Collector Club Magazine #52 (AUG/SEPT 2013)

[griffin]

The latest issue must have been released last month with little fanfare, as it arrived in my mailbox yesterday without me even seeing anything about it on the global fansites.

Looking through it, there isn't really anything news-worthy in it. (less than usual at that)

P1/Cover - winning Cosplay outfit from BotCon (Gen1 Soundwave)
P2 - tells us what things we should have received by now, and assuring us that the Club Site will be up soon.
P3 - Two page interview with Stern Pinball, about the Transformers one released last year. (continues page 13)
P4-6 - BotCon coverage.
P7-12 - Comic (Beast Wars Shattered Glass P4)
P13 - part two of the Stern Pinball interview.
P14 - Bio of Ultra Mammoth.
P15 - Bio of Megatron (purple Gen2 Tank)
P16 - Games and "funnies" page.

One thing I only just noticed that actually annoys me - on the Bio pages, someone is trying to be funny with their labelling of the Alt-modes.
Looking back, they've been doing this for a while now, and I didn't take much notice of it until now.
These are meant to be a serious reference element... and since the comic borders on being fanfic, the Bios were supposed to be a continuation of the old "Universe" and "More than Meets The Eye" Bios, so I think that they should have been taking them more seriously or responsibly.

The recent alt-mode "descriptions"...
Ultra Mammoth - Big Blue Beast
Megatron - Terrible Tank
Scylla - Beastly Bottom Feeder
Grimlock - Raging Raptor
Optimus Prime - Lethal Launcher
Depth Charge - Frequent Flyer
Sideswipe - Gold Circle Winner
Frenzy - Crazy Car
Runamuck - Tasty Tuner
Sizzle - Green Machine
Nightracer - Lean Machine
Soundwave (Gobots) - Sound Machine
Jhiaxus - Fiery Flyer

The club magazine isn't TFwiki (which doesn't take their job seriously at being an encyclopaedia archive), and as unreliable as the Club has been with other things, at least this was one element they had taken seriously in the past.


Anyway, just to make this more interesting, here is the Multiple Choice trivia on the back page.

1 - Which of the following had a Jellyfish as its alt-mode?
a - Dead End
b - Claw Jaw
c - Rage
d - Ikard

2 - Which of Big Convoy's rookie recruits has aspirations to one day join the Convoy Council, while working in Personal Affairs and Supply Management?
a - Break
b - Stampy
c - Heinlad
d - Longrack

3 - Who had disguised himself as a "black ball" in order to trick the Maximals and Predacons into hunting down the Anglomois capsules?
a - The Fallen
b - Logos Prime
c - Unicron
d - Majin Zarak

4 - Which Cybertronian was one of the first to experiment with Synthoplasmic Pretender Technology that eventually led to the creation of organic beast forms?
a - Scorponok
b - Wheeljack
c - Cloudburst
d - Ironfist


Answers - 1-c, 2-d, 3-c, 4-a

[BigTransformerTrev]

I just realised - I don't think I ever got issue 51! When did 51 come out and what was in it, in case I'm having a memory blank and it's sitting on my coffee table.

[UltraMarginal]

I only got mine late last week, so yours might still be a couple days away BTT.
did you end up getting your club figures?

[BigTransformerTrev]

I only got mine late last week, so yours might still be a couple days away BTT.
did you end up getting your club figures?

Was never able to sort the issue of the Figure Subscription Service out with them, but I did get my Depthcharge figure, surprisingly it was earlier than many folk in the big cities did.

Ah, well that explains the 51 thing then - cheers UM

[Paulbot]

These are meant to be a serious reference element... and since the comic borders on being fanfic, the Bios were supposed to be a continuation of the old "Universe" and "More than Meets The Eye" Bios, so I think that they should have been taking them more seriously or responsibly.

They are meant to be a serious reference element? They've been fanfic since they started basing them around their own fiction (so that's probably since the first issue). Most of the Shattered Glass profiles are intrinsically jokes.

It bugs me to see people continue to dismiss TFwiki, despite it being the most comphrensive resource of TF information that exists online, just because it's not the humourless encyclopedia they apparently want. /rant

[griffin]

The cover of #51 has the various BotCon guests on it.
You should have received it two months ago (end of June - early July), as it was sent out before BotCon in early June.

[BigTransformerTrev]

The cover of #51 has the various BotCon guests on it.
You should have received it two months ago (end of June - early July), as it was sent out before BotCon in early June.

Cheers Griffin - I've got a feeling I never recieved it. Either that or it was unmemorable enough that I simply can't remember getting it, which is possible. Will see if 52 shows up and do at least a cursory search for 51.

