Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
Posted by El Duque
Sep 28, 2013 at 10:03am CDT
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Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by KorbinJones
Sep 28, 2013
I'd buy a yellow repaint with a new head!
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by triKlops
Sep 28, 2013
This is great to see how far the design travels from concept to physical form.
Would be an interesting Botcon/ TFCC exclusive repaint/ retool on a deluxe down the line.
Would be an interesting Botcon/ TFCC exclusive repaint/ retool on a deluxe down the line.
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by spiderbob007
Sep 28, 2013
The head reminds me of a samurai helmet.
I would love to see more concept art of this nature, and of course toys.
http://www.swordsdirect.com/samurai-helmets-by-hanwei.jpg
I would love to see more concept art of this nature, and of course toys.
http://www.swordsdirect.com/samurai-helmets-by-hanwei.jpg
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by Down_Shift
Sep 28, 2013
Come on eHobby, don't fail me now!!
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by Windsweeper
Sep 28, 2013
No offence but that head is hideous. Prowl wouldn't be my favourite Autobot if he looked like that. It's like Prowl possessed by Unicron.
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Very observant.
Many of the Diaclone and G1 Tranformers heads were based on Samurai helmets. The crests, horns, and faceplates are the most notable features. (This was a common theme in Japanese robot cartoons in the 1980s.
Comment by Stormrider
Sep 28, 2013
spiderbob007 wrote:The head reminds me of a samurai helmet.
I would love to see more concept art of this nature, and of course toys.
http://www.swordsdirect.com/samurai-helmets-by-hanwei.jpg
Very observant.
Many of the Diaclone and G1 Tranformers heads were based on Samurai helmets. The crests, horns, and faceplates are the most notable features. (This was a common theme in Japanese robot cartoons in the 1980s.
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by Rated X
Sep 28, 2013
I want one from the classics prowl mold. A custom might not be too hard to pull off since white plastic can be dyed and red parts can be swapped from Smokescreen/Bluestreak. But creating a new head would be out of my skill level...
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by stocky
Sep 28, 2013
I could be wrong, but that head looks an AWFUL lot like Wildrider's -- at least the head that they used for the animation in the original cartoons. Wonder if this concept sketch is where they got the design that they used in the cartoon...
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:BurdenHarde ... Matrix.jpg
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:BurdenHarde ... Matrix.jpg
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Funny that you bring up Wildrider's head, just last night I found this article about the Stunticons, suggesting that Floro Dery worked off early toy designs of the Stunticons when he created their cartoon models. (Save for Motormaster.)
It explains why their cartoon-heads are so different than the finalised toy-heads. And how Dragstrip got his horizontal two-wheels shoulders.
Not really related to Prowl, but an interesting piece of trivia.
Comment by Cyberpath
Sep 28, 2013
stocky wrote:I could be wrong, but that head looks an AWFUL lot like Wildrider's -- at least the head that they used for the animation in the original cartoons. Wonder if this concept sketch is where they got the design that they used in the cartoon...
Funny that you bring up Wildrider's head, just last night I found this article about the Stunticons, suggesting that Floro Dery worked off early toy designs of the Stunticons when he created their cartoon models. (Save for Motormaster.)
It explains why their cartoon-heads are so different than the finalised toy-heads. And how Dragstrip got his horizontal two-wheels shoulders.
Not really related to Prowl, but an interesting piece of trivia.
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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The reason the stunticons toy heads are so different is because of 1986 combiner port technology that required square heads. I dont know if the toys were created after the cartoon or vice-versa, But it was the release of Menasor and Superion that introduced the square head for all G1 combiner limb figures to come. That's why I hate when 3rd parties go with toy accurate heads and ignore cartoon accuracy. The heads were square for a reason and it wasnt to look cool.
Comment by Rated X
Sep 28, 2013
Cyberpath wrote:stocky wrote:I could be wrong, but that head looks an AWFUL lot like Wildrider's -- at least the head that they used for the animation in the original cartoons. Wonder if this concept sketch is where they got the design that they used in the cartoon...
Funny that you bring up Wildrider's head, just last night I found this article about the Stunticons, suggesting that Floro Dery worked off early toy designs of the Stunticons when he created their cartoon models. (Save for Motormaster.)
It explains why their cartoon-heads are so different than the finalised toy-heads. And how Dragstrip got his horizontal two-wheels shoulders.
Not really related to Prowl, but an interesting piece of trivia.
The reason the stunticons toy heads are so different is because of 1986 combiner port technology that required square heads. I dont know if the toys were created after the cartoon or vice-versa, But it was the release of Menasor and Superion that introduced the square head for all G1 combiner limb figures to come. That's why I hate when 3rd parties go with toy accurate heads and ignore cartoon accuracy. The heads were square for a reason and it wasnt to look cool.
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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The Combaticons & Protectobots toys also had square-heads, yet their heads were fairly cartoon-accurate.
Compared to them, the Stunticons & Aerialbots had vastly different faces than the toys, and I kind of always wondered why. This article explains that the show designer must have worked from early concept sketches provided in the series "bible" when he designed the Stunticons & Aerialbots.
http://www.ntfa.net/forums/lofiversion/ ... t5792.html
I agree, I also prefer the cartoon models!
And on the subject of Nissan police cars, I always appreciated how Streetwise's toy had a proper head. :)
Comment by Cyberpath
Sep 28, 2013
Rated X wrote:The reason the stunticons toy heads are so different is because of 1986 combiner port technology that required square heads. I dont know if the toys were created after the cartoon or vice-versa, But it was the release of Menasor and Superion that introduced the square head for all G1 combiner limb figures to come. That's why I hate when 3rd parties go with toy accurate heads and ignore cartoon accuracy. The heads were square for a reason and it wasnt to look cool.
The Combaticons & Protectobots toys also had square-heads, yet their heads were fairly cartoon-accurate.
Compared to them, the Stunticons & Aerialbots had vastly different faces than the toys, and I kind of always wondered why. This article explains that the show designer must have worked from early concept sketches provided in the series "bible" when he designed the Stunticons & Aerialbots.
http://www.ntfa.net/forums/lofiversion/ ... t5792.html
I agree, I also prefer the cartoon models!
And on the subject of Nissan police cars, I always appreciated how Streetwise's toy had a proper head. :)
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by Sabrblade
Sep 28, 2013
And this design was meant to be for a human-piloted mech.
Good thing we got the Go! toyline giving us just that.spiderbob007 wrote:The head reminds me of a samurai helmet.
I would love to see more concept art of this nature, and of course toys.
http://www.swordsdirect.com/samurai-helmets-by-hanwei.jpg
Yeah, the toy molds for the four 1986 combiners were made before they appeared in the cartoon and comics, since they (and Metroplex's toy mold) were originally created for an aborted spinoff line of Diaclone called Jizai Gattai (but its toy molds were completed far enough in the design process to be rebranded into Transformers toys).Rated X wrote:The reason the stunticons toy heads are so different is because of 1986 combiner port technology that required square heads. I dont know if the toys were created after the cartoon or vice-versa, But it was the release of Menasor and Superion that introduced the square head for all G1 combiner limb figures to come.
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by Valandar
Sep 29, 2013
Oddly, that head actually makes me think of the Junkions.
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by Bowspearer
Sep 29, 2013
Firstly, the toy would have come before the cartoon design did as the diaclone line was well in production still in 1984 and concepts for the 85 line at the very least would have been well and truly in the prototype stage.
To bring this full circle though, I found a review online already for MP Prowl:
To bring this full circle though, I found a review online already for MP Prowl:
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by Sabrblade
Sep 29, 2013
Exactly. They were planned for Jizai Gattai before Transformers.Bowspearer wrote:Firstly, the toy would have come before the cartoon design did as the diaclone line was well in production still in 1984 and concepts for the 85 line at the very least would have been well and truly in the prototype stage.
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by Bowspearer
Sep 30, 2013
I know, my point was that it was anything but a "the chicken or the egg" situation.
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by Sabrblade
Sep 30, 2013
Right on.Bowspearer wrote:I know, my point was that it was anything but a "the chicken or the egg" situation.
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by Son of Carl
Sep 30, 2013
Just got my shipping notification this morning. I've been waiting for Prowl since I started collecting this line way back with MP-03 and MP-04.
My wait is almost over.
My wait is almost over.
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by El Duque
Oct 2, 2013
Thanks to TransformersKorea we have some new official images of Takara Tomy's upcoming Transformers Masterpiece figures MP-18 Bluestreak and MP-19 Smokescreen. Bluestreak is due to release this month, with Smokescreen scheduled for December.
Re: Original Diaclone Fairlady Z Concept Art
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Comment by Bowspearer
Oct 2, 2013
Smokescreen looks absolutely brilliant. Looks like Jazz has his upper arms and shoulders sorted out when he comes along too.
