#and with tf it's especially remarkable since even their appearances are different!

[copiawife]

i went to my movie class tonight and i brought my copia plushie and a girl i was chatting with asked me "is that tobias?" and i took so much psychic damage

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Water Symbols and Ties Between Grady and Terminus: “A” Rewatch by @wdway

This is another re-watch from @wdway. She totally saves my butt on busy weeks when I don’t have time to write new theories, lol.

Here are her observations:

Hi ladies! I hope you're both doing well. I did a rewatch of s4e16 A, series number 51. I think it's important to mention that this episode was co-written by Scott Gimple and Angela Kang.

It starts out with a flashback of the prison and then we have Rick, Carl's and Michonne talking about how hungry they are. Later, they catch a rabbit in a snare. I thought about how much rabbits were featured in this back half of s4. It emphasized the size when Rick says, "A small one." Later, Michonne mentions again it was a small rabbit. This made me think of Lennie talking about the little ones.

I'll skip over the Claimers, other than the car scene where Daryl and Rick were talking. Daryl brings Rick a bottle of water. There's no label. It's just clear. It's actually a good size bottle and he sets it down in front of them. He brought water = Beth into that scene. They brought Beth into the Terminus part of the episode with the use of symbols that we were totally unaware of at the time. We gradually realized them as the seasons went on, the water being a huge symbol.

This is right after they jumped the Terminus fence and found this door propped open. Notice it says that it's a fire door, a way to escape. I think this can be considered a water symbol, just as a fire pull or ceiling sprinkler would be. I cropped this shot so that you could read the sign on the door a little easier. I do want to mention that Daryl is next to Rick and they are the only two in the shot.

Rick and co come out into a common area or plaza and are about to get a plate full of meat when Rick notices objects from people from the prison. He takes a guy to use as a shield against the sharpshooters.

I just mentioned how the door was the symbol of water, even though it was a door. Well, this is similar. That red object against the wall is a fire hose holder. I know this because I noticed it at the end of Us when Maggie and her group first came into Terminus. I noticed how it said fire hose. You can also see the fire hydrant next to it and if you look closely at the base, it's just a prop. There's a bottom section that should be buried or would be connected to some type of piping if it was real, so these are not objects that were already at this location. That means they're symbols.

Notice how this little corner is visible during the majority of this scene. We see it to the side or behind Rick almost the entire time. So, we have a fire hose and a fire hydrant. Both Beth symbols because they = water.

Look straight above the fire hose stand. There are 2 diamonds at the top of the building. I don't think they’re original to the building because of the shadowing around them. They appear to simply be tacked up, serving no particular purpose other than being diamond shaped, which = Beth.

Now look at the corner next to the hose and hydrant. There is a sign on the brick wall that I believe refers to the hose or hydron. It reads, “emergency water key, replace when used.” Just in case we didn't know this was a water reference, they wanted to make sure that they let us know, but I really like the fact that it's a water key.

I just needed to point out Daryl's Poncho which, ironically, he didn't notice, but Rick did. 

The three small pictures underneath it are original sketches of the Native Americans’ Thunderbird.

Our little group starts to run for their lives. We follow them as they run past a boneyard, turn different corners, and then all of a sudden we see this shot.

Notice the fire hose stand, a tire, the yellow objects, the abandoned car with a shattered windshield and these stacked train cars. During this shot, we hear a female voice calling for help. Here's the funny thing: we never see our group running through or past this, so this is staged simply to show us symbols. In one of the five flashbacks was of Rick coming into the prison with Beth/Judith sitting on the steps, Patrick was sitting on the floor in front of Beth's cell, making something out of Legos. Carl is cleaning his gun. Rick stops to talk to Patrick and Patrick thanks Rick for picking up the Legos and he makes a comment about that they are for ages 4 through 12. I've always thought that was somewhat odd.

I just want to throw out an idea to you. This might actually be a comment about the story arc lasting from season 4 through season 12. I'm not talking about the series ending at 12, I'm simply thinking that this storyline, Rick, Beth, Daryl and Carol will continue through season 12.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Love it all! I especially liked the fire and water stuff you pointed out at Terminus and how they brought Beth into it. The combination of water and key is especially interesting. You did spark one idea from me.

And I know I sound like a broken record on this point, but could Terminus have foreshadowed the helicopter group? (Yes, I know I’m saying this WAY too often, and all the things I point to and consider probably do NOT directly equate to the helicopter group, but think of it as a mindset shift on my part. I’m kind of considering all things in light of the helicopter group.)

