Team Banzai - REALLY!?

[StuartYee]

I read Michael Stackpole's Warrior Trilogy which includes brief appearances of Team Banzai, lead by a "Dr. Banzai".

So did Michael Stackpole shamelessly steal the name from the 1984 Peter Weller film, or is ther an in-universe explanation as to how they go the name? Maybe they found a copy of this quirky cult classic amid a cache of Lostech and loved it that much?

[roosterboy]

So did Michael Stackpole shamelessly steal the name from the 1984 Peter Weller film

Pretty much, yeah.

[PurpleDragon]

So, which was first?   That novel that Stackpole wrote?  or that 1st ed mercenaries handbook that has their logo in it? 

[Dave Talley]

Dude
team Bamzai was mentioned in the 1st ed book I believe,
definately by the time of the  Mechwarrior RPG release
Dave

[StuartYee]

Dude
team Bamzai was mentioned in the 1st ed book I believe,
definately by the time of the  Mechwarrior RPG release
Dave

Ok, I stand corrected given that the Mercenaries Handbook was published in 1987, a year before Warrior: En Garde.

But still, Buckaroo Banzai came out in 1984...

[roosterboy]

Team Banzai may have been mentioned in an earlier sourcebook, but it was Stackpole who really turned it into a blatant rip-off of the movie, complete with character names and personalities and a recreation of a famous scene.

[Hellraiser]

I'm shocked this is the 1st you've seen of it.

The original FASA crew was big on pop culture references.



PS.  Pretty sure at least one of the original 3025 Notable Pilots was from Banzai,   Orion IIRC,  named "Lurch"

[StuartYee]

Ok, so that answers my original question.

I suppose I'm fine with retconing the fiction to suggest that Team Banzai simply found a copy of the movie and modeled themselves after it. Not the most elegant retcon, but accepting it to be a full on rip-off is just lame.

[Dave Talley]

I am surprised some batch of Kuritans  hasnt
started Yoyodyne and renamed everyone John

[StuartYee]

I am surprised some batch of Kuritans  hasnt
started Yoyodyne and renamed everyone John

Who would be John Big Boote? (it's Big Boo-TAY!)

[Dave Talley]

Omi of course

granted its been classified until now that Victors code name is Sir Mix a Lot

[skiltao]

I suppose I'm fine with retconing the fiction to suggest that Team Banzai simply found a copy of the movie and modeled themselves after it. Not the most elegant retcon, but accepting it to be a full on rip-off is just lame.

Isn't this more of a crossover than a rip-off?

[StuartYee]

Isn't this more of a crossover than a rip-off?

A cross-over means that they are the same characters as were portrayed in the film. Ergo it would imply that Dr. Banzai and the Hong Kong cavaliers somehow travelled to the future from the year 1984, or were frozen in time.

It would also imply that somewhere out there are Red and Black Lectroids.

That said, if Jeff Goldblum's character was a 'mechwarrior, what would he pilot?

[PurpleDragon]

That said, if Jeff Goldblum's character was a 'mechwarrior, what would he pilot?

A firefly!   :D

[A. Lurker]

I'm shocked this is the 1st you've seen of it.

The original FASA crew was big on pop culture references.



PS.  Pretty sure at least one of the original 3025 Notable Pilots was from Banzai,   Orion IIRC,  named "Lurch"

Yvonne Morticia and her Orion, yes. :) The bit of trivia about Dr. Banzai being the designer of the Hatchetman also got its start in that book, I think -- at least that's the earliest source mentioning (rumors of) it that I'm aware of. So Mike Stackpole just expanded on what was already there.

[Caesar Steiner for Archon]

Yvonne Morticia and her Orion, yes. :) The bit of trivia about Dr. Banzai being the designer of the Hatchetman also got its start in that book, I think -- at least that's the earliest source mentioning (rumors of) it that I'm aware of. So Mike Stackpole just expanded on what was already there.

And as usual, it ended up being a bad idea.

[ColBosch]

I'm just glad to hear that I'm not alone in hating pop culture references. :)

[PurpleDragon]

I don't hate them.  I even attribute the Team Banzai as being, at least in part, the crew from the movie.  They did discover another dimension after all. 

[Caesar Steiner for Archon]

I'm just glad to hear that I'm not alone in hating pop culture references. :)

Well, I thought, for example, the BSG reference in Field Report: LA about the Invincible was something that still worked on its own- "this thing's such a hunk of junk you might as well replace one of the fighter hangars with a gift shop."  So ha ha, funny.  I don't even particularly mind the regimental COs in the 25th Arcturan being characters from Die Hard because it doesn't call too much attention to itself.

