The Energon Pub

[Kurona]

Since Kaiser is a Platinum, I'll probably wait to see what Takara does with him, since the price won't be that different anyway.

Actually him being a Platinnum is a good indication that Takara wont do him. So far any platinum release from Takara is just a rerelease of the US version. So odds are if Takara releases Liokaiser, it will just be this same toy.

Thing is, what have the Platinum releases aside from those been? Pretty much just straight redecoes of older toys - some less old than others; Autobot Heroes literally has a toy from last year; releases of Takara-exclusive molding like Battle Grimlock which... well, should be obvious why Takara didn't release them, and... I think aside from all that, the only unique tooling a Platinum set has ever had was the Sweep's head in the Cyclonus' Armada set which I can easily see why they didn't care.
This? This is a set that has never seen any retail release and has completely unique tooling on four of it's figures. If any Platinum set has a likelihood to be released or improved by Takara, it's most certainly this.

Counter Argument: LioKaiser is a Japanese character. He is most prevalent to the Japanese fanbase. While that certainly lends itself to Takara wanting to hit him out of the park, why haven't they done him yet? its the International company doing the homage for a market clamoring for it, who didnt know he existed until the internet told them about it 10-15 years ago

Because every other Combiner is much more relevant and popular?
Just because he's from Japan doesn't mean the Japanese fans don't like their Devastators and Superions more. Even in Japan the likes of Victory are still obscure compared to the original three seasons. A lot of people don't seem to understand this fsr
Just because they haven't done him before doesn't mean they won't do him. I don't see why him being a Japanese character means anything at all other than it makes Takara more likely to do him.

[CommanderShadowmus]

Things that went wrong:
-Killbison renamed into Ironbison
-Hellbat renamed into Fellbat
-Killbison being toy-accurate gold instead of screen-accurate orange
-Killbison being a single-barreled tank and not a double-barreled tank
-Gaihawk being misspelled as Guyhawk
-Grey horns and batwings on the heads of Killbison and Hellbat
-Deszaras (just the whole figure)
-Black head on Liokaiser

Liokaiser is my favorite Combiner of them all and this actually kinda brings him to shame...

1 and 2: Name changes is justified this is north America and these toys are for children they kinda can't have kill or hell in their toys names.

3: Oh no a character is only a slightly different color shade and looks like one version of him instead of another oh the horror!

4: Does it really matter how many cannons this guy has?

5: Two different spellings of the same name boo hoo.

6: and 8: Oh god color changes everything is terrible Hasblow has failed us again I couldn't just paint over the grey!

7: I agree bad mold choice but I think the paint is great on him.

Sure, we can paint the ears and horns the right color but because this is a box set we shouldn't have to! And hey, I'm very sure only adollecent and adult collectors would pick this up!

Also, ''Pinkie's'', name is spelled Gaihawk in the subtitles of the Victory cartoon!

And hey, NONE of Killbison's toys (HasTak and 3rd party) were show accurate orange! Always being gold like the old toy! And Hasbro should have remolded Killbison's turret too!

Again, Liokaiser is my favorite Combiner, and I don't mind Hasbro turning him into a 5-member Scramble City style Combiner, but I do mind Hasbro doing such an awful job of it!

[Tharag]

Gotta say, Hasbro went to a lot more effort then I was expecting on this, what with everyone getting brand new head sculpts. Yeah, maybe the Rook retool from Takara's Computron would be more accurate for Drillhorn, but I kind of like that Hasbro is using two Brawl repaints as I feel like it adds a bit more uniformity to the team. Likewise, while I could agree that a Cyclonus retool as Liozack would also have been better, but Skylynxas as Deathsaurs isn't half bad, especially in combined mode.

That's what I care most about anyway. I never watched the Japanese anime for Transformers and so don't really have any special attachment to any of these as individual characters. Mostly what I want is another Decepticon combiner team to help balance out my faction display. That said, the final deciding factor for me is going to be just how much of a price markup this set will have if it's part of the platinum series.

[Hellscream9999]

Things that went wrong:
-Killbison renamed into Ironbison
-Hellbat renamed into Fellbat
-Killbison being toy-accurate gold instead of screen-accurate orange
-Killbison being a single-barreled tank and not a double-barreled tank
-Gaihawk being misspelled as Guyhawk
-Grey horns and batwings on the heads of Killbison and Hellbat
-Deszaras (just the whole figure)
-Black head on Liokaiser

Liokaiser is my favorite Combiner of them all and this actually kinda brings him to shame...

1 and 2: Name changes is justified this is north America and these toys are for children they kinda can't have kill or hell in their toys names.

3: Oh no a character is only a slightly different color shade and looks like one version of him instead of another oh the horror!

4: Does it really matter how many cannons this guy has?

5: Two different spellings of the same name boo hoo.

6: and 8: Oh god color changes everything is terrible Hasblow has failed us again I couldn't just paint over the grey!

7: I agree bad mold choice but I think the paint is great on him.

Sure, we can paint the ears and horns the right color but because this is a box set we shouldn't have to! And hey, I'm very sure only adollecent and adult collectors would pick this up!

Also, ''Pinkie's'', name is spelled Gaihawk in the subtitles of the Victory cartoon!

And hey, NONE of Killbison's toys (HasTak and 3rd party) were show accurate orange! Always being gold like the old toy! And Hasbro should have remolded Killbison's turret too!

Again, Liokaiser is my favorite Combiner, and I don't mind Hasbro turning him into a 5-member Scramble City style Combiner, but I do mind Hasbro doing such an awful job of it!

Display figures an renders usually deviate from final samples, just keep that in mind.

[Hellscream9999]

Gotta say, Hasbro went to a lot more effort then I was expecting on this, what with everyone getting brand new head sculpts. Yeah, maybe the Rook retool from Takara's Computron would be more accurate for Drillhorn, but I kind of like that Hasbro is using two Brawl repaints as I feel like it adds a bit more uniformity to the team. Likewise, while I could agree that a Cyclonus retool as Liozack would also have been better, but Skylynxas as Deathsaurs isn't half bad, especially in combined mode.

That's what I care most about anyway. I never watched the Japanese anime for Transformers and so don't really have any special attachment to any of these as individual characters. Mostly what I want is another Decepticon combiner team to help balance out my faction display. That said, the final deciding factor for me is going to be just how much of a price markup this set will have if it's part of the platinum series.

Yeah, the new heads really seal the deal for me

[Flashwave]

Since Kaiser is a Platinum, I'll probably wait to see what Takara does with him, since the price won't be that different anyway.

Actually him being a Platinnum is a good indication that Takara wont do him. So far any platinum release from Takara is just a rerelease of the US version. So odds are if Takara releases Liokaiser, it will just be this same toy.

Thing is, what have the Platinum releases aside from those been? Pretty much just straight redecoes of older toys - some less old than others; Autobot Heroes literally has a toy from last year; releases of Takara-exclusive molding like Battle Grimlock which... well, should be obvious why Takara didn't release them, and... I think aside from all that, the only unique tooling a Platinum set has ever had was the Sweep's head in the Cyclonus' Armada set which I can easily see why they didn't care.
This? This is a set that has never seen any retail release and has completely unique tooling on four of it's figures. If any Platinum set has a likelihood to be released or improved by Takara, it's most certainly this.

Counter Argument: LioKaiser is a Japanese character. He is most prevalent to the Japanese fanbase. While that certainly lends itself to Takara wanting to hit him out of the park, why haven't they done him yet? its the International company doing the homage for a market clamoring for it, who didnt know he existed until the internet told them about it 10-15 years ago

Because every other Combiner is much more relevant and popular?
Just because he's from Japan doesn't mean the Japanese fans don't like their Devastators and Superions more. Even in Japan the likes of Victory are still obscure compared to the original three seasons. A lot of people don't seem to understand this fsr
Just because they haven't done him before doesn't mean they won't do him. I don't see why him being a Japanese character means anything at all other than it makes Takara more likely to do him.

Fair enough point. I didn't know Victory was considered obscure over there. I think the misconception is that we think of it having more exposure because it was there longer. It was their original creation.

[Kurona]

Since Kaiser is a Platinum, I'll probably wait to see what Takara does with him, since the price won't be that different anyway.

Actually him being a Platinnum is a good indication that Takara wont do him. So far any platinum release from Takara is just a rerelease of the US version. So odds are if Takara releases Liokaiser, it will just be this same toy.

Thing is, what have the Platinum releases aside from those been? Pretty much just straight redecoes of older toys - some less old than others; Autobot Heroes literally has a toy from last year; releases of Takara-exclusive molding like Battle Grimlock which... well, should be obvious why Takara didn't release them, and... I think aside from all that, the only unique tooling a Platinum set has ever had was the Sweep's head in the Cyclonus' Armada set which I can easily see why they didn't care.
This? This is a set that has never seen any retail release and has completely unique tooling on four of it's figures. If any Platinum set has a likelihood to be released or improved by Takara, it's most certainly this.

Counter Argument: LioKaiser is a Japanese character. He is most prevalent to the Japanese fanbase. While that certainly lends itself to Takara wanting to hit him out of the park, why haven't they done him yet? its the International company doing the homage for a market clamoring for it, who didnt know he existed until the internet told them about it 10-15 years ago

Because every other Combiner is much more relevant and popular?
Just because he's from Japan doesn't mean the Japanese fans don't like their Devastators and Superions more. Even in Japan the likes of Victory are still obscure compared to the original three seasons. A lot of people don't seem to understand this fsr
Just because they haven't done him before doesn't mean they won't do him. I don't see why him being a Japanese character means anything at all other than it makes Takara more likely to do him.

Fair enough point. I didn't know Victory was considered obscure over there. I think the misconception is that we think of it having more exposure because it was there longer. It was their original creation.

Yeah. It's a bit like assuming that just because the Marvel comics were around longer in the US and UK, then clearly every US and UK fan loves them and wants Marvel characters more than early G1 characters.

[Powermaster Swag]

I made something just for this occasion. Don't hate me, but I just don't like it. I'm pure G1.

[ZeroWolf]

So all new head sculpts? Nice work, still going to head cannon these to a new team. Deathsarus needs a robot for for me.

[SureShot18]

I think I got to pass on this one. While the individual limbs look better than expected, this is the only CW combiner I'd consider calling "lazy".

[Kurona]

The weird thing about this is that the original Liokaiser had all the combiner kibble integrated but the head; while this Liokaiser has no combiner kibble integrated but the head.

[Powermaster Swag]

The weird thing about this is that the original Liokaiser had all the combiner kibble integrated but the head; while this Liokaiser has no combiner kibble integrated but the head.

[Evil Eye]

Fellbat? Ironbison?

I don't normally complain about name changes, but for christ's SAKE Hasbro...

[Starsaber468]

Since Kaiser is a Platinum, I'll probably wait to see what Takara does with him, since the price won't be that different anyway.

Actually him being a Platinnum is a good indication that Takara wont do him. So far any platinum release from Takara is just a rerelease of the US version. So odds are if Takara releases Liokaiser, it will just be this same toy.

Thing is, what have the Platinum releases aside from those been? Pretty much just straight redecoes of older toys - some less old than others; Autobot Heroes literally has a toy from last year; releases of Takara-exclusive molding like Battle Grimlock which... well, should be obvious why Takara didn't release them, and... I think aside from all that, the only unique tooling a Platinum set has ever had was the Sweep's head in the Cyclonus' Armada set which I can easily see why they didn't care.
This? This is a set that has never seen any retail release and has completely unique tooling on four of it's figures. If any Platinum set has a likelihood to be released or improved by Takara, it's most certainly this.

Counter Argument: LioKaiser is a Japanese character. He is most prevalent to the Japanese fanbase. While that certainly lends itself to Takara wanting to hit him out of the park, why haven't they done him yet? its the International company doing the homage for a market clamoring for it, who didnt know he existed until the internet told them about it 10-15 years ago

Because every other Combiner is much more relevant and popular?
Just because he's from Japan doesn't mean the Japanese fans don't like their Devastators and Superions more. Even in Japan the likes of Victory are still obscure compared to the original three seasons. A lot of people don't seem to understand this fsr
Just because they haven't done him before doesn't mean they won't do him. I don't see why him being a Japanese character means anything at all other than it makes Takara more likely to do him.

Fair enough point. I didn't know Victory was considered obscure over there. I think the misconception is that we think of it having more exposure because it was there longer. It was their original creation.

Yeah. It's a bit like assuming that just because the Marvel comics were around longer in the US and UK, then clearly every US and UK fan loves them and wants Marvel characters more than early G1 characters.

But then again a lot of victory characters are extremely popular otherwise the beauty of an figure mp star saber wouldn't exist also its still an combiner wars figure, and takara created the character originally they wouldn't miss out doing an character that would obviously sell pretty well

[Kurona]

Since Kaiser is a Platinum, I'll probably wait to see what Takara does with him, since the price won't be that different anyway.

Actually him being a Platinnum is a good indication that Takara wont do him. So far any platinum release from Takara is just a rerelease of the US version. So odds are if Takara releases Liokaiser, it will just be this same toy.

Thing is, what have the Platinum releases aside from those been? Pretty much just straight redecoes of older toys - some less old than others; Autobot Heroes literally has a toy from last year; releases of Takara-exclusive molding like Battle Grimlock which... well, should be obvious why Takara didn't release them, and... I think aside from all that, the only unique tooling a Platinum set has ever had was the Sweep's head in the Cyclonus' Armada set which I can easily see why they didn't care.
This? This is a set that has never seen any retail release and has completely unique tooling on four of it's figures. If any Platinum set has a likelihood to be released or improved by Takara, it's most certainly this.

Counter Argument: LioKaiser is a Japanese character. He is most prevalent to the Japanese fanbase. While that certainly lends itself to Takara wanting to hit him out of the park, why haven't they done him yet? its the International company doing the homage for a market clamoring for it, who didnt know he existed until the internet told them about it 10-15 years ago

Because every other Combiner is much more relevant and popular?
Just because he's from Japan doesn't mean the Japanese fans don't like their Devastators and Superions more. Even in Japan the likes of Victory are still obscure compared to the original three seasons. A lot of people don't seem to understand this fsr
Just because they haven't done him before doesn't mean they won't do him. I don't see why him being a Japanese character means anything at all other than it makes Takara more likely to do him.

Fair enough point. I didn't know Victory was considered obscure over there. I think the misconception is that we think of it having more exposure because it was there longer. It was their original creation.

Yeah. It's a bit like assuming that just because the Marvel comics were around longer in the US and UK, then clearly every US and UK fan loves them and wants Marvel characters more than early G1 characters.

But then again a lot of victory characters are extremely popular otherwise the beauty of an figure mp star saber wouldn't exist also its still an combiner wars figure, and takara created the character originally they wouldn't miss out doing an character that would obviously sell pretty well

Hence why I think they will do Liokaiser.
And yeah I know Victory characters are popular... but then, so are characters like Thunderwing and Bludgeon. They're still more obscure and nowhere near as known as characters like Optimus and Starscream no matter which country you're from. Star Saber MP likely happened because the people voting wanted another Autobot Leader and were a tad fatigued by all the Season 1/2 MPs.

[Deadput]

Fellbat? Ironbison?

I don't normally complain about name changes, but for christ's SAKE Hasbro...

What else are they supposed to do?


Toy laws make it so they can't use Hell or Kill?


What would you name them.

[Decepticon Stryker]

Goodbye money, hello Liokaiser. He is a must have for me.

[LOST Cybertronian]

Seeing as though Skylynx will never be combined in my collection, this gives me the opportunity to display the torso mode of the mold.

[Evil Eye]

Fellbat? Ironbison?

I don't normally complain about name changes, but for christ's SAKE Hasbro...

What else are they supposed to do?


Toy laws make it so they can't use Hell or Kill?


What would you name them.

Actually I'm pretty sure there's no laws against calling them "Killbison" or "Hellbat". Y'know, what with the 1st amendment and all. And seeing as they felt OK with calling a toy Skullsmasher it seems a bit pathetic (and hypocritical) to pussy out of giving them their proper names.

Not that I really care, this doesn't look like Liokaiser anyway.

[william-james88]

Counter Argument: LioKaiser is a Japanese character. He is most prevalent to the Japanese fanbase. While that certainly lends itself to Takara wanting to hit him out of the park, why haven't they done him yet? its the International company doing the homage for a market clamoring for it, who didnt know he existed until the internet told them about it 10-15 years ago

I am not sure what you mean by this. Do you mean they would or would not release him?

And about regional popularity, that doesnt seem to apply anymore. For instance, Prime Breakdown is an american character, from a show more prevalent in the us, to the point that Japan totally made their own show with different characters instead of continuing the Prime series. And yet they not only have an exclusive Prime Breakdown toy but they brought him back for Grand Galvatron. And speaking of Grand Galvatron, that also has the Roller component who is an IDW character and those comics with him have never been translated to Japanese. So a character being attributed to a specific region does not cement his release there.

Thing is, what have the Platinum releases aside from those been? Pretty much just straight redecoes of older toys - some less old than others; Autobot Heroes literally has a toy from last year; releases of Takara-exclusive molding like Battle Grimlock which... well, should be obvious why Takara didn't release them, and... I think aside from all that, the only unique tooling a Platinum set has ever had was the Sweep's head in the Cyclonus' Armada set which I can easily see why they didn't care.
This? This is a set that has never seen any retail release and has completely unique tooling on four of it's figures. If any Platinum set has a likelihood to be released or improved by Takara, it's most certainly this.

Firstly, I ddnt say they wouldnt release it, I said that if they do it would be a straight rerelease like they did with Platinum Trypticon.

Also, you were speaking of a set of 5 toys with retooled heads. Did you forget about this one from last year?



That never got released in Japan.

Not being negative, just looking at the past to see what lies ahead. Remember, the seeds of the future lie buried in the past.

[Kurona]

Counter Argument: LioKaiser is a Japanese character. He is most prevalent to the Japanese fanbase. While that certainly lends itself to Takara wanting to hit him out of the park, why haven't they done him yet? its the International company doing the homage for a market clamoring for it, who didnt know he existed until the internet told them about it 10-15 years ago

I am not sure what you mean by this. Do you mean they would or would not release him?

And about regional popularity, that doesnt seem to apply anymore. For instance, Prime Breakdown is an american character, from a show more prevalent in the us, to the point that Japan totally made their own show with different characters instead of continuing the Prime series. And yet they not only have an exclusive Prime Breakdown toy but they brought him back for Grand Galvatron. And speaking of Grand Galvatron, that also has the Roller component who is an IDW character and those comics with him have never been translated to Japanese. So a character being attributed to a specific region does not cement his release there.

Thing is, what have the Platinum releases aside from those been? Pretty much just straight redecoes of older toys - some less old than others; Autobot Heroes literally has a toy from last year; releases of Takara-exclusive molding like Battle Grimlock which... well, should be obvious why Takara didn't release them, and... I think aside from all that, the only unique tooling a Platinum set has ever had was the Sweep's head in the Cyclonus' Armada set which I can easily see why they didn't care.
This? This is a set that has never seen any retail release and has completely unique tooling on four of it's figures. If any Platinum set has a likelihood to be released or improved by Takara, it's most certainly this.

Firstly, I ddnt say they wouldnt release it, I said that if they do it would be a straight rerelease like they did with Platinum Trypticon.

Also, you were speaking of a set of 5 toys with retooled heads. Did you forget about this one from last year?



That never got released in Japan.

Not being negative, just looking at the past to see what lies ahead. Remember, the seeds of the future lie buried in the past.

I did indeed forget about that one.
Completely.
Whoops.

[djross2000]

"Dezarus" just looks... wrong to me.

Screw it, I'm calling this one Deathsanras! Because if one mistake ever deserved another, it's this one!

[D-Maximal_Primal]

The fact that they made so many new heads shows some degree of effort, and I appreciate that. And overall, a decent job for what they put out. Good enough for me to buy it eventually

[Decepticon Stryker]

The fact that they made so many new heads shows some degree of effort, and I appreciate that. And overall, a decent job for what they put out. Good enough for me to buy it eventually

Yeah. I think we've had only two repaints of headmasters. All the rest are new molds.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

The fact that they made so many new heads shows some degree of effort, and I appreciate that. And overall, a decent job for what they put out. Good enough for me to buy it eventually

Yeah. I think we've had only two repaints of headmasters. All the rest are new molds.

I was more talking about the Liokaiser figure

But even Dezarus has a new head! The Sky Lynx head was retooled which is pretty sweet, meaning every head on the figure is new. And I like that a lot