Talk:Grab Block

Colors
What are the colors that it flashes? I'm trying to make a spritesheet of it and other items. Or, can someone point me to a PNG format sprite sheet with all of its color frames?

Roads (Talk - Me on Wikia - Me on Wikipedia) 15:48, 15 November 2011 (EST)

Name question
Isn't the Grab Block named Throw Block? Because I think it's named like that, but I'm not sure. Telinc1 04:50, 30 December 2011 (EST)

Super Mario Bros 3
Are the blocks which buster beetles are throwing the grab blocks? --78.248.232.59 07:01, 2 April 2016 (EDT)
 * Look up the Buster Beetle article and you'll find your answer. 21:25, 2 April 2016 (EDT)

Merge Super Mario Bros. 3 Ice Block with Super Mario World Grab Block
Before proposal, let's discuss first. The Ice Block found in SMB3 functions identically to the Grab Block of SMW. It doesn't feel right to group that Ice Block with the other Ice Blocks as those Ice Blocks seem to be about a slick surface or something to melt. Thoughts? -- 16:56, 6 May 2016 (EDT)


 * I think it should simply be noted on the Ice Block section that they function identically to the Grab Block of SMW. Otherwise, the (official?) name and appearance is of a common Ice Block. The Grab Block is also diverse in name and appearance.


 * 17:30, 1 August 2016 (EDT)
 * This is an old conversation, but undecided. I have found a reference for the Ice Block name in the Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Nintendo Power guide...in many places, actually. First instance appears to be on page 51. As such, I think this section should not be merged. 18:39, 7 April 2017 (EDT)
 * Since everyone refuses to merge them, I'm adding an edit to at least ACKNOWLEDGE the similarity. - 68.117.20.106 21:04, 24 September 2017 (EDT)
 * It's already been mentioned. 21:09, 24 September 2017 (EDT)

Merge Super Mario Bros. 3 Ice Block with Super Mario World Grab Block (rebooted)
In light of some more information that has come to light since the above, I really think Wildgoosespeeder was onto something. The throwable type (アイスブロック) is not grouped together with the game's thawable type (氷ブロック) in Encyclopedia Super Mario Bros.'s Super Mario Bros. 3 section. This can also be seen in the English Encyclopedia, where the former is "Frozen Block" and the latter is "Ice Block", as well as the Super Mario Advance 4 Prima guide, which calls them "blue block" and "ice block", respectively. In all the other guides, "Ice Block" only refers to the throwable one, whereas it seems the thawable and platform ones don't have a specific name. The throwable one also has another name - White Block (しろいぶろっく / 白いブロック) - which shows up in-game in one of the letters. Additionally, it is virtually identical in function to Super Mario World's Grab Blocks (implied by the Japanese name to be a form of ice melting in your hands), even keeping the same traction as ordinary, non-ice terrain when used as a foothold as opposed to every other ice block. All in all, I think the "Ice Block" is somewhat a misnomer and it very clearly evolved into the Grab Block, not unlike how silver coins became blue coins. The only thing I'm not sure about would be which name should be the article title, as White Block is used in-game and technically appears more recently. LinkTheLefty (talk) 10:50, October 22, 2022 (EDT)

Merge Super Mario Bros. 3 Ice Block with Super Mario World Grab Block (proposal)
See "rebooted" section for details. In essence, the White Block from Super Mario Bros. 3 is identical in every way with the Grab Block from Super Mario World, with both being suggested as icy blocks that seemingly melt in Mario's hands and lacking the slippery platform traction of ordinary Ice Blocks, with which they're distinguished. As such, I think it would be a mistake to keep the Super Mario Bros. 3 version merged with the Ice Block article when the Super Mario World version is much more appropriate. Two main options are presented in this proposal. The first will simply merge White Block with Grab Block, which is a more self-explanatory name. The second will still merge, but make White Block the current name, which would be closer to policy due to being the most recent in-game name as of Super Mario Advance 4. A third option merges Grab Block with the Ice Block article, although I'm not sure I particularly recommend this since that article could probably stand to have a thing or two split already. A fourth option fully splits White Block as its own article. In any case, an will be added to note the "White Block" Semisolid Platform.

Proposer: Deadline: April 14, 2023, 23:59 GMT

Merge White Block with Grab Block

 * 1) As per reboot thoughts.
 * 2) Per proposal.
 * 3) Secondary choice. Both of these can be grabbed and flash in different colors when doing so; the biggest difference is that these are dark blue and resemble Rotating Blocks more.

Merge and use White Block as the article title

 * 1) Alternative choice.

