I picked up Decepticon Fracture today. Haven"t opened her yet. I can't believe they made this character a female. The body is proportioned for that of a female, but I never would have thought about this originally. Now, every time I see my classicsa Mirage, I'm going to think he's some metrosexual robot.

So, here is a question to you all. Am I the only one that feels that toys such as Universe Powerglide and classics Mirage should have that mold all to themselves? They make these toys in the image of their G1 counterparts, but then have to repaint them for another character, which IMO ruins the feel of the original. At least change the head for Vector Sigma's sake !!! I'm tired of clones !!!!! Anyway, Fracture is a really cool looking repaint, and the bio is actually pretty decent too. It's just too bad that they had to share the mold from classics Mirage.

Well, you could, you know, not buy the repaint.

I couldn't resist. You'd be crazy if you didn't think that paint scheme was very well done. It actually looks better than Mirage's IMO. But seriously, I don't buy repaints when I think they are just a money making gimmik by Hasbro and Takara. If it seems like they really put thought into a figure when they redeco them, I consider it. When it's an obvious attempt at trying to get more money, heck no !! Fracture was a different story. The paint and bio are awesome, and she was only $7.77.

Father Time, is that you?

I agree...but then aren't you asking Hasbro to never give you the toy you prefer?

I hate to say this but I always thought he looked feme. Round hips, slender waist, the head mold....

But G1 in itself was full of clones. If anything, they're keeping within the spirit of the original line with repaints that are new characters/new paintjobs. For instance, Starscream and Thundercracker were Diaclone figures (identical paint schemes), but Skywarp was never a Diaclone color scheme. Now they're doing the same thing and churning out some interesting little nods to do so.

who said mirage was male anyway...

HA!

Maybe the masculine pronouns in his bio?

'D

I'm not really in love with the Crasher / Fracture paint scheme. Mostly because I remember Crasher being a lot more black than that. Also because Crasher was a Go-Bot and they sucked.

I'm also not getting the "femme" thing with Mirage... he's just, like, skinny and stuff. But

Good point... but don't forget:







And specifically the Classics version:



If nothing else applies, THAT one does.

It always bothered me that they made female TFormers for a couple reasons:

Although having male voice actors complicates this- they're robots and not inherently male/female to begin with. This was unique in children's toys.

By introducing a very small handful of female characters (probably not really enough to make girls who needed female characters happy), it immediately made all other robots male by default. Suddenly it was more of a boys club than many children's toy lines.

Is it just me?

That reminds me of this picture caption idea that I had. When I got Fracture I stood her next to Henkei Megatron in robot mode. If Starscream were on the other side, I'd have Megatron say this in a thought balloon.


"Traitors on the left. Trannies on the right. Sometimes I feel like placing my right arm against the side of my head and ending it all."

No. And quite frankly, I find your mistaking me with some lowlife whose name just happens to start with 'father' insulting, to say the least.

It's really hard to poke a joke on the internet recently.

so just repaint the face and make her in to a guy.

Bluestreak, Prowl, Smokescreen, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Starscream, Sideswipe, Red Alert, Ironhide, Ratchet, Rumble, Frenzy, Buzzsaw, Lasberbeak, Tailgate, Windcharger, Swerve, Gears, Pipes, Huffer and a crap load more would like to have a word with you on that.

Geewun is 5 times more guilty with repaint shenangins than anything new they've made since.

People who bitch about repaints just don't get it.
The point of a repaint is to take a mould and re-release it as a new character, hoping that the money the repaint brings in will help recoup the cost it took to make the mould in the first place (which is in and of itself a very expensive process). Furthermore Hasbro doesn't expect us or anyone else to buy every version.
As far as fans are concerned repaints are for fans who didn't like the colours of the first release, or who missed the first one all together.

If you don't like a repaint due to the paint job, you don't think the mould matches the character, whatever, if you don't like it don't buy it. Hasbro isn't trying to milk you for all your money with repaints, they don't expect you to and they find it odd that some people think they have to.

To say something like "they should have at least changed the head" is to admit ignorance on the business end of things. Even to mould a new head is an expensive process, which would defeat the purpose of a money saving repaint.

