The Energon Pub

For the price I was hoping it was to scale with classified figures where is Weijang when you need them, Damn Mouse.

Kind of like it, must say im not a fan of the retro joes that much though. I think the walmart stuff and even the modern/movie figures looked way better than these O rings.. I guess i dont really have the retro nostalgia for them compared to retro star wars or gi joe vehicles.

william-james88 wrote:I'll be honest, this is my least liked type of Transformer, where there is minimal alt mode integration in robot mode. Which is kind of nuts when the HISS tank could make for a pretty good old school TF. It's angular so you could definitely design it to trasform into a boxy TF.

Also, it seems like it is not that much bigger than a leader class from the CW era after all.

Agree 100%.
It's a hard pass for me unless the thing is on deep clearance.

Why force Megatron into that altmode? So far, all X-Over toys were original characters. Why not that one?
Seriously, that Megs looks like regular Megs but wearing a bad cosplay.

-Kanrabat- wrote:So far, all X-Over toys were original characters. Why not that one?

You actually wanna break that tradition?

While it's impressive that they managed to shoe-horn Megatron into a H.I.S.S. tank, there's no fiction that I can think of that had Megatron turn into one while there is fiction for other characters to do so.

Optimus Prime, Ratchet, and Ironhide were turned into them in the comics, Soundwave & Shockwave were retooled tanks in previous crossovers, and early plans for Signal Flare had him as one. There's a whole TFWiki page about it! So I don't really get where this comes from.

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:So far, all X-Over toys were original characters. Why not that one?

You actually wanna break that tradition?

I don't get what you mean. All the X-Over characters so far were unique and not existing characters from the regular TF universes.

That Cobra vehicle could have been someone new and fresh (as all the others) instead of a amateurish cosplaying Megatron.

While there's a history with Megatron turning into a Cobra tank, it was one that looked more like the MOBAT. I'm digging this, my 8 yo self is losing his mind.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:So far, all X-Over toys were original characters. Why not that one?

You actually wanna break that tradition?

I don't get what you mean. All the X-Over characters so far were unique and not existing characters from the regular TF universes.

That Cobra vehicle could have been someone new and fresh (as all the others) instead of a amateurish cosplaying Megatron.

The "other" tradition, namely the original TF/G.I. Joe Crossover one: vehicles decoed and portrayed as existing TF characters (even if they don't transform).

Now that I think about it, it's a Catch 22

This is awesome It’s almost like a tribute to the original Megatron gun from the micro change line that had a cannon mode for the mini henshin cyborg microman that was later rebranded to gi joe in the us thanks to marvel

Oh ye gods this thing looks bad. The hollow bits, the complete lack of any attempt to integrate the altmode into the robot mode, the primitive articulation, that AWFUL looking Baroness figure, and all for the low price of $90! Hard, hard, hard pass.

It's a pity too, this COULD have been awesome, but even aside from how cheap it looks, it's conceptually flawed from its need to make a Sunbow Megatron work as a Sunbow H.I.S.S Tank. If they'd made Megatron's robot mode a bit more original so it clearly incorporated bits of the vehicle into the design rather than making him look like Sunbow Megs wearing bad cosplay, or made him a different vehicle (I actually don't think the H.I.S.S tank is the best choice for Megatron given it's meant to be a fast, light recon tank- I feel like the Maggot or even the Dominator would have been a better choice) this might have been OK. Or heck, why not do a Starscream that turns into the Cobra deco of the X-03 Conquest? Or why not just make up a new altmode for Megatron that can seat 1:18 figures? I can't see anyone complaining that Cobra got a cool new vehicle that's also an awesome Megatron.

I just can't wrap my head around what they were thinking when designing this Megatron. It's simply....horrible. Like, if I didn't see the packaging I would have assumed this was some cyberverse/Walgreens reveal. ESPECIALLY at this size. The larger he is, the more embarrassing and inexcusable those holes and gaps are. But worst of all is just the whole design. Instead of going for a contemporary Megatron with a darker/black color pallet to match his G.I. Joe alt mode, they just slapped a bunch of black pieces on his limbs and back to cover his regular grey parts when in alt mode. It's just so bad. And it sucks too, cause his alt mode is pretty dang cool to me.

