The Random Transformers Thoughts Thread

[Tha_Phantom]

I was wondering just how many G1 Transformers are there. I normally only think about Anglophone G1 for obvious reasons, but I was thinking about how many G1 TFs there would be if I included those released outside the Anglosphere (i.e. Japanese and Latin American). And the answer I came up with was 600.

Whilst the term "anglophone" isn't inaccurate, I do find that it's a bit too broad as it combines different markets into one. For instance, America didn't get the later G1 figures like Europe and Australia. To them, a complete G1 collection stops at 1991.
I'd have split it into US G1 and Euro/Aus G1 like you have for Japan and Latin America.
But... as you said, it's subjective anyway. I mean we could be super nitpicky and count all the different stamps, mould/deco variations, packaging variants, etc and the list would easily go over 2000. I don't think it would even be possible for any one person to own every single variation out there, since some are so rare there's only one or two known to have survived like some of the MOSC Latin America figures - and the people who own those won't be letting go of them any time soon!
Anyway, that's my two cents.

[DELTAprime]

Whilst the term "anglophone" isn't inaccurate, I do find that it's a bit too broad as it combines different markets into one. For instance, America didn't get the later G1 figures like Europe and Australia. To them, a complete G1 collection stops at 1991.
I'd have split it into US G1 and Euro/Aus G1 like you have for Japan and Latin America.
But... as you said, it's subjective anyway. I mean we could be super nitpicky and count all the different stamps, mould/deco variations, packaging variants, etc and the list would easily go over 2000. I don't think it would even be possible for any one person to own every single variation out there, since some are so rare there's only one or two known to have survived like some of the MOSC Latin America figures - and the people who own those won't be letting go of them any time soon!
Anyway, that's my two cents.

For me, I break them up into US, JP and EU G1. But I'm also quick to recognise they are all part of the greater Pantheon of G1. With the greater Pantheon of G1, I can include characters like Windblade and Drift that are important to me, but not in the '84 to '93 run.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Twitch from Earthspark looks eerily like Kaon from the DJD

[GoktimusPrime]

Whilst the term "anglophone" isn't inaccurate, I do find that it's a bit too broad as it combines different markets into one. For instance, America didn't get the later G1 figures like Europe and Australia. To them, a complete G1 collection stops at 1991.
I'd have split it into US G1 and Euro/Aus G1 like you have for Japan and Latin America.
But... as you said, it's subjective anyway.

Whether or not you want to sub-divide Anglophone G1, the end result (total G1) works out to be the same anyway.

I mean we could be super nitpicky and count all the different stamps, mould/deco variations, packaging variants, etc and the list would easily go over 2000. I don't think it would even be possible for any one person to own every single variation out there, since some are so rare there's only one or two known to have survived like some of the MOSC Latin America figures - and the people who own those won't be letting go of them any time soon!

As Stephen Sansweet* once said, it's impossible for anyone to ever have a complete collection due to the existence of not only variants, but foreign variants.

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*person with the world's largest Star Wars collection, housed in a 828m^2 building (approx. x2.8 the size of Kirribilli House!)

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I was just thinking about repaints of the G1 SS figures. Given how many smaller run repaints and exclusives Hasbro like to churn out these days it seems odd to me we haven't seen any sign of repaints like Action Master Jazz and Starscream or G2 Dinobots that are major departures from their normal G1 animation model and toy colouring.

It might not be a tonne of money, but there is some money being left on the table.

Yeah, It's odd all right, I would definitely chow down on a G2 SS Grimlock of the blue persuasion, or even seeing a super bright "UK Comic colour" version like they did with the MP. Feels a bit like a missed opportunity. Unless they feel that if they did G2 Grombo, they'd have to do G2 other Dinos (although I think they only did three in G2 right?)

[Bidoofdude]

Tarantulas’s name is supposed to be a riff of sorts on “tarantula”, much like Rhinox, Rattrap or Scorponok. It took me until today though, 52 episodes (the whole series) into Beast Wars and a Google search to realise that the special name they came up with is just the plural word for tarantula.

It’s a normal ass word.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

It’s a normal ass word.

　(≖_≖ )

[GoktimusPrime]

Tarantulas’s name is supposed to be a riff of sorts on “tarantula”, much like Rhinox, Rattrap or Scorponok. It took me until today though, 52 episodes (the whole series) into Beast Wars and a Google search to realise that the special name they came up with is just the plural word for tarantula.

Tarantulas was even pronounced like the regular word (either in singular or plural form) - so either "Ta-ran-chew-ler" or "Ta-ran-chew-lerz" - until the Beast Wars cartoon later came along and changed the pronunciation to "Ta-ran-chew-less."

Yes, I know that the "Tarantulas" name always had an S at the end of it, but you can hear the announcer on the toy commercial just say "Tarantula."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-1YTqgyq2E
"But treacherous Tarantula mutates and counterattacks."

From beast to bot, the action's hot!

[griffin]

A website run by a Transformers fan has been archiving scans of the vintage 1980s Transformers story books and colouring books, and he has just added another one with scans and info of the colouring book called "The Invasion of the Decepticon Camp" set after the 1986 movie.
From there you can check out a lot of other 1980s Transformers books.

[DELTAprime]

A website run by a Transformers fan has been archiving scans of the vintage 1980s Transformers story books and colouring books, and he has just added another one with scans and info of the colouring book called "The Invasion of the Decepticon Camp" set after the 1986 movie.
From there you can check out a lot of other 1980s Transformers books.

Despite knowing how it happened, it's really strange seeing all the different interpretations of an animation model used in these books. Some look like the artist were given toys and no other material. Others look like they had actual character models to reference. It's almost like the Transformers equivalent of seeing the Mcquarrie Luke Starkiller, Darth Vader and C3PO.