# Transformers, I don't believe my eyes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2001, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399 "2001-10-09T20:24:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399/41 "2001-10-16T06:52:07Z")
For someone who hates otaku as much as he does, he seems to know a great deal about shounen animé… ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399/42 "2001-10-16T07:17:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\*For someone who hates otaku as much as he does, he seems to know a great deal about shounen animé… \*\* Matt, Matt, Matt, he’s an otaku himself…in other ways. ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399/43 "2001-10-16T08:59:35Z")
Yeah. Blasphemy. I’ll bet. Cause, you know, the animation in the original series was soooooo cutting edge, and the plots and characters were so much more complex. C’mon, guys, it’s a KIDS show. No one making it cares what any of you think. And Star Wars was a B-movie. It’s true! Face facts! (ducks and runs) ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399/44 "2001-10-16T14:26:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ferggie \* > \*\*At the age of 23…Incidently, I used to think it was _“Robots in the skies”_ because, well, some of them did fly. \*\* How strange…I am also 23, and thought the exact same thing, for the exact same reason, and sang that as the lyrics daily, which just pissed off mom, who knew better. We had the biggest argument (okay, not as big as, say, Chas E’s, but y’know, big…) for the longest time about it, until she produced evidence. It’s a mighty humble 8 year old that admits his mom’s right about any facet of his favorite toys… ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399/45 "2001-10-16T20:05:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tengu \* > **And rjung- I LOVE you’re site! It’s one of my favourite cites for TF related conversations** Thank you! Throw money! 😃 > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Kyomara_ > **C’mon, guys, it’s a KIDS show. No one making it cares what any of you think.** Oh, I dunno – I think they care a lot when they get invited to the conventions and get mobbed by thousands of happy fans… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399/46 "2001-10-17T01:54:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\*For someone who hates otaku as much as he does, he seems to know a great deal about shounen animé… \*\* That’s what happens when you work in the graphic arts industry and know the people personally. And you know what? The people who produce these comics are utterly contemptuous of their audience, they hate anyone who would be stupid enough to buy their dumb products. To them, it’s all a big joke, at your expense. But they like the money. I liked the money too. ---
**Author:** ![Pyrrho12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b2d939/32.png) [@Pyrrho12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyrrho12)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399/47 "2001-10-17T02:55:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chas.E \* > \*\*That’s what happens when you work in the graphic arts industry and know the people personally. And you know what? The people who produce these comics are utterly contemptuous of their audience, they hate anyone who would be stupid enough to buy their dumb products. To them, it’s all a big joke, at your expense. But they like the money. I liked the money too. \*\* Interesting. No apology, no retraction, and is **Chas** trying to be insulting with that “anyone who would be stupid enough” line? At first I thought about replying to this message with an overview of my own experiences in the comics industry & my connections to the commercial art community… but that would be pointless, wouldn’t it? Instead, I will once more issue a simple request to **Chas** : This thread is about “Transformers: Robots in Disguise”. **Tengu** has asked that you apologize for being rude to him, and that you admit you were mistaken about the “RiD” series not originating in Japan. If you wish to keep asserting that “RiD” did not originate in Japan, please provide some form of evidence to contradict the evidence already presented indicating that it did. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399/48 "2001-10-17T06:36:26Z")
Pyrrho, I was referring to the original TF series, and all subsequent TF products devolved from that project, created by some friends of mine. I feel no need to apologize for knowing the true facts of the situation, and I certainly feel no need to apologize to maniacal TF fans who can’t handle any challenge to the provenance of their holy books. I apologize for not being able to post the names of these people, since I personally promised them I would keep their names to myself. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399/49 "2001-10-17T08:23:27Z")
So, Chas, you ARE, in fact, saying that Hasbro, Marvel/Sunbow (I erred in my original reference to the second as Sunrise), and all the people working for these companies are LYING when they say that Hasbro, licencing Diaclone, Micromen Microchange, Macross, Dorvack, Beetras and other toy lines, went to Marvel and asked them to flesh out the resulting toy line’s history? You talk vast amounts of bullshit, boy. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399/50 "2001-10-17T12:38:01Z")
Chas, we don’t need the names of your “hermits”, we just need evidence of the existance of _Transformers_ in comic book form before 1984, when Hasbro put out the toys. ---
**Author:** ![Pyrrho12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b2d939/32.png) [@Pyrrho12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyrrho12)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399/51 "2001-10-17T15:32:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chas.E \* > **Pyrrho, I was referring to the original TF series,** And you were corrected several times concerning the fact that the people here were not talking about the original series. I don’t know whether you were being intentionally obtuse or whether you just posted repeatedly without reading the thread… However, I am glad that you finally decided to come clean. An apology to **Tengu** would still be appropriate. No, not for disagreeing with him, nor for “knowing the facts of the situation”. You should apologize for having been rudely dismissive when **Tengu** pointed out that you had made an incorrect assertion about the “Robots in Disguise” series. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399/52 "2001-10-17T21:14:43Z")
Not only did Chris Latta voice Starscream, but he also did Cobra Commander and even Moe and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons (but only in “Some Enchanted Evening” and “Homer’s Odyssey”, respectively). I heard a DVD collection of G1 exists, but is Japanese-language only and even Region-3 only. Finally–TF:TM–did it bug anyone else how gratuitously they killed off everyone? I know they wanted to make new toys and introduce new characters and all, but I still think it was lame how after no one ever got killed or hurt really from all manner of stuff on the show, all of a sudden a couple normal laser blasts _kill_ everyone (I’m especially thinking of Prowl right near the beginning)? BTW, who owns the syndication rights to Transformers and even GI Joe for that matter? I would go nuts if they were on TV again. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399/53 "2001-10-18T18:38:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElwoodCuse \* > Not only did Chris Latta voice Starscream, but he also did Cobra Commander and even Moe and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons (but only in “Some Enchanted Evening” and “Homer’s Odyssey”, respectively). The semi-official word is that he died of a drug overdose. Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime) made a brief but touching mention of Chris’ passing at BotCon '97. > [@](#): > > I heard a DVD collection of G1 exists, but is Japanese-language only and even Region-3 only. Not as far as I’m aware; the only Transformers-related DVDs are those of the movie, “The Ultimate Doom,” and “The Rebirth,” all from Rhino Home Video and fairly recent. > [@](#): > > Finally–TF:TM–did it bug anyone else how gratuitously they killed off everyone? It bugs a lot of people, especially when you consider that they weren’t _originally_ intended to die. Buzz Dixon [revealed](http://www.digiserve.com/eescape/tf/news/TF-Death.html) that Hasbro ordered the deaths of Optimus Prime and a whole bunch of other characters only after learning that Hawk was slated to die in the then-unreleased _G.I. Joe_ movie. > [@](#): > > I still think it was lame how after no one ever got killed or hurt really from all manner of stuff on the show, all of a sudden a couple normal laser blasts _kill_ everyone (I’m especially thinking of Prowl right near the beginning)? Prowl getting killed by a wuss like **Scavenger** is an even bigger insult. 🙂 And then there’s the question of whether Brawn would really get killed after one hit in the _shoulder…_ > [@](#): > > BTW, who owns the syndication rights to Transformers and even GI Joe for that matter? I would guess Hasbro. In the meantime, you can buy videotapes of the original cartoons from Rhino Home Video. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers-i-dont-believe-my-eyes/86399.md?page=2)