Movie toy prototypes - Starscream, Blackout, etc

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Denyer
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Movie toy prototypes

Post by Denyer »

I assume since they're watermarked they'd prefer they not be mirrored:

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=108437
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Post by Brimstone »

So...it would appear that those infact cannot transform.

Maybe I'm wrong, but they don't look like they can to me. So, uh, if that's the case...doesn't it seem silly to have a "transformer" toy that can't...transform? :confused:

EDIT: Well, maybe they can. Taking a better look at Blackout seems like maybe it can transform. And the Scorpinok image does mention "second mode." But Starscream...holy cow, how will that transform?
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Post by Denyer »

I think the copter and jet probably can... and I'm getting major deja vu from Starscream -- not from the concept sketch that was posted a way back, from early 90s issues of Dragon Magazine...

All looks very interesting. Are those rotor blades going to pass safety regs, though?
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Post by Brimstone »

Originally posted by Denyer
I think the copter and jet probably can... and I'm getting major deja vu from Starscream -- not from the concept sketch that was posted a way back, from early 90s issues of Dragon Magazine...
What was the picture in Dragon?

You know, I've accepted that everyone is going to look different, but I am somewhat disappointed with the apparent lack of even trying to make the decepticons at least slightly recognizeable. A similar head scuplt would have been nice.

Ah well....

Prime looks pretty damn sweet at least. :)
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Post by Knightdramon »

I like the helicopter a lot, although it appears to be mistransformed. The head obviously does not go there.

SS is a major departure from all toys of the character I've seen.

Prime...well...now I don't like him.

Scorponok isn't that bad, looks very angular and all.

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Post by Denyer »

Originally posted by Brimstone
What was the picture in Dragon?
More the style than anything, but I'm specifically thinking of a Doom rip-off with cybernetic undead demons and those Terminator 2 -style miniguns. :)
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Post by Clay »

I think they look exactly like what a complicated, mechanical being would look like if it didn't have to be replicated at a smaller scale and sold as a toy.

Not saying that they aren't wickedly different from what TFs have looked like in the past, but they don't look like animated toys.

Realistic is probably the word I'm looking for, but that's not quite accurate. Reasonably plausible design for an actual robot is probably a bit closer. They can't have shiny plating covering their innards if they need shiny plating to look like cars, basically.

The toy prototypes (not the design sketches) do look like they transform, though. They've got the extra pins and hinges on the plates required for reconfiguration.

And Prime is awesome. There, I said it. :p
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Post by The Dark Optimus Prime »

ok now this is much more appropriate than the last time i said it, but for chrissakes "Its got chicken legs!". Seriously....look at starscream....thats just awful (not matter how pleased i am to see the chicken legs), its just not befitting to the character. Give chicken legs to some stupid cannon fodder character, not someone as badass as SS
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Post by Denyer »

Originally posted by Clay
they don't look like animated toys.
Neither do Binalts, really.

The one I'm most interested in so far is Starscream, although Blackout will be perfect for a murderbot in the film.
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Post by optimusskids »

I'm disapointed about the head sculpt as well , you can get away with messing round with hte Alts as long the face is similar. Starscream looks sort of Beast Wars mutanish.
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Post by Bluecatcinema »

Prime looks cool, and Blackout looks pretty mean! As for Starscream, the face is definetely interesting...
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Post by ravimus prime »

It took the page about five minutes to load, but I like some of these designs, especially Blackout. Starscream looks quite good, but the arm design isn't great. Optimus looks the best from what I can tell now. I'm not sure about Scorponok though.
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Post by inflatable dalek »

That's the first time I've seen Prime- What's all the fuss about? He's easily the most faithful to the original charecter design out of all of them.
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Post by mongoosehuman »

These things look so much like the Transtech art. Someone's said this before, and finally seeing the headsculpts makes me want to say it again.
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Post by trilobitepictures »

On the plus side... these are really beautiful, slick-looking robots. "Alien" is really the best term to describe them. If these were some brand-new toy line, or designs from an unknown video game or movie, or maybe even if you told me that these were Super-Cylons from the new season of BSG, I would be really psyched.

