Since I began my Transformers web site in early 1997, I've received
torrids of questions from fans. The following are some of the more frequently
asked questions that have been sent to me.
1. Can you copy/send episodes to me?
No.
2. Can you buy/send toys for me?
No.
3. Do you have all the Transformers?
No. *sigh*
4. Can you copy/send any Japanese episodes to me?
See question 1.
5. Where can I get Japanese Transformer episodes in English?
You can't.
6. But I've heard of something called the "Star TV dubs".
Don't go there.
7. Why?
They're illegal bootlegs. And they suck... bad.
8. Is the Canadian Beast Wars show set in the US cartoon continuity or the Marvel Comics continuity?
Both. Or neither. Basically, the writers of Beast Wars Transformers
(Bob Forward, Ian Weir, Larry Ditillio etc.) are different people than
those who wrote the
original Transformers TV show (eg: Jay Bacal) or those who wrote the
Marvel comic series (Bob Budiansky, Simon Furman).
However, they have received input from both sources, so elements of
both continuities exist within Beast Wars.
9. Are there any Beast Wars comic books?
Yes.
10. Where??
In Japan. They're published through TV Magazine and Bon Bon Magazine. There was also one released in July, 1997 at BotCon USA '97.
11. Will any of the Japanese cartoons/movies be released in English and/or distributed in the West?
There are no plans to release these animations in English nor release them widely in the West. The possibility of it ever happening is extremely unlikely.
12. Where can I get fansubs?
I don't know.
13. Where can I get Beast Wars episodes from?
Ever go shopping? Beast Wars Seasons 1 and 2 are on sale now, distributed
by Siren Entertainment.
Best place to find season 2 eps is at Kmart.
The first two episodes of Season 2 are available on video at most toy
stores (as part of either the Air Razor or Razorclaw video packs).
Season 3 is not yet available on video.
If you're in Japan, all Beast Wars episodes is being released on video
and DVD by Pioneer LDC.
14. Where can I get Transformers The Movie from?
It was released a couple of years ago on laser disc in Japan and Canada.
If you're not there, your best bet is to negotiate with a comic store and
hope for
the best. Rumour has it that a digitally remastered Special Edition
will be released on DVD in late 2000 or early 2001.
15. But I can't afford a DVD player.
Tough. If you don't like classism, go move to a Communist country.
16. Why is this page on GeoCities?
Why not?
17. Because GeoCities sucks.
That's your opinion. Basically, my entire Transformer site is now spread
among three free space servers: the first was FSN, which now hosts Planet
Sabretron, my
central Transformer page and Xoom, which now holds all my Japanese
Transformer stuff, and for those of you who were clever enough to notice,
practically all my
Beast Wars stuff too.
18. But Xoom gives unlimited space? Why don't you dump everything there?
Because I don't wanna. Actually, I really like my FSN domain. http://sabretron.fsn.net/
There aren't too many free space services that offer that kind of personal
domain name for free.
19. So why move your Beast Wars page to GeoCities?
Because for reasons I really don't know, I was unable to hotlink my
Beast Wars site to my central page on FSN.
For a time, patrons of my site had to bypass my Japanese Transformer
site just to reach the Beast Wars page.
It was just too much fussing around, so I've chucked the main Beast
Wars page here.
Although I've managed to work my way round that problem since then,
I continue to keep my Beast Wars site on GeoCities because the online File
Manager allows uploading through a browser (instead of having to fuss around
with an FTP programme) and the online HTML editor just rules.
20. Call me Pauline Hanson, but I don't like it.
Deal with it.
21. Where can I get Beast Wars II / Beast Wars Neo toys from?
There's no such toy line(s).
22. Don't be pedantic. I meant, where can I buy 1998 and 1999 Japanese Transformers from?
Japan.
Some other Asian countries sell them too (such as Singapore and Thailand),
but others don't (like Malaysia and Hong Kong).
23. How do I know which countries sell them or not?
Find out from some local fans there before travelling or ordering from
there first.
Your safest bet would be to go to/order from Japan.
24. What about Transformers 2000 toys?
Huh?
25. The one with that fire engine and the six changer...
Oh, you mean Car Robot Transformers. See Question 22.
24. Will Hasbro ever release the Japanese figures here?
No. (well, extraordinarily unlikely)
If they do, it will most likely be in the form of a retool/repaint
like the Beast Machines Dinobots.
Although some fans report that they are made from inferior plastic
parts compared to their Japanese counterparts.
