I'm a G1 purist.

I don't care for real world accuracy or vehicle scale. What I want is nothing more than the characters from the cartoon I watched as a kid. Of course the cartoon wasn't constant and a few tweaks here and there (especially to the proportions) are needed to make them look good in figure form but that's where my limit is. I can live with some slight unnecessary changes like the added silver lines on MP-10 but the very second a cartoon accurate version is announced, it'll be preordered and my MP-10 will be up for sale.

If I wanted changes, artistic liberties, "more originality", I would collect CHUG.

TT and FT almost always fit the bill, MT does sometimes too, MMC made one figure I really like (Sphinx... But I'd like it WAY better with a toon deco...). The rest, not really.

 

Pretty slavish, yeah. That's the whole point of Masterpiece. I want them to have the general proportions and look of the cartoon. Some extra embellishments from the G1 comic or toy are nice. And no EYE DEE DUBBLE YOO. I just don't think it belongs.

Very slavish to G1. Soundwave in particular looks like he stepped out of the cartoon. Soundwave is an easy character to recreate because his alt mode is basically a box. His cartoon model is also a bunch of boxes stacked together.

In my opinion, Prime doesn't appear identical to the cartoon because of real world physics. It's also a fairly dated mold at this point (albeit still a great one). If Takara decided to make a V3 Prime, I'm sure he would be even more Sunbow slavish (whether that is a good thing is down to your personal preference).

 

100% we had classics for that updated and sort of look like the characters line

 

Depends. I have multiple collections.

I like each collection to be pretty decently slavish to their source material.

I have a very very expensive Masterpiece collection. I want it to be pretty damn slavish to the G1 Sunbow cartoon. I don't mind the sculpt being cleaned up a little or the extra added detail here or there though.

Likewise I have a decently expensive IDW/comic collection. I want each figure to be pretty damn slavish to their source material also.


I don't think IDW belongs in G1 and I don't think G1 (thankfully) belongs in IDW.


The joys of having broad horizons and the capability to enjoy multiple things is pure bliss. G1 is for my nostalgia only. IDW and the beautiful artwork/coherent story telling is where my heart is though.

 

This, a thousand times. My inner child organises my collection  

I've consumed so much Transformers media in the last 30 years with so many reboots, redesigns and reinterpretations that I'm more interested in whatever representation of a character I can get that best suits my own personal vision of what that character is 'supposed' to be than I am in buying something as accurate as possible to just the G1 incarnation.

Quite often that ends up meaning original first party Masterpiece because I definitely have a heavy G1 bias and they usually tick all the boxes, but I'll buy anything from any line if I look at it and go "yep, that's *this character* to me". The most glaring example I guess is Ultra Magnus. I was never a fan, but his IDW incarnation was cool so the Magnus in my collection is the CW version, just hanging out with a bunch of MP, 3P and Universe or Generations figures which I consider to be my ideal version of that character.

The only character I'm a total G1 nazi about is Optimus himself. I won't touch an Optimus Prime that isn't at least an attempt at a faithful version of G1 cartoon Prime, so stuff like Classics or Powermaster Prime is right out and it's strictly MP10 or bust.

The only exception to that rule is my PlayStation Optimus Prime, because I wanted him to go with MegaDrive Megatron  

 

G1 purist all the way.

 

When it comes to MP, I like it to be VERY slavish to G1. The more the better. Although I don't actually care whether it's slavish to the toy or the cartoon... it just has to be one of them (or a mixture). To me that's the point of the MP line.

I love updated, re-imagined designs. Love 'em. Buy 'em all the time. But for me that would go in a different collection, not MP.

 

I have collected only G1 MPs so far, but I also like a lot of the updated IDW styles. If I see a well-designed figure with IDW looks and MP quality, I'll definitely consider buying it. (Right now I'm looking at TransformMission's Menasor. So far the limb-bots look nice, even though they're not G1. I'm eager to see Motormaster revealed, as well as the complete Menasor.)

 

Ah, then I want my G1 seasons 1 & 2 guys to be pretty darn slavish if that's the yardstick that we measure these by.
But to me that means my toys do not look like the cartoon nor the comics nor the toys. They have the same distinguishing characteristics, but are much more fully rendered and realized, and much much cooler looking as detailed mid-range super-articulated robot toys. Much like a lot of you guys are saying in this thread.

MP Soundwave has many many things about him that can check certain boxes to say he looks like his cartoon counterpart, but just as many areas that you can point to and say these do not have anything to do with the cartoon depiction of him, but that's the details. But overall, in general, yeah, he looks like cartoon Soundwave, only much much better.

 

I think the driving element in all of this is nostalgia. We wouldn't be spending the amount we do on these expensive toys if we didn't have some sort of emotional connection with them from our childhoods.

I was at just the right age to connect with the TF franchise when it very first appeared in 1984, but being in the UK I never saw past the first season of the cartoon. What we had was the comic, albeit with the excellent UK additions. So that determines the set of characters that I feel nostalgia for.

I'm most interested in a respectful blend of all those influences -- very realistic alt-mode, fun transformation, and a robot mode that blends the silhouette of the cartoon model with a good hint of kibble/detail from the original toy. For example, I went with MakeToy's non-Inferno instead of the Takara MP Inferno as that one was just too "plain" for me.

 

Why is it that noone ever bitches about the season three cast not looking like their G1 toys? I see a lot of complaints about TT MPs of the season one and two cast looking too toon faithful, but almost never for the movie bots. Just something I've found a bit strange. If I recall correctly, the G1 toys for Rodimus and co. were designed after the movie (except for Magnus), so maybe they're a bit more accurate?

 

I do want a mostly G1 design, but I can go with toon, toy, or other G1 media references. Sometimes I can be swayed away, like in the case of the Bludgeon that is coming out. I forget the name. I don't really need Pretender shells for anyone but the Dinoking Squad since they usually rode around on them... I guess the farther you get from the pre TFTM characters the less I will care about deviation.

It seems you left out slavish to the G1 "toon" in your question. That is what it seems you are advocating for, but there was other G1 media including box art, toys, and comics to draw inspiration from.

 

I think I am like many others here a rather strong supporter of the G1 cartoon. Although, I did watch Beast Wars, it just did not have the same allure over me as G1 did. I am usually very interested in buying Transformers (be it official Takara masterpieces or 3rd party masterpiece style products) that are close to their animated counterparts.

 

I'll take a more accurate Hot Rod from FT!

 

I'm still waiting for it...

 

The characters in the toon were great, but the animation wasn't really that great. In my mind there is a character that exists in between both of these ideas. It is similar to what Shogo said when he designed MP-10.

 

I can appreciate and see the appeal of super slavish toon MP figures, such as Shockwave/Laserwave. Most of us fell in love with the series from the cartoon show. Minimalist sculpted and painted details creates that clean, vintage look. And often times, less is more.

But my preferred design aesthetic follows Hasui's philosophy. Trying to create an amalgam of toon/toy/comic/boxart, because really, all of those sources are part of G1. If something from the toon looks stupid and ugly, such as Tracks' hood flame deco in the cartoon, then good on them for using the toy design in its place. Characters such as Sandstorm, Broadside, and Menasor never looked awesome in the toon, so I would hope that the inevitable mp figures of characters such as those guys, pull some influence from other sources such as Studio Ox, to help them not look like a sad mess.

 

The G1 Sandstorm toy is pretty awesome. It shouldn't be hard to do something very similar but bigger and better. I hope someone takes that challenge on.

 

In most cases I prefer slave to G1 toys over G1 cartoon, but I'll take which looked the best or I remember the most.

Toy Prowl was my favorite, so he has to have rocket launchers like the toy.

I prefer toy Hound over the animation model. Likewise, Inferno.

Wheeljack, Ironhide, and Ratchet cartoon.

 

Spot on Spot138. I don't know from Quakblast. But everything else yup, why limit yourself.