The Energon Pub

[ZeroWolf]

Again I don't get this idea that alpha Bravo is (unless you make him one as personal fannon) the official line is that he is an ariealbot now like it or not (same with powerglide) blades is likely to appear as an alpha Bravo repaint or retool (in fiction blades and the rest of the protectorbots will be arriving via the lost light with ultra magnus, tailgate, cyclonus and Rodimus)

[Sabrblade]

Again I don't get this idea that alpha Bravo is (unless you make him one as personal fannon) the official line is that he is an ariealbot now like it or not (same with powerglide) blades is likely to appear as an alpha Bravo repaint or retool (in fiction blades and the rest of the protectorbots will be arriving via the lost light with ultra magnus, tailgate, cyclonus and Rodimus)

I don't quite get the first half of this post.

[Madeus Prime]

Again I don't get this idea that alpha Bravo is (unless you make him one as personal fannon) the official line is that he is an ariealbot now like it or not (same with powerglide) blades is likely to appear as an alpha Bravo repaint or retool (in fiction blades and the rest of the protectorbots will be arriving via the lost light with ultra magnus, tailgate, cyclonus and Rodimus)

I don't quite get the first half of this post.

Agreed.

[ZeroWolf]

Again I don't get this idea that alpha Bravo is a protectorbot(unless you make him one as personal fannon) the official line is that he is an ariealbot now like it or not (same with powerglide) blades is likely to appear as an alpha Bravo repaint or retool (in fiction blades and the rest of the protectorbots will be arriving via the lost light with ultra magnus, tailgate, cyclonus and Rodimus)

Must remember to proof read my posts -_- my phone has a habit lately to move my typing cursor over something else so it gets deleted.

[Desslok2201]

It was later in the Exodus novel that the Aligned continuity's Constructicons were revealed to be HUGE in number. In that iteration, the Constructicons were an entire social class, with High Councilor Drivetrain a their patriarch. Anyone who worked in construction as part of the construction guilds was considered a Constructicon, regardless of whether or not they were among the specific seven (yes, seven) who formed Devastator. This suggests that Bulkhead might have once been considered a Constructicon before the war. But during the war, there were vast swarms of Constructicons; an entire army of them alone destroyed Crystal City. And the Retribution novel would eventually give us the name of the main seven who form Devastator: Scrapper, Mixmaster, Hook, Scavenger, Bonecrusher, Frontloader, and Long (not "Long Haul", just "Long").


Also in both the novels and the WFC/FOC video games, an Aerialbot was basically any Autobot who both could fly and had a jet-like altmode. Even Jetfire was considered an Aerialbot (even if he himself did not think so, still regarding himself as a Seeker, but an Autobot one). Same went for the Seekers, who were likewise just flying Decepticons with jet-like altmodes. In fact, according to the novels, all Aerialbots were ex-Seekers who had chosen to side with the Autobots when the time came to picking sides in the war. Jetfire was the only one who actually defected rather than having first gone with the Autobots, though the games seem to have shown him having chosen to remain a neutral for as long as he could before he ultimately chose the Autobots. Though, for the five specific Aerialbots who form Superion, they're all named after their G1 counterparts, even if Fireflight has a similar body-type to Shockwave.

So in a way, with the latest additions of Alpha Bravo and Powerglide to the Aerialbots, Offroad to the Stunticons, and Rook to the Protectobots, Hasbro seems to just be keeping up with this mentality of having a great number of members for each subgroup, whether they're necessary for gestalt combination or not.

Also, Alpha Bravo is a stupid name, which glaringly doesn't fit with the rest of the team's names. I mean, you can have the rest of the teams change their names endlessly due to copyrights, and they still seem to fit. And why Alpha Bravo? Why not Charlie Delta or Whiskey X-Ray?

"Alpha Bravo" = "AB" = "Aerialbot"

First of all, if AB is really short for Aerialbot, that requires even less imagination than what I was giving them credit for ( god i hope you were kidding )

Secondly, having endless numbers of constructicons, aerialbots, stunticons, etc., dilutes if not completely obliterates the concept of the gestalt's strengths or weaknesses. For example, Menasor's weakness was that when the stunticons' minds merged, he was unstable due to the hatred of Motormaster by the other four. Now just find some other guys that don't mind him so much and you'll have a gestalt that gets along better, and is far less interesting.

