That interview was fascinating. So interesting to see who designed what, and where they were coming from when they did.
And Takashi Kunihiro designed Star Saber, Victory Leo, Liokaiser, Magmatron, AND GAOGAIGAR! ULTIMATE WIN, right there!
Seriously, these guys are legends, and it's so nice to hear them talk about how into their jobs they are. Kudos SydneyY & Sol, thank you so much for the translation!  

 

Absolutely fascinating. The interview puts a face to some of those toys we grew up with and admired. Fire Convoy, Lio Convoy, and Big Convoy all have special places in my collection, and now I know that they all came from the same designer. Thanks for the translation!

I wonder what the Hasbro equivalent would look like, if an interview like this was ever published. I'd love to know what they were smoking when they designed Energon Swoop and Grimlock.

 

The Hasbro equivalent would be Aaron Archer and Eric Siebenaler who have given lots of interviews at Botcon and such but are always restricted in what they're allowed to say.

 

"toys that are more than they seem to be. You need to actually handle them to know them. Please take them out of the box, and play."

I'm Doing my Part for the community already

 

Oh, gawd. No, Really?!  Nah, Hasblow just got lucky and happened to be at the right place and right time  - and kinda brought over the aling TF/Mircoman & Microchange franchise over in the late 70's early 80's from TAKARA. Sure, Takara were in trouble then, but since then and you DO know that the ORIGINAL CONCEPT WAS PURE JAPANESE, right?!!   . Yes, Hasblow deserves some due credit but none of the iconic TF toys mentioned in this article / designs came from the Hasbro side. Hey, I do NOT, REPEAT DO NOT hate Hasblow....but sometimes they drive us serious collectors up the wall with some poor marketing decisions i.e. photo-shopped packaging of their toys/ skimping on paint apps (read Universe 2.0 VS Henkei Dinobot etc) ... so bottom line is why is it so difficult for some TF fans to give credit when its due?!!! Especially some guys who don't want to show respect or even CARE about the significant contribution of these TF creators who are legends in and amongst their peers? Aaron Archer < Takara Senior Designers!! Duh.      

 

I hear you loud and clear, my friend!   Glad to know you are one of the few voices of real reason and wisdom on this website.     See, one just needs to look at Draven's total cool and acknowledging credit, respect and reverence when its due. Shroobmaster- PLEASE live a little and lighten up OK?! Just by stating that its gonna be a Hasbro hate-fest and heavy sarcasm without even trying to sound smart makes you look like a total douche bag... i am not the moral police nor am i the moderators BUT.... seriously doesn't it just fuel and fan the flames of even MORE HATRED? Yeeshhhhhh.  

 

Which is the problem. It makes the interviews somewhat dull and expected.

 

Some people in this thread are operating under the notion that Hasbro has somehow been failing to provide them with adequate Transformers merchandise, and that some people inclined to be pro-Japanese/pro-asian over Hasbro are using this as justification and affirmation of the believe that "Hasbro -Americans- are keeping the asian man and his ideas down", and that Hasbro contributes little to Transformers except trying to ruin them despite all evidence to the contrary. That is what they believe.

Here we go:

Poor marketing decisions? Last I checked Hasbro was a successful multi-billion dollar company that would be the largest toy company in the world if not for Mattel's Barbie line, and that they have been experiencing considerable success with Transformers for the past decade. Meanwhile, Takara has struggled to sell Transformers in Japan in the same period (as seen in Galaxy Force, freedom to change whatever they want in marketing to differ from Hasbro's ideas to suit their purposes), and eventually their financial troubles forced them to merge with their arch-rival, Tomy.

And FYI - design process for the majority of Transformers toys starts at Hasbro's side of the ocean. For most toys that were released on both sides of the Pacific, it has been this way since the mid 80s when they began designing new Transformers toys. Both companies work together to create Transformers products.

And I call BS on your claim that you don't hate Hasbro. Only somebody who is so entrenched in his beliefs would refer to them almost exclusively as "Hasblow", and refuse to acknowledge their success in marketing Transformers and their significant contribution into bringing Transformers to where it is today.

You seem to have forgotten the fact that Hasbro and the media companies they give licenses to are responsible for building the foundation, the core, if you will that forms the basis for all Transformers series, and for continuing to build upon them and create new Transformers fiction. Stuff that TakaraTomy have adopted into their canon universe, such as Primus, The Fallen, Unicron, and the Thirteen all come from Hasbro Transformers fiction. The Transformers, the concept of living alien beings from Cybertron was largely created between Hasbro and Marvel Entertainment, two American companies. Takara did not become involved in Transformers fiction until Headmasters, and they jolly well did not have anything to do with the Marvel comics, parts of which, as I said earlier, now form the backbone of the canon TF origins that both companies use.

Really, the problem is you not giving Hasbro their due credit and taking this interview as a source to create division.

 

If it wasn't for Hasbro, Optimus Prime would be a forgotten japanese toy called "Truck fighter" and Starscream would be also a forgotten japanese toy called "Jet warrior", if it wasn't for Hasbro's marketing the franchise wouldn't have lasted 25 years, if it wasn't for Hasbro we'd have no ultra popular movie, if it wasn't for Hasbro we wouldn't have such amazing toys for a rather fair price for everybody, if it wasn't for Hasbro "TRANSFORMERS" itself wouldn't exist.

So don't you ever dare think about saying that Hasbro does less than Takara about the franchise, because that's just plain freaking wrong, give both of 'em the credit they deserve, BOTH of 'em.

 

damn I wish I had that deluxe sized Convoy toy. If I had that I would be the S**T!!!!

 

It's statements like this that make me occasionally agree with the "Takara's great, Hasbro's horrible" mind-set.

And then they say something like this that convinces me that Hasbro's not so stupid after all. Seriously, that's the justification for Powerglide's size?

And how come no one else seems to be pointing this out in the midst of all this Takara-love? They've got to take the bad with the good, folks!

 

Hey you guys need to stop hating on Hasbro. They brought us the Animated line.

 

That makes me hate them even more.

 

+1. We are giving up Universe for this?

 

Because Hasbro sucks and Takara is God, obviously. Don't you know? you're not allowed to dislike Takara! You have to hate Hasbro!

 

Game system Fanboys are bad.

Transformer Toy developer Fanboys are the worst.

 

Er...You mean pointing out that an awesome character got a well-deserved upgrade to a size and complexity befitting the subject matter... That's supposed to be bad?

Utterly true.

False. Mild dislike or total indifference are also acceptable.

 

Powerglide's size does NOT befit the character.... You mean something different by "subject matter" than what *I* think is the most important aspect.



You may well (and clearly do) disagree. But I'm FAR from alone in thinking that Universe 2.0 Powerglide is ridiculously and absurdly huge.

 

The dude liked the a-10 and wanted to make a good one, that's how I see it.

 

This little bit just made me cry tears of joy....

It's great knowing that someone who has Hasbro's ear flat out told them that. Hopefully they remember it for a looooong time.

My argument has always been that the transformation IS a gimmick, and should be the ONLY gimmick. It's the singular one that TF's are completely based around. It's the big reason I got into them to begin with.

Gimmicks are BAD.