Artist Emiliano Santalucia has revealed his Concept Art For Titans Return Wolfwire / Weirdwolf for your viewing pleasure.
The art was shared via Emiliano Santalucia Facebook Fan Page. We have a very nice look at the wolf mode showing a lot of details we would have liked to be used in the final version of the toy. We also have a closer look at the infamous cockpit design that proved to be so fragile in the actual toy.
You can see the mirrored images after the jump, and then sound off your impressions at the 2005 Boards!
zobovor
It didn't get fixed at all. No mold changes were made.
SG Unicron
Seeing this really makes me wish they did a Cybertron Snarl repaint.
DeletedUser_119270
Idk,but maybe because they reissued HIM instead of someone else.I only own the W2 one.The canopy was broken so I took it off lol.
Windsweeper II
Designers are human too, they mistakes and have bad days too.
They are not blameless.
But the more budgetcuts the harder their job gets and budgetcuts are never a motivational tool.
The more budgetcuts the more designers will sometimes just say fuck it.
And you can hardly blame them for that.
PredaConvoy
I love seeing these designs. They're a big part of why we're getting such awesome looking CHUG figures right now. Seeing all the folk whose wolfwire had cockpit snap, tho, makes me glad I went with Takara for him, as they used solid yellow rather than soft pink, and had a pink cockpit window piece attached beneath, so it's not part of the hinge. Clearly someone over there didn't mind springing the extra Yen to fix what would become a glaring QC issue..
Purple Heart
Actuallly, I wouldn’t blame the designers for the issue just yet. It’s possible that due to budget constraints the type of plastic Wolfwire’s canopy was made of was changed, so a similar but more brittle plastic late into the game after the design had been finalized and was ready for production.
Yes, figures are made up of several different types of plastic. Heres TFwiki’s article on it.
Plastic – Transformers Wiki
HotRhinoximus86
One *COULD* say it's not the job of a designer to design great toys, but to design great toys within the limitations they're given. Given that, I was actually surprised when I first heard that super-'formers are what come to the table, knowing they'll be whittled down!
You're still definitely right to say that it's Hasbro Corporate's fault if they're not providing enough budget to the design/production teams, but… they keep those margins razor-thin, and would have to see a HUGE tip in the wrong direction to think they weren't budgeting correctly. MP's have a tiny market VS Mainline, and 3P's an even smaller niche market than that. Your average consumer wouldn't go out for a higher-priced deluxe, so Hasbro is pretty confident they're getting this right (not putting more into mainline). I'm not familiar with the Wolfwire issue, but…
If Wolfwire's canopy was designed too thin, or didn't peg in & settle flush (for ex.)(I always think of Generations T30 Springer's non-functioning sword storage in car mode!), that's the designer's fault: the factory makes it correctly, according to spec, and it comes out poorly. You can complain about a bad design, @Fallout!
If Wolfwire's canopy isn't too thin & *does* sit flush, and you're getting QC jank, that *IS* on the factory, though a Hasbro rep should be pretty on top of inspecting things as they come off the production line, and not allow QC issues to ship stateside. In this instance, you can def. complain about a faulty product, but not a bad design!
@spartan 3764 is right: QC is only on the designer if they design a bad part, or maybe if they specify the wrong plastic, or something. But, in the end, someone has to get out to the factory and make sure these are getting made properly, either by supervising the factory employees, enforcing QC, GUIDING the factory employees, or even altering the design.
Purple Heart
It’s the norm with any fandom, but yeah. Just learn to appreciate what you do get is my advice.
rendsora
I'm new here & since my days of lurking, that seems to be the norm here.
Purple Heart
Yeah, but QC isn’t the designers issue unless it’s of result of poor design. TR Wolfwire’s canopy issue is a design flaw, and can be blamed on the designers or the factory. Calling figures cheap and worthless is also not a designer issue. They do what they can with their budget. We’ve all seen what they can do, with figues like Nitro Zues, TLK Megatron or Evasion Prime. As @HotRhinoximus86 said, all figures seem to start out very much more advanced, and they have to be whittled away at until they come up with something that stays within budget constraints. Thats not a designer issue, they are doing their job, thats a Hasbro issue.
Fallout
if you're paid to do a service, you put in lots of work but make a fatal flaw that ruins the service for customers. the customer has a right to complain since they got a faulty product?
Albimus Prime
Haha, lol!
Emiliano is a friend of mine, it’s awesome to see his work here
PredaconElder
Not really. It's more directed at Hasbro being cheapskates and not shelling out any money for quality control.
Purple Heart
I’m not so sure thats the case. While most people just simply name Hasbro, I’m pretty sure a lot of hate is directed at the designers.
TyrantLizardKing
Apparently the Takara version retains the issue. I never found a specific source but I've heard that W5 Wolfwire doesn't fix the problem either. Don't quote me on that though.
The only thing I know about that rerelease is that it's shelfwarming in my area with a single Misfire.
oku
Most people dont have problems with the designers themselves.
Purple Heart
Half the people on this website never think about it, all they do is complain and complain some more.
highlander3000
How did the Wave 5 Wolfwire get fixed?
legotron123
Oh does that one not have the cockpit issue? I haven’t gotten anything from that wave yet, maybe I’ll pick up the set from EE.
DeletedUser_119270
Get the W5 Hasbro.