The Team Banzai stuff, particularly in the Warrior Trilogy, takes it too far. I'd be equally unhappy with something about the 25th Arcturan where they tear into some building in battle armor and act like it's a commando raid and they're taking prisoners when really they're just stealing shit out the vault and then, at the end Colonel Gruber falls off a building into a fountain, only to be shot dead by the dad from that Urkle show.

[ColBosch]

The one that really set my teeth on edge was the bit based around mixing up characters' and actors' names from B5 in Operation KLONDIKE. Much as I like that book, the entire page or so on the naval battle above Babylon was skimmed, not read.

[ColonelCody]

Wasn't TRO:3025 released before Warrior Trilogy? Don't blame Stackpole for character choices he probably had no say over really. IF the editors and such did not want them there, the Banzais would NEVER have shown up. On another note, Wolfhound, Axman and Hatchetman are all designs Dr. Banzai and Team Banzai worked on. Supposedly he pioneered the whole, "Whole Head Ejection system" thingy.

[Marveryn]

personally i don't mind especially when it subtle they can be pretty funny if you get it, but i agreed just straight ripoff just goes to far.   

[Dread Moores]

The Team Banzai stuff, particularly in the Warrior Trilogy, takes it too far. I'd be equally unhappy with something about the 25th Arcturan where they tear into some building in battle armor and act like it's a commando raid and they're taking prisoners when really they're just stealing shit out the vault and then, at the end Colonel Gruber falls off a building into a fountain, only to be shot dead by the dad from that Urkle show.

Now see, there's a cartoon idea you can get behind. ;)

[StuartYee]

Wasn't TRO:3025 released before Warrior Trilogy? Don't blame Stackpole for character choices he probably had no say over really. IF the editors and such did not want them there, the Banzais would NEVER have shown up....

Yeah, hence the "I stand corrected..." on comment 4.  ;)

[StuartYee]

personally i don't mind especially when it subtle they can be pretty funny if you get it, but i agreed just straight ripoff just goes to far.

Exactly. It would be different if it were simply a pop culture reference.

I have to admit, The Fighting Urukhai as a "pop culture" reference tickles me. However it will be a sad day if Stackpole or one of the other writers literally puts Saruman's Orcs in Battlemechs- this isn't Warhammer 40k!

[Caesar Steiner for Archon]

Wasn't TRO:3025 released before Warrior Trilogy? Don't blame Stackpole for character choices he probably had no say over really. IF the editors and such did not want them there, the Banzais would NEVER have shown up. On another note, Wolfhound, Axman and Hatchetman are all designs Dr. Banzai and Team Banzai worked on. Supposedly he pioneered the whole, "Whole Head Ejection system" thingy.

There being a researcher named Banzai in TRO:3025 was something I would give a pass on. I didn't think it was particularly funny but I didn't mind it.

It was Stackpole who decided to just straight up write in an entire scene from the movie into one of his novels for no real reason, though, and that was where I felt it crossed the line from "in-joke" to "outright stupid."

[Decoy]

Don't blame Stackpole too much. Have you seen the Team Banzai Hatchetman from Camospecs? It looked like they pulled the paint job straight off of the van and then put it on the Hatchetman.

[Caesar Steiner for Archon]

Perhaps this is pretentious, having preferred the verbal arts, but a miniature paint job on a website shouldn't be held to the same standard as scenes from a professionally written novel.

[mikecj]

I liked the cartoon reference in the lead story of "Wars of Reaving"

“The Solaris feeds we watched when we were little.
Or that idiotic cartoon about the Jade Falcons.” She was
chuckling out loud now. “Can you imagine if our Khans
talked like that? ‘You will pay for your treachery, Adam
Steiner,’” she screeched.

But its an in-universe pop culture comment.

Of course on page 108 we have the Clan Snow Raven ship William Adams...

[Decoy]

You misunderstand me. The book, camospecs, which came out the same time as the first book of the Warrior series, had this hatchetman in it. In addition, the Davion Sourcebook hit the same year. There's a lot of people to blame for Team Banzai, Alex. Not just Michael Stackpole.

[Caesar Steiner for Archon]

You misunderstand me. The book, camospecs, which came out the same time as the first book of the Warrior series, had this hatchetman in it. In addition, the Davion Sourcebook hit the same year. There's a lot of people to blame for Team Banzai, Alex. Not just Michael Stackpole.

1- Who the damn is Alex?

2- So I crap on all of them too. Stackpole, however, didn't even manage to be funny.

[ColonelCody]

meh. I had my say, I'm not taking part in another Stackpole-bashing. I enjoyed the novels back then, I still do now. Campy references & scenes and all. It's a game about big honking robots beating on other big honking robots. It is by defination campy. That's why i enjoy it so much. Ty for my time on the soapbox.

[StuartYee]

meh. I had my say, I'm not taking part in another Stackpole-bashing. I enjoyed the novels back then, I still do now. Campy references & scenes and all. It's a game about big honking robots beating on other big honking robots. It is by defination campy. That's why i enjoy it so much. Ty for my time on the soapbox.

I personally don't mean to "bash" Stackpole. Although I think his dialogue is horrendous, I think he does well at overall plot construction and should generally be thanked for his contribution in establishing the bedrock for the Battletech fictional universe. Battletech would be a quaint little board game from the 80's that everyone would've forgotten if it weren't for the fiction.

[Fat Guy]

Just remember, in the same Trilogy Stackpole had characters ripping the latest Immortal Warrior movie, and the scenes he described were from Rambo III!

[Caesar Steiner for Archon]

Just remember, in the same Trilogy Stackpole had characters ripping the latest Immortal Warrior movie, and the scenes he described were from Rambo III!

See, that I was kind of okay with, because it was a parody of the Rambo movies as viewed through an in-universe lens.  It not only mocks Rambo III in particular, but the repetitive nature of action movies in general by saying "In 1000 years they'll still make the same stupid movie."  That's how you're SUPPOSED to do it, not just drop a bunch of characters from another thing into your thing and yell "SEE HOW FUNNY I AM?"

[Marveryn]

See, that I was kind of okay with, because it was a parody of the Rambo movies as viewed through an in-universe lens.  It not only mocks Rambo III in particular, but the repetitive nature of action movies in general by saying "In 1000 years they'll still make the same stupid movie."  That's how you're SUPPOSED to do it, not just drop a bunch of characters from another thing into your thing and yell "SEE HOW FUNNY I AM?"

My goodness, your saying rambo 3 would become a classic like romeo and juliet, Othella.. that for a 1000 year it will spurn so many paradoies it would be consider a work of art

[greatsarcasmo]

It's not?

My goodness, your saying rambo 3 would become a classic like romeo and juliet, Othella.. that for a 1000 year it will spurn so many paradoies it would be consider a work of art

[Col.Hengist]

I had always thought they were decendents of the guys from the movie. Jeff goldblooms character pilots a gunslinger...hey tex, where's yer spurs?

[Doug Glendower]

"In 1000 years they'll still make the same stupid movie." 

And it fits with Stackpole, who is the greatest author ever. He's sold the same book about a thousand times.

[Caesar Steiner for Archon]

My goodness, your saying rambo 3 would become a classic like romeo and juliet, Othella.. that for a 1000 year it will spurn so many paradoies it would be consider a work of art

I'm saying that the genre of stupid action movies will endure for 1000 years, and that after that time the places and weapons might change but it will still be the same movie.

[StuartYee]

See, that I was kind of okay with, because it was a parody of the Rambo movies as viewed through an in-universe lens.  It not only mocks Rambo III in particular, but the repetitive nature of action movies in general by saying "In 1000 years they'll still make the same stupid movie."  That's how you're SUPPOSED to do it, not just drop a bunch of characters from another thing into your thing and yell "SEE HOW FUNNY I AM?"

I agree. I suppose in many ways Stackpole was hemmed in to using the Banzai nomenclature since previous media had already used it. At least Stackpole had an opportunity to make his Rambo III spoof subtle.

[StoneGiant]

I read BOK (and WoTb and everything else now that I think about it) faaaar before I was able to read The Warrior Trilogy, and after reading them both and comparing them I think Warrior has a lot of serious insurmountable CHEESE broken up with a few great moments, the way the characters talk to themselves out loud for no reason, and the CORNY ass dialogue really is jarring to me, like when Melissa explains that she is going to see Hanse her beloved, ****** cringe worthy!

In my opinion it's clearly some of Stackpole's earlier work and his first work in the setting except for some Battletechnology stuff, BOK was leaps and bounds better, despite still being cheesy. (the only stuff that is really so cheesy it's not even fun to read are early Kai chapters, the rest gets tolerable to good)

Anyone else cringe while reading The Warrior Trilogy? I liked it for the glimpses of Comstar and the Wedding drama between Wolf and Takashi and the infiltration of Comstar by Akira Brahe and some of the Capellan Inner Circle stuff with Max and Justin, but the rest is really corny to me.

Like corny to the point that when people ask  me what I'm reading I explain Battletech, then say I'm reading the cheesy soap opera version on some of the events, I mean the original covers for Warrior are self explanatory in that regard, they don't really scream sci fi.  :-\ (one of the few times the reprint covers are better in my opinion...)

