#so toyetic...

[saxandviolins77]

(Based on the unused Soundwave design for AHM by Guido Guidi, truly the superior Soundwave design.)

[arceespinkgun]

I ACTUALLY CACKLED AT SEEING THIS LMAO Such a shame that I don't think many people can handle either! :P Thank you so much for this gimmick "mysterious" person

[istherewifiinhell]

V wait sorry belated after rb thought. Not burdening op woth my fungus. Average decepti.con all hands meeting. Or bots even. Consider it.

[nugulover69]

What an immensely stupid looking henshin device I love it

[matt0044]

Frankly, RWBY is my go-to example of men who write female characters with little to none of the usual pitfalls. Even when they may, there's one element that keeps its head well over water:

The female cast being so extensive as it is.

DireGentleman put it well here but a too common element of certain stories has been that they'll have a few or one female character amongst their sausage fest of a cast. Few of these cases are active intent on the author's part but it does speak to a "male as default" pitfall that is very much rendered invisible by a sphere of normality.

As such, you'll get female commanders in armies where the troops are all shown as male (@swan2swan made a few posts on the "female Stormtrooper" problem) for one and, for a classic example, one female character amongst an ensemble of boys.

Sometimes she's one of them and other times she's an April O'Neil to their Ninja Turtles, a normie to their extraordinary lives. Either way, there won't be much in the way of gender diversity. Especially if it's based on a toy line that subscribes to the "boys or bust" mentality that would rather kill off a profit that pivot.

But that's been dissected better in other posts...

Thankfully, RWBY was created first and foremost as an animated story project before the thought of merchendising was considered since RT wasn't super-duper confident it'd stick. Now it has firmly supplanted Red Vs. Blue as Rooster Teeth's flagship animation (the latter gearing up for its final season even).

This frees it from the shackles of heavily corporatized media that would prefer a toyetic show have a male prescense in the story or one where the female prescense is... palatable.

No character has to be the token girl who's either super bubbly and awkward or super stand-offish before the right guy comes along or rather reserve until the right guy comes along or one of the boys until the right- okay, I've made my point.

And it goes beyond the main cast as there's a smattering of girls and boys among the ensemble so it never feels like they were tacked on when the writers realizes, "Oh sh*t, forgot the estrogen," by Season Four or something.

If anything, Jaune is the token girl but genderflipped. He has healing powers. He has an arc but it all ultimately comes back to the main girls for the bigger plotlines. He's often the normal one that balks at the eccentricities of the girls and their shenanegins.

I mean... HE GREW UP WITH MANY SISTERS AND NO BROTHERS. Does that cliche not ring a bell.

Basically... Jaune is what I feel is the Sakura Haruno of RWBY if I may be so bold.

[the-hydroxian-artblog]

Any tips or guides on how you draw such wonderful mechanical/toy-like characters? It feels robust but not overwhelming, love it.

Thank you! So a lot of it is just knowing how to slap the joints on a normal humanoid body. If you research stuff like figma action figures and real life robots, you'll quickly build up a mental library of mechanical joints that correspond to different body parts. Many things that apply to robots apply to toys and things, though it always depends.

Once you have this library built up, you can kinda just do Whatever. Answered a similar ask a long while back that goes into more detail as well.

Some robots are much more detailed than this though, and the main inspirations I have for Normal Robots in particular are from Portal 2, particularly in Atlas and P-Body; the trick they use is having all the mechanical bits (usually pistons) being colored black and dark-grays, with the shells and casings being white or some other contrasting color.

This is an excellent way of having your cake and getting to eat it as well, because the colored casing draws your eye, and you get rewarded with taking in all the finer mechanical bits without getting distracted by them first.

This main principle is what I use for Kaita, who has mechanical parts, but often shows more subtly in her neck and torso/abdomen.

If you just quickly glanced at this closeup of Kaita from this older bit of art I did here, you'd probably not completely realize she's a robot, but seeing the strange geometric shapes etched into those areas might clue you in. To reiterate: while robots like Kaita are more complicated than toys, they share a good deal of mechanisms for stuff like rotating the arms, turning wrists, etc.

