The Energon Pub

Rodimus Knight wrote:

aronjlove wrote:

Rodimus Knight wrote:I like Sandstorm, but man, the packaging... It was nearly impossible to get his "missiles" out of the plastic without destroying the plastic or the missile. In fact one of mine bend enough that you can see the fatigue mark on the stem by the tip.

I keep a pair of tiny wire snips handy for several reasons, and opening Transformers is one of them. The snips are tiny enough to slip between the figure and the plastic ties, and I can use them to cut the plastic around parts of the figure. I had to do that with Super Megatron. Thankfully I didn't have any problems with Sandstorm, but I know exactly what you are talking about.

I have a little cutter for the plastic ties, but the missiles didn't have those, they were just super tight in the plastic.

Finger Nail Trimmers do the same job... Just don't mix them up with the pair you keep in the bathroom. Bonus, the little cuticle blade some of them come with is good cut cutting the tape on the box flaps. All in one.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Flashwave wrote:

Rodimus Knight wrote:

aronjlove wrote:

Rodimus Knight wrote:I like Sandstorm, but man, the packaging... It was nearly impossible to get his "missiles" out of the plastic without destroying the plastic or the missile. In fact one of mine bend enough that you can see the fatigue mark on the stem by the tip.

I keep a pair of tiny wire snips handy for several reasons, and opening Transformers is one of them. The snips are tiny enough to slip between the figure and the plastic ties, and I can use them to cut the plastic around parts of the figure. I had to do that with Super Megatron. Thankfully I didn't have any problems with Sandstorm, but I know exactly what you are talking about.

I have a little cutter for the plastic ties, but the missiles didn't have those, they were just super tight in the plastic.

Finger Nail Trimmers do the same job... Just don't mix them up with the pair you keep in the bathroom. Bonus, the little cuticle blade some of them come with is good cut cutting the tape on the box flaps. All in one.

Sigh, this reminds me of when I first got into the hobby. The big complaint was Hasbro not using the collector-friendly packaging of Takara. They explained at a BotCon that their retail partners wouldn't allow packaging that was easy to open and close.

With all the case of tf at US retail getting the content replaced, i can definitely see why.

So either this replacing product just dosen't happen in TT markets because people there are more honest,or retail sales people in America are stupid

o.supreme wrote:So either this replacing product just dosen't happen in TT markets because people there are more honest,or retail sales people in America are stupid

I can't find the pictures online, but there's these two classics:

Bumblebee Hive and Orange Hide.

o.supreme wrote:So either this replacing product just dosen't happen in TT markets because people there are more honest,or retail sales people in America are stupid

A mix of both, really. Japanese people seems to take pride on honesty a bit more than typical asians, so they tends to not do things like that. But also, the security there is higher, and doind those swaps, when caught, can even involve themselves with local police, if the store owner so choose.

bacem wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Flashwave wrote:

Rodimus Knight wrote:

aronjlove wrote:

Rodimus Knight wrote:I like Sandstorm, but man, the packaging... It was nearly impossible to get his "missiles" out of the plastic without destroying the plastic or the missile. In fact one of mine bend enough that you can see the fatigue mark on the stem by the tip.

I keep a pair of tiny wire snips handy for several reasons, and opening Transformers is one of them. The snips are tiny enough to slip between the figure and the plastic ties, and I can use them to cut the plastic around parts of the figure. I had to do that with Super Megatron. Thankfully I didn't have any problems with Sandstorm, but I know exactly what you are talking about.

I have a little cutter for the plastic ties, but the missiles didn't have those, they were just super tight in the plastic.

Finger Nail Trimmers do the same job... Just don't mix them up with the pair you keep in the bathroom. Bonus, the little cuticle blade some of them come with is good cut cutting the tape on the box flaps. All in one.

Sigh, this reminds me of when I first got into the hobby. The big complaint was Hasbro not using the collector-friendly packaging of Takara. They explained at a BotCon that their retail partners wouldn't allow packaging that was easy to open and close.

With all the case of tf at US retail getting the content replaced, i can definitely see why.

Although the selects line is not a traditional retail item as they have to be ordered online and not in retail locations. No need for super difficult packaging.

Rodimus Knight wrote:Although the selects line is not a traditional retail item as they have to be ordered online and not in retail locations. No need for super difficult packaging.

At least the tampering is more evident if returned...

Nemesis Primal wrote:So I really like this Cliffjumper mold and I would love to see that Glyph & Tap-Out rumor come true after all, but I'm having issues getting Bug Bite to tab together right in alt mode that I didn't have with Hubcap, has anyone else experienced this?

Bug Bite 1.jpg

Bug Bite 2.jpg

...it didn't really photograph super well, but his feet don't seem to want to both peg into the hood panel covering his head, and that's also causing a bit of a gap on the sides. Is it just his head shape causing the problem, or is this something fixable?


Also for whoever asked for the Impactor Rook brofist:

Hulk Hand Bros.jpg

I see that a little bit with Bumblebee. If its the head, does it help if you turn his noggin 180* around?

Your right, it looks like the hood flap is not sitting as flush on Bug Bite as it is on Hubcap which is throwing everythhing else slightly off

The first time transforming Bug Bite, things in front didn't line up, and I just squeezed around until everything popped into place. Since then, things have been better. I had to do something similar to Bee, but I haven't transformed him again to see if it got easier.

The most festive thing in my house at the mo arrived today... tell a lie, I have some wrapping paper. Think his nick names gonna be baubles.

Almost 10 years ago, I bought the G1 Seacons reissue from BBTS on clearance. I really didn't like the feel of that set because it felt cheap. Really cheap. Almost knock-off like. So I sold it some months later.

When the Select King Poseidon was announced and in online stores, my bad experience with the "G1" and the absurd price of the separate releases made me skip him.

Some months later, the God Neptune set was announced. This time, the struggle was real. The colors were WAY better than the pink and aqua original. Despite having "only" five members, the set had a complete combiner in it.

I never preorderd the set because it's still pricey and I knew I had to get the Beast Wars original. I remembered having seen it on Mandarake some years ago and I skipped it....

------

2020 being a crap year for everyone and having gone through some bad shizz these last months, I had to treat myself. So half a Canadian grand later on my credit card (YOLO!) I ordered the Select set from a Canadian online store and the original (100% complete) on Japanese Ebay. I ordered both one day or two appart... and both arrived at the same time!




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It's DOUBLE GRAIL time with some comparison between the 1998 Beast Wars original, and the 2020 Select release!



First is Hardshell. Being made of dark green and what seem bronze plastics, one must be extremely careful when handling him. Both him and the classic have the combiner chest plate and a turtle shell.



I'll be frank. The modern Select Hardshell have a very, very weak turtle mode compared to the BW/G1 original. The Select is thin, lanky, and have hollows all over while the original ooze with POWER.



While the Select have a garbage beast mode, his robot mode naturally blow the original out of the water.



The original still have a solid bot mode, but it can barely pose and is very back heavy.





Select Hardshell can overkill it with the combiner parts.



Next is Sea Phantom.
A shark with legs. A land shark. Why not?



The Select Sea Phantom have a weaker beast mode than the original, but the difference is not as great as with Hardshell. Also, my BW original cannot fold down his fish head completely for reasons. I won't dare forcing it.





The original limbs bots are just a big oof. They were really derpy and brickish. All modern Selects will win in bot mode for sure. In the original set, the only weapon it came with was the big sword. For the Select, every members come with their weapons.







Next is a very fun guy, Coelagon the pirhana guy.





The Select beast mode is pretty damn solid and almost as good as the original.



It's unfortunate that the Select partform his fish tail, but at least it can be used as a gun. The original bot mode is derpy, but look like a strongmen.







