"Amazing. He looks exactly like me."--Optimus Prime, "A Prime Problem" (TF)
The original Transformers toys were very detailed, and would be very difficult for the animators to consistently draw accurately. Floro Dery was responsible for designing most of the first-season characters. What's interesting is that instead of using the toys themselves for inspiration, he may have referred to the paintings of the toys that appeared on the Hasbro toy packages. What follows are some comparisons between the Hasbro box art and the cartoon designs created by Floro Dery.
Here are Hound's toy box art (left) and TRANSFORMERS UNIVERSE illustration (right). All of the TFU drawings were reproduced from the model sheets designed by Dery. The only significant omissions are the side-view mirror on Hound's shoulder and the barely-visible front tire behind the box art's left arm. (The Hound toy actually comes with a long rifle, which was foreshortened in the box art. Naturally, this was copied for the animation model.)
In many of the comics and cartoon stories in which Wheeljack is standing at rest, he assumes this pose from his cartoon/comics model. Take note of the triangles on the inside of his legs, which don't exist on the toy itself. Here, the only omissions were the second missile launcher and the wheels on his arms. (Note that this TFU drawing does not include the wings on his back and his Autobot symbol is in a different place than the finished version that appears in the cartoon.)
It's obvious where the inspiration for Ravage's model sheet came from. Nothing was significantly changed at all, except for the placement of his Decepticon symbol.