Mechaform.com SkyGuardian "Not Skyfire"

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Originally Posted by Mechaform

Hi Trent this helps loads! we are very happy that fans care enough to provide so much time in helping.I have a question because after looking at these great screen shots what size do you think our SkyGuardian should be 10 11 or 12 inches tall?Because it looks like this is a very important subject with fans.

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Like I said it depends on what line (classics or masterpiece) you want him to fit into. I also imagine that how big he is affects his detailing, articulation, joint strength, etc. all factors that need to be considered. If you decide to make him bigger, does that mean that you have to do some redesign?

As for sizing, 10 inches is a good size for him to fit into classics. However it is too small for MP. 12 inches would be a good MP size. And no matter which line you pick, if it is a great product, it will sell.

And something to think about with your thread over on TFW, all the requests that are being made, are they from the vocal minority? Because remember, if it is the same 10 or so people telling you how this toy 'has' to be, they are not necessarily representative of the majority of your market. By catering to their personal preferences, you may be excluding a greater number of people.

Just some food for thought. :)

And just in case this hasn't been thrown in your face a million times already, he is a scale chart. You can clearly see Skyfire on the top row. This is why I, and probably a good many other people, think that at your current 10 inch size, you should be aiming for the classics line.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...C6184B8916.jpg

Welcome to the forum and Im glad someone is doing Skyfire. I agree with what most has been said. The face looking a bit.... off somehow. I do like the overall aesthetics. For sizing , as Trent has said, something to fit the Classics line would be good in the 10-11 inches scale, coz if you guys are aiming for MP scaling then that's gonna be a really tall and big figure, prolly around 15 inches.. which I don't mind but yeah budget wise and mebbe the number of real customers will have to be considered.

Coz, there's always gonna be people expressing interest, but converting those interests into solid buy, buy, buy is another matter.

So with that you have to keep in mind which line your targeting as well. Targeting for the Generations line first , then later on if the first waves are statistically showing there's a good following and sales then move to a bigger scale, that of the MP or vice versa.
Of course, with the MP there would be a lot more upgrade expected, like finger articulation ( not all fingers but have a look at the articulation of the current MP Soundwave et al. ) Knees and Elbows joints/articulation, sturdy material, good paint apps and clear crisp mould/edges, detailing especially in the face.

Ive had quite a few issues with some 3rd party stuff - e.g. Sonicron release - not sure if your familiar with that toy. The execution of the toy would've been awesome if not for very loose joints - on the hip no less and panels not lining up, and the parts clips are weak as thereby you can't even play properly with the toy with out it breaking apart during play.

link to my review of that toy here...
http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showth...+review&page=2

Also Id like to touch more with regards to the materials going to be used, right now the current plastics used for the 3rd party company Fansproject toys are very nice - solid and tough, doesn't feel cheap... which unlike say the recently released 3rd party KFC cassetteformers - birdbomber - I got one but somehow it feels cheap plastic - KOey, when you get to see it and hold it ( it only looks good in the pictures). Some third party and also on official TFS have really cheap like materials that they end up getting stress marks quite easy or worse breaks and cracks - especially on the more moveable parts - elbow and knee joints, neck, ankles ( oh btw gotta have ankle tilt :D) so those parts need to be more sturdier at best.

Again, welcome and keep us posted here on the developments of this project. Best of luck!

I love the aesthetic of this , though i agree the face is a little off and something around the hips just doesn't look right, though for me personally i think the sizing is off. I already own a classics jetfire! is it as good as this looks? no but its an official release so i personally wouldn't be inclined to replace it with a third party figure . personally i would prefer a masterpiece scaled figure (even if it was just a few inches bigger than mp10 ) as it fits a gap in my collection that i feel hasbro/takara wont fill themselves.
this is purely just my opinion though

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Originally Posted by Trent

And just in case this hasn't been thrown in your face a million times already, he is a scale chart. You can clearly see Skyfire on the top row. This is why I, and probably a good many other people, think that at your current 10 inch size, you should be aiming for the classics line.

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And if it's made to fit into Classics, more modern classics aesthetics are probably a good idea.

Personally speaking, I prefer toys to have a more modern detailed sculpt. I am not fond of the simplistic cartoon aesthetics. For example, I am a fan of Mastermind Creations because their toys offer both the nostalgia in the overall design but also modernizes it with nicely detailed sculpts and aesthetics. To me, traditional cartoon aesthetics are way too kiddish.

Something that I have learned over the years is that the primary factor that sets the 'tone' or 'personality' of the overall design is the head sculpt. If that doesn't look right, it will affect the rest of the toy. For me, the head sculpt as it is now is too cartoony and reminds me too much of Animated rather than G1. Due to this, I don't see SkyGuardian in it's current form fitting Classics very well or Masterpiece for that matter. It would just look odd when displayed with those toys.

As it has been mentioned, every person will give you their own personal views on how it should be. You have to be able to take an artistic and commercial position on what you want this toy to be and stick with it. It is ok to take suggestions here and there that you think are appropriate or work better but you have to maintain your own artistic focus.

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Originally Posted by Mechaform

Hi Trent this helps loads! we are very happy that fans care enough to provide so much time in helping.I have a question because after looking at these great screen shots what size do you think our SkyGuardian should be 10 11 or 12 inches tall?Because it looks like this is a very important subject with fans.

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Hi and welcome!

Im impressed that you would take the time to come to Ozformers and ask for some feedback from fans, so thank you :D

For me, would love to see the 'not Jetfire' in scale with the old MP-1 and 4 as it would fit very well with the current MP line.

Would it have any metal parts? (i do understand that this might cost more)

Cheers