[FAQ] Transformers FAQ v6.0, Part 3 of 3
Steve-o Stonebraker
***Segment Three of Three
***Table of Contents located in Segment One
== V. Generation Two and Machine Wars ===============
>> A. General >>
V/A/1
What was Generation Two all about?
Transformers: Generation Two was Hasbro's 1992 attempt to
resurrect the Transformers line. It had been nearly two
years since any TFs had been produced in the US, and even
longer since many people had cared. Hasbro flexed its
marketing muscle and started showing cartoons again, as well
as bringing back the comic book. They released an array of
toys in the US including some classics and some which had not
yet been seen in the US.
Ultimately, G2 met its demise as a result of sloppy and
misdirected marketing. Although there were some very nice
toys released in this time period, it seemed for the most
part that Hasbro's heart wasn't in it.
The classic toys, which they thankfully stopped selling early
on, were hopelessly outdated (most of the designs were 10+
years old) and were released in some pretty bad colors with
equally bad new accessories. Hasbro had a choice between
giving them non-shooting weapons like in the 80s, or giving
them entirely new shooting weapons that had parts large
enough to meet with standards. Sadly, the new weapons were a
real eyesore since the toys weren't designed with such things
in mind.
Among many of the new toys their strategy seemed to be "make
as many different characters as possible", even though this
meant many repaints, including a lot of toys that were named
after classic characters, but had inappropriate forms. For
example, there were only six different Go-Bot molds, but
fourteen different Go-Bot characters released, including such
baffling choices for a race car toy as Ironhide, Soundwave,
Optimus Prime, and Megatron.
Lastly, the tech specs for the toys were horrible.
Personalities and characterization had always been a strong
point of the TF line, but the profiles in G2 were an all-time
low (even worse than most Beast Wars profiles) with such
endearing mottos as "Want to race?" and "Decepticons belong
in junkyards!" (G2 mottos can be quite a source of
amusement, actually. Go through Hex's G2 tech spec list
sometime and read a few.)
Hasbro knew G2 wasn't working out, so in 1995, in hopes of
turning things around they transferred the entire
Transformers operation to a new team within the subsidiary
they had just acquired in a buyout: Kenner. (The Hasbro-
Kenner amalgam is often referred to as HasKen.) Kenner's
first action was to cancel G2 and stop all TF production to
figure out how to save the franchise. The next year they
shocked the TransFan community by announcing Beast Wars.
V/A/2
What was Machine Wars?
In late 1996, after Beast Wars had proven to be a huge
success, Kenner did a little experiment by trying to sell
machine-based TFs again. The MW line was sold only in KayBee
toy stores, and received no advertising support. MW toys
included rereleased European toys from the G1 and G2 eras,
and a few figures that had been planned for release at the
end of G2, but didn't make it to store shelves before G2
itself was shevled. The experiment was a pretty sound
failure. Partly because they were only available at KayBee.
Partly because there was no marketing support. Partly
because many of the toys were outdated.
And, partly because the demand for machine Transformers just
wasn't there at the time. As much as old-timers like myself
like to think we make a difference, there just aren't enough
serious TransFans to contribute a significant portion of TF
sales. We're not a large enough group for HasKen to cater to
our whims and stay profitable. HasKen has, however, proven
to be fairly cooperative with our wishes when it doesn't
reduce their market share. So don't think they don't care at
all. They do. They just don't care enough to throw money
down the drain for us. :)
V/A/3
Was there a G2 cartoon?
Yes and no. There was a cartoon called "Transformers:
Generation Two", but it was just the old cartoon from the 80s
with CGI enhancements (and I use that word loosely). The
original TF cartoons were given an edit job and computer
graphics were added to "frame" the cartoon and embellish
scene changes. The graphics took the form of mechanical
clamps and arms which appeared to physically move the frames
around. The whole shebang was called the "Cybernet Space
Cube". An interesting concept, sure, but in practice it was
distracting and interfered with the cartoon itself. The
opening sequence and commercial bumpers was also replaced
with new ones in full CGI (like the G2 toy commercials; not
as nice as the BW show, but still cool).
Out of the 98 episodes of the TF cartoon, 52 were given the
G2 treatment. MTMTE was first shown in April 93, and in
September MTMTE and about 10 other eps were put into a weekly
rotation. TF:G2 went daily a year later (September 1994)
with about 40 more episodes added to the mix, and then got
canceled before the next TV season started. Aside from the
CGI additions, the eps were also edited slightly for time.
The FCC regulates how many minutes of a given television
program can be devoted to advertising, and the allowed
advertising time for children's programming has increased
since the 80s, so to make the show more cost-effective, more
commercials are squeezed in by shortening the program. When
the Science Fiction Channel occasionally shows TF cartoons,
they suffer the same editing, which is sometimes pretty
sloppy. You may notice the same thing happening to prime-
time sitcoms when they move to syndication.
>> B. Toys >>
V/B/1
What toys were released in G2?
Early in G2, most of the toys were re-releases of classic
figures such as Optimus Prime, Starscream, Sideswipe, and the
Dinobots. Most of these toys were done in ugly new colors,
and given ugly new shooting weapons that could pass new
safety requirements. One of the first new toys was G2
Megatron. Since the original Megatron transformed into a
very realistic-looking handgun, it was decided to give him a
new, and less controversial, form for the 90s. Thus big-
green-tank Megatron was born.
They then moved into new toys, most of which were very nice.
Even the Go-Bots are kind of cool; Hasbro just went overboard
with so many of them. The best part of G2 was the
extraordinary posability that was being incorporated into the
figures. These were transforming robots with better
articulation than most human action figures on the market
then or now. Another neat trick they started was making the
back of a robot's head as well as its eyes out of translucent
plastic, so that if you place a light behind it (like if it
stands on your windowsill) the eyes seem to light up.
One of the most popular G2 toys is Laser Optimus Prime. The
Laser Rods were a G2 subgroup with really great posability.
Their gimmick was an LED light in their fist and clear
plastic weapons which would glow when the LED was on. Laser
Op (also sometimes called Optimus Octane, because his trailer
was a tanker that said "Octane" on it) had this same gimmick.
He's extremely posable - as good as Apetimus Primal or
TransMetal Megatron from Beast Wars - and just plain looks
cool. The tanker trailer turns into a nice battle platform
with lots of shooting weapons.
Another popular G2 toys was a Decepticon named Dreadwing (not
to be confused with Dreadwind and Darkwing from G1, the
PowerMasters who combined to form a gestalt jet named
Dreadwing). He was a stealth bomber with a smaller companion
jet named Smokescreen (not to be confused with Smokescreen
from G1, who was an Autobot race car...). Dreadwing, like
many of the new G2 toys, has wonderful articulation and
posability. A recolor of Dreadwing named Megatron ATB was
planned but never released (his tech spec motto: "Prepare for
oblivion", as Rob Jung and I will never forget). Megatron
ATB's companion jet was named Starscream. And, in BW2,
another recolor is available: BB, and his small companion
named Starscream. Is your head spinning yet?
Lastly I'll mention my favorite G2 group, the CyberJets.
These are airplane TFs, about 10cm long, with a surprisingly
intricate transformation and superb posability in robot mode.
They're basically miniature versions of the Jetfire /
Valkyrie toy, but with ball-and-socket joints in robot mode.
There were three CyberJets released as Decepticons, and they
were then recolored and released as Autobots as well.
For a complete account of what was released in G2, you should
of course refer to a document such as the TF Toy List, That
Big Variations List, or Hex's Tech Spec Listing; pointers to
those documents can be found in section I/C of the FAQ.
V/B/2
What toys were released in MW?
Machine Wars was a pretty small assortment of toys. On the
big end, we have Optimus Prime (a recolored Thunderclash, the
TurboMaster leader from European G2) and Starscream (a
recolored Skyquake, the European Predator leader). Medium-
sized toys were also from EG2's TurboMaster and Predator
groups: recolors of Rotorstorm and Stalker named Sandstorm
and Soundwave. The small toys were, presumably, what would
have been the next batch of G2 toys, had that line not been
cancelled. The Autobots got a tow truck mold (with two color
vars, named Hubcap and Hoist) and a race car (Prowl and
Mirage), and the Decepticons got two airplane molds
(Thundercracker, Skywarp, Megatron, and Megaplex). Why was
Starscream ten times larger than Megatron, even though
Megatron was still the leader? I have no idea.
The large and medium toys, which are from the late-G1 era,
are okay figures, but suffer many of the late-G1 trappings.
For example, they have very limited posability, and their
robot modes consist mainly of big chunks of hollow plastic.
