The Repaint Concept Thread

[Rycochet]

A wave 2 of machine wars is a fun what if using vintage molds, but replicating that with modern molds with heads to resemble different vintage toys would have pleased fewer people that what they eventually released. I am tempted to have a crack at a fake Machine wars wave 2 based on what was probably available given what was used and what surfaced in Brave, RiD, Robot Masters and Universe, and the colours they put out in wave 1.

 

[GXE18]

TL TFA Nightwatch Optimus Prime​

 

[Sabrblade]

Oh my.

It's Animated Magna Convoy!

 

[CoffeeHorse]

A wave 2 of machine wars is a fun what if using vintage molds,

I so wish we got an actual wave 2 with the Pyro and Clench molds, and maybe some JG1 molds. Machine Wars had real potential.

 

[lastmaximal]

Machine Wars (the 1997 original) was such a fascinating little capsule. Entirely new lineup, name reuses in a still continuity-oriented era that more strongly called for fiction with explanations for how x character is now in y body or z state of being alive (as opposed to decades hence, when we're just "oh, they needed to renew that"). Plus, of course, there were bios to give us something to work with.

And the departures from what was established were so damn interesting. A faceplate-less Optimus Prime, an immense Starscream and entirely different-looking Seekers, Megs with a clone, missile tank Soundwave, and an unexpected lineup of characters in Prowl, Sandstorm, Hubcap, and more. All in the middle of Beast Wars, a wholly distinct story with its own fully developed cast. This was fun to brainstorm story concepts for, whether as a bridge between G1-2 and BW, a diversion within BW (hence the name), or its own universe.

Funny enough I think the Botcon comic for that year is one of the better ones. It manages to craft a newish setting and story that's fun to find out more about. This and the G2 Redux one were great for that.

The year's slate of exclusives was an odd one, despite the intriguing blend of Machine Wars and Vehicons.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

And it had the Autobots and Decepticons in completely balanced numbers. And it entirely consisted of molds we previously had no access to. That aspect alone is great. eBay was barely in its infancy at that point. Those weird Euro G1/2 exclusives were pretty much unobtainium.

And let's see how well Fun Pub did with it.

A faceplate-less Optimus Prime

Who?

an immense Starscream

How about a dinky Deluxe?

entirely different-looking Seekers

Check!

Megs with a clone

Who with a what?

missile tank Soundwave

Who?

Prowl

Who? How about Mirage repainted as Mirage instead?

Sandstorm

Check!

Hubcap

Who?

And then they blamed the theme, because they couldn't think of anything they could have done better with it.

 

[Shadewing]

Who? How about Mirage repainted as Mirage instead?

While I get what you're meaning; that's still probably the most accurate figure in that set.

Honestly, I think FP were screwed either way with this. While I do believe they handled it badly; a "wave 2" would have just been random figures with random names. It probably wouldn't have appealed to anyone. And just redoing the guys we already have, while cool also probably wouldn't have been a large appeal. Regardless I feel their biggest screw up was the fiction and not just making an entirely new Universe for MW rather then trying to shove it into their G1 Wings universe.

 

[lastmaximal]

It was definitely a strange situation (that happened to work out well narratively). Obsidian and Strika were brilliant designs well-executed, but inevitably took away from the set theme.

IDK how well a box set of Prime, Megatron, Hoist, Skywarp, and Mirage would have done, alongside attendee packs of Hubcap (not Electro)/Thundercracker and Prowl/Megaplex. But that would've been nice to see.

 

[Shadewing]

For certain, they needed an Optimus and Megatron in this set. Megaplex should have either been Starscream (largest jet) or just Megatron if they wanted Megatron to be big. Having Optimus and Megatron likely would have gotten the sets sold just becuase its an Optimus and Megatron. This set had no wide recognition really. You have a bunch on not accurate MW guys and then probably the most popular characters from one of the least popular series. But you slap Optimus and Megatron on a set and people will buy that regardless.

 

[GXE18]

TL TFA Almanac Nemesis Prime​

 

[Sabrblade]

How about a dinky Deluxe?

Funnily enough, it was exactly that Deluxe that served as the catalyst for their picking Machine Wars for that year's theme. Someone mocked up the MW Starscream deco on the Terradive mold and thought it looked so good that they just had to make it real. And, to be fair, it is a really good-looking figure.

(Sandstorm) Check!

Who, to everyone's unpleasant surprise, turned out to instead be just an evil clone of G1 Sandstorm. In fact, all of the original MW toys were treated as cloned drones instead of the characters they actually were in the original toyline.

