IDW Publishing Forums

skids · Transforumer Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 528

I can't remember for the Marvel run but i seem to rember the cartoon based the Minibots size/alt modes on the toys more than real life vehicles.

It will be good to hopefully see the Minibots portrayed as regular Autobots

their should logically be no such thing as a minibot as fingers crossed robot mode sizes will relate to Alt modes so we will see a Huffer of a Similar size to Prime, Windcharger who is taller than Prowl etc. Similarly with the throttlebots their should be no difference between them and your regular Autobot car as their gimmick doesn't translate outside their toy

The thing about the IDW is that they have the freedom to portray who they want according to function rather than have loads of characters appear whose only relationship is there gimmick.

So heres hoping we will continue seeing mixed groups/ units where
mechs are assigned according to fufilling a function instead of just because they have a similar gimmicks.

Roboto · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:00 am Post subject:

Ore-13's mass diplacement capabilties account for some size differentals for bots like Megs, Soundwave, Perceptor, Blaster etc, but I agree totally in terms of minibot gimmicks and the like.
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Roboto · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:01 am Post subject:

Edit: Damn double post browser mess-up rigamoru . . .
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Bludgeon · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:15 am Post subject:

Agreed, although it isn't always obeyed. For example, runabout is the same size as astrotrain in robot mode, yet 20 or so times smaller in vehicle mode Sad

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Duo Maxwell · Transforumer Joined: 08 Mar 2007 Posts: 1349

Personally, I think the characters should be represented as they always have. I seem to remember people complaining quite a bit when Dreamwave used creative license to make Devastator larger than he was in past continuities. Whether that was actually because of the size exaggeration or because people aren't too fond of Pat Lee, I have no idea.

I believe there were even people who argued that Fortress Maximus should be the size of a regular Transformer despite being able to transform into an entire battlestation.

Then again, Laserbeak was depicted as much larger (come to think of it, I think there was some size inconsistencies) in the Soundwave spotlight than he was in the original show.

All in all, I feel that ignoring the original representation could lead to more potential problems as people may start to get out of hand with how big certain characters should be in their robot mode. For example, Brawn is a pretty tough character but it wouldn't be realistic for him to be the same size (or bigger) as Omega Supreme in robot mode.
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Beachcomber · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:34 am Post subject:

The issue to me in this is just logic I think.

IE- Warpath and Bumblebee shouldn't be the same size in either mode if there's no mass displacement going on. Same with Beachcomber in comparison to Powerglide!

Then there's Cosmos....

wade2501 · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 12:53 pm Post subject:

Bludgeon · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 1:09 pm Post subject:

wade2501 · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 1:20 pm Post subject:

Bludgeon · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 1:31 pm Post subject:

That's how I would categorize transformer sizes:

Size -1 - 2-4 inches / 4-8 cm - ?? - Insecticons
Size 0 - 4-6 inches / 8-15 cm - casettes - Ravage, Rumble, Eject
Size 1 - 6-12 inches / 15-30 cm - personal firearms - Megatron
Size 2 - 1-2 ft. / 30-60 cm - boombox, microscope - Soundwave, Blaster, Perceptor
Size 3 - 2-4 ft. / 60-120 cm -
Size 4 - 4-8 ft. / 120-240 cm - motorcycle - Override, Groove, Iguanus
Size 5 - 8-16 ft. / 2.4-4.8 m - urban car - Bumblebee, Runabout, Wildrider, Dragstrip, Deadend, Breakdown, Mirage, countless other autobots, Horribull, Rampage
Size 6 - 16-32 ft. / 4.8-9.5 m - truck, tank - Prime, Pipes, Huffer, Grimlock, Ratchet, Ironhide, Bludgeon, Quake
Size 7 - 32-64 ft. / 9.5-19 m - small plane, truck with trailer - Blades, Starscream, Powerglide, Motormaster, Grapple, Seaspray, Warpath, Whirl
Size 8 - 64-128 ft. / 19-38 m - large plane - Astrotrain, Cyclonus, Cosmos, Silverbolt, Jetfire, Sky Lynx, Vortex, Devastator, Menasor
Size 9 - 128-250 ft. / 38-75 m - ?? - Omega Supreme, Superion
Size 10 - 250-500 ft. / 75-150 m - ?? - ??
Size 11 - 500-1000 ft. / 150-300 m - ??
Size 12 - 1000-2000 ft. / 300-600 m - aircraft carrier, base - Broadside, Fortress Maximus, Trypticon

Gestals, in general, will be 4 times taller (+2 size increase) that avergage invidual. For example, each constructicon will be size 6, so Devastator is size 8.
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Richter · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 2:09 pm Post subject:

When the covers were released for Infiltatration, I was really excited because Astrotrain looked quite larger than the other cons.

I thought this was a great idea, I would love to have seem some differences in the size of the robot modes. Some of the smaller vehicles could still have been as tall as others due to their transformation.

The change from Car to robot seems to require more than Jet to robot, ie the Car realy has to stretch, if that makes sense.

Anyway, I'm all for some of the "minibots" being the same size as the other bots.
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Ford DeceptiFocus · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 2:14 pm Post subject:

You know I had never really even given this much thought before. It actually makes sense. And it would be a very interesting (additional) way for IDW to differeniate itself with what has come before.

Thanks for this debate topic. I've always wanted to see a larger Warpath & Cosmos.
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Beachcomber · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 2:15 pm Post subject:

wade2501 · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 3:25 pm Post subject:

DanielW · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 3:27 pm Post subject:

The Way I thought of it was:
A Normal Transformer is about 4 to 6 times the size of a human,
A Gestalt is about 4 times as large as a normal transformer,
A Citybot is about 4 times as large as them (thus not a city more of a base).
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