Will Shout give us Takara's G1?

[Scrapper6]

After they finish up with the classic cartoon, do you think Shout will manage to negotiate/acquire the rights to distribute the Japanese language track versions of Headmasters/Masterforce/Victory and Zone?

I don't understand one iota of Japanese, but even so I'd like to be able to watch these series, just because they are G1, with similar/the same animation as what we got. And feature a lot of toys that never got the chance, since G1 ended with a three part Rebirth.

I know it'd probably be easy to get some bootlegged copy or something, but in all honesty I'd really rather support Shout and their wonderful G1 style box sets. If anything I'd love to see them produce another interesting case for the Japanese series, perhaps something along the lines of Vector Sigma's key.

Still haven't gotten the Matrix box set yet, but I plan to one day this year, I'm in the mood to watch G1 again, and not the rinky dink Rhino versions... I've seen those enough times and I got sick of the stupid wierdo sound effects. I want to see G1 all over again with regular, non-surround sound sounds. (And effects.)

Anyway, what are the chances? Think if enough of us petition to get it, we'll get it? Or are petitions a poor man's excuse for something or other, doomed to failure, and a life of endless cheese... Or something. LOL :D

[soundwaveCA]

Just DL the fansubs, does not make any sense doing a DVD release for these as they would not make money and the Japanese stuff is so bad anyway.

[Aernaroth]

The fansubs ARE pretty good.

Or get the singapore dubs.

[Scrapper6]

Just DL the fansubs, does not make any sense doing a DVD release for these as they would not make money and the Japanese stuff is so bad anyway.


That's your opinion, anything with the name Transformers on it, in DVD form would most likely sell to anybody who was pulled in by the film franchise. Also, the Japanese stuff is not bad, that's also just your opinion, I have no real experience with it, so I haven't formed an opinion yet.

I would definitely purchase the set or sets because I am interested in having physical copies that are affordable and I am most likely not the only one.

[Aernaroth]

That's your opinion, anything with the name Transformers on it, in DVD form would most likely sell to anybody who was pulled in by the film franchise. Also, the Japanese stuff is not bad, that's also just your opinion, I have no real experience with it, so I haven't formed an opinion yet.

I would definitely purchase the set or sets because I am interested in having physical copies that are affordable and I am most likely not the only one.

I'm pretty sure he's right in that they probably wouldn't find it profitable enough to bring over some Japanese TF serieses that never aired here and have nearly no main characters that the average person would remember.

It certainly doesn't help that the TF dvds they have out right now don't seem to be particularly flying off the shelves, I don't think.

[soundwaveCA]

That's your opinion, anything with the name Transformers on it, in DVD form would most likely sell to anybody who was pulled in by the film franchise. Also, the Japanese stuff is not bad, that's also just your opinion, I have no real experience with it, so I haven't formed an opinion yet.

I would definitely purchase the set or sets because I am interested in having physical copies that are affordable and I am most likely not the only one.

Just because a few fans want it does not mean you can sell it to a mass audience. Sure you could try and sell it as more G1 but considering you would have to sell it sub-only that would kill it right there.

[Scrapper6]

Just because a few fans want it does not mean you can sell it to a mass audience. Sure you could try and sell it as more G1 but considering you would have to sell it sub-only that would kill it right there.

Why on Earth would they have to sell it Sub only? I mean what's wrong with selling it Subed and Dubbed option wise? I'm sure other Japanese DVDs do this.

Ok, so maybe the market is small, but they could do what they did with the Matrix box set I suppose, offer it through their online store. So my dream for it being within my price range would be gone, at least the fans that want it, would be able to get it. :( Now I'm depressed, all I wanted was to have new G1 after 25 years.

[JLvatron]

What in Hank Hill is 'sub'?
I just know what 'dub' is.

[soundwaveCA]

Why on Earth would they have to sell it Sub only? I mean what's wrong with selling it Subed and Dubbed option wise? I'm sure other Japanese DVDs do this.

Ok, so maybe the market is small, but they could do what they did with the Matrix box set I suppose, offer it through their online store. So my dream for it being within my price range would be gone, at least the fans that want it, would be able to get it. :( Now I'm depressed, all I wanted was to have new G1 after 25 years.

No dub exists for these shows (unless you count the Singapore one for Headmasters but that's laughable at best). They would have to make a new dub from scratch and considering it costs 10-12 grand an episode to dub something makes the costs extremely prohibitive.

Not trying to rain on your parade here but the fact is it wont happen, it's possible yes so never say never but I'm sure we would have heard something by now if anyone was interested bringing these over. The problem is the Japanese shows have a slight fan interest at best, and even among fans these shows dont have much of a following.