[StCptMara]

*bought a Hong Kong Cavaliers pin at the CGL booth at GenCon*

[Col.Hengist]

*bought a Hong Kong Cavaliers pin at the CGL booth at GenCon*

 Did you really? I would love to see it lol

[StCptMara]

Did you really? I would love to see it lol

I will say: I snatched it up because I recognized the reference. They had a very limited supply of them. I think they only had like
10 or so.

[Col.Hengist]

 Thats awesome. I love it when people have a sense of humor.

[Neufeld]

Anyone else cringe while reading The Warrior Trilogy? I liked it for the glimpses of Comstar and the Wedding drama between Wolf and Takashi and the infiltration of Comstar by Akira Brahe and some of the Capellan Inner Circle stuff with Max and Justin, but the rest is really corny to me.

I have only read the first two books, but the Kell Hounds parts had some really annoying stuff. Morgan 'Jesus' Kell Our Saviour, the token dwarf, Panthers dieing in droves, Kell Hounds just happening to be in the right place for a rescue, .... I liked the Justin parts better.

[StuartYee]

I have only read the first two books, but the Kell Hounds parts had some really annoying stuff. Morgan 'Jesus' Kell Our Saviour,

Please spare us the drama....

the token dwarf,

Truely, unconditionally, completely, utterly CRINGEWORTHY.

Panthers dieing in droves,

Battletech version of Imperial Stormtroopers? Insert Wilhelm Scream.

I agree, the Justin bits were better, even though it portrayed the Capellans in a ridiculously comic book villianous light.

[StoneGiant]

I really disliked the one dimensional characters in the restaurant Justin used to eat at, they there they are kicking ass and BAM you never hear from them again. Plus most of their names were ridiculous, the one eyed specifically had a name that no one would inflict upon their offspring on purpose. 

Give me some meaningful character interaction, don't just fill the blank spaces with longer and longer names for the ancillary characters.  :-\

[Decoy]

You mean Walter DesMesnil(sp)? He gets a big part in Not the Way Smart Money Bets. Granted, it is a Kell Hound Prequel.... I agree with you though. The rest of the Kittery Training Cadre staff needs more screen time.

[roosterboy]

Plus most of their names were ridiculous, the one eyed specifically had a name that no one would inflict upon their offspring on purpose. 

You mean Walter DesMesnil(sp)?

Who was, of course, named after a real-life individual. He—and many, if not most, of the Kittery Training folks—was named for a historical Knight Templar.

[StoneGiant]

Huh didn't know that!

[StCptMara]

Huh didn't know that!

And now you know!

[Col.Hengist]

 and knowing is half the battle ?

 Information is amunition?

[wackrabbit]

Perhaps this is pretentious, having preferred the verbal arts, but a miniature paint job on a website shouldn't be held to the same standard as scenes from a professionally written novel.

Not the website, but the original camospecs book. And I like Ed Muybridge!

[Deathrider6]

  Pop culture references are not that big of deal. The regiment in question has been renamed.  The New Avalon Cavaliers still carry on the legacy. Blaming Stackpole for something that existed before he wrote the novels in question just seems a bit over the top to me. This is a a game universe and some people like to give a nod to RL cultural icons, cult classics et. al. Have you looked at some of the art work in the old house books? Oprah makes an unintended appearance or at least the resemblance is really unnerving. You get some good and bad when you give the nod so to speak. Just roll woth it and remember it is your game so ignore what doesn't work for you.

[VF1LAM]

@StuartYee:  Actually, when I was a little boy of about 12 years old, before I had enough money to buy the boxed set and all of the Tech Readouts for second edition, I tried to design 'Mechs for my own universe, which featured these guys who were called the "valarians" (sort of like the Eldar in 40K) and the "xorcs" (who were like Orks in 40K).  I even tried drawing my own Tech Readout on graph paper... :-[

Then I grew up [a little] and started buying the official BattleTech stuff.

[StuartYee]

@StuartYee:  Actually, when I was a little boy of about 12 years old, before I had enough money to buy the boxed set and all of the Tech Readouts for second edition, I tried to design 'Mechs for my own universe, which featured these guys who were called the "valarians" (sort of like the Eldar in 40K) and the "xorcs" (who were like Orks in 40K).  I even tried drawing my own Tech Readout on graph paper... :-[

Then I grew up [a little] and started buying the official BattleTech stuff.