[griffin]

It bugs me to see people continue to dismiss TFwiki, despite it being the most comphrensive resource of TF information that exists online, just because it's not the humourless encyclopedia they apparently want. /rant

Reliably serious doesn't mean it will be boring. It just makes it professional enough to rely on and refer to others who don't know the in-jokes.
Just because they are the only group of people willing to do a comprehensive TFs encyclopaedia it doesn't mean they can make a joke of it. And just because experienced fans understand some or most of the humor, that's not the same as being made interesting or captivating - that can be done with the images themselves, not the "funny" commentary.
If it wasn't such a huge task, I'd like to see one created that not only takes it seriously (like all other wikis I've seen and used) but also includes Japanese Transformers (as the tfwiki is not a reliable resource for JP Transformers, as you can't find JP listings or even certain JP characters that were released by Hasbro under different names).
If I could find people willing to do a TFs wiki that was more reliable, without the in-joke commentary, I would, but no single person has that sort of time.

I don't think I've ever come across another wiki (fiction or non-fiction) for information or reference, and found the same in-joke commentary. Have you? And if you did, would you trust the information, or even refer it to for research purposes. This may be a kid's fictional toyline, and we may be able to tell the difference between the jokes and what is real, but newbies and non-fans looking for answers to their questions about an unknown subject matter could be confused by the in-jokes that are only aimed at the more experienced fans.
How come other fiction wikis can be serious and reliable, and our one wiki can't be... and why are experienced fans who may understand the in-jokes, willing to be okay with a wiki that can be confusing to others, and be a format that you'd never be able to reference in educational or professional circles because it isn't reliably serious.

/my rant.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I think the 'humour' on TFwiki also shows a bit of bias in the reading as well. Certain contestable aspects of Transformers have a somewhat patronising tone to the articles as well, which personally I find hinders the wiki as a reliable source. If I didn't know any better I could be thinking that maybe they are taking the piss. Is the information correct or is this a joke?

Back to the club mag.

Glad I left the club now. I feel kind of bad in that every time I see something about the club it irritates me at how crap they are, so it seems I am always whingeing about them, but that's exactly how I feel.

[BigTransformerTrev]

The cover of #51 has the various BotCon guests on it.
You should have received it two months ago (end of June - early July), as it was sent out before BotCon in early June.

Heh - it turns out I DID get issue 51 - it was just that forgettable I.... forgot it. That, combined with putting up a link that already existed in the movie bots thread - ol' BTT did not have the brain plugged in this morning.

Issue 52 just turned up today, pretty much as forgettable as 51.

Reliably serious doesn't mean it will be boring. It just makes it professional enough to rely on and refer to others who don't know the in-jokes.
Just because they are the only group of people willing to do a comprehensive TFs encyclopaedia it doesn't mean they can make a joke of it. And just because experienced fans understand some or most of the humor, that's not the same as being made interesting or captivating - that can be done with the images themselves, not the "funny" commentary.
If it wasn't such a huge task, I'd like to see one created that not only takes it seriously (like all other wikis I've seen and used) but also includes Japanese Transformers (as the tfwiki is not a reliable resource for JP Transformers, as you can't find JP listings or even certain JP characters that were released by Hasbro under different names).
If I could find people willing to do a TFs wiki that was more reliable, without the in-joke commentary, I would, but no single person has that sort of time.

I don't think I've ever come across another wiki (fiction or non-fiction) for information or reference, and found the same in-joke commentary. Have you? And if you did, would you trust the information, or even refer it to for research purposes. This may be a kid's fictional toyline, and we may be able to tell the difference between the jokes and what is real, but newbies and non-fans looking for answers to their questions about an unknown subject matter could be confused by the in-jokes that are only aimed at the more experienced fans.
How come other fiction wikis can be serious and reliable, and our one wiki can't be... and why are experienced fans who may understand the in-jokes, willing to be okay with a wiki that can be confusing to others, and be a format that you'd never be able to reference in educational or professional circles because it isn't reliably serious.

/my rant.

As to the TFwiki debate, as someone who greatly enjoys humor, I kinda like their irreverent approach. I think it was one day I was reading their take on some G1 character and the caption under one of the pics was a quote from the old Simon Pegg sitcom - 'Spaced'. Made me burst out laughing! I think there have been a couple of times I have gotten irritated when they have spent too much time on the in-jokes rather than info (G1 Rewind & Quake come to mind), and occasionally they just descend to base humor which is neither witty nor warranted, but overall it doesn't bother me too much. I suppose if people really don't like it they can always try and find the info elsewhere or start their own site. But I kinda view TFwiki like this site - the person/people that made it put in the hard yards so it's theirs to do with what they will.

One thing I only just noticed that actually annoys me - on the Bio pages, someone is trying to be funny with their labelling of the Alt-modes.
Looking back, they've been doing this for a while now, and I didn't take much notice of it until now.
These are meant to be a serious reference element... and since the comic borders on being fanfic, the Bios were supposed to be a continuation of the old "Universe" and "More than Meets The Eye" Bios, so I think that they should have been taking them more seriously or responsibly.

The club magazine isn't TFwiki (which doesn't take their job seriously at being an encyclopaedia archive), and as unreliable as the Club has been with other things, at least this was one element they had taken seriously in the past.

This I totally agree with - this is actually meant to be Hasbro sanctioned, not some geeks taking the piss