Transformers Super Thread 8

[treatment]

seems like there's a TF-exclusive being unveiled at

http://www.tfw2005.com/

edit:

over now. happy 4/1!

Edited April 2, 2009 by treatment

[wolfx]

Got my Grimlock few days ago but only had time to play around with it yesterday without transforming it, yet.

Initial reactions...very solid build...and heavy! I don't know where the weight comes from since ppl mention there's not much die cast but it definately feels solid and heavy. Red/blue visor eyes for you to choose, either to be more anime-accurate or toy-accurate, i thought this was a pretty cool gimmick.

Shiny! The chrome pieces were kinda offputting to me at 1st and I'd probably preferred a flat gold/yellow but in the end I grew on it and liked the bling on Grimlock.

Issue: I haven't played around with it much and it might be a non-issue , but is anyone having problems with the left shoulder? Mine doesn't secure into the housing in robot mode leaving a very slight gap due to the weight of the hands. I tried pushing the shoulders together so it will stick but it comes loose off the housing immediately.There feels to be a magnet in that area as well though i can't confirm it.

[VFTF1]

I was just wondering - does Transformers count as anime? It seems so...well...not-anime...the cartoon that is. Is it? What is it? Are there cartoons which are clearly not anime but anime-like insofar as they have robots and lots of stuff happening?

Pete

[wolfx]

I was just wondering - does Transformers count as anime? It seems so...well...not-anime...the cartoon that is. Is it? What is it? Are there cartoons which are clearly not anime but anime-like insofar as they have robots and lots of stuff happening?

Pete

No. At least not during G1. My bad. I should've said cartoon accurate then....

Anime by definition is just cartoons made by Japan. Everywhere else is cartoons.

Then you have the cartoons who are inspired by anime styles like Avatar...and the wannabes like Totally Spies...

[Fit For Natalie]

From my understanding, "anime" in Japan just means "cartoons", but it may be necessary in this case to define "anime" as "Japanese-produced cartoons".

G1 Seasons 1-3 and the movie were not anime, since they were American productions. That is, all of the creative stuff such as the writing, the direction, the designs were done in America.

Headmasters, Masterforce, Zone, Japanese Beast Wars, Car Robots, Unicron Trilogy are anime because they had mostly Japanese production staff and were created mainly for Japanese consumption, and in the case of Galaxy Force/Cybertron, sometimes total disregard for what is supposedly a jointly-produced series that was to be aired in Hasbro's markets as well.

I mean, the Hansen family in Galaxy Force/Cybertron, a white American, European-descended family in Boulder, Colorado for some reason lived in a Japanese house with sliding paper doors. Not only that, these supposedly American characters bowed to strangers and elders, Japanese-style. What?

Edited April 2, 2009 by Fit For Natalie

[wolfx]

From my understanding, "anime" in Japan just means "cartoons", but it may be necessary in this case to define "anime" as "Japanese-produced cartoons".

Literal meaning: anime is a borrowed word from english, "Animation". And since romaji does not have a "-tion/sion" sound they drop it so it becomes "Ah-ni-meh". Other examples: Television = Teruvi, Mass Communication = Massu Commi etc etc etc. Normally, we just use it to differentiate between non-japanese and japanese cartoons.

back to topic......what's wrong with my Grimlock?

[Kurisama]

Literal meaning: anime is a borrowed word from english, "Animation". And since romaji does not have a "-tion/sion" sound they drop it so it becomes "Ah-ni-meh". Other examples: Television = Teruvi, Mass Communication = Massu Commi etc etc etc.

Isn't Television = Terebi?

At least thats what i was taught.

[eriku]

Issue: I haven't played around with it much and it might be a non-issue , but is anyone having problems with the left shoulder? Mine doesn't secure into the housing in robot mode leaving a very slight gap due to the weight of the hands. I tried pushing the shoulders together so it will stick but it comes loose off the housing immediately.There feels to be a magnet in that area as well though i can't confirm it.

back to topic......what's wrong with my Grimlock?

When you say weight of the hands, do you mean when they are holding the gun/sword? Or do you mean the weight of the diecast dino claws? I don't seem to have any shoulder problems on mine. Not sure about the magnets, either. For their to be working magnets the metal would have to be something other than diecast because diecase is a zinc alloy that isn't magnetic.

In any case, could you take a photo of the area you're talking about?

[mikeszekely]

Isn't Television = Terebi?

At least thats what i was taught.

Yes.

And for the record, romanji does make the tion/sion sound with shōn. The Japanese didn't drop the sound because they don't have it, they drop the sound because they really seem to like to shorten and even combine words.

