The Energon Pub

If this isn't just a placeholder face then Bay would've learned nothing from the Skids and Mudflap backlash.

An obvious Albert Einstein pastiche complete with faux "male pattern baldness," gray hairs, classic Einstein mustache and spectacles is stupid. Plain stupid.





If that is a real face who green lights nonsense like this? Hasbro?

Oh Christ, what is that!?

I mean, I kinda like it, but... God damn.

First-Aid wrote:

Bouncy X wrote:GREAT SCOTT!!!!

its the Doc Brown Bot!

That could fit in with the time travel theories nicely. He transforms into a DeLorean and when he hits 88 miles an hour, we see some serious sh!t.

That's what I was thinking. If we get a 'Bot that transforms into a Delorean with a Mr. Fusion on the back, I will love this movie, even if the rest of the 3408 minutes are nothing but John Tuturro's arse.

I thought it was Bay doing a Predator cross over.

Then I put my glasses on.

That had better not be Perceptor, the guy has too much dignity to be reduced to that thing, whatever that is.

But to be honest, I've kinda given up on expecting this movie to be any good. That way if it does turn out to be sorta okay it'll be a bonus.

As for Bay, well, he kinda does owe us. And when I mean "us" I mean everyone who has ever paid good money to go see his stuff. Of course, now he's such a big name with such a big title movie people just go for the sake of going and he can ignore the fan base now. I mean, imagine the sh1t storm that would have resulted if ROTF was teh first live action TF movie.

But he needs to remember how he got there, and it involved each and everyone of us opening our wallets.

While I found myself barely tolerating Jetfire's hair, this looks a little overboard. The glasses, hair, and balding in the middle look ridiculous to me.

Just Negare wrote:I thought it was Bay doing a Predator cross over.

Then I put my glasses on.

Starting off with a snide comment? Okay, I know where this is going. Go on...

Just Negare wrote:That had better not be Perceptor, the guy has too much dignity to be reduced to that thing, whatever that is.

But to be honest, I've kinda given up on expecting this movie to be any good. That way if it does turn out to be sorta okay it'll be a bonus.

Please, please show me what you're capable of. Please make us all wrong and show us that you can do something so awesome it changes the fandom, in terms of the movies. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...I beg of you!

Just Negare wrote:As for Bay, well, he kinda does owe us. And when I mean "us" I mean everyone who has ever paid good money to go see his stuff. Of course, now he's such a big name with such a big title movie people just go for the sake of going and he can ignore the fan base now. I mean, imagine the sh1t storm that would have resulted if ROTF was teh first live action TF movie.

But he needs to remember how he got there, and it involved each and everyone of us opening our wallets.

He.
Doesn't.
Owe.
You.
ANYthing. NOTHING.

He was handpicked by the producers and Paramount pictures. They knew his work and what he was capable of and he delivered what they wanted. The writers delivered what they wanted. He's reminded constantly, by the fans, that they all think their crap don't stink and that he owes them his work and his soul. The fact that he hasn't left, running and screaming, is amazing and the man deserves a medal.

He had a career before TransFormers. A moneymaking career. He's had to shelve his own personal pet projects to accommodate these movies, he wanted an extra year break but Paramount forced him, and doing these movies might actually hurt his career, much like Star Wars and Star Trek have done to a countless many. He has the capability to make great movies, but if people see he's the TransFormers guy, they may not pick him. People will say that's impossible because of the box office his films have made, but it's not impossible. Hollywood is a fickle bitch, and she'll turn around and gut you when you least expect it.

If anything, we've been detrimental TO HIM.

You still need to blame the following:

The producers (including Spielberg)
The writers (Orci & Kurtzman are given way too much hype. They're rather hackish.)
Paramount

Bay only works with what he's given, and he adds his own flair to the films. He's used to action, he's used to pyrotechnics, and these movies require both of those. He's more than delivered. He's more than stepped up. He's been threatened, he's been robbed, he's been vilified, and he continues to come back and do his job, when lesser men would've quit and maybe even used legal channels to go after some of the dissenters.

He doesn't owe you jack squat, Negare. Not a thin red dime, not anything.

How dare you.

In regards to the movies being a different continuity and not G1, I say awesome, sure, whatever. Just make it better, not worse. For example:

I really like Batman.

I really like Tim Burton (well, his early stuff).

I liked Tim's Batman films quite a bit, even though they had nothing to do with the source material. I liked them because they made (mainly) intelligent decisions in changing the story/characters and were treated as films that adults could enjoy as well as kids, without having to turn off their brains.

I don't think I like Christopher Nolan.

