The Energon Pub

The Armada Megatron mold is a classic, and it looks great on your shelf as Galvatron!

A good day to all.

In this post i am highlighting the DNA kit for ROTB Studio Series Optimus Prime. Overall not a bad kit for this OP. Trying to keep this short so to speak but in the photos i tried to do comparison or a before and after look as i put the pieces on. I would like to point out though when putting on the new shoulder parts, you have to make sure you get that one piece on really good. Otherwise the shoulder halves will not come together properly to secure with the screws.
The rest of the pieces are easy enough to switch out. Of course, the weapons have a better look and the arm cannons are more screen accurate.
The Noah/exo-suit fits well with my ROTB diorama. I will add some more paint details to him but for my application/purpose it works for me.

It is a decent upgrade set in my opinion. It gives you a more accurate look for bot mode and weapons while giving you playability and posing.

I will say the new shoulder pieces didn’t affect the sticker set i had applied from Toyhax, which of course was good.

Enjoy,


SGM

Moving onto some other updates. I decided to pull my Armada Powerlinx OP out of the display case and transform him into is combined mode. Then i placed him on the one case with my other OPs. I took a photo of both releases just for fun. I realized at some point, i ended up with a second OP, which was a few years back. The one i purchased back when he was released i put in the display case with the Armada line i have. The other sits with the rest of my OPs. Maybe at some point i will sell that one, who knows.

Lastly, talking about the Dinobots again.. With my recent purchase of Snarl, i decided to search for Sludge. I had found some really decent prices on eBay. I was able to snag a copy for 32 bucks, but add shipping and wonderful tax it was 42. Now i am not complaining by any means, i am very lucky at the price. So now I have them posed on top of my one display case that has all my Titans and Commander class type characters. I do have Swoop preordered and hopefully in the near future i will purchase Slag. If I'm not mistaken next October, Grimlock will be rereleased, while that will be awhile to wait for, it’s all good. Doubt i will find him for a decent price but you never know. I will have them all at some point. I am beyond late to the party in having these guys but it’s all good.

Wherever you may be, have a good day,

SGM

Hope everyone is doing well in your part of the world. Due to personal reasons, back yard DYI and inside house type DYI i haven't done much with my ROTB scene nor anything big with my collection. However, a small update, i was able to purchase Slug/Slag, which many of us i would think refer to him as Slag, from Hasbro Pulse. I have the trio displayed with my Titans/CW Devi and others. Again, i am late to the party in snagging these guys but I have three of them now. Unless i get lucky to find a loose Grimlock for a decent price, i will be holding out for the repack next year. It will seem like waiting for Swoop, but i will have them all at some point.

As always, appreciate those who check out my collection,

SGM

A small update for my SS86 Slag. I purchased an upgrade kit for him, that included the red horns and gap fillers for the feet. I did get lucky with this purchased, i got everything for 10 bucks. I had the red horns just by themselves on my watchlist and then were 10 bucks. A lucky win on eBay. Back to this set. An easy switch out for the red horns, they fit perfectly. I will say the pieces for the feet, they are snug. Might be hard to tell from the photos, they color is alittle off, but in robot mode, you can’t see it and i good with it.

The red horns look so much better, giving him a similar look to his G1 toy.

Enjoy,

SGM

The main highlight on this post is for the lights i was able to add this month to my display cases. You can see from the box what they are. My wife ordered them off Amazon, on top of being on sale, she had a 10% discount to apply. I think these are normal $49.99, on sale for $29.99. They are pricey to a degree but for my purpose and saving money on not buying a crap load of batteries, they have saved me some money.
What i was able to do was finish my third case, lighting up my bottom two shelves, BOTCON/TFCC and the Classics/RTS/Universe. Then for my fourth case i was able to light up the 07 movie shelf, ROTF, DOTM, and my FOC/WFC shelf. This display case is primarily my movie case and the only shelf i wasnt able to put lights on was the fourth shelf, which will eventually have my ROTB diorama on it. Which i am still working on or trying to work on. I am waiting though until i get further along with putting it in that case.
That leaves that shelf and my shorter display case (three shelves) to get some lights up. Just nice to finally get more shelves lit up.

Moving onto to collection type stuff. I finally made the purchase of the outer shell Snarler. That would leave finding a tail and those nice expensive shoulder pads. Which don't come up for sale that much but still pricey.

I will have another update in a couple of days, i have some more G1 stuff Ive purchased.

Until then, thank you for checking out my photos,

SGM

My latest G1 additions to the collection are from the 1985 St. Louis McDonalds Happy Meal Toys, and from 1988 Assortment 1, Pretender Waverider.

I now have six of those Happy Meal Toys, three different molds. The Bumblebee mold i now have four of the possible six color variations. They came out with four molds, six different color variants each. I will say i have seen an increase of these on eBay. Before, you might find one or two but there is a few listed now.. In regards to buying these, i honestly go for the better deal, less expensive. It just so happens i seem to find the BB mold at a good deal, or offered a deal. The one i bought is on the far right in the photo. I purchased him for 45 bucks. I did see another listing of the same one, for over 100 bucks. It just depends on timing and that good deal.. Will I ever have them all, heck no. It is good to add one whenever i can.. I have my allotment so to speak i spend every month and i try to even out what i am trying to find or will purchase.

