The Transformers Thunderous Thirty #5 - Trailbreaker/Trailcutter

According to some stories within the Transformers canon, each of the characters represented by the original 1984 Transformers toys is a legend. However, that assessment is sometimes hard to reconcile with the reality that some of these characters received little to no characterization at all, and comparatively few appearances in the fiction in which any personality might be expressed. Trailbreaker is one of these ciphers.

The Transformers Thunderous Thirty #4 - Sunstreaker

I've written before about the Autobots being "good guys" and the Decepticons being "bad guys" in fairly sweeping terms. While this is helpful for describing things to people who don't know much about the Transformers franchise, the reality is that the truth is often more subtle (much like real life!). Sunstreaker is an Autobot, but to call him a "good guy" glosses over some fairly significant personality flaws.

The Transformers Thunderous Thirty #3 - Rumble

It is perhaps noteworthy that, for the first year of the Transformers franchise, the bad guys were outnumbered by the good guys roughly two-to-one! While I can't speak to how well that ratio has held up in other eras of the franchise, having more Autobot (good guy) figures than Decepticons (bad guys) has definitely been a recurring reality throughout the years. Indeed, on the assumption that kids don't want to buy "bad guy" toys, there are whole years of the Japanese line where Deceptions are all but absent altogether! I can't say I've ever quite gotten my head around that assumption myself. As a sometime-actor in grade school and college, I know that role-playing as bad guys can be tons of fun! As one of the best-remembered bad guys from the early years of the Transformers franchise, it's hard to imagine kids not wanting to have a Rumble figure of their very own!

The Transformers Thunderous Thirty #2 - Bumblebee

Within months of my first post on this blog back in 2005, when I made what was perhaps my first attempt to do meaningful Transformers-related content, it seemed a natural choice to feature Bumblebee. At that time, neither Hasbro nor Takara had made much of a serious attempt to revive the Generation One characters, with the possible exception of the Alternators line, and since the trademark to the name "Bumblebee" had apparently been lost, it didn't seem likely that we'd see too much more of the once-prominent character.

A lot has changed since 2005.