Since the early days of the fandom, we've been imagining what it would be like if our favorite giant alien robots from outer space existed in the same fictional universe with other popular licensed characters. If you can imagine it, there's probably been fan fiction or fan art depicting it.

Now that we actually have a Crossovers toy line, in which famous movie vehicles like the Ghostbusters ECTO-1 or the Back to the Future time machine are being officially represented as Transformers toys, we're getting a small taste of it. But, the imagination of the fandom operates with far more freedom than the real-life limitations of licensing partnerships with Hasbro, which are often dictated by cost and practical feasability and whether or not the owners of the various licenses are even willing to consider it.

What follows, then, is not a serious list of what I think is likely to happen any time in the future, but rather a fun, whimsical take on what Crossovers toys would be really fun to see, but which will almost certainly never happen in real life.

- Mystery Machine (Scooby-Doo). It's probably one of the most iconic cartoon vehicles of the last 50 years, and the box shape would be super simple to realize as a transformable toy. The obvious approach would be to rejigger an existing Ironhide or Ratchet toy, though it would be important to retain the spare tire on the front, which might require some major remolding. I think an all-new mold would be appropriate as well, especially if the robot mode had styling that suggested a certain 1970's fashion vibe (like a popped shirt collar and/or a visible ascot scarf).

- U.S.S. Enterprise (Star Trek). The design of most of the Trek ships would pose unique engineering problems, since there isn't a lot of meat to use for workable robot parts. The robot form would be weirdly skinny, especially if the warp nacelles ended up becoming arms or legs. Mabe a Cosmos-like approach would be called for, and sections of the saucer would end up becoming the arms. I think the 1960's Enterprise is more iconic, though the updated 1980's ship from The Next Generation would be welcome, too.

- Party Wagon (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). Yeah, I know, another van. There was actually a concept toy developed, but never produced, in which a vehicle large enough to fit TMNT action figures would shapeshift into a large version of the robot turtle, Metalhead. They also ended up selling a small Mutations version of the Party Wagon which changed into Splinter (which itself is weird, since Splinter didn't even know how to drive). This idea has been visited a lot in fan art, and I'm especially enamored with the designs where the van windows turn into the robot's chest, giving it an Optimus Prime vibe.

- K.I.T.T. (Knight Rider). I know Hasbro has specifically looked into this one and has said that Universal Pictures isn't wanting to play ball. In some ways, this concept is almost too on-the-nose, since K.I.T.T. was already a sentient machine, so he was already a robot in every way that counts, except for the ability to assume a humanoid form. Still, a transformable toy would be kind of neat. (Fun fact: It's likely that Runamuck was based on K.I.T.T., and was originally going to be black, until they switched him to a white color instead, probably because of trademark concerns.)

- Batmobile (Batman). I'm torn between which version is the most iconic. The 1960's television version is probably the most recognizable to the greatest number of people, but you could make an argument that the version from the first Batman film from 1989 was also highly impactful. I think I honestly prefer the film version, though since this is just a silly fantasy anyway, there's certainly room for both.

- Star Wars (various). I know there were official Star Wars vehicles that turned into robots, but I think the mistake was to design them to be mechanical versions of the Star Wars characters who flew those ships (so the X-Wing Fighter, for example, turned into a robot version of Luke Skywalker). I think a much better approach would be to create original robot characters for the vehicles to change into, and I think the existence of the older toy line is the main reason they haven't made any modern-day attempts to revisit the idea.

Zob (it's day three of eating nothing but turkey and I think I may actually be growing a wattle)

On Sunday, November 26, 2023 at 4:32:20 AM UTC, Irrellius Spamticon wrote:

> Perhaps a James Bond car or two with hidden weaponry

James Bond was the first thing I thought of.

What I'd like (and probably not too difficult, but it might be kind of a lame toy) is a Tardis Transformer.

Velvet Glove (Bigger on the inside, so it's already got the mass-shifting down.)

On Sunday, November 26, 2023 at 1:21:56 PM UTC-8, Velvet Glove wrote:
> On Sunday, November 26, 2023 at 4:32:20 AM UTC, Irrellius Spamticon wrote:
>
> > Perhaps a James Bond car or two with hidden weaponry
> James Bond was the first thing I thought of.
>
> What I'd like (and probably not too difficult, but it might be kind of a lame toy) is a Tardis Transformer.
>
> Velvet Glove (Bigger on the inside, so it's already got the mass-shifting down.)

I feel like there is a healthy crossover between Trek fandom, and TF fandom: I know that there was a one-shot comic series that explored just such a thing. And, back in the 1990s, ATT's own Lizard wrote a series of really great TF fanfics exploring just this concept (i.e., "Assimilation", where the TFs face off against the Borg, and "The Sale of the 24th Century", where Swindle makes a journey through time and space to Deep Space Nine, with many (predictable) hijinks ensuing.

(I wonder: what would be more fun - a transforming TARDIS, or a Borg Cube?)

JB

On Monday, November 27, 2023 at 8:38:20 PM UTC-7, Joseph Bardsley wrote:

> I wonder: what would be more fun - a transforming TARDIS, or a Borg Cube?

Both would be fairly easy to engineer, given their general box-shaped dimensions.

I would want to see the robot form for the TARDIS echoing the look of the Fourth Doctor (to me, at least, Tom Baker is the definitive Doctor Who) and he would need to have the hat and scarf, or some kind of technological approximation of them.

The robot mode for the Borg cube would need to have asymmetrical styling and include some of the elements of the Borg bodysuits; i.e., all those rubber hoses and things, one scanner arm and one regular arm, a single eyepiece, etc.

