But we wanted to get some info we found interesting since it does confirm certain things. While it was obvious for many, some fans like hearing it from the horse's mouth and now the designer who worked on SS86 Hot Rod has confirmed that the "voyager" class no longer refers to just a specific size but it is now a price point where a transformer with more parts/engineering could end up regardless of its size. You can read that in the blurb he did on SS86 Hot Rod, which you can read below.
The same designer, Evan, also made a post on SS86 Slug where he wrote this at the end, referring to the Dinobots: "We'll get to all of them at this scale, eventually!"
Now that message goes a long way. Firstly, it does say that Swoop and Snarl are in the pipeline but more importantly it brings in the idea of scale, where all the G1 Dinobots were in the same scale. So that dispells the (never verified) rumours of Swoop being a voyager.
We also learn that the Takara designer behind the Dinobots was Hasui san, the same fabled designer behind MP-10, HFTD leader Starscream, Prime Starscream and Combiner Wars Devastator.
SS86 Hot Rod: https://www.instagram.com/p/CcT189ZOAKc/
I will admit that this figure was pretty much completely designed by the time I joined the team so all praise goes to Yuya Onishi for really setting a new standard for transformers figures. I find this figure absolutely brilliant and bumping him up to a VOY scale allowed for the extra engineering and accessories to really make him stand out.
So, those yellow pieces on top! Yes, they hurt. They needed to be PA plastic due to the flexibility of those hinges and that isn't a type of plastic we can paint. His giant wing spoiler was in the same mold so we were locked to that color. We didn't have room to move pieces to different molds because of the type of material they needed to be.
The other thing I'm sure you're all wondering about is the rest of his colors and I can certainly talk to that!
Before we move to final production, we have a big team meeting where we all come together and look at the figures and deco before approving them. While presenting this item and the first wave of kingdom, there was some rumbling from upper management. The original colors presented were pure magenta and that came as a bit of a shock to a few folks. The reaction is understandable, every toy of classic Hotrod has been some variation of red. There was some back and forth, references shown on both sides as to what colors he should be and this is how he ended up.
I was still so new to the team that my voice didn't carry that much weight even while showing clips of the 86 movie. I think there was still some confusion as to what this SS86 line was supposed to be but I'm happy to say that this was the only time this sort of thing has ever happened. Granted, Kingdom Cheetor and Megatron also had their colors shifted in this meeting...which was just strange...but that's corporate life.
Anyway, as I said before this figure is just amazing and really brought the engineering of a Transformer to the next level. Takara Tomy outdid themselves, but what do you all think? Let me know and I'll drop some more SS86 behind the scenes for you!
SS86 Slug: https://www.instagram.com/p/CdZC4sGuusH/
Make sure to check out Mark's and Bmac's page for details on the Wrecker program!
@markclonus @bmacatron84
Continuing with Studio Series 86 Dinobots, here we have 86 Slug and Daniel!
Just to clarify, Slug had a slightly different name in the 80's that has since been shifted since words can mean different things in different countries.
As you can see from the images, this is a Hasui san item (as are all the dinobots) so you can see it's chocked full of wonderful detail that references the G1 toy while having the proportions and design elements of the Cartoon animation model.
We began development on Slug and Daniel right after Grimlock so we had a better understanding of what we could do at this pricepoint and scale.
We wanted to make sure we got Daniel in at some form since we hadn't solidified bringing Core Class over to SS just yet so that's why he was chosen as an accessory character.
Other than that, there isn't much to tell!
Development went incredibly smooth for Slug. Deco wise, colors were lifted right from Grimlock to make sure they all looked like they're on the same team (as they should!).
Deco was based on his Animation model instead of his toy so red head and silver horns.
My one regret is we had to remove the little silver hits on the helmet to meet our deco quota. Whenever I have to remove paint, I always try to pick areas that are at least easy for consumers to apply themselves if they need to add them.
I know the dinobots are some folks favorite Transformer characters but which team member is your favorite?
We'll get to all of them at this scale, eventually!
has gone power hungry and lazy. I hope Prime Vs Prime was missing something, otherwise it's insane! I don't see how they could compensate for a smaller swoop, I can't think of many "accurate" accessories. He will most likely be leader sized.
