G1 as toys were very good for their time, but I agree it was the characterizations that made the line a success. This is a simple fact, proven by the relative lack of success of the toys' original incarnations in Diaclone and other lines where they were just simple robots w/ no personality whatsoever. Same toys, given "life", and voila - 2 solid decades of pure TF goodness!

With the obvious quirky exception of the Ironhide/Ratchet mold, I thought then, and still do now, that these were some of the coolest toys in the world. Don't get me wrong, the Energon and Armada bots have thier strong points, but there's a certain appeal, a special design quality of the originals that gave them a feel all to thier own. G1 just has a look to it that hasn't been effectively recreated or topped when compared to other toys on the market at the time. Alot of the new bots, while having far superior articulation and ability to pass the dreaded "drop test" (why one would intentionally throw a TF on the ground I have no idea...) seem to lack a distinguishing charachteristic from other toy lines. Some of them even look like baby toys... there's not a whole lot of difference between Energon HotShot and the "GoBots" Speed-Bot I bought my one year old son, besides the weapons, really... and at first glance, more than one of the Terrorcons could be a Yu-Gi-Oh! toy. And don't even get me started on the Energon Prime Megazord. :tfevil

 

Bricks though they were, no toy line since has looked like G1, as a whole. Ironic, since G1 itself was thrown together as a repaint line of various pre-existing toy lines... Sorry, but to an old-school guy like me, the new bots are cool, but they just don't "feel" like Transformers. Not as much as the originals, anyway.

 

Yes, I'm sure it's a nostalgia thing... proceed with the "GeeWun Fanboy" flames as you see fit... :) Oh, and none of my criticisms of the new stuff is meant to apply to the Alts or 20th Prime. Those, to me, are what G1 would be if made today. Overall, they have the unified feel of G1, with the occasional WTF bot, like Dead End (Sunstreaker?) and Ravage - Today's Ironhide. (Just looking at Ravage makes me cringe... but he shall still be mine. Test shot is already on it's way... :mwahaha )

I think of the 1984 toys as the Golden Age bots.

 

I collection you have there.

they were as cutting edge in their day as Alts are now, all really cool and think mirage is a much maligned toy, not much gets said about him but he was really cool as a toy

To follow up to what I said earlier, I loved the G1 guys, I was just saying, as toys, they weren't that playable. Visually, they were awesome (I acutally printed out that autobot group shot and put it on my desk at work). They are obviously icons, and represented a golden age, and that's why we see so many repaints/kitbashes that are geared towards g1. I still say the characterizations were what mad it shine though.

To follow up to what I said earlier, I loved the G1 guys, I was just saying, as toys, they weren't that playable. Visually, they were awesome (I acutally printed out that autobot group shot and put it on my desk at work). They are obviously icons, and represented a golden age, and that's why we see so many repaints/kitbashes that are geared towards g1. I still say the characterizations were what mad it shine though.

I remember playing with my TF's for hours on end, man. Bricks or not, they were as awesome to me as my Voltron lions and my G.I. Joes, if not moreso. Most likely for the charachterization, I will agree... Still the best memories I have from back then!

I think generationzero said it beautifully with his first post.

 

Current TF toys are marvellous. Very poseable, great detailing, and by far more durable (or easily fixed when the balljoints weaken). Despite this, there is something special about the first year of G-1.

 

I think it's only part nostalgia (I was 13 at the time so I wasn't at the impressionable tender age). The toys were great for the time. Sure, they lacked poseability, and the detailing wasn't as superb as they are now, but they were incredibily solid toys (not withstanding the drop test). The use of existing cars, jets and other forms also helped to make them special.

 

I'm so glad for alternators (and MP Prime) because that truly is the updated version of the G-1 toys.

I agree with what everyone says, both in terms of the classic element from our younger days and the emphasis on the characters in the comics/cartoons which made them all the more endearing. D-Unit, glad you liked the photo. They're not complete (did anyone spot magnus' fists on OP?) unlike the deceps, but I'm working on it. I need Sideswipes missile and stickers, wheeljacks missile, wings and spoilers, OPs fists, hounds stickers and a couple of parts to replace damaged ones. My collection is in collectors corner and comprises almost all of G1, from first year through to action masters. If anyone has any requests for photos then I'll be at home with the collection over Xmas and can take some.

I liked the Diaclone TFs the best. Those had the most charm to them. They were my favorites.

To me, it's all about the show that made it all special to me. The toys were cool back then but they've always for the most part dissapointed me. They have little play value to me as an adult. I look at them now as little pieces of china and can't believe they were ever childrens toys with how fragile they are.

 

Now that I've gotten older and started collecting, I was hit with the realization that I just wanted the toys so I can have all my favorite characters from the show and so I could show off my classic style toys to formers fans of the show. I don't know how many eBay autions I've won and then when I get the figure, I'm like "I paid $45 for this?" I'm always more inpressed with the new Dreamwave box art and inserts then the actual figure.

 

It took them too long to come out with Alternators and 20th Prime. I broke too many G1 figures as a kid trying so deserately to give them more then 2 points of articulation.