The Energon Pub

Noideaforaname wrote:For the record, I have just as much a problem with (Prime) Megatron, Dreadwing, Predaking, Shockwave, Optimus, and Ultra Magnus all having that "buff superhero" physique as I do with Arcee and Airachnid (holy crap, is that all the gal bots in the Prime cartoon?) having the same "slim supermodel" physique.

...Incidentally, there needs to be more female bots in general.

Yes, and yes. Thank you.

I know this is going off on a tangent but now that I think of it, as far as too much of something and not enough of another, how about age in Transformers?

Bear with me.

One of my favourite characters of Transformers fiction is Kup. I love the idea of, not so much "old", but a grizzled veteran. It seems like Transformers is largely populated by eternally youthful characters. We basically have two main varieties of archetype. Either the older male type(Optimus) or the younger male type(Bumblebee).

Now we do have Ratchet in TFP but as Arcee could be viewed as the token Autobot fembot, he could be the token grumpyoldmanbot as far as TFP and TFA.

Back to gender, what's with the femme fatale archetypes in the Decepticon ranks? I don't honestly remember Strika's portrayal in Beast Machines but that may be a sign of how little impact the character had on me as a kid.

As far as Windblade, I do hope that the character doesn't fall into an overdone archetype. It's not likely the character will get a lot of fiction but if that does happen, as Va'al hopes, I hope that the writing for it is good quality.

Noideaforaname wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Sureshock's probably the most memorable of that bunch.

Which isn't saying much, especially considering they could never get her name right.

The vastly-superior-to-the-cartoon comics did.

No one asked, however i'm going to throw my opinion in this den of wolves.

In real life, women aren't built specific ways. Not all women are built rail thin , like tanks, nor like the 12 foot tall amazon women from futurama. Women's bodies vary as much as men's and there's nothing wrong with that.

Now, that being said, when gender is introduced in transformers it sparks debates on whether or not they have no gender and should be completely androgynous, or have two distinct sexes; male and female. My opinion is that in fiction, once characters start referring to each other by gender specific pronouns; "He, She, Her, His, Hers", then the idea of gender-less robots is thrown out the window. One could make the debate that they only identify with that gender rather than actually share it, which is a good point, until it's mentions that certain character are always portrayed as male, while other are always portrayed as female.

So what does that mean in relation to this mess, basically that if there are two distinct "sexes" female and male, then it would go to reason that both would have features that differentiate one sex from the other. One can also reason, like real women, these fembots would have different body types as well, skinny, tall, short, athletic, curvy, boxy, whatever. Much like how their "male" counterparts also have different body types any where from barrel chested to willowy. Personally i would like to see as much assorted body types in "fembots" as there are "malebots". However it's a step forward that Hasbro is actually acknowledging that fembots exist in the mainstream outside of Arcee.

Wow, OK, looks like I have to apologize to Va'al, I went back through the comments and couldn't find one where you stated the androgynous design style would be best suited for Transformers, as a matter of fact I even found comments I didn't see before...
Looks like the lack of sleep and rest did take a larger toll on me than I thought.

Looking back at Nick Roche's old material, and comparing it to the current output in MTMTE, the difference in design are extremely noticeable and obvious. I mean I did realize that his style had changed and become more cartoony, along with something else something I couldn't quite put my finger on. Now I know, and it took me having to look at Neon Genesis Evangelion and Alien to realize what it was, a good deal of the characters are now drawn to look more gender neutral, while a good deal of them still look fairly masculine. It does kinda work, but it does make the ones in question kinda sameish (legs, chest, waist, arms) for Hot Rod, Drift and Tailgate. But, they still remain masculine looking for the most part, I think if they went more gender neutral it would look terrible.

