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Random Rants, Transformatorium

Can the Transformers fandom just chill out a bit?

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Living in the bush I don’t get to see other Transformer fans very often.  I don’t get to pop over to a mate’s house to see his latest acquisitions.  I don’t attend meets, I don’t go to pop culture conventions, hell I don’t even get to visit toy stores.  So when it comes to talking to others about a shared hobby I have to rely almost solely on the internet.

But the way a large segment of the fandom has been going in the last few years, I find myself thinking more often than not why I bother.

The default expression of an online Transformers fan

I don’t know when this all started.  Maybe it was the live action Transformer movies.  Most people seemed to like, or at least tolerate, the first movie in 2007.  Those raising very vocal hatred for it being largely groups of GeeWunners who wanted it to look like the 1984 cartoon.

But then Revenge of the Fallen came out and a massive amount of the fandom started bitching, and it seems they have never stopped.  It’s been  years since a Transformers movie directed by Michael Bay (The Last Knight) has been released, and you still can’t surf a Transformers site without there being negative comments and memes threaded throughout screaming about how people hated them and it ‘raped their childhood’.  Now in 2024, it’s the same arguments and complaints about the new Transformers One trailer: “Why isn’t this part of the G1 cartoon universe?!  It’s a kick in the teeth to all the fans who carried the franchise for 40 years – Habro owes us!”  Fans treating it as a personal insult that an animated movie designed to sell children’s toys isn’t aimed soley at middle-aged men – the sense of entitlement is staggering.

‘I was created not for entertainment, but to piss off fans. Didn’t you know that?’

And it seems this negativity of the fandom has spread from the movies to encompass any and everything Transformers.  Be it comics, cartoons, toys – whatever.  If it’s toys it’s all nitpicking about release times, non screen accurate figures and online retailers.  If it’s the cartoons then it’s that the cartoon isn’t specifically aimed at demographic X – and if it IS aimed at demographic X then demographic Y kicks up a fuss.

When it’s about the comics people seem to get the most vocal of all (at least in years where a new movie hasn’t been released).  Pre the reboot at IDW it was all about the writers having an agenda and virtue signalling and what have you.  Now it’s about crossovers.  The amount of hatred on the internet about the My Little Pony crossover coming up has been frankly disgusting. Anyone who isn’t hating on the idea getting accused of being a homosexual or engaging in bestiality.  Grown men – grown men – talking about how they despise My Little Pony.  Why any grown man without a daughter has watched enough episodes to form such a strong opinion on a cartoon aimed at little girls is beyond me – but they must have watched it because they all seem to be experts on it and hate it.  Even one of the artists that did one of the front covers for the upcoming crossover comics has received enough abuse to comment about it publicly.  People abusing someone for doing their job and daring to draw a fictional horse on the same page as a fictional robot – way to make the fandom look good fellas.

‘You are destroying my franchise and deserve to die…. apparently’

Now bear in mind I don’t have a problem with people who have a genuine complaint.  If you’ve bought a figure that snapped the moment you tried to transform it, despite you being gentle and following the instructions precisely, then damn right you are valid in being pissed off about it.  Complain away and you will find a sympathetic ear in me.  You got ripped off by an ebay seller and your TR Trypticon turns out to be a pack of beach towels – yell to high heaven!  Preach brother!  And if you didn’t like a comic or cartoon or movie or toy, then I’ll happily read your opinion if you keep it civil, logical, factual and state your opinion once.

Like Insecticons, angry posts like to clone themselves over and over and over

But it’s the constant bitching I can’t hack anymore.  The people who didn’t like a movie and then years later are still writing post after post about how they hated it.  People talking about how much a toy or movie sucks before they have even been  released yet, like their opinion on something they have yet to personally experience makes it fact.  People acting like so-called experts when they know little more than someone who has just entered a toyshop for the first time.

And the bitching about nothing!  Sexuality in Transformers?  Seriously?  That is what brings people to boiling point?  People lost their shit when the first wrist-rest mouse pads were released, like the manufactures had made booby pads based on their mothers instead of fictional shape-shifting alien robots.  People scream abuse at each other over whether it is valid for Transformers to feel romantic affection for each other since they don’t breed.  Is such a thing really worth calling a stranger a ‘f**king c**t’ over?

‘Why does our love cause you such hate?’

So it’s sad to say I’m feeling pretty done right now.  I’m sick of clicking on a link or a FB post or a thread on a fansite to find out about some of the latest Transformer news and being confronted with a wall of vitriolic shit.  I’m sick of saying I like something and having a dozen people call me an idiot or a faggot or worse for daring to have an opinion different to theirs.  Sick of clicking to see if a toy is available only to see the people that got their toys and the people that didn’t, who ordered from the same online retailer, tearing each other a new one.

