It would have been interesting to see Hearts of Steel version of Constructicons/Devastator. Heck, Hearts of Steel version of Titans would be epic, mainly Metroplex and Trypticon.
@@TheSmart-CasualGamer Your idea of Hearts of Steel version for Combaticons sounds good though for Onslaught, Brawl and Swindle but Vortex and Blast Off would need kinda Steampunk styled copter and shuttle modes.
I'm confused, perplexed, disappointed, curious and intrigued all at the same time. the disappointment would be on the wasted potential of the Evolution line It seemed like a perfect answer to Marvel's "what if" and DC's "Elseworlds" books but after seeing how far IDW has gone, I honestly wouldn't have it another way really.
TheHooddedMage I think they should have brought it back in 2012 during the start of Phase 2. Evolutions is too good to be left untapped. It could be perfect playground for writers to do their own take on Transformers within the confines of the book that won't affect the main continuity.
Hearts of Steel was definitely a great idea. Makes me wonder what other alternate TF universes could have come to fruition. Outside of Shattered Glass, of course.
Do crossovers count? Because in the Ghostbusters crossover comic, transformers exist in the IDW Ghostbusters universe, but Cybertron was destroyed in the past by Gozer.
As silly as Hearts Of Steel was, I really liked the idea of the Evolutions banner, so i was sad that they never did anything beyond HOS. I really like the concept of What If stories of the Transformers' war taking place in different times or places.
I would have loved a 50's era Evolution book where the Autobots battles the Decepticons during the height of McCarthyim and another set in the 80's but done in the vein of Justice League: New Frontier.
A 50's era book would be cool, I know they touched on something like that in a G.I.Joe crossover done by Devil's Due but it wasn't the theme of that story. Also G1 is set in the 80's so no real need for that. 90's would be cool, Even if it was just the G2 Guys.
Dehaxis95 The robots in disguise element would be perfect for the red paranoia that was rampant at the time. I know G1 was set in the 80's but that was more of a idealised depiction of it. I was picturing a 80's era story where it was more like how it was in the real world and them being involved in several of the moments that happens during it like the war on drugs(I picture Zarak/Scorponok being a drug baron), the Cold War tensions between American and Russia, the likes of the Falklands War, the fear of the Japanese that was going on in the business world and etc.
This is what I love about alternate histories and crossovers, with the write team behind them. They can tell amazing stories that capture the awesomeness of the combination, best of both worlds.
The more I read IDW the more frustrating it becomes that many things that happen can be explained away as: Shockwave did this. It eventually reaches a point where it starts to feel like a cop-out.
I always thought autobots was referring to automobiles since they started as cars and trucks in G1 So should autobots as trains and loco-motives in this version called Loco-bots?
I wished we had gotten more Evolutions transformers stories as transformers has been all about reinventing itself pretty much since the marvel comics and the show started to split. Whats your favorite "alternate" transformers design or setting? I love the WWII G.I.joe crossover designs by jea lee (when he didnt over ink and shadow them) and War Within Grimlock. I wouldnt mind if they did one that was all 1950 style like muscle cars and MadMen style private Jets. (Megatrons kinda a 1950s style gun)
Chris McFeely I would like to see a The Basics video on Omega Supreme. I just think it would be interesting to see how the different incarnations of the character have differed and are similar over the years that the franchise has been around.
Great video. I'm not normally a fan of John Barber's writing but I did like how he integrated Hearts of Steel into the main IDW continuity. It's a shame IDW never produced more of these alternate reality stories for the Transformers.
Stephen Walker-Emflorgo Given modern interpretations of Megatron starting out as a gladiator, the Roman thing would have been an interesting take. The Pretenders would have worked if they shrank down as in the Masterforce series. Imagine a gladiator pit melee with Skullgrin and Carnivac pitting against some hapless victiims. Bludgeon too and Stranglehold's shell would finally make sense.
Mark McDonnell Imagine a Transformers book set in the Norse Mythology with Starscream playing the role of Loki. Or a Beast Wars what if story set in the 1710's.
There's two different versions of the story: the one featured in the original miniseries and Infestation 2 and a version of it used as the basis of the backstory for Revolutionaries where they were different characters.
I'm still disappointed that neither Bachmann Industries or Hornby got round to making HOS figures that were operable on HO/OO scale tracks... It's been 30 something years since there was anything Model Railroad related in the Transformers toyline
Gallifreyan Warrior Astrotrain would be a no brainer. He would stand out on the model layout. Heck a line of gauge 1 scale TF HOS figures would be cool.
Very interesting, I had heard of this, but never got around to looking into it. Thank you for another fascinating piece of the Transformers franchise. My only regret is that this was the only Evolutions to be made. Others would have added so much to the franchise. Oh well, the concept, like that of Green Lantern Optimus Prime, may return.
The most interesting part of this part of Transformers, easily that it was the idea of what if the bots could exist in other parts of history other than modern times or the 80's and Hearts of Steel did it so well. I really like the idea of them all turning into old timey machines and whatnot and interacting with well known figures from history, it gives you a depth and scale of how big this universe is and who can live in it in different eras through history. Great stuff Chris.
Ahhh my first transformers comic. Shortly after reading this , I was moving on to practically anything Transformer I could get my hands on. Having ended up with MTMTE and Lost Light as my most beloved comics of all time.
Really enjoying your shows! How about an episode about GI Joe vs Transformers crossovers? I used to have the original GI Joe / Transformers crossover series. I picked up another one in the late 90's /early 2000's where Cobra found the Ark, then had the classic TF characters formatted into Hiss tanks & Rattlers as their alt modes. I believe that there was another crossover set in WW2 that I was interested in but had stopped picking up comics about that time.
wow, i had no idea about this, i read hearts of steel recently but wasn't aware it had been retconned and been placed into the main continuity. great video Chris!
No, not yet! I always say I'm "saving them for a special occasion," but I've just let the first birthday go without doing them...! They'll definitely happen, but there's so much there I'm not sure how to even begin!
Chris McFeely honestly I respect that those two characters have such a huge back story and background that it's insane I would imagine you'd have to do them in parts I can't wait for you to cover them I don't mind if I have to wait awhile I'll watch any video you make.
Surprised no mention of the mmc toys but I suppose you're trying to keep it official only. Very interesting episode because, whilst I like the figures, I had no idea about the story behind them. Ironically the only figure I never picked up was Optimus so I guess my collection is set in the first iteration then, whilst he was in stasis lock :D
Forgot to mention the best part of the retcon! Normally, it would be a pretty big coincidence that stretches our suspension of disbelief that the Eukarians all just so happened to look like major players in the Cybertronian civil war. Except, it wasn’t a coincidence. They were selected for the journey by Onyx Prime, AKA time-displaced Shockwave, who picked them on purpose just because he remembered doing that experiment in his past!
Well, 3rd-party company Mastermind Creations has made quite a few under the name "Knight Morphers." You should definitely check out some reviews of them, especially "Cyclops" (Shockwave).
In the revenge of the fallen we see a steam locamotive in the section 7 records with it's location marked as near New York City. Could it have been astrotrain?
I can't say I like the retcon of making Hearts Of Steel canon by altering the characters. HOS was just fine as an original universe and it cheapens the characters in my opinion. It's too bad there weren't more Evolutions stories. It was a good concept and would allow writers to play with new scenarios without messing around with continuity...which they eventually did making HOS canon.
if it's any consolation, the original universe still exists. the events of HoS just happened in the main IDW universe as well with different characters.
Personally I feel that when they retconned hearts of steel into the IDW universe was a waste of potential to make new unique crossovers and create a separate universe that could be used to more stories But to me hearts of steel is a great concept and I’m happy it existed and I would love to see more of it
Holy shit! The Lone Gunman Transformers crossover!!!! How have I missed this! Thank you so much for this video, I'm hunting this down right this second!
Finding out that Hearts of Steel was retro-fitted into the main universe makes me feel validated for tuning out of all the Hasbroverse stuff after Revolution and just sticking to Lost Light, because that is a ridiculously fussy and terrible idea.
Well well well, a basics episode about something that helped me to inspire what my OCs were partially with them also being a type of unusual, undocumented, and powerful transformers. Train transformers is just something that's less common but would be awesome to see more of them in the future. Who knows? Will there be an official autobot steam locomotive transformer?
Sounds like the first two stories were pretty straight forward... then it appears to get messy. Thanks for the video. I did not know there were comics about these characters interpretations before now.
0: !!!! I had no idea steam punk transformers was an actual thing!!!! I loved seeing the steam punk tf art but I thought it was completely fan made! :O This is so cool!
The first few hearts of steel runs sound awesome, I need to check them out. The later whole "killing off the caste" sounds awful and the folding of it into the main thing might have been good had it be an alternate Earth but sounds really ham fisted how they did it. Still I think I'll give the early ones a shot, they look cool :)
In fact, it has been established that the events of Hearts of Steel, Infestation 2 and X-Files: Conspiracy happened as they were originally written (with the real autobots and decepticons and not imitators) in another universe. In the regular universe of IDW, similar events to Hearts of Steel happened but with the Eukarians instead. Yes, it's confusing like hell, but it's the official version. Another fun fact, originally it was planned that Centurion was going to be an analog of Superman: he was going to arrive at Earth as a protoform and be adopted by a couple. Part of that idea would then be used with Stardrive.