Next is Terromander, the mantha.



The Select beast mode is as big of a failure as was Hardshell. It's horrible and lack the personality of the original. Also, huge box butt.







Obviously, the Select bot mode is absolutely marvelous while the original beg to be mercy-killed.







Finally, my favorite member, Scylla, the lovable fembot in love!



This girl is the highlight of both set with their hilarious and bad-ass beast modes. Both are equally awesome. Select Scylla can even turn her huge head!







Scylla was a female in the Beast Wars 2 cartoon. So for the Select release, they went the extra mile to give her a proper fembot body. Really appreciated. Plus the silly original is actually pretty good looking too!







Finally, time to COMBINE!

Both God Neptunes are absolutely stunning.



The original can only move is arms a bit and that's it. He's a brick. But a cool brick.
Unfortunately, the Select cannot do more than the original. Despite having a huge posing potential, none of his joints are solid enough for him to hols any fancey poses. He'll just ragdoll into a messy heap if you try anything remotely fancy.



The original have a messy back but the Select is surprisignly clean.



Overall, I don't regret spending any cents on these toys. Both are a lot of fun and there was many times when the transformation have surprised me. Plus these colors ROCK.



A great addition to my CW/G1 display!



So, what do you think?
Are you also the kind of person like me who love to own the old vintage original version of a toy just as a contrast to it's more modern equivalent?

That is some excellent news, and a great review. I bough Piranacon loose in the late 90's or early 2000's, and got God Neptune new when BWII came out. I had to sell both with the rest of my original collection in 2007, but it's nice to se eothers get joy from older toys even now.

I have both the Selects KP and GN. Flaws and all, I still am happy to have them.

o.supreme wrote:That is some excellent news, and a great review. I bough Piranacon loose in the late 90's or early 2000's, and got God Neptune new when BWII came out. I had to sell both with the rest of my original collection in 2007, but it's nice to se eothers get joy from older toys even now.

I have both the Selects KP and GN. Flaws and all, I still am happy to have them.

The original God Neptune is pretty hard to track down and is much more expensive than the G1 original. The Japanese seller was even unable to ship via normal postage due to the current COVID bull. But even with 45$CAN of FedEx shipping, this complete set, at nearly 200$CAN, was the cheapest option.

If you want to get a feel of the G1 original for cheap, you can always track down the Reissue. But it feel like garbage KO and is too expensive for nothing. Compared to my previous experience with thereissue, this BW God Neptune felt pretty solid in hand. Mine barely had any yellowing!

Still, one thing I love to see with the Select fish sets is to spot the original "skelettons" of the molds. It's a lot of fun to realise that Scylla is Moonracer, Hardshell is Hungurr, Phantom is Blast-Off, ect.

Great review, I normally go for MP/generations toy for one in alt mode and one in botmode. I could probably do that with some of the G1 reissues but some stuff is hard to justify spending money on over newer releases (and in some cases vice versa).

My G1 reissue Seacons feel like a KO and I think there was eventually a KO of them (one of those dispacible ones where they do everything to come across genuine just to peddle low quality crap) which can't help those seeking them out. Only had a few of theBeast War Neos and wasnt lucky enough to get King Neptune at the time or any of the Neo G2 autorollers reissues (I'm one of the crazy people that actually likes them even if they are bricks whilst still beating the modern quickchanging stuff with having posable arms, light piping, weapon storage and projectiles).

-Kanrabat- wrote:First is Hardshell.

Halfshell.

I might have posted this before, but I gotta go with the pink and teal deco of Piranacon over this one. There's nothing wrong with this one, but that one seems more lively and colorful to me, plus I'm partial to the Marvel comics where he made his grand entrance. But otherwise you're right on your assessment of the figures. I love Snaptrap/Turtler's beast mode, I wish they would have duplicated it for the Selects release and just made him larger, somehow altering the robit mode to improve it. The Selects robot modes of course are the superior ones and by looks (I don't have the Selects in hand) the combined modes are equal. I guess it depends on what you look for. I'm still saving up for the original release, it would be great if Pulse got all 6 members back in stock at the same time.

I'm gonna guess the G1 reissues feel different because they use the original molds, which expected different plastics and diecast material? I received the G1 Reissue Autobot Blaster from my bro's lady for Christmas, and while it looks exactly like I remembered, it is amazingly light. I can only imagine how different a G1 Seacon versus a reissue or encore Seacon would feel.

In regards to God Neptune, I freaking love it! Since Sunday, I've posted every day on my Instagram, introducing each figure from the set, culminating today with the combined mode. And while modern combiner floppiness makes it impossible to hold both combined weapons, I really dig that concept. The Trident sword is freaking awesome, and the guns have a bunch of different possible combinations. Stuff like that makes me happy I got Takara's Volcanicus on order, and I almost wish I ordered Takara's Abmominus as well.

It's the only flaw with the God Neptune (and others) combiner set.

For the money they cost, they could have went the extra mile and give them all super strong ratchet joints for the combiner ports and the combiner's hips at the very least.

Oh well, maybe a 3P upgrade kit?

aronjlove wrote:I'm gonna guess the G1 reissues feel different because they use the original molds, which expected different plastics and diecast material? I received the G1 Reissue Autobot Blaster from my bro's lady for Christmas, and while it looks exactly like I remembered, it is amazingly light. I can only imagine how different a G1 Seacon versus a reissue or encore Seacon would feel.

Did the G1 Seacons even have diecast? It was 1988, after all.

Sabrblade wrote:

aronjlove wrote:I'm gonna guess the G1 reissues feel different because they use the original molds, which expected different plastics and diecast material? I received the G1 Reissue Autobot Blaster from my bro's lady for Christmas, and while it looks exactly like I remembered, it is amazingly light. I can only imagine how different a G1 Seacon versus a reissue or encore Seacon would feel.

Did the G1 Seacons even have diecast? It was 1988, after all.

No diecast in the original Deacons. I think the Predacons( early run) were some of the last. In fact I didn't think they even had metal versions until I bought a loose Predaking in 1998 that was all metal except for Headstrong that was plastic.

I've never handled a reissue of the original Seacons. I imagine the plastics are different, but not sure how that effects the overall quality.

o.supreme wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

aronjlove wrote:I'm gonna guess the G1 reissues feel different because they use the original molds, which expected different plastics and diecast material? I received the G1 Reissue Autobot Blaster from my bro's lady for Christmas, and while it looks exactly like I remembered, it is amazingly light. I can only imagine how different a G1 Seacon versus a reissue or encore Seacon would feel.

Did the G1 Seacons even have diecast? It was 1988, after all.

No diecast in the original Deacons. I think the Predacons( early run) were some of the last. In fact I didn't think they even had metal versions until I bought a loose Predaking in 1998 that was all metal except for Headstrong that was plastic.

I've never handled a reissue of the original Seacons. I imagine the plastics are different, but not sure how that effects the overall quality.

Die cast metal was phased out by 1986, may have been cost, may have been health or weight concerns, who knows?

I have never done a vintage vs. reissue comparison myself, so I can't comment on what plastics may be different. I do know different plastic types can influence tolerances, i.e. how tight joints are or how easily parts can move. Given their age, I'd be more worried about well molds have held up: several G1 molds have deteriorated resulting in detail loss, and parts no longer fitting due to enlarged attachment points (either hole or peg/tab). The Seacons are a decent example, with Overbite especially no longer able to use his weapon in Beast Mode since the TFCC release.

To bring this back to Selects... Ok, any alternate Hot House builds?

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:To bring this back to Selects... Ok, any alternate Hot House builds?

I'd love to show off pics, but my package that was supposed to be delivered on the 18th still hasn't arrived yet...FedEx is definitely not getting a good customer review from me....