There's definitely no issue with doing so, it'd be easier than doing what I was attempting to anyways.  

 

It certainly is, though maybe not for Megatron. There are (unfortunately) plenty of modern guns to choose from, but recording devices have gone super-tiny and digital.

I’ve nerdishly maintained a list of modernized alt modes for years now, but rather than seeking consistency within an automotive brand, I usually consider the spirit or purpose of the original model combined with the personality of the character. For example, Prowl as a police Nissan Z doesn’t make much sense today. In the U.S., he’d be a Dodge Charger (and in Japan, a Toyota Crown). His traditional mold mate Bluestreak, however, would still look appropriately dressed as the Nissan sports car.

 

I'm kinda digging the off-road vibe the brand appears to have been dipping in a bit lately with Bumblebee...



...so I wouldn't mind continuing to go in that direction with him.

Beyond that, off the top of my head I can't think of anything specific to any character, but something else I'd like to see more of as TF alts: classic cars and hot rods.

For that matter, more marine/aquatic alts. Barring the aforementioned classic cars and hot rods, there's enough car and plane alts in this brand as a whole to last until the Sun finally flames out.

 

You know what? I've never thought about Bumblebee having an off-road car as his alt mode since always it felt out of character for him. But now that I stop and think about it, it's absolutely brilliant since he's usually depicted a scout and he would need off-road capabilities for scouting missions.

 

Grindor -



Evac -




Bumblebee -

 

Here are the alt modes I'm gonna be using in my story, Transformers: Expendables

 

Can't understand why they didn't slap a Bumblebee head on the Buzzsaw mold.

 

Bluestreak as a van.

 

Erm… haven’t you heard? A transformer could never turn into that! It isn’t street legal! You better make him a Porsche with blue stripes instead (you know, since that is the only other car that exists in the entire world).

 

G1/G1-inspired Megatron and Shockwave as siege howitzers instead of pistols.

It makes more sense and is less weird.

 

Bumblebee's G1 bio states that he has aquatic capabilities. So, it might be cool to lean into that and have Bumblebee transform into an amphibious car of some sort. Something like this, but more compact and with a waterproof canopy for subaquatic missions:

 

He did have that jet ski in Classics.

 

Why not have Star Saber as a SR-71 blackbird?

 

CH-47 Chinook for Blast Off. "Fat" enough to have similar transformation to shuttle, doesn't have large wings and isn't too seeker-like. I was bothered about original altmode not because it was "too big", but because space shuttle just looks weird in squad with mostly usual military technics.

 

The Chad Wheelie

 

A bigger and scifi-looking version of this, maybe with a bit longer barrels, would be good for G1/G1-inspired Megatron. The thick barrel is the fusion cannon, and the thin one on the top (or would the single thin barrel be better at the bottom?) is the barrel on his robot mode's back. Still a gun, still immobile on his own, but much more credible and free of gun-related legal problems.
(Don't ask what the gun is, i only know it's a siege howitzer. I'm not going to die on the hill of this specific gun though, if i find a better one then i'll base it on that).


G1/G1-inspired Shockwave would also be a siege howitzer, but a single-barreled one. His arm gun would actually be the barrel for once, which would propably require a more TFP!Shockwave-like cannon, but it looks better than G1!Shockwave's weird wrist pencil gun anyway. Also more credible than a flying space pistol.


I actually tried to design them a hour ago, but aside from my trouble drawing vehicles and other mechanical objects, some of my human-drawing problems carried over with hands and Megatron's face. More urgently, i don't really know how to design a transformer since the altmode needs to be accounted for at every turn and i need to figure out where each part goes. I'd propably need to make a The Art Of Prime-esque transformation chart, but i have no idea how to go about any of this.

I also don't know how they'd latch onto the ground, or how they could turn horizontally without having to return to robot mode and without having massive turning platforms. Not being able to could also become a credibility problem.

 

In general I just want more alt modes that aren't basic cars/trucks and planes.

Gimme forklifts, garbage trucks, trains, construction vehicles that aren't combiners, boats...

And you know every one of us would buy a UPS truck.

 

I feel we need more sea/water craft formers I want creative takes on battle ships and subs even patrol boats.

 

So more like GoBots.

Also change UPS to Amazon and now we're talkin'.

 

Soundwave and Blaster as game systems. Make the tapes controllers, headsets, ect.