Also, Mastermind Creations' Knight Morpher line are a Third Party Masterpiece version of the Hearts of Steel characters, along with Hot Soldiers' Centurion figure.
I actually had no idea HOS existed before I stumbled across a book that had all four issues in one. I read it and really liked it, both design wise and story wise, but had no idea it went this far in terms of continuations and crossovers. And, like most others, I find myself wishing they had done more with the evolutions concept.
I feel like there are certain eras (really anything pre-industrialization) where the autobots and decepticons would largely struggle to disguise themselves, with certain characters on both sides, especially the titans, just deciding it's not worth it at all. And honestly, that could make for some wild cultural contamination and scenes. Like a full Cybertronian Optimus putting the fear of God into people conducting Slave raids, or Roman architecture trying to copy the Cybertronian form, especially of Metroplex. The Korean Turtle Ship evoking more humanoid features from the living metal giants or their sleek armored hulls. Serpent ships replacing the dragon and sea serpent with Naval decepticon visages. Armor being fashioned in the likeness of the new conquerors and protectors. Even light hull panel scrap segments being prized as far more durable than anything the locals could forge. Mind you, I feel that there would be a fair amount of repetition in themes and plot beats, but there are interesting options for what it would look like if there was not adequate local technology to maintain the "in disguise" theme or even lightly sip power from. You could have the Decepticons actually benefitting humanity as a by product as they raced to teach of steal, coal, and steam to maintain even a subsistence level of power. How would the Autobots handle a more primitive world's peoples? How would they react in the face of being seen as gods, giants, or demons? How much more overt would the Decepticons be with their power (aside from fuel reserve issues) when it could take days or even years for the Autobots to hear of Decepticon activity on a world that had yet to develop even basic shaped charges, let alone anything that could reliably hurt a giant made of living metal? How much damage could they inflict on the world? 6:26 woooooooow, that is a lot of convoluted. It also cheapens the Evolutions line by taking away the freedom to have an entire changed world and alternate history and casting all these variants as mere pawns of Shockwave who lost their own identities before dying out. Though it is amusing that it didn't even need to be the real Optimus to kill a manifestation of an Elder God. Still, there are many stories removed by not having that universe play out in a unique way from the cultural and scientific impacts of the Autobots and Decepticons emerging in the aftermath of the American Civil War. I feel Prime alone would have opinions on the lynchings and voter intimidation. Given that they were interacting with John Henry, I could especially see them getting involved with an earlier and more prominent civil rights movement. Then there's the impact on the fiction writers of the time period hearing tales of giant metal people who can shift their forms. Sci Fi would be a changed genre by having heard of actual aliens and robots who are one and the same. Lovecraft would also surely have affected writing, though probably with more fear and irrational paranoia. Then the scientific impact. The potential of the 'bots and 'cons having to make deliberate interference to have enough power for themselves along with things like petroleum based lubricant and high grade (for the time period) steel patch jobs
There’s a Thomas and Friends Transformers crossover only the tank engines themselves The Steam Team and The Diesels are the Transformers instead of the Autobots and Decepticons
I learned about this series via action figures. A third party company that’s now well known for making comic versions of transformers made their debut over a decade ago with their version of hearts of steel Optimus Prime (known as knight morpher commander to avoid copyright). I really do like this steam punk twist on the transformers that we know and love. I wish they would make a show for this series.
i would love to see a big video of the full timeline of the IDW Transformers universe, maybe as a way to celebrate all the years they had the TF property, given next year they will no longer hold the license
I did have an idea once about a transformers story I thought similar to Hearts of Steel about where it was set in the late 19th/ early 20th century (up to the 1920s after world war 1) and was set in both the US and UK with the armies scattered across the world when the Ark and Nemesis crashed millions of years ago . A lot of the Autobots and Decepticons turned into various trains and steam powered road vehicles like steam rollers, steam lorrys, traction engines and even steam powered cars alongside early cars, planes and some mechanical beast forms. I think its something I might look into for the future and I was thinking of calling it something like Transformers: Steam Wars!
