Choose which characters you think should be nominated for 2011's Transformers Hall of Fame

Seibertron wrote:Here are the tallies from your top 5 picks ...

Shockwave 62
Grimlock 46
Jazz 43
Ultra Magnus 25
Hot Rod / Rodimus Prime 21
Wheeljack 21
Devastator 21
Waspinator 18
Beast Wars Megatron 15
Unicron 14
Prowl 13
Optimus Primal 13
Galvatron 13
Cyclonus 12
Omega Supreme 11
Arcee 10
Blackarachnia 10
jetfire 10
Soundwave 8
Hound 8
Skywarp 8
Rattrap 8
kup 7
Cheetor 7
Ravage 7
Sunstreaker 7
Tarantulas 6
Bruticus 6
Laserbeak 6
Thundercracker 6
Blurr 5
Wreck-Gar 5
Blaster 5
Rhinox 4
Swindle 4
Warpath 4
Tigerhawk 4
Alpha Trion 4
Tracks 4
Sideways 4
Lugnut 4
Trypticon 4
Sideswipe 4
Bludgeon 4
Predaking 4
Sixshot 3
Mirage 3
Hot Shot 3
Smokescreen 3
Fortress Maximus 3
Depthcharge 3
Ironhide 3
Drift 3
Springer 3
Scorponok 3
Bulkhead 3
Megatron 2
Sentinel Prime 2
Straxus 2
Thunderwing 2
Ratchet 2
Rumble 2
Perceptor 2
Bluestreak 2
Blitzwing 2
Lockdown 2
Brawn 2
astrotrain 2
Starscream 2
Ironfist 2
Trailbreaker 2
Defcon 1
Kremzeek 1
Sky Byte 1
Dinobot 1
Ejector 1
Beast Machines Jetstorm 1
Sideburn 1
Scourge 1
Xaaron 1
Wheelie 1
Doublecross 1
Red Alert 1
Impactor 1
Magmatron 1
Tarantulus 1
Sari Sumdac 1
Victory Saber 1
Elita-1 1
Beast Wars Inferno 1
Cosmos 1
Blackout 1
Mindwipe 1
Chromia 1
Long Haul 1
Elita One 1
Vector Prime 1
Terradive 1
Roadbuster 1
Beast Wars Silverbolt 1
Sky-Byte 1
Erector 1
Sky Lynx 1
Scalpel 1
Orion Pax 1
Nightbeat 1
Rail Racer 1
Seaspray 1
Starcream 1
Computron 1
Dr. Archevil 1
Punch/Counterpunch 1
Primus 1
Octane 1
Carnivac 1
Ratbat 1
Gears 1
Depth Charge 1
Beast Wars Rampage 1
Bonecrusher 1
Superion 1
Transmutate 1
Barricade 1
Ginrai 1

I changed the number of characters that appeared in our poll from 5 to 10 because of the 3 way tie for 5th place. Either way, only the top 5 results will get sent to Hasbro, in the order of highest votes. I'm letting you guys pick 3 just to help sway the votes in your favor. Good luck!

Seibertron wrote:Lots of love for Waspinator. Interesting!

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:Lots of love for Waspinator. Interesting!

Apparently not enough, as those who would most definitely be automatically inducted by Hasbro in future inaugurations are overtaking him.

Seibertron wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:Lots of love for Waspinator. Interesting!

Apparently not enough, as those who would most definitely be automatically inducted by Hasbro in future inaugurations are overtaking him.

I get your point, and agree with you. But like all things, I imagine that the HOF will only be around for a few years (maybe ten at best). Once they get past the recurring cast of characters and run out of awesome footage for their video montage that they show of the characters, that'll be the end of HOF. So I think it's very worthwhile to nominate a character that you'd like to see, regardless of the character's series. There's also well over 200+ characters from G1. It'd take about 50 years to go through all of the G1 characters with only 4 or 5 per year. Eventually can be a long time coming.

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:Lots of love for Waspinator. Interesting!

Apparently not enough, as those who would most definitely be automatically inducted by Hasbro in future inaugurations are overtaking him.

I get your point, and agree with you. But like all things, I imagine that the HOF will only be around for a few years (maybe ten at best). Once they get past the recurring cast of characters and run out of awesome footage for their video montage that they show of the characters, that'll be the end of HOF. So I think it's very worthwhile to nominate a character that you'd like to see, regardless of the character's series. There's also well over 200+ characters from G1. It'd take about 50 years to go through all of the G1 characters with only 4 or 5 per year. Eventually can be a long time coming.

Well, yeah, but they obviously won't put every G1 character in. I highly doubt any Micromaster or non-Bludgeon/Thunderwing Pretender would get put in. But all the ones everyone's root for are most likely to to make the cut at some point.

Choosing Dinobot at last year's Hall of Fame was a very good move that showed that the TF fandom isn't just into characters due to shallow GEEWUN fanservice or whatever, but into characters with actual three-dimensional personalities and a thorough depth of quality put into his/her evolution and development.

While the comics of G1 do feature this kind of quality (sometimes) it's the cartoons that tend to be the most remembered and most viewed. And, let's face it, with such a large cast, the G1 cartoon rarely gave its characters any real developmental arcs of their own, outside of one or two spotlight episodes.

And while that was because the show's only purpose was indeed to advertise its products, later series did not have that as their sole purpose. It's when telling a good story and exploring the personalities and histories of its characters are as high a priority as selling toys that make a series really worthwhile.

