So we know a reboot is likely to move forward for the franchise.

And one thing I wonder, is how the robots should look? Because we need to settle on some form of aesthetic that we want to see.

For me, simply put... It should be a balance between the new and the old.

What I mean is that for certain characters they need to be a balance between G1 and movie.

The G1 aspect obviously is important because its the foundation of who the characters were originally. One of the things, I know bothers the old school fans is how certain characters look. I mean, look at Hot Rod. He may have a cool weapon but I think the design needs work.

The movie aspect is also important because it represents another portion of the fandom that needs pleasing. Simply putting a REALLY faithful design is not going to work.(obviously) Some design elements from the Bayverse I do think work as a modernization of things. Like how Bumblebee's antennas move as opposed to being 'devil horns' or Optimus having a mouth and mouthplate at the same time.(yes, I know this thing dates back to TF Cybertron)


One last thing... Humanization aspects MUST be taken care of with extreme caution. They're from another world, that's important to know.


Even the MCU(one of the most positively received franchises) understands this for the better. I mean they got rid of those ridiculous angel wings for Captain America and Thor's helmets, right? Granted I know they made this early on.



So overall, my stance is.... We need to strike a balance. Movies like Warcraft proved being too faithful is not good for some people in the audience as there's a bunch of stuff they don't understand. So let's slowly establish things piece by piece.

 

Me, imagine these pictures but still retaining the moving eyeballs.

I’d still love Optimus to have a face and the battle mode mouth plate. Optimus voiced and motion captured by Liam Neeson.

Megs alt mode needs to be an M1Abrams battle tank. Meg’s voiced by frank welker. If they decide to hire an actor to voice or motion capture Megs, not sure.

 

Something like this strikes a good balance:



And now we know than can do humanoid faces but mechanical looking (though I feel Hound, Drift and Daytrader a bit too humanoid; Sentinel, Crosshairs, Lockdown and the Wreckers work better for me), there’s no reason why they can’t go with that, seeing that most transformers series have had robots with very human features.

 

Like normal Transformers and not predator hybrids or heavy metal dwarves.

 

No more slobbering ugly monsters or squereformers.

 

Probably they'll go with a middle ground between the G1 and Bayverse. Something that is both recognisable for long time followers of the franchise and not off-putting for fans who were watching Bayhems.

 

The camera-lens optics were a pretty neat touch. I like that with pretty much all the robots.

 

To me they’re just expressive that way and one of the things the Bay aesthetic did right. Would be nice in a reboot we get to see Cybertronians roll their eyes when they hear some human say or do stupid stuff.

 

You mean like this?

 

Yup. That level of expression can’t be achieved if it’s just a rectangular, visor-like optics.

 

I hope they make them all big and beefy~

 

That's weird looking.

 

I'm thinking along the lines of IDW where it's classic yet have distinct otherworld features like the movies. Also like the Nizzi G1 inspired designs. Either of those I'm ok with.

 

Josh Nizzi's designs for Prime 1 Studios Generation 1 line of statues, as Cryptwire already brought up. Also their Age of Time line would be a good inspiration. I think Nizzi in general would create wonderful designs that would be both faithful and practical.

These are pieces from an Artist I'm rather fond of.







Also this was created by a very talented artist on ArtStation:

Fan art Megatron , Jun Huang

 

This.

 

I like some of these.

 

Will Prime be a Fire truck this time around or Flat nose cab.

 

TBH I actually wouldn't mind him being a fire truck. Has more bulk.

 

Whatever they choose, I have no doubt the fandom will universally praise the designs and aesthetics.