If it didn't look like complete garbage, maybe.

 

I'm betting that this McLaren is a con... We already have enough Autobots

 

I'd love to see a sleek, red fem-fatal in the in the films, but I agree the design isn't that great. If nothing else, using that design would go from screwing over the toys designers to laughing in their faces.

I honestly have no idea how anyone could actually be worried about how Bay will treat characters who have already appeared in his films.

The difference with those Animated and Prime characters is that they were using pre-existing names (or variations on them). The problem is with completely original names. There has rarely been a good original name for a TF since 85. That's why I'm fine with name-slaps. If TF creators came up with new names every time they wanted a new character, we'd be stuck with shows full of Dinos and Ques. Heck, I love BW, but names like Cheetor, and Rhinox suck.

 

Well, considering your track record, that'd be a hard sell no matter how good it looked.

 

I liked the Arcee bikes.

My problem with that decepticon design is it doesn't look like it turns into anything - same problem I had with Lockdown really. Oh, sure, there's headlights from the car...but where's the rest of the kibble?

 

Keep in mind this is concept art for the fourth movie, where car kibble was pretty much nonexistant. I highly doubt it at this point, but pretend the McLaren was this female transformer, if they modified the art, it would be fairly easy to add kibble.

 

I don't like that super humanoid head.

 

No, because simply slapping car parts on a frame is no better than the cheap excuse Transformium was: they dont actually have a laid out transformation scheme so much as just pull T-1000 morphing. Because the kibble isn't integrated into the robot mode in a way that isn't basically shellforming. The robots are supposed to BE the vehicles, not merely wearing them or even just morphing parts into different shapes. Otherwise what makes the film transformers different from vaguely humaniod shapeshifters like the robots in Hot Wheels Accelerators or the mimics from Edge of Tomorrow?

 

I still maintain the thought that it would be pretty easy to modify existing art to incorporate kibble, just think about what parts would go where during the transformation. It's not a literal science, they're CGI robots.

 

Then how to they translate them into the toyline without making them into total shelformers?

 

so ... maybe the mclaren IS a decepticon and and anthony hopkins is actually being kidnapped !?

a very crazy option would be that he is barricade ... his g1 toy is red in colour ... and all points to barricade being in the bumblebee film, so it would be ironic that he looked like stinger, who is supposed to be an evil bumblebee

or he is an autobot and he is rescuing hopkins from TRF !?

damn, its so confusing ... like TRF, I suppose

 

In all fairness, that is a really good question. My suggestion is that we go back to ROTF era engineering, where the figures were overcomplicated, but decently screen accurate. I know it's a slim to none chance, but I know it can be done. Hell, a little shell never bothered me anyway, if sacrifices had to be made.

 

I would think having larger discernible chunks of alt. modes for body parts also had something to do with it.

Like, even just compare DOTM Megatron's voyager to AoE Galvatron's voyager. The former integrates the truck into the body AS the body - fuel tank trailer is his legs (with the tank forming the core of those legs and his default weapon which itself is one of the better MechTech armaments thanks to the ability to "lock" the trigger mechanism in the open position), the nose of the truck splits to become his chest and shoulders, and the cape being able to fit securely in both modes with some clever use of negative space is a unique accessory. And if you have any version of Evasion Prime, he even can wield his shotgun through tabbing it into the inside of his arm.

The latter, however...well, it is kind of telling how the truck cab is a significantly darker shade of gray than the standard 'not-silver' light gray of the robot mode, and in robot mode all the dark gray parts signifying the actual alt. mode parts are shoved onto the back to the degree you could remove every piece of the alt. mode and the robot mode still looks the same beyond the obviously not-screen-accurate kibble backpack being gone. Because as this gif made by a review blog back before the film was released, you can see absolutely zero integration of the alt. mode into the robot - it all just folds up into a collapsed box on his back and even his legs with the wheels turn so THEY ARE NOT SHOWING THE WHEELS IN THE FRONT.


And this is embarrassingly bad because AoE Galvatron's truck is about the same shape and size to CW Motormaster...and it is painfully clear which one is better as a robot because the alt. mode is required to be incorporated into the robot mode. Which means car parts can't just be thrown on at random without a solid idea of how they get from point A to point B in ANY physical sense.

 

You bring up a very valid point about DOTM Megatron and even motormaster being superior transformation wise, but it's kinda funny how, technically, Galvatron is the most screen accurate, and if you take his backpack off entirely, it makes his transformation even more accurate. I don't think that the cubic transformations were a good idea at all but the toy designers did what they could.

Which leads me to the thought that even if you just add more kibble to a piece of concept art like the one I shared it's at least something for the toy designers to work with.

 

I wouldn't mind if the McLaren turned out to be Knockout 

 

I would love that so much!

 

If you take in account that Stinger was supposed to be a consumer product and had to look consumer friendly, and Window Maker is technically Stinger, she's supposed to look humanoid.

 

I don't care at all for the toys, but I doubt that red McLaren will transform into the widow maker. That design fits better for another group of transformers, like the i.e., quintessons/Lockdown, for instance.