The Energon Pub

[o.supreme]

great job hasbro once again you fail to ship a sought after figure to mass retail and instead send it to a discount store no one has in their area, i really really hate hasbro.

I don't even have time to search them all, if you want a few of mine, go ahead

[Kurona]

great job hasbro once again you fail to ship a sought after figure to mass retail and instead send it to a discount store no one has in their area, i really really hate hasbro.

Come on man, dont you know Hasbro has nothing to do with this? This is all on the retailer end. These came to North America in abundance a few months ago, as proof of this toy being found elsewhere in very large quantities.

Oh my god I would kill for those prices.

[o.supreme]

Just like the last wave of Kreo/Kreon, seems like much of what is released abundantly in Canada, but not in the US, ends up in US Market 6 sharply discounted. I don't know what the cause is. I know Hasbro would love to be getting the profit as many U.S. fans would have been willing to pay $25 at retail for Skylynx. I already preordered UW Lynx Master, but heck for $13 if I find a Sky Lynx at Marshalls I may get it just so my son can play with it.

[Cobotron]

Guys. Hasbro has nothing to do with this situation. Hasbro got their money when they sold wholesale to the retailers. It's the retailers (i.e. Target, TRU, etc.)?who liquidate this stock to the discount sellers. Not Hasbro.

[o.supreme]

Like I said I didn't know what the cause was, but I appreciate your explanation. On Saturday I went to a local Target. They had totally removed the Transformers section, and had what few toys they did have (some smaller RiD stuff) to one of those plastic-strip things that hangs off an endcap. I knew they had at least one if not more CW Leader Class Skywarp & Starscream. The employee told me "they are in the back...you want me to get them out?"...I said only if they were on clearance, he said no. So instead of putting them on clearance and trying to sell them, they just sit in the stockroom where nobody can see them. Brilliant.

[Cobotron]

Ya. In my area, Target has been the worst. For some reason they have no interest in stocking TFs. I remember hearing they got kind of burned by AOE sales. I wonder if they hesitate with the brand because of it.

[Agamemnon]

Like I said I didn't know what the cause was, but I appreciate your explanation. On Saturday I went to a local Target. They had totally removed the Transformers section, and had what few toys they did have (some smaller RiD stuff) to one of those plastic-strip things that hangs off an endcap. I knew they had at least one if not more CW Leader Class Skywarp & Starscream. The employee told me "they are in the back...you want me to get them out?"...I said only if they were on clearance, he said no. So instead of putting them on clearance and trying to sell them, they just sit in the stockroom where nobody can see them. Brilliant.

It's a transition time for Target. They are clearing out the summer seasonal stuff and putting out the School Supplies section. I expect Christmas stuff goes up next week. (Yeah, I'm only partially kidding about this....seems like Xmas goes up earlier and earlier every year. And heaven forbid I might actually need a swimsuit in the middle of July...) But in all seriousness, they are planning the displays for the holiday shopping season as well as upcoming movie merchandise.

Also, while Transformers is popular, in my experience, most Target stock people don't really care, nor have any knowledge of any of the toy lines. They just stock stuff as directed by corporate, including putting out items on clearance. I would expect those CW items to appear on a clearance endcap before too long...

[Shrapnel Shrapnel]

Thanks for the info. I just picked up both. I have all of the other combaticons but I've been waiting on onslaught for some reason. Christmas in July!

[joeprime276]

hey guys, I've been wanting to get a Sideswipe for my collection and want to get the Classics version. However, I already have the CW Sunstreaker and want the two characters to be the same mold (since they are the same car model in G1). Would you guys recommend I just buy the Classics Sideswipe AND Suntreaker or is it useless to get the Sunstreaker since I have the CW version?

Also, I have the CW Prowl and want Smokescreen, but if he is really as bad as everyone says then should I just get the Classics version of Smokescreen and Prowl? I don't know if anyone else has this kind of OCD when it comes to transformers that are supposed to be the same vehicle but I'm not sure if it's worth buying the same character over again.