It's also just kinda a character design thing in general, is using strong shape language and going for something... toyetic. Which sounds redundant, but you'd quickly understand what I mean when you look at something like, say, Fortnite characters, or the designs to Ben10 aliens. They're not toys, but they all kinda have that Look to em, and they look like that not just because they do in fact have merchandise, but because that kinda blocky look is really readable, and excellent for action scenes and poses. Just that blocky shape language and strong color-schemes can do a lot of heavy lifting on even the simplest designs.

My main inspirations are Sonic and TF2, which I feel is weirdly obvious when you look at someone like Victor if you look at the blockiness of his body and the way I stick to a limited color palette. As-is he wouldn't fit in either universe visually, but you can kinda see how the design principles bleed into how he looks now.

[comicaurora]

Are you planning on watching or have already watched Batman: Caped Crusader? If you have watched it, thoughts?

I was a little late to the party, but I just finished it!

Narrative-wise it's very digestible, ten episodes largely self-contained into episodic mysteries. In my opinion, the best of the bunch is episode 5, mostly because this is probably the best variation of Harley Quinn I've ever seen in anything. The new interpretations of classic Batman villains are a little bit hit or miss - I love this version of Penguin, I liked Clayface but found him one of the less entertaining parts of his episode, and I felt like the pacing on the final spoiler villain of the season was pretty off, to a degree that it felt like a bit of a fizzle on the payoff. Still, the benefit of an episodic show is that it's okay if individual episodes are weak, because they don't drag down the disconnected stories around them.

Overall it's got an absolutely fascinating aesthetic and tone. It's classic DCAU/BTAS Timmverse visual style but with absolutely all of the future tech stripped away, leaving a weirdly faithful recreation of the original 30s aesthetic of the very oldest batman comics. There's no advanced bat-tech or bat-computer, no bat-gadgets perfectly designed to counter the threat of the week, no toyetic bat-mechs or bat-bikes. It's strikingly low-tech, which serves to make Batman feel a lot more reliant on detective work - he has to get his information from a library instead of a datascraping bat-puter or a bat-surveillance-state.

Despite being low tech, it's surprisingly high-magic. Normally Batman's solo shows are kind of walled off from the magic side of the DC universe, but one of the villains of the week is Gentleman Ghost and he turns out to just legitimately be a full-blown ghost, which forces Bruce to reassess a few things. There's also an energy vampire in a later episode. I like that this makes Gotham feel even more out of Batman's control, and it doesn't scooby-doo-ify the more fantastical elements of the DC universe.

Speaking of Gotham, it's delightfully grim. Batman feels like a small part of a large and unforgiving world, and the expanded cast of the story gets a lot of focus. Sometimes it feels like Batman's main job is to show up whenever things look dire for one of the Gordons so he can punch whoever's holding them at gunpoint.

This is also an interestingly early version of Batman - as in, early in his career. He doesn't have that "trained for everything prepared for every eventuality" thing nailed down just yet. It's rare for him to be completely blindsided, but he doesn't feel infallible like the Conroy batman of the classic DCAU. Focus is put on him specifically having issues about not confronting traumas - his own or other peoples' - in a healthy manner. He's less "seen it all and is consequentially very stoic about absolutely bonkers things" and more "so so very repressed holy shit"

Overall, I had a good time with it! Excited to see what they do with a season 2.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Kama-Kama

Debut: Sonic the Hedgehog CD

I'm thinking of her (Kama-Kama)

I think I love her (Kama-Kama)

She's a lady killer (Kama-Kama)

And I'm her caterpillar (Kama-Kama)

Everyone knows about Slicer, the infamous mantis Badnik from Sonic 2's objectively most evil level, Metropolis Zone. But despite everything about Metropolis Zone being a creation from hell, it has become a recurring enemy, and even the PRIMARY mantis Badnik.

Well. No more. I'm making a case for the BETTER of the Mantis Badniks, who has been overshadowed for FAR too long.

I love Sonic CD. YOU love Sonic CD. And it's no secret that, like everything else in the game, the Badniks are so beautiful and striking in their designs. Very simple, evocative of the Sonic 1 Badniks, and yet very unique, sleek. When you see a Sonic CD Badnik, you know it doesn't come from any other game, and Kama-Kama is no exception.

