# Help settle an argument IV **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 9, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580 "2016-02-09T01:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/21 "2016-02-09T17:23:23Z")
At first look, it does not look like Herbie. After getting another look at the original Abbey Road cover, it’s clearly the exact same bug, license plate and everything. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/22 "2016-02-09T18:05:00Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > No. It’s completely lacking in all Herbie’s identifying features. > > What it does match, more or less, is the actual Beetle on the Abbey Road cover. Dis. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/23 "2016-02-09T18:14:01Z")
I don’t think anyone has mentioned the object on the wall, above the Beetle’s roof. It looks like a Terminator skull to me. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/24 "2016-02-09T19:38:09Z")
[Here’s a higher resolution version](http://static02.mediaite.com/themarysue/uploads/2013/10/Geeky-Road.jpg). Some details become much more clear. AskNott, it’s a sunflower. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/25 "2016-02-09T20:08:22Z")
Thanks for the hi-res view, **Peter Morris.** The detail is much better. The artist says the writing on the wall says, “The cake is a lie,” and Optimus Prime’s bumper sticker says, “Bartlet for President.” I guess I’ll have to take his word for it. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/26 "2016-02-09T20:28:46Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > What it does match, more or less, is the actual Beetle on the Abbey Road cover. The Beetle on the _Abbey Road_ cover was not just any Beetle. The license plate “LMW 281F” was a big part of the “Paul is dead” rumor; allegedly it meant “Linda McCartney weeps”, and that Paul would be 28 if he was alive. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/27 "2016-02-09T20:34:13Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > “The cake is a lie,” I like it. Odd that it would be Hermione from the Harry Potter franchise, and not Harry. And Buffy should be barefoot. But those are just quibbles. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/28 "2016-02-09T21:20:56Z")
Presumably, the commissioners like Hermione more than Harry. (I certainly do.) ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/29 "2016-02-09T21:24:04Z")
It can’t be Herbie. Herbie had a number in a circle on his doors, and he also had a ragtop sunroof. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/30 "2016-02-09T21:32:47Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The Beetle on the _Abbey Road_ cover was not just any Beetle. The license plate “LMW 281F” was a big part of the “Paul is dead” rumor; allegedly it meant “Linda McCartney weeps”, and that Paul would be 28 if he was alive. I used to read a lot about the “Paul is dead theory” so I recognized it right away as the “28IF” Beetle. And it lacked the Herbie stripes. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/31 "2016-02-09T21:33:17Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Presumably, the commissioners like Hermione more than Harry. (I certainly do.) Probably true, although most of the other references are the centers of their particular universes. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/32 "2016-02-09T21:55:08Z")
I would argue that Hermione is at least as central to the Potterverse as the Plants vs Zombies plant, or Loki’s staff are to theirs, and certainly a lot more than the Winchesters’ car or Beaker are to theirs. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/33 "2016-02-10T00:25:47Z")
> [@SpyOne](#): > > I can’t believe somebody had to point out Optimus Prime. Whatever that is… ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/34 "2016-02-10T00:28:16Z")
Personally, I’ve always viewed a man’s shirt on a naked female the same as a flag on a conquered fortress. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/35 "2016-02-10T00:31:56Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Whatever that is… Optimus Prime is a transformer. Transformers was a series of 30 minute toy commercials in the 80’s, now a series of 2 hr long toy commercials directed by Michael Bay. Michael Bay is a director famous for bad movies with explosions. Movies are like pictures, except they move. …and so on… ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/36 "2016-02-10T00:52:10Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Personally, I’ve always viewed a man’s shirt on a naked female the same as a flag on a conquered fortress. Ragged and smudged with gunpowder smoke? ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/37 "2016-02-10T15:22:34Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Optimus Prime is a transformer. > > Transformers was a series of 30 minute toy commercials in the 80’s, now a series of 2 hr long toy commercials directed by Michael Bay. > > Michael Bay is a director famous for bad movies with explosions. > > Movies are like pictures, except they move. > > …and so on… Yeah, except that Optimus in the movies looked nothing like the cartoon or the toys. I’m not even a fan of the cartoon (or the toys), but that still rubs me the wrong way. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/38 "2016-02-10T21:28:15Z")
Transformers are redesigned constantly. Even in G1 and G2, Prime had [this](http://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:ActionMasterPrime_toy.jpg), [this](http://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:StarConvoy_toy.jpg), [this](http://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:CombatheroPrime_toy.jpg), [this](http://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:G2toy_laser_optimus_prime.jpg), [this](http://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:G2toy_gobot_prime.jpg), and [this](http://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:CombatHeroPrime.jpg). Oh, and before actual Beast Wars media came out, Optimus Primal was supposed to be him, so he also looked like [this](http://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:BWtoy-Primalbat.jpg) and [this](http://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:Optimusprimaltoyultraape.jpg). (And that’s not even including cancelled toys like [this](http://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:Un_autorollers.jpg). If he’s not expected to keep the same look within the same continuity, why should different universes’ versions look like his first look? (And cabover trucks are not exactly common in North America, where Hasbro is based, so it wouldn’t make sense for a Hasbro-designed toy that wasn’t a pure nostalgia-bait collectors’ item to have that design.) ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580/39 "2016-02-17T13:16:48Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > How about the person who created the poster as an argument settler? > > [Here’s](http://www.themarysue.com/geeky-road-aviv-or/) the story of how it came about. > > [Here’s](http://www.avivor.com/english/?p=134) the artist explaining some of the processes used. In the comments towards the bottom someone lists most/all of the references. The question of the VW possibly being Herbie is raised, and the artist (Aviv) confirms that it’s just a residual from the original Abbey Road illustration, no particular meaning. > > It ain’t Herbie. Bah. Another beautiful theory crushed by ugly reality. The REAL missed opportunity here was that the artist didn’t make it Harry Dresden’s, “Blue Beetle.” It kicked ass, in a four-cylinder kind of way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-an-argument-iv/745580.md?page=1)