The Energon Pub

Ag Tigerhawk, that one is on my list for a new toy, or a pickup of the old eventually. He is so cool, both in show and in toy form.

I haven't seen Tigerhawk in Beast Wars yet, but I have read/seen some spoilers. I guess he (?) is my answer to the question I had about Tigatron & Airazor.

I'm up to season2, ep11 -- Ravage has come for Megatron to try and "keep the peace" (eliminate with extreme prejudice!)....and this makes me think about how they're handling all their characters in the series.

The pods, orbiting the earth, are a fantastic way to introduce new characters! They were on the Maximal ship and appropriately enough, each one's an event. Going almost the opposite direction of the G1 cartoon, characters are unceremoniously killed off (except Dinobot!), or are shown with amazing endurance (Waspinator).

I got over the fact that Primal looked like Prime but with a mouth, and even got to love him just as much as the original. So it was awesomely shocking when Megatron's plan to keep Primal trapped in the pod on a collision course with the alien device of destruction (at the end of s1) actually succeeded!

In the original series, no one ever died....except in the Movie. While I do appreciate this approach BW has of more character development and killing characters off (as opposed to them disappearing forever, save for that 1-2 episode spotlight), I can't help but be surprised by it too!I can see now why many who grew up with Beast Wars enjoyed it so much. If it was indeed marketed to kids, it dealt with far more mature issues than other cartoons of the time, and certainly compared to the daily happy endings of the G1 cartoon.I already know how it all ends, but I'm enjoying the ride and even more interested in Beast Machines!

That show has some heady metaphysical cosmic ****, Bod. And I love it.
And if you like it, just wait til you get to Beast Machines. Gets even heavier there.

You and Shaj have both recommended Beast Machines! I gotta see it.

I'm now on s3, ep2, and wow, that was quite the cliffhanger ending for s2!

It smacked all my feel-buttons to see the Ark, all the Autobots & Decepticons inside (too bad Ravage missed it, but he helped!), and to understand Megatron's agenda (both of 'em!). I certainly didn't expect to see BW Megz shoot G1 Optimus in the face, thereby destroying the timeline as we knew it. It also seemed Predacons & Maximals are smaller in scale to their G1 ancestors (like Legends to Leaders)!

Good thing Blackarachnia switched to Maximal and the time crisis was reversed.

Optimal being born from Primal's merging with the Matrix/Prime's spark was awesome! I didn't care for that s2 form, anyway. I saw Depth Charge somehow managed to find the wormhole/rift in space-time to continue his pursuit of Rampage -- as they all did at the very beginning of the show in s1 (transwarp tech!), right?

So if I got this right, the Predacons, with the help of the Golden Record(s), were able to find 4D coordinates to try and affect G1 Megatron's plan to alter the past. I'll admit I watch the show late nights, so some stuff may have been missed (while I was asleep lol).So did they all realize this fact after saving the first hominids? Or after realizing it was in fact earth at the end of s1?

I finally got my Prime Masters, Metalhawk & Cloudburst.

In the smallest scale/class currently available in the mainline offering of TFs, I wasn't sure if I'd like these updates to the Pretenders. But since I enjoyed the Titan Masters, I thought that might extend to these figures.It certainly did. They might have the same amount of articulation in shell form as their Pretender predecessors, but these Prime Masters have other options available for alt modes -- all of them fun.

In the Collect-O-Tron, Cobotron just wrote:Nice Bodsworth! Can't wait to see old school Pretenders with their new babies.

AWESOME!

Thanks Cobo! I'm gonna need more pics with the G1 Pretenders!

I had fun with Vector Prime assuming direct control of Cerebros.

Cue the music:

This certainly ain't about electric sheep.The Dreamwarriorbots triumph, and Skullkrueger is seemingly vanquished.

Sleep modes can once again resume....

The End....?

Slash as NANCY THOMPSON

Spike LIVESI'm hoping to take more pics with BWNeo Stampy as well.

