Talk:Reflector (G1)

It does indeed appear that Reflector was originally intended for wider release. Who would be able to discover Hasbro's reasoning for deciding not to include this toy (until the mail-in promotion)? Would there be anybody who (used to) work(s) for Hasbro who would even know? This is one of the few great mysteries of the G1 era remaining to be disciphered.--G.B. Blackrock 17:29, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

I'd suggest asking Budainsky if he rembers anything about him. He did fairly early caracter work on them all. Might give us a timeframe for his being cut, at least. Bud. might not remember the character, but if you describe 3 robots combining into a camera maybe he'd recall something. Could give us insight into whether he was ever gonna be in the comic too.

Reflector appears in MTMTE, but was not on the list of tech spec stats that Bob worked out over that famed Thanksgiving weekend. I know because I took a picture of it at Iacon One [1]. That would indicate that he was dropped before the characters' names were invented. If so, it's a little odd that he ended up in the cartoon, since one would think the cartoon didn't go into development (storywise at least) until after Marvel had come up with their treatment. If Reflector had already been dropped by that time, why was he in the show at all? Likewise with Hauler and Shockwave. So... it could be that Reflector was tentatively added to the toyline after the first batch of bios were written, and then taken out again (until released as a mail order exclusive). That would, in many ways I think, be consistent with his rather personality-less portrayal. --Steve-o 15:52, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Didn't the partial TF bible floating around online include a note that the character Reflector had been dropped from the cartoon, and not to use him? (The same one which talked about having Skyfire in his Macross-style form in his intro episode, and rebuilding him to not look like a Veritech after-- apparently the original motivation for his 'death'.)

I'd say the axe just fell too late, and they'd already been put in the cartoon. Or the Japanese production company didn't get the note, or the storyboardes had already been done, or a buncha reasons. -Derik18:53, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Here. - Derik

Two things I have on this matter: One, after I posted my interview with George Dunsay, I continued the mail exchange for a few days until health reasons made me take a break from Transformers for a while. Most of the questions that were never published because of the abrupt end of our conversation were centered around oddities from the first few years of the TF line (red and yellow Bumblebee/Cliffjumper, Bumper, possibility of Shockwave having been delayed for a year as per appearing as early as the pilot/show bible using a drastically different character description than the toy's tech spec, even though the rest of the TF Bible profiles are almost verbatim quotes from the tech specs etc.). Most questions he couldn't answer, but he was able to fill me in on the Reflector issue a bit: The reason why Reflector was cancelled as a mass release was because Hasbro considered the toy "not interesting in both modes", as Hasbro had decided that one mode had to be a vehicle (so how about Megatron, Soundwave etc.?). Hasbro considered it a good mail-away premium, however, as it was "too expensive" with normal markups, and offered a bad price/value relationship. The other point I have is this find. The cartoon confirms the existence of a mass retail Hasbro product code number, which fits perfectly within a gap in my list of Hasbro product codes for TF toys.--Nevermore 00:48, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

That's an awesome picture by the way. - Starfield 19:21, 29 April 2009 (EDT)

Extra pic

This pic of his camera mode was uglying things up, so I removed it. --DrSpengler 03:01, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

...who is responsible for this caption? I'm in AWE. --Suki Brits 03:19, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

...In awe of a Goosebumps title? --MCRG 03:21, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

No kidding. That's a really bizarre reference. --Suki Brits 03:25, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Say cheese and die!

...That demanded recycling.--MCRG 06:15, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Spy Shot 6

Uh, I'm inclinded to call shenanagans on that "molded on reflector from solar adventure" thing unless someone can point to something more solid than "they're both cameras."

I'm inclined to agree. Seems quite far-fetched. -Detour 19:24, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

reflector joke

We three camras of orient times tried to smoke a rubber cigar it was loaded, it exploded...

Dirty Reflector Joke

If Reflector has sex with himself, is it a regular Threesome, Incest, or Masturbation? 86.17.124.125 14:18, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Most appropriate picture?

Might'nt it make more sense to have the Cartoon-style Reflector be the first profile section picture? That universe contains by far his most prominent, important, and numerous appearences in any continuity. (That's what we try to go by right?) --ZacWilliam 14:47, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Marvel US #4 pic

Shouldn't that go on Viewfinder's page, not here? Anyway- Spectro appears in the same issue, he's on the page in the Decepticon med-bay. One of those other fellows might be Spyglass I suppose. -Derik 03:00, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Uh, pic here, can you ID the guy on the topmost bed? -Derik 03:13, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Guy on the topmost bed is probably another Frumble, judging by the legs. It's weird that non-identical non-cartoon Reflectors show up in the comic, if they do. It means either that Springer worked from the toy, which seems like an abberation, or there were earlier character models that were more toy-accurate. --ItsWalky 04:07, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm guessing that the side-view guy in that image is Viewfinder, or the fellow giving Skywarp a transfusion, since the other 2 are present. I agree it's odd- but there you go. -Derik 04:41, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I am personally in the "debateable as actually being Reflector" camp on the repairing guys, especially as there are about five generic-looking guys in that scene. (Yes, the one on the table is colored like Frenzy and has his legs, but is missing the tape-hole design that the Rumble in that same scene has.) I would lean towards the note being of a "may or may not be" nature. --Monzo 03:53, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Nah, it's gonna be. The guy fafind forward has chest-detailing unique to Spectro, and in the longshot at the end of the page (when he shoots Starscream) it's the guy has Spyglasses chest right. -Derik 04:33, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Cartoon generics

I don't really like how the cartoon section handles cartoon Reflector, but maybe it is the best that can be done without making stuff up.
It seems to play dumb, pretending there are more than three Reflector units when in other places the wiki doesn't seem to have trouble calling something a generic. I wish we could take a stand on a few things, like there are three Reflector-bots, and they talk in unison. If someone doesn't match that, he is generic. I like the analysis at the obscure TF page. - Starfield 19:21, 29 April 2009 (EDT)

I'd be down with that, if there wasn't a scene that explicitly shows Reflector duplciates disappearing when colliding with other units (it's more than just generic weirdness, it's something that the script obviously had to call for) and instances of only one Reflector unit standing around and talking with the triplicate-voice on its own. He is wierd. - Chris McFeely 19:45, 29 April 2009 (EDT)

Is this why did we deleted the "Warrior" page? -Derik 20:56, 29 April 2009 (EDT)

I don't remember us even having a Warrior page. That must've been a good long time back. I only wrote up Reflector's cartoon section in detail recently. - Chris McFeely 21:06, 29 April 2009 (EDT)

The cartoon section is well done, everything clearly documented with notes and everything. I hope I didn't give the impression I was trashing it. I just wish we could say more with certainty, but the cartoon did leave a lot open for interpretation. I think it is a good case that "Warrior" is a separate generic, however. - Starfield 21:19, 29 April 2009 (EDT)

Alternity

"Reflector was dispatched to universal stream 905.0 Beta"
I assume this should be Primax 905.0 Beta, or am I missing something here? --Khajidha 12:34, 14 October 2010 (EDT)

Toy Listings

Should any further toy listings also be included on the separate component's pages? He's not named Viewfinder here, but is Viewfinder considered to be this guy (like Octane=Universe Tankor)?Riddlerj (talk) 09:03, 5 March 2014 (EST)

Interesting question. The bot mode seems to be very heavily based on Viewfinder's package art (unsurprising, considering Kyde also mentioned that the Micromaster-homage guys were based primarily on their package art), but it's called Reflector and turns into an entire camera. I guess put it at just Reflector (G1) and Viewfinder, maybe? Jalaguy (talk) 09:15, 5 March 2014 (EST)

I would say no, Universe Tankor is Octane with a new name. A new toy named Reflector is a toy of Reflector. And Reflector is a singular character sometimes (he was in the cartoon), no matter how many bodies he has or which toy component he looks like. --KilMichaelMcC (talk) 09:18, 5 March 2014 (EST)

Generations Skrapnel/Reflector

As I said on the Skrapnel talk page, should we mention that Reflector can be held by the arms in camera mode? Also, is it worth noting that he's actually spring loaded? --King Starscream (talk) 16:08, 11 November 2014 (EST)

Generations Thrilling 30 Skrapnel/Reflector

I posted this statement in the notes section of Reflector's page: "*Generations Thrilling 30 Reflector's robot mode has more than a passing resemblance to the GoBots water pistol Rogun." Why was this removed? It is an accurate statement. --Stars

Because it isn't accurate. The head is different. The chest is different. The legs are different. The arms are different. --Khajidha (talk) 23:08, 21 April 2018 (EDT)

Khajidha:

This is the toy I am talking about

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/554435404107744200/

http://www.toyarchive.com/Gobots/Arco/SquirtGun.html

I know which toy you mean. Everything I said stands. EVERY part of it is different. --Khajidha (talk) 23:19, 21 April 2018 (EDT)

I said it has more than a passing resemblance, I didn't say it is an exact copy. The general shape of the head, arms and overall silhouette are very similar. To me it looks like a clear influence on the Reflector toy, but to each his own I suppose.

That is, AT BEST, a mere "passing resemblance". --Khajidha (talk) 23:29, 21 April 2018 (EDT)