This is the TF FAQ's glossary section. It is not by any means a complete lexicon for Transformers, Transfandom, or the Internet. It contains terms that may come up in discussion but have meanings which are not immediately obvious, or have many related words, or a long history of development. It also contains names of people who have had a hand in professionally shaping some aspect of the Transformers franchise but who are not "household names" among Transfans. So for example, I do not bother to list Simon Furman or Pat Lee here. The people listed here are slightly more obscure and/or have a large degree of involvement with the fandom. I may, at some point, expand this glossary into a more thorough list of names and terms, but for now I would rather spend my time working on the main FAQ.
As you might expect, the terms below are organized alphabetically. People are listed by their surname, which is written IN CAPS for further distinction.
Mr. Akiyama is a Japanese super-fan, and is usually referred to just as "Fumihiko" by American fans. The stuff he's contributed isn't especially well-known in the English-speaking fandom, but it should be. For one thing, Fumihiko organized all of the BotCon Japan conventions (in 1997, 1998, and 2000) -- that will give you an initial impression of his devotion. He attends the US's official TF convention every year, usually running a dealer table with his friends. (He, like a few other people who attended the first seven BotCons, was presented with a plaque by 3H thanking him for his support.) Fumihiko has also played a part in a number of Transformers books. He created the popular Transformers In Japanese Missions booklet in 1995 which was the first chance many American fans had to see pictures of Japanese-exclusive TF toys. He acted as the producer and publisher for Hirofumi Ichikawa's TF Chronicles. Fumihiko was a co-author on the well-received Beast Wars Universe with Yujin Ishikawa, Hirofumi Ichikawa, and Doug Dlin, and also contributed to TF: Generations. On top of all of this, Fumihiko has also done research for Antarctic Press' Cybertronian guides, and provided assistance to Ichikawa on Linkage (doing some lettering) and Binal Tech (doing car research).
Short for "alternate mode", this is a fan term for a Transformer's non-robot mode (assuming they have a robot mode). So, Alternator Sideswipe's altmode is a Dodge Viper. BW Rampage's altmode is a big shiny crab. Of course, some Transformers don't have a robot mode at all. The altmode is generally the less-versitile or less-animated mode. For a TF with an animal mode and a non-animated form like Armada Laserbeak, the altmode is the nonanimal form. Similarly, G1 Grandslam's altmode is a cassette tape, because a tank is more "alive" than a tape. (Sort of.) Of course some TFs have more than two modes. Sixknight, for example, is said to have one robot mode and five altmodes.
Since 2000, Aaron has been the lead designer on Hasbro's Transformers team. In late 2004 he was promoted and given the title "design director". Aaron has had a lot of contact with the fandom through conventions and the Internet. For over a year he posted on a regular basis to the boards at TFW2005 under the name "Orson", and is sometimes still referred to by that name. Currently he answers questions roughly every week on the official TF website. As lead designer, he played a large part in the planning of new TF lines, doing things like choosing altmodes, outlining the main story arc for the cartoon, writing character bios, and -- of course -- designing a lot of toys. You can learn more about the design process in question [N/A]. He began working on TFs during the last year of Beast Wars. His first designs were drawings for the TM2 versions of Cheetor, Dinobot, and Megatron (dragon). He had some involvement with Robots In Disguise, and has been the main force behind Armada, Energon, Cybertron, and Alternators. With his promotion, Aaron apparently holds the top position within Transformers at Hasbro.
Lastly, Aaron has some quirks when communicating with fans online that you may witness, or see people refer to. For one thing, he doesn't seem to be a very good typist. Also, he sometimes answers questions in ways that are ambiguous or confusing. For example, an either-or question might be answered with the single word "NO." Or a multi-part question might be answered incompletely (which could be a function of what he's allowed to disclose at the time). He also uses some odd phrases in some of his written materials like character bios. Blast Punch Primal's "boastful fist" and Armada Galvatron's propensity to "drink from the goblet of strife" are both Aaron-isms, for example (or at the very least, are very much like the stuff he writes).
