and is there an in universe reason why? To prevent bad actors (MECH for instance) from messing with them?

 

The novels are rather good. there are three of them the third one is hard to find at libraries so you may want to order it when you start the second book.

 

Why wasn't classic pretender Grimlock's shell a t-rex?

 

Who is the smallest Transformer (ignoring the movieverse)? Is it Browning?

 

Probably either the Microcons that form Reedman in ROTF or the Nanocons from MTMTE.

 

Nanocons are drones as far as I know (don't follow the comics), and are therefore not spark owners.

And the little ROTF balls are exactly why I included "ignoring the movieverse"

 

Because all the classic pretender shells were humans

 

Well, let's be honest, the Pretender idea as executed by Hasbro is kind of silly: giant robots disguising themselves as giant humans or monsters. Not that I'm a fan of the TT approach where the human suit either just (dis)appeared like magic and the Transformer shrank (or morphed?) to be human sized without robot parts sticking out, but at least they could blend in with humans on Earth. Although I can see the Decepticons working as giant monsters, but the Autobots had human shells generally, and that is just dumb on Earth -- in Marvel the shells were more armour and Remote Controlled reinforcements than disguise, although they were usefull as such when Cloudburst and Landmine went to an alien space station.

But a robot who turns into a mechanical T'Rex hiding inside an organic T'Rex in armour.....that's another whole other level.


A better question would be why Jazz his shell wasn't made to resemble Scatman Crothers. The man had died by that time and giving Jazz a shell that resembled him would've been a great hommage to his iconic voice acting. (Perhaps because of legal rights)

 

Even if legal issues came into play all they really had to do was make the shell a black guy and most of the fans would’ve been happy enough

 

Why does Rhinox’s beast mouth contain rows of what look like canines or reptile teeth, when most of a rhino’s teeth are flat molars?

 

Probably because they thought it looked cool.

 

You’re probably right, though it’s a shame they went that route.

 

Rhinox's lower jaw actually cuts open and unfolds inside-out, using added joints in jawbone segments to flip its frame, so the sharp anchors of his beast teeth are exposed rather than the actual tooth end of the teeth; a custom aspect of his transformation. Because Rhinox is just that hardcore.

 

 

The blue font color is not showing up on my screen for some reason.  

I re-watched some cartoon footage and it appears that his “chest teeth” don’t originate from the rhino mouth at all. They appear to sprout from the rhino’s underbelly or crotch. The original toy uses the rhino lower jaw, but those teeth are smaller and fairly blunt.

 

There is none because I think not immediately giving away your joke by marking your sarcasm with a designated color benefits the joke more than a possible misunderstanding which can be immediately cleared up would detract from it

 

Solid point.

 

Why the rescue bots have better equipment and base of operations (fire house bunker and rescue academy) than team prime and bee team( missle silo and a junkyard)?

 

The missel silo was kinda badd ass though. it had everything that Ratchet needed.

 

They are able to operate semi-in the open by passing as "very advanced drones", at least within their hometown. The Bee Team are still in deep cover. Enough of a disguise to keep them safe from 'Cons (early on) and human bad actors like Silas, but it allows them to transform and use their gear in public.

 

For the new Jhiaxus coming, would him being a repaint of Armada Starscream again be fine if he was coloured correctly this time?