chrisl
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I still think its the 1990s - when I joined TMUK
Posts: 1,092
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Post by chrisl on Jul 1, 2024 8:21:29 GMT
As much as I loved the character, I could never really get on with the toy of Huffer. That might be because I didn't get Huffer until after I got his mould-mate Pipes, and as a consequence I always felt like Huffer's arms were on backward. I do prefer the colour scheme of Huffer though.
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Post by Fortmax2020 on Jul 1, 2024 8:34:35 GMT
His eyes.... follow you.
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Post by Shockprowl on Jul 1, 2024 16:32:31 GMT
Nonsense! He was in the cartoon!
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Post by The Doctor on Jul 1, 2024 17:51:11 GMT
So was Hauler.
-Ralph
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Post by that_bluestreak on Jul 1, 2024 18:51:11 GMT
c, all the way through. The toy, well, its a cracker despite being a bit weird. I never saw in real life until the TFC version which I was wise enough to hold on to despite selling most of the other TFCs during a time of no money. I've since added an original boxed Megs, which is also lovely. I've got the eHobby release waiting to be sold but I am not ready to let it go yet. Obviously I like this toy very much. The G1 box is full of promise, you slide the tray out and its all james bondy, like its in a gun case ready to be assembled. I would have loved that as a kid. Or...Ilya Kuriankiny... That was always my immediate thought with the Megatron toy - perhaps because when Transformers came out overlapped with the The Man From U.N.C.L.E series being very in my brain, so the fact that Megs was clearly an U.N.C.L.E agents gun was so very obvious. "Do you not think that is a little bit rubbish?" Karl i didn't know about the man from UNCLE back then, but james bond was always on the telly. it is a little bit rubbish, but its also a lot AWESOME!
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Post by that_bluestreak on Jul 1, 2024 19:06:33 GMT
1984's Transformers Are Forty: Week 14 - HufferFunction: Autobot Construction Engineer Japan: 14 Drag tfwiki.net/wiki/Huffer_(G1)www.tfu.info/1984/Autobot/Huffer/huffer.htm"Molecular structure is the key to success." Huffer is cynical, hard-boiled, and pessimistic. "He looks at the world through sludge-colored wind-shields." Will complain it can't be built, then builds it anyway. Not too sociable, but absolutely reliable. Arm sensors can test materials for strength, heat, resistance, elasticity, etc. Extremely strong. Superior mathematical and geometrical abilities. Often unhappy and homesick for Cybertron. Strength 7 Intelligence 8 Speed 5 Endurance 7 Rank 6 Courage 8 Firepower 1 Skill 9 Now Huffer is one of the TF toys that really blew my mind when I first got him. See, I never saw one in real life, nor any pictures of his toy either, until I was an adult collector. But even the pics I had seen I didn't realise what I was seeing. So I was used to the Pipes mold, I got him and played with him to death, thought he was great, knew he was to Huffer what Outback was to Brawn. But when I got one and it was the not what I was expecting BOOM, mind everywhere. the power to surprise indeed. I had one more surprise coming when I found out that the truck mode wasnt simply a truck that had been deformed a la Bee and Cliff, but was actually a kind of mini truck thing! i didn't even know that was a thing! so many surprises in Huffer. What a weird little fellow this toy is. Really alien. not sure about the pointy hand things, i wish that an in-universe explanation had been made, maybe we could have seen him use them for something. He got a nice little storyline of his own in the US comics, which was a bit hammy but he got to make a human friend. Apart from that all I can remember is him getting beats... Prime Time, Dinobot Hunt, Dark Star... was there any more. Great characterisation as usual, a real believable personality.
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Post by shaggydave76 on Jul 1, 2024 20:30:28 GMT
I have a soft spot for old Huffer. Being pretty poor, all I ever got as a kid were 'Pocket Money' toys, or the occasional GoBot. Huffer was the first original G1 Transformer that I ever purchased.
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Post by Shockprowl on Jul 1, 2024 21:19:29 GMT
HUFFER!
Of Huffer the toy I sadly know nothing.
Huffer the character though, well he's someone who completely passed me by as a child, but who now I appreciate with near unrivalled interest.
Like Mirage, Bluestreak and Thundercracker, he has a glimpse into a much deeper character.
Jazz is cool and hip, Prowl is the calculating strategist, Wheeljack the mad scientist, Starscream the ruthless usurper, Bumblebee the youngster trying to prove himself- and they're all awesome, brilliant characters.
But they're 'staples'; characters a good story needs and can use easily and well, but still follow established storytelling principles.
But with characters like Huffer, God Bob went off piste.
Huffer, the engineering genius who is so terribly sad and troubled. He misses his home, as perhaps we all would, stranded in a foreign place. And he's not a fighter, warfare was forced upon him. Sometimes it's all too much for Huffer, but he keeps building stuff anyway.
"Reliable", Bob describes. "Unhappy but reliable". What courage and honesty. Is there a greater hero than the ordinary guy thrust into an unwinnable conflict who just keeps doing what he must when he must?!?!
Numbers are spot on I think. It's actually a very powerful Techspecs, the kind I would have been mesmerised by as a child. It tells so much in so few words.
Huffer is a character I now enjoy as much as any of my more familiar childhood favourites. When I cleared out most of my Masterpieces, the Third Party Huffer representation I have remained as part of my small Autobot core.
It is a shame his character wasn't explored more, but he did have pockets of attention in the cartoon, the most noticeable in my opinion- "we're not fighters like they are", one of the most important lines in the original story that helped set the scene of war-mongers versus freedom-fighters. A line often forgotten due to its fleetingness.
HUFFER. One of the all time greats, in my opinion, and crucial to the tapestry of '84's enduring success.
I really should get an old G1 toy of him sometime.
(I also love the scene in the second series where Hoist GETS OUT of vehicular mode HUFFER, who then transformers and is smaller than Hoist! Ahhhh, Sunbow.)
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Post by Llama God on Jul 2, 2024 7:24:38 GMT
Huffer has some significance for me as he was the second Transformer I saw in the flesh. The first was Optimus Prime, which another kid was playing with in a doctors' waiting room, and which was the trigger that caused me to say "I want in on this". Huffer was second when a friend got him for his birthday, and I kinda fell in love with him and his proportions. And this was when I learned that Transformers came in a range of scales - which was kind of mind-blowing for me. Despite this, though, I've still never owned a G1 Huffer. One day I should probably rectify this...
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,212
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Post by The Huff on Jul 7, 2024 17:43:22 GMT
There he is! My little guy...! What a toy! I love it but I remember seeing him for the first time in the leaflets, when I wanted Bumblebee. I thought Huffer looked strange because he was a truck but was intrigued the way his head must pop up from inside the hood formed by the cab. Imagine my disappointment when a friend showed me his by transforming it only to find that it was just a flat piece of plastic stuck to the back. The transformation was lot simpler and cheaper than my mind made it out to be. Over the years, you forget these things and just like it for what it is. Despite fans (who are not real fans) always saying that Huffer didn't do anything in G1 than simply pull Optimus Prime's trailer that one time, he actually did lots more than the other Minibots early on: He rallied the Autobots against the traitorous human Sparkplug, which lead to his heart attack. He was instrumental in discovering the history of the Dinobots and was then picked as one of the final 5 fighters in the Autobot's last stand. He then had a bit of a spotlight story during the introduction of the Constructicons. And in the cartoon, of course, Optimus Prime pulled Huffer's trailer for the whole duration of the cartoon, until that one time he felt unwell so Huffer had to pull it himself. Everyone also forgets that Huffer stepped up and took charge and led the Autobots into battle in Divide & Conquer too! But back to the toy, I do wish he'd retained a lot of this look in the cartoons and comics - and as such it is Ladybird Books Huffer that will always be the definitive version - both in looks, personality and voice.
Can't wait for Missing Link Huffer (with Gears).
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 7, 2024 23:01:27 GMT
1984's Transformers Are Forty: Week 15 - RatchetFunction: Autobot Medic Japan: 99 tfwiki.net/wiki/Ratchet_(G1)/toyswww.tfu.info/1984/Autobot/Ratchet/ratchet.htm"You break it, I'll remake it." Ratchet was the best tool-and-die man on Cybertron. In his workbay he can make anything from a pin to a missile. Repairs injured Autobots, given the right parts. Likes to party, give backtalk, but does any job as well as anyone. Has laser scalpels, arc-welders, electron microscopes, circuit sensors, fluid dispensers at his disposal. Sometimes his having a good time interferes with his effectiveness. Strength 4 Intelligence 8 Speed 4 Endurance 5 Rank 7 Courage 8 Firepower 3 Skill 10
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,212
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Post by The Huff on Jul 8, 2024 5:59:29 GMT
And I was just saying that Huffer should have retained his toy look - and along comes the ultimate contender for that. Love this design!
