How to improve combiners ?

[GoktimusPrime]

How to improve combiners?

Just reissue superion, menasor, defensor, computron, devastor, etc and be done with it as they'll never improve upon those even with 24 years more toy technology. Want proof? Just look at what is in the stores right now.....

I disagree. There have been several improvements in gestalt toy technology since 1985/86. Devastator's actually quite fragile as a gestalt and tends to fall apart easily. Some of the "Scramble" gestalts' limb members suffer from "blockhead" syndrome. And all of the "GeeWun" gestalts lack self-contained gestalt parts which was something that was only introduced in 1989 with Liokaiser.

We've had some great gestalts with superior sculpts, engineering, posability and fully self-contained gestalt parts, such as:
+ Tripredacus
+ Magnaboss
+ Build King/Landfill
+ JRX/Rail Racer
+ Legends Class ROTF Devastator

With the exception of Legends Class ROTF Devastator, I think this standard has declined since Car Robot/RiD. The Superlink/Energon gestalts went back to the bad old days of non-self-contained gestalt parts (though arguably it was part of the whole "energon weapon" theme of the line) and Combiner Class Devastator was 5 flavours of fail.

Hasbro should purchase fansproject and let them officially redesign all the G1 combiners..period. They would then get the funds and backing to mass release these at retail under the name masterpiece combiners. I love what they did with bruticus but if fansproject had designed all the individual components it would have been truly a work of art.

Is Fansproject even a legitimate corporation for Hasbro to take over? Cos I don't think Hasbro's allowed to takeover companies of dubious legal status. Although I suppose HasTak could attempt to snipe talent from Fansproject... <shrug>

My knowledge of Fansproject items is extremely limited... but keep in mind that when HasTak design toys they're limited to very strictly controlled budgets. A lot of features are often changed or dropped due because they exceeded budget (e.g. Prototype Godbomber); even simple things like a minor paint app (e.g. red tips on Animated Deluxe Bumblebee's rockets). The key to being a successful Transformers designer for HasTak is not only to design decent toys, but to do so while keeping within a strictly predetermined budget.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Yeh, that was my thinking as well on the budget front.

Just compare the prices of muntioner and the other guy to an equivalent sized hatak transformer.

If I had to pay FP prices for all deluxes I would give up. Many many things to consider on the combiner front.

I assume they are required to pass the legendary 'drop test' as a combined mode as well?

[liegeprime]

The key to being a successful Transformers designer for HasTak is not only to design decent toys, but to do so while keeping within a strictly predetermined budget.

Which means the designer has to have a good stable mental capacity to accept a lot of frustrations and the fact that his original designs will never see the light as it would be constantly be changed even up to the last minute detail in every step of the way due to this "strictly predetermined budget (look-up Wikipedia - Miser )"

might as well just submit a photo of gumby on reused paper that way he/she wont get so frustrated...... it wont end up as gumby anyways

[GoktimusPrime]

Which means the designer has to have a good stable mental capacity to accept a lot of frustrations and the fact that his original designs will never see the light as it would be constantly be changed even up to the last minute detail in every step of the way due to this "strictly predetermined budget (look-up Wikipedia - Miser )"

If designers ignored budget and created a toy solely based on all the cool things fans want, they'd probably end up with a product like this.

[morg176]

if you were challenged with redesigning broadside [arguably the poorest translation to toy of any triple changer] as an autobot duocon type figure, how would you go about it

[SilverDragon]

Thinking about Duocons for a bit (they are sort of combiners, aren't they?), I think a modern Duocon should be more complex. Instead of having one vehicle mode form one half of the body, maybe each vehicle sort of breaks apart and plugs into the other to form the robot mode, sort of like TFA Safeguard does.

[morg176]

admittedly, i wouldnt go the same way as safeguard (a robot made from two distinct bilateral halves), it would have to be more integrated i think so it looked more like a single character.

[GoktimusPrime]

Like Energon Omega Supreme?

[morg176]

Like Energon Omega Supreme?

possibly, the character has to look like it belongs, not like a character that is just one vehicle dumped onto another with arms and legs.

E OS pulls this off ok, although i didnt like the toy enough to buy it. some of the larger leader class tf are more like large dolls that action figure toys, and are f* stupidly expensive for what you actually get. Maybe thats why they are often shelfhuggers

sometimes, if not often, a scout/deluxe toy gives far more value/play for the dollar

[SofaMan]

Mutant Beast Combiner.

Mutant Beasts were some of the most underrated Beast Wars toys (even though they were originally designed as Animorphs). I still think they're awesome.

Imagine the pathos - these characters who lament their lost robots modes can only regain one by combining their bodies and identities with one another.

Better yet, they could combine to form a Chimera.