The Energon Pub

That Bot wrote: But here we are, on the other side of a line that has (for the most part) given us some excellent combiners and now Hasbro Predaking is a matter of when, not if, so I think I'll follow your advice and let this guy go sooner rather than later.

I dont want to put any pressure on you He is a cool toy. I do have an idea though, you could always sell him and get the high quality KO I got at 1/5 of the price. Like taht you'll have your money and you can still enjoy the parts you liked about this toy.

Agamemnon wrote:Yeah, I remember having the discussions about the alt modes before. I think I concluded, and some agreed with me, that these guys are not really transforming into animals to hide, hence don't need ultra realistic beast modes. More, I believe they wanted to look really mean and scary, so used approximated mean looking animal figures to just make Autobots shake in their cyber boots before leaking hydraulic fluid down their legs as they are stomped/run over/ripped to shreds. (This also makes sense as a bull and rhino are herbivores.) I sill love these guys and had a lot of trouble splitting them up from Predaking. (That said, I could never really play with him as Predaking....too big. So, I don't know how you are handling it, WJ-88, with oversized KOs... ) But now that they are individual bots again, I have them holding that other 3P kit with the extra guns. They are awesome Voyager figures!

I dont have anything against the fact they dont look like organic animals, my problem is more with the fact that the small and thin legs of Bovis and Fortis take away from how menacing they look. At this point I would have preffered their robot legs convert to animal legs, kinda like how Thunderton's lion mode. Its not a great lion mode, but the limbs look proportional. And that would work wonders for fortis and Bovis.

And yes, my Oversized feral Rex is big but the simplicity of each member works well for that. It doesnt take long to build up and 3p toys are more meant to be posed and not necessarily played with so when I get him in a pose that wont fall over I consider it a job well done for what it is. And if I want to play with them, I can always take em apart. You think they look menacing and awesome as voyagers, you should see them as leaders, autobots would pee their pants. I now feel like just using them as giant goons in a fight scene whenever the Deceticons attack the autobot base. Plus, they can double as MP Predacons/Predaking, which is also awesome

I did try putting Talon in the back but it didnt work. The chest pieces seem like they can be pushed up but I dont have enough clearance with the head. Maybe its something the KP messed up, I dont know. If anyone can get the chest plates up past the head, let me know. You need that to have a peg long enough to attach solidly to the back.

That Bot wrote:Anyway. MMC announced at the beginning of the project that both legs and both arms would be sharing molds, so I wasn't disappointed by that, rather, I was impressed with how much they still managed to set them apart with sculpting differences and deco choices and different configurations (you can fold the shoulder armor backwards on Bovis and Fortis to make their arms look different from each other, and you can have one of them upside-down in alt mode). in fact even knowing that Tigris and Talon share a core mold, I only now am really looking closely at them and seeing how many parts they have in common and what's different between them.

I am pretty certain they were referring to Tigris and Felisabre sharing molds as the arms, since I Talon is a different mold entirely. It shares some similar engineering but that same engineering is found in all the figures. Actually that is how I have him configured now, with the 2 symetrical arms and legs. He looks pretty awesome.

william-james88 wrote:I am pretty certain they were referring to Tigris and Felisabre sharing molds as the arms, since I Talon is a different mold entirely.

No he is not, that's my point. If you take the time to examine them closely, you'll realize that Tigris and Talon are in fact identically sculpted from the neck down. Tigris's robot head and Talon's beast head are on the same pivot attached to the same place. They have the same torso, front and back, the same abdomen and ab crunch/arm mode elbow, the same butt, the same legs from hip to ankle, and the same heels. They have different arms (but the same elbows), different chest armor, different heads, and where Tigris has kneecap armor, Talon has his talons. Where Tigris has his beast mode legs, Talon has round panels that are glued on. The back of Talon's legs have the double slot where the kneecaps of Tigris slot in in alt mode and limb mode, which would be superfluous if Talon was his own mold, and the indentation where Tigris's tail folds in is present on Talon's shins, down to the small tabs that help lock it in place and the empty pin holes. Likewise, behind his kneecaps, Tigris has empty holes where Talon's talons would pin in.
Here's a gallery I made highlighting these points.

The impressive thing is that this is less retooling than most Combiner Wars toys, but the different parts are able to mask the identical core mold that effectively.