They look kind of cool, but they don't do much. (Same can be
said of most of G1, and many of the high-demand Japanese toys
like Star Sabre.) The small toys from the G2 era have ball-
and-socket joints, but aren't as nice as G2 toys like the
Cyberjets (the cons are very similar to the Cyberjets, tho).
They also have spring-loaded autotransforms like the first
wave of BW Regulars, a feature unpopular with most TransFans.
They're not bad, though, and many KayBee stores still have
them in stock at very reduced prices. Treat yourself and
pick a couple up.
V/B/3
What are "hero" Prime and Megatron?
The "Combat Hero" toys are yet another G2 incarnation of
Prime and Megs. These toys were about the size of a Mega BW
toy. Hero OP was a white tractor trailer with a cab similar
to Laser OP's. Hero Megatron was another tank, but this one
is purple, rather than the green of the large G2 Megatron.
Both of these figures had an air-powered missile launcher.
V/B/4
What's with Go-Bot Transformers?
One of the early G2 Autobots belonging to the water-squirting
group was strangely named "Gobots". This name is ironic,
because during the TF's first run, their major competitors
were Tonka's GoBots. After Gobots was released, one of the
next major Autobot groups was announced, and they were
called: Go-Bots. These TFs are the size of Matchbox cars so
that you can use them on Matchbox / Hot Wheels tracks.
The reason for all this is that sometime between G1 and G2
Hasbro bought out Tonka Toys, and in a slightly unnecessary
effort to prevent other companies from reviving GoBots as a
competing line, Hasbro intentionally used the name in the TF
line to assert their ownership of the concept.
To prevent confusion on the newsgroup, Tonka GoBots are
usually referred to specifically as Tonka GoBots.
V/B/5
What are the G2 Powermasters?
In the European G2 line there was a group of four TF's called
Powermasters. These had nothing to do with G1 PowerMasters.
They had pullback motors in them, and that's where the
"power" part comes in. Their packaging listed Hasbro's US
headquarters, rather than the UK HQ which most foreign-only
toys credit, so it seems that they were originally intended
to be released in the US, but never quite made it. The
Autobot Powermasters were Ironhide and Meanstreak. The
Decepticon Powermasters were Bulletbike and Staxx (yes, that
was also the name of a Tonka Super GoBot.)
Near the end of Japanese G1, there was a group of three
motorized MicroMaster bases referred to as Powered Masters.
They were Road Fire, Sonic Bomber, and Dai Atlus, who was
then the Cybertron leader. These toys *also* have nothing to
do with G1 PowerMasters or with G2 Powermasters.
>> C. Comics >>
V/C/1
What was the creative team behind TF:G2?
The TF:G2 comic was launched in November 1993 by Marvel
Comics. It lasted for only twelve issues. Most of those
issues were split into two stories (one part was called
"Tales of Earth" and the other part changed its title
monthly) in order to cover all the relevant events. All of
these stories were written by Simon Furman, the same master
who closed up the G1 book's run.
The comic was drawn mainly by Derek Yaniger and Manny Galan.
The artistic style of this series was *much* different than
the G1 books, have a dark, "gritty", and almost frightening
look to it. This is mostly a reflection of Yaniger's style,
which Galan attempted to emulate, but wasn't able to quite
pull off. Yaniger began as the only artist, but proved to be
too meticulous to keep up with deadlines (he does his own
inking), so the book was split into two more-or-less
independent stories which together chronicled all of the
occurring events, and each took up about half of a given
issue. Yaniger continued as the artist for most installments
of the "Tales of Earth" section, while Manny Galan did the
other half, and sometimes took up the slack on Tales of
Earth, too. Starting with issue 10, Yaniger stepped out, and
was replaced by our old pal Geoff Senior, who stayed on until
the cancellation at #12.
The lettering in the G2 series was also very different;
Transformer speech balloons had a series of colored shapes
along the left border: squares for Autobots, triangles for
Decepticons, and trapezoids for the Dinobots. The colors of
these shapes reflected the color scheme of the character who
was speaking. This unique lettering style was created by the
master Richard Starkings, who now runs an independent
lettering company called Comicraft which does work for all
the major comic publishers.
V/C/2
I didn't read the G2 comics... what happened in them?
I'll leave out a lot of events in order to give a broad
outline of the main story. Basically, the G2 comic picked up
where G1 #80 left off. Unicron has just been destroyed and
Cybertron has been reborn. During the G.I.Joe lead-in,
Megatron falls out of the sky on Earth and is rebuilt by
Cobra into his tank form. Also early on in the story a new
group of Decepticons (a second generation, get it?) shows up,
wreaking havoc on various planets and expanding their empire.
They are led by a 'con named Jhiaxus. Most of the new
Decepticons seem like mindless minions, and they all have a
similar "look" and color scheme.
There is an inevitable first encounter between these new
Decepticons and the Autobots, and Optimus Prime's forces
suffer heavy losses. In an effort to understand who these
new enemies are, Prime takes a trip into the Matrix to learn
what to do from Primus. Instead of answers, he gets a
history lesson. It starts with the birth of the first
Transformer, and then shows him something he had never seen
before: budding.
The way the budding story goes is that in their early days,
TFs reproduced through a process similar to cellular
division. New Transformers sort of grew out of old ones in a
rather painful process. Once Primus felt that the population
of TFs was great enough, he produced a race-wide memory wipe
and erased the knowledge of this process from all TF minds.
At this point the Matrix took over as the only way of
creating new Transformer life. However, Primus' plan had not
worked entirely, and eventually a group of Transformers
rediscovered budding, and used it extensively to swell their
ranks. This is where the droves of blue and white G2 cons
under Jhiaxus' command came from.
Unfortunately, because it does not involve the Matrix (and
hence Primus' life force), budding tends to create less
"pure" Transformers, and after several generations of budding
the G2s lost their most basic sense of morality. In
addition, budding is always accompanied by an energy
discharge. At first, this discharge appeared merely
electrical, but in time it became evident that there was more
to it than that. Later budding produced dark energies which
floated off and amassed into a lifeforce called the Swarm.
Because it had been created from the Primus-deprived G2
Transformers, the Swarm lacked purpose and sought the
Transformers out, leaving a swath of destruction and death
behind it.
When the Swarm finally reached Earth, where the Autobots, the
Decepticons, and the G2 'cons were in the middle of a
full-scale war, Prime allowed himself to be devoured. When
the containment vessel of the Creation Matrix was breached,
the Matrix energy spewed out and filled the emptiness in the
Swarm's soul. Having found purpose and happiness, the Swarm
reconstructed Prime, returned him to Earth, and flew off into
the proverbial sunset. The last issue of TF:G2 ended with a
cliffhanger ending in which the Liege Maximo, a progenitor of
sorts for entire Decepticon faction, made some menacing
statements, said that Jhiaxus' forces had been under his
command, and implied that the war was far from over. Liege
Maximo is a very, very large robot with the same color scheme
as most of the second-generation 'cons.
== VI. Beast Wars ===================================
>> A. General >>
VI/A/1
Why has Hasbro done this to us?
When HasKen realized that the G2 line was going nowhere, and
that they'd handled it poorly, the new TF team at Kenner
decided that they wanted to get as far away from G2 as
possible, and go in an entirely new direction to try to get
people interested. Thus the Beast Wars line was born.
Most veteran TransFans have found that after getting past the
initial shock, they can appreciate and even love Beast Wars
as a good toyline. Of course, not everyone has warmed up to
BW. Some fans say that, although they can appreciate BWs as
nice toys, they can't accept them as TFs because they just
don't "feel" like TFs to them. There are also vocal critics
of BW who consider it an insult to the TF mythos and fandom.
But, there are also many fans who have been with TF since the
80s and like Beast Wars even better than anything that came
before it. Whatever your initial opinion may be, allow
yourself to give BW a chance. Buy a toy or two, watch the
show, and then make an informed decision about it. :)
For more BW information, the prime site on the internet is
Ben Yee's BW Homepage. Ben (hipp...@bwtf.com) has been a
strong supporter of BW from the get-go, and is one of our
"elite" fans who now has strong connections within the
business (you can even see his name in the credits of BW eps
from late in season two). Ben's site is the home of the BW
FAQ, the famous "In Defense of Beast Wars" essay, and many,
many other things. It's a must-see for BW fans.
For more information on Japanese BW things, see part VII.
| Beast Wars Homepage, by Benson "Wonko the Sane" Yee
| http://www.bwtf.com
VI/A/2
Why did they change Optimus Prime and Megatron?
They didn't. Optimus Primal is not Optimus Prime, and BW
Megatron is not Megatron. This has been explicitly stated by
HasKen, and is rather obvious from their characterization.