Regardless I feel their biggest screw up was the fiction and not just making an entirely new Universe for MW rather then trying to shove it into their G1 Wings universe.

The Wings Universe was arguably Fun Pub's main series of fiction at the time, getting the most focus and development during the years of 2010-2014. So why wouldn't they have wanted to keep fleshing it out? The two Machine Wars stories were set at a post-G2 point meant to bridge the gap between G1/G2 and BW, which was always unexplored territory back then in any continuity.

It was definitely a strange situation (that happened to work out well narratively). Obsidian and Strika were brilliant designs well-executed, but inevitably took away from the set theme.

Although, the 2010 Lugnut mold would have produced a more faithful robot mode silhouette for Obsidian. But when I asked Jesse about why the Highbrow mold was chosen instead, he explained that it was meant to be an Autobot version of Obsidian with a more heroic shape, while the Lugnut mold would have instead given him a more evil-looking shape.

Megaplex should have either been Starscream (largest jet) or just Megatron if they wanted Megatron to be big.

FWIW, Megaplex originally wasn't going to be the Prime Dreadwing mold. It ended up using that mold when it suddenly became available for Fun Pub to use. It was a case of fortunate timing, as their original pick for Megaplex was going to be the Deluxe class ROTF Breakaway mold, which had a far less accurate robot mode silhouette to the MW Megatron/Megaplex mold.

 

[Shadewing]

The Wings Universe was arguably Fun Pub's main series of fiction at the time, getting the most focus and development during the years of 2010-2014. So why wouldn't they have wanted to keep fleshing it out? The two Machine Wars stories were set at a post-G2 point meant to bridge the gap between G1/G2 and BW, which was always unexplored territory back then in any continuity.

Becuase it lead to bs like this?

Who, to everyone's unpleasant surprise, turned out to instead be just an evil clone of G1 Sandstorm. In fact, all of the original MW toys were treated as cloned drones instead of the characters they actually were in the original toyline.

 

[Sabrblade]

Becuase it lead to bs like this?

It didn't have to. The Wings Universe was full of body-changed 'bots running around. Just make the MW guys the classic G1 dudes in new bodies like they were meant to be. Being "cloned drones of cloned clones" was not a requirement of the Wings Universe.

 

[lastmaximal]

Athough, the 2010 Lugnut mold would have produced a more faithful robot mode silhouette for Obsidian. But when I asked Jesse about why the Highbrow mold was chosen instead, he explained that it was meant to be an Autobot version of Obsidian with a more heroic shape, while the Lugnut mold would have instead given him a more evil-looking shape.

It's nice trivia, but I don't mind the Highbrow body (and may even prefer it to the Lugnut body). It's a great fit for Obsidian.

I didn't mind a lot about that arc. G2 Redux and the two Machine Wars stories were okay and made use of a fun lineup of characters. But there were indeed some lackluster choices amid that larger good outcome.

Man, I miss having more fiction about.

 

[Haywire]

It was definitely a strange situation (that happened to work out well narratively). Obsidian and Strika were brilliant designs well-executed, but inevitably took away from the set theme.

Honestly, I thought Strika and Obsidian were the best additions to the set; the characters were meant to be great generals, but were unknown up until their appearance in Beast Machines. Why not make Machine Wars the campaign where they came to prominence?

 

[Sabrblade]

Honestly, I thought Strika and Obsidian were the best additions to the set (in concept, if not execution); the characters were meant to be great generals, but were unknown up until their appearance in Beast Machines. Why not make Machine Wars the campaign where they came to prominence?

I concur. It could have worked.

Alternately, they could have been the generals who defended Cybertron in Optimus's absence during the 4-million-year slumber before the proper Great War began in earnest on Earth in 1984. Silverbolt did say that they had fought and won a whopping 100 wars together. 4 million years would be enough time for 100 separate different Cybertronian wars to have transpired.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

their original pick for Megaplex was going to be the Deluxe class ROTF Breakaway mold

...

I know what they were thinking. They wanted the Thrust version of that mold, with the alternate head. It almost works.

 

[Rycochet]

Nightslash

Catscan

 

[Rycochet]

Machine Wars Ultra Magnus.

Skygarry was available from Brave, and I went with muted, slightly inaccurate colours as that what springs to mind when I think of Machine Wars.

 

[Rycochet]

The Botcon Machine Wars set was a mistake, they should have just made a Beast Machines prequel set if they really wanted to get Strika and Obsidian out there, let's face it, that's what they seemed to want. There were plenty of molds that could have been used for non show/non Beast Wars cast characters with imagination, WFC grimlock as Scavenger, FOC Starscream as Spy Streak, 07 Wreckage as Blastcharge and so on.