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Jeddostotle7 wrote:Neither of those examples prove that you can do specifically the cartoon-style transformation of his hood without faux parts, because neither of those are particularly styled like the cartoon version. As is, cartoon Hot Rod's actual hood in vehicle mode and chest hood in robot mode are genuinely different shapes (robot mode has an angled bend about half-way through that the vehicle mode's doesn't have, as well as different shaping to the edge), so it's kind of impossible to pull it off as accurate in both modes as this figure does without faux parts.
Jeddostotle7 wrote:Rodimus Prime wrote:He was in the movie, in a short but important role. He should get a figure.-Kanrabat- wrote:Siege/Earthrise Astrotrain is a nice toy, but it's severily undermined by the line's gimmicks.
So any chances of a new Leader '86 Astrotrain that is a proper "mini MP" with no superflous extra bits for the SS line?
Absolutely the most he might possibly get is a clean redeco of the Siege/Earthrise figure. There's no way they're doing a second brand new Leader-class design in 2 years for Astrotrain of all characters.
-Kanrabat- wrote:Jeddostotle7 wrote:Rodimus Prime wrote:He was in the movie, in a short but important role. He should get a figure.-Kanrabat- wrote:Siege/Earthrise Astrotrain is a nice toy, but it's severily undermined by the line's gimmicks.
So any chances of a new Leader '86 Astrotrain that is a proper "mini MP" with no superflous extra bits for the SS line?
Absolutely the most he might possibly get is a clean redeco of the Siege/Earthrise figure. There's no way they're doing a second brand new Leader-class design in 2 years for Astrotrain of all characters.
Impossible for just a redeco in the SS line. It WILL be a new mold. Same thing for Arcee.
And as we all saw since years, the SS line is not and was never about rushing things. It may still be some years before we see a SS Astrotrain, Arcee, or even maybe Optimus and (gasp!) Megatron. But they WILL happen. And all in brand new molds.
Mm.. The look, no. But as for the design, his transformation layout owes a lot to G1 Hot Rod: The hood becomes the chest while the sides of the car become his arms, with the park lights ending up in his shoulders. And he has the engine flip away to reveal a chest panel, proving that that's not a valid reason for faux-parts. That's the main reason I brought him up, really.chuckdawg1999 wrote:Animated is a different look that isn't meant to represent the G1 toy/design.
The ideal is a hybridization of the two flavors of the chest transformation: The solid sides and tabs - and, if necessary, an altered version of the bumper tuck - of the TR version, combined with the no-cutout front and flip-away engine of the Legends version. Boom, perfectly good Hot Rod chest.chuckdawg1999 wrote:TR/Legends has two different chest transformations that will give you a solid torso, or the chest you want with gaps in the torso. I think MP-09 was the only one to be able to pull off a proper hood/chest transformation.
Animated Rodimus may not be styled like the cartoon version, no, but he's still strongly influenced by G1 Hot Rod's cartoon parts layout. Including hiding the engine, which was why I brought him up.Jeddostotle7 wrote:Neither of those examples prove that you can do specifically the cartoon-style transformation of his hood without faux parts, because neither of those are particularly styled like the cartoon version.
"The animation model doesn't draw the part consistently between modes" is not generally a good reason for using faux-parts - it falls under what I call "Cartoon accuracy to the point of stupidity". In cases like that, the designers should call the animation on its sheer nonsense and just use the actual part for the job it's obviously supposed to do rather than sacrifice the transformation quality for a questionable visual gain.Jeddostotle7 wrote:As is, cartoon Hot Rod's actual hood in vehicle mode and chest hood in robot mode are genuinely different shapes (robot mode has an angled bend about half-way through that the vehicle mode's doesn't have, as well as different shaping to the edge), so it's kind of impossible to pull it off as accurate in both modes as this figure does without faux parts.
