There are very few things I can say I've done for 28 straight years. Breathed oxygen and lived on this planet, mostly. Not much else. But it was 28 long years ago when I first discovered ATT, and it felt like coming home. I had finally found my people.

See, I knew the writing was on the wall when G1 was dying. The cartoon had gone off the air, the Marvel Comics book was canceled, and all the Action Masters had gone on clearance at KB Toys. My favorite brand was officially dead. But, I hated the idea of giving up on it. I continued to seek out back issues of the comic that I hadn't read yet, and I did all this fan art that continued the toy line, at least in my mind (like hypothetical Action Masters versions of characters like Sunstreaker or Hound). I knew I was being foolish and stubborn, but I didn't care. There are some things you just don't let go of.

And then in the early 1990's, I guess Hasbro had gotten enough consumer feedback like "hey, whatever happened to Transformers?" and so they brought it back in a limited way. New toys, new comics, "new" cartoon episodes... or, at least, old episodes with a renewed television presence. Close enough! It was the comic book, and specifically its letters pages, that led me to becoming pen pals with folks like Liane Elliot, and I learned that there was an active Transformers fandom in existence. And that they had a large presence on this curious new technology called the Internet, where you could plug a phone line into your computer, or something crazy like that, and talk to people on the other side of the globe!

I loved the fact that there were so many folks on the newsgroup who were passionate about the brand, and knowledgeable, and on top of everything else, they were so funny. I learned about toys that I didn't even know existed, and Japanese episodes I'd never watched, and UK comics that I'd never heard of before. My world got so much bigger. It was a little dizzying in the beginning. But, I really wanted to be part of this amazing group of people who clearly loved Transformers every bit as much as I did. Finally, I didn't feel like a weirdo. Or, at the very least, I could comisserate with a bunch of other weirdos.

ATT was the central hub of the online fandom for many long years, well before the fandom splintered into countless message boards and Reddit forums and such. It was the origin point for so much of the foundational fandom jargon that remains active even today (the infamous FIRRIB argument, referring to Decepticon jets as Seekers, describing parts hanging off toys as "kibble," etc.) So much of this terminology has become so firmly-ingrained that Hasbro employees have actually adopted its use!

My first post to ATT was on February 4, 1996. It was just before the debut of Beast Wars. Man, what a mess that made of things. So much fighting. So much anger.

There were disagreements, of course. We all have differing opinions about the best episode or character or toy. And if you don't agree with me, you're clearly stupid and wrong. Or, at least, that was the prevailing attitude, seemingly. A lot of us, myself included, cared a lot about these shapeshifting robots from outer space, and with so many strong personalities and viewpoints in the proverbial room, it was inevitable that people would clash. It took me a long time to learn not to take it personally. I got into many, many arguments with people over very silly things. At the time, it seemed very important.

At times the newsgroup felt like a personality contest. The loudest or most obnoxious voices were often the only ones you could hear, and so many other people simply got lost in the noise. Walky had a talent for finding the humorous punch line of every topic. Deathasauras, or just Deathy for short, became infamous for his prolific and distinct posting style and his decidedly unique outlook. And who could forget Retardomoltalban and his almost deliberately provocative pseudo-trolling? Also, you got extra bonus points if you were a girl. Blue-Jackal and Nightwind and Merytneith and a bunch of others rose to the top of the food chain, and being female played no small role in that.

And when ATT was seemingly under attack by the likes of Internet trolls such as Rob Cypher, many of us defended the newsgroup dutifully! To think that we cared so much about a virtual space that doesn't even exist in reality.. Such was our love for the shared community we had built.

At its most popular point, perhaps around the year 2000 or so, the newsgroup averaged as many as 10,000 new articles a day. It was a struggle to keep current. It sometimes took me an hour or longer, on a daily basis, to read every post. And I did read every post. (I tried skipping articles, but then the conversation always got interesting, and I had to go back and find out what I had missed!)