YOOOOOOOOOOOO!
You got Stampy?!?!
AWESOME! What's the story? Where/how did you get him so quick?

Cool fun pics, BTW.

Thanks Cobo! Prime Master Skullgrin/Liege Maximo inspired all the pics thanks to dat Claw. I pretty much hunted for Stampy after your post! That Easter pic I found cracked me up, and he was reasonably priced.So eBay delivered, but this is an even better deal: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F121928277833

Stampy AND Sling!
My order came from Transformerland, and I have no regrets -- I use their site regularly to gauge prices prior to any purchase.I didn't expect to get him so fast!

TFL FTW!

Don't you love bunny ear swords?
You know he has some kind of weird weapon mode, right?

Stampy even represented last Easter here in the Collect-O-Tron!

Bunny ear swords are cool! I also like the bejeweled background for the BW Neo faction insignias.

I haven't transformed him into beastly-scissors yet; I was going to, but Optimal just wanted to hug him instead.Love your Easter Stampy pic

I almost want a second PotP Skullgrin....SNICKETY-SNIKT

bodrock wrote:And although I like the Silver Surfer-style of travel, I miss the old look already. I know this s2 look wasn't the most popular and now know why

Initially I was kinda floored by his TM look, and not in a good way. But it really grew on me, probably after getting the toy.

bodrock wrote:Seeing the Fuzors introduced, they're as atrocious as I remember

Honestly I think Silverbolt is one of my favorite BW toys period. I don't think Quickstrike is quite as beloved, but I was always a fan of that toy too.

bodrock wrote:The Predacons are definitely coming into their own! Tarantulas is excellent as an evil mad scientist, bent on overthrowing Megatron -- and Most Likely to Succeed when compared to Terrorsaur.

They definitely get fleshed out more, shame to see Terrorsaur go though. Especially so anti-climatically too.

bodrock wrote:The CG has held up pretty well, all things considered.

It's probably because I've watched it since day 1, but I never had an issue with the CG. I can see the complaints, but it gets substantially better with Seasons 2 and 3. And BM.... so pretty

bodrock wrote:And the voice-acting! All great things -- even if the budget wasn't the biggest, this ultimately made the series better in allowing them to focus on a smaller cast.

There are some crazily unique talents at work in BW. Dinobot and Rattrap always stuck out in my mind.

bodrock wrote:It smacked all my feel-buttons to see the Ark, all the Autobots & Decepticons inside

I'm so excited you're past the S2 mark. Starting with the end of S2, is when @#$! gets real

bodrock wrote:It also seemed Predacons & Maximals are smaller in scale to their G1 ancestors (like Legends to Leaders)!

I think it was explained in some Botcon fiction. With the invention of Micromasters and the "Maximal Upgrade", they utilized smaller bodies to be more energy efficient.

bodrock wrote:So if I got this right, the Predacons, with the help of the Golden Record(s), were able to find 4D coordinates to try and affect G1 Megatron's plan to alter the past.

(BW)Megatron initially stole the Golden Disc because it gave the source of a great energon location. But after researching he found (G1) Megatron's message about "hey if you ever invent time travel, you should totes kill Optimus Prime lawl". Which was apparently the known plan to the crew, as Dinobot says in episode 1, but they all think they went to the wrong place because of the planets 2 moons.

bodrock wrote:So did they all realize this fact after saving the first hominids? Or after realizing it was in fact earth at the end of s1?

You know what the funniest BW fact is? Waspinator, was actually the first one to figure out they were actually on earth. Or he and Dinobot figured it out at the same time. Everyone else didn't seem to put the pieces together until later.

bodrock wrote:I can see now why many who grew up with Beast Wars enjoyed it so much. If it was indeed marketed to kids, it dealt with far more mature issues than other cartoons of the time, and certainly compared to the daily happy endings of the G1 cartoon. I already know how it all ends, but I'm enjoying the ride and even more interested in Beast Machines!

