The Energon Pub

ZeroWolf wrote:

megatronus wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:Easy, because this is all hasbro, thus all proceeds go to Hasbro. Masterpieces are Takara's baby.

Factually incorrect. Takara gets a cut of ALL transforming toys Hasbro makes.

True, but I'd imagine more proceeds would go into Tamara's pocket of they were reissuing then simply going this route where takara will be getting the bare minimum owed.

What does my ex have to do with this? I can confirm, she gets no money from Hasbro.

Texting autocorrect:The solution, and cause of all our problems.

First-Aid wrote:

megatronus wrote:It's exasperating when folks zero in on the "it HAS to be THIS way" flavor of critique. It risks coming off as entitled, and misses the forest for the trees.

I think Transfans rank second only to Star Wars fans for whiny-ness if things aren't EXACTLY the way they should be...aka not G1 enough.

I agree. This looks like it's going to be a fun figure. And honestly, the price point isn't that far off based on its size. One figure is pretty much Commander class sized and the other is Leader class sized...PLUS you get a small deluxe. So Commander at $80, Leader at $55, and deluxe at $25. The total is is $160 and we invested $190. That's perfect...the extra is for custom packaging.

Nope. Third. G.I. Joe fans are far worse than Transformers fans, and it makes sense to a degree. Marvel Legends fans are probably about even.

sol magnus wrote:

First-Aid wrote:

megatronus wrote:It's exasperating when folks zero in on the "it HAS to be THIS way" flavor of critique. It risks coming off as entitled, and misses the forest for the trees.

I think Transfans rank second only to Star Wars fans for whiny-ness if things aren't EXACTLY the way they should be...aka not G1 enough.

I agree. This looks like it's going to be a fun figure. And honestly, the price point isn't that far off based on its size. One figure is pretty much Commander class sized and the other is Leader class sized...PLUS you get a small deluxe. So Commander at $80, Leader at $55, and deluxe at $25. The total is is $160 and we invested $190. That's perfect...the extra is for custom packaging.

Nope. Third. G.I. Joe fans are far worse than Transformers fans, and it makes sense to a degree. Marvel Legends fans are probably about even.

What about Sonic fans? Or Thomas fans?

(Though, the latter's constant complaints are arguably justified.)

Sabrblade wrote:

sol magnus wrote:

First-Aid wrote:

megatronus wrote:It's exasperating when folks zero in on the "it HAS to be THIS way" flavor of critique. It risks coming off as entitled, and misses the forest for the trees.

I think Transfans rank second only to Star Wars fans for whiny-ness if things aren't EXACTLY the way they should be...aka not G1 enough.

I agree. This looks like it's going to be a fun figure. And honestly, the price point isn't that far off based on its size. One figure is pretty much Commander class sized and the other is Leader class sized...PLUS you get a small deluxe. So Commander at $80, Leader at $55, and deluxe at $25. The total is is $160 and we invested $190. That's perfect...the extra is for custom packaging.

Nope. Third. G.I. Joe fans are far worse than Transformers fans, and it makes sense to a degree. Marvel Legends fans are probably about even.

What about Sonic fans? Or Thomas fans?

(Though, the latter's constant complaints are arguably justified.)

I'm morbidly curious as to what the Thomas fans would even complain about...

Also Tamara/ Takara, goddammit auto-correct, you are my eternal foe...

Anyhow...I realised I hadn't commented on the video, can't say I dislike what I'm seeing. I do live for behind the scenes stuff like this and wish they'd do it for the other lines. Stat Saber looks good to me, and was what I was expecting.

sol magnus wrote:

First-Aid wrote:

megatronus wrote:It's exasperating when folks zero in on the "it HAS to be THIS way" flavor of critique. It risks coming off as entitled, and misses the forest for the trees.

I think Transfans rank second only to Star Wars fans for whiny-ness if things aren't EXACTLY the way they should be...aka not G1 enough.

I agree. This looks like it's going to be a fun figure. And honestly, the price point isn't that far off based on its size. One figure is pretty much Commander class sized and the other is Leader class sized...PLUS you get a small deluxe. So Commander at $80, Leader at $55, and deluxe at $25. The total is is $160 and we invested $190. That's perfect...the extra is for custom packaging.

Nope. Third. G.I. Joe fans are far worse than Transformers fans, and it makes sense to a degree. Marvel Legends fans are probably about even.

I find it interesting all these franchises believed to have toxic fans are all Hasbro… Is it the fans or are the fans on to something? I like the Victory Saber figure I just hope if they were doing something exclusive in the future they pick something a bit more niche for collectors. MP Star Saber was on sale for 170 for a few years so cheaper than this guy and Hasbro released first Masterpiece Firebolt the weapon master for hot rod that Takara later re released. I like when transforming joints can be used as articulation so the butterfly joint is nice. I just hope they don’t change the color scheme on everyone that paid for him already like they did Unicron

GrangerPerry wrote:

sol magnus wrote:

First-Aid wrote:

megatronus wrote:It's exasperating when folks zero in on the "it HAS to be THIS way" flavor of critique. It risks coming off as entitled, and misses the forest for the trees.

I think Transfans rank second only to Star Wars fans for whiny-ness if things aren't EXACTLY the way they should be...aka not G1 enough.

I agree. This looks like it's going to be a fun figure. And honestly, the price point isn't that far off based on its size. One figure is pretty much Commander class sized and the other is Leader class sized...PLUS you get a small deluxe. So Commander at $80, Leader at $55, and deluxe at $25. The total is is $160 and we invested $190. That's perfect...the extra is for custom packaging.

Nope. Third. G.I. Joe fans are far worse than Transformers fans, and it makes sense to a degree. Marvel Legends fans are probably about even.

I find it interesting all these franchises believed to have toxic fans are all Hasbro… Is it the fans or are the fans on to something? I like the Victory Saber figure I just hope if they were doing something exclusive in the future they pick something a bit more niche for collectors. MP Star Saber was on sale for 170 for a few years so cheaper than this guy and Hasbro released first Masterpiece Firebolt the weapon master for hot rod that Takara later re released. I like when transforming joints can be used as articulation so the butterfly joint is nice. I just hope they don’t change the color scheme on everyone that paid for him already like they did Unicron

That it's Hasbro is only tangential - I don't think it matters who makes the toys (in fact, I wasn't necessarily talking about toys in terms of Star Wars - it's everything on that front.)Marvel Legends is made by Hasbro, but I doubt it would be any different if, say, Mattel did them. 3P TF fans are just as bad as Hasbro made TF fans. G.I. Joe has figures not made by Hasbro - same thing.

I posted the link, but never commented on the video. I thought he did a great job explaining why things are or arent the way they are or arent. As far as 'what I wanted' this has pretty much made me think I'm going to keep BOTH copies I purchased, rather than sell one off - so yeah, I'm impressed. Somebody said something about the butterfly joints not being good enough, and I say nuts to that - SS can either do the double-handed sword pose - or he can't. It terms out he can, they made it so that he could very deliberately and specifically and they didn't really have to.

GrangerPerry wrote:

sol magnus wrote:

First-Aid wrote:

megatronus wrote:It's exasperating when folks zero in on the "it HAS to be THIS way" flavor of critique. It risks coming off as entitled, and misses the forest for the trees.

I think Transfans rank second only to Star Wars fans for whiny-ness if things aren't EXACTLY the way they should be...aka not G1 enough.

I agree. This looks like it's going to be a fun figure. And honestly, the price point isn't that far off based on its size. One figure is pretty much Commander class sized and the other is Leader class sized...PLUS you get a small deluxe. So Commander at $80, Leader at $55, and deluxe at $25. The total is is $160 and we invested $190. That's perfect...the extra is for custom packaging.

Nope. Third. G.I. Joe fans are far worse than Transformers fans, and it makes sense to a degree. Marvel Legends fans are probably about even.

I find it interesting all these franchises believed to have toxic fans are all Hasbro… Is it the fans or are the fans on to something? I like the Victory Saber figure I just hope if they were doing something exclusive in the future they pick something a bit more niche for collectors. MP Star Saber was on sale for 170 for a few years so cheaper than this guy and Hasbro released first Masterpiece Firebolt the weapon master for hot rod that Takara later re released. I like when transforming joints can be used as articulation so the butterfly joint is nice. I just hope they don’t change the color scheme on everyone that paid for him already like they did Unicron

Actually star wars is more to do with the movies, though toxic fans can be part of any fandom, so Hasbro isn't alone in this regard and isn't the bearer of all the complaints.

