Talk:Autosanrin (G1)

So, uh, what is he?

One of those meter-reader carts or what? -hx 17:09, 14 December 2009 (EST)

And when was this contest held? - Chris McFeely 17:17, 14 December 2009 (EST)

He's not a toy-only character or a merchandise-only character or a fiction-only character.

What category do we place this guy in? -Derik 17:52, 14 December 2009 (EST)

Japanese-only characters, maybe? What was Escargon filed under before he got put in that Timelines story? --Spengs (at work, can't log in)

Prior to the expansion (no, not THAT expansion), Escargon was categorized as a Maximal and a Beast Wars II character.--Jimsorenson 18:05, 14 December 2009 (EST)

Uh, yeah. There's a lot of important information missing here. What issue announced the contest, and when did it end? What was the prize? What does he turn into? --M Sipher 18:43, 14 December 2009 (EST)

For what it's worth, all of that info is missing from Escargon's page too, except the alt-mode. From what I remember from Speng's translation, he turns into a three-wheeled thing.--Jimsorenson 18:47, 14 December 2009 (EST)

The scan Jim sent me was for a Decepticon design contest, but was also announcing the winner of the previous Autobot design contest. It lists the rules for the Decepticon contest as well as the prizes, but I don't know if those also pertain to the Autobot contest. At the very least, if Jim knows what issue those scans came from, we can get a month and year on when the results for the Autobot contest (and thus Autosanrin's reveal) were announced. --Spengs (at work, can't log in)

That was from the November 1985 issue of Bom Bom. The contest, I believe, was announced in the October 1985 issue. I've uploaded the primary source for all to see, since my Japanese doesn't extend beyond Katakana and the simplest of Kanji.--Jimsorenson 19:23, 14 December 2009 (EST)

Regardless translation and whatnot issues... I want a category for this. Non-fiction non-toy, non-merchandise. Basically- "This character exists. Possibly here's a profile for him."

The closest we have are those letters-page-exclusive characters... but we consider those fiction since they're written as part of the fiction they represent. This is like... "profile-exclusive" tied to no particular body of fiction. (Japan might say he was tied to cartoon continuity... or maybe not, they tend to be awfully literal about that sort of thing.) Any ideas what to call this? -Derik 20:42, 14 December 2009 (EST)

So would this as yet undetermined category also apply to characters who never made it past early production art and conceptualization, like Big Bang and Hyperdrive (Turbomaster)? They exist, but at the same time, they do not. --Spengs (at work, can't log in)

Hyperdrive has a toy appearance!

And... I'm not sure? I feel like it would be useful if this category did NOT apply to scuttled-concept characters. The listing will be thin... but there HAVE to be more actual-official-characters that have no fiction, toy or merchandise. And I think lumping them in with the concept-art guys like Big Bang would be a disservice to both. -Derik 21:18, 14 December 2009 (EST)

Autosanrin could be put under Fiction-only characters (maybe for a while before anyone figures a better solution), which contains all characters who have no toys — but Autosanrin doesn't seem to have a fiction nor profile appearance as far as I know, unless "who created him" counts for profile. --TX55^TALK　01:01, 15 December 2009 (EST)