Transformers
From Fan History Wiki
In theUnited States, the Transformers first aired on television from 1984 to 1987. The Transformers fan fiction community became active shortly after the first airings. This community began its life on-line, on Usenet and on Bryn Mawr College's VAX network. It wasn't until the late 1980s that the fandom began to have stories appear in fanzines. By 1997, the term beta version was being used in the Transformer fan fiction community.
The community would never become that large and by the 2005 had almost disappeared from public eye.
Transformers is a catch-all term for a variety of different and sometimes conflicting incarnations of cartoons, comics and toys featuring transforming robots created by the Hasbro toy company in the US and based off toys originally created in Japan by a company known as Takara.
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[edit] Cartoons
The cartoon series mentioned above is part of the toy/cartoon/comic collective known as Generation 1, or G1 Transformers. In the UK, the comic series lasted much longer than it did in the United States and featured storylines that were entirely unique to the UK books.
The US cartoon series was also aired in Japan (and elsewhere around the world). In Japan, the first two seasons were known as Fight! Super Robot Life Transformers and the third season (which takes place after the animated Transformers movie released in 1986) was known as Transformers: 2010
In the US, the fourth season of Transformers was a three episode mini-series called Rebirth, which served to introduce the Headmaster and Targetmaster toylines.
A second comic book series and toyline showcased Generation 2. It also had a UK incarnation.
In Japan, several cartoon series aired that were never broadcast in the United States. These included:
- Scramble City -- 1986 - link leads to Teletraan-1 article about Scramble City OAV.
- Transformers: Headmasters -- 1987-1988
- Transformers: Super-God Masterforce -- 1988
- Transformers: Victory -- 1989
- Transformers: Zone -- 1990 (canceled after one episode)
In the mid-1990s, Hasbro introduced the Beast Wars line of toys and also hired an animation studio to create a CG1 animated series about the Beast Wars characters. This sparked a new interest in Transformers and, for many younger fans, was their first introduction to Transformers. The Beast Wars cartoon series referenced the G1 cartoon series and also incorporated input from many G1 fans, particularly those on the alt.toys.transformers Usenet group.
Beast Machines was the cartoon series that came after the end of Beast Wars, featuring some of the Beast Wars characters in new physical incarnations (to go with the newly released Beast Machines toyline). Like Beast Wars, Beast Machines lasted three seasons and, unlike the G1 American cartoon, had an overarching storyline. Also unlike the G1 cartoon, Beast Wars and Beast Machines featured smaller casts.
As with the G1 era, there were two Japanese exclusive series run during the time of Beast Wars:
- Beast Wars II
- Beast Wars Neo
Other incarnations of Transformers to come after Beast Machines include:
- Transformers: Robots In Disguise (Transformers: Car Robots in Japan)
And the Unicron Trilogy made up of:
- Transformers: Armada (Transformers: Micron Legend in Japan)
- Transformers: Energon (Transformers: Superlink in Japan)
- Transformers Cybertron (Transformers: Galaxy Force in Japan)
In 2007, two new Transformers franchises appeared:
- A live-action movie generally referred to as Transformers 2007.
- Transformers: Animated
While Transformers may have faded somewhat from the public eye and the fandom itself has ebbed and flowed, it has never really disappeared.
[edit] Comics
There have been almost as many comic book incarnations of Transformers as there have been cartoon incarnations. See External Links for a link to more information about Transformers comics.
[edit] Toyline
Because Transformers was a toy tie-in, some characters never appeared in either the cartoons or the comics and are exclusively toy-based. Also, most Transformer toys have what are known as 'tech specs' on their packaging which provide small biographies of the character and a list of 'stats' that tell how strong or how fast or how brave a character is. These biographies can sometimes conflict wildly with information given in the cartoons or comics.
[edit] Transformers (2007 film)
Transformers the movie stars Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Jazz, Ratchet, Sam Witwicky, Mikaela Banes, Captain William Lennox, Maggie Madsen, etc.
[edit] Terminology
Below is a list of terms and their definitions that are used in this fan community.
This section needs more information.
[edit] The Fandom
[edit] Gender composition
The general belief is that the Tranformer fandom has more males than females involved in it. [1] This is supported by December 2007 search keyword information:
That shows that more males than females, in December 2007 were searching for Transformers.
[edit] Timeline
Below is a partial timeline of events that took place in this fan community.
[edit] 1984
- On September 17, 1984, Transformers debuted on American television. [2]
[edit] 1985
[edit] 1986
- In 1986, Transformers ran for the first time on television in the Netherlands. [4]
- "The Transmasters fanclub began in 1986 shortly after the TF Movie. It was organized by several TF fans in a local area at the time (Dawn Reeder, Randi Darklord etc)." [5]
- On August 8, 1986, The Transformers: The Movie premiered in movie theaters in the United States. [6]
- On December 26, 1986, The Transformers: The Movie premiered in movie theaters in Australia. [7]
[edit] 1987
- From 1987 to 1993, Bryn Mawr College had a a VAX system used by fannish folk. This system found itself home to a number of fan fiction communities. They included Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Star Trek and Transformers. [8][9][10]
[edit] 1988
- From 1987 to 1993, Bryn Mawr College had a a VAX system used by fannish folk. This system found itself home to a number of fan fiction communities. They included Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Star Trek and Transformers. [11][12][13]
[edit] 1989
- On August 9, 1989, The Transformers: The Movie premiered in movie theaters in Japan. [14]
- From 1987 to 1993, Bryn Mawr College had a a VAX system used by fannish folk. This system found itself home to a number of fan fiction communities. They included Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Star Trek and Transformers. [15][16][17]
[edit] 1990
- From 1987 to 1993, Bryn Mawr College had a a VAX system used by fannish folk. This system found itself home to a number of fan fiction communities. They included Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Star Trek and Transformers. [18][19][20]
[edit] 1991
- In 1991, production and distribution of Transformers related toys stopped in the United States. [21]
- From 1987 to 1993, Bryn Mawr College had a a VAX system used by fannish folk. This system found itself home to a number of fan fiction communities. They included Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Star Trek and Transformers. [22][23][24]
[edit] 1992
- From 1987 to 1993, Bryn Mawr College had a a VAX system used by fannish folk. This system found itself home to a number of fan fiction communities. They included Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Star Trek and Transformers. [25][26][27]
- "Since 1992 new incarnations of the original Transformers series have emerged--Generation 2, GoBots, Beast Wars, Beasties, Beast Machines, etc." [28]
[edit] 1993
- From 1987 to 1993, Bryn Mawr College had a a VAX system used by fannish folk. This system found itself home to a number of fan fiction communities. They included Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Star Trek and Transformers. [29][30][31]
[edit] 1994
- In 1994, BotCon was held. It is an annual Transformer focused convention. [32]
[edit] 1995
[edit] 1996
[edit] 1997
[edit] 1998
- In 1998, Transformers geek code and a Transformers purity test were created. [37] "The TF Purity Test was written by Diana Calder". [38]
- In 1998, BotCon was held. [39]
- On May 20, 1998, the United Kingdom based Transformers mailing list Tmuk was created. [40]
- On September 15, 1998, the Transformers mailing list Tmuk-chat was created. [41] As of August 2, 2007, it had 132 members.
