Animated Promo weekend with Designer Eric Siebenaler

[griffin]

Can't believe I forgot about the thing he told us about the Oil Slick toy. I wrote it down, and noted it for the report above, but deleted the note before I got to typing it up. Aaaanyway... it's in the report above, and for those who have already read it and don't want to have to find the added bit, here's what I wrote of what he told us:

- On the topic of Oil Slick, he said that it was originally intended to have slime in the second barrel (the one with the lid, not the chain weapon), and slime in the bucket over his head. When that didn't work (potential for leaking during transport from China was the issue), they looked at having water in the bucket over his head, but found out that it is 'not a good idea to have anything from China with water in it', in case it gets consumed by a child (seems that the water from China isn't the healthiest in the world). In the end, the toy was left without anything, but like Animated Swoop's weapon or Universe Galvatron, the original features are still there.

[reillyd]

Thanks for the report and pictures. What a cool day that would have been if you were a kid, to get your picture done like that.

[GoktimusPrime]

One thing that I pretty much already knew, but Eric confirmed for me was the correlation between designers at Hasbro and TakaraTOMY. Eric basically said that he would draw conceptual sketches of characters in robot and alt mode with some rough transformation steps. TakaraTOMY designers then take those drawings and translates the drawings into toy form. Eric said that it was quite easy working with Takara and that they are very good in translating his designs into toys. Occasionally changes have to be made but he said that most of the time they come really close to his vision for the toy. This has been the relationship between Hasbro and Takara since G1, so that wasn't news to me. ;p

Other questions I asked Eric...

Transformers Animated artistic direction: I asked Eric why they'd chosen to take Transformers into such an unorthodox/unusual and controversial artistic direction. dirge added in that Transformers has traditionally been designed from a Japanese mecha aesthetic. dirge and I basically asked Eric why Hasbro didn't decide to draw inspiration from the movie and make a new series in a similar aesthetic - I cited Batman and Spiderman as movie franchises where preceding cartoon and toylines drew influence from those movies (e.g.: Batman suddenly became less campy and darker in the WB Animated series compared to say Super Friends). Eric admitted that Animated was definitely a divergence from the TF norm and that initially Hasbro had planned on making it even more divergent but that as the planning process progressed, they found themselves wanting to make it more familiar. Based on that I suspect that introducing the AllSpark into the series was something that may have been thought up later on in the conceptual stage. He didn't comment about whether he thought that the idea of making Animated so divergent was a good or bad idea.

Transformers Animated character development: Another long gripe of mine with Animated has been the relative lack of character development with a lot of the characters. I cited the Dinobots as an example. Eric explained that they wanted to focus on developing the core characters; like the main five Autobots (Prime, Bumblebee, Prowl, Ratchet & Bulkhead) and that time restrictions simple did not allow them to give any further character expositions to others outside of those core characters. I then mentioned how I was largely dissatisfied with Bulkhead's development throughout most of the series... he was a really underdeveloped character until the end of Season 2, but that I was glad to see him finally getting some further exposition at the end of Season 2 and that I'm hoping that he will be further developed in future episodes. I mentioned to him that a children's story doesn't need to have one-dimensional simple ill-developed characters and I used Harry Potter as an example of a children's story where characters are well developed (e.g.: the evolution of the characters throughout each book). This led to my next point...

Transformers Animated story "maturity": I then mentioned that while I understand that their primary target audience is children, I would like to see Animated attempt to appeal to adults at the same time and that this had been previously achieved by Beast Wars, although at the same time I did admit that it is not easy to strike a balance between two such different target audiences. Eric and the Hasbro rep (Ben?) said that doing so was just really hard and left it at that. I told Eric that I found Season 1 difficult to watch because it was so goofy, but that after enduring it I did begin to enjoy the story after Megatron appeared on the scene and about how I much preferred Decepticon villains over lame human villains - Eric immediately laughed when I then said "Professor Princess" and "Angry Archer."

Will there ever be a Sari figure? (even a Robot Heroes style PVC): Eric admitted that he would love to see figures of Sari and other human characters but that it won't happen.

US toy gun laws vs gun laws: I asked Eric if he was aware of the irony from an Australian POV that the US has such strict laws on toy guns yet relatively seemingly liberal laws on real guns and ammunition - Ben Yee once described New York gun laws to me and I repeated what he told me to Eric (basically, it's ridiculously easy to get guns and ammo!). Eric laughed and nodded.

...btw, I'm assuming that Eric is working at Hasbro's Sydney office at Eastwood, which is really close to where I work. I'm thinking about making a 'package' for him - maybe a thank you card where everyone who attended the meet can write a message and thank him (griffin - if you want you can PM me a message and I'll be happy to print and paste it into the card). Throw in a couple of Aussie Transfan related goodies for him, print out some photos from the meet etc. - basically a memento package to remind him of Australian fandom that he can take back with him to the States. What do you guys think?

[Kyle]

...btw, I'm assuming that Eric is working at Hasbro's Sydney office at Eastwood, which is really close to where I work. I'm thinking about making a 'package' for him - maybe a thank you card where everyone who attended the meet can write a message and thank him (griffin - if you want you can PM me a message and I'll be happy to print and paste it into the card). Throw in a couple of Aussie Transfan related goodies for him, print out some photos from the meet etc. - basically a memento package to remind him of Australian fandom that he can take back with him to the States. What do you guys think?

I could not attend the meets but would still like to give him a CC or 2 as gifts. If you guys can help that'd be great and much appreciated.

[roller]

ed goodies for him, print out some photos from the meet etc. - basically a memento package to remind him of Australian fandom that he can take back with him to the States. What do you guys think?

good idea, self promotion and fan service never did anyone harm...to my knowledge.

If you ever meet him in person again, couldja ask him to do a quickie drawing for Roller

[JuzMel]

Awww my photo's also here...

Nice write-up Griff... And thanks for the extra photos, it helped since I was late for the event. Love the sketch of Starsceam. Wished my sketch was coloured as well, but then again getting one is good enough and I shouldn't complain.

[FFN]

Good idea, Gok! Dirge, send him more Musk.

Eric immediately laughed when I then said "Professor Princess" and "Angry Archer."

PROFESSOR PRINCESS IS AWESOME.

[GoktimusPrime]

I could not attend the meets but would still like to give him a CC or 2 as gifts. If you guys can help that'd be great and much appreciated.

Wow, that'd be GREAT! I'll PM you later about it. Two City Commanders? I'll take one for free! Oh sorry, you're not Pulse.

If you ever meet him in person again, couldja ask him to do a quickie drawing for Roller

I don't know if I can just stroll into his office without an appointment. I was thinking of leaving it at reception and they could pass it on. Or I could call ahead and make an appointment. *shrug*

Dirge, send him more Musk.

lol. I'd totally forgotten about Musk... I haven't eaten that crap since 1989. No wonder the Yanks don't have it! That would be a cool gift though.

[FFN]

Yeah, better to get in contact with Hasbro first, perhaps the same people who invited us to the Animated event. Just strolling into Hasbro and leaving it at reception or calling customer service (who may not know exactly who Eric is) will guarantee that your package will be lost in the company bureaucracy.

[Pulse]

Yeah, better to get in contact with Hasbro first, perhaps the same people who invited us to the Animated event. Just strolling into Hasbro and leaving it at reception or calling customer service (who may not know exactly who Eric is) will guarantee that your package will be lost in the company bureaucracy.

or in other words, end up straight in the bin...