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How About An Ultimate Combiner?


madman1366

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I think we've all grown used to combiners being a certain way in the Transformers universe. I just wonder, how would people feel about an ultimate combiner?

 

What do I mean by that? Glad you asked.

 

One HUGE combined bot...Obviously. But instead of one bot as an arm, one a leg, etc..etc..they make smaller bots where one becomes the forearm and hand, one the upper arm and shoulder. One the hip and upper leg, one lower leg and foot and at least 2 different bots for the body. At least 10 bots in all.

 

Is that too much engineering to hope for such a thing? Even if they were relatively small and simple individual figures?

 

 

This would probably be a great idea for figures the size of Cyberverse (commander) figures. It would only be good if the figures had individual bot and alt modes as well. I think new Transformers projects should look towards more ambitious ideas...this would fit the bill! However a 10 figure combiner most likely wouldn't come cheap or easy. So one would have to wonder how many they can do. Perhaps take a page from PCC where other individual bots in the line can be interchangeable with other parts to give the combined form new powers and abilities.

 

It might be a dream, but something like this could take combiners to a whole new level.

 

 

 

I'd just love to see more things incorporated into Transformers that lets the kids/collectors get more creative. Different ways to transform bots, different ways to combine them etc. That's what I loved about lines like Energon, even though some of the execution was iffy. The idea is sound.

 

Hasbro has also liked tinkering with the Lego like sets over the years. KREO obviously being the current effort. Here is an idea for Hasbro to revolutionize the Lego block and Transformers combining as we know it. Make sets where the individual lego blocks can transform into robots. You can have a hoard of tiny robots and then combine them into whatever twisted things you can come up with!

 

But not just basic blocks, there is no telling how many different kinds of transforming parts they can make. You can build huge robots, perhaps a Metroplex or Fort Max, or create a city bot of your own design...the possibilities could be endless! Best of all, they could be made to interact with virtually ANY Transformers line.

 

 

Anyways...just some neat ideas I've always had balled up in my brain. Anyone else have any?

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It's do-able.

 

During the mid to early 2000s, Bandai released a line called Machine Robo Rescue Mugenbine, that eventually evolved into Machine Robo Mugenbine, and finally just dropping Machine Robo and becoming Mugenbine(which still runs as small model kits w/candy).

 

They were one part Machine Robo, one part Lego...and you could get quite a few "ultimate" combinations. The only downside is, they were quite a bit lacking on articulation.

 

These aren't mine, but ones that I've seen and was impressed enough to save over the years.

 

wiz_041116.jpg

wiz_041004.jpg

img20070829072327.jpg

gee_060228.jpg

eizen_051231.jpg

hanpen_060222.jpg

 

However, for Transformers, the way Power Core Combiners played out, I can understand Hasbro not exactly wanting to jump into a risky major Combiner project, instead sticking to a safer one-off Scramble-City type combiner group.

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One HUGE combined bot...Obviously. But instead of one bot as an arm, one a leg, etc..etc..they make smaller bots where one becomes the forearm and hand, one the upper arm and shoulder. One the hip and upper leg, one lower leg and foot and at least 2 different bots for the body. At least 10 bots in all.

 

Is that too much engineering to hope for such a thing? Even if they were relatively small and simple individual figures?

Something like this was planned for G1. It was going to be a Micromaster Gestalt comprised of fifteen robots - three uniformly coloured teams of five (kinda like Vehicle Force Voltron). They were to be:

+ Blue Team: 2 jets, 2 helicopters and a space shuttle

+ Green Team: a dumptruck, a bulldozer, a steamshovel, a tank and a missile carrier.

+ Red Team: 2 cars, a motorcycle, an F-1 racer and a jeep.

 

There's a picture of the concept illustration (in colour) in "Transformers Generations: Deluxe."

 

Unfortunately this never came to fruitation, and the Micromaster gestalts we DID get were nothing like this - if anything, they were super-cheating gestalts, relying VERY heavily on detachable non-contained gestalt parts!!

 

I'd just love to see more things incorporated into Transformers that lets the kids/collectors get more creative. Different ways to transform bots, different ways to combine them etc. That's what I loved about lines like Energon, even though some of the execution was iffy. The idea is sound.

