Basically, most MP figures either homage the original toy or the cartoon appearance, but let’s face it, not all the original toys were the most interesting aesthetically (Skids) or not very well anatomically proportioned (Seaspray/Cosmos/Powerglide). It’s probably why those, and certain other figures have been left until last to be tackled by anyone, as they issue more of a challenge in generating interest. Completists will most certainly get them, but if the companies want to grab other collectors attention (and that’s difficult with something that was fairly dull to begin with) they need to produce a figure that is reminiscent of the character, but brings something new to the table.

Some companies have gone down the routes of updating the looks of certain characters, whether that be IDW or WFC inspired or an updated design all of their own, and these are very much subjective to each collector. For example, I was never a fan of the original Seacons, but I’m loving TFC’s updated versions. My collection tends to be mostly G1, with the rest either IDW or homage updates. A big part of some of my choices has been that IDW have taken a fair few characters and breathed new life into them with updated looks and personalities, the best examples being Skids, Swerve and Tailgate, and although technically they’re not G1 accurate, they feel like better representations of the character than G1 ever did.

So, are you a G1 pureist or is your collection a mish-mash of styles?

 

Very G1 for me. Simply because that's where my interest lies.

original Cartoon & toys look dis-proportioned etc due to limitations at the time, i.e budgets for cartoon and technology for toys.
I am happy for companies to update things like design aesthetics for a character. Making chests appear more heroic, primes antennas looking more anime etc. These things are design cues but with the current designers flair. What I don't like is when something tries so hard to be accurate but then the design adds patterns which were simply not there. DX9 war in pocket cyclonus is a prime example, both galvatron and scourge stay very close to the original design yet cyclonus looks like a modernised interpretation. The same for their ironhide and ratched. Yet Kup looks exactly as I would expect Kup to look. It's this hit and miss which I don't like in design because it means I want some of their figures and not others. The others are fine and great toys for sure and make great stand in's until i find one better.

DX9 arent the only ones, that was just an example. Masterpiece Ironhide Hip plates are another one. Everything else is so spot on yet they stand out as if someone couldn't think of a better solution.

So to summarise, I will buy anything I think looks great but if I want a G1 inspired character I don't want the designer to add their own changes into the mix, they might as well be creating a new character.

Ignoring some of the above, there are time where I love that the designer has taken their own ideas and implemented it into a character. MMC Ocular Max Inferno (Backdraft). Using the head wings and folding them down to then represent the trucks exhaust was very clever. Something which causes no impact to either mode yet is a very personal design touch from the engineer. This is when things are done well

 

To be honest G1 was a mishmash of styles to begin with: Diaclone, Microman, and whatnot that became transformers, not to mention the shift in design and style going from Seasons 1 and 2 to The movie and Season 3.

In all honestly I collect CHUG mainly as my interest in MP has waned with each release. I enjoy seeing fresh takes on 30+ year old character designs from an at times atrociously animated cartoon.

 

There is only G1

 

I have Diaclone toys way before Transformers aired, I like the way they are based on real life vehicle and stuffs, so I mostly interested in S1 and S2 bots, while Headmasters is an exception.

 

Slavish g1 is great. But modernized updates that capture the essence of the character is great too. Perfect examples of this are wardog, Chigurh, hexatron, and i know its idw but going with my g1 shelf. Carnifex

 

I don't know if I'm slavish. I just want the best representation of how my 9 year old self remembers them. I always imagined they could be a real car (or whatever) no matter how they looked in the cartoon. MP Prowl seems like a car I would have seen in real life; MP Inferno does not.

 

I just want a good representation of the toys I had, or wanted from when I was a kid. Updates to these characters are great.

 

I think what most collectors want out of MP is a product that looks like what they imagined or wished their G1 to be all along. So while it should be better proportioned and more articulated than the clunky old toy designs, and more detailed than the cartoon design, it shouldn't deviate too far from the original in spirit. Now, pulling that off can be difficult because it isn't as if there is some Platonic ideal for each character that the fandom universally agrees on, and there always has to be some room left for the designer to be creative, but I think most people would agree that MP is not really the place to be different for the sake of being different.

 

Sunbow G1 or GTFO.

 

This is my point. I started thinking about this during the Blitzwing wars. In my opinion, an MP figure should look like the robot we always wanted and as close as possible to the real world alt mode. The original Blitzwing toy had a ludicrous flying double-winged wedge representing it’s MiG 25 mode because that’s the best it could do with the limitations of the day. KFC came in with a good tank mode and an update of the flying wedge, wheareas DX9 had a passable tank, but a very good real-world MiG 25… yet DX9’s got shouted down for straying too far from the original G1 jet mode. Even though the original toy’s jet mode in no way resembled a decent plane, it seems some members of fandom still want that rather than what was actually intended, even if it looks unrealistic.

