| TRANSFORMERS G1 DVD BOXSET |
Ok firstly before we begin this is the
'Asian' release of the Generation One series. So far there have been
several release of the classic Generation One series. The main
version released was by "Rhino + Metrodome" and was released as
several boxset which were series one which was a complete 15 episode
boxset, later they released several boxsets for series two and then
again for series three. However the Asian market had a much smarter
idea and just released the WHOLE series and the movie as a complete
Generation One set.
There are about three version of the Generation One boxset which
were released in the Asian market. The first one was probably the
best of the three as it came packaged in a large wooden box with the
Autobot symbol on the front. Open it up and it had several DVD disks
which contained all of Generation One (Aside from Scramble City
which was really the last episode of series two and explained a lot
of things before the movie happened as it was set roughly five years
after B.O.T and five years before the events of the movie begin) and
also had several booklets, postcards and it also came with a random
RobotMasters toy. The wooden box version came with a large selection
of post cards and also a free Robot-Master toy which was a random
figure but 90% of the time it was G1 Convoy or Lio Convoy or if you
were extremely lucky you could fid the metallic G1 Painted Convoy.
There were also a few other items in the boxset as well but this set
was mainly just like the first mentioned above but in a huge wooden
box which added extra’s.
The other two Asian releases are the latest since the wooden box
version is pretty impossible to find now but thankfully these two
versions are just as good. The main difference with the two sets is
mostly down to the art since one has Optimus Prime and Rodimus on
the front which then slides open to reveal a sort of booklet which
inside contains all the disks and also has art work on the side with
some information about the characters on the side.
The other version is slightly better as it comes in a tin box with
the Autobot symbol on the front and inside it contains a foam casing
with an Autobot key ring. Look closer and there’s a booklet which
slides open to reveal yet another booklet that opens up and contains
all the DVD disks with all the episodes on. There’s art work inside
the booklet from several 'Dreamwave' comics but some are seriously
messed up and should not be in a Generation One set such as the 'War
Within' Picture of Magnus and Megatron or the 'RiD' picture of
Scourge with his 'Sword of Fury' which have nothing to do with
Generation One.
The disks all look identical aside from having episode numbers
printed on them such as 1-8 and so forth. All the disks have an
Autobot logo on them which looks nice but it would have been nice to
have seen a few more Decepticon symbols in places. The disks are all
silver and can slide into the slots of the booklet fairly easily but
the booklet itself feels really chunky but that's to be expected
considering the things holding around 100 Episodes of the
Transformers. The booklet is a little difficult to turn the pages
however because of all the disks inside and you kind of worry at
times if your pressing to hard because obviously the last thing a
fan wants to do is brake one of the disks. I mean lets face it if
you broke just one disk then your pretty much screwed on finding a
single replacement disk and would have to buy a whole new boxset.
The layout is all nice and easy to understand. When the screen loads
you get to yet another Autobot symbol which leads to you various
settings which are mostly crap.
The obvious choice is to select the right option symbol which leads
you to the episode numbers which you can then choose. The other
options are pretty much rubbish and the bottom option just turns the
DVD player off for some reason!?
All the episodes are in English with all the voice actors we know
and love and all the memories of the cartoon are there such as the
classic trilogy MTMTE set which we see Prime and Megatron fighting
it out on 'Hoover Dam' and Mirage saving the day by blowing up the
Decepticon shuttle. There's also the added extra feature of
switching on the Japanese voices which are very odd and different to
hear. To begin with the Japanese voice are all very VERY loud but it
is funny to hear the Japanese versions of the voices and some of the
characters sound pretty close to each other.
The animation of the series is still very good when compared to most
cartoon series of today. The look and style is obviously very
different from today’s ‘Cybertron’ cartoon series but stands on its
own considering the series is over 20 years old now and started a
whole generation of loyal fans and followers. Over 100 Episodes are
included in the boxset which also includes the original Transformers
Movie in all its glory.
The post cards that come with the boxset are a nice addition and
basically have some recent G1 art work done on them. There are
roughly 8+ post cards in the set but realistically there to nice to
use as actual post cards and also if you think about it these are
pretty rare considering they come with the DVD boxset which means
over time the sets will become valuable.
All in all this is an extremely nice boxset to own and is much nicer
than the Rhino release as at least with this boxset you can own ALL
the episodes and the movie in one foul swoop. With this boxset you
also get added extra’s such as a badge and the Transformers tin and
also the post cards but you also get an extra DVD which contains a
few previous Botcon conventions and also a couple of added hidden
extra’s. A worth DVD boxset to any Transformer fans collection. |
|
|
 |
