David Willis writes about BW

[Onslaught Six]

To clarify: My rewriting of the Japanese serieses would be awesome, and that alone would justify it.

Also, both of those serieses *do* take place in the "present" of BW--the Cybertron they left and are constantly trying to get back to. One of BW's core problems to people like me is that it's in its own little bubble of Stuff Going On and we never really get to see or understand what the *rest* of the universe in this timeframe is like--and by the next time we see Cybertron, Megatron's taken it over and put a bunch of Vehicons on it. BWII and Neo *fix* that. Take elements from those and make a new story.

Back during the original Universe line, I was hoping Hasbro would, at some point, make a new sub-line of repaints and reissues of obscure characters with 'new fiction' to support it. Big Convoy leads a squad of Polar Claw, B'Boom, Cybershark, Torca and Longrack against Galvatron, Transquito, Hellscream, Max B, Snapper and Iguanus. The Maximals' base is Orcanoch. And all they're doing is fighting in space, or modern-day Earth, or something.

Beyond all of this, though, they could have done an idea I've wanted to see done for *years*: 1996 Tech Spec BW. Primal and Megs are Optimus Prime and Megatron, and they came here for the first time in 1996. And Primal is thirty feet tall.

[Dominic]

Yeah, tech spec BW would have been nice. I almost default to it now, just because my associations with the main fiction is so bad.

I see what you are saying about using the BWII and BWNeo characters. You re-write the series to get rid of the characteristic Japanese sloppiness with setting and time, and go from there. Maybe play up the BWII and Neo characters as being guys who were away from Cybertron when Megaton took over, similar to Botanica. Or, have their series end with them being killed by Vehicons, or just the virus.

I'd think the majority of fans would want to know why they did the Japanese BW shows instead of the one they knew and loved. Not to mention, I'm sure there are still plenty of people that have no idea the Japanese Beast Wars shows even exist, so if they'd done that, not everyone would know what's going on.

And, this is why I hate BW era toy-hacks. Goddammit, they are worse than GeeWunners in a way. BW absolutely cannot stand anything new or even a little different from the way it was in 1995.


Dom
-almost likes BWII better than US BW now....

[andersonh1]

BW absolutely cannot stand anything new or even a little different from the way it was in 1995.

It's like I said: they got it right the first time with Beast Wars in a way that they didn't with G1. It's still the best Transformers show, in my opinion. Which is not to say there's no room for improvement or change, but the show was good enough that a lot of fans don't want to stray too far from it. I don't think that's "toyhackish" in any way. It's just an appreciation for a quality product.

[Sparky Prime]

And, this is why I hate BW era toy-hacks. Goddammit, they are worse than GeeWunners in a way. BW absolutely cannot stand anything new or even a little different from the way it was in 1995.

Seriously... Consider you release a comic in one country that was based on a show only shown in another country. Can you really say in that situation that the majority of your audience will even know what your talking about if they probably don't know where the context of that comic is coming from in the first place? I don't see what that has to do with toy-hacks at all. It just makes more sense to approach something the majority of your audience will be familiar with.

[Dominic]

The fact that the audience would demand familiarity, (same characters and settings), makes them toyhacks.


Dom
-still like "Generations" though.

[andersonh1]

The fact that the audience would demand familiarity, (same characters and settings), makes them toyhacks.

DVD defines a toyhack as someone embracing "TOIHAAK Syndrome: The One I Had As A Kid". In other words, a stubborn refusal to accept that anything new or different can be better, with that strongly held opinion based solely on nostalgia and childhood memories. I don't think that applies to a lot of Beast Wars fans. Enjoyment of the storylines and characters because of the quality is just as likely as "I had Beast Wars toys when I was kid, so they're the best!"

If I insisted that my is the best ever simply because I had the toys and watched the show as a kid, and I said that anyone who thought otherwise was stupid and wrong, that would make me a toyhack by the above definition. If I watch the Beast Wars show and compare it to all the other Transformers cartoons we've had over the years and decide that it's well written and enjoyable and I'd like more of the same, that does not make me a toyhack. It makes me a fan with a considered opinion.

[Sparky Prime]

If I watch the Beast Wars show and compare it to all the other Transformers cartoons we've had over the years and decide that it's well written and enjoyable and I'd like more of the same, that does not make me a toyhack. It makes me a fan with a considered opinion.

I agree. Wanting familiarity with a work of fiction does not make one a toyhack.

[Dominic]

I am not saying you guys were toyhacks. But, I am saying IDW played to the toyhacks because they opted for familiarity uber alles, rather than risking something new and well-written.

Dom

[Sparky Prime]

But, I am saying IDW played to the toyhacks because they opted for familiarity uber alles, rather than risking something new and well-written.

I still really don't see that they played to toyhacks at all, just because they opted for a story setting with some familiarity behind it. Really, based on the definition andersonh1 provided of a toyhack stubbornly refusing anything new and different based solely on opinions of nostalgia, shouldn't that mean a toyhack would more likely hate a story like "The Gathering"? It is technically a new storyline set apart, albeit running adjacent to the original Beast Wars plot, following (mostly) new characters after all.

[andersonh1]

But, I am saying IDW played to the toyhacks because they opted for familiarity uber alles, rather than risking something new and well-written.

I still really don't see that they played to toyhacks at all, just because they opted for a story setting with some familiarity behind it. Really, based on the definition andersonh1 provided of a toyhack stubbornly refusing anything new and different based solely on opinions of nostalgia, shouldn't that mean a toyhack would more likely hate a story like "The Gathering"? It is technically a new storyline set apart, albeit running adjacent to the original Beast Wars plot, following (mostly) new characters after all.

Agreed. Going back to familiar characters and settings is hardly playing to the "toyhack" contingent.

Also, "familiar" and "well-written" are hardly mutually exclusive.