What Stuff Have You Bought Just Because It Said "Transformers" On It?

[Zobovor]

I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow, but of course my daughter (who just turned three) had to get sick all over her bed. So now I'm staying up a bit later than I wanted to, waiting for her pillows and things to go through the wash cycle.

(Random memory: I sure don't miss living in the old apartment where I had to walk half a mile to the mail room just to do laundry. I also don't miss having to buy a roll of quarters just to wash my towels. And then have them get stolen by somebody who got to the dryer before I did.)

So, while I'm waiting for the miracle of automation to do my chores for me, I thought I'd pose a question. What sorts of merchandise have you bought just because it had the Transformers logo on it somewhere?

Now, toys kind of get a free pass, because I'm assuming you're buying Transformers toys because you like them. Or, maybe you feel like you have to. That's okay. I've been there. The point is that I'm not talking about the actual Hasbro toys; I'm talking about all the other weird, random stuff.

I was digging under the bed in the den the other day and I discovered the copy of Transformers Monopoly that I'd totally forgotten I owned. There are lots of weird novelty versions of Monopoly now, but in some ways I feel like that detracts from the original game. It's a cultural icon. Without looking, I have no idea which properties are in the Transformers version of the game but I could probably rattle off every single original Monopoly property. I remember that I bought it on vacation around 2007, played it with my wife exactly once, and it's probably sat under that bed for the last eight years since then.

I generally don't buy posters (I get to take home a lot of store signing that decorates not only my downstairs den but the kids' room) but I did buy quite a few posters when the 2007 movie came out (there was a pair of posters meant to be displayed side-by-side, where the Autobots one said "some will come to defend us" and the Decepticon one read "but most will come to destroy us"). I think I have a Revenge of the Fallen poster somewhere, too, but it's not on the wall so it must be rolled up.

I have a wristwatch with a Decepticon symbol on it. I've never worn it. It was a gift from my wife, but I like digital watches a lot better than analog watches. It's not that I can't tell time, but it takes a fraction of a second too long for me to do the math. When I want to see what time it is, I want to know RIGHT NOW, not in the time it takes for a Battlecharger to transform.

I tend to buy a lot of T-shirts with pop culture characters on them. I will never turn down a good-looking Super Mario Bros. shirt or even a decent Ninja Turtles T-shirt, but I'm super picky about Transformers apparel. I won't buy anything that has that wrong-looking movie-style Autobot or Decepticon insignia on it, for example. I won't buy apparel with Dreamwave artwork on it. My wife probably can't comprehend why one shirt with G1 Optimus Prime on it is completely abhorrent to me but the other is a must-own.

I'm sure there must be other stuff I've bought. There was such a glut of merchandising in 2007 that it was easy to spend money on stuff, but at the same time, so much of it was utter junk. It's a little more rare now, and I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse. I think there were maybe three ancillary Beast Wars items I ever saw (Milton-Bradley puzzles, the Mutating Card Game) and just about nothing for G2 (coloring books) and I bought them just because you never saw stuff like that back then. Ever. Things have changed a lot since then.


Zob (what, did the dryer decide to do another spin cycle? I swear, the smarter appliances get, the dumber they get...)

[Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats]

On Sunday, June 14, 2015 at 11:20:42 PM UTC-7, Zobovor wrote:
> I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow, but of course my daughter (who just turned three) had to get sick all over her bed. So now I'm staying up a bit later than I wanted to, waiting for her pillows and things to go through the wash cycle.

Plenty of time to do a kitbash or something. Maybe write a short story.

> So, while I'm waiting for the miracle of automation to do my chores for me, I thought I'd pose a question. What sorts of merchandise have you bought just because it had the Transformers logo on it somewhere?

Generations Cheetor.

> Now, toys kind of get a free pass, because I'm assuming you're buying Transformers toys because you like them. Or, maybe you feel like you have to. That's okay. I've been there. The point is that I'm not talking about the actual Hasbro toys; I'm talking about all the other weird, random stuff.

I don't think I've bought any Transformers merchandise that wasn't a toy. I bought some batteries that were a tie in, but they came with a matchbox car, so it's a toy. Also, I needed batteries and it was the same price.

[Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.]

I have a had and shirt combo that came together that I found at the goodwill for $5, the hat had some little glue bits inside that stabbed my head until I found and cut off every one. My ex bought me a tray of cupcakes while she was at her brother's wedding because they had little plastic Autobot and Decepticon plastic rings, I kept the rings even though the cupcakes were absolutely terrible. (the super sugar icing that stained your whole mouth blue for two days.)

about two dozen Mcdonalds toys, including the foodformers from the 80's, and later on the dinosaur versions of said foodformers. The Mcdonalds tank drone army from BM, then Prime Breakdown was until recently the only version of this character I had, until I found the legion for 50 cents.

I have many posters I bought from various artists at past Botcons.

I have many Star Wars watches because they came in cool tins. Many star wars posters, a few Iron Man posters, some really really old X men posters that are falling apart.

[Ultra Magnotron]

My answer is simple. Nothing.

It takes way more than something sporting the "Transformers" brand/logo. It has to be an actual Transformer, and even that isn't enough. I don't care for simple one-step pieces of junk, or easy transforming nonsense, or even no step transformations (you know, those Hotwheel knock-offs that had a TF in robot mode molded on the bottom).

In order for me to actually justify spending money on something I have to be able to assign it value based on how much enjoyment I'm going to get out of it. Something I will buy, use once for a very short period and then just place on a shelf is worthless to me. I need something that I'm going to buy and continue to play with for at least a few weeks. Then I can place it on a shelf and take it down to play with again when the mood hits me... and it always hits me again if I enjoyed it the first time. if not, I'll end up selling it on Ebay to make a little bit of my original investment back.

[Cappeca]

Em segunda-feira, 15 de junho de 2015 03:20:42 UTC-3, Zobovor escreveu:
> So, while I'm waiting for the miracle of automation to do my chores for me, I thought I'd pose a question. What sorts of merchandise have you bought just because it had the Transformers logo on it somewhere?
>

An original 1986 lunchbox! Pure nostalgia, it reminds me of stale coke, warm chocolate milk, ham and cheese sandwich and maybe a yogurt. I'll never use it.

[Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.]

Today I bought AoE Snarl because people on ATT said it was good and only $7....


What a lump of crap.

[Travoltron]

I am currently something of a sucker for new G1 merchandise. Not the
Dreamwave-styled stuff Zob abhors, I'm talking about the merchandise
that uses the G1 box art and such. So I've bought some things that I
really don't need like kiddie valentines cards, easter eggs, and xmas
tree bulbs.