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Post by Llama God on Jul 8, 2024 7:23:40 GMT
Ey! It's Cool Hand Lube! And this is, indeed, probably the best design in the original run. It's very alien, and also comes with its own mobile base thing - and all in a toy that's not actually that big. If any G1 toy deserves a Missing Link or a Generations update, it's this one.
Much as I love this design though, I never actually had one as a kid. It was only when Takara reissued the mold in the early 2000s that I got my hand on one. Although that's also a classic now, so I'm more than happy with it not being an original...
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Post by The Doctor on Jul 8, 2024 8:34:07 GMT
Poor Ratchet never actually had a good time.
-Ralph
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Post by Fortmax2020 on Jul 8, 2024 9:28:19 GMT
Hey, he went to a campfire and people just accepted him.
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,212
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Post by The Huff on Jul 8, 2024 13:27:39 GMT
I agree. I think the Ratchet that we saw in the comics was always 'after' his tech specs and things turned him more serious.
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Post by Bogatan on Jul 8, 2024 14:20:09 GMT
My first of only 2 pre classics Autobot cars.
I got it quite late on as I remember, I dont remember being confused by how unlike the cartoon version it was, but I must have been. Its great though.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Jul 8, 2024 15:15:29 GMT
Hey, he went to a campfire and people just accepted him. Also, he was friendly towards Savage Land snakes and traffic lights. I _mostly_ liked his toy, I just didn't like his face being a sticker. I wouldn't have minded an alien-looking head on him, I just would have liked it to be three-dimensional plastic rather than adhesive paper. Martin
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Post by pulsar on Jul 8, 2024 16:16:46 GMT
Ratchet was the toy I most wanted after seeing all the Ark crew introduced in #2, and when I finally got one it didn't disappoint. (Finding a toy shop with a specific Autobot was quite difficult in 1984, though not as hard as in 1985.) I loved that he looked functional and alien. I loved even more that he could split into a medical bay and a more humanoid figure, complete with what looks like a surgeon’s or welder’s mask. The bio was a great stimulus for the imagination: Just how does a robot party or have a good time?
All this was before he became the comic’s protagonist for ten issues during one of its best storylines. Warrior School in particular felt like an amazing character piece, a real treat after so many 5-page issues that was perfectly timed for the end of the summer holidays. And he wasn’t neglected after that: He’s pivotal to the Special Teams plot, so important that Galvatron takes him out of play in T2006, and eventually gets a more interesting dynamic with Megatron than Prime himself.
Yes, it would have been even better if Ratchet and Ironhide had been drawn to look more like the toys for longer. I don’t think the characters should have been 100% toy accurate — the likes of Jazz and Ultra Magnus look better with actual legs, Megatron probably doesn’t need a huge codpiece — but something was lost when Brawn’s and Huffer’s unique hands became fists.
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Post by The Doctor on Jul 8, 2024 18:36:22 GMT
I dunno. Megatron suits his giant cod piece. No wonder Optimus blew himself up to get away from him.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Jul 8, 2024 18:37:37 GMT
I remember the convention that had stacks of Encore Ironhides and Ratchets at a tenner a pop as no one wanted them. Even at a tenner they sat there.
I should have stacked up on them!!!
-Ralph
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Post by Shockprowl on Jul 8, 2024 22:04:21 GMT
Ratchet was one of my brother's earliest Transformers toys so I had plenty of time with him.
As many have said before, this is such an interesting, alien design. The sled is brilliant. In our games it was semi-autonomous and was called 'Parts' (it sounded better when we were kids).
A fantastic, unique Transformers toy.
But it was in the comics that Ratchet came to life! And the cartoon as well! He had good service all round really, enjoying several spotlight stories in the comic. As a younger person I think I was a bit jealous he got such coverage while other Autobots (like Prowl) were laying in perpetual deactivation. Seemed strange he rarely fixed anyone (the real Ratchet would've had them all up and running in no time).