As fro clones/repaints/whatever, there have always been TFers who have shared a body type/protoform, from G1 to Animated.
So Crasher's TF incarnation (Fracture) sharing a body type with an existing TFer isn't a problem. We know the Seeker body type exists as the body type for numerous TFers. As far as Classics go we know of at least three bots who use the Bumblebee style of body. Why would we assume that Mirage's body is completely unique to him?

i doubt it very much

we know why they have to do them & we know it's not gonna change but it's just like moaning about the weather: people will always do it so get over it (& ignore them)

batching about repaints will happen, but batching about Hasbro not doing repaints happens as well, and often with good reason. I'm sure anyone could guess when this has happened.

& will probably happen again smokescreen & red alert

LOL, yeah and with that invisibility mode, I'd kind of fear him/her being around !!

Okay, if you had PAID ATTENTION to what I was originally getting at, I was poking fun at the fact that Hasbro took a supposedly MALE character's body and turned it into a FEMALE. The latter being more of a joke, then I got into "batching" about repaints. Ignorant to you or not, as a consumer, I can do this. This is my right. Yes, we all know that G1 was full of repaints and clones i.e. Ironhide/Ratchet, Thundercracker/Starscream/Skywarp, Prime/Ultramagnus. I'm just stating, and maybe I wasn't as clear as I should have been, that repaints take away from the spirit of the "original" character. For example, Universe Powerglide's head is a dead on replica of the G1 version. Then you have a Decepticon with the same head. That's the only reason I get upset, and even then, I don't lose sleep over it. I have a feeling that at least 90% of the people reading my original statement, probably got a little chuckle out of it. Or they just realize how weird I am for even worrying about a male robotic body becoming a female robotic body. Next time buddy, try and keep up please.

Yes, you are right Caine. There are too many "internet gangstas" out today.

By the way, I love your avatar pic. That's the way Prime needs to be treated each and every time. He's such a wimp.

They're more than just "robots. They're living organisms, life forms. Besides, being "robotic" does not preclude them from being literally male and female given that they have genes and are made up of self-replicating nanomachine cells. They can be inherently male and female, and are in most continuities. However, that's moot. I also wouldn't say that the number of female transformers is small by any means. The number of female Transformers has been steadily growing. There are currently over seventy-two known female Transformers in canon. It's also not unique to children's toys. It's also not only the girls who like female Transformers characters either. There are plenty of guys who like them too.

As for using the Mirage mold to make Crasher, It was a perfect choice. I had thought about using that mold to make an Earth version of the War Within female character Vibes. but couldn't get another Mirage at the time. The mold does lend itself well to a female character.

Tramp....Shut up.

Why he's right, and I repainted Fracture into Arcee.

BThis is Tramp. You know this conversation will go into his favorite direction unless prevented, which was what I was trying to do.

there you go

Why Soundwave needs to be a mass shifting piece of musical hardware in the next Transformers movie?

*Slaps Blot* You know what I mean. I, however, do not wish to be the one to be the first to mention that topic in this thread, so I'm doing my utmost not to do so.

Well, I've said all I'm going to on that matter.

Rodimus, thanks for sticking up for me.

I always viewed them like this as well. The animated movie proved they feel pain (Starscream shooting his own foot to escape the transforming Autobot city), and that they could die (shown numerous times throughout). I'm not saying that they have the same get up as humans, but they certaintly are living organisms. The way the Mike Bay movie goes, I almost compare their metal bodies to Colossus from the X Men. I agree with you again Tramp that the Mirage mold lends itself well to a female character. Fracture's face has an almost Ancient Egyptian way about it. On another note, I'm sorry if I offended anybody in here originally, as it was all just really a joking matter. I still say some of you need to get out more and not take life so seriously.

It's funny I looked at Mirage today, and he still looks fine to me. I even looked at him next to my Arcee repaint of Fracture, and I guess it's just that the paint jobs are different enough they each have their own vibe.

Internet PWN. You showed me
Your argument is essentially that a mould represents a certain unique character and that to repaint it as an other character ruins it, as it is no longer unique to the first character. With Mirage/Fracture you feel this is amplified as the repaint is also that of a female TFer while Mirage is a male TFer.
I get what you're saying, I just think you're wrong on every level.

From a business end of things repaints are necessary. They would be near impossible to do if Hasbro followed your interpretation of every mould being unique to the first character to use it. That line of thinking is bad for business.
In this particular instance, both Fracture and Mirage are unique enough in their paint jobs that they stand out as distinct characters despite using the same mould. As Rodimus VTS has, they each have their own "vibe."

