So, should I mass-email our users to ask them to vote?
Dominic wrote:Says the guy who called me out on his second post.
That's different. I can be a dick to you, I've known you longer.
Now, you have me defending Bay. How does Bay "not get" TF? You blame Bay's ignorance and a cartoon that, while not by any means great or even good, was important to the franchise in teh same sentence? Elaborate.
The original cartoon needed a "young" character as part of the team but not integral for young audience members to identify with, so they chose BB for that character. Then the show ends, and interest in BB dries up so much Hasbro loses access to the name for a decade or so. Then Bay comes around, and first he has to be convinced to make the movie, they con him into it by saying it'll fulfill his desire to make a movie about aliens. Then Spielberg sells Bay some razzle-dazzle about how the movie should be about "a boy and his car". Bay, since he has a business relationship with them, goes through a showroom of GM's vehicle, production and concept, and picks out the concept Camaro and says that will be the one that will fill the "boy and his car" role.
It is not being different to be different. It is a vote for a character that looks to have some sticking power. AEC did have an impact on the franchise and the fandom. Minicons have been in nearly every primary line, (if only as recolors) since '02. (The only two exceptions being Alternators and the re-issues.)
I disagree that AEC has lasting impact. The minicons seem to be the only thing that's stuck, not the characters nor plotlines nor other gimmicks. Minicons weren't in either movie line and weren't in the Animated line, and the only reason they were in the Classics 2.0 line is because of that awful Hot Shot redux figure, and the concept wasn't used properly since it didn't power up crap. Hell, with all the reissues, the stupid Cyber Planet Keys have had more lasting impact unintentionally.
Hotshot has more fiddle value than Devastator. Hotshot's design is ambitious is badly executed. Devastator is just badly designed.
You are on smack. Hot Shot was designed right after a line known for sharp sculpts, quality decos, and high articulation. Hot Shot has an incredibly soft sculpt, a weak deco, and surprisingly few minimal moving parts. He's as not fiddly as it gets, he has lazy articulation and 1 gimmick that has no fun value at all, it does its thing and then that's it, and it ate his shoulders for it.
I do see your point about Cheetor. But, Hasbro has done more to keep that character around than it has Primal. I think branding will carry this one more than character.
How do you mean they've done more to keep Cheetor around? They've released less Cheetors, and in Classics and Titaniums they released 1 of each (Cheetor & Primal).
Shockwave is so inconsistently portrayed in various media that it is touch to say the character is iconic so much as the name is. Even G1 Shockwave is arguably two guys.
Visually, I think Shockwave is iconic to fans. The mono-eye and laser-hand do stand out as something different. But as a character, not so much.
My problem with Wheeljack and Mirage is not that they were unimportant or that I dislike them. (Both are actually favorites of mine actually.) It is that I jsut think Prowl was a wee bit more iconic and important. I actually revised my answer on that choice while typing it, at one point putting Mirage and Prowl in the same place. I can see any of them getting the nod, if not winning against guys like Grimlock or Soundwave.
Well, it's not that I don't think Prowl isn't there too, but to me he doesn't pop to mind in that list, probably because of how the Datsun 280Z mold got to be 3 different name characters.
Like it or not, the "Beast Wars Sourcebook" gives grounds to say otherwise. Yes, the character described there is like something out of a bad fanfic written by an 8 years old. But...a reasonable person might conclude that the BW mutant is in fact G1 Soundwave. You do not have to like it. But, you must not deny it out of hand. The first time I read the entry, (while fipping through the book in the comic store and wondering why the hell I bothered with comics), my first impression was that it was Soundwave. I reread it later, and have been unsure. Given the tone and quality of the book, I would not rule out Furman or Yee doing the worst possible thing there.
Like it? Not. Still, I ain't going to rag on Yee for it the way you are.
That said, I don't buy this "reasonable person might conclude" argument. There's a different Megatron, none of the G1 characters are in the line, so why would they conclude the microcassette player guy has turned into one of the dopiest TFs ever, one that takes place generations later, and is a toy that doesn't even fit the aesthetic of the line?
Even if one discounts Buzzsaw, (which reasonable people can disagree on), Soundwave's missiles are Soundwave's missiles. It does not matter that they are not used in his alternate mode or that the robot "looks okay" without them. They are parts for one mode with no place in the other. His parts do not integrate.
Bullspit, Soundwave doesn't need physical missiles, these are characters using energy-based weapons. His shoulder cannon doesn't need a missile sticking out. His handgun looks better with it, but it already transforms into a gun without it. Without that missile, he's still got 2 guns. What does Prime have without his accessories? What is Starscream without his? They're stump-armed! Soundwave is fine without his.
As for the character, Soundwave has appeared and done less than other characters one could name easily. Soundwave is not as important as GeeWunners play him up to be.
Any argument in a storm, eh?
Barricade did get a fair amount of characterization. He is also visually and conceptualy distinctive, with built-in iconograpy by virtue of being a cop car.
Mmm, that smack must be good, huh Dom?
Onslaught Six wrote:Actually, Hot Shot was on Team Chaar, and he was going to be the guy who became Animated Bumblebee. Frankly, I'm sort of surprised that Movie Bumblebee didn't end up being Hot Shot to begin with. (Imagine, his only words in the first film: "JaAm!")
Eww, I didn't know he was in Animated. I feel dirty.
That is so wrong that I'm going to close the site now.
Nobody was a "shoot lasers at that guy!" troop. Budiansky made sure of that.
Fine, but I'd say he's further down the scale of "shoot lasers at that guy" than the others.
He's also the only one with a regular vehicle mode, as opposed to a tank or helicopter. In fact, the only other Decepticon in ROTF to do so (Sideways) was widely rumoured to be Barricade before the rest of him was revealed. (Incidentally, we've never gotten any confirmation that he wasn't 'supposed' to be Barricade to begin with.)
Damn, I guess the Movie universe has set the bar REALLY low then.
I don't mind if outsiders vote in this though.