The Energon Pub

well. im not gonna say who but someone said this to me and i quote: "transformer nerds are freaks, unless they are twelve."
this is one of many insults i get for being a transformers fan. and mind you that this is coming from a startrek and Dr.who fan. this just really set me off. what insults do you get as a fan and what do you do about it? and mind you please keep it civil. i don't want any fights.

I don't really deal with this much myself. I have friends who don't share my love for Transformers, and maybe sometimes get annoyed at how much I like it, but they never insult me on it.

In your situation, I'd just shake my head and walk away. The guy's clearly an idiot. Star Trek and Dr Who are no less nerdy or weird than Transformers, and their fiction is likewise patchy at best. People like that just have trouble accepting anyone that likes things they don't.

My uncle used to make fun of me at least twice a week for loving Transformers -__- His kids, who are 10+ year younger than me, ditched Transformers several years ago, which makes him believe I'm WAAAAY to old to be buying toys. It got to a point where I started getting snippy with him and even attacked his desk at work - I printed out Autobot insignia's and tapped them ALL over his desk <- very therapeutic let me tell you. Lol

Don't get me wrong, my uncle isn't a complete ass (he got a good chuckle over my attack, especially when he found an insignia a month later ). He eventually backed off, but it took me saying it several times and telling him his collecting art and maps was little different than my collecting Transformer toys. We go after things we enjoyed

People just consider it a part of my very colorful persona.

The last time anyone had a stab at me for this was years ago, usually I take the stinger out by showing people what my 'dirty secret' is and then they're too WTF'd to respond coherenty anyway.

If people want to insult me or make fun of me because I like Transformers, go for it. Why should I care what they think about me? I'm happy with myself and that's all that matters.

The only insults I get are from my close friends and that's usually just good natured ball busting because we are all nerds about something. I don't think anyone has ever been mean to me about my collection.

I've never had to face an insult regarding my love of Transformers, or any other hobby.

What kind of people do you guys hang around with?!

My Wife sometimes takes the piss a bit, but its always light hearted and never offensive, that's about as bad as it gets.

As a Doctor Who fan along with being a TF fan, I find the insults across different fandoms silly.

Weird - I've never had anyone say anything to me about being a fan, positive or negative.

Of course, I don't wear my fandom on my sleeve, or walk around the office dressed as Cardboardimus Prime, either.

That's why I don't talk about it around anybody I know doesn't like Transformers on the level I do.

But still, it doesn't really matter. In a few years, you'll never see them again, and all that will matter is your career and sex.

never been insulted for collecting transformers or any other thing i collect,however i have been insulted by the very people who collect transformers

I got a coworker who gives me crap about watchin the g1 episodes at work.

but he's got baseball on the other tv.

I pointed out he's watching grown men play a childs game and smacking each others butts.

he shut up quick

can't waste energy letting trolls get to ya. nope nope nope

personally, as an extremely confident woman who loves transformers and trek and oh so many other wonderfully geeky fantasies, i'm mostly received with intimidation... sometimes girls who think of me as a threat will try to stab, and I always throw right back wither with "damn straight, you never met a geek like me before" and ask them if they have anything that they love so much that it makes them cry and laugh at the same time, anything that really makes them love being alive. of course, the answer is always no, because people who go out of their way to insult people who do love something just have really green eyes. that leaves them pretty speechless usually, as bullies expect you'll cave instead of punch back.

Name_Violation wrote:I got a coworker who gives me crap about watchin the g1 episodes at work.

but he's got baseball on the other tv.

I pointed out he's watching grown men play a childs game and smacking each others butts.

he shut up quick

AHHHAHAA lolz

Most of my friends are just fine with me liking Transformers, probably because they're pretty geeky too. I've generally gotten more positive comments than negative ones if I bring up that I'm a fan of Transformers. In fact, I think my Spanish teacher likes me better now that she knows I like the series, since she's a big fan of the movies. It's just something that we can bond over.

Now, my family on the other hand is a whole other issue. They all think I'm nuts, especially my younger sister, who is convinced that anything involving giant robots must only be for five-year-olds -- especially the toys. The only thing that she thinks is more childish than me liking Transformers is liking My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. My mother's stance is that since I'm the one with the money, I can spend it any way I want. She just wishes I wouldn't spend so much money on toys. But hey, I can live with that.

Geminii wrote: Cardboardimus Prime

Hilarious

I get teased a little from my friends for sure but it's mostly just them taking the piss.

As of late, and i don't know why, but people have been commenting on how intimidating i am size wise and attitude wise to them when i meet them at a bar or party. Sometimes i don't mind giving this impression but it's not really me and i've been telling people lately about my TF hobby and my all around nerdness and remarkably they think it's really cool and respect it. Even the girls

Maybe when i divulge that aspect of myself it disarms them a bit and they warm up to me. So in reality my TF collecting has saved me from insults.

Tell 'em to suck it up their blow pipe!

I don't listen or care about others insults about myself and the things I do as hobbies.

Random thoughts...

Some people see the hobby as quirky and interesting. Other people get downright weirded out by it. They have a mistrust of anyone who as an adult still likes "childish things". Still other people are just jealous that we can enjoy something that might embarrass them.

People might think if you like kids' toys, maybe you also like kids too much.
There's an episode of Law & Order where they are trying to accuse someone of being a pedophile. They tell him something like "We know you're a pedophile... we already found your Transformers collection". I kid you not. I don't know why more TF fans don't talk about this scene more. It's absurd and offensive, but it shows a glimpse of how others might see us.

Other people are simply afraid to show their childish side. Always trying to prove they are grown up. When they see us embracing toys and "children's fiction", they feel threatened the way someone might feel around gay people if they have homosexual tendencies. It's really the same thing. If you're not comfortable with your own adulthood, you might respond by condescending to anyone who is comfortable with theirs.

CS Lewis said it best though. He pointed out that there's a stage in life where trying NOT to be childish is natural. Adolescents are supposed to act like adults as part of the process of growing up. When they still act juvenile compared to their peers, they feel awkward and might be ridiculed. It helps give them that nudge toward adulthood and it is natural. But then later in life if you're still hanging on to that tendency to always prove you're a grown-up, that in itself is a sign of arrested development. So according to Lewis, anyone ridiculing you for playing with toys as an adult, is not fully matured.

Just remember this rule:

"Screw the world, I am me."

Just ignore the jerkholes who say that collecting small plastic robots is stupid, and remember that they, the jocks, will probably be working at Burger King for longer than they anticipated. You can do what you want, so screw those who say nay and continue your hobby. That is all.

I've never really been teased about Transformers, but other fandoms like Star Trek and Who. I let it roll off my back. It's stuff I like, and that's all that matters.

I myself have had a few people in my school class say (in a sarcastic tone) that a picture of unicron and primus (on my IT computer at school) was, in fact, megs and prime fighting, and when I corrected them, they got all snooty and said "whatever".

But you know what, I'm only just starting to be who I am around people, so I agree with JetOptimus23 (although, there are quite a few of my friends that don't think it childish, and are fine with that, we even discuss some of our fav TFs, even when they don't collect TFs).

I assume anyone who is taking a LOT of crap over their collecting is probably still in school in most cases. I haven't really heard a negative comment about any of my hobbies since I graduated high school over a decade ago. I hang out with people who are big geeks like me about one thing or another and most people who know me just know that's who I am. My wife is happy because it's one of the least dangerous hobbies possible.