The concept of Energon was TERRIBLE...

 

A better example of what you're talking about would be Multi-Force/Landcross -- and those toys came out in 1989 (whereas Energon was 2004). Energon tried to imitate or 'upgrade' the Multi Force gimmick, but they weren't anywhere near as cool. The fun thing with MultiForce was:

+ Each robot could become either the top or bottom half of the combined robot form - and unlike Energon Powerlinx, they would have a different head for that combined form. e.g. Mach's normal head is different from the head he has when he becomes Machtackle. With Energon, when Hot Shot combines with say Inferno... it's still either Hot Shot or Inferno's head on the top. Lame.

+ Each robot was of a uniform size/scale and were able to cross combine with each other. With Energon it's more ideal with toys of the same class, but it gets weird if you cross them over - for example imagine putting Jetfire on top of Hot Shot. Weeeeiiiird. With MultiForce you can have Wingwaver, Wingdash, Wingtacker, Wingmach, Wingtackle, Waverwing, Waverdash, Wavertacker, Wavermach, Wavertackle, Dashwing, Dashwaver, Dashtacker, Dashmach, Dashtackle, Tackerwing, Tackerwaver, Tackerdash, Tackermach, Tackertackle, Machwing, Machwaver, Machdash, Machtacker, Machtackle, Tacklewing, Tackledash, Tackletacker, Tacklemach and my personal favourite just because I'm immature -- TACKLEWAVER!! <tee.hee> :D

+ Unlike Energon Powerlinx, the Multiforce robots can all combine to form the gestalt robot Landcross! And the robots are interchangeable too (e.g. Mach can be a right or left arm or right or left leg etc etc.).

+ All of the robots' individual guns can combine to form a BFG for Landcross. ;)

 

...all this in 1989... how freakin' cool is that!?! So not surprisingly when Energon Powerlinx came out in 2004, I thought it was a rather poor effort considering what Multiforce had given us 15 years prior.

 

Hasbro has also liked tinkering with the Lego like sets over the years. KREO obviously being the current effort. Here is an idea for Hasbro to revolutionize the Lego block and Transformers combining as we know it. Make sets where the individual lego blocks can transform into robots. You can have a hoard of tiny robots and then combine them into whatever twisted things you can come up with!

 

But not just basic blocks, there is no telling how many different kinds of transforming parts they can make. You can build huge robots, perhaps a Metroplex or Fort Max, or create a city bot of your own design...the possibilities could be endless! Best of all, they could be made to interact with virtually ANY Transformers line.

The main hurdle I see with this idea is child safety. Itty bitty Transformers means itty bitty choking hazard parts and possibly bits that can snap off and become hazardous too. Remember that the Smallest Transformers were explicitly marketed to "Ages 15 and Up", thus that line was exempted from child safety regulations. Takara frequently does this with collector-centric lines, but Hasbro won't. Anything they design will need to be kid-friendly.

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One HUGE combined bot...Obviously. But instead of one bot as an arm, one a leg, etc..etc..they make smaller bots where one becomes the forearm and hand, one the upper arm and shoulder. One the hip and upper leg, one lower leg and foot and at least 2 different bots for the body. At least 10 bots in all.

 

Is that too much engineering to hope for such a thing? Even if they were relatively small and simple individual figures?

Something like this was planned for G1. It was going to be a Micromaster Gestalt comprised of fifteen robots - three uniformly coloured teams of five (kinda like Vehicle Force Voltron). They were to be:

+ Blue Team: 2 jets, 2 helicopters and a space shuttle

+ Green Team: a dumptruck, a bulldozer, a steamshovel, a tank and a missile carrier.

+ Red Team: 2 cars, a motorcycle, an F-1 racer and a jeep.

 

There's a picture of the concept illustration (in colour) in "Transformers Generations: Deluxe."

 

Unfortunately this never came to fruitation, and the Micromaster gestalts we DID get were nothing like this - if anything, they were super-cheating gestalts, relying VERY heavily on detachable non-contained gestalt parts!!

