The Energon Pub

[Nemesis Primal]

GEEWUN Pandering: The Line....I do not and will not expect anything not from some corner of GEEWUN in this line.

Ah yes, featuring such famed G1 aspects as...police car Barricade and Magnus's RiD alt mode.

The first is just a convenient redeco to flesh out the Decepticon deluxes, the latter is because going with the RiD altmode was the only way to accommodate a Voyager-size cab robot without the trailer getting comically compressed horizontally. He makes up for it with a VERY G1-pandering robot mode.

Yeah I'm pretty sure Barricade was chosen because they needed to have more deluxe 'cons and get their mileage out of some molds.

1. I highly doubt those are the ONLY reasons those two figures exist the way they are. I'm not saying those reasons are invalid, I'm sure they were taken into account, but I also feel like there are other factors involved. For instance, take into account the fact that they chose to repaint Prowl into a popular/media-prevalent Decepticon that ISN'T based on his G1 design rather than just crank out a Smokescreen or Bluestreak. That doesn't seem like just "It was convenient", as it would have been much more convenient for them to just repaint the figure as his canon identical compatriots and call it a day rather than turn it into Barricade, who will need at least a new head. I agree they did it to put more Cons on the shelves, as the Cons are always outnumbered in plastic form, but they could have chosen to repaint Ironhide into Crankcase (they're supposed to be Cybertronian designs, so Crankcase being more van-like than SUV-like could have be explained away) or something if they wanted to stick to perfect G1 accuracy while using existing molds and adding more Cons. Instead, they specifically chose an incarnation of a character that isn't G1, but is popular, probably so he would sell better in terms of the younger audience who would recognize ol' Barry and to try to mitigate people like me complaining abut MORE GEEWUN UGH.

2. That doesn't change the fact that these not fully G1 Barricade and Magnus figures still exist though. If this line was 100% nothing but straight-up G1-with-knees style updates, then Barricade would be a Micromaster F1 racer, Magnus would have the same truck cab as Prime, the Micromasters wouldn't have weapon modes, and Brunt wouldn't have a robot mode, among other things. If anything, I would call this line more a re-imagining of G1/the G1 pilot than GEEWUN Pandering: The Line, and I'm starting to have hope again that maybe Warden wasn't just making stuff up when he said he was going to throw in more references to non-G1 material.

...I could very easily be wrong though, who knows (Hasbro does, but...). That's just my take on topic, agree or disagree as you will.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Brunt wouldn't have a robot mode

Yes he would, because this is a main line, not RPMs/Speed Stars/whatever. Hasbro doesn't sell mainline Transformers that don't transform.

Re: Redecoing Ironhide into Crankcase versus redecoing Prowl as Barricade A. Your point about the new head needed for Barry is moot because Crankcase would need one too, B. Ironhide's already slated for a 'con redeco as Impactor, and C. Why only add one redeco'd Autobot to the Decepticon deluxes when there's only 3 original-mold ones and one of those is a Legends figure with accessories?
Decepticon Deluxes:
Skytread
Brunt
Refraktor
Impactor
Barricade

Autobot Deluxes:
Sideswipe
Hound
Cog
Six Gun
Mirage
Ironhide
Ratchet

Now yes, Magnus' altmode and Barricade being based on the movie Barricade are homages to non-G1 stuff for broader appeal. And the Micromasters were given Artmada-esque weapon combos to both reference Armada and give them interactivity with regular Transformers the originals lacked.

But that doesn't change that this line has heavy G1 pandering. For one thing, making Cog, Six Gun, and Brunt at all. For another, the G1-based characters who dominate the line have had a lot of effort put into making them look like their original toys and cartoon models. Like, Sideswipe has molded detail based on his original toy's stickers. Magnus' super robot has a loooooot of details from the original toy, the cab robot has Optimus' forearm arrows from the cartoon (lending credence to the idea of an Optimus redeco and retool)...

[william-james88]

Yes he would, because this is a main line, not RPMs/Speed Stars/whatever. Hasbro doesn't sell mainline Transformers that don't transform.

I get where you are coming from, but you would be surprised at some mainline toys we got in the past that were non transforming.

[RodimusConvoy13]

Yes he would, because this is a main line, not RPMs/Speed Stars/whatever. Hasbro doesn't sell mainline Transformers that don't transform.

I get where you are coming from, but you would be surprised at some mainline toys we got in the past that were non transforming.

Besides Action Masters and the Quintesson in Energon, I cant name any.

[mordhelm]

Yes he would, because this is a main line, not RPMs/Speed Stars/whatever. Hasbro doesn't sell mainline Transformers that don't transform.

I get where you are coming from, but you would be surprised at some mainline toys we got in the past that were non transforming.

Besides Action Masters and the Quintesson in Energon, I cant name any.

