Didn't even know it existed. Can't seem to find it on the Google Play store, is it iOS only? Is it even official?Shockwave wrote:The Deluxe insecticons are pretty common in the Transformers smart phone battle card game. Speaking of which, is anyone besides me playing that?
Spotlight:
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BWprowl
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Re: Spotlight:
Re: Spotlight:
It should be there and for free no less. It is official. It's called Transfomers legends.
It can't be iOS only, I'm running it on a Droid X.
It can't be iOS only, I'm running it on a Droid X.
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Onslaught Six
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Re: Spotlight:
Ha haaaaa! Phones!
Dom, some of us simply like obscure TFs for no real reason other than the fact that they've obscure. For example, I love RID Bruticus, a guy who was cancelled in one toyline, shortpacked in another, and has had zero media appearances. (Now watch me go to the Wiki and find out he's been in some shitty club comic or something.) Despite this, he's a three-headed demon dog transformer with giant headwings and a bunch of weapons, and four arms in robot mode. How can I not love that? He's also one of the very few TF references to Greek myth, something ELSE I'm totally obsessed with!
Have a Swerve! (I ever tell you guys about that?)What do you like about Universe Swerve, out of curiosity? I actually harbor mild resentment towards that toy, seeing it as a possible end-result of the Powerlinx Blurr shitstorm, and something of a cop-out on Hasbro's part as well, in that respect.
Dom, some of us simply like obscure TFs for no real reason other than the fact that they've obscure. For example, I love RID Bruticus, a guy who was cancelled in one toyline, shortpacked in another, and has had zero media appearances. (Now watch me go to the Wiki and find out he's been in some shitty club comic or something.) Despite this, he's a three-headed demon dog transformer with giant headwings and a bunch of weapons, and four arms in robot mode. How can I not love that? He's also one of the very few TF references to Greek myth, something ELSE I'm totally obsessed with!
People spend so much time worrying about whether a figure is "mint" or not that they never stop to consider other flavours.BWprowl wrote:The internet having this many different words to describe nerdy folks is akin to the whole eskimos/ice situation, I would presume.
Re: Spotlight:
I just cannot see getting excited by an obscure character just showing up. The Insecticons could have been any other characters, or even new (nameless) characters for all they did in "Spotlight: Thundercracker" or anywhere else.
But, the real question is "So what?" Some obscure guys filled out the background. Great. Fun Publications does that all the time.
Dom
-now, if Barber wrote a really good comic using obscure characters in an important way....
The regular Insecticons would not have worked in the Spotlight story, nor would the Combaticons. (The Insecticons did not exist at that point in IDW's history. And, the non-fliers all went down with the ship.)I think it's like, Barber could have just used the Basic Insecticons, or the Combaticons or something, for the team-filler role in this comic, and instead he chose to use these guys! That makes me sit up and take notice.
But, the real question is "So what?" Some obscure guys filled out the background. Great. Fun Publications does that all the time.
Dom
-now, if Barber wrote a really good comic using obscure characters in an important way....
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BWprowl
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Re: Spotlight:
Don't be so literal, you know dang well what I meant.Dominic wrote:The regular Insecticons would not have worked in the Spotlight story, nor would the Combaticons. (The Insecticons did not exist at that point in IDW's history. And, the non-fliers all went down with the ship.)I think it's like, Barber could have just used the Basic Insecticons, or the Combaticons or something, for the team-filler role in this comic, and instead he chose to use these guys! That makes me sit up and take notice.
Yeah, but those comics suck and this one doesn't.But, the real question is "So what?" Some obscure guys filled out the background. Great. Fun Publications does that all the time.
Look, I'll simplify it even more: A writer I really like showed that he likes some of the same characters I like that not a lot of other people like. That's really cool to me. Y'geddit?
I'm sure he wouldn't mind, but Roberts managed to co-opt almost all the 'obscure' characters to sit around chatting about funny altmodes in MTMTE, so Barber got left with the 84-85 cast. Not that he hasn't used them well, I'm just sayin'.Dom
-now, if Barber wrote a really good comic using obscure characters in an important way....
Re: Spotlight:
Heh. Sorry.
The point, of course, is that they are obscure characters that could have been anybody.
I just cannot understand getting excited because an obscure character, or group of characters, shows up and does...um, stuff. I got more than my fill of that 10+ years ago with 3H's "Universe" and "Wreckers" comics. I recall it getting old after an issue, maybe sooner.
For example, "Last Stand of the Wreckers" took a bunch of obscure characters with next to no context, even internationally, and did *something* with them. Overlord and co have now done something on a page, and are more than just "rare toys that most people will never see, much less own". But, if Barber or anybody else used "Universe" Swerve as a background character, why would it matter? In terms of context, Swerve's biggest, and only, moments were as a background character on "Cybertron", if we assume that he was that red car shown in some episodes. Swerve is not important, and him showing up to fill out a panel does not warrant much notice.
Dom
-they may as well have been all new character designs.
The point, of course, is that they are obscure characters that could have been anybody.