Yes, they go from one mode to another, so technically speaking, they are Transformers.

Was I expecting them to be carbon-copies of the Marvel/Sunbow cartoon/comic model sheets? No, I wasn't. But I was expecting something a bit more in the ball-park of what Transformers have looked like in the 20+ years the brand has existed.

But these are WAAAAAAAAAAAY too far for my tastes and, frankly, I can't see how they can honestly say that they are keeping the fans in mind with designs like these.

All I am reminded of is when TriStar was making their GODZILLA, swearing up-an-down that the fans would be happy... insisting that a leaked photo of an iguana-looking thing with a square head was bogus and that they were sticking to the (then) 40+ years of source material of the character. What they gave us was a decent monster movie. It just wasn't Godzilla.

These are great robots, they really are. I applaud the ILM art department for coming up with such unique designs. But they are not the Transformers.
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Post by Jaynz »

That's pretty much been my point all along. If they're doing things so different, going in such a 'new' direction, they way attach the baggage of the branding to it? Why not do original work?
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Post by trilobitepictures »

Originally posted by TFVanguard
That's pretty much been my point all along. If they're doing things so different, going in such a 'new' direction, they way attach the baggage of the branding to it? Why not do original work?


By using an established name, you can guarantee more of a return on the studio's investment. Even the passing movie-goer probably knows the name "Godzilla" or "Transformers" and you have a better chance of someone plunking down $10 for a ticket based on that fact. The 1998 GODZILLA had almost nothing in common with the character that people know. Not quite as many people might have seen it if the movie were named "Killsaur", or something like that. And studios generally don't like taking risks. They like going with what works and they KNOW will turn a buck.

Anyone who invests money into anything wants to make a profit, and if using a name that people know, even if the end result has nothing to do with the namesake's history, then so be it. It'll put just that many more dollars back into their pockets. It's all about the buck$.

[edit]
"But the Transformers have been around for 20 years. They make money in all kinds of ways. If studios go with what works, then why did they make changes? I don't get it."

Yes, they have been. Where you and I might see a rich history with it's own mythos and deep characters, a studios exec doesn't. Boil it all down and what this movie is is a movie about a toyline. And the demographic they want won't go see a movie about toys. So, they distance themselves from the source material...make it hipper... the robots scarier... throw some hot flavour-of-the-month actor and actresses in it... make sure that there's lots of explosions and make sure that the script is by-the-book... and ultimately make sure that when they're done, it looks nothing like a "toy movie" and thus being more appealing to their intended demographic with all that yummy expendable income.

Now? Why the big changes to the robots? Two reasons. The aforementioned distancing itself from the source material so it doesn't look like a "toy movie", and second... money. Since the designs are for a Paramount movie, Paramount will get a cut of anything that version of the character appears on. Change it enough, and nobody else can make a claim to the design. You think that Paramount wants to let Sunbow and/or Marvel carve into the pie? Hell no. Make'em look really different, and profits off the designs go into Hasbro's and Paramount's pockets alone.
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Post by Jaynz »

Yeah, you're right, it's to 'cash in' on a popular name. I know that.. but, really, what does that get you in the long run? How many more 'Godzilla' movies were made after that one? How about Elektra, or Daredevil, etc?

This kind of thing can be a franchise killer just as much as a cash cow.. and I fear that we're already seeing signs of the former. It's telling that already Hasbro has begun talk of extending the Classics toyline instead, and severely limiting the movie toys to two waves only.

Ouch.
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Post by Nevermore »

Originally posted by TFVanguard
It's telling that already Hasbro has begun talk of extending the Classics toyline instead, and severely limiting the movie toys to two waves only.


Unless you have a source for this bold statement, I'm inclined to file it under "wishful thinking" on your behalf.
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Post by trilobitepictures »

Originally posted by TFVanguard
It's telling that already Hasbro has begun talk of extending the Classics toyline instead, and severely limiting the movie toys to two waves only.


It's a toyline for a movie. It's only going to have a limited shelf life anyway.

In my lifetime, I can only think of ONE movie-inspired toyline that really took off and had a life of it's own- STAR WARS.
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