Transforming into nostalgia-seekers with cartoons, toys

LOS ANGELES -- The Transformers, a race of gigantic, shape-shifting robots, invaded planet Earth two decades ago, desperate to find life-giving fuel for their ailing civilization.

Now they're back, this time fueled by the nostalgia of Generation X.

So-named because they could change shape into cars, trucks and jet fighters, Transformers came in the form of die-cast toys, comic books and an after-school cartoon series that ... well, transformed them into a billion-dollar pop culture phenomenon.

Over the years, the toys were tossed away or vanished into attic corners while the cartoon show was canceled and forgotten.

But as the children of the 1980s have become financially independent adults, collecting Transformers memorabilia has become a passion.

"They take you back to fourth grade, when you didn't have any problems," said collector Angie Hung, a 25-year-old manager at an Internet service company in Calgary, Canada. "I wish I could go back to the mid-'80s and use the money I have now to buy them all."

In some ways, she's getting her wish.

Link to childhood

These toys and cartoons are more than just retro kitsch to the people who love them -- they are a powerful link to childhood.

"I wouldn't say the Transformers was the only good thing in my life as a kid, but it was the best thing in my life," said collector Alex Weiner, a counselor for delinquent youths in Philadelphia.

He was 8 when he first encountered the toys and cartoon in 1984 -- the year his parents divorced and he moved to a new town in New Jersey with his mother.

The first new friend he made was playing with Transformers, he recalled.

"They gave me a chance to connect with another kid," Weiner said. "It was definitely an outlet from the other stuff roiling in my head from the divorce."

He remained a fan for several years, often watching the cartoon show twice daily. Then came more upheaval: his mother, who had remarried, was getting another divorce and they were moving again.

While cleaning out his room, he started playing with the Transformers one last time. Then he packed them up in a bag and carried them out to the trash.

More than a decade would pass before he realized he'd made a mistake.

Until relatively recently, Peter Cullen didn't know people like Weiner existed.

But now the veteran voice-over actor, who supplied the voice of heroic Optimus Prime in "The Transformers" cartoon, has met hundreds of admirers and attended a fan convention.

Money to be made

Despite the program's low-production values and cynical marketing purpose (even fans acknowledge it's something of a glorified toy commercial) Cullen said he and other actors took pride in making the stories wholesome.

Prime, who transformed into a big-rig truck, led the good-guy Autobot robots in war against the resource-depleting Decepticons, led by the sinister Megatron, who changed into a massive silver handgun.

"I wanted Optimus Prime to be strong and just and fair," said Cullen, who now plays Eeyore in Disney's "Winnie the Pooh" cartoons. "I saw him like John Wayne, and did a little of that voice. ... I wanted him to be a superhero, not stupid or off-the-wall. He never yelled or lost his temper. I think the kids appreciated that."

The innovative marketing technique of a half-hour cartoon based on a toy line helped "The Transformers" racked up nearly $1 billion in action-figure sales over eight years in the 1980s.

And there's still more money to be made.

The first issue of the new comic book "Transformers: Generation 1" from publisher Dreamwave Productions has sold nearly 225,000 copies since it debuted April 5, and orders for next month's issue have already reached 165,000.

Meanwhile, bootleg copies of all 98 original cartoon episodes proliferated for years on the Internet, the complete set selling for $70 to $90. Now Rhino Home Video is releasing the program's first 16-episode season on DVD, which retails for about $60. Other seasons will follow.

Meanwhile, Hasbro Inc., which abandoned the robots-into-vehicles motif for many years, has returned to the original theme with the new "Robots in Disguise" toy line and cartoon.

Whether it's toys, comic books or cartoons, fans of this sci-fi kids universe from the 1980s are determined not to let it slip away again.

Just for a joke a few years ago, Weiner watched an old tape of the 1986 "Transformers" feature movie with some college friends, but the powerful memories it resurrected turned him back into a collector.