The Energon Pub

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 8:27 am

Exciting news TRANSFORMERS fans! Today, Hasbro announced the 2020 TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTON Fan Vote, where you’ll have the opportunity to decide which soon-to-be-revealed DECEPTICON will become a War for Cybertron figure in 2020.

Fans were given the first official teaser image on the TRANSFORMERS Facebook page HERE. Four hidden DECEPTICONS are in the running for the Fan Vote and their identities will be revealed in a follow-up post on June 13 at 9AM EST.

Voting also begins at 9AM EST on June 13. To vote, fans must share the name of their favorite DECEPTICON in the post comment section. Voting will ONLY be open for 48 hours, and there is a one vote per user and one character name per vote limit.

The Fan Vote winner will be announced via social post on July 17.

News Credits: 3 · by **TFmonkeybiz** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 8:34 am

I'll be voting for Shrapnel, I really want a set of full-sized Insecticons (assuming this is a pole for a new deluxe or larger).

News Credits: 456 · by **Sabrblade** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 8:37 am

We just got good retail figures of both the Sharkticons and Shrapnel. The Battlechargers were in the cartoon so there's always a chance for them. Needlenose is the odd one out, so he's who I'd vote for.

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 8:40 am

Sabrblade wrote:We just got good retail figures of both the Sharkticons and Shrapnel. The Battlechargers were in the cartoon so there's always a chance for them. Needlenose is the odd one out, so he's who I'd vote for.

Needlenose is without a doubt the one I will vote for.

News Credits: 42 · by **TF-fan kev777** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 8:57 am

william-james88 wrote:
Sabrblade wrote:We just got good retail figures of both the Sharkticons and Shrapnel. The Battlechargers were in the cartoon so there's always a chance for them. Needlenose is the odd one out, so he's who I'd vote for.

Needlenose is without a doubt the one I will vote for.

Yes for Needlenose here as well.

The choices are a bit weird, it is almost like Hasbro really just wanted a vote between Needlenose and Runabout/Runamok and said lets put 2 characters we've already done reasonably well in there for filler.

News Credits: 1350 · by **ZeroWolf** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 9:37 am

I'm in it for Needlenose, though if he's not chosen, do you think we'll see him back for 2021 vote

News Credits: 12 · by **Sentinel_Primal** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 9:49 am

I can sorta see an arguement for all 4 characters. Shrapnel would likely be similar enough to FOC Kickback that they wouldn't look awful next to each other, the battlechargers haven't had retail figures in quite a while, having a Gnaw as a deluxe would be a cool leader to a Sharkticon army, Needlenose hasn't had a figure at retail in a while with the latest figure being a collector's club one. For me, it's a tie between Needlenose and maybe Gnaw. Though if the deluxe Sharkticon is actually one of those Allicons, I'm all for it. But, I doubt it

Edit: Whoops, forgot Takara had a recolor of the Blackjack mold in the Adventure line for the battlechargers :oops:

News Credits: 19 · by **blackeyedprime** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 9:56 am

Needle nose for me, not quite sure why another insecticon so soon when they have the legends sized figures to fill out (unless it's the deluxe insecticon at deluxe size, then yay! - reflectors already arguable about scale so bigger insecticon would def throw scale out of the window).
Talking about throwing things out of the window... Gnaw??? Wrong time zone let alone we have TR and cyber verse that are usable (especially cyber verse). Maybe we will see some out of time/place cybertronians in siege line after all (excluding faction change jet fire which already breaks the time line). Galvatron may be sooner than we think (and he time travels anyhoos).

News Credits: 650 · by **ScottyP** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 9:58 am

Needlenose all the way here, unless the Battlecharger silhouette is a stand-in for a surprising candidate: generic Decepticon from Devastation.

News Credits: 11 · by **joevill** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:17 am

I'm voting for A

News Credits: 56 · by **Nathaniel Prime** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:29 am

I'll be voting for the dude who had the the sterner stuff to fight Ultra Magnus:

:lol:

Needlenose would be pretty sweet too, but I have a feeling he'd be based off his original toy instead of his TCG design

News Credits: 6 · by **Dr. Caelus** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:32 am

Needlenose, though if Hasbro released a 3-pack of the Legends Insecticons with premium, matching decos in the Selects line, I'd probably buy that. The subtle quality differences between T-30, CW, and TR 'bug' me.

News Credits: 18 · by **leokearon** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 11:26 am

Either the Battlechargers or Neddlenose would be awesome. I don't see why we need new versions of toys that were released less that two years ago.

News Credits: 18 · by **Immortal Starscream** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 11:43 am

Add one more to the needlenose list. I also agree that the addition of Gnaw and Shrapnel are odd here. while gnaw could have been better, they are already fine additions, and scale proportionately to when compared to their g1 toys counterparts, and not that much shorter from their toon versions really (when compared to siege deluxe scale) g1 gnaws toy was quite a bit bigger then the status quo at the time, so maybe a bigger one would be nice. but personally I feel we need to have more figures that haven't gotten any love in a long time, or at all.

News Credits: 42 · by **Autobot N** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 12:53 pm

I don't really care who wins the vote (don't have an attachment to any of these guys), but I'll be casting my vote for Needlenose.

by **PushYouDown** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 1:37 pm

Needlenose for sure.

I like my Insecticons smaller so Shrapnel would be a distant 4th for me.

