Faux parts...how do you feel about them?

Discussion in 'Transformers General Discussion' started by Atomic Tofu, Jan 25, 2019.

  1. Atomic Tofu

    Atomic Tofu Well-Known Member

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    So, I think this would be the first dedicated thread about faux parts? I know we TF fans make comments here and there on various figures about the issue, yay or nay.

    If I'm wrong, please delete this thread. But, if I'm right...let us begin.

    This deals mostly with G1 era Transformers figures I believe, as the later gen doesn't seem to need "toon or toy accurate" versions. Again, if I'm wrong please correct as I found it rather difficult to "get into" any other generation.

    I guess things began with MP-10 and his fake abs and to the most current official MP in, Megatron's MP-36 and the fake shoulder "hahns".

    Not counting Bay-verse TF as it would be a pre-requisite to have faux parts.

    How do you feel about faux parts? Do you hate them? Do you not mind them if they harken back to "toy accurate" G1 incarnations? Do you have not care either way?

    I for one, don't like faux parts, only because of the fact it makes for easy and lazy pseudo approximation transformations.

    EDIT: I just realized, perhaps MP 39 sunstreaker is the most current, with his fake windshield and faux shoulder stacks.
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2019
  2. MetalkingRazor

    MetalkingRazor Well-Known Member

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    It depends on the toy/character. I know, for example, that the MP BW Dinobot had some faux chest which is a little understandable because it would be difficult to have a show accurate Dinobot figure while still having the beast mode head look what it looks like on Dinobot’s robot mode chest.
     
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  3. MishMash

    MishMash Well-Known Member

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    it's disappointing for sure. However if it's like the MPs, using faux parts for more accuracy with its proportions is fine. I'd rather have them if they make it look right in their normal mode, however if it's not well concealed in the robot mode, it's kinda lame.
     
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  4. geekatron prime

    geekatron prime The Grammar Police must be on strike.

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    Doesn't matter to me either way. As long as I get a good representation of the character, don't mind faux parts.
     
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  5. SPLIT LIP

    SPLIT LIP Be strong enough to be gentle

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    It depends. If the original design just renders it impossible, like how a lot of G1/BW/TFA characters had their alt mode parts distort and morph between modes, I'm okay with it. If it's got a reason, basically.

    Not so much if it's a case of simplicity/laziness, like say if you've got a G1 Starscream and he's got a faux cockpit for no other reason than they just didn't engineer enough moving parts for the real cockpit to flip down and it just sits on his back or something.

    I also don't mind if the actual character design itself features faux parts in-fiction ala a lot of TFA designs. (like Bumblebee's chest roof being a deliberately separate piece simply to homage the G1 character) In fact I kind of like it when TF designs are "motif-ed" after their alt modes, like TM Megs' organic T. Rex head chest, or RID Wedge/Landfill's little shovels on his helmets. I actually wish that kind of stuff would make a comeback.
     
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  6. Dolza_Khyron

    Dolza_Khyron Well-Known Member

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    I'd rather have fakey grills and windshields in robot mode, than horrible vehicle modes. Especially if it means we can have better results for both. As long as the "real" ones and the "Fake" ones hide away in the alter mode well enough.

    I don't want a transformer that is supposed to have the wheels on the shoulders, also have wheels hanging off on the back. That are not supposed to be there. Because that'd just look very silly.
     
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  7. Runamuck86

    Runamuck86 Well-Known Member

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    the only one that i can think of that i really bothers me are the false cockpits on most of my Starscreams .

    If it helps towards having a better robot or vehicle mode I dont mind too much .
     
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  8. Novaburnhilde

    Novaburnhilde Destron Enforcer

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    I get why it may need to exist on a toy (That's not to say that sometimes it can't just be downright silly), but on a character model for a show, movie or game it may be a bit more of an issue to me. Maybe.
     
  9. pilot00

    pilot00 Well-Known Member

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    Αesthetics and quality matter to me more than something that is completely nonsensical with the current technology. If we ever manage to have adaptable nano machines that actually transform into toys we can talk about this then.

    In the meantime, I am happy with whatever makes the modes look clean and well proportioned. My opinion is the same regarding parts forming.

    I am gonna spend how much? 20 minutes? Half an hour? Transforming them back and forth? But I am gonna spend years staring at them so thats what it matters to me.
     
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  10. KremzeekTyCobb

    KremzeekTyCobb Tears that soak a callous heart

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    Not a fan. Take the G1 triple changers. Blitzwing and Astrotrain relied on very clever transformation schemes to go from alt mode to alt mode. Then Octane comes along and half the damn transformation is a giant cover for the plane/tanker. Very un-creative and unoriginal.
     
  11. Murasame

    Murasame 村雨

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    Nope, Powermaster Optimus Prime already had fake grill and windows. But I liked it, because it made him look more like the cartoon.

    If the character has a cartoon counterpart, I like when the only way to achieve this look is using fake parts. But if not, I rather not have fake parts and just want a good looking robot and alt mode.
     
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  12. CountDrunkula

    CountDrunkula Sturdy Beard

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    ...I don't have feelings about them, because that is a silly thing to have feelings about.

    My only concerns with TFs are that they look good and articulate well as robots. If they look good in their altmode(s) that is icing on the cake. If it takes "faux parts" to achieve any of those things, I could not care less.
     
