real racecars?!

[Rhymus]

Please open all links; i had some fun--how shall we say--creatively naming some (but not all) of these links, but when you open them you should be able to see what's really going on. Most of these links lead to pics or webpages including pics, although in a few cases there is relevant text nearby. Please open all links (or at least one from each section), as the racecars shown are relevant to the questions that follow.

Jazz
Jazzz
Meister
Coolsville
Munka Spanka

Sandstorm
Turbo
Wheeljack

Nimble
Mirage
Equip

Red Alert
Fracture
Crasher

Electra
Smokescreen

Bluestreak
Rally
Variant

If everybody in the world looked at the links above (without knowing this list came from a Transformers discussion forum), how many people do you think there are whose first thought (when looking at the above decos) would be to think of Transformers?

How many people do you think there are whose first thought (when looking at the above decos) would be to think of the actual racecar/driver/teams which inspired these Diaclones/Transformers?

(How many people do you think there are whose first thought would be to think of the Diaclones? If you want to, think about those people and the Diaclones as well when answering the following questions, although i neglected to ask about them.)

How many people do you think even know both (the Transformers and the real-life racecar/driver/teams which inspired these Diaclones/Transformers)?

How many people do you think know both, but prefer the Transformers?

How many people do you think know both, but prefer the real-life racecar/driver/teams?

How many people do you think are fans of both (the Transformers and the real-life racecar/driver/teams)?

(Even if they're fans of both, they probably have one that they like better--wonder how many of them prefer Transformers, and how many of them prefer the real racecars/drivers/teams?)

How many of the real-life racecar drivers/teams do you think know there are Transformers based on their racecars? How many of them do you think are Transformers fans? How many of them do you think don't know much about Transformers, but know about the ones based on their racecars? How many of them know and approve? How many of them know and like that it's true? How many of them know and disapprove or dislike it?

Do Hasbro and/or TakaraTomy owe any of the real-life racecar/drivers/teams royalties or whatever for using any of these decos? If so, does that include those times when the decos are used on different vehicles than the real-life ones that originally inspired the Transformers/Diaclones? (for example, Jazz, Jazz, Jazz, Smokescreen, Smokescreen, and Wheeljack)

[Jose]

I am a car nut and because of that, I knew most vehicles before they were Transformers in the 80s. Not all, however, when it comes to motorsports. I'd reckon the half of Transformers fan became fond of the real vehicles after knowing the Transformers.

However, that statement would be placed on that context, the 80s. Nowadays, Transformers are popular again and there are a whole new generation of fans. They have seen cars of a different era, so probably they would add to the part of fans who first knew the Transformers and after that liked the real vehicles.

For that part, I am happy with the result: Classic cars like the Porsche 935, Lancia Stratos or Datsun 280ZX will be appreciated for long time. Much more than what they would have been if they would have remained only into the car world.

[Rhymus]

Thanks, Jose.

i'd like to clarify that i'm not just asking about the Porsche 935, Lancia Stratos, or Datsun 280ZX, or any other make/model. i'm specifically referring to the fact that Jazz's deco was inspired by a Porsche racecar sponsored by Martini & Rossi distillery... the fact that Wheeljack's deco was inspired by a Lancia Stratos Turbo which Sandro Munari drove sponsored by Alitalia... the fact that Smokescreen's original deco was based on a Datsun racing as #38, and his Binaltechs/Alternators were based on vehicles (and colors and numbers) used by the Subaru World Rally Team... the fact that Mirage's deco was based on a Formula One racecar Jacques-Henri Laffite drove for Equipe Ligier sponsored by Gitanes... the fact that According to deco artist Joe Kyde, it took finding a real F-1 style racer in that black-and-white-with-red deco to seal the deal and get the toy made.

How does the list of Transformers fans compare to the list of the fans of the real racecars/drivers/teams/sponsors/etc.? How many people are on both lists? Does the list of TransFans include any of the drivers themselves or members of their teams or their sponsors? And are there royalties Hasbro/TakaraTomy have to pay to continue using the same or similar decos, even when applied to different vehicle modes?

[Jose]

I "condensed" your questions a bit...

As for volume of the respective lists of fandom, I believe that motorsports have more fans, only because it's been on Earth much longer than Transformers.

Royalties: Back then, nobody cared. I reckon that's the reason of seeing all different decos on a new figure with an old name.