Transformers

[GenoGear]

Quote (Crash Override @ 18 June 2004,11:03)That was a good clip. Why did that robot look like a tape deck? I thought the transformers were supposed to be massive.WTF oh my God . Soundwave was a tape deck back in the 80's. When he transformed he changed size He was well cool.Click Meand MeMe Too

[AndyThomas]

Heh. Soundwave superior, Constructicons inferior. Crash, the Transformers varied in both object size and robot size quite a lot, also depending on whether you were looking at the cartoon or the comic. For example, Jetfire in the comic was about the size of a normal jet but in the cartoon was big enough to carry other Autobots around in - about the size of a Hercules transport in effect. Quite how they managed the shrinking trick isn't clear - Soundwave's tapes for example transformed into human-sized robots. But of course it allowed the toy line to sell cheaper Minibots alongside the really big toys like Jetfire and Metroplex.

[Crash]

It hadn't occurred to me that they might change size when they transformed. From the photos the 3D modelers made a great likeness for the clip. I reckoned the minibots were merely an invention of Transformers Armada which I didn't watch much of (I always preferred Beast Wars).I guess someone tried to make an I-Pod transformer once but found that the batteries kept breaking. :]

[GenoGear]

The end of Armada was kinda ok Prime and Megatron (US Galvertron) beating the crap out of each other. Now the New Transformers Energon (Superlink in Japan with added bad language.) its not bad. Out of the 12eps I have seen so far there is fighting in all of them and the return of Megatron (Galvertron Jap) is so cool.

[FZeroOne]

Quote (AndyThomas @ 18 June 2004,20:28)Heh.  Soundwave superior, Constructicons inferior.  Crash, the Transformers varied in both object size and robot size quite a lot, also depending on whether you were looking at the cartoon or the comic.  For example, Jetfire in the comic was about the size of a normal jet but in the cartoon was big enough to carry other Autobots around in - about the size of a Hercules transport in effect.  Quite how they managed the shrinking trick isn't clearSoundwaves size is actually even more complicated, depending on which toy background you want to believe - the original Soundwave toy, part of one of the so-called "pre"-Transformers toy series that were developed out of Takaras Microman line, was meant to be a normal-sized tape deck that transformed into a robot. Although I'm not absolutely certain, I think the toy was designed with Microman in mind (though not actually part of that line), and as Micromen were supposed to be "real" 3-and-a-half-inch people, not mere action figures...  The Mekton role-playing game described the Transformers "size effect" as "expanding plasma" for purposes of that game. It was in the "Silly Mekton Tricks" section...   A group of science students once wrote an incredibly detailed theory on the location of the "thingy" that enables Transformers to change size and how it might work, and sent it to the letters page of the UK comic. I believe Grimlocks reply (and bear in mind, in the UK comic he was pretty smart), in its entirety, was "Uh. Right."...   It should be noted that varying scale is something that often plagues animated productions, no matter how detailed they might be - a famous example is the Armoured Valkyrie/Veritech from Macross/Robotech, which seems to "expand" as it launches the missiles concealed beneath its armour...