From retailer Entertainment Earth it seems Decepticon Banzaitron will be a Revenge of the Fallen Bludgeon repaint. Their description:
Their war, our world! The massive robots in disguise can be anything– a helicopter, a rescue vehicle, even your car– and who knows what they’re after? This is the individually packaged Revenge of the Fallen Banzai-Tron toy, which transforms into a tank. Inspired by the original Action Masters toy, plus he has a skull-like head in robot mode and is ready to fight! Measures about 6-inches long.
Click above for the image in full size.
netkid
Be careful.
If you keep referring to him as "Banzai", you could end up with a Japanese man following you around with a microphone, screaming "PLACE BETS NAO!"
SMOG
Oh, growing up, "geek" was definitely negative… but that was 1000 years ago, y'know? I think the mainstream still generally considers "fan" to be an acceptable term, though for me "fans" make me think of people who stalk celebrities or instigate drunken hockey riots (still amazed we didn't have one after last night's loss to the Penguins).
"Geek" on the other hand, seems to have evolved into being the less pretentious badge that fringe culture nerds can identify themselves by. We know we're geeks… our Star Trek collections on DVD, our shelves of toys, our bagged Spider-Man comics, our encyclopedic knowledge base of 70's B-movies, dog-eared copies of TSR's old Monster Manual, pics that might surface of you dressed as some guy from Dragonball Z at a convention… these things mark us.
We're geeks, but I think as a general thing, we're beginning to be okay with that. You can embrace the parts of being a "geek" that you enjoy, without necessarily being defined by all the negative cliches.
For the record, I don't own any Star Trek on DVD, my old Spider-Man comics are not bagged, my forte is kung-fu movies rather than 70's cult cinema, and I've never dressed up like an anime character… though I was dressed as the Monkey King for Halloween 2 years ago. All other examples apply.
You say all that like it's supposed to be a bad thing.
Admittedly, I mostly use that one when I'm trying to be assy and disarming at the same time.
Exactly. I'm kind of surprised we got a Banzai at all, considering he's an obscure, rarely-seen character with NO following, as opposed to Bludgeon, who has actually played a relatively prominent role in the fandom. From the Hasbro point of view, I suppose they were just like "Well… we got this samurai mold here… what should we call the repaint?". I mean, it's still better than calling him "Stealth Bludgeon" or whatever.
BTW… is it true? Am I not the only one who internally just references him as "Banzai" instead of the much stupider-sounding "Banzaitron"?
Right… out of the usual derogatory names, "Geek" has sort of emerged to be the "acceptable" term for a nerd with some hipness. When I'm being "geeky" it usually means I'm being excitable. When I'm being "nerdy" it usually means I'm being anally retentive about some stupid detail.
…like say, vent placement as a visual device in the design of a toy robot homage.
zac
netkid
Yes it is cool, but I prefer Bludgeon over it. Orange is my favorite color.
Paxtin
I've never really thought of "Geek" as an insult. In fact these days it's a fairly marketable chic type of term.
When I think terrible insult, I think more along the lines of "Nerd" or "Dork".
But anyway…How bout that Banzaiton figure?…Pretty cool, aye?
netkid
*types ": p"*
….well I'll be damned! You sir have opened the world to my eyes. I am now in your debt.
All these years…all these years I've been typing it wrong!!!
Abrogate
Well clearly the problem here is your use of capital P. Use a lowercase and you get , works everytime!
netkid
I know right?! Every time I type this " : P " I get this: <-LICKY LIPS, when I really wanted THIS: but I keep forgetting that to get this: you have to type in " : tongue: "
" : P " should give you " " and NOT " "
If I want " " then it should be something like ":licklips:"
Stupid Emoticons, making no sense.
TheBigMachine
netkid, I'm not going to do a line-by-line breakdown of your last two posts. I'll just say you've explained yourself quite well. I've made my sarcastic comments that I thought were quite witty (and funny) only later to find that I thoroughly irritated someone unwittingly (I'm terrible at using the emoticons and frankly some of them annoy me more than if they weren't used…. like this one —-> it just seems 'assy' most of the time). Like I said earlier, your a good guy. Thanks for the thoughtful response.