That's actually pretty awesome, but hope you didn't grow up too much!  ;)

[ColonelCody]

  Pop culture references are not that big of deal. The regiment in question has been renamed.  The New Avalon Cavaliers still carry on the legacy. Blaming Stackpole for something that existed before he wrote the novels in question just seems a bit over the top to me. This is a a game universe and some people like to give a nod to RL cultural icons, cult classics et. al. Have you looked at some of the art work in the old house books? Oprah makes an unintended appearance or at least the resemblance is really unnerving. You get some good and bad when you give the nod so to speak. Just roll woth it and remember it is your game so ignore what doesn't work for you.

Ahh well, speaking of artwork, how about some of the more recent work, to me and my group we stood there naming actors and celebrities the pics seemed to be related to. One of them even resembled Dennis Rodman.

[ckosacranoid]

if nothing else at anime cetral this year i dropped the money for a team bonzi patch that i had sewed on my jean jacket along with a bunch of battletech and anime patches...that reminds me i need to go get pics of it to post.....sigh i keep forgetting things....

[theBigMac]

Liked the pop culture references, though I never read all the novels, most of my experiences have been the fluff in Mechwarrior and Tech Readout 3025.

[Caesar Steiner for Archon]

  Pop culture references are not that big of deal. The regiment in question has been renamed.  The New Avalon Cavaliers still carry on the legacy. Blaming Stackpole for something that existed before he wrote the novels in question just seems a bit over the top to me. This is a a game universe and some people like to give a nod to RL cultural icons, cult classics et. al. Have you looked at some of the art work in the old house books? Oprah makes an unintended appearance or at least the resemblance is really unnerving. You get some good and bad when you give the nod so to speak. Just roll woth it and remember it is your game so ignore what doesn't work for you.

It's not about the unit name itself, it's about how uncreatively he did his nod.  His Rambo jab was actually pretty okay, because he was saying something ABOUT Rambo. He wasn't just saying "Rambo is a thing that exists!"  His Buckaroo Banzai reference was about as clever as a serious take on The Chris Farley Show skits from SNL.

[theBigMac]

Oh, almost forgot, what about the Butch and Sundance reference in the first Liao sourcebook?  I thought it was funny.

[StoneGiant]

I always enjoyed how McCarron's Armored Cavalry was known as THE BIG MAC myself.  :D

[theBigMac]

Yeah the Whopper just wouldn't have been the same. ;)

[Col.Hengist]

That's what Hanse called his battlepimp  ;)

[Banzai]

The Team Banzai unit predated the novel Riposte by  three years at least.  They were in the first Mechwarrior RPG in '86 as well as the original 3025 TRO that year (including B. Banzai, and the jumpship "The Nth Dimension".)   As I recall, Stackpole was told to kill them off, then that was pulled back slightly by the third Warrior book. 

Obviously my opinion on the unit is different than yours, lol. 

[John_Hawk]

Maybe it was when I read it -- middle school, and Buckaroo Banzai was just available on VHS -- yes, I'm old.  But it struck me as great fun, and it still does today.  BB was a movie that no one in my area had seen, except for me and my close friends. And reading about them in TRO 3025, the Mechwarrior handbook and eventually after that Stackpole's novels, put a smile on my face, like I was in on the joke. 

To this day, I enjoy finding the nuggets of in jokes in Battletech products.  Like "Thom Kazanski" being the commander of the One-Eyed Jacks Aerospace component.  That one still puts a grin on my face.  I haven't located a "Pete Mitchell" in any of the aerospace groups yet, though.

It's all the more fun since it's at least publicly frowned upon by TPTB.  Makes it feel like the inside jokes are even better.  And even if they don't stand the test of time -- BB is no longer a great secret -- the nostalgia it brings is something I dearly love.

[skiltao]

Stuart Yee, sorry for the long delay! I had to go rerent the film. A group of celebrity troubleshooters who act like cowboys and are crosstrained as scientists and test-pilots? Call signs, military technology, interdimensional physics, sci-fi callouts, doppelganger/long-lost family plus katanas and a kimono? Quality of Stackpole's execution aside, I cannot think of a more perfect way to say "this is what BattleTech is!" ;D

A cross-over means that they are the same characters as were portrayed in the film. Ergo it would imply that Dr. Banzai and the Hong Kong cavaliers somehow travelled to the future from the year 1984, or were frozen in time.

It would also imply that somewhere out there are Red and Black Lectroids.

Someone, I think Victor S-D (early in the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy), does mention that "UFOs" were sighted over New Avalon in the 3020s.  ^-^

That said, if Jeff Goldblum's character was a 'mechwarrior, what would he pilot?

New guy, runs around a bunch but doesn't shoot much... put him in a Clint, with a cowboy hat painted across the chest. (Or, if Team Banzai are all in heavies, maybe bump that up to a Quickdraw.)