It is really one of the best crafted pieces of TF fiction. And BM goes even more serious and darker.

bodrock wrote:I also want to hunt down some of the s1 BW figures....

Oh man. BW toys. Where to start. First, you need a S1 Primal. And Takara Legends for some reason reissued the show accurate remold as their first entry to the line. He can be found still for good prices!



You should totally go for the Generations dudes. Rattrap, Rhinox, and Waspy. And of those 3, the only OG mold I'd skip is Rhinox. As for Dinoboot, get an OG mold. It stands up pretty well, and the Classics mold is seriously not worth the price it commands unfortunately.

I think TM Tarantulas is also a must have:



Although unpopular, I always like TM Scavenger (TM Inferno). Those independently posable ant legs, that awesome head sculpt, just screams creepy and evil to me!





I think in Season 2 I started to really see Megatron for the evil genius that he was. Maybe why I like form #2 so much. Unfortunately he suffers from GPS, so if you're hell bent on getting the mold there's always the Takara version or that Armada repaint.



And I'd be remiss if I left out my boy.



This small handful of shout outs don't do the BW line justice though

I approve of and endorse everything Shaj just said. In both posts.


This message brought to you by the Beast Wars is the Shiz World Council.

Cobotron wrote:This message brought to you by the Beast Wars is the Shiz World Council.

Is that a thing? Can I be a member?

Am I already a member?

shajaki wrote:

Cobotron wrote:This message brought to you by the Beast Wars is the Shiz World Council.

Is that a thing? Can I be a member?

Am I already a member?

A founding member and Canada's highest ranking representative.

I want to be on this Council!

Thank you for these thoughts, Shaj & Cobo -- I'll write back in a bit.

With Transformers, sometimes it's the character on-screen, or the figure itself that can win you over. Personality, be it a character in a story, or the charm of an alt mode(s), can draw me to want one. That's pretty much why I bought Doubledealer.

I ripped through season 2 pretty quickly (so good!), and never got a figure for this incarnation of Primal -- but I'm looking forward to dat PotP version. I bet I warm up to him quickly.

BW Silverbolt is a really cool Fuzor -- he's a nice mix (bird-dog!) and it works well for him. Not to mention his White Knight attitude! It worked on Blackarachnia, and won me over too lol. I like his rivalry with Cheetor, and honestly, this incarnation of Silverbolt is superior in almost every way to the G1 original.I wanted to see more Terrorsaur, too! I honestly thought he'd turn up sometime at the start of s2; when he didn't, I had to look for spoilers to see if I missed something....

Nope, he died/dead. Same with Dinobot....? :p

Ah, so the sizing is about energy efficiency? That makes sense, especially considering the G1 crew are their "ancient ancestors".

Time-travel wasn't the original agenda....but G1 Megatron's message planted the seed? I love the fact that it was the Golden Disc.

Primal's s1 look is absolutely my fave -- I may have to pull the trigger on that Takara version.

I love Tarantulas's TM look! He probably got one of the best new looks for s2.

That's unfortunate about s2 TM Megatron having GPS...if I got this incarnation, I'd definitely prefer the dark purple.

Oh, and I really want BW Neo Bazooka! I love ankylosaurs, and his paint app is cool....unlike Slapper.Thanks for the checklists, both of you! And the pics, too.

I'm definitely looking forward to the conclusion of Beast Wars...then it's on to Beast Machines!

Hot tubs are too much work to own, but I enjoy them whenever possible.Even Megatron would agree.

bodrock wrote:Oh, and I really want BW Neo Bazooka!

CRAP Bod! There's one Neo I DON'T have. Now Ima have'ta hunt him down. Super cool head sculpt. Ya know, The Neo head sculpts are some the very best TF heads of all time, IMO.

Also, can I go back and add TM Tarantulus to my list. He is an awesome figure.
I have, the Fox Kids variant deco that is just chrome and black. Love that figure. I think the red Rat Trap is also from that series of re-releases, no? Wasn't the first release TM Rat Trap blue? Maybe I have that reversed?