The Energon Pub

News Credits: 129 · Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:12 pm

glazer wrote:hey , for us beginers on collecting henkei Exl. stuff - quick ques. what is the total number made of each? thanks for your time

The answer is, we don't know.

Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:33 pm

We don't know but we can guess. Since this is a mass market release there should be at least a few hundred thousand. Perhaps a few million. You don't have to worry about a limited release. Just a limited number coming to the US or other areas.

Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:38 pm

Botcon version all the way. I really like the way it looks. It is well done like a nice steak. Or Riblet.

News Credits: 129 · Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:39 pm

Koloth wrote:We don't know but we can guess. Since this is a mass market release there should be at least a few hundred thousand. Perhaps a few million. You don't have to worry about a limited release. Just a limited number coming to the US or other areas.

Sorry man, you're way off.

Production run approximations:

Specialty item: 400-500 ala Galaxy Force DVD figures
BotCon item: 800-1500 units
Japanese retailer/tv exclusive 3000-5000
(US retailer exclusives, sans Wal-Mart are probably in numbers about 2x that)
Low Production Run US releases @10,000 ex: Energon Ultra Magnus, E. Tidalwave, E. Treadbolt
Regular productions are probably in the range of 30-100k depending on the figure and assortments

All of those are hard number from the manufacturers except the last one where we have to evaluate it based upon what Hasbro has revealed about low production run numbers.

EDIT: I'm also very open to debate or being proven wrong on this. I can't stick to my guns on the issue of regular production runs because we're all just guessing really.

I'd say it's entirely safe to assume that there are less than 10,000 Thrust and Dirge pairs out there. Personally, I bet it's less than 8,000 and probably closer to 5 or 6k.

News Credits: 273 · Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:05 am

I may be mistaken, but aren't the Henkei seekers a relatively low production run as compared to the rest of Henkei? I thought the production run was based mainly on pre-orders, I know that was at least the rumor for Thundercracker and Skywarp.

I'd have to think well under 10,000.

News Credits: 3 · Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:57 am

shankz wrote:
Dread_Wing wrote:
My Thrust has a kinky wing (and a half-arsed paintjob), some munt in the factory jammed it into the red wing socket at a funny angle and deformed the peg. Hopefully I can file and superglue it into some sort of working condition, as at the moment not only does the wing sit at an angle, it falls off whenever transformed.

Mine had the exact same problem with the wing. The right wing stuck up at a weird angle. It looked like ****. I just worked on the peg and gradually little by little over a day bent it into shape with a pair of plyers (I put a piece of fabric between the plyers and plastic to reduce any teeth marks). The peg still feels real strong, its just stressed some now. It can still come out of the socket, but it stays in better now that its straight.

No problem with the paint on either fig though.

I plan to make an effort to fix it, file off the deformed bits, build up the missing bits with superglue, but I am packing up to go to the US then UK, so I am short of gear at the mo. I am a little concerned over the plastic of the new wings, it seems rubbery, I hope my fix works.

News Credits: 97 · Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:00 am

Well, now that I've received mine, I can honestly say they lived up to my expectations.

First, Thrust: Mine has near perfect paint apps, all his joints are tight, and his launchers fit snugly in his armholes. Great looking figure, still favoring him slightly over the BotCon version (though that could just be because Henkei Thrust is on my shelf and BotCon Thrust isn't. Pride in ownership, or something). Only slight fault I can find is that his chestpiece doesn't lock back in robot mode, it separates from his back just enough to annoy me.

Dirge: Just became my favorite conehead. Great paint apps and detail on mine. All joints, pegs: perfect. I opened Dirge first, and he totally restored my lost faith in the Universe Seeker mold.

Bring on Sunstorm and Purplestorm!

News Credits: 3 · Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:15 am

Savage wrote:Only slight fault I can find is that his chestpiece doesn't lock back in robot mode, it separates from his back just enough to annoy me.

When in robot mode, try squeezing his shoulders/chest into place and his crotch/buttplate at the same time, should align the parts on the hip rivet and hold him steady, works for me, mine has/had the same problem.

News Credits: 1452 · Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:05 am

Henkei Thrust looks fantastic, although I'm sure Botconers will stick to their Thrust with alot of pride, hah.

News Credits: 129 · Thu Apr 16, 2009 7:34 am

Dread_Wing wrote:
Savage wrote:Only slight fault I can find is that his chestpiece doesn't lock back in robot mode, it separates from his back just enough to annoy me.

When in robot mode, try squeezing his shoulders/chest into place and his crotch/buttplate at the same time, should align the parts on the hip rivet and hold him steady, works for me, mine has/had the same problem.

This is the advice that avoids vice!

It seems the chest assembly isn't 100% tight, which causes the lift of the ass-plate, which causes the issue. For the record, the leg assembly seems to be able to be pulled down a milimeter or two lower than it should be able to as well becuase of this.