[StuartYee]

Stuart Yee, sorry for the long delay! I had to go rerent the film.

You mean you don't OWN it?  ???

....plus katanas and a kimono? Quality of Stackpole's execution aside, I cannot think of a more perfect way to say "this is what BattleTech is!" ;D

Essentially participating in the Japanese lovefest of the 80's.

Someone, I think Victor S-D (early in the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy), does mention that "UFOs" were sighted over New Avalon in the 3020s.  ^-^

 :o

Any Red or Black Lectroids?

Actually, that might be a quaint pop culture reference to have a Merc unit named either the "Red Lectroids" or the "Black Lectroids". Hmmm....  8)

[Banzai]

A cross-over means that they are the same characters as were portrayed in the film. Ergo it would imply that Dr. Banzai and the Hong Kong cavaliers somehow travelled to the future from the year 1984, or were frozen in time.

It would also imply that somewhere out there are Red and Black Lectroids.

That said, if Jeff Goldblum's character was a 'mechwarrior, what would he pilot?

Well, in the write up for the New Avalon Cavaliers lists a former member of the Team was AFFS Marshal Sidney Zweibel, which was Jeff Goldblum's character.  Also the CO of the Cavs was John Parker, with Pinky Carruthers as his XO.

[skiltao]

The Lectroid's TOE would be real easy. John's lance of John's company in John's battalion...

You mean you don't OWN it?  ???

Gave it to a friend - the movie is too good not to share.   8)

[Caesar Steiner for Archon]

You mean you don't OWN it?  ???

Alternatively, you don't have Netflix Instant (cause it's on that)?

[StuartYee]

The Lectroid's TOE would be real easy. John's lance of John's company in John's battalion...

Gave it to a friend - the movie is too good not to share.   8)

John Smallberries would pilot a Stinger

What would John Big Boote pilot?

[Col.Hengist]

Thunderstallion...ever seen the bakside of one? Its got an ass like a clydesdale

[Hotwire]

Have to agree with those that like the Team Banzai and other '80s pop culture refs. I started playing BattleTech in '86 when it was Mad Max in a big stompy robot held together with spit, wire and a prayer. It was, and still is fun to run around the 3rd Succession War with '80s cult-classic icons and techno-punk/heavy metal music.  [rockon]

[Col.Hengist]

Have to agree with those that like the Team Banzai and other '80s pop culture refs. I started playing BattleTech in '86 when it was Mad Max in a big stompy robot held together with spit, wire and a prayer. It was, and still is fun to run around the 3rd Succession War with '80s cult-classic icons and techno-punk/heavy metal music.  [rockon]

 Hell Yea !  [rockon]

[StCptMara]

Have to agree with those that like the Team Banzai and other '80s pop culture refs. I started playing BattleTech in '86 when it was Mad Max in a big stompy robot held together with spit, wire and a prayer. It was, and still is fun to run around the 3rd Succession War with '80s cult-classic icons and techno-punk/heavy metal music.  [rockon]

Don't forget the 80's hair which, coicidentally, made it easier to pilot a 'mech, as well as the imagery of such
things as a dashboard hula dancer on the dash of your 'mech, and little touches like that that seem to have
fallen by the wayside in the more modern universe...except for still eccentric pilots....

[Col.Hengist]

I don't care if it's nixt or forboden, as long as i have my dash board Odin.

[StoneGiant]

Yeah who would've thought shaving the sides of your head into a mullet and wearing fingerless leather gloves would make such a resurgence in the future?  :D

[StCptMara]

Yeah who would've thought shaving the sides of your head into a mullet and wearing fingerless leather gloves would make such a resurgence in the future?  :D

What? The gloves are because, in the heat of a 'mech, the control sticks get hot, while the shaved temples
allow better connection with the neurohelmet! It all makes perfect sense!

[Col.Hengist]

Yeah who would've thought shaving the sides of your head into a mullet and wearing fingerless leather gloves would make such a resurgence in the future?  :D

 Wait... you mean thats not a popular style now?  :o

[StuartYee]

 Wait... you mean thats not a popular style now?  :o

 ;D

With the possible exception of your local Walmart, not so much....

[StoneGiant]

My pops actually affected that style, he would have been cooler than the other side of the pillow, if it wasn't 1995. He was always ten years behind the times when it came to what was "cool".  ;D

[Stormlion1]

What? The gloves are because, in the heat of a 'mech, the control sticks get hot, while the shaved temples
allow better connection with the neurohelmet! It all makes perfect sense!

There are people I work with that fit the description to a T. And there not the type of people I'd trust behind the controls of a mech!  ;)

[Banzai]

We used to joke that BattleTech was War Machines of Tomorrow, Driven By Queensrÿche. 

[Col.Hengist]

No kidding . My penetrater pilot has Jet city Woman play when the mech starts up  [rockon]

[Banzai]

"And Marshal Davion, here is the rest of your Command Company!"  [rockon]

[ColBosch]

"And Marshal Davion, here is the rest of your Command Company!"  [rockon]

Demi-company. Jeeze.

[Banzai]

The rest are out back smoking cloves.

[glitterboy2098]

Someone, I think Victor S-D (early in the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy), does mention that "UFOs" were sighted over New Avalon in the 3020s.  ^-^

Kai, talking to Dr. Lear behind enemy lines. they're heading to a fedcom spy outpost hoping to find a working transmitter. kai, trying to hide the fact it's a secret outpost (that he only knows due to his position), talks about the "UAP" sightings on new avalon. (unexplained aerial phenomenon). says that the AFFC was testing some star league Hammerhead fighters based off recovered plans in the (IIRC) 3030's, and because they were top secret the sightings were subject to a disinformation campaign. he then goes on to mention how one of the fighters crashed in the "roswell district", and the clean up teams missed some ferro-lamellor armor, which the UAP people immediately claimed was impossible for humans to have made, and that the AFFC was hiding alien bodies in a hanger on one of the new avalon military bases.

it was all a quite blatent riff on the roswell conspiracy stuff.

[skiltao]

Okay, that sounds about right, although "ferro-lamellor" hadn't entered BT's lexicon yet.

it was all a quite blatent riff on the roswell conspiracy stuff.

It can be more than one thing. :)

Alternatively, you don't have Netflix Instant (cause it's on that)?

Nope. Between regular TV and my friend's expanding DVD collection, I haven't needed to sign up yet. (Watching Dr Who with neophytes is kind of tricky since there's so many spoilers in its box art.)

[ColonelCody]

Has anyone pointed out that Team Banzai was a big part of the universe? I came across my copy of 4th Succession War Atlas, pt 2 and the whoel thing is supposed to be written from his hand.

[StCptMara]

Has anyone pointed out that Team Banzai was a big part of the universe? I came across my copy of 4th Succession War Atlas, pt 2 and the whoel thing is supposed to be written from his hand.

Heck, there is a reference to Dr. B. Banzai in the recent-ish Handbook: Davion

[MOrab46019]

I always enjoyed how McCarron's Armored Cavalry was known as THE BIG MAC myself.  :D

If I recall the Big MAC attack was for the sandwich. Now at lest in Battletech it could mean the Armored Cav is coming.

[ColonelCody]

If I recall the Big MAC attack was for the sandwich. Now at lest in Battletech it could mean the Armored Cav is coming.

I think everyone should just chill out and accept that Battletech and it's associated media have a ton of various references and items that connect back to certain cultural icons we know.BB, Big mac, there's a bunch of warships and admirals named for characters in a movie. it's silly to get upset or riled up over it.

[Terra-ble]

Yvonne Morticia and her Orion, yes. :) The bit of trivia about Dr. Banzai being the designer of the Hatchetman also got its start in that book, I think -- at least that's the earliest source mentioning (rumors of) it that I'm aware of. So Mike Stackpole just expanded on what was already there.

No time to read through the whole thread, but there is a pop-culture three-for here. Morticia Addams from "the Addams Family" was played by Carolyn Jones.  The Addams butler was named Lurch. Yvonne DeCarlo played Lilly Munster on"the Munsters."

[Banzai]

No time to read through the whole thread, but there is a pop-culture three-for here. Morticia Addams from "the Addams Family" was played by Carolyn Jones.  The Addams butler was named Lurch. Yvonne DeCarlo played Lilly Munster on"the Munsters."

And she also pilots the Jumpship "The Nth Dimension."   Make it a four-fer.

[Terra-ble]

I forgot about that.

[va_wanderer]

Going back to the beginning- yes, really.

Battletech took a bunch of characters that would never get more than a few comic books after their one movie...and did their best to immortalize them as part of the game.

Which I'm all for. I've always appreciated the nods to bits and pieces of culture- from a certain Zeon pilot in Zeta Battalion to the watermelon scene in Stackpole through a bazillion nods to all kinds of fantasy and sci-fi.

And if anyone was going to manage to pull off the first Kearny-Fuchida "time jump" by accident, it'd be one Buckaroo Banzai. The future needed him!

[Cerberus_02]

I think everyone should just chill out and accept that Battletech and it's associated media have a ton of various references and items that connect back to certain cultural icons we know.

Thank God Ace Darwin's WhipIts don't have ANY references to ANYTHING in real life, entertainment or otherwise.  /sarcasm   :P

[ColonelCody]

Thank God Ace Darwin's WhipIts don't have ANY references to ANYTHING in real life, entertainment or otherwise.  /sarcasm   :P

hehehe...agreed and conceded.

[StoneGiant]

Since we're talking novels, how come there are two Kai's? I know the first one dies in the first few chapters and the second one has nothing to do with him, but it seems weird I'd encounter two characters with that name. I've NEVER met a real actual Kai in my life.

[Banzai]

Since we're talking novels, how come there are two Kai's? I know the first one dies in the first few chapters and the second one has nothing to do with him, but it seems weird I'd encounter two characters with that name. I've NEVER met a real actual Kai in my life.

Which novel? 

[Captain Vlad]

Battletech took a bunch of characters that would never get more than a few comic books after their one movie...and did their best to immortalize them as part of the game.

Which I'm all for. I've always appreciated the nods to bits and pieces of culture.

Agreed.  Didn't bother me in the slightest.

I wonder if the invention of the K-F drive involved the phrase "Don't tug on that; there's no telling what it's attached to."

[FedRatCowboy]

And remember kids: Don't touch the watermelon.

I was reading the Warrior series one night and though "what the heck does that mean?" The next day I caught the movie and saw a watermelon in a vise-grip like device in Dr. Banzi's lab. I fell out laughing. My wife was like "there is something wrong with you."

[Banzai]

"Why is there a watermelon there?"

"I'll tell you later."

I love that scene!

[Dave Talley]

Going back to the beginning- yes, really.

Battletech took a bunch of characters that would never get more than a few comic books after their one movie...and did their best to immortalize them as part of the game.

yep FASA and other companies snuck stuff in all the time, my other favorite was in the Star Trek RPG there was a class of ships in the fed  fleet that were named after cities, (Loknar Class Frigate)
 and like most completist freak I appreciated that they had a list all of the ships of that class, so I picked the Hobbiton :-)  we put round doors on the pub (10 Forward) and on the Captains quarters

of course the word Loknar itself was an homage to the movie Heavy Metal, it was the glowing ball :-)

[ColonelCody]

yep FASA and other companies snuck stuff in all the time, my other favorite was in the Star Trek RPG there was a class of ships in the fed  fleet that were named after cities, (Loknar Class Frigate)
 and like most completist freak I appreciated that they had a list all of the ships of that class, so I picked the Hobbiton :-)  we put round doors on the pub (10 Forward) and on the Captains quarters

of course the word Loknar itself was an homage to the movie Heavy Metal, it was the glowing ball :-)

oh my god. I NEVER Noticed that before. wow. I used to play with one in the old FASA RPG game. It was the class of ship assigned to my crew. U.S.S. Fall River. I read this post and looked over the entry in the old SRM: Federation....I NEVER NOTICED!

[StuartYee]

So I think I'm going to relent and just accept the ubiquitous 80's pop-culture "inspired references"

Hell, I went along with my own. I recently ran a scenario involving a Company by the name of Weyland-Yutani looking for mercenaries to find a lost survey team exploring the deep Periphery world  designated as LV-426 aka "Acheron".

Of course the Company ends up screwing over the mercs, but instead of acid-for-blood xenomorphs, they just find a hell of a lot of Smoke Jaguars (which is very nearly the same thing).

I pre-generated a mercenary force named "Sulaco's Rangers" and gave the mechwarriors names Apone, Hicks, Hudson, Vasquez, etc.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

[skiltao]

"Inspired references" are just a tool, like anything else. Creativity & fun isn't about where the tool comes from -- it's how you use it.  O0  [rockon]

[Dave Talley]

oh my god. I NEVER Noticed that before. wow. I used to play with one in the old FASA RPG game. It was the class of ship assigned to my crew. U.S.S. Fall River. I read this post and looked over the entry in the old SRM: Federation....I NEVER NOTICED!

yeah I am a bit of a detail freak :-)

there are also ships named after FASA staff and other random stuff, would need to go dig to remember more, and I am in mood to  move my ass right now :-)
resting up for retail hell tonite and friday

[MOrab46019]

U.S.S. Fall River was a heavy cruiser. Before going into the scrap heap she was off shore on one of the atomic tests. Her Bow is in the City of Fall River MA at the Battleship Cove. 

[ColonelCody]

U.S.S. Fall River was a heavy cruiser. Before going into the scrap heap she was off shore on one of the atomic tests. Her Bow is in the City of Fall River MA at the Battleship Cove.

Yeah, I've seen her before, I live close by in Brockton. All of Battleship cove is a must see if you visit massachusetts.