Sabrblade wrote:ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Sabrblade wrote:ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:MP-10 = "G1 cartoon Optimus Prime as he would look in real life". In other words, G1 Cartoon Optimus Prime minus the compromises made for the cartoon's cheapo mostly-unshaded animation and with several of the details that were bare on the original toy (because Diaclone paintjobs only extend to "paint a die-cast piece a single color to match the plastic" and "paint a singe color onto the molded roof and windshield frame on a glazing piece") now expertly painted.
So, in real life, Optimus Prime would have really pointy toes?
I don't really know that you can call those toes pointy considering the toe line is nearly perpendicular to the side of the foot.
Okay, replace "pointy" with "slanty".
Maybe, it'd depend on if that was what it took to fit them in the truck mode.
And in fairness, on the cartoon accuracy side of things they were drawn that way on his revised model sheet (and thus, were drawn that way often in the cartoon and comics), which is why MP-44 has fairly slanty feet too. I admit that feet that hewed closer to the Kohara model sheet and the 1984 toy in size and slope would probably look and work better (I did say that I don't think even MP-10 had nailed it), but the big slanty ones don't look bad and are valid by the cartoon. Of course, that brings up a big problem with trying to be hyper cartoon accurate with G1 characters beyond the animaton's dumbed-down designs and coloring: The fact that the cartoon sucked at consistent drawing even on a good day. Even in the movie. Things like, say, whether Megatron's helmet flared to the back or not (an artistic choice stemming from the perspective of his head in his boxart and on his model sheet)), whether it has the toy-accurate extra detail on the base... Perpetually in flux. And that's just with one character. And there are some characters who, thanks to animation half-assing, have substantial areas blatantly change color when they transform (I'M LOOKING AT
YOU, BOMBSHELL) or whose animation models have issues (Superion's head and the Combaticons below the neck come to mind)..
Here's what I personally think the best way to do an MP of most G1 characters is:
* Take the cartoon design, and grab the toy for comparison
* Take note of all the positive things that the cartoon added (Deliberate reworked faces, extra color detail, etc), and slate them for preservation.
* Correct anything on the animation design that was an outright goof or oversight
* Add in all the details from the toy that the animation left out (including the presence of wheels in robot mode), and mark them to be painted if necessary
* Make sure everything transforms solidly and articulates well
* Make sure the coloring is as good-looking as possible. This would usually lean towards the toys, since the cheap animation couldn't usually do vibrant colors, or much in the way of shining metallic stuff (except on special occasions where they were allocated more for it, like The Golden Lagoon, and even that had its limits).
* Work in as many features of the toy as possible, except where they'd get in the way or a cartoon-added feature would conflict
* Include as complete an accessory set as feasible.
Basically, taking the best of the cartoon design and the best of the original toy, meshing them harmoniously, and then further polishing from there where possible. And most G1 MPs (including both MP-01/04 and MP-10) seem to have been shooting for that (although they didn't always hit it *looks pointedly at MP-05*).
MP-44 and MP-45 instead largely feel like they take the worst of the cartoon design, with a few salvaged bits of shine from the toys, and turn that into plastic form, which is at the root of why they bug me. MP-47 is a lesser example, since needing Jeep's blessing put some checks on that design approach, but the paintjob is still overly toony and from what I hear it actually suffers function-wise because of tripping over itself to magic the wheels away in robot mode. On that note, just going from the photos so far, MP Arcee REALLY suffers in looks from trying to hide her wheels in robot mode...
Here's something for consideration: Picture MP Grimlock. Now, picture most of the molded detail being gone, the metallic gray body plastic as being flat gray, the silver chrome as being flat white, and the gold chrome as being a flat pale yellow. Do you like what you see? For me, the answer is no.
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