the Bumblebee movie that was thankfully followed on.
There were a couple of humans too of course, and it was nice to see there wasn’t a romantic/sexual story between them, a refreshing change. They weren’t annoying either. And whilst they got a lot of screen time, perhaps for the first time since the 80’s the robots were truly the stars of a Transformers movie.
And speaking of the 80’s, that leads us to…
Number #1 – The Transformers: The Movie
A movie so good I had to recreate it in action-figure form
C’mon, you all knew this was coming. TF:TM remains the high point for many of a franchise nearly 40 years old. Yes it was a glorified toy commercial. Yes it was designed to kill off as many old characters as possible so that Hasbro could flog the new toys. And yes, it sent many children out of the cinema in tears as they watched their beloved Optimus Prime die.
But it did SO MUCH. And it introduced SO MUCH! A slew of what is considered quintessential to Transformers got it’s start here. The Matrix of Leadership, Megatron becoming Galvatron, Junkions, Quintessons, Sharkticons, Optimus dying (to one day be resurrected) and so on. Hot Rod, Kup, Blurr, Arcee, Ultra Magnus, Cyclonus, Scourge – all these iconic characters got their start here. Not to mention Unicron, perhaps the biggest big bad to ever exist in pop fiction ever! Galactus drains the energy from planets, well our bad guy eats planets and swallows moons whole!
Now this isn’t to say the movie isn’t without flaw, there’s plenty. Two Cyclonus’, a miscoloured Rumble, Snarl appearing and disappearing randomly, characters that die showing up later etc. And though I loved it as a kid, the adult in me cringes a bit watching them having a dance off on Junkion. Hasbro was way too brutal with killing off fan favourite characters, though one could argue this is one of the things that makes the movie so memorable – this was a no-holds barred slaugherfest in places which set it apart from many of the other 80’s toy movies.
But damn, there is a reason they are STILL selling toys based directly on this movie 37 years later, its just too good! It had stellar cast of pop culture icons such as Lenoard Nimoy from Star Trek, Eric Idle from Monty Pythons and a song by Weird Al Yankovic, as well as other big name actors such as Orson Wells himself playing Unicron. It even managed to make Daniel and Wheelie not annoying (if only S3 of the cartoon had managed such a feat).
Space battles, motorcycle chases, Dinobots, Constructicons, a bad guy the size of a fricken world – it’s amazing they could fit all this into such a short movie. Throw in a soundtrack which is so 80’s it makes you want to run to the nearest music store to buy an electric guitar to learn such tasty licks, and you’ve got a movie that is still beloved nearly 4 decades later. Yes, The Transformers: The Movie sits at number #1 as the greatest Transformers movie of all time; it had both the touch and the power. Heck in spots it even dared to be stupid! And one suspects will retain its throne for many years to come, until Galvatron gives it a hint at any rate.
So how would you rate the 8 Transformers movies from worst to best? Similar to myself or completely differently? Pop your list in the comments section below!
For several years we have been doing Transformer Fan interviews with different Aussie collectors.
Well as the Big Angry Trev Blog grows, the borders of our great brown land are no longer big enough to contain it! So with our first internationalinterview, coming all the way from Malaysia, we have Transformer Collector David Lee, giving us the low down on his favorite hobby.
Name and/or nicknames:
David Lee / Sifu-David
Family:
Divorced, Mom, Dad and Sister all intact
Career:
Once an Accounts person but now a full time tertiary educator and the Head of Academic of a local Malaysian private University College.
How would you rate yourself on a C scale, C10 being MISB Mint perfection, to the lowest C1 ‘junker not worth it even for parts’?
I’d rate myself a solid C7, not too shabby, not too shambled.
Fan/Collector since (year)?:
1987 or 1987 when I was a kid, my late grandmother introduced me to Powermaster Optimus Prime and here I am with my collection.
Transformers Allegiance, if you had one?
I feel the Autobot cause is more for me as I always felt Freedom is the Right of all Sentient Beings.
Your Techspec motto if you had one?
“Between Logic and Emotions, nothing in between exists”
What existing, official Transformers character best describes you?
I would say it be Hot Rodimus / Rodimus Prime. As a leader at work, I always feel the doubt of my own abilities to lead and to bring a better future to the team.