I was thinking that Terminus was where all the train tracks met, right? And we’ve seen more than one representation of the train tracks representing character paths. So, it would have made more sense if all the characters had met up at Terminus. And most of them did. Beth was the exception. But if this was a foreshadow of all character paths converging at some future point, then that would make sense. Because Beth is the one that’s been gone for a long time, but since then, others, such as Heath and Rick, have also disappeared.

So, all paths need to converge at some point, and we believe that will happen in some way via the helicopter group. See why I’m thinking this? I think what you’ve found here backs this up.

Another insight? Remember in 5x09, we see some train tracks with the camera moving forward along them, and the tracks disappear into the woods up ahead. Maybe those tracks represent Beth’s path, and the fact that it’s going to disappear for a while. But it will reappear and meet up with other character paths at some future point.

Which also reminds me of a kind of famous passage in the book of Revelation about a woman who gives birth to a child but then goes into hiding in the woods. Most scholars interpret it (a total analogy) as that the true gospel Christ taught would go into hiding for a while (Dark Ages) but re-emerge later. I don’t know if this is what they were going for or even considering, but it’s what I thought of. Might be a similar template. Anyway, great rewatch. You always have eagle eyes.

@wdway:

I cannot tell you how much I agree with you. I definitely think Terminus was tied to the helicopter people or, more precisely, that Terminus is connected to Grady and it is Grady who had a connection with the helicopter or what the helicopter group was at the beginning of the turn. I believe it's around a year-and-a-half into the turn when Beth was brought there, and I believe they have evolved over the 10 years.

Dawn pretty well confirmed that there was a group coming soon, so it makes total sense that it could be a military-type organization. I'm going to show you some shots that will totally bring back what I've been obsessing about all the seasons.

Top one is Hansen, Dawn's Superior until he went crazy. I know the second shot is really dark. This is the best I can do with trying to lighten it. Do you remember this at the end of No Sanctuary, where they give a bit of a backstory of Terminus being taken over by this big guy who terrorized them? I believe this guy is Hanson.

Isn't it strange that they tell a backstory about a group that TF has taken down and that they go to a lot of effort to make this person hard to see?

That's right. I think the crazy guy from the train box car is none other than Hanson. If you look at Slabtown and Coda, this person is discussed several times. An awful lot of screen time is taken up with a story of how Hanson went rogue. What's the need of that when Grady is about to be left behind and, more importantly, why do we repeatedly see a picture of him?

The first picture I showed above has his badge next to it. Another question of why do we need to see that? I'm going to throw out a crazy idea. Why not, haha. In the very dark picture below, the guy seems to be wearing some kind of large belt buckle. I think it might be a gun or something stuck in the front of his pants, but I think there's a badge there.

I guess there's a definite yes to me, believing that all of this relates to the helicopter people. More importantly, the new series The World Beyond apparently did not want to start until after we see episode 16. I've said this before. I think at some point, not necessarily the first episode, but I think somewhere within it we will see Grady, pre-Beth.

@frangipanilove

I love you take on Hanson. I totally agree that they alluded to something that we haven’t quite seen yet, and I would love to see Grady tied to the helicopter ppl somehow. I have wondered a lot about the tattoo guy from Terminus and what the deal was with him, and your pics show a remarkable resemblance between Hanson and the crazy terminus dude.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

It would explain the defunct cop cars at Terminus, if Hansen left Grady and arrived in them. And as you’ve said, the weirdness of some of this that hasn’t yet been explained.

That’s it for today. Anybody have any thoughts on these insights?

[imreallyhereforplance]

Why No One Addressed Pidge’s Well-Being or Lance’s Outburst (+ S8 Plance Theory)

So I see that there are some posts where people are expressing an understandable amount of disappointment that the torture scene wasn’t expanded upon. That we didn’t see Pidge thank Lance or anyone ask Pidge if she was alright.

I was also confused, so I did some thinking, and came to a conclusion that’s actually pretty comforting to me: The writers did this to preserve atmosphere, and this scene will be addressed and/or paralleled in a future episode. Not just because we ship plance and we’re hoping for more scenes, but because it would help the writers reel the audience (or anyone who cares about Lance’s well-being) in during this future episode.

I COULD BE WRONG, but I’m actually pretty optimistic, and this post explains my thought process. It’s long, but if I can write it, then I believe that you have the strength to read it (if you want). Good luck.

@lancemccutie, this is dedicated to you ;)

As I mentioned, people have been disappointed at seeing NOBODY ask Pidge if she’s okay. And us plance shippers really wanted Pidge to thank Lance or something sweet like that.

But I feel like that’s just not the writers’ style. In a calmer situation where everyone is together, they might brush upon romantic subplots or, more commonly, illustrate the power of friendship/teamwork in general. In a more intense scene, though, they focus on events, like “Torture. Cut to Acxa. Hacking. Sentries.” That kind of thing. Because it’s all about ATMOSPHERE. So let’s talk about it. (I promise this is relevant.)

