The Energon Pub

Hey guys, just a short entreaty to one of my favorite aspects of the TF universe: the combiners.

TFC Herc was a big hit (well, I loved it anyways...one of the sets I never had as a kid but always wanted, now I have one the size of a toddler!), and we see teaser images all the time of "new" or "planned" projects, some of which never come to fruition (P.S...what ever happend to the TFC dino-combiner that caused such a stir back in sep/oct last year?).

Anyways, I would love to see more of the same. The detail, transformation, articulation, and size of the overall gestalt for Herc to me was a dream come true.

A few caveats:
1. I dont necessarily need "G1 accurate". Lets face it, alot of our toys from the early- to mid-80's SUCKED...what we are actually collecting is the 'nostalgia'. It's like remembering how cool Voltron or He-Man was as a kid, then watching it again as an adult (and I have them all, so believe me) and realizing how poor the animation was...not to mention the storyline.
However, I dont want a total throw-away to be called "Devastator" either...like that rainbow-colored construction-site pile of garbage marketed from that terribad movie...ugh.
FP's insecticon homages were a perfect example of what I consider "close enough for nostalgia, updated enough to actually be cool".

2. I DO believe in relative scale...which is one of the reasons I actually DON'T like G1 version combiners...the individual robots were purposefully made tiny and without detail and the gestalt ended up being just over 1.5X larger than a standard G1. "Gestalt" should mean "Frikkin' HUGE"...the way the characters always appeared in animation. A "combiner" whose individual robots are actually midgets with stick arms and legs and then combine to form a robot barely taller the OP is a big phat fail IMHO.

4. Hasbro is Garbage. Capital "G". As far as I am concerned, they sold out onto the Michael Bay train to reproduce cheap and numerous OP and Bumblebee movie styles/repaints Ad Nauseum simply for the cashflow, and have therefore lost my faith as a toy company being able to provide me with the sense of nostalgia my habit fulfills. Most of their "non-movie" related products are poorly made/designed, although I will occasionally pick up a rare Hasbro figure to fulfill an empty slot on my TF roster.

That being said, I would love to see the TFC trend of true Gestalts continue, and although I know alot of people get butthurt about it, I happen to be lucky enough to have a job were I can actually afford to feed my addiction, and would gladly shell out for a shelf full of Herc-sized Superion, Menasor, Bruticus, and Defensor (most of the other combiners I consider "2nd-gen" and dont really "do" it for me).
I would love to see an Aerialbot team whose individual robots are the same size as the Seeker molds, to make a true Superion on par with Herc. This is one of the two combiner sets I actually had as a kid (along with the protectobots) and has a special place as one of my favorites.
I would love to see a Stunticon set where Motormaster is roughly on par with my Henkei Prime and his FP trailer. I remember the original MoMa was a small-ish little thing (about half to a third the size of G1 Prime)...which was always disappointing to me because they were supposed to be in heated enemies and vying to be the "Road King". Making the other 4 the size of say, molds of classics Sunstreaker/Sideswipe would make them a totally AWESOME collection.

And yeah, I do love my ROTF Bruticus (but only because the FP upgrades made him and acceptable toy, once again: Curse You Hasbro!), but I would be willing to relegate him to JV status if I had a chance to get a set of combaticons where the individual bots are bigger (Swindle perhaps a Hound remold?), and the combined form is actually "Gestalt".

Also, what ever happend to the TFC dino-combiner that was so touted in Sep/Oct last year? Cancelled...postponed due to the Herc project...?? Would have loved to have them, not necessarily as a combiner (although that makes a sweet bonus) but because Good Ol' Hasbroke refuses to see fit to offer us any decent alternatives.

Well, aside from the Maketoys Devastator that's coming out. There has been hints and rumours that FansProject is working on a Menasor, TFC Toys may be planning a Computron and Abominus, and just recently Maketoys put out a shillouette of a Computron. TFCon last year showed a hint that someone is doing a Predaking, but we haven't heard squat on that all year, so I don't know if that's going to happen or not.

So I don't think you have anything to worry about, more combiners wil be showing up sooner or later.

What happened to #3?

I can't blame Hasbro for trying to make money in harsh economic times, even if it means making things I don't personally like. That's why 3rd parties exist as an alternative for those of us who can afford them

I'm all for more combiners, but ... more affordable than Herc, plz. I'll only pay that much for a combiner ONCE.

MAn, a 3rd party Menasor that looks like IDW's version would rock!