But I liked his second Batman movie because he made a smart film full of great actors with an involving story full of twists and turns that adults and kids could watch and didn't have to turn off their brains to do so. (less so with the first one and the microwave/water/gas plot)

The Transformers movie-verse doesn't need to be stupid. You shouldn't have to turn your brain off to watch a Transformers film, any more than you would need to to watch a Batman film. They're both inherently stupid ideas.

Man dresses in bat fetish underwear to fight crime.

Robot aliens who turn into cars.

All that matters is what you do with them. Right now Transformers are not getting the Nolan or Burton treatment- they're getting the Schumacher treatment. Batman and Robin style. Horrible one-liners. Stupid action scenes. Giant testicles.

Transformers have had their fare share of stupid stories and characters in the past. But what about the cool stuff, and why is it still so much better thought out than the movies?

The marvel comics are chock full of better characters and stories- and I'm still a bit shocked that no one brings them up on a regular basis. The storyline with Ratchet, Megatron, Shockwave, Circuit-Breaker, and the Dinobots is kinda pure gold compared to magic glasses and sun-eating pyramids.

Heck, Beast-Wars' big reveal is ten times more interesting than anything the film-verse has managed to conjure up.

When the storyline of a dated (and quite frankly, ugly) CG cartoon series with "energon farts" can be compared to a modern film franchise, and the one with energon farts wins out- then you're dealing with inferior material.

If you compared, let's say, Devastator's balls, to Cheetor's farts, then it almost seems like they're on even ground. But moving beyond those little details you get into sticky things like character and story...

Beast Wars Megatron had a long term plan that both surprised everyone, and ultimately proved that he was completely bonkers. Does the movie Megatron even have a long term plan? Or does he just stand around and growl all the time?

Is there a single new character as cool and memorable as Dinobot or Blackarachnia, or heck, even Bulkhead? Will Skids or Mudflap ever make it into the "Hall of Fame," or will they have to wait a while because they're really, not all that memorable?

Again, these films are, to me, the same ugly treatment Batman got in the late 90's, and I can't wait for them to be over.

If you're gonna change something- cool, do it. Just make sure it's actually a change for the better.

i am guessing its alpha trion. i mean come on he kinda had hair and mustache in the series.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL......breath.....LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Haaaa, magical. Simply magical. Part of me wants to say this is a joke a really bad one. The other part which knows better knows this could be the real thing. Which is sad....just from a design aspect. Fiber Optic hair, I got 10$ one of the NASCAR Bot will be sporting a Mowhawk and leather chaps with an Aussie accent (Here's lookin to you Road Warrior).

There's talk that bay owes the fans nothing, I'm inclined to side with the fans really. Mind you no movie adaptatoin of any franchise will get everything 100% right, just not possible. However I will say without heavily devoted fans, whom have carried interest in this series though the 80's and have spent their money on countless merch....something is owed. Bay recognized this when he changed the face of Megatron in the first film, one can only pray he does the same here. However this being his last film, might be a simple fact of him not giving a flying...oh, wait. Kids visit this forum huh? Well should be enough for now.
Laters,
Josh

Just a reminder that- according to market research (from a website I can't remember right now (but will try to once I sober up)- actual sales of toys to collector's amounts to less than 5%. Believe me, that's a segment they can profit without. So the fact that Hasbro or Bay does ANYTHING AT ALL to appease those of us who are long term fans or collectors is just remarkable. We're disposable. Kids will still buy the toys, even if we don't.

I will strive to remember the marketing site I got that number from. I believe the exact numbers were an average of 3%, with Star Wars being the highest percentage (6-7% of total sales). Let me sleep on it.

SoooTrypticon wrote:*snippity snip snip* (for loading times)

Here's the problem. Batman has always had depth on some level. A kid, watching his parents die right before his very eyes? Whoa. That kid growing up and taking his fortune and instead of debauchery, takes to wearing a costume for disguise and saves the good people of the city he so loves? Whoa.

And Nolan's Batman Begins said it best "This is the mask you wear." Batman is who he really is, Bruce is merely a cover story to afford him his fight for justice, and his vengeance.

That is deep, and it was handled well.

TransFormers? Two factions of giant alien robots smashing the crap out of each other on their home world and Earth. While some storylines had some depth, most others didn't. It was a vehicle to sell toys, plain and simple. It was entertaining, it was fun.

You cannot compare the two properties. One has depth and incredible sadness, and makes you cheer for a hero overcoming impossible odds. The other was made to sell toys, and it was mindless entertainment from the start.

