Trans40mers Pt. 2/12: A Generation Won!
The time has come to bombard this site with another triage (or in light of recent political events, a Trigon) of titillating Transformers trivia featuring an all-Australian twist. It was an unexpected yet pleasant surprise to realise each anecdote this month dived into the Transformers' formative years; where civil wars, format wars and franchise wars abounded. But enough with the long-winded introduction, let's explore some long-lost tales of Generation One.
Batteries and interdimensional demons not included. Bummer.
25th February 1991: Aussie kids rush home, yearning to catch The Transformers' triumphant return to Channel 10's afternoon timeslot. They are instead met with breaking news of the Gulf War entering its final & deadliest phase, which rule local airwaves throughout the week.
-=-=-=-=-=-
"For the first time in its life, The Transformers truly understand the meaning of war."
Wait. No. That doesn't sound right at all.
From its very inception, the era commonly coined 'Generation One' was intrinsically linked with real-world conflicts. Tensions were high, Reaganomics ruled the day, and anyone wanting to watch two sides duke it out over precious fuels could just as easily open a newspaper. The fallout from years of petroleum supply scares brought on by international incidents lingered. Some made the best with what they had, like manufactures switching from plastics to die casting to keep costs down. Others didn't hold back; North Africa and Middle East nations were frequently depicted in media as mad dictators who overthrew the heads of their oil-rich country, or wealthy rulers of tiny, power-hungry regions. Each more often than not suffering grisly fates.
The day Transformers arrived in Australia, the US tore up their long-standing alliance with New Zealand after coming to loggerheads over nuclear weapons. As years (and wars) went on, they followed. People gasped in awe as the Berlin Wall fell, but locals were out buying Golden Entertainment's new omnibus home video edition of 'The Day of the Machines'. Channel Seven ran a repeat of 'The Transformers: The Movie' while Kuwait was being invaded. And in keeping with these parallels, the Gulf War closed as 'More Than Meets the Eye' began.
After several years away from TV screens, it begs to ask why this sudden weekday afternoon resurgence? Were they squeezing out another run before the rights expired? Or was it a deliberate ploy to promote Hasbro's expanding line of Classics reissues? Whatever the reason, fans were gifted the chance to rewatch all 65 episodes from the first two seasons. Someone at Ten considered it a syndicated success, and the network showed them all over again come October.
The Transformers were ready for the 90's, though their Carbombya escapades wisely excluded this time around.
28th February 1985: Hot on the heels of its US counterpart, the 20th International Toy Fair is held at the old Royal Sydney Showground in Moore Park. Milton Bradley are thrilled as The Transformers toyline debuts, winning its much-coveted Best New Toy of the Year Award.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Key moments don't get much key-er than this. Or at least until the next rolls along.
How does one mark the measure of success for a toy? The number of products on shelves? The number not on shelves? Demand from licensees to slap your logo and artwork on merchandise? Or the sweet dollarydoos generated from fans when selling off historic artifacts in online auctions as part of a desperate bid to fill a pocket?
There was a time when such answer could be found in downtown Sydney. Seizing the opportunity to fill a consumer void, TAGMA, the newly-minted Toy and Games Manufacturers’ Association, began yearly exhibitions for investors and distributors in the 1950's. A strictly local affair, these early days would prove bemusingly prophetic of modern fanbase stereotypes, being held in the Town Hall basement.
But tides were turning. Over the next decade, half the $54 million dollars worth of toys sold annually were imports, a third of which from Britain alone. This growing nation of buyers were hungry, and overseas businesses looking to dominate the Land Down Under's market were more than happy to comply. TAGMA was out and International Toy Fair in, opening the first of many doors on Monday 14th March 1966.
Fast-forward to 1985. After numerous location and state shuffles, the event settled into its new home at Moore Park. "Caring and Sharing" may have been touted as that year's buzzword, but nobody told manufacturers that. Competition was fierce among budding brands like Voltron, Popoids, Star Fairies, Pound Puppies, plus General Mills' The Hugga Bunch whom media touted as firm favourite.
But alas it wasn't to be. Milton Bradley's The Transformers came, saw and conquered. By Fair's end they took pride of place among a growing prestigious list of toys including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Cabbage Patch Kids, Tamiya Off-Road Buggy, Metti Dolls and Ministeck Galleon mosaic kits as top prize winners. Congratulations!
Still waiting for a Popoids revival aaaaaany day now.
29th February 1988: Vestron submit ten episodes of The Transformers to the Australian Classification Board for home video release. Most including Webworld, Ghost in the Machine, Nightmare Planet, Call of the Primitives and The Return of Optimus Prime, had yet to air on TV.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Having taken Australia by storm in 1985, one would think there weren't any frontiers left undiscovered for the Transformers. But where money lay people will follow, and there was plenty money in the budding video rental market.
Vestron Video International (via Locus Video Group and Outland Promotions) swiftly grabbed the license and set out to produce a range of tapes. Two-part adventures were overall favoured, and their venture began June 1986 with 'Dinobot Island'. Proudly boasting they were "Superstars of the Toy World", this first edition sported shamelessly flipped promotional artwork, and was available in both Betamax and VHS formats. As the year drew to a close, two more arrived; 'Desertion of the Dinobots' plus the surprisingly fitting 'Attack of the Autobots/The Golden Lagoon' combo, now featuring animation frames for covers.
1987 saw 'Megatron's Master Plan' and 'The Key to Vector Sigma' round out the roster. Something which couldn't be said for 'The Transformers: The Movie', whose underlying rights agreement meant this cinematic outing was released during Easter '87 exclusively through RCA Columbia and Hoyts Entertainment.
That's five volumes down, but they weren't done yet. Rather than spread them over time and allow Season 3 to finish its (admittedly limited) TV airing, Vestron banged out five more tapes, again on Betamax and VHS. Fans were treated to 'The Return of Optimus Prime', 'Surprise Party/Call of the Primitives', 'Dark Awakening/The Killing Jar', 'The Nightmare Planet/The Ghost in the Machine', and 'Webworld/Madman's Paradise'. And yes, that was their release order.
After two years and ten tapes, this ultimately marked both last hurrah for Vestron's handling of The Transformers' video license, plus the Robots in Disguise's availability on Betamax. By year's end Golden Press secured the rights and begin multiple 'budget' releases in their own outlandish episode orders.
The 80's were closing and tape renters had a new motto; VHS was VH-Best.
