Transformers fandom-- which I've never been much more than on the periphery of, though I did once go to BotCon and I do own a Transmetal Rattrap or two-- is a lot of fun. Most people don't take it too seriously, given they all know that it's based on a cartoon about fighting robots designed to sell toys, which is a good way to handle your fannishness. Though I did meet the odd frightening Welshman at BotCon...
I take your point. It does remind me of how things went after the official Trek Chronology was published in the early '90s. It was based on some fairly arbitrary assumptions (TOS exactly 300 years ahead of broadcast, TNG seasons equaling Jan-Dec calendar years, etc.), while at the same time discarding some of the more concrete on-screen time references (15 years between "Space Seed" and TWOK)... but despite all that (and even an introduction that urged readers to approach it with flexibility), it quickly became accepted as "definitive," and soon people were using it as the baseline for new stories, flashbacks, and so forth.