Man, if the third party companies really wanted my money, they would get on this stuff. I mean, if they're going to rip off somebody else's IP, why not do it in a way that makes sense and rip off MULTIPLE licensed simultaneously? I've never understood why there are all these companies trying to do Masterpiece Transformers. Like, dude, Takara's already on it. There's no reason for there to be like four versions of Masterpiece Hound. Make something Takara or Hasbro CAN'T make, or won't ever make.

Zob (like that transforming version of Thomas the Tank Engine that's been making the rounds, for example)

On 11/25/2023 3:45 PM, Zobovor wrote:
> - Mystery Machine (Scooby-Doo).

I think it would be more unique if it transformed into a dog.

I'll name one that will certainly NEVER happen. The General Lee. The
Dukes of Hazzard has become very dated and politically incorrect as of
late for using Confederate imagery. While General Lee toys and models
used to be ubiquitous, I haven't seen any for sale for many years now.
There was that one Mini-Con that kind-of resembled a Dodge Charger, and
that's as close as we'll ever get.

On Tuesday, November 28, 2023 at 12:54:23 PM UTC-7, Travoltron wrote:

> I'll name one that will certainly NEVER happen. The General Lee. The
> Dukes of Hazzard has become very dated and politically incorrect as of
> late for using Confederate imagery.

I never watched the Dukes of Hazzard growing up, but I know I had a little toy die-cast version of the car at one point. I agree that it's iconic, but I also agree that the snowflakes would complain bitterfly if such a thing existed. They'd go riot somewhere and topple a bronze statue and crush some innocent bystanders just to prove a point.

Zob (also, Megatron owned slaves at one point, so I'm waiting for cancel culture to get 'im)

On Saturday, November 25, 2023 at 8:32:20 PM UTC-8, Irrellius Spamticon wrote:

> Maybe Rock Lords combining to form Castle Greyskull?

The MotU universe is full of iconic vehicles that would have made awesome looking robots. I wish they'd license out that brand to a company that would make those, but everyone good at transforming robots is a major Mattel competitor. Back in the day maybe they could have partnered with one of the lesser companies trying to enter the toy robot market like Remco or Buddy-L but I don't think companies thought that far outside the box back then. AtakTrakTron is just never gonna happen but I am sure lots of fans have daydreamed designs for that one.

> M.A.S.K. vehicles with 3rd modes?

I felt like these would be the most possible since there were Transformer sublines like Steath Force and Human Alliance that did things very similar to M.A.S.K. (just not all at once in one toy). Autotransforming vehicles with robot modes and hidden weapons vehicle modes might be possible if they were all new designs engineered from the ground up but trying to homage M.A.S..K. won't ever happen in a way faithful to the original designs. Those would be engineering nightmares if they aimed to keep the forms and gimmicks and stay affordable at retail. To do the expected M.A.S.K. alt mode and also have a humanoid robot form would be an incredible amount of tooling. Even the Thunderhawk would be kinda tough. A lot would have to get neutered by today's Hasbro. Forget the spring loaded auto transforms. ThunderHawkTron would never shoot discs and have pop up rockets.

I think a Stealth Force Optimus Prime redeco'd into the Rhino would have been neat, though. I would maybe even settle for redecos of existing Transformers made to look like M.A.S.K. vehicles. That current Hound mold in stores now as Detritus would work as that orange M.A.S.K. jeep. Legacy Motormaster could be repainted to resemble that "Snake Oil" tanker truck. I just don't know if a redeco M.A.S.K. homage subline would appeal to anyone. And how many iconic M.A.S.K. vehicles are there anyway? I can't even name any besides the Camaro, the blue jet/plane, and T-Bob.

On Saturday, November 25, 2023 at 3:45:08 PM UTC-8, Zobovor wrote:

> - Mystery Machine (Scooby-Doo). It's probably one of the most iconic cartoon vehicles of the last 50 years, and the box shape would be super simple to realize as a transformable toy. The obvious approach would be to rejigger an existing Ironhide or Ratchet toy, though it would be important to retain the spare tire on the front, which might require some major remolding. I think an all-new mold would be appropriate as well, especially if the robot mode had styling that suggested a certain 1970's fashion vibe (like a popped shirt collar and/or a visible ascot scarf).

There are a couple lesser thought about vehicles from old Hanna Barbera cartoons that I thought would be neat robots. The Flintstones car, Speed Buggy and Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch all come to mind. Tonka would have had the connections to make all that happen back in the day. They were partnered with HB for GoBots and they were making all new designs to fill out that line. All it would have taken is one visionary executive to think up a Go-Bots/Wacky Races crossover and we would be living in a very different world now.

My personal dream line is a Go-Bots/Steel Monsters crossover line. Tonka had their Mad-Max style line of post apocalyptic murderous monster trucks. It would have been great to see the GoBots turn into Mad Max vehicles. Again, the world would be a different place now because of course my ideas are all so great that Tonka would have easily crushed all the competition with Mad Max/Wacky Racer robots.

On Sunday, November 26, 2023 at 2:21:56 PM UTC-7, Velvet Glove wrote:

> James Bond was the first thing I thought of.

Well, Runabout transformed into a Lotus Espirit, the same kind of car from The Spy Who Loved Me (the one that could convert into a submarine).

So, it's become clear to me that both Runabout and Runamuck probably *were* intended as media homages, but they swapped their black and white colors at the last minute, probably to avoid skirting the trademark lines too closely. So, in this completely hypothetical, totally-not-going-to-happen Crossover assortment, they need to do a white Runabout (to represent the James Bond car) and they need to do a black Runamuck (who would represent K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider).

Zob (still thinks Chase and Freeway got their names switched, too, because the Chevrolet being called Chase seems like an obvious Chevy Chase reference)