Commander class Sky Lynx hangs out on my Prime shelf. It's the only fitting placement for him.
Transformers: Age of the Primes toyline discussion 10/27 Update: First look at Megatronus the Fallen
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Until he gets thrown into the Dead Universe by Alpha Trion for daring to think he was worthy of the Matrix.
One of many bizarre choices that show made. Second onky to wasting the glory of Sky Lynx on a glorified cameo. 
I dunno. Humbling him and forcing him to become a lot more introspective was certainly a bold move, I feel.
Certainly kept him from being a static character like he was in the '80s, letting him grow and mature in a way nobody could have predicted.
And that heroic, selfless sacrifice of his added a unique element of tragedy to his story.
Certainly kept him from being a static character like he was in the '80s, letting him grow and mature in a way nobody could have predicted.
And that heroic, selfless sacrifice of his added a unique element of tragedy to his story.
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I mean, I'd argue that once you get past his goofy design, and if he found some humility, Sky Lynx IS pretty heroic, powerful, and in the right colours...
I regret not getting Combiner Wars Sky Lynx before CW prices went insane. But none of the limb bots seemed worthy.
Who were supposed to go with him anyway? ..I remember Ratchet was exclusive to the Takara boxset, but I'm drawing a blank on the others
..oh right google
...Wheeljack, Hound, Trailbreaker and Smokescreen LOL. Smockscreen is the only one who colour matches and he's the one swapped out for Ratchet lol.
Might have felt more fitting to use some season 3 guys.
..oh right google
...Wheeljack, Hound, Trailbreaker and Smokescreen LOL. Smockscreen is the only one who colour matches and he's the one swapped out for Ratchet lol.
Might have felt more fitting to use some season 3 guys.
I remember getting it just to have a Sky Lynx. It was unfortunate that he couldn't do the full two robot modes thing, but it was a good looking compromise.
Earthrise Sky Lynx was a great flex of what the Commander class could do, and the handling on the show was very "of COURSE that's how this mess of a show does this".
Earthrise Sky Lynx was a great flex of what the Commander class could do, and the handling on the show was very "of COURSE that's how this mess of a show does this".
All told, it is kinda weird in a way that they were releasing a toy that was literally an upgraded version of the toy Optimus Prime was derived from, and they decided to kill him off and make a new character out of it (and completely ignore the inner robot) instead.
Like... you just have to imagine the topic came up at least once, "What if we made this new toy that looks like Optimus Prime a new Optimus Prime?"
Like... you just have to imagine the topic came up at least once, "What if we made this new toy that looks like Optimus Prime a new Optimus Prime?"
I think that really speaks to two things that we now know to be staples of how things were done then -- one, they weren't quite thinking of these storyworlds and characters as an enduring franchise yet, and two, relatedly, they were firmly set on clearing the roster and introducing a new cast
Another interesting feature of its time was that this action wouldn't be accomplished with just a clean reboot that left the original alone, like comic titles later starting with new #1's (also not something as common then as it would be later). They would weave it into an ongoing story, writing off the existing cast with some finality to make room for a new batch. It's bold but wasteful, like how Ditko would cut up old comic art boards as scratch paper or whatever -- the value we see in hindsight wasn't ascribed to it just yet. But yeah, the so-specific coincidence of it being a redeco Optimus Prime with a different trailer HAD to have raised a question. Even if the response was "so what, we've released retools as new characters in both the first few years if this thing", someone had to have asked about that.
Honestly rather like how it turned out. And in the 80s, when background and other relevant information took longer to get places, it made for an interesting experience.
Only seeing the Ultra Magnus character in the movie made me familiar with a cool-looking new big guy leader type with a great design. Didn't even clock he was a car carrier at first; this only became clear after a few rewatches (which didn't occur until the early 90s) since he transformed so rarely in it.
Meanwhile, not having been in a socioeconomic bracket to really be going to toy stores that often (and this being an era prior to local saturation of shopping centers), I'd never actually seen the toy. Not even in catalogs i don't think (that was one of many fun catching-up discoveries in the "we have internet now" era). So I was (ahem) primed to be hyped by playground talk from kids who had a brother who had a friend who had Ultra Magnus and said the toy came with a free "ghost of Optimus Prime" in all white, which sounded like the coolest damn thing.
Of course, even without all of that, Ultra Magnus as a new city commander character is still far preferable to Optimus Prime with New Hat (mind, I totally understand why the toy companies would prefer the latter).
Another interesting feature of its time was that this action wouldn't be accomplished with just a clean reboot that left the original alone, like comic titles later starting with new #1's (also not something as common then as it would be later). They would weave it into an ongoing story, writing off the existing cast with some finality to make room for a new batch. It's bold but wasteful, like how Ditko would cut up old comic art boards as scratch paper or whatever -- the value we see in hindsight wasn't ascribed to it just yet. But yeah, the so-specific coincidence of it being a redeco Optimus Prime with a different trailer HAD to have raised a question. Even if the response was "so what, we've released retools as new characters in both the first few years if this thing", someone had to have asked about that.
Honestly rather like how it turned out. And in the 80s, when background and other relevant information took longer to get places, it made for an interesting experience.
Only seeing the Ultra Magnus character in the movie made me familiar with a cool-looking new big guy leader type with a great design. Didn't even clock he was a car carrier at first; this only became clear after a few rewatches (which didn't occur until the early 90s) since he transformed so rarely in it.
Meanwhile, not having been in a socioeconomic bracket to really be going to toy stores that often (and this being an era prior to local saturation of shopping centers), I'd never actually seen the toy. Not even in catalogs i don't think (that was one of many fun catching-up discoveries in the "we have internet now" era). So I was (ahem) primed to be hyped by playground talk from kids who had a brother who had a friend who had Ultra Magnus and said the toy came with a free "ghost of Optimus Prime" in all white, which sounded like the coolest damn thing.
