"Speed is the best defence (sic) against doubting your inner vision." That's a very good quote.

It reminds me of the Sia quote: "It took me 15 years to take 20 minutes [to write a song]."

 

Those Animated Bumblebee schematics are awesome.

 

That Movie 1 Bumblebee head actually looks decent in grey form lol

 

I should have something to say about the toy engineering, but I can't get over how his photo looks like a mug shot.   ...That's really the pic they decided to go with, huh?

It's always been a decent figure. Personally, I think that was one of the better Deluxe movie Bees. I still want to possibly someday maybe get a hold of the Cliffjumper repaint.

 

I've worked with Alex on a few projects. Great guy and amazing artist.

 

Do tell. I have been trying to follow Kubalsky's stuff but it's hard because he doesn't seem to post stuff on DeviantArt anymore. Were they transformation related projects?

 

re: conflicts of interest, it should be noted he hasn't been at TakaraTomy for several years now. Fairly certain that his 3P work was all done after he left. (Though don't quote me on that; this is just me doing speculation based on dates)

 

I second this. There is an post online (from someone who went to an event featuring Kubalsky) that states he doesn't work at TakaraTomy anymore and implies all his 3p work was concieved after he left the company.
Alex Kubalsky: 'Industrial Origami' - Transformers Discussion - The Allspark Forums

 

Makes sense. I must have just skim read it too fast and missed it, because I wasn't clear on his situation from this interview.

Anyone who helped design Animated stuff is gold in my books. Still some of the most clever TF designs ever, imo.

 

Nothing TF related, He helped with some artwork for a few of my toy pitches to Hasbro. I wish he posted more work as well. Some of his animated designs are brilliant.

 

Visionary guy. Transformers really took a substantial leap forward during his involvement with the toyline. Looking at the original classics line, his designs were the ones that stood out, and still hold up over a decade later. His work on the movie line and then Animated showed that all kinds of things were possible that hadn't been attempted before. When those first drawings hit the web, a lot of fans thought they were impossible designs. I remember reading posts were it was felt we could expect either non-transformable action figures or very loose representations of designs that could not translate to toys. His solutions were ingenious.

In the years since he left there's been times and instances where it seemed they were slipping back into the old bad habits with timid transformations and reusing a lot of the same old tricks, but they've always managed a few outstanding efforts that renew my faith in the possibilities. They do of course have other talented designers, but Kubalsky definitely brought something fresh and dynamic and set a new standard, and that influence is felt to this day.

 

Transformers designers are under appreciated as hell

 

Wow I miss those 2007 Real Gears..

 

I don't, I still have them all.

So he designed Classics Bee and Mirage eh? Those were two of my favorites, especially Mirage. During the Beast Era's heyday, I would often wish for them to make newer G1 figures with the pose-ability of BW, and dammit, Mirage gave me exactly what I wanted.

 

Cool stuff. Nice to see how Mr. Kubalsky influenced Transformers design, through both direct involvement and influence of presence. At the time I assumed it had more to do with all the outside artistic influences from the Bay film and Animated designs. (though that is undoubtedly part of the whole influence package. I do like that there is more thought put into the transformation 'process' and the 'liveliness' of the robot mode that in the old days.

 

Did that Real Gear robot ever get made? I have vague memories of seeing it on shelf but I spent money on a 2007 Jazz instead.

 

Grrreeeaaatt.....in short order this thread is going to devolve into a Hasbro/Takara vs 3rd Party shitfest.

I for one think it's cool that we *FINALLY* received confirmation that 3rd party companies have employed HasTak engineers.

And who are we to judge? We don't know the circumstances behind his decision to work for Mastermind Creations. So negative feelings and feigned moral dilemmas directed toward Mr. Kubalsky and wild speculation about why he made this decision are pure conjecture.

 

Looks like you're the only one kicking the thread down that path at this stage. How about you chill a bit?

There's not really much in this interview that hasn't already been covered in previous features, so not much to comment on otherwise.

 

This guy is brilliant and does anyone have a list of the 3P figures he designed?

 

I've always had a theory that every once in a while, some designer at a car company gets shot down because his concept goes to far, isn't marketable, can't meet cost targets, etc. so he goes over to Matchbox/Hotwheels and "has a few drinks."