The Energon Pub

Lord Onixprime wrote:

Jaw Crusher wrote:I don't get the "zero show-accuracy" argument, either, especially in light of Animated (and especially some of the ROTF figures in comparison to their counterparts from the first movie's line).

Animated's designs were simple, the only iffy part at first was them just capturing the cartoon look, which they pulled off.

In this case, Optimus goes from a blocky Semi to what only can be described as Optimus Primal for beast machines but with windows on his chest. These things would have more kibble than the BW Neo toys. At best they would be very kibbly, at worst complete shell-formers.

This, plus I don't see many vehicle parts on any of them. Optimus has the windshield on his chest and Ratchet has a wheel on his arm, that's about it.

griftimus prime wrote:why the boobs on rc? so sick of this crap. she even has the bra thing going.

Uhhh? She's a chick? I assure you I'm not into delicious flat chest, even if it's a robot.

Evil_the_Nub wrote:

Lord Onixprime wrote:

Jaw Crusher wrote:I don't get the "zero show-accuracy" argument, either, especially in light of Animated (and especially some of the ROTF figures in comparison to their counterparts from the first movie's line).

Animated's designs were simple, the only iffy part at first was them just capturing the cartoon look, which they pulled off.

In this case, Optimus goes from a blocky Semi to what only can be described as Optimus Primal for beast machines but with windows on his chest. These things would have more kibble than the BW Neo toys. At best they would be very kibbly, at worst complete shell-formers.

This, plus I don't see many vehicle parts on any of them. Optimus has the windshield on his chest and Ratchet has a wheel on his arm, that's about it.

I love it guys, pioking apart a toyline before we even see pictures of it.

Evil_the_Nub wrote:This, plus I don't see many vehicle parts on any of them. Optimus has the windshield on his chest and Ratchet has a wheel on his arm, that's about it.

Sounds like ROTF to me, which had fairly convincing toys in most case. ROTF Prime had little more than wheels on his legs, windows on his chest and fenders on his back. Bumblebee had only a grill on his chest and doors on his back. Starscream only had a cockpit and tail fins.

I see windows, headlights, part of a grill on Cliffjumper. Fairings, wheels, and a fuel cell cover on Arcee. Ratchet has wheels and loads of ambulance panels/doors on him. I'd say the toy designers have their work cut out for them, but I think it's doable.

The only thing that has me really wondering is the lack of wings on Megs haha

Savage wrote:Is anybody else annoyed that Megatron's fusion cannon is on the wrong arm?!

Aside from that, these designs kick butt.

Thats the first thing that caught my attention...

I like the character designs, though I must echo the concerns of others who have noted that should toys be made for this show, there'd be issues for likeness to characters in toy form with the way that the bot modes are designed. Look at the compromises made for TFA characters who have toys like Sentinel Prime and Arcee. Their toys look good but due to how their animation models visually cheat significantly for transformation, their toys have significant deviations from the artwork, particularly the legs which have very organic appearances in the cartoon.

Blurrz wrote:I love it guys, pioking apart a toyline before we even see pictures of it.

Is it simply picking apart the hypothetical toyline? I think they offered valid points for why they think the character designs would have problems translating to accurate toys. On the other hand, I haven't read anyone offer speculation as to how toys of these characters could be made with significant likeness to these character designs.

Maybe this is why Hasbro isn't going full steam ahead with a toyline as they've done in the past with previous TF shows.

On a side note, I swear Jack Darby looks just like me when I was 17, well, except for the whole wearing a t-shirt over a sweatshirt thing

Blurrz wrote:

griftimus prime wrote:why the boobs on rc? so sick of this crap. she even has the bra thing going.

Uhhh? She's a chick? I assure you I'm not into delicious flat chest, even if it's a robot.

Plus they probably had to do it to get it past Australia's "no flat chests in any form of media" standards.

Hasbro, why do you tease me so? The first cartoon to feature a transformer with bull horns on his hood, and you don't make a toyline for it. ;____;

...I'm going to dig my old model ranch sets out. SOMEONE in my collection is going to get steer'd up.

kookaburra wrote:SOMEONE in my collection is going to get steer'd up.

Lockdown.

You know it's the right thing to do.

Midnight_Fox wrote:

kookaburra wrote:SOMEONE in my collection is going to get steer'd up.

Lockdown.

You know it's the right thing to do.

Oooooh. I like the way you think.

...I'm thinking I won't need to dig out my old playsets. Animated Snarl's Triceratops head is looking just about right.

And what Transformers cartoon would be complete without some Humans!

Beast Machines...which didn't have a single human character in the entire run of the show!

PrimeGestalt wrote:

And what Transformers cartoon would be complete without some Humans!

Beast Machines...which didn't have a single human character in the entire run of the show!

No, it just had a talking tree, a rat that was in love with the talking tree, and an Ape that belonged in a hippie commune.

Burn wrote:

PrimeGestalt wrote:

And what Transformers cartoon would be complete without some Humans!

Beast Machines...which didn't have a single human character in the entire run of the show!

No, it just had a talking tree, a rat that was in love with the talking tree, and an Ape that belonged in a hippie commune.

Aww...why did you have to spoil it for me?

I've only just watched the scene where Rattrap and Botanica are at each other's throats (do Cybertronians even have throats? Other than movie Devastator, I mean?) and then share an awkward kiss! Just don't ruin what happens between Silverbolt and Blackarachnia! Whatever happens, don't spoil it for me!

YEAAAAAAAARGH!!!! CYBERTRONIAN ZOMBIEEEE!!!!

Good thing I didn't mention the planet sized cabbage thing then.

All in all I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised thus far, when I first saw Bumblebee I was “Oh no not more movie based stuff” but these designs actually have faces thank goodness...well aside form the aforementioned of course. Super happy that Arcee may be a major player!

I only have two complaints, one major and one minor.

Minor. Megatron’s cannon is on the wrong arm but that’s a pretty nerdy thing to be bothered by and not that big a deal in the long run, after all WFC Shockwave’s gun-hand was on the wrong side too...

The major thing I have an issue with and always have is the fact that Arcee (and almost all “femmebots”) look more like barbie dolls in armor and not transformers. The wonderful exceptions of course being Strika and Override (if you go by U.S. standards) etc. The “male” transformers all generally look like what they turn into, obvious car/plane/tank parts, some are bigger some smaller, some wide and some slim etc., but regardless of what a “female” turns into they for the most part all have the exact same body-type. As much as I love the ladies, this has always been really off-putting to me. Why do they have breasts? Are they mammals? Is it just for sex appeal? If so why do they feel the need to make something “sexy” at all? If that happens to be the case, do they really not think that a character can be “sexy” based on the merit of his/her/it’s whole self , and only on one rigidly defined body shape? If a Transformer does not fit said specified shape will people not realize it’s “female”? It boggles me. Sorry for the great big wall ‘O text there guys. Guess lack of sleep makes me verbose.

I hope Starscream’s not Donky Kong in a corn chip costume again, that’s very nearly a dealbreaker. It’s just too silly looking IMO.

Zeonic_Miko wrote:All in all I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised thus far, when I first saw Bumblebee I was “Oh no not more movie based stuff” but these designs actually have faces thank goodness...well aside form the aforementioned of course. Super happy that Arcee may be a major player!

I only have two complaints, one major and one minor.

Minor. Megatron’s cannon is on the wrong arm but that’s a pretty nerdy thing to be bothered by and not that big a deal in the long run, after all WFC Shockwave’s gun-hand was on the wrong side too...

The major thing I have an issue with and always have is the fact that Arcee (and almost all “femmebots”) look more like barbie dolls in armor and not transformers. The wonderful exceptions of course being Strika and Override (if you go by U.S. standards) etc. The “male” transformers all generally look like what they turn into, obvious car/plane/tank parts, some are bigger some smaller, some wide and some slim etc., but regardless of what a “female” turns into they for the most part all have the exact same body-type. As much as I love the ladies, this has always been really off-putting to me. Why do they have breasts? Are they mammals? Is it just for sex appeal? If so why do they feel the need to make something “sexy” at all? If that happens to be the case, do they really not think that a character can be “sexy” based on the merit of his/her/it’s whole self , and only on one rigidly defined body shape? If a Transformer does not fit said specified shape will people not realize it’s “female”? It boggles me. Sorry for the great big wall ‘O text there guys. Guess lack of sleep makes me verbose.

I hope Starscream’s not Donky Kong in a corn chip costume again, that’s very nearly a dealbreaker. It’s just too silly looking IMO.

WFC Shockwave's arm is on the right side, the image was just inverted when they revealed him. Perhaps the same is going on here.

The reason they give the femebots female features is so you know they are female. Like Cybertron Override, looks like a dude, was a dude in Japan, but had a female voice in america.

Lord Onixprime wrote:
The reason they give the femebots female features is so you know they are female. Like Cybertron Override, looks like a dude, was a dude in Japan, but had a female voice in america.

Arcee could look like Megatron, if they called her “she” and she had a female voice I’d know she was female. She does not have to look like a human woman to be identified as female. I think it’s rather silly especially when the “boys” come in all shapes and sizes. I knew Skylinx was “male” because he was referred to as he, and he does not resemble a human shape in any way.

Zeonic_Miko wrote:

Lord Onixprime wrote:
The reason they give the femebots female features is so you know they are female. Like Cybertron Override, looks like a dude, was a dude in Japan, but had a female voice in america.

Arcee could look like Megatron, if they called her “she” and she had a female voice I’d know she was female. She does not have to look like a human woman to be identified as female. I think it’s rather silly especially when the “boys” come in all shapes and sizes. I knew Skylinx was “male” because he was referred to as he, and he does not resemble a human shape in any way.

Hear, hear!

One of the reasons TFA Strika is so awesome. I couldn't see the pictures well enough, but could this Arcee the the first femmebot without freakin' lipstick? If so, I love it for that alone.

Definitely an improvement on Cliffjumper. He's been a piece of crap ever since G1, finally he gets a makeover like Bee did for the movies.

Megatron? Looks a lot like WFC Megs, and hopefully the cannon can be switched to the right arm. The cannon on the left is just...wrong.

Zeonic_Miko wrote:

Lord Onixprime wrote:
The reason they give the femebots female features is so you know they are female. Like Cybertron Override, looks like a dude, was a dude in Japan, but had a female voice in america.

Arcee could look like Megatron, if they called her “she” and she had a female voice I’d know she was female. She does not have to look like a human woman to be identified as female. I think it’s rather silly especially when the “boys” come in all shapes and sizes. I knew Skylinx was “male” because he was referred to as he, and he does not resemble a human shape in any way.

So? Arcee's been like this since Generation One. I don't mind her being a bike because she was in Energon and in the Movies. But why start to slander away from her femininity? On Earth, she looks like a chick because maybe that's her Earth form. Maybe the creators are just trying to personify her character. This isn't anything different from what you see in any other cartoon, it's all about representation. You don't see the strongest Transformer being the smallest guy.

Blurrz wrote:[But why start to slander away from her femininity? On Earth, she looks like a chick because maybe that's her Earth form. Maybe the creators are just trying to personify her character. This isn't anything different from what you see in any other cartoon, it's all about representation. You don't see the strongest Transformer being the smallest guy.

Slander: I do not think that word means what you think it means.

Also, Brawn would like a word with you.

kookaburra wrote:Hasbro, why do you tease me so? The first cartoon to feature a transformer with bull horns on his hood, and you don't make a toyline for it. ;____;

...I'm going to dig my old model ranch sets out. SOMEONE in my collection is going to get steer'd up.

Actually, if some of the comments that were made by Hasbro at Botcon are any indicator, there MIGHT be a toy at the very least of Optimus...possibly Bulkhead.

But no asphaltcowboy!Cliffjumper?

Hasbro, I want to give you my money! Don't you want my money?

kookaburra wrote:But no asphaltcowboy!Cliffjumper?

Hasbro, I want to give you my money! Don't you want my money?

I'll take your money and pass it on to them.

Trust me. I'm staff.

Burn wrote:
Trust me. I'm staff.

I see no way in which this plan could possibly go wrong!