Gen1 Optimus/Convoy trailer/repair-bay origin?

[GoktimusPrime]

I guess it's like Jetfire's Gerwalk/Guardian mode... never an official mode for the Transformer version of the toy, but it was a mode for the pre-Transformer and popular with fans (to the point where people try to make their own Gerwalks out of all other kinds of Transformers! Wasn't there a thread dedicated to this? (or was that on another board??))

[5FDP]

I guess it's like Jetfire's Gerwalk/Guardian mode... never an official mode for the Transformer version of the toy, but it was a mode for the pre-Transformer and popular with fans (to the point where people try to make their own Gerwalks out of all other kinds of Transformers! Wasn't there a thread dedicated to this? (or was that on another board??))

Wrong

[GoktimusPrime]

Wrong

Turns out I'm even wronger than I thought! (unpossible!!)

Jetfire's instructions shows his Gerwalk mode under "Alternate Transformation" - but it doesn't actually show how to get him into that mode! Ah well. Cat's explanation also makes sense -- with the wider awareness of Diaclone amongst Japanese fans.

[5FDP]

Jetfire's instructions shows his Gerwalk mode under "Alternate Transformation" - but it doesn't actually show how to get him into that mode!

If anyone has any difficulty in achieving the alternate mode, they should just pack him up and take him back to the stores. I wonder if you could still get a refund 25 years later

[GoktimusPrime]

If I were a store clerk, and someone came to me with a G1 Jetfire in saleable condition complete with box, tray and all inserts and wanted to refund the original retail price that they purchased it for in 1985 -- I'd happily refund them out of my own pocket and keep the toy!!

[Cat]

Turns out I'm even wronger than I thought! (unpossible!!)

Jetfire's instructions shows his Gerwalk mode under "Alternate Transformation" - but it doesn't actually show how to get him into that mode! Ah well. Cat's explanation also makes sense -- with the wider awareness of Diaclone amongst Japanese fans.

I'm talking about the Japanese mecha community/fanbase/shows/formula in general, moreso than just Diaclone awareness.

To be honest, I'm not sure myself how popular Diaclone is, seeing as it's been largely eclipsed by the westernised Transformers take on it.

I'm talking more your general mecha trends. Popular with everything else, so popular with Convoy. A lot of the mech shows all have the same basic beats and formula, and this happens to be one of them that was there on Diaclone Convoy, and is probably still a key feature of their marketing, and what their fans want. For us westerners? Meh.

Wouldn't be surprised to learn that the repair bay features were more heavily featured/desired in their marketing of G1 Convoy. I mentioned Visualworks earlier, which has a few pics of different TF's in docking/repair bays that are human scaled, which isn't something we've really seen often (if at all) artwise over here.

For them, that sort of thing is simply a part of the mecha formula, and well, mecha's mecha (Again, massively generalising here to hopefully make my point easier to understand).

[Hursticon]

Wrong
*snip*

Oh Snap!

[Paulbot]

I was expecting a different question, so I'll ask it: what's the origin of G1 Optimus Prime's trailer?

Among the first year toys characters he's unique in having the largest part of his body being pretty much separate and pretty much stationary. (Omega's similiar in year 2 but that's because his robot mode splits in two). Optimus Prime just transforms from vehicle mode and the trailer in nearly every (but not all) instance of comic and cartoon just disappears.

Since he feels the pain to his trailer component, why have it? Seems a rather obvious target (and a big one at twice the size of the cab) so he's probably lucky it disappears. He must have to use more Energon just lugging it around for no real purpose.

Did he have it before the Ark crashed? (It's yes in the Marvel comics (ref #48), unsure in the cartoon, Dreamwave and IDW comics, and a no in WFC.).

It makes sense then that movie Optimus didn't have a trailer until he started using it to carry his jet pack and extra weapons. That gave it a good reason for being there.

But G1 Optimus Prime's trailer? What is its great untold story?

[GoktimusPrime]

As you rightly pointed out, in the G1 comics he already had a trailer on Cybertron. As for the cartoon, perhaps his trailer came from wherever the frell it goes when Optimus Prime transforms to robot mode!!

Seriously... that trailer is like one hardcore ninja. An issue of Toyfare Magazine once showed us where the trailer goes to when Prime is in robot mode and we don't see it... crowd-diving at baseball games, lifting weights at the gym, frequenting strip clubs with He-Man etc. Yup. ;p The cartoon portrayed combat deck/trailer as a lifeless expendable drone -- Megatron blows it up and Prime doesn't so much as flinch.

[Cat]

At the time, the Ark had been largely down for that whole time. It may have also not been fully operational and 'awake' at the time of the initial scannings.

It got everyone else right - densely packed into their alt mode.

For Prime though, maybe the truck was an unexpected mode of transportation for a Cybertronian device such as TeleTraan 1? It mapped out Prime's body to the cab, and was then confused to see that the trailer was naturally kept largely empty. Again, in keeping with the them of blending in, it put as little in there as possible :Roller and a few little doodads. Maybe some of what was there was added to perhaps provide a temp triage unit for wounded, for use by Ratchet and Ironhide, and temporary armoured transportation for soldiers too damaged to move on their own (even though in the cartoon they work around that in different silly ways anyway).

Maybe it was simply a case of it being partially damaged ie not thinking at it's best, trying to stay as true as it could to the earth equivalent vehicles , while still adding in some field units/area for the soldiers/ Prime?

If we want to throw the toys into the mix, you could maybe argue it did it to Ratchet first (the med bay), that worked perfectly, and so it adapted it for Ironhide, and finally the much larger Prime.