The torture scene. Wow, that was an emotional rollercoaster. Personally, I WAS surprised that no one said anything to Pidge, and I too was disappointed when we didn’t see her react to Lance. But remember that it was an intense portion of the episode, and an intense episode in general. There were multiple events going on, back-and-forthing between Coran, Acxa, the mice, the prisoners, and Ezor and Zethrid. The creators clearly outline this as an eventful episode, and they work hard to build up an atmosphere. This episode especially, since it’s the first time our heroes have actually been apprehended.

So in order to build this atmosphere, this dread, and make you really hope and really root for these characters, including Axca of all people, who might be their only hope, the writers cannot include anything that might subtract from what’s happening, even if it “makes sense.” (Like I get that there was some humor sprinkled in this episode, but it was mostly Coran giving away their location, which was a BAD thing.)

It makes sense that someone would ask Pidge if she’s okay. Which is why I am CERTAIN that someone did, we just didn’t see it because we had flashed to another character perspective. And why did we need to miss it? Because that would give us too big of a relief, we would have the subconscious feeling that it was over, things were better now. And of course we feel relief when they stop messing with Pidge, that’s unavoidable, but the creators realize that, and don’t want that. Or at least, too much of it. Because it’d be like spoiling their work.

Remember why the creators chose that she would be tortured in the first place – To BUILD atmosphere. To make you DREAD what’s happening. Like the popsicle post said, it “will make you gasp.” It tells the audience how bad the situation is. And it was remarkably effective. However, once she was released, they knew the audience was going to feel slightly better, and they didn’t want that. They wanted the audience to remain anxious. They wanted to minimize the feeling of relief so as not to take away too much from the dread that they’ve built up in their audience – the same dread they just created by including the scene.

So once Ezor stopped, the writers don’t bring any more attention to how Pidge is doing. Asking “Are you okay,” and Pidge saying “Yeah...I’m fine” would make us feel pity or concern at her particular well-being rather than concern at the situation as a whole. Instead, they want us to remember that the situation is still SUPER bad, so it’s treated like a “Nope, moving on. We gotta go – now!” kinda thing where they aren’t going to address this, and we the viewers are taken along for the ride. Having her tell us that she’s okay SUBSTRACTS from the atmosphere they’ve made from her being threatened, and instead draws our attention to Pidge particularly for a little too long for the writers’ liking. It would be a pause in what’s going on. Yes, it’d be a brief pause, but still there.

With this in mind, I guess you could say that Pidge is thereby used as a means to an end, but isn’t that true for everything that happens to these characters? Cuz the point is to tell a story, and you tell a story using those characters. You build an atmosphere using those characters. 

(Also, real quick, this logic potentially means that Pidge really could have thanked Lance as well and we missed it because the writers wanted the general audience to get the most excitement/emotionally out of this episode. Which I respect and, as you’ll soon see, doesn’t bother me, because the scene as a whole MAY STILL BE ADDRESSED LATER ON IN THE SERIES.)

So, THAT IS MY REASONING FOR WHY WE NEVER SEE THE TORTURE SCENE BEING ADDRESSED AGAIN. (For that episode at least.)

HOWEVER, even if we didn’t see it as the viewers, there is NO WAY IN CANON THAT THEY DIDN’T ASK HER IF SHE WAS ALRIGHT. It doesn’t fit their characters at ALL.

Moving on from that specific episode, we all know that Voltron is not just a bunch of events. There are lots of beautiful relationships and lots of character development. But there are certain times for that, and they work better than in such an intense, action-packed, back-and-forthing episode. (And sometimes a juxtaposition of emotion and action are intentionally put together, like when Keith fights Kuron. Intense, but also deliberately emotional.)

Usually when the story focus on relationships, whether platonic or romantic, it tends to have a particular atmosphere that’s different from “In the Way Forward”. When the Paladins built their trust in one another and talked things out when they were stranded in space, almost the ENTIRE EPISODE was dedicated to it. Because it was important to the story that they worked things out and built Hunk at this time in the season. (And the hallucinations and sense of the unknown alone built an atmosphere imo)

The creators work out when a good time to focus on these relationships is, such as the aforementioned episode, and in “The Feud!” Notice that at these times, the atmospheres are a bit calmer, everyone the story is focused on for that episode’s plot is together, there’s no back-and-forthing between characters.