SMOG, we definitely have not been arguing, and I believe we've been having a fantastic debate about this mold. I'll conclude, that I agree with you that this mold was definitely more so created for Bludgeon. But, design elements in it made it conducive for a recolor as Banzai-Tron. Not a perfect recolor though, and I think we would all agree that we would rather have a new mold specific to Banazai, but I believe if a new mold meant Hasbro had to skip on doing a Classics Jazz or Wheeljack we certainly wouldn't want that. Overall, I'm happy to have this repaint rather than no attempt at Banzai at all.
netkid
Ah SMOG, glad everything is cleared up. I REALLY should go back and edit in some emoticons so people don't take me wrong.
Well, I guess we're cut from two different pieces of string. Where I come from, both socially, and through my experience growing up through life, "geek" was always the negative, "fan"was always the positive. "Sports fans", "Race fans", "Transformers fans", etc.
For me, "geek" was always taken and seen as being weird or knowing too much about something than what would be considered by many as common knowledge. Say for example, remembering an episode of a show and who was the guest star is okay, but knowing other things like who directed said episode, the name of it, who made the props, what the props were reused for, etc. would be considered by some I know as "geeky." Which would then usually elicit the response "don't be geeky" or "you're geeking out on me."
As sad as it seems, I envy the fact that you have the opposite. "Geek" is good, "fan" is bad. Maybe someday society will be accepting of both terms and either word would mean no harm or enforce a supposed negative label upon someone for knowing much about pop culture.
SMOG
Sorry man… the sarcastic tone just hit a sore point from earlier in the thread. Between the ambivalence of the written page and my own weariness with it all, I took you wrong.
They're silly, but damn it all, if that isn't why they're there. The internet gave us smilies to create tonal punctuation we need to function within this new social sphere we've created. Consider them an evolution point (or devolution point, I guess… back to pictograms!) for language.
TheBigMachine and I are fine, I think. We're just debatin' y'know? It's Paxtin and I that were actually at odds. As for disagreeing for the sake of it, I have been known to play devil's advocate in the past, but always clearly labeled as such. In this case it was just plain honest disagreeing about the thematic structures at work in the figures. I'm not a toy designer, but I'm an artist, and I do think things like that can be worth discussing.
I guess it entirely depends on which parts of the forum you frequent. Usually on anything frontpaged, the pace is pretty breezy. Mostly fly-by comments, not a lot of in-depth discussion. But we can get pretty hardcore on this forum too… I think I may be a bit notorious for rambling, but I'm just one of many.
Gah. Photoshop all the way. I don't understand anyone who can abide MS Paint. If it ain't got layers, it ain't worth doing!
S'alright. Apparently I had a Righteous Indignation Fail, so we're even.
Er… yes? I'm a film geek, an art geek, a toy geek, a lapsed comic geek… maybe a borderline fantasy and anime geek? I guess I'm comfortable with the term "geek". As it relates to pop culture, it seems to have lost a lot of it's sting. It's like a way of owning up to the fact that you have an almost socially unacceptable amount of knowledge and enthusiasm for a specific, often fringe, topic.
Heh… that's a lofty aspiration. I actually have a much stronger negative response to the term "fan".
zmog
Lumpy
i got that one a few months ago and LOVE him… he looks great… i need to take some pictures with him and mirage and dreadwing though… cuz i think they'll look great together…
netkid
SMOG, TheBigMachine, I'm just busting everybody's chops. Take the last post as you will, but I only thought of it as a sarcastic joke, nothing serious. Consider my humor flawed, failed, misunderstood. Written word is different from spoken word, and if the tone of my voice was heard, it wouldn't sound serious at all. That's where communication can fail in type. Next time I'll remember to put one of these at the end to show I'm not being serious.
