But he never mentioned them at all. It's just weird how something so important was omitted. Especially since Brainstorm evokes his IDW appearence instead of exactly matchign it.

 

Why would he? All he probably knows is he got these designs from Hasbro and then had to turn the stuff into a workable toy. If he knows Brainstorms at all it's probably due from the 80s Headmaster cartoon/toyline.

 

I didn't think it was weird, but I guess it's because I read the whole interview, which was quite long. I included most of his comments that are TF related in my translation (and no, he doesn't mention IDW) and they were more or less all about technical stuff.
He may not have known much about Transformers before joining TakTom....his reason why he chose to join TakTom over a car manufacturer (who offered him a position) is that he wanted to work on a product on his own, since car design is done by dozens or hundreds of people each working on a tiny portion of the design.
The designer who did Gen Rattle (and some other Generations Beast figures) is a huge BW fan though, I hope I can work on his comments next  

That's what I think. He does say he did "all" himself, but that's starting from coming up with a transformation suitable for the character design Hasbro sent him and draw up the final toy design.

Still, 2 years working on Transformers figures and he seems to be bringing challenging ideas. Looking forward to reading more from him.
It's sad the biggest challenge always seems to be that obscene four letter word..."cost".

 

fantastic designer and awesome interview as always!

Thanks Syd for the translation, it really shows how much passion and creativity goes into TF designing and engineering.  

 

Big thanks for the translations! A very enjoyable read; I only wish we had more news posts like this, as background info on these toys seem hard to come by (if you're not at a convention, that is).

I started really wondering about that during the interview. Obviously, they avoided negative remarks regarding any of this... which is a shame, as the "negativity" helps paint a complete picture of the process (as opposed to this seemingly "Disney-fied" interview).  
One has to wonder if MP is the real future, not just because collectors like them, but also because it's probably the one area of TF creation that isn't so heavily restrained by cost. I.e. I'd love to see a toy made with complete disregard to cost, just to see what the designers/engineers can REALLY do.  

 

The MP designers seem to bring up cost restrictions quite often in their interviews. Hasui was the original lead designer on MP Ultra Magnus but his vision was not realized at least in part due to budget and handed off to Kobayashi. Wheeljack and Bumblebee are feeling the budget squeeze by being largely bare plastic where the previous car bots all came with a generous coat of paint in alt mode.

 

The challenge always is, always was, always will be cost. Even in MPs. Even in Hot Toys.

It's particularly acute with Transformers because they require so much more design and materials than comparable figure and vehicle products, but they can't cost much more or they won't sell. We can blame the moms but there's no doubt fans feel that way too...whenever prices nudge upward some of us have to cut back.

 

No, even MPs have budget restraints, FYI. Heck, the fact remains that many Japanese companies have cost and budgeting targets and objectives. Srsly..  
MPs will continue to have a solid future, partly due to the great reception of their releases by most fans, who of course buy their original product which is worth the blood, sweat and tears of its stellar designers--.. and not complain about how 'expensive' it is and go out and get KOs instead..  

 

In reality.... Transformers are fathered by these guys. What a dream job....!

 

There will always be cost restraints - the question is if they are set at a point that is reasonable to still be able to create a good product. For TakaraTomy, they usually are. For Hasbro, not so much.

He sounds like he brings some fresh ideas and I love his ideas on functionality and transformation.

 

thanks for the translation, just read it (sorry late to the party, whatever that means  )

anyway, love love love the explanation of faux-part, felt good to be right with a solid reason  

hope this guy will join the MP design team, his ideas & guide looks like a good match for MP line

p/s: considering buying AoE Drift now ...

 

Yeah I used to be really hugely against faux-parts, but since then I've seen them used well in certain areas and situations. Certainly they are essential to get the MP Primes right. Still, it's nice to hear about someone going out of their way to avoid them on principle.

 

Great read, thanks very much for the translation Syd  

 

This guy was able to deliver some impressive engineering and transformations within budget. I eagerly look forward to whatever he is working on next. His innovation reminds me of Kobayashi back when he first started and Hisashi Yuki.

 

This is the most interesting part of all. He took the job for something that he alone can work on and work with some challenging ideas. Him not really being a Transformers fan beforehand is really interesting but he at least seems to respect the franchise enough.

 

this. Takara caters mainly for the collector community, hence the slight more liberal cost allowance to produce 'collector' grade toys.