The Energon Pub

I am really enjoying these Legends class Clones, Cloudraker & Fastclash/lane.When they were originally released in 1987, I had already stopped transforming and went to gaming full-time. The days of arcades felt numbered, but they were still superior to home consoles -- I gamed on the 8-bit NES and an Apple ][c. One of my favorites on the latter happened to be based on a kick-ass arcade game: BAD DUDES I say "based" because it wasn't even close to an arcade-perfect port. It seemed the only way to get a perfect copy of anything was either to reuse molds or superimpose.I suppose floppy disks worked too.

Nice

Is... that a real movie?

shajaki wrote:Nice

Is... that a real movie?

You bet it is, Shaj! Back in the late 80s and early 90s, Van Damme was pumping out the action movies after Bloodsport (1988). This one was so bad it was good, imho -- srsly bad, tho. ;p

BAD DUDES was an awesome arcade game, though!

How is that game NOT a movie??!

I know, right?!? But they totally missed the boat -- the early 90s was truly the time the BAD DUDES movie shoulda been made. Unless you do it in the style of Netflix's KUNG-FURY.Or MORTAL KOMBAT.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy....?Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality....

With the Power of the Primes deluxe figures appearing in Target, it's been great on the forums, spreading the word to other Seibertronians on their hunt for the latest line.I was fortunate enough to track down Dreadwind. As my first incarnation of the depressed Decepticon, he looks great! Poseability is good, but the forearms can easily pop-off since there's no screws or pins to keep them attached. But I was trying to point his own gun at his head, Persona3 style...With each of the figures, we get a collectible card which has the character art, but no tech specs in the back. Now it's a blurb on what a Prime Master may enable in a specific character; in my case, it paired Alpha Trion with Dreadwind.Since I have yet to locate any Pretender/Prime Masters, I went with A-3's head instead.I can't imagine Dreadwind got ahead by anything but villainy.

I missed out on G1 Swoop. I was never able to track down all the Dinobots while on the Hunt -- but I was also 6, and my dad was not going to buy me all of 'em. So I prioritized, and ended up with Grimlock & Sludge (besides a floppy neck, he's still 100% complete after all these years!).
My younger brother eventually got the G2 versions of all the rest -- except for Swoop.My first incarnation of him wasn't until last year, when I picked up the Platinum Dinobots set at Ross -- the one with the Bayverse bodies but G1-styled heads. They were kind of cool with their chrome-like finish and G1 coloring, but the overall designs weren't quite what I had in my mind as Definitive Dinobots.So when I saw the announcement that they were set to be deluxe-sized combiners, I was intrigued.
Besides Grimlock, I think the Dinobots looked good. Certainly, the aesthetics were more my style, but I could care less about them merging for the kill (as Volcanicus)....so my original plan was to skip them (I was never a Dinobot fanboy).
Until I saw more pics of Swoop...and nostalgia called me to him.
With a paint job highly reminiscent of the G1 cartoon, that would've been enough....but Swoop looks really good. Highly poseable, tight joints, his thermal sword and Prime Master armor that works perfectly as a backpack all add up to a fantastic version of the Autobot Bombardier/Pterodactyl. For those that dig the G1 cartoon's look, Power of the Primes' Dinobot Swoop comes highly recommended
-- he's my go-to.

The last game I absolutely loved was Persona5. The music, art direction, gameplay, and the characters (main party and other social links) all added up to be a system-selling series for me.As the fifth in the franchise, the series has been around quite awhile. It was originally a spin-off of the Shin Megami Tensei series proper. I've played all the Persona games, but it wasn't until Persona3 that Atlus found the right formula, and the series became what it is today.T-Dubz as the Protagonist
Skullgrin as Yukari Takeba
Iggy as Mitsuru Kirijo
Fin as Akihiko Sanada
Subz as Junpei Iori
Faux Fur as Koromaru
Octo as Ken
Block as Aigis
BB as Fuuka
Snarler as Shinji

In this life, ya always got to look & stay ahead.

Dealer's Law:
1. The price of victory is never too high.2. My frenemy's enemy is also my frenemy.3. Show one face to the world. Hide the other. Be an island. Let no one in. 4. Never show surprise, never lose your cool.5. Knok & Skar don't know scrap.6. Anything else is always something better.7. Dealer's Diet: Energon Cocktails and dreams.8. Smelt the dead; they smell up the joint.9. La la lie until you're blue in the face....and as for the rest of Dealer's Laws, ignore them. The guy was always full of $h!t.

As someone born & raised G1, I sure suck at collecting it.I picked up my first 1988 G1 Powermaster the other day, the mercenary Doubledealer (aka Dealer, Double, Big D, Double-Deze, DD, etc.).Again, like the Targetmasters and Pretenders, I missed out completely on this line. I vaguely remember how an eleven year old bodrock hated on Powermaster Prime's chunk.But back to DD, I really like his triple-changer alt modes -- they look great, and articulate well enough for G1. The Autobot is my favorite look for him. I dig the blue face, reds, blues. They're very Autobot. Those red eyes are suspicious, though...and there's the bat-like Decepticon Skar on his robobuttocks.Some call him a Decepticon falcon, but I'm going with vulture. He's got the heavy barrel/warhead on his underbelly, the solid-light blaster on his back (powered by Autobot Knok).I wasn't so sure about the whole Powermaster gimmick -- or any that requires a physical piece to "unlock". But if your figure is complete, there's no real complaint. I would have preferred a more gentle way to "eject" a Powermaster engine, since DD comes with two to enable transformation by faction.It certainly helped that I was able to acquire him NM & complete -- so every future crease or crack will be mine.