Many Transformers have been released over the years which can combine with other Transformers to form a larger robot (Devastator, Superion, Tripredacus, LandCross, etc.). For lack of a widely-used official term for these combined-form robots, a few fan terms have popped up instead. One of the most common is the straightforward "combiner". This word also gained some canonical status during Robots In Disguise when it appeared, with its own new logo, on the packages of toys which combined with other RID toys such as the Commandos and Build Team. On the other hand, Omega Prime (a combined-mode for Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus) is also referred to as a combiner in the marketing materials, but he doesn't really fit the traditional definitions of a TF "gestalt". So, gestalt can be seen as a more specific term than combiner.
See also: gestalt, super robot, special team, Scramble City, fusilateral quintrocombiner.
A subgroup of the "seekers", the coneheads consist of the G1 characters Thrust, Ramjet, and Dirge. These year-two jets were drawn in the comics and cartoon with a different character model where their jet nosecones pointed straight up from their heads instead of disappearing as in the year-one jet models.
See also: seeker.
Awareness of Floro Dery's existence sort of popped up out of nowhere in mid-2002 when some fans discovered his personal website. If you check the credits for the G1 cartoons and movie, you'll see him listed as the main production designer. Basically, Mr. Dery designed nearly everything you see in seasons one and two of the G1 cartoon as well as the TF movie, except for about half of the season one characters themselves. That includes the backgrounds, spaceships and technology, incidental robot and human characters, and all the animation character designs from S2 and the movie that, for many years, have been attributed (with no evidence) to comic book legend John Romita Sr. More specific information about Dery's work on Transformers can be found in question [N/A], regarding production staff for the G1 cartoon.
Doug works for the independent comic book publisher Antarctic Press who specialize in manga and Japanese-style comics. Doug works primarily as a translator and editor at AP, and also happens to be an avid TransFan. He participates regularly in discussions on ATT to such a degree that I almost forgot that he's done "official" work and isn't just an active fan. Aside from being highly knowledgable, Doug often serves as a conduit, bringing Japanese TF info to American fans, particularly through his personal and professional relationships with Fumihiko Akiyama and Hirofumi Ichikawa. In fact, Doug did the English translation of Ichikawa's TF Chronicles. (It's sold out, sadly, but we're all hoping for another printing.) Doug also does smaller, informal translations for the fandom on a regular basis (sometimes freebies, sometimes for a fee on larger jobs). Lastly, and most prominently, Doug and his co-worker Harold Tietjens are the producers of AP's popular series of Cybertronian guidebooks.
Evil Invention / Alien Device. This term was coined in the early 1990s by a fan named Kendrick for his then-famous series of cartoon episode reviews. The plot in many episodes of the G1 cartoon (and in later series as well, though less frequently) is motivated by a mysterious object or newly-invented piece of technology. At the end of the episode, this device is either destroyed or lost, and for some reason is never rebuilt. This device, whatever it does, is the EI / AD. It's basically the Transformer version of a MacGuffin.
The EI / AD does not strictly need to be "evil" or "alien", or even an invention or device. For example, in "Fire On The Mountain" the EI / AD is the giant green crystal from the Incan temple. The EI / AD is not neccesarily a central feature of the story, either -- it's just the day's technobabble. In "Heavy Metal War" the EI / AD is not the Constructicons, or even "combining"; it's the strength transfer device which lets Megatron cheat in his duel with Optimus.
Also known as "Swiper", Andrew was a well-known fan on ATT during the mid-1990's. In the late 90's he started working for Hasbro, spending a few years on the G.I. Joe team. There's even a 3 3/4" Joe figure modeled after him. Codename Sideswipe, real name Andrew Frankel, and the head sculpt is a good likeness. Eventually Swiper ended up on the Transformers team, where he served for a few more years as the "Exclusives Director". (He actually worked for Hasbro Direct.) During his tenure he worked on getting us -- to name a few -- the Deployers and Beast Riders, releases of the supreme-size BM Primal, Megabolt Megatron, the RID Laser Cycles, RID Scourge, Cryotek, and the "Heroes of Cybertron" PVC figurines. He wrote tech specs and bios for most of these toys, and for many of them it is obvious that they were written by someone very familiar with Transformers lore.