Look at those cute buggy eyes. The long neck. The simple antennae. The cute little wheels, tilted towards eachother. And those dinky arms ending in boomerang scythes. This is a creature born perfect, and it knows it. It's too beautiful for filthy vermin to be inside it, and so they are powered by one simple flower seed each.

However, Eggman does not treat his Badniks well, even when they're borderline perfection. Some, especially in the Bad Future, are neglected, broken, unable to throw boomerangs at all. Their expressions are pained, listless–isn't that awful? Isn't that just cruel? Walk into them so that they may feel the satisfaction of causing you direct bodily harm one last time.

Of course, the only downside of being a Badnik that only appeared in Sonic CD is that by the end every last one of them is canonically dead, with no recourse. It's saddening, but I guess "wild" "life" is considered more important than the most perfect mechanical beings to ever grace the ungrateful Little Planet. 🙄

But with your help, we can change this. We can make Kama-Kama the most iconic Badnik in all of Sonic. She will be an enemy in every game. Every time they show a Badnik factory, expect to see a line of Kama-Kamas. In the next Sonic Generations remake, she will be at Sonic's party. She will be on comics. Magazines. Lunchboxes. Movies. Corny tie-ins. Whenever Kama-Kama's not on screen, everyone will ask "Where's Kama-Kama?" And you BETTER believe Kama-Kama will be in the next, probably C-tier Sonic racing game.

Thank you for all your support. I hope you're all ready for the Kama-Kama Broadway musical adaptation coming out soon.

Look at what they did to Slicer in Sonic Superstars. They neutered her. She's toyetic now. Man if only there was a preexisting cutesy-wutesy Sonic 1-eyed mantis Badnik they coulda used instead huh,

[dynared]

I've laid into Earthspark a lot as the series progressed, particularly as it became clearer and clearer that the show was a bomb. All that being said, I'm also curious how much blame is going to be retroactively placed on the Terrans for existing and being used to push the family theme. It's also worth looking at the chance of actually seeing these characters again, even as regular Autobots. Discussion under the cut:

Let's start with Twitch, who I think has a decent chance of being seen again, but is actually sort of endemic of a lot of IDW style "we're making stories, making things too toyetic is bad" design and writing. Twitch has a lot of personality, and I think that personality may make her attractive for writers. She's also a fembot who has made a fairly positive impression with fans, rather than being a source of discourse.

The problem with Twitch is her alt mode more than anything. She's a drone. A really simple, small one, mind you, that isn't very complex. Any simpler and it would be a Happy Meal toy. While not every character needs to have a $100-$200 toy for it, even Bumblebee started to get more elaborate vehicle modes once he became a focus character in the movies with the Camaro design being far more complex than his old mini-bot figure. Still, a redesign is probably a lot easier than a rewrite of her character. So she has a good chance of appearing.

Thrash - Twitch's brother, who was reduced to something of a background character and is pretty forgettable. A bike with a sidecar is a fairly decent alt-mode but he's not someone fans will likely be clamoring for. Not entirely his fault, but he both escapes the controversy and negative opinion of some of his Terran siblings, while also not being interesting enough to garner demand for an appearance.

Hashtag - Presumably earmarked as a replacement for Blaster now that boom boxes aren't really a thing, Hashtag has been derided by the fandom as obnoxious, annoying, and looking like a cube. Also, Season 2 made her a hypocrite. She may be firmly in the Windblade zone, a fembot whose poor media outings have made her very difficult to use, except Hashtag being a kid and a cube probably isn't getting a FlameToys release ever.

Nightshade - Well, let's get this one over with. Nightshade is probably considered radioactive by Hasbro ever since this -

The non-binary owl was the subject of a Fox News report and was probably the only mainstream attention Earthspark got in the mass media. Not a great look. The funny thing is that this isn't the last non-binary character in Transformers media, as Shredhead, a character from the Skybound comics, uses they/them pronouns because they identify as a group of sparks merged together into one being (think Ermac from Mortal Kombat, who refers to themselves as "We"). And they were introduced over a year after Nightshade's controversy, meaning that any negativity Hasbro faced over the character's pronouns did not deter them from making another non-binary character.