Numbers-wise we have some interesting values- clever and very skillful (as you'd hope), but generally not doing too well in the physical numbers side of things. That didn't stop him though did it?
Great toy, great character. One of the All Time greats.
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Post by The Doctor on Jul 8, 2024 22:05:43 GMT
I don't think Ratchet's toy has ever been bettered by the later versions.
-Ralph
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Post by Shockprowl on Jul 8, 2024 22:08:14 GMT
That's because they're all missing 'Parts'!
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chrisl
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I still think its the 1990s - when I joined TMUK
Posts: 1,092
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Post by chrisl on Jul 9, 2024 8:18:48 GMT
I absolutely adored the character in both the G1 cartoon and the Marvel comics (which I hadn't started reading until after they moved away from the toy-based designs), but remember being really disappointed after getting the toy of Ratchet from Debenhams in Preston. The lack of a 'proper' head that sat on top of the cab of the ambulance in robot mode led me to think that the particular toy I'd bought must have been broken or missing a piece. Once I realised that the sticker on the seat was meant to be his face, and found him drawn that way in an earlier issue of the comic, I slowly warmed to the toy - especially the medical bay, which I thought was a really neat gimmick and had lots more play value than the main robot. In my 3 year old brain, this is what the G1 toy should have looked like:
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Post by Pinwig on Jul 9, 2024 19:33:38 GMT
I think there some milage in that look, but why are they both surrendering?!
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Post by Llama God on Jul 10, 2024 7:02:55 GMT
All this was before he became the comic’s protagonist for ten issues during one of its best storylines. Warrior School in particular felt like an amazing character piece, a real treat after so many 5-page issues that was perfectly timed for the end of the summer holidays. I hadn't ever considered scheduling as being part of what makes this particular arc work so well, but you're right, most of this did publish after the holidays were done and the drudgery of school had returned, meaning any form of escapism and entertainment was even more welcome. (For those of us in the UK, anyway.)
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jul 10, 2024 14:44:05 GMT
My boy!!
I never minded the fact he didn't look like his comic/cartoon model. Optimus aside, I genuinely believe it's the best of the original toys. A proper alien robot, and a lot of fun to play with, I'm not as bothered as Martin by the lack of a head, and the sticker being a fudge. No reason why he needs anything else, sure there's boat loads of sensors relaying info to him, so no need to be able to look around.
Definitely had the standout moments in the early years and as had been said is Megatron's true nemesis.
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,212
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Post by The Huff on Jul 11, 2024 7:37:06 GMT
I also had no problem comparing the toy to his cartoon and comic appearances. I just assumed the windscreen simply slid down over his chest in fiction and the repair bay remained on his back when not in use (evident by Ironhide having the gun part pop out of his back in Arrival From Cybertron). Any other design differences (legs arms etc) were no more different than any of the liberties taken with Mini Autobots, Megatron, Trailbreaker etc.
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Post by that_bluestreak on Jul 11, 2024 17:42:27 GMT
Another vote for Ratchet here, a great character, a fun toy.
I had a Ratchet when I was a kid but I have no idea where it came from. Presumably a jumble sale or swap or something as I can't remember ever having the box. Was it released during the lead paint from Mexico years, it might have been then I got it. Definitely had it before Classics. Like the others I never minded that the toy didn't look like the comic, I felt that the comic was slacking a bit by not drawing Ratchet properly but that was about it. Having a repair bay was great too, essential for TF maintenance! Poor Ratchet disintegrated over the years! I have the Encore version these days (I had to rebuy it after selling it for megacheap a few years before, I can't believe that these didn't sell well and no-one wanted them.) It's a great toy, it looks fantastic, the Onebox Van is absolutely lovely to look at. All in all a classic!
Ratchet in the comics got great coverage. Warrior School was my first issue of Transformers and my introduction to Ratchet and it was dark and exciting and scary. Lots of small but important appearances after that, Wrath of... / Dinobot Hunt / Robot Buster / Distant Thunder etc. Good stuff. I didn't see the Ratchet-Megatron hybrid when I was a kid, only in later life when someone put the whole comics online and I spent hours in the library reading comics instead of writing essays at Uni. That was a great character arc, and his self-sacrifice at the end was fantastic. Shame it didn't work.
Of course I refuse to acknowledge his death in TFTM as a death. Nope!
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