Aaron Archer

Aaron draws a portrait of Batman for fans at BotCon 2005. LEGENDS OF BATMAN!

Aaron C. Archer(bornAugust 26,1972^[1]) is a former high-ranking employee ofHasbro.

Aaron's career was somewhat unusual insofar as he started out as a regular designer and eventually climbed up the corporate ladder.

As a designer, he first worked in Hasbro'sKennerdivision in1995after it was purchased by Hasbro a few years prior, working on toylines such asBatman,Star WarsandJurassic Park,before being moved toTransformersduring theTransmetal 2phase ofBeast Wars.There, he designed toys like the Transmetal 2 incarnations ofCheetor,Iguanus,Dinobot,Optimus Minor,andMegatron.

In the year2000,the Kenner division was closed down and its product lines were fully merged into Hasbro. Many of the Kenner staff didn't want to relocate toRhode Island,including the incumbent head of theTransformersbrand, but Aaron was willing to move and, in his words, said "I raised my hand and said 'I'll takeTransformersif you're looking for someone to manage it' ".^[2]Aaron was promoted to lead designer onTransformers,where he played a large role in the planning ofArmada,which was released in2002.He played a similar role in the development ofEnergonandCybertron,as well asAlternators.In addition to designing characters and planning out the toylines, Aaron also wrote the story concepts for all threeUnicron Trilogylines that were eventuallymade manifest in the lines' cartoon seriesignored by the Japanese production companies. In the middle of all of this, in2004,he was further promoted to design director.

In later years, he held titles such as "Snr. Design Director", "Director of Global Design and Development" (for theTransformersandG.I. Joebrands) and, finally, "Vice President of Intellectual Property Development". In2013,he resigned from Hasbro for initially undisclosed reasons.^[3]He later confirmed that his main reason was the increasing difficulty of developing "fun" toys while dealing with rising plastic prices and the constant pressure for cost efficiency.^[4]After living for about a year in Morganton, North Carolina, where they operated their own art studio, he and his wife have since moved back to Rhode Island.^[5]

Stylistically, Archer's design work tended to prioritise play features, balanced against other considerations such as aesthetics and production realities.^[6]He identifies his own trademark signature, in contrast to fellow designer at the timeEric Siebenaler,as being a character having "a pointy jaw with goggles".^[7]

Aaron is relatively well known in thefandom,partially because he spent several months posting to the boards atTFW2005under the username "Orson",a name by which fans sometimes still refer to him. This is in turn a reference toOrson Welles,the voice ofUnicroninThe Transformers: The Movie.

He now has a beard. And long hair. And a long forehead.

Known design projects

What's all this about? This article on a real person associated with the Transformers brand is astuband is missing information. You can helpTransformers Wikibyexpanding it. What's needed:Everything between 2008 and 2012, design credits from Instagram, his podcast, toy and trivia sections across the wiki, etc etc

Beast Wars

Robots in Disguise(2001)

Commemorative Series

• Megatron(canceled G1 reissue/redeco)

Armada

Mini-Con 3-packs Street Action Mini-Con Team Many, many more he has not specified		Super-Con Class BlurrwithIncinerator[8] CyclonuswithCrumplezone DemolishorwithBlackout[8]/Powerlinx DemolishorwithPowerlinx Blackout Hot ShotwithJolt		Optimus PrimewithOver-Run SidewayswithMirror(CrosswiseandRook)[8] SmokescreenwithLiftor ThrustwithInferno		Max-Con Class Red AlertwithLongarm[8] ScavengerwithRollbar[8] SkywarpwithThunderclash[9] StarscreamwithSwindle		Max-ConScavenger
Giga-Con Class JetfirewithComettor[8] MegatronwithLeader-1(withTakashi Kunihiro)[10]		Super Base Class Optimus PrimewithSparkplug		Supreme Class UnicronwithDead End

Universe(2003)

Alternators

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Energon

Energon Class Battle Ravage[8] Signal Flare

Combat Class Sharkticon[8] Slugslinger[11] Snow Cat

Command Class Scorponok (early concept)

Combat ClassSharkticon

Cybertron

Beast Wars 10th Anniversary

Masterpiece

Transformers(2007)

Universe(2008)

Generations: Fall of Cybertron

(All with Takashi Kunihiro)^[10]

Deluxe Class Air Raid Impactor Kickback Roadbuster Sideswipe

Starscream Autobot Topspin Twintwist Ultra Magnus Autobot Whirl

Voyager Class Grimlock SoundwavewithLaserbeak

Voyager ClassSoundwave

Age of Extinction

Writing

• Energon Volume 4(English edition)^[13]

Orson's World

Aaron Archer did not actually have a magnificent beard when this internet drama was going on. Perhaps if he had, it could have all been avoided.

In early 2002, prior to the official launch of theArmadaline, Aaron signed up to the boards ofTFW2005(then merged with the late Transfandom.net, later Transfandom ) under the alias "Orson". After refuting a fan's pompous claims about the alleged properties of some of theArmadatoys, the staff verified his identity as a Hasbro designer and created a special sub-forum for him, named "Orson's World". There, he would answer fan questions, but often only giving very vague hints or rejecting a carefully phrased, multi-point question with a blunt "NO." When the 2005 Boards split from Transfandom, "Orson's World" was migrated to the new TFW2005 site with Aaron's approval. As for whether the higher-ups at Hasbro themselves were fine with the posts, Archer simply said that he had "enough approval" from them.^[14]

