Eric Siebenaler
| The name or term "Eric" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Eric (disambiguation). |
Eric J. Siebenaler is a former Hasbro designer who worked on the Transformers brand for several years. He graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Industrial Design. Siebenaler joined the Transformers team in 2002, and his first design was Armada Laserbeak. Siebenaler was largely responsible for developing the Transformers Animated series, serving as its lead designer.
His first Transformer was Skywarp.
Siebenaler did not attend BotCon 2008 personally as he was in Australia on a working holiday. However, Hasbro provided a life-size cardboard cut out of Siebenaler that fans could write messages on, which Hasbro would then mail to him. The non-cardboard Siebenaler briefly appeared on the Australian children's program Toasted TV on August 8, 2008, to talk about designing Animated toys. He also appeared on Network Ten's TTN and men's magazine FHM for similar interviews.
On November 8 and 9, Siebenaler returned to Australia as part of a promotion by Hasbro Australia, the Cartoon Network Australia and K-Mart Australia. He drew Transformers designs by children who had won a Cartoon Network competition.[1]
BotCon 2011 was his last as a member of the Transformers design team, as he had already moved onto the Star Wars brand within Hasbro a year prior. Following a brief stint as design manager for the Littlest Pet Shop brand, Siebenaler quit Hasbro in 2014 and went freelance under the name EJS Design LLC. Siebenaler continued to work with the Transformers brand as a freelance artist, notably contributing a significant portion of the concept design work for the Transformers: Cyberverse franchise. [2]
In December of 2021, he became head of character design for independent art studio Superplastic and subsequently retired from freelance work in February of 2022.
Known design projects
- Laserbeak (his first design)
- Energon Class
- Combat Class
- Mega Class
- Command Class
- Leader Class
- Supreme Class
- Scout Class
- Deluxe Class
- Voyager Class
- Ultra Class
- Leader Class
- Supreme Class
- Starscream (with Shogo Hasui, based upon The War Within Starscream by Don Figueroa)
- Primus (early concept work only; Takashi Kunihiro worked on the final toy)
- Optimus Prime vs. Megatron: The Ultimate Battle
- Deluxe Class
- Astrotrain (with Takashi Kunihiro)
- Bumblebee (with Alex Kubalsky)
- Cliffjumper
- Grimlock (with Takio Ejima)
- Rodimus
- Mirage (with Alex Kubalsky)
- Ramjet
- Starscream
- Voyager Class
- Jetfire (with Takashi Kunihiro)
- Megatron (with Takio Ejima)
- Optimus Prime (with Don Figueroa, Takio Ejima and Alex Kubalsky)
Transformers (2007)
- Deluxe Class
- Arcee
- Autobot Jazz
- Barricade
- Bonecrusher
- Decepticon Brawl
- Bumblebee (Classic Camaro) (with Alex Kubalsky)
- Bumblebee (Camaro Concept) (with Alex Kubalsky)
- Longarm (with Alex Kubalsky and Jared Wade)
- Payload
- Voyager Class
- Autobot Ratchet
- Blackout
- Ironhide
- Megatron
- Optimus Prime
- Starscream (with Shogo Hasui)
- Leader Class
- Megatron
- Optimus Prime (with Takashi Kunihiro)
- Optimus Prime vs. Megatron: The Battle Begins
- Jetfire & Jetstorm
- Deluxe Class
- Autobot Ratchet
- Bumblebee (with Alex Kubalsky)
- Lockdown
- Prowl (with Alex Kubalsky)
- Autobot Jazz
- Blackarachnia (with Alex Kubalsky)
- Blazing Lockdown
- Blurr
- Cybertron Mode Megatron
- Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime
- Elite Guard Bumblebee
- Oil Slick
- Samurai Prowl
- Sentinel Prime (with Alex Kubalsky)
- Snarl
- Soundwave
- Swindle
- Swoop
- Waspinator
- Voyager Class
- Blitzwing (with Alex Kubalsky)
- Bulkhead
- Grimlock
- Lugnut
- Optimus Prime
- Starscream
- Atomic Lugnut
- Shockwave
- Skywarp
- Wreck-Gar
- Leader Class
- Scout Class
- Dead End
- Dirt Boss
- Road Rival Showdown (Deadlift only)
- Dune Runner
- Ejector
- Knock Out
- Ransack
- Rollbar
- Wideload
- Depthcharge
- Voyager Class
- Commander Class
- Huffer with Caliburst
- Smolder with Chopster
- Searchlight with Backwind
- Sledge with Throttler
- Leadfoot with Pinpoint#Power Core Combiners
- Icepick with Chainclaw
- Steelshot with Beacon
- Windburn with Darkray
- Darkstream with Razorbeam
- Heavytread with Groundspike
- Salvage with Bomb-Burst
- Skyhammer with Airlift
- Undertow with Waterlog
- 5-pack
- Skyburst with Aerialbots
- Bombshock with Combaticons
- Double Clutch with Rallybots
- Mudslinger with Destructicons
- Stakeout with Protectobots
- Crankcase with Destrons
- Steamhammer with Constructicons
- Grimstone with Dinobots
- Over-Run with Stunticons
- Deluxe Class
- Voyager Class
- Leader Class
- Optimus Prime versus Megatron (with Jack Darby, Miko Nakadai, and Raf Esquivel)
- Deluxe Class
- Voyager Class
Convention appearances
- OTFCC 2003
- OTFCC 2004
- BotCon 2005
- BotCon 2006
- BotCon 2007
- BotCon 2009
- BotCon 2010
- San Diego Comic-Con 2010
- BotCon 2011
Fiction
Mini Mayhem!
Eric assured everyone that, though the Transformers Animated toys wouldn't be out until June 2008, they would be worth the wait. When Cyclops wound up getting kicked out of his house for watching too much Transformers Animated, he wound up crashing at Eric's house, and oggled Blackarachnia off his big-screen tv. Later in the year, at BotCon, Megatron attempted to track Eric down so he could use the upcoming toy designs to conquer the Autobots! But Eric was hanging out with Unarchy in Australia at the time, and so Megatron's plan fell to shambles.
Eric met negative-polarity Rodimus and Ultra Magnus, and pleaded with them to deactivate their agressor units to avoid getting beaten up by the two of them. Whether he swayed them to spare him or not, he definitely didn't succeed with Snarl, who left him groaning on the floor in pain after socking him in the gut.
On Thanksgiving day, Eric enlisted Derrick J. Wyatt to cook a turkey for dinner. But Derrick got too distracted by his new designs for Transformers Animated, and wound up burning the bird. Derrick and Eric were later seen eating a pie together, but Optimus had something much more exciting to show off... Sunstreaker and Hot Rod eating a pie! Mini Mayhem!
Gallery
Notes
- Fellow designer Aaron Archer has observed Siebenaler's key design signature to be "square-jawed robots".[3]
- On the Transformers Animated season 2 DVD set, Eric provides episode commentary on "Mission Accomplished" and "Garbage In, Garbage Out" alongside Marty Isenberg, Derrick Wyatt and Matt Youngberg.
- He gets served at Maccadam's Old Oil House.
- The last toy he designed for the Transformers brand was the Vehicon toy in the Transformers: Prime toyline.[4]
References
- ↑ OzFormers forum news post about the promotion and Siebenaler's brief return to Australia
- ↑ Eric Siebenaler's Linkedin profile
- ↑ "This is a completely Eric Siebenaler item. He took their brick image and veneered it completely. This is one of his square-jawed robots... you'll start to see in these conversations, especially in deep-dive... the square of the jaw? Almost guaranteed that it is an Eric item. If it's a pointy jaw with goggles, it's more leaning towards me."—Aaron Archer, The Toy Armada, 2022/10/25
- ↑ http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-prime-39/transformers-prime-vehicon-in-hand-images-174009/
External links
- Personal website
- LinkedIn account
- DeviantArt account
- Instagram account, featuring a selection of his Cyberverse work
- Ozformers report on meeting Eric, a later response and corrections from the man himself, and an explanation on the relationship between Hasbro and Takara in designing Transformers.
- A Tribute to Former Transformers Designer Eric Siebenaler by Kickback, TFW2005.com (Also where the updated toy design list came from, thanks to TFW2005)
