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BOOKS MAGAZINES/COMICS
- TIME Articles:
Time
magazine has had several references to Transformers figures, usually in
articles regarding toy trends and mainstream toy companies in the U.S.
economy. The majority of the articles address the use of
television cartoons as marketing vehicles for action figures.
Below are some excerpts: October 12, 1987
Business Notes TELEVISION
Nothing infuriates critics of children's TV more than cartoon shows
that are produced or partly financed by toy manufacturers. Mattel, for
example, used He-Man and the Masters of the Universe to help sell an
estimated $175 million worth of toys last year, while Hasbro's
Transformers helped generate sales of $214 million. Under President
Reagan, the Federal Communications Commission has removed all limits
on advertising in children's programming and refused to take action
against shows that detractors call "program-length
commercials."
Ever since the days of Clarabell the clown and his ever ready seltzer
bottle, parents have complained about the quality of children's TV
programming. But seldom have they had so much to complain about. A
typical afternoon of kidvid these days can be a mind-numbing march of
cartoon superheroes like He-Man, BraveStarr and the Defenders of the
Earth. Many shows, from The Transformers to Pound Puppies, are based
on hot-selling toys and seem intended to shuffle kids straight from
the TV set into the toy store. Worst of all in the critics' view,
under the deregulatory aegis of the Reagan Administration, the... June 10, 1985
It had to happen. The collective infatuation with the puckered face of
the Cabbage Patch Kid is finally faltering. Toy & Hobby World
magazine recently reported that Coleco Industries' cuddly doll
($59.95) lost its position as the best-selling toy in the U.S., a
title it had held for 16 months. The new No. 1 is Hasbro Bradley's
plastic-and-metal toy robot series, the Transformers (average price:
$12).
Competition in the toy business is far
from childlike. The robot, introduced in April 1984, edged ahead of
its rival partly because of a heavy ad campaign coupled with a
syndicated television show,...
July 30, 2001
TREND Vintage TV superheroes are big sellers in toy stores again
HOW IT STARTED After prices on eBay rose
for old models, toymakers created exact replicas
JUDGMENT CALL Even kids get bored with
Pokemon after a while
Kids may not watch them on TV anymore,
but vintage superheroes from the '80s, like Voltron, He-Man and the
Transformers, are hot items in toy stores once again. They have been
popular for years on eBay, where nostalgic adults buy boxed He-Man
figures for $60 or a complete Optimus Prime, the truck leader of the
Transformers' Autobot heroes, for upwards of $150--eight times its... In the February, 2003
issue of Autoweek magazine, this full-page add gives
tribute to the beneficial qualities of being a
Transformers fanatic! Thanks Chaz!
Mr. Boffo, by Joe
Martin
More references
coming soon! NEWS
ARTICLES
T.V.
- *Family Guy: In one episode of Fox's animated
show, Peter, who works at a toy factory, introduces a new toy concept
to his boss at Peter's house. He holds up a cactus, and when the
boss seems unimpressed, he tells him "no no, wait, see, it's a
transformer." He then manipulates the cactus, and it turns
into a demonic scorpion creature that attacks Peter. - *The Tonight Show with Jay
Leno: On January 5, 2001,
Tom Hanks was a guest. During his conversation, he brought up
popular toys from the 80's. After mentioning a few toylines, he
brings up the Transformers (to which the audience responds
energetically, clapping and yelling). Tom Hanks then sings the
theme song from the cartoon, with the audience following along. - *Beat the Geeks: In this Comedy Central
gameshow,
one contestant states that the geekiest thing about him is that he is
a huge collector of Transformers figures. In another episode,
airing on 7/18/02, a question to the Toy Geek was "Who are
Bruticus, Mega-Octane, and Sky-Byte?" The Toy Geek
correctly identified them as Robots In Disguise Transformers figures. - *Undergrads:
The animated show on Comedy Central about life in the dorms, one
episode reveals that the name that the lead character (Nitz) and his
friend ??? give to themselves as a trivia expert team is "The
Decepticons." One line in this episode is "Long Live
The Decepticons!" - VH1's I LOVE THE
80's: This multi-episode tribute to the decade of the
Transformer covered that toyline in the 1984 segment. Although
the knowledgeability of the figures was at an all time low with the
staff and hosts of the show (see comments below), it was still a fine
Transformers reference on VH1
There are other references to the Transformers in Family Guy. If
you have these episodes or clips, email
us!
MOVIES
- *Soul Man: When Rae Dawn Chong's character
checks on her sick son, he is playing with what looks like 2 of the
original G1 Dinobots in bed. He makes a couple battle noises,
and says "My circuits are damaged."
MUSIC
MANY MORE MUSIC REFERENCES COMING SOON!
REAL
LIFE
- There is a U.S. trucking freight company named PRIME, and
their tractor trailers/semi's have the PRIME logo on their
sides. We'll have a picture here soon. -
In the art of turntablism ("scratchin'" on the
turntables), one particular method, or style, of manipulating the
record and mixer (also one of the most popular and widely used) is
called the "Transformers scratch," due to its similarity to
its fade-in-fade-out transforming sound effect in the G1 cartoon.
- It seems Stephen King was pretty impressed with the universal appeal
of the Transformers: two of his books that we know about have
references to them: Needful Things and Insomnia.
