Transformers Artist Guido Guidi Confirms his Involvement in Siege Barricade's Design

AutobotTrainer wrote:Um, has anyone else noticed that the Decepticon sigil on Starscream is NOT the G1 version? I SWEAR that is the Bayverse con symbol.

WHY?

They've been making that mistake for a while. We wrote an article at the start of POTP where it was still a thing. The assembly line for the exact same figure will have 2 different tampographs: https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... ogo/40277/

AutobotTrainer wrote:Um, has anyone else noticed that the Decepticon sigil on Starscream is NOT the G1 version? I SWEAR that is the Bayverse con symbol.

WHY?

Is the only difference being colour? I can look past it, didn't animated use different colour con signs? (genuinely can't remember)

AutobotTrainer wrote:Um, has anyone else noticed that the Decepticon sigil on Starscream is NOT the G1 version? I SWEAR that is the Bayverse con symbol.

WHY?

It was the first thing I noticed about him when he was revealed. It definitely is the Bayverse insignia.

Still, I like the new mold. It looks great in robot mode, and good in tetrajet mode if you forgive the legs.

Plus, the Bayverse insignia means he can double as your Bumblebee movie Seekers!

ZeroWolf wrote:Is the only difference being colour? I can look past it, didn't animated use different colour con signs? (genuinely can't remember)

No, the most eye catching difference is the shape of the "eyes". On G1, they are triangular in shape, whereas in the Bayverse insignia, they have four sides.

Siege Starscream has the four-sided version, so it is the Bayverse insignia being used here

Nathaniel Prime wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:Is the only difference being colour? I can look past it, didn't animated use different colour con signs? (genuinely can't remember)

No, the most eye catching difference is the shape of the "eyes". On G1, they are triangular in shape, whereas in the Bayverse insignia, they have four sides.

Siege Starscream has the four-sided version, so it is the Bayverse insignia being used here

Here's another example of the differences between the 2:

william-james88 wrote:

Nathaniel Prime wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:Is the only difference being colour? I can look past it, didn't animated use different colour con signs? (genuinely can't remember)

No, the most eye catching difference is the shape of the "eyes". On G1, they are triangular in shape, whereas in the Bayverse insignia, they have four sides.

Siege Starscream has the four-sided version, so it is the Bayverse insignia being used here

Here's another example of the differences between the 2:

Both of those have triangle eyes.

This shows more of the difference:

Sabrblade's example was a lot clearer thank you though which Skywarp is that toy?

william-james88 wrote:So, anyone else happy they can now have a G1 style Barricade to add to your collection that isn't exclusive/expensive?

Well you can keep calling it "G1 style Barricade" and I can keep calling it a lazy crap repaint to make more money out of an existing mold rather than provide a more unique and logical figure. I just can't see why people think this is a quality release worthy of spending actual money on. It's the very definition of Hasbro being frickin' lazy and saving money on a new mold by just reusing another with very little effort put into it. And so was Guido Guidi's (yay i got his name right this time) design. The guy's clearly done great work in the past but this whole thing is unimaginative garbage. Damn thing looks too dorky to be a Barricade. Fine for Prowl who's supposed to appear to be the boring good cop but a Barricade is meant to be the bad cop and one who'd rough you up plenty and this figure is far too bland and boring to give even a hint of that.

Really is an absolute total missed opportunity.

ZeroWolf wrote:Sabrblade's example was a lot clearer thank you though which Skywarp is that toy?

Two versions of MP-11SW.

Sabrblade wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:Sabrblade's example was a lot clearer thank you though which Skywarp is that toy?

Two versions of MP-11SW.

Yeah, one is the takara release and the other is the hasbro asia release

Can we all stop fighting about Barricade and just agree to disagree. It’s been 3 days and this is getting fucking old. No one is forcing you to buy it, like it, eat it, etc. go send some complaints to Hasbro. There’s way more to talk about in this line than one figure and anyone who is trying to is getting talked over. Enough.

In other news, Starscream is really just a guy in the jet suit:

Click each for full size



(photos from user Sponge of the Allspark Discord)

Sabrblade wrote:In other news, Starscream is really just a guy in the jet suit:

Sooo G1! Geoff Senior would be so proud


Meanwhile, Is there supposed to be a connection between Windblade and Thrust?







The designs seem too visually similar for coincidence? Maybe a new Cybertronian based Windblade as a Tetrajet could add to that. Create some [interesting] backstory for her this time, both within SIEGE and the new Comic continuity too. Renegade Seeker? Thrust's Twin IE a way of re-introducing the idea of branched sparks??

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:In other news, Starscream is really just a guy in the jet suit:

Sooo G1! Geoff Senior would be so proud

Really? I don't recall the 1984 toy able to remove all of its altmode kibble and make a completely separate vehicle from the robot.

Especially one formed from kibble that's able to be removed all in one whole piece without needing to reassemble anything.

Sabrblade wrote:In other news, Starscream is really just a guy in the jet suit:

Click each for full size



(photos from user Sponge of the Allspark Discord)

In other news, water is wet

Well, this is usually the case with shell formers, and the legs underneath get the excuse of being cybertronian. Works wonders for Hasbro

Nathaniel Prime wrote:In other news, water is wet

Name three other Starscream toys whose altmodes can be detached completely separate from their robot modes without losing the core integrity of the robot mode, and in one piece without having to reassemble anything.

Sabrblade wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:In other news, Starscream is really just a guy in the jet suit:

Sooo G1! Geoff Senior would be so proud

Really? I don't recall the 1984 toy able to remove all of its altmode kibble and make a completely separate vehicle from the robot.

Especially one formed from kibble that's able to be removed all in one whole piece without needing to reassemble anything.

GEOFF SENIOR!

Illustrator of Marvel Comics Transformers, known for a visual design of "people in robot suits"..

I didn't think I would need to explain that

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Illustrator of Marvel Comics Transformers, known for a visual design of "people in robot suits"..

I didn't think I would need to explain that

This is a robot guy in a jet suit, not a human in a robot suit. Fleshy-faced artwork has nothing to do with excessive altmode kibble.

Sabrblade wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Illustrator of Marvel Comics Transformers, known for a visual design of "people in robot suits"..

I didn't think I would need to explain that

This is a robot guy in a jet suit, not a human in a robot suit. Fleshy-faced artwork has nothing to do with excessive altmode kibble.

It's what makes Scourge still the superior Flier design to this day.



No unsightly kibble.



Even his original toy didn't suffer from it. I wonder if they would even need to change his design to add him to WFC and/or SIEGE?

Carnivius_Prime wrote:

william-james88 wrote:So, anyone else happy they can now have a G1 style Barricade to add to your collection that isn't exclusive/expensive?

Well you can keep calling it "G1 style Barricade" and I can keep calling it a lazy crap repaint to make more money out of an existing mold rather than provide a more unique and logical figure. I just can't see why people think this is a quality release worthy of spending actual money on. It's the very definition of Hasbro being frickin' lazy and saving money on a new mold by just reusing another with very little effort put into it. And so was Guido Guidi's (yay i got his name right this time) design. The guy's clearly done great work in the past but this whole thing is unimaginative garbage. Damn thing looks too dorky to be a Barricade. Fine for Prowl who's supposed to appear to be the boring good cop but a Barricade is meant to be the bad cop and one who'd rough you up plenty and this figure is far too bland and boring to give even a hint of that.

Really is an absolute total missed opportunity.

A lot of people want this. I’m sorry you don’t. Next time we’ll ask hasbro to reach out to you and ask you what you want.

Carnivius_Prime wrote:

william-james88 wrote:So, anyone else happy they can now have a G1 style Barricade to add to your collection that isn't exclusive/expensive?

Well you can keep calling it "G1 style Barricade" and I can keep calling it a lazy crap repaint to make more money out of an existing mold rather than provide a more unique and logical figure. I just can't see why people think this is a quality release worthy of spending actual money on. It's the very definition of Hasbro being frickin' lazy and saving money on a new mold by just reusing another with very little effort put into it. And so was Guido Guidi's (yay i got his name right this time) design. The guy's clearly done great work in the past but this whole thing is unimaginative garbage. Damn thing looks too dorky to be a Barricade. Fine for Prowl who's supposed to appear to be the boring good cop but a Barricade is meant to be the bad cop and one who'd rough you up plenty and this figure is far too bland and boring to give even a hint of that.

Really is an absolute total missed opportunity.

SIEGE Barricade is the result of a thought experiment. "What if Barricade had been in the original 1984/85 Transformers toy line-up?" What would his design have been? What mold would have been used? This is the answer. He's based heavily on an existing Diaclone mold. In this case, the one that became Prowl and Bluestreak and was eventually retooled into Smokescreen. That's what Guido Guidi was up to years ago with his fan art rendition, and it's the same conclusion Hasbro came to as well. Imagine if in 1985, Hasbro added a few more Decepticons based on Diaclone molds. Barricade could have been the result of taking the Smokescreen retool, repainting it, and adding a light bar to make him a police car again. The difference with the SIEGE version is that there isn't going to be any retooling to the alt mode between Prowl/Bluestreak and Smokescreen/Barricade. Only the head sculpts and weapon load outs are different. The light bars are modular pieces that can be included or excluded, just like the shoulder cannons or other weapons. If you don't "get it," that's fine. But other people do, and that doesn't make their opinion less valid than yours. Liking something is subjective. I can appreciate that you don't like the mold in general, though, in which case yes, it would be disappointing that the same mold you don't like as Prowl is also now Barricade.

Sabrblade wrote:In other news, Starscream is really just a guy in the jet suit:

Click each for full size



(photos from user Sponge of the Allspark Discord)

That should make it easier to retool him into a proper Earth-mode jet.

While I personally do not plan to get Barricade because it doesn't fit into my collection I think it looks good. I just think it's the reverse engineering aspect that is throwing some fans off. Taking a figure that initially was not part of the *best years* of the original series, and making him appear to fit in (Yes I know of the 1990 Micromaster, but that doesn't really apply here...)

Fans (even myself) are very fickle about this...I accepted Sunstorm (or any number of seekers), because they all basically have the same concept. I was not into Drift initially, but came to accept him over time, still, there hasn't been a super *original series* looking Drift, so I'm not sure how that would be accepted. I enjoy the Torchbearers, of course because they are a combiner team . But Windblade, I have never been a fan of. I guess that's one reason to be thankful for Cyberverse. They can keep churning out Windblade figures in that line, and *hopefully* keep her out of the Generations series. Still, I find it hard to believe Hasbro wont attempt another Windblade in the next two years, especially if the aesthetic of the remaining parts of this trilogy are different enough, but one can hope.

I've mentioned before, the disconnect in the lack of Windblade redesigns. Do they think she wouldn't be recognisable to Fans unless she looked identical in every line?

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Carnivius_Prime wrote:

william-james88 wrote:So, anyone else happy they can now have a G1 style Barricade to add to your collection that isn't exclusive/expensive?

Well you can keep calling it "G1 style Barricade" and I can keep calling it a lazy crap repaint to make more money out of an existing mold rather than provide a more unique and logical figure. I just can't see why people think this is a quality release worthy of spending actual money on. It's the very definition of Hasbro being frickin' lazy and saving money on a new mold by just reusing another with very little effort put into it. And so was Guido Guidi's (yay i got his name right this time) design. The guy's clearly done great work in the past but this whole thing is unimaginative garbage. Damn thing looks too dorky to be a Barricade. Fine for Prowl who's supposed to appear to be the boring good cop but a Barricade is meant to be the bad cop and one who'd rough you up plenty and this figure is far too bland and boring to give even a hint of that.

Really is an absolute total missed opportunity.

SIEGE Barricade is the result of a thought experiment. "What if Barricade had been in the original 1984/85 Transformers toy line-up?" What would his design have been? What mold would have been used? This is the answer. He's based heavily on an existing Diaclone mold. In this case, the one that became Prowl and Bluestreak and was eventually retooled into Smokescreen. That's what Guido Guidi was up to years ago with his fan art rendition, and it's the same conclusion Hasbro came to as well. Imagine if in 1985, Hasbro added a few more Decepticons based on Diaclone molds. Barricade could have been the result of taking the Smokescreen retool, repainting it, and adding a light bar to make him a police car again. The difference with the SIEGE version is that there isn't going to be any retooling to the alt mode between Prowl/Bluestreak and Smokescreen/Barricade. Only the head sculpts and weapon load outs are different. The light bars are modular pieces that can be included or excluded, just like the shoulder cannons or other weapons. If you don't "get it," that's fine. But other people do, and that doesn't make their opinion less valid than yours. Liking something is subjective. I can appreciate that you don't like the mold in general, though, in which case yes, it would be disappointing that the same mold you don't like as Prowl is also now Barricade.

Sabrblade wrote:In other news, Starscream is really just a guy in the jet suit:

Click each for full size



(photos from user Sponge of the Allspark Discord)

That should make it easier to retool him into a proper Earth-mode jet.

But that would make his jet mode rather unsightly with the legs underneath IMO, unless they do something different with his legs.

But that is a good idea for a decent Earth G1 Starscream

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:I've mentioned before, the disconnect in the lack of Windblade redesigns. Do they think she wouldn't be recognisable to Fans unless she looked identical in every line?

Its been like that for all new designs though. before her there was Lockdown and in all his incarnaions until the film they always made him look around the same (around the same amount of varition as Windblade from each of her designs).

I think that is part of the problem though. It's like they have no faith in these new characters being able to assimilate into the series proper, among the original designs.

o.supreme wrote:While I personally do not plan to get Barricade because it doesn't fit into my collection I think it looks good. I just think it's the reverse engineering aspect that is throwing some fans off. Taking a figure that initially was not part of the *best years* of the original series, and making him appear to fit in

Oh man, reminds me of this

Has there ever been a Really Good looking Copter Bot??

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Has there ever been a Really Good looking Copter Bot??

Yes, you can read all about my number 1 pick (and others) here: https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... oys/34612/

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Has there ever been a Really Good looking Copter Bot??

Yes, you can read all about my number 1 pick (and others) here: https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... oys/34612/

Wow, you had that covered too. As an aside, having just finished the first few arcs of MTMTE, via the Partwork, Whirl (both in design and character) might be one of the worst characters I've seen in IDWverse so far. Including Tailgate and Swerve, this series is really not impressing me in the slightest.


Back on topic, Yes, Skyhammer is a thing of beauty

I want there to be a masterpiece Prowl repaint to be this g1 styled barricade. I think that would be nice

I'd still hope if Spinister appears on the line, then we might have a chance of getting Armada Cyclonus.

Or Cyclonus Armada

Shellformer Starscream just make him easier to paint to make more seekers!

Skritz wrote:Shellformer Starscream just make him easier to paint to make more seekers!

The possibilities...

Also I guess the pyramid being separate mean it would be easier to mod it and add new kibble to make Coneheads. Not that I have any clue if coneheads had different wings in their tetrajet modes: perhaps one could headcanon it as some kind of earth addition?

Does the mold even have space for a cone head?

Based on Thrust, I did posit that Cybertronian Coneheads could be some Tetrajet-Osprey hybrid (akin to the VTOL jets on Transmetal Megatron). To differentiate them from the default Seekers

I'll just leave this here...


Transformers Universe - Classics 2.0 Dirge Gallery

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:I'll just leave this here...


Transformers Universe - Classics 2.0 Dirge Gallery

That looks nice, but something about the altmode looks..off, in comparison to the SIEGE Tetrajets? Also Dirge is 7/10 in Intelligence??

To be fair, Coneheads weren't designed as such in toy form. Their iconic and distinct head design is one born of the Sunbow animation models, based off some kibble you can pop up on the toy.

All the more reason they should make a more unique Tetrajet design. Perhaps even more pointed, like the original Tetrajet designs from Sunbow

william-james88 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:While I personally do not plan to get Barricade because it doesn't fit into my collection I think it looks good. I just think it's the reverse engineering aspect that is throwing some fans off. Taking a figure that initially was not part of the *best years* of the original series, and making him appear to fit in

Oh man, reminds me of this

Is that an actual toy someone made, or a digibash? That's kind of cool

Also, slightly OT...if you could retroactively alter your best 5 Copterbots, would SS Blackout have a place in the top five now?

o.supreme wrote:Also, slightly OT...if you could retroactively alter your best 5 Copterbots, would SS Blackout have a place in the top five now?

Honestly, I dont really know. He isn't as obvious as the others, in that there are quite a few cons to go with the pros. And I havent tansformed him much since I first got him, that might be indicative of something.

This line is heavily based on nostalgia. A significant part of the ‘84 and ‘85 lines was redecos. The new barricade, as a what-if of sorts, plays on that. It also saves Hasbro money to make more toys. Frankly, it doesn’t matter what the original intent was, as both are happening. Personally, Barricade may end up being represented by this mold for me and Prowl will be the redeco I don’t get.
Not trying to start arguments; I just thought maybe some people hadn’t thought of it this way yet.
Edit: I didn’t realize there was another page and this wasn’t being discussed anymore. Feel free to ignore.

MagicDeath wrote:This line is heavily based on nostalgia. A significant part of the ‘84 and ‘85 lines was redecos. The new barricade, as a what-if of sorts, plays on that. It also saves Hasbro money to make more toys. Frankly, it doesn’t matter what the original intent was, as both are happening. Personally, Barricade may end up being represented by this mold for me and Prowl will be the redeco I don’t get.
Not trying to start arguments; I just thought maybe some people hadn’t thought of it this way yet.
Edit: I didn’t realize there was another page and this wasn’t being discussed anymore. Feel free to ignore.

However, cross-factional redeco did not exist early in G1. Autobots were redecoed into other Autobots and Decepticon into other Decepticons, mainly because outside of Stunticons and Aerialbots there was generally a soft rule on what each faction had for altmodes.

Reminds me of a line I read once on Pre-determination, concerning Megatron. It said "It's hard to be the good guy when you're a gun"

Sabrblade wrote:In other news, Starscream is really just a guy in the jet suit:

Click each for full size



(photos from user Sponge of the Allspark Discord)

i get that it would be hard to have a tetrajet turn into the iconic seeker robot
so this doesnt really bother me besides they shellformed in the cartoon anyway

Starscream could also be modded into an actionmaster!

I just watched the SIEGE Starscream review from Grim Trigger. I've got to say, I'm happy with how he turned out. He's not perfect, but he's fantastic nonetheless. Even though Starscream's a robot with a tetra jet on his back, the transformation is still involved, and little things such as how the robot mode shoulder pauldrons are formed from the nosecone of the jet are neat. He does have a bit of an undercarriage in alt mode, but the designers did their best to integrate the robot kibble, like having thrusters in the feet and turning the air intakes on the chest into additional thrusters that match the cluster of three already on the back of the jet. The "faux cockpit" on the back for the sake of the G1 robot design doesn't even look that out of place and could just be a secondary gunner cockpit that's rear-facing. I love how articulated the wings are as well. Starscream seems to be very poseable, and he just looks so good in robot mode too. Even from the back, his kibble doesn't look out of place or just stuck there because there was no place better to put it. The design is very cohesive and the silhouette works from all angles. I also like that he doesn't have hollow forearms. That seems to be a luxury nowadays. I can hardly wait to get SIEGE Starscream at this point. I've been waiting for a good Voyager sized Starscream/Seeker mold for Classics/Generations for YEARS. This is the closest we've even been, and unlike the Power of the Primes figure, this one is VERY satisfying, even if it isn't 100% ideal.

Skritz wrote:Starscream could also be modded into an actionmaster!

Oh, if only this mold deco layout was doable: