MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

For safety reasons

2012-03-27T10:49:19Z

118.209.99.153: /* External links */

{{disambig2|why you can't have that awesome toy|the Autobot from Operation Combination|Safety}}
[[Image:G1Megatron toy.jpg|right|300px|thumb|In your dreams, American fans.]]
The United States is a very litigious society. If a child is injured or (heaven forbid) killed by use or abuse of a toy, that child's parents are very likely to sue the toy manufacturer. As such, [[Hasbro]] puts its toys through rigorous testing, '''for safety reasons'''. Sometimes, a [[Toy|Transformers toy]] has to be [[design change|altered from the original design]] in order to maintain safety standards, which vary from country to country.

==Safety testing==
[[Image:DVD 20thPrime.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Stubbimus Prime]]
Hasbro has several tests that come up frequently. One of the more famous ones is the "drop test." As its name implies, this involves dropping a toy from great heights in order to ascertain whether or not said toy will break, and if any of the parts which may have broken loose could potentially injure a child (sharp edges, swallowable/chokeable bits, etc.). This is often cited as the reason [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]] has not been reissued in the United States, as well as the reason for the shortened smokestacks on the shoulders of various [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys|Optimus Prime toys]] (it's a common mistake to assume this started in 1988 with the [[Powermaster]] version;<ref>For one thing the pegs on Powermaster Prime's shoulder-cannons were brittle as hell!</ref> however, it was actually the Japanese [[Ginrai|Super Ginrai]] version that had the shorter stacks, not the Hasbro Optimus Prime version). This test is also used to determine the durability of a toy's packaging, making sure that ''only'' the packaging is damaged should it be dropped.

Other tests have similar goals, generally concerned with breakage issues. Hence, the Japanese version of [[Vector Prime]] has hard plastic wings, but the U.S. version uses a rubbery material less likely to accidentally snap off or gouge out the eye of a child (or a particularly clumsy adult). Even as early as 1985, [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] and [[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] were altered to have blunted nosecones, and the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]] jets had rubber nosecones instead of hard plastic. Again, this was likely to prevent trauma from a thrown or jabbed toy.

==Safety standards==
[[Image:MarvelUS-33.jpg|left|150px|thumb|We don't let lawyers wear armor or carry lances anymore.]]
[[Image:G1Thunder clash toy.jpg|right|200px|thumb|I'm a choking hazard!]]
[[Image:MachineWarsPrime.jpg|right|200px|thumb|I'm not!]]
Besides the safety testing, Hasbro (and other toy manufacturers) try to make sure their products conform to certain standards. Some of these standards are self-imposed, while others are mandated at the state or national level. Most notably, these laws include choke laws, which are designed to prevent small parts (''especially'' projectiles) from being lodged in a child's windpipe; the use of toxic materials like lead-based paints; and toy gun laws, which are designed to prevent scenarios where law enforcement officials accidentally shoot children or adults who are not armed, but carrying "realistic" toy guns; like say, [[Megatron (G1)/toys|G1 Megatron]]. U.S. law requires that toy guns have either an orange plug in the barrel, or a coat of orange paint on the barrel. Some states have even more stringent laws, which require that toy guns must be brightly colored and must not resemble real-world firearms. (Some retailers won't even carry realistic toy guns ''anyway'', so that's a double-whammy some places.)

Note that the major federal toy gun law was enacted in 1988, and applies to all toy guns manufactured after May 1989. As such, it is entirely legal for dealers to sell original G1 Megatron figures, as they are grandfathered in; but any later American release of the toy WOULD have to meet these standards, hence the "Safety/Lava Bath Megatron" toy, which STILL failed to meet these guidelines, as the entire external surface was not (and likely could not be) made from a single color of plastic.

Also note that there's no size limitation anywhere in the legal regulations. As a consequence, even the recent [[Transformers (2010 toyline)|2010 ''Transformers'']] [[Legends Class]] [[Megatron (G1)/toys#Transformers (2010)|Megatron]] has to sport an orange barrel, despite his tiny size.

==Articulation and safety==

During the time Hasbro started to make its own molds to represent characters as toys instead of importing from other toy lines, the company noticed that the safety standards of a toy had to withstand a pulling force of 20 pounds to deem them safe. Because most toys in those days had little to no outward movement in their legs or arms, they would rather quickly break with little force, so most figures were made with fused legs, preventing kids from pulling the legs apart. Because of this, most of the toys dropped articulation to make the figures stronger, turning a large amount of them into "[[Brick (term)|brick]]s". During the time [[Takio Ejima]] started working on the brand, he noted that they could make the toys safer by the use of [[ball joint]]s, making it easier for the toy to pass the test, and still have the full range of motion. This idea would even change the standard of articulation outside the Transformers brand.

==Safety standards are still changing==
Note that changes to previously released toys to conform to modern-day safety standards aren't limited to [[Generation 1 reissues|reissues]] of ''[[The Transformers (toyline)|Generation 1]]'' toys: For the [[Universe (2008 toyline)|''Universe'' (2008)]]/''[[Revenge of the Fallen (toyline)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' [[Superion (G1)|Superion]] [[Superion (ROTF)|giftset]], Hasbro retooled the nosecone of the ''[[Energon (toyline)|Energon]]'' [[Treadshot (Energon)|Treadshot]]/[[Windrazor (Energon)|Windrazor]] sculpt to be less pointy—a sculpt that had originally been released a mere five years earlier.

''[[Classics (2006)|Classics]]'' [[Megatron (G1)/toys|Megatron]], released in ''2006'', turns into a [[Wikipedia:Nerf|Nerf]] N-Strike Maverick blaster with a bright orange cap on the end of both the scope and the barrel. With Hasbro's ever-more-conservative legal department, even [[:Image:Megatronclassicstoy.jpg|this deco]] wouldn't be sufficient enough anymore these days.

Similarly, a ''Generation 1''-era mold that could previously be reused in its original state may unexpectedly need to be changed within the space of a few years. [[Movor]]'s toy from 2001 is a redeco of [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]], with no detectable physical changes, but in 2003 another redeco of the same mold had to be retooled to round off the nosecone.

==Safety standards in other countries==
The USA isn't the only country with rigid toy safety standards that affect Transformers. In fact, some countries have safety standards that are even ''more'' rigid than anything the USA has. Examples:

* Japan apparently has extremely lax toy safety regulations. The Japanese toy safety standard is called "ST", which can be applied to toys aimed at children under the age of 14; however, that doesn't mean that a toy ''can't'' be sold if it ''doesn't'' sport the "ST" seal. The only difference is that parents will receive a compensation if their child gets injured by playing with an "ST"-approved toy.

[[Image:GiGmissiles.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Awww ''come on'', Italy.]]
* In Italy's ''[[Trasformer]]'' {{sic}} line by [[GiG]], many toys' missile launchers didn't have their springs removed, but the missiles ''did'' have comically-huge giant rubber balls attached to the tips. Some of the subsequent, officially-licensed-by-Hasbro ''Transformers'' re-releases of those toys still featured the same kind of missiles. Makes those elongated [[Commemorative Series]] missiles seem not so bad after all, huh?

* Whereas European toy gun laws are more relaxed, hence making the import of [[Megatron (G1)/toys|''G1'' Megatron]] reissues and ''[[Masterpiece]]'' Megatron less of a legal hassle, Australia actually has ''harsher'' regulations than the US, officially classifying MP Megatron as a "firearm replica". Some Australian states even consider the ''possession'' of the toy ''illegal'', even if it was painted in bright orange or sported a permanently glued on orange plug. Apparently, the only way to circumvent this problem requires joining some kind of registered ''firearms'' Collectors' Club.<ref>[http://www.csapo.com.au/ttf/TCTF_Club.htm Details about the legal situation concerning the import and possession of Masterpiece Megatron in Australia]</ref>

* Members of the European Union don't consider American safety regulations sufficient, but require their own safety tests, with the toys having to adhere to the European standard EN 71. As a consequence, toys that are perfectly fine to be released in the USA might occasionally not be considered suitable for the European market. And since Hasbro has long since abandoned producing international "variants" of toys beyond mere packaging differences, that would mean those toys simply won't come out in Europe at all. (However, while specific examples are unconfirmed, it's highly doubtful that this affects a large number of toys.)