As with the G2 line, when the names "Optimus Prime" and
"Megatron" were used over and over again, Kenner's marketing
department has attached the names to BW toys to draw
attention and make the figures sell better. Plotwise, the
idea is that Optimus Primal and BW Megatron are named in
honor of those heros from their past.
Furthermore, Primal and BW Megs are not even the leaders of
the whole Maximal and Predacon factions. Larry DiTillio and
Bob Forward, the story editors for the first three seasons of
Beast Wars, have clarified that Primal is merely a ship's
captain on an exploration mission and that Megatron is
basically a Predacon criminal on the run. Megarex's crew of
Predacons is also comprised (mostly) of criminals who are
very much self-serving and not especially loyal to him. He
may have broken them out of jail or whatever, but they're not
an army by any means, and it's possible that none of them
even knew each other before stealing the Golden Disk and
making a run for it.
It has yet to be established exactly what links the Predacons
and Maximals to the Autobots and Decepticons, only that the
Bot / Con factions are "ancestors" to the Maxies and Preds.
But one thing is certain: Maximal does not equal Autobot, and
Predacon does not equal Decepticon. End of story.
VI/A/3
Is there going to be a BW comic book?
We've been through a lot of confusion, but the answer for now
appears to be "yes". Some time ago rumors surfaced about a BW
comic book, but immediately afterwards these were squelched
with vehement denials. In the fall of 1998, however, this
idea resurfaced when news broke that a small comic company
called Bench Press Comics would begin publishing several new
comics including multiple Transformers and GI Joe titles.
Negotiations promptly stalled again, but things now appear to
be back to the status quo. The plan from Bench Press is to
publish a BW comic which will be written and drawn by the TF
dream-team of Si Furman and Andy Wildman. There will be an
additional classic TFs series set in the pre-movie cartoon
continuity. This comic will have a rotating creative team,
but the first arc will be done by current Bench Press staff -
Ben Powwell, writer; and Chi, artist. (Once things get
going, don't forget to send them email demanding they let Dan
Khanna do a few issues!) There are also plans for a third TF
series, a 9-issue limited series by Powwell and Chi. The new
GI Joe titles are set to be written by the man who penned the
entire Marvel GI Joe series - Larry Hama - and one of them
will be drawn by big-name Rom Lim.
On a related note, there have been two semi-official comics
released. The first came packaged with the Optimus Primal /
Megatron two-pack toy (that's Batimus and Megalizard). This
was a haphazard, poorly written piece of work meant to flesh
out the then-unspecified backstory for the toys. That
backstory was later abandoned in favor of Bob and Larry's TV
series story. The second BW comic was one of the many
convention-exclusive items at BotCon '97. It was created by
TF comic greats Simon Furman and Andy Wildman.
| Bench Press Studios, who will hopefully be making a BW comic
| http://www.benchcomics.com
| Four Color Review, a comic news site with some preview art
| http://4colorreview.simplenet.com
VI/A/4
Will they make a BW movie?
The answer as of now seems to be a resounding "no". Several
TransFans have been in contact with people at Mainframe and
the answer is always the same. They are not working on one,
and have not been asked to. Of course, it's common practice
in the entertainment industry to completely deny all rumors
about upcoming projects, whether they *are* being negotiated
or not, until the deal is completely finalized. Rumors
continue to pop up here and there, most notably on the "Daily
Sci-Fi" news website who even included the statement in their
12/14/98 "sci-fi buzz" section. Editor Jeff Chen tells me
that people on their staff are really tight with the bigwigs
at Mainframe, and that there is definitely something going
on. But I stress again, Mainframe has shot down such reports
at every opportunity to TransFans who are *also* tight with
them, and Mainframe's director of communications Mairi Welman
even made a post to ATT to squelch the rumors. So is Jeff on
crack, or is Mainframe just being tight-lipped? Only time
will tell.
Regardless of what might be in negotiation now, there is
almost zero chance of a BW movie coming out in less than two
years' time. Mainframe is a very busy company, and making a
theater-quality feature takes a lot more work than just
sticking together a few episodes of the show. Graphics
quality, image resolution, and the like would all have to be
stepped up to make a successful film. If a movie were going
to come out *soon*, they would have to be already rendering
it. And if they were already rendering a movie, we would
almost definitely know about it. In other words, don't hold
your breath.
| Daily Sci-Fi, a science-fiction news site
| http://dailysci-fi.theden.com/
VI/A/5
How successful has BW been for HasKen?
Very. BW has been consistently among the top-selling
toylines since it was launched. It's only real competitor
right now is Star Wars, but no one will ever beat Star Wars
(for many reasons, including its ungodly fanbase of adult
collectors), so in a sense, BW has already won. Sort of
like, if you write computer software and outsell everybody
besides MicroSoft, you can consider yourself the winner. :)
The BW TV show has only recently lost the number one rating
for its target audience. The show that beat it: War Planets,
another CGI show from Mainframe.
>> B. Toys >>
VI/B/1
Are the toys any good?
Good lord, yes! From an objective standpoint, the BW toys
are actually better than most G1 Transformers, and better
than just about every other toyline on the market today.
Their posability exceeds that of even the late Generation 2
toys like the Cyberjets and Laser OP - most have more
articulation than 80s G.I. Joe figures. They have neat robot
modes, detailed beast modes, cool shooting weapons, and no
loose parts. And, they're *cheap*. A regular-size BW figure
has a MSRP of $5. Star Wars action figures recently went up
in price to $6; they are comparable in height, but have
almost no posability and no gimmicks. Beast Wars gives you a
lot of bang for your buck. Star Wars remains the number one
selling toyline because, well, it's Star Wars, and that will
always sell. But, BW is now the number two toyline in the
United States, which means that the only thing selling better
is Star Wars. (The low price-point for BW is a result of
marketing forces. To sell a Star Wars toy, you have to both
make it *and* buy the rights to make it from George Lucas.
For HasKen to sell a BW toy, all they have to do is make it,
because they own all the rights themselves.)
A common criticism of Beast Wars toys is that some BW robot
modes suffer from an "animal on my back" syndrome (and more
recently, "animal kibble in my backpack"). But to be fair,
most of them have relatively nice transforms with frequently
innovative designs. Besides, "car on by back" was just as
common for G1 TFs, and most of those were practically
statues; an average of maybe 2-4 swivel points compared to
BW's minimum of 8, with at least 4 being those super ball-
and-socket joints. :)
Also, the big complaint about "cheap plastic" which long-time
TransFans bring up all time in order to put down later G1,
G2, and BW, is a little misguided. It's true that the type
of plastic is different than on classic TFs, but it's not
"cheap". It sometimes *looks* cheap, and may feel flimsy and
like it has no heft, but the real difference is that the
newer plastic has lots of tiny air bubbles in it. That makes
the plastic lighter (and less expensive), as well as giving
it tremendous resiliency. While the plastic of a G1 toy will
sometimes snap if you merely look at it the wrong way, G2 and
BW plastic has some "give" to it, making it hard to shatter.
BW toys are, in general, very strong and resistant to
breakage. If you put too much pressure or tension on a BW,
an arm might pop off, but all you have to do is pop it back
in and it's as good as new. Try that with a Soundwave or
Jetfire.
BW marks the beginning of a new sort of cooperation between
HasKen and Takara. Previously, Takara alone was responsible
for the planning and design of new Transformer toys. Now,
design is a joint operation between the two companies. At
the time of BotCon '97 there were a whole two guys in
Kenner's Ohio HQ to do all the design work on the US side,
and they were in direct contact with Takara designers in
Japan. Although there is give-and-take on both sides, a
rough division can be made by saying that the American
designers are responsible for overall design and feel, while
the Japanese designers work out the details of how to best
represent the concept in plastic (the nitty gritty of what
sort of joint to use where, how to arrange a hinge to fit
inside, etc.).
BW toys are divided into five groups based on their size and
price. The smallest figures (Drill Bit, Airhammer,
Quickstrike) are called Regulars, and usually cost about $5
in the US. The next size up, which includes characters like
Cheetor, Retrax, and Tarantulus, and cost $10 apiece is the
Deluxe line. Both Regulars and Deluxes are packaged on
cards. The next group, the Megas (Transmetal Optimus Primal,
Transquito, etc), are packaged in boxes, as are the fourth
set, Ultras (ape Primal, t-rex Megatron, Tripedacus,
Magnaboss). These sizes cost $15 and $20, respectively. The
fifth size is brand new and contains only one toy: Optimal
Optimus, who costs $35 and comes in a *very big* box.
VI/B/2
What are TransMetals and Fuzors?
TransMetals and Fuzors are the first two "sub-lines" to stem
from the Beast Wars toy line. It seems as if the "normal"
Beast Wars line has come to a close. All Beast Wars toys
released in 1998 were either TransMetals or Fuzors. This may
be bad news if you're partial to "straight" Beast Wars
animals, or good news if you're into the more "roboticized"
animal forms.
Fuzors, in short, are Beast Warriors with "hybrid" beast
forms. Rather than having a beast form derivative of one
animal, Fuzors' beast modes are combinations of two animals
"fused" into one. Some of the Fuzors released to date are
Skyshadow, a dragonfly combined with a lizard; Silverbolt, a
wolf combined with an eagle; and Quickstrike, a cobra
combined with a scorpion. The explanation for Fuzors in the
BW show has to do with stasis pod malfunctions, which caused
certain protoform TFs to be programmed with scrambled
DNA-scan data.
TransMetals were initially proposed as "Beast Wars turned
inside out." Rather than having mechanical parts in their
robot modes alone, TransMetals have robotic animal modes,
with "hidden hide" animal parts displayed in robot mode (ie:
Cheetor has spots in robot mode, but not in beast mode).
It's pretty hard on many of them, however, to find these
"animal parts" in their robot modes. TransMetals are pretty
much just BW without the flesh. Robotic animals, similar to
the G1 Dinobots and Insecticons. TransMetal toys sport nifty
vacuum-metallized paint jobs, and each TransMetal has the
benefit of an additional (third) vehicle mode (sometimes
these third modes are pretty weak, though). The explanation
on the BW show for the creation of TransMetals is discussed
in VI/C/12.
VI/B/3
Why are there so many TransMetal variations?
Some fans have noticed variations in the color of the
metallized parts on TransMetal toys. When TMs first came
out, there were many reports of pink Megatrons and purple
Primals and such (they should be purple and blue,
respectively). Rather than a true variation in prodution,
this is a result of inconsistent mixtures of paint in the
chrome. Primal and Megatron were affected by this early in
their release, with many different shades hitting the
shelves. Also, early TM Rhinoxi had a pale aqua on their
bodies, but later releases had a more rich color that matched
their limbs. This changeover took place at about the same
time that the problems with Primal and Megatron disappeared.
In early 1999 a limited-edition run of TransMetal Rattraps
with blue chrome (instead of the rust / maroon color) was
released as a Wal-Mart exclusive.
VI/B/4
What's a TransMetal 2?
TransMetal 2 toys were released around Christmastime in 1998.
We are yet to see TM2s on the BW show yet (as of this
writing, anyway, but they're coming up pretty soon), but
their origin has something to do with cloning experiments by
Megatron gone awry. TM2s do not have vac-metal parts or
alternate vehicular modes. Their beast forms are "mutated".
The first wave of TM2s included both Regular and Deluxe size
figures.
>> C. Cartoon >>
VI/C/1
What's the TV show like? When is it on?
BW is a fully-rendered, computer animated program crafted by
Mainframe Entertainment, Inc. and produced by Alliance
Communications. Mainframe also makes the CGI series "ReBoot"
and "War Planets". The level of quality displayed in Beast
Wars has risen consistently over its first two seasons;
animation effects have become more complex and the show's
camera direction is far beyond what it was initially. The
show's evolving technical merits, coupled with a fine stable
of writers and very talented voice actors, have combined to
make Beast Wars a breakaway hit (it's consistently been
number one or two among its target audience, ages 6-11, in
the US).
In the US, Beast Wars is a syndicated series, which means
that *any* channel might be showing it in your area if they
pay the syndication costs. It is most commonly seen early in
the morning on independent stations and affiliates of the
"baby" networks: Fox, WB, and UPN. There is also a WB cable
network which shows BW. (Hmm, BW on WB.) For the current
98-99 season, repeates of S1 and S2 can be seen five days a
week, while a weekend timeslot is showing the new season
three eps (and some S2 repeats).
In Canada, the program airs on YTV and is called "Beasties"
due to a legal difficulty with using the word "war" in the
title of a children's program / toy line. BW is also being
shown in the UK by GMTV, although only on bank holidays.
Watch the newsgroups for announcements about when specific
eps will be shown in the UK. There are apparently plans for
spring of '99 to release BW videos to retailers in the UK.
| Mainframe Entertainment, makers of "Beast Wars"
| http://www.mainframe.bc.ca
| Alliance Communications, producers of "Beast Wars"
| http://www.alliance.ca
VI/C/2
Which continuity does Beast Wars fit into?
The Beast Wars series seems to derive some of its source
material from the cartoon series (Starscream's appearance in
"Possession"), but also has clear links to the comics
(characters mention Primus, for example). At this stage in
the show's evolution, it appears that BW's story editors are
picking and choosing from the existing TF continuities,
focusing on what best benefits their story. (This is what
many fanfic authors do, as well.) It has been rumored that
the writers are now leaning towards the comic continuity
(especially after meeting with Simon Furman at BotCons 97 and
98; in fact, the final episode of Season Three will be
written by Furman himself), but with several cartoon elements
already sharing space with the comic in BW canon, it may be
best to consider Beast Wars a new, third, major continuity.
Such a thought might please our anti-BW factions, as it means
that BW isn't "really" taking place in their choice TF
universe.
It's not yet clear what will happen for S4 of the show, since
Bob and Larry are moving on, and the formula is being
changed. There will probably be some links to the continuity
of S1-S3, but no one really knows yet.
VI/C/3
What's the show's setting?
According to a comment made by Blackarachnia in "Dark
Designs", the BW characters come from a time about 300 years
after the end of the G1 cartoon. In the first episode, the
main characters are involved in a starship chase, with
Optimus Primal and the Maximals chasing after Megatron and
the Predacons. Both ships are traveling through a transwarp
gateway, sending them through space and time, but due to the
battle they lose track of where and when they are. When they
come out of warp, both ships crash land on an Earth-like, but
unknown, planet that has two moons and an extreme over-
abundance of pure energon crystals. To shield themselves
from the planet's harmful energon radiation, both factions
assume "beast" alternate modes which protect their robotic
insides from damage.
The TV setting is inconsistent with the tech specs of the
first wave of toys, several of which mention humans as if the
Beast Wars were going on around us in the present. Later
tech specs have been more in-line with the show.
VI/C/4
Is it true that the show's writers read the newsgroups?
Yes. At least, two of them used to, one does now, and soon
probably none will. Bob Forward and Larry DiTillio were the
story editors for seasons 1-3 of the series, which means they
were responsible for planning the events of each season, had
final approval over all scripts, and personally wrote many of
the episodes. Bob and Larry have been *extremely*
cooperative with fans by reading the newsgroups, making posts
to answer questions, and responding personally to email.
Sadly, Bob withdrew from the net as a result of problems with
being misrepresented by people pretending to be him and
spreading around harmful "information". Larry stuck around,
but has been playing a much more passive role (posts from him
are quite rare now). If you make a post with the subject tag
[LARRYBW] this will draw his attention. He is currently
lurking on RTTMod and ATT. Alternatively, you can send him
an email.
Larry welcomes correspondence from fans, but please don't
send him hate mail, or ask him about things he doesn't know
(like when the show is on in your area, or why the camera
movements are too jerky during fight sequences). This
doesn't mean you're not allowed to voice criticisms, but do
so in a way that a sane person might actually respond to; for
example, "I think the Predacons are still not being developed
as well as the Maximals" is better than "WHY R ALL THE PREDS
SOLAME??YOU IDIOT!!!!". Also, for legal reasons, do not send
story ideas to Larry. If you send him an idea which is
similar to something he was considering using, he then has to
throw away his idea to avoid liability for "taking" your
idea. It does not matter if you tell him in your email that
he can use your idea and you won't sue him. That may be
dumb, but it's the truth.
Larry's public email address is not his primary address.
That is, he doesn't check it all the time, it's not his
"real" address. Also, he's very busy, especially now that he
is working on new projects. So don't be offended if he takes
a long time to write back to you.
| Larry DiTillio, Beast Wars story editor
| diti...@aol.com
| Mainframe Entertainment's TF division
| Transformers Productions
| 1045 Howe Street, Suite 710
| Vancouver, Canada, B.C. V6Z2A9
VI/C/5
What else have Bob and Larry worked on?
Bob Forward and Larry DiTillio, the story editors for Beast
Wars, have a long history in TV script writing. They first
worked together in the 80s on Filmation's He-Man show,
"Masters of the Universe". At this time Larry was working as
a writer, and Bob as a storyboard artist. Also working with
Larry at Filmation was J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of
"Babylon 5". Larry created - pretty much on his own - the
He-Man spinoff character and series, "She-Ra".
