Jun 20
We’ve already brought you a few clips of Kenji Ishida’s
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May 28
deviantART member Callykarishokka makes very cute stuffed toys that she calls puggles. I’m not sure if she came up with the name herself or if this is a type of stuffed toy, but the name certainly fits the appearance of the toys. Most of the puggles belong in what she calls Puggleformers: adorable versions of Transformers.
The Autobot logo alone is killing me with cuteness. Cally has also made puggle versions of other geeky characters for her customers.
Sadly, Cally isn’t accepting commissions as of this writing. For now we’ll have to be content with ogling her puggles. Check out Cally’s deviantART page for more pictures.
May 22
Japanese Robot Art – It’s Good, Man!
Illustration, product packaging, statues & sculpture, and even some transhumanist pin-ups; for decades Japan’s been pounding out the robot art like nobody’s business. Last week’s robotics piece examined the artistic legacy influence of giant Japanese robots on the upcoming film Pacific Rim, but this week it’s just cool robot art for the sake of looking at cool robot art.
Some readers might just see the shiny, and that’s cool – some might find a new robo-wallpaper or screensaver, and that’s fun – or, as happens more than one might suspect, the exploration and enjoyment of sci-fi imagery and entertainment can result in actual factual inspiration.
Art Can Make Science, The -Fi Drives the Sci-
A guy named Martin Cooper, inspired by the communicators from the original Star Trek series (60s), went on to lead the Motorola team that invented the first mobile phone (70s). The Panasonic/ActiveLink exoskeletal Power Loader & Power Loader Light look a whole lot like the safety-yellow power loader from Aliens. The 1959 novel Starship Troopers has been cited as a major inspiration for those working on real-life badass robot suits. Sikorsky’s helicopters & Lake’s early submarines were heavily inspired by Jules Verne. It goes on.
Art & The Contemporary Robotics Revolution
The social and economic significance of the ongoing explosion in practical robotics shows a lot of parallels to the communications boom and media upheaval centered around the rise of the internet – in all likelihood, it’s not going to slow down. At all. And one has to wonder how many Gen-X roboticists fell in love with their field as children playing, watching, reading the Transformers, Voltron, Gundam, Star Wars, etc. Certainly went that way with at least one dorky keyboard pounder, as well.
Whatever the result, humans need art – and those of use with deep-seated robo-geekery proclivities, we need robot art. And so, enjoy the four forms below, and see the links at the bottom if you need a little more enjoyment, something that’ll look cool on your laptop or phone, and if the imagery below inspires you to invent, kindly link here when you go public, yeah?!
Form #1 – Illustration Because Illustration:
Doesn’t have to be a whole lot of practicality to robot art, just looking good is good enough. The main image above and the first work below is that of Toshiaki Takayama, who goes all kinds of robo-cyborgy on humans and dragons and other imaginary stuff:
Another great illustration is this Gundam going all robo-rage on… something, via Concept Robots, artist unfindable:
Form #2 – Transformers Box Art:
Now, this is also illustration, but for marketing and product packaging, of course. These images, perhaps modern vintage, were included on the 80s Transformers packaging. With plastic & metal toy in hand, these were the mind’s landscape.
In Japan it was this:
And across the Pacific:
Form #3 – Statues & Sculpture:
The most well-known and pun-intended visible robot statue is the life-size, 1:1-scale Gundam that pun-intended pops up from time to time around Tokyo. Ironically, this is Gundam Suit is, well, Mobile. The attention to detail is fantastic:
And just how big is the 1:1-scale Gundam? Could ask this dude:
Form #4 – Japanese Robot Art for Big Boys & Girls (CAUTION – the link below will deliver some NSFW):
For those who’d like a little more, ummm… nudity and sexuality in their robot art, a good place to begin is the work of nasty robot airbrush wizard Hajime Sorayama. His iconic and widely recognizable work was transhuman before transhumanism was cool, but his name isn’t exactly household. Below is a pretty mild sample, but if you’re like, you know, into that sorta thing, jump through the link down there – but not at work or in front of grandma:
Thanks for viewing – if you’ve got a favorite Japanese or otherwise nationalitied artist who represents with the robot art, let us and other readers know down below.
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Reno J. Tibke is the founder and operator of Anthrobotic.com and a contributor at the non-profit Robohub.org.
Image Sources: Toshiaki Takayama at deviantART – Gundam Gallery at Concept Robots & Blog of DARWINFISH105 – Transformers Box Art at Botch the Crab – Hajime Sorayama’s Beleaguered Website (Google Image Search is better)
May 03
This beast is the latest creation from Marksprojects. He made this amazingly kick-ass “Bolt” costume inspired by the Transformers movies. This thing is completely insane. The way it lights up, the way it moves – he looks like a serious movie mech inside of it.
It doesn’t actually transform into anything, but who cares? The eyes and mouth parts even move, the mask slides up and down automatically, and it has some jetpack smoke effects too. If you want to play with it from the outside, the arms can be moved via remote control. Check it out in action…
Yeah, I know the video has no sound, but that doesn’t make the costume any less epic. Just add your own soundtrack. Or just try this.
I feel a great disturbance in the Force. It’s as if every Transformers fan has just peed in their pants.
[via Geekologie via Likecool]
Apr 28
Artist TJ Wilferd aka Unicron9 loves making custom action figures. Last year he boldly went and took Star Trek where the franchise hasn’t gone before – to the world of Transformers. He made an action figure that he calls Autobot E, a robot whose vehicle mode is the Starship Enterprise.
*cue transforming sound effect*
To take his creation to the next level, Wilferd even wrote a brief origin story for Autobot E. Capt. Picard and his crew were taking out the remnants of the Borg when they pick up a strange metal relic from one of the Borg’s ships. The relic then proceeds to take over the Enterprise and upgrades the ship. Eventually it directs the crew to Cybertron, which was being attacked by the Borg. A beatdown ensues and the adult Power Rangers win the day. I would love to see an animated short of that.
Warp to Wilfer’s deviantART page for more images (and the full story) of Autobot E.
[via io9]
Apr 26
Have you tried to put together a Transformer lately? Without an instruction booklet, you stand a better chance of dismantling a nuclear warhead than making Optimus look like Prime, instead of a 16-wheeler with a robot head for a butt. That wasn’t always the case. More »
Apr 22
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. More »
Apr 18
Transformers. There’s maybe no more iconic toy, especially if you’re a child of the 80s and 90s. And while the memories of making them shapeshift are indelible, the process of actually building one from scratch is far more involved (or exactly as involved, if you spent your entire childhood dreaming of this) as you’d imagine. More »
Apr 18
Have you seen our peek into how Transformers are brought to the world? Well, that’s one way that the design process happens. The other way is a new poll Hasbro’s got, which lets fans decide everything about the new toy. Autobot or Decepticon, what its vehicle mode looks like, or if he’s a jerk robot who everyone hates because all he does at parties is show off how cool being a transforming sentient robo-scooter is. More »
Mar 20
Christmas may be more than 9 months away, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start preparing early, right? Actually, who says nutcrackers are only good for the holidays anyhow – especially when they look like this?
Yep, that’s an Optimus Prime nutcracker. It was handmade by Bart Sandel of Art by Bart, and I can think of no better way to crack into your nuts but with an Autobot. Though Soundwave might be able to smash through them just using the sounds from his mighty tape deck. Optimus Nutcracker stands 15.5 inches-tall, and 10.5 inches-wide, which should be plenty big enough to crack even the toughest of nuts.
The Optimus Prime nutcracker is for sale over on Etsy for $400(USD), which could also buy you about 75 pounds of already shelled nuts and an Optimus Prime action figure.
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