25. Is Beast Wars / Transformers Japanese or American or what?
It's International. Here's the basic International breakdown:
USA: came up with the original concept of the Transformers/Beast Wars
and wrote the basic premise.
Canada: made a computer generated Beast Wars show which has since defined
the Western Beast Wars continuum.
Japan: makes all the toys. The original Transformes were based on pre-existing
Japanese toys. Japan currently makes its own Beast Wars toys as well as
all the
prototypes for all Beast Wars toys. All Transformers are manufactured
by Takara.
PRC (China): It's where basically all toys are made nowadays. Although
with Transformers, the factories are all owned by Takara but manufactured
in China with
Chinese labour.
Europe/Australia: Had a few exclusives during the early 90s.
26. What's Transformers Beast Machines?
27. Why is your spelling / grammar so wrong? (or You mispelt "Terrorize" and "Maximize")
I use the UK-based International Standard English.
It is different from US English.
That's why I spell words such as "optimise", "kilometre", "programme"
and "travelling".
Don't freak, International and US English are both mutually intelligable.
28. Why not use US English?
1. I'm not an American. I'm Australian.
2. The Internet exists within the world wide web, hence it makes more
sense to have everything set to International standards.
29. What's all that funny scribble/garble/crap that I sometimes see throughout your pages and on the discussion board?
That's undecoded Japanese text. You need to have a Japanese text capable
browser or a decoding programme in order to view it properly, otherwise
it just turns
out as garble.
30. Wait a second... why are you typing stuff in Japanese?? Weren't you just going on about International standards just a second ago?
So? The Japanese text has not replaced the English text. Actually, the amount of English far outweighs the amount of Japanese present.
31. But why Japanese?
A bit less than half of all Transformer fans in the world are Japanese.
32. Why does Planet Sabretron have a French page?
French is also an International language. Although not as widespread as English, it is still widely spoken in many nations.
33. Vous Francais c'est merde! ("Why is your French so bad?")
1. I don't speak French.
2. I've never studied French.
3. See number 1.
34. How did you type the French text then?
What? You never heard of online translators?
35. Is Australia showing Japanese Transformer episodes on some Asian cable channel.
No.
Australia has two Asian exclusive channels, both of which are on Optus
Vision: TVBJ (a Cantonese channel) and NHK (a Japanese channel).
TVBJ won't show it, because it just shows Cantonese programmes, and
NHK won't show it either, because NHK is the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation
(Nippon Housou Kaisha, much like the ABC) and all Japanese Transformer
programmes are properties of TV Tokyo (Terebi Tokyo).
36. Which do you prefer, Beast Wars or Beast Machines?
Both series are different but kick arse. I see Beast Machines as being an extension of Beast Wars. Think of Beast Machines seasons 1 and 2 as being Beast Wars seasons 4 and 5. That being said, I think Beast Machines is better. :p
37. Are they going to make a Noble/Savage toy?
It's extremely unlikely.
38. Why? Couldn't they make it as part of the Mutant Beast Wars line?
In theory, I suppose they could. But in the history of the Transformers, it has been extremely rare that a toy has ever been produced based on a character from the TV show. Rare exceptions include Arcee, Elita-One and Beast Wars Jaguar (Ravage). Note that they have all been Japanese toys too.
39. But I really want a Noble/Savage toy. Let's start up a petition to Hasbro...
Such a petition would be as futile as the plethora of online petitions to "bring back G1" that has infested the Internet for the past 3 odd years. It just ain't gonna work. Go make a kitbash.
40. What about Megatron from Beast Machines season two?
Rumour has it that Hasbro will be releasing a Beast Machines season
2 Megatron toy in the form of a playset.
41. Where are your Beast Wars transcripts?
Nowhere. I ain't makin' any. Besides, Ben
Yee's site has most of the official scripts. Although he doesn't
have them all since Mainframe stopped supplying him with scripts at one
stage.
Beast Machines Transcripts can be found here
though.
42. It's been X-weeks/months and you still don't have the transcript for [episode name]. What's the deal with that?
Please be patient as transcripting is rather time consuming and rest assured that I will have these episodes transcripted and uploaded as soon as I can.
43. Why does your Beast Machines site have so many Beast Machines spoilers?
Uhh... what were you expecting?? If you're wanting to avoid Beast Machines spoilers, then I'd suggest you avoid clicking anything with the word "Beast Machines" (or initials "BM").