For me if it's going to be G1 I either want it to be slavishly Toy or toon accurate. Some of these stylized figures just don't do it for me. Not saying they are bad by any means but that's what I look for as a collector. That being said imagine a MP line, G1 toy accurate in look but highly articulated. This could work for the people who don't like the overly complicated transformations but like the MP scale. I feel the MP line at least started out this way.

 

This is a difficult thing to articulate, but my ideal aesthetic is not 100% toy OR toon. And I have to say, I'm not entirely consistent myself about it. Generally, I prefer that the main point of reference for details, coloring, etc. come from the toys, but that an MP should shoot for what the toon - at its best - did in sanding down the toys' rough edges: hiding or diminishing kibble like wheels, rationalizing certain elements a bit to make them more distinguishable, such as giving a figure feet instead of just ugly club-foot things, etc. I was really happy with the MP-10 era aesthetic. I will never embrace the "full toon" look, though I've come to be able to stomach it to some extent.

As examples, I HATE the toon head on MP Smokescreen. I would love to have one that looks like the toy, so that Smokey doesn't look like he has a goiter. And I don't want a fat Seaspray. My love is for the toys, reinforced by the toon but not dictated by it. To me, the fact that the toon often utilized slapdash and bizarre models and proportions because it was a rush/discount job for a kids' toy line should not be the controlling factors. I love that XTB has done toy decos of the Stunticons, that's awesome. And I will always love FT Seaspray, because that's how he should have looked - heroic, not thicc.

On the other hand, I have to admit that although I had the Astrotrain and Galvatron toys, the toon colors dominate my perception of those characters and so I prefer the toon decos there. So no, I'm not consistent.

But ultimately its all so subjective there's now way to make a unified aesthetic that will appeal to all fans equally. The closest thing we have to an objective yardstick is the toon, for better or for worse. Fortunately most of the 3P companies, even as they've gone more and more toon, have not entirely abandoned the sort of detailing that evokes the toy and makes the figures feel more like "real" objects and not animation cels come to life. I LOVE that FT gave their Astrotrain his chestplate, which is just the sort of detail I want, being a toy-centered guy. I would have been seriously bummed had they not included that detail.

 

I don't want 100% toon accuracy, that's a ridiculous standard given how much the animation varied imo. Look at the Galvatron/Cyclonus debates for example.

That said, I do want the majority of MPs to match a general feeling of what the cartoon presented us, but I also don't want them to feature animation shortcuts.

Nevertheless, there are bots like Hound/Inferno that I want my MP to model after the toy cause that is the version I associate more with than the cartoon.

Basically, it's a case by case situation for me.

 

Depends on the character. Since my first introduction to Transformers was G2, I only ever saw some characters on reruns of the cartoon or VHS and never knew they had toys until I was older. Most characters I only saw as toys and most of them weren't from the cartoon. So my preference is a half-remembered nostalgic take on the cartoon blended with a fondness for neon decos and non-show characters.

 

Shogo said it best...

 

I think too much either way is detrimetal. Slavish toon gives you ridiculous things like opaque blue windows or white paint where chrome should be and will often require too many compromises like the new MP Bumblebee with his messiness or MP Optimus with his huge backpack. Slavish toy, though, ends up not looking like the characters I know and love and some of the sticker details those guys had was just ridiculous looking so I wouldn't want to emulate those.

My ideal aesthetic is it should look "real." If the character was modelled after a real world car or plane, I want their alt mode to look as close to a scale model of that car as possible. Ideally that would mean clear (not blue) windows, preferably with a slight dark tint to obscure the inside. It would mean chrome rims, bumpers, and mirrors, where applicable, along with whatever other details would realistically be chrome (Optimus' gas tanks and horns for example). Headlights should have clear covers and lenses with chrome insides, like real headlights. Remember Alternators? That's what I want from alt mode. Bot mode should be as close to the animation model as possible without introducing weird compromises. It should have whatever surface details would be appropriate from the alt mode along with some other nice greeblies (while keeping it as accurate to the source as possible) without going overboard on the greebles like Warbotron or the Siege line. Basically I would want them to look like, if they were blown up to actual size, they would be believable in a real world setting.

 

Basically what Shogo said here.
I was too young to be into anything but the simplest G1/G2 style Transformers when they were new, and my first love for the franchise came from the movie, rented repeatedly on VHS, and then Armada on TV.
That said, I have no special connection to the toys. But, I also have no particular love for things being slavishly accurate to the cartoon - I really have only watched the movie and all the Japanese G1 stuff.
What I want is an "ideal" representation of a character, not one that looks perfect to one variable source or another. I want a toy that represents what the toys and animation are trying to capture.
The heroic looks and proportions of Optimus Prime. The broad, powerful, menacing look of Megatron or Galvatron. It's not about being perfectly accurate to some arbitrary source material.

 

Updated G1

Not 100% G1 or Updated Toys


Superman was based off of circus strongmen, but he isn't an exact copy. Optimus Prime was based off of an old toy truck, he doesn't need to be that toy, and he shouldn't be 100% accurate to a sketchy drawing.

 

Give me 100% toon everytime. This is the first time we've had this kind of choice in regards cartoon accuracy. Greedy bar stewards just want slight variations of the last 30 years of toys.

Yawn. Let us cartoon fans have out time. You'll all get what you want again eventually

 

Yeah, it's actually very easy to explain as both noted above and quoted below:

The better MP line has subtle references to the various formats of interpretation throughout the 30-something years of media.

 

yawn, we get it, you're full toon  

 

Oh I'm sorry. I thought this was a discussion about styles.

Silly me.

Rolls eyes indeed. Or can we only post if we circle jerk about 'detailing' and how a designer from over 5 years go 'got it right'?

 

I used to shortsightedly ask for toon accuracy, then Takara showed us what that really meant. I was one of the earliest ones to abandon Takara's MP line due to the direction change, the last one I bought was MP-27 Ironhide. I didn't even wait until they started jacking up prices. Now what I generally say (and hope it means what I think it means) I want "toon inspired". I want the toon look to be the basis for the design, but I still want it to actually look good. An example, as far as I'm concerned MP-13 Soundwave is still the best looking figure Takara has made. For 3rd Party I buy FansToys, Ocular Max and FansHobby. I have had virtually no interest in X-Transbots/KFC designs (Wreck Gar and Scourge being exceptions), and little interest in MakeToys (I did get Hardhead and Pointblank).

 

I'm curious, Is there a figure out that anyone would consider to be "full toon"?

 

Yeah, I love that Shogo quote, it does line up with my feelings pretty well. But I'd never seen it before and I was the first person to post a substantive response here so maybe go a little easy on me!   Also, I was trying also to express that I'm not always consistent with my own stated preferences. It can depend a bit on the character. I don't feel like Jazz is Jazz without a lot of his toy details, but I also agree with @Snaku that sometimes the stickers were silly or just too busy to try to put on a figure.

@TigerBlade I know and love you on these boards despite not always agreeing with you on aesthetics, but I thought your post sounded a bit more hostile than usual or was warranted, which I think is what @mista2x was reacting to. But tone is hard to read and I don't think you were intending to come off that way. I would say though that whatever side of the "toon v. toy" debate you find yourself on, (a debate the toon side has pretty much won anyway, judging from release trends) not everyone is going to get what they want. 3P MP's really seem to be winding down, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are some characters that never get made at all, to say nothing of in multiple styles. I doubt there's any company out there that's ready to go after people who want 100% toy stuff, and doubt even more there's many such people. FT is about the only one consistently carrying the torch for the MP-10 style aesthetic, and even that's a bit iffy. It's not all bad though; despite seeming like my worst toon nightmares upon reveal, I think XTB's Stunticons have been excellent so far, easily my favorite products from them.

 

I know I said one or the other but I guess I mean it can slide between toon and toy. I'm just not into the hyper stylized versions that don't really look like either. I feel the toon or the toys should be the point of reference. It's why I don't think IDW should be considered G1 at all. I do like some of their designs but look at them as completely different characters.

 

Before and After Engineer General

 

The example I typically fall back on is TT Inferno. TT had already lost me by the time they released that, but Inferno was when I knew I'd likely never buy another TT MP. All the interesting details and greebles have been sanded out of him. He is mostly flat, blank plastic. Others may differ, but to me he's the most extreme example I can think of. I use MMC for my Inferno, who's on the other extreme, being extremely toy-oriented. I'd be just as happy with something in between, but of the available options MMC appealed to me the most.

 

I feel MakeToys took Inferno further to the toy end of the spectrum. I appreciated that MMC at least made an effort to hid Inferno's arms in alt mode.

 

That's fair but the reason those of us who prefer something in between are bothered by the situation is that the toon style didn't diverge from the semi-realistic (whatever you wanna call the old style). It supplanted it, and it did so well before the line was even close to being finished. There are characters who will never exist in the old style.

For me, when it comes down to it, I have my preference but I'm pretty lenient. As long as the characters with real world alt modes get realistic alt modes (XTB is going magnificently with this) then the rest can be toon. I can tolerate white pants on Optimus as long as his grill and smokestacks are silver (though chrome would be better - c'mon TE, even Takara got the chrome right). I still hate blue windows but I own plenty of figures when them - it's either that or completely miss out on those characters.

Really? I think FT has gone too far toward toon and it's XTB who are sticking to the old style. XTB's Beachcomber, for example, is based on a real world military vehicle while FT's is just some generic buggy they modeled after the toon character.

Funny you should mention that. I just bought MMC Inferno yesterday for exactly the reasons you say. I did debate on it for a while, though, but that's mostly because Takara had more accessories - the water effect in particular which I've enjoyed on my MFT version. But ultimately I decided on MMC for a few reasons: the aesthetic being the primary reason but I must admit that the comparative prices along with the fact that Inferno isn't a very important character to me had a lot to do with it as well.

For me, the best example I can think of where a figure has been taken in the toon direction to the point that it's detrimental is the new MP Bumblebee. He looks pretty good from the front (though I have to admit that I never considered Bee's toon design to be particularly flattering) but that falls apart into a panelly mess as soon as you turn him more than 5 degrees. And his alt mode is wrong too, having been chibified to look like the cartoon. I will admit, though, that, while I hate him and think he looks bad, he doesn't look quite as bad as my first impression of him from the old prototype shots.