Looking at the cybertronian truck mode for Optimus, if you take away the trailer, its almost Identical to Optimus's WFC vehicle mode

 

I wonder if Thrust being green is an Armada reference

 

is that a third party Arcee used as reference?

I think it's Rouge....infact it is,
Review: FansToys FT-24 Rouge - MP-Scale Unofficial Arcee

 

They did such a gorgeous work all around for this movie, goddamn!

 

Personally, I feel like the protoforms are easily the ugliest/worst designs in the movieverse (if not the brand as a whole). I'm actually really glad they're straying away from that direction. The protoforms were never even meant to be seen for extended sequences, so I don't think they ever would have considered using them, at least for Autobots. I suppose they work as generic Decepticon stormtroopers (although the Seekers here work much better), but I can't see them returning nowadays to represent Autobots.

 

PURE GOLD!!!!

 

SHANE BAXLEY on Instagram: “These goofy little appliance #bot s were done for a fun deleted scene. Check it out on the Blu-ray or YouTube! #bumblebee #transformers…”

 

Oh god, that fridge is giving me flashbacks to Requiem for a dream.

 

What were they thinking with those faces (Ironhide and Cliffjumper in particular)?! That is ugly! Annoyed about the discarding of that UNIQUE design of Optimus Prime. Wheeljack and Soundwave look better in these concepts, I like the latter's angularity. Blimey..

 

The orange and blue bots' heads are almost perfect enough to make Mirage and Huffer.

 

I was thinking add a cannon to his chest and he could warpath

 

Yeah, Armada Thrust is back!

 

How about this one? Good clear image.

Studio Series get to producing.

 

They break easily

 

After the first movie a lot of fans trashed the protoforms. I'm one of the few that liked them. It was a convincing way to re-introduce transformers in a real life approach. Don Figueroas designs also was received poorly. So unfortunately they may never appear again.

 

Eh, still better than a lot of the worst Bayformers head designs. Que still gives me nightmares.

 

To me I feel they relied to much on looking like machines, and never really looked like they would work in a every day cybertron. (Especially the decepticons) but the newer designs get that feeling from me. I could actually see ironhide hanging out at a bar or something. I loved the bay designs for their unique take in transformers, but I feel this is the way to go.

 

It doesn't work for everyone. But it made sense to me. A little more color and it would've been amazing.

 

I think I get what you're saying. I don't think there's anything wrong with the idea, I just didn't like the copy-paste nature of them in execution. It gave them a battle droid feel. Even if their pre-earth forms look more alien and stripped-down, I wish they at least had variation. I mean, I get that there were budget limitations back in 2007, but I'd have enjoyed seeing them colored differently, and maybe with different heads and some body details. The comic handles it well, by keeping the basic Protoform structure, but making them look distinct and visually interesting.

This here is a neat design: