Transformers: The Ultimate Guide: The Ultimate Guide

by Simon Furman

Book Overview

is a detailed look at the fantastic world of these mechanical marvels. Follow each character's history and witness the amazing evolution of the Transformers, from physical structure and weaponry to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0756603145
• ISBN13: 9780756603144
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley)
• Length: 141 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 10.3" x 12.2"
• Age Range: 1 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Review by a 4-year old boy ( & his mom).

Santa brought me this book. I give this book 100 stars. I like my Transformers and mommy's antique ones. It [this book] tells you all about them, and G.I. Joe, too. From mom: 1st ed., 2004 - Very informative. 141 pages of thoughtfully laid out, colorful photographs and descriptions of Transformer toys from Gen. 1 through early Energon. Though my brothers and I had a few of the early Takara robots as children, my interest in the whole T-former world went no further. This book has been particularly helpful for me to explain the history of Cybertron and its major and minor characters to my son. Also included, are summaries of selected episodes of the various TV seasons and both US & UK comic books. From an adult's perspective, I found the behind-the-scenes look at the storyline challenges the writers faced quite interesting. One last comment, my son and I both enjoy using this book to follow the 'transformation'/evolution of toy characters who've been around since the beginning (i.e. Optimus Prime), and noting changes between the first release of Optimus and the many subsequent versions.

reveals more than meets the eye

This is a great book to have as it divides the world of the transformers into Generation 1, Beast wars, beast machines, and beyond. I have a few gripes with the book but I'm a transformer purist and was a little ticked off when they forgot to include primes original transformation vehicle from the comic books. But all in all everything in this book is great. Get it and be informed. Safe travels: David

More Than Meets The Eye

Every Transformer fan, new and old, needs to have this book. People who are only familiar with the newest incarnations can learn how it all started and long time fans will appreciate having a complete chronological account of the phenomonon. The book starts right where it should - before the original toy line or TV show and eplains the history of the Transformers homeworld Cybertron and the beginning of the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. What follows is a detailed examination/explanation of EVERY incarnation of the Transformers up to and including Energon. Character bios, selected show synopsis, toy descriiptions and inner workings of key players are all covered and supported by detailed artwork and photographs. Multiple pages are givin to the Japanese toy line and continunity as well as the US and UK comics, including the latest from Dreamweave. What more could you ask for?Before reading this book I was skeptical about it's ablity to cover the entire Transformers universe with the detail it demands. Now that I've read all 141 pages, it has become a jewel in my Transformer collection. For once the title "Ultimate Guide" has been used appropriately!

This IS The Ultimate Guide!!!

As a longtime Transfan who hasn't even gotten halfway through this book yet, what can I say but...WOW!!!I'm well aware of just how comprehensive and attentive to detail DK's series of guide books are - from the Marvel and DC Comics character guides to the Star Wars books, from that super-cool James Bond guide detailing every movie up to 'The World Is Not Enough' to the Lego Book which contained almost every bit of info on the Lego company you could cram into print. But the Transformers guide goes above and beyond to appeal to both the rabid fanbase and those uninitiated in the multiverse of the Robots In Disguise. If you're not a diehard Transfan but are fascinated by that little toy line that became something of a pop-culture phenomenon, then this is the perfect place to acquaint yourself with the Transformers saga.For starters, the first part of the book deals primarily with the story that started it all - the Generation One saga. And it's pretty expansive. Everything you could possibly want to know about the Transformers - from the geological makeup of the planet Cybertron to the exact inner workings of Optimus Prime and Megatron themselves, to the personalities that make up the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons - is covered here in glorious full-color detail. Veteran TF scribe Simon Furman was the right man to put in charge of cataloguing every little detail, smartly melding elements of both Marvel Comics' continuity and that of the G1 cartoon AND the newer Dreamwave Productions comics into one cohesive timeline. Furman does pick a little at the continuity conflicts and errors that have cropped up in the past twenty years of the franchise, but it's largely unimportant as the most critical elements are still covered. And there are some elements injected therein that even a Transfan would crack a smile at: Macadams Old Oil House, for one (complete with a transforming bartender who more or less looks like an Old West barkeep in robot mode), and even a chapter outlining Optimus Prime's many deaths and resurrections (I'm not sure, but I think only Dracula has come back from the dead more times).But there's more. The book also covers the ill-fated Generation 2 segment of the franchise, the Beast Wars days and Beast Machines, Robots In Disguise and even the Armada-Energon continuity, all with the same depth and informative style, although not nearly as much as G1 given the rapid succession of these later series. And apart from character schematics, historical data and episode synopses galore, the book also hits upon the toys themselves, detailing some of the greats and even touching upon their Japanese upbringing in lengthy exposition. It allows for a great sense of prehistory to the Transformers franchise, explaining how the original G1 line was culled together from figures included in a multitude of toy lines released in Japan by Takara. The comic book continuities are not left out, either, making up quite a bit of the found