Larry and JMS also collaborated on the cult hit "Captain
Power and the Soldiers of the Future". Later in the 80s JMS
and Larry left Filmation to work for DIC and try to save
"Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors" from death. When that
didn't work out, JMS moved to another DIC project, "The Real
Ghostbusters", while Larry left DIC due to professional
differences with their operation and his career hit a slow
spot (he wrote two episodes of Real Ghostbusters for JMS,
however). Meanwhile, Filmation found itself suddenly short
on writers but in need of somebody to take charge of a new
series called BraveStarr, so Bob was bumped up from his
storyboard job to a story editor and he took the helm.
When "Babylon 5" hit the air, Straczynski brought Larry in to
help out. Larry was the story editor for the first two
seasons, and wrote several episodes personally. Eventually
JMS decided that he was going to pretty much write the entire
series by himself (it was his dream project, after all), and
Larry became a fifth wheel of sorts. Excluding JMS himself,
though, Larry DiTillio wrote more episodes of B5 than anyone
else. (Sort of like the "Excluding Star Wars, BW is the
number one toyline," thing.)
VI/C/6
Hasbro is full of idiots! Why are they ruining the show to make
something lame like BW:G2?!?!?!
Errr. First let me say that BW:G2 is almost certainly *not*
the new title. Read on.
In late 1998 it was learned that Hasbro wanted to change the
formula of the show, so they sent Larry and Bob on their way
and took proposals from several new writers for a new
direction to take. They settled on the ideas of Marv
Wolfman, who they then hired to write a new series bible.
After taking the new bible, Bob Skir and Marty Isenberg
(whose previous credits include the recent "Godzilla"
cartoon, as well as Spider-Man and Batman) were hired as
story editors. For season four, the show will be moving out
of syndication in the US and will be carried by the FOX
Network. Although this worries some fans (who consider much
of the FOX lineup to be drivel), it definitely means better
exposure for Transformers.
Very little is known of what this new formula for the series
entails. In many ways, the new show may be similar to the G1
cartoon. One thing we do know is that it will not feature as
many long storylines, if any. Most eps will be self-
contained and less epic. There will be a larger cast of
characters. Many fans see this as a "dumbing down". To some
degree, that may be accurate. It's possible that this will
ruin the series, and that it will be canceled after S4. It's
also possible that the change will bring a return to the
"broad strokes" formula that made the G1 cartoon so popular
and ripe with possibilities for a fandom to explore.
Although the story editors are changing, it's possible that
some of the freelance episode writers (Ian Weir, Christy
Marx, etc.) will continue to contribute. Also, the series
will still be a computer-animated program from Mainframe.
When the announcement of these changes was made, the term
"Beast Wars: Generation Two" was tossed out as a means of
describing the new format and to make it clear that there
would be a clear division, but still maintain links to the
previous format. As far as we know, BW:G2 has never been
proposed as an actual title for season four, but because some
fans weren't reading carefully, the term has now been spread
around pretty widely and is considered by many to be a fact.
Well, it's not. I would personally be surprised if there was
any title change at all, but if there is one, it's not
necessarily going to be BW:G2.
Bob and Larry are not upset by this turn of events. Three
years is plenty long enough to work on a single cartoon;
Larry says that the characters were becoming so real to them
both that they were even having dreams about BW. That's a
good sign that it's time to move on. :) The announcement
came while the end of season three was being put into
production by Mainframe, so Larry worked together with Simon
Furman, who wrote the final episode of S3, to make a few
changes to that script and make it a more suitable "end".
VI/C/7
Are the Beast Warriors actually stranded on Earth? And what's the
deal with this Golden Disk?
It was established in late S2 that the Beast Warriors are
indeed stranded on prehistoric Earth, and that the golden
disk Megatron stole from Cybertron (which is why he was on
the run in the first place) has some relevance to his
ultimate goals. A second golden disk (referred to as the
"alien disk") was discovered on the planet by Inferno in
"Before the Storm". The stolen disk is in fact the record
album "Sounds of Earth" which was placed on the Voyager I and
II spacecraft launched by NASA in the 1970s. The alien
disk's origin is still a mystery, although it has a clear
connection to the bizarre alien artifacts scattered about the
planet, as well as some sort of power over them.
Malin "Unicron2k5" Huffman has written a synopsis of the
golden disks and their significance, which can be found on
his website.
| Golden Disk information summary, by Malin Huffman
| http://members.aol.com/unicron2k5/disc.html
VI/C/8
What is the name of the Predacon ship?
Although it's been firmly established that the name of the
Maximals' ship is the "Axalon," the name of the Predacon ship
has yet to be clearly stated. Many fans have taken to
calling the ship "The Darkside" after Terrorsaur's comment,
"Welcome to the Darkside", in the episode "Equal Measures."
Larry DiTillio and Bob Forward haven't explicitly stated
whether or not the ship had a name in their series bible, but
have said that calling it the Darkside is good enough for
them. :) (IIRC, they've also made "Kick-Ass Chaingun of
Doom" the official name of Rhinox's weapon, thanks to us.)
VI/C/9
Are the BW aliens actually the Quintessons?
Although that would be an interesting situation, the
mysterious Beast Wars aliens are not the Quintessons. This
is verified by the writers of the show, who note that the BW
aliens are of a group not yet seen in the TF mythos. This
means that the aliens are also not Unicron.
VI/C/10
What are "protoforms" and "stasis pods"?
A protoform is basically the raw materials needed to create a
new Transformer (think nanotech). Each protoform is endowed
with a "spark", the equivalent of a TF soul, and programmed
with a basic knowledge of Cybertron culture and society.
Until needed, protoforms are held in a suspended animation in
a self-propelled device called a stasis pod.
The Axalon was carrying a large cargo of stasis pods when it
left Cybertron. Thus, protoforms could be dropped off on
unexplored worlds where the stasis pod would adapt the
protoform to the surrounding environment by choosing an
appropriate alt form and such. As the Axalon completed its
expedition, these explorers could be retrieved and taken back
to Cybertron complete with knowledge of the new planet.
Unfortunately, the Axalon's original exploration mission was
cut short when it was called to chase after Megatron. The
Axalon's contingent of stasis pods was jettisoned into orbit
as the ship crashed in hopes of protecting them. As events
have progressed on the show, stasis pods have fallen from
orbit to be recovered by both the Maximals and the Predacons.
Although the basic template for the Transformer's personality
is determined by its unique spark, some alterations in
programming can be made before the protoform is fully
adapted, which is how the Predacons have "converted" several
Maximal protoforms to their side.
VI/C/11
What does "CR Tank" stand for?
Both the Maximals and the Predacons have special areas in
which they rest to accelerate their repair cycles. The
Maxies go inside the "R Chamber" and the Preds sit in the "CR
Tank" (also known as Megatron's hottub). However, TransFans
and even the characters themselves have frequently confused
the letters in the names, and often both are referred to with
"CR". No one is quite sure that the letters stand for,
though. The Maximals have used the full term "Restoration
Chamber" at least once, although I don't remember which ep I
heard that in. :) In a newsgroup thread, TransFans proposed
several possibilities for the meaning of "CR". Pick your
favorite (I put my favorite last):
Cryogenic Recovery Cosmic Rust tank
Coolass Restroom Comfort and Relaxation
Cybernetic Recovery Critical Repair
Cybernetic Repair Crystal Regeneration
Cybernetic Restoration Crock-pot Revisited
Cybernetic Regeneration Crying Room
VI/C/12
How did some characters become TransMetals?
TransMetals were created in the first episode of S2 as a
result of the explosion of the alien planet-killer (hidden
inside the large artificial moon), which bombarded the BW
planet with a "quantum surge". Certain characters were
exposed to this bombardment, causing them to become
TransMetals. How exactly this process occurred was not
clearly explained, aside from Airazor's comment that the
TransMetals' superstructures had been "mutated."
So why did some characters change and not others? Well, the
characters that became TransMetals were those who had been in
the original crews of the ships (not later additions from
stasis pods) but were not inside a R Chamber or CR Tank at
the time the surge hit. (Terrorsaur and Scorponok both began
to glow like Megatron when the surge hit, before they fall
into the lava pits and perished.) Optimus Primal was killed
in the final episode of S1 when he blew up the planet-killer,
but his spark was retrieved by Rhinox in "Coming of the
Fuzors II" and placed into a blank protoform (that is,
without a spark). When Primal awoke, he was also a
TransMetal, even though the body was a protoform. This
implies that the quantum surge affected the BWs sparks,
rather than their bodies. There must be something different
about a protoform spark which made them immune to the change.
One final conundrum remains: How did both the Maxies and the
Preds decide to use the word "TransMetal" without discussing
it together and why are Rampage and Depth Charge TransMetals?
