Tuesday, August 30, 2011

My Childhood Transformers

Transformers have come a long way from the way they were built back in the day. I mean, Firstborn has a pretty good collection, and they're impressive: complex, articulated, convincing. As vehicles, they look like vehicles. As robots, they look like robots. The original Transformers, the ones from my childhood? Not so much. Crude, blocky, and very limited in their range of movements.

What brought this to mind? Funny you should ask. Somewhere around the time that I moved out for college - and possibly long before - my parents packed away a great, heaping pile of my childhood toys. Now, they've opened up those boxes and filled a drawer with my old toys, for Firstborn to play with.

The contrast is striking. Compare Red ALert, Blackout, or Jazz to... well... these guys. (Incidentally, if anyone can identify 'em, I'd appreciate it. All I know is that they're Autobots. These photos don't really show the scale, but the red car is about the size of a typical Hotwheels car, and the truck is about the same length from front to back.)









Those are just a couple of the transformers. Don't even get me started on the Star Wars figures...
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11 comments:

  1. Mark Baker-WrightAugust 30, 2011 at 11:17 AM

    Windcharger and Huffer. For more information, I recommend the TF Wiki. Here are links to the specific pages for each character:
    Windcharger
    Huffer

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  2. Michael MockAugust 30, 2011 at 11:39 AM

    Aha, thanks! I figured you would recognize them.

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  3. VorjackAugust 30, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    Still better than Gobots

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  4. Michael MockAugust 30, 2011 at 1:09 PM

    Goes without sayin'. Gobots never made a full-length animated movie full of awesome Eighties power ballads!

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  5. VorjackAugust 30, 2011 at 2:35 PM

    *wince*

    Worked as a security guard at my undergrad university. That meant some third shift. The only tapes in the office were Marley, the Dead, Phish ... and the Transformers soundtrack.

    "Nothin's Gonna Stand in Our Way ... Not Tonight!"

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  6. Michael MockAugust 30, 2011 at 3:12 PM

    Woops. Sorry for the trigger, there. I have some issues with one particular Christmas song, so I'm sympathetic to how too much exposure can, well, do things to a person.

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  7. perversecowgirlAugust 30, 2011 at 4:16 PM

    I've dated so many nerds that at some point, a kind of Pavlovian conditioning took place and now nerdery makes my nervous system think I'm about to have sex.

    Ergo, when Transforming Seminarian effortlessly identified those toys by name, I tingled a little bit, even though I don't actually give a shit about The Transformers (and don't technically know whether the answers were correct...).

    I know, it's weird.

    On a more relevant note: the toys I loved most as a kid were artsy in nature: Spirograph, Etch-a-Sketch, Lite Brite, Magic Sand, Lego, etc. My mom got rid of it all ages ago, but if she hadn't I would totally adopt all that stuff and keep on playing with it today!

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  8. theagnosticswifeAugust 30, 2011 at 4:25 PM

    They do look a lot different now don't they. When ever I see transformers I always think of Micro Machines.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Machines

    I liked those. I had a thing for tiny stuff.

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  9. perversecowgirlAugust 30, 2011 at 6:52 PM

    Update: I showed this post to Minx and he immediately said "Windcharger and Huffer."

    If I don't mention him on my blog after this it's because I have literally fucked him to death.

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  10. Michael MockAugust 31, 2011 at 12:05 AM

    Well, I'd feel a bit guilty about that... but still, what a way to go, eh?

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  11. perversecowgirlAugust 31, 2011 at 10:02 AM

    Indeed! :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzXVj4Sw7uE

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