Split White Block fully as its own article

 * 1) I prefer this, per what I said below.
 * 2) Per SmokedChili, there doesn't appear to be concrete proof that White Block and Grab Block are the same.
 * 3) I have no idea why the whiteish-light blue Brick Block is merged to Ice Block for so long when it functions entirely different from one (even distinctive from other Ice Blocks in Super Mario Bros. 3!) They also flash in different colors when grabbed (or just from cyan to orange in the SNES port), which isn't natural for ice either. If it weren't for one of the Japanese names, I would've doubted these were actually made of ice.
 * 4) Per all. The Grab Block is maybe inspired by this, but there's no direct proof of them being the same.
 * 5) Per all. The SMB3 white blocks sure are different from the SMB3 ice blocks, but SMW grab blocks they aren't. Unless Nintendo ever considers the two of them to be equals officially, we can probably safely assume it's yet another case of how SMW is just. Ever so different, and there's Dinosaur Island equivalents to other things, like the Goomba/Galoomba or Brick Block/Rotating Block pairs.
 * 6) Per all.

Keep White Block merged with Ice Block

 * 1) Identical properties doesn't sound like solid enough proof for merging. Aside from Grab Block not being explicitly described as icy, the difference is that one has its roots on Brick Blocks and the other on Rotating Blocks, so "convergent evolution" if one may. Although, I'd prefer splitting White Block to its own article for the same reasons.

Comments
@SmokedChili: Normal Ice Blocks in Super Mario World are also aesthetically Rotating Blocks, despite neither it nor Grab Block being able to rotate, and they're not really worth splitting over it. The Japanese name of the Grab Block also suggests it still has frozen properties, which is probably supposed to imply that it disappears because it warms up in Mario's hands, as mentioned above. I'll add a full split as another option, though. LinkTheLefty (talk) 13:55, April 3, 2023 (EDT)
 * The Japanese name suggests melting in Mario's hands as much as it suggests the block breaking down from frightened trembling. Too ambiguous to really say. SmokedChili (talk) 11:44, April 5, 2023 (EDT)

Article split is impractical
The behavior of this block is very distinctive, and it is no accident that it has appeared in two games, as the respective articles currently imply. The designers of SMW did not coincidentally create another block that also flashes colors when grabbed, dissipates when held, and slides to kill enemies when thrown. The block reuses graphics from a common block, but recolored blue, in order to save cartridge space and design hours. This "common block" is a brick in SMB3, but is a rotating block in SMW, as the two games have different tilesets. It is normal for a game element to be given a visual change between games in a series. Having these in separate articles feels like having SMB1 hammers and SMB3 hammers in separate articles called "claw hammer" and "mallet", and debating whether they're the same.

The real question we should be asking here is "Is it useful to have these in separate pages?". Whether or not you think they're "the same", it is unintuitive to users reading the wiki, and has resulted in two short stubby articles with a lot of the same information, as opposed to a single coherent one that documents the change between the games. The differences between the blocks can be captured in just a couple sentences, and doesn't warrant a full article.--WilliamFrog (talk) 06:28, June 25, 2023 (EDT)

Merge White Block with Grab Block
As WilliamFrog points out above, while there is technically no proof that the White Block and Grab Block are the same, they behave almost identically and differences in appearance can be chalked up to the standard blocks that they share graphics with in both games being different, would be unintuitive to the average wiki reader, and results in articles that largely contain the same information. The two blocks also appeared in back-to-back games in the main Mario series that were developed by many of the same individuals, so it is certainly no coincidence. Merging the two pages would almost certainly result in a more streamlined wiki experience for editors and readers alike, and will not result in the loss of any ease of understanding or important information.

Proposer: Deadline: July 22, 2023, 23:59 GMT

Support

 * 1) Per proposal and arguments for the merger from the previous proposal, as well as WilliamFrog's above statement.

Oppose

 * 1) Per arguements made in the previous proposal.
 * 2) Words cannot express how much I disagree with the idea that whether they are the same item or not doesn't matter. Yes, it very much does matter whether items we decide to split or merge are the same or not, which almost always has and always should be the deciding factor of splits and merges. Yes, the blocks are similar to each other and the Grab Block probably was based on the White Block, but that in no way makes them the same item. Any merge here would be speculative, and it would set a precedent that we can speculatively merge things we deem similar enough if we feel like it regardless of whether they're actually the same thing. We've been over this already.
 * 3) While I did support White Block being merged to Grab Block a couple months back, it was only my secondary choice, with my primary choice being that White Block gets its own article; both were preferable over the situation back then, which was that White Block was kept merged to Ice Block (which functions entirely different from either White or Grab Block), but White Block getting its own article was always my primary choice. And now that it finally has one, my stance has not changed. Maybe we could merge if the White Block returns in a new game under the name "Grab Block", but for now, this is the same situation as Poison Mushroom and Rotten Mushroom from last month (we still have Coin Coffer and Magmaargh separate from Moneybags and Blargg).
 * 4) To put it simply, although they have similar functions, these are different items from different games, and they have never been confused with one another in official media. They each have clearly distinct names and visual appearances, and merging them would indeed make navigation more confusing.
 * 5) Per all
 * 6) Per all.