TF Views

I think the problem is that the movie designs are set in stone already, can't do alternators-styled designs with them because their parts are already preexisting.

No no, I meant larger scale than Deluxe cars to better take advantage of the complex and detailed movie designs. They could and should have made better toys than Barricade and NewBee.

Ravage 2, really? I've only played with it once, but it seemed to have been formed from the very essence of bad ideas and poor execution. And the tail end of Alternators has Mirage, which kicks ass.

Yes, JagRav is conceptual perfection. The transformation is just short of elegant, and the robocat can be posed in very catlike ways. As Scourge mentioned, the boosters can be popped out in vehicle mode too, very Bond. Plus, lovely car. Easily among my favourite Alternators. There's some iffy parts, but it's such a beautiful concept! Jaguar to Jaguar.

I still think Alts Mirage is pretty blah, Rodimus Prime is a hell of a lot cooler. Joint tolerances go a long way, as does a headsculpt.

Decepticon Spike wrote:I just can't win.....
I think Ravage 2 is the best for personal reasons. It's a long story but if you really wanna know, I can share.
I passed on Alt. Mirage when I saw him.

What about objective reasons though? No backstory on how you got him or how he came with a hundred dollar bill, but the figure itself. That's what I'm asking about.

andersonh1 wrote: What's not to like?

Mountains of large kibble chunks, a rather simplistic design, overly long body, thin torso, underwhelming articulation, lacking in alt mode features.

onslaught86 wrote:No no, I meant larger scale than Deluxe cars to better take advantage of the complex and detailed movie designs. They could and should have made better toys than Barricade and NewBee.

I understand, and what I'm saying is that the existing movie designs don't really fit into the Alternators design philosophy, you'd have to redesign significant aspects of the characters to get them to Alt quality.

Yes, JagRav is conceptual perfection.

Okay, seems like some of you didn't heed the warning about the brown acid or the electric koolaid.

Mountains of large kibble chunks, a rather simplistic design, overly long body, thin torso, underwhelming articulation, lacking in alt mode features.

'Mountains'? He's 'made' of those kibble chunks, they're not just hanging off of him, and it isn't like they're flopping all over the place. His back locks together well once you sandwich the lip of the bumper with the rear window chunk.
I don't really consider the design simplistic, and I will readily take it as-is over the majority of overcomplex and un-fun Alternators designs. Unlike most, he can be transformed back and forth with relative ease, and it's still not incredibly simple to do. The torso is kinda gappy, true, I'm honestly unsure how much more they could've crammed in there tho'. Proportions are nicely catlike.

Could stand to have ball-jointed 'shoulders' and 'hips', I guess, that would've been a plus. No deal-breaker for me thanks to the ball-jointed 'elbows' and the way his head works when you turn the neck chunk to the side, it's a very expressive figure with loads of personality.

Alt. mode features, though, the hell? So his wheels don't turn, that was a lame gimmick anyway, waste of budget. The rockets pop out, that's infinitely cooler than adjustable steering AFAIC. But then again, I buy these because they're kickass robots, not necessarily for the car models' accuracy, so pop-out weapons in car mode triggers my imagination a lot more than an accurate car model does. I really wish they'd been able to do that sort of thing more with the line, imagine Tracks with a legit third flight mode..

I understand, and what I'm saying is that the existing movie designs don't really fit into the Alternators design philosophy, you'd have to redesign significant aspects of the characters to get them to Alt quality.

Not..Alternators per se, just 1:24 (or thereabouts) movie cars. Be a better scale to work with. Unless you're meaning the sheer kibbilicious nature of the designs compromising their stability, which is certainly likely.

As a side note, when I think of the potential of live-action Transformers, Jaguar Ravage and Masterpiece Starscream are the first to pop into my head. They embody what I feel to be the line between realistic alternate forms and loyalty to the original designs.

Okay, seems like some of you didn't heed the warning about the brown acid or the electric koolaid.

na na na na na na na na Cat-Car!

onslaught86 wrote:As a side note, when I think of the potential of live-action Transformers, Jaguar Ravage and Masterpiece Starscream are the first to pop into my head. They embody what I feel to be the line between realistic alternate forms and loyalty to the original designs.

Whenever I *think* about Jaguar Ravage, I get this kickass scene in my head of him racing down a street somewhere (probably at night) and then just *leaping* into Cat mode (mimmicking his G1 boxart pose as best he can) and then just continuing running down that street. It's *awesome* and would look terrific if animated with today's CGI tech. Jaguar totally should have turned that idea into a car commercial, as a matter of fact.

I can see that perfectly! Yeah, that one car commercial with the 4WD turning into assorted animals was neat.

Heh, just occurred to me that it'd be great fun if TFs had holographic drivers that resembled their personalities.

So Ravage would be, like...Toonces the Death-Race 200 cat?

"Hey, that cat over there's driving a car. But not very OH GOD HE'S ACTIVELY TRYING TO KILL US!"

onslaught86 wrote:'Mountains'? He's 'made' of those kibble chunks, they're not just hanging off of him, and it isn't like they're flopping all over the place.

Tell that to the entire front grille and bumper and hood, the roof and windshield, and the rear window and bumper. In fact, the only kibble that even pretends to be part of the bot mode are the doors and rear fenders, and they do a shoddy job of it.

I don't really consider the design simplistic, and I will readily take it as-is over the majority of overcomplex and un-fun Alternators designs.

This is a weird argument, basically you don't like Alternators so you're claiming this figure is good because it's not like them? And it is a simplistic transformation when you take out the kibble parts, it's just fold out legs, head, and tail, fold midsection together.

Alt. mode features, though, the hell? So his wheels don't turn, that was a lame gimmick anyway, waste of budget.

Bull! That's a cool feature, it makes it more like a real car than most Transformers, gives it a sense of authenticity. And doors, hood, trunk too.

JediTricks wrote:Bull! That's a cool feature, it makes it more like a real car than most Transformers, gives it a sense of authenticity. And doors, hood, trunk too.

...which matter all of None? If I wanted that stuff, I'd buy a model car. I buy Transformers because they transform.

I think, anyway. Could just be that I dig the robot designs, or the fiction more than Gundam or Eva.

Onslaught Six wrote:...which matter all of None? If I wanted that stuff, I'd buy a model car. I buy Transformers because they transform.

It was the whole point of Alternators/Binaltech to have licensed, modern day, highly detailed, realistic vehicle modes complete with interiors, turning wheels, opening doors, trunks ect. and transform into G1 (more or less) characters.... With out that, they wouldn't have been any different than any other Transformers line.

...So?