Why does one character become a pariah and the other gets lauded? It's not about them being non-binary, but rather, in Nightshade's case, talking about being non-binary seemed to be most of their character for most people on the outside looking in.

Meanwhile, Shredhead introduces themselves as THE SWORD THAT CLEAVES EVIL.

Nightshade is radioactive, but Shredhead could easily be seen in an adaptation if they last long enough in Skybound. Presumably being introduced well, shredding Decepticons with their sword.

Kind of like that. "My name is Shredhead, THE SWORD THAT CLEAVES EVIL!" is simply a more dynamic introduction than "My name is Nightshade, my pronouns are they/them."

Jawbreaker - For a character who is often seen as meek and bullied by the other Terrans, Jawbreaker likely has the easiest route to being used again. He's a Dinobot. And there have been numerous attempts to expand the Dinobots outside of the core of Grimlock, Swoop, Slag, Sludge, and occasionally Snarl. Jawbreaker could easily fit the kid brother concept, completely divorcing him from the Terrans in favor of being a fill in for characters like Skar who never quite reached full acceptance as part of the group with the fandom. It would actually be ironic that the one the show goes out of its way to trash at times ends up with the brightest future.

So yeah, two bots with a decent chance, two bots who likely won't be used again, and one who very likely won't be used again because they have a superior counterpart.

[thydungeongal]

Howdy, if I wanted to introduce kids who have played D&D (ages 7-10) to OSR, what games would you recommend?

Mausritter!

Highlights include:

Extremely simple, with only three stats, no attack rolls, encouraging creative approaches to problem-solving.

Card-based inventory management adds a nicely toyetic quality to the game.

You get to play cute lil mice in a scary world! Squeak squeak?

It's pay what you want!

It's good to be aware of the fact that it is a game of playing lil guys in a big scary world, so as an adult you might want to run it in a way where you take the worst of the edge off. But yeah, it is very much in a genre that I think kids will love.

If you want something a bit more traditional, Old-School Essentials would be my go-to. It's effectively a clone of the D&D Basic/Expert set from the eighties, and apparently that game was a huge hit with the kids in its day! Its first-level adventures, The Incandescent Grottoes and Hole in the Oak, also have a bit of a feeling of whimsy and fairy taleness to them that is missing from most D&D or adjacent adventures.

[sunnylovesgirlythings]

You know? With how much nefera changed for her doll I’m curious about if we ever get an g3 Iris doll. And how much she would change.

Because the number one thing I do not want them changing is her body type.

Do not make her skinny, do not just give her a modified version of catty’s body.

She has the biggest body type of the cast and with G3s good track record with giving characters doll body types that actually fit them, I do expect them to give Iris her own body mold.

Nor do I expect them to change her fashion style much. Not talking about these specific pieces but the general vibe. That being casual alternative.

She looks like a teenager who wants to dress alternative but knows they can’t push their parents buttons about it so this is the best they’ve got at the moment. And that’s interesting!

That builds up a character! A character they seemed to be slowly leaning into in the 2D webisodes. Someone who knows the person they genuinely want to be but needs the push to actually begin that self actualisation journey.

As much as they could without her speaking that is. The g3 media seems to have a running idea of Iris not really speaking much (though she can sing.) the 2D webisodes re contextualise this as shyness but I really like the idea of her being selectively mute.

The actual fashion pieces themselves though? Yeah I can see those changing.

G3 Iris’ current outfit design is in a weird place design wise. Because she’s not designed with being a toy in mind, but she’s also not not designed with being a toy in mind.

It’s weird. Like she’s halfway there? The graphic T-shirt, beanie and necklace definitely give doll outfit design. But the rest of the outfit doesn’t. At least not in the way G3 monster high usually does it.

Her shoes being near detail-less bordering on “sock shoe syndrome” is probably the thing I notice the most and the likely guaranteed change.

Monster high does not mess around with its shoes and with her standing next to clawdeen it becomes clear what I’m talking about.

G3 core Clawdeen already has what I’d consider on the simpler end of monster high shoes. I definitely think Iris would at least get a shoe upgrade.

Nothing crazy of course. Don’t think she’s the type for a fancy heel. But something like g3 core clawdeen but trade out the fang motif for an eye motif? I think that would suit her really well!

But little changes and tweaks aren’t really what we’re talking about in a post nefera doll reveal world are we?

Like I expect them to change her more than that. And the best place to visualise that kind of significant outfit change? Is with her concept art! Which we are lucky to have!

And no, I’m not talking about these outfits.

Do not get me wrong. These are gorgeous designs! But I don’t want them to completely abandon the idea of Iris being an alt kid. These are simply telling too different of a visual story. Maybe if she gets siblings though! (Or a mum for the fourth. Why does it read significantly older?)

I’m specifically talking about these ones.

The alt kid iris’! Now I doubt they’d go with something like the outfit right next to the outfit chosen for the show. It has a lot of the same problems translating to a toyetic doll.

In fact it might be worse in that regard. The pattern on the sleeves and neck isn’t enough to make up for how empty the whole shirt feels. Also without the black under shirt the final Iris has, it’s blending into her skin too much.

The shorts/bag are stand out parts of the design, which draws your eyes away from her face in a way I don’t particularly care for.

It’s still too simple. It’d be cute if she had a doll in the budget day out line but we’re talking about a hypothetical core doll here.

But the other two? I think are genuinely great! Both having a good amount of detail in the right places but not overdoing it.

My favourite though? This one.

(I must stress clearly though. I’m talking outfit and hair. Not bodytype. I’d fully expect them to use her canon body type.)

This one genuinely feels like it popped off a pre-existing doll. It has a strong monster/greek theming to it, while also keeping that exact vibe we’re looking for when it comes to iris’ G3 personality!

A piece I particularly love is the plaid shirt tied under the hoodie.

It really leans into the “I snuck my alt hoodie into school in my bag and changed into it when I got here” vibe.

I had friends who did stuff like that as a kid! It’s genuinely excellent character building!

Now I understand why she didn’t get this design back then. This is a lot of detail for what was a minor character at best. It’s a lot of clean up when animating to avoid clashing errors and clipping. For such a non important character it wouldn’t have been smart.

But that would change if she got a doll! This kind of detailing is encouraged on doll design! Especially on the average budget of a core g3 doll! Take one look at g3 Jinafire!

I doubt they’d copy it exactly. I’ve heard unused concept designs can get a bit weird when it comes to copyright.

But it’s the direction I want them to take <3

[istherewifiinhell]

and the award for most intriguing theory yet suggested on the subject of cybernectic nascence. as in, of individuals not the... species?

that they are unbalanced of mind and body, so while the mind can comprehend "don't go wild and smash everything" the body still does, and it simply takes time for the two to come into alignment.

certainly a draw to further thought in a media where their constantly creating new sentiences into bodies built for war.

[biomic]

hey rob!! its melody question time! what are some of your favourite morphers/rider systems/uhh whatever the ultramen use?? i really like the toqger one which is why i was wondering which ones you like!!

oh i love the toq changer, i snagged one ages ago and it's so fun. very tough to narrow down my faves but at the moment,

sentai changers -> magi phones. flip phones that double as magic wands is exactly why i watch tokusatsu. magi mother's is my favorite

sixth changers -> ryuko no geki. not the most functionally exciting changer but the sounds on this thing go CRAZY

super changers -> super geki claw. the super geki suits are as sexy as it gets and you can't go wrong with a big claw. another one i impulse bought a few years ago and it's sooooo sick. the toy even plays gekiranger's theme song ^_^

rider belts -> tie between the zero-one driver and the kivat belt. zero-one because it's as sleek a design as bandai has ever made and probably has my favorite sounds of any rider toy, and the kivat belt because it's an adorable little upside down vampire bat. what more could you want out of a touy

ultra items -> orb ring. ultra doesn't have as many banger changers as the other two (they've only started being toyetic from the 2010s onwards) but the orb ring is really neat. im a sucker for trading cards and fusing two ultras together for form changes is such a fun gimmick

also have to give metal heroes a shout out with the firesquad from winspector. it's just a car. he has to run to his car every time he needs to transform. it's the most inconvenient henshin sequence in history and i love it

[blazehedgehog]

I think you've touched on it before so apologies if this is a repeat question, but do we know why they still push the Deadly Six as hard as they do? I know they have their fans and it could be my own confirmation bias but I feel like they're not terribly well liked.

The rumor I once heard, from someone who claimed to have connections on the matter (I did not personally verify anything myself) is basically that the Deadly Six were invented because somebody high up at Sega of Japan didn't like Dr. Eggman and wanted Sonic Team to introduce new villains to replace him.

Which suddenly shines a whole new light on why they are the way they are: they are pretty text book "we want to make a new mascot but we don't actually care." They have simple designs, they're colorful, they're made to be marketable and toyetic, they not only fulfill a lot of Eggman's same roles but even extend to demographics beyond that...

They are cynically made.

Like you said, they have their fans. I've seen so-called "Zetisonas" out there. So it worked on some people. But I think most folks can see the cynicism even if they don't know the rumor about them trying to replace Eggman across the whole franchise.

I suppose they keep coming back because enough people probably like them and I'm sure now folks like Ian Flynn and Evan Stanley are looking for any kind of character variety they can get. Especially villains.

[preservationofnormalcy]

[Emergency Director Council 12/17/24 Meeting. 2/7 Administrators in Attendance]

Attending: 

[Redacted] Walker, OPN Director

Orson Knight, Security

Wren, Holistic Theology

Ann Tiope, Applied Mythology

Hugo Razorstrop, Parafiction

Patty Cakes, Toyetics

Subject: Königsratte Medical Emergency

Transcript begins below:

[Hugo Razorstrop] Crowded in here. 

[Wren] This was the only room we could find on short notice.

[Patty Cakes] I’m used to working in a closet. 

[Dir. Walker] Would you like to send a grant proposal to move into a larger office, Miss Cakes?

[Patty] No ma’am.

[Dir. Walker] Would you like a stack of books?

[Patty] Yes ma’am.

[Dir. Walker] Hugo, please help Miss Cakes reach the table.

[Hugo] You got it, toots. 

[Wren] We talked about gendered language, Hugo. 

[Hugo] S’ the way I’m written, sweetheart. You can’t fight it an’ neither can I.

[Dir. Walker] This discussion can wait until we don’t have an ongoing crisis. Wren, you may begin. 

[Wren] As you all know, Herr Königsratte is experiencing an acute medical emergency. We’re not sure of the cause, but parafictional individuals have….unique medical needs. We believe Herr Königsratte’s ontology is becoming unstable. He’s–

[Hugo] He’s going toon.

[Dir. Walker] Pardon?

[Hugo] Going Toon, ma’am. Parafictionals like me an’ the Rat King are mostly stable. Rare breed, us. Y’might know, when fictionals from animation manifest, they’re all….sludgy. Big puddles a’ ink, can’t stay in a solid form for long. Has to do with the animation cells, tens of thousands of ‘em, all making the individuals in question….splintered. Usually that don’t happen with non-toons, but I’ve seen it before. Hell of a thing to happen to someone, and I think our German visitor is experiencin’ it. Makes a man’s blood run cold.

[Dir. Walker] Isn’t there at least one stable “toon”? 

[Hugo] Vance Valiant, ma’am. But he’s busy. An’ a little bit of a coward, if I’m bein’ honest. 

[Dir. Walker] Spare me the editorial.

[Hugo] Beggin’ your pardon. I’m on edge. Seein’ the King in this position is like watchin’ someone melt. 

[Dir. Walker] Königsratte is under the Yule umbrella, is he not? Can we ask Kringle for his help?

[Wren] Ahh. Mr Allfather has made his…displeasure with one of our staff members politely but firmly known. I don’t think it would be advisable for us to contact him while the wounds are still fresh. As an aside, Mr Allfather has also challenged Ms Cold to single combat should she ever attempt to enter Valhalla. I would…advise Ms Cold to not attempt to enter Valhalla. 

[Dir. Walker] If I had a dime. Ann?

[Ann Tiope] Thank you, Director. After conferring with Wren, Applied Mythology has a theory. Many extranormal entities subsist wholly or in part on, for lack of a better term, belief. A sort of…stabilizing influence of the noosphere could help Königsratte’s ontology. We just need something to anchor that psychic flow. A physical object related to his origin, and the holiday zeitgeist. That’s where Toyetics comes in. Patty?

[Patty] Thank you for the books, Hugo. So, um. I left my notes on the floor, but basically - nutcrackers. 

[Dir. Walker] Go on.

[Patty] We think of them as kitschy decorations now, but when The Nutcracker and the Mouse King was originally written, they were toys. Objects of joy and affection! A lot of them were modeled as soldiers, like in the story. Or kings. They meant something. They’re inextricably tied to the Rat King’s origin, and an integral part of many cultures’ celebrations this time of year, even if a lot of people overlook them.

[Dir. Walker] What is your proposal?

[Patty] We can use the social media outreach of the Office to ask for nutcrackers. Physical donations, but even pictures or artwork will work. It just has to have a story attached. The story is important. I’ve already asked social media’s AI to help me intake and collate everything we get. We’ll print them out, 3D print copies, set the physical models we receive up around Herr Königsratte, and….

[Dir. Walker] And?

[Patty] ….hopefully that’ll work. 

[Dir. Walker] I’ve heard more ridiculous plans, but not by much. Do you have any input, Director Knight?

No? Then let’s move ahead. Get a message to Social Media. I have faith Agent Halter will frame this in a way that minimizes how childish this all feels. You’re dismissed. 

[reversemoon255]

Oh my goodness; new DigiXros content!? Did my birthday come early this year?

For a little context, the user "Ray Chan" on Behance posted a bunch of concept art from a game they worked on in 2013 under the developer The Playforge for a Digimon Fusions game commissioned by Saban. I'll leave a link [HERE] if you want to go read the full thing and see some of the mock-ups.

But I'm a big fan of DigiXroses (or in this case Fusions), having designed quite a few myself, so I thought it would be fun to go through all of them and give my thoughts. I know these are more in the style of things like DonShoutmon and BalliBastemon than the toyetic stuff I design, but a DigiXros is a DigiXros, and some of these are really cool.

Let's start with the Shoutmon stuff. Ray Chan mentions that they chose to fuse random Digimon together as an exercise, and all of the Shoutmon Xroses feel like that. Which, honestly, I think is a fun idea, and one I might try doing myself some day.

As for the Shoutmon X Shadramon design, I dig it. We have three versions here. The very superhero, uncolored design is probably my least favorite, if only because it's trying too hard to be cool. I much prefer the smaller version of the design. It does a good job of merging the already existing segmentation in Shoutmon's design with the Courage Armor aesthetic. The flame details on the mask are also very sharp. The lankier version is ok, but I think it suffers from the same issue I had with the uncolored one where it's trying very hard to be cooler than it needs to be. Those proportions feel closer to an Armor Evolved Shoutmon than a DigiXros.

Then there are these two, the last of the new Shoutmon X2s. The first Pharaohmon Xros is very fun, and I like the additional red. This one also feels very superhero, but Pharaohmon already has that silhouette naturally, so it works. The second design feels more like how the show would blend them, similar to things like PawnShoutmon or JijiShoutmon. It's not as visually appealing as the first, but small touches like the new shoulders really help it stand out.

I really appreciate that they did a Revolmon/Deputymon Xros, since he was a member of Xros Heart. As for the design, it's pretty great. There's a more subtle V incorporated into the poncho, Shoutmon's face is well incorporated into the bandana and horns. It really blends the two ideas to make something new yet reminiscent. However, it doesn't feel very DigiXros; if you used Shoutmon King instead, you could easily call this a Jogress in the same vein as Paildramon.

And we have a new X4! It's such a weird combination of Digimon, but that's part of why I like it so much. I like the humanoid design more, personally; Shoutmon, Lunamon, and Revolmon all have those general proportions, so it makes sense that a Xros of them would maintain that. The gun arms I also feel work in this case. Of all the versions they did of it, the one with the hat is my favorite, as it's obviously Revolmon's hat, but also blends Shoutmon and Lunamon into it. The one issue I have is Togemogumon isn't very incorporated apart from the feet and a few colors; this could have been a X3 with a little tweak.

The less humanoid design I don't like as much, but I also really appreciate it. Not every Xros should be cool; some of them should be weird or goofy. This version has a unique silhouette, and blends Togemogumon a lot more than the other, even if Revolmon is less apparent apart from the chest cannon (and even then, it's very generic). And there's nothing to say the same four Digimon can't Xros in multiple ways, something SkullKnightmon and DeadlyAxemon did in the show, and something I've been working with with Himemon XAT and XSR.

Now we move onto what is personally my favorite of all the revealed concepts, Sparrowmon X Guardromon. It stands out to me because, with a few tweaks, I could easily imagine this as a toy, where Guardromon's head flips into the torso, and its forearms open up and swap the hands for the drills. On the rare chance I get around to kitbashing a Shoutmon X5, I'd definitely want to try doing a Guardromon so I could do this form as well.

As for the design itself, the fact that its forms are so visibly separated is what probably appeals to me to most. The drills are most likely inspired by Sparrowmon's ray guns. The only thing stopping this from being a near-perfect toyetic DigiXros is the feet, but I understand the want for a visual shake-up.

And now we get to talk about the most interesting through-line in this series of concept arts; Dracomon. It seems like the designers had the idea that, to match Shoutmon from Xros Heart, they could use Dracomon as a similar-sized mascot character and center point for Blue Flare. Dracomon's combinations are much more Fusion than DigiXros, but I really like the idea of re-imagining the Blue Flare team with Dracomon as the center.

As for Dracomon X BlueMeramon, it's a neat design. I like the general shape and flaming wings, but it doesn't really feel like either of its components. The face is too different, and the armor shapes and core come from nowhere. It feels like a Lv5 evolution of Dracomon, like Wingdramon or Groundramon (do we have a Flardramon?). A really cool Digimon design, but a pretty bad DigiXros, sadly. Really glad they didn't go with the superhero shaped one.

And then, like Shoutmon, we have this random X4 using Yasyamon, MetalMamemon, and Catsuramon. Despite its appearance, having two Lv5s in there would mean it's probably pretty powerful. Unlike the previous one, this one actually incorporates all the elements of the component Digimon quite well, having Dracomon as a base, and various armor parts from everyone else dotted throughout in a slightly better way than Shoutmon's. I also really like the uncolored concepts as well, even if they feel less like DigiXroses than the one they went with. (Wonder if I could convince Poyo to draw #2?)

But I think the set of designs that will grab most peoples' attention are the Dracomon and Blue Flare Xroses. These feel like the only designs that were made for the game as a forethought, rather than being a fun experiment.

Dracomon X MailBirdramon is a pretty good Xros, borrowing quite a bit from MetalGreymon in the claws, tail, and wings, but the smaller nature and head design do make it feel more its own. I do wish it differentiated itself a bit more, maybe brought in a bit more green, reduced the armor a bit, but think it's a good start. I also really like how the changed the horns.

Then we get our Shoutmon X4 equivalent. I suppose this would be Dracomon X3? It definitely pulls a lot from it, with the heads on the shoulders and the humanoid silhouette. That being said, and knowing that's what it's trying to accomplish, I think it pulls it off really well (with the caveat of it being a Fusion and not a DigiXros). It does a good job of pulling in elements from all three Digimon. It also has a similar vibe to the WayGreymon design I did a bit ago, so I wonder if I can use some of these ideas as inspiration in the future? Still, I think this is a fun design, and accomplishes what the designers seemed to be setting out to do.

And the last design we have to look at for today is Dracomon X4. Funnily enough, this feels very show Xros, essentially being Dracomon X3 with elements of Cyberdramon added onto it. It definitely feels very final form, but maybe not hero final form? Though I suppose that works for Blue Flare.

At the end of the day, I'm just pumped to see more DigiXros content, even if it isn't the toyetic stuff I'm more fond of. It's also the first new DigiXros content we've gotten since Boy Hunters ended over 10 years ago, even if it isn't "official." Like I've said about my own content, I hope these inspire a few people to try designing a DigiXros. I'd love to see other peoples' takes. I'd also love to be not the only person who draws this stuff.

So thanks to The Playforge for designing these, and to Ray Chan for sharing them. It really made my week.