See also: Hasbro Direct.
A five-member combiner, presumably referring specifically to Scramble City teams. This bit of technobabble was coined by Simon Furman in issue US-9 of the G2 comic. From the "quintro" part one surmises that this is for a five-member merge group (it was the Combaticons, in this case). Don't ask me what "fusilateral" means; I can only guess. -_-;
See also: combiner, Scramble City.
More or less a synonym for "combiner". There is a small, subjective distinction in that "combiner" has been appled to a wider range of Transformers than this term has. Gestalts are generally thought to be extra-large robots who have a new or composite mind / personality. Thus, things like RID Omega Prime, the G1 Duocons, or a Powerlinked pair of Energon Autobots would not fall under the Transformers definition of "gestalt", but might be widely referred to as "combiners". Gestalts also typically have at least three constituant robots (eg. BW Magnaboss), although this isn't always true, as some fans would consider the G1 cassette combiners Slamdance and Squalkbox to be gestalts.
Gestalt takes its modern meaning in English from psychology, and refers to something which has properties that are not found in its component parts. This is sometimes summarized as "greater than the sum of its parts", although "different than the sum of its parts" might be a statement closer to the strict definition. (Gestalt literally means "form" or "shape" in German, and was coined as a psychological term in the early 20th century.) The application to Transformers should be pretty clear, then: the combined robot (in general, at least) has an identity and personality separate from its component parts, and often different special abilities, different statistics, etc..
The two most common names for combining toys are "gestalt" and "combiner". It should be noted, however, that a non-trivial portion of the fandom dislikes using the word "gestalt" in this sense. The two biggest complaints about it are that it is sort of a snobbish word and that it's an entirely fan-invented term. Since "combiner" has been used in an official capacity by Hasbro, and its meaning is more immediately obvious, it is probably better for general use unless a distinction between types of combiners is needed.
See also: combiner.
For BotCon 1997, the convention's founders, the Hartmans (see below), brought in their friend Glen to help them organize and run the event. The three of them together formed "3H Enterprises", (all three have last names starting with 'H'). Over the next few years, Glen became the front man for 3H, handling most of the financial stuff, dealing with Hasbro and other corporations, and doing most of the talking at the convention itself. He was also the main creative force behind the characterizations of the BotCon exclusive toys, and one of the main architects of the stories which connect those characters. In late 2002, Glen took over 3H entirely, and in 2003 the convention was renamed to the Official Transformers Collectors' Convention (OTFCC). In late 2003, Glen launched the first official TF fan club, which shared the name OTFCC. (Just change 'C' for Convention to 'C' for Club.) In September 2004, Glen announced that he/3H had lost the license for the convention, meaning that 3H would no longer be producing TF material or shows.
A sort of generic term for an "attachment point" where one thingy sticks onto another thingy. In Transformers, this is most often used to refer to a Powerlinx peg/socket where a Mini-Con can be attached to a larger Transformer.
See also: Powerlinx.
The Hartmans are the the founders of BotCon. They started the convention in 1994, the 10th anniversary of the launch of the TF franchise. They did the first convention on their own, farmed out the next two, and then from 1997-2002 they ran / organized BotCon with Glen Hallit as "3H Enterprises". In late 2002 they agreed to a deal with Glen to step down from 3H, and in 2003 the name "BotCon" reverted to its owner, Jon, when Glen changed the convention's name to OTFCC. For the 10th anniversary of their convention, the Hartmans ran one last BotCon on their own in 2004. This was a seperate (and unofficial) event from OTFCC 2004. The Hartmans are now part of Fun Publications' "advisory board" for the new convention. In addition to their BotCon history, Jon for a long time maintained the International Tech Spec Archive, which housed scans of pretty much every tech spec ever.