So what about the A//urance scenes? The creators included it because they felt it was important for whatever direction their relationship was going to take, and they included it at a relatively appropriate time. Not in the heat of battle, but before the battle. They let the audience know where these two characters stand, and they do it briefly because it’s not the main focus of the episode, but apparently needs to be addressed. (Interesting….)

Now that all this ATMOSPHERE stuff has been established, let’s move on to PARALLELS. Particularly, between Pidge and Lance. This is when I start specifically talking about future plance goodness along with Pidge and the torture scene.

SO. You know what I think would be veeery appropriate?

A reverse “DON’T YOU TOUCH HER” scene.

Let me explain. If you think about it, Pidge and Lance have sooo many parallels. And sometimes these parallels occur over multiple seasons.

And because this particular scene stands out to all viewers, whether you ship plance or not, I feel that it’s likely, based on the pattern we keep seeing, that something reversed and similar will eventually occur.

Such as, someone ridiculing Lance, and Pidge saying “Back off.”

Or – and this is what I think will happen – an enemy approaching Lance and Pidge saying “Get away from him!” or “Get off him!”

At first glance, these scenarios seem a lot more subtle than “DON’T YOU TOUCH HER,” and the receiver of Pidge’s outbursts may very well not even acknowledge her if she tells them to get tf back, but I think these hypothetical scenes fit with what we’ve been seeing for a while now.

You know why these would work? Because like “DON’T YOU TOUCH HER,” it’s not lovey-dovey. It’s not superficial. It’s not OUT OF CHARACTER IN ANY WAY. No matter what happens in season 8, whether Pidge has a crush on Lance or not (I believe she does), whether she confesses or not, NO ONE can reasonably say that these lines are OOC. They’re not lovey-dovey, but they still speak volumes.

WHICH IS WHY IT WOULD MAKE THE PERFECT PARALLEL TO “DON’T YOU TOUCH HER”. 

It supports my rant on atmosphere because, in the case where Lance is about to be hurt by some enemy, Pidge screaming “Get away from him!” DOES NOT SUBTRACT from the atmosphere. It actually BUILDS the atmosphere. It makes you MORE scared for Lance. It makes you MORE desperate. Like, “oh shi-“ kinda desperate. A “Get away from him!” is more telling in the story than a “thank you, Lance.”

And this is why a parallel to “DON’T YOU TOUCH HER” is not only possible, but probable because it would accomplish a job that the creators want accomplished – atmosphere. (I told you atmosphere was important :D ) And for those of you who read my other post, Plance: A Ramble, (https://imreallyhereforplance.tumblr.com/post/177048118646/plance-a-ramble-im-just-going-to-warn-you-this) this could possibly fit in with the fight where the broadsword appears or the optional fight afterwards where Pidge expresses great emotion towards others.

I think that this can also be applied to @artemisarya‘s wonderful theories as well. I did say “no matter what happens in s8” this parallel would work, but I honestly do think that plance has a remarkably good chance anyways.  

Also, just for the fun of it:

Remember how in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which we’ve been comparing plance and “DON’T YOU TOUCH HER” to for a little while now (looking at @truegryffindorforever2), the dialogue was: 

Ron: GET OFF HER

Then there was some scuffling.

Hermione: No! Leave him alone!

So I feel like, while it’s not INEVITABLE and the creators could choose not to parallel this special scene, I think there’s a lot of potential for it in season 8, one that would even benefit the writers.

And, who knows? Maybe they will address the torture scene, but at a more suitable time plot-wise. Like, when Pidge and Lance are having a heart-to-heart? Pidge could thank Lance THEN, during an undistractedly emotional moment, filled with feels and nothing else demanding their attention. Instead of thanking Lance super quickly in front of all the other characters (including people like Krolia and Romelle) when the audience is supposed to be focusing on the direness of the situation. Personally, I think the former is an AWESOME time to have them discuss the torture scene.  

The purpose of this post is not to tell anyone that their disappointment is unjustified or invalid. Rather, the point is to share my personal thoughts and to give you hope that something that, to me, seems more like the writers’ style might come into play in S8. They might see a “thank you” during an intense scene as a SUBTRACTION from that episode’s suspenseful atmosphere, and will instead have a “Get AWAY from him!” moment to ADD to the atmosphere in a future episode. They’re saving it up to remold it in a way that’s noticeably beneficial to the story! (Again, it builds up atmosphere before something happens / almost happens to Lance.)

Also, despite how positive I might sound, I am obviously not a creator / writer / producer / anything-other-than-big-fan-of-Voltron. I could be completely wrong, I might make no sense, I might be overanalyzing, I may be missing the point. But this is what I think, and I hope it helps some of you <3 

Sorry it’s so long. If you have any patience left, tell me your thoughts!