[VFTF1]

Well, from my point of view, Transformers couldn't qualify as anime because it generally didn't have any strong female characters who were also unimaginably hot. Carly was technically blonde and technically beautiful - but her character template (both looks and behavior) was so generic as to make her boring.

Marisa Fairborne might count, but the only time we got to see some skin was when she was hit by that ray thing that made her revert to being a baby.

In fact, the only truly gorgeous girl we saw anywhere in Transformers was in issue 62 of the Marvel comics - Miss Fatale looked the part. But again - bit player.

No chicks: no anime.

Pete

[wolfx]

so by your definition, manly anime like Fist of the North Star is not anime cuz even if it has girls, they look like men.

[JB0]

so by your definition, manly anime like Fist of the North Star is not anime cuz even if it has girls, they look like men.

Weeeellll...

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anime

an⋅i⋅me

–noun

a Japanese style of motion-picture animation, characterized by highly stylized, colorful art, futuristic settings, violence, and sexuality.

Origin:

1985–90; < Japn, borrowing of E animation

Dictionary.com Unabridged

Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

[VFTF1]

so by your definition, manly anime like Fist of the North Star is not anime cuz even if it has girls, they look like men.

Solution is simple:

Make it have men that looks like girls and you're all set Alto is a good starting point

But maybe we should go back to Transformers before Agent1 appears to say something about girly-men

Pete

[Arthurius]

just got MP Grimlock in today, and let me tel you it looks even better than what you can see on the pictures. There is shiny gold on the chest, and the is chrome gold for claws, beautifull. And the eyes and head, oh my god, and it is not loose, firm movements, and the swrod is really nice with the red chrome. Though i havent transformed it yet, my first impression on this is, Masterpiece, pure masterpiece .

[mikeszekely]

Finally found a Universe Ratchet (Hot Shot too, but I passed on him). I gotta say, I'm not loving his colors. As with Ironhide, I can live with all the panels and the some clear, some painted windows. I can even deal with the back kibble, chalking it all up to the price of having modern G1-ish Deluxes of them. But neither his Marvel Comics, IDW comics, or Sunbow cartoon versions had any black... the only reason I can think of that his forearms and thighs are black is because Hasbro had extras from Ironhide. Likewise, the red stripe on his hood... it's like they were going stamp and Autobot insignia on it, so they left a space for it, and they never did. The red on his roof also seems to be more because they used red plastic left over from Ironhide than because they wanted any red on the roof. I'll tell you, I'm terrible with paints, and I've already started painting his left forearm white. I'll probably paint over his hood, roof, and thighs, too. I just haven't decided if I'm going to paint his thighs white, like the Henkei, or red.

[mikeszekely]

Well, I went with white on the thighs... I just painted more of the thigh than the Henkei version. The result looks a like a hybrid of the Henkei and Universe versions, with the red chevron, blue light bar and double red lines with the pulse in the middle of the Universe version, but the clean white hood, white forearms, and white thighs of the Henkei version. Surprisingly, from the picture at the TF Wiki, both the Universe and Henkei versions had the red plastic on the roof. I still painted over that, because I still think it looked ugly. One final mod I did was to remove the red grille guard... the rugged SUV-ish look suited Ironhide, but it seemed weird on an ambulance.

As I mentioned before, I'm lousy with paints, and all I've got for pics is my cell and my poorly lit apartment, but I figured I'd share some pics anyway.

Edited April 4, 2009 by mikeszekely

[Fit For Natalie]

Hey guys, I need some help. I'm writing an article on the USAF for the TF Wiki, and since I'm not terribly knowledgeable on helicopters or the service branches, I've come here for help about the aircraft seen in the 2007 Transformers movie (shot in 2006)

*Shortly after the destruction of SOCCENT Qatar and during the Sec Def's speech at the Pentagon, we see two medical Blackhawks flying in the desert. Are these US Army Blackhawks or USAF Pave Hawks? My DVD is not clear enough to see any service markings besides the red cross.

*Why does the medical UH-1 seen after Scorponok's attack on Captain Lennox's ranger team have the USAF roundel and have "ARMY" marked on the side? Do I classify it as a USAF or US Army craft? It appears to be painted half green (well, some dark colour) and white.

I was going to ask about the Blackhawks seen in Mission City, but fortunately they managed to get a shot of the helicopter's tail where it says "United States Army".

Well, from my point of view, Transformers couldn't qualify as anime because it generally didn't have any strong female characters who were also unimaginably hot. Carly was technically blonde and technically beautiful - but her character template (both looks and behavior) was so generic as to make her boring.

Marisa Fairborne might count, but the only time we got to see some skin was when she was hit by that ray thing that made her revert to being a baby.