I still see this now. Every so often, someone will criticise a figure with the phrase “It’s not G1 enough”. The last figure I saw that bandied at was TFC’s Snaptrap. It looks pretty good to me for an update to the original, and fits in well with the aesthetic for the rest of the team, so I honestly don’t know what they mean.

 

Not a massive fan of the shift towards purely cartoon designs, particularly as the show had such distinct (and not necessarily in a positive manner) ways of looking depending on which company handled animation duties.

A fusion of toy and cartoon is best for me; see Maketoys Headmasters for good examples of this.

 

I guess I'm a mish-masher.

In general I prefer a balance between G1 cartoon and toy accuracy but, I don't mind updated looks or styles as long as they don't get out of hand. As long as the character is well represented then I'm happy. I think its also worth mentioning that build quality and fun factor are just as important to me.

I think QuakeBlast is the best example of “stylized MP” done right while I consider DX9s Chigurh the limit of how far you can go and still be MP worthy.

 

Not at all.

 

G1 for me, but it doesn't have to be totally slavish to the cartoon. I like the added details that a lot of 3rd parties are putting into their MP lines.

 

I think this only applies to me when the alt-mode of the character was/is so recognisable that even my five year old self could easily identify what it was based on. For instance this would be robots like Jazz, Tracks, Bumblebee and Sideswipe for instance where it was obvious 2000% what they were based on, with characters like these is when I feel it's necessary to adhere to real life alt-modes as much as possible. Not for a guy like Blitzwing...nada....the average individual would have a hard time guessing what jet he was based on so I think there is more leeway to be toon accurate as possible and I'm okay with it being as accurate as possible to the toon, to be honest....that is Blitzwing's appeal to me, that weird looking jet, and it's why FT's is of no interest to me quite frankly. It's strayed away from the source material a lot that it vaguely resembles the awesome jet I remember.

 

^ This

I like the characters to be representative, and identifiable as their G1 selves, but I also like the detailed look that follow the trends of MP-10, Soundwave, for example, where many details are taken from the real world inspired sources. For me the recent trend in the official product to slavish toon accuracy represents a trend I do NOT prefer.

I much prefer all the 3P offerings for Inferno and Grapple, for example, over the official Takara toon look since they still look like the character, but have real-world inspired detailing.

 

Just how "slavish to G1" do you consider MP-10 Optimus and MP-13 Soundwave to be?

Because to me, you start from there and mix in whatever you think works. To me, that is more concerned with aesthetics and how well any given blocky robot mixes with them, and how outstanding the toy itself is. So I will mix in things I'm sure others wouldn't, including Classics Bumblebee, Animated Arcee and DOTM Bludgeon, all of which I feel meet my criteria.

Also we have to consider slavish to which G1? In 1984, G1 characters were introduced in 3 formats simultaneously - the cartoon, the toys and the comics, all equally valid. Some pretty consistent across all 3 iterations, some wildly different.

 

I respect and admire people's collections of Beast Wars and/or anything else out there. I'm all about letting people enjoy things they enjoy.

And I'm glad that TT is starting to make Masterpiece toys of BW characters.

But I don't have a nostalgia for BW characters and stories, so I don't plan on buying any. I suspect that there are many people who share my desire for high-quality figures that bridge the gap between the 1980s cartoon and the 1980s toys.

Does *my* collection *need* to be "slavish" to G1? Of course not. But I want it to be, because that's what I like. And that's okay in my book.

in other words...
https://goo.gl/images/QQEvjD

 

They must be slavish in terms of design cues but I do not want any figures to look like a cheap, low budget, rushed cartoon. MP Soundwave and Shockwave are great official examples of what I want. On the 3P side, KFC/XTB pretty much gets every single release to look spot on to what I'm looking for.
Basically, the figures I want need to be immediately recognizable as the character they represent and when you look closer at the details they should overall match up but they should not carry over ugly proportions and details (or lack of details) that are caused by rushed/lazy drawings.

KFC/XTB Blaster, Junkions, Megatron, Beachcomber, Scourge and Cyclonus are some of the best examples of the best looking figures I've seen that match the details from the original design but make them look much better in a real world 3d form.

Badcube Warpath and GigaPower Dinobots are excellent examples where they are immediately recognizable but deviate from some details in order to make the figures look much better than the original designs. MMC is getting better in this aspect with their Ocular Max line.

FT has a lot of stuff that follows the original design but in the translation to 3d form, some details don't end up looking very good and their designers are hit and miss on the artistic choices made (especially for the faces).

Most of the stuff from DX9 and MT are examples where I think they deviate too far from the original design and while they are recognizable, the aesthetic choices they made either because of the transformation engineering or artistic choice seem off.