[Scrapper6]

What in Hank Hill is 'sub'?
I just know what 'dub' is.

Subtitled, silly.:p

No dub exists for these shows (unless you count the Singapore one for Headmasters but that's laughable at best). They would have to make a new dub from scratch and considering it costs 10-12 grand an episode to dub something makes the costs extremely prohibitive.

Not trying to rain on your parade here but the fact is it wont happen, it's possible yes so never say never but I'm sure we would have heard something by now if anyone was interested bringing these over. The problem is the Japanese shows have a slight fan interest at best, and even among fans these shows dont have much of a following.

That's even more depressing, being a fan of Transformers I happen to like it all, even, ugh, Animorphs. And I would love to see these things, if only because they feature the only animation with characters like the Pretenders, Powermasters, Headmasters and Micromasters.

Fans think they're a joke, they don't have any interest in them or what? Just because of some bad dubbing done back in the day? At least they would be entertaining to watch, and also something fresh and hardly seen outside of Japan.

I'll keep hoping, so we haven't heard anything yet, we haven't heard anything about an aniversary Jem and the Holograms DVD set in a case shaped like Synergy, but I'm still hoping for that too. (Come on Shout, give me the rest of Season Three, CURSE YOU RHINO FOR BEING A PISS POOR MARKETING CAMPAIGN, AND YOUR DVDS WERE OVERPRICED TOO!) I aslo want all of My Little Pony, but that's because I'm wierd like that and want all of Hasbro's cartoons from the 80's to re-live childhood, and avoid adult life, at least when I'm watching them every five years or so. Wouldn't mind a cheap-ass Inhumanoids set either, just to see what that's all about.

[Mumps]

I would have to agree that it is not profitable to release the Subs on DVD. Would people buy em? Only like 1/3 of the people on here and TFW, and people who are fans of 80's mecha anime.

So what I have to say is download the fansubs! It may take a while (It took me a week to download all of em a few weeks back) but if you must watch these shows, it's the best way you can do it. Now go young pirate, seek out that which we cannot link here!

[soundwaveCA]

Thing is even if these shows were popular among fans it's still not necessarily reason enough to put them out on DVD here as fans tend to overestimate their impact on a franchise. Just ask the anime industry, lots of anime shows that have huge fan followings tend to bomb when released on DVD over here.

It would be interesting to see if any of the license holders like Shout!, Rhino, Paramount, Sony etc... have looked into this at any point and if so what conclusions were reached.

[GMfan]

That's your opinion,

Crazy idea. If you don't want opinions, how about you e-mail Shout and ask them yourself instead of getting nothing but speculation off board members.

[Scrapper6]

Crazy idea. If you don't want opinions, how about you e-mail Shout and ask them yourself instead of getting nothing but speculation off board members.

I don't mean to be offended by this, but that is kind of rude, I know, I know and freely admit to being slightly rude in my phrasing myself. But in all honesty, pointing out someone else's literal phraseings is kind of what I do sometimes.

I tend to be too literal minded at times.

That being said, I was posting this thread to get other's opinions, it's just that SoundwaveCA came off as more of a My Word is Law thing and I jump on those kind of posts, to the detriment of my online social status, at times.

Besides, it's funner not to be totally shot down by the company, sure I'm probably living in a fantasy world hoping beyond hope, but ever since I found out about the Headmasters/Masterforce/Victory anime I have longed to get it here.

After all, I am a completist, and being a completist I am cursed with a desire to have the pen-ultimate Transformers cartoon collection on DVD.
It's probably not logical, but who cares about logic, I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT. And sure I COULD Download it, but in all honesty I just don't like downloading, it's so... impersonal. I much prefer having physical copies.

[GMfan]

I was posting this thread to get other's opinions, it's just that SoundwaveCA came off as more of a My Word is Law thing and I jump on those kind of posts, to the detriment of my online social status, at times.


Ya, probably should work on that. If you ask for opinons, don't flip out if it's one you don't like. Otherwise it looks ridiculous asking for opinions in the first place when the thread should be demanding people "tell me what I like"! Sorry, that's not how forums work.

That being said this board contains many educated, versed, and veteran Transformers fans and they generally have a good idea what they're talking about more then most. Take note of when these people post and see how accurate they tend to be with facts and realize arguing with them may be futile as they seem have a better insight on the topic at hand.

[Stapler]

The only way I can see us ever getting dubs of the Takara G1 series over here is if Hasbro uses them as a filler line. But that may be unlikely given the age of the series.There's also the question on how they would handle the dubbing. Would they try to bring back all the original G1 voice actors that are still around to reprise their roles, or do they go with an entirely new cast of VA's?

Knowing Hasbro, there would also have to be a toyline to go along with the show. Since there are virtually no new molds of the Takara only characters, that means G1 reissues. I don't think Hasbro is confident enough in younger fans taking to the older toys, or relying on collectors to pick up the slack.

Too much about the Takara G1 series screams niche market to Hasbro for them to put the resources into bringing the show over. Don't get me wrong, I would like to see these series make it over here but just can't see it happening any time soon. But who knows what the Transformers 30th anniversary will bring.;)

[Scrapper6]

Ya, probably should work on that. If you ask for opinons, don't flip out if it's one you don't like. Otherwise it looks ridiculous asking for opinions in the first place when the thread should be demanding people "tell me what I like"! Sorry, that's not how forums work.

That being said this board contains many educated, versed, and veteran Transformers fans and they generally have a good idea what they're talking about more then most. Take note of when these people post and see how accurate they tend to be with facts and realize arguing with them may be futile as they seem have a better insight on the topic at hand.

Boy, does that ever come off as being egotistical, sorry if I interpreted it wrong, but arguing with someone just because they probably know more than you do is a pretty basic fact of life. Saying that the argument is futile is silly, because in the first place I wasn't trying to argue, I was trying to discuss and in the second, just because someone knows more than you do in certain situations does not automatically make them better than you. It simply means they have more knowledge and probably obsess more about something than you do, hence why they spend a lot of time researching the market, the facts and all that other jazz. Either that or they honestly like to look up that sort of stuff because it interests them...

In which case that isn't obsession, that's enjoying life, so I say, great on you for doing that. Just don't get a swelled head because nine times out of ten you happen to be right about something. If the other 99% of the people followed through on memorizing and researching all the facts they'd be just as right as you are.

Also I'm not trying to signal you out GMFan, that was a blanket statment in which the term YOU was referring to anyone who happens to know more than me on any given subject in which they happen to be enjoying as a hobby or otherwise.

The only way I can see us ever getting dubs of the Takara G1 series over here is if Hasbro uses them as a filler line. But that may be unlikely given the age of the series.There's also the question on how they would handle the dubbing. Would they try to bring back all the original G1 voice actors that are still around to reprise their roles, or do they go with an entirely new cast of VA's?

Knowing Hasbro, there would also have to be a toyline to go along with the show. Since there are virtually no new molds of the Takara only characters, that means G1 reissues. I don't think Hasbro is confident enough in younger fans taking to the older toys, or relying on collectors to pick up the slack.

Too much about the Takara G1 series screams niche market to Hasbro for them to put the resources into bringing the show over. Don't get me wrong, I would like to see these series make it over here but just can't see it happening any time soon. But who knows what the Transformers 30th anniversary will bring.;)

Good points I suppose, if I was talking about dubbing them, personally though I'd be happy with just a Region 1 version of the Japanese box sets, no subbing, no dubbing, just Japanese language tracks. I'm probably like one of only five or six people who'd settle for that, but hey I could get through it... I'd just pretend to make up the dialogue, explain things to my brain... Either that or I'd pick up the Japanese language. Heh, heh. :D;)

[GMfan]

arguing with someone just because they probably know more than you do is a pretty basic fact of life.

Well generally when I find someone who knows more then I do, I listen and learn because arguing would give me little to no new information. I'm not saying I know more then you but arguing with someone because they know more then you isn't a fact because I know most people aren't asinine enough to do that.

The real fact of life is there are people that will know more then you, learn from them. There are people that may know just as much as you, friend them. And there are people that know less then you do, educate or ignore them, your choice.

[Scrapper6]

Well generally when I find someone who knows more then I do, I listen and learn because arguing would give me little to no new information. I'm not saying I know more then you but arguing with someone because they know more then you isn't a fact because I know most people aren't asinine enough to do that.

The real fact of life is there are people that will know more then you, learn from them. There are people that may know just as much as you, friend them. And there are people that know less then you do, educate or ignore them, your choice.

Touche, I guess I should stop arguing like I know what the hell's going on, considering I don't. I guess I just don't like letting go of my optimistic side, because the alternative is rather stress inducing if you ask me. Pessimism isn't fun.

[GMfan]

Nothing wrong with looking on the bright side but when you have a good idea what's possible or not you move onto the next thing to look forward to, waiting for the improbable seems more depressing. ;)

[Tekkamanraiden]

Thing is even if these shows were popular among fans it's still not necessarily reason enough to put them out on DVD here as fans tend to overestimate their impact on a franchise. Just ask the anime industry, lots of anime shows that have huge fan followings tend to bomb when released on DVD over here.

It would be interesting to see if any of the license holders like Shout!, Rhino, Paramount, Sony etc... have looked into this at any point and if so what conclusions were reached.

I think they tend to sell poorly not due to lack of interest but the high cost of what they release. I avoided buying the Rino versions of transformers because I considered them to be too expensive. Shout Factory's version I found much more reasonably priced so I bought them.

[Shockwave 75]

If they ever got released over here they would NEVER reslease them in japanese only. That would be the dumbest business decision since New Coke!

I have the Madman sets and they are awesome! If they just copied them I think they would sell well enough.
Especially if they just slap a big NEVER SEEN IN NORTH AMERICA!!! sticker on them.

[Cheers Ian]

I'm not going to get involved in the big debate. But here's my opinion.

Japanese Transformers series with a mainstream DVD realease in North America?

Highly unlikely. Impossible? No.

In conclusion: I wouldn't hold my breath.

Cheers!
-Ian

[soundwaveCA]

Boy do I look bad lol

Rather be wrong though :)

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-news-rumors/289980-shout-factory-wants-know-if-we-want-takara-cartoon-dvd.html

[Richter]

I love my fansubs of masterforce and victory

Masterforce is one of my favourite all time animated series'

I really hope they do release them here!

[Cheers Ian]

Boy do I look bad lol

Rather be wrong though :)

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-news-rumors/289980-shout-factory-wants-know-if-we-want-takara-cartoon-dvd.html

It's still not a done deal.

You're not wrong yet :p

Cheers!
-Ian

[Scrapper6]

Boy do I look bad lol

Rather be wrong though :)

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-news-rumors/289980-shout-factory-wants-know-if-we-want-takara-cartoon-dvd.html

I do believe in Spooks, I do believe in spooks, I do, I do, I do... Uh, I mean... BOOYEAH! :D

Hope the fan response is so good that they release them and go hog wild if necessary. (By which I mean, giving us even more Transformers box sets in slim affordable packages.) *Insert Thumbs Up Smilie here*

[Protoman]

I can't imagine the Shout version being better then TV-N's Fansubs. They put extra effort into translated fine details and japanese cultured lines. Specially with Masterforce and Victory. It's these little things that make fansubs always superior to any heartless mass release.

[Aernaroth]

Boy do I look bad lol

Rather be wrong though :)

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-news-rumors/289980-shout-factory-wants-know-if-we-want-takara-cartoon-dvd.html


Hey, nothing wrong with being pleasantly surprised. I'm honestly amazed they're even considering it, but doing something like this to gague interest is a good idea for them. I honestly don't know if it'll end up being worthwhile for them in the end though.

[Mumps]

Well, at least they are gaguing interest with us instead of just tossing the idea out the window. In the end, if they do not release it, well... the thought was there :p
And we have our fansubs to fall back on ;)
But even with the fansubs, I will buy these in a heartbeat if they are released.

I kind of doubt they will release them though... They canned Inspector Gadget after vol. 1. *pissed*

[Richter]

I can't imagine the Shout version being better then TV-N's Fansubs. They put extra effort into translated fine details and japanese cultured lines. Specially with Masterforce and Victory. It's these little things that make fansubs always superior to any heartless mass release.

Ya I really liked how they went into the nuances of the Japanese language, that was one of my favourite parts. I'm sure they will at least look at them, I mean, they're out there and free, they'd be stupid not to try and license them.

[Scrapper6]

Ya I really liked how they went into the nuances of the Japanese language, that was one of my favourite parts. I'm sure they will at least look at them, I mean, they're out there and free, they'd be stupid not to try and license them.

That doesn't make a lick of sense, these are fan made dubbing jobs on old Japanese Anime, how in the world could anyone expect a company to take them and use them as the product they plan to release? Or even consider it. All companies are the same, they refuse to accept unsolicited material, be it from a professional to joe blow on the street.

Personally I just hope they will pursue the release of these sets if the demand is high enough. Re-dubbing them for the modern age seems to be a pipe dream, some good subs is all I ask.

As for what Mumps said about them dropping Inspector Gadget after one volume, I suspect that could be due to sales... Or not enough demand, or it could just be that circulation was poor. I never even knew that Inspector Gadget was released on DVD in any kind of box set.:confused:

You can praise the fandubs all you want, but to expect the quality that Shout gives to their possible DVD releases of the Japanese G1 seasons to match that of passionate almost obsessed fans willing to take their free time and use it on such an endeavor is ludicrous.

I haven't even seen these fandubs, they sure as hell aren't free if I can't look them up on Youtube or some place that doesn't involve downloading them onto my computer. Of course it could be because of the way they decided to make them, I don't know.

All I hope for is additional box sets after Season 3 and The Rebirth are finished being released. As long as I can watch it, read some subs or even listen to some half-arsed dubs then so be it.