The answer, according to story editor Larry DiTillio, is that
"TransMetal" is a word that was already known to all the
characters and indeed to all Cybertrons. Turns out that most
Transformers, including all those TFs from the G1 show, *are*
TransMetals. The Beast Warriors were the oddballs, having
fleshy bits on them. Rampage was already a TransMetal when
he was in his stasis pod because he was a normal Maximal
before being deactivated, and Depth Charge had come directly
from Cybertron, so he too was a normal TF - a TransMetal. By
the same argument, you could say that Ravage was also a
TransMetal during his cameo in "The Agenda".
VI/C/13
Why does War Planets look so much better than BW?
One would think that if War Planets and Beast Wars are both
being made by Mainframe, that they would look a lot alike.
In reality, however, the animation and CGI work on WP is
much, much nicer than that on BW. What gives? Well, War
Planets is being heavily endorsed by Trendmasters, who make
the WP toys, and by the Canadian network YTV. Beast Wars
does have some money from HasKen going in, but not as much,
and BW is *not* being funded by YTV, even though YTV does air
it. So, more money equals a larger and better staff, as well
as more computer time to do the rendering. Don't feel too
bad about it, though; WP may look beautiful, but the writing
is just awful. It can't compare to BW in that respect. :)
== VII. Beast Wars in Japan =========================
>> A. General >>
VII/A/1
What is this BW2 stuff about?
Beast Wars was such a success in the United States that
before long Takara decided to try marketing the new toys in
their home territory. Nearly every toy in the first few
waves of BW (up to but not including Fuzors and TransMetals)
were released with generally improved color schemes, and the
first season of Mainframe's BW series was dubbed into
Japanese. For the Japanese market, the Maximals and
Predacons are referred to as Cybertrons and Destrons, just
like their G1 ancestors.
Then, Takara changed gears and created "Beast Wars The
Second", or BW2. BW2 features beast warrior Cybertrons
against mechanical Destrons. With the exception of the
faction leaders - dragon Galvatron and white lion LioConvoy -
and a playset or two, all the BW2 toys are re-releases of
toys previously available in one TF line or another. BW2 is
accompanied by a traditional anime series with a vastly
different story than the CGI show.
Later BW toys (like the TransMetals) will be released as
well, to coincide with subsequent seasons of the BW show as
it gets dubbed. Thus, Japan will have both the American toys
and series, plus their own exclusive stuff. Isn't that
always the way?
VII/A/2
Okay, then what's BW Neo?
Like most anime series, BW2 is only one season long.
However, a sequel series is in the works. Entitled "Beast
Wars Neo", this show has not yet aired, but there is some
background information already known. The new team of
Cybertrons consists entirely of beast warriors with modern
animal modes. The Destrons also have beast modes, but they
all turn into dinosaurs. It seems that most of the BW Neo
toys will be brand new, rather than more repaints.
VII/A/3
Is there really a Japanese BW movie? How unfair!
Around Christmas of 1998, a BW2 movie was released, entitled
"Beast Wars Special". This movie was divided into three
segments. First was a condensed and re-edited retelling of
S1 of Mainframe's BW show. In the middle was the only new
animation in the movie: a cel-animated adventure in which BW2
LioConvoy teams up with BW Convoy (ape Optimus Primal) to
defeat a villain Majin Zarak. (No relation to MegaZarak or
Black Zarak.) The animation in this segment is, from reports
I've seen, pretty nice. The third piece of Beast Wars
Special is a condensed version of Mainframe's season two.
That season will air in Japan in its entirety, but they
wanted to get a rush on releasing TransMetal and Fuzor toys,
so they stuck this onto the end. There's some info (in
Japanese) about the movie on Toei's website.
| Beast Wars Special, movie's official website
| http://www.toei-group.co.jp/movie/new_mov/beast_wars/
| index.htm
>> B. Toys >>
VII/B/1
Are there differences between US and Japanese BW toys?
The regular BW toys released in Japan were, for the most
part, like their US counterparts. There were minor
modifications to color schemes (particularly on the show
characters, to make them more closely resemble their CGI
counterparts), and the Japanese packaging was different as
well. There was one Japan-exclusive figure in BW: a black
Cheetor repaint named Shadow Panther.
VII/B/2
What toys are in the Beast Wars Second line?
Almost all the BW2 toys are rereleases and recolors of
previously available toys. It includes figures from every
past TF line: G1, G2, MW, and BW, reaching as far into the
past as Trypticon and the Seacons. The Cybertrons in BW2 all
transform into beast modes, while the Destrons transform into
machines. The only exception is the Destron leader,
Galvatron, who turns into a dragon. However, this is a
mechanical dragon mode, not a beast mode. Galvatron is a
brand new toy, designed for the BW2 line. The Cybertron
commander, LioConvoy, is also a new toy. This latest
incarnation of the Cybertron hero has a white lion beast
mode. (White lions are a cultural symbol in Japan for things
like honor, integrity, and all-around goodness.)
All the BW2 Cybertrons - aside from LioConvoy - are
rereleases a/o recolors of American BW toys. Some of these
Cybertrons were released as Predacons in the US, such as
BigMos (Transquito), Tripledacus (Tripedacus), Drill Nuts
(Drill Bit), and Scissorboy (Powerpinch).
Among the Destron ranks are Megastorm (G2 tank Megatron),
B.B. with Starscream (G2 Dreadwing with Smokescreen), and
Gigastorm (Trypticon). The Seacons make a return, this time
with a gestalt form named God Neptune. Also siding with the
Destrons are the Cyberbeasts, retooled versions of four BW
figures: Waspinator, Cybershark, Dinotbot, and Wolfang.
There is also a toy of Moon, the robotic pet rabbit of
Arthemis, the girl who lives inside Gaia's moon. The Moon
toy was specially created for a mail-in offer from "Comic Bon
Bon" magazine.
VII/B/3
What toys are in the Beast Wars Neo line?
All the Cybertrons in Beast Wars Neo will have modern-animal
beast modes. All the Destrons will have dinosaur beast modes
(or other long-extinct animals). The Cybertron leader is Big
Convoy, who turns into a woolly mammoth. The Destron leader
is Magmatron, whose robot mode is a gestalt of three
dinosaurs which don't have individual robot modes. So far,
all of the toys that have been announced are completely new.
Information on them is very sparse for now, though. You can
view CGI renditions of the toys for their tech spec cards on
Ken Ng's website.
| BW Neo, early toy pictures
| http://home.hkstar.com/~cmng/tf.html
VII/B/4
Can I get these toys without going to Japan?
Most of them will be moderately difficult to get your hands
on. There are many toy importers on the web, however, from
whom you can order just about anything that is currently in
Japanese stores. A few dealers who I have heard good things
about are listed below. It wouldn't be a bad idea for you to
do your own searching, though, and shop around from site to
site. In addition, Hasbro is offering some Japanese toys to
Americans through their toy collectors website. The first
toy will be Shadow Panther, followed by LioConvoy.
| Japanese Toy Maniacs
| http://www.kumagaya.or.jp/~hideyuki/
| Jennydoll
| http://www.jennydoll.com
| Kimono My House
| http://www.slip.net/~kimono/
| Hasbro's Toy Collectors site
| http://www.hasbrocollectors.com
>> C. Cartoons >>
VII/C/1
What BW shows has Japan gotten?
Season one of Mainframe's BW show has been shown in Japan
(dubbed to Japanese, of course) and season two will follow
shortly. In addition, a traditional drawn anime series based
on BW2 was shown, and a BW Neo series is also in the works.
There are no known plans to bring the anime series to the US.
VII/C/2
What is the BW2 cartoon like?
The BW2 cartoon ("Super Lifeform Transformers: BeastWars
Second") is set on a world called Gaea which is rich in a
mysterious energy called angolmois, which Galvatron and his
Destrons wish to use to conquer the galaxy. (Big surprise.)
BW2 features decent but not great animation, and is full of
anime-type gags (giant teardrops, over-the-top acting, an
android girl and her robotic rabbit that live inside the
moon, etc.). There has been criticism that a lot of the
characters reinforce negative stereotypes; for example,
Apache (the BW2 B'Boom) is portrayed as an American Indian
who drinks too much. There is a continuing storyline, to a
degree, but it sticks more to the broad strokes formula than
the narrow portrait of the CGI BW. If you like goofy,
episodic anime, you might want to give BW2 a look-see.
VII/C/3
What is the BWN cartoon like?
