A trip down memory lane TF websites from the past

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Wait, now the whole universe is at stake? I thought the Preds wanted just the galaxy?!
transformers-optimus-prime.gif


Anyway, had to dig a little bit, but one I remember going to once upon a time was Planet Sabretron... and it's still around!
 

SeeveeRay

I'll get better someday, hopefully.
Citizen
Anyway, had to dig a little bit, but one I remember going to once upon a time was Planet Sabretron... and it's still around!
My gosh... Is that the one that used to load the sound file every time the front page reloaded? I remember it sounded like "This is a Cybertron" and three different Transformers characters would voice the "Cybertron" part in a row?

Orrrr maybe I'm thinking of another site with a similar name. 😗
 

Dvandom

Well-known member
Citizen
Well, the Earth was co-created from the initial pile of swirling matter.

And yeah, I remember Anton Max. One of the problems with early primitives-based CG like his work and Trent Troop's was that if you wanted articulated fingers you ended up with spindy weirdness.

---Dave
 

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
My gosh... Is that the one that used to load the sound file every time the front page reloaded? I remember it sounded like "This is a Cybertron" and three different Transformers characters would voice the "Cybertron" part in a row?

Orrrr maybe I'm thinking of another site with a similar name. 😗
I... don't recall that. ^^;
 

Tuxedo Prime

Well-known member
Citizen
Have you tried Ruffle? It's a Flash-life-support-machine being used to keep the Homestar Runner site in working order. I've used a downloaded program to play a couple of old games I still enjoy.
 

Tuxedo Prime

Well-known member
Citizen
As I mentioned last spring on this very board, the World's Worst Site is (and has been for almost a year now) in a "pending deletion" queue. I tried to send a missive to PerceptorTFWW (the one with the TFWW), never received a reply. Perhaps he (or both him and Picard42) views it as an Old Shame. Which is sad, because yes, some of the jokes don't really work as they might have once (I rather liked Dick Gautier's response to one running gag), but damn the Beast Machines Episode Generator was funny (because it was true), and the early fics... well, I couldn't help but be reminded of them after the Rise of the Beasts trailer. You know the line I'm talking about.

Not all is lost though, I gave the fiction universe its own stream. Because of course I did.
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
Anyway, had to dig a little bit, but one I remember going to once upon a time was Planet Sabretron... and it's still around!
Bumping this to say thanks for finding this. I've been wanting to track down this old site for some time, now.

Unfortunately, many of its links just lead to dead Geocities pages, and need to instead be viewed via Internet Archive's WayBack Machine.
 

Stepwise

Not Crew.
Citizen
I just read through this entire thread again.

Iggy Drouge, Ben's page, Dave's page, pre-transformers, Phule's, the page w/ the big summaries of Japanese cartoons, the TF webring, ATT . . . It's fun to sit here and reminisce on a slow Friday.
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
Since this thread is about the early internet fandom, I'm putting out a call for assistance in this thread to anyone here who was around back then and active in the 90s Transformers convention scene. Specifically those who were based on the UK.

From 1999 to 2004, there was a Transformers convention held in the UK called Transforce, which was run by Paul Cannon. Each Transforce had an exclusive magazine featuring content created by Simon Furman. Most notably, the short comic "The Last Days of Optimus Prime" and the two-part novella "Alignment". While both of those are easily available to find online, what isn't online is the rest of each magazine's content. There were even interviews with Furman in which he gave behind-the-scenes info regarding his Transformers works from back then.

If anyone here ever acquired any of those old Transforce magazines and still has any of them, please let me know as their content is very much worth archiving in digital scan form.
 
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Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
After doing some digging, I have found the old Transforce 2000 exclusives webpage that lists the content of that conventions' magazine:
  • Brand new interviews with Simon Furman, Lew Stringer, Jeff Anderson, Mike Kazybrid, Lee Sullivan and Mike Collins​
  • Brand new Generation 1 story 'The last days of Optimus Prime' by Simon Furman, Jeff Anderson and Lee Sullivan.​
  • A brand new Combat Colin story by Lew Stringer.​
  • A brand new Humph the cat story by Mike Kazybrid.​
  • A 'Robot war' (story so far) feature by TMUK members.​
  • A Mike Kazybrid Matt and the Cat/Megatron pin up​
  • Focus on Japanese Beast Wars computer games by Paul Wright.​
  • 'If life is worth living' Beast Wars neo comic strip by Matt Dallas.​
  • A preview of Simon Furman and Andrew Wildman's new project 'The Engine: Industrial strength'.​
  • 'Conflicts of interest' a text story by Martin McVay.​
  • All wrapped up in a superb new computer generated cover by Zenith, featuring a new version of the illustration from Marvels UKs first issue of Transformers.​

And I found the webpage for the Transforce 2001 magazine:
Contents

Fell on Black Days
Script - Mark Stevenson
Art - Nick Roche
Letters - Graham Thomson

The Primal Sacrifice
Script - Graham Thomson
Art - Jack Lawrence
Letters - Graham Thomson

Fusion (text)
Story/Illustration - Martin McVay

Liars, A to D (a prelude to Eugenesis)
Script - James Roberts
Art - Matt Dallas
Letters Graham Thomson

Distraction
Script - Graham Thomson
Plotspark - Garry Bodsworth
Art - James Bull
Letters - Graham Thomson

Less Miserable
Script/Art - Matt Dallas
Letters - Graham Thomson

Relentless
Script/Artwork/Letters - Garry Bodsworth

Unfortunately, the sites for Transforce 2002 and 2004 aren't archived, so I can't tell if either of them had a magazine or not. Searching through ATT, I can't find any mention of their having had any magazines, so for now, the only ones I can be certain of their existence were the 2000 and 2001 magazines.

And it looks like "Alignment" was printed separately from the magazines, but again, "Alignment" is easy to find in digital form. It's the magazines that need to be found.
 

ZakuConvoy

Well-known member
Citizen
Transmasters UK can be a elusive beast. Always was. Outside of tracking down a physical copy from someone, I don't think you'll have much luck, unfortunately, but I'll add a little to your quest.

This archive of Alt.Toy.Transformers has a little bit of discussion about the interview from Simon Furman from Transforce 2000, mentioning how he saw Beast Wars as part of the comic universe, and didn't consider Beast Machines canon.
Simon Furman regards Beast Wars as taking place in his comic universe
(according to an interview in the Transforce 2000 magazine, he ignores Beast
Machines entirely). His own post-BW storyline is Reaching the Omega Point
(the BotCon stories).

I don't think that he was dead, either. 'cause he said he wishes he could be
> with old friends. I got the impression that they were dead, and he wishes he
> could be with them.
>
> Although, if you think that he's alive, the ending doesn't really make sense.
>

Simon commented on this issue at the convention I'm told. There is indeed
a differance between entering J'nwan and becoming one with the Matrix.
J'nwan is a Valhalla like plane of existance entered into while still
alive by a dimensional gate. (This would be the 'Silicon Valhalla' Dinobot
refered to in Beast Wars.) However, one joins the Matrix by simply dying.
He was very specific that they were seperate things. Whether or not they
can return from J'nwan to the mortal plane, however, is up to Simon
himself. (Or of course fanfic writers. ;-)


As far as I'm concerned this whole thing is HIS sandbox. Hasbro just comes
along once a year & breaks all the toys, and he creates new masterpieces
based on the carnage they leave behind. ;-)

Simon suggested to me that he worked with Jeff Anderson to redesign Optimus
Prime for the story. As this story is set a LONG time after Primes last
appearance, it made sense that he had evolved further. Neither Megatron or
Prime have downsized to Maximal/Predacon size though, they are both original
size.



And another interview with one of the guys who ran Transforce and mentions the Transforce 2000 cover. It's apparently a redone version of Marvel's Transformers UK #1, and similar art was used in some old region 1 DVDs, but I can't find ANY images of the actual Transforce 2000 cover in question.

There's other mentions of Transforce in Transformers At the Moon's archives. You can try your luck there.


EDIT: And I found the cover!
So, at least you should know what you're looking for.


There WAS a exclusive comic and book at Transforce 1999. But, it looks to be all about TMUK proper. Although it does have a interview with...Bench Press? Who? (More on that later)

Transforce 2002's exclusive seems to be Simon Furman's Alignment. Transforce 2001 only had the first part of Alignment, but this was both parts combined. (Transforce 2001 is ALSO where Eugenesis first released)


And Transforce 2004 DEFINITELY had a collection of sorts. The Last Odyssey. Which was a fanfic collection written by a bunch of TMUK mainstays. (Also...a exclusive video game collection of Transformers themed versions of classic arcade games?)
It's not really of much interest to people who aren't familiar with TMUK, but it was probably the last hurrah for the "golden age" of TMUK. And...from the looks of the website, things went wrong, unfortunately for them.



Also, just as a aside...I had completely forgotten about Bench Press Comics attempt at releasing Transformers and GI Joe comics back in 1999.

Some of those images even still work, sorta. This might have gotten a story in Wizard back in the day. A memory unlocked.
 
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LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I'd love to know what determines if a page gets archived or not. Particularly when there are other instances of it there. Or why they get removed, and sometimes restored.
 


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