2012 Transformers Hall of Fame!, Time for Nominees! Options

[▲ndrusi]

I'll stick with my Ultra Magnus nomination, but I agree with Sipher's point on Bulkhead. My only (echoed) hesitation is that he's only been in 2 series so far.

That's as many as Waspinator has been in, and twice as many as Dinobot.

...and I didn't vote for either of them.

Would you like a cookie?

Heh, why not. I actually just had two thin mints...

Okay! Here, it'll store your login information.

[Cheetimus Primal]

So no hidden meaning intended, I'm pro-Swindle. I like how he shows that a scramble character can be recognizable and used outside of his subGroup either in Animated, or most of the IDW comics. I just wish there was none of this scam subtext in some nominations which is tarnishing his chances like Erector

I don't see how it tarnishes anything. If a certain incompetent business would try and distract their customer base by pimping the fictional character popularity contest rather than discuss real-world problems they are causing said customer base, I have no problem turning said contest on its ear a bit, if only to remind said business that said customer base will not forget said real-world problems, as well as hold said business's incompetence more firmly in the view of its license grantor at a marquee event. An event, in fact, where most if not all attendees in the audience will have exposed themselves to credit card fraud by preregistering for.

Sounds entirely petty and childish to me.
ALSO Hasbro went along with the joke last year but it was quite clear that they didn't want something like that happening again this year. But here we are with not just a penis joke but a petty and vindictive "joke" that will lead to nothing more than making Hasbro wonder why they put up with this fandom.

Try being mature about the situation. Be upset. Be angry. Voice your opinion. But don't hijack of fun fan event just to be petty.

Maybe they'll wonder why they put up with Fun Publications.

Throwing a fit will only make the fandom look bad.
Hasbro is aware of the situation. Don't make it worse for US.

Or what, they cancel the Generations toyline? Leave FOC Bruticus one-legged? Burn the First Edition molds in a Viking funeral? Move Botcon to only alcohol-free venues?

...actually, that last one would kind of suck.

I'm done here. I feel like I'm talking to some spoiled child that doesn't understand how the world actually works.

[Timelord Megs]

BEAST WARS MEGATRON

By far the most successful, cunning, and charming of all the Megatrons; he alone stands out as not just a another random reimagining of the G1 guy. Indeed, he was so successful and influential to the brand, that Hasbro wanted to recreate the magic of that character again by hiring David Kaye to provide the same voice for Megatron in three more series, Armada, Energon, and Cybertron; even though it was a new continuity and that that Megatron was meant to be a different character. That's how influential and important was. Absolutely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

BEAST WARS BLACKARACHNIA

The first truly successful female character, that lead to fembots being a regular thing in this franchise. Since a lot of people are going to jump on me and say "But Arcee!", "But Minerva!", I shall explain why she's more important and deserving of fame than either of them. She's never been first in any category, but she's the one that counted. Starting with BA, female characters suddenly became more common, even regular, where as before, Arcee and Minerva were really isolated incidents. So I give Blackarachnia the credit for this change (and I don't give Arcee or Minerva any credit for BA, as Beast Wars and its characters were initially developed with very little thought to the history of the franchise, especially on Bob and Larry's end; so I doubt that Arcee or Minerva had any factor into Blackarachnia's existence).

G1 Arcee was almost a dead end. She may have been in the movie and was the first girl bot to be in more than one episode, but she never had much of any character beyond being the girl, and even then she was barely even in season 3 at all, to say nothing of still to this day not getting a real G1 style transforming toy. She didn't pioneer anything in a boys toys brand either, as there were female characters in Thundercats, He Man, and GI Joe, who all had a lot more screen time, and for most of them; toys too. And some of them didn't even need to be pink... The only reason Arcee gets all the fame and attention is because she was in G1, specifically the movie. G1 still counts for more than anything with this fandom, so anyone from G1 is almost automatically granted a cult classic status whether they deserve it or not. And guess what, until Prime, Arcee didn't do much since G1 either. She was still defined mostly be her gender with still very little screen time. It wasn't until Prime that she finally got a good role and a good character, and that incarnation is probably the best female character to date. But it's a little too soon to induct her in on that alone, not when there are better candidates. Though to be fair she probably needs to be inducted in another year or two, after Blackarachnia's in first (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-arcee.gif) .

Minerva fares a lot better, being an actual character and being enough of one to actually get a toy. But there's two issues with her as well. First of all, she spent most of her time in the series as a teenage girl, piloting a transformer body. It wasn't until the very end of the series did her Transector gain a spirit of it's own through her. So her character is rather a different situation than most of what we get in this franchise, even though she still seems to officially be considered a transformer. To be honest, humans piloting transformers is something I've never been that comfortable with and Masterforce's version seems to be the most egregious form of this, as it was closest to making Transformers like piloted gundam mechs, and I don't really feel it deserves celebration. Not all things this franchise does are good ideas... Second, she's still rather an isolated incident. She was in Masterforce, and a little of Victory, but that's it, and outside of the fandom (that is so acutely aware of the history of the brand in Japan), she's kind of a non-entity. And it would be several years before a female character would appear again...

