Transformers questions by newbies, and not-so-newbies

[Gasaraki]

I've heard that it's due to an effort to scale the robot modes per the TV show. from MP10ish onwards

There are obviously still going to be some issues especially since the starscream mold began with MP03.

there is an interesting article here

That article is hilarious!

"Most fans agree that one must either ignore it or accept it, lest they be tempted to explain these problems and in the process fanwank themselves into oblivion."

TFwiki entry is nearly the same, but the fact that the word 'fanwank' links to another article is even funnier!

hey guys i finally got my Bluestreak and Prowl MP's yesterday and loving them!!

Question is; im new to collecting the MP series, my first was Starscream and i found him to be real BIG in size and these guys heaps smaller. Is Starscream as big as Megatron or Optimus? I thought the cars would be at a height that would challenge Starscream at least.

cheers

I hope you knew the size of the Datsuns before you got them, otherwise it'd be a rude shock! I agree that the scale is so often problematic, and article linked above says plenty about it. On the other hand, scaling a car to a plane is a handful in itself... getting it nearly right would be ROTF Leader Starscream vs Deluxe Bumblebee, and even then, the plane should be bigger. The movie tried to be accurate in some scenes, and then in others we have truck Optimus drop kicking F-22 Starscream. It's never gonna be perfect...

Anyway, in answer to your question... MP Starscream is not as big as MP-01 or MP-05 molds, but is close to MP-10 Prime mold. I'm at work so don't have them at hand to compare, but I believe MP-10 is a bit taller than Starscream. The original MP-01 & MP-05 arguably doesn't scale well with any of the later release MP figures, and it appears the intention is to scale them with MP-10.

[WeallscreamforStarscream]

Thanks for the link... Perfect explanation and read!!

[klystron]

Hey guys.
This has been bothering me for some time now, and I can't find an answer on the interwebs.
Why, oh why, do the tailfins on G1 Cyclonus fold down?

[GoktimusPrime]

Unknown. They don't seem to serve any purpose. Perhaps an abandoned design feature? Who knows...

[Hursticon]

Hey guys.
This has been bothering me for some time now, and I can't find an answer on the interwebs.
Why, oh why, do the tailfins on G1 Cyclonus fold down?
*snip*

Unknown. They don't seem to serve any purpose. Perhaps an abandoned design feature? Who knows...

Something I've wondered since I was a kid too, I don't suppose anyone has any idea on who the designer/team behind G1 Cyclonus was?

[GoktimusPrime]

Something I've wondered since I was a kid too, I don't suppose anyone has any idea on who the designer/team behind G1 Cyclonus was?

Probably Ono Kohjin and Yoke Hideaki.

[UltraMarginal]

Hey guys.
This has been bothering me for some time now, and I can't find an answer on the interwebs.
Why, oh why, do the tailfins on G1 Cyclonus fold down?

I don't have my G1 cyclonus on hand but doesn't it serve to make the arms of the robot more streamlined.

[Hursticon]

Probably Ono Kohjin and Yoke Hideaki.

Ah! - There's no mention at all in any of the "Generations" books?

[GoktimusPrime]

Ah! - There's no mention at all in any of the "Generations" books?

I don't know for sure, I'm just speculating because I know they were the lead designers for most toys in G1. So I'd say at least one of them probably played a part in designing Cyclonus. Having said that, Cyclonus was part of the first Transformers to be based on a cartoon model, so a lot of things would have been redesigned by Takara as per Hasbro's specifications to try and make the toy more show-like. In the Generations book, Ono Kohjin does talk about this, specifically about how they had to redesign the rear section of Kup's vehicle mode. So I would 'guesstimate' that this may be the case w/ the mystery of Cyclonus' fins.

[Hursticon]

I don't know for sure, I'm just speculating because I know they were the lead designers for most toys in G1. So I'd say at least one of them probably played a part in designing Cyclonus. Having said that, Cyclonus was part of the first Transformers to be based on a cartoon model, so a lot of things would have been redesigned by Takara as per Hasbro's specifications to try and make the toy more show-like. In the Generations book, Ono Kohjin does talk about this, specifically about how they had to redesign the rear section of Kup's vehicle mode. So I would 'guesstimate' that this may be the case w/ the mystery of Cyclonus' fins.

Seems entirely plausible to me dude.