The Energon Pub

by **Nemesis Reformatted** » Tue May 25, 2021 5:33 pm

Nemesis Primal wrote:Yay, Artfire, an interesting one from this mold finally! I wasn't expecting him to come with his Targetmaster, so the fact that he does is a welcome surprise even if I'm not that attached to him having to have it. Getting blast effects with him is certainly a nice bonus. This is probably a decent indication he may be available on Friday, I would HOPE finally as a return to Selects actually being immediately in stock again like they use to be but he'll probably be yet another preorder for October/November since that's all that happens these days. Cool to see him nonetheless.

Sabrblade wrote:
-Kanrabat- wrote:
Hellscream9999 wrote:Wait, how is artfire "lazy" when inferno has no deco, he's just a red robot

Some people expect Super Megatron levels of "repainting" each times I guess?
To some, redecos of any kind are "lazy" because "We could have gotten another character in a whole new mold instead!"
They said that they find Hauler to be a good repaint but not Artfire, so I'm assuming their issue is that Artfire is still partially the same color as Inferno...but saying the only use of the mold who isn't just one solid color is lazy is still a weird take.

Oh c'mon man! You can't paint 1 part of a figure a different color & say "Hey look! I just made a totally new character!"

I mean, seriously! What if I took a Megatron figure & painted his arm pink & posted it in the customs forum? And then tried to pass it off as a totally new character? Or if I took an Arcee figure & painted her crotch yellow? You would say that I need to have my head examined. But because they made Artfire "official", that changes everything. Now it's somehow different. And now you're eager to blow money on another Inferno figure. If Artfire didn't exist & I painted Inferno's chest white & tried to change his name, you'd laugh at me & say I was crazy. 8-}

Hauler can pass for a different character. Or at the very least, a G2 or Shattered Glass Grapple. Artfire just looks like Inferno. Except now he's wearing some kind of combat vest.

Buster & Hydra are 2 more examples of extremely "LAZY" characters. No thought went into them at all. Just another cash grab. Change the color of a couple bits & trick the fans into buying the same figure twice. Easy money!

And don't even get me started on G2 Fireflight. Worst "repaint" ever! But at least in his case, they weren't trying to change him into a new character. :roll:

But do what you want. It's your money. But I sure as hell won't be wasting my money on "Combat Vest Inferno". Instead of buying Inferno again, that's $40 I can put towards something new like The Ark.

I didn't waste my money on those lazy-ass, cash-grab, Netfix repaints either. :roll:

Some people can't see when they're being played. Hasbro has all these stupid little tricks to get people to buy the same figure 2 or 3 times. :APPLAUSE:

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Tue May 25, 2021 5:40 pm

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:TlDr: repaints, ugh...

Should I point out the Seekers armada? >:oP

by **Nemesis Reformatted** » Tue May 25, 2021 5:44 pm

-Kanrabat- wrote:
Nemesis Reformatted wrote:TlDr: repaints, ugh...

Should I point out the Seekers armada?

The seekers aren't all simply Starscream with 1 little piece painted in a different color.

Thundercracker & Skywarp don't look anything like Starscream. Artfire looks almost exactly like Inferno.

Buster & Hydra look almost identical to Darkwing & Dreadwind. = LAZY!

News Credits: 12 · by **Razorbeast88** » Tue May 25, 2021 5:50 pm

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:
-Kanrabat- wrote:
Nemesis Reformatted wrote:TlDr: repaints, ugh...

Should I point out the Seekers armada?

The seekers aren't all simply Starscream with 1 little piece painted in a different color.

Thundercracker & Skywarp don't look anything like Starscream. Artfire looks almost exactly like Inferno.

Buster & Hydra look almost identical to Darkwing & Dreadwind. = LAZY!

Skywarp v Hotlink?

News Credits: 456 · by **Sabrblade** » Tue May 25, 2021 5:55 pm

Razorbeast88 wrote:
Nemesis Reformatted wrote:
-Kanrabat- wrote:
Nemesis Reformatted wrote:TlDr: repaints, ugh...

Should I point out the Seekers armada?

The seekers aren't all simply Starscream with 1 little piece painted in a different color.

Thundercracker & Skywarp don't look anything like Starscream. Artfire looks almost exactly like Inferno.

Buster & Hydra look almost identical to Darkwing & Dreadwind. = LAZY!

