[JTF] Metalverse Hot Rod History
Doug Dlin
kind enough to contact and provide me some background info for the
"Metalverse Hot Rod" (well, technically, Metalverse Hot Rodimus) being
released from Daiki Manufacturing later this month:
---------------------------------
Metalverse Hot Rod history
Metalverse Hot Rod will be released by Daiki Industrial this September.
It was originally planned and sculpted by Yuho Koike and designed by
Hirofumi Ichikawa, who performed those same duties for the production of
the Metal Force Optimus Prime vinyl figure from Time House.
MF Optimus Prime was first released at BotCon Japan 1998 and was one of
the pioneers of large-scale TF figures that didn't transform, but
instead precisely reproduced the characters' animation designs for adult
fans. It was also the first Optimus Prime figure to come with a laser
axe and Matrix, accessories which would be included with several
subsequent G1 Optimus Prime toys.
After MF Optimus Prime was released, Time House had plans to release a
Megatron figure, but this was ultimately canceled. After Mr. Koike left
Time House, he made plans for a new figure of his favorite character,
Hot Rod. He started sculpting it on his own time and finished the
prototype in 2001.
To make the project a reality, we began protracted negotiations in
America and Japan with the help of many TF fans. However, the trends of
the time were not on our side, so we had to be patient and persevere for
five years, until our chance finally came. Following the merger of
Takara and Tomy, we were lucky enough to receive permission to release
the figure as a licensed toy in Japan.
Mr. Koike devoted himself to making it as accurate to the original
animation design as possible.
In the early days of animated cartoons, especially robot shows such as
Gigantor, for which they had to animate purely imaginary objects,
studios had three-dimensional models made as examples of the proper
character designs so the animators could look at them from various
angles and draw consistent images. These were known as "animation
reference models." Toei, the Japanese animation studio which worked on
TF:TM in 1986, used such reference models in '60s.
The goal was to make this figure as close as possible to one of those
models. Thus, toy designer Hirofumi Ichikawa checked and researched the
images of the character in the show from many angles and compared them
with multiple original design drawings. Some images included mistakes,
while others omitted lines to save time in animation, so he analyzed
many aspects of the design to choose, edit, and extract the true or
ideal lines. He also took care to minimize any individual modifications
to the design. He then finalized the revised design as the greatest
common denominator of all the images he'd analyzed.
Taking this revised design, Mr. Koike used CAD-CAM, 3-dimensional
modeling software, and a sculpting machine to make the design precisely
symmetrical, then finished the sculpting by hand.
After six years of effort, this is something like a dream come true for
us after. You can be sure that we, too, are all looking forward to this
figure becoming an actual retail product available on store shelves. If
you have Metal Force Optimus Prime, please display Hot Rod with him.
-----------------------
Doug Dlin
apcog at hotmail.com
Doug Dlin
http://www4.big.or.jp/~cyclone/DAIKI/DAIKI_hotrod_comp.html
Thunder Magnificent!
some online stores (preorder, I think)or something else?
t.k.
Zobovor
> Forgot to include the relevant link for images:
>
> http://www4.big.or.jp/~cyclone/DAIKI/DAIKI_hotrod_comp.html
I have to say that I'm very impressed. The yellow panels on his
wrists look a bit long to me (I've always thought they were more
square than rectangular) but that's the only design element that looks
out of place to me. This is a very, very accurate portrayal of Hot
Rod's animation model, and it's obvious a great deal of effort was
poured into it. Nicely done, Koike and Ichikawa!
Zob
Doug Dlin
> Very cool! Thanks for the info! Is this that one that was available via
> some online stores (preorder, I think)or something else?
Probably. Online stores offer a lot of JTF stuff for preorder, so I
couldn't say for sure if we're talking about the same thing. If it
mentions "Metalverse" or something close that, then we are, as this is
the only TF item bearing that descriptor to date.
And Zob wrote:
> I have to say that I'm very impressed. The yellow panels on his
> wrists look a bit long to me (I've always thought they were more
> square than rectangular) but that's the only design element that looks
> out of place to me.
I suspect the squareness is a matter of personal perspective.
Whose--yours, the original animators', or Ichikawa-san's--I couldn't say.
> This is a very, very accurate portrayal of Hot
> Rod's animation model, and it's obvious a great deal of effort was
> poured into it. Nicely done, Koike and Ichikawa!
Hear, hear.
Thunder Magnificent!
> On Sep. 7, 2007, Thunder Magnificent! wrote:
>> Very cool! Thanks for the info! Is this that one that was available
>> via some online stores (preorder, I think)or something else?
>
> Probably. Online stores offer a lot of JTF stuff for preorder, so I
> couldn't say for sure if we're talking about the same thing. If it
> mentions "Metalverse" or something close that, then we are, as this is
> the only TF item bearing that descriptor to date.
>
It is. Both Digital Toys and BBTS have it up... the pics on the japanese
site show it off better though.
t.k.