Jeddostotle7 wrote:-Kanrabat- wrote:Jeddostotle7 wrote:Rodimus Prime wrote:He was in the movie, in a short but important role. He should get a figure.-Kanrabat- wrote:Siege/Earthrise Astrotrain is a nice toy, but it's severily undermined by the line's gimmicks.
So any chances of a new Leader '86 Astrotrain that is a proper "mini MP" with no superflous extra bits for the SS line?
Absolutely the most he might possibly get is a clean redeco of the Siege/Earthrise figure. There's no way they're doing a second brand new Leader-class design in 2 years for Astrotrain of all characters.
Impossible for just a redeco in the SS line. It WILL be a new mold. Same thing for Arcee.
And as we all saw since years, the SS line is not and was never about rushing things. It may still be some years before we see a SS Astrotrain, Arcee, or even maybe Optimus and (gasp!) Megatron. But they WILL happen. And all in brand new molds.
I think a lot of y'all are SERIOUSLY overestimating the breadth Studio Series 86 will have. It's only supposed to essentially be overflow to make the 86 Movie characters they wanted to make for the 35th Anniversary of the Movie, while making room for Beast Wars characters (for its 25th Anniversary) in Kingdom, while padding Studio Series out until the next movie comes. The fact they're repacking Earthrise Arcee, Wheeljack, and Optimus in Kingdom the same time they're starting Studio Series 86, and releasing other 86 Movie characters in Kingdom, should tell you they feel those molds are probably good enough to represent those versions of the characters at those price points for now.
ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Kanrabat, if we ever get another rehash of Astrotrain it'll be in whatever the regular Generations line is at the time. And I mean, looking at Hot Rod... I wouldn't bank on a mold made for Studio Series giving you any improvement but the non-C.O.M.B.A.T. feet.Mm.. The look, no. But as for the design, his transformation layout owes a lot to G1 Hot Rod: The hood becomes the chest while the sides of the car become his arms, with the park lights ending up in his shoulders. And he has the engine flip away to reveal a chest panel, proving that that's not a valid reason for faux-parts. That's the main reason I brought him up, really.chuckdawg1999 wrote:Animated is a different look that isn't meant to represent the G1 toy/design.The ideal is a hybridization of the two flavors of the chest transformation: The solid sides and tabs - and, if necessary, an altered version of the bumper tuck - of the TR version, combined with the no-cutout front and flip-away engine of the Legends version. Boom, perfectly good Hot Rod chest.chuckdawg1999 wrote:TR/Legends has two different chest transformations that will give you a solid torso, or the chest you want with gaps in the torso. I think MP-09 was the only one to be able to pull off a proper hood/chest transformation.Animated Rodimus may not be styled like the cartoon version, no, but he's still strongly influenced by G1 Hot Rod's cartoon parts layout. Including hiding the engine, which was why I brought him up.Jeddostotle7 wrote:Neither of those examples prove that you can do specifically the cartoon-style transformation of his hood without faux parts, because neither of those are particularly styled like the cartoon version.
TR/Legends Roddy meanwhile is heavily designed to resemble the cartoon - that's why the canopy is hidden away in robot mode, that's why the rear wheels fold behind the legs to give a clean appearance, that's why he has 3 pipes to a side instead of the Classics version's two, that's why he has the cuffs, why the hood forms his chest just like in the cartoon and original toy, and why on the Legends version the exposed engine block flips around to be replaced by his chest panel. If he's not designed or styled like the cartoon version, then neither is the Classics Seeker mold."The animation model doesn't draw the part consistently between modes" is not generally a good reason for using faux-parts - it falls under what I call "Cartoon accuracy to the point of stupidity". In cases like that, the designers should call the animation on its sheer nonsense and just use the actual part for the job it's obviously supposed to do rather than sacrifice the transformation quality for a questionable visual gain.Jeddostotle7 wrote:As is, cartoon Hot Rod's actual hood in vehicle mode and chest hood in robot mode are genuinely different shapes (robot mode has an angled bend about half-way through that the vehicle mode's doesn't have, as well as different shaping to the edge), so it's kind of impossible to pull it off as accurate in both modes as this figure does without faux parts.