I've seen the Dreamwave comics and they did try and up the game a bit, but it became incredibly boring and dark. All the life and fun was sucked right out of it. The TV shows and movies have delivered what TransFormers has always been about: Mindless, harmless fluff fun that anyone can enjoy. (Though I do say that kids shouldn't see some of the material in the movies. I find no need for that kinda stuff in a TF movie, but I never argued that point. I always said it was tasteless and unnecessary.)

Could TFs be more cerebral? Sure. Could they be that and still be entertaining? Perhaps. But it's been over a quarter century and we haven't deviated from the original plan by much. Depth and super intelligent writing? I don't think we'll be seeing it.

But you know what? I'm okay with that. TransFormers has always been my escape from the real world. I've always looked to it to entertain me, be silly as all get out, and be cheesy. That's part of it's charm and always has been.

I say again, if you can't see or enjoy TFs for what they are, then perhaps you're in the wrong fandom. These are made for kids. Kids enjoy silly and outlandish things. And that's what TransFormers delivers.

Oh and as for The Dark Knight being accessible to everyone, including kids? I don't think so. It was far too dark, too violent, too whacked out for kids to see. One man is killed by having his eye socket rammed down a pencil, another is running around in clown paint because he's clearly criminally insane, and yet another touts virtues yet is a violent man and when half of his face is BURNED off, he shows just how violent and dangerous HE can be. And he was supposed to be the beacon of hope that Batman could not.

I do not see how kids should sit through that. Part of the reason the movie worked so well with adult audiences was the adult themes. It was dark, it was violent, it was meant to take you to the edge.

The two properties just don't compare. One was made with kids in mind, one's matured into an adults only kinda deal. Not everything has to be like the Nolan movies. In fact, TDK kinda depresses me. I actually watch Batman Begins because there's a bit of hope to it.

I don't want that in my TransFormers. And I come back to this: They're made for kids, and I don't think they'd want TDK level stuff in their entertainment either.

First-Aid wrote:Just a reminder that- according to market research (from a website I can't remember right now (but will try to once I sober up)- actual sales of toys to collector's amounts to less than 5%. Believe me, that's a segment they can profit without. So the fact that Hasbro or Bay does ANYTHING AT ALL to appease those of us who are long term fans or collectors is just remarkable. We're disposable. Kids will still buy the toys, even if we don't.

I will strive to remember the marketing site I got that number from. I believe the exact numbers were an average of 3%, with Star Wars being the highest percentage (6-7% of total sales). Let me sleep on it.

Interesting, but remember I said Merch, not limiting it to toys. This includes well, everything....Posters, Clothes, Shoes, Masks, Roleplay, Activites (Term dubbed within the toy industry for items such as coloring books, sticker books, stickers, so on and so forth), Pens, Happy Meals...or, Buger king meals really ha ha. Toothpaste, Bikes, Videogames, and yes, even the movies themselves! Anything with consumer value, is merch. We all, young and old, have contributed to Hasbro and Paramounts mountain of cash, we built the empire for them by buying their merch. Hence, fans are not disposable. They are the consumers, which in turn are the Marteting people's and eveyrone elses bread and butter. Besides, after working with Marketing people, I never trust anything they have to say. I mean, they're marketing people ha ha ha.

Still, that would be an interesting site to behold just to see what they claim is the lions share of their money bank. Do post, I am curious of these Marketers claims.

please be a hoax, please be a hoax, please be a hoax

please don't be Alpha trion, wheeljack, or perceptor.

maybe if it had a delorean alt mode it could be funny for like 2 seconds.

if you're gonna make bots with human faces, then make them not rediculous looking. i almost think i like the bug faces better.

I understand this isn't supposed to be g1, so don't make it named after a g1 character. if you want something radically different why keep an existing name?

and why does it look like a robotic bastard child of scrooge mcduck, einstein, kabal, and doc brown?

Joshua Vallse wrote:

First-Aid wrote:Just a reminder that- according to market research (from a website I can't remember right now (but will try to once I sober up)- actual sales of toys to collector's amounts to less than 5%. Believe me, that's a segment they can profit without. So the fact that Hasbro or Bay does ANYTHING AT ALL to appease those of us who are long term fans or collectors is just remarkable. We're disposable. Kids will still buy the toys, even if we don't.

I will strive to remember the marketing site I got that number from. I believe the exact numbers were an average of 3%, with Star Wars being the highest percentage (6-7% of total sales). Let me sleep on it.

