Organics of Transmetals & Transmetal 2s?

[griffin]

The writers just did the best they could with the toys Hasbro gave them... Ideally it would have been good to be consistent with that plot element, as well as the whole Transmetal concept itself, but I applaud Ditillio and Forward for what they did end up giving us.

Besides, these plot inconsistencies give us fans something to talk about, to make it more interesting dissecting the stories.

[Hursticon]

My line of thinking is that Megs was only disliking of Organics with Beast Machines, as he seemed to actively enjoy both of his T-Rex & Dragon forms; Only with the advent of Beast Machines throwing out 3 Seasons worth of narrative did he begin to "Hate" organics - At least that's what I thought.

It's an interesting question as to why he ended up more of an Organic Dragon (Not that I'm complaining, the toy is beautiful).
Perhaps it could be based more so on what is at the "Laser-core" of a particular Spark and hence manifesting itself accordingly?

Original Megatron was a maniacal dictator, bent on the conquest of the Universe whereas Prime was a leader who's own spark had been heavily influenced/mutated by those that had previously held the Matrix.
Maybe because of these influences "Evil" manifests itself as a Beast & "Good" the form of a/the divine being, as this particular being is Primus and all Cybertronians are supposedly made in his image (Transforming Anthropomorphic Vehicles, initially), the end result is far more Vehicular/Mechanical in nature?

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Also, I have 2 more.
Are Hasbro G1 Optimus' smokestacks molded blue then painted silver?

My G1 Prime has them in the same shade as his legs, with (increasing less as time goes on) silver paint.

The writers just did the best they could with the toys Hasbro gave them... Ideally it would have been good to be consistent with that plot element, as well as the whole Transmetal concept itself, but I applaud Ditillio and Forward for what they did end up giving us.

Besides, these plot inconsistencies give us fans something to talk about, to make it more interesting dissecting the stories.

Oh yeah, no disrespect to Ditillio and Forward intended, it just suddenly struck me as interesting/odd is all and I wanted to see what people thought. Looking at TM2 Megs he doesn't seem to have any necessarily organic parts (in the same way as Optimal Optimus' gorilla chest is organically styled but doesn't seem organic per se), but then it becomes this big thing in BM.

My line of thinking is that Megs was only disliking of Organics with Beast Machines, as he seemed to actively enjoy both of his T-Rex & Dragon forms; Only with the advent of Beast Machines throwing out 3 Seasons worth of narrative did he begin to "Hate" organics - At least that's what I thought.

It's an interesting question as to why he ended up more of an Organic Dragon (Not that I'm complaining, the toy is beautiful).
Perhaps it could be based more so on what is at the "Laser-core" of a particular Spark and hence manifesting itself accordingly?

That's sort of what I was thinking, except that G1/old-school Megs did show an aversion towards organics and BW Megs (as opposed to BM Megs, who I maintain got driven a little space-crazy by being strapped to the outside of ship during a presumably long transwarp trip) seemed not to care either way (or to put it differently was typically pragmatic about the whole thing - power is power no matter whether it's organic or mechanical), whereas both Prime and Primal show a fondness/appreciation for organics. Based on the sparks involved, you'd think if anyone was going to lose their organic side it'd be Megatron^2, not Optimus^2.

Original Megatron was a maniacal dictator, bent on the conquest of the Universe whereas Prime was a leader who's own spark had been heavily influenced/mutated by those that had previously held the Matrix.
Maybe because of these influences "Evil" manifests itself as a Beast & "Good" the form of a/the divine being, as this particular being is Primus and all Cybertronians are supposedly made in his image (Transforming Anthropomorphic Vehicles, initially), the end result is far more Vehicular/Mechanical in nature?

I'll sorta pay that what with the pseudo-Biblical Covenant of Primus stuff, and I can think of a few various fanwank scenarios that'd sorta work myself. I'd still like to hear Verno's take on all this though.

