Gizmodo have updated their site with another behind the scenes video, this time tackling a subject with which many fans will be familiar – the complexity of the designs of our beloved Robots in Disguise. They talk through the evolution of Transformers designs and the impact that the Movie series has had on designs, both with the push toward more complex designs and then the subsequent push in the other direction toward less complicated and more intuitive designs. Check out the article on Gizmodo here.
mx-01 archon
How so?
Lambor and Soundwave and MP10 all have plenty of innovative tricks over their predecessors, and MP Laserbeak/Buzzsaw and Ravage are absolutely amazing for their scale.
For MPs, the complexity is merely a solution to a problem (how to get articulated, well-proportioned figures out of the old G1 alt-modes), and not needlessly complex just for the sake of it.
Shepard Prime
I'd like a nice blend of detailed and complicated transformation but if I had to choose, they can lose the complexity of the transformation in favor of keeping the high detail and articulation in.
steelgravekaon
This is simple…80s transformers were diecast and somewhat brickish in stature and build.
Kids of today…don't want brickish looking toys…blame pokemon for that. LOL
so they are more detailed…swiveling body parts that did not do the same thing in the years of G1.
So now there are alot more details and engineering involved …hence the cost price increase and the crappy plastic and QC entailed to keep costs as low as possible,
And i am not dogging G1 toys…i grew up with them.
guard convoy
the toys do not need to be complicated. seriously folks, these are kids toys.
a perfect transformation is simple, yet satisfying, and makes you amazed that such a transformation was capable from the toy. ROTF did it wrong, the toys were TOO complicated. I want to enjoy a transformation, not spend needless amount of extra time to transform an over-engineered mess
Stepper
Of course Transformers are complicated because of the transformation & the nice design
Ravage101
I love complicated transformers. What I don't like is complicated transformers with fragile plastic…Rust in Peace Cliff Jumper comes to mind.
To me the final result from alt mode to robot is that of a fully articulated figure. Classics Cyclonus, Animated Starscream, HFTD Leader Starccream, Battle Blades Bumble Bee, Side Arm Sideswipe and DOTM Road Buster fit this requirement well. It is nice to get a solid action figure out of a solid alt mode. We don't get that too often though. Foe example when you compair Battle Blades Bee to Side Arm Sidswipe, you get great figures in the end, solid, no holes anywhere but the level of complexity is greatly different. Side Arm is so simple and so fun to transform. And when you get the bot mode it is amazing you got it there in the first place. Battle Blades on the other hand, not so much fun, you can pretty much figure out the transformation yet is is a very complex transformation. Now loo at how HasTak attempted to simplify bumble bee for DOTM…total disaster! this made a cheap boring toy that could never compare to the superior battle blades bee version. The best transformations from my collection is classics Cyclonus and Animated Starscream. These are very solid toys with a great level of complexity that is balanced with the needs of the toy. Starscreams transformation is very simple and almost automated but very effective. But the real star Cyclonus…a bit more complex but damn what a great figure in the end. Looks the most like the 80's cartoon and is as solid of an action figure as a GI Joe. out of all of the Transformers I have I think Cyclonus is really the best in terms of a total package: a true action figure with a great flying alt mode.
JetBrawn
Takara Buster Prime (ROTF Optimus Prime) was a Masterpiece for its time.
one of the most complicated TFs of all time, including the seldom-unused but interesting mechalive chest feature (the breathing chest/shoulder shrug gimmick)
If not for the complex Bayformers, this type of TF toy would never have been made.
The_Black_Sheep
Wow! This Gizmodo article is actually taking a swipe at Bay?! Well I never…
Feralstorm
Yeah, movie did not make toys complicated, though they did make the "try to make a working toy out of a pretty much impossible visual design" thing a regular feature.
The way I see it, its a kinda cyclical thing. Over time the designers and engineers get kinda full of themselves and make more and more complex and intricate toy designs, until someone (probably from Hasbro) snaps them back and tells them the toy designs shouldn't have kids crying and parents bitching. – at least on mainline stuff. Then the cycle repeats.
I like the guy in the comments who thinks Bumblebee never transformed while a 77 Camaro, when the video clip on the page shows EXACTLY THAT.
madhatprime
The answer I got from hasbro while at botcon as to why the dark of the moon toys were so much easier to transform, was that becuase of ROTF prime was too complicated for the kids and the parents. They they wanted to make them more accessible…
ROTF leader prime is a beast to transform
Optimatron
Bring the complexity back. Simple transformations are boring! Even the Masterpiece line has been dumbing it down.
Knightsword
Accept it isn't his, Some G2, BW/BM, R.I.D. and Alternators/BT all predate Bay.
Optimus1138
I'd say that's one good thing about Bay's legacy. Possibly the only good thing… at least the only one I can think of now.
Timothy.R
I completely agree.
As for the G1 backlash.. I like the toys, but I loved the movie and the characters in the show. The masterpiece line is perfect. Transformations are great and the accuracy is outstanding, you get the best of both worlds.
I thought the movie designs were really cool, but a lot of them don't work well with toys.
I still get annoyed that bay said it would be ridiculous for the G1 looking robots to be on screen.. They're alien, who knows what an alien would look like. Oh well. I still found the movie designs interesting to look it, which really helps when the story isn't all that good. Whenever I re watch the movies, I usually skip to the "good parts".
NathanS
I think it was more Bay made it go from something that happened in an adult oriented sub-line designed for making display pieces and something happens when Hasbro leaves Takara alone for too long, to a major element in the main line of kid to pre-teen focused action figures.
But their title was snapper.
Blackout32
Good read for sure.
soundwaverulls
God, now somebody's saying those blocky chunks of plastic are more difficult to transform than a movie figure!?! You know what, I'm going to watch a review to see just how complex they really are.
One video review later.
…….
Why has it taken me so many years to look into these things? The prices will be through the roof by now.
ARCTrooperAlpha
Tis a BS article indeed.
Nefud
This is the dumbest fucking thing I've ever read. The RID car brothers and plenty of others were very, very complex many years before the movies.
MrSneis
Makes me wonder… how many of today's kids shy away from TF's because they are too complicated/delicate for them and go to something else entirely. Cool for the fandom I guess or the adult collectors but I'm willing to bet Hasbro cares a lot more about the numbers.
I myself still have trouble with a lot of less complicated figures. For the life of me I cannot transform Alternators Ricochet's tires/shoulders into his alt mode heh; embarassing yes I know.