Talk:Straxus (G1)
So, Generations "Darkmount" was at ToyFair? I can't find any mention of him outside this wiki. ---Blackout- 07:39, 14 February 2010 (EST)
- [1] Geewunling 07:41, 14 February 2010 (EST)
- Approximately half the sites call him "Darkhead" for some reason. Pictures be floating about, even though people were asked not to take them. --Monzo 07:44, 14 February 2010 (EST)
- Thanks. ---Blackout- 07:46, 14 February 2010 (EST)
- FWIW, we were only asked not to take them so as not to flash in the eyes of the presenters, not because anything was a secret; Hasbro said all the pics were going to be given to us anyway. It turned out Straxus' pics had come in from the shop too last-minute to have been added to the press kits. So, good on the shutterbugs. --Thylacine 2000 04:53, 15 February 2010 (EST)
- Thanks. ---Blackout- 07:46, 14 February 2010 (EST)
- Approximately half the sites call him "Darkhead" for some reason. Pictures be floating about, even though people were asked not to take them. --Monzo 07:44, 14 February 2010 (EST)
"Tank" vs "Self-Propelled Gun"
I realize there's probably a 99% chance his card copy will say "tank" regardless, but it would be more in-keeping with the character history if he's actually a self-propelled gun? I'll probably add a note to that extent soon. Is there ANY way for us to get official confirmation in advance? For some reason I'm really fixating on this, I even directed the toy pics to a military hobbyist site to see if they could nail down the make and model of the vehicle mode. --Thylacine 2000 04:53, 15 February 2010 (EST)
- What feels wrong about this to me is that most of the images of self-propelled guns I'm seeing have really short barrels, and usually multiples of them, keeping with the idea that they're anti-aircraft weapons stuck on a vehicle. Darkmount doesn't keep in line with this, having a more traditional tank barrel. --ItsWalky 08:36, 15 February 2010 (EST)
- That's strange, cause a quick Google search just turned up oodles and skoodles of images of vehicles with single, massive barrels that most civilians would unhesitatingly call "tanks". Khajidha 08:45, 15 February 2010 (EST)
- The linked article shows numerous examples of s.p.g's that have single gigantic gunbarrels; most are anti-tank guns or mobile Howitzers used for over-the-horizon city bombardment. But here's the weird thing: the only half-track s.p.g's I can find are of the type Walky described: small multi-barrels, usually of WW2 vintage. Meanwhile, I can't find any specimens of a half-track true tank at all.--Thylacine 2000 09:20, 15 February 2010 (EST)
- Half-tracks were never used for tank chassis. Half-tracks were pretty much always troop transports or similar. -hx 09:37, 15 February 2010 (EST)
- This is the sort of geekery that I think should live on the wiki, and in fact does live in altmode discussions of many other characters. If the final packaging ends up saying "tank" it could still be appropriate to at least mention the possibility; cobras aren't vipers, as we note on Night Viper. FWIW, some military fanboys weighed in here: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42398 --Thylacine 2000 23:00, 17 February 2010 (EST)
- I am not sure I agree with having half of Darkmount's toy writeup be about whether he's a self-propelled gun or a tank. It's really irrelevant, considering his vehicle mode seems to be entirely made-up. His cockpit is a windowed affair on the front corner, for gods sake. --ItsWalky 23:34, 17 February 2010 (EST)
- I may have gone overboard initially--especially considering that we can't even show a good pic of the toy yet--so I've shortened it.
- FWIW, about that windowed cockpit up front: http://www.army-technology.com/projects/g6/g63.html --Thylacine 2000 10:11, 18 February 2010 (EST)
- I am not sure I agree with having half of Darkmount's toy writeup be about whether he's a self-propelled gun or a tank. It's really irrelevant, considering his vehicle mode seems to be entirely made-up. His cockpit is a windowed affair on the front corner, for gods sake. --ItsWalky 23:34, 17 February 2010 (EST)
- This is the sort of geekery that I think should live on the wiki, and in fact does live in altmode discussions of many other characters. If the final packaging ends up saying "tank" it could still be appropriate to at least mention the possibility; cobras aren't vipers, as we note on Night Viper. FWIW, some military fanboys weighed in here: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42398 --Thylacine 2000 23:00, 17 February 2010 (EST)
- Half-tracks were never used for tank chassis. Half-tracks were pretty much always troop transports or similar. -hx 09:37, 15 February 2010 (EST)
- The linked article shows numerous examples of s.p.g's that have single gigantic gunbarrels; most are anti-tank guns or mobile Howitzers used for over-the-horizon city bombardment. But here's the weird thing: the only half-track s.p.g's I can find are of the type Walky described: small multi-barrels, usually of WW2 vintage. Meanwhile, I can't find any specimens of a half-track true tank at all.--Thylacine 2000 09:20, 15 February 2010 (EST)
- That's strange, cause a quick Google search just turned up oodles and skoodles of images of vehicles with single, massive barrels that most civilians would unhesitatingly call "tanks". Khajidha 08:45, 15 February 2010 (EST)
Dead Link and Title Thoughts
Just in case it's not known already, wanted to point out the "Obscure Omnibus" link seems to be dead at the moment. And on a random side note, part of me wishes Hasbro had thought to call him "Lord Darkmount" then we could more easily pretend it was his title as ruler of Darkmount castle, kinda like James McCullen is "Lord Destro." Though... that still kinda works, doesn't it, as he's usually just called Destro. Lord Byron was frequently called just Byron as well. I think in my own mind I'm gonna likewise consider "Darkmount" as Straxus's "aristocratic title." --ZacWilliam 14:56, 20 April 2010 (EDT)
- Using a regional name as a personified noun is common in journalism and historical writing, so it can still be a synonym for the government (and in this case, the dictator). "Russia today declared that it would withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. And in other news, Darkmount announced that fools within its borders would receive no mercy, only death."--Thylacine 2000 15:19, 20 April 2010 (EDT)
Triple Changer?
Straxus is currently in the Triple Changers category because of what was said about his Generations toy at Toy Fair. Maybe he should be demoted from an official Triple Changer to a Transformer with three modes. His third mode isn't even mentioned on the packaging. - Starfield 22:22, 29 December 2010 (EST)
Sraxus Becomes Galvatron?
I don't believe this was ever even slightly hinted at anywhere in the Marvel U.K. comics. Straxus' mind is trapped within a duplicate of Megatron's body, goes to Earth, participates in the Time Wars and then returns to Cybertron to commit suicide. There is no indication of any other Straxus-Megatron existing in any other Marvel U.K. timeline. Least of all one that later becomes Galvatron. 95.148.10.137 10:08, 13 January 2011 (EST)
