The Energon Pub

[william-james88]

Wandering Roller

Wanders the space between dimensions after being separated from his comrades in the heat of battle, he was originally a Cybertron warrior. Transforms into a 6-wheeled armored vehicle. Roller's spirit was destroyed by absolute solitude while awaiting rescue by his sole comrade. Believing himself abandoned by his trusted comrade, he became ruled by despair and self-condemnation to the point where he eventually carried strong malicious energy. That energy was sensed by Unicron, who brought him to this world. His memory is patchy due to his long wanderings, but he still bears an incredible hatred for the symbol of the Cybertrons: Supreme Commander Convoy.

Note that G1 Cartoon Roller was never a warrior. He (it?) was a little scout vehicle of limited or no intellect in the cartoon. Essentially a drone.

Also note that Sakamoto is the brains behind the UW fiction and also does has done work on MTMTE. He's a continuity nut who loves referencing things like this.

Its still not explicitly stated who that roller is. What about the idea that G1 roller was waiting for Optimus to return in the movie, and Optimus never did (because he died). Only, he didnt know that and thought he was abandoned?

[Cobotron]

Will, he can be what ever Roller your lil imagination want's him to be.

He's the one from the G1 trailer in mine.

[william-james88]

Will, he can be what ever Roller your lil imagination want's him to be.

He's the one from the G1 trailer in mine.

So he didnt appear in the movie, just the trailer? Must have been a deleted scene.




Thanks for the positive spin. I do feel he is anything we want him to be, especially given how batshit random Grand galvatron is. Oh and I do love him, Cobo. Not sure if we have the same favourite though. That Armada Thrust is really somethign else. What an awesome headsculpt. They really went all out on all that deco. You must love that roller. Not only is he completely painted but there are paint apps on top of paint apps. He is by far the most premium looking of all the Unite Warriors/ Combiner Wars releases.

[Sabrblade]

Wandering Roller

Wanders the space between dimensions after being separated from his comrades in the heat of battle, he was originally a Cybertron warrior. Transforms into a 6-wheeled armored vehicle. Roller's spirit was destroyed by absolute solitude while awaiting rescue by his sole comrade. Believing himself abandoned by his trusted comrade, he became ruled by despair and self-condemnation to the point where he eventually carried strong malicious energy. That energy was sensed by Unicron, who brought him to this world. His memory is patchy due to his long wanderings, but he still bears an incredible hatred for the symbol of the Cybertrons: Supreme Commander Convoy.

Note that G1 Cartoon Roller was never a warrior. He (it?) was a little scout vehicle of limited or no intellect in the cartoon. Essentially a drone.

Also note that Sakamoto is the brains behind the UW fiction and also does has done work on MTMTE. He's a continuity nut who loves referencing things like this.

Its still not explicitly stated who that roller is. What about the idea that G1 roller was waiting for Optimus to return in the movie, and Optimus never did (because he died). Only, he didnt know that and thought he was abandoned?

Let me ask you this. Why would they go to the trouble of coloring the toy to look like IDW Roller, allude to IDW Roller's fate (as it was at the time) in the toy's bio, and make the figure be part of a combiner who's themed around the concept "characters who died/disappeared before", and whose accompanying comic portrays Roller as being one of three limb characters who were summoned by Unicron from other universes... Why would they go through doing all that if the intention was for the toy to just be the G1 Cartoon Roller? Why would they make all those references to IDW Roller if it wasn't meant to be IDW Roller? They don't have to spell it out for us if we're savvy enough to recognize all these references.

[Kurona]

It's a bit like saying this isn't Sixshot in one of the last few issues of Dreamwave.



We only see a shadow (and in the next panel a hand), and it's not explicitly stated it's Sixshot, so it could totally be anyone, right?

[william-james88]

Looks more like Blitzwing to me

[Cobotron]

Will, he can be what ever Roller your lil imagination want's him to be.

He's the one from the G1 trailer in mine.

So he didnt appear in the movie, just the trailer? Must have been a deleted scene.




