Wanna say I love these discussions... I'm a dino nerd, and a robo nerd, and especially a TF robo nerd, so dinobots are something that I can discuss forever. I was just playing with Scoria again last night and thinking how sad it is that I only have him and Boots McGrim to pose together... I'm dying for another MP dino and we're still 2+ months away best case.

but yeah, I gotta say that any dinobot homage has to stay true to the dorky chubby bulky dino concept they were based on, otherwise it's just not a real dinobot in my eyes.

While anatomically correct robotic transforming dinobots would be cool, they would never be the dinobots to me... hell I think some of the shapes of what we believe (for now) are anatomically correct would transform into really crappy looking robots.

also I don't think FT paddles would ever happen, he's just too niche to be a real seller... but a boy can dream.

 

Yeah, I'm just a nerd. I love and know far too much about too many nerdy things. I love learning the history behind the things I'm interested in. And I love the fact that there is always something more to learn.

I'm the exact opposite. I am dreading getting the remaining Dinobots, I don't think that I can handle that much awesome. My head might explode. I really am not kidding, I find it kind of overwhelming.

I think Michael Bay just proved that. Half the appeal of the Dinobots is the cute factor. They are just so dull witted and adorable, but they will smash your face off.

Yeah, like a Diplodocus, where would you put all that neck and tail?

 

Like most animals of ANY kind, it was only the herbivores with incredibly simple brains... Carnivores had very complex and large brains. Besides... Brain size means nothing... Proof? Visit your local walmart or community bingo game...

Easy... Weapons... Neck turns into shoulder mounted RPG. Tail into a whip.

The REAL issue would be seeing Grimlock with feathers...

 

The Dinobots at the time were not that far off from their namesakes. They were still looked upon as cold blooded lumbering beasts. The general public accepted this. We didn't know Trex walked with their chest parallel to the ground. On a lot of the older fossil displays they physically broke and recasted bones to get the dinos into their upright static poses. Sludge was based off a "Brontosaurus" which was the head of an Apatasaurus on a Diplodicus. So having the toys G1 and now look like that is important to me because its a snapshot of our history, its an era that made a lot of mistakes, but was really cool at the same time. Dinosaurs have come a long way in terms of what we know. I'm a rebel though I don't care how common it is, it still bothers me to see feathers on dinosaurs.

 

And some of the simplest, the Ankylosaurs, my favourites. They didn't need to be smart, evolution did all the thinking for them.

Apparently it has been confirmed that in Jurassic Park 4, still no feathers.

 

Actually, balanced dinosaurs and warmblooded carnivores dates back to the late 70s. I was well read in dinosaurs in my youth. Even back then I knew t-rex was balanced. That no dinosaurs dragged their tails, and that stegosaurus held it's tail straight out instead of sloping down. The dinobots were based on paintings done in the 1890's.

Camarosaurus head on apatosaurus bones for brontosaurus... And you still see feathers on dinosaurs every time you see a robin hunting worms in the morning dew.

 

Yeah... I know. Pisses me off. Wish instead of #4, they would reboot the franchise and do a more accurate version of the book, but add MORE accurate Dinos instead of less accurate... Feathered, german shepherd sized raptors. T-rex with head, neck, and shoulder "fluff". Triceratops with quill-hairs on back.
Sauropods without forelimb toes and with keratin armor on the back... Brachiosaurus correctly called Giraffatitan. Velociraptor with proper crocodile-like skull. No frills on dilophosaurus.... Ooooh the list goes on....

Aaaaaaaanyway.... Friend of mine who really loves scoria, but prefers toon colors, had a great idea once the whole set of dibots comes out... For those with hidden legs, either FT or another 3p should make a set of filler panels so people who like the look/size of FT dibots but want exposed dino legs can have that... While I prefer the hidden Dino legs, I can understand wanting legs seen.

 

I blame that museum that Spike took Hound to for the imaging. Had a three fingered tail-dragging Tyrannosaurus. Very 1900s. Wheeljack had poor source material.

...And by 2006 when (presumably) the Constructions designed Trypticon... they still went the tail-dragger route. Maybe they just wanted to one-up the Dinobots, thus emulating Grimlock's design.

Wow. Clearly there've been some BIG revisions to the paleontological canon I saw in early 90s documentaries as a kid.  

A rebooted, more book-following movie with the accurate dinosaurs you're describing does sound cool.

 

Late 70's though was kinda my point, the general public, except us nerdy kids didn't know any better till what Jurassic Park came out? That movie shattered the older generations perception of them. Pop culture was still using the older look well past when scientists figured it out, and if, you weren't well read, no-one knew any better. Its kinda like what Discovery has done with Shark Week, Sharks have gone from terrifying, to misunderstood, back to shows trying to make them appear vicious, and terrifying just to suck in viewers. Your average Joe is not going to know any better.

 

Erm, I was just referencing Dr. Smoov's parody, it wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

 

I got it. For what it's worth.

 

Any "new" designs, sure, why not? But this is G1 we're talking about, after all. I completely agree here.

No offense to anyone reading, but if you want these to be "real life accurate", you're kind of missing the point.  

 

Even today the Apatosaurus is being misrepresented. Look up Apatosaurus on ebay and you will find Apatosaurus memorabilia for sale that was produced after 2000 still with the wrong head.

As for sharks, yeah, no, they are still terrifying. I'm not getting in to a tank with sharks, I don't care how misunderstood they are.

 

Funny you should mention that... I live in utah... I'm LITERALLY surrounded by mountains filled with sauropod fossils... Surrounded by dinosaur museums... And all the toy stores and gift shops have sauropod toys with elephant-like hoofed feet, "S" shaped necks, etc. my fiancée just rolls her eyes at me as I complain. She's such a trooper for putting up with me!


And totally I'm with the shark thing. I saw two of the white sharks on display at monetary aquarium back in 2005 and ?2008? And while they were both little babies (5ft long NEWBORNS!) they were horrifyingly scary!  

 

Forgive me if I don't follow the latest musings of what a dinosaur looks like. Whats gospel now will probably be found wrong again at some point. I do however know what the dinobots look like and thats all I care about. A real dinosaur could turn out to be purple with octopus arms and I still want my Grimlock and Snarl to look like Grimlock and Snarl.

 

Oh yeah, I was a dino-nut as a kid, it pissed me off I could never find good Dinosaur toys, till JP hit and wha-bam! But I'm very nostalgic when it comes to the Dinobots, because they're mechanical they pull off that dated look really well and it reminds me of everything awesome from the 80's. I love the Fall of Cybertron designs as well though, I'd love a set of those Dinos in an MP-treatment.

 

Well, in other news, got my preorder in for this sucker at Chimungmung.  

 

So, any updates on this guy? I'll take whatever I can get.

 

See the first post for all the updates.

 

Based on his size, I believe Trypticon was intended to be a kaiju, like Godzilla, and not so much a Tyrannosaurus Rex.