Skywarp v Hotlink?

Thundercracker v Ion Storm?

News Credits: 12 · by **Razorbeast88** » Tue May 25, 2021 6:02 pm

Sabrblade wrote:
Razorbeast88 wrote:
Nemesis Reformatted wrote:
-Kanrabat- wrote:
Nemesis Reformatted wrote:TlDr: repaints, ugh...

Should I point out the Seekers armada?

The seekers aren't all simply Starscream with 1 little piece painted in a different color.

Thundercracker & Skywarp don't look anything like Starscream. Artfire looks almost exactly like Inferno.

Buster & Hydra look almost identical to Darkwing & Dreadwind. = LAZY!

Skywarp v Hotlink?
Thundercracker v Ion Storm?

Sparkless Seeker v Acid Storm? -the real one not that neon mess in the recent 3 pack

News Credits: 3 · by **alekese** » Tue May 25, 2021 6:06 pm

aronjlove wrote:
Sabrblade wrote:What happens if you combine preorders for two items schedule for different release times? Will they ship them separately upon each release date, or will they wait to ship the first one until the second one comes in?

Items ship individually as they are released.

Sabrblade wrote:And how do they go about charging for the two items set to be released on different dates? Wait until the second one comes into to charge for both, or charge them separately as each comes in?

items are charged as they ship, usually a couple of days prior to actual pickup by Fedex.

I'll just add onto/clarify this, as someone who has used pulse near exclusively since launch. With the current setup they have, the sequence is as follows (billing information assumes free shipping and $USD, as that's what I can speak to using on both counts):

-When the warehouse receives a shipment, each individual item has its tax-inclusive cost charged separately. (So if you had 3 pre-price-hike deluxes, your bank account would receive 3 separate charges of $21.49)

-Over the course of ~1 week, those items will be processed and boxed, and any items from the same order will be put in the same box. (If you ordered Airazor and Huffer in order #XXXX, and Ractonite in order #XXXY, Airazor and Huffer would be in one box, Ractonite in a second.) From there, they await fedex pickup, and from there delivery.

-If another shipment arrives while the first one is still being processed, it will be processed separately, even if the first one hasn't been boxed yet. (If Dinobot and Kingdom UM from order #XXXX arrived 2 days after the deluxes, they would be shipped in a third box.)

It used to be worse. Prior to ~this time last year, if order #XXXX consisted of 2 in-stock items and 6 preorders with free shipping, it would "cancel" #XXXXX and autopopulate orders #XXXX-A, #XXXX-B, ... #XXXX-G, with -A being the 2 in-stocks shipped together with free shipping, and B-G each consisting of a single preorder with free shipping. These would each be sent in a separate box, even if they were from the same case assortment. The current system is a much appreciated improvement.

News Credits: 48 · by **Nemesis Primal** » Tue May 25, 2021 6:14 pm

Nemesis Reformatted wrote: Oh c'mon man! You can't paint 1 part of a figure a different color & say "Hey look! I just made a totally new character!"

I mean, seriously! What if I took a Megatron figure & painted his arm pink & posted it in the customs forum? And then tried to pass it off as a totally new character? Or if I took an Arcee figure & painted her crotch yellow? You would say that I need to have my head examined.

Maybe not that bluntly, but yes.

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:But because they made Artfire "official", that changes everything. Now it's somehow different.

Well by comparing a picture of Kingdom Inferno side-by-side to these shots of Selects Artfire, I see at least 10 differently colored parts, in addition to parts that are the same but have actual details picked out on them in a secondary color now, that seems a lot more substantial to me than your claim that his only difference is a white chest. The fact that he is an actual character with a bio and some publication history helps, but it is nowhere close to the only reason.

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:And now you're eager to blow money on another Inferno figure.

Incorrect. I'm eager to "blow money" on Artfire since I've been waiting on him since he first leaked as an upcoming Selects figure months ago, whereas I never BOUGHT Inferno because I have no interest in him as a boring character with a boring deco and because he's the WRONG Inferno. Artfire will be my first purchase of this mold, thanks for assuming otherwise.

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:Buster & Hydra are 2 more examples of extremely "LAZY" characters. No thought went into them at all. Just another cash grab. Change the color of a couple bits & trick the fans into buying the same figure twice. Easy money!

You realize Buster and Hydra only exist because they were the only versions of the molds sold by Takara, right? There was no "gotcha" to try to get people to buy the same figure twice by changing one color, the people who had Buster and Hydra available to them had them available INSTEAD of Dreadwind and Darkwing. The only way anyone would have both duos would be if they were genuinely interested enough to import whichever one they couldn't get.

News Credits: 11 · by **Lore Keeper** » Tue May 25, 2021 6:21 pm

Nemesis Primal wrote:
Nemesis Reformatted wrote: Oh c'mon man! You can't paint 1 part of a figure a different color & say "Hey look! I just made a totally new character!"

I mean, seriously! What if I took a Megatron figure & painted his arm pink & posted it in the customs forum? And then tried to pass it off as a totally new character? Or if I took an Arcee figure & painted her crotch yellow? You would say that I need to have my head examined.
Maybe not that bluntly, but yes.

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:But because they made Artfire "official", that changes everything. Now it's somehow different.
Well by comparing a picture of Kingdom Inferno side-by-side to these shots of Selects Artfire, I see at least 10 differently colored parts, in addition to parts that are the same but have actual details picked out on them in a secondary color now, that seems a lot more substantial to me than your claim that his only difference is a white chest. The fact that he is an actual character with a bio and some publication history helps, but it is nowhere close to the only reason.

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:And now you're eager to blow money on another Inferno figure.
Incorrect. I'm eager to "blow money" on Artfire since I've been waiting on him since he first leaked as an upcoming Selects figure months ago, whereas I never BOUGHT Inferno because I have no interest in him as a boring character with a boring deco and because he's the WRONG Inferno. Artfire will be my first purchase of this mold, thanks for assuming otherwise.

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:Buster & Hydra are 2 more examples of extremely "LAZY" characters. No thought went into them at all. Just another cash grab. Change the color of a couple bits & trick the fans into buying the same figure twice. Easy money!
You realize Buster and Hydra only exist because they were the only versions of the molds sold by Takara, right? There was no "gotcha" to try to get people to buy the same figure twice by changing one color, the people who had Buster and Hydra available to them had them available INSTEAD of Dreadwind and Darkwing. The only way anyone would have both duos would be if they were genuinely interested enough to import whichever one they couldn't get.

This reminds me, I'm still shocked we never received a Selects Buster and Hydra. It could have given Starscream a complete combined mode that is nice and symmetrical like Orthia.

News Credits: 12 · by **Razorbeast88** » Tue May 25, 2021 6:24 pm

Nemesis Primal wins!

: images.png (6.99 KiB) Viewed 27735 times

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Tue May 25, 2021 6:40 pm

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:Oh c'mon man! You can't paint 1 part of a figure a different color & say "Hey look! I just made a totally new character!"

Meet Megaplex, he has blue inner arms and legs.

Has your head exploded yet? :michaelbay:

And yeah, I ordered an Artfire, from BBTS since I have a few things on order there for that release time frame.

Emerje

by **Nemesis Reformatted** » Tue May 25, 2021 6:46 pm

Here's another one for ya. Compare Artfire to Battle Armor He-Man & Skeletor.

Now try to imagine what you would have thought if Mattel tried to pass Battle Armor He-Man & Skeletor off as completely different characters. You would have been like "WTF bro??? It's just regular He-Man & Skeletor wearing armor."

That's how I see Artfire. It's more like Battle Armor Inferno than a totally different character.

Remember The Golden Lagoon? Where they got a thin layer of gold armor? Well, Inferno got some kind of white armor. But it's still Inferno.

News Credits: 456 · by **Sabrblade** » Tue May 25, 2021 6:49 pm

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:That's how I see Artfire. It's more like Battle Armor Inferno than a totally different character.

Well, pin a rose on your nose.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Tue May 25, 2021 7:09 pm

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:Here's another one for ya. Compare Artfire to Battle Armor He-Man & Skeletor.

Now try to imagine what you would have thought if Mattel tried to pass Battle Armor He-Man & Skeletor off as completely different characters. You would have been like "WTF bro??? It's just regular He-Man & Skeletor wearing armor."

This is Wun-Dar (AKA Wonder Bread He-man), it's just He-man with brown hair and different gear.

Emerje

News Credits: 56 · by **o.supreme** » Tue May 25, 2021 7:21 pm

Maybe he doesn't realize the RED color of Inferno, and the RED of Artfire are different?

anyways...about the whole MOTU thing... as a KID my parents made me dedicate my collecting to ONE toy line (how I got into Transformers is another story), but I was all in on MOTU from 1982 to 1986 (I only got about 1/2 of the 1987 offerings). But when it came to "other versions" of He-Man and Skeletor, my parents said "nope" because I already had one of each.

Lastly, I'm not sure where the hate for Buster & Hydra are coming from...You do realize that much of the toy line from 1987 on had different names for characters in Japan, than their U.S. counterparts, and thus became different characters. They weren't trying to sell everyone the same character twice.

Powermaster Prime and Super Ginrai are not the same etc...

News Credits: 456 · by **Sabrblade** » Tue May 25, 2021 7:29 pm

o.supreme wrote:Lastly, I'm not sure where the hate for Buster & Hydra are coming from...You do realize that much of the toy line from 1987 on had different names for characters in Japan, than their U.S. counterparts, and thus became different characters. They weren't trying to sell everyone the same character twice.

Powermaster Prime and Super Ginrai are not the same etc...

He's saying that because they were different characters their decos should have been more different than "changing the color of just one part". In Hydra and Buster's case, he thinks that changing just the teal on Darkwing and Dreadwind to red, without making any other color changes, was "lazy".

News Credits: 174 · by **Hellscream9999** » Tue May 25, 2021 9:25 pm

o.supreme wrote:Maybe he doesn't realize the RED color of Inferno, and the RED of Artfire are different?

I dunno, but he definitely doesn't realize that inferno has one of the laziest "deco's" ever

News Credits: 42 · by **TF-fan kev777** » Tue May 25, 2021 9:39 pm

Hellscream9999 wrote:
o.supreme wrote:Maybe he doesn't realize the RED color of Inferno, and the RED of Artfire are different?

I dunno, but he definitely doesn't realize that inferno has one of the laziest "deco's" ever

ER Grapple says: "Hold my beer"

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Tue May 25, 2021 9:53 pm

The only repaint that can satisfy Nemesis Reformated.

Still, I'd cream my pants if the Select ER Grapple/Inferno in this G2 style abomination would be announced.

News Credits: 22 · by **Rodimus Prime** » Tue May 25, 2021 9:58 pm

-Kanrabat- wrote:The only repaint that can satisfy Nemesis Reformated.

Still, I'd cream my pants if the Select ER Grapple/Inferno in this G2 style abomination would be announced.

Or a non-combining Hotspot like Onslaught and Silverbolt were in the Universe line. It would be just a light blue Inferno.

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Tue May 25, 2021 10:03 pm

Rodimus Prime wrote:Or a non-combining Hotspot like Onslaught and Silverbolt were in the Universe line. It would be just a light blue Inferno.

I wonder if I will be able to "taste the rainbow" like I did for the Classic mold with the ER mold?

I just hope this Artfire is not a Pulse exclusive.

News Credits: 456 · by **Sabrblade** » Tue May 25, 2021 10:13 pm

It's a shame the GDO Hot Spot head wasn't released soon enough for Fun Pub to try to use for Spark.

News Credits: 174 · by **Hellscream9999** » Tue May 25, 2021 10:33 pm

TF-fan kev777 wrote:
Hellscream9999 wrote:
o.supreme wrote:Maybe he doesn't realize the RED color of Inferno, and the RED of Artfire are different?

I dunno, but he definitely doesn't realize that inferno has one of the laziest "deco's" ever

ER Grapple says: "Hold my beer"

Holy crap you're right, inferno basically replaced him in my life and I haven't really thought about him since, but yeah, his deco is awful too

News Credits: 3 · by **alekese** » Tue May 25, 2021 10:49 pm

I like how they chose blast effects that look the most like water spray and put them in blue, so you can have him 'spray' water on fires.

News Credits: 48 · by **Nemesis Primal** » Tue May 25, 2021 11:48 pm

-Kanrabat- wrote:The only repaint that can satisfy Nemesis Reformated.

Still, I'd cream my pants if the Select ER Grapple/Inferno in this G2 style abomination would be announced.

A Pyro to go with Rotorstorm is something I would certainly not be opposed to.