-Kanrabat- wrote:william-james88 wrote:Agamemnon wrote:That said, outside of the back of the Beetle forming a backpack, I love everything else about MP Bumbles, especially the transforming exo-suit.
I have issues with taht suit. I lik he look, especially in "alt mode" and the transformation is fine. But I hate those arms. That balljoint is badly designed wth limited movement.
Back to fake chests, I just realized that all the live action grimlock toys have fake chests. His lower jaw is supposed to become an ornament on his chest. That explains why all gimlocks hide away the lower jaw in the back. I dont think its a major issue but it would be really cool to see the actual transformation attempted.
Also TLK voyager Scorn, who have half-jaws hanging on his hips for reasons.
As does AoE Deluxe Scorn. I think that's one of those things that will never be possible to get with the real parts - I cannot think of a possible transformation scheme, however complicated, that could make those work in reality.
I think that's a good example of my personal "line" with regard to fake kibble (chests, etc). When a character's fictional appearance is designed first and the toy is attempting to emulate that - like with Masterpiece, TFP and Animated toys, etc. - then I'm considerably more tolerant of fake vehicle parts since it's often trying to emulate details that'd be literally impossible in the physical realm.
But when the appearance is defined by the toy first - G1, UT toys, toy-only Bayverse characters, and so on - I expect to see zero, or at least extremely minimal, fake parts. Because if you're creating a character's look via their toy, what possible reason could you have to introduce fake parts? If the design you're thinking of isn't possible in toy form, come up with a different design since you have that liberty.
The grey area is, of course, 'redesigns' of classic character designs that try to keep the look of the original but change how the thing actually works. Lots of the CW Autobot cars (and a few "main uses" of the molds too) did this sort of thing. Prowl/Smokescreen, as Yotsuyasan mentioned, is a good example of homaging classic detail without resorting to really obvious fake car parts, and it pulls it off pretty well all things considered. Swindle and Hound really ride the line, but since their chest-grilles look totally different from their actual vehicle modes (and look so
good to boot) I can just about forgive that too; but that's about as far as things can go before I start to get put off.
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