To be honest this has been happening a lot recently, I mean radical concepts cleaned up by the time it hits production

 

Not as fond of how IDW it is but I DO love the fact that Giga and Mega are there and he's bulkier. Still wish that for PTOP they'd have done the God/Powermasters instead of the 13; would've been a good excuse to give us those engines.

 

This looks badass, but I'm okay with the version we got.

 

I do find this aspect particularly interesting as I agree there are figures that appear to be more forcefully adapted to the line, such as Galvatron. However, without knowing the development process, it's really hard to judge how far into the planning stage this concept was made and for what specific purpose (character selection, proof of concept, first pass, etc). It may have been quite preliminary, though 2015 fits the standard estimate of 2 years development rather well. It's not like the case of Metroplex where vestigial elements on the toy suggest late alterations.

I'm most curious as to Broadside's development, particularly in regards to the 'jet' mode. Something substantial must have happened as there is no way the final result was initially intended. I'm hoping we'll see something similar there.

 

Very beefy and very stylized! I feel like we’d need a class in between titan and leader for this guy! Maybe supreme class like cybertron and Unicron!

 

Hmmm. Definitely better than the actual toy, but it’s weird because the one we got is also fantastic. But screw wether we got this or not, this art is fantastic! I’d love to see this specific one in a comic or new show.

 

Off the top, what vestigial elements of Metroplex are you referring to?

Agree wholeheartedly about Broadside. It flat out seems like something went WRONG there. That's THE worst "jet" mode EVER. It's worse than G1 "It's a jet because I say it is"

 

WOW. ...Yeah, can I have this figure instead of the final design? Thanks.

 

Wish we had gotten the beefier looking legs on this guy, but otherwise, I'm very happy with what we got.

 

I’m disappointed that the final product didn’t go by this design. It reminds me of all the badass robot designs we got from the Unicron Trilogy days. We need so much more of that.

 

Primarily the inexplicable red pylons within Metro's left shoulder being at a site identified in concept drawings as a city-mode medical bay. They don't serve a clear purpose, but seem to be a heavily eroded leftover of some intended focus. Motifs and stylized elements on the toy also call back to features that were apparently dropped, but that's probably more related to design consistency.

There has to be some tragic backstory with Broadside, where the design team foolheartedly felt they could right past wrongs... Only to be thwarted by a last minute budget cut/supply issue/safety breach. I hope we hear it one day.

 

Looks almost like MMC's Carnifex with the stylized proportions and detailed greebles.

 

Wonder where MMC got that design.  

 

the TR Overlord toy obviously fell victim to cost cutting thus becoming a Sky Shadow retool mostly focused on the top half of the body. there's a 3P upgrade i think for the lower half to make the legs look bulkier

 

The world may never know.

 

I like that better  

 

No, Sky Shadow was a pretool of Overlord. The mold was clearly always intended to be Overlord considering the lower half of both figures are both blatantly Overlord's tank (and, you know, Overlord's the one who has always been a combining jet and tank, not Black Shadow).

 

Beefcake Overlord. I love the version we got for it's G1'ishness but this looks rather spiffy.

Hasbro, release this version and sell me another Overlord, I've room for two!  

 

Ditto. He looks beefed up and intimidating.

 

I didn't even play those games with retail. I pre-ordered my Overlord at BBTS day one.

As for this sketch.....

The only thing I feel my Overlord is missing is that gun and the Ab lasers that fold out. The rest of the sketch in bot mode is a bulky mess IMO.