Thanks for the positive spin. I do feel he is anything we want him to be, especially given how **** random Grand galvatron is. Oh and I do love him, Cobo. Not sure if we have the same favourite though. That Armada Thrust is really somethign else. What an awesome headsculpt. They really went all out on all that deco. You must love that roller. Not only is he completely painted but there are paint apps on top of paint apps. He is by far the most premium looking of all the Unite Warriors/ Combiner Wars releases.

Are you splitting spelling hairs with me MR. Tread/Thread? The two spellings are actually interchangeable.

Grandvatron is my only UW combiner (well, aside from Devs) and I like it that way. He seems to be the most b'dazzled release to me. My only combiner wars era splurge. Not sure if I have a favorite of the team. They are all just so gorgeolicious! Roller really stands out though.

Baldigus looks out of sight! I will settle for Bruticus just because there's no need to go out of my way for Baldi, but he falls under a new category I call the RID Slap To The Face. Where I buy the first release of a figure only to wish I could have seen the repaint coming because it's WAY cooler.
Ex. Drift vs. Arctic blast Drift, or Quillfire vs. Scatterspike

[Albatross250]

Although the japanese g1-verse is very confusing it's a lot of fun reading it all tie-in.

Thanks to sabrblade for helping explain the last few panels.

I hope Black Convoy/Scourge and Grand Scourge are kept separate characters but having said that it would explain why Black Convoy/Scourge wasn't present during the combatron execution pages

In Black Convoy's Legends comic, he had escaped from jail into the Legends Universe, seeking help to break Gigatron out of prison.

Thanks for the info I've read up on it over on tfwiki

What's the theory with grand scourge and galvatron 2?

I think Galvatron II was a planned idea for Galvatron when Cyclonus already dead in the comics
but hey, Galvatron ii might be the Galvatron from Super Link (too bad that was a bad show )
Grand Scourge (you can either call him as Black Convoy if you want) is a warper, he got a and a

[william-james88]

Will, he can be what ever Roller your lil imagination want's him to be.

He's the one from the G1 trailer in mine.

So he didnt appear in the movie, just the trailer? Must have been a deleted scene.




Thanks for the positive spin. I do feel he is anything we want him to be, especially given how **** random Grand galvatron is. Oh and I do love him, Cobo. Not sure if we have the same favourite though. That Armada Thrust is really somethign else. What an awesome headsculpt. They really went all out on all that deco. You must love that roller. Not only is he completely painted but there are paint apps on top of paint apps. He is by far the most premium looking of all the Unite Warriors/ Combiner Wars releases.

Are you splitting spelling hairs with me MR. Tread/Thread? The two spellings are actually interchangeable.

Grandvatron is my only UW combiner (well, aside from Devs) and I like it that way. He seems to be the most b'dazzled release to me. My only combiner wars era splurge. Not sure if I have a favorite of the team. They are all just so gorgeolicious! Roller really stands out though.

Baldigus looks out of sight! I will settle for Bruticus just because there's no need to go out of my way for Baldi, but he falls under a new category I call the RID Slap To The Face. Where I buy the first release of a figure only to wish I could have seen the repaint coming because it's WAY cooler.
Ex. Drift vs. Arctic blast Drift, or Quillfire vs. Scatterspike

I believe the technical term is retro jip

And I didnt know there was another way to spell trailer, I was just making a joke assuming the same spelling meant both what Optimus pulls and a preview for a film.

[Cobotron]

I believe the technical term is retro jip

THAT'S IT! I couldn't remember what you called it.

[Albatross250]

i really miss this guy
in fact he's still a than a though

I know why he's called a wanderer now, he travelled many times with Optimus in the G1 Series (i think?)

[william-james88]

i really miss this guy
in fact he's still a than a though

I know why he's called a wanderer now, he travelled many times with Optimus in the G1 Series (i think?)

Its such a striking similarity.

[Sabrblade]

i really miss this guy
in fact he's still a than a though

I know why he's called a wanderer now, he travelled many times with Optimus in the G1 Series (i think?)

This isn't that Roller. This Roller hates Optimus's guts and wanted to murder him out of vengeance.

The Roller you're thinking of was just a drone with no mind of its own, meaning no feelings of hatred or malice.

[Sabrblade]

i really miss this guy
in fact he's still a than a though

I know why he's called a wanderer now, he travelled many times with Optimus in the G1 Series (i think?)