In fact, the only truly gorgeous girl we saw anywhere in Transformers was in issue 62 of the Marvel comics - Miss Fatale looked the part. But again - bit player.

No chicks: no anime.

Pete

When Japan got their hands on Transformers, they made some unfortunate changes to the American-created female characters. Carly in the G1 cartoon was depicted as a brilliant, strong-willed teenage MIT graduate who had the magical ability to use alien computer systems without instruction or prior knowledge. Plus she raced cars towards Decepticons - hardcore. She later became an ambassador for Earth in the post-Decepticon defeat.

When Carly appeared in the Japanese Headmasters, she became a damsel in distress housewife who made coffee and worried about the men. Similarly, Arcee went from a warrior to a secretary office lady.

Edited April 4, 2009 by Fit For Natalie

[Phyrox]

I don't have the TF DVD, so I can't reference the scenes you are talking about, but unless they marked things very oddly for the movie I think these are the answers:

The medical blackhawks are going to be Army. Pave Hawks will have obvious sensors on the nose and a conspicuous refueling probe.

UH-1 will be army as well. I don't know what a "US Army" roundel is...all US forces use the same national markings.

As a general rule, if you see a helicopter, it doesn't belong to the Air Force. They use Pave Hawks and Pave Lows for special operations, but that's about it.

[Letigre]

The prices that sellers want for an Animated Wreck-Gar are deplorable. I wish I could find one in a store already.

[Alpha OTS]

The prices that sellers want for an Animated Wreck-Gar are deplorable. I wish I could find one in a store already.

I saw the first and only one of those yesterday while hunting for universe legends. I almost picked him up because I knew he was kind of rare. The Toys R Us I was at has now replace the legends pegs with more deluxes. Looks like it's ebay or nothing now.

[VFTF1]

When Japan got their hands on Transformers, they made some unfortunate changes...When Carly appeared in the Japanese Headmasters, she became a damsel in distress housewife who made coffee and worried about the men. Similarly, Arcee went from a warrior to a secretary office lady.

How are these changes 'unfortunate' ?

The prices that sellers want for an Animated Wreck-Gar are deplorable. I wish I could find one in a store already.

I'm about to give up hope on my local Hasbro distributor ever having them in any time this century.

Pete

[Fit For Natalie]

I don't have the TF DVD, so I can't reference the scenes you are talking about, but unless they marked things very oddly for the movie I think these are the answers:

The medical blackhawks are going to be Army. Pave Hawks will have obvious sensors on the nose and a conspicuous refueling probe.

UH-1 will be army as well. I don't know what a "US Army" roundel is...all US forces use the same national markings.

As a general rule, if you see a helicopter, it doesn't belong to the Air Force. They use Pave Hawks and Pave Lows for special operations, but that's about it.

Oops. Here are some caps I took of the helos I was wondering about

As for the movie people marking things weirdly, besides Blackout's fictitious 4500X tail number, they left military hardware alone.

Here's the USAF article I just wrote, if anybody is interested. It's TF specific so I don't bother going into detail about equipment, though I provided Wikipedia links for those who are interested in learning more.

I'm about to give up hope on my local Hasbro distributor ever having them in any time this century.

Pete

I know..I think my only hope checking Hasbro's online store everyday until it pops up unless I can stand letting some Evilbay seller get his pound of flesh.

From what I understand, Hasbro isn't actually responsible for distribution. Once the items arrive on US shores, they are almost immediately sent from the ships to the distribution centers for the retail chains that ordered them. From there, it's more truck rides to various regional warehouses, which is all controlled by the retailers, not Hasbro. After that, the schedule for taking product from those warehouses and putting it on shelves is dictated by each chain's inventory system. Edited April 4, 2009 by Fit For Natalie

[Letigre]

I'm about to give up hope on my local Hasbro distributor ever having them in any time this century.

I know..I think my only hope checking Hasbro's online store everyday until it pops up unless I can stand letting some Evilbay seller get his pound of flesh.

[VFTF1]

From what I understand, Hasbro isn't actually responsible for distribution. Once the items arrive on US shores, they are almost immediately sent from the ships to the distribution centers for the retail chains that ordered them. From there, it's more truck rides to various regional warehouses, which is all controlled by the retailers, not Hasbro. After that, the schedule for taking product from those warehouses and putting it on shelves is dictated by each chain's inventory system.

Yep - that's how it works in the USA. But in Poland, where I am, Hasbro has regional distributors which bring the stuff in from Germany, which is where Transformers come in from China when they are sent to Europe (at least for the Continent as far as I can tell. Don't know about the UK). The regional distributors then push it on to us retailers. The regional distributors are not Hasbro per se, of course, which is kind of a shame since they don't know what the frak they are importing and have the business sense of lemmings.