I know this kind of behaviour is not solely related to the Transformers fandom, it certainly happened in the Ghostbusters fandom with Frozen Empire.  Some days it seems it’s the whole internet in general.  Maybe I’m too old for the digital world.  Whenever I converse online I try to think about, if I said this to a bloke in the pub, would it earn me a punch in the face?  Because that was the reality I grew up with, with no internet and texting being easily accessible until I was in my 20’s. When you said something to someone you were saying it to their face.  But now we have people who have done nearly all of their socialization their whole lives online, and have grown up in a world where you can say whatever hateful shit you like to someone because chances are that person is on the other side of the planet and you will never have to face consequences for your actions.   Yes, the internet is getting too angry for even Big Angry Trev.

‘Can’t we all just peace out?’

Now people who live in GlassGas houses shouldn’t throw Cyberstones, and there are undoubtedly people out there that I have gotten into heated online arguments with over the years over very silly issues.  So I am guilty too.  But I pride myself that each year I get into less online fights, get into less pointless arguments and get better at cyber-walking away.  I’m not perfect but I’m getting better.  And maybe that it a goal we could all aim for – to improve our skill of walking away from the keyboard or smartphone when the blood begins to boil, and go play with our Technobots for a while.

So when I go home tonight, I won’t be surfing the big Transformer sites.  I’m going to try my best to practice what I’m preaching and be a chilled out fan.  I’m going to open up a bunch of new figures I just got and play with them with my son, as a reminder to myself that this hobby should be positive, should be fun, and in the end is about plastic toy robots.

 

Hey!  If you are a positive person who loves talking about all the things they LIKE about Transformers? Why not restore my faith and write something happy in the comments below!

 

Related Article:

Hard Times for Aussie Collectors

Fan Interviews & Art, Transformatorium

Hard Times for Aussie Collectors

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A few years ago we had a golden age for Australian collectors of… er… collectibles.

Ebay was growing exponentially, the Aussie Dollar was worth more than the US one, and not only were all the physical stores stocking a plethora of toys, but fledgling Aussie Toy Importers were opening businesses on the net, making it even easier to get those rare collectible toys from places such as Japan and America.

 Sadly it’s all now changed.

In the last couple of years many of the Aussie online toy importers have shut down or are under investigation.  The introduction of GST on all overseas purchases under a thousand dollars has made importing many toys too expensive – especially since you have to pay an extra 10% on the postage as well.   Any overseas companies such as the US branch of Amazon who don’t comply with the new GST laws are simply refusing to ship to Australia from this point on.  And now the biggest toy stores to find in this land – Toys’R’Us – are shutting their doors forever.

So whether it be in real life or online, avenue after avenue that was once available to your Aussie toy collector are disappearing.  The Golden Age is Over.

 To see how this is affecting your average collectibles buff, we talk to three toy collectors and find out their take on the current situation – Dallas, Darryl and Jason.

 

Question 1: What effect do you believe the application of GST by the Australian Government to all overseas purchases will have on your collecting?

Dallas

A lot of what I buy overseas is not readily available here. There are one or two importers who sometimes stock it but otherwise I will continue to buy from overseas. the only difference may be that I buy less stuff, but it will probably just mean I spend 10% more than I used to.

The secondary effect of this being places like Amazon.com no longer being available to me. I will be surprised if the exclusive items or super deals I used to occasionally find on there will be available through the Amazon Australia site.

To be ‘real’ my international purchasing really slowed down when the dollar dropped from 1.05US to 0.75 US. that’s a 30% price increase, another 10% hurts but it’s not the end of the world for something that I possibly can’t find anywhere else.

Darryl

Aside from having to pay a little more, I doubt it will deter me much.  I find myself having to import later waves of a line due to distribution rarely making it up my way so if I want a figure, I just have to lump it.

Jason

The only impact that the application of GST is going to have will be to increase the cost for obtaining any of the Transformers that I am currently collecting. Most of my spending on current collecting is purchased through Australian retailers so I am already paying GST and that cost is factored into my collecting. It is the items that do not receive an Australian release that are going to cost more.

Given that sites such as Amazon.com are no longer allowing sales to Australia for such items, it is going to cost a lot more to source these harder to find items from other overseas stores or pay significant amounts on postage to freight forwarding companies as well as the GST on top.

