This is just out of curiosity, don't consider it some ill-fated fan campaign for it actually happen. This question was born out of GM's recent troubles and the nix on further funding for the F-22 Raptor, but it's not limited to those areas. From that standpoint though, there could be the consideration that a company no longer manufacturing things like Ironhide's Topkick truck, or a company going under for that matter, might wonder how they would make for advertising success. Now I'm not questioning the validity on product placement or such, I know I didn't run out and buy the Camaro though I do love the look of it. It's more that, let's say, if you're the company providing the vehicles for a movie and you have discontinued a model but have something new, would you push for it to be used next? As a fan, would you prefer it if they did? Note that its not that the Raptor, for example, is being tossed aside - more they don't need any more built, methinks. Then there's some storywise views to look at it from. Sure, in RotF Starscream was told disguises were being thrown aside, in which case he tat'd himself up Cybertronian style. But in the next move against the Autobots for film three would disguise need to come back into play? How can you top the F-22 in Earth vehicle terms, after all, but keep it a real Earthen disguise? And we don't know what the world of the third installment will think of Transformers in the aftermath of film two. Would Autobots need to go back into disguise, shedding their prior forms that have already been identified? In-story it shouldn't be an issue, given the ease with which this brand of Transformer can scan & reconfigure (taking into mass, one might think). But then there's toy-wise. This is a toy endeavor for Hasbro each time, let's recall. So what about the point of view of the manufacturer? Sure, Hasbro put most of the command in Bay's idea for the first film, but at this point they surely must look at it from the toy angle. I mean I know our fandom has those that will buy whatever is put on the shelves (for every TF fan that won't buy 'that', there's another who likely will), yet how many times can they sell us a Camaro Bumblebee or a Raptor Starscream? Do slight mold changes, repaints & weapons keep a particular character's look going or tire them out thus paving the way for something new? Until just today I honestly thought the Starscream mold for the movie line was merely tweaked with new hands, a new head, and that tat'd paint app for this film. Apparently its not. But if I didn't notice, what about your casual 'doesn't visit the TF websites' buyer/movie-goer? After the original released Bayformers Starscream, Deep Space Starscream, original G1 colors Starscream, a Thundercracker repaint, a Skywarp repaint, a Ramjet repaint, Premium Starscream, and now RotF Tat'd Starscream, should a new alternative mode be in order? Yet a huge possible limitation to any change might come from the movie-making standpoint. The time & money invested in the cg models is clear, and being Michael Bay does tend to reuse scenes & footage, audio, and certainly character models of the Transformers, even with the funds earned (and still being earned) by this sequel giving a warrant to a budget for tweaks, changes, and perhaps all out new renderings for any given character, would they actually do it? Do they run with established looks, or because those looks have been around for two films do they go with something fresh & new for third (and possibly final) installment? Even if you wanted and could work out a 'yes, change them' response to the above, would we end up swimming in fanrage for the changes? And naturally, logical arguments for yes or no born out of the above mentioned views aside, would you prefer a change personally? For, say, Megatron to take on an Earth mode? For Prime to receive a special trailer to combine with thus giving us a TF3 Powermaster Prime of sorts? For Bumblebee to be a new car? For Jetfire to be brought back in, say, a new Concorde body? (lol) For all the characters to receive a revamp? For all the characters to go Cybertronian mode? (double lol) Thoughts?
I don't think they'll be changing many of the characters for movie three, partly because the amount of money it would take to make new models, and partly because unlike most individual Transformers cartoons/series, the movie characters have more to gain from being recognizable from movie to movie than most do from series to series (save for the most important characters like Optimus and Starscream). Even if they were to give most of the characters new alt forms they would largely end up with the same robot mode results. Starscream, if he were to, say, upgrade into an F35 wouldn't suddenly become lean, tall, and more G1. He'd still be the same large bird/gorilla-like design. Same for characters with outdated alts like Ironhide and Ratchet. I don't see upgrades resulting in a lot of variation in design or that expenditure being worth it if they aren't going to change a lot. What I think we'll see is better toys for certain characters (Ironhide and Ratchet didn't get much more than repaints/remolds for RotF, necessitating better toys for movie 3) and new gimmicks for characters whose designs aren't changing. I'd suspect something like Optimus combining with a trailer in movie 3, to one-up the jetprime combo from RotF, so Hasbro will have a new toy with a significant new feature. The only returning character I see getting a new alt mode and new design, and the only one I think really should, is Megatron. They should really make him an earth tank (experimental rail gun tank) with a jet fighter mode as well (a true triple changer). But I'd also be happy if they did something more with Soundwave (not necessary, though, given his role in the movies thus far, which suits him well).