Aaron's stint as "Orson" eventually came to a sudden halt in September 2003, when he was asked by his superiors to refrain from any further posts at TFW2005 and have his "Orson" account as well as his entire posting history deleted. Aaron initially blamed Jack, the owner ofTFormers,anotherfansite,for sending a "sour grape email" to his PR department.^[15]Jack initially denied any involvement and threatened legal action for defamation of name, but later endorsed the termination of "Orson's World", without directly claiming responsibility: Allegedly, Aaron, in his "Orson" persona, had been behaving "unprofessionally", had been "rude" towards fans^[16]and allegedly secretly supplied TFW2005 with photos ofprototypes,thereby undermining a strict ban on photos of prototypes Hasbro had been enforcing for the better part of 2003. Other suspects blamed by "inside sources" were the staff of other fansites such asSeibertron,The Allspark(who later went on record several times denying any involvement, even explicitly mourning the loss of "Orson's World" ) and the owners of the late Transfandom.net/Transfandom, the latter of whom had allegedly phoned Hasbro and literally insulted their PR contact.^[17]

The true details of the goings-on behind the scenes that had led to the end of "Orson's World" will probably never be revealed in full. Which is probably for the better.

Convention appearances

Fiction

Lil' Jerry

Aaron Archer andLil' Jerryanswered fans' questions at BotCon 2005.Lil' Jerry's Big BotCon Adventure

Notes

"Do you want ants? Because that's how you get ants."

• After joining Kenner in his early 20s, Aaron's first toy that made it to production was Lightwing Batman for theBatman Forevertoyline.
• Aaron's favorite Transformer toy during the original run wasPerceptor.However, he felt Perceptor never got enough screen/panel time, which he attributes to the fact Perceptor turned into a difficult-to-utilize alternate form.^[18]
• His favorite Transformer that he designed isVector Prime.^[19]
• His favorite weapon concept isArmadaStarscream's transforming wing/sword.^[20]
• When asked about his favorite Mini-Con, he citedThunderclash,but said that he liked different ones for different reasons.^[21]
• Aaron claims credit for naming theArmadaRequiem Blaster,and thinks it is both his greatest and his dumbest name for a kids toy ever.^[22]
• ArmadaOptimus Prime was the only Optimus design by Aaron Archer, as his style wasn't suited to heroic characters.^[23]
• TheG.I. JoeSnow Job figure was the first toy Archer bought with his own money, and this, together with the Snow Cat vehicle, formed the inspiration forEnergonSnow Cat.^[24]
• Archer wrote all the English dialogue for theEnergonmini-comicVolume 4based solely on the artwork, as no translation from the original Japanese was provided.^[13]
• When theEnergonPiranhacons(who would eventually become theTransformers Collectors' ClubSeacons) were first introduced in a Hasbro panel atOTFCC 2004,Skalorwas labelled "Archerbot" after Aaron as a joke, as Skalor's name had not yet cleared Hasbro Legal.
• Protoform Optimus Primewas designed by Archer in a single day in 2006, and was the last toy he personally worked on. He prefersthe redeco fromThe Last Knight.^[25]
• Movie Longarmhas anOrson's Towinglogo on his door panels, a somewhat obscure nod to Archer.
• Aaron's name and likeness are the basis for theTransformers AnimatedcharacterAngry Archer.He was unaware of the character until fairly late in production, but went along with the idea when the Cartoon Network team agreed to give him a "robot arm" to fit into the future setting more and made him left handed (Archer is left handed).
• The Archers used a Japanese convention exclusiveMovieArceeand one-of-a-kind variants of MovieVoyager Optimus PrimeandArmadaSparkplugas cake toppers at their wedding.Rik Alvarezofficiated.^[26]
• At theBotCon 2008Hasbro panel, Archer revealed that he was unable to find theWal-Mart-exclusiveMasterpieceStarscreamat Wal-Mart retail stores. He was forced to purchase one offeBay.
• Archer was featured on Shout! Factory's G1 Bonus Features "Triple Changer: From Toy to Comic to Screen", "The Combiner: Forming the Transformers Animated Series" and "The Autobots, the Decepticons & the Fans". He was also featured on Shout! Factory's Beast Wars Bonus Features "Maximize! Creating A New Breed Of Transformer" and "Remembering the Spark".
• One of the last toys Aaron Archer had any input on was theAge of ExtinctionFlip & Change Grimlocktoy, as he challenged the team to develop a toy of the character which could transform using that specific motion.^[27]
• At hisBotCon 2016panel, he claimed to have designed more Jar Jar toys than anyone else.
• He continues to draw updated versions ofUnicron Trilogycharacters (usually fromArmada) and often uploads pictures of them to his Instagram account, sometimes with a little bit of background information as to where the inspirations for the designs originally came from.

External links

• Aaron Archer's professional website
• Aaron Archer on Instagram
• Aaron Archer on Twitter
• Aaron Archer on Facebook
• The Toy Armada with Aaron Archer,Archer's podcast

Interviews

Proof that Archer is fluent in Japanese?

• March 2003—TFormers(at theHasbro Collectors Event)
• July 2007—CantonRep(archived)
• 2007—FieldsEdge(archive)
• July 2012—Seibertron(transcript) (withJerry Jivoin)
• July 2014—TFcon Toronto
• July 2014—Vangelus
• October 2014—TransMissions
• October 2014—Transformers For Your Listening Pleasure(withRik Alvarez)
• March 2020—First Comics News
• March 2020—Radio Free Cybertron
• December 2021—The Toy Armada (ArmadaPart 1,ArmadaPart 2)
• June 2022—Transformers Slag Podcast
• June 2022—The Toy Armada (Alternators)
• September 2022—The Toy Armada (ArmadaDeep Toy / Character ReviewPart 1,Part 2)

References