The Energon Pub

fenrir72 wrote:Not to clear but does Hasbro Superion have a mouth or faceguard?

I don't own FP Menasor but if given the chance (money), will get the set without second thought. FP nailed the look. Hasbro (which I WILL get) kind of dropped the head design........reminds me of Unicron wtf?

Seems like a faceplate to me, just silver.

In the G1 toon Menasor has these long horns that just stuck out of his head. The horns on Hasbro's take here seem like a cross between that and the samurai-esque horns and toy had.

Gauntlet101010 wrote: I even like the proportions better on TFC's take, and it had supermodel long legs.

The super model long leg comment gave me a good chuckle. I have my G1 Superion with the legs in the elongated position for added height. The position they are in when in Silverbolts bot mode.

The teensy wee feet the Hasbro combiners have is pretty off putting to me. Give em huge stompers like the 3rd party guys do. Looks waaaay better.

They're stuck on the bottom of the legs like they're an afterthought and not an integral part of the figures anatomy and poseability. Looks silly.

MGrotusque wrote:The teensy wee feet the Hasbro combiners have is pretty off putting to me. Give em huge stompers like the 3rd party guys do. Looks waaaay better.

They're stuck on the bottom of the legs like they're an afterthought and not an integral part of the figures anatomy and poseability. Looks silly.

They have small "feet" because they also double as their hands. It's cost-effective, but it also means either normal hands/small feet or huge hands/normal feet

guarayakha wrote:

MGrotusque wrote:The teensy wee feet the Hasbro combiners have is pretty off putting to me. Give em huge stompers like the 3rd party guys do. Looks waaaay better.

They're stuck on the bottom of the legs like they're an afterthought and not an integral part of the figures anatomy and poseability. Looks silly.

They have small "feet" because they also double as their hands. It's cost-effective, but it also means either normal hands/small feet or huge hands/normal feet

Think some of the 3rd party combiners like all of the Predaking's from UT, MMC & TFC. Have oversized combiners accessories in the feet, hands and other parts.

Like the current scale of the 2015 HasTak combiners feet and hands. Don't want or need oversized Combiners accessories like feet and hands for the 2015 HasTak combiners. The bigger the feet are they look like clowns shoes like that 1997 BW Tripreadcus combiner has. Having oversized hands almost the scale of the arms is not something I like seeing.

Large feet promote stability, and help with making some really dynamic poses.

Plus, you know what they say about bots with large feet...

I can see a 3rd party giving us better hands and feet. The Prime combiner image shows a few Aerialbot repaints, so we may yet be able to swap out that helicopter.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:I can see a 3rd party giving us better hands and feet. The Prime combiner image shows a few Aerialbot repaints, so we may yet be able to swap out that helicopter.

I can also see that.

Truthfully, I'd be 100% OK just going all in with the Hasbro combiners, and have 3rd Parties compete for the most compelling, comprehensive add-on kits for $50-$60. My wallet says thankee sai.

I like the 3rd party collector stuff a bit more, but there is just something kind of interesting with the hasbro stuff as well. The horns remind me of the way Menasor was drawn back in the Marvel run. I know it's not a perfect translation; and yes, the 3rd party Menasor is nicer for display.

I bet everyone here is going to buy Hasbro's combiners! if not at first than at a discount somewhere down the line. hahaha

I mean if you love Transfomers enough to buy toys for $500 to get a combiner team why would you not for less than $100?

they're going to be fun and if they look bad combined than just leave them in bot modes (which looks pretty awesome!)

mooncake623 wrote:I bet everyone here is going to buy Hasbro's combiners! if not at first than at a discount somewhere down the line. hahaha

I mean if you love Transfomers enough to buy toys for $500 to get a combiner team why would you not for less than $100?

they're going to be fun and if they look bad combined than just leave them in bot modes (which looks pretty awesome!)

Indeed, I will be buying Menasor and Superion, and prolly any other combiner Hasbro puts out.

I will probably even buy the Protectobots, even if they are in the wrong colors and don't combine into Defensor. (I'm still waiting on Tsutsukakushi's source for those being some sort of exclusive...)

The Hasbro releases are gonna take my money because I like the individual robot modes enough to display them with there respective factions for classics purposes. If I can splurge anytime soon i'd get fansproject for the combined mode...def if they actually do G2 deco in full(yeah I'm that guy).

mooncake623 wrote:I bet everyone here is going to buy Hasbro's combiners! if not at first than at a discount somewhere down the line. hahaha

I mean if you love Transfomers enough to buy toys for $500 to get a combiner team why would you not for less than $100?

they're going to be fun and if they look bad combined than just leave them in bot modes (which looks pretty awesome!)

I'm willing to pay more for something I actually want, vs settling for something I don't.


But your point about a discount is true, I did eventually crack and get that crappy Hasbro Bruticus because I got a good discount. That, and I like the 3P Onslaught that is coming out for him.

