Editorial: Has the term "CHUG" become obsolete?
Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 11:25 pmNote: There are a few points in the following editorial where I have repeated some bits from previous threads. For those who have read those past threads, you may recognize some few things.
Having been discussing the nature of the Generations line recently, I've come to think about the toyline in ways that lead me to wondering something. Has the term "CHUG" become obsolete?
For those unaware, "CHUG" is an acronym for "Classics Henkei Universe Generations", which are the first four Transformers toyline that pioneered the concept of taking characters of past franchises of old and creating brand new toys with modern day design and engineering, while still representing the original characters that they were designed to resemble, and did so in the form of mainstream retail toylines that were mostly ordinary and still geared towards children, separating them from the more high end collector-based lines that also update classic characters with new toys like Masterpiece and Alternators.
From the beginning, with the Classics line in 2006, things were relatively simple. The plan was to take a handful of G1 characters and give them new toys with modern day engineering, and all within a single aesthetic. The line was meant to be a filler line to tide us over until the Movie toys kicked in in 2007. And because it was just a filler at first, Hasbro let Fun Publications finish off the cast of Seekers for the BotCon 2007 exclusive box set, as Hasbro wasn't planning on continuing the main Classics line at the time.
However, the Classics line proved so popular that the fans were aching for more of it. Come 2008 and their prayers were answered with the new Universe toyline. Similar in concept the Classics line, Universe took the original plan of Classics one step further by not only using G1 characters, but characters from across the spectrum of series, including those of Beast Wars and Armada. The Universe line took the groundwork that had been laid down by the Classics line, and had built upon it further. Now we were getting classic characters from multiple series with new modern toys designed in a single aesthetic.
As an aside, though, both the Classics and Universe lines were guilty of cheating with this plan here and there, by using a few existing toy molds from the Unicron Trilogy to represent updates to certain classic characters, instead of giving every single character a new toy mold. However, since the original Classics line had been developed so near to the Unicron Trilogy, I'd argue that the aesthetics of the select UT molds used in both the Classics and Universe lines weren't too far off from the Classics/Universe aesthetic to be so jarring as to make the UT molds each line use look too far out of place with the proper Classics/Universe molds. But, I digress.
The Henkei! Henkei! line wound soon sprout up in Japan as that country's counterpart to the Classics and Universe lines, using molds from each line redecoed in color schemes that were more faithful to the original cartoon animation model color schemes of each character that each toy represented. They also feature new chrome paint in certain places for that extra flavor of Japanese bling.
After 2009, the Classics/Universe-style toylines seemed to fade away like any other Transformers toyline, their time seemingly having ended. But then came the year 2010, with what looked to be next successor of this breed of toys: Generations.
At first, things seemed to go like normal-- well, okay, no, that's actually a bit off. First came a round of toys designed after the characters from the War for Cybertron video game, using that game's aesthetic for reference. But these are merely a handful of figures, and after their run ended, the Generations line continued on, introducing more of the "Classics-style" toys that fans have come to expect from the line. Thus, we arrive at the point at which the Generations line became the "G" in the word "CHUG", as the term had by this come to fruition.
However, after 2011... the Generations line changed. Basically, it stopped being of a similar mindset as its Classics and Universe predecessors. No longer was it simply taking classic characters and making brand new modern day toys of them in a single aesthetic. Rather, it was making modern day toys of any characters, classic or recent, and doing so in multiple aesthetics.
The first sign of this was when it released those few WFC-styled toys back during its initial waves in 2010. Most didn't take notice of this since the aesthetic of those toys was still similar enough to that of the Classics-style toys. Not to mention that there were only five of them released; hardly enough to raise an eyebrow at.
But then came the Fall of Cybertron toys after the obviously Classics-style toys. New packaging, new emphasis on the video game aesthetics, slightly different engineering, slightly smaller scale, new size classes for a line that had been governed by the Deluxe class size since its creation (Generations, that is, not Classics in general). Even TakaraTomy was now making a distinction since all of the pre-FOC Generations toys got released by them in their United toyline, while everything new coming in the FOC look was in a new Japanese "Generations" line.
The iconic look of what people had come to call "CHUG" toys seemed to be gone and replaced by the Fall of Cybertron style.
And now, as we draw near to the end of the "Generations Fall of Cybertron" era, we are approaching a new age of Generations toys with a similar shift in appearance: "Generations Thrilling 30". At first glance, it seems to be a return to the "CHUG" style of toys, but in reality, it is a style derived from the aesthetic of the IDW G1 Comics Continuity.
