The Energon Pub

Liege Evilmus wrote:

Versa wrote:What they really needed to do is get away from this too stretchy new-age look and stick to what worked for the cartoon before. That way at least they could still produce the toys in a better realistic vehicle form and still pass for cool. I mean look at Starscream for instance... the G1 show he at least looked like a jet. The toy companies made a jet toy. it at least looks like a flying vehicle in our world of some kind.

I'm afraid these animated toys look too toony.

I admire the vintage for being able to maintain a less exaggerated look to the vehicles. I think that's what sold the toys more was the fact they looked like representations of cars or jets etc and that they transformed into robots.

This just looks terrible and I won't be buying any of those. P.U. Those stink!

Amen, here's prof that the kiddie concept and TFs don't go well, yet somehow it's happening again anyway

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaBB2w7xrzc

You can't seriously be comparing these two. There is a difference between "kiddie concept" and stylization, you know. And in case you forgot, Transformers is, in fact, a show for kids, hence, the design that is popular with kids these days has been employed.

Just a quote from tfw2005's dead end i really agree with him 100%

Style does not denote age. And from the intricacies shown here, the back log of info put into this shows an adherance to all walks of age. A good writer does not need to resort to gritty shock value to be 'adult.'

Titans had a rape episode among other adult nods, Animaniacs was full of adult humor, and even Foster's or JLU had pure adult implied moments.

Which of those is a direct 'adult' toon not aimed at kids?
Yet are still highly entertaining to adults, while having adult stories within the context of what looks like a simplistic 'child's story'.

Lord~Megatron wrote:Just a quote from tfw2005's dead end i really agree with him 100%

Style does not denote age. And from the intricacies shown here, the back log of info put into this shows an adherance to all walks of age. A good writer does not need to resort to gritty shock value to be 'adult.'

Titans had a rape episode among other adult nods, Animaniacs was full of adult humor, and even Foster's or JLU had pure adult implied moments.

Which of those is a direct 'adult' toon not aimed at kids?
Yet are still highly entertaining to adults, while having adult stories within the context of what looks like a simplistic 'child's story'.

The man does make a point.

I promised myself that I would only stick to the movie line of toys. NOT!

4 alternators, 2 classics, 2 6 inch titaniums, 1 Binaltech and a sudden interest in the animated line later ... ARRGH! Must not get hooked any further!

I'm also collecting 3" titaniums for a guy I work with. He's looking out for what I need as well.

This animated series looks amazing. Modern cartoon art fused with transformers. What a great idea. BB and Lugnutz look awesome!

Deluxe prime is not too bad, but that Voyager design looks sick!

microclone wrote:

Lord~Megatron wrote: Also how could you judge it to be the wort tf toy ever when you never played with it also the honor of that sadly goes to leader movie megatron.

true. remember, a month ago people were saying that: the animation sucked, the toys were crap, the toys wont transform, the toys will be repaints all on the basis of that ONE image of prime. Incredible deductions from so little information. no wonder tf fans have a reputation of being whiners.

Okay, did you BOTH miss the fact that I LIKE TF Animated?? I've been pro Animated right from the beginning. You can check my posts if you want, but you'll see that I was "cautiously optimistic" from the very beginning. And what I said was "Bulkhead might just be the worst TF ever." I didn't say he definately was, I was just voicing my OPINION that he LOOKS like the worst TF ever. But I've also said in other posts that its a shame that Bulkhead's bot mode is so ugly because I love his truck mode.

Look, I don't want to make a big deal out of this, I just don't understand why my ONE negative comment about Bulkhead got me lumped in with all the haters and whiners, when I wasn't "hating" or whining.

I'm simply disappointed with Bulkhead because I think the cartoon designers could have done better with him. Its not the toy designers' fault that Bulkhead looks as bad as he does, because the toy designers simply made the toys look as close to the cartoon as they could. So that tells me that if Bulkhead had been given a better body in the `toon, he would have gotten a better figure.

But its not a big deal. If you like it, great, you buy him, but don't label me a whiner because I don't like TWO figures out of a WHOLE LINE.

Jaz-Zen wrote:

microclone wrote:

Lord~Megatron wrote: Also how could you judge it to be the wort tf toy ever when you never played with it also the honor of that sadly goes to leader movie megatron.

true. remember, a month ago people were saying that: the animation sucked, the toys were crap, the toys wont transform, the toys will be repaints all on the basis of that ONE image of prime. Incredible deductions from so little information. no wonder tf fans have a reputation of being whiners.

Okay, did you BOTH miss the fact that I LIKE TF Animated?? I've been pro Animated right from the beginning. You can check my posts if you want, but you'll see that I was "cautiously optimistic" from the very beginning. And what I said was "Bulkhead might just be the worst TF ever." I didn't say he definately was, I was just voicing my OPINION that he LOOKS like the worst TF ever. But I've also said in other posts that its a shame that Bulkhead's bot mode is so ugly because I love his truck mode.

Look, I don't want to make a big deal out of this, I just don't understand why my ONE negative comment about Bulkhead got me lumped in with all the haters and whiners, when I wasn't "hating" or whining.

I'm simply disappointed with Bulkhead because I think the cartoon designers could have done better with him. Its not the toy designers' fault that Bulkhead looks as bad as he does, because the toy designers simply made the toys look as close to the cartoon as they could. So that tells me that if Bulkhead had been given a better body in the `toon, he would have gotten a better figure.

But its not a big deal. If you like it, great, you buy him, but don't label me a whiner because I don't like TWO figures out of a WHOLE LINE.

I kinda agree 2 that bulkhead might be the worst tranformers ever. Now he make a great and i mean great TONKA toy or something but i feel he jus out of place in this line.

Now I love his decepticons counterpart Lugnutz cause he just scream Power and Muscle but i shakey bout Bulkhead tho

Ok I have to work this in to the thread in some way or another.. I have one wish....

Since Optimus prime is a younger/inexperienced leader and NOT in command of all the Autobots faction on Cybertron... could we maybe just maybe Hasbro are you listening...Maybe..Please, please, Please... get an "Animated" Leader Class SENTINEL PRIME!! Similar to this guy would be nice!!!







Come on Hasbro this concept of a Sentinel Prime, not necessarily this design, has been around since the Marvel comic transformer days!! They need to Finally introduce him in this new line up as the Leader of Cybertron, and somewhere down the line when they are ready, like in the 2nd season or so, give Prime the Matrix and kill him off, but to have a Sentinel prime made as an actual toy would be completely Historic!!!

If he looked anything like this design, his toy in Leader class would be Numero Uno on my most wanted list!!!

i can't wait for these toys to hit shelves! simply amazing. i would buy these even if there wasn't an animated series going with it (which i won't see until it comes out on DVD due to not having cable/satelite) i really love how the designs themselves show characteristics of many of the characters. i don't need a tech sheet to know that Bulkhead's strength will be ranked high. nor do i need a tech sheet to know that Prowl will be ranked high in quickness and agility. this line really shows a bit of personality to the characters (in physical appearance) in a way that we haven't seen before and i think it's a great step forward. as an artist myself i must say these are truly inspiring designs. hats off to the artists responsible for the desings, and hats off to the artists who took those designs and translated them so well into a toyline!!

i think Bulkhead is my favorite so far!!

Also feeling the Bulkhead love, he's so chunky cool.

Wow, do I see blue and purple repaints of Starscream? Now that's got me excited more than anything else.

Down_Shift wrote:

Lord~Megatron wrote:Just a quote from tfw2005's dead end i really agree with him 100%

Style does not denote age. And from the intricacies shown here, the back log of info put into this shows an adherance to all walks of age. A good writer does not need to resort to gritty shock value to be 'adult.'

Titans had a rape episode among other adult nods, Animaniacs was full of adult humor, and even Foster's or JLU had pure adult implied moments.

Which of those is a direct 'adult' toon not aimed at kids?
Yet are still highly entertaining to adults, while having adult stories within the context of what looks like a simplistic 'child's story'.

The man does make a point.

And it's a point that should be quoted for truth multiple times. Just because it looks kiddy, doesn't mean it is.

