We've got Hall of Fame voting going on up there

[Dominic]

I can see that arguement. On the other hand, I look at Soundwave and think "old and dated". Like "Happy Days", which was deliberately retro, Soundwave seems very past tense. I would argue that "iconic" would be more current.

[Shockwave]

Why? I define iconic as recognizeable. Spock is iconic. He's not necessarily "current". Same with Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.

[Dominic]

Those guys are timeless though. Soundwave looks to be very much a product of the 80s, if not earlier. This is not unlike the Combaticons. (There are people my age who do not understand why Blastoff is a space shuttle in a military themed set.)

Dom

[Onslaught Six]

I've never really understood why Blastoff is there either, but I don't care, he's awesome.

And Spock isn't necessarily "timeless." All the promotion I saw for the new Star Trek just seemed to highlight how dated the Trek uniform designs are. (But then, I don't really like Trek to begin with.)

And of course Soundwave, in his basic design, is going to look 80s. He's a big boxy robot that turns into a big boxy Walkman. (Basically.) Modern designs of Sounds almost always tend to spikey him up a bit (both the Cybertron update and the movie design did this) but that whole look is part of Soundwave's schtick. He's a box robot!

[andersonh1]

I would have thought that whether or not something is dated has no bearing on how iconic it is. Iconic things stand the test of time and are remembered whether or not they are ever updated into something modern.

[Dominic]

But, as Denny O'Neill said in the introduction to "A Death in the Family", "Everybody knows about Paul Bunyan, but nobody cares about him." Granted, O'Neill was talking about the character being static and unchanged over time. But, the same principle applies.

As O6 points out, Soundwave look old. He is boxy. He turns into a piece of boxy technology that looked out of date even when it was released in the US. (Remember, the toy was designed to look current ~5 or so years before coming out as Soundwave in "Transformers".) Yes, Soundwave is recognizable, but in a sort of retro "I remember way back in the day" kind of way.

Again, I do not hate Soundwave. Truthfully, I like the character a great deal more than I do Unicron, or Barricade. But, I was not voting based on what I like, I was voting based on what I figured to be iconic.

Along similar lines, I have nothing against the old toys. Metroplex is a favorite of mine, despite not only being an obviously dated design, but comitting most every sin I complain about in TFs now.

I've never really understood why Blastoff is there either, but I don't care, he's awesome.

Your teachers in high school frequently threw chalk at you did they not? (They should have.)

The space program was started during the Cold War to give us a military, technological and political advantage over the USSR.

Dom
-and, when they designed the Combaticons, people would have remembered that...damned kids and your video game music and internet....I want my prune juice and nap time.....

[Shockwave]

I still think we're defining iconic differently. I still define it as recognizable, regardless of current revelance. Prince is iconic in the music industry but, to the best of my knowledge, has not produced anything relevant for over a decade. That still doesn't make him any less iconic. However, the music he produced happened and people the world over were aware of it. That makes him iconic. The soundwave toy and accompanying fiction were mass produced and people all over the world are aware of it and remember it. That makes him iconic. Something doesn't need to be current in order to be iconic. It helps, but not required.

[138 Scourge]

And if we take Soundwave as a symbol meant to make people instantly think "Transformers", then the dated appearance of his alt. mode doesn't hurt at all.

It's like...when you need a symbol that's meant to instantly make people think "telephone", you don't show a picture of a slightly rounded rectangle, right? Even though the old-style phone and rotary dial is hopelessly dated, it's still more evocative of the idea it's supposed to represent.

[BWprowl]

Ooh, ooh, or if you want someone next to you to roll down their window, you do that 'winding' motion with your hands, even though most cars nowadays have power windows!

[Shockwave]

Yup. That's how Hasbro's going to merge all the sites' poll results too.

I can see why Hasbro would use that method when counting the numbers submitted by forums, as it is easier. But, it could lead to some characters being bumped up or down.

When I first read this, I didn't know what you meant, but now that I understand it, I fear I may have done just that with Shockwave. Even though I know Shockwave isn't as recognizable in the mainstream pop culture consciousness as Soundwave, I felt compelled to list him first which probably skewed his points higher than they probably should have been. So great, I really did try to be fairly objective with my list, but feel like I may have screwed it for everyone. So let me just apologize to everyone now: sorry dudes.

Shockwave
-Is wondering if I'm actually worthy of my username now.