AUG 16th live reveal - Studio Series & Legacy wave 3

[griffin]

Yeah, same dimensions as the WFC cassettes. So compatible with Siege/Netflix Soundwave (or Kingdom/Legacy Blaster if you insist).

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChXK0VuOi0_/

The images from that link, which came from one of the designers on instagram...

Since this is studio series, we followed the colors he had in the 86 movie.
This will be a quicker post and I’ll follow up later with the development process posts.

He is about a head taller than the previous siege Battle Master but his tape mode is the same size. This allows for him to work with our Siege Soundwave and Kingdom Blaster.
The posts to connect his blasters are 3mm and those connect on his arms and his back.

His hands fold in so he can wield his pile drivers.

And the official images that showed up on facebook from an online dealer...

[griffin]

The Hasbro designers came out in force on instagram after those reveals the other day, posting up info on quite a few of the new reveals.

These are some of the Legacy toys...

- Skullgrin - (the odd one out so far, but the commentary suggests that it needed to be a Deluxe because it was to complex to be a Core)

Legacy Deluxe Pretender Skullgrin was a project challenge that really wreaked havoc on my emotions.
.
Last minute these Pretenders were approved for slots slated for dropped characters. Ever since that old Straxus redeco toy Bill Rawley worked on in 2010, I’ve always wanted a proper Dauros from Super God Masterforce but also utilizing what was done as the original G1 toy. All of that equals an absolutely crucial design challenge in which I was constantly second guessing decisions the whole way.
.
Thank goodness I worked with Yuki san on this guy and his incredible ability to not only design but to advise direction was super helpful.
.
You can see here, in my concept art I worked up for Skullgrin, I wanted to keep some demon features of the character but also combine them with elements of the toy transforming robot. I really do wish I had more time to debate and draw but I felt utilizing existing artwork for the characters alt mode would really help with time and direction.
.
Then comes the engineering decisions on whats really possible to even obtain smooth transformation. Back and forth we went on redesigning this figure step by step to get the end result. Which I’m very pleased with the outcome and I hope you are too.
.
The accessory load out on this guy is unreal. The scale of robot mode I wanted was sort of a pipe dream but he maintains alot of beef and height for a deluxe. He really gives a strong decepticon presence. The colors were another challenge here as you can see some mistakes heppened in production.
.
Other notes are the cybertronian front hover tank duel gun turret blasters are effects compatible and also have alot of versatility with 5mm ports. The duel bone sword energon blasters can be utilized in multiple ways. Please peep my story for more cool tidbits about this super fun figure, in which, I hope you give him a chance to bless your collection, even if he is without his shell!

- Bombburst - (I'm not a fan of the opening mouth and pig nose... I think the head sculpt should have been closer to the original toy)

Here we have some more photos of Core legacy Bombburst, or Blood if you prefer the Japanese name. Continuing with how we’ve been implementing the decepticon pretenders, we merged the monster shell with the bot alt mode.
This is another Hasui san master piece and it amazes me how well this figure turned out.
The wings are attached by 5mm posts on the sides of the arms and can be stored on the back. There’s some bat wing sculpt detail on the undersides that you can show off if you’re so inclined.
We gave him Gold eyes following the original toy release instead of the animation model’s Red.

- Crankcase - (this one disappoints me a little, as the designer really wanted to incorporate the flip-over shoulder cannons, but just couldn't make it work from the Skids mould - considering it started using the Skids mould, there really is very little left of Skids in Crankcase, including the transformation)

Worked with Shu san in Takara on this partial of Legacy Skids mold and we went back and forth an awful lot about the trigger blasters. It was really challenging to fit the blasters with a blast compatibility and we are also wanted to keep the alt mode clean with the blasters hidden. It was a compromise in the end as I really wanted this character. I even had a rendition where the side fender compartments came off on a 5mm post to be added as ammo for the front grill blaster, but since this was a partial mold, we did our best to do the character justice within the cost alotted.
To note the silver op behind the grill was stripped to utilize those ops for the cool two tone decal on the back spare tire.