I for one don't care whether a character is super buff, fat, masculine, slim, slender, robust, female, super hot female, etc looking. I like variety, that does not however mean that the tried and true body types (like Prime Megatron, Optimus etc) are bad, they are used so often for a reason and that reason is they are the norm and more numerous. The exceptions and more unique builds we always want are just that, exceptions.
So decrying them and wanting them to all be changed in favor of more fat guys, or skinny ones is utterly stupid. The closest TF to my own body type is Bulkhead, doesn't mean I want the rest of the cast to look like him, nore should they. Especially prime in which the designs are perfectly in tune with the character's personalities, fighting styles and even history. (I've been thinking about writing something about that for a while now, I may do it later after I've gotten some sleep.)

So yes, I'm sorry Va'al for putting words in your mouth.

But I stand to what I said about this particular design and designs in general, so yea the only thing I did wrong was putting words in Va'al's mouth.
Later

I agree, more fembots is always a step in the right direction, so good job for that, Hasbro and fans.

I've read so many comments I agree with that I forget who said what, but I do like variety in both supposed genders of TFs, and I also like female looking fembots. Can't I have both? Everyone thinks Movie Arcee's toy is ugly, i guess mostly in the head. I've come to really like it, for being different, but also for being, in its own way, female.

I have a question about protoforms though. They supposedly come from Primus, and are... found? I forget the details so maybe someone can enlighten me. My question is, how does the "baby" protoform in animated tie into everything? Seemed like a regular protoform but baby sized. It would be interesting if Primus gave it's creation an ability to procreate without Primus, so that if Unicron were to ever snuff out Primus, the essence of Primus would live on potentially infinitely. I might be overlooking established pieces of the lore, so forgive me. But maybe that's how a baby protoform came into existence, instead of the full grown larger protoforms.

If this was the case though, it would interesting if the genders that TFs either inherently possess or adopt are a mechanism to see to the continuation of Primus. Why else would Rattrap be attracted to Botanica, Blackarachnia to Silverbolt, and Airazor to Tigertron (i'm sure there are others I'm missing). Reality check: Yes, its a show for kids mainly, all these details are just for older TF nerds like ourselves, but if this is the case, then the feminine mannerisms and features could be part of design, to attract and bond with a "male" bot. Transformers are aliens, and their own life form. Doesn't seem too insane for them to have gender on their own, if the reason is for procreation.

Dead Metal wrote:

For now, could we see the positive in this? Hasbro made a brand new character, a female character, and she's getting a toy. Hasbro has thankfully already gotten ridd of pink and oversexed designs and is moving in the right direction.

This.So much this.

Why couldn't she be more like Lan Fan, having a flip down mask and being really scary when it's down, and yet being completely normal without it? I know she's a ninja, but I can see them taking some cues from that, at least.



Now... Meh. At first I liked it, and you can call me racist or whatever, but that headsculpt is really turning me off for some reason...

Did anyone else think this looks like the Sendai/Akihabara/Ginza Primes we saw last year? If it weren't for the overall flat design I'd think it was a rejected piece from the satellite Prime series. Unless she's in Prime, it's very odd for US designers to suddenly adopt a Japanese-style robot for the current IDW universe-themed designs. Drift is an exception; not the rule.

Also, going to call re-tool of Generations Armada Starscream, or (longshot into the Milky Way) Jinbu from Go! If it is a new mold, definitely hope an Airazor toy comes from it.

SW's SilverHammer wrote:No one asked, however i'm going to throw my opinion in this den of wolves.

In real life, women aren't built specific ways. Not all women are built rail thin , like tanks, nor like the 12 foot tall amazon women from futurama. Women's bodies vary as much as men's and there's nothing wrong with that.

Now, that being said, when gender is introduced in transformers it sparks debates on whether or not they have no gender and should be completely androgynous, or have two distinct sexes; male and female. My opinion is that in fiction, once characters start referring to each other by gender specific pronouns; "He, She, Her, His, Hers", then the idea of gender-less robots is thrown out the window. One could make the debate that they only identify with that gender rather than actually share it, which is a good point, until it's mentions that certain character are always portrayed as male, while other are always portrayed as female.