Wait! There's more Hearts of Steel stories? I friggin' loved Hearts of Steel! (Runs off to buy immediately on Kindle). In addition: if I've never heard of - or plan to read - this Revolutionaries comic, does that mean I can ignore this bonkers story about false memories and fake-war-for-lols? I won't lie, that reveal hit me in the feels and put an itchy label in to the t-shirt of my OCD. I just want Industrial Revolution Transformers, why you gotta pull this M. Knight Shamalamadindong stuff? (Runs off screaming)
I'd definitely love Hearts of Steel and Infestation 2. And I'd definitely check out the X-Files/Lone Gunmen/Ghostbusters/TMNT crossover. Because I love Ghostbusters and TMNT. But I don't know if I'd continue reading after that. I never really go in for retcon stories. Especially when they sound as absurd as that one.
i remember being so hyped for Infestation2. Steam Punk Transformers and Nikola Tesla vs Lovecraftian Elder Gods. sounded so frickin cool. but the concept really needed more than 2 issue to properly build. especially when they spent most of issue 2 just trying to bring back Optimus. also, the fact that hasbro never gave this series any love with Toys frustrates me to no end.
It would have been interesting to see Hearts of Steel version of Constructicons/Devastator.
Heck, Hearts of Steel version of Titans would be epic, mainly Metroplex and Trypticon.
Yea
They turn into a set of Train Carriages, millitary styled.
I like that actually.
Now, I'm wondering why I said an idea that works way better for the Combaticons...
@@TheSmart-CasualGamer Your idea of Hearts of Steel version for Combaticons sounds good though for Onslaught, Brawl and Swindle but Vortex and Blast Off would need kinda Steampunk styled copter and shuttle modes.
A show would be cool
I'm confused, perplexed, disappointed, curious and intrigued all at the same time.
the disappointment would be on the wasted potential of the Evolution line It seemed like a perfect answer to Marvel's "what if" and DC's "Elseworlds" books but after seeing how far IDW has gone, I honestly wouldn't have it another way really.
TheHooddedMage I think they should have brought it back in 2012 during the start of Phase 2.
Evolutions is too good to be left untapped. It could be perfect playground for writers to do their own take on Transformers within the confines of the book that won't affect the main continuity.
agreed.
They could have done more and just said they were all Shockwave's experiments.
“With the help of Nikola Tesla, they reawakened Optimus Prime and sent the elder God back to the ocean”
Optimus Prime kicks Cthulhu's ass. Eat your ghost heart out, Lovecraft 😎
@@natek4488 Laughs in Poe
The most awesome sentence ever constructed.
Robojesus wins again
Perhaps this adventure inspired Nikola Tesla to build Atomic Robo?
Domitius Major deserves great respect. He manage to take on Cthulhu and drove him out of his universe. He deserves a toy.
Agreed! Someone did do a custom paint job of a Big Convoy and it looks quite good!
@@GiovanniRamos-co3id Pretty good, how about you?
Also, do we know each other from somewhere?
@@GiovanniRamos-co3id Fair enough. Hello!
@@GiovanniRamos-co3id Sure, shoot!
@@GiovanniRamos-co3id It sounds familiar but I couldn't tell you what it is
*AUTOBOTS TRANSFORM AND STEAM ONNNN*
Rail out!
Autobots, ALL ABOARD!
Transform and roll..... on those two lines over there
Autobots, transform and full steam ahead
steampunk optimus VS cthuhlu. awesome
steampunk Optimus vs steampunk spider man
Not only that, but steampunk dinosaur Optimus verses Cthulhu
But they miss the opportunity for making Quintessons the Lovecraft horrors.
Hearts of Steel was definitely a great idea. Makes me wonder what other alternate TF universes could have come to fruition. Outside of Shattered Glass, of course.
Do crossovers count? Because in the Ghostbusters crossover comic, transformers exist in the IDW Ghostbusters universe, but Cybertron was destroyed in the past by Gozer.
As silly as Hearts Of Steel was, I really liked the idea of the Evolutions banner, so i was sad that they never did anything beyond HOS. I really like the concept of What If stories of the Transformers' war taking place in different times or places.
Yeah I would've loved a World War II Evolutions story to make up for the Dreamwave Era G.I.Joe crossover story we got set in that timeframe.
I would have loved a 50's era Evolution book where the Autobots battles the Decepticons during the height of McCarthyim and another set in the 80's but done in the vein of Justice League: New Frontier.
A 50's era book would be cool, I know they touched on something like that in a G.I.Joe crossover done by Devil's Due but it wasn't the theme of that story. Also G1 is set in the 80's so no real need for that. 90's would be cool, Even if it was just the G2 Guys.
Dehaxis95 The robots in disguise element would be perfect for the red paranoia that was rampant at the time.
I know G1 was set in the 80's but that was more of a idealised depiction of it. I was picturing a 80's era story where it was more like how it was in the real world and them being involved in several of the moments that happens during it like the war on drugs(I picture Zarak/Scorponok being a drug baron), the Cold War tensions between American and Russia, the likes of the Falklands War, the fear of the Japanese that was going on in the business world and etc.
