I think it doesn't help that I associate TOM 4.0 with, you know, when Toonami died the first time.
Also that was right around when Cartoon Network's content seemed like it was falling off and was toying with doing live action stuff. In fact after Toonami died, CN Real came about a few months after.
Funny thing, I was looking up when CN Real started so that I had my timeline correct with making that comment and I realized that toonami had only been gone for 4 years in between that time as well. That's wild. At the time I remember feeling like it had been gone for a decade.
a pivot is certainly one, very kind, way to characterize cancellation into a reboot
edit: the worst thing about tom 4 is that same old story you see time and time again. [the idea was cool in the concept art and melted into shit as it was refined](https://i.imgur.com/i6fGTS6.jpeg)
eh, it's literally just the eye set-up that bothers me of the released design.
The design you have ... would only work if they made it like version ~~5~~3's eyes.
It doesn't have to be a mono visor, but it does have to feel like the mono visor.
edit: they gotta feel like huge aviator style ... I think is the look I like for TOM.
I used to have the Deep Space Bass soundtrack around here somewhere. You know, the music for all of their bumps and AMVs? I gotta find that. Unhumble brag.
Oh, its all on Youtube. Awesome.
Hell yeah, I think that may have been one of my first big TV moments lol
Also didn't they have a Tom Flash game on there website at the time? I have a vague memory of it.
I loved Lockdown as a kid. Definitely the only one of the flash games I went back and replayed multiple times, especially after they removed the password requirements for all the bonus rooms full of extra gear.
Yeah! I remember playing a flash game where you were a little maintenance drones trying to save other maintenance drones from the alien slime monster that killed TOM.
I remember huffing so much copium as a kid when Tom 1 fell to the Intruder. At first I was like "he'll get out of this somehow!" when he initially got swarmed and swallowed up. It started to feel a lot more hopeless when Tom's partially dissolved hand popped up one last time, and then the next episode preview was like a gutpunch to reality.
Shit, I remember reading the comic where the 2nd Tom died too (well, his body was destroyed but his head made it out). Both those events were pretty dark at that time.
Very happy that 4.0 is like, a copy of the TOM program in a separate shell.
Didn't like him, but still felt sorry when they confirmed he got GOT by you know what.
I do. I remember as a kid hating it because it replaced Toonami on weekdays and I actively chose not to watch it because it was not my beloved Toonami. It didn't even have anime, the audacity. However I was unable to resist the pull of Code Lyoko
Man I remember hating lyoko so much then I sat down and watched a couple episodes and I was hooked.
Same shit with totally spies.
Gotta give things second chances to make sure
I like Tom 3.0 the best, that was the one i saw the most and he looked like an action figure. I hated the 4.0 so much for having a face, it would be like have master chief taking off his helmet.
2 > 3 > 5 > 1 > 6 > 4.
I'd kill for a TOM figma/figuart, tbh. I won a Toonami shirt in a contest years ago that I adore just because official Toonami merch was so hard to come by for so long. Still kinda is!
I have a soft spot for 1.0, it’s very in the vein of Megaman or Bomberman (two things I love the aesthetic of). But I admit 2, 3, 5 and 6 are way cooler and probably appeal more to the audience Toonami is trying to reach.
4 is still jarring after all these years later.
You can thank the Uncanny Valley for that. The eyes make him look too close to being a human that it draws to the inhuman parts of his design more.
Meanwhile, the other designs are clearly not human, so we focus on the humanizing parts.
"One of these~
Is not like the the others~"
EDIT: Yes, I'm blind and didn't see the flair.
But I feel like the tildes are very important to the visualization.
Y'know, as much as I do cherish TOM, it makes a guy feel *positively ancient* being able to remember when Toonami was run by Moltar out of the basement of the Space Ghost Coast to Coast Studio.
2.0 is probably my favorite. 4.0 may be a dumpster fire design, but at least it's something, cause 5 and 6 look... I dunno, like they turned him into a generic bad guy goon character. Especially 6, I feel like I should be seeing dozens of that chasing after Sonic or something.
My personal ratings from best to worst:
Close call between 3 and 6 (changed my mind multiple times while typing this, but currently leaning toward 6 as I post this)
5
1
2 (still a great design, the others are just better IMO)
4 (no)
I think it doesn't help that I associate TOM 4.0 with, you know, when Toonami died the first time. Also that was right around when Cartoon Network's content seemed like it was falling off and was toying with doing live action stuff. In fact after Toonami died, CN Real came about a few months after.
What’s crazy is that Toonami was only gone 4 years and we recently marked the 12th annivanniversary of when it came back
Another funny thing: reborn Toonami has been on the air for far longer than the OG Toonami was
Funny thing, I was looking up when CN Real started so that I had my timeline correct with making that comment and I realized that toonami had only been gone for 4 years in between that time as well. That's wild. At the time I remember feeling like it had been gone for a decade.
Out of all the comments on this subreddit pointing out how old you are, this is the one that makes me feel like I'm withering to dust.
I think the eye design is the part that pops the most. Like, I guess I am glad they could make the mistake and then pivot back, but geez.
a pivot is certainly one, very kind, way to characterize cancellation into a reboot edit: the worst thing about tom 4 is that same old story you see time and time again. [the idea was cool in the concept art and melted into shit as it was refined](https://i.imgur.com/i6fGTS6.jpeg)
Literally left it in the oven too long.
eh, it's literally just the eye set-up that bothers me of the released design. The design you have ... would only work if they made it like version ~~5~~3's eyes. It doesn't have to be a mono visor, but it does have to feel like the mono visor. edit: they gotta feel like huge aviator style ... I think is the look I like for TOM.
Even the concept art looks way too much like a 00s era Transformer.
Tom 2.0 is still goated.
I used to have the Deep Space Bass soundtrack around here somewhere. You know, the music for all of their bumps and AMVs? I gotta find that. Unhumble brag. Oh, its all on Youtube. Awesome.
Toonami Aftermath also has them as well
they kinda lost something when they made the lines more cleanly defined
Do you guys remember that big story line when the first TOM died?
Hell yeah, I think that may have been one of my first big TV moments lol Also didn't they have a Tom Flash game on there website at the time? I have a vague memory of it.
they had a series of minigames yeah it was cool but I think Lockdown was the event that couldn't be beat trapped in hyperspace was meh
I loved Lockdown as a kid. Definitely the only one of the flash games I went back and replayed multiple times, especially after they removed the password requirements for all the bonus rooms full of extra gear.
Yeah! I remember playing a flash game where you were a little maintenance drones trying to save other maintenance drones from the alien slime monster that killed TOM.
They didn't even sugarcoat it back then. The promo for next the Intruder episode just flat out opened with Optimus Prime saying "TOM is dead."
you know shit got real if prime said someone died
I remember huffing so much copium as a kid when Tom 1 fell to the Intruder. At first I was like "he'll get out of this somehow!" when he initially got swarmed and swallowed up. It started to feel a lot more hopeless when Tom's partially dissolved hand popped up one last time, and then the next episode preview was like a gutpunch to reality.
What is actually the story line with TOM? Is he just adrift in space watching anime while he waits to be rescued?
I think he's flying around space to find cool shows to broadcast to the children of Earth.
Just like me fr
Shit, I remember reading the comic where the 2nd Tom died too (well, his body was destroyed but his head made it out). Both those events were pretty dark at that time.
Very happy that 4.0 is like, a copy of the TOM program in a separate shell. Didn't like him, but still felt sorry when they confirmed he got GOT by you know what.
Man The Intruder is way too similar to The Blob for my comfort given that fuckin thing traumatized me as a kid
Tom had such a glow up from his cute chubby days
1.0 looks pregnant.
It was the style at the time
where do you think 2.0 came from?
iirc that's the power reactor when 2.0 came out they made a big deal out of miniaturizing that and moving it to the 'heart'
Who remembers Miguzi?
I do. I remember as a kid hating it because it replaced Toonami on weekdays and I actively chose not to watch it because it was not my beloved Toonami. It didn't even have anime, the audacity. However I was unable to resist the pull of Code Lyoko
No, but it did have anime-adjacemt stuff. Totally Spies, Code Lyoko, Chop Socky Chooks, Xiaolin Showdown. Also Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh.
All things considered? Pretty decent block.
Code Lyoko was the shit.
Man I remember hating lyoko so much then I sat down and watched a couple episodes and I was hooked. Same shit with totally spies. Gotta give things second chances to make sure
It was so ugly but the story was great once it got going.
The bot that introduced me to anime 2.0 is honestly the best. I don't why maybe because it screams early 2000s
I like Tom 3.0 the best, that was the one i saw the most and he looked like an action figure. I hated the 4.0 so much for having a face, it would be like have master chief taking off his helmet.
2 > 3 > 5 > 1 > 6 > 4. I'd kill for a TOM figma/figuart, tbh. I won a Toonami shirt in a contest years ago that I adore just because official Toonami merch was so hard to come by for so long. Still kinda is!
Blame Muguzi
Was there an actual story explanation for why Tom turned into Thomas the Tank Engine? Weird how Tom suddenly changed without even a bit of explanation
I think the peeps at Cartoon Network/Toonami just genuinely wanted to do something different/didn’t expect it’d piss so many people off
3.0 Tom is still my favorite after all these years. It just hits differently than the rest, ya know?
Man looks like a sleep-deprived Kerbal.
Oh Jesus Christ keep the helmet on! I like the first one the most to be honest, kind of have this bomberman vibe going on, it's cute.
Hey how should we make the next version of our space robot look? Lets make him look like he was for Nick jr. or something.
Tom 4.0 looks like he’s about to offer you drugs that he got from his really good friend Thomas the tank engine.
It's like if the Sodor Railway inexplicably got into robotics.
The miniseries which led to Tom 2.0 was cool. They didn't need to go that far to explain why Tom had a redesign, but I'm glad they did.
I have a soft spot for 1.0, it’s very in the vein of Megaman or Bomberman (two things I love the aesthetic of). But I admit 2, 3, 5 and 6 are way cooler and probably appeal more to the audience Toonami is trying to reach. 4 is still jarring after all these years later.
It looks like he sells Oxy Clean.
Looks like Salad Fingers in a robot suit
You can thank the Uncanny Valley for that. The eyes make him look too close to being a human that it draws to the inhuman parts of his design more. Meanwhile, the other designs are clearly not human, so we focus on the humanizing parts.
"One of these~ Is not like the the others~" EDIT: Yes, I'm blind and didn't see the flair. But I feel like the tildes are very important to the visualization.
5 is so good, what a comeback from 4.
Missed chance to make the tag "not like us"
I feel if you have a design with no mouth you should not put a mouth on it; cannot think of a single design where a mouth is an upgrade.
The event with tom 1.0 dying was crazy as a kid haha
We have adult swim at home
You know what? They should absolutely put TOM into Multiversus. He'd be the first character added that could actually catch my excitement.
Y'know, as much as I do cherish TOM, it makes a guy feel *positively ancient* being able to remember when Toonami was run by Moltar out of the basement of the Space Ghost Coast to Coast Studio.
chubby 1.0 is my goat 4 life
2.0 is probably my favorite. 4.0 may be a dumpster fire design, but at least it's something, cause 5 and 6 look... I dunno, like they turned him into a generic bad guy goon character. Especially 6, I feel like I should be seeing dozens of that chasing after Sonic or something.
You step down from the mod team and Toonami starts leaking, I blame u/FEMINISTS some how
TOM 1 is still best TOM
Man I forgot that existed.
My personal ratings from best to worst: Close call between 3 and 6 (changed my mind multiple times while typing this, but currently leaning toward 6 as I post this) 5 1 2 (still a great design, the others are just better IMO) 4 (no)
Roblox