I wonder if these will scale well with the old Tyco TF train set from the 80's. Haven't had it out in a while.

 

Leiden being an actual city is probably pushing some of the machine translators to use that, as it's a word that would be more likely in a dictionary and/or used more frequently. If ライデン can mean multiple things in other languages, it'd make sense that a machine translator would suggest the most likely one.

Although this could also be one of those things like Altria in Fate or the many ways the DB character Krillin is written, where sometimes the IP holder in Japan just decides on an official romanization regardless of how well it plays in other countries/languages.

 

雷電, is pronounced with an "L" rather than "R" in Chinese, where the character originates. Also, words like world is pronounced with an "L", even though the spelling suggests otherwise. I don't know much about Japanese, but from my experience (watching subbed cartoon), it's all pronounced with an "L" regardless.

 

Welp Pulse PO price is really good! Looks like I'm all in. I'm screwed.  

 

雷電 in Pinyin would be Léidiàn (pronounced "lay-dyen" to English ears as opposed to "rye-den"). Again, "Leiden" is likely from machine translation (due to the city being the more prominent use of that katakana word) and Hasbro Pulse not knowing any better.

 

It should be perfect, as both are designed to run on HO track. Hmmmn, someone needs to show Raiden running on vintage Tyco track, when it's released.

 

That's why I was curious. Wanted to get mine out and see if he would work on it when I get him next year. Thanks.

 

@Interro and @yvk2000 are right.
it’s because ライデン meant the city of Leiden long before the character of Raiden was created. If you search for ライデン on google, your first hit will be the city of Leiden.

Leiden corresponds to ライデン and not レイデン because Japan follows the Dutch pronunciation.

In the case of Pulse, I presume it’s just an employee trusting google translate a little too much.

 

So THAT's why the name is in quotes in the thread title.  

 

Regarding remembering the names, I think I've gotten them down and have a pretty good way (probably only to me) of remembering them.
Shouki is easy because he is the leader and had the Hero-X figure.
Seizan I remember is the yellowish one because while his name is similar to Suiken, I remember it because he has a Z in his name and Z is next to Y which is yellow.
Suiken's name is similar to Seizan's and is the other arm (similar names for similar looking forms in combined form). I mainly remember his name by remembering his relationship to Seizan and his name.
Kaen is easy because it reminds me of carrots, which are orange.
Getsuei reminds me of guts. And it takes more guts to ride at night, and he's appropriately colored in blue and black.
Yukikaze is the left leg, which was considered the worst or least important component in the Teen Titans Go combiner. Which reminds me of Yukikaze as his var mode is the same as Shouki's and his name begins with the second to last letter in the alphabet.

This is my crazy way to remember their names.

 

Wow, I've never seen the name of the city here in the Netherlands where I actually live mentioned so many times on TFW2005  

 

It’s such a lovely city too. TFW should talk about it more!  

 

Shouki comparisons

 

Hmmm dont the lower legs on the 3P even swivel to put train windows on the shins? Looks almost nothing like the cartoon model - not my cup of tea at all. And is the ivory more like grey/silver, just a bit lighter than the roof?

 

They seem to have gone with a metallic(pearl?) white instead of ivory.

 

While I think the 3P Raiden is shaping up to be quite good, I much prefer TT Shouki to what I've seen of the 3P trainbots so far. The train modes of the 3P aren't very good looking, while the bot modes are ok, not great, but ok. I think the TT bots will be the best for bot and train modes while the 3P Raiden may win out for combined mode, all of this is my opinion, of course.

 

I'm surprised no obscure English Transformer fiction renamed them?

I know they are JP G1 and deserve to keep those names. But we are used to having both like Convoy/Optimus or Broadcast/Blaster

Are there translations of what their names mean?

 

Not sure about direct translations - Japanese speakers here could help with that, maybe. But here's what Vector Prime himself said on the 'ask Vector Prime' Facebook page, which is interesting but I'm not sure how canonical it counts as  ...

