Lukis Bros Transformers Collector Site

News Item



Subscribe to our news feed, and get our updates sent to you.

News Tidbits: Snarl and Arcee

Posted by:
Perceptor at 2008-02-20 9:44 am
I checked in with a Hasbro insider to confirm whether the ToyFair promotional images labeled "Snarl", showing the 'lovable' favorite, 3-horned dinobot was mislabeled?  The response I got was, "No it's right, Slag is not going to be used anymore."  So, Snarl it is.  Shucks, that's going to take me some getting used to, to think of Dinobot Triceratops = Snarl... Bummer.

IDW Spotlight Arcee arrives in stores today and thanks to various other TF news sites, we learned that the comic's writer Simon Furman has updated his blog with a variety of thoughts.  Among other things, he states that he is more anxious than usual to hear fan reaction.  He goes on to say he's  "getting his ‘flame’-proof gear on as we speak."    As he puts his own spin on the issue of "female" Transformers, he expects this comic which he calls, "a KEY issue" in the ongoing IDW-universe which "will play a big part in what’s to come this year" to be "divisive."

So, once you've picked up a copy, drop by and let us know what you think!

Comments
Rhinox said,  - 2008-02-20 10:08:11
dammit. couldn't they have used a name that was not being used by an other dinobot? like,backstop or something?
Sabrblade said,  - 2008-02-20 10:15:51
"Snarl" I can live with. Besides, if they were to release a Stegosaurus, they'd likelty call it "Striker", which isn't that bad. Hey, I wouldn't even mind "Saberback" to be used.
Perceptor said,  - 2008-02-20 10:23:04
Whatdya know. I guess I am more of a fan of "old school" than I thought. This bums be out. In my book, Triceratops = Slag.
Jumpercliff said,  - 2008-02-20 10:27:32
I'm still going to call him "Slag", because if you ask most people who remember the Dinobots, they're likely to associate the Triceratops with Slag.
Perceptor said,  - 2008-02-20 10:29:39
I like that JC! :)
TriPredRavage said,  - 2008-02-20 11:08:43
I don't really see the big deal here, Perceptor. I mean, we've had several Triceratops figures that haven't been Slag over the years. Triceradon, the other Triceradon, the third Triceradon, and most recently Knockdown. To be honest, I'm surprised his name isn't Triceradon.
Perceptor said,  - 2008-02-20 11:40:38
It's not a big deal. Everyone can get on my case about "continuities" that I should just let go and not try to tie things together... I guess it just comes down to that I like to see Animated Grimlock as the the "reincarnation" of G1 Grimlock and would like to see other Dinobots as the same. And, I do not see Triceradon or Knockdown as Slag, so those didn't bother me in the slightest.

Either way, it's still no big deal. I know, I know, everyone can think G1 "never happened" w/in any other TF continuity... that every new TF story is a new reinvention of Transformers and none of them are connected whatsoever. Fine, everyone else can think that if you like. I won't hold it against you.

Maybe someday when Beast Wars characters are tied in, who knows maybe even more than Blackarachnia in Animated and they have a character that turns into a rat that looks like Rattrap, acts like Rattrap, talks like Rattrap, seemingly fits into continuity and you want to think of him as Rattrap, and they call him, "Packrat." You'll say, "Dang I want this to be Rattrap!" And someone can say, "c'mon TPR what's the big deal? There have been Packrat figures before and forget about the Beast Wars! They're over and done and not related or connected, you might as well have been collecting power rangers! It's totally different now!"

You'll say, "yeah, you're right. It's no big deal. I'm over it. But I still would prefer if that toy was called Rattrap!" You feelin' me? ;) :P

Actually, if they're not going to use Slag, then Snarl is a good choice. Definitely better than Backstop or Triceradon... Maybe Slag w/ his limited mental capacity just took on the name of his once and former comrade as an homage to his fallen friend... Sorry, I'm a Transformers rube, and probably should try to not care so much about such silly things... What can I say!?
Perceptor said,  - 2008-02-20 11:53:22
OR, maybe it is the G1 Dinobot Snarl, taken the form of a Triceratops as an homage to his once and former comrade! :) HA! :P
Scorpomike said,  - 2008-02-20 12:05:24
I agree with Perceptor 100%!!!!! A triceratops Dinobot should be called SLAG. Especially when he has the G1 colors and is called a Dinobot. So I think I'll call him SLAG too. I seen the pics of this guy and SLAG is a cool figure. Hopefully they change their mind and quit calling SLAG, Snarl. Snarl was a good name for the wolf in Cybertron, but not a replacement name for SLAG!