Lastly, we can no longer defend the steep price on behalf of "licensing". They own this, and it didn't cost them an extra dime to do this collaboration. For $90, they should have shrunk him down a few inches and filled in his gaps/added WAY nicer paint, and given us a near masterpiece quality figure at WFC scale. And ya know, completely started from scratch with that God forsaken robot mode.

Okay, rant over.

I wonder how big he is compared to the old Leader Class size.

Day 786 of waiting for Transformers Armada Masterpiece news.

jtanimator wrote:I just can't wrap my head around what they were thinking when designing this Megatron. It's simply....horrible. Like, if I didn't see the packaging I would have assumed this was some cyberverse/Walgreens reveal. ESPECIALLY at this size. The larger he is, the more embarrassing and inexcusable those holes and gaps are. But worst of all is just the whole design. Instead of going for a contemporary Megatron with a darker/black color pallet to match his G.I. Joe alt mode, they just slapped a bunch of black pieces on his limbs and back to cover his regular grey parts when in alt mode. It's just so bad. And it sucks too, cause his alt mode is pretty dang cool to me.

Lastly, we can no longer defend the steep price on behalf of "licensing". They own this, and it didn't cost them an extra dime to do this collaboration. For $90, they should have shrunk him down a few inches and filled in his gaps/added WAY nicer paint, and given us a near masterpiece quality figure at WFC scale. And ya know, completely started from scratch with that God forsaken robot mode.

Okay, rant over.

Clearly the design priority here was a size- and design-accurate HISS Tank, including interaction with 3.75" figures. Everything you described would have made for a better Transformers figure, but a worse GI Joe toy. I get why everyone wanted something different than what we got, but at least from my perspective, I understand why they made the design choices they did.

It also helps that I've never cared about hollow parts and articulation compromises aren't a deal breaker. I don't mind too much when my plastic toys look like plastic toys.

As an aside, can we stop referring to this as a $90 figure? It's a two-pack, it's overpriced at $70, not overpriced at $90.

Also if anyone is running a pool, I've got $20 on Optimus Prime / Lady Jaye VAMP two-pack.

Emerje wrote:So I have to wonder about something. $90 is a lot for a two figure set when Hasbro doesn't have to pay for a license fee this time around. So that makes me wonder if maybe maybe this time around the set isn't two Transformers, but a Transformer and one of the new 3 3/4" Joe figures that can ride inside it? So instead of including a tiny Joe to scale with Transformers, what if it's a big transformer that's to scale with G.I. Joe? That price is basically Commander Class Plus and there's a lot they could do with that. I doubt we'll see another Jetfire, but something smaller like a single passenger Dragonfly that turns into Whirl and comes with Wild Bill would be pretty cool and totally possible being such a skinny chopper that would work perfectly with lanky Whirl. The wording "pre-existing TF character" and not "pre-existing TF toy" means to me that it's going to include a familiar character rather than a new one like Ectotron or Gigawatt, not that it's going to repack an existing toy. I'm also going to guess one good set and one evil set.

Nailed it!

I love it! This is exactly what I've always wanted. Sure, it looks like G1 Megatron with some extra bits piled on instead of well integrated parts, but it makes sense from a G1 perspective where Cybertronian alt modes still turned into Earth bot modes. They were never going to redesign Megatron's bot mode to make this work. This set screams 80s and I think it's great! He's already sold out on Pulse, ordered mine off BBTS. I guess Optimus Prime is up next. Since they're keeping original vehicle scale I think the Mauler might be too big for this so MOBAT seems right.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:So far, all X-Over toys were original characters. Why not that one?

You actually wanna break that tradition?

I don't get what you mean. All the X-Over characters so far were unique and not existing characters from the regular TF universes.

That Cobra vehicle could have been someone new and fresh (as all the others) instead of a amateurish cosplaying Megatron.

If they had made an all new character there's more than a few of us that would have been extremely angry and perhaps even felt a little betrayed since the whole point of the crossover is to do it with recognizable characters. May as well create an all new Joe character while they're at it.

blackeyedprime wrote:For the price I was hoping it was to scale with classified figures where is Weijang when you need them, Damn Mouse.

You were expecting a $22 figure and a Titan sized bot for $90?

william-james88 wrote:Also, it seems like it is not that much bigger than a leader class from the CW era after all.