[Sabrblade]

hey guys, I've been wanting to get a Sideswipe for my collection and want to get the Classics version. However, I already have the CW Sunstreaker and want the two characters to be the same mold (since they are the same car model in G1). Would you guys recommend I just buy the Classics Sideswipe AND Suntreaker or is it useless to get the Sunstreaker since I have the CW version?

Well, G1 Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were different molds originally, so having Universe Sideswipe and CW Sunstreaker would reflect that. But if you really really want them to be the same molds, you'd just have to get Universe Sunstreaker too to fulfill that want. It's a decent mold that works for both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

Also, I have the CW Prowl and want Smokescreen, but if he is really as bad as everyone says then should I just get the Classics version of Smokescreen and Prowl? I don't know if anyone else has this kind of OCD when it comes to transformers that are supposed to be the same vehicle but I'm not sure if it's worth buying the same character over again.

The Universe Prowl/Silverstreak/Smokescreen mold isn't very good by today's standards. Universe Smokescreen's deco is also really ugly. CW Smokescreen isn't that awful, it's just that the majority of its paint apps went into its altmode rather than its robot mode.

[Evil Eye]

CW Smokescreen really should have used the Dead End shell with the Prowl head.

[Sabrblade]

CW Smokescreen really should have used the Dead End shell with the Prowl head.

Then the altmode would look less like Smokescreen's altmode.

[william-james88]

hey guys, I've been wanting to get a Sideswipe for my collection and want to get the Classics version. However, I already have the CW Sunstreaker and want the two characters to be the same mold (since they are the same car model in G1). Would you guys recommend I just buy the Classics Sideswipe AND Suntreaker or is it useless to get the Sunstreaker since I have the CW version?

Get classics Sideswipe, because it makes sense for them to be two different molds which was the case back in G1.

[Evil Eye]

CW Smokescreen really should have used the Dead End shell with the Prowl head.

Then the altmode would look less like Smokescreen's altmode.

I think you're stretching a bit there. The Streetwise shell, cool as it is, barely resembles the Datsun alt mode- certainly not Smokescreen's modified racing Fairlady, that's for certain. Now granted, neither does the Dead End shell, but at least there wouldn't be extraneous unpainted police gubbins all over his car shell.

[Sabrblade]

CW Smokescreen really should have used the Dead End shell with the Prowl head.

Then the altmode would look less like Smokescreen's altmode.

I think you're stretching a bit there. The Streetwise shell, cool as it is, barely resembles the Datsun alt mode- certainly not Smokescreen's modified racing Fairlady, that's for certain. Now granted, neither does the Dead End shell, but at least there wouldn't be extraneous unpainted police gubbins all over his car shell.

But he, Prowl, and Bluestreak are all supposed to have the same basic car body.

[Evil Eye]

CW Smokescreen really should have used the Dead End shell with the Prowl head.

Then the altmode would look less like Smokescreen's altmode.

I think you're stretching a bit there. The Streetwise shell, cool as it is, barely resembles the Datsun alt mode- certainly not Smokescreen's modified racing Fairlady, that's for certain. Now granted, neither does the Dead End shell, but at least there wouldn't be extraneous unpainted police gubbins all over his car shell.

But he, Prowl, and Bluestreak are all supposed to have the same basic car body.

True, but he's not supposed to be a combiner limb either.

I dunno. All that unpainted detail (ESPECIALLY the lightbar) really annoys me on Smokescreen.

Now what I WOULD buy is a CW Armada Smokescreen, retooled from Hot Spot with the ladder assembly replaced with a crane boom. In fact, given how simplistic CW figures are I might have a shot at doing that myself. It'd mean neutering the combining gimmick, but given my past experiences I'm OK with that.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

CW Smokescreen really should have used the Dead End shell with the Prowl head.

Then the altmode would look less like Smokescreen's altmode.