Perceptor, this is not a silly thing to care about. This is serious when they call SLAG, Snarl.

Another good comparison is in the movie when they wanted to name Brawl, Devastator, which they never changed in the translation text. I'm glad they used Brawl instead. What I'm saying here is I hope they change their mind at the last minute and think about changing Snarls name to SLAG.

I have a quote from Beast Wars Dinobot for them.
EAT SLAG!!!!!!!!
TriPredRavage said,  - 2008-02-20 13:01:08
Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. Time out here. You know I didn't mean anything by it, Perceptor, and trust me, I know where you're coming from. You should read the Wikipedia talk page for Leo Prime one day and see the war that raged there where I did everything I could to prove that he is the same character as Lio Convoy. Really, read it some time, it's a doosey.

Next up, in such a case I would WANT them to make him Packrat, lol. When they announced Blackarachnia I was like "AWWWW NO!" because all that makes me want is BW Blackarachnia. And I've gotta say, I'm pleased with the Animated representation, they did a really good job of paying homage to her. BUT if they had a character who looked and acted like Rattrap, but dubbed him "Packrat" then I'd be like "Awesome, they can go wherever they want with him now and not worry about paying homage to the old Botcon figure, whose own background tends to be up to interpretation anyway." So I guess that's where I'm coming from on this one: they can now do anything with this character and not worry about pissing anybody off... Or at least they should be able to, but there are inevitably going to be people like us who say "he should be so-and-so! and he should do this!" and so we're going to be upset by it. See what I'm sayin'?
Perceptor said,  - 2008-02-20 13:21:39
Heck yeah. I see! :) and hey no offense taken (or intended). That's the trouble w/ e-correspondence. no reading in the inflection of ones voice. I'm feelin' jovial.

Believe me if there's one thing I've learned through the course of working w/ this website, it's that different people want to think of the fiction in different ways. And it's all cool. To each their own.

I totally know what you mean when you talk about characters having different names gives more freedom to do whatever they want and it not piss people (like you and me) off by interfering w/ continuity. That's one of the reasons I'm in favor of the movie makers creating a whole slew of new persona/names for bots in future films. The less name/character overlap the easier it is to find ways to imagine a given story fitting into continuity.

I guess if that big leader dinosaur in TFA was named, "T-Wrecks" or "Dinobot" then the triceratops could be pretty much anything and I wouldn't care. But since he's Grimlock and there the flying dino Swoop and a very G1 Dinobot style looking triceratops that looks like Slag, presumably will act like Slag I just want him to BE Slag. Oh well. Moving right along! ;)

So, has anyone found that Arcee spotlight yet? Is it any good or did it totally piss you off??
Bruticus_42 said,  - 2008-02-20 13:51:28
It's I bet cause in TF universe Slag is a curse word. I wonder if they don't want to condone using a "curse" word as a name. I always thought it was funny that a bot is named a curse word! That be like calling my son the F bomb as his name!
Autobutt said,  - 2008-02-20 15:09:26
it doesnt really matter to me. if i buy the figure and a stegosaurus come out also, ill jus call them by their G1 names
Rhinox said,  - 2008-02-20 15:26:56
Scorpomike,they can't "change their mind" they get sued if they still use the name slag,i dunno who owns the name or if it's just to avoid confusion with the british word for slut,but eitherway,they don't have much choice,but they should have used an other name to replace it,not snarl.
TriPredRavage at Work said,  - 2008-02-20 16:19:02
Nah, we coo' Perceptor, I feel ya.
Okay, enough of that. I completely understand where you are coming from. A part of me really wanted the Classics Dinobots to be Slag and Sludge instead of Knockdown and Terrorsaur. But I think that was mostly because Classics was intended to be a continuation of G1. They really created this gray area with Classics. Hasbro told us they were meant to be the corresponding character from the original continuity, but then they made new named Mini-Cons, made new Mini-Cons with old names (i.e. Snarl, Thunderwing, Divebomb, etc...) creating issues between existing characters. They even threw in a bunch of Beast Era names to confuse things even more. And finally, Leo Prime. If the characters are who they are in the old days, who was Leo Prime? Well there's really only one possibility isn't there? That's why the Ascending and Sourcebook stuff really ticked me off: we finally had a name for the guy and they just wrote it off...
Perceptor said,  - 2008-02-20 17:01:04
>>That's why the Ascending and Sourcebook stuff really ticked me off: we finally had a name for the guy and they just wrote it off...

Y'know, that's the deal w/ Simon Furman. He *can be* a brilliant comic author, w/ terrific cliff-hangers, suspense, great action set-ups and spinning complex and intriguing plots... What I don't like about Furman is his blatant disregard for all previous incarnations of Transformers mythos. It's like, "hey Simon wouldn't you like other Transformers story authors to show you respect for your work by incorporating your stories into theirs? Why not show other authors the same respect and try to fit your stories into the mythos that has come before??"

Don't you think that the whole War Within story could've been told within the context of the Orion Packs story? Couldn't the current IDW-verse be constructed in such a way as make its connection w/ G1 continuity obvious? I really don't think it would take that much... Oh, well. For all those who *want* to think of each iteration of Transformers as separated and unrelated, maybe it's better that leaves things more subject to interpretation. What do I know?

To me, that's what makes Transformers so much better than all other Sci-Fi franchises. Batman, I mean wouldn't he have to be like 150 years old now? I mean how many Batman vs. Joker origin stories can be told? Heck they're already on the second Major motion picture about it in the last 15 years... I dunno, to me that's the beauty of Transformers. You have all of human history and a couple of million years of Cybertron history before AND a few million after to play with. Why not exert a tiny bit of effort and make it one ever expanding, ever evolving continuous mythos?
TriPredRavage at Work said,  - 2008-02-20 18:17:20
I agree entirely, bud. What's more is I wrote SF about it when it was confirmed that they were using Lio Convoy asking why and he said it was because they decided to ignore any changes that had been made over the year. Now, I can understand that in cases of American characters, such as Jazz/Meister, but this is a Japanese character. He then went on to talk about if you swap names where do you stop? He used Razorbeast/Randy as an example, but then they completely use the Japanese characters as well. We had B'Boom and Apache running around together for crying out loud! How are you supposed to make a point with that logic? I've read Ascending now that it's in TPB format and it was a good read, but it has a ton of issues.

For one, in the Gathering, Prime (I'm calling him Prime, it's only right) says to Razorbeast that if something goes wrong, he would be cut loose. Vol. 2, Prime comes to save his butt. Apparently, Prime's a big ol' liar-pants.

For two, the ending was really lacking. There wasn't even a fight!

For three, they are treading into the ground to develop how Megatron made his virus, and I'm really not cool with that because it sets up for major continuity errors to Beast Machines. I mean, Gathering/Ascending already contradict BWII and Neo's continuities, but I was willing to accept that considering the Japanese exclusive nature of the two series.
Rhinox said,  - 2008-02-21 04:48:40
Perceptor,it´s pax,not packs.

This story b rings us back to octanekor. While tankor is not a bad name for his g1 self,it´s associated to a powerhouse,so kinda weird. also worth noting is that Classics octane doesn´t even transform into a damn tanker,but rather into a missile truck. so the name is appropriate,but not for his classics toy.
Silverstreak is a name i can definately live with,it even makes much more sense,cause bluestreak lost the blue after being transferred from diaclone,so the point isn´t that i hate namechanges,it´s that i hate brainless decisions for namechanges.



Here's a scary thought by the way: losing the rights to the name megatron or optimus. :-/
Sabrblade said,  - 2008-02-21 05:24:58
< said wrote: "Who typed a comment with my (Rhinox) Ip,is there an IP thief in here?">

Something weird about my computer right now. It says "Edit Comment" on your comment, which makes no sense.

<Rhinox wrote: "Here's a scary thought by the way: losing the rights to the name megatron or optimus. :-/">

Then they'd probably be forced to use Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, and Galvatron from then on out. Or call them Autobot Optimus Prime and Decepticon Megatron. Oh, brother.
Rhinox said,  - 2008-02-21 07:11:37
Weirdness galore!
Bass X0 said,  - 2008-02-21 10:14:50
"""You should read the Wikipedia talk page for Leo Prime one day and see the war that raged there where I did everything I could to prove that he is the same character as Lio Convoy. Really, read it some time, it's a doosey."""

Now I feel bad for creating the Leo Prime page back in 2006.

"""He then went on to talk about if you swap names where do you stop? He used Razorbeast/Randy as an example, but then they completely use the Japanese characters as well. We had B'Boom and Apache running around together for crying out loud! How are you supposed to make a point with that logic? I've read Ascending now that it's in TPB format and it was a good read, but it has a ton of issues."""