The angled bend in robot mode is nothing but a warped version of the hood's curvature in altmode, and can be safely discarded in favor just using the actual, curved hood. The pointed edge in altmode can be likewise thrown out or it can be accommodated by tucking the pointy part in (via the same mechanism as Titans Return, just cut differently). Ta-da! Hot Rod chest that looks plenty like the cartoon, without the transformation unnecessarily jumping through hoops or using faux-parts.
Jeddostotle7 wrote:I'm just gonna say: I prefer how Studio Series 86 Hot Rod looks a lot more than any of the Masterpiece Hot Rods, or even just about any other Hot Rod/Rodimus figure ever, including the TR and Animated molds you mention, and a good part of that is the use of the faux part for the chest to actually get his chest looking the way it does in the cartoon. Hot Rod is one of those few characters where the cartoon-style warping is really, really, really important to the look of the robot mode IMO, and unless they can figure out a hood that can change shape to mimic both forms, I think the faux parts are just the better option; same situation as Optimus' abdominal section. Maybe I would be more mixed or negative on it if the use of the faux part resulted in an obvious hood backpack or something, but he also cleans up so nicely that it's hard to care in this instance.
Tekka wrote:What she doesn't realize is that Springer actually loves Rodimus.
Still waiting (for 20 years) on my new Botanica, darn it!-Kanrabat- wrote:I thing I learned with Transformers over the years is never say "never".
Just look through this TRHEAD. So many of these wishes have been granted! It may take years, but we never know.
Shadowman wrote:This is Sabrblade we're talking about. His ability to store trivial information about TV shows is downright superhuman.
Caelus wrote:My wife pointed out something interesting about the prehistoric Predacons. I said that everyone was complaining because transforming for them mostly consisted of them just standing up-right. She essentially said, 'So? That's what our ancestors did.'
ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Kanrabat, if we ever get another rehash of Astrotrain it'll be in whatever the regular Generations line is at the time. And I mean, looking at Hot Rod... I wouldn't bank on a mold made for Studio Series giving you any improvement but the non-C.O.M.B.A.T. feet.Mm.. The look, no. But as for the design, his transformation layout owes a lot to G1 Hot Rod: The hood becomes the chest while the sides of the car become his arms, with the park lights ending up in his shoulders. And he has the engine flip away to reveal a chest panel, proving that that's not a valid reason for faux-parts. That's the main reason I brought him up, really.chuckdawg1999 wrote:Animated is a different look that isn't meant to represent the G1 toy/design.The ideal is a hybridization of the two flavors of the chest transformation: The solid sides and tabs - and, if necessary, an altered version of the bumper tuck - of the TR version, combined with the no-cutout front and flip-away engine of the Legends version. Boom, perfectly good Hot Rod chest.chuckdawg1999 wrote:TR/Legends has two different chest transformations that will give you a solid torso, or the chest you want with gaps in the torso. I think MP-09 was the only one to be able to pull off a proper hood/chest transformation.Animated Rodimus may not be styled like the cartoon version, no, but he's still strongly influenced by G1 Hot Rod's cartoon parts layout. Including hiding the engine, which was why I brought him up.Jeddostotle7 wrote:Neither of those examples prove that you can do specifically the cartoon-style transformation of his hood without faux parts, because neither of those are particularly styled like the cartoon version.
TR/Legends Roddy meanwhile is heavily designed to resemble the cartoon - that's why the canopy is hidden away in robot mode, that's why the rear wheels fold behind the legs to give a clean appearance, that's why he has 3 pipes to a side instead of the Classics version's two, that's why he has the cuffs, why the hood forms his chest just like in the cartoon and original toy, and why on the Legends version the exposed engine block flips around to be replaced by his chest panel. If he's not designed or styled like the cartoon version, then neither is the Classics Seeker mold."The animation model doesn't draw the part consistently between modes" is not generally a good reason for using faux-parts - it falls under what I call "Cartoon accuracy to the point of stupidity". In cases like that, the designers should call the animation on its sheer nonsense and just use the actual part for the job it's obviously supposed to do rather than sacrifice the transformation quality for a questionable visual gain.Jeddostotle7 wrote:As is, cartoon Hot Rod's actual hood in vehicle mode and chest hood in robot mode are genuinely different shapes (robot mode has an angled bend about half-way through that the vehicle mode's doesn't have, as well as different shaping to the edge), so it's kind of impossible to pull it off as accurate in both modes as this figure does without faux parts.
The angled bend in robot mode is nothing but a warped version of the hood's curvature in altmode, and can be safely discarded in favor just using the actual, curved hood. The pointed edge in altmode can be likewise thrown out or it can be accommodated by tucking the pointy part in (via the same mechanism as Titans Return, just cut differently). Ta-da! Hot Rod chest that looks plenty like the cartoon, without the transformation unnecessarily jumping through hoops or using faux-parts.
They almost did, but that proposal never made it past the hand-painted fan custom sample stage.Gauntlet101010 wrote:Geez, I forgot all about Botannica. Not even FunPub touched her.
Shadowman wrote:This is Sabrblade we're talking about. His ability to store trivial information about TV shows is downright superhuman.
Caelus wrote:My wife pointed out something interesting about the prehistoric Predacons. I said that everyone was complaining because transforming for them mostly consisted of them just standing up-right. She essentially said, 'So? That's what our ancestors did.'
Takara's been using a lot of wrong-color stock photos lately (red-faced BW Megatron comes to mind).Cyberpath wrote:I noticed that Grimlock has a slightly different deco in Takara's stock photos than in Hasbro's. Do you suppose that's not the final look -- or did they finally end the "Brand Unification" thing?
Shadowman wrote:This is Sabrblade we're talking about. His ability to store trivial information about TV shows is downright superhuman.
Caelus wrote:My wife pointed out something interesting about the prehistoric Predacons. I said that everyone was complaining because transforming for them mostly consisted of them just standing up-right. She essentially said, 'So? That's what our ancestors did.'
Sabrblade wrote:Takara's been using a lot of wrong-color stock photos lately (red-faced BW Megatron comes to mind).Cyberpath wrote:I noticed that Grimlock has a slightly different deco in Takara's stock photos than in Hasbro's. Do you suppose that's not the final look -- or did they finally end the "Brand Unification" thing?
Cyberpath wrote:I noticed that Grimlock has a slightly different deco in Takara's stock photos than in Hasbro's. Do you suppose that's not the final look -- or did they finally end the "Brand Unification" thing?
And why would Takara give him toy-accurate chest (translucent black) yet show-accurate dino neck (opaque)?
I rather like the luster finish of the yellow in Takara's version. Is Hasbro's just a flat yellow?
And finally, what's the release date for Hasbro? (Haven't posted in a while.)
Jeddostotle7 wrote:I think a lot of y'all are SERIOUSLY overestimating the breadth Studio Series 86 will have. It's only supposed to essentially be overflow to make the 86 Movie characters they wanted to make for the 35th Anniversary of the Movie, while making room for Beast Wars characters (for its 25th Anniversary) in Kingdom, while padding Studio Series out until the next movie comes. The fact they're repacking Earthrise Arcee, Wheeljack, and Optimus in Kingdom the same time they're starting Studio Series 86, and releasing other 86 Movie characters in Kingdom, should tell you they feel those molds are probably good enough to represent those versions of the characters at those price points for now.
EvasionModeBumblebee wrote:I gotta say, I can't believe I almost missed out on Stinger, thankfully Kroger had one on sale long after it had disappeared from retail. It's a really fun figure; it does lack a little in the accuracy department, but I really appreciate what they tried to do with the figure. Painting it up was really fun! (except where part of one of the shoulder pieces broke off. That's not good.)
I don't think it looks better or worse, no. But then, by that same token the ones that actually use the hood don't look better or worse either.Overcracker wrote:If we're comparing the rod chest, I still think Classics does it best, even over MP.
PotP is then other HR that goes thr faux chest route, I don't see it looking better or worse than any of the others.
Well, that would be where I disagree with you hard. I think using faux-parts to emulate the shape-warping stylizations is as worthless as trying to emulate parts magically changing color between modes or trying to emulate the Technobots' cartoon backs.Jeddostotle7 wrote:I'm just gonna say: I prefer how Studio Series 86 Hot Rod looks a lot more than any of the Masterpiece Hot Rods, or even just about any other Hot Rod/Rodimus figure ever, including the TR and Animated molds you mention, and a good part of that is the use of the faux part for the chest to actually get his chest looking the way it does in the cartoon. Hot Rod is one of those few characters where the cartoon-style warping is really, really, really important to the look of the robot mode IMO, and unless they can figure out a hood that can change shape to mimic both forms, I think the faux parts are just the better option; same situation as Optimus' abdominal section.
It still throws hoop-jumping into the transformation process that really didn't need to be there. And is quite possibly responsible for that one hinge piece ending up on the yellow sprue.Jeddostotle7 wrote:Maybe I would be more mixed or negative on it if the use of the faux part resulted in an obvious hood backpack or something, but he also cleans up so nicely that it's hard to care in this instance.
ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:I don't think it looks better or worse, no. But then, by that same token the ones that actually use the hood don't look better or worse either.Overcracker wrote:If we're comparing the rod chest, I still think Classics does it best, even over MP.
PotP is then other HR that goes thr faux chest route, I don't see it looking better or worse than any of the others.
At least on PotP Hot Rod the faux chest is mechanically necessary; it's because of the Rodimus Prime mode.
Classics and as-is TR both have the same problem of leaving the engine block exposed.Well, that would be where I disagree with you hard. I think using faux-parts to emulate the shape-warping stylizations is as worthless trying to emulate parts magically changing color between modes or trying to emulate the Technobots' cartoon backs.Jeddostotle7 wrote:I'm just gonna say: I prefer how Studio Series 86 Hot Rod looks a lot more than any of the Masterpiece Hot Rods, or even just about any other Hot Rod/Rodimus figure ever, including the TR and Animated molds you mention, and a good part of that is the use of the faux part for the chest to actually get his chest looking the way it does in the cartoon. Hot Rod is one of those few characters where the cartoon-style warping is really, really, really important to the look of the robot mode IMO, and unless they can figure out a hood that can change shape to mimic both forms, I think the faux parts are just the better option; same situation as Optimus' abdominal section.
Cartoon accuracy shouldn't be taken to the point of hurting a figure - and in my book, the damage faux-parts use like that does to transformation scheme qualifies. Same for trying to emulate where the animation model is oversimplifed - because what were simplifications in ink-and-paint form always end up turning into overcomplications in plastic form (see: all MPs of G1 Optimus to varying degrees, MP Hound, SIEGE and Earthrise Optimus Prime...). It's especially foolhardy to me when considering how inconsistent those stylizations can be (Megatron's head is really bad about that, to give an example).
How a figure transforms is important to me, and I strongly favor altmode parts forming the robot mode parts they're obviously supposed supposed to form when mechanically possible over using unintegrated pieces to replicate the deformed appearance inflicted on parts by G1's cheap, stylized animation...It still throws hoop-jumping into the transformation process that really didn't need to be there. And is quite possibly responsible for that one hinge piece ending up on the yellow sprue.Jeddostotle7 wrote:Maybe I would be more mixed or negative on it if the use of the faux part resulted in an obvious hood backpack or something, but he also cleans up so nicely that it's hard to care in this instance.
And naturally, despite cartoon accuracy being so allegedly important to them that they used a faux-parts chest, he's still not slagging magenta.I think we should all ask them what their excuse is.
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