I'd like Optimus to take on the Powermaster idea at this point. He wouldn't use it all the time, but in certain battles. Something like those Nizzi concepts would work, and it seems fairly logical at this stage, as long as the Optimus 'look' isn't diluted by adding the trailer sections to him. Ditching the flames might even be an option although I suppose the truck model could stay. Starscream: I'd like him as the smaller F-35, so his robot-mode can be re-vamped into something more manageable and appropriate for the character, plus it somewhat resembles the F-22. Megatron: I'd like an earth tank mode definitely, one of the big western tanks would be ideal (Challenger 2, M1, Leopard 2). I'm unsure of his exact size though, perhaps earth tanks would be too small compared to the size of his robot mode. Constructicons: A few examples...I'd bring them back, but as another team, the last existing batch. This would mean they'd become unique characters by default. I'd maybe ditch a couple of characters and replace them with new ones. An alt. like the Compact Bucket-Wheel Excavator: http://www.tk-mining.com/Data/WebEditor/produkte/BanPuThailand_400.JPG should fit in nicely, or as a new alt. for Demolisher. I would keep Overload as he is, showing his promising bot-mode in the film, and bring back Long Haul's design, but as the giant 797: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_otMKl0CFmuE/SKIXmFiy1OI/AAAAAAAAAFI/e5I--77brqM/s400/caterpillar-797.jpg The others, for say a bulldozer I'd replace the D9 with the much larger Komatsu 575: http://members.iinet.net.au/~miketz/Komatsu575a.jpg and change up the robot-mode into something more practical, more worker-bot-ish like Long Haul and Overload. Some sort of drilling vehicle could be used too. Wouldn't hurt to have a more faithful Devastator design either (different team after all).
Ironhide - tank bumblebee a dead scrap of dead transformer ratchet- a medic chopper sideswipe - something 10X faster
Since the Topkick and Hummer are canceled, I want Ironhide and Ratchet to have new alt. modes. I can see Ironhide scanning a Chevy Silverado and Ratchet maybe scanning an ambulance of some sort.
no Hummer was sold to another company I doubt Ironhide would need to change forms considering Bay would prolly have most of the prop topkicks on hand.
The only character I'd want an alt mode change for is Megatron. Jet/tank Triple-Changer. Everyone else is alright.
Starscream =F15 (And Thundercracker & Skywarp) Megatron = Cannon or something like his G2 Tank Arcee (ONE Robot) (Either Earth Car or Cybertronian Car)
I'd only like to see Jazz's alt modified, I wouldn't change a thing. If Jazz is back and gets a new alt-mode, then maybe Bonecrusher can also get his Buffalo armed vehicle swithced to a construction vehicle, similar to Rampage, but I'm not familiar with all CAT vehicles out there, def will do some research.
Probably just wishful thinking, but it sure would be cool if they scanned their G1 vehicle counterparts or lookalikes, lol.
I think a Caterpillar D11 would work just fine for Bonecrusher, or even a Komatsu D57A. I'd personally go with the D57A, for variety's sake. Oh, forgot Soundwave in my first post. I'd want him (depending on his size) to be some sort of Hummer, or an E2 Hawkeye.