Usually I'm one to make diagrams and it was interesting seeing people make their own, but I thought people could see my point just by comparing pictures. I was wrong. Diagrams can help anytime.
And I know SMOG and TheBigMachine didn't see eye-to-eye, but early on I really got the impression that SMOG was just disagreeing for the sake of it, given people's reactions to his posts.
"vultures to a fresh kill"- As with any new toy pics thread, I wouldn't be surprised that once we see pictures of the next new figures pop up, this discussion will die out and people will move on. It seems to go that way. That's what I'm saying. The only time I could see this thread reemerge is when you start finding Banzaitron in stores and play with it, posting up your opinions of the final product. "Vultures" was a bad comparison, as I was just trying to think of "something" that easily moves onto the next big thing.
What "AMAZES ME" is that I've just never seen people take a discussion so far. Usually folks discuss something and it's done in a matter of pages. Here, most of the thread has turned into it, save for a few opinions on what people think of the toy here and there. If you guys have to keep going to fully explain your ideas and views, have at it. It can only help.
The whole "amusement" thing was also another failed joke, since you guys keep going back and forth with this thing and I pop in every now and then to see where it's going.
And the MS Paint comment was said because I would have made the same looking diagrams in MS Paint. I use Illustrator and Photoshop CS4, but for something simple like a diagram pointing out the similar details of toys, I'd just go to MS Paint.
Sarcasm fail. Next time I'll just sit back, keep silent, and play spectator.
I'm not making fun of "geeks." Oh no sir. Heck, I don't even consider anyone here or anywhere a "geek." If anything, I see what most people would view as a "geek" as being someone who is truly passionate towards something they like which brings them great enjoyment. Do people who only like, discuss, and buy Ferraris become "Ferrari geeks?" What about people who are always interested in ancient Roman aquifers? Are they now "aquifer geeks?"
"Geek" is such a terrible word. Instead we should use "fans" or for those really schooled in what they love, "experts" or "historians."
TheBigMachine
I thought this was a discussion board? I, myself, haven't been arguing (I don't think). I decided it would be fun to do comparison diagrams for my, SMOG's, and potentially others benefit. I find it interesting to have side-by-side comparisons whether your firm or not firm in your opinion. That away you don't have to jump back and forth looking at pics.
That's how you flame an argument by blanket naming everyone discussing a thread.
Some may argue, while others (YOU) criticize and mock, and still others use this board for its intended purpose. That is, to discuss Transformers and, yes, even use diagrams as visual reinforcement for their views. I've seen you on the boards plenty of times and you're a good guy, but your last post was highly unnecessary to this particular discussion. Perhaps you were targeting SMOG, but it sure seemed to dismiss everyone who's been discussing this thread.
Also, I'm highly offended at the reference to MS Paint, as my diagrams are CLEARLY the lowest form of Photoshop and Illustrator (except my semi-sweet digi-bash of Banzai's head)
Dinobot Snarl
I cant get over how much of monster he looks. He literary looks monstrous and scary. To me this is a whole new character. I think this is the first character to only have the top half of his face painted.
Also, what if it is a Botcom exclusive? The neon is definitely on par with this years offerings.
Laser_Optimus
Wow. Lot of debate over one little repaint. Suffice to say… I don't like this as a Banzai-Tron homage and I'll continue my search for the Botcon Exclusive version (which, IMHO, looks better than what we'll get here).
SMOG
You're still missing the thing I was mentioning. The triangular vent that is between the "eyes" on ROTF Bludgeon's chest, is right there on the G1 version's chest.
Yeah, he has them right down to his forearm… sort of.
Overall, G1 Banzaitron's design seems to owe more to Gundam than to Transformers… not helped by the fact that he's just about the only Action Master with NO obvious indication of any alt-mode.
Yeah, agreed.
Only that "undead" has always been part of Bludgeon's theme, at least in terms of his pretender shell. He is the "Undead Samurai" TF, not Banzai… so the boney limbs pretty clearly come from him.