 

I'd just love to see more things incorporated into Transformers that lets the kids/collectors get more creative. Different ways to transform bots, different ways to combine them etc. That's what I loved about lines like Energon, even though some of the execution was iffy. The idea is sound.

The concept of Energon was TERRIBLE...

 

A better example of what you're talking about would be Multi-Force/Landcross -- and those toys came out in 1989 (whereas Energon was 2004). Energon tried to imitate or 'upgrade' the Multi Force gimmick, but they weren't anywhere near as cool. The fun thing with MultiForce was:

+ Each robot could become either the top or bottom half of the combined robot form - and unlike Energon Powerlinx, they would have a different head for that combined form. e.g. Mach's normal head is different from the head he has when he becomes Machtackle. With Energon, when Hot Shot combines with say Inferno... it's still either Hot Shot or Inferno's head on the top. Lame.

+ Each robot was of a uniform size/scale and were able to cross combine with each other. With Energon it's more ideal with toys of the same class, but it gets weird if you cross them over - for example imagine putting Jetfire on top of Hot Shot. Weeeeiiiird. With MultiForce you can have Wingwaver, Wingdash, Wingtacker, Wingmach, Wingtackle, Waverwing, Waverdash, Wavertacker, Wavermach, Wavertackle, Dashwing, Dashwaver, Dashtacker, Dashmach, Dashtackle, Tackerwing, Tackerwaver, Tackerdash, Tackermach, Tackertackle, Machwing, Machwaver, Machdash, Machtacker, Machtackle, Tacklewing, Tackledash, Tackletacker, Tacklemach and my personal favourite just because I'm immature -- TACKLEWAVER!! <tee.hee> :D

+ Unlike Energon Powerlinx, the Multiforce robots can all combine to form the gestalt robot Landcross! And the robots are interchangeable too (e.g. Mach can be a right or left arm or right or left leg etc etc.).

+ All of the robots' individual guns can combine to form a BFG for Landcross. ;)

 

...all this in 1989... how freakin' cool is that!?! So not surprisingly when Energon Powerlinx came out in 2004, I thought it was a rather poor effort considering what Multiforce had given us 15 years prior.

 

Hasbro has also liked tinkering with the Lego like sets over the years. KREO obviously being the current effort. Here is an idea for Hasbro to revolutionize the Lego block and Transformers combining as we know it. Make sets where the individual lego blocks can transform into robots. You can have a hoard of tiny robots and then combine them into whatever twisted things you can come up with!

 

But not just basic blocks, there is no telling how many different kinds of transforming parts they can make. You can build huge robots, perhaps a Metroplex or Fort Max, or create a city bot of your own design...the possibilities could be endless! Best of all, they could be made to interact with virtually ANY Transformers line.

The main hurdle I see with this idea is child safety. Itty bitty Transformers means itty bitty choking hazard parts and possibly bits that can snap off and become hazardous too. Remember that the Smallest Transformers were explicitly marketed to "Ages 15 and Up", thus that line was exempted from child safety regulations. Takara frequently does this with collector-centric lines, but Hasbro won't. Anything they design will need to be kid-friendly.

 

 

 

The problems with Energon you listed were part of the execution problem. The concept is simply the idea of putting 2 robots together into 1. That's a good idea that simply needs to be done better. That was the point. I also enjoyed the energon weapons. They made for some nice combinations as well. Maybe you didn't like Energon....I LOVED IT! Goofy combinations and all.

 

 

With the block bots, they don't have to be super small. Could be minicon sized and that would be fine. As building blocks they'd be a bit bigger than Lego. The idea is though, what you'd made with them would be MUCH bigger.

 

If you can make minicons, you can make connecting minicons. If they fall over, they just break apart...not break. No worries. No different than something large you built with regular Legos.

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i'd like hasbro to give us a true combiner before they try anything that advanced.

 

i think it's outrageous that we haven't gotten a true devastator update since G1.

 

i mean.. 3rd parties have shown us that people will pay for stuff that they've been wanting. i mean, a lot of people are probably buying the new devastator, and that totals to what.. $600-$700. hasbro could probably produce something like that for a fraction of the price and i bet you there would be a whole hell of a lot more people who would be getting it.