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  13. EarthGBilly

    EarthGBilly Sucker for a GERWALK Mode

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    I didn't really think about it bothering me much, but I think it does to some extent.

    I think it stems from the idea of Transformers itself. Faux parts are designed to make the Bot-mode of a Transformer match a certain aesthetic. But, in my head, according to the idea of them being "programmed" with an alt-mode to blend in, the Bot-mode should also change to reflect that. Giving faux windshields, engines, etc. doesn't give with that idea.
     
  14. StrangePlanet

    StrangePlanet G1

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    It's nice. The first time I ever wanted a Transformers toy was Masterpiece Convoy MP-1 and Binaltech Smokescreen, BT-01, and the Masterpiece did this clever thing of using a different grill for the truck and the abs in robot mode. Everyone praised how clever it was and how accurate it made both the truck and the robot. So I guess I'm used to it, and actually like it.
     
  15. Grimlock_13

    Grimlock_13 Currently facepalming at your post

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    I couldn't care less about them. If it gives the toy two decent mode representations then bring it on.
     
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  16. SaberPrime

    SaberPrime Banned

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    I don't think there has been a dedicated thread on the subject but it is something that has come up in various other conversations so I think you're good.

    Nope, you got it totally backwards. G1 Era Transformers figures were made BEFORE the animation models so they didn't have to worry about adding fake parts to the toys for the sake of screen accuracy. It's only in later generations that fake parts started to become a thing as the toy designers couldn't figure out how to make a part shift in transformation the way it's shown in the art so they'd just make a fake part.

    Though considering Laser Rod Optimus Prime was toy only to begin with I'm not sure why they felt the need to have a fake windshield and grill on his chest at all. Just because G1 Optimus Prime had it didn't mean that G2 Optimus Prime needed it. It's kinda become a standard thing now... like even Lio Convoy has it and he's not even a truck. But back then I don't think people associated that look with Optimus Prime as much as they do now.

    Ideally I would prefer that parts actually shifted the way they're suppose to rather than being replaced with a fake part.

    In some cases I can understand why the fake parts are necessary so I usually don't mind even though I prefer they weren't necessary.

    However there are a few cases I've seen where a figure has fake parts that aren't even necessary.

    What I mean by necessary or unnecessary is just to use Optimus Prime as an easy example. That G2 Laser Rod version makes sense because his actual windshield ends up on his back. Cybertron and RID2 Optimus Prime again I can see why it's necessary because the real windshields are located on their shoulders. The way those figures are designed there is no way to move the windshield from it's location in vehicle mode to the robot mode chest.

    There's a version of Prime Optimus that I freaking hate because the real windshield does actually end up on his chest anyway. There's no reason for the fake windshield to exist when it's sitting on top of the real one. You could remove the fake part and it wouldn't effect the look of the robot mode one bit. Why the hell is it there? PotP Optimus does the same thing and it's even more obvious because you have to open both sets of windshields in order to put the Matrix in his chest. It makes a little bit more sense here because it fills out the chest better an makes him fit more flush into the armor but it still annoys me that the actual windshield is directly under the fake one.

    Masterpiece Cheetor and Dinobot do this too. Why do they have fake beast heads when their actual beast mode heads are directly under those panels? You could remove those parts and it wouldn't have any effect what so ever on the figures... Except that they also have extra parts to make their beast modes more expressive so you'd always need to swap out those parts before transforming them to robot mode otherwise you're going to end it with some oddly expressive chests. Still the fake beast heads are totally unnecessary when their actual beast heads are correctly oriented in the robot mode already anyway.

    Having a fake windshield or beast head on the robot chest should only happen if it's impossible to shift the real part into that location. If the real part is actually in the correct location for robot mode then you don't need faux parts. That's pointless and redundant. If I can remove the faux parts without changing the look of the robot mode than they didn't need to be there in the first place.
     
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  17. Predakwon

    Predakwon ...Green Lantern's light!

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    Same here.

    Gladly have them vs super-complicated-origami-panel massaging transformations easily. MP-5 and Mp-9 are examples of transformations I hate.
     
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  18. WishfulThinking

    WishfulThinking The world has moved on...we've always said.

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    I was thinking about PM Optimus Prime myself. I think that's the first occurrence in the Transformers series to really use faux parts to get screen accuracy - and I liked it!
     
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  19. RetroElectro

    RetroElectro Well-Known Member

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    I'm fine with fake parts. Use a fake part, take out a section of the hood and mass shift it away, whatever---to me they're just means to an end. It's just another tool in the toolbox designers can use to improve the sculpt or proportions of one of the modes. Actually, if the primary mode most of us display or interact with TF is the botmode and their alt mode is the "disguise", wouldn't that make the alt mode part the fake one?

    It's interesting that no one really talks about the ultimate fake part on G1 prime which is his pelvis. Prime's pelvis is supposed to be the truck's bumper & details morphed through the lens of Kohara & Dery. For people that don't like fake parts, do the G1 primes that don't use the truck's bumper "as intended" in bot mode seem wrong or is there something about it that makes it acceptable?
     
  20. Lex79

    Lex79 Well-Known Member

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    I don't mind fake parts when they are used to replicate changes in shapes and proportions between modes that would be otherwise impossible to achieve,like Ultra Magnus' rear wheels that become smaller in robot mode or Sunstreaker's chest. I'm against them when they are used to simplify transformation and engineering, like a Starscream figure that has a fake nosecone molded on his chest.
     
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