==Notes==
* According to Hasbro, toys that represent flying characters are given more stringent drop tests and rounded/collapsible bits, as children (and the kind of adults who buy Transformers) are more prone to throwing these figures around or ramming them into things (or people).
* You know how G1 Megatron turns into a realistic-looking handgun? And how there are various laws prohibiting the sale of realistic-looking toy handguns? [http://www.unicron.com/news_item/1877/ Yeah.] C'mon, you knew it was bound to happen sooner or later.
* Besides "turning into a realistic handgun," another Generation 1 [[gimmick]] we won't be seeing again in the future is the [[Sparking gimmick|"sparking" action]] found in the [[Firecon|Firecons]], [[Sparkabot|Sparkabots]], and [[Monsterbot|Monsterbots]], after a Barbie doll with a similar action feature reportedly set a child's underwear on fire. No, seriously.<ref>[http://diswww.mit.edu/tla/humor/442 Blading Barbie Sparks Up Hell On Wheels.]</ref>

==External links==
* [http://theswca.com/textf/toydeath.html Page featuring articles on the genesis of the choke-gate test, due to a missile-firing ''Battlestar Galactica'' toy.]
* [http://www.washingtonwatchdog.org/documents/cfr/title15/part1150.html CFR Title 15, Part 1150, the official federal law on "realistic" toy guns and the markings thereof.] (dead link)
* [http://www.btha.co.uk/about_us/toy_safety_guide.php Overview on toy safety standards in the UK]
* [http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/toypremguid04.pdf Pages five and six of this article give a brief summary of the federal safety guidelines regarding breakability testing.] (PDF format.)
* [http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28331 ''The Onion'''s slightly snarkier take on the subject, for those who like their snarky snark snarkiness.]
* [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080807.wmegatron0807/BNStory/National/home Canadian ruling that Masterpiece Megatron does not constitute a "replica firearm" for importing purposes.]

==See also==
*[[Unpaintable plastic]]

==Footnotes==
<references />

[[Category:Toys]]

Danger! Scissor Boy

2012-03-25T13:57:04Z

118.209.99.153: /* Synopsis */

{{episode
|series=beast wars ii
|ep=11
|image=BWIIep11AutorollerHostage01.jpg
|caption=
|title="Danger! Scissor Boy"
|japanese=危うし! シザーボーイ
|romaji=Ayaushi! Scissor Boy
|production code=
|production company=[[TV Tokyo]], [[Nihon Ad Systems|NAS]], [[Production Reed|Ashi Production]]
|airdate=[[June 10|10 June]] [[1998]]
|writer=[[Yukiyoshi Ōhashi]]
|director=[[Yoshio Yamazaki]]
|animation studio=[[Production Reed|Ashi Production]]
|continuity=[[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''Scissor Boy is taken hostage by the Autorollers, and gets Tasmania Kid rolled into his mess as well.'''

==Synopsis==

[[Image:BWIIep11AutoRollers01.jpg|left|250px|thumb|]]

Exiting the ''[[Galvaburg II]]'', the [[Autoroller]]s [[Autocrasher]], [[Autostinger]] and [[Autojetter]] set off to destroy their mortal foes, the [[Insectron]]s, once and for all. At their base, [[Scissor Boy]], [[Powerhug (BWII)|Powerhug]] and [[Drill Nuts]] have just heard about the other Insectrons' recent battle with the Autorollers and recall their past troubles with them. Although he'd love to take them all on by himself, Scissor Boy decides to contact the [[Maximal]]s for help, as they'd recently become friends. Scissor Boy collects all the Insectrons' data regarding the Autorollers onto a disk with the intention of delivering it to [[Tasmania Kid]].

