The Energon Pub

Pre-ordered!

For me there's been more exciting news from FansProject in the last day than from the whole of Botcon!!!

Preordered!

Preordered this and Darkside Soundwave together. That's going to be a FUN order to open up.

I guess I'm alone in thinking that this thing looks absolutely horrible and nothing like his G1 inspiration? The style and details don't match, the head's all wrong (for both the bat and the bot) and the wings are the wrong color. It also looks like another TF with an eating disorder just like the previous FP not-Headmasters. I have got to be missing something here because everyone else seems to love FP's not-Headmasters. I just don't see it. If Has/Tak did the HM's like this, I'd expect most of you to crap all over them, but FP does it and receives nothing but praise.

xyl360 wrote:I guess I'm alone in thinking that this thing looks absolutely horrible and nothing like his G1 inspiration? The style and details don't match, the head's all wrong (for both the bat and the bot) and the wings are the wrong color. It also looks like another TF with an eating disorder just like the previous FP not-Headmasters. I have got to be missing something here because everyone else seems to love FP's not-Headmasters. I just don't see it. If Has/Tak did the HM's like this, I'd expect most of you to crap all over them, but FP does it and receives nothing but praise.

They receive praise because their renditions are great

Outside the silly head, I don't see the problem with things you described. They're lean, but eating disorder? C'mon now.

megatronus wrote:

xyl360 wrote:I guess I'm alone in thinking that this thing looks absolutely horrible and nothing like his G1 inspiration? The style and details don't match, the head's all wrong (for both the bat and the bot) and the wings are the wrong color. It also looks like another TF with an eating disorder just like the previous FP not-Headmasters. I have got to be missing something here because everyone else seems to love FP's not-Headmasters. I just don't see it. If Has/Tak did the HM's like this, I'd expect most of you to crap all over them, but FP does it and receives nothing but praise.

They receive praise because their renditions are great

Outside the silly head, I don't see the problem with things you described. They're lean, but eating disorder? C'mon now.

I mean compared to what the Headmasters originally looked like (at least in the Rebirth). They were big and blocky in the show, but these things are scrawny as hell. They're even smaller than the G1 toy counterparts. People freak out when a figure is 1" too short or just a bit too fat, but these guys look almost nothing like what they're supposed to be homaging yet they can do no wrong because it's FP. I really don't get it.

xyl360 wrote:I mean compared to what the Headmasters originally looked like (at least in the Rebirth). They were big and blocky in the show, but these things are scrawny as hell. They're even smaller than the G1 toy counterparts. People freak out when a figure is 1" too short or just a bit too fat, but these guys look almost nothing like what they're supposed to be homaging yet they can do no wrong because it's FP. I really don't get it.

No one's saying FP can do no wrong. But as updated Headmasters go, they work. Well. They're essentially very tall deluxes, which, given their size in the cartoon, is great for Classics. I think this whole G1 argument you're making is a red herring.

But for the sake of argument: Smart Robin is slightly shorter than G1 Brainstorm. Sigma is about the same height as G1 Mindwipe. Quad U is slightly taller than G1 Weirdwolf. Yes, G1 Chromedome is pretty big, but it doesn't make all that much sense to upscale Code or the Function X figures to that size. So I'm not sure what you want - Headmaster updates that are the size of G1? That sounds an awful lot like our good friend T.

As far as Sigma being too thin? Here's my response:

megatronus wrote:

xyl360 wrote:I mean compared to what the Headmasters originally looked like (at least in the Rebirth). They were big and blocky in the show, but these things are scrawny as hell. They're even smaller than the G1 toy counterparts. People freak out when a figure is 1" too short or just a bit too fat, but these guys look almost nothing like what they're supposed to be homaging yet they can do no wrong because it's FP. I really don't get it.

No one's saying FP can do no wrong. But as updated Headmasters go, they work. Well. They're essentially very tall deluxes, which, given their size in the cartoon, is great for Classics. I think this whole G1 argument you're making is a red herring.

But for the sake of argument: Smart Robin is slightly shorter than G1 Brainstorm. Sigma is about the same height as G1 Mindwipe. Quad U is slightly taller than G1 Weirdwolf. Yes, G1 Chromedome is pretty big, but it doesn't make all that much sense to upscale Code or the Function X figures to that size. So I'm not sure what you want - Headmaster updates that are the size of G1? That sounds an awful lot like our good friend T.

As far as Sigma being too thin? Here's my response:

It's not really a scale thing. My issue with their size is all about the proportions. Like I said, they look scrawny to me. Every time I can recall seeing any of the Headmasters (other than Arcee, of course) in the G1 cartoon (including that image above, though I'm not certain it's not from the Japanese Headmasters series), I recall them being big and blocky bots. Like as much or even more so than the likes of Optimus Prime so when I see these very thinly proportioned, odd looking bots with very different styles/details compared to the G1 characters they're supposed to represent, I just can't understand the craze over them. I mean look at toys like Maniaking and how each and every detail (aside from the wrists, cuz' that's more about function than form ) was scrutinized down to the length of the horns on his head and the color/amount of color on his cannon or the placement of the red bits on Hegemon or even the appearance of the forearms on Hercules. Those were very minor details/deviations compared to what FP does with their Function X line, yet they totally get away with it without so much as a peep unless it's from me. It just doesn't make any sense. Maybe I am blind, but these Function X figures for the most part hold little more than a passing resemblance to the characters they supposedly represent.

You're definitely entitled to think that. I actually liked the forearm treads on Hercules, and the overall deco of Hegemon. Maniaking I have more issues with. But the recolor is gorgeous, so I've fallen to temptation...

At any rate, there's a distinction, I think, between representation and reinvention. All of the above figures are definitely more representations to me, whereas FP has basically reinvented the Headmasters in the Function X line. I also think it helps that people tend to be waaaaay more attached to Devastator, Megatron, and Galvatron because those are characters we all grew up with. Americans/Europeans were by and large exposed to Headmasters as adults, so I think the childhood attachment is less pronounced, and the leeway for deviation much greater. That's my speculation, anyway.

megatronus wrote:You're definitely entitled to think that. I actually liked the forearm treads on Hercules, and the overall deco of Hegemon. Maniaking I have more issues with. But the recolor is gorgeous, so I've fallen to temptation...

I actually agree on all of those points (still on the fence with Maniaking, but I am soooo tempted to pull the trigger on a preorder ). The point I was making is that the same folks who complained about those exact issues are amongst the same group singing the praises of FP on their Function X line, so I can't make sense of it unless it's some sort of strange, blind brand loyalty.

megatronus wrote:At any rate, there's a distinction, I think, between representation and reinvention. All of the above figures are definitely more representations to me, whereas FP has basically reinvented the Headmasters in the Function X line. I also think it helps that people tend to be waaaaay more attached to Devastator, Megatron, and Galvatron because those are characters we all grew up with. Americans/Europeans were by and large exposed to Headmasters as adults, so I think the childhood attachment is less pronounced, and the leeway for deviation much greater. That's my speculation, anyway.

Oh yes, I agree with you there, but when a company like Planet X comes along and does the same thing with the Dinobots (making them too much like the games or different in scale), or SXS does 'not-so-mini' (though more realistic) mini-bots, they get crapped on for it and people buy iGear's instead.

As for childhood attachment, maybe that's the real issue. I AM attached to the Headmasters and Targetmasters because they appeared in the later stages of G1 and had better bot modes for the most part than their Diaclone etc. predecessors thanks to the fact that they needn't have perfectly realistic alt modes, thus their bot modes were blocky (like on the show for most G1 TFs) and they actually had 2 legs (unlike many of the earlier toys which either had 1 solid lower body or legs that 'split' with connecting bars in the middle).

To run through the list, here's what I came up with in regards to X-04 compared to its G1 counterpart:

1. brown wings - FP's are black and pink
2. brown bat head - FP's is pink with black details
3. silver circle details on front of bat mode/sides of arms - FP's are black and there's more of them
4. red eyes/visor optics in bot mode - FP's are translucent green
5. red eyes in bat mode - FP's appear to be green or white as far as I can tell
6. purple rectangular chest (bot mode) - FP's is black and mostly triangular with silver detailing
7. transparent red rectangular chest (bat mode) - FP's is black with green detailing and no discernable 'rectangle'
8. 'upside-down' type wings in bot mode - FP's wings are right-side-up (though in there defense, it's possible that they can be rotated, though I've not seen that yet)
9. square head (like most/all Headmasters) - FP's is narrow at the base, wider at the top and has elf ears
10. thick/square waist in bot mode - FP's is very skinny
11. arms are thick and very 'square' - FP's are much skinnier in proportion to his body and have cicular details at the tops of the shoulders rather than on the outside
12. legs are mostly purple and 'square' - FP's are mostly covered in transluscent green plastic and white/light green details, upper legs are skinny

In bot mode, FP's looks more like a Cybertronian Tigerhawk or something to me than it does Mindwipe. The color scheme (which is still way off in most areas), the fact that he's a bat and the fact that he's a Headmaster are about the only things the FP version has in common with the original versions of the character as far as I can tell.

Don't get me wrong, some of FP's efforts have been pretty decent. While I still felt he was too tiny and a bit bland, their 'Code' was MUCH closer to his G1 self than their later efforts have been. But this not-Mindwipe is the most off of the lot so far and he's definitely NOT-Mindwipe.

But perhaps you're correct and it's a simple matter of people being far less picky due to less attachment to the characters/their G1 representations. I certainly can't offer up a better explanation other than blind brand loyalty (something we 3rd party folks don't often afford Has/Tak).

Well, for me it wasn't just that we finally had gotten some headmasters (and that goofy pink Animated one or the Armada Sideways character don't count in my book). I own each of the FP headmasters, and while I like them as homages, I actually gush over the transformation of each. I don't think I have fiddled with any 3P products more than FP's headmasters. They are fun to transform. It's just that simple.

(And it doesn't hurt that I have been very impressed with FP since City Commander, Aerialbots, Bruticus, Protector, and most especially the exclusive I got for donating to the Red Cross after the Earthquake/Tsunami disaster that hit Japan [causing the nuke meltdown at Fukushima]. This does, indeed, cause a bias in my opinions of their stuff, I have to admit.)

Agamemnon wrote:Well, for me it wasn't just that we finally had gotten some headmasters (and that goofy pink Animated one or the Armada Sideways character don't count in my book). I own each of the FP headmasters, and while I like them as homages, I actually gush over the transformation of each. I don't think I have fiddled with any 3P products more than FP's headmasters. They are fun to transform. It's just that simple.

(And it doesn't hurt that I have been very impressed with FP since City Commander, Aerialbots, Bruticus, Protector, and most especially the exclusive I got for donating to the Red Cross after the Earthquake/Tsunami disaster that hit Japan [causing the nuke meltdown at Fukushima]. This does, indeed, cause a bias in my opinions of their stuff, I have to admit.)

Yeah, I have heard great things about their transformations so I can see that going a long way with some collectors. Personally though, it's all about the display for me. Transformation is fun and will definitely cause me to fiddle with my figures more if they're fun to mess with (like the current MPs and some of my Classics etc.), but when it comes down to it, what matters most to me is how they look on the shelf.

I've actually had quite a few QC issues and problems with transformation with quite a few of FP's products, although admittedly the only full figures of theirs that I have are Warbot Defender and the Stunticons (all of which are somewhat notorious for poor/overly complex transformations with some 'scary' parts to boot). I've also seen the problems with their not-Bruticus first-hand where the fingers like to pop off/break/become loose and the shoulder clips crack (even though it's been in combined form since I first unboxed it and I don't stress it by moving the arms or messing with it). But aside from the Stunticons, those are all older figures/add-ons and I have heard that their quality has improved substantially since then so I can't judge their current offerings based on those experiences. I guess it just confuses me seeing these 'homages' that appear (to me at least) to be so far off the mark getting so many positive reviews and accolades from the fanbase. Then again, there are certainly other factors involved such as my lack of attention to the comics and the Japanese continuity for the most part, which definitely skews my perception of the 'proper' appearance for these and other characters.

robotmel wrote::D

10616443_10152680277618398_7259991180737413280_n_1409931879.jpg

The bot hands on the alt mode shoulders look really bad (conspicuous) in this pic.

Via Daimchoc/TFW/WeiRen

The alt mode looks much better flying than it does standing up.

megatronus wrote:You're definitely entitled to think that. I actually liked the forearm treads on Hercules, and the overall deco of Hegemon. Maniaking I have more issues with. But the recolor is gorgeous, so I've fallen to temptation...

At any rate, there's a distinction, I think, between representation and reinvention. All of the above figures are definitely more representations to me, whereas FP has basically reinvented the Headmasters in the Function X line. I also think it helps that people tend to be waaaaay more attached to Devastator, Megatron, and Galvatron because those are characters we all grew up with. Americans/Europeans were by and large exposed to Headmasters as adults, so I think the childhood attachment is less pronounced, and the leeway for deviation much greater. That's my speculation, anyway.

I think younhit the nail on the head here. For me indont have an attachment to the headmasters in any way. But there are core characters (seekers, megs, prime,certsin combiners that I had as a kid who are central to the lore for me. I could never accept a third party version of these characters. Headmasters though I say go for it and let them put their spin on it. I love this line.

just to keep us

Man, the more I see that bat mode (not to be confused with bot mode), the more I'm convinced Fansproject could have done a much, much better job on it. The robot mode is sleek as hell, and the wings are terrific, but he's the weakest of the 4. I'm still getting him, since he makes the cut, but barely.

megatronus wrote:Man, the more I see that bat mode (not to be confused with bot mode), the more I'm convinced Fansproject could have done a much, much better job on it. The robot mode is sleek as hell, and the wings are terrific, but he's the weakest of the 4. I'm still getting him, since he makes the cut, but barely.

Yep totally agree .

He looks a little basic and lazy in design compared to the other 3 but i won't let that take away the fact he will be just as quality as the rest .

I'm collecting all of this FX line it's by far one of if not the best 3rdp line to date .

Loving those shotguns and crucifix detailing!

megatronus wrote:Loving those shotguns and crucifix detailing!

Arent vampires supposed to be terrified of crucifixes ? Somehow I get the feeling folklore got twisted in chinese translation.

These two look really good together

Yep more images of Sigma L but here's some cool bat mode pics .