 

anyways. your idea sounds cool. but i don't know how well it would sell. i think people have been hoping for a true G1ish combiner for a long time. and until we get one.. i don't think much else has a chance. i think once peoples thirsts are quenched they'll be more apt to thinking about something new.

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i'd like hasbro to give us a true combiner before they try anything that advanced.

 

i think it's outrageous that we haven't gotten a true devastator update since G1.

 

i mean.. 3rd parties have shown us that people will pay for stuff that they've been wanting. i mean, a lot of people are probably buying the new devastator, and that totals to what.. $600-$700. hasbro could probably produce something like that for a fraction of the price and i bet you there would be a whole hell of a lot more people who would be getting it.

 

anyways. your idea sounds cool. but i don't know how well it would sell. i think people have been hoping for a true G1ish combiner for a long time. and until we get one.. i don't think much else has a chance. i think once peoples thirsts are quenched they'll be more apt to thinking about something new.

 

 

The problem is those 3rd party makers pretty much have to charge that much. They're not like Hasbro where they may sell a million units of each figure, the actual number produced is far below the average Hasbro figure. They're not exactly dealing with the most ideal means of production either, it's probably a bit more costly. I think it's more of a labor of love for those guys making them, I doubt if they're getting rich off it.

 

Plus they have don't have to worry about meeting some of the various standards that Hasbro has to deal with. That hurts what Hasbro is able to do in terms of size, weight, and even complexity.

 

With that said, it is kind of silly that they haven't learned how to perfect the art of the combiner yet. The ROTF Bruticus upgrade showed that Hasbro isn't as far off as it seems. The method of combination works, so long as the QC is better, and the individual bots were all good except for the repainted limbs instead of 4 different ones. The only thing Hasbro needed to do was work with them more to make better limbs for the combined mode. That's something that they should be able to accomplish.

 

I can only hope that Hasbro isn't too full of themselves to where they can't take a look at what the custom makers are doing and try to take what useful ideas they can from them. It's the clever little things that the custom makers do that Hasbro needs to pay more attention to.

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I was thinking of that very same thing and was going crazy in the designing of such a monstrocity. LOL! I was thinking that at one time that Transformer Energon ports like the Autobot's two bot combining teams held the key to an ultimate combiner! Sturdy and versitile I still think that these parts would offer something great!

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i'd like hasbro to give us a true combiner before they try anything that advanced.

 

i think it's outrageous that we haven't gotten a true devastator update since G1.

 

i mean.. 3rd parties have shown us that people will pay for stuff that they've been wanting. i mean, a lot of people are probably buying the new devastator, and that totals to what.. $600-$700. hasbro could probably produce something like that for a fraction of the price and i bet you there would be a whole hell of a lot more people who would be getting it.

 

anyways. your idea sounds cool. but i don't know how well it would sell. i think people have been hoping for a true G1ish combiner for a long time. and until we get one.. i don't think much else has a chance. i think once peoples thirsts are quenched they'll be more apt to thinking about something new.

 

 

The problem is those 3rd party makers pretty much have to charge that much. They're not like Hasbro where they may sell a million units of each figure, the actual number produced is far below the average Hasbro figure. They're not exactly dealing with the most ideal means of production either, it's probably a bit more costly. I think it's more of a labor of love for those guys making them, I doubt if they're getting rich off it.

 

 

that's what i'm saying. if people are willing to spend that much on the 3rd party combiners, which i don't believe is an outrageous price for a 3rd party item. then people will surely be more prone to spending a fraction of that for something hasbro produced. i wish hasbro would understand that.

 

give us what we want.. and we'll pay for it.

 

 

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i also think what they're doing with "hercules" is very smart.. and is something hasbro should do.

 

release six voyager class figures separately over a decent amount of time. and have the instructions for devastator added with the last one. that way people won't really think about spending $120 for the whole thing. and for those who only really like specific constructicons.. they'll be happy too.

 

and hell, i wouldn't mind if the upper legs, chest crest, hands, and head were separate parts. parts that came with different figures.

 

anyways. devastator really isn't that difficult to do, i don't think anyways. they already have a template in the G1 figure.. it can't be that incredibly difficult to up the scale and add to it.

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