Which special ability of any Transformers character would you want to have for yourself?
I would personally like the ability to teleport/warp like Skywarp as there are places I need to reach which I can’t sometimes.
What drew you to Transformers, making you become a fan/collector?
My late grandmother did. She introduced me to something which is for boys and said these robots seem to be a very good fit for a little boy at my age of 3 to 4.
Do you think you will collect Transformers until you die?
Collect and keep them yes. But keep on buying, maybe not. I just have a specific wishlist to complete. Once it’s up, it’s done.
Do people outside of the hobby know you collect TFs (like at work/school)?
Yes, people do know and they do have very much negative things to say about it.
Were your family/parents supportive of collecting toys or did you have to hide your passion from them and friends?
All my friends and family know about my collecting toys. At first my parents were kind of against it as it eats up space but as I got my own place, I got to do what I like, stock up more toys.
What does your partner think of your hobby?
My ex-wife was kind of on the fence on this. It made me famous in the local toy scene so she was riding along that fame, else, she did not like the toys clogging the house.
Have you attended any fan-meets, Fairs, Conventions, Special Events?
Many but not many Transformers related. Recently I participated to display some cool Armada Era Transformers at a local RoboCon.
Any creative endeavours with Transformers (drawing, writing, customising, etc)?
I did have a story board in my head on a specific Transformers story culminating all Transformers series from G1 to Cybertron (my favourite list) and how ONE story can connect TILL ALL.
Favourite series/era/year, and why?
Super God Masterforce 1988. The first series that I was introduced on TV when the infamous Star TV dub came on air. I was mesmerised by how powerful Powermaster Optimus Prime (God Ginrai) was and how he single handedly defeated Black Zarak.
Collect any comics?
Nope, none.
Favourite Comic issue/story, and why?
I never really read them but I did the 1991 or 1992 Transformers Annual which was a hard cover compilation. I like the story on how Carnivac actually turned against the Decepticons and not liking the cause.
Favourite Cartoon episode/story, and why?
If I were to choose, I will go for Super God Masterforce’s Ep 15 The Birth of Super Ginrai. That was the episode that first saw Ginrai becoming a Super Robot, something that not many Transformers could do at that time.
Favourite Character, and why?
Ginrai. The human + the robot. Although he lacks in leadership and judgement, he covers up with compassion and care towards his subordinates like how he risked his life saving Go Shuta when he was lured into the Decepticon sea base.
Sexiest Transformers (robot) Character?
I’d say Arcee. The only robot that is definitely sexy.
Which Transformers character would you want to exist for real?
I’d like to see a Star Saber in real life and see how a plane of such mass can work.
Approx TFs toy collection count (or give a range like 200s, 300s, 2000s etc):
Probably close to 300s I think.
Sealed collector or out-of-packaging collector?
PLAYER. I’d like to pose my Transformers out of their plastic / cardboard graves.
How much do you think you’ve spent on your collecting habit?
Probably close to US$5,000?
Any rare/expensive figures in your collection?
I have a G1 Refurbished Complete Black Zarak. That is the rarest and most expensive piece in my collection.
What interesting Licensed Merchandise items do you have?
I do have a Bumbleebee pillow from Universal Studios Singapore.
First Transformers toy?
G1 Powermaster Optimus Prime which is still around this day.
One toy you most want?
Takara Micron Legends Convoy Final Battle version set aka the Japanese version of the Powerlinx Optimus Prime from Armada.
The centrepiece/favourite toy in your collection at the moment (and why)?
LG custom repainted Fire Guts God Ginrai done up in pure Orangey goodness.
Favourite toy in your early years of collecting?
It will have to be the Energon Prime with Energon Omega Supreme.
Worst toy(s) ever in your opinion?
I would have to say the G1 Duocons. They look funny, so off proportions and they don’t really have arms.
Toy(s) that were most disappointing when you got them?
LG35 Super Ginrai. My first official Transformers after a long hiatus of not buying Transformers and my God, it sucks. The legs are wobbly, some joints are loose, so many problems. I don’t know where criticisms should start.
Thoughts on gimmick and non-convertible Transformers toys?
I’d say some gimmicky stuffs like Minicons from Armada are pretty nice and the Cyber Keys from Cybertron are very neat. However, I do stand my point on non-transforming Transformers being not Transformers at all.
Which single TFs toy should every fan own?
A WFC / Earthrise Optimus Prime. That is the closest to a G1 Optimus Prime you can get.
Which Transformers toy/product would you give as a wedding present?
POTP Optimus Prime. To signify the young lad (Orion Pax) will now slowly evolve into a full grown man (Optimus Prime).
Many thanks to David for sharing his hobby with us. Got any follow up questions for him and his fantastic Transformers collection? Pop it in the comments section below!
It’s been over two years since the last installment, but we have another entry in the ever popular Transformer Fan Interviews! In this latest interview with Aussie TF collectors we are talking to Michael Vella, a young bloke who in recent years has become well known to many fans of Transformers down under.
Name and/or nicknames:
Michael Vella but I also go by Tha_Phantom online.
Family?
Married to my hobby:
What a breathtaking life partner he has!
Career?
I rearrange things out of order they happened so that they make sense. What I’m trying to say is that I do video editing for a living.
Website/Fan-pages?
I help admin a Facebook group called Transformers Down Under with fellow collectors Ben Keenan, Adam Templeton and Justin Masaru.
How would you rate yourself on a C scale, C10 being MISB Mint perfection, to the lowest C1 ‘junker not worth it even for parts’?
Probably a C6. Acceptable at a glance, but definitely some many issues present…
Do you accept into your life Big Angry Trev as your toy collecting savior and the Alpha (Trion) & Omega (Supreme) of all things?
Yes.
The admiration is palphable
Fan/Collector since (year)?
I started getting into collecting and watching Transformers around 1999. I know I was aware of Transformers earlier than that, though. They’ve sort of always been around because of my older brother being a fan. If memory serves correctly, 2005 is the only year since 1999 that I didn’t purchase at least one Transformer. I’ve taken a step back from collecting at certain times here and there, but ever since Combiner Wars I’ve been constantly buying and haven’t slowed down.
Transformers Allegiance, if you had one?
Maximal, because who doesn’t want to yell “maximise” as they transform?
Your Techspec motto if you had one?
“Prime’s death was an inside job.”
What existing, official Transformers character best describes you?
Probably Starscream. Always ambitious, but never getting there.
Which special ability of any Transformers character would you want to have for yourself?
Skywarp’s teleporting sure would come in handy.
What drew you to Transformers, making you become a fan/collector?
I think it’s the obvious aspect that you get two (or sometimes more) toys in one. I love that each toy is a unique experience and they have covered so many different alt modes now – especially since Bot Bots! I quite often will buy a figure based on the alt mode if I don’t already have a connection to the character and quite often the alt mode is why I will pay attention to a character.
Do you think you will collect Transformers until you die?
Yes, definitely. There’s always something to add or replace in the display. It’s never finished.
Do people outside of the hobby know you collect TFs (like at work/school)?
Most people I interact with do know I collect. I don’t try to hide it but I also don’t go out of my way to bring it up unless it’s somehow relevant.
Were your family/parents supportive of collecting toys or did you have to hide your passion from them and friends?
There was a bit of disapproval in my teenage years but now everyone in my family has accepted that’s what I do. I think they also like seeing that I’ve made a lot of new friends because of it since joining the online fandom.
Have you attended any fan-meets, Fairs, Conventions, Special Events?
Yes, I’ve not only attended but organised plenty of Sydney and even Melbourne fan meets over the years and helped run Transformer-related stands at a couple of Supernovas. As far as special events go, I was there for the POTP reveal at Hasbro Australia headquarters in 2017. I also contributed some of my own figures to the More Than Meets The Eye exhibition at Kings Comics earlier this year and I most recently was at the Sydney premiere of the Rise Of The Beasts film thanks to Hasbro Australia!
Any creative endeavours with Transformers (drawing, writing, customising, etc)?
I’ve mildly dabbled with customisation, but nothing worth showing off. I usually get someone else to do it.
Favourite series/era/year, and why?
G1 era for sure. Those characters and designs always stuck with me from watching the cartoon, even though I grew up at a time when Beast Machines, RID and Armada toys were on shelves. As a kid I would often pretend that the current toys of the time were those G1 characters if they vaguely resembled them in some way! The vintage G1 toys have a such unique charm to them as well, despite the lack of articulation. So I’m thankful to be a part of online communities where I can back-collect them and learn more about the different variants and such.