I think we are using "absolutely" differently. When I say ROTF Bludgeon is "absolutely" Bludgeon first, it's not exclusive. Maybe there are traits that can be applied to Banzai too, but I really can't possibly entertain the notion that this mold could ever be said to be more Banzai than Bludgeon. That I think is utterly preposterous. Banzaitron is an afterthought, at best. Bludgeon is, absolutely, the main purpose of this mold.
But hey… a repainted skeleton-tank-samurai still makes a better Banzaitron than no Banzaitron at all, right?
Well, that doesn't fill me with reassurance. So much for magnanimity.
Following the proverb, I'd say you're the pot. The kettle always knew he was black.
The funny thing is that I probably had all of 2 posts in this thread when you got on me, and all I did was ask someone to qualify demonstratively what it was that made them think this was somehow more suited to Banzai than Bludgeon. We're talking formalities here. Debate and disagreement are fine.
The line between us was crossed when you started trying to diss me while cultivating the appearance of a mocking aloofness, and not actually addressing the debated point itself… which is pretty much the only thing lamer than arguing over vent placement homages on a toy robot. Congrats for scraping the bottom.
No… it never did have anything to do with the toy, which is why I don't think I'm in a conciliatory mood. Let me be straight here… the "charade" was always yours… you never invested yourself in an honest debate, but relied only on belittling quips from behind the curtain of dismissive false bemusement. You made comments about "respecting my opinion", but you never respected it enough to actually stick your neck out and disagree with it. Your whole platform was attacking me for disagreeing with other people, but intellectually, you never really engaged. Sorry, but I think that's pretty bad form.
So if you need closure… ok, sure. But honestly… we were already done here.
Don't misunderstand… the diagrams are the FUN part!
It means we're actually talking about Transformers… get it?
Again, you've missed the point. If you thought it was ever just about ruffling feathers with me, than you weren't really paying attention. I didn't need people to "see my way"… I wanted them to SHOW me what I was missing. Again, if you aren't willing to support or explain an opinion, it's really not worth expressing, is it? For me the discourse is the reward. I mean, this is a discussion board, right?
Though you seem to be taking rather inordinate pleasure in how "everyone seems to be siding" with you, so maybe being "right" is actually more important to you than you'd care to admit. I mean, seriously…
That's funny… I thought this was for OUR amusement. But thanks for the encouragement anyway?
So did you and Paxtin go to the same school or something? Did someone put condescension pills into your water supply? Or is this just a tag-team affair?
I mean, doesn't it seem weird to attend a "geek" fansite, spend your time reading up on what kind of geek topics the geeks are discussing, and then go to the effort of posting so you can laugh and say "Hey, look at all you geeks!!" I mean, doesn't that seem kind of… I dunno… weak?
Sigh…
zmog
General Tekno
Not a huge fan of how the head's painted, now that we have better pics.
Otherwise, I like it.
Paxtin
Eh, I like the darker purple. It feels closer to the blue'ish purple on the original Action master.
netkid
Oh God, you guys are still debating this? And now you've brought diagrams into it?!?! DIAGRAMS?!?!?!
Now I feel real bad for starting this argument. Granted, almost everyone seems to be siding with my original idea, while SMOG only seems to be disagreeing as a means to find enjoyment in ruffling anyone's feathers who takes offense or doesn't see his way.
Eh, once we see a new figure you guys will just move onto it like vultures to a fresh kill.
And your ability to carry on such an argument in this great of detail, with the long explanations, the MS Paint diagrams, and will to never back down AMAZES ME.
Carry on, for my amusement…
Disclaimer: This post contain 100% sarcasm and is not meant to be taken seriously. To those that fall for it, I bid you a good day.
MaxGoof
By that, do you mean "Am I the only one that is horrified by how much this repaint looks like shit?" Because while logically Bludgeon could only be repainted into Banzaitron, the way this is repainted makes it look like a pile of shit.