1303 replies to this topic

[Chris McFeely]

Another great episode.

 

How many episodes are you planning to make, Chris?

 

No set limit! Like I said I've got the "big four" this month, but there'll always be something to talk about, I reckon! 

[Cybersnark]

It'd be cool later on to do an ep about personal canons (since I've noticed they tend to be bigger in the Transformers fandom than in others), reaching back to these eps to talk about how some fans can repurpose these name reuses into new (or obscure fan-favourite) characters (since Bumblebee, Bumblebee, and Bumblebee don't really have much in common, while Bumper and Tigertrack have vanished into obscurity).

[Sabrblade]

 

Another great episode.

 

How many episodes are you planning to make, Chris?

 

No set limit! Like I said I've got the "big four" this month, but there'll always be something to talk about, I reckon! 

 

Awesome! I wasn't sure if you had planned this to be a mini-series or an ongoing project. Either way, this is great stuff.

[Blade Raider]

Another great episode.
 
Minor nitpicking by a Beast Wars fan: That picture is of Santon, who is officially a separate character from BW Ironhide (and yes, there is a difference in their fictional designs). Meanwhile, BW Ironhide is G1 Ironhide in a new body, but only through retcons. All I'm saying is that Ironhide is a bigger mess to sort out than the video lets on.

Edited by Blade Raider, 10 June 2017 - 12:28 PM.

[ZacWilliam1]

Great job again Chris. It's wonderful to have these out there for new fans. Thanks for doing all the work that goes into them and producing them at such a high level.

-ZacWilliam. I feel like the Wiki should have a little "For Beginners" box on the front page that links to this series. Just to help those coming in to everything for the first time get a good foundation.

[Copper Bezel]

All I'm saying is that [Transformers] is a bigger mess to sort out than the video lets on.

You have to stop somewhere, particularly with woefully obscure characters like this. I figure as long as the simple description given is technically correct and doesn't do anything to confuse the bigger picture, it's probably fine. No one for whom this video is primarily intended needs to know, right at that moment, that there are two or three different characters represented by that particular image. Ironhide came in a set with G1 names and no story and then somebody said later on that, yeah, he's probably the same guy, while he was released in slightly different colors in Japan as a different dude.

 

But to say that BW Ironhide is the same guy as the original character is both technically accurate now and also passes the squint test, since in this context we don't care about the toy mold, only that Hasbro decided to release a new Ironhide in the same continuity as the original and say it was the same guy, which they did.

Edited by Copper Bezel, 11 June 2017 - 12:14 AM.

[Cattleprod]

Beast Wars Ironhide was introduced into a line where Scorponok, Inferno, and other classic names were assigned to unrelated characters, with no bio and no obvious similarity to G1 Ironhide other than them both having red. The toy probably wasn't designed with the intent of being the same guy.

[Copper Bezel]

Beast Wars Ironhide was also sold in a box with guys named Prowl and Silverbolt.

Edited by Copper Bezel, 11 June 2017 - 12:34 AM.

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

 

I like it!

Any ideas of what future episodes will entail?

 

Yup! My theme for this month of weekly episodes is "Who, What, Where, and How." Episode #1 is HOW does the world of TF work. Episode #2 is WHO - all about characters, the story behind name re-use and the evolution of "legacy" characters. #3 is WHAT  - what is a Transformer? A biology ep! And #4 is WHERE - where did they come from? Creation stories from atechnogenesis to Quintessons to Primus!

 

 

https://youtu.be/5drjr9PmTMA?t=2m10s

 

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

[Sabrblade]

I think that ticks all the biggest boxes for the debut month, and after that - on what'll likely not be a weekly schedule - it'll get more spotlight-y, with episodes dedicated to particular concepts (like the Matrix, Energon, Spacebridges, the Thirteen, the multiverse/singularities),

 

Speaking of singularities, fellow Allsparker Verity Carlo recently found a previously-undiscovered Ask Vector Prime answer in the Complete AllSpark Almanac that features a singularity-related question:

 

 

Q: Optimus Prime is sometimes one of the Thirteen, does this make him a multiversal singularity?

 

A: In a sense, yes. Most Universes have an Optimus Prime, and they tend towards exemplifying the best expressions of Autobot ideals. Megatron, Starscream, Grimlock, Shockwave, Bumblebee and the like could be similarly contextualized; as archetypes they are transcribed universally.

 

Really glad this one wasn't found until after the dissolution of the singularity concept.

 

I mention it here in case you'd need it to cite as one more official source of info for if/when you get to making a singularity-related episode.

[Copper Bezel]

Really glad this one wasn't found until after the dissolution of the singularity concept.

I dunno, I kinda like that it presciently reduces the MS concept to "brand-central characters tend to look sorta like other versions of themselves." Like, really take it seriously, and it's almost as good as the Shrouding at breaking the whole thing.

[lastmaximal]

I think any talk at length about singularities and such kind of takes a few steps above a series called The Basics.

[Verity Carlo]

It's not really CALLING them singularities-they're definitely not, no fiction ever would even portray them as such-all it's saying is that the quantum harmonic resonance around their identities is so strong, that most incarnations of them are virtually identical.

 

But then I'm sure every facebook poster would take it literally and not understand because they like to poke and proddle.

[HellCat]

An episode about the long running fandom memes could be fun.

[Copper Bezel]

It's not really CALLING them singularities

It certainly is, "in a sense"!

 

the quantum harmonic resonance around their identities is so strong

Fun fact: "quantum" is not sciencese for "a wizard did it". I'm sure that phrase has been used canonically somewhere to refer to the thing that you're referring to, but I'm also pretty sure that the thing you're referring to is also called "branding".

 

But then I'm sure every facebook poster would take it literally and not understand because they like to poke and proddle.

Given AVP was a Facebook thing, the thing you're describing is literally fan reaction by the target audience. It's not a side effect at that point, it is the efficacy, good or ill.

[Verity Carlo]

Well, yes, that is the real world term for it.

[Copper Bezel]

I think any talk at length about singularities and such kind of takes a few steps above a series called The Basics.

I could see eventually coming around to almost anything that has had a large effect on a number of stories or continuities such that it's likely to be referenced in a lot of other The Basics videos. The question then would be whether or not it was ever a serious enough consideration to have influenced actual decisions made by Hasbro about story, continuity, and characters in major lines - which I think would be a hard argument to make. I imagine it'd probably come up if Chris does a video on Club fiction, though, in the same way that the Continuity video notes the special framing of the Aligned family.

[Verity Carlo]

Informatively:

 

http://tfwiki.net/wi...monic_Resonance

Edited by Verity Carlo, 11 June 2017 - 11:40 AM.

[Broadside]

Anyway.
It bugged me that you referred to Shockblast as "Shockwave", Chris. Like, I get why, but..

[lastmaximal]

Ah yes, exactly the sort of thing I want to be showing someone who's new to the brand.