No, not really. They are, first off, comics miniseries which exist in their own universe and are drastically different from the original G1. They are appealing to a small niche' fanbase, not to a large general audience like the toons or toys. Sure we see rereleases, but when was the last time you saw a brand new Generation 1 toy. Sure you might be able to argue Magnificus and Deterius (E-Hobby Exclusives) fit that, but outside of very small things here and there, there isn't any expansion of G1 in existence. Even IDW features a drastically diffferent Universe where alt.modes have changed, the premise and origin is altered, and Galvatron isn't a redux of Megatron. Those are fairly substantial changes. G1 did die, because all G1 is are the things before G2. Some people lump these new continuities in there as well, but they aren't connected with the old show/comic except INO.
They still rerelease a lot of originals, but the line has never been expanded. It's one thing to rerelease old toys, it's another to actually make new ones. There have been no more G1 toys, that line is officially over. The rereleases are just an attempt by Hasbro to fulfill that "collecter niche'", and give people like me a chance to buy Prowl direct from them for $46, instead of buying the original loose for $59 (and then switching out the parts so it appears to be the original
). Classics can technically be seen as a G1-esque line, however really with the pressence of Minicons and drastic changes made to a lot of the reduxes (complete with a new origin), it really isn't either. It's is its own thing as well.Season 3 came after the movie. Season 2 and 3 are just incredibly long. Season 4 is technically "Rebirth", but that's just a 3 part mini. So no, there was no season 4 and 5. The show was cancelled in 1987, just under 3 years after it's release - Japanese continuities notwithstanding.
No offense, B_F. But it's apparent after all these weeks of posting that you have seen one or two episodes of Transformers and read none of the comics...and are essentially just working off of short wikipedia articles.
They put Sparks, Minicons, Prime Lips, Protoforms, Scorponok among other things in the movie which sure as hell didn't come from G1. Sure G1 had some influence, but so did Armada, Energon, Cybertron, IDW, DW, Marvel, UK, Japanese continuities, Beast Wars and Beast Machines. G1 is not a continued franchise, and I doubt you even read what I just said....because you missed the point entirely.
Yes, sorta. But just like rereleases it's appealing to a niche' fanbase, rather than expanding upon the original. Much like the upcoming Beast Wars, Animated, and alternate universe titles will be doing.
