The Energon Pub

News Credits: 6188 · Fri Apr 26, 2013 5:19 am

Japanese online store Red Mercury has uploaded has uploaded a set of photos for the Takara Transformers Go! toyline. These include Voyagers Hunter Optimus Prime, Hunter Shockwave and Dragotron (Predaking), Deluxes (Hunter) Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, Soundwave and Starscream and Legion Smokescreen and Airachnid. Check out the images below!

News Credits: 1 · Fri Apr 26, 2013 7:07 am

Yay! They're looking good. Hope this means they're close to release.

News Credits: 12 · Fri Apr 26, 2013 7:46 am

Is that the 30th anniversary logo in the corner?

Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:20 am

I just don't get the whole "GO" thing. I assuming it means something totally different in Japanese, but comes out sounding dumb in English like the word "Convoy".

News Credits: 462 · Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:45 am

Rated X wrote:I just don't get the whole "GO" thing. I assuming it means something totally different in Japanese, but comes out sounding dumb in English like the word "Convoy".

The word "Go" is a very popular word in Japanese media.

For example, the old anime Speed Racer was called "Mach Go Go Go" in Japan before it got brought over to America. The name was a triple-pun on the name of the racer car being "Mach Go" (In Japanese, "-go" is a suffix attached to vehicles) which the English dub interpreted as "Mach 5" (since "go" is the Japanese word for the number 5), the name of the series' main character "Go Mifune" (Speed Racer's original Japanese name), and the English word "Go" (since race cars have the ability to "go").

As for why the name "Convoy" was used way back when, at the time, Takara thought the name "Oputimasu Puraimu" would be too difficult for Japanese kids to pronounce, so they went with something simpler. And it was a pun on the fact that he led a whole "convoy" of cars. These days, however, Takara uses the Hasbro names on everything except for the Masterpieces and Encore releases.

News Credits: 12 · Fri Apr 26, 2013 10:25 am

Sabrblade wrote:And it was a pun on the fact that he led a whole "convoy" of cars. These days, however, Takara uses the Hasbro names on everything except for the Masterpieces and Encore releases.

I think it's more than that, even. "Convoy" has a heavy military connotation; military vehicles travel in convoys for mutual protection.

In the 1970's trucker culture was really popular and a lot of truckers were using CB radios to communicate and drive together in convoys. There was a hit song called "Convoy" in 1975 (about truckers driving in a convoy). That song inspired a movie about truckers called "Convoy", directed by the legendary Sam Peckinpah and starring Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw, Ernest Borgnine and Burt Young. That movie gave way to Smokey and the Bandit and a whole slew of movies about trucking in the late 70's and early 80's. So when Optimus came around, "Convoy" was a GREAT and perfectly fitting name.