[edit] 1999
[edit] 2000
[edit] 2001
- On August 6, 2001, the Transformers mailing list Tmuk-toc was created. [44]
- In 2001, Alignment, a Transformers fanzine connected with the Transforce convention, was published. [45]
- In 2001, BotCon was held. [46]
[edit] 2002
- For a number of years, parts of the Transformers fan fiction community was located on the Usenet group, Alt.toys.transformers. In 2002, this community held the Trannies Awards which honored Transformers fan fiction. [47]
- On March 13, 2002, the Transformers mailing list Transformers NewBeginning was created. [48]
- On April 22, 2002, the Transformers mailing list Transformers Addendum2 was created. [49]
- On May 26, 2002, the Transformers fanzine related mailing list Con-Quest was created. [50]
- On June 1, 2002, the Transformers mailing list TFFICTIONANDART was created. [51]
- In 2002, BotCon was held. [52]
[edit] 2003
- On February 13, 2003, the Transformers mailing list TransFFva was created. [53]
- On April 11, 2003, TransMasters Fan Club was last updated. [54]
- In 2003, BotCon was held. [55]
- "For a short time, from roughly summer 2003 to summer 2004, there was an official Transformers fanclub for the first time, organized by 3H Productions, the same group that ran the official convention." [56]
[edit] 2004
- On June 9, 2004, the Transformers MySpace group Transformers was created. [57]
- "For a short time, from roughly summer 2003 to summer 2004, there was an official Transformers fanclub for the first time, organized by 3H Productions, the same group that ran the official convention." [58]
- "At the beginning of September 2004, however, it was announced that 3H had lost their license for the fan club and convention. It is unclear at this time whether a new club will be established, or if the current club will continue under new management." [59]
- In October 2004, Zobovor's Transformers Fan Fiction was updated for the last time. [60]
- In March 2004, the demographics of the Transformers fandom were characterized as follows:
- The age question used to be a lot easier to answer. For a long time, nearly all Transformers fans had grown up in the mid to late 1980s. With the wide success of the Beast TF lines, and continuing success of the newer stuff, new and younger people are joining Transfandom all the time. The distribution of ages depends a lot on which Transfans you're talking about. In the Usenet newsgroups, most fans are in their 20s or even 30s. In newer fora like the Allspark, the average age is a lot lower, with most (not all) participants being between their mid-teens and mid-twenties. [61]
[edit] 2005
- On February 3, 2005, the Transformers RPG mailing list Transformersrp was created. [63]
- On May 5, 2004, the Transformers video game was released in the United States. [64]
- On May 13, 2004, the Transformers video game was released in Australia. [65]
- On May 14, 2004, the Transformers video game was released in the United Kingdom. [66]
- On September 16, 2005, the Transformers MySpace group TransformersFans was created. [67]
- On October 4, 2005, the Transformers mailing list Tfarmadarevisit was created. [68]
[edit] 2006
This section needs more information.
[edit] 2007
- On May 4, 2007, The Transformers: The Movie was released again in movie theaters in the United Kingdom. [69]
- On July 3, 2007, The Transformers: The Movie was released in the United States and Canada.
- On July 6, 2007 the Livejournal community Beexsam was created. [70]
- On July 12, 2007 the Livejournal community Tf2007fun was created. [71]
- On July 31, 2007, the InsaneJournal community transformers was created. [72]
[edit] Kerfluffles
This section needs more information.
[edit] Influential Fan Works
[edit] Art
This section needs more information.
[edit] Fics
This section needs more information.
[edit] Vids
This section needs more information.
[edit] Fandom Size
As of July 22, 2007 there are 3,771 stories on FanFiction.Net.
[edit] Fandom members
- Brian Kilby was a Transformers fan fiction writer.
- Chris Sarracini was a Transformers fan fiction writer.
- Deathy won a 2002 Trannies Award which was viewed as being highly controversial. [73]
- Merytneith was a Transformers fan fiction writer.
- Rob Jung was a Transformers fan fiction writer.
- Sky Shadow compiled a list of all the stories eligible for the 2002 Trannies Awards. [74]
- Zobovor was a Transformers fan fiction writer.
- Cman710 is a Transformers fan fiction writter.
[edit] External Links
- Shoujo-Ai Archive: Transformers Fanfiction
- Lexicon: Transformers Fanfics, Essays, Author Interviews and More
- Fanfiction.Net -- Cartoons -- Transformers/Beast Wars
- The Allspark Forums: Chronicles of Cybertron fanfiction forum
- Wikipedia: List of Transformers TV Series
- Wikipedia: List of Transformers Comic Book Series
- Wikipedia: Transformers (fiction) -- information on the various continuities that make up Transformers.
- The Transformers Wiki -- still a work in progress, covers all incarnations of Transformers, G1 to present, cartoons, comics, toys, etc.
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources
Below is a partial list of articles and academic sources to help you continue to learn about this community.
This section needs more information.
