Caelus wrote:Just hypothetically, if you were a toy designer, and you wanted to apply what you've learned from working on the Combiner Wars toys we've seen so far to making some of the beast-mode-based combiners, how would you go about it?
Assuming you were sticking with one voyager, four deluxes, and 1 or 2 legion class figures (1 gun and one armor) per combined form, how many combiners could you get out of how few beast molds?
I got to thinking about this because I realized that there are some unexpected similarities out there. Overbite, Skalor, Rippersnapper, and Grimlock are pretty similar really, if you're okay with taking some creative license, and Headstrong, Rampage, Slog, and Slug are really all quadrupedal bricks defined by their heads and tails.
Well, Hypothetically, I got SLog, and Skowl (had the paintwork been good) out of the Blot mold in the BH line, which also gave us Rot-Gut (AWESOME Name). Remold the beast head for clarity's sake. Sinnertwin, Birdbrain, and Bristleback all could share a quadroped chassis, although there you would NEED to retool at least once to give ST his split neck. Wildfly and WIndrazor cold be twins easily. Where you run into trouble with the beast bots is torsos. Who does Icepick or Hun-grr(r)(ar)(y) share with? If you're willing to be flexible, Icepic could use the Blot/Scowl/Slog mold as a bipedal swamp mosnter, but who becomes the new torso?
Here's a thought: Divebomb as the Torso for Predaking, retooled with new wings and heads for Wildfly and Windrazor. Develop a Quadropedal figure that can easily be reskinned, that allows the entire beast mode head piece to fold over on either a ball or a hinge to be ou of the way. Hasbro basically did this with the Airelbots, giving each figure new wings and a headbut ultimately identical transformation schemes. Rampage, headstrong, Razorclaw, and Tantrum basically the same figure "tweaked". Accesories included, cost offset is proably equivalent to two molds. The fans will cry out in joy that they are getting a Predaking, then revolt in the same day because all the Predacons are identical, despite being largely the same figure in G1. (actually, two base chassis according to pictures.)