I can't remember since my memory is absolute crap, but I'm sure it was some sort of expanded media or something.

 

I remember coming across from concept art of Rodimus with a fire truck alt-mode and thinking that'd make a better upgraded form for Rodimus to turn into when he becomes leader.

 

Now that line from the sunbow cartoon has some more weight to it:
Onslaught: Who are you and what are we doing in this crude carcasses.?
Blast Off: Yes I wouldn't want to be seen by anyone I know in this getup.

He probably should be a jet if he can't stand the heat but his pride probably won't let him admit to it.

 

Ah yes, New Rodimus!

Almost as cool as New Soundwave.

 

Would make sense with the flames too. I love it.

 

If my house was burning down I wouldn't necessarily wanna see a truck with flames.

 

it's camouflage so the fire doesn't see the truck sneaking up on it!

 

I gotta feeling THAT'S why they dropped the concept. Felt that "fire truck + flames" is a little weird and that Rodimus without flames wasn't Rodimus enough.

 

Silverbolt was an over clingy stalkish fanboy, always so obsessed with Blackarachnia. At least Cheetor didn’t overstep his boundaries.

 

Yeah, that is one of the many things that annoyed me about him (again, I have some big problems with him as a character). He was supposed to be a constant do-gooder, and just constantly harrassing Blackarachnia really made him look like a massive creep and a hypocrite.

I really wish Cheetor had been the love interest instead of Silverbolt, but as I said before, at least I found Silverbolt to be a lot more tolerable in Beast Machines.

 

The thing is... the thread title is that one gripe with your favorite characters so I'm still going to complain about it because it's the one thing I don't like about him.

 

Not a Winnebago
1964 General Motors Bison Concept: The Future Looked So Awesome!

I don’t recall anything like that in any of the actual stories

Maybe you’re remembering something from the fan letter section

 

My understanding is that, since they are a combination of the minds and personalities of the 'bots that comprise them, the mental abilities of the combiners are limited by what the team members can agree on at any given moment, which is mostly "GRR, Fight Enemies!" and not much for complex thought or strategy. Bruticus was mostly about following orders he is given, but not adapting or thinking for himself in changing situations, according to G1 tech-specs. Later combiners improved mentally, but still had limitations, like Computron needing to fully think out a problem before acting, or Predaking acting quickly by animalistic instinct.

 

Hotspot had flames

 

I like Optimus Prime in G1 Sunbow but I always roll my eyes when he acts like a softy when the situation doesn't call for it.

The biggest offender is when he was going along with having the Autobots exiled from Earth in Megatron's Master Plan. He should've known that there was foul play and at least try to have the other dozen of his bots look for ways to clear their names. No wonder even Ironhide calls him out for backing out so easily.

Also occurred in Heavy Metal War, come on it was obvious Megatron cheated in their duel.

 

Star Saber - He doesn't use his small Brainmaster mode.

There were times in Headmasters, where the Headmasters would utilize their small Headmaster robot form in order to interact with humans and other human-sized aliens. This was NEVER done even once by the Brainmasters on the Victory cartoon. There were several times that Star Saber was interacting with humans where it might have been more beneficial to present himself in his smallest Brainmaster form. He's Jan's guardian. Wouldn't it make more sense to be smaller in size to interact with Jan?

 

The concept was dropped because the line ended before they made it.

I mean, you’re really over-thinking the “fire truck with flames is a big deal” thing. I mean it wasn’t long after this concept that G2 Optimus came out depicting himself burning down a forest on the side of his fuel tanker. With all the wackiness of late G1, especially in Japan, I’m certain not a single person even thought of the juxtaposition.

 

Not the biggest Rodimus fan but I've just hit MTMTE season 2 in my IDW re-read. He was bad in season 1 but it's absolutely atrocious here. I can't think of a single other character so utterly massacred.

 

I especially like that Grimlock's speech pattern changes