(a lot more images at each of the instagram posts)

[griffin]

And also from the designers on Instagram, not one but two posts about Transmetal Megatron...
(Images I got from here, and a turnaround video has been mirrored here)

What a beast of a character this turned out to be. This was an awesome project to have the opportunity to take over from Lenny, and I absolutely loved his vision for what this figure would become. This dragon form is a great homage to the original character, but takes the opportunity to update it with some modern aesthetics to fit in the legacy styling. The Claws of the dragon mode are able to be incorporated into the robot chest, and both the tail and neck feature multi tiered balljoints to allow for maximum articulation. Ejima Takio did an incredible job of bringing this character to life, and to following the initial design plan so closely.
Fun fact, due to the scale texturing applied to the entire model, the characters digital file actually surpasses our Titan and Masterpiece figures in complexity. It’s a rig killer, but that seems fitting for Megatron.
There are a lot of complex colors used across the both modes, and a lot of subtle gradients used to mimic the transitions from the more pearlescent hardened scales to the brighter underbellies. There is a darker shade used as the eyeshadow on the dragons face, and a complimentary gold used on the horns and claws. The overall body is molded in a dark matte metallic red, to help reduce the color discrepancies between the various materials used for molding. His wings are molded in a warmer translucent amber, while the translucent parts are cast out of a stark orange clear ABS.
Lastly there is a 5mm port in the mouth of the dragon to be able to accept the flame accessory. This can be used in both Robot and Dragon mode, and can also be wielded as a club in the figures right hand.

[griffin]

And someone has already managed to get their hands on a Blanker/Pointblank toy (a person I don't think I've seen before, so a new competitor to the stolen toy market).
The gun Peacemaker appears to be a simpler and smaller design to the Siege era Targetmasters, which is a bit strange for the engineering to take a step backwards.

[JJJ]

- Bombburst - (I'm not a fan of the opening mouth and pig nose... I think the head sculpt should have been closer to the original toy)

That's not a pig nose. Bomb-Burst is a vampire, and that's a bat's face, just as it was on the original toy (although this sculpt is closer to an actual bat).

[Autocon]

Can dragon megs go on all fours?

[griffin]

Blanker (or known as Pointblank by just about everyone at Hasbro) has been shown off by one of the designers on Instagram, revealing that a lot of cost cutting had to be done to the toy from its original design, which was too detailed and complex.

Deluxe Legacy Pointblank and his Targetmaster Peacemaker are finally here to hop into your collection! Had to break out my mint Crosshairs to showcase how both of these bots looked together. I had the pleasure of doing the deco for Crosshairs and I was kinda bummed I wasn’t able to get Pinpointer in there. This time around since I lead the design of this guy I thought it was essential to add in Peacemaker. I soon realized how cost challenging it was to include a target master at a Deluxe scale and pricepoint.
The first image is my own redraw concept art of Pointblank and Peacemaker. Ive been really using alot of reference art that everyone already knows and loves, especially with tight schedules, they seem to be great for kicking off the project. You can see the reuse of the comics art alt mode here was perfect to use. I absolutely love this rendition of his cybertronian race car alt mode.

Hasui san took the reigns and made the great suggestion of doing the fin styled head that was never made in toyform. Anything that is in the g1 cartoon is a go for me even if its from the later seasons.

You can see an additional weapon engine accessory was costed out along with a bunch of other comments made to fine tune this guy. Hasui really had so many tweaks in order to fix up this guy, I just couldn’t find a way to showcase them all here. I added my comments to ensure we were aligned on trying to make this the best version of Pointblank ever.
You can see the targetmaster is blast effect compatible. There is elbow swivel on Pointblank for those that have been asking, but the articulation range on this guy really gives you a plethora of posing options and is really fun to tinker with. The arm transformation was a treat and I can’t wait for yall to get these guys!

[KELPIE]

The gun Peacemaker appears to be a simpler and smaller design to the Siege era Targetmasters, which is a bit strange for the engineering to take a step backwards.

Blanker (or known as Pointblank by just about everyone at Hasbro) has been shown off by one of the designers on Instagram, revealing that a lot of cost cutting had to be done to the toy from its original design, which was too detailed and complex.

A lot of the simpler engineering and cost cutting was due to trying to include a Targetmaster accessory at a Deluxe price point.

Knowing now what we got and what we missed out on, I'd almost rather a better Pointblank and Sureshot, then release a core double-pack of improved Spoilsport and Peacemaker, over a compromised version of both Pointblank and Peacemaker in one package.

[JJJ]

I'd absolutely choose, in a heartbeat, for them to dump the targetmaster so that the actual Pointblank toy could be better (and meet modern standards).

[SharkyMcShark]

A lot of the simpler engineering and cost cutting was due to trying to include a Targetmaster accessory at a Deluxe price point.

Knowing now what we got and what we missed out on, I'd almost rather a better Pointblank and Sureshot, then release a core double-pack of improved Spoilsport and Peacemaker, over a compromised version of both Pointblank and Peacemaker in one package.

Yeah.

Really the boat for getting this figure done properly sailed when Hasbro stopped doing the Micromaster/Targetmaster figures.