If you have the time, find us the chapter names (page numbers don't
help, as the books are produced in so many ways, with differing
margins, word spacing, etc.). We'd also like to get the specific
text of the mentions as well (we'll look for them too)
Critics Contest Kidvid Content
Send us more Magazine and
comic references!
November 30, 1987
Zapping Back at Children's TV After years of deregulation, kidvid's
critics are on the attack
BY RICHARD ZOGLIN
Business Notes Toys
The Kids Are Pushed Aside
Action Figures From The '80S
BY BEAU BRIESE
Marvin comic, by Armstrong
Archie comic with a very recognizeable
hovercraft in the background
Sonic the hedgehog must have made a trip to
Cybertron...can you see the proof?
We have no Transformers references from news articles; Send
us some quick!
-
Saturday Night Live: In this 3/16/03 episode, the
"Saturday TV Funhouse" animated segment was a spoof of the
recent "Are You Hot" series. The judge gave his comments
on the physical attributes of several animated characters from our
youth, including a Speedo-bedecked Optimus Prime. Check out the
video clip Here!.
- *Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire: In one episode, Wil Smith enters
the kitchen and sees a set of Beast Wars figures on the counter that
Jeffrey had just purchased for a birthday. Excitedly, he runs to
them and exclaims "Transformers! Oh, Razorbeast! I've
been wanting this one since [we forget the remainder of the
line]" He then begins "playing" with the figures,
knocking them against each other and making growling noises.
*We need screen captures of this! Help
Us!
*We need screen captures of this! Help
Us!
*We need screen captures of this! Help
Us!
*We need screen captures of this! Help
Us!
*We need screen captures of this! Help
Us!
The host compares Care Bears to their superior
toy counterpart...but why choose an incomplete
Doubledealer?
They show a commercial from the toyline...the
worst commercial for the worst figure
A VH1 staffmember's hand looks to be
transforming Ultra Magnus' cab...
It's no wonder Henry Rollins doesn't look that
thrilled...is this the best we can use to
remind people of the coolest toyline ever?
...but then this is what he sets down.
Sad, isn't it?
- Welcome to
Eltingville: In this 5/19/02
airing of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim series, two nerdy friends have
a "trivia-off" to determine which one will be able to purchase a Boba
Fette figure from the collectibles store. One of the questions
is "What Transformer turned into a Volkswagon Bug?"
The other guy responded correctly with "Bumblebee."
This was a pretty good episode, by the way.
-
This unaired episode of Family Guy (possibly the funniest animated show
ever) sports a fabulous cameo appearance of Optimus Prime, who is
apparently Jewish. Click
Here to see the clip.
- Big: In this Tom Hanks (hmmmm, he's quite a fan) film, Tom's
character is employed by a toy company in his "Big"
incarnation. At a sales meeting, Transformers references
abound. A toy prototype of a skyscraper that turns into a (lame
looking) robot was introduced for analysis. The leader of the
discussion makes several Transformers references: "..when you
consider that Gobots and Transformers pulled down a 70% market
share..." Tom's character then describes a much cooler idea
than the building, such as a Robot that turns into "a bug or
something." This sparks a brainstorm of transforming robot ideas
in the meeting; one person mentions
the idea of a bug that transforms, and another responds "a
prehistoric Transformer?" Someone is also heard to say
"Transformers for girls?"
- *Flight of the
Navigator: When the government
scientists bring the star to their compound and he is shown to his
room, on the bed there are several toys waiting for him, including a
Ramjet and a couple other Transformers.
*We need screen captures of this! Help
Us!
*We need screen captures of this! Help
Us!
- Spaceballs: During a climactic scene in this
Star Wars spoof, Spaceball 1 (the spaceship of the bad guys) is
"transformed" from a ship into Mega-Maid. Lonestar
claims "that's no ship...it's a Transformer!"
Mega Maid
"Commence conversion to...Mega Maid!"
That's no ship....It's a
Transformer!
- The Professional:
Natalie Portman is apparently a big Transformers fan in this movie;
she is watching the G1 cartoon series on several occasions. In
fact, it is by turning it on loudly that she saves her own life at one
point. By the way, it apparently airs at 11:30AM, as this is
what a clock in the movie shows when the cartoon is on.
- Pop Will Eat Itself has a Transformers reference in the song
"Can U Dig it?" (Track #6 on their album entitled "This
is the day...This is the hour...This is THIS!"). The line is
"We dig Optimus Prime and not Galvatron"
- The cover of Freestylers album Electro Science sports a stylized
recolor of Blitzwing as he appears in the comics. This album is
2-CD a collection of old school rap and groove songs, with one CD
mixed by the Freestylers, the other the unaltered tracks. We
highly recommend their first album, by the way, entitled We Rock Hard.
- The head-banging group SHOCKWAVE album
Omega Supreme is nothing BUT Transformers references; from song titles
to lyrics to album art, all the way down to the band members' individual
"Tech Specs," this is as close to a non-Hasbro Transformers
"Band" as you can get.
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All of us Transformers fans
like to see references to Transformers or other transforming robots in
the real world around us. Botcollector is compiling a compendium of such
references, broken down into the categories below. If you know of
other references that you've seen, heard, or read about, help us make
additions! You can send your reports and pictures to us
