The Energon Pub

Va'al wrote:

Rated X wrote:On the use of the name Manuel, They only used it because “Robot Man” was exclusive to Argentina. So they decided to make it funny by adding “uel” to Man and giving him a Spanish name to match the geographic location the original figure was sold.

But this harmless pun comes at a time when there is a heated debate in US Congress on how to deal with millions of immigrants living in the US illegally. [...] So any pun that pokes fun at the Latino community is very bad timing and easily perceived as racism by some people. Nobody has a bigger sense of humor than me. It’s all just bad timing.

But compare the following:

Rated X wrote:

Simes wrote:They were officially licenced, but only available in Argentina.

So he wasn't allowed to cross the border ?

I don't think there was any intention at making fun of a minority at a bad time (and I personally had no idea right now was specifically a bad time for people of Latino descent - I thought the Muslim community was the current target for hatred in the US), and it was more a case of having 'Robot Man' already there, and as you said, making it into 'Manuel' makes the homage more explicit.

And, as the others have said, I think most British fans would love some AutoBrits.

Initially I thought it was funny until I realized it was a British exclusive. We all make jokes amongst each other (latinos) but when outsiders do it it can be a little offensive. And not everybody finds the word retard offensive here. Same thing with the word "midget". I didnt even know "Slag" was a bad word somewhere in the world. Remember Muslim is a religon, not a race. I guess only people who live in the US would be aware of the current immigration debate between whites and latinos. Not your fault. But I will tell you it's not pretty. The US is truly divided.

craggy wrote:if Stampede ever returns, it'll probably be because I've managed to get a job writing him (since no-one else loves his stupid obscure arse) I'd like to have him be from "up north". Lots of planets have a north, after all.

Hey, if anything, Game of Thrones has proved that point.

Rated X wrote:Initially I thought it was funny until I realized it was a British exclusive. We all make jokes amongst each other (latinos) but when outsiders do it it can be a little offensive.

Yes, I can agree here. The oppressor does not have the right to use words in the same way that the oppressed can appropriate slurs.

And not everybody finds the word retard offensive here. Same thing with the word "midget". I didnt even know "Slag" was a bad word somewhere in the world.

But here you're contradicting yourself. If it's offensive for someone outside of your speech community to use words which are reclaimed by your speech community, then it applies to all speech communities!

Remember Muslim is a religon, not a race. I guess only people who live in the US would be aware of the current immigration debate between whites and latinos. Not your fault. But I will tell you it's not pretty. The US is truly divided.

I don't doubt that, but I was thinking in terms of general discrimination, rather than specifically based on ethnicity. I saw a couple of news pieces on Muslim people, claiming they felt a little insecure after the Boston events, as they knew the media would target their community again. (That's what I was referring to.)


As for the figure in itself, I repeat, I don't think there was in any way an intent to offend or insult Argentinian people, or any Spanish-speaking ones for that matter.

I can see apocalyptic visions of north and south America in 50 years' time, where decades of war have ravaged both continents to the point where they are desolate and sparsely populated by barely sentient mutants, wandering through the radioactive quagmire of Washington DC.

The rest of the western world will look sadly upon its stricken brothers, the truth of the conflict forever lost in time. Some will know the truth however, geriatric men sitting out the last of their years in piss-stained homes. They will remember the small English company who created a 3rd-party homage to an even more obscure Transformer and used a Latin name for it, little knowing the repercussions of their selfish acts.

The touchpaper lit, the rest was inevitable.

Banjo-Tron wrote:I can see apocalyptic visions of north and south America in 50 years' time, where decades of war have ravaged both continents to the point where they are desolate and sparsely populated by barely sentient mutants, wandering through the radioactive quagmire of Washington DC.

The rest of the western world will look sadly upon its stricken brothers, the truth of the conflict forever lost in time. Some will know the truth however, geriatric men sitting out the last of their years in piss-stained homes. They will remember the small English company who created a 3rd-party homage to an even more obscure Transformer and used a Latin name for it, little knowing the repercussions of their selfish acts.

The touchpaper lit, the rest was inevitable.

Not sure about all that buddy, but I can tell you there's a lot of angry old white people who hate the growing Latino population for various politically driven reasons. The Boston bombings kind of took the spotlight away from it, but immigration and gun control are the biggest issues in congress right now. I actually read the news paper at work. You know, those paper things, that talk about politics and stuff ?

All I'm saying is I believe the name of the figure is fueled by the current US immigration debate. Look at all the other creative science fiction (and sexual) names used by various 3rd party companies and then ask yourself, was a South American pun really the only thing they could come up with ? Highly doubtful. Somebody from Auto Assembly is up on their worldwide current events. He might not be anti-Latino, but he had to know somebody who wasn't from Euorpe would get it. Guess that somebody was me.

You should technically be working at work, not reading newspapers. If you have a gap between reading newspapers and posting on here I suggest you look up 'Occam's Razor' and see if any of it reads true.

Banjo-Tron wrote:You should technically be working at work, not reading newspapers. If you have a gap between reading newspapers and posting on here I suggest you look up 'Occam's Razor' and see if any of it reads true.

I read the paper during my lunch break. As far as posting on here, my job requires alot computer duties so I guess you can call internet time a perk. Bottom line is if I get my assignments done promtly, the rest of the free time is mine to enjoy.

A UK toy convention could give a **** less about American politics. Discussion back to the toy, now.

I do believe the figure would look good on my G2 shelf. F**k it I'm getting Igear G2 Seaspray so why not ? What worries me is buying this one and then not being able to get the other in the future.

yeah the UK generally care a lot about what happens in the US. You could see that with our response to the Boston bombings, we know all too well how devastating nail bombs can be thanks to the IRA. plus half my family live in the US.
Anyway, apparently there will be another bot released at another convention? crafty.

yeah a little sad that the other one will likely be less available to us in the UK. Not that I'm likely to be able to get this one, at least not for a hefty mark-up.

craggy wrote:yeah a little sad that the other one will likely be less available to us in the UK. Not that I'm likely to be able to get this one, at least not for a hefty mark-up.

Chances are they're gonna go for this G2 deco with the second figure. In a worst case scenario, you can buy the original Demolition Crue figures and swap out the parts. Use black dye to make the blue arms and legs black. It should be an exact match unless they go with a brighter white.


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or they could use the yellow off the packaging art, which would make him do double-duty as a homage to Rescue Force 3 as well.

http://www.tfcon.ca/tfcon-attendee-excl ... rototype-x

TFCon wrote:2 attendee exclusives will be offered at TFcon this year; Project Z and Prototype X. Repaints of the Demolition Crue from Mech Ideas, 250 of each figure will be available at both TFcon and Auto Assembly this year. These figures will be available to premium weekend ticket holders at registration on the Friday night, with any remaining figures sold starting Saturday morning to all attendees.

Damn, looking nice! I hope there is one left for me come Saturday

good luck on getting one to anyone going to Auto Assembly. I will not be there, so will miss out on this slice of McDonalds/Hulkamania coloured brilliance. He looks like a lot of fun.

BensCollectibles got ahold of these two: