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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Aug 19, 2023 6:51:09 GMT
Wheelie not a mini-Autobot?? He's a Mini Autobot, but not a proper Mini Autobot. Martin |
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Post by Fortmax2020 on Aug 19, 2023 6:53:04 GMT
The Mad Phil thought he could do as he pleased too.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Aug 19, 2023 7:10:10 GMT
Which of the following statements are in dispute?
- Wheelie is the one and only Mini Autobot designed from scratch as a completely new toy in 1986.
- Wheelie was designed specifically to represent a character appearing in TF:TM.
- Wheelie's Japanese toy number is not sequential with those of the other Mini Autobots.
- Wheelie appeared on some toy catalogues grouped with Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr rather than with Tailgate, Pipes and co.
- Bob Budiansky only wrote a cut-down TF Universe entry for Wheelie rather than the full-length one he did for all the other Mini Autobots. (And yes, he did do them for Hubcap and Swerve, they just weren't published at the time.)
- Not all toys in the same toy group have to be the same size, and not all toys in the same size packaging have to be treated as part of the same group.
Martin
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Post by Benn on Aug 19, 2023 7:34:07 GMT
When is a Minibot not a Minibot?
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Post by Toph on Aug 19, 2023 7:37:31 GMT
When it is a minicon!
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Post by The Doctor on Aug 19, 2023 10:28:20 GMT
Wheelie is a mini-Autobot.
-Ralph
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Aug 19, 2023 10:42:53 GMT
Yes indeed.
Just not a proper one.
Martin
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 19, 2023 10:48:09 GMT
I am so attracted to Martin right now.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Aug 19, 2023 10:49:45 GMT
I am so attracted to Martin right now. I take it back. Wheelie's a proper Mini Autobot. Martin |
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 19, 2023 10:52:56 GMT
Too late. IT'S OUT THERE NOW.
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 19, 2023 11:46:07 GMT
No one's going to argue that Wheelie had a different design origin and is part of the new wave of Movie figures, but he's still classed as a Mini Autobot. The '86 toy catalogue poster has him grouped with the others and not the rest of the movie toys, so I don't think you can dispute he is a proper Mini Autobot, the UK toy poster says he is (as does the US one).
He is among other movie figures in the Japanese listings, but there are other anomalies there that just show the numbering is the order they were put in. Probably as designs were finalised. Ultra Magnus is a movie character but he's no where near the others, and the triple changers are after the movie figures and they're Diaclone designs that predate the Movie ones for the most part.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Aug 19, 2023 12:02:13 GMT
And Scourge is a proper Strike Plane?
Martin
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 19, 2023 12:19:07 GMT
He's a strike plane in the same way Gnaw is a Predacon
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 19, 2023 12:20:11 GMT
He is, though, a proper mini Autobot, you naughty person. I think that might be Martin's Christmas Presentt sorted.... |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Aug 19, 2023 12:40:39 GMT
I once owned a Wheelie.
It was easy to call my Robot Cars collection complete after the first 18 and exclude the lower quality 1986 ones, because there was a clean break between the years, but with Mini Autobots it wasn't so simple, because five of the 1986 ones were clearly the same aesthetic as the 1984 ones. So I had to get them, and I felt I had to get Wheelie for completeness. But he just looked odd standing alongside the others. Why would I own the Movie Mini Autobot if I wasn't owning the Movie Robot Cars? So I gave him the heave-ho.
I've always imagined the 1986 Mini Autobot design process going something like this: Outback, Tailgate, Swerve and Hubcap were assigned to a team of competent but risk-averse toy designers, who just tweaked Brawn, Windcharger, Gears and Cliffjumper in fairly safe and unimaginative ways, though the Outback person struck lucky and was allowed to give him a gun. The person who did Pipes was a brilliant rogue over-achiever who, completely unnecessarily, decided to re-engineer Huffer's upper body transformation so that in robot mode the two toys look like completely different molds from the front. And Wheelie? They gave the Wheelie team the model sheets from the character they wanted to animate, and they created a faithful vehicle mode, and a robot mode that's just perfect if you look at it with your eyes shut. They gave him a cap peak of sorts, but no head and a face in the middle of his chest. Was that really the best they could do??
Martin
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Post by The Doctor on Aug 19, 2023 12:56:26 GMT
Yes.
-Ralph
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Aug 19, 2023 13:03:21 GMT
I have to believe that if they'd given the person who re-engineered Huffer to make Pipes the Wheelie job, he would have turned out very different.
Martin
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 19, 2023 13:08:13 GMT
What, an orange Bumblebee turned round with his original head removed and the new one facing the other way?
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Aug 19, 2023 13:13:50 GMT
No, but they could have taken the Wheelie we got and re-engineered it to make its robot mode better. Whether that involves making it face the other way, I wouldn't like to say. I wouldn't rule it out.
Martin
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 19, 2023 13:22:14 GMT
Woah. I'd never twigged that Outback had a gun.
Well I'll be.
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Post by Llama God on Aug 19, 2023 13:25:52 GMT
Yep, that was the consolation I had for having Outback as a kid. I'd really wanted Brawn, but at least Outback had his gun...
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Aug 19, 2023 13:50:22 GMT
Woah. I'd never twigged that Outback had a gun. Yep, he uses it to fight Guardian units in the Marvel comic. And it's why Bob made his tech-specs function 'Gunner'.  Martin |
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Post by The Doctor on Aug 19, 2023 14:20:15 GMT
Woah. I'd never twigged that Outback had a gun. Well I'll be. He can't hold his gun in robot mode though. -Ralph |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Aug 19, 2023 14:24:58 GMT
He can hold it three ways in robot mode: on his back, pinned between one of his door wings and his head, or balanced loose on his raised arm and door wing. None is completely satisfactory, I grant you.
Martin
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 19, 2023 14:25:37 GMT
This is unbelievable news. Wait, can he hold it in robot mode? Or does it just go on top of the vehicle?
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Post by The Doctor on Aug 19, 2023 14:26:22 GMT
It only goes on top of the vehicle mode.
-Ralph
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Aug 19, 2023 14:29:41 GMT
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 19, 2023 14:30:29 GMT
This conversation is going so fast my questions aren't quick enough!
My word, I really needed a distraction at the moment, this was just what I needed.
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 19, 2023 14:40:58 GMT
HE'S GOT HANDS! Oh my word. He doesn't have Brawn's claws. Mind blown. |
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Post by The Doctor on Aug 19, 2023 14:42:00 GMT
Welcome to the world of the Transformers!
-Ralph
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