Basically, the Generations toyline seems to operate in system of phases, each one containing its own aesthetic:
As such, with only the second phase of Generations figures really abiding by what the term "CHUG" has come to embody, it would seem that the Generations line itself has grown and evolved beyond simply being the "G" in "CHUG", thus overriding the longstanding definition of the word.
Now, there is an argument to be made about the Thrilling 30 toys not being "CHUG"/"Classics-style" figures since the comics themselves have come to use designs from the Classics, Universe, and Generations Phase 2 toys, and even the WFC/FOC video games. Well, the comics have also come to use designs from Alternators and Masterpiece as well, yet no one tends to lump those lines in with the likes of "Classics-style" figures.
But then we come to situations like Generations Thundercracker, who is a Thrilling 30 toy that uses a WFC/FOC design, but represents the IDW character who also uses the WFC/FOC design despite being a different individual from WFC/FOC Thundercracker. The lines are blurred even further with IDW G1 comics lately borrowing designs from the WFC and FOC video games. Thus, the Generations Deluxe class toys of Bumblebee, Soundwave, Jazz, Shockwave, Starscream, Onslaught, Blast Off, Brawl, Laserbeak, and Sideswipe could all be repurposed from their video game selves into their IDW G1 selves. And, conversely, the Thirlling 30 Generations Thundercracker toy could be repurposed in reverse from his IDW G1 self into his WFC/FOC self.
Further complicating matters is how more and more ubiquitous the designs of the "Classics-style" have been used in the various TF fiction. I mean, what originally made the Classics figures stand out was that they were toy-only modern updates of classic characters, with the only real fictional appearances of them being the Classicsverse stories from Fun Publications and the Japanese Henkei! Henkei! manga. But, then we get the aforementioned usage of certain "Classics-style" toy designs being used in IDW G1, as well as in Fun Pub's Wings Universe stories, Japan's United fiction, and Japan's All Spark manga (which also makes use of the Fall of Cybertron toy designs, and even some Masterpiece toy designs).
With such a wide array of media using the character designs of toys from Classics, Henkei!, Universe, Generations, United, Reveal the Shield, and more, what defines a toy as a "CHUG" character toy vs. a toy representing a specific fictional version of a certain character has become more and more murky. This is when one must ask themselves what exactly is the difference between the aesthetics of "CHUG"/"Classics-style" and "IDW G1", especially when we see IDW G1 comic stories featuring the likes of Generations Thrilling 30 Trailcutter coexisting in the same world as Warpath and Black Shadow in their Generations Phase 2/"CHUG"/"Classics-style" bodies, or even with Sunstreaker who had his Universe body beginning with "All Hail Megatron". Where is the line drawn when IDW G1 uses the designs taken from the aesthetic of Classics, Universe, CHUG Generations in its own aesthetic? And where is it drawn when IDW G1 uses WFC/FOC aesthetic designs?
An easier way to look at this might be to just think of a "CHUG" toy as either:
But, the issue is further complicated when toys like Trailcutter and Springer (his GDO toy aside) represent characters who haven't yet received any new (non-Legends) toy with modern day engineering, thus influencing people's desires to put toys like Trailcutter and Springer into their CHUG/Classics-style collections for completion's sake, despite the toys actually being in an IDW G1 comics aesthetic. But again, with IDW now using certain Classics-style designs, certain toys fit into BOTH aesthetics as a result. Yet, when one adamantly wants to keep aesthetics separated, then one's CHUG/Classics-style collection is left without a (non-Legends) Trailbreaker/Trailcutter or Springer toy to fill in the void, repurposed toys aside.
As a result, this editorial has gone round and round in a seemingly endless circle of rebutting point after point to only rinse and repeat the process over and over again.
In the long run, just how much weight, if any at all, does the term "CHUG" now hold anymore if the Generations line has grown to surpass the original vision and standard set by the likes of Classics and Universe? Having broken out of the single aesthetic that the "Classics-style" toys were known for, and reaching into multiple aesthetics, does is not seem like the term "CHUG" has since become ill-fitting to the point of being archaic and inappropriate?
PS: And that isn't even getting into the select Movieverse molds from ROTF, HFTD, and DOTM that were made purely by Hasbro without Paramount, which were seen as a sort of halfway compromise between the Paramount-made Movieverse designs and the non-Movieverse "Classics-style" designs (ones like Sea Spray, Bludgeon, Mindwipe, Brawn, Terradive, Tomahawk, Hailstorm, Skyhammer, etc. fall into this halfway point). But, let us skip all that for now, and focus on the now-outdated nature of "CHUG".
Having been discussing the nature of the Generations line recently, I've come to think about the toyline in ways that lead me to wondering something. Has the term "CHUG" become obsolete?