Favourite Cartoon episode/story, and why?
My favourite cartoon episode is War Dawn from G1. I felt it had a good message and it was really cool to see the origin of Optimus Prime.
Which Transformers character would you want to exist for real?
G1 Jazz.
Approx TFs toy collection count (or give a range like 200s, 300s, 2000s etc):
Currently at around 1200.
Sealed collector or out-of-packaging collector?
Out of packaging for the most part. I am the type of person who has to transform everything at least once. I do have some sealed items, but in most cases those are doubles or variants of loose figures I have, because curiosity would get the better of me otherwise.
How much do you think you’ve spent on your collecting habit?
I wouldn’t be able to guess, but it’d be an insane amount.
Any rare/expensive figures in your collection?
Yeah, I’ve always had a focus on the rarer items so I won’t go through them all. Some highlights would be a set of MOSC G2 Stunticon limbs, G1 Battle Gaia, a couple of test shots/prototypes etc.
What interesting Licensed Merchandise items do you have?
An employee-only Happy Holidays RPM Bumblebee and 5/6 colour variants of the 1985 McDonalds Bumblebee toys (these toys were released only in a test market in the US).
First Transformers toy?
The first Transformers I ever bought were Beast Wars Scarem and Air Hammer at the same time with some confirmation money.
One toy you most want?
A Powered Convoy DX set, but realistically that’s never going to happen and it’s not technically a Transformer anyway. My current Transformer grail is a lucky draw Armada Prime, which I mostly want for the Sparkplug as I have all of his other colour variants. Sparkplug was a very special toy to me as a kid because of the obvious similarities to Bumblebee.
The centrepiece/favourite toy in your collection at the moment (and why)?
Probably my proudest acquisition would be my Diaclone red Mirage, but again that’s not technically a Transformer. So let’s go with my 1991 reissue Bumblebee as it was the first Bumblebee I ever got and I will never part with it even if I got out of collecting.
Favourite toy in your early years of collecting?
I can remember being so over the moon when I got Beast Machines Jetstorm and that is a big part of why I got so into collecting Transformers as a kid despite the lack of G1 on the shelves at the time. The metallic deco and overall aesthetic just grabbed me.
Worst toy(s) ever in your opinion?
Not that I owned them, but I got to mess with a few of the first year Cyberversetoys and they were pretty bad especially for the price. Thankfully the line improved after that.
Toy(s) that were most disappointing when you got them?
It’s not something I tend to think about a lot, but Earthrise Bluestreak disappointed me so much so that I reverted back to the Siege version. Titanium War Within Optimus didn’t impress me much either because of the poorly thought out use of die cast.
Thoughts on gimmick and non-convertible Transformers toys?
I think that we as fans (but more so Hasbro) often forget that the most important gimmick for a Transformer should be that it converts from one thing to another, so generally I don’t care for other gimmicks that get in the way of that. I also have very little time for non-converting toys for that reason too, since that downgrades Transformers to being just like any other toyline. All that said, I do have exceptions to this rule. Especially from the 1987 G1 year as a few of those gimmicks were pretty cool.
Which single TFs toy should every fan own?
G1 Bumblebee! Such a timeless conversion that I’ll never get tired of and it’s easy to carry around with no accessories to lose. I may be a tad biased there, though.
Which Transformers toy/product would you give as a wedding present?
Probably some Transformer themed cufflinks or a watch.
Do you collect other toys?
I do have interests in other toylines and collectables, but none come close to the extent of my Transformers collecting. My non-Transformer interests are Digimon cards and tamagotchis, Beyblades, McDonalds toys, Power Rangers, Star Wars, Tazos and DBZ anime cels.
What is your favourite TF themed post on this website?
I remember seeing your posts on TCCA when I was fairly new to the online community. Because of that, I already knew who you were when we met in person for the first time at thePOTP reveal.
Many thanks to Michael for his excellent interview. Got any more questions for Mr. Vella? Pop them into the comments section below!
Rise of the Beasts, the highly anticipated seventh live action Transformers movie, officially hit cinemas around the world on Friday the 9th of June, 2023 (June 22 in Australia).
A June 22 release for the rest of Australia, but a few of us lucky ducks didn’t have to wait that long
However, as befits a multi-million dollar movie of a beloved toy franchise, Paramount and Hasbro held a Special Preview Screening on Thursday the 8th, and for those notables lucky enough to receive an invitation, what an event it was!
If you are going to see a movie, do it in style!
Here in Sydney Australia, the event was held at the Hoyts Entertainment Quarter, and much excitement was in the air. One could attribute part of this excitement to the fact that due to international date lines, it was the 8th here in Australia before the majority of the world, making this one of the first ever showings of the movie!
Love getting invitied to these special events – thanks Hasbro and Paramount!
The attendee’s were made up of executives from both Hasbro and Paramount, professional movie reviewers and various celebrities such as actors, social media influencers and even cosplayers. Naturally everyone’s favouriteradio star and blogger Big Angry Trev was on hand, much to the excitement of the crowds! Photographers snapped pictures and a film crew was on hand to interview guests.
There were even some extra special guests in the form of some of the movie cast themselves – Bumblebee and Mirage decided to come along to grace their fans with their presence and pose for pics.
MirageBumblebee
Over the course of the year we have seen many Transformers events here in Sydney, such as the Beasts Base Camp at Taronga Park Zoo, and the More than Meets the Eye Exhibition at Kings Comics. What was wonderful to see with all these events, were not only the usual cream of society invited, but also notable members of the Australian Transformers Fandom.
Big Angry Trev & Miguel Maestre at the Beasts Base Camp
In attendance for this Special Preview Screening event were Transformer Exhibitors such as Lisamaree Chiu, Ben Keenan and Michael Vella and Transformer Superfans such as Trent Munn and Dallas Roderick. Yes, the royalty of the Aussie fandom were on hand to strut their stuff and I know all were appreciative of how Hasbro and Paramount have included the fandom in this years movie festivities.
Big Angry Trev and his trusty sidekick Orion posing for photo’s with Superfans Dallas & Trent
Free soft drinks and popcorn was on offer for all attendee’s as they entered the theatre, where individual recliner seats, soft and plush, were on offer to cradle every buttock. And for the very crème de la crème of the attendee’s, Hasbro reserved some very special seats dead centre of the theatre for the optimum viewing experience.
What’s better than attending an exclusive event? Getting VIP seating at the exclusive event!
These Special Preview Screenings were not only held in Sydney, but also Brisbane and Melbourne, making it not only a regional but national event!
The Brisbane event, photo courtesy of M.K Griffin of OzformersThe Melbourne event, courtesy of Jason Murray of TCCA
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts turned out to be a fantastic movie, earning a well deserved round of applause from an appreciative audience. I heartily recommend everyone get out themselves out there to watch this fun and entertaining flick.
Sadly, this event was likely the last event for the Transformers social season this year. Lets hope that the powers that be make the next highly anticipated instalment just as fun!
Were you one of the favoured few to get to attend one of these Special Preview Screening Events? Lets us know in the comments section below!
On Thursday the 8th of June, here in Australia, some of us lucky few were chosen to attend a Special Preview Screening of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
Love getting invitied to these special events – thanks Hasbro and Paramount!
The lads Mikey and Clinton from the Toy Reel channel were invited along to do a pre-movie taping, discussing the potentials of the new film as well as interviewing some of the special guests attending. This included professional film reviewer David Quinn, as well as fans Wes and Kelvin.
And naturally, if they are interviewing people they weren’t going to miss out on that master of all things Transformers, the curator of the world famous Transformatorium, Big Angry Trev himself!
I’m here, and I’m fabulous!
So enjoy this discussion from the lads from Toy Reel and their 4 interviewee’s (if you want to be naughty and watch the bit with me first, its at the 8.20 mark 😉)
Don’t forget to check out all the other video’s on the Toy Reel YouTube channel, and give them a like and subscribe while you are there 😊
The Transformatorium, my personal collectors shed with over 5000 pieces of Transformers merchandise, was featured in the Mudgee Guardian Newspaper last month.
Something that was a bit of a laugh was when I went to pick up a copy of the newspaper, the guys in the newsagents recognised me from the front page and had me sign a bunch of copies.
Signing autographs: gotta keep the public happy
For those readers who are not local to our region, and therefore unlikely to have an online subscription to the newspaper or have picked up a physical copy, please find a roughly accurate transcript of the interview below, as originally written by Mudgee Guardian Editor Benjamin Palmer.
Inside a relatively nondescript shed 40 minutes from Mudgee lives one of the largest collections of Transformers figures and merchandise in the world.
The collection is owned by ‘Big Angry Trev’ who has spent nearly his entire life amassing a seriously impressive collection of more than 5000 pieces of Transformers paraphernalia from its inception in 1984 to present.
The Mudgee Guardian was invited to Trevor’s purpose-built shed that he has dubbed the ‘Transformatorium’ to view the collection and talk to Trevor about his passion for the shiny shapeshifters.
Trevor was seven years old when he received his first Transformers figurine, a generation one Decepticon named Dirge that transforms into a jet. Trevor, as he put it because his son was in the room, ‘lost his poop’, and the love for Transformers has not waned in the nearly 40 years since.
“It was just something new and interesting I hadn’t seen before, it wasn’t the usual superheroes flying around with their capes with their underpants on outside. It seemed to have everything,” he said.
“If you liked robots, there’s robots. If you liked cars, if you liked planes, it had all of that. If you liked dinosaurs it has giant robot dinosaurs – so it really captured my imagination from the beginning.”
Upon entering the Transformatorium it is hard not to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of items housed inside the shed which sits adjacent to the family home.
You’re greeted with floor-to-ceiling views of Trevor’s collection which includes more than 4000 individual figures of all sizes and rarities from all generations as well as more than 1000 pieces of merchandise like t-shirts, DVDs, video games, cushions and even a floor mat.
Photo courtesy of Mudgee Guardian Website
Trevor spent his time during COVID lockdown fitting out the interior with enough shelving to display the collection, which continues to grow.
“This is one of the largest collections in the world. I hadn’t intended to reach this [point] – it was more I just really enjoyed it and it was a fun, harmless hobby and it seemed to interest other people.
“People would pass on their kid’s older toys or they’d pass on their old toys from when they were kids themselves…,” he said.
“I just kept collecting and they kept bringing out new versions of classic characters and great new characters, then they started making new cartoons and live-action movies and it just became a hobby that I thought was dead but now is suddenly alive and brimming once again.”
Trevor’s collection and his prolific online presence mean he is well-known among not only the Transformers community but has also attracted the attention of Hasbro and Paramount, the owners of the franchise and the publisher of the Transformers films respectively.
“There’s been a lot of promotional events around the release of the latest film,” Trevor said.
“I got invited to do the Beasts Base Camp at Taronga Zoo, after [the company] wanted some representatives of the fandom. Also theMore than Meets the Eye Exhibition. It’s been very gratifying to be invited to take part in these events.”
“It’s a bit of fun. My son Orion is a big Transformers fan too so he usually comes to these events with me.”
Photo courtesy of the Mudgee Guardian website
Trevor’s 10-year-old son Orion, who sported a Transformers shirt and pants himself on the day of the tour, said he is as much of a fan as his dad.
“They [Transformers] all look really cool and the cartoons are really good,” Orion said.
“My favourite is the Bumblebee movie, it’s really good. [And I like] Bumblebee, both old and new.”
According to the Guiness Book of World Records online, the largest collection of Transformers memorabilia consists of 5,150 items, and was achieved by AJ Ard in the USA on 5 September 2022. Trevor hinted that he might have a go at besting that record one day.
“It is getting crowded but we’re not out of room just yet,” he laughed.
Photo courtesy of the Mudgee Guardian Website
With visitors travelling to the from as far away as Sydney to view the collection, Trevor embraces all corners of the fandom and distilled his love for the franchise, while also lamenting the sometimes toxic online discourse around it.
“I do it for the love of it. It’s toy robots, it’s supposed to be fun,” he said.
“If you’re not having fun what’s the point?”
The Transformatorium is not open to the public, however anyone who wants to get in touch for a tour or would like to donate any Transformers items can get in touch via the Big Angry Trev’s Transformatorium page on Facebook or the Big Angry Trev website.
There is only about a month to go until the new Transformers Rise of the Beasts film hits theatres and the hype is building, with everything from toy lines hitting shelves to art exhibitions taking place to celebrate the upcoming flick.
However, it wouldn’t be a Transformers movie without there being something contentious to make the fandom all scream at each other, and in this case it’s the design of Wheeljack.
“Did I do that?’
Wheeljack, the very first Transformer to ever hit screen, was the Autobots mad-scientist, always coming up with whacky inventions and weapons that more often than not backfired. This combined with his distinctive headscuplt, easy-going personality and slick Lancia Stratos Turbo race car alt-mode meant that he was a fan favourite and one of the better known Transformer characters.
Wheeljack nearly appeared in the Dark of the Moon Transformers movie, but the decision was made at the last second to call the character ‘Que’ instead, as an homage to James Bond’s gadget guy. Still, this decision was made so late that some toys and in the associated video game the character was still called Wheeljack.
‘Hey, it could be worse – I could look like this in the new movie!’
Wheeljack made his proper live-movie appearance in the Bumblebee Movie. Whilst he had but a single line, he could be seen battling on Cybertron at the start of the flick and was instantly recognisable. Despite being on screen for a very short amount of time, he received a very cool Studio Series figure which had an altmode of a Cybertronian HoverCar, instead of the Cybertronian HoverVan mode he had in the G1 cartoon.
In the upcoming Rise of the Beasts movie, a sequel to the Bumblebee flick, Wheeljack has completely changed from the previous film, with a completely different robot mode and altmode to any he has sported before. Some fans are really not happy, with other fans really not happy that those fans are not happy.
So where does my opinion lie in all this? Well let me tell you:
“Don’t be a slave to G1, don’t be a sook – characters change!”
This is the argument that a lot of fans are giving to those that don’t like the look of the new Wheeljack. And I think they’ve got the argument slightly wrong. I believe it’s not that people are annoyed that this incarnation of Wheeljack in not a carbon copy of his G1 incarnation, it’s that he’s not really recognisable as Wheeljack at all.
VW fans however are gonna be psyched!
People, for the most part unless they are the most staunch geewunners (which do sadly exist), don’t mind some changes to characters, as long as they retain some key essence of the original. It keeps the characters fresh and interesting. Fans had no issue with Wheeljack being a Wrecker with a rebellious personality in Prime (2010). Wheeljack having a country accent and a mouth in Cyberverse (2018) and the new Earthspark (2022) cartoon have also been received without complaint. Despite some changes these incarnations were still instantly recognisable as Wheeljack, due to either their physical appearance and/or personality. This incarnation doesn’t look, act or sound like Wheeljack (that we’ve seen thus far – who knows what may happen in the film). So I completely understand why some fans are going ‘Why not just make it a new character instead of completely changing an old one?’.
These WERE the droids you were hoping for
To use an example from a different pop-culture franchise – it’s like Batman; there are dozens of different iterations of Batman with varying costumes and personalities, but you can generally pick up a comic or see a movie and still go ‘yep – that’s Batman’.
All slightly different in looks and personality – but all still definetly Batman.
No one is demanding that every Batman look like Adam West, they just want it to still be recognisable as the character. If they did a comic where Batman was actually a 6’10” Slavic insurance-claims adjuster who lives in Brisbane, and at night throws rubber ducks at criminals whilst making poultry-puns, people would be like ‘WTF? That’s not Batman!’
If we were to use a Transformers character such as Grimlock, we see the pattern repeated. He is usually a grey Cybertronian T-Rex with a rebellious attitude. But we have seen different versions of him over the years. In the Alternators toyline he turned into a Ford Mustang, in Titanium a Cybertronian tank, in Rescue Bots Academy a Dino-cycle, in Age of Extinction a Gigantic Rex-Dragon. In the RID15 Cartoon he was back to being a Cybertronian T-Rex again, but now green with a teddy-bear like head and a goofy personality.
All slightly different in looks, personality and altmodes, but all still Grimlock.
Each of these differed greatly from the core G1 character, but there was still enough recognisable elements that you could look and go ‘yup – that’s Grimlock’.
‘There have been different Wheeljacks before – they reuse names all the time, get over it!’
Armada Wheeljack
Yes, lots of characters got their names reused in Beast Wars, then again in early 00’s in shows like RID & Armada, but those were generally exceptions where they just randomly used names in order to keep the trademark. Wheeljack in Armada was a bitter Autobot that swapped allegiance, and besides a car altmode had nothing to do with the original. Similarly Grimlock, whom we were discussing earlier, turned into a excavator in RID and had zero connection to the original character. So the precedents are there.
One of these Grim’s is not like the other ones…
That being said, Hasbro has taken a far more uniform approach to their characters in the modern era and, outside of the Movieverse, these aberrations have happened very little over the last 15 or so years.
So am I going to boycott the movie because Wheeljack is essentially unrecognisable? No – I’m still looking forward to it! And for all I know I might really like the character on the big screen and go out and buy the SS figure of him. But do I understand why some fans have a beef with how he is being portrayed – yes I do.
Causing more mixed feelings in fandom than a female Ghostbuster
So my 2-cents are: if you don’t like how you think the ROTB Wheeljack looks/acts/sounds – go watch the movie next month and see if he grows on you. Heck, he might be good enough that he earns a right to simply share the name, like G1 and Beast Wars Inferno do.
To those who have a problem with others disappointment in what the character looks like so far, give’em a break eh – it can be a bit heartbreaking to see a character you’ve loved for years changed beyond recognition for no obviously discernable reason. But yes, when you’ve read the 50th‘they’ve destroyed the character!’ rant, I can understand how your patience would wane.
For the past 6 weeks the fabulous More than Meets the Eye Exhibition has been on show at Kings Comics in Sydney. This has consisted of original Transformers artworks by recognized modern artists, as well as toy displays by prominent Australian collectors, showcasing Transformers merchandise from the past 25 years.
I was lucky enough to be invited to the VIP Opening Night of the exhibition and while there, along with Eddie Zammit – the curator of the exhibition, and Toy Exhibitor Lisamree Chiu, I was interviewed by the lads from Each To Their Own in their That Figures! series of videos. Check out their video below:
You can find more video’s by these talented guys at @EachToTheirOwn – make sure to check them out! And speaking of checking things out, make sure you get down to Kings Comics to see the Exhibition by Radio Velvet before it finishes up at the end of April!
The new Transformers: Rise of the Beasts movie is less than two months away, and figures are already turning up on shelves in anticipation of the latest instalment of the franchise.
When I attended the Beasts Base Camp experience at Taronga Zoo I was lucky enough to be given a gift bag by Hasbrothat contained, amongst other things, a Studio Series Airazor. Then when attending the MTMTE Exhibitionat Kings Comics my son was lucky enough to receive the same! So being the first foray for both of us into the new movies toyline, thought it only fitting that we give you our thoughts on the figure.
Robot Mode
Given that Airazor has not, as of the writing of this post, had her robot mode shown in any footage, it is hard to give a proper account of how screen accurate the figure is. It is certainly a nice looking figure, with an avian-like head, consistent colour-scheme, good proportions and decent articulation. The wings give a cape-like appearance and the missiles on the arms lend that combative look of an alien robot about to enter the fray. The face is not particularly feminine, but then very few Airazor figures in the past have had one either so one could say its true to form. The feet should be turned so that the smaller talons face the front, but I personally think she looks that bit cooler and more bestial with the larger facing forward.
Falcon Mode
The figure really shines here. A beautiful wingspan that can be adapted to a number of different configurations and poses. A sufficiently detailed head and claws really give that metallic-bird appearance, with this Airazor not having an organic outer form like previous iterations of the character. Looking from below she doesn’t look great, but then to be honest most real life birds don’t from that angle either (I raise ducksand chickens – trust me on this) so I personally find it forgivable. The only main detractor is that the outer wings unclip very easily. They can be clipped back on with similar ease so it’s a mild irritation at best.
Worth Getting?
Studio Series rarely lets us down in terms of screen-accurate & highly detailed figures, and has not disappointed once again. The figure boasts a lot of detail, though more detail in the Transformation would have been nice, you definitely don’t need the instructions for this gal. The figure shares much of its engineering with Kingdom Airazor so anyone who has that figure will know largely what to expect.
If you are into Beast Wars characters, or are looking to pick up toy representations of characters from the upcoming movie, then Studio Series Airazor fits the bill nicely and I welcome her as the first Maximal to enter my Studio Series collection.
Got something to say about this figure? Pop it in the comments section below!