Over the years, I've learned so many things from so many different fans. I discovered the existence of a huge wealth of ancillary Transformers merchandise, painstakingly catalogued by Raksha. M Sipher taught me a lot about the many production variations throughout the Transformers toy line. Dave Van Domelen was one of the fans who inspired me to create my own custom toys. Skyflight taught me to look at other people's points of view and to see things from a different perspective, even whether the Decepticons are really the "bad guys." Steve-o Stonebraker, longtime FAQ keeper and voice of reason, taught me critical thinking skills and to stay cool even in the face of flame wars. There are many others who deserve mention here, but my aging memory fails me.

ViceGripX gets a special mention here since we bonded over our shared love for Transformers and became fast friends. He's been my buddy for well over 25 years, and he's somebody for who I feel a strong kinship despite never having met in real life!

Weirdly enough, the debut of the 2007 live-action movie really didn't affect the newsgroup at all. People just weren't using Usenet as much by that point. It sure wasn't like Beast Wars. Not at all.

And then, after many years, when the majority of the newsgroup's most famous personalities moved onto greener pastures (many of them electing to write and maintain the ever-growing Transformers wiki), a few of us remained behind. ATT became smaller. More peaceful. We sometimes went days without new content. But, I feel like we became a more tightly-knit community. Everyone's voice could be heard. Nobody ever got lost in the shuffle. Folks like Gustavo Wombat and Irrellius and CodigoPostal and a handful of others were the glue that kept this place together, long after the cool kids packed up and abandoned us. Special mention goes to Swivelbot, who is a most welcome and most unexpected newcomer!

ATT has always been central to my fandom experience. Whenever I wrote a new fanfic, I wanted to post it here and share it with you guys. When I get a new toy, one of the ways I "play" with it is by analyzing it and writing a review, and even after writing hundreds, I'm still very eager to share them here. And monthly events like the Cartoon Viewing Club and the Comics Reading Club have allowed me to dig deep into the early G1 lore and look at it with a critical eye, sometimes learning some new things about these ages-old stories. I still love Transformers and I will always love talking about it here. I think Simon Furman said it best: For me, personally, it never ends.

Today marks the last day that Google Groups will archive new Usenet messages, so many of us who remain have opted to move to NovaBBS. If you're reading this and you want to keep the dream alive, you'll find us here:

https://www.novabbs.com/interests/thread.php?group=alt.toys.transformers

Zob (for the record, Unicron would totally eat the Death Star)

What a perfect way to sign off on this era of ATT. Thanks for your heartfelt thoughts, and for your continued contributions to the fandom!