I think you're stretching a bit there. The Streetwise shell, cool as it is, barely resembles the Datsun alt mode- certainly not Smokescreen's modified racing Fairlady, that's for certain. Now granted, neither does the Dead End shell, but at least there wouldn't be extraneous unpainted police gubbins all over his car shell.

While I agree with the notion, I accept the Streetwise shell as is, because we don't know what parts of the total tooling are connected in a single tree. If the Streetwise and Prowl heads are cast at the same time as the main shell, it would have been wasteful to produce the Dead End shell just for a single mix-and-match release.

[Sabrblade]

Now what I WOULD buy is a CW Armada Smokescreen, retooled from Hot Spot with the ladder assembly replaced with a crane boom.

Wouldn't that just be Grapple?

[Evil Eye]

Now what I WOULD buy is a CW Armada Smokescreen, retooled from Hot Spot with the ladder assembly replaced with a crane boom.

Wouldn't that just be Grapple?

...Huh. Didn't think about that. Though IMO Armada Smokescreen has a much cooler design (well, his animation model did, his toy sucked) with his brutish bowl-bonce and rounded-off futuristic mega-crane mode. I dunno, I have a lot of residual affection for Armada's designs.

[william-james88]

I dunno. All that unpainted detail (ESPECIALLY the lightbar) really annoys me on Smokescreen.

Wold you have preferred they paint the light bar?

[Sabrblade]

Now what I WOULD buy is a CW Armada Smokescreen, retooled from Hot Spot with the ladder assembly replaced with a crane boom.

Wouldn't that just be Grapple?

...Huh. Didn't think about that. Though IMO Armada Smokescreen has a much cooler design (well, his animation model did, his toy sucked) with his brutish bowl-bonce and rounded-off futuristic mega-crane mode. I dunno, I have a lot of residual affection for Armada's designs.

Funny thing is, Armada Smokescreen's Japanese name was "Grap", furthering his Grapple homage.

[Evil Eye]

I dunno. All that unpainted detail (ESPECIALLY the lightbar) really annoys me on Smokescreen.

Wold you have preferred they paint the light bar?

Honestly, yeah. Didn't even have to be painted as a light bar- they could have painted it the same colour as the windows. I dunno, unpainted detail (especially really prominent detail like that) really gets my goat. I blame Bobby Skullface for this.

[o.supreme]

Yeah the naming on several Armada characters was a bit nonsensical its almost like Hasbro said "hey we have this name, slap it on this guy". Plus the fact that the English recordings of both Armada & Energon got character names wrong quite often makes it hard to watch.

[Evil Eye]

Yeah the naming on several Armada characters was a bit nonsensical its almost like Hasbro said "hey we have this name, slap it on this guy". Plus the fact that the English recordings of both Armada & Energon got character names wrong quite often makes it hard to watch.

The names for the English versions worked pretty well IMO. I certainly prefer Smokescreen over Grap and Demolisher over Ironhide (if the Japanese version had been called Armourhide though that would have been a different story). Some of the Japanese names I prefer though, notably Sandstorm as Cyclonus and the various Micron names.

Micron Legend is patently superior to Armada though, at least from the 3 episodes I've watched so far. Better voicework, better music, even better animation. The intro song is pretty generic though.

[william-james88]

Yeah the naming on several Armada characters was a bit nonsensical its almost like Hasbro said "hey we have this name, slap it on this guy". Plus the fact that the English recordings of both Armada & Energon got character names wrong quite often makes it hard to watch.

I still cant believe they called that blue and white Energon race car Prowl insstead of the obvious Mirage. And Takara called him red alert, wth?!

I dunno. All that unpainted detail (ESPECIALLY the lightbar) really annoys me on Smokescreen.

Wold you have preferred they paint the light bar?

Honestly, yeah. Didn't even have to be painted as a light bar- they could have painted it the same colour as the windows. I dunno, unpainted detail (especially really prominent detail like that) really gets my goat. I blame Bobby Skullface for this.

I dont know man, the lightbar being made prominant on Lightsteed makes it worse: