The Energon Pub

Hey all,
I go to school for product design and I eventually want to get into toy design and it is my dream to eventually work for Hasbro with their Transformers line. My question to all of you is, do you know any information regarding the design process behind making a Transformers toy over the past 25+ years? Designers names? Who is the most influential in designing their transformers? Is there any one toy that stands out to you in terms of the engineering and design of it? For example, one recent toy that I truly admire is the Voyager TF:P Optimus Prime figure. It is complex but just amazing how and where the pieces move and the look of both modes are incredible. I just can't find the designer(s) name(s) behind that toy or any other one for that matter. Thank you so much in advance.

battlehax wrote:Hey all,
I go to school for product design and I eventually want to get into toy design and it is my dream to eventually work for Hasbro with their Transformers line. My question to all of you is, do you know any information regarding the design process behind making a Transformers toy over the past 25+ years? Designers names? Who is the most influential in designing their transformers? Is there any one toy that stands out to you in terms of the engineering and design of it? For example, one recent toy that I truly admire is the Voyager TF:P Optimus Prime figure. It is complex but just amazing how and where the pieces move and the look of both modes are incredible. I just can't find the designer(s) name(s) behind that toy or any other one for that matter. Thank you so much in advance.

I don't know too much about design, but try tfwiki.net. They have an awesome listing of EVERYTHING transformers, but they have information about several designers. It's not a ton of info, but a great start. You can link around tfwiki and learn a lot.

Look up Aaron Archer and Eric Seibenaler, who are (were) two very influential Hasbro TF designers (or past employee, in Eric Seibenaler's case). There are also articles on several Japanese designers.

Also, try to browse the news archives here, every once in awhile something will come up about a translated interview with a Japanese designer.

PS - best of luck in your studies and quest!

Thanks a lot for the info dude. What is your favourite transformers toy based on the design of it?

From a playability POV, several of the Deluxe Classics style figures: Mirage, the recent Warpath, and the recent Jazz among them. (nearly) Cartoon accurate, remarkably articulated, and not too complex for younger hands to transform.

From a sheer "How'd they manage to do that?" standpoint, the ROTF Leader Prime and all his variants, plus pretty much any and all Masterpieces.

I'd say those are my favorite engineering pieces. But if I was in charge of designing the toy lines, I'd rather see engineering feats like the Classics (simple to medium transforms that have good articulation) than the Movieverse (very complex transforms that have excellent articulation, but are lots more fragile).

NOT: I am not talking about design aesthetic, I am talking about the mechanical engineering involved...

Alex Kubalsky and Don Figueroa are two of the best things that have happened to transformers in the past ten to twenty years (titaniums aside).

bionic_radical wrote:Alex Kubalsky and Don Figueroa are two of the best things that have happened to transformers in the past ten to twenty years (titaniums aside).

Yeah, too bad there were only a couple 6" Titaniums ever released...

*whistles as he kicks a few 6" tall partly die-cast so-called figures under the bed*

Valandar wrote:

bionic_radical wrote:Alex Kubalsky and Don Figueroa are two of the best things that have happened to transformers in the past ten to twenty years (titaniums aside).

Yeah, too bad there were only a couple 6" Titaniums ever released...

*whistles as he kicks a few 6" tall partly die-cast so-called figures under the bed*

NOOOES. War within Prime was the best thing since sliced bread!

Also, http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Bill_Rawley
This guy made many awesome things.

Just wanted to throw this out there, you best be willing to work on other Hasbro products too. I don't really know how their design department works but an old friend of mine worked for Hasbro for a while and he was making 3D toy models. His work spanned over of several different show lines, which included Transformers. I never got into the specifics with him but I'd imagine, based on the fact that he's a 3D modeler, he got the designs from the design team and translated them into the computer for production.

It's possible that if you get in you might be placed into one specific area but given Hasbro's size and vast array of toy lines you might end up jumping between completely different projects.

RhA wrote:Also, http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Bill_Rawley
This guy made many awesome things.

And since the category exists:
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Category:Designers

Bill and Eric are awesome guys. Fun to drink and geek out with too.