Transformers questions by newbies, and not-so-newbies

[Paulbot]

Moderation note
Please try to keep this thread to simple questions and their replies. Other broader discussions (such as "I told my girlfriend I collect Transformers") should take place in their own threads.

[Gutsman Heavy]

Is there a reason why G1 Powermaster Prime has long smokestacks and Ginrai (and all reissues inc Comm' Powermaster Prime) don't have them? Seems strange that Tak would crop them.

[GoktimusPrime]

They're not cropped. The original Ginrai toy had shorter smokestacks than PM Prime - PM Prime and Ginrai are substantially different moulds from each other (the super robot arms are entirely different too). But they're not "newtered" like Hasbro's reissue Primes and Magnuses (Magni?), while Ginrai's smokestacks are shorter, they're not "chopped off" at the mid-section like Hasbro's Prime/Magni reissues. The length of reissue Ginrai's smokestacks is accurate to the original Ginrai toy.

Here is a comparison between original and reissue Ginrai - the author (pitapa256) makes no mention of any difference between the smokestacks. According to this page, the main differences are in the packaging and some of the stickers.

[Borgeman]

quick qu - of the 4 BT smokescreens made, which one(s) are the higher priced one(s)? maybe someone could rank them, if thats possible?

George

[iceburn]

borge...i reckon they are about the same price being BT Smokescreens.

From ebay, it seems that BT07s are more expensive at about > $200
A couple of BT01 #7 and #8 that have ended before Christmas last year, came up to about > A$90 to A$140 before shipping.

[Tommy K]

heres a question :
how are transformers created?

[GoktimusPrime]

If you mean reproduction then it occurs in basically in 2 stages.

Stage 1: Construct/acquire a body.
Stage 2: Imbue it with sentience.

How this is done varies between canonical sources, but that's fundamentally how they all work. Sometimes the order of these stages can change, or even occur simultaneously.

The main exception would have been the very ancient Transformers who could reproduce via a form of asexual reproduction similar to mitotic cell division on a massively large scale. It looks like this:


-------

If you mean the origin of the species, then there are several different explanations.

1/ The Transformers were created along the lines of mechanical evolution - beginning with simple gears and cogs, much like how organic life evolved from single-celled organisms. Although this origin was retconned out of existence by the comics' later divine creation story, there continued to be elements of evolution within the Transformers' comics. In Transformers G2 we learnt that the Transformers were able to asexually self-reproduce, but they eventually lost that ability. The "Generation 2" Decepticons (e.g.: Liege Maximo, Jhiaxus etc.) claimed to be on a higher scale of evolution than the G1 Transformers - and indeed led a campaign where they attempted to ethnically cleanse the galaxy of the "inferior" G1 Transformers. The Swarm, after being effected by the Matrix, went on to evolve into the Vok (re: Beast Wars). The movie continuity also displays some elements of evolution, e.g.: Prime suggesting to Ironhide that they were once a primitive and violent species; and one of the movie script writers mentioned that the reason why the Transformers that had been newly created by the AllSpark acted so violently was because they hadn't yet evolved a sophisticated level of reasoning - they were effectively feral.

2/ In the G1 cartoon the Transformers were first created by Quintessons as commodities to be sold to other species. Their slaves eventually rebelled and exiled them from Cybertron which they claimed as their own planet.

3/ The G1 comics gave us the divine creation story - that the Transformers species was created by the god Primus, as a final line of defence against the dark god Unicron. Each Transformer's life essence was spawned a sample of Primus' own life essence, manifested in an artifact known as the Creation Matrix.

Beast Wars expanded on G1 & G2 origin stories and clearly defined a Transformer's life essence/laser core into what they called the "Spark" and introduced the AllSpark Matrix being something similar to Nirvana - where all Sparks originate and are destined to return to. Evolution by the time of Beast Wars seemed to be artificial - i.e.: the Transformers intentionally upgraded themselves into Maximals and Predacons rather than having it occur as a natural process. Beast Machines explained that Cybertron itself had evolved from an organic world (something which is supported by both G1 cartoon and comic book canon) and that the next stage of evolution was the balance between machines and nature.

[snazzbot 101]

If you mean reproduction then it occurs in basically in 2 stages.

Stage 1: Construct/acquire a body.
Stage 2: Imbue it with sentience.

How this is done varies between canonical sources, but that's fundamentally how they all work. Sometimes the order of these stages can change, or even occur simultaneously.

The main exception would have been the very ancient Transformers who could reproduce via a form of asexual reproduction similar to mitotic cell division on a massively large scale. It looks like this:


-------

If you mean the origin of the species, then there are several different explanations.

1/ The Transformers were created along the lines of mechanical evolution - beginning with simple gears and cogs, much like how organic life evolved from single-celled organisms. Although this origin was retconned out of existence by the comics' later divine creation story, there continued to be elements of evolution within the Transformers' comics. In Transformers G2 we learnt that the Transformers were able to asexually self-reproduce, but they eventually lost that ability. The "Generation 2" Decepticons (e.g.: Liege Maximo, Jhiaxus etc.) claimed to be on a higher scale of evolution than the G1 Transformers - and indeed led a campaign where they attempted to ethnically cleanse the galaxy of the "inferior" G1 Transformers. The Swarm, after being effected by the Matrix, went on to evolve into the Vok (re: Beast Wars). The movie continuity also displays some elements of evolution, e.g.: Prime suggesting to Ironhide that they were once a primitive and violent species; and one of the movie script writers mentioned that the reason why the Transformers that had been newly created by the AllSpark acted so violently was because they hadn't yet evolved a sophisticated level of reasoning - they were effectively feral.

2/ In the G1 cartoon the Transformers were first created by Quintessons as commodities to be sold to other species. Their slaves eventually rebelled and exiled them from Cybertron which they claimed as their own planet.

3/ The G1 comics gave us the divine creation story - that the Transformers species was created by the god Primus, as a final line of defence against the dark god Unicron. Each Transformer's life essence was spawned a sample of Primus' own life essence, manifested in an artifact known as the Creation Matrix.

Beast Wars expanded on G1 & G2 origin stories and clearly defined a Transformer's life essence/laser core into what they called the "Spark" and introduced the AllSpark Matrix being something similar to Nirvana - where all Sparks originate and are destined to return to. Evolution by the time of Beast Wars seemed to be artificial - i.e.: the Transformers intentionally upgraded themselves into Maximals and Predacons rather than having it occur as a natural process. Beast Machines explained that Cybertron itself had evolved from an organic world (something which is supported by both G1 cartoon and comic book canon) and that the next stage of evolution was the balance between machines and nature.

Another answer is By Commitee.

[GoktimusPrime]

Well it's no secret that Transformers has never had a unified form of continuity, so the fact is that we have multiple versions of Transformers creation as a result. It's just something we gotta deal with. And there are advantages to having multiple continuities too (i.e.: fans have a choice over which canon they prefer)

[Sky Shadow]

Does anybody have any of the old Machine Men comic books that were given out free at toy shops? The third and fourth issues are up on this site: http://counter-x.net/gobots/comic/ma...men/index.html (For some reason, the guy still calls them the first and second issues even though I've corrected him on it.)

The first issue was black and white (well, black and yellow) and had a competition for a silver Crasher. I think Zod was the cliffhanger. The second issue dealt with the battle with Zod and had a competition for a gold Baron Von Joy (one of which I won, though I no longer have it.)

I thought if anyone would have these comics it would be someone here so... anyone?