which movie was he clean in? I always remembered him having oil stains on parts of himself.

 

Wasn't he clean before ending up on tatooine in episode 4?

 

C3P0 had the benefit of being REAL. it was a real person in a real costume. not a CG image that had to have every single bit of lighting and reflection faked so well that it looked real.

 

it boggles my mind how c3po got into this discussion  

 

How about R2D2 in the late prequels? He was shiny and not real.

Seems people really disliked my comparison. Forgive me. I know they didn't do the environments in CGI so the reflections wouldn't be right and that's why it didn't work.
Sometimes I don't sit down with a slide rule and a calculator to figure out every variable before I post a response in a thread.

Still doesn't change the fact that shiny cars that transform into beat up robots looked really goofy.

ETA: You know, not every negative comment about the movie is an attack against the Unholy Bayformers. I happened to love the movie, enough to see it nine times and drag my wife to it seven times. But I also happen to believe there are several rational and reasonable things that can be discussed which could have been better.

This and other conversations have led me to believe it's not healthy for me to approach anything even remotely negative when it comes to movie topics. There's far too much hostility in the air on both sides of that debate yet.

Maybe in ten years time it'll be a safe topic.

 

I know this topic is getting off topic from the toys with the cheats described by the topic starter, but I got another example.

In the IDW comics, Astrotrain's tail fin is on his backside, and he has a "fake" tail fin on his chest. Yeah, I know this is a gray area. It's kind of like RID Scourge's "fake" windows on his chest. It could just be some decoration that reminds us of the part, but I figured it was worth pointing out.

 

I guess it's enough to say on Classics, Hero/Laser, and similar Primes have details (and window-like pectorals), which are intended to look like parts of a truck, though not necessarily the same truck the toy actually becomes. Whether that counts as a cheat is open to interpretation, I guess.

Some of that could be dealt with by planning the choreography far enough ahead, but esentially correct.

I find it kind of entertaining that the "Final Battle Jazz" toy works along basically the same principle - beat to snot robot mode, but the vehicle mode still looks pristine.

 

In the official Movie guide, didn't it say something about the Transformers having a chameleon-like mesh on their armor that allows camoflague. Meaning they could change color at will or when needed.

Could explain why the vehicle modes are lacking battle damage.

 

theres a simple explanation why the bots were in pristine condition in car mode: marketing/product placement. gotta look good yo.

 

that's not a fake tailfin on his chest, it's a painted-on decoration. and it's not meant to be a tailfin since that astrotrain has never had one there.