Yeah I get what you're going with.
This is what I love about alternate histories and crossovers, with the write team behind them. They can tell amazing stories that capture the awesomeness of the combination, best of both worlds.
The more I read IDW the more frustrating it becomes that many things that happen can be explained away as: Shockwave did this. It eventually reaches a point where it starts to feel like a cop-out.
the transformers fought Cthulhu
STEAMPUNK TRANSFORMERS fought him
JAMES COOK AND BUGSHOT*TAKEN* now all we need is the transformers to fight godzilla
JAMES COOK AND BUGSHOT*TAKEN* I did not expect that to be a thing
Chronos how do you kill a god? Simple, get an alien
I always thought autobots was referring to automobiles since they started as cars and trucks in G1
So should autobots as trains and loco-motives in this version called Loco-bots?
Has a nice ring to it
Rail-Bots and Dragonicons
I just thought the cons looked like Dragons in robot mode
Yes
@@The-kr9rb, dracocons sounds better
Steampunk Autobots teaming up with Mark Twain and John Henry. This is all kinds of awesome!
I wished we had gotten more Evolutions transformers stories as transformers has been all about reinventing itself pretty much since the marvel comics and the show started to split. Whats your favorite "alternate" transformers design or setting? I love the WWII G.I.joe crossover designs by jea lee (when he didnt over ink and shadow them) and War Within Grimlock. I wouldnt mind if they did one that was all 1950 style like muscle cars and MadMen style private Jets. (Megatrons kinda a 1950s style gun)
Chris McFeely I would like to see a The Basics video on Omega Supreme. I just think it would be interesting to see how the different incarnations of the character have differed and are similar over the years that the franchise has been around.
This sounds like a really neat, really weird story universe, I'd love to see how Transformers in the 1950s would work out.
Great video. I'm not normally a fan of John Barber's writing but I did like how he integrated Hearts of Steel into the main IDW continuity.
It's a shame IDW never produced more of these alternate reality stories for the Transformers.
Mark McDonnell I would have been interested to see what it would have looked like in the Roman era. Imaging a Gladitorial arena with the Predacons.
Stephen Walker-Emflorgo Given modern interpretations of Megatron starting out as a gladiator, the Roman thing would have been an interesting take.
The Pretenders would have worked if they shrank down as in the Masterforce series.
Imagine a gladiator pit melee with Skullgrin and Carnivac pitting against some hapless victiims. Bludgeon too and Stranglehold's shell would finally make sense.
Mark McDonnell That I would like to see. Shame it never made it to the concept stage.
Stephen Walker-Emflorgo Thats what we have the toys for...
Mark McDonnell Imagine a Transformers book set in the Norse Mythology with Starscream playing the role of Loki.
Or a Beast Wars what if story set in the 1710's.
So the autobots in the heart of steel is not the original just a different team with almost Identical forms
There's two different versions of the story: the one featured in the original miniseries and Infestation 2 and a version of it used as the basis of the backstory for Revolutionaries where they were different characters.
Optimus Prime AND the Ghostusters so far have beaten C'thulhu, sweet.
I'm still disappointed that neither Bachmann Industries or Hornby got round to making HOS figures that were operable on HO/OO scale tracks... It's been 30 something years since there was anything Model Railroad related in the Transformers toyline
Gallifreyan Warrior Astrotrain would be a no brainer. He would stand out on the model layout.
Heck a line of gauge 1 scale TF HOS figures would be cool.
@@rayvenkman2087 thats an awesome idea!
have your tiny humble railroad town off to the side and then in the mountains hide the Ark lol
Very interesting, I had heard of this, but never got around to looking into it. Thank you for another fascinating piece of the Transformers franchise. My only regret is that this was the only Evolutions to be made. Others would have added so much to the franchise. Oh well, the concept, like that of Green Lantern Optimus Prime, may return.
Ive been into the transfomers since I was 3 But I didnt know about this mind blown
It seems a running theme of Shockwave is fucking with earth before everyone else knew about earth
This is one that I never looked into. I'm glad I get a chance to learn about it now.
I would want to see the Autobot's and Decepticon's prehistoric forms.
what I did see looked AWESOME
Beast wars bitch
@@anwenlokier2292 not the same
@@karenclaverol6304 dinosaurs and animals dont count? then what does
@@PulseAnimations878 beast wars have dinosaurs but the most were animals, we are talking about everyone being dimosaurs or prehistoric animals
The most interesting part of this part of Transformers, easily that it was the idea of what if the bots could exist in other parts of history other than modern times or the 80's and Hearts of Steel did it so well. I really like the idea of them all turning into old timey machines and whatnot and interacting with well known figures from history, it gives you a depth and scale of how big this universe is and who can live in it in different eras through history. Great stuff Chris.
It would be really interesting if IDW comic books creating a what if story.
Where the Autobots and Decepticons fighting in World War II.
Don't forget the 3rd Party Hearts of Steel Bumblebee coming out soon... Check BBTS for it
Oh boy, this. It sure turned out to be more relevant than previous thought.
Makes almost all the transformers trains:
*doesn’t include Raiden the train combiner*
Probably for the best since it's IDW. They probably would've made them asshole pacifists or evil since they're Japanese transformers characters.
@@TroublethecatAlso, a bullet train would be too soon in terms of human chronology.
I would love to see a show adaptation. It would be very interesting tbh
Someone is working on a Web series called " *Hearts of Steel: Crimson Skies* "
Hm...Hearts of Steel Shattered Glass anyone?
Oh, HELL YEAH!!
of course
Oh...... my...... Primus.....
Shattered Steel?
@@cobaltprime9467 awsome
Ahhh my first transformers comic. Shortly after reading this , I was moving on to practically anything Transformer I could get my hands on. Having ended up with MTMTE and Lost Light as my most beloved comics of all time.
Really enjoying your shows! How about an episode about GI Joe vs Transformers crossovers? I used to have the original GI Joe / Transformers crossover series. I picked up another one in the late 90's /early 2000's where Cobra found the Ark, then had the classic TF characters formatted into Hiss tanks & Rattlers as their alt modes. I believe that there was another crossover set in WW2 that I was interested in but had stopped picking up comics about that time.
wow, i had no idea about this, i read hearts of steel recently but wasn't aware it had been retconned and been placed into the main continuity. great video Chris!
wait have we had the basic's on Optimus and Megatron yet?
No, not yet! I always say I'm "saving them for a special occasion," but I've just let the first birthday go without doing them...! They'll definitely happen, but there's so much there I'm not sure how to even begin!
Chris McFeely honestly I respect that those two characters have such a huge back story and background that it's insane I would imagine you'd have to do them in parts I can't wait for you to cover them I don't mind if I have to wait awhile I'll watch any video you make.
I come from the future. The videos are here.
I absolutely love the design of Shockwave in this series, by far my favourite design for him of all time.
Very informative, I didn´t knew much of this continuity! Thanks!
Surprised no mention of the mmc toys but I suppose you're trying to keep it official only.
Very interesting episode because, whilst I like the figures, I had no idea about the story behind them. Ironically the only figure I never picked up was Optimus so I guess my collection is set in the first iteration then, whilst he was in stasis lock :D
Wow! there are so many things that i didn't know before!
Forgot to mention the best part of the retcon!
Normally, it would be a pretty big coincidence that stretches our suspension of disbelief that the Eukarians all just so happened to look like major players in the Cybertronian civil war. Except, it wasn’t a coincidence. They were selected for the journey by Onyx Prime, AKA time-displaced Shockwave, who picked them on purpose just because he remembered doing that experiment in his past!
You came up with that ending line first, didn’t you? Lol. Great vid! Really enjoy these! Thanks!
I want to have a Hearts of Steel Toy Line.
Well, 3rd-party company Mastermind Creations has made quite a few under the name "Knight Morphers." You should definitely check out some reviews of them, especially "Cyclops" (Shockwave).
gushers114 I Knew about that, I just want a Hearts of Steel Bumblebee.
You know about Mech Planet Hot Soldiers Centurion?
Jolene Blake I'ma check that out
2:20 I find it amusing that the story uses a villain with the same last name as the producer of the live-action films (Bonaventura).
I picked up the first two issues of hearts of steel when i was little(like 5 or 6), i think thats what started my love for steampunk
In the revenge of the fallen we see a steam locamotive in the section 7 records with it's location marked as near New York City. Could it have been astrotrain?
Could have been, need to see that scene again.
I can't say I like the retcon of making Hearts Of Steel canon by altering the characters. HOS was just fine as an original universe and it cheapens the characters in my opinion. It's too bad there weren't more Evolutions stories. It was a good concept and would allow writers to play with new scenarios without messing around with continuity...which they eventually did making HOS canon.
if it's any consolation, the original universe still exists. the events of HoS just happened in the main IDW universe as well with different characters.
Personally I feel that when they retconned hearts of steel into the IDW universe was a waste of potential to make new unique crossovers and create a separate universe that could be used to more stories
But to me hearts of steel is a great concept and I’m happy it existed and I would love to see more of it
Holy shit! The Lone Gunman Transformers crossover!!!! How have I missed this! Thank you so much for this video, I'm hunting this down right this second!