So what does that mean in relation to this mess, basically that if there are two distinct "sexes" female and male, then it would go to reason that both would have features that differentiate one sex from the other. One can also reason, like real women, these fembots would have different body types as well, skinny, tall, short, athletic, curvy, boxy, whatever. Much like how their "male" counterparts also have different body types any where from barrel chested to willowy. Personally i would like to see as much assorted body types in "fembots" as there are "malebots". However it's a step forward that Hasbro is actually acknowledging that fembots exist in the mainstream outside of Arcee.

well I dont mind having my fembots with breasts, to tell the truth. I dont remember in which tf universe it was said, but in the tf species, they dont have gender. they ''give'' themselves genders according to their personnality traits and to make contact with humans easier.

The creators only feminise their fembot's bodies so women could relate to them... maybe?

all in all, I think its a great idea to have more and more fembots in the tf universe.
And just one last thing: fembots are depicted as strong, intelligent, skilled and reliable warriors.
G1 arcee was kinda like that, but a bit more of a damzell in distress...

and she was pink and white... (stereotypically girls colours in the 80's thanks to Barbie dolls)

Now, our fembots are blue, black, red, etc. so who cares if they have boobs or not?

take beast wars blackarachnia...
she's got more boobs than any other fembots...

TulioDude wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:

For now, could we see the positive in this? Hasbro made a brand new character, a female character, and she's getting a toy. Hasbro has thankfully already gotten ridd of pink and oversexed designs and is moving in the right direction.

This.So much this.

I am Very positive with this figure

can't wait to get the release date!

I hipe she is at least a deluxe, but if she is a voyager, damn it, I'll buy two!!

OK while we're on the topic of roboboobs



At least they now serve a purpose other than visual style...

Oh, Go Nagai, you so silly!

I'm a fan of Mazinger Z and all of its various forms throughout the last few decades but the female inspired designs of Minerva X, Aphrodite A, Diana A, and Venus A never interested me, largely due to a feeling of "Us girls can fight too! Grrrl power!" I got from them. Don't even start talking about Wingle.

All I will say about Windblade right now is that it/she better not have questionable missile launchers.

I want a male TF with "a questionable" missile launcher, oh wait ... Scattershot

You know. The more I look at this figure, the more I want it so I can replace the head and slap a Decepticon symbol on it. So I just might pick it up after all once it's released.

Of course, now that the figure has grown on me, it'll be revealed that she's a convention exclusive or something.

Oh well, here's hoping they use this mold for a Nightbird repaint.

At the very least, the base body for the toy would be great for a Slipstream custom.

Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:You know. The more I look at this figure, the more I want it so I can replace the head and slap a Decepticon symbol on it. So I just might pick it up after all once it's released.

Of course, now that the figure has grown on me, it'll be revealed that she's a convention exclusive or something.

Oh well, here's hoping they use this mold for a Nightbird repaint.

I don't think that Hasbro wouold get into all this trouble, organising a poll and all, just to make it a convention/club/orwhatever it is exclusive.

I think they said she would have a regular release, like the classics, generations and all

I just figured out who she reminds me of!
Avia, daughter of Big Barda, from DC's Kingdom Come:

Hey Dagon, you sent me a private message about the Botcon 2007 BugBite figure I was looking for, unfortunately do to me being new to the forum I cannot send you messages back I am very interested in your offer for the figure if you can get back to me I will send you the asking price through PayPal.. Please let me know I appreciate it also if you can email me it would be easier to communicate through there for me my email is Louiskamoz@aol.com THanks again.

Dude... "volume."

And the Private Message system works like the general message board. All you have to do is hit the "Send Reply" button.

I can't send private messages it will not allow me if there is no reply button for me.

My bad didn't know you could hear the tone of my voice through a paragraph. Well thanks though but I do not have the ability to PM because the option is just not there... It is not enabled for me for reasons unknown to me I am guessing because I am new to the forums so I have to make these post to try to get in touch with this person..

The "SendReply" button should be located above the message, near the top of the page.

Thank you, I will look