TFs: toys vs cartoons vs comics vs films

[Rhymus]

Not sure if this belongs on the Toy Talk board or the Non-Toy Talk board--it's kinda both.

TF toys, comics, cartoons, and films: Which do you think has done the most to boost the sales/popularity of one or more of the others? Which has the biggest influence on how much YOU like/pay for any of the others?

FOR EXAMPLE...

Do you think more fans buy the comics because of the toys, or more fans buy toys because of the comics?

Do you think people buy toys because they watch the show, or watch the show because of the toys?

How many people watch the shows because of the films? How many people watch the films because of the comics?

Does anyone buy the comics because of the cartoon, or watch the cartoon because of the comics, without paying attention to the toys? What about the films?

How do the video games fit into all this?

Oh yeah, and there are prose novels, too, aren't there? Plus that short story anthology...

Note also that you can be a fan of the cartoons without buying anything, since you can watch them for free. i've also seen the 2007 movie for free on TV a few times, so you can watch at least one of the films without buying a movie ticket or buying/renting a DVD (or Blu-Ray, or digital download, or whatever). The toys and comics are harder to get without buying them, although my local library has some TF comics. In fact, i should see if they've gotten anything new since last time i checked... [wanders off]

[Roadbuster]

TF toys, comics, cartoons, and films: Which do you think has done the most to boost the sales/popularity of one or more of the others? Which has the biggest influence on how much YOU like/pay for any of the others?

I think the cartoon has done the most to boost the popularity (or sales) of Transformers when looking at it from retrospect. The cartoon reached masses...while the comic had a limited range. Toys sold well because of the cartoon which was basically a 30 minute commercial. While some could make the same argument that the live action movies has done the same thing (popularity and sales) you have to take longevity into account. The cartoon (I'm assuming you're referring to G1 and not all animated series since) had the most ground work to lay. Transformers were already popular and considered pop culture by the time the live action movies were produced. And also the live action movies have only been around since 2007 vs 1984 for the G1 series.

[Rhymus]

Sorry if i was unclear, but actually, i did mean every Transformers TV show--G1 (and G2, but those were essentially just G1 reruns), Beast Wars, Beast Machines, RiD, Armada, Micron Legend, Energon, Cybertron, Galaxy Force, Animated, Prime... Am i missing any?

You also raise a good point that i hadn't considered, Roadbuster--the cumulative effect, and/or the domino effect. How many TransFans started watching Prime because the Beast Wars TV show got them hooked on all things Transformers? How many people buy some of the live-action movie continuity toys because they (the people) have been TransFans since G1 and they (some of the toys and/or characters) are homages to G1?

Mostly i was referring to matched series (Armada toys bought because of the Armada TV show, Animated comics bought because of the Animated TV show, etc), although i suppose even when comparing only the different elements (toys, cartoon, comics) of a single series, there's still some temporal influence (Dreamwave G1 comics bought because of the G1 toy nostalgia, Ironfist toys increasing in value because of IDW and Fun Publications, etc). But the cross-series motivations are a good question, too.

Thoughts?