Apache and B'Boom are two seperate characters who just happen to look very similar to each other. One was released in Japan, the other in America. They are not the same character. I don't get what the problem is. What point was being made exactly? There's no name swaps there.
Rhinox said,  - 2008-02-21 11:03:10
Leo Prime is not as much a namechange as it is a translation.
TriPredRavage said,  - 2008-02-21 12:05:14
That's it though, Bass, Apache and B'Boom really are very much the same. It's just the Japanese interpretation versus the American interpretation. The point that I was really making though is that there is NO difference between their appearance. They made changes so that there would be in the comics, but in reality there aren't supposed to be. That's my issues with Ascending, it took all of the characters who are identical and put them together, rather than taking just the ones who are different. If it had been Bonecrusher and Big Horn, there wouldn't have been a big deal because at the very least they are different colors, but that doesn't apply to everyone. The overall issue is that they blurred the line by mergeing the Japanese with the American in this one. It wouldn't have been a problem if it had been the Japanese exclusive molds, but they took everyone and everything. That's where the problems are coming from.
Scorpomike said,  - 2008-02-21 12:10:21
Slag isn't a Transformers swear word. Slag is a term used in arc welding. it's the stuff you chip off after the weld has cooled down as a result of the flux on the welding rod. Maybe they could name him Dinobot Slag or Autobot Slag.
Scorpomike said,  - 2008-02-21 12:11:43
Arcee is hot!
Rhinox said,  - 2008-02-21 12:24:52
slag is also a tf swearword,since the real life slag is basicly like shit to transformers,it is also british for slut.
Perceptor said,  - 2008-02-21 13:49:28
"Slag" is british for slut? Really? I didn't know that. Are you sure you're not confused, "Shag" is the british equivalent of America's "f-u-c-(you know)-@* you" right?

Another example of 'lost in translation, How about this true story, my 2-year old son got attached to this little cat toy. It's very little and easy to loose. So my wife and I wanted to buy another. Trouble was we couldn't find any anywhere. After extensive internet searching found 1 store in England that still had them. So we orderd. A very kind letter came back, (and I quote),

"...Thanks for your order. Hope your son is fond of the "Pussy" or whatever you decide to call it..."

After busting a gut laughing, my wife and I had to resist the temptation to write back, "Thank you, yes. Our (2-year-old) son is, in fact, quite fond of the pussy."

Good heavens! So yes, we came up with a better name. Okay, so maybe there's a good reason *Slag* is now Snarl...
Tyscream said,  - 2008-02-21 14:20:50
Hey everybody! I just got spotlight Arcee and G1 Snaptrap!
Autobutt said,  - 2008-02-21 15:27:56
ok one thing that ive figured out is that no matter wat, if u type ur name as "said" then anyone will be able to edit that comment

and about the topic... think about energon downshift, who looks exactly like G1 wheeljack. it looks like we all have to get used to the fact names in the TF universe are going to change.
Rhinox said,  - 2008-02-21 15:37:38
@perceptor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slag_%28slang%29

@Autobutt:Downshift was EXTREMELY different from wheeljack in personality,only his appearance was an homage.
Autobutt said,  - 2008-02-21 15:39:52
well yea Rhinox thats wat i meant... but they still used his appearance without giving it the name
Bass X0 said,  - 2008-02-21 16:11:56
"""They made changes so that there would be in the comics, but in reality there aren't supposed to be."""

No... B'Boom had his own bio on the toy packaging and Apache appeared in the Japanese TV series. They were different characters, like a lot of other characters that the shared same mold. They can't rewrite a American character because they were writing for an American audience. And they can't rewrite a prominent character from the TV series because he's important to Lio Convoy's group. So they went with American characters and Japanese characters as seperate, it was just an editorial decision. Someone else may have decided to combine characters.
Sabrblade said,  - 2008-02-21 16:44:17
<Bass X0 wrote: "No... B'Boom had his own bio on the toy packaging and Apache appeared in the Japanese TV series. They were different characters, like a lot of other characters that the shared same mold. They can't rewrite a American character because they were writing for an American audience.">

Have you forgotten that the early Beast Wars characters had bios that were little to nothing like their TV show counterparts? That's because those characters were rewritten for the show, just like what the Jaspanese did to B'Boom when they made Apache. And also like the U.S. Beast Wars writers, the Japanese recolored several of the U.S. toys for their TV series (they just went one step futher by recoloring the toys to match their show counterparts).

So bascially, it wouldn't have mattered if B-Boom and Apache were the same guy, the writers would just have to choose which name and which personality to use for the guy.
Tramp said,  - 2008-02-21 18:58:27
Rhinox. the new Classics Octane (aka Tankor) does indeed transform into a tanker. The specific model of vehicle is a Mmiltary HEMTT the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/hmett.htm Octane's truck mode is a M978 2500 gallon fuel tanker which can be seen at the bottom of the page.
TriPredRavage said,  - 2008-02-21 19:46:35
Sabr, you took the words right out of my mouth. The bios that were provided with the figures don't have any relevence at all ever. I remember reading bios from characters in Beast Wars going "that didn't happen." In fact, I'm pretty sure the only Bio that I ever saw that was very accurate was Magmatron's which reflected his actions in BWNeo.

Here's how I see it: you look at B'Boom's profile and it tells you he's fierce and hard to control. Then you look to Apache and you find a Veteran with berserker tendencies. As far as that makes me concerned, Apache and B'Boom are the same character because B'Boom would just age into Apache. If you've seen BWII all the way through, you can see this easy. Bonecrusher and Snarl are also very similar to their Japanese counterparts. In reality, the only ones who really aren't are Tripredacus, the Insectrons, Spittor, and arguably Claw Jaw. But even then, Spittor is still a spaz in his comic appearances and Materror is still a big mean guy, among others.
Sabrblade said,  - 2008-02-21 21:22:40
If you ask me, if BWII and Neo are ever dubbed, they should use the names of the US counterparts for each character except Skywarp (who's name is doesn't really need to be changed) cuz the name Silverbolt is already taken by the Fuzor, the Jointron Bros' names cuz their toys are already used as the Tripredacus Council, Hellscream and Sharp Edge cuz Cybershark also exists in the Japanese continuity, Max-B cuz Wolfang also exists in the Japanese continuity, and I'm debating about Diver and Crazybolt cuz their U.S. counterparts have Transmetal 2 forms that don't exist in the Japanese continuity.
Rhinox said,  - 2008-02-22 12:34:30
Tramp: i must've read some wrong info,i read somewhere that it was a missile truck,but it does indeed resemble the trucks you linked to.
Mighty Maximal said,  - 2008-02-22 13:37:16
I don't care what IDW do so long as anyone who comes after them ignores them as much as I do.

I'm miffed about Slag not being Slag - that is really annoying.

Heck if he's got a Flame thrower and turns things to slag then he's slag.

Was he named on the cartoon ?
TriPredRavage said,  - 2008-02-22 14:03:58
Nah, MM, only Grimlock has been named out of the Dinobots so far.
Starscream said,  - 2008-02-27 16:34:10
I guess I'm kinda 50/50 over the whole thing. I never really liked the name Slag,but I think it's a shame that TF isn't using it anymore. On the other end of the spectrom,this only one series out of the entire TF legacy so they could just bring Slag back again. However,I don't belive that "slag" is a TF swearword. In Beast Wars,instead of saying junk or scrap,the Maxies and Preds would say slag.
"I'm going to turn you into slag!,or "I'm going to send you to the slag pile!",were two popular lines by Dinobot,Terrorsaur and a few other characters.
Over all,I think Snarl is a good name for the character.
Tramp said,  - 2008-02-28 14:53:47
In MtMtE #8, the glossary in the back says this about the word "Slag": "In its colloquial meaning, this ia a Cybertronian expletive, useable as a noun or adjective (SLAGGING). Can also be used to mean "terminate" (e.g. 'I'm going to slag you.')"
cheap supra shoes said,  - 2012-04-07 09:42:06
[url=http://www.supratksocietyshoesoutlet.com/]Online Supra Sneaker Outlet[/url], Factory Direct!You will find that low price and top quality [url=http://www.supratksocietyshoesoutlet.com/]Supra Footwear cheap sale[/url] for people to choose from. Get best service by every purchase of Supra Footwear. [url=http://www.supratksocietyshoesoutlet.com/]www.supratksocietyshoesoutlet.com[/url] has the latest information about [url=http://www.supratksocietyshoesoutlet.com/]Justin Bieber Shoes[/url]. More information about [url=http://www.supratksocietyshoesoutlet.com/]Justin Bieber Supra Shoes[/url] including release dates and prices. Thanks for your attention on our store.
Find your favorite styles from our large collection of [url=http://www.supratksocietyshoesoutlet.com/]Supra Footwear[/url],[url=http://www.supratksocietyshoesoutlet.com/supra-pilot-shoes-c-13/]Supra Pilot Shoes[/url],[url=http://www.supratksocietyshoesoutlet.com]Supra Shoes UK[/url] and more!Top quality [url=http://www.supratksocietyshoesoutlet.com/]Mens Supra Shoes[/url] are hot sale now,welcome to our [url=http://www.supratksocietyshoesoutlet.com/]Supra Shoes Store[/url] the more surprise waitting for your such as high quality,fast shipping and 46% OFF!


Return to Lukis Bros Transformers Collector Site