But I digress.

If Wreck Gar continues to be a no show, I'm going to have to break down and get that stupid Nuclear Atomic Lugnuts that BBTS wants me to buy if I want Wreck Gar

Pete

[JB0]

I saw 3 WreckGars once. And didn't have the cash for one.

...

Yeah, it remains the only sighting.

[Fit For Natalie]

Yep - that's how it works in the USA. But in Poland, where I am, Hasbro has regional distributors which bring the stuff in from Germany, which is where Transformers come in from China when they are sent to Europe (at least for the Continent as far as I can tell. Don't know about the UK). The regional distributors then push it on to us retailers. The regional distributors are not Hasbro per se, of course, which is kind of a shame since they don't know what the frak they are importing and have the business sense of lemmings.

But I digress.

If Wreck Gar continues to be a no show, I'm going to have to break down and get that stupid Nuclear Atomic Lugnuts that BBTS wants me to buy if I want Wreck Gar

Pete

Ahh, I apologise for assuming, since the American way is apparently also the same way down here in AU.

[ruskiiVFaussie]

crisis bit me in the ass, so i couldn't afford Grimmy, and i do have the slight chance of it being released in the US?

Anyways, he looks brilliant, and i'm happy for you guys that picked him up!

[kanedaestes]

I just happened to stumble across Wreck-Gar at a Target in Orlando. I think I got the only one that was there

[Black Valkyrie]

D-06 Galvaltorn on sale, worth it or not ?

[Dio]

D-06 Galvaltorn on sale, worth it or not ?

In my opinion, no. He's easily the worst Classic, structurally, and coupled with a lack of stability in bot mode and the difficult (not complex, just difficult) transformation, he's just not a very entertaining figure.

If you have a love for the character you might feel otherwise, but I was left feeling pretty disappointed.

[crasis]

In my opinion, no. He's easily the worst Classic, structurally, and coupled with a lack of stability in bot mode and the difficult (not complex, just difficult) transformation, he's just not a very entertaining figure.

If you have a love for the character you might feel otherwise, but I was left feeling pretty disappointed.

I hate, absolutely HATE Universe Classics Galvatron. I paid $7.99 for him and STILL regret it. As soon as you begin the transformation process, he falls apart into many little pieces and is almost more difficult than MP Megatron to put together. Alright, I'm exaggerating a bit, but seriously, this thing has the worst engineering of any TF in recent memory. All that aside, however, he looks great in robot mode. Hah! Now that I've pretty much gotten used to the idea that he'll remain as a fixed-pose statue on my desk next to the other TF:TM/Season 3 characters, I'm growing more and more bothered by his so-so coloring and all the awful neon orange joints everywhere. I started debating whether I should pick up the Henkei one during this HLJ sale, since he has a far more toon-accurate color scheme and no ugly orange joints... but then I remember just how much I LOATHE the Hasbro version. Maybe the TakaraTomy one has tighter joints? Gah. I doubt it. I still think 1,100 yen (plus shipping) is too much to pay for this POS. Buyer beware! And I'm a big Galvy (the character) fan.

On a lighter note, I just opened MP Grimlock last night and I am in love. Like, 1985-under-the-Christmas-tree love. This wins, hands down, as Transformer of the year for me. I don't think anything will or could come close. Even my wife (who generally rolls her eyes whenever a new toy clutters up the house) couldn't put the "big bozo" down. His size is just PERFECT for the Henkei/Classics crew. Did I overpay? Sure. But the figure is absolutely a "masterpiece" in every way.

[kanedaestes]

Yeah Galvatron is a pain but I like him. It is the only one I ever had so it will do unless they do a Masterpiece version. Too bad animated is over after this season because we could've gotten an animated version of him

[VFTF1]

His size is just PERFECT for the Henkei/Classics crew

That's good to hear.

As for Henkei Galvatron - if they'd made him an Ultra, like they were apparently planning to in the beginning - or a Voyager class at least, then he probably would have been great.

As a deluxe he sux.

Delux sux.

heh

I be poetical

Pete

[JB0]

Yeah. Galvatron's design makes it pretty clear there's abandoned features and that he was intended for a larger scale.

As-is, he's a pretty sad 'bot next to the rest of the line.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Yeah. Galvatron's design makes it pretty clear there's abandoned features and that he was intended for a larger scale.

Even sadder when Eric Siebenaler unveiled some of his original design sketches, showing the walking tank mode...for an ultra sized Galvatron, which was later abandoned when Galvatron was switched to a deluxe.

Had it been an ultra like originally planned, I have a feeling that the transformation wouldn't have been a PITA, and that the robot mode would look a TON better.