TF Views

Rephrase that to include the FanClub toy and we are good to go.

Dom
-really hopes that Jazz is not "one of the boys" who got the job for knowing someone.

Technically, the Autobots don't even really have a command structure. I've always sort of hated trying to push the 'Bots and 'Cons into well-defined military organizations when they so clearly aren't. They are, after all, the group playing the resistance card, post-Decepticon uprising. A ragtag group who isn't even meant to be fighting in a war. This helps explain why there isn't really a clear second-in-command across the board. Jazz always seems the defacto choice, but Prowl largely filled that same role in the comics. Even when Grimlock took over, Prowl was right there. Personally, I've always favoured Jazz as black ops, but that's me.

Regardless, Jazz has previously shown skills that more than says he's got the job because he is capable.

For G1 that's certainly true (except for current G1). Other iterations have had the Autobots as the group that was in power and that unto itself implies an established military to support it. In Animated this is especially prevelant and it's even hinted at in BW and BM. It was also pretty obvious in the Unicron Trilogy.

The original tech specs all had a "rank" from 1-10, so there was a military hierarchy. The 'function' tag, which we've lost in the current line, defined what the character's role was in their respective military. The comics and cartoon never really supported or depicted that very well, though the IDW comics did a better job under Furman.

I don't think I did rewrites on the last round's questions, did I?

Anyway, this round's questions is due in 1 week. This week is a very busy one for me, so I'll try to make time for this thread before the end date, but no guarantees.

So here's what we have so far:

1) We've got pics now of ROTF Bludgeon redecoed as Banzai-Tron. This is awesome on a lot of levels. However, the stock photos show Banzai-Tron with black paint on the sword hilts. Some fans have theorized that, if the hilts are painted black, the paint will scrape off when the swords are put in Bludgeon's hand. Another concern is that the typical budget may not allow for such paintapps. Will the black hilts remain true for the final figure, or will the final figure simply have entirely blue swords without any paint?

2) Several recent Transformers have come with swords as weapons. However the plastic used to make these swords tends to warp easily. Examples include Vector Prime from the Cybertron line and Bludgeon from Revenge of the Fallen. Presumably safety is the main criteria for choosing the type of plastic, but in the specific examples why is the plastic so much softer? Is it possible to use something less prone to warping and still meet safety standards?

3) Jazz's Hall of Fame nomination profile mentions that he was Orion Pax's best friend. Orion Pax has only ever had one best friend, and that was Dion, a character from the G1 cartoon episode "War Dawn," who gets shot alongside Orion Pax and Ariel, who (obviously) became Optimus Prime and Elita-One. Some people have taken this new piece of information to indicate Dion was rebuilt into Jazz, which is a departure from some fans' assumption that Dion gets rebuilt into Ironhide or Ultra Magnus. So what is Hasbro's stance now? Does Dion get rebuilt into Jazz? Ultra Magnus? Ironhide? Or does he just die?

Feel free to add some more for everyone to choose from, or to reword your question if needed. Mine still needs work.

Sorry for not helping more with this. I have been busy of late.

Dom
-during the week and weekends.

I'm tempted to ask the obvious question that since we're getting Thrust and Dirge are they gonna release Thundercracker as well, but I don't wanna be that much of a dick.

I think the Banzai-Tron swords question has sorta been answered. Some guys have production samples now and they seem to retain the paint. No idea what this means for how much they rub off.

We could ask if they plan to continue reissuing any G1 toys like they did with Perceptor and the Insecticons. Or if the Hall of Fame is inevitably going to lead to it's own separate line of toys. Seriously, imagine a Bob Budiansky figure.