Its such a striking similarity.

The altmode deco is a homage to that Roller, yes, but that doesn't affect the figure's identity as a version of IDW Roller.

Takara's done dual-homage toys before.

[Railbomb]

Although the japanese g1-verse is very confusing it's a lot of fun reading it all tie-in.

Thanks to sabrblade for helping explain the last few panels.

I hope Black Convoy/Scourge and Grand Scourge are kept separate characters but having said that it would explain why Black Convoy/Scourge wasn't present during the combatron execution pages

In Black Convoy's Legends comic, he had escaped from jail into the Legends Universe, seeking help to break Gigatron out of prison.

Thanks for the info I've read up on it over on tfwiki

What's the theory with grand scourge and galvatron 2?

I think Galvatron II was a planned idea for Galvatron when Cyclonus already dead in the comics
but hey, Galvatron ii might be the Galvatron from Super Link (too bad that was a bad show )
Grand Scourge (you can either call him as Black Convoy if you want) is a warper, he got a and a

Galvatron II is the Galvatron that Unicron plucked out of another universe where he had already won, justifying them have both Megatron and Galvatron alive at the same time (And to get around having Megatron being MIA when he's introduced). I'm not sure what the theory surrounding UW Grand Galvatron and Galvatron II is though.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

O good Primus almighty...

Looking at the comic up close, and reading some of the Japanese, to the best of knowledge:

1) The Autobots may look like they were going to execute the Combatron (remember, G1, not RiD, so US RiD names don't apply), but it mentions reformatting them back to Autobot protoforms.
2) Dolrailer is persuaded by the promise of coffee milk, revealing the source of Baldigus' love for the beverage addon.
3) Greejeeber shows his mastery of Crystalocution, able to hit Mirage when he's invisible and attempting a sneak attack
4) What may look like Energon that Unicron is eating, they're actually purple Combiner Joints, called "Joint Cubes"

As for Grand Scourge, would it be plausible that he is a version of CR Black Convoy, with his hatred for Fire Convoy extrapolated into one for any Convoy/Prime through currently unknown means?

The rest... well, get to it, translators!

[Emerje]

Its still not explicitly stated who that roller is. What about the idea that G1 roller was waiting for Optimus to return in the movie, and Optimus never did (because he died). Only, he didnt know that and thought he was abandoned?

If it makes you feel better this was my exact understanding as well. I see Wandering Roller as having "Drift Syndrome" where in a retconning of G1 he is an Autobot warrior that's been there all along and hangs around in Prime's trailer running the doohickeys inside, only to be forgotten and cast aside after Prime's death.

I'll admit, I don't really know IDW Roller's story well enough to say it isn't him. Where Japan doesn't get the IDW comics would they recognize Wandering Roller as anything but G1 cartoon roller? Seems like a stretch to expect them to accept that having no access to the comics.

Anyway, the way things are going right now is there really any way at this point that they can't do an RID/CR Autobot combiner?

Emerje

[Sabrblade]

I found something "explicit" about Wandering Roller being IDW Roller beyond a shadow of a doubt. Behold the bottom-right panel of this page from the Grand Galvatron comic:



That's him right there. IDW Roller. Right before Unicron snags him from between dimensions and reformats him into his UW body.

[william-james88]

I'll admit, I don't really know IDW Roller's story well enough to say it isn't him.

I read the comic and it isnt really explicit there either. That character is shrouded in mystery to the point where people thought he had become a decepticon but thats just because he really could have been anything at all with how little backstory he had.

The altmode deco is a homage to that Roller, yes, but that doesn't affect the figure's identity as a version of IDW Roller.

Takara's done dual-homage toys before.

So in alt mode he is simultaneously both G1 Roller and IDW Roller. He only becomes Roller once in robot mode, but if he is kept in alt mode, and only in alt mode, then he can technically be one or the other. I dub thee Schrodinger's Roller!

[Sabrblade]

The altmode deco is a homage to that Roller, yes, but that doesn't affect the figure's identity as a version of IDW Roller.

Takara's done dual-homage toys before.