I just cannot understand getting excited because an obscure character, or group of characters, shows up and does...um, stuff. I got more than my fill of that 10+ years ago with 3H's "Universe" and "Wreckers" comics. I recall it getting old after an issue, maybe sooner.
For example, "Last Stand of the Wreckers" took a bunch of obscure characters with next to no context, even internationally, and did *something* with them. Overlord and co have now done something on a page, and are more than just "rare toys that most people will never see, much less own". But, if Barber or anybody else used "Universe" Swerve as a background character, why would it matter? In terms of context, Swerve's biggest, and only, moments were as a background character on "Cybertron", if we assume that he was that red car shown in some episodes. Swerve is not important, and him showing up to fill out a panel does not warrant much notice.
Dom
-they may as well have been all new character designs.
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BWprowl
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Re: Spotlight:
Okay, so let's say a writer you really like, I dunno, McCarthy or Costa or somebody, wrote a comic where they included Universe Swerve in a minor role? That wouldn't make you at least *somewhat* amused to see that this guy whose work you admire and respect happens to have a fondness for the same under-appreciated toy that you do? It would elicit nothing, not even an 'Ooh, neat!'?Dominic wrote:For example, "Last Stand of the Wreckers" took a bunch of obscure characters with next to no context, even internationally, and did *something* with them. Overlord and co have now done something on a page, and are more than just "rare toys that most people will never see, much less own". But, if Barber or anybody else used "Universe" Swerve as a background character, why would it matter? In terms of context, Swerve's biggest, and only, moments were as a background character on "Cybertron", if we assume that he was that red car shown in some episodes. Swerve is not important, and him showing up to fill out a panel does not warrant much notice.
Hey, I could say the same about any of the characters Roberts writes. I don't think he's ever read an official tech-spec and just writes the characters as whatever personalities he gave them when he played with the toys as a kid.Dom
-they may as well have been all new character designs.
Re: Spotlight:
Good point about Saint James. And, it is another thing that he gets a pass on. He can write up his own personalities for characters, but guys like Yee cannot. (I am not inviting comparisons about the quaility of their work. I am just saying "Saint James gets a pass while Yee gets complaints".)
And, I honestly would not be overly excited if Costa, McCarthy or Roberts used an obscure character that I liked the toy of unless they made said character useful. For example, I am happy that TFU Sunstreaker can be associated with "All Hail Megatron". But, that is because Sunstreaker was a main character. I am pretty sure that TFU Hound shows up in IDW, but he has not done anything that matters in IDW.
Similarly, I am annoyed that so many good moulds are associated with Fun Publications as main characters.
But, if Costa or McCarthy used, I dunno....RiD Skid-Z as a background character, I would not be that impressed. I would be more focused on what they were doing over-all.
Dom
-would rather get good toys of main characters.
And, I honestly would not be overly excited if Costa, McCarthy or Roberts used an obscure character that I liked the toy of unless they made said character useful. For example, I am happy that TFU Sunstreaker can be associated with "All Hail Megatron". But, that is because Sunstreaker was a main character. I am pretty sure that TFU Hound shows up in IDW, but he has not done anything that matters in IDW.
Similarly, I am annoyed that so many good moulds are associated with Fun Publications as main characters.
But, if Costa or McCarthy used, I dunno....RiD Skid-Z as a background character, I would not be that impressed. I would be more focused on what they were doing over-all.
Dom
-would rather get good toys of main characters.
Re: Spotlight:
Come on Dom, you know damn well what Prowl is saying and you understand it (even if only on an intellectual level). At this point, it seems like you're just trying to burst his bubble just for the hell of it.
And to try to back Prowl up here, the use of obscure characters is cause for interest for a couple of reasons. 1) It is, at least on a basic level a focus or departure on focus from the oh so complained about supposedly overused "Main" characters and 2) that also might lead to decent stories featuring characters we've either rarely or, in some cases, never seen in stories that have never been done before.
And to try to back Prowl up here, the use of obscure characters is cause for interest for a couple of reasons. 1) It is, at least on a basic level a focus or departure on focus from the oh so complained about supposedly overused "Main" characters and 2) that also might lead to decent stories featuring characters we've either rarely or, in some cases, never seen in stories that have never been done before.
No. A big fat, HUGE no. NO! This has always annoyed me since the franchise started. You have a small army of toys and characters that haven't been used for anything and instead you decide to make your own? Bullshit. There's really never been any need for TF writers to come up with their own characters since there have always been characters awaiting use. I have absolutely never understood why the unused characters get swepped aside for guys like Impactor or Emirate Xaaron or Macabre... the list goes on really. Centurion would be an exception because of his origin, but you get my point. This practice is borderline fanfic level unforgiveable.Dominic wrote:they may as well have been all new character designs.
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andersonh1
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Re: Spotlight:
I like seeing obscure characters show up because there's a chance they'll have some life breathed into them by an author, and we'll get to explore another corner of the Transformers universe. That's one reason I enjoy Dreamwave's Micromasters series, despite the flaws. They actually did something with the Micromaster characters (other than have them wrestle!).