Which brings us to Blackarachnia. She was the first to really be a major character in a Transformers cartoon and to have a presence on the toy shelves, both of which left an enduring legacy. Other than Arcee, she's the only female character to consistently get multiple toys over the life of this brand. She was a major character with plot threads of her own, not just in Beast Wars, but Beast Machines, and then years later in Animated too. Hell, one of the biggest, if not the biggest plot threads in season 3 of Beast Wars is her story of becoming a Maximal and a Transmetal II. Even when she was inevitably partnered with a man in a romance, it was to her benefit as a character and strengthened her, to which Silverbolt was merely a foil. She left a lasting legacy on this franchise where ever since Blackarachnia, female characters have been relatively common, appearing in most series. From Airazor, Strika, Botanica, the return of Arcee, Thunderblast, Override, Slipstream, and even being reincarnated in Animated as a major part of Optimus Prime's backstory, Blackarachnia's legacy is felt in everything except RID, DOTM and maybe Armada. Even today, Airachnid in Prime was clearly inspired by her (And probably meant to be her well into development). Female characters have bee relatively common ever since BA, but not before. That's her legacy, that's the difference she added to the brand, and that's why she deserves to honored in the Hall of Fame all the way! Even if she is kind of a 90's bad girl cliche with the biggest golden globes in Transformers history... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-bee.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-waspy.gif)

[Chip]

Beast Wars Megatron.

[CORVUS]

You know, I just recalled David Kaye's Christmas greeting on YouTube from BW Megatron. As a result, I'm changing my vote:

BEAST-WARS MEGATRON!

[Chip]

Dinobot, Waspinator, Megatron... we should try for a Predacon every year.

[Otaku]

We are... Sky-Byte!

...

You didn't make any restrictions on where the Predacon came from. >.>

[Jackpot]

I see no functional difference between saying "Bulkhead deserves the nomination because he carved a definitive space for big heroic lugs"

While he certainly did so... that's not quite where I was coming from with the nomination.

For the record, I was referring to Matthias Phage's "BULKHEAD for redefining the role of the 'Big Guy' on the Autobots." But I did appreciate hearing your full reasoning anyway.

Which is why I explained why just voting for them because they are female is like voting for Bulkhead because he resembles a fat human.

And if that were a quality that really mattered to you, I think it would be a totally valid reason to vote for him. I don't see this like a job interview, where the "hire" needs to stand on the strength of his or her deeds. Symbolic reasons are as good as any other. For instance, if someone thought combiner-teams were a celebration-worthy element of Transformerdom, I think that person would be totally justified in voting for Devastator because he both established the concept in TF and also continues to be the standard-bearer by reappearing almost every time Hasbro has revisited the gimmick. His personality and actions need not matter if you feel strongly enough about that other quality.

Now, you've gone on to say you think Arcee's and BA's personalities work against their positive symbolism, which is a fair point. But I would be more inclined to agree if voting for either of them meant voting only for their original incarnations. They both represent continua, which I think we do agree have improved over time. I see a vote for one of them being half a vote for modern personality and half a vote for past trailblazing.

For the record, I'm not actually trying to convince you out of your choice or anything. I'm just using the discussion to hash out my own reasoning and share it with anyone who's interested. I still haven't figured out which lady to pick...

This post has been edited by Jackpot: Feb 25 2012, 11:48 PM

[spikeriley]

My nominee: Cheetor

One of the characters that got me into the Beast series. He was awsome, even in Beast Machines.

[G.B.Blackrock]

I've already made one nomination in this thread. Am I allowed to make another?

If so, I'd like to suggest Robots in Disguise Scourge, even if they have to call him "Nemesis Prime" these days, but I want to be clear that it's the RiD version that is "fame-worthy," for pretty much starting the whole "evil Prime" thing, and for doing so in a memorable way that none of the homages to come since have really matched.

[Ghost Robot]

I've already made one nomination in this thread. Am I allowed to make another?

If so, I'd like to suggest Robots in Disguise Scourge, even if they have to call him "Nemesis Prime" these days, but I want to be clear that it's the RiD version that is "fame-worthy," for pretty much starting the whole "evil Prime" thing, and for doing so in a memorable way that none of the homages to come since have really matched.

I was just discussing this with my girlfriend. In a way you can almost trace the lineage of the Thirteen back to RID Scourge since he was the proto evil Prime. He started the "Nemesis Prime" concept, which gave us The Fallen, who helped precipitate the concept of the Thirteen Primes. I'll admit it's a loose connection, but it's there, in addition to his being the progenitor of the whole tradition of "black, teal, and red tinted-windows-as-evil-counterparts" color scheme.

That being said, I think there are more deserving characters out there. So my primary vote goes to BW Megatron (though he and Primal should have been auto-inducted along with Prime and G1/AEC/Movie/Every-other-Megatron).

If we're allowed more than one choice in determining who the Allspark's proposed nominee is, then I'd like to add Blackarachnia, Wheeljack, Hot Rod, and Arcee to the list.

This post has been edited by Ghost Robot: Feb 26 2012, 03:46 AM

[Daith]

Ya know I was looking at the wiki and a weird thought came up. This is pry gonna be shot down immediately by some but is Sari available to nominate? She technically is a transformer even though she started out as the human kid character. It's a grey area there. She is Cybertronian, she can transform, has a visible robot mode, and really seems like a reverse pretender in a way.

I've already thrown my vote in for Blackarachnia but to everyone, does Sari count as a viable candidate?

[Blueshift]

It has to be Swindle. One of the only interesting G1 characters, and he had a bolo tie in Animated. What more do you want!

[Walky]

Megatron (BW)
'Cuz he's still my favoritest Transformers character. Even more than that cat dude and the JAaM guy.

[Jeremy]

I think Beast Wars Megatron deserves it as well. He's been a perennial fan-favorite character that stole the scene most of the time thanks to David Kaye's performances, and he's had a rich history with a big impact. A lot of the other suggestions are understandably popular, but just aren't even close to being on that same level in my opinion.

[▲ndrusi]

Megatron (BW)
'Cuz he's still my favoritest Transformers character. Even more than that cat dude and the JAaM guy.

Quick! Let's kill him in the background of a great big battle scene!

[Walky]

Hmmm. In that case, maybe my favoritest character should be Rodimus.

[Redshift]

Swindle

[NotPowerglide]

Due to recent events, I think SWINDLE should be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

[Synthesis]

My nomination: Rodimus