The Energon Pub

I'm happy about most of these previously unrevealed Generations figures! Especially the Legends Bombshell & Powerglide, Deluxe Arcee, and Voyager Brainstorm.

Not sure how I feel about Prime & Megatron. Voyager Prime looks... well, derpy, like a Classics version of BH Prime. If it's true that he combines, I'll withhold judgement until I see what that gimmick holds. Megatron looks neat, but he doesn't seem quite right - for a collector-oriented Generations figure, and a leader at that, he seems overly simple, and the cannon isn't what I would have liked. I think I like this mold better as Armada Megatron, but I do wish they had maintained some semblance of the side-cannon gimmick. I do love Megatron, and I'm sure the figure will grow on me in-hand. A lot. But I still don't see a reason to cancel my Hegemon 2.0 preorder.

As for TFSS 3.0 - I am completely underwhelmed. In my opinion, there is no reason the Club should continue using the Classic Seeker mold. The choice of Tarantulus doesn't make much sense to me, especially with the Junkion mold (but we'll see if those other pieces give him the Transmetal 2 look, which is what I imagine they were going for), and the other characters are a bit too obscure for me. I'm happy I signed up this year, but don't expect to for next year.

You serious with the Tarantulus?! That was EXACTLY what I was going to do....

Exactly.

I'm not surprised that Megatron is a much more "simple" leader class figure that what we're used to. The upcoming leader Jetfire figure is similar in that regard. We're looking at a new leader size class, much like the new "legends" size class. The days of figures like leader ROTF Optimus Prime are over. Leaders are now smaller and easier to convert between modes. The main concern with the new leader size class seems to be scaling more than anything else. You can still get your complexity fix with larger Masterpiece figures, though.

Wolfman Jake wrote:I'm not surprised that Megatron is a much more "simple" leader class figure that what we're used to. The upcoming leader Jetfire figure is similar in that regard. We're looking at a new leader size class, much like the new "legends" size class. The days of figures like leader ROTF Optimus Prime are over. Leaders are now smaller and easier to convert between modes. The main concern with the new leader size class seems to be scaling more than anything else. You can still get your complexity fix with larger Masterpiece figures, though.

I totally get the "new" Leader thing. For example, I like AOE Leader Prime a whole lot more than I expected, and can accept the revised size class. But then again, I didn't have high expectations. With Megatron, I think I expected more out of him, so I'm invariably a bit disappointed. Hopefully, I'll be pleasantly surprised. Time will tell.

Wow, Brainstorm is all I wanted him to be and more..HEADMASTER! He was the one figure I was really wanting of the new ones talked about from that list a while ago. But Arcee, Bombshell and Nightbeat I will also buy.

Can't wait to have Chromedome, Rewind, Tailgate, Swerve, Skids and now Brainstorm all hang out.(edit) guess Nightbeat as well now.

ARCEE!!! ARCEE!!!!!

ITS ABOUT TIME!!!!!

Nemesis Primal wrote:

knightsix wrote:I doubt we'll see a Slipstream anytime soon. They just had her in the TFSS last year. Plus Nautica was already designed to be a retool of Windblade, so that's likely the next variant we see out of her. But she'll be a general release. Nautica's a submersible, though, so can anyone be retooled or repainted from her?

Thunderblast, maybe?

Thunderblast indeed.

However, I like the random and completely off the wall choices. So I'll go with, Alana. You know, from that one random Seaspray episode in season 2 lol.

Sure, you can't get a gondola out of a Windblade retool but who cares lol. And besides, some people don't like bots and cons sharing molds which is also why I suggested Airazor for a Windblade retool and not Slipstream. If anything, Slipstream should get her own mold as a start of a new line of female seekers.

If Hasbro had given Nemesis Prime a repainted Flanker and called him "Over-Run," they would have 100% had my money. I might still pick him up, but missed opportunity, Hasbro!

So is the wolf suppose to be a carnivac homage or did they just make him purple for the hell of it? But better question why is there no robot mode on display?

I think the Megatron design works better for the Armada version than G1.

Arcee looks great, finally a G1 style from Hasbro. The backpack is large but understandable, I wouldn't mind if this was one transformer with a removable part. Chromia looks very good, great way to reuse the Prime Arcee design.

Bombshell caught my eye but I have the Insecticons.

I really think hasbro did arcee more justice than anyone is gonna credit them for on the boards. A bit of a backpack isn't exactly surprising, and unless I'm missing my guess, the botmode is mistransformed and the backpack is less intrusive than it looks in the pics. The "Skirt" looks like it folds up further than its shown in the slide pics, and the hood looks like it folds down further than its shown on the in display case pics (also, it looks like the headlights/jetpack or whatever they are in bot mode are on swivels that can/do push them up and in.) I'm calling it a pretty good arcee. Some of the 3rd party releases are better, but they're not exactly on the same budgetary/salepoint/safety/whathaveyou constraints hasbro and takara's designers work under. Saying hasbro isn't trying feels like an insult to the hard work of their design teams.

That Megatron is awful! These guys look 100 times better and there not even finished!

Legends:

Cliffjumper? Yes.
Nemesis Prime? No.
Skywarp? Yes.
Windcharger? No. (Can buy the superior RTS version on eBay.)
Powerglide? Maybe. (I prefer the Xtransbots mold by far, but I do like this robot mode. The jet's ass.)
Bombshell? YES. (Come on, gimme Kickback...)

Deluxes:

Arcee? YES. (Now, I'll have a horrible time unloading my Impossible Toys Valkyrie. It seems Hasbro's figure borrows heavily on Valkyrie's transformation. IP won't fight it though, they'd be stupid to.)
Chromia? Yes. (That bike mode is SWEET.)

Voyagers:
Brainstorm? No. (FansProject outdid Hasbro on this one. Their SmartRobin (see what they did there?) is magnificent. This looks more like the Toy World figure that seems to not sell.)
Optimus? NO. (They can't get rid of that forearm kibble design, can they? Toy World's Orion takes this figure out back and beats it's ass.)

Leaders:
Megatron? Maybe. (Legs are too skinny, but the torso SCREAMS Megatron. Looks fantastic from the waist up. Not sure if it's necessary in my collection, seeing as I have Toy World's Hegemon, which is a superior figure.)
Armada Megatron? No. (If I had to choose the Megatron mold for my collection, it would be the G1 version. The Armada version looks nice, but doesn't cut it for me. If they do a G2 version, oh YEAH.)

I can't say I'm overwhelmed by the upcoming offerings, outside of Arcee and Chromia. Those come first, then everything else, second. Arcee, dang. Looks incredible. Now, if only they'd release a Blurr to go with her and I'd have a perfect set of Neo-G1.

EDIT: I see that there's more to address in here, since this seems to be the catch all thread for it.

Age of Extinction
---------------------------------------
Power Battlers Wave 3.0
Grimlock
Galvatron
Slug
Snarl (Off-screen hero)
Lockdown

None of 'em do it for me. Not a one. Nope.

Power Battlers Wave 4.0
Vehicon (off screen villain, black car from movie)
High Octane Bumblebee
Junkheap (Waste Management truck)
Helicopter Drift

Oh, Junkheap, you magnificent bastard. You're coming home with me!
Vehicon, you too!

1-Step Changers
Galvatron
Slug
Decepticon Steeljaw (wolf character from movie)
High Octane Bumblebee (looks much better than the first one)

Steeljaw, eh? Well, if he doesn't receive a larger class figure, I'll buy this one.

1-Step Changers Wave 4.0
Strafe
Chevy Rally Car "Rollbar" (off screen hero)
G1 Prowl
ROTF Megatron

Prowl looks nice, just out of left field.
Rollbar's off screen, eh? Looks like a pass to me, then.

Age of Extinction Generations
---------------------------------------
Lockdown with gun face!

Wave 3.0
Deluxe Bumblebee
Snarl (Off screen hero), fins separate and combine with his tail)
Hot Shot from the Crosshairs mold (blue car, red face ... looks more like Tracks)

Bumblebee looks better this time. Must buy.
Snarl won't be in the film? I has a sad and son, I am disappoint.
Hot Shot's a skipper.

Leader 2-Pack
Grimlock with Optimus Prime with different deco (fall 2014)
Autobots United 5-Pack with Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Crosshairs, Hound and Drift
Breakout Scene 3-Pack: white Optimus Prime (Farmageddon), Rollbar, and Deluxe Crankcase

Well, I was wrong about the purple and white 'bot in the 3-Pack. So, it's the redeco of IDW Skids/Crosscut that was shown in the TRU listing a few months back. Hmm.

Leader Optimus looks almost black, here. It's blue, I can tell, but it's just such a dark tone. It's odd, though, because promotional materials show him as being translucent and I see none of that here.

Generations 2015 Theme
COMBINERS!!! Superion silhouette teased

I'll wait and see what they have to offer. I'm tempted by 3rd party, though.

Legends are all pretty "meh". Powerglide is temping, though between already having the Ultra universe toy and the DotM Cyberverse toy and not being decisive about which one to display, I'd say it's also rather on the "meh" side.

Arcee is surprisingly good, perhaps enough to forgo MMC altogether... perhaps. Chromia is... a surprisingly nice heavy retooling of Prime Arcee, and entirely passable IMO.

Headmaster Brainstorm looks great, and makes me glad I held back on those ugly 3P ones.

Optimu-.....

Autobot032 wrote:Optimus? NO. (They can't get rid of that forearm kibble design, can they? Toy World's Orion takes this figure out back and beats it's ass.)

Excluding the forearm kibble statement(I like the forearm kibble and I think that needs to become an integral design element), and the fact that I also completely loathe Toyworld Orion, I have to agree that it still kicks this one's ass. This Optimus Prime makes Playskool toys cry at how ABSOLUTELY DEPLORABLE it looks in every single possible way! F*CK NO! Classics Prime forever more!

Megatr- Oh come on!!! Who the f*ck designed these absolute pieces of ****?! I hope to Primus almighty that Megs and Prime are jokes, because they all look SO goddamn bad as to make me pine for the days of the worst Parts of the Unicron trilogy over this garbage! PLEASE be a horrible joke!

After saving some money for the G.I. Joe 50th anniversary stuff, Hasbro release this! Bloody hell I'm gonna have no money this year!
DAT PRIME I don't care he's blocky, that's what Optimus looks like!

Mindmaster wrote:

Midnight_Fox wrote:Alternate alternatively, you can sometimes find someone to split a set with.

That too!

fenrir72 wrote:Prime' design reminds me of the big animatronic Powermaster in the old TF G1 videos with the Tommy Kennedy kid.

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:Puppetpmprime.jpg

Y'know, as I was looking at this thing, I was getting a Powermaster/Godmaster vibe from it for whatever reason. If this gets a third party Powermaster converting trailer/armor, I'd be game for it.

But besides that, I'm perfectly happy with my Classics Voyager. Had this been revealed exactly a year ago, I would've pounced on it, no questions asked.

You're on to something about the Powermaster vibe. His transform sequence seems reminiscent of the old Powermaster cab mold.

Two weeks ago I was complaining we needed combinders done correctly and now this!
Holy slag man! EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!

I smell bullshit


because he was seen being filmed with Galvatron, Stinger and two other unnamed sport cars (an orange and a white car too lazy to name which models)






Edit: this is why I'm not going to believe the Sonic (Rollbar) is not an off screen charcter until i see the film.

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:This is why I'm not going to believe the Sonic (Rollbar) is not an off screen charcter until i see the film.

If he's going to be in the movie, then why are the only toys of him going to be a repaint of a Classics figure, and a One-Step Changer that is hella generic?

So far, it seems like the biggest problem with releasing the toys before the movie hits theatres is figuring out which of the dozens of toys that Hasbro is releasing are actually in the movie.

Regarding the "off-screen villains": the vehicles themselves will be in the movie, but will they actually transform in the movie and therefore count as characters in their own right? Tell me that.

I just looked at the new Subscription figures and some are... quite out there, especially Zap being based on his canceled Japanese release. And Nacelle I've never heard of, had to look him up, and wouldn't you know it, he only appeared in Exodus.

For the Collector's Club stuff, I do like the Blackrock Kreon. We should have had more actual human characters in the main line of Kre-o, but I digress.

I do like the Tarantulas figure also. Along with resembling its namesake, it also heavily reminds me of Sideways. This may be intentional, since both had ties to Unicron.

I like the Voyager Optimus Prime design... Well... The general attitude for me is that, I just got into Transformers collecting thingie (no movie line please) and it's so ****** hard to find Voyager Classics Optimus Prime. So, for me, the new Voyager OP is well, I'll take what's available. Third party in my country is way too expensive after currency conversion and shipping cost, so does Master Pieces.

AOE Hot Shot ... Hm potential repurpose for Cybertron hot shot? Looks OK but needs more yellow and red

Autobot tap out wrote:AOE Hot Shot ... Hm potential repurpose for Cybertron hot shot? Looks OK but needs more yellow and red

His red face indicates he's more directly based on G1 Tracks: