Okay, wrong usage, but hey, 25 years for Transformers! For some, May 8, 1984 is the day since that's when US Marvel-issue "The Transformers" #1 first hit comic shelves. For others, it's September 17, 1984, when the original cartoon aired in the US. Despite the gap between the two forms of media, both still came out 1984, so what the hey.

As some can remember my birthday post last year, my sister had joked about whether geeks were born or made. For those also born on May 8, 1984, can probably ask that question as well. I didn't know about TF until the syndicated rerun during elementary school and an attempt of transforming one of my cousin's Grimlock (which I failed miserably). Since then, it's been on-off over the years - from Beast Wars and Beast Machines, to Robots in Disguise, and to the Unicron Trilogy. It wasn't until the first trailer of Bay's Transformers that kicked it back into gear, and I remembered why TF had always lingered in the back of my brain no matter what.

Since then, I've discovered the fun and crazy parts of the fandom and franchise. I found that while I tend to eschew the toy collecting aspect often, I preferred the reading materials aspect somewhat more. That goes into my comic collection; I only collect singles if they carry a good value to me (several of the Spotlights from IDW), or I know they'll disappear (variety of DW's releases). What few English-based art-focused books, such as "Best of Don" and Jim Sorenson's "The Ark" and "The Ark II", makes me a happy camper. The other angle of my reading collection are the mooks that Japan has put out, namely what I'm able to obtain without too much difficulty, like "Transformers: Visualworks" and "Transformers Micron Legend: Year Book 2003". Maybe it's the Asian side of me that responds to it. In fact, the only reason I collected one figure from each wave of the Henkei! Henkei! TF release was for the mini-manga that came with the guys.

Fandom brings a desire of seeing the various works coming from wherever around the globe. Like artists and from United Arab Emirates, to the numerous Japanese artists such as , and others that have gone pro, like and . I always envy their l33t drawing/coloring skillz. :V

Fanfiction brings a whole box of chocolates, from , , , and . Although ever since Transformers' release, there's a been a HORDE of TF fic that's almost making me disillusioned of the fanfic world (namely the sheer number of fics such as "daughter of canon-TF" and "humanXTF" pairings. XP and the SLASH; don't get me started on that). However, it's the occasional gems and my own ponderings that keeps me from completely wanting to leave fanfic writing. The relationships between organics and non-organics (namely humans and TFs), the perspective of whether one can consider another specie truly "primitive", the way how two entirely different cultures think (that's probably worthy of almost any anthropological study). So many ideas and things to ponder over...

Fandom itself, there's been plenty of wonderful think-tank style discussions, and more than enough face-palming moments (especially of the "WTF?" and variety). Sometimes, I want to ask, like why do some fans take various aspects with stride? Then I find I answer myself with different answers that makes sense, especially to why some take the events in stride. Shia LaBeouf in an recent Entertainment Tonight gives an answer quite nicely, even though he was talking about Revenge of the Fallen: "It's escapism. The movie is not overtly complicated. It wasn't built for extreme pontification or self exploration. It's built for fun and enjoyment and escapism."

What future holds for Transformers in another 25 years? Who knows. The times and people are always transforming and there will be things that will always be more than meets the eye.

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