The Energon Pub

News Credits: 656 · Mon Jun 30, 2014 9:44 am

Sabrblade wrote:It's such a shame that that beautiful packaging had to be destroyed in order to get the toy out.

Mine's had its bubble knifed open, still looks very nice. Beast Wars had some sturdy packaging!

News Credits: 25 · Mon Jun 30, 2014 1:45 pm

So i've been looking around online, is it fair to say Botcon Cannonball has acute Gold Plastic syndrome, exacerbated by the Misassembly?

News Credits: 241 · Mon Jun 30, 2014 2:38 pm

SW's SilverHammer wrote:So i've been looking around online, is it fair to say Botcon Cannonball has acute Gold Plastic syndrome, exacerbated by the Misassembly?

What are you talking about? I find it highly doubtful he has GPS, as it takes years for it manifest and Hasbro has all but eliminated it by avoiding the types of plastic affected.

I will admit the Prime Ratchet has some rather precarious areas, most notably the hinges the windshield pieces are on.

News Credits: 25 · Mon Jun 30, 2014 2:47 pm

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:
SW's SilverHammer wrote:So i've been looking around online, is it fair to say Botcon Cannonball has acute Gold Plastic syndrome, exacerbated by the Misassembly?

What are you talking about? I find it highly doubtful he has GPS, as it takes years for it manifest and Hasbro has all but eliminated it by avoiding the types of plastic affected.

I will admit the Prime Ratchet has some rather precarious areas, most notably the hinges the windshield pieces are on.

ScottyP twitter wrote: Oh good GPS already on my @Botcon Cannonball. Ffs

Counterpunch Twitter wrote:My @BotCon Cannonball is breaking at one of his misassembled knees. This shouldn't happen. These figures are too expensive for this

Scotty's twitter

News Credits: 656 · Mon Jun 30, 2014 2:53 pm

^ Yep, and it was a very GPS-like crack. Just rotated the hip, nothing more or less, and a clean shatter for no apparent reason. All the gold on him feels weird and super cheap. Not exactly like the 90's-infamy gold but it's clearly got issues nonetheless.

News Credits: 241 · Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:02 pm

Huh, that's peculiar. But I wouldn't say it's GPS per se just because it's gold colored plastic. I've had PCC Skyburst and its repaint Darkstream break on me in much the same way, but the plastic was black.

It's not that I don't think it's GPS, it's just I hate it when people grab the worst case scenario from the get-go. It could simply be weak plastic or too big of a ball joint. >:oP

News Credits: 25 · Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:07 pm

Well, scotty, if you don't mind me asking, did the breakage have any of these symptoms of gps proper (from TFwiki)
GPS breaks often leave a powdery residue and shards of plastic (though not always), the result of the plastic actually physically crumbling.
GPS breakages don't need to involve any excess stress or force on a toy—simply handling a toy can cause the breakage.
GPS breaks often have rough, uneven edges with no stress lines around them. This is important—usually when plastic snaps it snaps cleanly (as is common with clear plastic), or it bends first (leaving a torn-off piece, or clear stresses around the break). If a break is uneven, with different colours and textures in it, yet there are no stress fractures around the wound, and especially if it leaves a powdery residue as well, it's almost certainly a GPS break.

News Credits: 656 · Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:09 pm

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Huh, that's peculiar. But I wouldn't say it's GPS per se just because it's gold colored plastic. I've had PCC Skyburst and its repaint Darkstream break on me in much the same way, but the plastic was black.

It's not that I don't think it's GPS, it's just I hate it when people grab the worst case scenario from the get-go. It could simply be weak plastic or too big of a ball joint. >:oP

As someone that's run into GPS plenty of times before, this was just like it. It wasn't a grab at straws or being overly negative, it's a, for now, assumption based on evidence. Time will tell though.

News Credits: 656 · Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:10 pm

SW's SilverHammer wrote:Well, scotty, if you don't mind me asking, did the breakage have any of these symptoms of gps proper

Yes.

News Credits: 3646 · Tue Jul 01, 2014 12:27 pm

ScottyP wrote:
JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Huh, that's peculiar. But I wouldn't say it's GPS per se just because it's gold colored plastic. I've had PCC Skyburst and its repaint Darkstream break on me in much the same way, but the plastic was black.

It's not that I don't think it's GPS, it's just I hate it when people grab the worst case scenario from the get-go. It could simply be weak plastic or too big of a ball joint. >:oP

As someone that's run into GPS plenty of times before, this was just like it. It wasn't a grab at straws or being overly negative, it's a, for now, assumption based on evidence. Time will tell though.

It looks and sounds like just a bad toy or a bad example. I had a clip on the black plastic of his backpack break as well so I already had to get an extra one from eBay. I thought that was odd but now that I see that you had a different piece break on him it looks like it's a case of poor plastic quality.

Gold plastic syndrome takes at least a few years before it becomes a problem. Transformers Star Wars Chewbacca was a perfect example. Initially it was fine, I thought we were past the GPS ordeal. I do his gallery a few years later and Chewwie's leg shatters. The "shattering" into little pieces is a big indicator of GPS whereas a crack is just poor plastic.

News Credits: 3646 · Tue Jul 01, 2014 12:30 pm

Other recent similar examples of breakage where GPS wasn't the culprit:

1. One of the yellow leg clips on IDW Generations Bumblebee snapped the first time I transformed him

2. The upper left leg ball joint sheared off on Generations Skids when I tried popping the legs off to do the leg swap.

I wouldn't even blame Fun Pub for this. Just seems like lesser quality plastic is being used.

News Credits: 3646 · Tue Jul 01, 2014 12:34 pm

SW's SilverHammer wrote:Scotty's twitter

If the issue is the crack in the upper leg there, that's just a regular plastic break. GPS would have shattered and the leg would no longer be attached to the ball joint. If it was GPS, the plastic wouldn't be bending at the split and a piece would have shattered off. Plus the age thing is the other issue (still waiting for HFTD Leader Class Starscream reports to start coming in one day).

Also the golden "swirls" are missing from Cannonball (which are absent from the pic and from my Cannonballs as well), where you can see them in the Chewbacca GPS pics.

News Credits: 3646 · Tue Jul 01, 2014 12:41 pm

One more pic for the GPS evidence book ...

This pic is a great example of a break that follows the swirl patterns in two different places.

News Credits: 656 · Wed Jul 02, 2014 10:04 am

Apparently you can't use GPS as a colloquialism for "garbage plastic that cracks for no reason in a similar manner but maybe not exactly like late 80s - early 00s gold colored plastic". K. >:oP

News Credits: 241 · Wed Jul 02, 2014 12:05 pm

ScottyP wrote:Apparently you can't use GPS as a colloquialism for "garbage plastic that cracks for no reason in a similar manner but maybe not exactly like late 80s - early 00s gold colored plastic". K. >:oP

All we're saying is plastic breaks can have a multitude of causes, and Gold Plastic Syndrome is a rather loaded one, given its inevitability and randomness, and the fact it can make a figure crumble just by looking at it funny. Besides, not all gold plastic is susceptible to GPS, but you may already know that.

Still, I would ask around and see if there are others who have similar problems with similar breaks. That's a sign that either genuine weak plastic or a mold defect is involved somewhere, then the cause can be investigated.

News Credits: 8 · Sat Jul 12, 2014 1:31 am

Midnight_Fox wrote:Very sad that Nightracer ended up on the Club's cutting room floor.

What nightracer? Assuming she was to be a TFSS release? What mold, did they say? (Presumably taking Zap's place?)

News Credits: 462 · Sat Jul 12, 2014 6:51 am

Flashwave wrote:
Midnight_Fox wrote:Very sad that Nightracer ended up on the Club's cutting room floor.

What nightracer? Assuming she was to be a TFSS release? What mold, did they say? (Presumably taking Zap's place?)

At the BotCon Retrospective Panel, they showed us 20 concepts for BotCon/Club figures that never came about. Nightracer, Flamewar, and a third black & green Decepticon fembot (whose name I didn't catch) from Animated Arcee was one of the 20 dropped proposals.

News Credits: 22 · Mon Jul 21, 2014 3:41 pm

Is this Loyal Subjects Ramjet?

Is he going to be for sale, or is this some sort of unfinished prototype? Considering all the white.

Tue Jul 22, 2014 7:31 am

Oh man....I always loved this mold, I have Optimus and Nemesis and Ultra Magnus in this mold. I really want this especially since I have the original Fire Guts God Ginrai on my shelf.

News Credits: 293 · Mon Jul 28, 2014 1:25 pm

if anyones interested, i just got an email notification that my iacon package has been sent. maybe this means theyve gotten around to us canadians now?

News Credits: 656 · Mon Jul 28, 2014 2:14 pm

Rodimus Prime wrote:Is this Loyal Subjects Ramjet?

Is he going to be for sale, or is this some sort of unfinished prototype? Considering all the white.

Their convention exclusives are for sale online https://www.theloyalsubjects.com/store/transformers

News Credits: 6188 · Wed Aug 20, 2014 2:22 pm

Chasing up a tip from fellow Seibertron.com member william-james88, we were able to track down the official BotCon solicit for the Diamond Edition Cover of the 2014 comic, featuring a nice homage to the 1986 Transformers Movie poster with the box set replacing the original cast - check out the art by Marcelo Matere and Thomas Deer below!

Story: Marty Isenberg
Artist Name(s): Hayato Sakamoto
Cover Artist(s): Marcelo Matere

Noble, wise, and loyal to the cause, the KNIGHTS OF CYBERTRON are steadfast in their protection of their homeworld. Any villainy that dare threaten the planet will be met with valiant courage, unwavering will, and Cybertron’s greatest warriors! All that and more will be tested soon enough though…

What remains of UNICRON has cast its shadow over CYBERTRON for years; a constant reminder to the inhabitants of the planet CYBERTRON of the war that almost destroyed their homeworld. Although he has been dormant for a long time, CAPTAIN CANNONBALL, SCORPONOK and the pirate crew of the STAR SEEKERS have arrived to change that. Hoping to use UNICRON's insatiable appetite to drain CYBERTRON dry of energon, the pirates may have underestimated the CHAOS BRINGER's own ambitions...

Featuring an amazing 1986 Transformers: The Movie homage cover by Transformers artist Marcelo Matere with exclusive content included as well!

News Credits: 1 · Wed Aug 20, 2014 2:43 pm

nostalgia

this is amazing i give credit to the people who made this

Wed Aug 20, 2014 8:56 pm

That is just amazing.

News Credits: 462 · Thu Aug 21, 2014 12:11 am

That description is full of it. They're not the "Knights of Cybertron", Unicron isn't brought online as this text would suggest, Scorponok is no one of importance in this comic, and the planet-moded Unicron in the artwork is purely false advertisement.

Still looks awesome, though.