That Bot wrote:Here's a gallery I made highlighting these points.

The impressive thing is that this is less retooling than most Combiner Wars toys, but the different parts are able to mask the identical core mold that effectively.

Firstly, sorry for having been hardheaded, but even as I stare at this great gallery part of me still can't see it. i mean I do see it, but I also see two very different toys at the same time. And yeah, I know what you mean, these actually share parts, unlike the CW reshells like First Aid and Streetwise, but look so much more different. The Way CW did it is mostly changing some aesthtics. The entire shell is different, but its all in the same spot, giving the same general shape with the exact same transformation, its all very familiar. But with these two, its night and day. I mean one is a tiger (with 4 extra limbs) and the other is a bird, with a tail and wings. So yeah, wow, I much preffer this approach and I wouldnt mind if Hasbro ever does stuff like this. Actually, they might be. Blurr and Chromedome might look very different but they actually have shared parts and Skullcruncher and Wolfwire might share the same base mold but with so much different add ons that they become totally different.

Anyways, thanks for sharing. And let me know if your Talon can move his chest pieces up completely inorder to stick to the back, because the KO really cant.

I wasn't trying to chastise you. While I knew they were made from the same mold I never noticed exactly how much they shared until just now. This is the first time I noticed the gap for Tigris's tail, the pin holes for both accessories, the fact that Talon's leg padding is glued on and he shares sculpting with Tigris. I was discovering it as I shared and I'm pretty amazed.
To answer your question, I've slapped my Talon on the back of Rex once or twice and he fits fine, although he makes an already back-heavy figure even more lopsided.

Anyway I've officially separated Feral Rex into his components and posed all the Feral Cons on my lower shelf, which makes room for all four of my CW combiners up top. Winning all around.

This is as much exposed as my peg gets:

Agamemnon wrote:This is as much exposed as my peg gets:

Thanks. And ok, same for mine then. But thats not enough for it to stick tightly in the back. And its odd how the chest panels can be moved slightly but none of the modes ask for them to be moved.

william-james88 wrote:

Agamemnon wrote:This is as much exposed as my peg gets:

Thanks. And ok, same for mine then. But thats not enough for it to stick tightly in the back. And its odd how the chest panels can be moved slightly but none of the modes ask for them to be moved.

The panels left and right of the peg are the left over parts of Tigris where the tiger head moves over the robot head. They do not move on Talon, that I can see. Here are a couple of pics of Talon on the back of Leo Dux:



There is a relief cut into the back of Leo Dux to handle the other chest panels on Talon. It is a very snug fit on mine, with no chance Talon falls off. (I almost did a Dumb and Dumber pose after they got to Colorado and were stuch together, but I didn't want to take the time to transform Salamore back into a Motorcycle.) I wonder if your issues are due to this being an upsized KO, and the tolerances are off to the point that Talon no longer fits into Leo Dux...

Agamemnon wrote: I wonder if your issues are due to this being an upsized KO, and the tolerances are off to the point that Talon no longer fits into Leo Dux...

Thanks! I will check it out tonight. And yeah, if ever soemthing doesnt work, it is surely because its an oversized KO. A lot of small details are missing on that KO and that could easily be one of them. Thanks for answering my questions guys!

william-james88 wrote:

Agamemnon wrote:This is as much exposed as my peg gets:

Thanks. And ok, same for mine then. But thats not enough for it to stick tightly in the back. And its odd how the chest panels can be moved slightly but none of the modes ask for them to be moved.

Talon's chest panels (except the flap covering his peg) are firmly attached on the MMC version, so if yours is loose that's definitely a KO thing.

Thanks That Bot. Speaking of the KO, here he is with some scale:

Ok so it turns out I wasnt puching far enough to insert Talon in the back. He actually works fine because, as was mentionned, the back piece of Leozack does allow for the chest to get closer to the back.



Here he is with Talon and he doesnt feel more back heavy than before for some reason:



And here is him this KO with UW Devastator for scale:



You know what, I hate to say it but the plastic quality on my KO is better than Devastator. He feels way heaftier (which I guess also works against him when you want to pose him properly).

Plastic THICKNESS is not plastic QUALITY. Yes, Devastator is light. It's what allows him to be sold at the price he is and to not weigh two pounds combined (which is about how much my Rex weighs).

