'Transformers' opens July 4, Indy and others next
Hasbro's Bumblebee can convert into a 14:1 scale Camaro
(Credit: Hasbro)The Transformers movie produced by Stephen Spielberg opens Wednesday, July 4, and we're still not sure who's most excited.
Is this a movie for the children, or the children of the '80s who are going to let their nostalgia for Autobots and Decepticons lead them down the toy and car aisles?
General Motors has gotten in on the act with a whole line of Transformers vehicles for adults, while Hasbro has toys for the kids.
The film industry seems to be targeting Generation Xers, who are now themselves becoming parents, with a slew of resurrections, and the toy companies are right on board with the gadgets.
Recently, Hasbro announced that it signed an agreement with Lucasfilm to be the toy purveyor of all things Indiana Jones next May 2008 when theaters will present the fourth installment of the movie series about everyone's favorite archeology professor. (Remember, these are the same folks who brought you Harrison Ford as Han Solo.)
Variety reported earlier this month that Warner Brothers Studios plans to release ThunderCats, a movie about the human-cat hybrid superheroes, and that Paramount is developing an action movie based on the Hasbro G.I. Joe toys.
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. E-mail her at candacelombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. 
