That was the case in 1996 fan sites on Geocities screamed with seething outrage. As great as fandoms can be, they can also be a pretty toxic place, particularly when something happens that changes the status quo of a beloved childhood memory. Some 20 years later, everyone looks back at the Beast Wars fondly, but let me tell you something: In 1996 everyone hated it. This new toyline was followed by an (eventually) popular CGI cartoon produced by Mainframe Entertainment. “From deep under the skin, lurks the robot within!” boomed the announcer as children played with this new line of Transformers toys. The Beast Wars had begun, and it was a game changer for the Transformers franchise. Both turn into robots and begin fighting. It was all done in CGI and featured a bat flying across a jungle when it’s suddenly attacked by an alligator. I remember watching TV on a Saturday morning and a toy commercial came on. I even won a Wikia Qwizards contest about that very subject, so I think I know a thing or two about the subject. Back in those days, when teenaged me was not doing teenaged things on the internet (ask your parents), I dailed up to the internet to reconnect with my childhood. The internet was a very different place back then, but fandoms were always there from the start.
Fun fact everybody: I’ve been on the internet since 1995.