And Razorclaw's MMC name is Leo Dux. Leozack is the head of Liokaiser.

necr0blivion wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Does anyone use talon as a backpack? What is the advantage? And which member do you leave aside if you dont?

I do not use Talon as a backpack. I can't say it's an "advantage", but more towards symmetry. Felisabre was released as the 6th member of the group and can be used as a replacement for Talon (left arm) to make the combined mode look more uniform. Talon was engineered to be able to become a backpack for the combined mode (and in turn keeping the wings available) in case anyone wanted to keep them all together. It's quirky, but an option for those who may want something a little different.

Thank you. Been looking all over the internet for an answer to this. I can buy a Feral Rex, but the owner did not state if it was the MMC or the KO Jinbao oversized version, and if it's 5 or 6 members. (pics were taken from this forum in the ad). I asked, awaiting reply.
Any ideas of cost/value of both versions? TY!


Oh and also: what's the difference between MMC and NeoArt Toys?? Same company or not? Neoart has the Nero Rex black/purple version, but I thought MMC also has that? Is it a copy?

Sjeng wrote:

necr0blivion wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Does anyone use talon as a backpack? What is the advantage? And which member do you leave aside if you dont?

I do not use Talon as a backpack. I can't say it's an "advantage", but more towards symmetry. Felisabre was released as the 6th member of the group and can be used as a replacement for Talon (left arm) to make the combined mode look more uniform. Talon was engineered to be able to become a backpack for the combined mode (and in turn keeping the wings available) in case anyone wanted to keep them all together. It's quirky, but an option for those who may want something a little different.

Thank you. Been looking all over the internet for an answer to this. I can buy a Feral Rex, but the owner did not state if it was the MMC or the KO Jinbao oversized version, and if it's 5 or 6 members. (pics were taken from this forum in the ad). I asked, awaiting reply.
Any ideas of cost/value of both versions? TY!


Oh and also: what's the difference between MMC and NeoArt Toys?? Same company or not? Neoart has the Nero Rex black/purple version, but I thought MMC also has that? Is it a copy?

Yeah, the oversized JinBao would be between 100- 150 for all 6 robots. The original, which is smaller would be about $500. I do not know the difference between the companies you mention, sorry.

Thanks!

Well, I'm the proud owner of a MMC Feral Rex, without Felisaber (but I like the G1 configuration better anyway).

Does anyone have a COMPLETE list of all the extra parts you get with each figure? Mine was secondhand, and came with ziplock bags with several small loose pieces, and I'd like to check if everything's there.

TYVM in advance!!

Sjeng wrote:Well, I'm the proud owner of a MMC Feral Rex, without Felisaber (but I like the G1 configuration better anyway).

Does anyone have a COMPLETE list of all the extra parts you get with each figure? Mine was secondhand, and came with ziplock bags with several small loose pieces, and I'd like to check if everything's there.

TYVM in advance!!

Here are the small parts I got with the 5 bots:



I also had a little orange piece to go on the crotch-shield, which is already in place.

Anyone know what they are for, and if there should be more (or is this it? I heard there were new faces for Bovis and Fortis...)

The parts in the top baggie go along with the six bits with oles in the bottom middle. They are forearm fillers for Talon, Fortis, and Bovis, with optional weapon accessories to stick in their arms. The oval pieces and the four bits on the right are replacement elbow parts for Fortis and Bovis, but you'll need to pop out the pins from the original elbows yourself and stick them in here. I believe the orange part is a replacement hip piece for Tigris, but I don't recall why. Maybe it was for Bovis. And the face obviously is for Tigris. If there were more parts, they may have been included with Felisaber but these are all the same replacement parts I received with my set of 5.

King Kuuga wrote:The parts in the top baggie go along with the six bits with oles in the bottom middle. They are forearm fillers for Talon, Fortis, and Bovis, with optional weapon accessories to stick in their arms. The oval pieces and the four bits on the right are replacement elbow parts for Fortis and Bovis, but you'll need to pop out the pins from the original elbows yourself and stick them in here. I believe the orange part is a replacement hip piece for Tigris, but I don't recall why. Maybe it was for Bovis. And the face obviously is for Tigris. If there were more parts, they may have been included with Felisaber but these are all the same replacement parts I received with my set of 5.

Fantastic. Thanks so much!