There was one area where each scientist had a uniquely-defined role; each one was allowed to name one of the Trainbots. Doctor Ōnishi, a huge fan of vintage trains, asked that he be allowed to name the DE10 diesel locomotive. He named him Kaen, a blaze that would burn brightly in the service of Japan and all mankind. Doctor Ishihara, born and raised in Tokyo, chose to name the Tōkai-type 153 express from her home metropolis. Proud of her proficiency with martial arts, named Suiken after her favorite style of martial arts. Doctor Gō, as the youngest member of the team, was given the newest model of train to name, the 200 Series Shinkansen. He chose Yukikaze, after the wind of his native Hokkaido. Doctor Fujiyama, who was born in Kyushu, chose to name the 485-200 series engine. He named him Seizan, after the mountains of his home region. Doctor Takahashi expressed little interest in which mech she would name, and was given the EF65-1000 by default. She chose Getsuei, for the Trainbots would have the capacity to travel to the moon and beyond. Last, though certainly not least, Doctor Yoshikawa was given the honor of naming the team leader, the original Shinkansen. As a fan of military history, he decided that Shouki would be a dignified and powerful name.

Also there are the Bios as translated by the wonderful Soundwaves Oblivion.com: Transformer Toy Archive & Resource...

Shouki C-125
Trainbot
Function: Light Speed Commander
Transformation: Tokaido Highway Shinkansen
Ability: Pursues and defeats enemies with his super high speed. Can travel through the space bridge a lot faster when connected to his younger brother Yukikaze.
Character: Conducts himself with speed and is very random.
Weapons: Mach Laser
6, 6, 10, 4, 4, 9, 4, 6, 49

Getsuei C-126
Function: Night Time Combatant
Transformation: EF65 Type Blue Train
Ability: Shows his power fighting in the dead of night. He can find his enemies with ease, even at night.
Character: As soon as it reaches daytime, he draws a blank and shirks off somewhere.
Weapons: Night Laser
5, 6, 8, 5, 3, 8, 4, 6, 45

Yukikaze C-127
Function: Heavy Snowfall Combatant
Transformation: JF4 Northeast Joetsu Shinkansen
Ability: Fights well on snow and has yet to be defeated. His Speed Attack with his older brother Shouki is invincible.
Character: He is vulnerable to heat. He dislikes being connected up with Kaen.
Weapons: Snow Laser
6, 5, 10, 4, 3, 7, 4, 6, 45

Suiken C-128
Function: Wilderness Combatant
Transformation: Tokai Model 153 Bullet Train
Ability: He can battle in any place and on any terrain. He can travel through complicated routes in space.
Character: Thanks to his long history in battle, he is very knowledgeable.
Weapons: Storm Laser
3, 7, 7, 4, 3, 7, 4, 6, 41

Seizan C-129
Function: Mountain Combatant
Transformation: L Super-Express 485 Super-Express Street-Car
Ability: He is very hard to defeat on the mountains. Likes to show off his power on heart-stopping slopes.
Character: His favourite hobby is viewing nature’s grand mountains.
Weapons: Laser Rifle
6, 5, 9, 6, 3, 6, 4, 6, 45

Kaen C-130
Function: Dynamic Combatant
Transformation: DE10 Type Diesel Locomotive
Ability: He has the most power of the Trainbots.
Character: Has great pride with his form.
Weapons: Power Laser
7, 6, 6, 7, 3, 6, 5, 3, 43

Raiden C-131
Function: Heavy Series Federation Soldier
Transformation: 6 Trainbots
Ability: He transports the Cybertron warriors, and destroys everything in his path.
Character: He is very punctual. He dislikes Devastar and strives to defeat Predaking in battle.
Weapons: Wing Radar, Leg Beams & Train Bazooka
10, 4, 10, 7, 5, 8, 6, 5, 55

 

It's interesting that Moon Studio decided to interpret Shouki completely differently while maintaining a more-or-less show accurate look for the rest of them. That backpack is...odd. Can't fault the combined mode though, that looks spot on.

Yep that will very likely happen, unless Takara re-engineers part of the combined mode in response to Moon Studio.

 

the 3p is too skinny, too, and its face sculpt is totally anonymous. it also gets a pass for its humongous buttflap, because..."3p is da best f##k u takara"...