Again, going back to Dinobot, he wasn't developed as just a means to sell a toy, but much so more than that. There was so much effort put into his character that he probably could have won even if he had no toy of his own. Like last year, most of the fan nominees in the Hall of Fame seem like they're only chosen because of at least one of four factors: their voices, their almodes, their toys, and/or their gimmicks. Dinobot did not stand out because of any of these in particular, and yet he outperformed all those who do.

phoenix88 wrote:my 5:

1. Shockwave
2)Grimlock
3) Jazz
4) Wheeljack
5) Waspinator

MINDVVIPE wrote:whaaaat? Waspinator is so lame compared to Shockwave. If you guys are really picking JUST coz you think hasbro is gonna neglect BW... thats pretty daft.
I get the love for Beast Wars, but Waspinator was far from the reason I watched. Hell, even Scorponok was more badass, and he sounded like a nervous computer IT guy.

• His altmode (a flying alien ray gun)
• His voice ("It is only logical.")
• His toy (the kids loved it)
• His gimmick (lights & sounds, large size for his time, Cyclopean featureless face, etc.)

Predaprince wrote:What?!?! Waspinator is currently winning!

Predaprince wrote:I am not trying to make this about G1 vs. not G1, so please don't think that. I am shocked that Waspinator is winning over BW Megatron as well as, in my opinion, he should be the next BW TF after Dinobot to be entered. I am just shocked that Waspinator is winning because he is comic relief.

Sabrblade wrote:

Predaprince wrote:What?!?! Waspinator is currently winning!

That's a good thing! he deserves this honor just as much as anyone like Shockwave or Grimlock, or Jazz (all of whom I predict will be automatically inaugurated by Hasbro if any of them don't make it in this year). It's Hasbro who doesn't see that and is stuck in the G1 era, picking out "figureheads" instead of "characters".

Sabrblade wrote:

MINDVVIPE wrote:whaaaat? Waspinator is so lame compared to Shockwave. If you guys are really picking JUST coz you think hasbro is gonna neglect BW... thats pretty daft.
I get the love for Beast Wars, but Waspinator was far from the reason I watched. Hell, even Scorponok was more badass, and he sounded like a nervous computer IT guy.

How was Scorponok that cool? He didn't do anything!

And Shockwave was really only cool because of at least one of the following:

• His altmode (a flying alien ray gun)
• His voice ("It is only logical.")
• His toy (the kids loved it)
• His gimmick (lights & sounds, large size for his time, Cyclopean featureless face, etc.)

And that's all "what" he is, but not "who" he is.

In the G1 cartoon, he was mostly a "yes man" to Megs, being a loyal soldier with nothing else going for him.

In the Marvel G1 comics, while he may have overthrown Megatron for a good portion of hte series, that wasn't as impressive as feat as it sounds when one considers how lame Megatron was in the early chapters of that series (seriously, anyone could have overthrown him at that point in the story).

Not to mention that Shockwave is often portrayed as a one-dimensional villain without any real exploration as to why he's evil and whatnot. Waspinator, on the other hand, may have started out that way, but later showed that he wasn't really that evil; just that he had big dreams and figured he was on the winning side. Sure, it took a few dozen slaggings for him to figure out his mistake, but he did start to notice the trend overtime and began to lament at how fate always seemed to treat unfairly ("Why universe hate Waspinator? ").

MINDVVIPE wrote:Scorponok wasn't cool, thats the point I was trying to make, since he was still cooler than Waspinator. Shockwave was awesome in the IDW comics. There was enough exploration there. He simply deducted that logically, he was the best thing for Cybertron. A machine race that needed to be led by a truely machine mind that worked on logical reasoning exclusively.

MINDVVIPE wrote:I just thought picking waspinator JUST for the fact that hes from BW was stupid. Pick a character that you like, not a character that is the only one from a series you like.

MINDVVIPE wrote:And to be honest, the only time Waspinator was cool was after he became Waspinator from Wasp in Transformers Animated.

MINDVVIPE wrote:And a choice pick doesn't HAVE to have had the character development treatment that was all deep and immense. Sometimes a character that gets down to business consistently with results is more than enough to warrant a choice pick.

Sabrblade wrote:

MINDVVIPE wrote:Scorponok wasn't cool, thats the point I was trying to make, since he was still cooler than Waspinator. Shockwave was awesome in the IDW comics. There was enough exploration there. He simply deducted that logically, he was the best thing for Cybertron. A machine race that needed to be led by a truely machine mind that worked on logical reasoning exclusively.

Well, I haven't gotten to reading he IDW G1 comics yet (my local comic store specifically does not carry Transformers comics ), so I was going by his classic original portrayals.

MINDVVIPE wrote:I just thought picking waspinator JUST for the fact that hes from BW was stupid. Pick a character that you like, not a character that is the only one from a series you like.

And that's exactly why I picked both him and Beast Era Megatron (whom I am still shocked is being beaten so badly and by Waspinator of all bots ), because of how fleshed out, explored, and developed their character portrayals were. Same reason I picked Dinobot last year (though, I was gonna pick Hot Rod too, but forgot to and now I can't go back a re-vote).

MINDVVIPE wrote:And to be honest, the only time Waspinator was cool was after he became Waspinator from Wasp in Transformers Animated.

One does not have to be considered "cool" to be considered "great" or even "good". Look at Bumblebee. He got in no sweat and I've yet to see a BB that I'd actually call "cool" (WFC Bumblebee was close, but that was mostly because he was voiced by Johnny Young Bosch)

MINDVVIPE wrote:And a choice pick doesn't HAVE to have had the character development treatment that was all deep and immense. Sometimes a character that gets down to business consistently with results is more than enough to warrant a choice pick.

A character can grow and evolve overtime while staying consistent to their personality. It's competent progress like that that keeps them from being flat or static characters (who don't change at all over time, being exactly the same in the end as they were in the beginning).

But, it's when a character has such depth and quality put into them that you really get the feeling that the writers went above and beyond the bare minimum of effort needed to be put into the character. And that, my friend, is class and excellence.