I have been wondering this after a few months why people are calling the combiners Gestalts cause I am not sure what that really means. Anyone help me out with that meaning please cause I don't understand. Also what does the words on some threads WIP mean as well as the other words that are used on thread from everything custom to new pics of figures. Anyone help me out with that 1 as well please so I can understand a bit more.
A gestalt is a whole from many parts. So the term became popular to refer to the combined form of the many combiners we've gotten throughout the years as they are whole when all 5 (or 6) are combined. Randy
OooooohhH, thanks for the reply friend cause that really never clicked as to why they called them that.
It's a fancy-sounding term for combiner. I enjoy using it from time to time. Combiner - Transformers Wiki (scroll down to Terms for combiners)
Thanks guys cause you have really helped alot. Now I know what WIP means. I also clicked on that link provided and just learned some stuff. I have always known them to be combiners as I called them when I was kid back in the 80's.
Not merely that. Gestalt refers to any combinatorial structure in which the combined structure is greater than the mere summation of the parts. Which, coincidentally, fairly accurately describes how combiners are treated in the fiction.
It just makes more sense to call the combined form a "Gestalt" instead of a "Combiner" because the latter can imply that it too also combines to form something else.
We have a great discussion going on here. Glad you guys wanted to help me out on some of my questions cause you folks make me feel good about asking questions now.
I suspect the term "gestalt" for combining robots predates Transformers. A lot of old anime had combiners too.
How many people pronounce it with a hard 'g' and how many people pronounce it with a soft 'g'? Sometimes I like to pronounce it with a hard 'g' and pronounce the 's' as an 'sh.' Of course, the accent is always on the second syllable. 'Cause putting it on the first syllable would be ridiculous.
It's a German word, so it's pronounced "g-stAHLt' " Ref: Gestalt pronunciation: How to pronounce Gestalt in German, English Not: g'stALLt. "AL" like "alligator" not "AL" like "fall"
Still, many gestalts (not all of them) are considerably stupider and sometimes slower than each of its components, relying on raw power instead.