Just like the title reads. With TF: Animated Figures' amazing similarity to the actual cartoon, It got me thinking: Which G1 Toys are the most similar to their cartoon counterparts? I mean we have the obvious ones like Grimlock, Soundwave, and Shockwave but, are there any others? Insecticons maybe?
Almost none are, if you really look at the toys/characters. The only ones that look almost dead-on are Laserbeak/Buzzsaw. Optimus is close, but the toy is weedy and non-articulated in comparison to the character (the fore-arms are just plain bad on the G1, but nearly perfect on the MP version). That's one of the reasons I really don't like G1 toys- too much of a departure from the cartoon appearance. Doesn't matter to some, but it really makes or breaks a toy for me.
Off the top of my head, I'm not really sure any of them were THAT close to the cartoon counterparts. Some of them transformed in a similar way, but esthetic wise were far from a match. I'll need to ponder this some more when I get home and have some reference material to look at.
Some of the season 2 cars (Hoist, Grapple, Inferno, Red Alert) looked like animated versions of their toys. Also, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw were pretty toy accurate.
I'd say a good deal of the Autobot cars were reasonably close (Jazz, Prowl, Hound, Sideswipe etc), as well as the aforementioned Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, and Rumble and Frenzy (except for the whole colour mixup thing, natch). Bear in mind that the guys designing the model sheets for the cartoon massively simplified the character designs, I imagine largely so it didn't take as long to draw them per frame, which would save them a lot of effort and money.
I'll agree that many of the 2nd season cars look the most similar to their toys, (Inferno, Grapple, Hoist, and Red Alert especially) from the standpoint of not having big changes (adding facial features where there were none, or omitting parts such as wheels or car doors.) On the Decepticon side, I'd say Shockwave is the big winner. Toy and cartoon look near-identical with the exception of the cartoon character not having an obvious trigger-panel on the crotch.
Shockwave, the Insecticons, Hot Rod (he looked like the animation model, though didn't have the articulation)
Shockwave, the Insecticons, Hot Rod (he looked like the animation model, though didn't have the articulation)
Omega(if he had a face), also most of the combiners are pretty show accurate, sky lynx. springer, hot rod, Metroplex, Trypticon.
I'd question your choice on the combiners there, both gestalt modes and individual bots. Some were vaguely similar, but others varied dramatically. Hardly any of the Stunticons' faces matched the toys, for instance (with Wildrider's 'toon version head-handlebars being a particularly obvious deviation); Swindle transformed entiely differently (with his radiator on his chest, not on his back like the toy). Most of the gestalt modes just looked like pretty blocky giant robots, with any resemblance to their individual 'bots being little more than an afterthought.
Soundwave was pretty straight forward. Shockwave. Grapple. Hoist. Prowl, Jazz and Bluestreak. Don't confuse a lack of articulation with show accuracy.
Insecticons, Prime, Hot Rod, Blurr, Rodimus Prime, Kup, Omega Supreme.. etc. anyway the differences are not a problem for me, is a part of the whole G1 thing and I love it.
