I knew the nose didn't partsform already, but nice to have confirmation. Wonder if any new pics? I guess it might have said if there was gonna be any Raiden news

 

Cool that the chest plate can be used as a shield.

 

Three ways----almost every member of Raiden is an electric loco. (and likely the source of the name IMHO).

 

Never thought of that, but yeah!

 

Oh I know (as I say, it’s probably just me being weird), but given that Transformers is a franchise with a global audience, I just think it’s nice that there are still a few bots out there that still cling onto their indigenous, non-American names.

I guess I just hate needless homogenisation!

That, plus I think that ‘Shouki’, ‘Kaen’ and the rest of the gang have some of the coolest names in the entire franchise, so any change would be a downgrade, IMHO.

 

Oooh thanks! Pre-ordered!

 

One of the nice things is that even in canon and lore the Trainbots were designed and built on Earth in Japan, so them taking on Japanese names is more than appropriate.

 

The problem is, maybe, do they have "names" as in the Japanese equivalent of "Johnny" and "Steve", rather than just "words" as the rest of the Transformers? At least that's how it seems to me. Correct me if I'm wrong and those aren't "name" names. Maybe if the Japanese names were like "samurai" or "ninja", not something that sounds like a person's name.

 

No, they're just Japanese words and compounds. The exception is Shouki, who's named after a deity - and in that case, what's the difference between that and "Dai Atlas" or "Road Caesar"?

 

Well, Caesar was technically a title, essentially making the combiner the Road King, but really no there's no difference.

 

Nothing, I guess. Except my G1 ends at the US series. Possibly at a professionally translated (using US voice sound alike English voices, US names and all) Headmasters, if one is ever made.

 

Here's what I personally think:

Getsui -> Midnight Express
Kaen -> Steamhammer
Seizan -> Rapid Run
Shouki -> Railspike
Suiken -> Waterlog
Yukikaze -> Frostbite

Raiden -> Rail Racer

I believe that'd make more sense because Rail Racer was the name of the RID 2001 Bullet Train Team's combined mode.

EDIT: And yes, the subgroup name "Trainbots" should be localized as "Railbots".

 

I think the Japanese names suit the trainbots the best. They were originally developed solely for the Japanese market where trains are very popular and are ubiquitous in every day life (more so than alot of other countries around the world, at least) and they're all fairly Japanese specific trains (from my admittedly minimal research). I'm not trying to tell anyone what to call their toys within their own collections but as far as official names go, I think the Japanese names work great.

 

I've watched so many Shinkansen videos on Youtube lately, it started giving me Japanese ads...

 

There's a cream for that.  

 

I mean sure, I get that. But it's fun to speculate what Hasbro/ Sunbow might have done back in the 80s/ 90s. And as you said, we can call em what we want within our collections. Some people may call their 3rd party guys by their 3rd party names (the horror!).

That works for me! I forget where I came up with Frostbite, maybe it was something I saw someone else suggest online. All of the other names were RiD and other train guys.. Steamhammer being a Decepticon. I ran out of names, so I used the combined name. But I like your names!

 

Yeah I think that is it for me, it is fun to imagine ‘what if’ ...

I really don’t have an issue with their names.

 

Why thank you! I remember Steamhammer being an Autobot-allied Mini-Con in Transformers: Cybertron years ago.

 

I haven't seen more than an episode or two of anything past USA G1 (besides the Bay movies), but this seemingly canceled character is where I found the name: Steamhammer (RID) - Transformers Wiki

 

Use an ad blocker.