Edit: I am aware that the "Lance! No!" scene can be interpreted as a parallel to "Don't you touch her!" and I agree with that perspective. To clarify, the parallel I am suggesting above does not only have similar energy, but a similar tone. The "Dont you touch her" scene was a much darker, slower, and more intense moment where Lance is not in a position where he can do much to help Pidge. This is what I envision for season 8 - where Pidge is prevented from coming to Lance's aid (whether it be because she is bound, hurt, or physically blocked) and the audience is aware that Lance is in grave danger. Hence the importance of atmosphere building as I've been discussing.

Once again, thank you for reading 💚💙

[transformersaesthetics]

Historiography

    The decisions a historian makes about terminology, the boundaries of different historical eras, and what they choose to analyze have a tremendous impact on the conclusions they draw. It is, therefore, only reasonable to be as transparent as possible about these decisions. 

As with any historical endeavor, there are normative choices involved in determining what to analyze and how to organize our analysis. For Transformers, these choices are essentially which pieces of media and merchandise we choose to examine, and how we conceptualize our analysis. In this work, I have chosen to focus on figures of scout class and above of the Modern and Late Modern eras. This specifically excludes legends class toys, one step changers, and things of that ilk, for example the fast action battlers of the 2007 movie line. I have made this choice because that is what I personally collect; I don’t find toys that exchange articulation for involved, spring loaded gimmicks aesthetically pleasing. That’s not to say they’re bad, I just don’t enjoy them personally. 

    The primary sources will principally consist of the figures themselves, and official fiction like the Generation 1 cartoon or the IDW comics. More rarely, an artist’s professional website, archives of an interview with toy designers, or Hasbro Q&A sessions will be cited. 

    With respect to secondary sources, the Transformers historian finds themselves in a unique position. There exists a single secondary source so comprehensive as to contain information about every piece of Transformers fiction and every single Transformers figure in existence, namely the TFwiki. There is not, and indeed could not be, an analogous source for world history, and this raises the question, is the analysis of Transformers history redundant? Surely all that can be meaningfully said is already said by the wiki itself. 

    I believe this not to be the case. First, although the TFwiki does feature detailed discussions of Transformers toylines, particularly in blurbs at the beginnings of the pages for those toylines, there is no complete narrative encompassing the history of the entire brand. Although this could be argued to exist implicitly, if one takes the blurbs in order, there is no explicit effort to construct a historical paradigm. Moreover, the format taken in this work allows for a much more detailed and comprehensive examination than is available to the TFwiki blurbs. 

    The existence of the Transformers wiki also somewhat complicates the issue of citing primary sources. In a sense, the TFwiki is the ultimate primary source, compiling information from almost every single primary source available into a single place. There is no reason for me to seek to independently verify the existence of the green Unicron lucky draw figure simply to avoid citing the TFwiki. However, since the wiki is so comprehensive, one runs the risk of relying overly on a single source. I would argue that this reliance is appropriate for several reasons. Firstly, I have never known the TFwiki to be in error, or to contradict any of my personal, firsthand knowledge. Secondly, although the wiki does feature analysis and secondary content, and this will be cited, the principal reason the project will rely on the TFwiki is to provide otherwise inaccessible primary source information. This could take the form of a figure I don’t personally own and don’t have the means or desire to obtain, or a cartoon I don’t particularly want to watch. Thirdly, although the tone and content of this project are meant to be as academic as possible, since it is for my own personal fulfillment, we can relax our standards somewhat. 

Citing a figure or an 80’s cartoon presents some challenges. For figures, the convention for citing sculpture is not particularly appropriate, for several reasons. Figures don’t have a single author, or institution housing them. Since there is not a satisfactory, extant procedure, we will adopt the convention of citing the figure’s wiki page, or the relevant Seibertron gallery, depending on what information we need to communicate. 

    For fiction, oftentimes it would involve more labor than I really want to put into a personal project to properly cite a television show, especially for things like Headmasters or Beast Wars Neo. So, because this isn’t actually academia, I’m not going to! I will instead cite the relevant wiki page. I might change this later if I suffer an attack of the cares. 

    We will be using MLA citations for this project. This decision was made because most online platforms are not equipped with footnotes, and MLA allows for in text citations. Wiki pages are obviously a collaborative effort, and any selection of which user to cite as the author is inherently arbitrary. Therefore, I will establish the convention of citing the oldest named user on the history of revisions page of the TF wiki for most pages. For a select few, namely the pages of toylines themselves, I will cite the most recent user, since those pages are changed more frequently and profoundly. 

    The organizational choices of the project are somewhat more involved. I have chosen to organize this analysis of the brand by era, individual lines and individual molds. 

Transformers history lends itself to being divided into three distinct eras. The first era runs from the creation of the brand in 1984 until the launch of Beast Wars in 1996.(Monzo) The second era comprises the years between the launch of Beast Wars and the release of the first live-action Transformers film in 2007.(Seichi) The third era stretches from 2007 to the present day.

    The first era pioneered and defined many of the concepts and characters that would appear later in Transformers. The iconic Generation 1 cartoon introduced characters that would go on to become pop culture institutions, like Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream and Bumblebee. The cartoon featured countless memorable concepts and scenes, such as Soundwave’s trademark voice, or Optimus Prime playing basketball. It also introduced a remarkably large cast of minor characters who continue to regularly receive references and appearances to this day. 

    Accompanying this extensive cast was an equally extensive toyline, which continued uninterrupted for six years.(Flicky1991) This toyline introduced many of the basic transformation schemes and play patterns that continue to define the brand, such as the hood of the car turning into the robot chest, combiners, triple changers, or smaller figures that interact with larger toys.(Flicky 1991) It is no stretch to say that no other era has played as much of a role in the shaping of the brand. 

    For all its influence, the first era still features many characteristics that allow it to be defined as a period. Perhaps most obviously, limits on toy engineering resulted in figures with, by today’s standards, extremely limited articulation.  Many figures are only able to move their arms.(Flicky 1991) Die cast metal and real rubber tires were still regularly included on figures.(Flicky 1991)  Different copyright laws also allowed figures such as Wheeljack to be very explicit references to other real life corporations and remain unlicensed.(ItsWalky, Wheeljack) Many toys, most notably Jetfire, were not designed by Hasbro or Takara, but licenced from competitors.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47, Jetfire)

    This era will be referred to as the Generation 1 era. Although it also encompasses the Generation 2 toyline, Generation 1 is by far the most important part of the period. The Generation 2 line didn’t receive a new cartoon, and the comic book fiction is a direct continuation of the G1 comic.(Steve-o, Generation 2) Similarly, the toyline is, in many ways, also an extension of G1, featuring many of the same characters, and a high proportion of redecos from the G1 line.(Steve-o, Generation 2) There is also not an appealing term from world history to use for this period; Classical confuses the period with the actual line, Transformers: Classics, that occurred later. Similarly, Medieval and post-classical are somewhat meaningless in this context. 

    The second era of transformers history redefined the brand once again. Beast Wars radically expanded the concept of what a transformer could turn into, with the introduction of organic alternate modes. While Beast Wars and its successor series, Beast Machines, were intended as direct continuations of the G1 cartoon, they also departed from it quite a bit, featuring entirely new casts and introducing foundational concepts such as sparks, the fictional ‘soul’ of a transformer.(Steve-o, Beast) However, the subsequent series, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, was a still greater departure, marking the first true fictional reboot in the history of the brand. The RID universe had nothing to do with the Generation 1 cartoon.(Steve-o, Robots) Megatron was no longer a gun, or even a decepticon, and a bevy of new characters such as the Build Team, Sky-Byte, and Rail Racer had no Generation 1 counterparts.(DrSpengler) Reboots would become one of the most important fictional features of the brand, subsequent to RID. 

    From a toyline perspective, the second era of transformers was also a radical change. Advances in engineering, particularly the near omnipresence of ball joints, allowed Transformers to have remarkable articulation.(Monzo) This change allowed toys to assume their contemporary form, and to distinguish themselves from the blockier and more limited toys of the previous period. 

    This period will be referred to as the Modern period. This term is used because the shift from the figures and fiction of G1 to those of this period marks a huge break in style and content, somewhat similar to how the organization of politics was fundamentally different following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, a date commonly used to loosely mark the start of historical modernity. This term emphasizes both the departure from previous practice and the move into a regime closer to our own, both in terms of time and being more recognizable and intelligible. 

    The third era is marked by the release of the live action Transformers film and the Transformers: Classics line. In the third period, releases cycled between three different kinds of toylines; the line for the currently running cartoon, the line for the current movie, and a CHUG line, a term that will be explored later. 

    The third era also featured an increase in the complexity of figures across the board, largely spurred on by the visual complexity of the 2007 movie models.(Seichi) In contrast with Modern figures, third era figures don’t tend to feature large swaths of uninterrupted or unjointed plastic. Instead, every piece is intricate and detailed, often serving a very specific purpose in the transformation or holding the figure together. 

    The term Late Modern will be used for the third period. The term Postmodern conjures images of transformers that turn into chairs or copies of Foucalt as a statement, which is not suitably evocative of the third period. The term Contemporary is also unsuitable, since the beginning of the era was more than ten years ago, as of writing. Moreover, the term Contemporary should not be chained to a specific era, but left to refer to the present day, whenever that may be.

