The Energon Pub

First it was War For Cybertron Cliffjumper, and now it is a Skull that grins. Lately, Hasbro's instructions have been hinting away at future repaints of a figure. We already know that Darkmount (Straxus) is going to get a repaint/remold into Skullgrin, now with his instructions online at Hasbro, we get a look at the figure's head!



Keep it at Seibertron.com for the latest Transformers toy news on the net!

Heh, my Lockdown instructions had Axor in them, complete with the axe instead of a hook...

In this case, putting sort of a skull head on it is not realy changing much... I hope the paint job does wonders...

gotta admit, I was disappointed when hearing about this. Skullgrin is one of my childhood Decepticons, so it would've been nice if he wasn't just Straxus with a new coat of paint. Probably won't get him, but we'll see what this guy looks like.

well, I was hoping for something more akin to the character model for Skullgrin's Japanese counterpart Dauros from Masterforce, however, beggars can't be choosers when it comes to Skullgrin toys...

Cool, I like these little teasers they keep giving us.

Might pick this guy up based on this, but it'll depend on the deco. The head was the main thing holding me back from Darkmount, even though I know that's what he's supposed to look like.

**** sold. Skullgrin is one of my favorites. I hope he's just purple and grey with a white skull like face with purple eyes. That would be awesome.

Sold to me already! I just picked up Pretender Skullgrin recently from a flea market! I had him when I was a kid but he got broken and lost. Now I have him again AND I will have an updated version in a badass new tank form! I'm loving this year in transformers.

Already he seems more popular thatn Dark Mount, but if Skullgrin is painted G1 style, then he is bought on site....

i most likely pick up straxus i dont like him tha much where i would buy again as repaint

Yeah, this stylized drawing doesn't do it justice. It looked great at Botcon. Totally SOLD!

Nice !!! I saw this image at Botcon. But they were acting all top secret talking about no pictures or they would take your entrance ID. You think they were plans for a nuclear powered jet fighter...SHEEEESH !!! They should have been like take all the pictures you want and let those 3rd party companies know what we got comin for their ass !!! LOL

That's funny.

I just decided to do a custom of him from a completely different mold.

Dai_Ceefax wrote:well, I was hoping for something more akin to the character model for Skullgrin's Japanese counterpart Dauros from Masterforce, however, beggars can't be choosers when it comes to Skullgrin toys...

But with the wide array of Skullgrin figures available, why would you. . . .Ooooohhhhh, I get it.
I'm looking forward to SKullgrin.

I'm glad to see he's got a new head. But until we get more than a line drawing, can't say much about him. Still, probably gonna get him.

I like the mold, but I'm not crazy about the blue paint job, so maybe I'll pass on Darkmount and just wait for Skullgrin.

GuyIncognito wrote:I like the mold, but I'm not crazy about the blue paint job, so maybe I'll pass on Darkmount and just wait for Skullgrin.

Odd, I find the tank mode unsuitable for Skullgrin and more befitting Straxus/Darkmount. I'm passing on either, as I haven't read the comics enough (I only have like 2 Dutch issues).

I guess I need to see a pix of this before I pass judgment..

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:I like the mold, but I'm not crazy about the blue paint job, so maybe I'll pass on Darkmount and just wait for Skullgrin.

Odd, I find the tank mode unsuitable for Skullgrin and more befitting Straxus/Darkmount. I'm passing on either, as I haven't read the comics enough (I only have like 2 Dutch issues).

Like, this particular tank mode, or a tank mode in general? Cause Skullgrin was a tank. I haven't seen a Darkmount in real life yet, so I can't comment on how this particular tank actually looks, but a tank seems fitting for Skullgrin. Better than a movie-verse Skullgrin which would end up being a BB repaint or a Mindwipe repaint.....probably.

Speaking of which, where are the Mindwipe repaints? A good figure=no repaints.
Bumblebee= 11,000 crappy repaints.

Dagon wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:I like the mold, but I'm not crazy about the blue paint job, so maybe I'll pass on Darkmount and just wait for Skullgrin.

Odd, I find the tank mode unsuitable for Skullgrin and more befitting Straxus/Darkmount. I'm passing on either, as I haven't read the comics enough (I only have like 2 Dutch issues).

Like, this particular tank mode, or a tank mode in general? Cause Skullgrin was a tank. I haven't seen a Darkmount in real life yet, so I can't comment on how this particular tank actually looks, but a tank seems fitting for Skullgrin. Better than a movie-verse Skullgrin which would end up being a BB repaint or a Mindwipe repaint.....probably.

Speaking of which, where are the Mindwipe repaints? A good figure=no repaints.
Bumblebee= 11,000 crappy repaints.

This tank mode. The robot mode is also a bit too bulky for Skullgrin if you ask me.

And Mindwipe did get a repaint: G2 Dreadwing.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Dagon wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:I like the mold, but I'm not crazy about the blue paint job, so maybe I'll pass on Darkmount and just wait for Skullgrin.

Odd, I find the tank mode unsuitable for Skullgrin and more befitting Straxus/Darkmount. I'm passing on either, as I haven't read the comics enough (I only have like 2 Dutch issues).

Like, this particular tank mode, or a tank mode in general? Cause Skullgrin was a tank. I haven't seen a Darkmount in real life yet, so I can't comment on how this particular tank actually looks, but a tank seems fitting for Skullgrin. Better than a movie-verse Skullgrin which would end up being a BB repaint or a Mindwipe repaint.....probably.

Speaking of which, where are the Mindwipe repaints? A good figure=no repaints.
Bumblebee= 11,000 crappy repaints.

This tank mode. The robot mode is also a bit too bulky for Skullgrin if you ask me.

And Mindwipe did get a repaint: G2 Dreadwing.

Yeah, I meant like a widely available repaint. Like how every BB repaint plugs up shelves and such. I know about the G2 repaint.

Aside from that, like I said, I still haven't seen Darkmount in real life, so I can't dispute the tank choice. But any kind of robot mode is too bulky for Pretender updates. Those things were like skeletons back in the day.

I hope he comes with a sword instead of an axe.

Looks good though - suitably robotic head but still homaging the original pretender shell.

Reminds me of Animated Oil Spill's vehicle mode's front. Lots of 's there huh?

I'm going to wait for more pics Skullgrin was another first TFtoy I had so if this new mold does it justice it will be bought on sight

Ehhh, this is one of those repaints/retools/redecos that is appreciated in bringing back the name of an overlooked G1 character, but really pushes the boundaries of remaining true to the original.

Granted, most Pretender robots had poor alt modes that involved little more than folding up the legs and pulling in the arms to create a "tank" or "futuristic aircraft", so this is a definite improvement in that area.

But when I think Skullgrin, I think of his Pretender shell.

And the melding of Pretender shell/inner robot into 1 figure was done perfectly with Bludgeon.

Still, if the paint job is G1-accurate, I'll cave.....

It'd be neat to have a 3rd party company come up with a G-1 styled inner robot head for him, and he could have a "horned skull head" (or Pretender head...whichever term you prefer) that can fit over it like a helmet & be reconfigured into some kinda badass plow to attach to the front of the tank. Best of both worlds.

...and his Dr. Wily skull belt.