"Super Lifeform Transforemrs: BeastWars Neo" will be a
traditional anime series, just like Beast Wars Second. As
with the BWN toys, information is hard to come by right now
as the show hasn't even premiered. :) Takeuchi Shouichi
(take...@mbox.kyoto-inet.or.jp) was kind enough to post some
information he compiled from Japanese magazines. There was
also a bit of info posted on a Japanese website which was
translated for the group by Doug Dlin. Apparently, "Convoy"
is now more of a title of rank than a name. I'm gathering
and paraphrasing the info here:
At the end of Beast Wars Second, LioConvoy and LioJunior
managed to seal the dangerous Angolmois energy into capsules,
but these capsules were scattered across space as a result of
the explosion of Galvatron's "artificial planet", Nemesis.
Meanwhile, Big Convoy is in the middle of a training mission
for a group of Convoy Cadets when he receives a change or
orders to investigate the explosion on Gaea and rescue their
comrades there. BWN will be a planet-hopping quest to
recover the Angolmois Capsules before the Destrons get their
mugs on 'em. The Cybertrons in BWN all take beast modes in
the form of modern animals, while the Destrons have dinosaur
beast modes (well, prehistoric animals at least).
== VIII. Closing and Administrative ================
>> A. Closing Comments and Information >>
VIII/A/1
A note on translations
When changing names from Japanese to English there are two
major problems. The first is that some English letters sound
the same in Japanese, such as 'l' and 'r', and 'u' and 'a'.
This can lead to translations of names like "Thunderclucker".
To remedy this it is necessary to look at the word you've
ended up with, and decide if it makes sense. Thunderclucker,
unfortunately, makes nearly as much sense as Thundercracker.
But in most cases, the choice is obvious. Here's an example
which Doug Dlin brought to my attention: the name "Raster" is
better translated as "Laster", because the name then suggests
a character of great endurance, instead of conjuring images
of a character covered by horizontal lines. ;)
Also, there has to be a choice made between preserving
spelling or preserving pronunciation. For example, the word
"caesar" is in a few names of Masterforce and Victory
characters. Caesar is the true translation of the word, but
in Japanese the word can be pronounced as in English, or as
"kaiser". (Kaiser is a german word for "king" which came
from the latin name Caesar. Its meaning in Japan is not
"king", but represents power or strength.) People generally
spell the names whichever way they prefer, because both are
"correct", so be on your guard.
I have decided to try to favor spelling over pronunciation,
simply because I'm writing them and that is the way the names
are "written". The fact that they can be said differently
isn't my problem, but one of our language (like the words
through, though, and tough, all of which give a different
sound to the "ough"). The least confusing thing would be for
me to mention both spellings every time, but that seems like
a waste of space to me, and that is why I've chosen one.
Anyone who notices me being inconsistent on this matter
should mention it to me.
VIII/A/2
A list of common subject tags
Subject tags are used in the subject line of a newsgroup post
in order to indicate that the post fits into one of several
categories. Tags should be both general and obvious. They
are usually written in ALL CAPS, but that isn't vital, but
should be enclosed by square brackets. You can use more than
one tag in a subject line, but three or more is excessive.
Below, I have listed some tags that you are likely to see in
use along with their meanings. You are encouraged to use
them as well, but don't feel that you are not "allowed" to
use tags other than those I have listed here.
[META] info or discussion that spans several lines, or
pertains to the newsgroup itself rather than TFs
[NEWS] new information about current or upcoming TF events
[INFO] misc. information about TFs
[WWW] pointer to a web page or news about a page update
[FANFIC] fanfic or a discussion about fanfic
[OT] Off Topic or random silliness
[TOY] discussion about TF toys
[TV] discussion about TF television series
[COMIC] discussion about TF comic books
[BW] Beast Wars topics
[G1] Generation One topics
[G2] Generation Two topics
[JTF] Japanese TF topics
[BW2] Beast Wars Second topics
VIII/A/3
Netiquette pointers for newsgroup newbies
It's always a good idea to lurk on a newsgroup for a while
before starting to make posts. The time that you spend
lurking could be months, or only days. Many people simply
lurk forever, and never make any posts at all. On all
newsgroups, it is important to get an idea of what sort of
things the group talks about, the manner in which they
communicate with each other, and what they consider
worthwhile before making a potentially "rude" posting.
Do not quote large sections of text, especially if you are
only going to make one or two lines of commentary at the
bottom (or top). DO NOT WRITE IN ALL CAPS OR MAKE BAD
ENGLISH, OR SPELL BADLY, OR IGNORE PUNCTION IT MAKES YOU'RE
POST HARD TO READAND MAKES YOU LOOK STUPID. If you don't
want to bother with hitting the shift key, all little letters
are much easier to read than all big ones. That, and when
you write in all caps it's considered "shouting", which isn't
very polite.
If you have something to say that you think some of us might
like to see, don't feel reluctant to make a post about it.
If we don't care, we just won't read it. On the other hand,
don't waste bandwidth by making lots of pointless posts. If
people don't like what you have to say, and say so, it
doesn't mean that they don't like you. They aren't
necessarily trying to be mean to you, even if it feels like
they are. It's a good idea to separate your opinion from
your ego as much as possible. If there are very few
responses to your posts, it's possible that they are not
getting through to the group, but it's much more likely that
they're simply not inspiring people to comment. This might
be an indication that you're doing something they don't like.
Figure out what it is.
Just because you don't see a post you made appear on your
list right away doesn't mean that it didn't work. Don't
resend it or you'll just annoy other readers when they have
to wade through 5 copies of the same thing. Also, make sure
your posts are plain-text only. No HTML, no MIME, and no
file attachments. Keep your signature file to about 5 lines
or less.
Above all, be considerate of others. Don't annoy them, don't
waste space, and don't be afraid to speak up if you have
something to say.
VIII/A/4
Netiquette pointers for newsgroup regulars
Every once in a while a relatively new ATT reader will
mention the cold welcome they received when first starting to
post. When this happens, he is often followed up by a few
others saying that they experienced the same thing. It's a
sad thought that a group of people who have gathered together
to talk about something they love can exclude and intimidate
others who hold the same love. When somebody says something
you think is stupid, don't followup by calling them stupid.
It's more likely that they're just uninformed, and it's our
duty as regulars to help them out. Be courteous; don't
belittle or mock new posters or even other regulars.
While its true that many have established friendships and, to
some extent, even cliques on the ngs, it's a terrible mistake
to only listen to the people we know, or to quickly dismiss
what new posters tell us. Rather than ignoring or flaming an
uninformed newbie, send them an email to try to fill them in.
Direct them to a copy of the FAQ. It can take time to
develop a rapport with the group. Give them a chance to show
you that they have something to contribute.
Above all, be considerate of others. Listen to what newbies
have to say, help them out, treat them with respect, and make
them feel welcome to be part of our community. Inexperienced
ng participants may indeed be "newbies," but they're still
TransFans. :)
>> B. Silly Random Questions >>
Is Tracks gay?
Uh... sure, yeah. He's a gay robot. That's it.
>> C. Glossary >>
This is an incomplete list of terms you may see in this FAQ, on
ATT, or elsewhere on the net.
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions, or the list thereof
AFAIK - As Far As I Know
ATT - alt.toys.transformers
ATTCM, ATTCMod - alt.toys.transformers.classic.moderated
ATTF - alt.toys.transformers.fanfic
ATTM - alt.toys.transformers.marketplace
binary - an encoded file "attached" to an email or post
bot - Autobot
BotCon - the annual Transformers convention
BW(s) - Beast Wars, Beast Warrior(s)
BWADL - Beast Wars Anti-Defamation League
CGI - Computer Graphics Imaging, any computer animation or fx
con - Decepticon
decep - Decepticon
elders - a newsgroup's respected members who make valuable
contributions of time or knowledge (not all regulars are
elders, and not all elders are regulars)
FIRRIB / FIBRIR - "Frenzy Is Red, Rumble Is Blue" and converse
G1 - The original, pre-G2 Transformers
G2 - Generation 2, or Transformers: Generation 2
gestalt - a robot made up of several smaller robots
HasKen - the new conglomerate formed by Hasbro and Kenner
IMO, IMHO - In My Opinion, In My Humble Opinion
kitbash - to modify a toy by painting, rebuilding, etc.
MacGuffin - a plot device with no purpose besides moving the
story along that is often ignored afterwards
Max, Maxie - Maximal
Megs, Meggy - Megatron, Decepticon leader.
MTMTE - "More Than Meets The Eye", the first 3-episode story
newbie - someone who has just started posting to a newsgroup
Op, OP - Optimus Prime, Autobot leader.
