Someone predicted it, and it's come true. A lot of the people who were turned off by these designs are now warming up to them and singing their praises. Reading through this thread, I'm not sure whether everyone has converted to loving the designs, or if the ones who hate them have just given up posting about it.

The Ratchet design looks broken to me, and it still just doesn't feel like a Transformer. The robot designs so far are just messy and ugly in my opinion. There's nothing sleek or streamlined about any of them. I just feel that if they're going to change things THIS MUCH, they shouldn't bother doing the movie at all -- or at the very least, call it something else. This isn't just a new take on Transformers. This is like a whole new property. There have always been other transforming robots that are not "Transformers." These robots feel like they should belong to some other property.

And anyway, Ratchet's vomit-and-blood color scheme really turns me off. I actually do see a similarity between his face and a Bionicle mask I've seen, as well as some of the characters from Kamen Rider Hibiki. ::shrug:: Reminds me of so much other stuff than Transformers...

 

Don't worry. I think that they are showing us "battle damage" designs, and that the actual bot designs are being saved for the theatrical release. Why else would they show us robots that look like they came from " Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey"?

 

They remind me of that episode in most cartoons where something happens and a garbage monster is made from a junkyard by assembling bits of garbage and scrap, or accumulates things as he walks around destroying stuff.

Imagine these designs moving around really fast and fighting - it will look more like large piles of junk and good luck telling any body pieces apart when the fists start flying.

 

the main problem i guess is that with a lot of what we have seen, the robots seem to have some sort of manga-robot thing going on:

Small torso
Big shoulders
Long arms
Long legs
Big feet!

What is up with that!?

reminds me of Teknoman (whoohoo) But why? this aint a mangarobot movie, it's TRANSFORMERS!

 

That does happen a lot!  

 

I love him, I love him, I love him!

This movie shall rock!

 

You'd better not delude yourself into thinking that. Especially since the Bumblebee prop looks just like the Bumblebee concept art. It's not even that they're "showing us" anything, since all these concepts have reached us through leaks.

 

Sorry, just not Transformers to me. Looks too much like a generic anime robot. Ratchet kinda reminds me of Patlabor with the red shoulder lights. And to me, these designs look MORE FAKE AND UNREALISTIC than the original TF's or the MP and Binaltech/Alternators lines. If only the'd have went with something like the MP look for these bots, then I could be happy. These designs just suck as representations of Transformers.

 

Looks like an enemy of the Power Rangers. Its like a parrot or sometin'

 

Looks like a walking crushed peice of paper. Doesn't even identify with Ratchet or the Transformers in the least little bit. I could see if they made the face somewhat identifiable but they did not even do that.

 

The robot designs are growing on me. The heads however, just look like crap. Why couldn't they atleast get the heads right?

 

not bad.... not bad at all..... i still have problems with some of the heads though.

that and the use of the hollywood stereotype for "alien" for most of the designs, even when they're not that bad to me, they could have been much better.

not exactly, it's just that most of the hate went out with the most screwed up designs like megs or starscream or the most iconic like prime or bumblebee. jazz & blackout got about the same amount of fan support that ratchet is having so far.

 

Maybe this has been said before but I will not be buying any of the movie figures I've seen so far. I will see the movie once, but I have ZERO interest in the movie Transformer figures. I hope Hasbro is listening. I am however buying the new TAKARA MP-05 Megatron. In fact I'm buying 2 of them, one as a gift.

 

In my case, it's the latter. Can't be bothered. It's all been said. There's only so many shots I can take at these designs before it gets old.  

Whenever a new design is "leaked", I'm reminded of how wrong this whole approach is, and really... I can't believe that there are people who claim not to see the Bionicle aesthetic at work here. My pet theory is that in an attempt to court a child demographic for the movie and toys, the design team for this film consciously took this direction because Bionicles are so damn popular.

That said, Bionicles are kind of cool... but I don't want my TFs to look like them.  

Bottom line is that some of these movie designs are more pleasing than others. Some are kind of cool looking, in their way. But overall, they're a good long way off from what most people will be expecting (or wanting) to see.

And if anyone else wants to say "But these are WAY more realistic!" I'm not even gonna bother responding to that tired bit of rhetoric... I'm just gonna track them down, fly to their city, take a cab their street, knock on their door, and when they answer, smack them with a large rubber mallet. Realistic, my arse.

...grumblegrumblegrumble...

 

Yeah, I haven't posted because I didn't want to just spout off my dislike since that doesn't add anything. That said, I'm going to do it anyway. "ick". These things look like poo to me. I just can't get behind this look for Transformers. They're ok as something else, but just don't work for me AS Transformers. I'll see the movie and probably buy some of the toys - although that is iffy because head sculpts are a big part of my liking a toy and these are so far off my aesthetic map that it isn't even funny. I'm glad some people like them, but I just can''t get into them.

 

I actually liked the Blackout design, probably because he's not based on an existing robot (that I can think of). Still, I had a problem with the construction of his arms, and some other things. The main problem is that these designs are just too busy. When they start to move on screen, it's not going to look right.

That being said, humor me for a moment. Take the original G1 cartoon designs. Make the joints more realistic and give them a slight upgrade akin to the Classics figures. Then render it to look like real metal with paint scratches and everything. "Realistic" is a relative term. The Japanese made a live-action Gigantor film a few years back. Gigantor, my friends, along with Black Ox. Big, ultra-cartoony robots, but they looked believable simply because they were rendered for live action. I guess I'm just saying that the "more realistic" argument doesn't work here. The designs are too cluttered, and I think something simpler and more ICONIC would just look a lot better on screen. ::shrug::

The Sentinels from the Matrix had fewer parts than these robot designs...

 

iv said it befor, so ill say it agin. prime shouldn't have flames. i dont mined him bieng black or dark blue, he was in the unicron battels. but flames? hes not freekin hot rod

 

It's the only design that I like. It's better than the other IMO, but I can't stand those ugly faces  

 

Actually... I kinda liked the Power Rangers movie.

Ratchet.... looks like wadded up paper that was loosely pulled back out again.

I can't decide if I like this design or not. BB has grown on me... perhaps Ratchet will. And Jazz. And Prime.

Still wanting to see that Mustang police car.

WAL

 

So Far...

So far I'm saving a load of cash on the movie toys. THANKS Hasbro  

As of now, nothing is on my buying list. Maybe as time passes something will be interesting, I remain optimistic. As transforming mech toys they look good, but they don't look or feel like Transformers to me.

Now MP-03 and MP-05 THESE are Transformers  

Now we only need Galvatron or Grimlock as MP-06  

Godspeed
-Greenspan