Interesting, but remember I said Merch, not limiting it to toys. This includes well, everything....Posters, Clothes, Shoes, Masks, Roleplay, Activites (Term dubbed within the toy industry for items such as coloring books, sticker books, stickers, so on and so forth), Pens, Happy Meals...or, Buger king meals really ha ha. Toothpaste, Bikes, Videogames, and yes, even the movies themselves! Anything with consumer value, is merch. We all, young and old, have contributed to Hasbro and Paramounts mountain of cash, we built the empire for them by buying their merch. Hence, fans are not disposable. They are the consumers, which in turn are the Marteting people's and eveyrone elses bread and butter. Besides, after working with Marketing people, I never trust anything they have to say. I mean, they're marketing people ha ha ha.

Still, that would be an interesting site to behold just to see what they claim is the lions share of their money bank. Do post, I am curious of these Marketers claims.

You sir, are wrong. I'm sorry, but you are. Even though we contribute, we are disposable. By far.

Kids are their primary focus, fans come in at a distant second.
The movies box office takes were large. Large because of a wide and varied audience, not just us fans. There is no way, in any shape or form that we fans could contribute the amount of money that these films made. In fact, the first movie? After the kids, the biggest demographic for the film was mothers. Not fans or collectors, but children and then their mothers.

If we never bought another toy, never watched another show, never played another game, never watched another movie, Hasbro and Paramount would do just fine.

I used to say "Oh, they owe us for the 25 years of faithfulness" but I was wrong. They don't. They're a business who just so happens to be willing to cater to us when possible, but we don't mean jack diddly squat in the big picture. Nada, zip, zilch.

TakaraTomy makes TFs for the collectors market because it fares better over there, but they're into anime and robots and science fiction like we're into baseball and other sports. That's why stuff we like has a chance to flourish over there, but the problem is, TFs aren't doing all that well, we're told that all the time. Japanese kids want Sentai and Beyblade. TFs are collector oriented over there.

Here? We're just pocket change. Hasbro and Paramount and Bay owe us nothing. The fact that they even consider us, is amazing.

I'm sorry, but you are wrong. We are disposable.

Autobot032 wrote:TransFormers? Two factions of giant alien robots smashing the crap out of each other on their home world and Earth. While some storylines had some depth, most others didn't. It was a vehicle to sell toys, plain and simple. It was entertaining, it was fun.

You cannot compare the two properties.

Except that's what my last post did. It compared them and showed how one property that has giant typewriters and stupid almost irredeemably dumb costumes was turned (several times) into a complex and emotionally driven story that also entertained.

If we take it down a few notches, and just ask for a smart story that entertains- the movies can't even deliver that.

They can't even deliver Beast Wars level story-telling, let alone something as simple and desperate as the first few Marvel comics involving Ratchet and Megatron.

What I'm saying is that the property should be able to be fun and smart. There's no reason for it not to be- other than laziness.

Whenever someone defends the movies, saying that they're just meant for fun- what you're saying is that the filmmakers couldn't be troubled to put much effort into it. Which is a shame when so many other people have in the past.

By accepting dumb transformers, you do a disservice to all the artists who have come before, working hard to give you good stories and cool new ideas. You're saying "Your effort wasn't worth it, because I just came for the breasts and explosions."

edit:

Even "Animated" had a more complex and character driven storyline, and one of its characters was just a little girl (sorta).

People were thrown off by the designs in that show, much like they were on the movies. The key difference is that Animated took time to develop a story, characters, and then (did its best before being shut down) to see them through.

I imagine Slipstream is going to be remembered longer than Skids or Mudflap. Wouldn't it have been cool if the movie people took the time to think something like her up?

Wasn't Animated designed to appeal directly to kids- and as such, shouldn't it be even simpler than the movies?

The marked difference in approach should be obvious. There are teams of people who work on Transformers, who care about the property, and who'd like to think that they are making something worthwhile and considered.

And then there are the people who made the movies.

i think it might be Silverbolt he could be another Seeker

You know... I wouldn't be surprised if this actually is Einstein himself. The original turning out to be a Pretender in hiding helping mankind use the tech reverse engineered from Megatron.

It's nuts enough to fit in the movieverse.

Otherwise I'm going for Archeville or (keeping up with the movieverse's twisted G1 references) Kup.

Autobot032 wrote:
You sir, are wrong. I'm sorry, but you are. Even though we contribute, we are disposable. By far.

Kids are their primary focus, fans come in at a distant second.
The movies box office takes were large. Large because of a wide and varied audience, not just us fans. There is no way, in any shape or form that we fans could contribute the amount of money that these films made. In fact, the first movie? After the kids, the biggest demographic for the film was mothers. Not fans or collectors, but children and then their mothers.

If we never bought another toy, never watched another show, never played another game, never watched another movie, Hasbro and Paramount would do just fine.

I used to say "Oh, they owe us for the 25 years of faithfulness" but I was wrong. They don't. They're a business who just so happens to be willing to cater to us when possible, but we don't mean jack diddly squat in the big picture. Nada, zip, zilch.

Here? We're just pocket change. Hasbro and Paramount and Bay owe us nothing. The fact that they even consider us, is amazing.

I'm sorry, but you are wrong. We are disposable.

No need to apologize so much However I will say we are not disposible, if only by your own words you said that the films are pretty much nothing but fluff and marketing ploys to sell toys. Which maybe ROTF was, the first film was fun and groovey. However this again goes to....toys! Who buys toys? Fans! What are fans that buy toys, consumers. And who loves consumers? Companies that want us to give them our money. Be it for ourselves or our children, who themselves become fans, we support them. Pure and simple. what happens when good shows or toys have no further interest? They dieaway, from lack of fans and consumers. And again this isn't only about toys, but all Merch, ,thugh the conversation seems to revolve back to toys, which I would argue is positive feedback that Toys do make up a larger percentage of $ then what was stated. It's funny, I'm not even really an old school fan, I just like movies and giant robots, yet here I am trying to empower fans ha ha. The Public opinion is alot more powerful then one gives it credit for. Ultimately, This franchise is just that, a franchise that Hasbro and Paramount need to sell us to gain a return on what they invested in both films and merch, so they don't lose $. Once any company looses money, they don't do fine, they go bankrupt or are bought out by the largest competing company to well, reduce competition. Also, if the majority demograph is the kiddies, children have remarkably short attention spans, always beaming over the next brightest, shiny concept. And I dont think the Doc Brown Bot is going to accomplish that.

I dont know if that scares me or blinds me probably both
sometimes I am wondering if Bay is drunk making his Bayformers or sniffing something or smoking on something.

These are not designs any true Fan would make or anyone sane would make.

I have enjoyed some of the Bayformers such as Megs, OP, Starscream and others but this one needs to be took out and shot.

I dont know if I should call it Doc Brown from Back to the Future or Albert Einstein.

3 Guesses on who this is 1. Perceptor, 2. Alpha Trion, 3. A New Bayformer

This is the most ugliest crappiest design I have seen to date I am scared to see what pops in to TF 3 next.

According to the script I read it has to be Perceptor also in the Script it talks about the Key to Vector Sigma.

As you know from G1 Alpha Trion was a Guardian of that then he merges with Vector Sigma.

But then again it could be Perceptor cause of the Smart Old look then again it could also be a new Bot.

Rodimus2006 wrote:These are not designs any true Fan would make

Oh god, you're one of those. It all makes sense now.

Hahahah you guys really believed this is true??? It's obvious that this is a joke. They don't have to put any face on that pole it's just for indication. And if you look closely you can see that below the nose mask and goggles it's the face of one of the twins (the one with the different eyes).

Albershide wrote:Hahahah you guys really believed this is true??? It's obvious that this is a joke.

I wouldn't call it a joke.

I'd call it just a placeholder and is by no means a final head.

But don't tell the others that. The over-reactions give me the giggles. Don't deny me my lulz!

I wanna say Blitzwing icy face, i don't know why but the face does work if they choose to make Blitzwing have his 3 faces and personalities like animated blitzwing.. but with G1 jet-plain and tank mode.. but hey i could be wrong..

First things first:
Don't bash the bot until you find out more and see him on screen, for all you know he could be the coolest character ever AND could possibly have a reason for the hair (Highly advanced energy sensors maybe) I mean come on guys'n'gals he could be the funny guy or something.

Second....I figured something out, if you look at the him for awhile you realize something...THIS COULD BE EINSTEIN HIMSELF, think about it;
Einstein meets Cybertronians, he takes on a "life-support suit" and fuses with it. It makes sense, what scientist wouldn't jump on the opportunity to interact with a highly advanced species?

Or its just a funny looking bot...Either way I actually like it.

I agree with people saying it looks like Albert Einstein... Long white hair, glasses, moustache... In Michael Bay's world, that's how a smart scientist have to look like.
I bet this will be WheelJack and I bet it is the blue Mercedes we've seen in the Chicago filming pics. He'll talk in a German accent and kind of nerdy/dement way because Michael Bay thinks that's funny.

I had some expectations that Transformers 3 was going to be good after seeing some of the on-set pics, but after seeing that... I abandon any hope. I hated what they did with a cool character like Jetfire on ROTF and they are going to do the same with one of my favorite characters in this one too. Poor Wheeljack...