An important component of the Late Modern period is the widespread prevalence of G1 reference lines. In particular, I will draw attention to the use of the term CHUG as pertains to HasTak’s more nostalgia oriented offerings. The term CHUG is an acronym composed of the first few toy lines that were primarily nostalgia focused; Classics, Henkai, Universe and Generations. (Rhymus) These toylines were dedicated in some part to the recreation of G1 characters as general retail figures, with updated articulation and engineering.(Rhymus) These figures all share a loose general aesthetic, are often deluxe or voyager sized, and are all roughly of the same quality and complexity. This term is preferable to the term nostalgia line for several reasons. First, many of the CHUG lines were not entirely nostalgia focused. Second, the term already exists and is widely understood and used. Accordingly, because the concept is key to our project, we will employ the term. 

The division of eras into lines is easier to understand if, for the moment, we take the perspective of the Transformers fiction.  Any Transformers enthusiast is familiar with the complex, divergent, and some might say tortured Transformers canon. Even as early as G1, the toy bios diverged from the cartoon, which in turn had nothing to do with the contemporaneous comic book series.(Steve-o, The Transformers) For example, in the cartoon, Shockwave was presented as extremely loyal to Megatron, whereas in the comics he was one of his primary rivals for power.(Octopus Prime) The canon becomes even more divergent in the Modern era with the advent of the Robots in Disguise franchise and the first reboot of the brand.(Steve-o, Robots) Although there have been fictional attempts to tie the fiction together with a unified multiverse, on a metafictional level, it makes sense to analyze Transformers canon as a series of different stories by different creative teams, sometimes involving the same or similar characters. This analysis divides Transformers into coherent units or blocks, namely franchises. 

For example, Robots in Disguise constitutes a single block, as does Beast Wars, or Transformers: Armada. These series, although they have storytelling commonalities, are clearly distinct from each other, and each is reasonably self contained. Since, in Transformers, the fiction exists primarily to sell toys, each block of fiction has an associated block of figures.(Jw)  Since the fiction is clearly delimited, so too are the corresponding toylines. To that extent, it makes sense to define them as some of the fundamental units of our analysis.

However, this approach is not without its flaws. There are many more obscure figures that constitute a toyline in and of themselves, or with one other figure. Examples include a Soundwave that turns into a licenced tablet.(Deceptitran) There are also toylines that run independently of any fiction, and concurrently with another toyline, such as 2003’s Transformers: Dinobots.(M Sipher) Indeed, Beast Wars continued to have toys on the shelves even during its successor series Beast Machines.(Monzo) In short, the temporal boundaries of our units, or even what constitutes a toyline, are occasionally unclear. 

    Another issue with the division of analysis into toyline is the joint ownership of the Transformers brand by Hasbro and Takara Tomy. Although there is generally high overlap in terms of the molds offered by Takara and Hasbro, the division into lines is completely different. For example, in 2014, Hasbro and Takara released many of the same molds in a very different way. Hasbro released the figures under the branding Combiner Wars, individually at general retail.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47, Combiner) Takara released them under the branding of Unite Warriors, in packages of 5 figures with cartoon accurate decos.(Saix)  Arguably the most significant departure between Takara and Hasbro occured in the Generation 1 era; Hasbro released one, very large toyline, backed by a single cartoon.(Steve-o, The Transformers)  In contrast, Takara released many toylines, including Headmasters, Super-God Masterforce, Victory, and Zone, each supported by a cartoon series.(Steve-o, The Transformers) This project largely takes a Hasbro focused approach to the analysis of Transformers history. I have chosen this approach because, as an American, I personally am more familiar with Hasbro’s offerings. Moreover, as seen with Combiner Wars and Unite Warriors, Hasbro and Takara’s offerings are often roughly analogous, even though they differ in some broad details. This is especially true since the advent of Power of the Primes and brand unification between Takara and Hasbro.(Grum) Additionally, the primary divergence occurs in the Generation 1 era, (although Beast Wars 2 and Beast Wars Neo are both modern and), as a result, falls outside of the scope of this survey. 

Fortunately, these ambiguities primarily occur on the edges of the brand. The aforementioned Soundwave was not even available at general retail, and Transformers: Dionbots consisted of a mere six figures, all of which were re-releases. For the majority of Transformers lines of significant size, supported by a cartoon, the toyline division is clear and instructive. Since we are primarily concerned with the general thrust of the history, our framework need not work for very small or very obscure lines. 

