Quote Originally Posted by Tiby View Post
I like this idea in all but the combined mode part. I treat Transformers based on their fictional "sentience", which also comes from the names / tech specs / etc provided to them by the manufacturers. For example, Reflector. They each have separate robot identities, and are each independently sentient. This is as opposed to Optimus Prime, Roller and the trailer, which are not independently sentient, or pretender shells.

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The exception I have here is Nebulan partners (which came with the toys) as they are accessories and not robots (using the US fiction as stated by the manufacturer on boxes, tech specs, etc).
I take your point here, but I can also see what Griffin is getting at. Instinctively, I want to count MM Combiners separately - each TF has an individual identity expressed through its own name and individual personality. However once we do that, it does become hard to justify not counting Nebulans individually.

The current UCM is increasingly unwieldy as we keep adding exceptions/clarifications, which is one reason why I tried to break it in half into "What Counts" and "What Doesn't Count". It does need further cleaning up, and I for instance would like to see what is/isn't a TF defined by no more than half a dozen clear principles. There are a fair few UCM Articles that could be rolled into the 4 that Griffin has stated.

Certainly the "What is a HasTak toy?" principle is a good one, but I think we also need to make some allowance for what we consider to be individual toys, discrete from HasTak marketing decisions. Since TFs are "Robots in Disguise", perhaps we should count them based on individual robot modes. Reflector would then count as 3. MM Combiners would count individually. Exceptions like Kicker and Alpha Quintesson are rare enough that we can include them by default.