OTOH - On The Other Hand.
ng - Newsgroup
plonk - the sound of someone being dropped into a killfile
Pred - Predacon
Quints - Quintessons, 5-faced aliens in TFTM and season 3
regulars - a newsgroup's frequent and more well-known posters
retcon - "RETroactive CONtinuity", see II,2
seekers - the 6 'con jets with the same design, see II,2
spam - to post long, pointless messages, or to send a message
to many newsgroups where it doesn't apply, or the
pointless message itself
tech specs - cards from TF boxes with their abilities & stats
TF(s) - Transformer(s)
TFTM, TF:TM - Transformers: The Movie
TFU - "Transformers Universe," Marvel comic of TF char. bios
TM - Transmetal, or TargetMaster (identified by context)
TransFan - a Transformers Fan (whoa...)
TRoOP - "The Return of Optimus Prime", 2 part post-movie story
troll - a usenet post designed to illicit a harsh response, or
the author of such a post (ex: "Transformers suck!!
U R all fags!!!")
TRU - Toys 'R Us
TTWND - Thread That Would Not Die, like Unicron vs Death Star
TUD - "The Ultimate Doom", three part post-movie cartoon story
Shackwave - Shockwave ripoff from Radio Shack, "Astro Man"
*Masters, *M - AM=ActionMaster, HM=HeadMaster,
TM=TargetMaster, PM=PowerMaster, MM=MicroMaster
**, __, // - text characters used to imitate bold, underline,
and italic font formats
>> D. Revision History >>
When I first got on the net in late 1994, there was already a TF
FAQ. It was relatively short, and only partially informative,
and had things in it that were better left to other documents
(like how to use ftp). It had been some time since it was
updated. Copies of this FAQ may still be floating around. After
someone started a message thread in late 1994 entitled "TF FAQ
sucks!", I thought it might be time for someone to actually take
the initiative and write up a new one, so I volunteered. There
were no objections after I announced my intentions, so I went
ahead with it, and the rest is history. I didn't keep good track
of revision dates at first, but I plan to keep all the old
versions from here on out. Hence, there are no dates for the
first few revisions.
v1.0
- everything new
v2.0
- more complete MUSH info
- quote list info
- info on RoboMACs, a TF-compatible rpg system
- now have complete and correct info on Japanese TF cartoon
- added more voice actor info
- list of gestalt components and list of tapes
- discussion of comic writing/art staff
- explanation of Soundwave's voice in the cartoon
- editing, grammar correction, etc.
v2.1
- transforming sound spelling
- misc. little changes
v2.2
- email address changes for a few people
- tiny revisions to voice list and Japanese cartoon section
- two or three new WWW pages listed
v3.0, completed 2/6/96
- explanation of the switches on Jumpstarter's heads
- additional TF Movie laserdisc info
- email address corrections, WWW page additions, etc.
- rearranged order of some sections
- added an "About the Author" section for my own ego
- "can I post binaries here?" answered
- TF:The Dream added to MUSH list
- voice list responsibility transferred to Cris Haaser
- brief list of TF deaths in the movie
- list of starring voice roles in the movie
- figured out what the heck budding is!
- got info on foreign toys
- added a list of what not to post about (!)
v3.1, completed 2/18/96
- a few random corrections and updates
- got the last Find Your Fate title
- added more toy list and UK comic information
v4.0, completed 8/11/96
- a good number of minor corrections and additions
- books sent to separate file
- addition of non-US section
- news from BotCon '96
- tf battlecards
- increased number of columns to reduce number of lines
- rearranged, split and combined some questions and sections
- Skyfire toy debunked
- Unicron toy described
- finally gave BW some respect :)
- more complete WWW page list
- added the "closing comments" section
- expanded movie edits / cuts to several more specific q's
- detailed info on "who is Cyclonus?"
v4.1, completed 9/1/96
- updated some MUSH info
- realized a Fanzine list already existed
- removed a reference to Kendrick (gasp!)
- extra Battlestars and Zone info
- BotCon '97 announcement
- more web sites, fewer typos
v4.2, completed 1/24/97
- rearranged and expanded indexes (read "FAQ Structure")
- Beast Wars earns a full section, woo woo!
- new BotCon and TransCon info
- info about a.t.t.marketplace
- brief posting guidelines for ATT and ATTM
- mention of TransFan code
- extra info on Valkyrie / Jetfire connection
- confirmation of alternate soundtrack cover in Canada
- movie LD still available???
- discussion of Cyberton's size
- MUSH list removed in lieu of better WWW version
v5.0, completed 3/23/98
- lots of outdated information in-dated :)
- checked / updated almost every URL, address, etc.
- Parts Three and Four (indices) removed in favor of CTLP
- "Special Thanks" truncated in interests of document size
- "ATT Strife" section added
- Information on the Brawn Argument added
- BW section expanded (Transmetals, Fuzors, etc.)
- updated info on where to purchase the TF:TM on video
- new info regarding Stan Bush and Vince DiCola
- BotCon '98 info added
- Question about the blue Bluestreak added
v5.BC-98, completed 6/14/98
- BotCon '98 minor format changes. Special hard-copy
distribution at BotCon '98!
v6.0, completed 1/27/99
- ATT info removed and title changed
- major changes in organization and presentation
- added part and section labels to each question, rather than
having them merely numbered
- moved all URLs to their own paragraph and indicated them
with pipes, "|", along the margin
- numerous edits and rewrites in pursuit of conciseness
- combined similar questions into single questions, such as
"where do I get a list of X?" and "what happened in ep X?"
- expanded coverage of JTF, comic creative teams, web
resources, pop culture references, Unicron's final movie
line, European TF line
- added stuff on Bot/Con philosophy, WWFF, multiple darkest
hours, new TF:TM laserdisc, the full origin of Primacron and
cartoon Unicron, Animorphs, the TF business history, BotCon
locations, reconciliation of TF origins, newsgroup
histories, Brazilian TF line, bad reviews of TF:TM, new
comic and movie rumors, season 2 and 3 BW info, Beast Wars
Second and BW Neo
>> E. About the Author >>
As mentioned at the top of this document, my name is Steve
Stonebraker. At the time of this version's completion, I am 22
years old, and in the middle of my first year as a grad student
in astronomy at Boston University. I'm not doing so great
academically right now, but my hope is to get a PhD so I can find
a teaching position in a college physics or astronomy department.
I'm also interested in writing science books for academia and the
general public.
Aside from Transformers and physics, I also like video games,
dinosaurs, Helen Hunt, comic books, and snow. I am single and
looking. ;) My favorite musicians - next to a opera soprano I
knew in college - are the Indigo Girls, Jewel, and Sting. The
one book I would recommend to anyone on Earth is _Ishmael_ by
Daniel Quinn. Basically, it explains the mistakes that our
civilization is making, and why we are making them. Reading it
will open your eyes, and could change your life. I'm not
kidding. If for some reason you want to know more about me than
that, there will be plenty of info on my web page, once I get it
revised and up on the BU astronomy computers.
>> F. Acknowledgments and Legalese >>
My biggest "thank you" this time has got to go to Tengu. He
totally saved my butt by doing version 5 for me, and instituted
some positive changes in the way I do the FAQ, including the
inspiration for my new easy-to-find URL format.
Large contributions to this revision were made by Rob Jung
(indirectly, through his toy list), Sean Holshu, and Rockman666,
Doug Dlin, Grey - Digital Target, Earlwin, Tim Roll-Pickering,
Chad Rushing, Dan DeCesare, Helvio Gabbardo, and Larry DiTillio.
Other thanks of course go to all the other TransFans out there
who have contacted me, the individuals referenced in this
document, and those who maintain the resources referenced in this
FAQ. It is the community spirit of online TransFans that allows
this document to exist; it is the combined effort of those fans
that enables it to thrive.
The Transformers, Autobots, Decepticons, Beast Wars, and most of
the other names and things are probably all registered trademarks
of either Hasbro, Kenner, Marvel, Takara, or someone. This FAQ
is simply a reference for Transformers fans and is not intended
to infringe upon any legal rights to the names or ideas
referenced. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro or
anyone else "official".
The FAQ, however, is the sole property of the author. Anyone may
distribute it to anyplace they like or put it anywhere they like,
in print or in electronic form, provided that Steve-o retains all
credit of authorship, that the contents are not altered (except
by permission), and that no fee is charged except to make up cost
of duplication.
The FAQ is not to be used as a tool to further global domination,
and may not be distributed to robotic extraterrestrials bent on
conquering the universe.
Transformers FAQ, Copyright 1999, Steve Stonebraker
--
--Steve-o
Steve Stonebraker | alt.toys.transformers FAQ Keeper | Help end email spam!
srst...@bu.edu | http://astro.bu.edu/~srstoneb/ | http://www.cauce.org