On Wednesday, February 21, 2024 at 7:34:37 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> There are very few things I can say I've done for 28 straight years. Breathed oxygen and lived on this planet, mostly. Not much else. But it was 28 long years ago when I first discovered ATT, and it felt like coming home. I had finally found my people.
>
> See, I knew the writing was on the wall when G1 was dying. The cartoon had gone off the air, the Marvel Comics book was canceled, and all the Action Masters had gone on clearance at KB Toys. My favorite brand was officially dead. But, I hated the idea of giving up on it. I continued to seek out back issues of the comic that I hadn't read yet, and I did all this fan art that continued the toy line, at least in my mind (like hypothetical Action Masters versions of characters like Sunstreaker or Hound). I knew I was being foolish and stubborn, but I didn't care. There are some things you just don't let go of.
>
> And then in the early 1990's, I guess Hasbro had gotten enough consumer feedback like "hey, whatever happened to Transformers?" and so they brought it back in a limited way. New toys, new comics, "new" cartoon episodes... or, at least, old episodes with a renewed television presence. Close enough! It was the comic book, and specifically its letters pages, that led me to becoming pen pals with folks like Liane Elliot, and I learned that there was an active Transformers fandom in existence. And that they had a large presence on this curious new technology called the Internet, where you could plug a phone line into your computer, or something crazy like that, and talk to people on the other side of the globe!
>
> I loved the fact that there were so many folks on the newsgroup who were passionate about the brand, and knowledgeable, and on top of everything else, they were so funny. I learned about toys that I didn't even know existed, and Japanese episodes I'd never watched, and UK comics that I'd never heard of before. My world got so much bigger. It was a little dizzying in the beginning. But, I really wanted to be part of this amazing group of people who clearly loved Transformers every bit as much as I did. Finally, I didn't feel like a weirdo. Or, at the very least, I could comisserate with a bunch of other weirdos.
>
> ATT was the central hub of the online fandom for many long years, well before the fandom splintered into countless message boards and Reddit forums and such. It was the origin point for so much of the foundational fandom jargon that remains active even today (the infamous FIRRIB argument, referring to Decepticon jets as Seekers, describing parts hanging off toys as "kibble," etc.) So much of this terminology has become so firmly-ingrained that Hasbro employees have actually adopted its use!
>
> My first post to ATT was on February 4, 1996. It was just before the debut of Beast Wars. Man, what a mess that made of things. So much fighting. So much anger.
>
> There were disagreements, of course. We all have differing opinions about the best episode or character or toy. And if you don't agree with me, you're clearly stupid and wrong. Or, at least, that was the prevailing attitude, seemingly. A lot of us, myself included, cared a lot about these shapeshifting robots from outer space, and with so many strong personalities and viewpoints in the proverbial room, it was inevitable that people would clash. It took me a long time to learn not to take it personally. I got into many, many arguments with people over very silly things. At the time, it seemed very important.
>
> At times the newsgroup felt like a personality contest. The loudest or most obnoxious voices were often the only ones you could hear, and so many other people simply got lost in the noise. Walky had a talent for finding the humorous punch line of every topic. Deathasauras, or just Deathy for short, became infamous for his prolific and distinct posting style and his decidedly unique outlook. And who could forget Retardomoltalban and his almost deliberately provocative pseudo-trolling? Also, you got extra bonus points if you were a girl. Blue-Jackal and Nightwind and Merytneith and a bunch of others rose to the top of the food chain, and being female played no small role in that.
>
> And when ATT was seemingly under attack by the likes of Internet trolls such as Rob Cypher, many of us defended the newsgroup dutifully! To think that we cared so much about a virtual space that doesn't even exist in reality. Such was our love for the shared community we had built.
>
> At its most popular point, perhaps around the year 2000 or so, the newsgroup averaged as many as 10,000 new articles a day. It was a struggle to keep current. It sometimes took me an hour or longer, on a daily basis, to read every post. And I did read every post. (I tried skipping articles, but then the conversation always got interesting, and I had to go back and find out what I had missed!)
>
> Over the years, I've learned so many things from so many different fans. I discovered the existence of a huge wealth of ancillary Transformers merchandise, painstakingly catalogued by Raksha. M Sipher taught me a lot about the many production variations throughout the Transformers toy line. Dave Van Domelen was one of the fans who inspired me to create my own custom toys.. Skyflight taught me to look at other people's points of view and to see things from a different perspective, even whether the Decepticons are really the "bad guys." Steve-o Stonebraker, longtime FAQ keeper and voice of reason, taught me critical thinking skills and to stay cool even in the face of flame wars. There are many others who deserve mention here, but my aging memory fails me.
>
> ViceGripX gets a special mention here since we bonded over our shared love for Transformers and became fast friends. He's been my buddy for well over 25 years, and he's somebody for who I feel a strong kinship despite never having met in real life!
>
> Weirdly enough, the debut of the 2007 live-action movie really didn't affect the newsgroup at all. People just weren't using Usenet as much by that point. It sure wasn't like Beast Wars. Not at all.
>
> And then, after many years, when the majority of the newsgroup's most famous personalities moved onto greener pastures (many of them electing to write and maintain the ever-growing Transformers wiki), a few of us remained behind. ATT became smaller. More peaceful. We sometimes went days without new content. But, I feel like we became a more tightly-knit community. Everyone's voice could be heard. Nobody ever got lost in the shuffle. Folks like Gustavo Wombat and Irrellius and CodigoPostal and a handful of others were the glue that kept this place together, long after the cool kids packed up and abandoned us. Special mention goes to Swivelbot, who is a most welcome and most unexpected newcomer!
>
> ATT has always been central to my fandom experience. Whenever I wrote a new fanfic, I wanted to post it here and share it with you guys. When I get a new toy, one of the ways I "play" with it is by analyzing it and writing a review, and even after writing hundreds, I'm still very eager to share them here. And monthly events like the Cartoon Viewing Club and the Comics Reading Club have allowed me to dig deep into the early G1 lore and look at it with a critical eye, sometimes learning some new things about these ages-old stories. I still love Transformers and I will always love talking about it here. I think Simon Furman said it best: For me, personally, it never ends.
>
> Today marks the last day that Google Groups will archive new Usenet messages, so many of us who remain have opted to move to NovaBBS. If you're reading this and you want to keep the dream alive, you'll find us here:
>
> https://www.novabbs.com/interests/thread.php?group=alt.toys.transformers
>
>
> Zob (for the record, Unicron would totally eat the Death Star)

Just had to bump this up for visibility.

Swivelbot (The oldest posts and the newest replies)

On Wednesday 21 February 2024 at 20:55:22 UTC-8, Swivelbot wrote:
> On Wednesday, February 21, 2024 at 7:34:37 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> > There are very few things I can say I've done for 28 straight years. Breathed oxygen and lived on this planet, mostly. Not much else. But it was 28 long years ago when I first discovered ATT, and it felt like coming home. I had finally found my people.
> >
> > See, I knew the writing was on the wall when G1 was dying. The cartoon had gone off the air, the Marvel Comics book was canceled, and all the Action Masters had gone on clearance at KB Toys. My favorite brand was officially dead. But, I hated the idea of giving up on it. I continued to seek out back issues of the comic that I hadn't read yet, and I did all this fan art that continued the toy line, at least in my mind (like hypothetical Action Masters versions of characters like Sunstreaker or Hound). I knew I was being foolish and stubborn, but I didn't care. There are some things you just don't let go of.
> >
> > And then in the early 1990's, I guess Hasbro had gotten enough consumer feedback like "hey, whatever happened to Transformers?" and so they brought it back in a limited way. New toys, new comics, "new" cartoon episodes... or, at least, old episodes with a renewed television presence. Close enough! It was the comic book, and specifically its letters pages, that led me to becoming pen pals with folks like Liane Elliot, and I learned that there was an active Transformers fandom in existence. And that they had a large presence on this curious new technology called the Internet, where you could plug a phone line into your computer, or something crazy like that, and talk to people on the other side of the globe!
> >
> > I loved the fact that there were so many folks on the newsgroup who were passionate about the brand, and knowledgeable, and on top of everything else, they were so funny. I learned about toys that I didn't even know existed, and Japanese episodes I'd never watched, and UK comics that I'd never heard of before. My world got so much bigger. It was a little dizzying in the beginning. But, I really wanted to be part of this amazing group of people who clearly loved Transformers every bit as much as I did. Finally, I didn't feel like a weirdo. Or, at the very least, I could comisserate with a bunch of other weirdos.
> >
> > ATT was the central hub of the online fandom for many long years, well before the fandom splintered into countless message boards and Reddit forums and such. It was the origin point for so much of the foundational fandom jargon that remains active even today (the infamous FIRRIB argument, referring to Decepticon jets as Seekers, describing parts hanging off toys as "kibble," etc.) So much of this terminology has become so firmly-ingrained that Hasbro employees have actually adopted its use!
> >
> > My first post to ATT was on February 4, 1996. It was just before the debut of Beast Wars. Man, what a mess that made of things. So much fighting. So much anger.
> >
> > There were disagreements, of course. We all have differing opinions about the best episode or character or toy. And if you don't agree with me, you're clearly stupid and wrong. Or, at least, that was the prevailing attitude, seemingly. A lot of us, myself included, cared a lot about these shapeshifting robots from outer space, and with so many strong personalities and viewpoints in the proverbial room, it was inevitable that people would clash. It took me a long time to learn not to take it personally. I got into many, many arguments with people over very silly things. At the time, it seemed very important.
> >
> > At times the newsgroup felt like a personality contest. The loudest or most obnoxious voices were often the only ones you could hear, and so many other people simply got lost in the noise. Walky had a talent for finding the humorous punch line of every topic. Deathasauras, or just Deathy for short, became infamous for his prolific and distinct posting style and his decidedly unique outlook. And who could forget Retardomoltalban and his almost deliberately provocative pseudo-trolling? Also, you got extra bonus points if you were a girl. Blue-Jackal and Nightwind and Merytneith and a bunch of others rose to the top of the food chain, and being female played no small role in that.
> >
> > And when ATT was seemingly under attack by the likes of Internet trolls such as Rob Cypher, many of us defended the newsgroup dutifully! To think that we cared so much about a virtual space that doesn't even exist in reality. Such was our love for the shared community we had built.
> >
> > At its most popular point, perhaps around the year 2000 or so, the newsgroup averaged as many as 10,000 new articles a day. It was a struggle to keep current. It sometimes took me an hour or longer, on a daily basis, to read every post. And I did read every post. (I tried skipping articles, but then the conversation always got interesting, and I had to go back and find out what I had missed!)
> >
> > Over the years, I've learned so many things from so many different fans.. I discovered the existence of a huge wealth of ancillary Transformers merchandise, painstakingly catalogued by Raksha. M Sipher taught me a lot about the many production variations throughout the Transformers toy line. Dave Van Domelen was one of the fans who inspired me to create my own custom toys. Skyflight taught me to look at other people's points of view and to see things from a different perspective, even whether the Decepticons are really the "bad guys." Steve-o Stonebraker, longtime FAQ keeper and voice of reason, taught me critical thinking skills and to stay cool even in the face of flame wars. There are many others who deserve mention here, but my aging memory fails me.
> >
> > ViceGripX gets a special mention here since we bonded over our shared love for Transformers and became fast friends. He's been my buddy for well over 25 years, and he's somebody for who I feel a strong kinship despite never having met in real life!
> >
> > Weirdly enough, the debut of the 2007 live-action movie really didn't affect the newsgroup at all. People just weren't using Usenet as much by that point. It sure wasn't like Beast Wars. Not at all.
> >
> > And then, after many years, when the majority of the newsgroup's most famous personalities moved onto greener pastures (many of them electing to write and maintain the ever-growing Transformers wiki), a few of us remained behind. ATT became smaller. More peaceful. We sometimes went days without new content. But, I feel like we became a more tightly-knit community. Everyone's voice could be heard. Nobody ever got lost in the shuffle. Folks like Gustavo Wombat and Irrellius and CodigoPostal and a handful of others were the glue that kept this place together, long after the cool kids packed up and abandoned us. Special mention goes to Swivelbot, who is a most welcome and most unexpected newcomer!
> >
> > ATT has always been central to my fandom experience. Whenever I wrote a new fanfic, I wanted to post it here and share it with you guys. When I get a new toy, one of the ways I "play" with it is by analyzing it and writing a review, and even after writing hundreds, I'm still very eager to share them here. And monthly events like the Cartoon Viewing Club and the Comics Reading Club have allowed me to dig deep into the early G1 lore and look at it with a critical eye, sometimes learning some new things about these ages-old stories. I still love Transformers and I will always love talking about it here. I think Simon Furman said it best: For me, personally, it never ends.
> >
> > Today marks the last day that Google Groups will archive new Usenet messages, so many of us who remain have opted to move to NovaBBS. If you're reading this and you want to keep the dream alive, you'll find us here:
> >
> > https://www.novabbs.com/interests/thread.php?group=alt.toys.transformers
> >
> >
> > Zob (for the record, Unicron would totally eat the Death Star)
> Just had to bump this up for visibility.
>
> Swivelbot (The oldest posts and the newest replies)

Thank you, Zob, for this - as ever - thoughtful read. Thank you for all of your time, effort, and energy, and thank you for summing up this era of the fandom so fully and beautifully.

It's been a real pleasure, all of these years! See you all on the other side!

Joseph