A subdivision of Hasbro which deals with store-exclusive toys, direct market merchandise like mailaway promotions, and some mass-market side projects. Semi-recent TF projects from Hasbro Direct include the Heroes of Cybertron PVCs, the Wal*Mart Dinobots, and the defunct "Hasbro Collectors" website which sold some imported Japanese BW toys.
Hasbro Direct operates somewhat independently of the other divisions, even when their licenses overlap. For example, the lead TF designer, Aaron Archer, has said that he has no involvement with store exclusive TFs. He often doesn't even know what exclusives are coming up.
A Japanese artist who is very popular among TF fans, Hiro started out as an independent illustrator who was, himself, a big TF fan. His initial goal was to become a toy designer, but most of his early work was drawing manga. Presently, he does commissioned artwork, mostly for Takara. One of his most widely-known accomplishments in the US is a fan-comic (these are called dojinshi in Japanese) called Transformers Chronicles, in which he tells a story bridging the G1 and G2 toylines. Chronicles is unusual in that the character designs are heavily based on the toys rather than the cartoon designs. (Even Ironhide looks like his toy!) Ichikawa has also done cover illustrations for Antartcic Press' series of Cybertronian Transformers guides.
Back in Japan, he has done toy designs for Takara, including some in the Microman and Web Diver lines. He was in charge of the first four "acts" of Takara's "Super Collection Figure" PVC figurines, as well as the "Metal Force" Convoy statue from Timehouse / Medicom. Hiro has also done written work, such as contributing to Beast Wars Universe, writing tech specs for some redecoed G1 reissues (including Nucleon Quest Super Convoy, Road Rage, Crosscut, Load Hauler, and Sunstorm), and . He has also done package art for some TFs, including the BotCon Japan 1997 exclusives and the "book boxes" for the G1 Smokescreen and Tracks reissues. His most recent prominent work is Linkage, a series of mini-comics packed in with each of the thirteen Micron Legend DVDs. Scanlations of these comics done by Doug Dlin and M Sipher (with Hiro's active support) are available on M Sipher's website. Lastly, Hiro has a website of his own that you might want to check out. (It's in Japanese,'natch.)
Like Hiro Ichikawa, Dan "The Art Guy" Khanna started out as a struggling freelance artist who loved to draw Transformers. He first gained visibility in the fandom by running an art table at BotCon 96, taking requests for commissioned character portraits. (He did a kick-ass Grimlock for me.) He served for several years as the "official OTFCC artist", doing most of the convention art, big and small, like t-shirts, portraits for toy packages, and convention-exclusive comic books. He has also done designs for the Transformers statues and busts produced by Hard Hero.
A kitbash is a toy which has been modified by a fan (not simply repainted) in an effort to customize the look, create a new character, add a new feature, or sometimes completely redesign the toy. A toy which has been created almost entirely from scratch, rather than being modified from a commercially-available toy, is usually called a scratchbuild. Some people also use the term "custom" to refer to a middle-ground toy which has had more than a paint job or touch-up but not quite enough to justify calling it a kitbash. Many TransFans enjoy tinkering with their toys, and there are a lot of websites out there where you can see what people have done.
A designer currently working on Transformers for Takara. Mr. Kobayashi gained some fame in the fandom in 1998 when he won an art contest at BotCon Japan for a fully-transformable G1 Arcee toy. For years after that, no one (in America, at least) knew what had become of him. In 2003, however, it became public knowledge that he had, indeed, been hired by Takara. His first Takara design was Speedbreaker from Car Robots (known as RID Side Burn outside of Japan), and since then he has designed and worked on many toys including the 20th Anniverary "Masterpiece" Optimus Prime figure. He is currently one of Takara's designers on BinalTech / Alternators. He's even done design work on some Playskool Go-Bots!
The first toy designer at Hasbro who was assigned to the Alternators line.
A rarely-used synonym for "combiner".
See also: combiner.
A silly synonym for "seeker", coined as a joke in a post by ATTer Sky Shadow. (A blunderscrounge is any Decepticon jet who is not of the skyraider/seeker design.)
See also: seeker.
This is a Japanese word which, initially, was simply a polite form of "you". It has evolved in casual Japanese use to refer to fan-geeks in a moderately negative light. When the word made its way over to American fan-geek communities, it ended up being spun positively. English-speaking anime fans began referring to themselves as otaku. At this point, its connotations in English have started to broaden and you sort of need to judge whether it's being used positively or negatively from the context. In its positive sense, it's more or less a synonym for the positive version of "geek" which many fans use to proudly announce that they like toys and cartoons. In its negative sense, it refers to obsessiveness, and sometimes to elitism (in particular, the vehemant "dubs are evil" / "editing is evil" / "all American animation is complete garbage, especially Disney" type).
Regarding the word's usage in Japanese, Doug Dlin, famed TF otaku (in a good way), points out: "Some think it refers specifically to anime fan-geeks, but in fact, one can be an 'otaku' of anything -- guns, plastic models, anime, war comics, etc. -- though you're far less likely to earn the term if you're a fan of something 'normal' like baseball or tennis, ..." An article about Japanese otaku was written for WIRED magazine in 1993; it is ancient by Internet standards, so many details have changed since that time. It also strikes me as a little judgemental, but that may be a sign of changes since '93. Regardless, it may help to define for you what "otaku" means in Japanese culture. A pair of more recent essays (2001) written from the viewpoint of otaku culture can be found on the "Otaku Unite!" website, titled "The Politics of Otaku" and "The Current Status of Otaku". Naturally, these articles treat the otaku community with more warmth.
An alternate word for "Powerlinx", often used in dialogue in comics and cartoons. (Usually in places where "Powerlinx" would sound weird.) "Powerlinx" is the proper, trademarked term despite the canonical uses of "Powerlink".
See also: Powerlinx.
In Armada Hasbro began using this word to describe combining. Most specifically, this is the name of the process where Mini-Cons attach to larger Transformers, but it also applies to combinations of larger robots. For example, Space Pants Prime (aka. Jet Prime, the combination of Optimus Prime and Jetfire) is a Powerlinxed entity. Late in Armada when redecos of many of the toys were coming out as "powered up" versions of their characters, many of them were referred to with this word. For example, the powered-up Red Alert was called "Powerlinx Red Alert" even though he wasn't neccesarily combined with anything. Powerlinx can refer to the combining process, to a combined robot, to a powered-up Armada redeco, and can also be used as a verb (as in, "let's powerlinx!"). Hasbro thought this word was important enough that they registered it as a trademark.
This is a contracted form of the phrase "retroactive continuity". According to the rec.arts.comics FAQ, the term was coined by one Damian Cugley, and its first recorded use is by comics-author Roy Thomas, where he used (and reported hearing) the term in a letter column.
In the most strict version of the definition, a retcon in a story is any "newly revealed" information about the past, regardless of significance, even if there is no contradiction. It can be as simple as adding depth to a character with an anecdote about their childhood. An example from Transformers: In the Beast Wars episode, "The Agenda: Part 1", Cheetor reveals that he likes amusement park rides. Very few people actually use 'retcon' in this sense, however, because such revelations are hardly worth talking about, much less assigning a special name to.
The word has evolved in general use to refer to revelations which are a little more serious and prompt a re-interpretation of past stories. Retcons of this nature can be received by fans as being either bad or good. Typically, people don't refer to "good" retcons as retcons. They just call them "good writing" or "depth". Other retcons may come across as clumsy or unnecessary, or they may not resonate well with older material, and in the worst cases the retcon might even contradict established "facts" of the fiction. Most of the time when somebody bothers to use the word retcon, they are talking about an example which is -- at best -- a stretch in terms of believability, if not an outright contradiction.
An example of a good retcon: At the end of Beast Wars' second season, it was revealed that the character Tarantulas was an officer of the "Predacon Secret Police" who had joined Megatron to keep an eye on him and subvert his plans if needed. This changes the viewer's perception of Tarantulas; rather than being merely out for himself, he had been operating a very specific agenda from the start (see [N/A]) while still, of course, being out for himself as well. Upon rewatching earlier episodes with this tidbit in mind, Tarantulas' actions make more sense and certain events feel almost inevitable as a result. This retcon makes sense, is exciting, and it makes the character more interesting.
The introduction of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership in Transformers: The Movie is a more middle-level, clunky retcon. Upon viewing the movie, we're asked to accept that Optimus Prime had been carrying the Matrix around with him for the last two years of cartoon episodes. Despite being a unique and cosmically powerful artifact with monumental importance to Autobot history and culture, it had never been relevant to the plot or even mentioned in passing. Still, there is no blatent contradiction here; the closest we get is a few views or scans of Prime's interior which show no sign of the Matrix's housing. There are a lot of ways one can justify the Matrix's apparent absence (see [N/A]) So this retcon isn't tragic, but it is weak.
Comic art legend John Romita Sr. has absolutely nothing to do with Transformers at all. For many years, though, he was given credit by fans for creating the animation models of the early TF characters. This accomplishment was actually the work of some Takara artists and Floro Dery. We'll probably never know for sure how fans came to think it was Romita's work, although it may have been his credit as "art director" in the Transformers Universe comics. At the time they were printed, that was Romita's title at Marvel. It was a company-wide position, and his name's appearance in TFU is meaningless. Nevertheless, you will probably sometimes see the animation models referred to as "Romita models" while this particular false meme gradually works its way out of use. Also, the "process" of turning the toys into these simplified designs is sometimes called "Romitization".
See also: DERY, Floro.
Most of the combining Transformers released during Generation One were of a common design: the large team member is the torso of the combined form, while the smaller members are the limbs; the limbs are interchangable with each other and also with other combining teams of the same design. These toys are descended from Diaclone, although they were never released in that line. The "scramble" part comes from the fact that the toys are interchangable. A Transformers video by this name was also released in Japan, described in question [N/A]. The combining teams are all listed in [N/A], and the S.C. teams are marked, in case you aren't sure about them.
Note that there are more toys under the Scramble City banner than just combiners; toys which are related through design history or fiction are also included. For example, Metroplex, Trypticon, Ultra Magnus, and Galvatron are also SC toys. Metroplex essentially is the "Scramble City", as his interaction with the combiner teams was part of the original designs. (Trypticon was designed later, and has fewer ways to connect to other SC toys.)
See also: combiner.
Refers to the G1 Decepticon jet troopers who all shared the same body-style. (Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Ramjet, Thrust, and Dirge; plus the unnamed hordes of additional jets who hung around in the background.) Simply referring to these common-model characters as "Decepticon jets" is usually enough to get your meaning across, but since there are a lot of Decepticon jets of other models, it's nice to have a term specifically for this group.
"Seeker" is the most well-known name for these Decepticons. The origin of the term is still somewhat mysterious, though. One story which gets passed around is that these jets were referred to as "hunter-seekers" in the first episode of the G1 cartoon series and the name was supposedly derived from that. This is fallacious, however, as a viewing of those episodes will reveal. On the other hand, in issue US-17 of the original Marvel comic, there are Decepticons on Cybertron referred to as hunter-seekers. We only see their flight modes, though, and they look nothing like the "seekers" we are familiar with. In fact, the coneheads make their first appearance in this same issue, and their flight modes appeared to be very similar to their Earth jet forms (if not completely identical, which, admittedly, makes no sense at all), and completely different from the craft which are referred to as hunter-seekers. The only real connection between the hunter-seekers we were shown and the "seekers" is that there's more than one of them and they fly.
More recently, though, an enormous clue has been discovered: a JC Penny's catalog from the winter of 1984 (sometimes called a "wishbook"). On the page which shows the Christmas season's availble TFs, the following entry is found: "Decepticon Silver Plane. Airplane with sensational F-15 styling scours the countryside searching for Autobots. When they're found, the Seekers set out to destroy them. Transforms to an exciting robot with hi-tech weapons and Decepticon logo." A photo of Starscream and Thundercracker is displayed. It has been rumored, but not demonstrated, that the term "Seeker" was used in some other early promotional materials. If so, then the term must have been handed down by Hasbro at some point. It hardly seems possible that the term could have been invented by some lowly copy writer at Penny's who also just happend to decide to capitalize it. Still, though, if this catalog is the only primary source in which the term appears... can it really have been responsible for inspiring the entire fandom to use the term? This was a widely-used term among Internet Transfans even in the early 1990's, when the fandom was just getting off its feet. Did somebody in the days of the Transformers email list have a memory of the word from when they saw this catalog at age 10 and start the trend?
Lastly, much of this discussion is now merely academic. There was a time that many fans objected to the term "seeker" based on its arbitrariness and lack of canonical use. However, in issue 1 of Transformers: The War Within, published in 2002 by Dreamwave, Simon Furman made the term canon by having Bumblebee use it.
See also: skyraider, tetrajet, non-blunderscrounge, conehead.
For a while this term was gaining wider acceptance as a replacement for "seeker", but since "seeker" has appeared in some newer canonical materials, it's unlikely to ever overtake the other term in popularity.
The term "skyraider" comes from European Generation Two marketing. When Starscream and Ramjet were released in this line, their packaging referred to them as skyraiders. The UK G2 comic also featured some character profiles (much like the old Transformers Universe comics), and those profiles for SS and RJ used the word as well. Technically, then, we have only seen the term applied to two of the six jets in question. It's not that big a leap, though, to apply it to the whole group.
See also: seeker.
Refers to the Scramble City combiner teams. It's rumored that this term appeared in some European marketing or ads during G1, but I have not actually seen any pictures or video clips to confirm that. (If you can point me to one, please do.) It was, however, used very prominently in issue UK-64 of the G1 comic. In a vision sequence, Buster and Optimus see the future (with Shockwave tapping in on the vision) and we are introduced to the Stunticons, Aerialbots, Combaticons, and Protectobots. They are blatantly referred to as special teams more than once. It was also used in some American publicity materials that are not generally seen by the public, such as the catalogs Hasbro gives out to retailers at the annual "Toy Fair" trade show.
So, to whom can this term apply? Toy Fair catalogs apply it to all the Scramble City groups, but not the Constructicons or Predacons (nor the Monster Pretenders, if you care). It's use in the comic definitely applies at least to four of the Scramble City teams, and it has been extended by fans to apply to the other S.C. groups as well. There is no information about the Predacons, and Shockwave states in the comic that the special teams are something significantly different/better than the Constructicons: "Devastator is the prototype. Menasor the ultimate progression." Based on these examples, the best interpretation for "special teams" is that it applies to the S.C. combiner teams, but not to combining TFs in general.
See also: combiner.
This term has been used many times by Hasbro in marketing and product description, but there is no clear, consistent definition for it.
The toy catalogs from G1 often referred to combiners as "super robots". All of the Scramble City style gestalts received this descriptor, as did Predaking. Devastator was not referred to as a super robot, although that doesn't necessarily mean he can't be one too. There is some ambiguity with the term, however, because other Transformers that don't combine with other robots have been called super robots, too. For example, when Powermaster Optimus Prime combines with his trailer the 1988 toy catalog called him "Super Optimus Prime" and at least two TV commercials said that he is a "super robot" in that form. On the other hand, RID Optimus Prime's instructions call his powered-up modes "Mega Robot Mode" and "Ultra Robot Mode", so "super robot" is not universally used for such forms. Lastly, in the "Rebirth" miniseries at the end of the American G1 cartoon, the giant robots Scorponok and Fortress Maximus were referred to as super robots, as well. The short version of this paragraph is that "super robot" is used inconsistantly by Hasbro to decsribe a variety of different sorts of Transformers.
See also: combiner.
Another word for "seeker". This name specifically refers to their pyramid-shaped Cybertronian flight modes, as seen in the G1 cartoon.
See also: seeker.
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