ROTF BLAZE MASTER Autobot News Channel 7 Helicopter ALT & BOT Mode Photos

Discussion in 'Transformers News and Rumors' started by GenZhao, Jun 6, 2009.

  1. knoted

    knoted Resistor Transistor

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    I disagree. The fragment-shrapnel aesthetic ( & having car bonnets split up in two 45 degree angles, to form a chest / torso ) is an ailment of some of the TFTM 1 designs.

    Starscream however, was an exception to that already and so he already 'previews' the improvements of the new ROTF character designs ; see all the new ROTF characters for reference.

    Strong designs usually have indistinguishable silhouettes ( think Mickey Mouse with the iconic Mickey ears ) ; movie Starscream has that ; his diamond shape, just like the F22 raptor ; thus it a very strong design decision. (He's certainly not looking like a shrapnel fragmented TF1 Megatron.)

    The weak decision would be another Silver Bolt : blocky bot with jetbackpack.

    Sorry, but I think you misread me there. I said it is appropiate to his actions, in robot mode ; I refered to the aerial scene where SS slashes through the F22 squadron while he's in flying/jumping robot mode.

    It's called Transformation. Something which Transformers do.

    You probably mean, you would rather see an altmode shape which only has to extend & pop out a few blocky parts in a very linear & straightforward manner, for 'transformation'.....


    I disagree. Even so, there are a lot of animal behaviour sets & articulation which emote to us a human ; a Praying Mantis, spread Eagle, proud like a Peacock, etc etc.

    Also, I don't think he moves like a monkey. He's more like a slashing kind of creature.... an airborne version of Bonecrusher who slashed through that truck on the highway.

    ..which still depends on which G1 traits those people deemed most prevalent. Despite the lack of Decepticon textlines of the first movie, SS definitely emoted that to me.

    Wasn't one of the main character designers a Japanese guy contracted by ILM ? (aside from Ben Proctor) Correct me if I got that wrong, but if that's the case it explains a lot. Just look at ROTF Breakaway ; another design I really like ; which has some anime mecha influences such as a torso which kind of reminds me of Macross Valkeries in gerwalk mode. It's neatly integrated into the F35 mode aesthetic he's supposed to represent and imo, that's a nice touch.


    Like someone else said in this thread : those kind of legs have traits which are more favourable for such leaping & landing actions, the way movie Screamer performs them.

    The human skeletal & muscular system is like a jack of all trades ; master of none. Hence, it is a pretty logical & ideal decision to choose for the way movie Starscream is. Why would he need to 'parade/ cat walk' like a self obsessed metrosexual fashion model ? He doesn't. Instead, he jumps up transforms, and takes out his enemies with slashing melee action, then lands down again sliding into ground battle (the scene where Ironhide goes "It's Stahhh-scream !") . .....

    Thus, he doesn't need a humanoid leg structure.

    Besides, we now see many more ROTF bots with similar chicken legs ... and even weirder ones than Starscream's ; see this Blaze Master...
    ...and then there was the phenomenon, Wheelbots...
     
  2. Alexander Quinn

    Alexander Quinn Well-Known Member

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    Eh. Weird ass legs I can deal with. Only getting one finger and having it made useless by being entombed in kibble makes me cranky. Unless the "hands" can be brought out more, then I'm thinking 'no'.
     
  3. Terrorcon Blot

    Terrorcon Blot Well-Known Member

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    And segueing from legs, I'm a little sad that Blaze Master appears to have lost his gold legs from the Hasbro stock photography. While the white isn't a bad color, and it matches all the other white on him, I just liked the gold for an even stronger Blaze Master tribute.
     
  4. darfjono

    darfjono ich bin ein internetter

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    that's what the premium releases are for :horse: 
     
  5. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    Some of the new designs do fare better at incorporating a strong visual connective motif between the 2 modes... in the case of Starscream, however, I think they carried over the least visually attractive aspect of the F22 in order to make a misshapen looking robot with goofy proportions.

    I think you mean "distinctive" or "unmistakable" , not "indistinguishable", since that means sort of the opposite of what you are getting at.

    And I agree with your point comparing Starscream to Megatron... though part of that is because Megatron's alt mode is already pretty unrecognizable to begin with.

    The weak decision would be another Silver Bolt : blocky bot with jetbackpack.

    You seem to be reading my comments, but you should work on your comprehension. I think you would like peg my opinions into a convenient "geewunner" pigeonhole, so you're basically making stuff up and pretending I said it... but that doesn't really advance your point at all. Try again.

    Starscream looks like a big messy gorilla with bird legs. You can exclaim all you want over how "exciting" that design is, but in the end, even within the parameters allowed for Bayformers, I think they could have done a lot better for Starscream. Something sharper and sleeker, with a looming wingspan, maybe? More avian, less simian? Something alien that still conveys a languid speed and power without sacrificing elegance? And yes... something more humanoid, perhaps? For all the "bestial" influences on Bayformer Monstercons (er, Decepticons), I believe they are most inappropriate for Starscream... at least in as much as Movie Starscream is still fundamentally the same character as his G1 self (much as Prime, Jazz, Megatron, etc... all reflect their original personas).

    True. Too bad they didn't choose appropriately for Starscream.

    Er... no. Still a monkey... or perhaps a chimp? Bonecrusher was basically a chimp on rollerblades. :) 

    Again, I think you're reading too much into it. Starscream had embarrassingly little screen time, and barely any character development in TF1. Ask a viewer with no pre-existing awareness of Transformers what they got from Starscream, and I can pretty much guarantee you won't get much of anything, let alone a emotive portrait of traditional Starscream traits.

    Interesting, when one considers that there's a world of difference between those two designs. Personally, I think the Breakway design would have made a great starting point for Starscream, though his proportions are a bit heavy, and he would emote Starscream's haughtiness better with a higher placed and more articulated head.

    Which curiously didn't impede the very-humanoid Autobots from bounding around like a troop of Cirque de Soleil tumblers.

    A lot of fans tend to try to rationalize the Bayformer designs on the basis of pragmatic concerns and perceived "realism" when the truth of the matter is that those aesthetics are as defined by whim and style as any oldschool bots. Starscream had bird legs not because he needed them to hop around like a sparrow or seize prey like a hawk, but because the designers wanted to make him birdlike (and apparently apelike as well), and that idea informed their design process. In actual fact, there's no reason he should be any less humanoid than Prime or Megatron.

    I would say that there's no reason for him to caper like a fashion model in order to convey human notions of vanity or arrogance, but in a movie where Jazz breakdances, Bumblebee bounces like Muhammad Ali, and Ironhide handsprings like a Peking Opera performer, I don't think you have a bird-leg to stand on.

    And that's not even stopping to consider what antics Mudflap and Skids will no doubt be up to in the next film, or what kind of "feminine" posturing the bike triplets will do. Jetfire's got a friggin' robo-stache and A CANE, and gripes like an old man while scratching his ass! Talk about human mannerisms!

    And you're trying to argue that an inhuman bird-monkey-like model is the only sensible option for Starscream? It is to laugh.

    What do you want me to say? Yes... Blazemaster does look even stupider than Starscream. And the Unicycle-bots are some of the ugliest excuses for Transformers I've ever seen. Agreed. Got me there. :) 

    I agree. His bird legs bother me... but if he had better arms and bodily proportions, this might still be on my "to buy" list. I bought Dropkick in the first Movie line, and I loved it. Instead, Blazemaster just looks like a half-assed, unfinished concept. :( 

    zmog
     
  6. knoted

    knoted Resistor Transistor

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    Sorry, english is not my first language....

    Sorry, but you weren't really saying what you would deem a great design for him in specifics ; so I can only guess at what you would precisely want to see.

    I give up on this argument game :(  I'm just saying from my honest pov how I feel about the design. If you can't see or acknowledge that, then the convo kind of ends here.

    Well, at least..... the fans who like movie Screamer...at least we got him in 2 movies & 2 toy molds...and the upcoming leader class version:thumb 
     
  7. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    In that case, not to worry... you're doing very well considering. :) 

    Well, "more humanoid" is not necessarily the same thing as "exactly like a G1 animation model".

    Now that I've mentioned some of the aspects I would have preferred, and also discussed the Breakaway design, you probably have a better idea of what I mean.

    Fair enough. We all have our opinions... but the argument/debate comes when we try to express why we think it should be that way, in objective terms. I certainly can't fault you for liking the design... but I can disagree with some of the reasons that you give for it being a "good" design in the context of the film.

    Yeah... after the piece of junk the first Starscream mold was, you guys deserve something better, at least. ;) 

    zmog
     
  8. AniProwl

    AniProwl Banned

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    Besides the chicken legs and crab claws, I'll buy it.
     
  9. Autobot Burnout

    Autobot Burnout ...and I'll whisper "No."

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    Hmmm, might pick it up, depends if I have money and nothing else better to buy. The legs don't bug me to be honest, and the hands are fine too (I love movie Incinerator, who essentialy a cybertronian Edward Scissorhands, just replace the scissors with huge sharp propelers of death). I also like the head, personaly.