Mark Maher needs no introduction at this point. Today he’s shared another round of behind-the-scenes info, this time featuring Legacy Deluxe Skullgrin! This was a challenging bot to design. Read on to find out what happened, see the original intent for the tank mode, and get a great look at how the final design turned out.
Legacy Deluxe Pretender Skullgrin was a project challenge that really wreaked havoc on my emotions.
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Last minute these Pretenders were approved for slots slated for dropped characters. Ever since that old Straxus redeco toy Bill Rawley worked on in 2010, I’ve always wanted a proper Dauros from Super God Masterforce but also utilizing what was done as the original G1 toy. All of that equals an absolutely crucial design challenge in which I was constantly second guessing decisions the whole way.
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Thank goodness I worked with Yuki san on this guy and his incredible ability to not only design but to advise direction was super helpful.
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You can see here, in my concept art I worked up for Skullgrin, I wanted to keep some demon features of the character but also combine them with elements of the toy transforming robot. I really do wish I had more time to debate and draw but I felt utilizing existing artwork for the characters alt mode would really help with time and direction.
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Then comes the engineering decisions on whats really possible to even obtain smooth transformation. Back and forth we went on redesigning this figure step by step to get the end result. Which I’m very pleased with the outcome and I hope you are too.
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The accessory load out on this guy is unreal. The scale of robot mode I wanted was sort of a pipe dream but he maintains alot of beef and height for a deluxe. He really gives a strong decepticon presence. The colors were another challenge here as you can see some mistakes heppened in production.
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Other notes are the cybertronian front hover tank duel gun turret blasters are effects compatible and also have alot of versatility with 5mm ports. The duel bone sword energon blasters can be utilized in multiple ways. Please peep my story for more cool tidbits about this super fun figure, in which, I hope you give him a chance to bless your collection, even if he is without his shell! 💀
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