Of course, even without all of that, Ultra Magnus as a new city commander character is still far preferable to Optimus Prime with New Hat (mind, I totally understand why the toy companies would prefer the latter).
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True. I agree what they did was an interesting idea. I guess I just felt like he turned up and died a bit too fast. For the show as a whole, I was they’d been able to flesh the past a lot more. Instead of little snippets and allusions to big events. You know, like Trion, Prime, Megs and Magnus, and how that all fell apart. Sky Lynx’s arc, as brief as was, was very intriguing.
I feel like the most likely answer is that they thought parents would just say "My kid already has this guy, they don't need another one", while a new character was more marketable.
The story I've heard is that once the writers of the GI Joe movie pitched killing Duke some higher up at Hasbro was so in love with the idea that he mandated that Optimus had to die.
So it could have been that early plans were to make the Powered Convoy toy an upgrade of Prime but once that edict came down they had to write around it and Ultra Magnus was born.
My evidence for this is that the inner robot is never touched on in G1 which is weird, almost like the writers were desperately trying to ignore it since the perfect story beat they had for it was no longer usable.
Also "Ultra Magnus" as a name is very close to Optimus Prime's in tone and meaning. The Powered Convoy figure can't be Optimus Prime anymore? Well ok he's.... um.... "Ultra Magnus" instead.
It's preferable because that's what we got. At the same time if they ran with the "it's Optimus in power up/life support armour" angle then you'd never know of Ultra Magnus and so you wouldn't miss him. Which I think is what's so fascinating about this. The toy is something that in a vacuum seems like a perfect "upgrade" for Optimus as a character, and if they'd done that then no one would even consider "what if it was its own guy and they never once showed the inner robot?" The idea, in that context, seems silly.
Yet that's what they did, but the inverse (the possibility that it could be a new form of Optimus) still seems viable.
The butterfly affect would have been huge. Not only has Ultra Magnus been Thanos-snapped from the timeline but everything from the Matrix to the idea of "Prime" being a title and not just part of Optimus' name was introduced because Optimus died. Maybe Hot Rod still gets introduced as a kid appeal character to take over from Bumblebee, but if Optimus just isn't going to die then neither the Matrix or the idea of the lineage of Primes ever really comes about. Which means the Thirteen probably don't happen, at least not as we know them.
I don't think any of this is better or worse than what we got, but it is fascinating to explore. That if some execs at Hasbro had just made what seems like the most obvious choice back in the mid 80s then the franchise today would look very different.
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Okay, you got me here. My parents inexplicably would not let me get Hot Rod or even Targetmaster Hot Rod because I had Rodimus Prime, and they considered those "the same toy."
This, despite getting me every single variation of He-Man and nearly as many of Skeletor before Transformers, and numerous versions of various Ninja Turtles after.
First of all, it's preferable to me because, given the choice, I find a new character more interesting to work with than the same character dressed differently. And that's preferable to me for the different storytelling possibilities it affords, rather than just because "that's what we got." I am very basic in many ways, but that's not one of them, thanks.
My contention isn't whether or not "the Powered Convoy form used as a new form for Optimus" is viable. I never said that (I even said I can see the appeal of doing it that way). I just said "new character" is the option I prefer, for reasons I've mentioned.
Of course both are viable. We've seen both done to great effect across 40 years.
I think you might have taken offence where none was intended. Sorry
I'm also a fan of sports logo and uniform design. Years back the Florida Marlins baseball team rebranded to the Miami Marlins to better represent the locale where they play. Someone on a forum where this thing is talked about complained about the change saying "Florida Marlins" just flowed better. And my contention was that it doesn't. "Miami Marlins" has alliteration working in its favour, and that "Florida Marlins" just seemed better because the person was used to it for decades prior to the change.
And that's fascinating to me.
In a world where Ultra Magnus never existed and the Powered Convoy mould was used as an upgrade for Optimus then... would the idea even cross any of our minds to use that as a unique character instead?
I'm not sure anyone would. It's not meant as an insult, I just find it fascinating how preferences work and how conditional stuff is.
I also think it's really interesting to poke at the idea of Ultra Magnus never existing and Prime never dying in '86 because they cause a ripple effect that would make the franchise incredibly different today.
That's cool! I'm not saying you're wrong or anything, but I think there's discussion to be had here about what happens in the franchise if the concepts of the Matrix and "Prime" as a title are never implemented. I mean... gestures to the title of this thread and toyline
Of course a new character offers new possibilities a new form for an old character doesn't. I never disputed that. I just found it interesting that had it happened the other way we'd all accept it, and it would just seem natural.
I also think that there's some juice in the notion of the PC armour specifically being a life support system for Optimus that allows for different story beats, but that's part of the speculation of it all.
And speculation is fun. There's a lot of stuff about how the '86 movie plot came around, how the Ultra Magnus character and the PC mould specifically were conceived/brought over that's not straightforward, and examining how it all went down and how it could have been different is just interesting to me.
Thinking outside the box, eh? I like it. Let's do it!
Considering we ended up getting Optimus Upgrade Power Armors by the dozen ANYWAY, I'm glad we got a new character in Magnus. He's been a part of a lot of good stories over the years.
I'm certainly happy with what we got, but still, it's fun to imagine what might have been.
Especially if killing OP really did see that many kids swear off the franchise.
Now, Hasbro's just like "It was just a joke! Look, we were just kidding! See? We kill Optimus all the time! He likes it!"
Especially if killing OP really did see that many kids swear off the franchise.
Now, Hasbro's just like "It was just a joke! Look, we were just kidding! See? We kill Optimus all the time! He likes it!"
It works much better if it's IN the box though