[Starscream Gaga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kickback

Transformers? Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Starscream, Ratchet ... they're in every series now. Movies, animated shows, comics ... you can't NOT find them. And while they may be "DIFFERENT" from the 1984 launch version, in essence, they're still the same.

That's not entirely true, the characters will carry over the names and colour schemes as its part of the franchise tradition, but every version the characters are completely different, with unique personalities, goals and traits. For example, Armada Starscream is nothing like Animated Starscream and Animated Starscream is nothing like Movie Starscream and Movie Starscream is nothing like G1 Starscream. They all carry over the name and a jet alt-mode and sometimes some personality traits (although they're always given a new spin on it), but none are the same character. It is nothing like how PR is currently acting towards MMPR despite having 17 or so other sets of suits and characters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KRX

With Transformers, I can let it slide because they tell the same story with the same characters but in a new and (usually) interesting way. You have G1 which is very episodic and campy in nature, a few story arcs being thrown in here and there; you also have Prime, which has a larger, over-arching story and takes itself seriously. It has begun to bother me a bit that they are focusing more on G1 in the Generations line, but I don't see much else that can be done, given the later series already having more screen-accurate figures available. Besides, Hasbro has announced a new Armada Starscream, which shows me that they do care about other generations.

Star Wars I can forgive because they're telling one story and sticking to it, but it takes place over a long period of time. The Clone Wars is a good show, but it has its own toyline already that (I think) is still ongoing. It also helps that those characters are also from the prequel trilogy, essentially tackling two genres at once.

Power Rangers is a combination of the two. It takes place in the same universe (with one exception), and it tells the same basic story with varying elements in every season. However, there is more than one set of characters. Even in MMPR, every Ranger color (save for Blue, Green, and White) had more than one character behind it (although most merchandise represents the suit, not the Ranger). I can understand why they would cater to the original cast, but there are so many more characters that had time devoted to them for audiences to get to know and care for them. Yet Bandai constantly decides to make new toys for the originals, leaving other seasons to collect dust. I could forgive this if it weren't for the fact that we're supposed to be celebrating 20 years of Power Rangers and not the first three. I can understand why the SDCC exclusives this year are MMPR-oriented, since Bandai doesn't have pre-existing molds of old seasons that would fit in with the current toyline, but I would expect them to acknowledge the market available in previous seasons as well. As long as it looks cool, a kid will be inclined to buy it. Heck, most of my Power Rangers collection was obtained before I watched an episode of the respective series.

To summarize this post, I can see why, but I don't like it anyway.

Well said.

Transformers are currently doing their anniversary. In it, you're getting G1, you're getting Beast Wars, you're getting IDW and you're even getting Armada and one of the G1 figures also doubled as an Animated character and it's only just started, by the end of it i wouldn't be surprised if most universes are represented. That's an anniversary done right. Yes, there's still a lot of G1, but it's celebrating every series.

Power Rangers' anniversary feels like nostalgia is all they're aiming for. The entire anniversary line-up is just more and more MMPR and one LG (if that ever gets released) along with the usual figures for the current show. They're not truly celebrating their 20 years of history, they're just desperately clinging to the glory days of when they were a phenomenon and catering to nostalgia. The PR ACG is the only place where you can find a legitimate attempt at celebrating everything and even then, as seen here, they're more then willing to ignore everything not MMPR or the current series when they get the chance.

I'll also compare it to Gokaiger too. In Gokaiger the only significance Gorenger got over any of the other series was that Akaranger was the leader in the Legend War and that the first finisher they used as a Gokai Change was Gorenger's and that was absolutely it. Gorenger didn't even get a mecha released, despite being the first series. All 35 series were represented pretty evenly and fairly and nostalgia did not fuel what toys were released or what series were chosen for mecha representatives. That's how a show with many different characters and themes should celebrate their history, not how PR is doing it.

The PR Anniversary claims its celebrating 20 years of Power Rangers, but really its just celebrating MMPR, which I think really sucks. Maybe Super Megaforce will change that, but for now I'm not optimistic.