Personally, I would want several to receive some design overhauls. First & foremost, Optimus Prime. There's not a whole lot you can do, actually. I mean, you can't really toss the semi, in my view, at this point. I'm sure a military vehicle could be found to give him some hossness, but it's unfitting and would be detrimental to both the eyes of general audiences who've followed this movie series, and the rage of the fandom. They need to do something about him. While they may have been improving the robot mode between films, on the Leader class at least, its still the same truck every time. So other than perhaps going custom and extending the back of the cab like you might find on a custom Kenworth W900s usually, or go rediculous like the Peterbilt 379 double wind-jammer LCS, and/or throwing the type of Grill Guards you find on Kenworth T950s, the only way to beef up Prime would be with a trailer in the third film. And I'd be up for that, a RotF brand Powermaster Prime. After all, I loved PM Prime as much as the original Prime growing up and am still DYING for fansprojects to get on the ball with some armor for Classics Optimus already. And, after the Prime/Jetfire combination bit, its the one decent way to step it up without the killing off of another Autobot in the process for film three. I just hope they don't take a note from Devastator, have in the end battle Prime yell out "Til all are one" then combine with the Autobots into...something. *shudder* Don't think they wouldn't do that, btw. The next? Bumblebee. His Camaro form, despite adding air vents on the hood this time around I believe (right?), has gotten a multitude of treatments. Nevermind the old Camaro, there's been the original release, a battle damaged one from a two pack, the Premium one, that Cliffjumper repaint, a Stealthbee, two or three FABs, this new cannon one for the RotF line, that Human Alliance figure, couple of those 'Ultimate Bumblebee' ones. Even Hasbro has to recognize there's going to be parents constantly saying, "I'm not buying you that figure again just because they put some new guns on it", which is likely all they'll notice in the differences of the figures (okay, paintjobs too in some cases). So the way I see it, it needs a change, but the trouble is; To what? That Camaro is fresh, clean and totally kickass. You can't rightly step up from that, even with the cars likely out in a couple of years or so. No, the way I see it, the only way to put a twist on this is to go a route they did with Optimus. Combination, some kind of film upgrade to push Bumblebee past his Camaro persona onscreen and in toy. Prime gets his focus well enough in the movies, but for the third (and possibly final) film you better bet Bumblebee's going to be getting a spotlight like never before when it comes to focus & battle. But then what does he combine with? [/dilemma] Megatron needs a change, natch. Design-wise, I've never completely dug him for the films. His head gear looked a bit better this round, he'll obviously need a new face after getting half of it shot off. And he needs to be uberbadass for film 3. Yes, I'll keep my 'shouldn't have come back until film 3' complaint away from elaboration this time, I promise. Storywise, I don't know how they'll pull it off, but it needs to happen. He should be menacing, hulking, more powerful than ever before, keep the Triplechanger but crank it up, bring back the duel arm cannon brand of blasting might. But keep it all Cybertronian. More solid robot mode, hockin' Cybertronian Tank, evil 'non-Cowboy-Bebop-esque-jet-from-film-one' Cybertronian Jet. Oh, and actually have the toy incarnation do it too. I'd like to see them drop the Raptor for Starscream. Enough is enough in my book. He's gotten way too many Voyager treatments, and yes I count when they just repaint one and call it another's name - it's cool it allows for Seeker jet rank building (something Hasbro usually screws us on somehow) but its still the same or far too similar mold to keep it going three movie lines straight. He's got his Leader treatment coming, so let that be it. In film three, since I haven't seen a jet suggestion that I think will work, I say let this recent casting aside of disguise that brought on the tats to extend to form. Make him Cybertronian. Take the authorative look of the Raptor, factor in some of that oldschool MTMTE episode jet triad/War Within Seeker look, movie-brand Entry Mode it up so it looks like a Cybertronian Bayformers mode, and voila... ....Hasbro would cream its collective pants at the thought of repainting that mold again & again alone.. Then there's Ironhide & Ratchet. I don't know what to do with them, but they need new alt modes and new toys to go with them. Actually, I can see maybe Ratchet being as much or even more the background character in the third film as the second, and not getting another toy at all. Probably should have been the case this time around. Ironhide though, it's not that the Topkick's been discontinued, it's that he needs something else. His mold, despite head changes and weapon alterations, has apparently been repainted enough that Hasbro won't even release the old mold with new head & weapons in the Black color scheme - instead going for that Nest piece that never existed onscreen (yet STILL no RED Ironhide you Hasbronian pri....*ahem*). I'm thinking something military, but my best suggestion I wouldn't even suggest given they've already used the vehicle for Wreckage. I would suggest a tank, but I'm not entirely familiar with current military ground-based vehicles, sadly/amazingly. I expect Soundwave to have a big role, and for that coming to Earth I think he needs an Earth alt mode, but I'm lost on what for him as well. Almost to the point I'd say just give him a new Cybertronian mode since he hopefully won't just be Mr. Eye in the Sky next time. That's all I got for now, I'll keep dreamin'...
