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Review of Transformers Legacy – The Art of Transformers Packaging

Transformers Legacy:

tflegacy

The Art of Transformers Packaging

TF Legacy Back

Transformers: Legacy – The Art of Transformers Packaging is the latest book by Jim Soreson and Bill Forster. Brought to us by the wonderful people at IDW Publishing, this is a book that has been something we Transformers fans have been waiting for over the last 30 years!

From the Back Cover of the Book:

“The Transformers Legacy: The Art of Transformers packaging presents hundreds of beautifully airbrushed paintings from the iconic first decade of The Transformers, as archived by Hasbro, Takara, and private collectors around the world. Extras include never-before-seen artwork from toys that never were, original design sketches, catalog artwork, and more!”

After reading the excerpts writting in TF Legacy and spending an hour going over the imagery. I have as of this moment become a kid again. TF Legacy by Sorson and Forster is 265 pages of awesomeness!!!You see the evolution of the G1-G2 branding for The Transformers, and how Hasbro crafted each package, the logos, and more.

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Fourteen chapters all dedicated to exploring the love of Transformers and the package art that goes along with them. Seeing each character on the red and purple grids, and other colored grids really took me back to being in a Toys R’ Us and other toy stores as a kid! My favorite part of the G1 toyline’s packaging was the logos!!! I know this next statement is sacrilege, but I always loved cutting the boxtops of my toy boxes for Transformers because I loved looking at those G1 Logos! Deciding whether to be a Heroic Autobot or an Evil Decepticon!

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There are a great many images in the book of the back of the box art. That I have to say is the one thing I was really looking forward to when requesting a review copy from IDW Publishing. I LOVE the back of the box art. I always have and always will. Seeing it in this giant book is absolutely breath taking!!! This is very much a visual book, SHOWING you what what package started as and then evolved into. Jim and Bill write up several excerpts throughout, but the main focus is the art itself.

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Each character page or character pages, as multiple characters show up on multiple pages is exquisitely shown off. Some characters are 3 or 4 per page, but with the classics like Devastator and Soundwave above, they get an entire page all to themselves. If you might be worried about info or images being lost in the crack of the binding do not worry. Jim and Bill have painstakingly adapted this book so each character is on 1 full page.  There are a couple exceptions though, like the box art. Some of the center of certain box art images does get lost in the crack of the binding. However I did not find it a bad thing at all.

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The write up that these author’s have done is amazing. They give intricite detail into the toy design and packaging processes. They even have RARE sections as well as entire sections for the toys that showed up in Japan and Europe. Again as I stated above, this is an art book that has been 30 years in the making. They even dedicate a chapter to the oddities of the classic Transformers toyline, which is a nice addition for someone like me, because some of this stuff I’d never seen before. I’ll say this, this book is NOT meant to be read, actually it physically can’t be done as a normal book. You have to sit at a desk lean over and immerse yourself in it. I’ll admit I tryied reading the written sections as it was a normal book, and my hand almost fell off. That’s how thick this over 200 page book is. So yes TF Legacy almost turned me into a human version of Shockwave.

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Final Thoughts:

If you grew up in the 80s Transformers could not and would not be ignored!!! Most if not all of us kids from the 80s loved the Transformers both the toys and the cartoon. Transformers Legacy is A MUST HAVE for any G1 fan, toy collector, or Transformers geek in general. You can find it on Amazon, and many other book retailers. Check your local comic shops… mine had a copy of it. MSRP is $49.99! But it is and will most definitely be well worth it!!

Review Overview

Legacy is Set in Stone!

TF Legacy 30 Years of More Than Meets The Eye toy packaging!

Sorenson and Forster prove yet again that they are the writing team to put TF art books together. They along with the many people that helped them, have assembled a wonderous book to behold. TF Legacy is truly the best package art book ever made.

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TFG1Mike

TFG1Mike is a geek with many interests. He has been podcasting for over a decade, and sees no stopping point in sight. From Transformers, He-Man, Batman, Comics, movies, video games, cartoons, and so much more, Mike has a zeal for the things he loves, and he will bring the hammer down on the things that he has a disdain for. He's generally a postive person, but negativity can creep in there. Mike is all about the innuendos and innuendon'ts too. You'll hear him on many of The GCRN podcasts!

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