For those unaware, "CHUG" is an acronym for "Classics Henkei Universe Generations", which are the first four Transformers toyline that pioneered the concept of taking characters of past franchises of old and creating brand new toys with modern day design and engineering, while still representing the original characters that they were designed to resemble, and did so in the form of mainstream retail toylines that were mostly ordinary and still geared towards children, separating them from the more high end collector-based lines that also update classic characters with new toys like Masterpiece and Alternators.
From the beginning, with the Classics line in 2006, things were relatively simple. The plan was to take a handful of G1 characters and give them new toys with modern day engineering, and all within a single aesthetic. The line was meant to be a filler line to tide us over until the Movie toys kicked in in 2007. And because it was just a filler at first, Hasbro let Fun Publications finish off the cast of Seekers for the BotCon 2007 exclusive box set, as Hasbro wasn't planning on continuing the main Classics line at the time.
However, the Classics line proved so popular that the fans were aching for more of it. Come 2008 and their prayers were answered with the new Universe toyline. Similar in concept the Classics line, Universe took the original plan of Classics one step further by not only using G1 characters, but characters from across the spectrum of series, including those of Beast Wars and Armada. The Universe line took the groundwork that had been laid down by the Classics line, and had built upon it further. Now we were getting classic characters from multiple series with new modern toys designed in a single aesthetic.
As an aside, though, both the Classics and Universe lines were guilty of cheating with this plan here and there, by using a few existing toy molds from the Unicron Trilogy to represent updates to certain classic characters, instead of giving every single character a new toy mold. However, since the original Classics line had been developed so near to the Unicron Trilogy, I'd argue that the aesthetics of the select UT molds used in both the Classics and Universe lines weren't too far off from the Classics/Universe aesthetic to be so jarring as to make the UT molds each line use look too far out of place with the proper Classics/Universe molds. But, I digress.
The Henkei! Henkei! line wound soon sprout up in Japan as that country's counterpart to the Classics and Universe lines, using molds from each line redecoed in color schemes that were more faithful to the original cartoon animation model color schemes of each character that each toy represented. They also feature new chrome paint in certain places for that extra flavor of Japanese bling.
After 2009, the Classics/Universe-style toylines seemed to fade away like any other Transformers toyline, their time seemingly having ended. But then came the year 2010, with what looked to be next successor of this breed of toys: Generations.
At first, things seemed to go like normal-- well, okay, no, that's actually a bit off. First came a round of toys designed after the characters from the War for Cybertron video game, using that game's aesthetic for reference. But these are merely a handful of figures, and after their run ended, the Generations line continued on, introducing more of the "Classics-style" toys that fans have come to expect from the line. Thus, we arrive at the point at which the Generations line became the "G" in the word "CHUG", as the term had by this come to fruition.
However, after 2011... the Generations line changed. Basically, it stopped being of a similar mindset as its Classics and Universe predecessors. No longer was it simply taking classic characters and making brand new modern day toys of them in a single aesthetic. Rather, it was making modern day toys of any characters, classic or recent, and doing so in multiple aesthetics.
The first sign of this was when it released those few WFC-styled toys back during its initial waves in 2010. Most didn't take notice of this since the aesthetic of those toys was still similar enough to that of the Classics-style toys. Not to mention that there were only five of them released; hardly enough to raise an eyebrow at.
But then came the Fall of Cybertron toys after the obviously Classics-style toys. New packaging, new emphasis on the video game aesthetics, slightly different engineering, slightly smaller scale, new size classes for a line that had been governed by the Deluxe class size since its creation (Generations, that is, not Classics in general). Even TakaraTomy was now making a distinction since all of the pre-FOC Generations toys got released by them in their United toyline, while everything new coming in the FOC look was in a new Japanese "Generations" line.
The iconic look of what people had come to call "CHUG" toys seemed to be gone and replaced by the Fall of Cybertron style.
And now, as we draw near to the end of the "Generations Fall of Cybertron" era, we are approaching a new age of Generations toys with a similar shift in appearance: "Generations Thrilling 30". At first glance, it seems to be a return to the "CHUG" style of toys, but in reality, it is a style derived from the aesthetic of the IDW G1 Comics Continuity.
Basically, the Generations toyline seems to operate in system of phases, each one containing its own aesthetic:
- Phase 1 - War for Cybertron, 2010
- Phase 2 - "Classics-style" (A.K.A. "CHUG"), 2010-2011
- Phase 3 - Fall of Cybertron, 2012-2013
- Phase 4 - Thrilling 30 (IDW G1), 2013-onward
As such, with only the second phase of Generations figures really abiding by what the term "CHUG" has come to embody, it would seem that the Generations line itself has grown and evolved beyond simply being the "G" in "CHUG", thus overriding the longstanding definition of the word.