There's another example he didn't mention probably because we all know it, Transformers the movie. Based on the TV series and by the ten-minute mark 4 Autobots are dead and a planet is eaten by Unicron. Let's not forget the profanity either.

When are they due out

I personally think these look very very cool!!

Of all of the toys that have been coming out recently,
these may be the ones that I end up collecting.

I don't really like them. I give Hasbro credit for making them look identical to their cartoon counterparts but I don't like the designs at all. Blitzwing is the only one I can see myself owning. The rest are a steaming pile of meh.

Overloaded wrote:When are they due out

If I were to fancy a guess, I would say around Christmas time. I know the new series comes out in 2008, but that has never stopped a toy company from releasing the figures waaaaaaaaaay before the show airs.

Is there another way of expressing how they look like anorexic trash cans with legs?

Toy design wise, those look like amazing figures with great transformations. However, the look doesn't do it for me. I don't see why Hasbro is always trying to reinvent the wheel.

G1 worked and touched something in audiences across generations. Shoulda made use of the Classics platform and parlayed that into a fantastic cartoon filling in the time between season 2 and the movie.

Oh well. I still hope to like this show. I really hope its not dumbed down and kiddified.

I really cant wait for the Animated line, since im a fan of the new generations of Transformers im pretty sure that i would get as many of them as i can.

Starscream looks interesting.

Lets see how the serie will be ...

Down_Shift wrote:

Overloaded wrote:When are they due out

If I were to fancy a guess, I would say around Christmas time. I know the new series comes out in 2008, but that has never stopped a toy company from releasing the figures waaaaaaaaaay before the show airs.

thanks I practically taught Christmas as well

I can see why TF fans might have problems with the ultra 'toony designs, though personally -- as someone who LOVED "Teen Titans" -- I kinda dig them. Even if I didn't, though, I'd still probably find them to be way more appealing than the ugly movie figures...

Down_Shift wrote:

Overloaded wrote:When are they due out

If I were to fancy a guess, I would say around Christmas time. I know the new series comes out in 2008, but that has never stopped a toy company from releasing the figures waaaaaaaaaay before the show airs.

Surprisingly in one of the SDCC Podcasts from Hasbro they said that the toy line would be released in late spring. I really can't understand why they would do this unless they are behind on production or something. You can check it out for yourself here though: http://tformers.com/article.php?sid=8208

It's right near the end part of the video.

Yes, they are scheduled for Spring, they've been scheduled for Spring 2008 since we first heard about them. But not because they are late in production, but because thus far, they only have a few prototypes for a few characters.


They haven't even begun production. We have still to see a prototype for Blitzwing, only concept art thus far. And a color test shot for Voyager Prime (only a green clay model has been seen).

Its still very early in the design phase for this line, for them to release them in December.

Still a few more months to get the final designs, and then start production.

We still haven't seen even a hint of what the packaging will look like. We should start seeing the final test shots make an appearance on Ebay in December.

And they are still mass producing Movie figures until, probably September or so. When we get the final waves of figures, and recolors.

Still it's rather surprising that they would release the series in January and then interested kids would have to wait possibly 3 to 4 months to buy the toys. I can't imagine that being an intentional. So when compared to the release date of the cartoon series, it would seem that the toy line is behind production wise.

I actually like these toys. Hell, I would say that they are much better than the crappy movie toys/designs that we currently got. Sure the proportions are a little wacky, but much like the movie designs with their jagged edges, its part of an artistic look they were going for. And I would much rather have a slightly out of proportion figure than one thats got a jumble of scrap on it. Starscream and Blitswing are looking good.

starhorse wrote:Still it's rather surprising that they would release the series in January and then interested kids would have to wait possibly 3 to 4 months to buy the toys. I can't imagine that being an intentional. So when compared to the release date of the cartoon series, it would seem that the toy line is behind production wise.

Who said they are releasing the series in January.

Cartoon Network will have a special 90 minute movie type episode which will air in early 2008 (take it that could mean January), but the cartoon won't start playing until Spring or Early Summer, if I remember correctly.