I really like him, and with Power of the Primes, it's a nice homage to this flavor of TFs from back in the day (and then some!).

Doubledealer is stupid. One of his alt modes is a turkey with a wang.

So why do I want one so bad?

Because it's Turkey Day!! Happy Thanksgiving, Shaj. He definitely looks ridiculous in Con mode, but hey, Sky Lynx is a giant bird-thing, so why not?Being a 90s action movie fan, I imagine Doubledealer thinks he's cool enough for one-liners.
I saw THOR: RAGNAROK the other day! Absolutely hilarious (and lotsa one-liners!).

Holy what's that bigger one?

I think it's that he's one of those guys that's just so over the top that you can't help but love him. Like Grotusque. But as for Skylynx, I always saw him as more of a dragon type.

And Ragnorok was great! Although I was pretty let down by the Hulk. It took the Planet Hulk and World War Hulk stories and made them a mere footnote, and they were among the greatest Hulk stories you could pull from!

shajaki wrote:Holy what's that bigger one?

I think it's that he's one of those guys that's just so over the top that you can't help but love him. Like Grotusque. But as for Skylynx, I always saw him as more of a dragon type.

And Ragnorok was great! Although I was pretty let down by the Hulk. It took the Planet Hulk and World War Hulk stories and made them a mere footnote, and they were among the greatest Hulk stories you could pull from!

I prefer to think of 'Lynx as a dragon, too. ;p

That bigger "chicken" is KO Deathsaurus. Doubledealer was definitely of the era where the alt modes were more unique (!) -- and as a kid, I couldn't appreciate them. I sure do now! I'd love any incarnation of Grotesque and Squeezeplay (I know he's technically a headmaster but look at him!).

Maybe Hulk will get s'more solo movies -- or animated movies?

I totally get why fans love the Dinobots, I really do. But as an elementary school kid, I had nothing but admiration and respect for Optimus Prime; my wise, noble & idealistic robo-father figure.I couldn't help but be annoyed when the ding-bats thought that might made right, and were easily manipulated by Megatron to defect in the G1 cartoon....and nearly got Prime killed (Hot Rod succeeded in the movie, and I didn't forgive him until the last two years!).And then the Marvel comics went the extra mile and made him leader of the Autobots! It was a dark time to be a Bot, I bet. I totally wanted Blaster to show him who was boss.With the release of Deluxe/Voyager dinos for Power of the Primes, they've returned to belligerently kick ass and combine, too. Since I'm not a big fan, I don't plan on picking all of them up, but I did get Slash & Swoop. I paired them up with the Platinum Dinobots set, and although those from the set will most likely not be my go-to D-bots, I like them well enough.I think the G1 originals still do it for me -- I'd go for MP Grimlock. But I think he's a $@#%.

I had my birthday recently and gave myself Doubledealer....and this set that came today.

bodrock wrote:I totally get why fans love the Dinobots, I really do.

I really liked them in Season 1, and pretty much every other continuity. In Season 1 they were dim, but not straight up handicapped. They went that way post Season 1, and anything Dinobot in Season 3 I find basically unwatchable. I hate what they did to them

bodrock wrote:I'd go for MP Grimlock. But I think he's a $@#%.

Are we stil just talking the character? Cause the MP is flat out the best Grimlock to date

bodrock wrote:I had my birthday recently and gave myself Doubledealer....and this set that came today.

Beast Wars party!

LOL yes, Grimmy's MP looks like his best incarnation -- especially with the crown!

We're loving BEAST WARS! It's just prime.

bodrock wrote:We're loving BEAST WARS! It's just prime.

Wait... is this your first viewing?!

shajaki wrote:

bodrock wrote:We're loving BEAST WARS! It's just prime.

Wait... is this your first viewing?!

Yes it is! I'm a total noob to BW.But after hearing the love from all of you here, Primal getting the Power of the Primes, and me being open to non-car alt modes in my return to TF collecting, I finally bought the seasons to watch.

The animation is dated, but I got over that quickly (I still like retroplaying older video games, so "bad" graphics are not a deal breaker) -- I'm digging the characters and their interactions, yesss....and Megatron, too.

It feels more cohesive and complex than the original cartoon's "plots". My only complaint is that they should've stuck with "Transform!" as opposed to "Maximize/Terrorize".

My brother's era was BW, so we still have quite a few figures. I have Blackarachnia in the house, and had picked up Optimal just within the last year. I don't plan on going on a BeastWarsQuest or PowermasterQuest (Doubledealer was my first!), like I did with the Pretenders -- but you never know.

Oh man... I'm excited FOR you! What episode are you on?

And don't worry, they shout Maximize and Terrorize a lot less in Season's 2 and 3

S1, ep4: Equal Measures. I understand the love for Primal now, and I've only just begun!

Oh wow, so you JUST started

One of the single greatest things BW has, is character development you get to SEE. Unlike in G1 and other continuities, most of the characters just "are". Like Primal, he isn't a great leader. But he will be

And I SO HOPE that you end up giving Beast Machines a shot.

It's one thing to add a new bot to the Dinobot roster, but a female one at that? That kicks all sortsa ass, even if she happens to be pint-sized. She's the official velociraptor of the Dinobots, and although her scale makes sense....I would've preferred her in Deluxe.I was never into the Legends class figures before the recent release of Seaspray -- but now I have another one to enjoy. I also picked up a longtime fave, Beachcomber. He may get with NADS (Naval Assault & Defense Squad!) sooner or later....
I'm still working through BW season 1 (last ep tonight), Shaj, but almost done! GREAT stuff. I will plan on checking out Beast Machines as well.

I also impulse bought Rattrap today, thanks to BW.