How Hasbro Brings Transformers To Life
Thursday, April 18th, 2013 2:45PM CDT
Categories: Toy News, Company NewsPosted by: Autobot032 Views: 31,625
Topic Options: View Discussion · Sign in or Join to reply
There are many interesting things to note, but we'll give you just this tidbit, a video and a picture to tide you over until you read the entire article.
GIZMODO - Designing a Transformer from Gizmodo on Vimeo.
It's a little like a Willy Wonka's Toy Factory hidden away in the middle of New England, right down to the litigiousness. "What happens if a kid signs the thing and then tells someone?" a student asked a Hasbro PR representative at a recent career day. (Hasbro employees are always a hit, shockingly.) "We'd sue them," the rep deadpanned to me. That sounds extreme, but when you consider that basically every planned product the company is working on is being paraded in front of and prodded by a bunch of kids sipping on Capri Suns, you sort of get it.
We weren't allowed on-site at the Fun Lab when we visited because they hadn't been prepped for our arrival. We asked if we could ditch the cameras and just pop our heads in, but no dice. It's that secretive. "Stuff being tested in there won't be out until 2015, 2016," a PR rep told me. Still, it's crucial step for Transformers in particular.
News Search
Got Transformers News? Let us know here!
Most Popular Transformers News
Most Recent Transformers News
Posted by AutobotTrainer on April 18th, 2013 @ 2:59pm CDT
This is why I love seibertron.com!
Posted by GuyIncognito on April 18th, 2013 @ 3:00pm CDT
Posted by Autobot032 on April 18th, 2013 @ 3:06pm CDT
AutobotTrainer wrote:You guys are FAST. I was just about to post this in the thread on "build a bot" and poof...here it is.
This is why I love seibertron.com!
Thank you! We try!
GuyIncognito wrote:"And here, you can see how we decided to put a tiny head on this gigantic Optimus body."
Posted by njb902 on April 18th, 2013 @ 3:19pm CDT
Posted by Mindmaster on April 18th, 2013 @ 3:44pm CDT
What is this, Area 51 for Transformers?
Nobody say Sector 7... we all know they don't exist.
Posted by Cobalt Prime on April 18th, 2013 @ 8:18pm CDT
Posted by Wh33l Jck on April 18th, 2013 @ 10:29pm CDT
So after the CAD part those grey protoypes are 3d printed? Wow I never knew that, I always thought they were hand sculpted or something....
Posted by Autobot032 on April 18th, 2013 @ 10:37pm CDT
warzon3 wrote:neat article!
So after the CAD part those grey protoypes are 3d printed? Wow I never knew that, I always thought they were hand sculpted or something....
Well, they're 3D printed now. They used to be crafted by hand. 3D printing, isn't nearly as prevalent as people think. I was one of those people.
Posted by noctorro on April 19th, 2013 @ 2:10am CDT
Also tried 3d printing, but here in Holland we only have layer printers, which
aren't really 3d printers in my view.
Hopefully we'll get real 3d printers in the future. It's not that complicated to
make a 3d model, and very cool to have your own action figure
Always amazed by how they design Transformers.
Posted by GuyIncognito on April 19th, 2013 @ 8:23am CDT
Posted by morphobots on April 19th, 2013 @ 1:26pm CDT
Posted by GuyIncognito on April 19th, 2013 @ 1:47pm CDT
morphobots wrote:I'm a bit concerned about that comment in the article regarding metallic paints and plastic. Does that mean some of us now have a boatload of figures we shelled out extra money for sitting around waiting to develop their own version of GPS?
These are cheap plastic toys made for kids. They're not made to last, like the olden days when toys were hand-made with wood and metal. EVERY figure has a potential to fade or disintegrate over time. That's one reason why I don't waste money on imported figures just because they have a special paint job.
Posted by morphobots on April 20th, 2013 @ 1:27am CDT
GuyIncognito wrote:morphobots wrote:I'm a bit concerned about that comment in the article regarding metallic paints and plastic. Does that mean some of us now have a boatload of figures we shelled out extra money for sitting around waiting to develop their own version of GPS?
These are cheap plastic toys made for kids. They're not made to last, like the olden days when toys were hand-made with wood and metal. EVERY figure has a potential to fade or disintegrate over time. That's one reason why I don't waste money on imported figures just because they have a special paint job.
I understand that these toys won't last forever, and I also don't spend the money just for a different paint job. I simply thought it odd that with as much R & D as appears to go into this process that Takara would knowingly use paints that weaken the plastic, unless they've only recently learned that.
Posted by SkyWarpsGhost on April 20th, 2013 @ 2:20am CDT
Posted by morphobots on April 20th, 2013 @ 11:56am CDT
SkyWarpsGhost wrote:I thought he meant mixing paint into plastics would weaken them, which is why they are prototyped in grey then painted. He did mention that a guy paints all the protos, as they are usually the figure in the box art pics. Sorry if that's a stupid idea and I totally got the wrong end of the stick with what he said in the video.
That's an interesting thought, but I don't think that's it. I don't see a reference to mixing, and the key phrase in the article which catches my eye is "was making". As in: "Hey, that looks aweso - oh, snap! We screwed up. No more metal paint, guys." I'm now curious as to what will become of my Senator Ratbat in 5 years or so, as that's going to be my sole example from Takara.
Posted by El Duque on April 22nd, 2013 @ 5:31pm CDT
Designing toys takes sketching and planning and imagining, sure. But what's even more impressive is the actual making—still a much more industrial and craftsmanlike process than you'd imagine. It requires, essentially, a whole factory condensed into a few rooms of Hasbro's headquarters outside of Providence, Rhode Island.
We were recently able to get an in-depth look at the workshop. It's a huge place, but we're going to focus on a few of the highlights of how your favorite toys evolve from half-ideas to fully functional, kung-fu-gripping friends.
Posted by Megazarak on April 22nd, 2013 @ 6:05pm CDT
Also, anyone know what the deal is with the Garruk figure/statue?
Posted by frogbat on April 23rd, 2013 @ 1:55am CDT
Posted by Mykltron on April 23rd, 2013 @ 6:06am CDT
Posted by Autobot Joe on April 23rd, 2013 @ 8:53pm CDT
Posted by DTR69 on April 24th, 2013 @ 1:21pm CDT
I noticed they were using 3d printers, I was shockwd when I saw 3d printers could do objects with seperate moving parts, and when I saw an object with a ball socket I was impressed as the surfaces literaly rub against eachother so to make that together without them sticking is amasing.
I read how cheap 3d printers are becoming, and how it's possible and eventualy will be the norm, for the general public to have them.
Imagine what it will be like when we can print our own transformers at home. Instead of KOs there will be people distrabuting code that they have made to be as close to the original as possible so the quality won't beas good, due to measurments, but like the factories in china when molds get left behind, there will be the real accurate coding that someone will have stolen and like pirated mp3s, 3d code to print exact copies will be available and a new age of piracy will emerge. But as a more legit and creative way of distrabution, imagine what it will be like, when a person makes a custom figure, but shares the code so that we all can print out our own version. The possabilities are endless. We will be able to alter the designs to our own liking or download a design that someone else has altered, as some of us will have the skills and some will not. But piracy is inevitable the only way is for companies not to sell there products available as a 3d print out. But people will reverse engineer and make almost identical copies as code to make at home. But this will mean less money for companies and less money for the designers who make them in the first place, but wilh so many fan designers doing it for free, I'm sure there wont be a shortage.