Finding out that Hearts of Steel was retro-fitted into the main universe makes me feel validated for tuning out of all the Hasbroverse stuff after Revolution and just sticking to Lost Light, because that is a ridiculously fussy and terrible idea.
The first Transformers Hearts of Steal comic is a classic ❤️💎✨️.
Well well well, a basics episode about something that helped me to inspire what my OCs were partially with them also being a type of unusual, undocumented, and powerful transformers. Train transformers is just something that's less common but would be awesome to see more of them in the future. Who knows? Will there be an official autobot steam locomotive transformer?
Sounds like the first two stories were pretty straight forward... then it appears to get messy. Thanks for the video. I did not know there were comics about these characters interpretations before now.
0: !!!! I had no idea steam punk transformers was an actual thing!!!! I loved seeing the steam punk tf art but I thought it was completely fan made! :O This is so cool!
Excellent work man. Always a pleasure.
Optimus demolishes Cthulhu? Robot Jesus confirmed.
As someone who works on steam locomotives I LOVE the idea and I hope to see a return to it sometime
7:11 The buckle on Kreiger's hat looks like a grumpy Haro.
Shockwave still rocked my heart out even in his late 19th century version😍
Now I know what name would Bumblebee have if the matrix of leadership would have chosen him, Centurion Prime!
Amazing video and I like how you put the effort into this video!
The first few hearts of steel runs sound awesome, I need to check them out. The later whole "killing off the caste" sounds awful and the folding of it into the main thing might have been good had it be an alternate Earth but sounds really ham fisted how they did it.
Still I think I'll give the early ones a shot, they look cool :)
Hearts of Steel's inclusion in the mainstream IDW continuity really annoys me.
In fact, it has been established that the events of Hearts of Steel, Infestation 2 and X-Files: Conspiracy happened as they were originally written (with the real autobots and decepticons and not imitators) in another universe. In the regular universe of IDW, similar events to Hearts of Steel happened but with the Eukarians instead.
Yes, it's confusing like hell, but it's the official version. Another fun fact, originally it was planned that Centurion was going to be an analog of Superman: he was going to arrive at Earth as a protoform and be adopted by a couple. Part of that idea would then be used with Stardrive.
that steampunk ravage is the most badass thing I've ever seen. It looks almost like the panzerhund from wolfenstein
5:19 😳 AMOGUS!
This remind me the early Marvel histories, when the Transformers had a more rudimentary mechanic.
Magic square and Newage should check this out
Also, Mastermind Creations' Knight Morpher line are a Third Party Masterpiece version of the Hearts of Steel characters, along with Hot Soldiers' Centurion figure.
I actually had no idea HOS existed before I stumbled across a book that had all four issues in one. I read it and really liked it, both design wise and story wise, but had no idea it went this far in terms of continuations and crossovers. And, like most others, I find myself wishing they had done more with the evolutions concept.
I feel like there are certain eras (really anything pre-industrialization) where the autobots and decepticons would largely struggle to disguise themselves, with certain characters on both sides, especially the titans, just deciding it's not worth it at all. And honestly, that could make for some wild cultural contamination and scenes. Like a full Cybertronian Optimus putting the fear of God into people conducting Slave raids, or Roman architecture trying to copy the Cybertronian form, especially of Metroplex. The Korean Turtle Ship evoking more humanoid features from the living metal giants or their sleek armored hulls. Serpent ships replacing the dragon and sea serpent with Naval decepticon visages. Armor being fashioned in the likeness of the new conquerors and protectors. Even light hull panel scrap segments being prized as far more durable than anything the locals could forge.
Mind you, I feel that there would be a fair amount of repetition in themes and plot beats, but there are interesting options for what it would look like if there was not adequate local technology to maintain the "in disguise" theme or even lightly sip power from. You could have the Decepticons actually benefitting humanity as a by product as they raced to teach of steal, coal, and steam to maintain even a subsistence level of power. How would the Autobots handle a more primitive world's peoples? How would they react in the face of being seen as gods, giants, or demons? How much more overt would the Decepticons be with their power (aside from fuel reserve issues) when it could take days or even years for the Autobots to hear of Decepticon activity on a world that had yet to develop even basic shaped charges, let alone anything that could reliably hurt a giant made of living metal? How much damage could they inflict on the world?
6:26 woooooooow, that is a lot of convoluted. It also cheapens the Evolutions line by taking away the freedom to have an entire changed world and alternate history and casting all these variants as mere pawns of Shockwave who lost their own identities before dying out. Though it is amusing that it didn't even need to be the real Optimus to kill a manifestation of an Elder God. Still, there are many stories removed by not having that universe play out in a unique way from the cultural and scientific impacts of the Autobots and Decepticons emerging in the aftermath of the American Civil War. I feel Prime alone would have opinions on the lynchings and voter intimidation. Given that they were interacting with John Henry, I could especially see them getting involved with an earlier and more prominent civil rights movement. Then there's the impact on the fiction writers of the time period hearing tales of giant metal people who can shift their forms. Sci Fi would be a changed genre by having heard of actual aliens and robots who are one and the same. Lovecraft would also surely have affected writing, though probably with more fear and irrational paranoia. Then the scientific impact. The potential of the 'bots and 'cons having to make deliberate interference to have enough power for themselves along with things like petroleum based lubricant and high grade (for the time period) steel patch jobs
I would liked to see you covered Straxus at some point in the future!
We need a Hearts of Steel toyline from Hasbro.
No joke this was my first thoughts with the scene from Last Knight where Burton was showing the Transformer activities on Earth.
I bet the Autobots in this series were really useful engines. Yeah I know I did a "Thomas and Friends" joke.
There’s a Thomas and Friends Transformers crossover only the tank engines themselves The Steam Team and The Diesels are the Transformers instead of the Autobots and Decepticons
I learned about this series via action figures. A third party company that’s now well known for making comic versions of transformers made their debut over a decade ago with their version of hearts of steel Optimus Prime (known as knight morpher commander to avoid copyright). I really do like this steam punk twist on the transformers that we know and love. I wish they would make a show for this series.
This miniseries seems pretty cool. I'll have to check it out sometime
I was not prepared for that last plot twist hahaha.
i would love to see a big video of the full timeline of the IDW Transformers universe, maybe as a way to celebrate all the years they had the TF property, given next year they will no longer hold the license
I love trains. I love transformers. This is definitely a must read for me.
I can't wait for the Pre-TransFormers video about the DiaClone and other Japanese toylines TransFormers spawned from.
They really need to make more Transformers Evolutions
3:28 Well those are the Elder Gods I don't want to consult to.
understandable
Whoa! How did I miss this episode?
Best Elseworlds Transformers ever! And being written by Chuck Dixon is just a plus.
got myself an Hearts of Steel Skywarp, i LOVE IT
I did have an idea once about a transformers story I thought similar to Hearts of Steel about where it was set in the late 19th/ early 20th century (up to the 1920s after world war 1) and was set in both the US and UK with the armies scattered across the world when the Ark and Nemesis crashed millions of years ago . A lot of the Autobots and Decepticons turned into various trains and steam powered road vehicles like steam rollers, steam lorrys, traction engines and even steam powered cars alongside early cars, planes and some mechanical beast forms. I think its something I might look into for the future and I was thinking of calling it something like Transformers: Steam Wars!
Hasbro needs to make a Transformers Hearts of Steel toyline.
I would absolutely love a comic that explored Transformers in the Roman Empire. What a bummer that they dropped that thread.
Wait! There's more Hearts of Steel stories? I friggin' loved Hearts of Steel! (Runs off to buy immediately on Kindle).
In addition: if I've never heard of - or plan to read - this Revolutionaries comic, does that mean I can ignore this bonkers story about false memories and fake-war-for-lols? I won't lie, that reveal hit me in the feels and put an itchy label in to the t-shirt of my OCD. I just want Industrial Revolution Transformers, why you gotta pull this M. Knight Shamalamadindong stuff? (Runs off screaming)
I guess you could say the story went “off the rails”! 😉
*Cue old timey hysterical laughter*
I love their hearts of steel designs they look like steam punk knights and the decepticons looked like steam punk demons i just love em
I'd definitely love Hearts of Steel and Infestation 2.
And I'd definitely check out the X-Files/Lone Gunmen/Ghostbusters/TMNT crossover.
Because I love Ghostbusters and TMNT.
But I don't know if I'd continue reading after that.
I never really go in for retcon stories. Especially when they sound as absurd as that one.
I wish they give the alternate universe thing another go
Demitius Major looks like Big Convoy to me, especially in his mammoth Optimus form...
probably intentional
I would love to see an animates series or even a video game based on the evolution comics
i remember being so hyped for Infestation2. Steam Punk Transformers and Nikola Tesla vs Lovecraftian Elder Gods. sounded so frickin cool. but the concept really needed more than 2 issue to properly build. especially when they spent most of issue 2 just trying to bring back Optimus. also, the fact that hasbro never gave this series any love with Toys frustrates me to no end.
I’ve only read the Infestations 2 tie in but it was freaking awesome
I so need a graphic novel version of Infestation II!
I wouldn't mind a Hearts of Steel movie