I hope you don't mind me messing with you writing Tamara, Zerowolf. I did have an ex called Tamara so seeing that autocorrect always makes me chuckle.

william-james88 wrote:I hope you don't mind me messing with you writing Tamara, Zerowolf. I did have an ex called Tamara so seeing that autocorrect always makes me chuckle.

Oh no worries about that, I'm often amused by what my phone clearly wants me to write I did wonder if she was real!

ZeroWolf wrote:I'm morbidly curious as to what the Thomas fans would even complain about...

Oh, a number of things over the years: the Magic Railroad movie (it's mainly the non-US fans who dislike it the most) the HiT Era, the Miller Era, the BWBA Era, the BWBA movie, "Misty Island Rescue", "Day of the Diesels", the 1998 rerelease of the Railway Series books by Egmont that edited all of the artwork for the worse, the era of Mattel toys that used little-to-no paint at all on the wooden toys, Mattel's overall mistreatment of the property in general, and most recently and most notably of all: the "All Engines Go!" reboot series.

Sabrblade wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:I'm morbidly curious as to what the Thomas fans would even complain about...

Oh, a number of things over the years: the Magic Railroad movie (it's mainly the non-US fans who dislike it the most) the HiT Era, the Miller Era, the BWBA Era, the BWBA movie, "Misty Island Rescue", "Day of the Diesels", the 1998 rerelease of the Railway Series books by Egmont that edited all of the artwork for the worse, the era of Mattel toys that used little-to-no paint at all on the wooden toys, Mattel's overall mistreatment of the property in general, and most recently and most notably of all: the "All Engines Go!" reboot series.

My son , 9, mentions often how he likes "Classic Thomas" over "the new Thomas" whatever that means.

sol magnus wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:I'm morbidly curious as to what the Thomas fans would even complain about...

Oh, a number of things over the years: the Magic Railroad movie (it's mainly the non-US fans who dislike it the most) the HiT Era, the Miller Era, the BWBA Era, the BWBA movie, "Misty Island Rescue", "Day of the Diesels", the 1998 rerelease of the Railway Series books by Egmont that edited all of the artwork for the worse, the era of Mattel toys that used little-to-no paint at all on the wooden toys, Mattel's overall mistreatment of the property in general, and most recently and most notably of all: the "All Engines Go!" reboot series.

My son , 9, mentions often how he likes "Classic Thomas" over "the new Thomas" whatever that means.

He is probably referring to when the show used live-action models on realistic sets instead of being all CGI-animated, or instead of the current reboot series "All Engines Go!" that looks like... this.

In a nutshell, the series started off being as realistic as possible with intelligent writing (taken straight from the books the show was based on) and quality narration (especially from Ringo Starr, George Carlin, Michael Angelis, Alec Baldwin, and even Pierce Brosnan for one of the movies) to gradually becoming dumber and dumber over time (barring a notable resurgence in quality during the middle of the CGI series--known as the "Brenner Era"--but which fell back down to dumbness afterward), until finally becoming as mind-numbingly bad as any run-of-the-mill children' series with next to no real substance at all.

First-Aid wrote:I agree. This looks like it's going to be a fun figure. And honestly, the price point isn't that far off based on its size. One figure is pretty much Commander class sized and the other is Leader class sized...PLUS you get a small deluxe. So Commander at $80, Leader at $55, and deluxe at $25. The total is is $160 and we invested $190. That's perfect...the extra is for custom packaging.

Your prices don't really work. The Deluxe is part of the Commander, Star Saber doesn't exist without Saber so there is no Deluxe price point to factor in. Then you've got Hasbro saying it's two Leaders during the campaign (which I would agree doesn't sound right) so they already established it at about a $110 retail value. But we shouldn't expect retail prices from this sort of project since it's based on the minimum cost of production (plus profit).

Emerje

Sabrblade wrote:

sol magnus wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:I'm morbidly curious as to what the Thomas fans would even complain about...

Oh, a number of things over the years: the Magic Railroad movie (it's mainly the non-US fans who dislike it the most) the HiT Era, the Miller Era, the BWBA Era, the BWBA movie, "Misty Island Rescue", "Day of the Diesels", the 1998 rerelease of the Railway Series books by Egmont that edited all of the artwork for the worse, the era of Mattel toys that used little-to-no paint at all on the wooden toys, Mattel's overall mistreatment of the property in general, and most recently and most notably of all: the "All Engines Go!" reboot series.

My son , 9, mentions often how he likes "Classic Thomas" over "the new Thomas" whatever that means.

He is probably referring to when the show used live-action models on realistic sets instead of being all CGI-animated, or instead of the current reboot series "All Engines Go!" that looks like... this.

In a nutshell, the series started off being as realistic as possible with intelligent writing (taken straight from the books the show was based on) and quality narration (especially from Ringo Starr, George Carlin, Michael Angelis, Alec Baldwin, and even Pierce Brosnan for one of the movies) to gradually becoming dumber and dumber over time (barring a notable resurgence in quality during the middle of the CGI series--known as the "Brenner Era"--but which fell back down to dumbness afterward), until finally becoming as mind-numbingly bad as any run-of-the-mill children' series with next to no real substance at all.

I clicked the link...Well, that's a thing.

With regards to trying to work out pricing for Star Saber, I agree, its not something that's going to work out. It's likely the whole project has the same budget, unlike voyagers and deluxes, etc, etc.

Miller years... Probably isn't going to mean Frank Miller doing Thomas hahaha I'd say that would be good but then Robocop 3 comes to mind.

Evan was able to post some more pictures of the EP-1 prototype on his Instagram showing off the various components next to a ruler, as well as Star Saber and Victory Saber next to Legends God Ginrai

The fact that he uses Legends God Ginrai as a reference point tells me that he (and possibly the rest of the Hasbro team) currently view that toy as the modern update version of God Ginrai, and that we likely won't be seeing another new one anytime soon.

This is appreciated. I watched the video when it first came out on Friday, then when it was uploaded to YouTube Saturday, I commented that I'd like to see some more size comparisons. This is great. I mean ideally, it probably could have been slightly larger. If the brain master unit was the same size as a Titan Master, I'm not sure how much larger the whole thing would have been, but I'm satisfied with what we are getting.

As for God Ginrai. I have my TR Magnus Prime and Legends God Bomber so it works. I have ER Optimus, Kingdom Rodimus, TR Fort Max, and Legends Dai Atlas. So Star/ Victory Saber is the only one I'm missing ( well and Selects Star Convoy, which I may go back and try to get if a good deal comes along). I'm glad I pre ordered the Haslab, it's looking good so far.

o.supreme wrote:This is appreciated. I watched the video when it first came out on Friday, then when it was uploaded to YouTube Saturday, I commented that I'd like to see some more size comparisons. This is great. I mean ideally, it probably could have been slightly larger. If the brain master unit was the same size as a Titan Master, I'm not sure how much larger the whole thing would have been, but I'm satisfied with what we are getting.

As for God Ginrai. I have my TR Magnus Prime and Legends God Bomber so it works. I have ER Optimus, Kingdom Rodimus, TR Fort Max, and Legends Dai Atlas. So Star/ Victory Saber is the only one I'm missing ( well and Selects Star Convoy, which I may go back and try to get if a good deal comes along). I'm glad I pre ordered the Haslab, it's looking good so far.

If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you use Legends Super Ginrai to go with Godbomber?

Dont want no short short man

At least it will make those who bought the Mega SCF feel better.

Sabrblade wrote:

sol magnus wrote:

First-Aid wrote:

megatronus wrote:It's exasperating when folks zero in on the "it HAS to be THIS way" flavor of critique. It risks coming off as entitled, and misses the forest for the trees.

I think Transfans rank second only to Star Wars fans for whiny-ness if things aren't EXACTLY the way they should be...aka not G1 enough.

I agree. This looks like it's going to be a fun figure. And honestly, the price point isn't that far off based on its size. One figure is pretty much Commander class sized and the other is Leader class sized...PLUS you get a small deluxe. So Commander at $80, Leader at $55, and deluxe at $25. The total is is $160 and we invested $190. That's perfect...the extra is for custom packaging.

Nope. Third. G.I. Joe fans are far worse than Transformers fans, and it makes sense to a degree. Marvel Legends fans are probably about even.

What about Sonic fans? Or Thomas fans?

(Though, the latter's constant complaints are arguably justified.)

Hot Wheels and Nerf fans are the worst by a long, long mile.

One thing I forgot to mention is the leg storage for the blade reminded me of something, another toy that shared some design cues from Star Saber.

King Exkiser.

I can see Takara retooling Star Saber into a new modern King Exkiser.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

sol magnus wrote:

First-Aid wrote:

megatronus wrote:It's exasperating when folks zero in on the "it HAS to be THIS way" flavor of critique. It risks coming off as entitled, and misses the forest for the trees.

I think Transfans rank second only to Star Wars fans for whiny-ness if things aren't EXACTLY the way they should be...aka not G1 enough.

I agree. This looks like it's going to be a fun figure. And honestly, the price point isn't that far off based on its size. One figure is pretty much Commander class sized and the other is Leader class sized...PLUS you get a small deluxe. So Commander at $80, Leader at $55, and deluxe at $25. The total is is $160 and we invested $190. That's perfect...the extra is for custom packaging.

Nope. Third. G.I. Joe fans are far worse than Transformers fans, and it makes sense to a degree. Marvel Legends fans are probably about even.

What about Sonic fans? Or Thomas fans?

(Though, the latter's constant complaints are arguably justified.)

Hot Wheels and Nerf fans are the worst by a long, long mile.

One thing I forgot to mention is the leg storage for the blade reminded me of something, another toy that shared some design cues from Star Saber.

King Exkiser.

I can see Takara retooling Star Saber into a new modern King Exkiser.

Can they though? Bandai owns the BRAVE series, I think they might have something to say about it

ZeroWolf wrote:If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you use Legends Super Ginrai to go with Godbomber?

Absolutely a fair question. I was considering getting Legends Super Ginrai when I found out the TR PM Prime would not be compatible with God Bomber, but when I found out the Siege on Cybertron set was coming out, which had essentially the same toy, plus a few others I didn't mind owning, for a better deal overall, the choice was pretty simple. Even the special LGEX release of God Ginrai was more expensive to import than Legends God Bomber and TR Siege on Cybertron set altogether, or they were very close in price, and just getting the TR Siege set offered more toys for my money.

*edit* looking back at my purchases from BBTS in May of 2017 I ordered the Siege on Cybertron set for $100 (Legends Super Ginrai was almost this expensive on its own). Legends God Bomber was $70 to import as it was coming close to being out of stock.

I think when LGEX God Ginrai came out it was close to, if not more than $170 altogether to import...

ZeroWolf wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:One thing I forgot to mention is the leg storage for the blade reminded me of something, another toy that shared some design cues from Star Saber.

King Exkiser.

I can see Takara retooling Star Saber into a new modern King Exkiser.

Can they though? Bandai owns the BRAVE series, I think they might have something to say about it

Very true, and very unfortunate. My son and I have been playing through the most recent Super Robot Wars games. They include some of the Brave Series, and we have enjoyed watching the ones we can find. Unfortunately Sunrise animation (acquired by Bandai) has the rights to the whole Brave Series now, so it makes those toys from the 90's extremely Expensive, and sought after despite their limited articulation.

Bandai does make some high end Chogokin type toys, but unfortunately TT wont be able to tap that well again any time soon. GaoGaiGar is absolutely flipping amazing by the way every Transformers fan should give it a watch. I even have a whole separate thread talking about Transformers inspired sightings in other Brave series, but that is a discussion for that thread.

o.supreme wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you use Legends Super Ginrai to go with Godbomber?

Absolutely a fair question. I was considering getting Legends Super Ginrai when I found out the TR PM Prime would not be compatible with God Bomber, but when I found out the Siege on Cybertron set was coming out, which had essentially the same toy, plus a few others I didn't mind owning, for a better deal overall, the choice was pretty simple. Even the special LGEX release of God Ginrai was more expensive to import than Legends God Bomber and TR Siege on Cybertron set altogether, or they were very close in price, and just getting the TR Siege set offered more toys for my money.

*edit* looking back at my purchases from BBTS in May of 2017 I ordered the Siege on Cybertron set for $100 (Legends Super Ginrai was almost this expensive on its own). Legends God Bomber was $70 to import as it was coming close to being out of stock.

I think when LGEX God Ginrai came out it was close to, if not more than $170 altogether to import...

Thanks for answering I had a break from collecting at that point so I missed the news of the boxsets, I never realised the decos were so close to be the same.