So in alt mode he is simultaneously both G1 Roller and IDW Roller. He only becomes Roller once in robot mode, but if he is kept in alt mode, and only in alt mode, then he can technically be one or the other. I dub thee Schrodinger's Roller!

You're twisting the intention behind what I wrote. One toy can look like multiple things while only being characterized as just one thing.

Takara's Generations Fireblast Grimlock, for instance, is just FOC Grimlock in a powered up form, but his deco is a dual-homage to both Animated Activators Firebast Grimlock and Super-Link Dinobot Magma Type.

[Emerje]

So why can't he instead be G1 roller with a bot mode homaging IDW roller? Seems strange that in the comic panel the only one that's shadowed out is Roller as if they really couldn't be bothered to explain where he came from and didn't want to commit to it.

Emerje

[william-james88]

I am just having fun, like Takara is. I really think he can be interpreted as we want since this whole set is bonkers anyway. Speaking of, Sabr could you post the rest of the comic again? I must have missed that translation.

[Emerje]

:lol: I am just having fun, like Takara is. I really think he can be interpreted as we want since this whole set is bonkers anyway. Speaking of, Sabr could you post the rest of the comic again? I must have missed that translation.

Yeah, headcanon is a wonderful weapon.

Though I just read his entry on TFWiki and it's hard to see this being the same IDW roller with the way he ends up in "Do Not Go Gentle". Alternate universe I guess.

Emerje

[Sabrblade]

So why can't he instead be G1 roller with a bot mode homaging IDW roller? Seems strange that in the comic panel the only one that's shadowed out is Roller as if they really couldn't be bothered to explain where he came from and didn't want to commit to it.

Emerje

Would you think the same about Breakdown and Thrust? Neither of their bios are explicit about those two being non-G1-cartoonverse dudes specifically from Armada and Prime universes either, yet everyone has been willingly accepting of the idea of them being Armadaverse and Primeverse versions of those two non-G1-cartoonverse characters. Why is Roller exempt from that kind of acceptance when he is presented in the exact same manner in both his bio and the Grand Galvatron comic as those two are in both of their bios and the Grand Galvatron comic?

Speaking of, Sabr could you post the rest of the comic again? I must have missed that translation.

It's a different (and IMO better) translation than the one that was posted here previously. Here's the full version of the newer translation.

:lol: I am just having fun, like Takara is. I really think he can be interpreted as we want since this whole set is bonkers anyway. Speaking of, Sabr could you post the rest of the comic again? I must have missed that translation.

Yeah, headcanon is a wonderful weapon.

I'm all for having fun, but we weren't originally talking about personal canons in all this. Will's original question was asking about which Roller Takara was officially presenting him as. What one does with their toys in their own headcanons is fine and all, but the original point of this discussion pertained directly to Takara's official stance on the character's identity.

Though I just read his entry on TFWiki and it's hard to see this being the same IDW roller with the way he ends up in "Do Not Go Gentle". Alternate universe I guess.

Yeah, at the time the Grand Galvatron comic was released, Roller's fate in IDW hadn't been resolved yet, allowing the Grand Galvatron comic to better fit in back then. But since Sakamoto is so into making things fit together, who knows, maybe he could work in an ending that sees UW Roller restored to his original body and sent back to whence he came just in time for the Necrobot to find him and bring him home, using the coma the Necrobot put him into as a way to handwave Roller not remembering the ordeal he went through during the Unite Warriors comics.

Or if not, like you said, different universe version of the guy.

[Emerje]

Would you think the same about Breakdown and Thrust? Neither of their bios are explicit about those two being non-G1-cartoonverse dudes specifically from Armada and Prime universes either, yet everyone has been willingly accepting of the idea of them being Armadaverse and Primeverse versions of those two non-G1-cartoonverse characters. Why is Roller exempt from that kind of acceptance when he is presented in the exact same manner in both his bio and the Grand Galvatron comic as those two are in both of their bios and the Grand Galvatron comic?

Because they're shown clearly in the comic as being without a doubt the same characters from their respective cartoons. I mean, who else would they be, they certainly wouldn't be confused for the G1 versions. Roller stands out because his picture is shadowed as if they needed a proxy original robot mode since it would be hard to explain one, so may as well use the IDW version since the figure is going to look different anyway.

Emerje