I understand that the point of the GST is to charge end users a flat tax across the board and that the purpose of applying it to low value goods is to create equality in trade between Australian retailers and overseas retailers, however the issue is that the Government has created for itself is a situation where they have reduced the possible supply/variety of goods into the country whilst relying wholly upon foreign entities to voluntarily remit GST. The compliance costs will be astounding and it will be interesting to see if any actual profit is generated for the economy from this or if there is simply more funds moving offshore.

 

Question 2: What effect (if any) has the behaviour and subsequent closure  of Australian-based online collecting stores such as PC Collectibles, TFI Downunder and MaynStream Merch had on the availability of collectible figures on a local level for you?

Dallas

I have a lot of money tied up with PC. They used to be great, I have received a lot of excellently priced product from them, until they fell off the wagon, it must be nearly 2 years ago now. I hope to get my money back, but that’s up to the judge I guess. I never shopped at the other two stores. I never minded waiting for my stuff a bit longer as I often pre-order in batches and I nearly always collect faster than I open toys so I never ‘suffered’ the indignity of not having anything new to open because PC was taking longer than everyone else.

Lately I have been making  lot of purchases at TLTC and TBI. Both are reliable and both have excellent prices on different product. I’ve actually been buying a lot of stuff from these two stores that I used to import, long before the GST was introduced. I guess it’s a sign of a good competitive business that has moved with the times.

Darryl

I was fortunate in that while I had issues with PC, I didn’t lose any money to them (nor did I get the stuff I ordered).  That being said, it left a bad taste in my mouth and I’m reluctant to deal with any Australian based online retailers unless they are a well established business.

Jason

I was a huge fan of PC when I stumbled across the online store in mid-2015. There was a solid 1 ½ years where I was a very happy customer and I moved a lot of my purchases from overseas retailers to PC. However, it all started to unravel in 2017 and it has left myself, and a lot of others, out of pocket.

PC’s demise and the way in which PC conducted itself no doubt put a dampening on my collecting enthusiasm. All of a sudden, I went from using my spare time to research what Transformers I was wanting to buy to using my time to attempt to correspond with PC, reading forums such as Ozformers for guidance on dealing with PC/Banks and corresponding with the Banks and attempting to do chargebacks.

My hobby went from something enjoyable to something more akin to my job. However, there have also been some other stores pop up recently (or that have just come to my attention) such as Toybot Importz and The Little Toy Company and I am willing to give them a chance. Neither have disappointed me so far and I hope that neither will. Both have shown exceptional communication and competitive pricing. Whilst the range (and pricing, but we now know why PC’s pricing was so good) may not be the same as PC, I am able to source most of the Transformers that I want from these two online stores.

 

Question 3: What effect will the closure of various brick’n’mortar toy stores (such as TRU) have on your collecting?  Especially since so many online avenues have been closed off?

Dallas

The closure of TRU is a bit sad. I have purchased a lot of exclusive items from them over the years and I’ve often made use of their 20% off sales or price matching policy. It’s likely that I’ll have to resort to more expensive avenues to find those special items that they would have otherwise stocked. Even TRU US supplied me with the recent Titans return Grotusque and Arcee. I would like to think Hasbro Australia will find another avenue for this product but only time will tell and I imagine if prices through alternate channels are too high I may end up skipping a lot of stuff.

Darryl

Probably won’t affect me much.  My nearest TRU is over an hour away so I didn’t get there very often, in fact, with my local K-Mart as the only close source for TF’s (Target, Big W are also an hour away) I’ve accepted that I’m going to have to go online more to get the figures I want.  As much as I want to support local stores (even if they aren’t owned locally) they haven’t been very supportive of me.  So sadly, it looks like any money I will be spending on my collection will be heading off-shore.

Jason

I don’t think that so many online avenues have been closed. There are now quite a few Australian online retailers and a lot of the overseas retailers still appear to be selling to Australia.

I was never really one for buying Transformers for my collection from brick’n’mortar stores. The convenience of online shopping and having the items delivered straight to me is to irresistible to pass up. Not to mention, I often found the prices online (even from Australian online retailers) were far more competitive than in store prices.

Whilst it will not impact upon my collecting, it may impact a little on my younger son. He is really getting into Transformers at the moment and we enjoy going to stores like TRU together and picking ones out for his collection. Whilst we have a great time doing this, it seems as though stores such as Big W now have such a large selection of toys that they have effectively replaced the need for speciality toy stores such as TRU.

 

Many thanks to these three fine lads for sharing their thoughts with us.  How have all the recent changes effected you?  Let us know in the comments section below.