[[Image:BWIIep11Insectron01.jpg|right|250px|thumb|]]

On his way to make the delivery, Scissor Boy spots Autostinger. He attempts to take him captive, only to find he was baiting a trap. Now surrounded by Autocrasher and Autojetter, who intend to gun him down, Scissor Boy thinks quickly. He gets all nostalgic and reminds the Autorollers of all the good times they had together as friends. The Autorollers remind him that they were never friends and Autojetter prepares to shoot his head off. Autocrasher stops him, saying they should use him to find the remaining Insectrons. Scissor Boy says he'll gladly take his "old war buddies" back to see Powerhug and the others, who miss them as well. In reality, he doesn't know what the heck he's going to do.

Up on the [[Moon (moon)|moon]], [[Artemis]] laments the pickle Scissor Boy has gotten himself into. [[Moon (BWII)|Moon]] says he has no other choice, while Artemis prays someone will come along to help him soon.

Back on [[Gaea]], Powerhug has decided to take a proactive approach and find the Autorollers first. Drill Nuts encourages him to take his new and improved hate-detector. He swears that it will work properly this time, as it has the Autorollers' data entered into it.

[[Image:BWIIep11TasmaniaFlowers01.jpg|left|250px|thumb|]]

Elsewhere, the Autorollers hear a noise and, along with their hostage, decide to hide in wait for it. The noise turns out to be [[Tasmania Kid]], humming joyfully as he brings a bouquet of freshly picked flowers to the Insectrons (insects like pollen, he believes). The Autorollers prepare to ambush him, but Scissor Boy attempts to talk them out of it, explaining that Tasmania Kid is the smallest and weakest of the Maximals and wouldn't be much sport. Autostinger won't hear it, and tells Scissor Boy to capture Tasmania Kid ''himself'', and if he makes any false moves, he'll blow him up with a missile. Reluctantly, Scissor Boy scrambles out into the meadow and tackles the confused Tasmania Kid. In the scuffle, Scissor Boy explains the situation to Kid and "convinces" him to play hostage alongside him. Scissor Boy brings the "defeated" Tasmania Kid back to the Autorollers, explaining that he'd just bested the strongest of the Maximals. Autostinger says he thought he said Kid was the ''weakest'' (much to Kid's irritation). Scissor Boy backtracks, explaining it was a slip of the tongue, and that they should bring the defeated Kid back to the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]]s as a present for [[Megastorm]]. The Autorollers agree, but decide to hunt down the remaining Insectrons first.

Meanwhile, Drill Nuts and Powerhug are fiddling with the hate-detector. It ends up leading them to [[Starscream (BWII)|Starscream]] and [[BB]], who are flying overhead. Powerhug registers his disappointment in Drill Nuts's mechanical ingenuity.

Back at the death march, Kid and Scissor Boy decide to lead the Autorollers back to the Maximals so that [[Lio Convoy]] can defeat them. As they pass a river, [[Scuba]] spots their approach. Scuba relays his findings via [[NAVI-chan]] to [[Lio Convoy]] and the others aboard the ''[[Yukikaze (BWII)|Yukikaze]]''. Lio Convoy orders the Maximals to hide behind some rocks and await the approach of the Predacons.

[[Image:BWIIep11Autostinger01.jpg|right|250px|thumb|]]

Not far off, Powerhug and Drill Nuts are ''still'' following the hate-detector, and much to Drill Nuts's joy, it leads them right to the Autorollers. They decide to save their comrades by causing an avalanche, and while the falling rocks catch the Autorollers off-guard, they leap down into the fray. Their cunning plan, unfortunately, knocks the Autorollers, Kid and Scissor Boy and ''themselves'' off the cliff, where they land at the base of the ''Galvaburg II''. Megastorm exits and the Autorollers present their catches to him. The Insectrons realize there's no other choice and decide to fight it out with the Autorollers. Megastorm attempts to summon the [[Combatron (BWII)|Combatron]]s, but Tasmania Kid opens fire on him to keep him from sending the communication. As Drill Nuts takes on Autojetter, they argue over whether it is better to be recklessly impulsive (like Autojetter) or a gloomy brainiac (like Drill Nuts). Autocrasher and Powerhug then pit their strength against one-another to see who comes out on top. Then, Autostinger and Scissor Boy go at it; Autostinger revealing that, via promotions, the Autorollers hope to rule their own planet one day, while Scissor Boy says that freedom and friends is even better.

Megastorm decides to end the skirmish by transforming to tank mode and opening fire. He puts the enemy on the ropes until Lio Convoy and the Maximals arrive. They make short work of the Autorollers and Megastorm, who board the ''Galvaburg II'' and retreat. The Combatrons ''then'' decide to show up, much to Megastorm's fury.

Powerhug apologizes for ruining Kid's strategy and curls up into a ball in embarrassment. Scissor Boy gives his disk full of Autoroller data to Kid, as Drill Nuts is pleased that his hate-detector actually worked.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Maximal]]s|c1=
*[[Scissor Boy]] (4)
*[[Drill Nuts]] (5)
*[[Powerhug (BWII)|Powerhug]] (6)
*[[Tasmania Kid]] (9)
*[[Scuba]] (12)
*[[NAVI-chan]] (13)
*[[Lio Convoy]] (14)
*[[Diver (BWII)|Diver]] (15)
*[[Apache]] (16)
*[[Bighorn]] (17)

|h2=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]]s|c2=
*[[Autostinger]] (1)
*[[Autojetter]] (2)
*[[Autocrasher]] (3)
*[[Starscream (BWII)|Starscream]] (10)
*[[BB]] (11)
*[[Megastorm]] (18)
*[[Dirge (BWII)|Dirge]] (19)
*[[Thrust (BWII)|Thrust]] (20)

|c4=
*[[Artemis]] (7)
*[[Moon (BWII)|Moon]] (8)
}}

==Notes==
===Transformers references===

* The [[Insectron]]s befriended the [[Maximal]]s and [[Galvatron (BWII)|Galvatron]] was believed killed in "[[The Strongest Tag Team?]]".

* [[Bigmos]], [[Tonbot]] and [[Mantis]] had their encounter with the [[Autoroller]]s in "[[Autorollers Roll Out!]]".

* [[Drill Nuts]]'s hate-detector previously appeared in "[[Friend or Foe? The Insect Robos]]".

===Trivia===
* Why doesn't [[Autolauncher]] accompany the other Autorollers on their mission? No reason is given for his absence.
* In this installment of "[[Artemis & Moon II Report]]", they go over the Maximal base; the ''[[Yukikaze (BWII)|Yukikaze]]''. Having crashed into the northern continent of [[Gaea]], it cannot fly, but that's okay, because it's surrounded by a beautiful landscape. The Maximals can use smaller, operational aircraft to set-up sub-bases all over Gaea for convenience's sake. The Predacon's ship, the ''[[Galvaburg II]]'', is operational and can fly anywhere on the planet. Moon looks over to Artemis and sees her scribbling something in a notepad. Turns out, she's planning to use this information to strategically decide the most romantic time to meet Starscream. Moon thinks she's abusing the data.
* The names "''Yukikaze''" and "''Galvaburg II''" are not said in the episode, but come from the ''[[Beast Wars II Encyclopedia]]'' and the ''[[Beast Wars II Super Encyclopedia]]''.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote|japanese}}
;VHS
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — ACT. 4 ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]])

[[Category:Beast Wars II episodes]]

Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)

2012-03-25T02:52:13Z

118.209.99.153: /* External links */

{{disambig3|Cybertron}}
{{nav-cybertron}}

'''''Transformers: Cybertron''''' is the third and final Transformers [[franchise]] in the [[Unicron Trilogy]]. It was made concurrently and cooperatively with [[Takara]], who named the franchise '''''Transformers: Galaxy Force''''' (トランスフォーマーギャラクシーフォース) in their markets.

