I'm confused... G1 Bumblebee wasn't a muscle car so why doesn't this count? Unless you just meant designs that aren't common for that character... I think that's what you meant to say here...

Anyway... I've mentioned this in the past but it's been a while since I've gotten to talk about these figures... and other people don't seem to like them for some reason... but I actually really like the Cloud versions of Starscream and Rodimus as well as Titans Return Optimus Prime, Megatron... essentially the Triple Changer versions of characters who aren't normally Triple Changers. This also gives the best of both worlds as each of these includes a vehicle mode they would normally transform into anyway, Starscream as a Jet, Hot Rod as a car, Optimus as a Truck, but also have a second mode you wouldn't normally see, Starscream as a tank, Rodimus as a helicopter, Optimus as a jet. Megatron has been both a jet and a tank before but not usually at the same time. That one probably doesn't count though since Megatron often has a different alt mode all the time anyway.

I also really like the Dragon Train Optimus Prime triple changer from Transformers Go! someone posted earlier. No truck mode but still looks like Optimus.

Speaking of unconventional alt modes... the Rescans toy line from Rescue Bots does include some interesting designs. They don't always make it into the cartoon but I quite liked the motorcycle version of Bumblebee they had. There's also a jet version which is kind of cool too. I don't really care for Off Road Bumblebee cause a jeep in his colors tends to make him look like Swindle instead of Bumblebee.

The rescans series kind of sucks for Optimus though cause they just have him transform into different types of trucks so there's nothing really unconventional.

They seem to get more creative when Optimus is given a beast form cause he's been an alligator, a bat, a gorilla, a lion, a mammoth, a T-Rex, and a dragon. (Technically some of those are never really called Optimus Prime and are different characters but they look like him so I'm counting them anyway.) But as a vehicle he's always some kind of truck. The train and the jet are the most unconventional non-truck Primes out there. Oh and he's technically also been a tank if we count Optimal Optimus... not an Optimus Prime but still an Optimus. And Primal did get that form from G1 Prime's spark so kind of technically counts anyway.

 

For whatever reason, I like seeing Bumblebee reinterpreted into unusual forms. Probably because he's usually a compact car or a muscle/sports car...he's very defined in terms of appearance. So it's fun when something like Jeep Bee comes along (and WW2 Bee).

A few of my own ideas for unconventional Bumblebees:

A Model T
A pickup truck (someone suggested this a while back, and now I want to see it...maybe as Bumblebee Prime)
Anakin's airspeeder from Attack of the Clones
A four door family sedan, so the two back doors can become a second set of wings
A Taxi

 

I always imagined Bumblebee Prime transforming into a school bus.

Taxi Bumblebee already exists.



Also forgot to mention in my last post that the rescans line has a race car Bumblebee which I really don't like because then it just looks like Drag Strip just like the Jeep version ends up looking like Swindle. This is why Bumblebee really needs his iconic G1 head design cause it really helps him stand out from other yellow Transformers especially when they're sharing the same vehicle mode and color scheme.

 

@Rewind Eject came up with the idea of a motorcycle Bumblebee, which I am all for. Starscream could be a drone, like the RQ-170 Sentinel, what RotF Skystalker turns into. In my own personal fanverse, Megatron's an alt mode clothes horse, with his preferred alt mode being a five-headed hydra squid from Quintessa, taken in homage to the Quintessons.

 

I still like that “Octomus Prime” artwork... I wish we got more alt-modes out of left field instead of the usual “car tank jet” trifecta.

 

Octomus Prime? Never see that before. I have seen Optimus Prime Rib.

How many art works based on Animal puns are there?

 

G1 Red Alert as a "fire chief Lamborghini" wasn't disguised, he was advertised. Given that his speed was a mere 3 on his tech spec card, I've always wondered if he was originally intended to be a repaint of Trailbreaker instead of Sideswipe. A Toyota Hilux makes a lot more sense as a fire department vehicle.

 

A Japanese TF fan and artist going by Kamizono144 made this art of Blitzwing as a tortoise and a bird.

 

I actually like the golf cart.

 

Arise, Octopus Prime:

It would also create a nice symmetry with Hoist and Grapple. But I’m guessing they didn’t wanna do three of the Hilux molds, so decided to use the sideswipe mold again.

I kinda dig this. The tortoise head looks kinda wonky with the Lantern Jaw but I guess that’s the result of using the same head for both beast modes, just inverted. I wanna see more G1 characters interpreted with Beast Modes.

 

I'm not usually a fan of beast alt modes, but this is creative, well-executed, and cool. My compliments to the artist!

Ha! Yeah, because the Countach was so underutilized!  

 

Here's a few
Megatron as a triple changer with jet and weapons platform vehicle
Soundwave as an F-22
Shockwave as an artillery gun
Astrotrain as an alien battleship/ gunship
Onslaught as an ICBM
Vortex as a two bladed helicopter
Swindle as an armored assault carrier
Overlord as a two barrel tank with 2 machine gun emplacements

 

Well if Red Alert used the HiLux, then only Sideswipe had the car mode, as sunstreaker was a different mold based off the same base alt-mode.

 

Yeah, I was just thinking of the eventual situation with the Countach being used as an alt mode. Sideswipe, Red Alert, Tigertrack, Clampdown, Deep Cover, Sunstreaker, Cordon, Spinout, and Breakdown made for a pretty big club. I'm not sure the Lamborghini Countach would so iconic with forty-somethings, had it not been for Transformers.

 

Are we talking about alt-modes or toy molds? Because the sideswipe mold was only used twice in transformers, as Sideswipe and Red Alert. It had several reprints in the pre-transformers days and the alt-mode was shared with breakdown (but he was an entirely new mold)

 

Generally, I was speaking of the alt mode (given that it's the subject of this string of posts). However, I did initiate my point by suggesting that Red Alert's theme demanded a more utilitarian alt mode, and that repainting Sideswipe's Lamborghini was an odd choice. I only threw out the HiLux mold as a suggestion because it's a service vehicle. My county doesn't generate the tax dollars to support a Lamborghini for our fire department chief.

In summary, the Countach IMO makes little sense for Red Alert, and to make it worse, in retrospect the Countach has been over-used anyway. I admit I have four Masterpiece figures using the Lambor mold (and like them all), but I was one of those kids with a poster of a Countach hanging on my bedroom wall.

 

Ok, maybe our boy Red Alert looks a bit too much like Animated Ratchet when using the Hilux alt mode. But, I kinda like him all the same.

 

I think a cool alt mode for megatron would be a howitzer: