Hironori Kobayashi
Hironori Kobayashi (小林 弘典 Kobayashi Hironori) is a designer at TakaraTomy. He joined the company in 1999, after impressing Hideaki Yoke with a scratch-built G1 Arcee toy he'd designed, and the first toy he created officially was Car Robots Speedbreaker (better known as Robots in Disguise Side Burn outside Japan).[1]
Among his main achievements are several Legends of the Microns/Armada toys, the Alternators/Binaltech toys (with Hasbro colleague Mark McCall), the Masterpiece toys and the Alternity toys. Kobayashi is currently part of the "Domestic Product" team, i.e. toys that are primarily intended for the Japanese market. Previously, his job description was "Head of Hero Character Team, BOYS Enterprise Department, Marketing Division".
Kobayashi is part of the (Japanese) domestic product team, and for the Revenge of the Fallen toyline he was responsible for modifications to the products aimed at the Japanese market.
Known design projects
Design
Beast Wars Metals
- Metals Jaguar (based on Transmetal Cheetor)
Car Robots/Robots in Disguise
- Speedbreaker/Side Burn (his first full project)
- Megatron Megabolt (originally designed as Beast Machines Megatron)
Legends of the Microns/Armada
- Convoy Super Mode/Super-Base Optimus Prime with Sparkplug
- STD Convoy/Super-Con Optimus Prime with Over-Run
- Ratchet/Red Alert with Longarm
- Jetfire with Comettor
- Air Defense Microns/Air Defense Mini-Con Team
- Land Military Microns/Land Military Mini-Con Team
- Space Microns/Space Mini-Con Team
- Air Military Microns/Air Military Mini-Con Team
- Unicron with Dead End
1-2-3 Transformers
- Charlie Chopper/Chopper (his favorite design)
Playskool Big Adventures
Binaltech/Alternators
- MP-1 Convoy/20th Anniversary Optimus Prime
- MP-3 Starscream (initial design, completed by Shōji Kawamori)
- MP-8 Grimlock
- MP-9 Rodimus Convoy
- MP-11 Starscream (with Shogo Hasui)
- MP-22 Ultra Magnus (final version, initial design by Shogo Hasui)
- MP-25 Tracks[2]
- MP-27 Ironhide[3]
Transformers (2007)
Alternity
- Nissan GT-R/Convoy
- Nissan Fairlady Z/Megatron
- Mitsuoka Orochi/Starscream
Revenge of the Fallen
- Constructicons/Devastator (Legends class)
- Buster Optimus Prime (new head, ion blaster and deco)
Universe (2008)
Transformers (2010 toyline)
- Wreck-Gar
- Leader Class Starscream (with Shogo Hasui)
Generations (2010)
Dark of the Moon
- Mechtech Voyager
Generations (2012)
Movie Advanced Series/Age of Extinction
- Deluxe Class
- Voyager Class
Color decoes
Movie Advanced Series/Age of Extinction
- Deluxe Class
- Voyager Class
- Evasion Mode Optimus Prime
- Grimlock
- Battle Blade Bumblebee
- Revenge Optimus Prime
- Hound
- Galvatron
- Dinobot Slog
- Sky Drift
- Leader Class
- Box sets
North American convention appearances
Notes
- Kobayashi's first patent for Takara (filed in October of 1999) was for an unusual car/robot design that folded both forwards and backwards to change into its robot mode. It does not seem to have ever been made into a toy.[4]
- He is also credited with designing the peculiar Anti-Gravity Pedestal Tenseg Base[5] flight stand.
References
- ↑ While he is credited with designing the Beast Wars Metals version of Jaguar/Ravage, this was based on the pre-existing Transmetal Cheetor toy and thus not entirely his own design.
- ↑ SDCC 2015: The Shogo Hasui Report: - "I did ask about Tracks and he said he did not design him but he did say (I BELIEVE Kobayashi…again hard to understand) and slowly said Lead Designer. He also said that the same designer did Ironhide and he began to say another name (Ratchet) but stopped himself."
A subsequent interview in Transformers Generations 2015 named Kobayashi as the designer of Ironhide, confirming him as the designer in question. - ↑ Interview in Transformers Generations 2015.
- ↑ https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/c1800/PU/JP-3068216/D50F00281736D73739C363319549EE6B291D34C23DF110D0CEE2621E35C64D5E/25/en
- ↑ https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/c1800/DE/JP-2021-022360/7D089FC30AFCC47C0336FBC3C48DB6A1DB823530F4BE76BE47CBB2A7923ABCB0/30/en
External links
Interviews
- December 2003—TakaraHobby (English translation)
- March 2005—The Transformers: Binaltech & TF Collection Complete Guide (English translation) (with Keisuke Shirakami and Satoru Washizu)
- May 2009—Transformers Generations 2009 Volume 2 (Partial English translation)
- November 2009—TakaraTomy (Translated highlights)
- November 2011—TakaraTomy (Japanese, subtitled) (with Hisashi Yuki and Hisao Nishimoto)
- November 2014—Figure Ō (English translation)