From a storyline POV, these are machines. Their personalities are decided by their individual programming, not their body type. You have Mirage and Fracture. Two TFers who share a body type, which is not uncommon. What makes one female and one male is simply their individual programming. One is designated as "male" the other as "female."

Differing opinions is fine. It makes for healthy discussion. Calling people who disagree with you "internet gangsters" and telling them they need to get out more probably isn't the best way to go about your business here.

In my opinion, the only female character that this mold is suitable for is Crasher, because the original character was more. . .solidly built than most of the more slight female forms used elsewhere. She had wide shoulders and so does the Mirage mold, which is why I don't feel for my purposes that the mold works for Arcee. However, I really get and appreciate Rodimus' rendition of her with her!

For my purposes, since this is all fiction and personal opinion anyway, the artistic perspective is what I'm looking to to evoke the male or female form. Blocky or V shaped=male and hourglass=female, but that said, if an official hasbro-produced version is done of Arcee, Elita 1 or any other female using the Mirage form, I'll buy her, since as haggisjin is fond of reminding me, "I'm easily convinced to buy repaints"

However they have to be different characters or at least have a good enough story to warrant a new deco.

Male and female is subjective in this hobby---for all we know Optimus himself could consider himself a herself based on his programming.

For me it's all about the artistic form and characterization. And by that standard Crasher/Fracture was barely female, so the mold works for me!

Please don't use the emoticon on me! I had to "get {my} words out"

It really does work better as a girl. Kinda scary.

Superconductor, I like you and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. You also get a ! (and not ~)

I think the mold works far better for Crasher (let's call her by her real name here) than for Mirage. Personally, the Machine Wars version is just fine as my Mirage, and I passed on the Classic. But as Crasher, the mold is just perfect - the lean robot mode definitely looks feminine, the colors are true to the original, and the car mode is much cooler then Mirage was. IMO this mold was meant to be Crasher.

And I still don't think Powerglide looks much like the character at all. The wing shoulderblades sorta work, but the head only has the vaguest resemblance to my eyes. It's a shame the original Classics set the bar so high for being true to the original characters, and then 2/3 of the expensive big Universe Classics drop the ball on that score. The only one of the three that really evoke the originals IMO is Silverbolt, and that's the one I bought.

The only thing that hurts Powerglide is his color scheme. It may be more realistic, but it doesn't match up with the original character. However, give that figure the proper G1 colors, and yes, he does look like Powerglide http://www.sector70.com/gallery.aspx?tgt=p.../tr_powerglide/. Now, as far as Crasher and Mirage go. The mold works equally well for both characters in my opinion.

the japanese "classics/universe/henkai/whatever" powerglide is in G1 colours & it still doesn't look like powerglide - i think the size is the biggest issue

crasher & mirage - any excuse to use that mould is fine by me! i'd love a dragstrip repaint

I completely agree about both Powerglide, and the CL F1 racecar mold. The F1 car is great, but Powerglide could have been so perfect as a Deluxe. Dang it Hasbro why didn't you make Galvatron the Ultra, and Powerglide the Deluxe!?!?

when they "beef up" the micromasters (big daddy for example) it doesn't bother me but prominent characters like powerglide should remain faithful to their G1 toys to a certain extent

galvatron... the only positive thing is i'm looking forwards to displaying tank galvatron with tank unicron & (classics 2-pack) tank megs

energon galvy will be in my "classics" display

Sigh. It's Beast Machines allll over again. LOL! ^_^

I'd say that Powerglide is faithful to the original (minus the paint job), just improved. IT still has the important elements in place—the wings in the shoulders, the "cone" head with single antenna, the face plate, the A-10 Thunderbolt alternate mode. The difference is that the tail and thrusters no longer form the lower legs and feet, but rather form part of fuselage and nose cone, which, in my opinion, is an improvement. The new transformation also allows for significantly more articulation than the old design. Yes, he's significantly bigger, and I certainly have no problem with that. It's not the first time that Hasbro has changed up the transformation of a G1 character, and it won't be the last. It still remains true to the spirit of the character. It just needed to be repainted red.

and i'm saying it isn't and i'm right (make a poll if you don't believe me)