Now, there is an argument to be made about the Thrilling 30 toys not being "CHUG"/"Classics-style" figures since the comics themselves have come to use designs from the Classics, Universe, and Generations Phase 2 toys, and even the WFC/FOC video games. Well, the comics have also come to use designs from Alternators and Masterpiece as well, yet no one tends to lump those lines in with the likes of "Classics-style" figures.
But then we come to situations like Generations Thundercracker, who is a Thrilling 30 toy that uses a WFC/FOC design, but represents the IDW character who also uses the WFC/FOC design despite being a different individual from WFC/FOC Thundercracker. The lines are blurred even further with IDW G1 comics lately borrowing designs from the WFC and FOC video games. Thus, the Generations Deluxe class toys of Bumblebee, Soundwave, Jazz, Shockwave, Starscream, Onslaught, Blast Off, Brawl, Laserbeak, and Sideswipe could all be repurposed from their video game selves into their IDW G1 selves. And, conversely, the Thirlling 30 Generations Thundercracker toy could be repurposed in reverse from his IDW G1 self into his WFC/FOC self.
Further complicating matters is how more and more ubiquitous the designs of the "Classics-style" have been used in the various TF fiction. I mean, what originally made the Classics figures stand out was that they were toy-only modern updates of classic characters, with the only real fictional appearances of them being the Classicsverse stories from Fun Publications and the Japanese Henkei! Henkei! manga. But, then we get the aforementioned usage of certain "Classics-style" toy designs being used in IDW G1, as well as in Fun Pub's Wings Universe stories, Japan's United fiction, and Japan's All Spark manga (which also makes use of the Fall of Cybertron toy designs, and even some Masterpiece toy designs).
With such a wide array of media using the character designs of toys from Classics, Henkei!, Universe, Generations, United, Reveal the Shield, and more, what defines a toy as a "CHUG" character toy vs. a toy representing a specific fictional version of a certain character has become more and more murky. This is when one must ask themselves what exactly is the difference between the aesthetics of "CHUG"/"Classics-style" and "IDW G1", especially when we see IDW G1 comic stories featuring the likes of Generations Thrilling 30 Trailcutter coexisting in the same world as Warpath and Black Shadow in their Generations Phase 2/"CHUG"/"Classics-style" bodies, or even with Sunstreaker who had his Universe body beginning with "All Hail Megatron". Where is the line drawn when IDW G1 uses the designs taken from the aesthetic of Classics, Universe, CHUG Generations in its own aesthetic? And where is it drawn when IDW G1 uses WFC/FOC aesthetic designs?
An easier way to look at this might be to just think of a "CHUG" toy as either:
- A) Any toy representing a character as s/he appeared either the comics of Classics, Henkei!, United, IDW, All Spark, or Wings Universe (discounting Masterpieces or any toy belonging to a line made specifically for a cartoon/movie), or
- B) Any toy that's simply a modern update of a classic character and isn't specifically tied to any current cartoon/movie (like what the original Classics toyline was).
But, the issue is further complicated when toys like Trailcutter and Springer (his GDO toy aside) represent characters who haven't yet received any new (non-Legends) toy with modern day engineering, thus influencing people's desires to put toys like Trailcutter and Springer into their CHUG/Classics-style collections for completion's sake, despite the toys actually being in an IDW G1 comics aesthetic. But again, with IDW now using certain Classics-style designs, certain toys fit into BOTH aesthetics as a result. Yet, when one adamantly wants to keep aesthetics separated, then one's CHUG/Classics-style collection is left without a (non-Legends) Trailbreaker/Trailcutter or Springer toy to fill in the void, repurposed toys aside.
As a result, this editorial has gone round and round in a seemingly endless circle of rebutting point after point to only rinse and repeat the process over and over again.
In the long run, just how much weight, if any at all, does the term "CHUG" now hold anymore if the Generations line has grown to surpass the original vision and standard set by the likes of Classics and Universe? Having broken out of the single aesthetic that the "Classics-style" toys were known for, and reaching into multiple aesthetics, does is not seem like the term "CHUG" has since become ill-fitting to the point of being archaic and inappropriate?
PS: And that isn't even getting into the select Movieverse molds from ROTF, HFTD, and DOTM that were made purely by Hasbro without Paramount, which were seen as a sort of halfway compromise between the Paramount-made Movieverse designs and the non-Movieverse "Classics-style" designs (ones like Sea Spray, Bludgeon, Mindwipe, Brawn, Terradive, Tomahawk, Hailstorm, Skyhammer, etc. fall into this halfway point). But, let us skip all that for now, and focus on the now-outdated nature of "CHUG".
