You have been warned.
Make no mistake, Beast Wars isn’t going to win any Oscars next year. However, it’s a thoroughly entertaining ride, especially if you keep in mind that it is more or less intended to be a kids’ movie. Like every other live-action Transformers flick, the human characters get in the way of the robot action, but at least Beast Wars tries to make them slightly more useful.
While the movie itself is what you might expect from the franchise, the mid-credits scene is what 1980s toy fans have been waiting for. Protagonist Noah Diaz finds himself being recruited to the special forces every ‘80s kid knows so well: G.I. Joe. That makes a Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover as inevitable as collectors hunting down these key issues.
TRANSFORMERS #1
Whenever there is a new Transformers movie, it draws attention back to Transformers #1. This is a perennial favorite among collectors and fans of the classic toy line. What’s not to love? They’re giant robots that change into vehicles. It’s a concept that never fails to win over fans as proven by the franchise’s reinvention for new generations.
Naturally, it makes their debut comic a prized possession of many. If you happen to be in the market for a mythical 9.8 grade, one last sold for $1,375 on May 7.
TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE #1
For those who have seen Beast Wars, how cool was it that the director and producers used music from the original 1986 movie for key Unicron scenes? While we didn’t get to see the planet-sized Transformer in his robot form, I suspect that may be coming. After all, he wasn’t killed in Beast Wars, which leaves him open to a return.
As Unicron finally gets his live-action introduction, buyers will want to chase down his first comic book appearance in the adaption of Transformers: The Movie. As a bonus, you also get Galvatron’s debut, and he was suspiciously absent from Beast Wars. Might we see him in a future entry? I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened.
Last year, the graded 9.8 sold for as much as $595, but it’s sold for closer to the $300 range more recently.
G.I. JOE/TRANSFORMERS #1
In 1986, Hasbro brought its two biggest franchises together for the first time when G.I. Joe met The Transformers. All collecting aside, ‘80s kids were thrilled and grabbed these issues in bulk. It would kick off a trend that remains to this day with Transformers crossing over with basically every brand in existence no matter how absurd.
Now that the Beast Wars mid-credits scene has all but confirmed that a G.I. Joe/Transformers movie is on the way, this issue will reach new heights.
For all those ‘80s kids with copies stashed in their long boxes, your time has come. When the first rumors of a crossover movie began to swirl, the graded 9.8 hit $200. Since then, it’s earned as much as $199, and that number should be eclipsed in short order.
YO JOE
After last year’s Snake Eyes reinvigorated the G.I. Joe movie franchise, Joe fans were itching for more action. Now we know where things are headed thanks to the Beast Wars mid-credits scene. What Marvel fans will want to watch for is if the Go-Bots are incorporated into the mix. That would clearly align Transformers and G.I. Joe with the MCU, and that would be an interesting development, indeed.
