Artist Emiliano Santalucia has been sharing some concept artwork for toys that we can now buy in stores as a part of the Titans Return line! This artwork covers Titans Return Alpha Trion, Powermaster Optimus Prime, and Galvatron, as well as Combiner Wars Sky Lynx. It is important to note that all of this artwork – especially Alpha Trion – are concepts that were done for Hasbro before any toy design began. In Alpha Trion’s case in particular, Emiliano notes that “My sketches were concepts for the character, not for a specific toy. There was no Titans Return line back then, no specific class this was meant for, no third mode.” In other words, it is unfair to compare it to the finished product.
Check out the concept artwork mirroed with this post, and a big TFW2005 thanks goes to Emiliano for sharing these with the fan community.
SouthtownKid
I do not get how someone thinks "Barbarian Warlord" when coming up with a design for Alpha Trion. How has that ever been his character?
Also, I love how some people are using a few drawings as an opportunity to trash the greatest line of figures we've gotten in many years.
Mercutio
Wow. You know how some people turn garbage into art? Looks like Hasbro did the opposite.
Lord Dcast
The toys kind of make sense now. I just wish Hasbro had a higher budget.
Autovolt 127
While I think what we ended up with is fine, this does look a lot more epic.
also Victory Leo please Has/Tak.
dragon
definalty be repaint of that figure,. but figure itself not fan of concept art looks better compared to figure itself
PredaconElder
Not everything has to combine. There is a non-combiner CHUG Onslaught for one.
And Alpha Trion is a free mold for Victory Leo especially if Overlord does get remolded as Star Saber.
IgnikaMarcus
Victory Leo is useless with Star Saber to combine with, so until we see a Generations Star Saber, Victory Leo won't be happening.
Even if they did, Leo would most likely be a deluxe just like the rumored Iron Apex/Godbomber figure.
prime326
That Alpha Trion art. Damn
PredaconElder
There would been no remold potential for Broadside then if he wasn't a triple changer.
And lion+ship makes him a perfect mold for Victory Leo if Takara does go down that route.
guarayakha
Exactly that. If it wasn't for the fact that they had to follow the "voyagers must be triple-changers" rule and shoehorned the spaceship mode into a design that doesn't have any hints of spaceship anywhere, the lion mode would probably not have to suffer from the compromises in the design and end up looking like a brick on 4 legs. I mean, sure, it is incredibly creative of them to somehow made a spaceship out of that, but personally I'd rather have a good A3 that transforms into either a convincing spaceship or a convincing lion, not somewhere in between. Oh well.
primalxconvoy
From what I\'ve seen and read, this seems to convince me more that Devastator, Galvatron, Scourge, Blurr, etc were designed, to some extent, BEFORE the line was amalgamated/designed. Thus, toys were designed and then some bright spark in marketing or elsewhere is responsible for the line\'s concept and then various types are shoehorned in amongst the ones designed for the line.
Bass X0
Being a triple changer is a standard feature across all Voyager Titans Return toys, whether it appropriate for the character or not. Alpha Trion has been both a spaceship and lion before (although the lion toy was never released), so whats the problem?
Emiliano
Thanks for the kind word everybody
I wanted to stress again: the toy is something else. Very often my job is to provide inspiration for the designer. Sometime I get to draw final details, like on the Sky Byte, but it really depends on when my services are requested.
When we did Alpha Trion, we were trying to immagine him fitting in the story. Othere times, like on PW Optimus Prime, I was going more specifically into a product, but even there we were kinda in a middle stage.
Well, I can't engineer a toy as I'm not an engineer
My skills are more oriented to style/look of things. Of course I try to be conscious of transformation when that is important, but it is definitely not the main requirements most of the times.
It is not my choice of course
I'm an external vendor, it's my job to be a pro and execute the work I'm requested. Hasbro commissions me a style study, it is then my job to do it, not question what part of the chain I'm in.
Plus, I'm a designer… if I stick to drawing them after someone else has designed them… What is left for me to do?
PredaConvoy
The art of Alpha in bot mode looks like he's been watching Game of Thrones. Very cool.
Looking at the PM Prime art, I really wish his trailer had been closed up like that (or even the other art we've seen) instead of the open front wheel got behind the cab of the toy.
guarayakha
Well, I'm still gonna shit on the A3 toy for going after the triple-changer route based off a design sketch that is beast-mode only.
KyoryUtchy
To all the people shitting on the Alpha Trion toy because it doesn't live up to that sketch: NO toy would be able to live up to that sketch because toys have to actually transform. Like, regardless of budget the only way to get a lion mode that was even close to that sketch would be to make him a full-on shellformer and have his "cape" be two halves of a lion hanging off his back.
Kantus Prime
Fapfapfapfapfapfap
CodeXCDM
I'm not entirely convinced that the toy doesn't somehow have the throne option available to it… he's got enough panels and kibble to move around… >_>
Noideaforaname
I'm curious as to what the plan was with Alpha Trion. There had to be *some* reason behind it, even if it's something as basic as "give future creative teams something with an actual alt mode to work with". Is there any connection to The Last Knight film (maybe Bay saw it and decided THAT needs to be the next movie's theme)? How many other such redesigns exist, doing nothing other than sitting in some folder with the faint hope of getting further reimagined as a particularly gimmicky toy?
Mecheon
Well they shouldn't now
Its just that people didn't believe "Yes, Hasbro are going to homage an unreleased Botcon exclusive that would have given Alpha Trion his first actual alt mode" and they were getting a bit pretool crazy after Sentinel was clearly Astrotrain
(Still would make a good Thundertron in blue, just saying)