Blurrz wrote:Henkei Thrust looks fantastic, although I'm sure Botconers will stick to their Thrust with alot of pride, hah.

Yep, because not only does he look and feel better, he was cheaper too.

Henkei Dirge is the better of the two Dirges though, clearly.

(See the above for proof of how I'm not just advocating for the BotCon set out of pride. I call it, like I see it.)

News Credits: 97 · Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:52 pm

Dread_Wing wrote:
Savage wrote:Only slight fault I can find is that his chestpiece doesn't lock back in robot mode, it separates from his back just enough to annoy me.

When in robot mode, try squeezing his shoulders/chest into place and his crotch/buttplate at the same time, should align the parts on the hip rivet and hold him steady, works for me, mine has/had the same problem.

Worked like a charm, many thanks.

I'm officially revoking my own rights to purchase. I'm not allowed to buy any more TFs (except for mass market deluxes in the store) until BotCon. Must contain urge to buy Alternities.

News Credits: 23 · Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:21 pm

Savage wrote:I'm officially revoking my own rights to purchase. I'm not allowed to buy any more TFs (except for mass market deluxes in the store) until BotCon. Must contain urge to buy Alternities.

Psssh, good luck with that!! I said that I was gonna try and do the same. I failed withing a week...speaking of which, i'm off to the toy haul thread.

News Credits: 3 · Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:04 am

Prime Evil wrote:
Savage wrote:I'm officially revoking my own rights to purchase. I'm not allowed to buy any more TFs (except for mass market deluxes in the store) until BotCon. Must contain urge to buy Alternities.

Psssh, good luck with that!! I said that I was gonna try and do the same. I failed withing a week...speaking of which, i'm off to the toy haul thread.

I tried that too, put my collecting on hiatus while the movie is on and I am overseas. Then while fiddling with the wing on Thrust I saw Dyansis' youtube vid on Dinobot... ...now I have a Henkei Dinobot on the way. I am so weak...

News Credits: 198 · Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:01 am

I finally got mine the other day. They're both in perfect condition and I love them. I was pleased that the thrusters on Thrust's wings were pretty thin and unobtrusive. His looks is definitely unique and unexpected-in a good way IMO.

Overall, I can see how the BotCon owners probably like theirs more but since that wasn't an option for me, I really like these two a lot.

And Dirge rocks.

News Credits: 9 · Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:19 am

Happyness is looking at a shelf that finally has the complete lineup of Seekers on it.

Mine arrived last week, but I waited until I had time to open them and complete rearrange the shelf they are displayed on.

News Credits: 198 · Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:29 am

Editor wrote:Happyness is looking at a shelf that finally has the complete lineup of Seekers on it.

Mine arrived last week, but I waited until I had time to open them and complete rearrange the shelf they are displayed on.

Funny, I'm rearranging and adding new shelves too. Going to have two dedicated two classics seekers and several for all the new classics trailers. I hope it turns out as good as I envision it will.

News Credits: 9 · Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:40 am

DevastaTTor wrote:Funny, I'm rearranging and adding new shelves too. Going to have two dedicated two classics seekers and several for all the new classics trailers. I hope it turns out as good as I envision it will.

Good luck to you, I wish I could add more shelves but the logistics demand I wait until we move into a bigger place (hopefully within the next 18 months) As the room 90% of my collection is in has no more room to add shelves.

News Credits: 217 · Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:29 am

Well ****.

I took a chance, went out on a limb and got Gentei Dirge, only to find out that Takara have figuratively committed bum-love upon me.

Not only does my Dirge have the floppy chest issue that was mentioned earlier in this thread, but there's some sort of bizarre paint distortion on his real thruster, it looks like a layer of paint started to peel away. What's more, the paint apps for his eyes are shambolic: one eye is shedding a red "tear", while the other eye is on his cheek! I'm really upset by the QC here on such an expensive figure.

News Credits: 23 · Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:17 am

Well that is very disheartening to hear. Makes me nervous about getting them. Damn the game of potluck purchases!

News Credits: 129 · Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:29 am

Prime Evil wrote:Well that is very disheartening to hear. Makes me nervous about getting them. Damn the game of potluck purchases!

I wouldn't worry about it...

News Credits: 3 · Mon Apr 27, 2009 5:50 pm

Prime Evil wrote:Well that is very disheartening to hear. Makes me nervous about getting them. Damn the game of potluck purchases!

I got a dodgy Thrust and it really does not matter, the chest thing is easily fixed, and I am sure I can fix the wonky wing. Thrust is a lovely figure, dunno if it is worth what they charge for it, but seeing as I never got the Botcon ones, I had no choice if I wanted a set of Seekers. If you like it and are willing to pay the price, I say go for it.

News Credits: 1 · Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:01 am

Should I go ahead and fork out the $175 for the Dirge/ Thrust set at BBTS? they don't look bad but rumor had it some standard transformations don't work on them.