News Credits: 65 · by **Wolfman Jake** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 2:15 pm

These are just weird choices, except for Needlenose, who lost the fan vote last year. I have a feeling Hasbro and Takara REALLY want to make him. It'd be nice to have the Battlechargers, but it's pointless if we only get EITHER Runabout OR Runamuck. We need both or nothing at all. We already have a great Sharkticon figure, but if this is at the Deluxe size, maybe the cartoon scale is better? Shrapnel is definitely the worst choice. We already have the Insecticons at the perfect cartoon scale size, that being Legends Class. They're supposed to be around the same size as the Minibots, particularly Huffer. They're not nearly Deluxe Class sized like Reflector is supposed to be, standing eye-to-eye with the likes or Prowl or Sideswipe. I already have the TFCC Needlenose, so I guess my top pick would be the Sharkticon. My second choice would be Needlenose.

News Credits: 56 · by **Nathaniel Prime** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 2:30 pm

The way I see it, if Runabout/Runamuck gets made, not only will the other get made, but there is a very good chance of the mold being retooled as Sunstreaker, considering they share a similar body layout.

Although Needlenose could get retooled into Jhiaxus, so there's that possibility as well :-?

News Credits: 241 · by **Jelze Bunnycat** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 2:43 pm

Nathaniel Prime wrote:The way I see it, if Runabout/Runamuck gets made, not only will the other get made, but there is a very good chance of the mold being retooled as Sunstreaker, considering they share a similar body layout.

Although Needlenose could get retooled into Jhiaxus, so there's that possibility as well

Runabout and Runmauck may look similar, but each sports a different car mode and head design. Speaking of which, it's probably the white Runamuck in the silhouette, judging by the head and faceplate, not to mention his gun:

Transformers G1 1986 Runabout Gallery

Transformers G1 1986 Runamuck Gallery

Makes sense, the "Runamuck" trademark was still available back in 2012, while "Runabout" was not, being replaced with "Over-Run" for the 2012 Club toy.

Yep, if one gets made, the other will be his pretool. Calling it right now!

by **Grahf_** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 2:48 pm

Needlenose has a deluxe figure.
Gnaw has a legends figure, an upcoming deluxe for Cyberverse and an older deluxe.
Shrapnel has a legends figure that was released twice outside of Japan.
The Battlechargers have both deluxe and legends figures.

I'm good on all of these choices already.

I get that not everyone (like myself) was able to get all of them as several were exclusives but still, these are some poopy choices.

The only ones I'm missing out of the figures we already got are both versions of Runamuck and Botcon Gnaw. Also Cyberverse Gnaw as it's not out yet. So I guess my vote would be for Runamuck, if it is revealed to be him specifically as he's the only one I don't have any version of currently.

News Credits: 226 · by **Burn** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 2:55 pm

Given all of them have modern releases, I'm disappointed these are our options.

Obviously I'd love to see a total random like Stalker thrown in, but I guess it's hard for Hasbro to move past the first two years. At least they're showing some Decepticon love for once I guess.

News Credits: 241 · by **Jelze Bunnycat** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 3:32 pm

Burn wrote:Given all of them have modern releases, I'm disappointed these are our options.

Not for main retail, tho. Needlenose hasn't had a proper main retail release in ages, Runabout/Runamuck... somewhat. CW Blackjack was originally made to be Runabout, and was redecoed as him for TF Adventure:

Transformers Adventures Runabout Gallery

With Runamuck as a mail order redeco. 8-}

Obviously I'd love to see a total random like Stalker thrown in, but I guess it's hard for Hasbro to move past the first two years. At least they're showing some Decepticon love for once I guess.

We haven't had a proper ICBM Tank for a good while, haven't we?

News Credits: 226 · by **Burn** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 3:39 pm

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:We haven't had a proper ICBM Tank for a good while, haven't we?

No we haven't.

The mold itself could be re-used for a Machine Wars Soundwave, or even Cybertron Defense Red Alert.

Yeah I'm a Stalker fanboy, but honestly, Stalker, the Predators and the Turbomasters all have so much potential and I'm sure people would like some different characters for once.

by **Skritz** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 3:59 pm

Burn wrote:Given all of them have modern releases, I'm disappointed these are our options.

Welcome to the eternal pandering that is Generations from now on. I've once theorized that, once the trilogy kicked off by Siege is over that the fanbase (at least the older fans) will experience serious G1 fatigue once Hasbro end up constantly remaking the same characters over and over and over...

At least for Siege it did win even skeptics like me over purely on the fact that, yes, the toys are just that good as far as mass retail goes. HOWEVER! If Hasbro start being afraid of moving past the '84 to late '85/Movie lineup this brand will die off. There are many, many G1 characters still left without a modern update but companies have to do what is profitable and I suspect the 'guys in suits' think it would be only profitable to keep making the '84/'85 guys-that-everybody-knows and throw fans and design a bone by 'spicing up' these lines with some characters who did need love (see: CW Liokaiser, TR having the likes of Overlord and Sixshot and Siege having city-bots buddies as 'Weaponizers'). In the long run this business model cannot be sustained, at least not for a line like Generations. Yes, every new cartoon will always have a new Optimus, Megatron, Starscream or Bumblebee but this is CHUG, the 'classics' line.

Look I understand they need the heavy hitters on the shelves for monetary and branding reasons. However, with Gnaw and Shrapnel I worry Hasbro is gonna be going in circles already. At least you could argue Runabout and/or Runamuck aren't quite such a case given their recent-ish toys weren't mainline toys and despite being part of the 'oldschool G1 crew' they're not exactly big names. More like crowd-filling cronies.

However, Needlenose need a new toy because DAMN IT HASBRO, YOU'RE DOING TARGETMASTERS AGAIN! Just retool Impactor into Quake and release him alongside Needlenose and Spinister. Beside, the WFC trilogy need more Decepticons at the deluxe price point. This is basically no-Horrocons-for-Titans-Return levels of mishandling. :HEADHURTS: