Respecting the Art of Engineering of Third Party Toys (Transformers)

[Faust For ScienceParticipant 22626]

Respecting the Art of Engineering of Third Party Toys (Transformers)

I have been a fan of the Transformers franchise since its premiere of the Transformers G1 cartoon in 1984. I was a young child then.

When I was a child, I loved the concept and the toys. Of one thing turning into another thing. Not only this, I respected that a lot of though and engineering when into these toys.

Also, some of these toys were works of art.

Now when it comes to art. The snobs believe that art is only found spending a lot of money on paintings and statues.

Art is more than that.

Art is making something that is appreciated.

Thirty years later, I am still a Transformers fan of the franchise. Though, I do not collect toys.

But, I still admire the art and engineering that goes into the design of such toys.

I have noticed something. In the last decade, groups and companies in China have taken an interest in not only producing the toys, but making higher quality versions of these toys.

From an artistic and engineering standpoints, some of these toy designs are quite impressive.

There is a legal gray area on this matter. But, we will not get into that.

Most of these toys are designed and produced in China.

These third party toys can be divided into two groups.

Third party and KO/Knock-offs.

The KO are low quality copies.

Most of the non-KO, unlicensed third party Transformers toys are high quality, high detail.

Anyway, in response, a few ago, the two main companies in control of the Transformers franchise, Hasbro and Takara, has taken noticed of these third party Transformer toys. Instead of just shutting the third party companies down, Hasbro and Takara instead decided to take a step up and produce their licensed toys at arguably the same quality as the third party designs. First with the combiner series, then the titan series, then the headmasters.

This is quite impressive. I tip my hat to those at Hasbro and Takara for taking the high road and stepping up to make a better quality product. This is how capitalism is suppose to work.

To see what I am talking about, here are some examples. These are very large examples of what I am talking about.

The first is a interesting third party version of Omega Supreme:

These three below are licensed versions from Hasbro and Takara:

You may not find this interesting. But, one can at least acknowledge some thought and effort went into these toy designs.

[WPLParticipant 2398]

I may be a little bit biased, but there is an argument to be made (and this idea is not original to me) that all engineering and design are art by definition. This is so because engineering is a creative endeavour in which each individual designer has great discretion and latitude in how he arrives at the final design, influenced by his own education and experience — and also by his very personality.

[Faust For ScienceParticipant 22626]

WPL wrote:

I may be a little bit biased, but there is an argument to be made (and this idea is not original to me) that all engineering and design are art by definition. This is so because engineering is a creative endeavour in which each individual designer has great discretion and latitude in how he arrives at the final design, influenced by his own education and experience — and also by his very personality.

I agree. While not in so many words, that is the point I am trying to make.

[Anonymous 6]

I like the Decepticons better. Shout out to Lockdown, and MegaTron

[Anonymous 1]

I was a big fan of the cartoon in the 80’s. I grew up collecting the toys and I still have them somewhere in my basement. Definitely, my favorite toys from back then. The design complexity was awesome.

[GregB0Participant]

A great thread and I agree, the essence of the 70’s and 80’s toys from SE Asia was the simple fusion of art within the engineering that brought the toy to life.

This harmony embraced the child while welcoming the adult at the same time. Simple yet enticingly complex, koolaide leading to wine.

This made these collectibles instead of only toys to be played with and disposed off soon there after.

​"​My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.​" - Clarence Buddinton Kelland

[Anonymous 1]

Check out the pattern making for the castings for this Ford V6 F1 turbo engine and tell an engineer or tradesman that its not not art.

The whole documentary is worth a look (two parts):

[Faust For ScienceParticipant 22626]

Unforgiven, that engine is a work of art. And thank you for the link to the video.

[Anonymous 42]

The only transformer I have hangs between my legs like a bat that tuns banana!

[Author]

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