The ''Cybertron'' franchise featured the following primary components:

*[[Transformers: Cybertron (toyline)|A toyline]]
*[[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|A cartoon series]]

A comic book series was initially planned for ''Cybertron'', but its intended publisher, [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]], went out of business before the line began. IDW originally discussed doing a ''Cybertron'' series, starting it off with a Generation 1 crossover, but this was dropped (the pitch is included in the ''Best of Simon Furman'' trade) [http://idwpublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=42871#42871].

The [[Transformers Collectors' Club]] published a 12-part story arc titled ''Balancing Act'' in comic form, in the [[Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club (magazine)|monthly magazine]], branded with the '''Cybertron''' name. This comic, while featuring Unicron Trilogy characters, also stars various characters from other universes, and is loosely tied to [[3H Productions|3H]]'s [[Transformers: Universe (comic)|''Universe'']] series.

The Transformers Collectors' Club fiction:

*''[[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act|Balancing Act]]''
*"[[The Dark Heart of Sandokan]]"
*"[[Force of Habit]]"

==''Galaxy Force''==
''Galaxy Force'', the Japanese version of ''Cybertron'', is somewhat different than its English counterpart. According to an October 2004 press release by [[We've]], the producers of the series, ''Galaxy Force'' was originally a continuation of the previous ''Super Link'' series (known as ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)|Energon]]'' in Hasbro's markets). However, a few weeks later, the November issue of ''Newtype'' magazine did a special feature on the then-upcoming ''Galaxy Force'' where there was no connection to the previous series.<ref>[http://www.fantofan.jp/newsarchive2004.htm 22 October 2004 and 10 November 2004, Fantofan.jp]</ref>

[[Image:11-12.jpg|left|279px|thumb|Before the cartoon series]]

The general plot and storylines remained very similar (with the exception of the usual differences in character names). The main difference between ''Cybertron'' and ''Galaxy Force'' is that initially the ''Galaxy Force'' cartoon had no story ties to any of the previous Transformers series. It was treated as a new stand-alone continuity featuring entirely new characters, whereas ''Cybertron'' was scripted as part of the Unicron Trilogy with many of its characters representing new forms of important characters from that continuity family. This division leads not only to character differences but also to different takes on some key events; the [[Unicron Singularity]] (or "Grand Black Hole" in Japan), for instance, was not created by the destruction of Unicron in the ''Galaxy Force'' telling, but came into being due to the loss of an unnamed evil force in their ancient past.

Following the conclusion of the animated series, however, [[TakaraTomy]] proceeded to quickly establish a few [[retcon]]s that made ''Galaxy Force'' part of the Unicron Trilogy timeline. In addition to liner notes published with the ''Galaxy Force'' DVDs making references to previous series in a manner that mirrored the American material, a timeline and flowchart published on TakaraTomy's [[World of Transformers]] website in early 2007 outright stated that ''Galaxy Force'' took place in the Unicron Trilogy universe, albeit only ''one'' year after ''Energon''/''Super Link'', rather than the ten years established in American material. Around the same time as this website was established, the retcon was also made clear in-fiction, during the second year of the [[Transformers: Kiss Players (radio drama)|''Kiss Players'' radio drama]], when the three title characters were sent to the three eras of the Unicron Trilogy timeline, and it was clearly established that they were all the same universe.
{{-}}

==Notes==
* When [[IDW Publishing]] picked up the ''Transformers'' license, [[Simon Furman]] pitched an idea for an ongoing ''Cybertron'' comic that was ultimately never used. The plot would have been generally similar to that of the cartoon; however, planet Cybertron would have been tethered to Earth's 'energon core' to delay its destruction. The comic would also have tied in to an ongoing G1 comic that Furman pitched simultaneously, with Vector Prime travelling between both universes to guide the Autobots of both worlds. Furman intended both series to eventually converge in an epic clash united Transformers from across the [[multiverse]] in a huge clash over the fate of existence. <ref>Pitch printed in ''[[The Transformers: The Best of Simon Furman]]''.</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/TF/table.html Takara's official timeline placing Galaxy Force in continuity with Micron Legend and Super Link.](dead link)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cybertron}}
[[Category:Cybertron franchise| ]]
[[Category:Franchises]]
[[Category:Unicron Trilogy]]