[GoktimusPrime]

So, I was just thinking...
In BW, Transmetals have mechanical alt-modes and organic elements in robot modes. Transmetal 2s have both mechanical and organic component melded in a more 'integrated' style.
TM Optimus Primal (in robot mode) shares/melds his Spark with Optimus Prime (entirely mechanical/no organic components) and - so far as I can see - becomes an entirely mechanical form. We see inside him in robot mode (the formerly partially-organic part) and everything's 100% machine.
So, it's not unreasonable to assume that the upgrade that comes from mingling sparks between a Transmetal and a 'guzzler' (or even just an exceptionally powerful-sparked guzzler such as Prime and original Megatron) creates a more powerful but also entirely mechanical form.

But then BW Megs mingles sparks with old-school Megs - who is 100% robot, and not that keen on organics unlike Prime. BW Megs is in robot mode as Primal was when he mingled sparks with Prime, i.e. he has a certain amount of organic components. He gets a size-and-power upgrade, much like Optimal Optimus. Yet apparently BW Megs' dragon form, created in the same manner with the same concoction of organic and inorganic parts as Optimal Optimus, is part organic (as becomes a major plot point in that terrible dream that never happened Beast Machines).

Surely, all things being equal, BW Megs should also be an entirely robotic dragon, and/or Optimal Optimus should retain some organic components, especially in robot mode. If anything, you'd think Megs would be less likely to be at all organic, given big (i.e. original) Megs' aversion to organic life. Heck, he survives a trip on the hull of a ship through both Transwarp and normal space - seems kinda full-on for organic parts to handle. Then again, Waspinator manages it, but then again that's also Waspinator.

So, what do people think? Is Optimal Optimus part-organic after all? Is BW Megs all-mechanical, and the writers of BM just didn't think about it/ignored it so they could make Megs go all emo/space-crazy? Is it just some 'mysterious Cybertronian technology' thing? Did a wizard do it? Am I being stupid for even thinking about a TF cartoon with any eye towards logic and/or consistency, even one as well-written as Beast Wars?

Possible difference: Optimus Prime's Spark was housed in (or in contact with) the Matrix, whereas Megatron's was not. Perhaps it was contact with a Spark that had been imbued with Matrix energies that made Optimus Primal mutate differently from Megatron.

That... and because Hasbro made these toys and told Mainframe to chuck 'em into the show. I remember when I first bought Optimal Optimus... I thought it was a great toy, but I'd never see it in the show because:
a) Optimus Primal had already become a Transmetal, and a second Quantum Surge would be silly -- especially if it only re-Transmetallised one Transformer.
b) Optimal Optimus is a stupid name and would just sound silly on the show anyway.
But full credit to the writers for actually making it work! Involving the G1 Transformers and Optimus Prime was an awesome idea, and they just kept calling him "Optimus Primal," although Megatron initially referred to him as an "Optimal Optimus" to reference the name of the toy just that once.

It was a shame that Peter Cullen refused to do a cameo voice role in that episode as the writers had initially hoped for. The scene where Primal returns Prime's Spark and we see Optimus Prime awaken for a few seconds -- apparently they wanted Peter Cullen to make him say a line (like "Till All Are One" or something, I dunno) before dozing off again... but Cullen refused. Not because he disliked the idea or the show, but because of industrial relations/union issues.

Also, I have 2 more.
Are Hasbro G1 Optimus' smokestacks molded blue then painted silver?

Not painted, but [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_metallizing]vacuum metallised/url]. That's the problem with chrome -- looks great, but once it chips you can't fix it (unless you have the means to vacuum metallise plastic, which most folks don't). I've used mithral silver model paint to touch up chipped chrome, but it doesn't look the same (but it's the closest you can find out of model paints). I've heard of some people who have used chrome spray paint (i.e. the kind of paints used for touching up cars) - so I guess that must look close to actual chrome, but I've never tried it myself.

And the second, do tak/tom, hasbro or toyco still have the mold for Shockwave. Coz it's getting really hard to find one iin good condition.

I'd say odds are they don't.