As i have said in the past, i never intended on going down the “Pretender” road. Then i came across those inner robots a few months back and there you go.. I have set a limit sort of on spending, plus space in the display case. I figure i will eventually buy all of Assortment 1, giving me 3 bots and 3 cons. I have two of each now. Moving onto the Pretender Beast, i have Snarler now, so i will choose between Catilla or Chainclaw to add. I do have Roadgrabber, so Gunrunner will be added later on. With that, i will call it done. Back to Waverider, in the photo he doesn’t have his helmet but yesterday i got that part in the mail and his instruction booklet.

Lastly, not G1 but something new. I know its the easiest way to buy new releases on line.. Recently, there just hasn’t been anything that stands out.. Again, i have to play devil advocate, i really dont have the space for that many new ones. Going back to buying online, I still like the “hunt” of collecting in the stores. While it seems to be dying out, mainly due to stores and their wonderful stocking of the shelves. I dont stop at the stores that often anymore, but i do look and sometimes i come across something new. Case in point, Legacy United Silverbolt. I am a sucker for Beast War type guys. I dont buy them all per say but some catch my eye.. So seeing this guy in person he was an easy buy in my opinion. I do love the face sculpt and i actually like him better in his beast mode.. Good colors to me. So he will join the top shelf of my one case for now.

Have a good day and always, thank you for checking out my photos,

SGM

Ok, this is clearly not anything related to Transformers but wanted to show it off.. My first and only dip into the Marvel world with the recent purchase of Deadpool. I initially preordered it from Hasbro Pulse and just received it about a week ago.. I do love the character especially from the first movie. Not sure were he will be displayed, but he is chilling out on OPs trailer.. Same pose as in the photo I’ve included.


SGM

The last two days i have found myself stopping by the Target we have in Springfield (MO). Only reason, there is a Home Depot near by and i have had to buy paint the last two days for a project i am doing.. Yesterday’s visit, it was a horrible scene, nothing on the shelves but maybe six Studio Series ROTB Primals. To boot, the orginal release and repack. Which i sort of got excited in the fact that the Concept Megatron has finally made it out. So today i thought what the heck and stop by again. Well, they must have put more out of those two, sadly, just more Primals on the shelf. Kind of hidden or mixed in with other things, i did spot Sandstorm and Tigerhawk, first time seeing both in the store..

I got excited of course but became even more excited when i checked out Tigerhawk.. I did not see any sales tags nor do i own a red card. So when I scanned him, $34.99 popped up. I was like WTH over. Not sure if that was a mistake but what a hell of a discount. No clue if Sandstorm was tagged the same way, I passed on him.. That certainly made my day.

SGM

My newest addition comes from the 3P world.. Yesterday i received 01 Studio Overmind, their verison of Energon Unicron.

Someone might be able to tell in one photo i forgot to fold out the tip of his feet but messing around with him more today i realized that. As you can see in the photos he comes with two versions of his rings.

I have not check out his full range of posing but my copy has tight joints, a lot of ratchets. The range of motion for the head is limited, but his mouth can open and close.

The biggest issue is transforming him into planet mode. It is not fun. For those who have the first release they came out with or watch reviews, it isn’t pleasant. At least to me. Part of it, instructions could be better (like many can be) however, i will say some of it was on me. Once in planet mode, pretty amazing.. Unfortunately, unless i missed something, this version does not allow you to mount his rings in planet mode. The only thing you have is the trumpets to set it on. That is a downer but for me, he will stay in robot mode. Back to the transformation, i would like to think it wont take as long but there is a lot of panels to clip together.. As like the original release there is issues with one set of panels not locking into place.

Overall, i am happy with him.. I always like this variant from the Energon series, which i have included for a comparison. I dont buy 3P stuff that much if not at all, mainly at conventions and thats been a hot minute, so definitely something new. I have no clue where he will go but I will have to find a place somewhere.

Enjoy,

SGM

An interesting find that my wife came across while visiting the grandkids in Portland, Oregon. While walking through a flea market she came across one of the two jumbo collector cases that was available back in the day. This one happens to be the one that seems to be the hardest to find so to speak and for a decent price.
For the price (22 dollars) the red display shelves inside were broken, which I was able to glue and the outside has some spots but overall for the price and the rest of its condition, very happy with this.

I do have to be thankful for a wife who supports my collecting. Although she gives me a hard time about space and needing to find an end to collecting, she is always keeping an eye for me, especially for G1 stuff.

Have a good week,

SGM

Been a bit on my end, but those are some good updates! shelf lights are a nice touch

As always, appreciate it D. Hope things have been going well on your end.

SGM

SGMLordMirage wrote:As always, appreciate it D. Hope things have been going well on your end.

SGM

Things have been well, hope they are on your end as well

Something old and something new added to the collection.