One unit smaller than the toyline would be the mold. Since we are concerned with the evolution of Transformers toys with time, it is natural that we look to the toys themselves as a unit of analysis. However, the existence of the practices of redecoing and retooling make it desirable to choose the mold as the unit of analysis, rather than the figure. Redecoing a mold is the practice of rereleasing an extant mold with different plastic colors and paint operations.(ItsWalky, Redeco) Often, this is done in conjunction with minor retooling, the practice of changing the sculpt of the mold, slightly or significantly, and rereleasing it.(Steve-o, Retool) Some of the most iconic examples of these practices are the G1 seekers, that is to say, all the characters that are Starscream colored differently, like Thundercracker or Skywarp.(Steve-o, Seeker)

Changing the color of a toy, or giving it a new head, does not create a brand new mold. The adoption of the mold as the unit of analysis prevents us from discussing in detail every single deco change of a mold, which can be reissued with new color schemes anywhere between 2 and 30 times. What is interesting, new, and essential is the mold itself. 

This unit is also flawed, especially as the late modern period draws on. The practice of extensive retooling has become common, where the same core engineering is used with several heavily modified parts to create very different figures. Examples of this include the Titans Return Triggerhappy, Scourge and Doublecross/Twinferno molds.(Steve-o, Retool) Triggerhappy was used as his fellow targetmasters, Misfire and Slugslinger, Scourge was used as Highbrow and Windblade. When the retooling is this extensive, it becomes difficult to say what exactly constitutes a new mold. However, this kind of very extensive retooling is a fairly recent phenomenon, and the examples listed above are the most ambiguous instances of it. For most purposes, what constitutes a new mold is fairly straightforward. 

This project will conduct a line by line survey of every Transformers toyline from Beast Wars until the contemporary era. I will discuss the important features of every line, and some of the aesthetic choices made within toy lines and their evolution. I will examine the relationship between fiction and toys, the evolution of toy engineering practices, and the appearance and proliferation of key concepts, such as CHUG lines. In so doing, I hope to outline a structured vision for understanding the history of Transformers toylines, and to tell the story of the dynamics of these same toylines. I hope you enjoy this journey with me. 

Works Cited

Deceptitran et al. “Soundwave (G1)/toys” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Soundwave_(G1)/toys#Xiaomi_.2F_Transformers Accessed 5/11/2020 

DrSpengler et al. “Megatron (RID)” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Megatron_(RID) Accessed 5/11/2020 

Flicky1991 et al. “The Transformers (toyline)”, TWwiki,https://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_Transformers_(toyline), Then and Now Accessed 4/25/2020 

Grum et al. “Power of the Primes (Toyline)” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Power_of_the_Primes_(toyline) Accessed 5/11/2020

ItsWalky et al. “Redeco” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Redeco Accessed 5/11/2020

ItsWalky et al. “Wheeljack (G1)/Toys” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Wheeljack_(G1)/toys Accessed 5/11/2020

JW et al. “To sell toys” TFwiki.https://tfwiki.net/wiki/To_sell_toys Accessed 5/11/2020

Monzo et al.“Beast Wars:Transformers(toyline)”, TFwiki,https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Beast_Wars:_Transformers_(toyline)   Accessed 4/25/2020

M Sipher et al. “Transformers: Dinobots” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers:_Dinobots Accessed 5/11/2020 

Octopus Prime et al. “Shockwave (G1)” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Shockwave_(G1) Accessed 5/11/2020

Rhymus et al. “CHUG” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/CHUG Accessed 5/11/2020

Saix et al. “Unite Warriors” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Unite_Warriors Accessed 5/11/2020

Seichi et al, “Transformers (2007 Toyline)”, TFwiki,https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers_(2007_toyline) Accessed 5/6/2020  

S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47 et al. “Combiner Wars (toyline)” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Combiner_Wars_(toyline) Accessed 5/11/2020

S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47 et al. “Jetfire (G1)/toys” TFwiki.https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Jetfire_(G1)/toys  Accessed 5/11/2020

Steve-o et al. “Beast Wars: Transformers (Cartoon)” TFwiki.https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Beast_Wars:_Transformers_(cartoon) Accessed 5/11/2020

Steve-o et al. “Retool” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Retool Accessed 5/11/2020

Steve-o et al. “Seeker (body-type)” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Seeker_(body-type) Accessed 5/11/2020

Steve-o et al. “Transformers: Generation 2 (Franchise)” TFwiki.https://tfwiki.net/wiki/G2 Accessed 5/11/2020

Steve-o et al. “The Transformers(Franchise)” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/G1 Accessed 5/11/2020

Steve-o et al. “Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers:_Robots_in_Disguise_(2001_franchise) Accessed 5/11/2020