I LOVE concepts like this and would buy the hell out of them.

 

It would depend mostly on the characters...

Lugnut, Barricade, Lockdown (TFA inspired), Bulkhead

Those are some I'd be interested in.

I like the idea of using 80s vehicles for the inspiration for G1 retro toys and Modern MPs.

 

I posted the Barricade a couple of days ago at the fanart forum, but barealy anyone replied, lol. In any case I just did them as concept  

 

Actually this is my design too:


And I've been working on a Lockdown out of the Mako Shark II concept Corvette:

 

I would 100% buy a G1 MP version of Barricade and Lockdown

 

I get you, I'd love that too!

 

The Mako Shark II looks pretty slick, but I always imagined Lockdown to be more of a muscle car. Maybe the Mako Shark could be Drift?

And hopefully in the Hasui design aesthetics?

Seriously though, I'd pick up Barricade, Lockdown and Drift and probably any reasonable repaints of them.

This is exactly the type of line that will keep me collecting MPs since Seasons 1 & 2 and the movie are pretty much coming to a close.

 

G1 retconned Barricade sounds really cool and I like it.



Would I buy it? Honestly no, because I just don't have the space and cash to spare on such a frivolous character. If I won the lottery, then maybe....

 

...in a heartbeat!..

...here's the deal: any lifelong fans of G1 who were there from the beginning recognise three general eras of the original franchise...

• the golden era ('84-'85, contemporaneous setting) - primarily repurposed, redecorated, and reimagined diaclone, microman, and other transforming toys originally developed by takara and their japanese-market competitors, with character and story development outsourced to marvel and sunbow
• the silver era ('86-'87, 2005-2010 science-fiction setting) - a mixture of never-before-released diaclone designs and new bespoke transformers toys developed by hasbro and takara, with a substantial shift in toy, character, and story design as hasbro executives took a heavier-handed role in directing their creative staff
• the bronze era ('88-90, 2010+ science-fantasy setting) - really heavy-handed direction by hasbro driving the toyline and related lore to explore new marketing gimmicks on a seasonal basis, copying features from competing franchises with significantly diminished investment in the toys' fidelity, characters, and storylines

...i'm not in any way positing that those gold/silver/bronze eras are generally-recognised names, but they were pretty obvious transitions in the G1 lifecycle as it evolved from runaway-hit to also-ran-franchise to sputter-and-fade-discount-fodder, and three major characteristics defining its evolution entailed abandoning the original diaclone/microman design aesthetic, leaving behind the real-world late-twentieth-century setting the franchise was founded upon, and forsaking basic mechanical transformation as the fundamental gimmick for most toys and characters...

...in '85, when the franchise was riding high at its all-time peak popularity, everyone was hungry for more of the same basic premise, anticipating the next wave of reinforcements from cybertron replete with autobot cars, decepticon planes, equipment-specialists and minions, and the occasional special teams of robo-beasts and combiners, but when hasbro instead skipped forward twenty years and started delving into science-fantasy designs, superfluous gimmicks, and underdeveloped fiction, we followed along but our enthusiastic momentum started waning bit-by-bit as the original setting, toy aesthetic, and character design began fading from the franchise...if, instead, the franchise had followed the course set in its original golden era, i can't necessarily say it would have been substantially more successful in the long-term, but it would certainly have retained that peak momentum for a couple more years by keeping the core conceits behind its popularity relevant to the franchise...

...that's a really long-winded way of describing why golden-era reimaginings of additional characters are awesome!..they offer us a chance to explore that twenty-year gap between '85 and '05, to extend and reimagine great characters introduced in newer iterations of the franchise, and to scratch that diaclone/microman itch which typified peak transformers with the benefit of newer manufacturing technologies and engineering techniques which have made masterpiece-style figures such a resounding success...

...i say bring them on!..

 

I went with the Mako Shark II because it's really close to the original Aniamted Lockdown and even closer to that Generations/Movie figure we got before his movie appearance, I'm thinking the toy could have all type of removable accessories to give him that post-apocalyptic look he needs.

And I'd go with a japanese car for Drift, he's sort of a samurai and drifting developed in japan, right? From what I've read, the original toy was a mix of a Nissan and a Mitsubishi, I'd go back and choose a cool late '70s/early '80s car from one of those companies.

 

Exactly! I love the later sci-fi based bots, but I'd have loved seeign more real vehicle based characters. And the first two seasons are or will be mostly covered, in what? a couple of years?

 

I agree with the Japanese car for Drift for sure. There's a thread somewhere on here that people have discussed G1 versions of these characters before. I'll have to see if I can find it.

Any real world vehicle designs with G1 MP robot modes, I'm all in. A Grumman X-29 jet scaled with MP Starscream could make for a nice Slipstream, and a remold into Windblade.

 

Interesting concepts and fun exercise.

But isn't it better to make g1 toys of these concepts first rather than MPs?

 

How about the Nissan Skyline GT-R from 1973 for Drift? It even has a muscle car vibe.

Yeah, I agree a I had a Slipstream/Windblade mold on my list too. The x-29 could work nicely for them.

 

Would be cool, but, would they sell? Not sure how good were the Glacialbots sells, I think it's the closer we ever had to new '80s styled figures.

 

CHUG maybe. MP no.

 

Nissan Skyline GT-R would make perfect sense for Drift.
The car from Death Proof is what I think of when I think of a G1 Lockdown.

And if someone wanted to do a Glyph using a 1980's mini cooper, Id take that as well. The engineering is practically already done with Bumblebee. Still need a Bugbite though.

Could this company do what MMC did with their Artfire and crowdsource it?

Edit:
Or Lockdown could be the V8 Interceptor from Mad Max which was based on a 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT coupe

 

I would LOVE a G1 style Lockdown. Ideally not just a repaint of an existing character though.

 

Heck yeah!

Bayverse Barricade, Stinger, Black Out, Scalpel
Animated Lugnut, Lockdown
Prime Bulkhead, Knock Out, and Airachnid
Rescuebots...everyone?

I NEEEEEED Geewunified versions of the good ideas that the new fangled media cook up

 

Nah. The concept is interesting, but not something I'd buy. Wouldn't hate seeing more art though.