First up, yesterday i received the tail and right shoulder pad for Snarler, leaving the left shoulder pad to be 100%. Next for Vroom, the smaller robot, i got his weapon in. That leaves the three hardest pieces to find, in my book. It will just take some time and having patience but its all good..

Moving onto new stuff. Last week i found the BB Movie concept Megatron at the local Target. I have added him to my Multiverse Space Bridge scene, for now. Really neat figure, glad i got him. On that same day, i finally picked up Animated OP. I had passed on him previously but decided to buy him.. Now he sits among my other OP figures.

Something different, i added the retro collection Cobra Commander to my GI JOE/Transformer crossover shelf.. A nice added touch there as i did the same with the HISS tank driver.

I should get the upgrade kit for Snarl this week but whenever that does arrive i will be posting photos of that.

Otherwise that is it for now, have a good day,

SGM

Always love to see some new pretender love, nice job on the finds!

I am trying to show some of that love toward them for sure.. I dont want to get to crazy into buying a lot of them but i am enjoying collecting up the ones i have so far.

Pretenders and Powermasters are my 2 primary G1 areas of love

They are certainly distinct in their own right. I'm definitely glad I decided to add Pretenders to the collection.

have to try this again.. Earlier i tried to do this and good ol internet issues, haha.

So i did some rearranging and cleaning of the top of my display cases. I realize there is not a before and after photo for the top of cases but wanted to show their current spots.
The second case on top is my random Beast Wars, Beast Machines, G2 and others. I love them all but having Night Scream there in the middle is perfect. Another note is my G2 OP that is still sealed. I mean the box has some damage and looks faded in a couple of spots but otherwise sealed up. Amazing enough the electronics still work.

The third case with all the Energon/Cybertron/Universe on top, i didn't take another photo of them after i rearranged them but here they are again. Then on top of the 4th case, i mixed around the movie guys.

The thing about cleaning and rearranging, you sometimes end up with a better display of them. It is hard to explain. That even happened when i moved other series, they all just fell int place and look better than before.
In the one case i moved up my BOTCON/TFCC, Classics/Universe/RTS, and on the bottom is WFC/FOC series. Then back to the move case, the fourth shelf now has my Titans return with my MP/3P/others on the bottom.
That leaves all my dioramas in one case. Once i get back to working on my ROTB scene, i will pull it out from that case. I am very happy to have all my scenes in one case, that is much better.

Then lastly, two random shots of my room from different angle.

As always thank yo for checking out my collection,


SGM

Something not Transformers. I had purchased from the Black Series collection, Clone Trooper (Halloween Edition) from Hasbro Pulse.
Pretty cool looking Trooper overall. It would have been cool if it had the ability to glow in the dark. I know it is a Halloween themed, but wish it still came with a blaster. Anyways, as you can see in the photos, the Trooper comes wrapped in Halloween theme paper. The accessories come in a white package that you have to tear to open.


Enjoy,

SGM

Back to Transformer stuff. Today while me and the wife was out, we stoped by the local Hallmark store. I decided to buy the Keepsake Holiday Optimus Prime.
From the photos you can see how he is size wise with the rest of them.
I will say though, it’s been three years now since we got a G1 character ornament, which was Shockwave. Would be nice to get back on that train. I get it, we got the Funko Pop OP, then ROTB Primal but still, i think a lot of us would want another new G1 cartoon character as an ornament.

Anyways, this Holiday OP isn’t that bad.

SGM

Good news for my G1 1984 shelf. I recently purchased a pretty decent looking Jazz. The discoloration is minimal and seems to be too wobbly in robot mode. The big bonus is that it happens to be a Takara circle stamp version. It didnt come wit any weapons but i do have a rifle and missile launcher on the way, leaving the missiles. That would leave Starscream for my 84 shelf.

Then moving onto the Pretenders, got a great deal on the Skullgrin shell. That would complete assortment/series 1 for 1988. I just have to get all his accessories to include his inner robot. In the photo i just did a comparison with the newer release.

Lastly, i decided to do a video of my collection and post it on YouTube. I am not the greatest and obviously cold have done it differently. I will also say it’s a tad long, around 20 minutes. I tried my best but with all what i had. Plus, i wasn't trying to rush through each case but perhaps done less talking at the beginning. I was trying to explain how i began collecting but hopefully people will still enjoy some of it. If you watch it, be gentle on the remarks .

https://youtu.be/MpbGXyPC1f8


Enjoy,

SGM

On the upgrade home front i recently bought a larger sword for Swoop and for Tigerhawk, i got a mask for him. I personally like the look of the larger swords with these guys. I do have one coming for Slag so that would complete gang, minus Grimlock because i dont have him. I do hope next month to by the upgraded gun for Sludge.

The mask piece for Tigerhawk, fits great on the shoulder, i know the color is lighter but i am good with that.

In addition, i decided to add some red paint to Swoop.. If you notice on the outside portion of his ankles, I continued the red all the the way down. Then on his missile launchers i painted that strip red. Small added details but i think it looks much better.


SGM

Studio Overmind looks crazy! What's your main Unicron? I'm thinking of getting the old Amazon G1 redeco of the Armada figure.