Growing up with the Transformers series as it was getting started was an unreal experience! I am fortunate to say I was there to see the story unfold from the beginning. There was no internet spoiling everything for us ahead of time. You found out about the toyline from either the TV commercials, cartoons/comics, toy catalogs, or simple word-of-mouth. For me I still remember reading a G.I. Joe comic and at the end it had a little blurb with some silhouetted robots that just said "the Transformers are coming!" I had no idea of what that was.
Soon the cartoons hit and you could only see them on the Bozo Show in like 5 minute increments. All the boys in my school are talking about it! So here I am, watching Bozo again, just to catch a tiny piece of Transformers. It was onward and upward from there...
So back to my original statement - growing up with the Transformers was a unique experience! It certainly added a lot to my childhood! So I decided to write about some of the stand-out moments in the beginnings of Transformer history. What it was like as this whole ride got started!!
The Cartoons and Movie...
The 80's were awesome!! There was a brief couple of years where the schedule was - get home from school, sit through a half hour of Gilligan's Island, and then you had a back-to-back episodes of G.I. Joe and then one of Transformers? My friends and I would watch these at our houses and as soon as they ended, we were calling each other to discuss everything! I think some of my favorite episodes were "Heavy Metal War", "Starscream's Brigade", and "Revenge Of Bruticus".
Then in 1986, we got The Movie... WOW! How amazing was it to see Transformers on the big screen??? Add in the crazy-cool animation, new characters, and a rockin' soundtrack! Several of my friends and I went to see it as soon as it came out. I remember I saw it in the same theater I saw many great movies - like Return Of The Jedi and Spaceballs! I remember, for some reason my older sister and her friend went too... they said they didn't have anything else to do. My sister wasn't a Transformers fan by any means, but she knew enough to follow the characters and story. Even she was shocked by some of the events in that movie!
Next big moment would be the Movie getting released on VHS cassette. Oh yeah! Of course, we rented it and at some point, my Dad got me a copy of it. I watched that freakin' thing CONSTANTLY! I seriously think my parent's were getting sick of this show...
The Movie Soundtrack...
I saw this at Target and decided to pick it up. This soundtrack ROCKED!! My friend's and I cranked this thing up all the time! My favorite songs were probably "Escape" and "Dare", but there weren't any duds on the track-listing. They were all good!!
There was a long time where I would listen to the tape on my headphones before going to bed. I would always start with Side 2 because that side began with the Theme Song, and I felt that is the track that should have started the whole thing. Most often I would be asleep about halfway through the slow instrumental "The Death of Optimus Prime", but would be startled back awake when "Dare" blasted in my ears!
This album was also the catalyst to me becoming a rock drummer! I already played snare drum in the school band, but this album convinced me to turn it up a notch! I would be studying the drum patterns and rhythms as I listened to this album. I would try to mimic them by tapping my fingers.
Silly Stuff...
So, my buddy John (Knightmare) was always the mad scientist of our group... always taking things apart, building things, and experimenting. He was always coming up with something new. Well, at one point, he decided to record the sound from Transformers: The Movie onto audio cassette so we could listen to the Movie in our Walk-Mans. There was a slight problem though... The batteries in his recorder were low, so it recorded everything all slow. Therefore, when he played it at "normal" power - it sounded all sped up?!?! It basically sounded like the Chipmunks.
This cassette was a coveted item in our friend group!! We would play this thing on the stereo in my room and just laugh. Try to envision Unicron in Alvin's voice saying "Behold... Galvatron". Can you imagine how insane Wheelie sounded??? Or Blurr??? Man, I wish this cassette was still around!!!
One more thing. I know I have posted this pic before, but I think it belongs in this post. This is a pic I took for Christmas 1986. I, myself, was amazed at all the Transformers I had gotten that year, that I had to take a picture of them all. You can see I got Blurr, Air Raid, Broadside, Ultra Magnus, Galvatron, Cyclonus, and Razorclaw. I'm glad I found this picture. I wish I took more like it!
All this stuff had a major impact on myself, and many in my friend group as we grew up. It was a fun time! How did the cartoons or other media affect you? What is your favorite cartoon or song on the soundtrack?
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