I've always preferred going the cheaper route with figures. I like the expensive stuff, but I usually end up getting a scuff or scratch on the figure. With a cheap hasbro or takara figure I don't mind, but I do get bummed out if I spend a lot of money on 3-p and it gets messed up.

I did not know there was an Onslaught coming out for Bruticus. Hmmm.
I don't know if I need it though. I'm happy with the way it looks now and I've got the Universe Leader Onslaught.
How many do I need really.....

MGrotusque wrote:
How many do I need really.....

Only one, if that one doesn't suck.

MGrotusque wrote:I did not know there was an Onslaught coming out for Bruticus. Hmmm.
I don't know if I need it though. I'm happy with the way it looks now and I've got the Universe Leader Onslaught.
How many do I need really.....

FoC Bruticus, not the Energon/Universe release.

Ahhhh. Gotcha. I forgot about that FOC Bruticus. He most certainly needs the upgrade.

MGrotusque wrote:Ahhhh. Gotcha. I forgot about that FOC Bruticus. He most certainly needs the upgrade.

He does. And I'm slightly giddy for MBC's release!

Even bought Takara Blast Off, since I find the Platinum version bland (also, Blast Off isn't dripping with metallics, which I find distracting in a garishly multi-colored gestalt).

If anyone is interested, I wrote up an article for my website (I suppose making it the first "Yotsuya's Preview" rather then "Yotsuya's Review," ) talking a bit about the upcoming Hasbro figures, and how they might compare with some of the third party options. You can read it here.

Probably nothing that will be too surprising if you've read thoughts I've already shared in this thread, but in a much more organized and detailed fashion, and with pictures!

Very nice article, Yotsuyasan. (At first I thought it was titled Ruinations. ) Are you considering a follow-up article on possible future gestalts? Or is that too much speculation right now? I'd love to hear some more news on the Protectobots and how that might influence a future Defensor Gestalt.

Agamemnon wrote:Very nice article, Yotsuyasan.

Thanks!

Agamemnon wrote:(At first I thought it was titled Ruinations. )

An awesome if non-existent pun, ha ha.

Agamemnon wrote:Are you considering a follow-up article on possible future gestalts? Or is that too much speculation right now? I'd love to hear some more news on the Protectobots and how that might influence a future Defensor Gestalt.

I have no plans at the present... But I did title the article "Ruminations #1" for a reason, to leave room open for a #2 and so fourth. It all depends on if I feel I have enough of importance to say in the future!

Their is a $300 to $500 differnce in price from the 2015 HasTak combiner to these 3rd party combiners. Ofcause the 3rd party combiners are going to look better because the toys cost bounds more and their toy budgets are leaps higher.

Playing fair, Would be if Takara created a MP Devasator that cost $290 in Japan. Hasbro sold it for $175 in the states. Then fans compared this toy next to 3rd party devastators.

Think fans need to judge the 2015 HasTak combiner based off the $85 USA Hasbro retail price and much lower budget. Buyers are getting a bargain for what there paying. This is HasTaks best work.

Tsutsukakushi wrote:Their is a $300 to $500 differnce in price from the 2015 HasTak combiner to these 3rd party combiners. Ofcause the 3rd party combiners are going to look better because the toys cost bounds more and their toy budgets are leaps higher.

The budget is not the only consideration. If Hasbro's Menasor didn't have such a terrible head sculpt, and if it had a proper Wildrider (which may or may not be a budget consideration, depending on if the bot in Wildrider's place was indeed made with recolor considerations in mind) then I'd definitely be saying, "Fansproject's Stunticons are pretty awesome, but if you didn't already buy them you may as well wait for the Hasbro one."

And with the Superion, even with the unfortunate helicopter business, I actually would say that. If you haven't already plunked down cash for a third party set of Aerialbots, don't bother! Wait for the Hasbro set! It looks like they did just as good, if not better, a job then the third party companies. Just like Hasbro did (in my opinion) with Springer.

So when Hasbro manages to not make stupid decisions, they are just as capable as making good looking figures for a regular retail cost when compared with comparable figures at third party costs.

Hell, as far as a design budget, Hasbro is probably working with a bigger one, anyway. They just have to take other considerations in mind, like making their toys actually child-safe, and (hopefully) more durable. But they can spread this budget out over a much greater production of figures, and have much of the manufacturing infrastructure permanently in place. This is why they can charge $15 or $20 for a figure that would have to be sold by a third party company for like $60 or $80 to make any sort of profit.

If every TF fan world wide was willing to spend over $4000 trying to get perfect 3rd party versions of TF combiners. Then the volume units per combiner team would be getting made in the hundreds of thousands. Not the barely 3000 volume units they are being made in per combiner team.

Clearly most worldwide fans are not that hard core on updates combiners toys and are willing to spend much less. Because they could care less about buying the less accurate and more inferior flawed HasTak versions.