Looking at the two figures together he looks to be taller than three Baronesses making him more like 12" or Combiner sized (or Commander class Jetfire).
Just tried to actually work out the size rather than eyeball it, it does appear to be closer to 10"

Emerje

TulioDude wrote:I wonder how big he is compared to the old Leader Class size.

Day 786 of waiting for Transformers Armada Masterpiece news.

He's about the same as the old leader class size.

We already got a GI Joe/Transformers Megatron crossover decades ago.

But eh, I dunno, I guess it's okay. Outside of dedicated Megatron collectors, I think a lot of TF fans may pass on it.

AcademyofDrX wrote:

jtanimator wrote:I just can't wrap my head around what they were thinking when designing this Megatron. It's simply....horrible. Like, if I didn't see the packaging I would have assumed this was some cyberverse/Walgreens reveal. ESPECIALLY at this size. The larger he is, the more embarrassing and inexcusable those holes and gaps are. But worst of all is just the whole design. Instead of going for a contemporary Megatron with a darker/black color pallet to match his G.I. Joe alt mode, they just slapped a bunch of black pieces on his limbs and back to cover his regular grey parts when in alt mode. It's just so bad. And it sucks too, cause his alt mode is pretty dang cool to me.

Lastly, we can no longer defend the steep price on behalf of "licensing". They own this, and it didn't cost them an extra dime to do this collaboration. For $90, they should have shrunk him down a few inches and filled in his gaps/added WAY nicer paint, and given us a near masterpiece quality figure at WFC scale. And ya know, completely started from scratch with that God forsaken robot mode.

Okay, rant over.

Clearly the design priority here was a size- and design-accurate HISS Tank, including interaction with 3.75" figures. Everything you described would have made for a better Transformers figure, but a worse GI Joe toy. I get why everyone wanted something different than what we got, but at least from my perspective, I understand why they made the design choices they did.

It also helps that I've never cared about hollow parts and articulation compromises aren't a deal breaker. I don't mind too much when my plastic toys look like plastic toys.

As an aside, can we stop referring to this as a $90 figure? It's a two-pack, it's overpriced at $70, not overpriced at $90.

Also if anyone is running a pool, I've got $20 on Optimus Prime / Lady Jaye VAMP two-pack.

Ill have to strongly disagree with most of the points you made here. This is, for all intents and purposes, a transformers sell. This is clearly targeted to Transformers fans. Prioritize the mini figure and alt mode accuracy as an excuse for a horrible bot mode makes no sense. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about; look at the numbers. The transformers brand is worth nearly 5 billion dollars, whereas G.I. Joe is valued at 100 million. They know who they’re really catering to.

Also, in what world do you consider that mini figure worth $20 of the package? Are you seeing some other included figures that I’m not? Nobody buys SS leadeclass grimlock for the Wheelie figure. Same general rule applies here. It’s a supporting factor, not the driving sell.
At the end of the day, People are buying this for G.I. Joe styled megatron that happens to come with a small mini figure accessory. The same way that it’s the transformers fans who bought out the Ghostbusters Collab and the Jurassic Park Collab. TF fans are driving this whole market, and it would have been smart for them to put more effort into the TF side of this.

jtanimator wrote:Ill have to strongly disagree with most of the points you made here. This is, for all intents and purposes, a transformers sell. This is clearly targeted to Transformers fans. Prioritize the mini figure and alt mode accuracy as an excuse for a horrible bot mode makes no sense. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about; look at the numbers. The transformers brand is worth nearly 5 billion dollars, whereas G.I. Joe is valued at 100 million. They know who they’re really catering to.

Also, in what world do you consider that mini figure worth $20 of the package? Are you seeing some other included figures that I’m not? Nobody buys SS leadeclass grimlock for the Wheelie figure. Same general rule applies here. It’s a supporting factor, not the driving sell.
At the end of the day, People are buying this for G.I. Joe styled megatron that happens to come with a small mini figure accessory. The same way that it’s the transformers fans who bought out the Ghostbusters Collab and the Jurassic Park Collab. TF fans are driving this whole market, and it would have been smart for them to put more effort into the TF side of this.

This product, revealed by the GI Joe team during the GI Joe livestream made to scale with an exclusive GI Joe figure, is clearly targeted to GI Joe fans because ... well, just read that sentence again.

The Snake Eyes / Storm Shadow retro collection 2-pack with premium packaging is $40. $40 divided by 2 is $20. You might not think it's worth $20, but that's consistent with Hasbro's own pricing.

"This isn't what I want" is fine. "This isn't what anyone wants and shouldn't exist" is wrong and also incorrect. I wanted something different, but I'm looking forward to this for what it is.

For $90, I would expect the Transformer to be made of solid GOLD. He costs more than Commander Class Rodimus, and doesn't look nearly as well-made. I like Megatron figures as well as the next guy - but unless this set has more in it than this, it doesn't seem worth the price.

Just more kits for all the rest of you I guess!

For Australians, Zing and EB Games have their pre-orders up.
https://www.zingpopculture.com.au/produ ... ess-figure

My initial reaction when I saw this guy was, "This is a figure where more emphasis was put on the alt mode".
And after looking multiple times now, that perspective isn't changing.

I also agree that this looks... Not good.
$90... No way. No day.

Clearly there are some who will enjoy this, and to that I say, good for them.

Love the concept and idea behind this...a cross-over that allows for Transformers at a compatible scale to G.I. Joe action figures. I would've been all over this if it had been available some 35+ years ago, back when I was cuckoo for cocoa puffs for both of these Hasbro franchises. Definitely looking forward to see what other Transformers/G.I.Joe collabs might end up seeing the light of day.

That said...like many have already mentioned, I'm kinda disappointed by this Megatron/Baroness set.

For starters...I personally think that a standard Cobra HISS is just not a worthy alt-mode for the mighty Decepticon leader. A bad-@$$ tank or armored vehicle of sorts...you bet'cha, absolutely...but just not this model of HISS. Not really sure what Cobra vehicle would work for him though. The best ones I can think of or think I have seen before, they are all custom Cobra vehicles...often repaints and modified versions of various G.I. Joe vehicles.

Rather than Megatron, I would like to rather have seen a lesser-used Decepticon tank-bot...such as Armada Demolisher, or even Beast Machines Tankor. I like the idea of Tankor since...I can see where Cobra and/or the Decepticons could have legions of Tankor drones/standard HISS tanks at their disposal.

Megatron's fusion cannon looks like a joke sitting there on top of the HISS turret like it does. It looks very much like an afterthought, as if the designers just ran out of ideas on what to do with it. It doesn't look very well integrated with the vehicle-mode at all.

I do, however...like how Baroness can sit in the turret while Megatron is in robot-mode. That way, she can lean over just enough to slap him upside his head after he loses yet again to Optimus Prime...

Burn wrote:For Australians, Zing and EB Games have their pre-orders up.
https://www.zingpopculture.com.au/produ ... ess-figure

Hmmmmmmmmm............ That Australian store seems to be following the US dollar price at the very least. Hell, it's even CHEAPER than 90$US!

I have no faith in the Canadian price though. I'm pretty sure that in Canada, they'll ask at the very least 140$CAN because reasons. And if that set becomes a Toys R Us exclusive, it will be 200$CAN for sure.

I think I fall into the "I don't think it's a bad figure, but it's too expensive" camp. I'd be willing to shell out fifty for this, probably, but not ninety.

Glarryg

Glarryg wrote:I think I fall into the "I don't think it's a bad figure, but it's too expensive" camp. I'd be willing to shell out fifty for this, probably, but not ninety.

Glarryg

If/when I find that set on clearance, I'll be customising the crap out of that Megatron. I'll paint most of the gray areas in black or gunmetal, I'll change the chest-plate if possible, and I'll definitely change the head for a Unicron Trilogy Megatron head. I thing Armada would work superbly. The character would still be Megatron but he'll be his own rather than "a cosplayer with a clever cardboard boxes costume".

Nah, just a $90 bot/vehicle compatible with classifieds and no classified figure included -though it could be done budget wise with as commander class jetfire was practically $45/£45 at retail on its release depending where sourced from.

Even the comic con x over sets before with vehicles painted as tfs and neat accessories compared to the dirt cheap retail versions was a thing before so Hasbros pricing has always been crazy. I think the tank they used for shockwave was something like $20 when I picked it up in toys r us in LA.

I like the compatability with the original joe figures though, reminds me of the robotech tank bot.