Kicker to name one

[william-james88]

Yes he would, because this is a main line, not RPMs/Speed Stars/whatever. Hasbro doesn't sell mainline Transformers that don't transform.

I get where you are coming from, but you would be surprised at some mainline toys we got in the past that were non transforming.

Besides Action Masters and the Quintesson in Energon, I cant name any.

We got allspark Sqweeks last year. Every other allspark toy transformed and yet he did not.

But yeah, I was also thinking of Quintesson

[Nemesis Primal]

Brunt wouldn't have a robot mode

Yes he would, because this is a main line, not RPMs/Speed Stars/whatever. Hasbro doesn't sell mainline Transformers that don't transform.

I mean, Alpha Quintesson, the Action Masters, and the robot-mode lacking RotF Devastator components would disagree with that, but my point was they wouldn't have designed a robot mode for him if their point was 100% G1 accuracy because G1 Brunt had no robot mode. He basically would have been a Battle Master if anything who barely transformed to approximate a submarine 'cannon' mode.

Re: Redecoing Ironhide into Crankcase versus redecoing Prowl as Barricade A. Your point about the new head needed for Barry is moot because Crankcase would need one too, B. Ironhide's already slated for a 'con redeco as Impactor, and C. Why only add one redeco'd Autobot to the Decepticon deluxes when there's only 3 original-mold ones and one of those is a Legends figure with accessories?
Decepticon Deluxes:
Skytread
Brunt
Refraktor
Impactor
Barricade

Autobot Deluxes:
Sideswipe
Hound
Cog
Six Gun
Mirage
Ironhide
Ratchet

I'm aware Crankcase would need a new head, I never said he wouldn't. Crankcase was just my example of a yet-to-be-updated G1 Con. You combined two of my points, I think. I said that 1. Reusing the Prowl mold solely out of convenience should have resulted in a Smokescreen/Bluestreak if anything, as that would just be a repaint as opposed to Barricade needing new parts, and 2. If they wanted to add to the Cons AND stay hyper G1 accurate, they should have remade one of the current molds as a G1 Con like Crankcase or someone else as opposed to Movie Barricade. Your point C confuses me though, are you just saying you'd prefer new molds for more Cons? Because I think everyone would agree with that.

Also since when has there been any evidence ever of Impactor being an Ironhide repaint/retool? All of the previous fan vote characters have been new molds with the exception of the fan-built combiner (which couldn't be new molds because it was SUPPOSED to use existing molds), why would Impactor suddenly break that pattern? He most commonly turns into a tank anyway, he was only an armored car once, so an Ironhide repaint/retool would only be accurate to one version of the character in one comic in an Earth body.

But that doesn't change that this line has heavy G1 pandering. For one thing, making Cog, Six Gun, and Brunt at all. For another, the G1-based characters who dominate the line have had a lot of effort put into making them look like their original toys and cartoon models. Like, Sideswipe has molded detail based on his original toy's stickers. Magnus' super robot has a loooooot of details from the original toy, the cab robot has Optimus' forearm arrows from the cartoon (lending credence to the idea of an Optimus redeco and retool)...

And yeah, I agree that it is very G1, I'm not trying to argue that it isn't, my point is that it's G1-inspired, not 100% accurate G1. That's why we have a mix of purely accurate to G1 updates, G1 updates with new modes/ideas, and characters inspired by other non-G1 versions of that character like Magnus and Barricade, and why I agree that a Cybertron OP from Magnus could happen (even though I'm still upset about the multiple OPs).

[Nemesis Maximo]

Yes he would, because this is a main line, not RPMs/Speed Stars/whatever. Hasbro doesn't sell mainline Transformers that don't transform.

I get where you are coming from, but you would be surprised at some mainline toys we got in the past that were non transforming.

Besides Action Masters and the Quintesson in Energon, I cant name any.

We got allspark Sqweeks last year. Every other allspark toy transformed and yet he did not.

But yeah, I was also thinking of Quintesson

This would make a great list, Willy. Top 5 Main-Line Transformers Toys That Don’t Even Transform, if that list doesn’t already exist.

[william-james88]

Yes he would, because this is a main line, not RPMs/Speed Stars/whatever. Hasbro doesn't sell mainline Transformers that don't transform.

I get where you are coming from, but you would be surprised at some mainline toys we got in the past that were non transforming.

Besides Action Masters and the Quintesson in Energon, I cant name any.

We got allspark Sqweeks last year. Every other allspark toy transformed and yet he did not.

But yeah, I was also thinking of Quintesson

This would make a great list, Willy. Top 5 Main-Line Transformers Toys That Don’t Even Transform, if that list doesn’t already exist.

Thanks! I had thought of it, but I dont really like any of those non transforming toys. Plus I dont feel there are enough to make a compelling list.

[Skritz]

Is Impactor 100% confirmed to be an Ironhide retool?

[william-james88]

Is Impactor 100% confirmed to be an Ironhide retool?

That is not confirmed.

[Nemesis Primal]

Is Impactor 100% confirmed to be an Ironhide retool?

I don't know where that rumor came from, as far as I know that was never confirmed.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Brunt wouldn't have a robot mode

Yes he would, because this is a main line, not RPMs/Speed Stars/whatever. Hasbro doesn't sell mainline Transformers that don't transform.

I mean, Alpha Quintesson, the Action Masters, and the robot-mode lacking RotF Devastator components would disagree with that, but my point was they wouldn't have designed a robot mode for him if their point was 100% G1 accuracy because G1 Brunt had no robot mode. He basically would have been a Battle Master if anything who barely transformed to approximate a submarine 'cannon' mode.

1. True, Alpha Quintesson was an odd blip.
2. The Action Masters were years ago, and had rather mixed reception especially from people who didn't have any transforming Transformers toys.
3. The big Devastator components still transformed collectively to combine. And they weren't sold separately.
Speaking of RotF, here are my supporting counterarguments.


The laughable oft-mocked altmodes that only exist to have the toys transform

I'm aware Crankcase would need a new head, I never said he wouldn't. Crankcase was just my example of a yet-to-be-updated G1 Con. You combined two of my points, I think. I said that 1. Reusing the Prowl mold solely out of convenience should have resulted in a Smokescreen/Bluestreak if anything, as that would just be a repaint as opposed to Barricade needing new parts, and 2. If they wanted to add to the Cons AND stay hyper G1 accurate, they should have remade one of the current molds as a G1 Con like Crankcase or someone else as opposed to Movie Barricade.

You're right, I did combine them. But then, you kinda separated my original point which was that Barricade was a convenient redeco to pad the Decepticon deluxes. All one thing. Not simply a convenient redeco, but specifically one to pad the 'Con ranks.

Your point C confuses me though, are you just saying you'd prefer new molds for more Cons?

My point C was, why would you limit them to to only doing one recolored Autobot to pad out the Decepticon deluxes, when they need all the padding they can get?

Also since when has there been any evidence ever of Impactor being an Ironhide repaint/retool? All of the previous fan vote characters have been new molds with the exception of the fan-built combiner (which couldn't be new molds because it was SUPPOSED to use existing molds), why would Impactor suddenly break that pattern? He most commonly turns into a tank anyway, he was only an armored car once, so an Ironhide repaint/retool would only be accurate to one version of the character in one comic in an Earth body.

You're right, my bad. I thought we'd had confirmation. I think people were speculating it because of Ironhide's bulky build and launcher.

And yeah, I agree that it is very G1, I'm not trying to argue that it isn't, my point is that it's G1-inspired, not 100% accurate G1.

Nobody was saying "100% accurate G1". We're just saying this line has very, very heavy G1 pandering. There's a difference. And we were bringing up the G1 pandering as why we don't expect a Cybertron Optimus. Magnus' altmode is RiD but he's still solidly G1 Ultra Magnus. Barricade is a movie homage, but he's a Prowl redeco with (probably) a new head instead of a new mold based on the evergreen design. A Unicron Trilogy-based Optimus feels unlikely thus.

[Nemesis Primal]

1. True, Alpha Quintesson was a blip.
2. The Action Masters were years ago, and had rather mixed reception especially from people who didn't have any transforming Transformers toys.
3. The big Devastator components still transformed collectively to combine. And they weren't sold separately.
Speaking of RotF, here are my supporting counterarguments.


The laughable oft-mocked altmodes that only exist to have the toys transform

I mentioned the RotF Constructicons mainly because they lacked robot modes but still had purpose and transformed somewhat, like G1 Brunt, but I suppose they technically transformed more/better/without partsforming. As for your examples, I think Ravage did turn himself into a pod-thing like that's supposed to be when Soundwave vomited "ejected" him to Earth, but in plastic it really just comes across as spiky cat yoga, so I see where you're coming from there. And I agree that the Fallen is a pile of scrap, they made alt-mode designs for him that didn't get used in the movie and they aren't even what the toy is based off of, it's rubbish.

I'm aware Crankcase would need a new head, I never said he wouldn't. Crankcase was just my example of a yet-to-be-updated G1 Con. You combined two of my points, I think. I said that 1. Reusing the Prowl mold solely out of convenience should have resulted in a Smokescreen/Bluestreak if anything, as that would just be a repaint as opposed to Barricade needing new parts, and 2. If they wanted to add to the Cons AND stay hyper G1 accurate, they should have remade one of the current molds as a G1 Con like Crankcase or someone else as opposed to Movie Barricade.

You're right, I did combine them. But then, you kinda separated my original point which was that Barricade was a convenient redeco to pad the Decepticon deluxes. All one thing. Not simply a convenient redeco, but specifically one to pad the 'Con ranks.

While it was not my original intent, I did kinda separate them looking back, I apologize for that. I still think my comparison works though, in that almost any Con retool of an existing Autobot mold would have taken pretty much the same amount of work as Barricade (unless he's way more extensive of a retool than we're being led to believe), they just specifically chose to do one of a non-G1 character, meaning that more thought went into it than just "We have this mold, what guy can we make from it?". They specifically chose to make Barricade because he's a well-known and decently popular character now thanks to the movies and (hopefully) because they are trying to branch out into less G1 territory now, not solely because they already had a sleek car mold with police accessories.

My point C was, why would you limit them to to only doing one recolored Autobot to pad out the Decepticon deluxes, when they need all the padding they can get?

...sad but true, unless they keep drafting non-G1 Cons.

And yeah, I agree that it is very G1, I'm not trying to argue that it isn't, my point is that it's G1-inspired, not 100% accurate G1.

Nobody was saying "100% accurate G1". We're just saying this line has very, very heavy G1 pandering. There's a difference.

...I think at this point we're mostly on the same page and just wording it differently, so I'm good to move on from this if you are and get back to just speculating and waiting to hear from people who have acquired the actual figures. I must say though that this has been one of the most civil and in-depth arguments I've had on the Internet, so thank you for that. Joining this site continues to have been a good decision.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Yeah, I think we're good. And you're welcome.
Gonna take some more pics with Sideswipe.

[Sentinel_Primal]

Have we actually had confirmation that Barricade is going to be a redeco/retool of Prowl? Cause I'm still hoping that he's a redeco/retool of Mirage cause they had similar altmodes in G1 and I'd love to be able to have a G1 Barricade weild Micromasters as Minicon weapons. I get that it's way more likely for Hasbro to do the way more recognizable Evergreen design for him, but it'd be nice to see G1 Barricade get a new figure that was similar to his original

[ZeroWolf]

I can't remember where it was now, but there was some artwork of the Decepticons which featured a black Prowl. Personally I want a fracture repaint of mirage 2007 movie Walmart exclusive Fracture is an amazing amount of fun.

[william-james88]

Have we actually had confirmation that Barricade is going to be a redeco/retool of Prowl? Cause I'm still hoping that he's a redeco/retool of Mirage cause they had similar altmodes in G1 and I'd love to be able to have a G1 Barricade weild Micromasters as Minicon weapons. I get that it's way more likely for Hasbro to do the way more recognizable Evergreen design for him, but it'd be nice to see G1 Barricade get a new figure that was similar to his original

The only confirmation we have is that he will be a darkly coloured police car. We of course assume that means a redeco of Prowl.

[Hellscream9999]

I can't remember where it was now, but there was some artwork of the Decepticons which featured a black Prowl. Personally I want a fracture repaint of mirage 2007 movie Walmart exclusive Fracture is an amazing amount of fun.

Where's all this talk of a mirage coming from? are we talking about cw mirage? or did I miss a reveal? b/c speculating about repaints of a figure that hasn't even been hinted at seems a bit much

[Sabrblade]

I can't remember where it was now, but there was some artwork of the Decepticons which featured a black Prowl. Personally I want a fracture repaint of mirage 2007 movie Walmart exclusive Fracture is an amazing amount of fun.

Where's all this talk of a mirage coming from? are we talking about cw mirage? or did I miss a reveal? b/c speculating about repaints of a figure that hasn't even been hinted at seems a bit much

Mirage was one of the pair that won the fan poll for Siege (the other of the pair being Impactor), so he's guaranteed a Siege figure.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

More photos of Sideswipe. First up, more comparisons:




And now a demonstration of G1 Six-Gun being the original Weaponizer:

[ZeroWolf]

Good pictures there! I almost didn't recognise Override there!

[william-james88]

This looks pretty phenominal:



And it makes him not look too short, he will fit well in a generations collection

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

^Yeah, I might have been overly worried.

Good pictures there! I almost didn't recognise Override there!

Thanks!
Override's an old favorite, even if she's not as svelte as her animation model.

[Emerje]

For the curious:



And I still don't understand why people would think Barricade would be based on the G1 version as a Deluxe in a line full of Micromasters. It's clearly going to be a different guy named Barricade to separate it from the original after we were told only the gimmicks of the original figures would be carried over into Siege meaning a Deluxe Micromaster was never on the table.

Though we're going to have to see how they spin that when Slamdance comes out since he'll lack tape modes and be over sized compared to Ravage and Laserbeak.

Emerje