Hot on the heels of the official reveal of Transformers Studio Series SS-99 Rise Of The Beasts Voyager Battletrap, now Hasbro designer Sam “King Samlock” Smith have treated us with a great “from screen to toy” gallery and videos of the development of these new Studio Series figures via his Instagram account.
We also have CAD turnaround videos of each mode to share with you after the break, together with Sam Smith’s comments about one of the first figures in the Rise Of The Beasts line. Let us know your impressions on the 2005 Boards!
SS-99 TF7 Rise of the Beasts Battletrap
“POWER IS PRIMAL”
This robot design is terrifying, and we absolutely love it. Making his live action debut in ROTB is Battletrap!
Based on a licensed wrecker body GMC C70, Battletrap’s vehicle mode features a blower out of the hood, and a menacing tow truck boom off the rear. When transformed into bot mode, he retains some of the awesome spiked brush guard on the chest, with an exposed engine block protruding out the center. The arms maintain portions of the wrecker crane, so that they can be utilized as melee weapons, and he features a large spiked wrecking ball that can be an extension of his arm. His head design is unlike anything that we’ve seen before in transformers, with a vented eye covering that looks a bit medical.
I was lucky enough to be able to partner with Yuya Onishi on this design, and he did an amazing job of delivering on both forms. This figure is a blast to transform, and features an huge range of articulation include waist and ankle tilt. His vehicle mode even features a functioning dually wheel setup in the rear.
The deco on Battletrap was a blast to put together, and delivers a color palette that is very break frame from our traditional movie villains. He gets some nice two toning on the grill, weathering on the crash bar, stripes down the side, and is complete with “Bernie’s Towing” on the door. The concept art depicted a lot of amber lighting from the cab interior for Battletrap, so we used a nice translucent orange on the windows and wrecker lights to accentuate the overall tone of the design. Overall this has to be one of the most exciting characters to come out of the trailer, and I am so excited to finally be able to share him with you!
NOTE: I won’t be sharing full Screen to Toy asset breakdowns prior to the films release out of respect to our studio partnerships.
What are your thoughts on ROTB Battletrap? Are you excited to see this new character on screen? What was your reaction to the trailer? Let’s hear about it below!
JazzAlert13
Okay I think you oughta see it from my perspective.
Your first post sounds awfully dismissive (“I cannot stand the other designers… add nothing but hot air”) which feels weirdly aggressive when the posts you’re talking about mainly boil down to “hey here’s something I worked on that I’m proud of and here’s some fun info about it” you know? Comes off very entitled n rude. I get that that may not have been your intention but it’s how I read it at least.
So I reply. Nothing happens. Such is life. You then come back a month later with a reply. Which like I get that I spend too much time on here and not everyone’s going to be checking in a couple times a day but whatever. Feels like you’re bringing up old stuff that I haven’t thought about in a month for no reason. It also feels like you’re taking past me rather than to me. Like nothing I said was accounted for.
So I’m sorry if it seemed like I was putting you down or came off as vindictive. That was truly not my intention but I’m only giving back the energy I feel like I’m receiving.
eltonlin98
Did some reading up, while on the whole I still like this Battletrap figure there's a growing concern how well this toy will hold together between modes.
I wasn't intending to sound entitled or expect the designers to do anything specific for me but I can understand I could have worded things better
But I'm sensing hostility from you, assuming I meant the worst and feeling the need to speak on behalf of the toy designers. Then you put me down for not spending enough time here to reply to you fast enough and assume again I meant the worst and was being purposefully dismissive of your original comment? Your criticism feels strangely vindictive
JazzAlert13
alright man whatever. I’m not arguing but I think you oughta reread what I said.
eltonlin98
Nah just logged back in. Somebody was looking for something so I replied to them
JazzAlert13
Did you wait an entire month to reply lmaooo? And spent a month what? Missing the point?
TF Hot Rod
It was which is why I was shocked that he showed bts/make of info about the figure. First time since Pointblank that we've gotten that.
eltonlin98
Say what you will, Maher's post about Scraphook was infinitely better than past ones
Duke spino
Agreed. I no longer want to buy things immediately cause of that, when I find things like selects galvatron going for 30 bucks or even deluxes going for less than 20 if you wait long enough.
You'd think companies would be smarter about this. "If we price gouge but don't pay proper proper wages, we'll surely make so much money! Long term benefits be damned" You'd think none of them have ever taken a history class
Since this is wave 1 of 2023 I'm sure I can afford to wait a little on this one
Dirge121
That’s what corporations do, it’s never about necessity it’s about soulless, short-sighted greed. Same thing was the ‘gas shortages’, ‘extra shipping costs’, ‘supply chain issues’. Yeah, those were all factors that you multiplied by ten to get your new prices.
But as long as they can pass the blame onto the economy or the politicians or the social climate then people don’t see it. That’s why you see dumb stickers on gas pumps, because people are stupid and easily tricked.
Pun-3X
I really wish more people would get this. There has always been the element of "how much more are they willing to pay" in corporate discussions. The idea of using any inflation period to their advantage is nothing new. When we find out they've been cutting the budget for Transformers since Siege (and even admitted to for at least THIS year by the designer during his BTS on Pointblank) while things get more expensive…and they STILL raise prices? That's full-on taking advantage of the situation.
Max Tower
Was there ever a designer post like this for Maverick ?
I can't help but look at him and think what a great G2 Hooligan the mould would make.
I'd really like to know if the licensing would allow it.
I would say Fearswoop would work too. G2 Jetfire is perhaps to similar though. But there was other decos it just kinda screams "repaint it into a Cyberjet" to me.
I am very curious if that is possible.
———
As for this guy perhaps they can slap him in a giftset and sell him in Blue "just for fun" sometime.
Casey280
Looking forward to reviews on this one. I\'m usually on the fence with SS figures until I see them in person or see a super positive review. The truck mode alone looks fab though.
Afterburner
He's certainly ready to lend someone a hand.
Purple Heart
Inflation is a very real thing that is happening to economies and nations across the globe, but there are many companies who are using inflation to drive artificial scarcity and using both as justifications for ridiculous price hikes that go far beyond the the increased costs to manufacture.
Case and point. When there was a “gas shortage” in the US earlier this year, it wasn’t a cause of bad politics or an actual increase in the price of gas, the price of oil and gas was actually lower then normal. But Companies used global circumstances as an excuse to increase the costs of their product far beyond inflated production costs, and then most of them publicly reported having record high profits.
Exxon and Chevron Made Record Profits as Gas Price Gouging Hit Californians | California Governor
Pallone Demands Answers from Oil Companies on Record Breaking Profits Amid High Gas Prices
Put simply. Inflation is real, but companies were using it as an excuse to price gouge. For a lot of companies it worked, temporarily as they saw record high profits, but now consumers are being pushed closer and closer to poverty as the costs of everything increases but the wages stayed the same and now consumers have less money to spend on non-essential items, which means the toy and entertainment industries will be the first to suffer as people can no longer afford nor justify the price of their products. Especially considering the quality of them, as well.
DarkRed401
Idk like hearing about the design process and the various challenges or how one of the designers will have a spark of genius that helps the final figure.
Scubamatics25
I love the head sculpt, it just looks awesome. Honestly I\'m actually looking forward to the rest of the line to see what else they\'re doing
Chadderbug
Lets at least be thankful he has color lmao.
T-Hybrid
We don't get much orange in general. I love that he's a bright bold color compared to the usual live action guys. Hell, even Shatter and Dropkick were subdued shades of blue and red.
Chadderbug
It is real. The bumper isn't, but whatevs.
FrazzTF
Is Bernie\'s Towing a tribute to Bernie Mac? That\'s very sweet, if so.