Rik Alvarez was interviewed in episode 125 of TFYLP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_fCVNxw13s
Sadly the audio is VERY choppy. Sometimes it was hard to follow as there are words missing from the audio, and sections went quiet, but I did my best to follow it.
Starts with Rik introducing himself. They talk about design constraints working for big companies. What we are seeing from PWTT was designed a long while ago, leading up to the Kickstarter. One host wanted to see spring loaded gimmicks. Rik says they won't have giant gimmick weapons, which are for kids, like Mech Tek. They will have detail and 5mm ports which are worked into the design, not obvious eyesores like Armada.
The tech drone on Astroblast is made up of a shield, rifle and backpack for the big robot. They become a jet or a robot, and are assembled like a BMOG.
The hosts couldn't seem to get that Rik can't call them homages to TF characters, calling it a Pretenders line and asking for a Metalhawk. Rik says he doesn't know who that is... but did say he has a cool jet character coming.
In fiction the tech drones are robot companions. There is a big writer coming that will make people take this company seriously. The tech drone can swap parts?
There might be something like build-a-figure coming. 10 characters are coming. There will be additional repaints and Kickstarter exclusives. (example: Astroblast in green and orange). There may be licensed toys in 2016, but right now no plans for a vehicle or play set.
Talk about them announcing Ken Christiansen. They go over his experience. Mark Wong, who did Minimates and Thundercats. Big TF fan. Steve Redinger, who gets work done fast. Was at Hasbro for 28 years. There was talk about how Hasbro let people go with no reason or warning who loved the company and it's lines.
Rik says they want to keep the price of the figures as affordable as possible.
(Audio then cuts out completely for a bit.)
They ask about Rik's best memories at Hasbro. Rik talks about his work on an MMOG from China. He made a bible for it.
(more technical difficulties)
Rik talks about a meeting that went very late in China.
Rik is a huge Beast Wars fan, but his favorite character is Optimus. Asked truck or monkey? Truck, but Rik credits Beast Wars with keeping Transformers alive. Rik says he liked the Vehicons in Beast Machines, and that's why he got them into TFPrime, because he wanted Decepticon army builders.
Play With This Too will offer art to the fandom. They asked for fan artists to email them. They want to reach out to the fans. They are thinking of having fans design head shots.
TFYLP asks how they plan to distribute. After the Kickstarter they plan to sell through the usual online retailers, who have already reached out to them. TFYLP asks if they will do a Matty Collector subscription service, and Rik says it would be a logistical nightmare, so no. Asked if they will do convention/store exclusives... they have already been approached asking for those. They just need to get through the Kickstarter first.
Every major character will come with a tech drone, except maybe some troop builders.
TFYLP asks how the tech drones change. Whip has 5mm ports. Rifle becomes nose piece of jet. Shield makes the wings and chest. TFYLP wants to know if the tech drone "parts forms"... Rik wants toys that look cool posing, parts forming doesn't bother him if done correctly.
Looking at Desolataur, it will have ball joints and hinges. It will be 6 inches tall. The heads pop off, and you can swap them with a He-Man or (word missing) character heads.
TFYPL asks about the name Skull-FCKR. They think it looks like Predator or Diablo. Rik made the name. Madwing is a pilot named after his daughter. Head Shots Vol 2, TFYLP says Xando looks like a hammerhead shark alien. Rik wants to have head packs, like some companies make weapon packs. The hands on his figures will be interchangeable, and there will be a 5mm port hand (I asked for that!)
They ask Rik what he thinks of other companies. He has a lot of "indy toys", he mentions Scoria, Quakewave and KFC tapes.
TFYLP asks Rik about preventing defects at Hasbro. Rik didn't do that at Hasbro. When PWTT has a defective part (which can happen to anyone) how will they address it? They will do the best they can to make it right.
Check out PWTT's social media pages, and they will be at TFcon Chicago with reveals.
MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS:
I'd love "troop builders" to be tech drones, not 6 inch figures, as I want lots of those guys. Give me a 4 pack of tech drones that can be assembled into limb extensions that boost 6 inch figures into a super-mode. I'd also love to see some BMOG designs just fall into the PWTT fiction, because the BMOG are supposed to be spread out into different dimensions, so they should be in the PWTT universe too. I don't mind parts forming, as long as all the parts have a place in every mode. I think of it as "combining" the backpack, gun and shield combine into a robot, what's wrong with that? I do hope we see some non-humanoid designs (big figures or drones). 5mm hand ports could lead to Trap-jaw/B.A.T. style weapon hands. I also wouldn't mind seeing homages created by parts swapping by the fans. For instance if someone put together an orange and green 6 inch body, you could swap on the head from a MOTU Man-At-Arms. Seems like with enough swappable parts and recolors, fans could make their own homages of anyone... I'd love to make guys who looked like Earth Corps, Man-Tech, Centurions, Pretenders, Spaceknights of Galador, etc., by mixing and matching parts rather than having each figure be a specific homage to them.
