I have to respectfully disagree on the robot hanging underneath part. Besides Firefight here, the Zeta planes look pretty spot on to the G1 toys to me. They all have big blocks of robot underneath. Sleek they are not in my humble opinion. I'm happy enough with how the zeta look overall myself.

 

What material do you suggest for the heads? FUD or FED

 

I honestly didn't remember them cheating that much with the Aerialbots, though I can't say it surprises me. Wow did they shrink Fireflight's arms on the side of him. IIRC Slingshot was the only one who was really focused on individually so I may have projected from him.

I guess that means someone going for an animation accurate version should do it afterall, however the only combiners who have even attempted that style are the upcoming XTB and DX9 Stunticons (well the XTB, I'm not really sure on DX9). TW/Zeta has always used more Toy influence than other companies.

 

Wow, that Superion looks so clean and beautiful! All he needs now are his toon faceplate and gun capability to mount on the lower arm. Also, if that Superion wing can be detached off, that would've been perfect. As of now, I don't foresee anyone would top this Superion for awhile. In the earlier Air Raid pic/ video review, I was wondering why the heck would Zeta gave Air Raid (or leg bots) the capability to flip the jet nosecone into the cockpit when it should be exposed out in robot mode. After seeing this rendering, now I know why, so Superion could bent his knee/leg. Very smart move, take that CW Superion, lol! Lastly, seeing how Superion wing back looks so good, it's just ashamed it can't flip 180 degree to make Silverbolt robot back. That would improve Silverbolt wing looks as well more toon accurate.

As much as I love this Superion, gotta pass for now. Can't stand Fireflight toy head...or even Superion toy face. But at least Superion toy face is forgivable thanks to Dreamwave Comic G1 Superion, lol.

 

Yea, 8:think the Zata aerial bot so far look pretty good! It would be hard to make the underside disappear like seekers due to the triple changer aspect. There is not much place to hide superion elbow in a jet and if you did I’m afraid you would need partsforming add ones so he did not look too skinny. I would rather have som blockyness and avoid as much parts forming as possible.

 

I didn't say none, I said less. Yes, G1 Air Raid has an obvious chunk of robot underneath. But it's still only half as deep as Zeta's. Again---new ones should be better, not worse.

 

Looks fine to me it's still going to sell so can't see a point changing it now I'm happy with the toy look so it will do me

 

I'll admit when I'm wrong David Hintgen and I stand corrected regarding the cartoon alt modes. I also didn't remember them cheating so much in the toon. Probably because of Slingshot still having the big block on his belly...

 

I have to agree with David. G1 toy or G1 animation isn't the main issue here. The issue is that these guys are supposed to be MP Aerialbots.

Look at all the MP stuff released so far (official or 3P), most of them have little to no bot kibble hanging off their alt modes.

At the same size as MP Starscream, I would expect the alt modes to look a lot cleaner than they are even when taking into account combiner engineering.

I give figures with no real world representations of alt modes a pass when they have bot kibble (Apeface being an example) but when the alt mode is a representation of a real world vehicle (as these planes are) I expect them to look a lot more realistic for me to consider them MP worthy. Else they are just over-sized CHUG toys in my mind cause that aesthetic is more acceptable for CHUG figures.

 

IMO the kibble makes them look like actual transforming giant robots.

And making a slim and round aeroplane into a blocky robots seems a little impossible to me, one or the other guys

 

It seems to me that the main cause for the under-plane kibble is the fact that the designers want a bot mode with a barrel chest, skinny waist, and flared hip skirts. This is your traditional comic book body form. So they proceed to hang this protruding chest and recessed waist under the plane.

But I think they could have achieved the same desired effect differently by having the chest panel collapse for plane mode but slide out for bot mode, and then they could have had panels fold out from the forearms to fill in the waist recess in plane mode. The same panels that open to allow the bot fists to appear could have done double duty and also covered the waist recess in plane mode. This would allow both for a manly bot mode and a smooth underside in plane mode.

 

I agree. Plus it's very acceptable to me how they look because all the modes look so G1. Toon and Toy (Toy more so), but still. I'd rather they have that kibble on the plane bottom than having huge panel kibble in bot mode like the Zeta Combaticons have.

These look like great MP Arealbots.

Cannot wait to get them and see more pics of the others.

 

TT did it with MP03. That had both rounded sides with the F-15 conformal tanks and chunky Seeker bot modes. Admittedly, they botched the transformation and didn't do the right thing with the conformal tanks, but tinkerers and IGear figured out a fix for that.

 

Max makes a good point, what your describing does sound a lot like the Zeta Combaticons. Maybe it could be done better, but in the end I still prefer these to the panel kibble in bot mode. The one I thought of is KFC Transister. I don't like the panels folded up on his forearms either.

As for collapsing the chest, right now it can't because that is where the arms are, so you would have to have them go somewhere else (or have them hang under the collapsed chest, but that would more or less be an even trade with more parts). Also Fireflight and Slingshot have their combiner port there, that can't collapse because it needs to be solid for a strong combiner joint, and Superion's elbow.

EDIT: I figure I should add Air Raid and Sky Dive. If the chest was made to collapse it could compromise the integrity of their torsos which have to support Superion's weight. It could be handled, but why take the risk when the other two have such serious blockades already.

The best option for real plane Aerialbots is simply one without Superion.

 

Yep, I've seen it done. It's not impossible. Honestly, these designs just seem lazy to me. Like they were just trying to get something out the door as fast as possible. Something this pricey shouldn't be so easily confused for the $15 combiner wars figures.

 

First, these are not being confused for Combiner War figures. I would say the comparison is more towards oversized TFC Uranus Areialbots than CW.
Second, I hardly think these are pricey figures. If they follow suit they will be priced around $60, which is a value for today’s 3rd Party MP style figures.

I won’t dispute if you think they are lazy or rushed designs because that is your opinion. From the Chosen Prime reviews they looked really good and fit in well in all the comparison shots.

 

They have been up for preorder at $60 for a while.

I had a similar reaction to the comment about "confusing them with CW figures". Though I guess it could be real. With the OS KO Superion being shown at TFCon people kept asking which Superion it was, I saw several people asking if it was Zeta, though I can't really see how they made that mistake.

 

Never had FED last time I ordered so not sure what that is. FUD was very detailed though with no print lines.

 

I absolutely thought this was a KO oversized combiner wars when the pics first popped up without any source. Price is subjective in that $60 doesn't seem like a lot to some but it does to others. From my perspective, $60 is cheaper than most other 3P figures or TT MPs but it's still a lot to ask for a toy that looks to have no clever engineering or design.

 

Easy to tell the difference in combined mode, the hands don't hang to the ankles and no skeleton elbows. Plus it looks like he can go toe to toe with decepticon combiners and not be punked on the playground