[ZeroWolf]

I actually quite like that approach, heck you could have armies of gestalts from each team waging war on each other and these teams could be their surviving members. Also the other way to look at it is maybe there is only a handful of members who can withstand the process to become a gestalt.

I will agree with you on introducing new teams but they probably wanted to lead with established combiners (and their members in the comics which are becoming more important it seems as an advertising vehicle). Plus the power core combiners introduced some new teams so maybe they'll get teams depending on how successful the line is.

[Desslok2201]

I actually quite like that approach, heck you could have armies of gestalts from each team waging war on each other and these teams could be their surviving members. Also the other way to look at it is maybe there is only a handful of members who can withstand the process to become a gestalt.

I will agree with you on introducing new teams but they probably wanted to lead with established combiners (and their members in the comics which are becoming more important it seems as an advertising vehicle). Plus the power core combiners introduced some new teams so maybe they'll get teams depending on how successful the line is.

I was kind of thinking that about the PCCs but instead of an actual team, it was more like one robot on 'roids. Drones don't really count as actual autonomous members of a group so I wasn't counting them as new gestalts. I know they want to stoke the fires with doing Superion, Menasor, etc before bringing more on, but do them right, and take all of the good ideas you have and put it towards the new ones, and make the new gestalts just as iconic as the originals are.
Also the original designation of 'special team' implied a small, tight knit unit under the autobot or decpticon armies, not other factions entirely

[Cyber Bishop]

When is TRU Slingshot being released?

No news on this yet and we are not even sure it is a TRU exclusive.

Yeah it was just reported in TRU's database, but with Takara releasing one it only makes sense for Hasbro to follow suit. Wait, hasbro make sense.... Nah..

[william-james88]

When is TRU Slingshot being released?

No news on this yet and we are not even sure it is a TRU exclusive.

Thanks, so then only confirmed Slingshot release is part of Takara's gift set?

Yes, as a remold of Firefly with a new head.

I think Slingshot is cool but not worth importing another Superion from Japan. Really hope he gets a domestic release soon, although I'm happy enough with Alpha Bravo.

He wouldnt be too costly though. If you dont have any part of superion yet, 125$ from BBTS is pretty damn cheap for a complete G1 accurate Superion in premium deco.

[shajaki]

that 125 quote from BBTS just makes me wonder how much cheaper amiami and HLJ will be...

[VioMeTriX]

is it me or is silverbolt yet again a giant robot stuffed under some sort of jet frame?

[william-james88]

is it me or is silverbolt yet again a giant robot stuffed under some sort of jet frame?

We've been beating on that drum for a while now.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

is it me or is silverbolt yet again a giant robot stuffed under some sort of jet frame?

We've been beating on that drum for a while now.

For 29 years to be exact

[Agamemnon]

is it me or is silverbolt yet again a giant robot stuffed under some sort of jet frame?

We've been beating on that drum for a while now.

For 29 years to be exact

It might be a surprise if a Silverbolt came out that was not this...

[william-james88]

is it me or is silverbolt yet again a giant robot stuffed under some sort of jet frame?

We've been beating on that drum for a while now.

For 29 years to be exact

It might be a surprise if a Silverbolt came out that was not this...

We are almost at a point where this is the equivalent to saying Grimlock has a huge dino head on his back again.

[peaces]

blah blah isn't g1 enough. way to go hasblow. blah blah is too g1. way to go hasblow. loooool.

[MightyMagnus78]

When is TRU Slingshot being released?

No news on this yet and we are not even sure it is a TRU exclusive.

Thanks, so then only confirmed Slingshot release is part of Takara's gift set?

Yes, as a remold of Firefly with a new head.

I think Slingshot is cool but not worth importing another Superion from Japan. Really hope he gets a domestic release soon, although I'm happy enough with Alpha Bravo.

He wouldnt be too costly though. If you dont have any part of superion yet, 125$ from BBTS is pretty damn cheap for a complete G1 accurate Superion in premium deco.

I've already got him (inc Powerglide) and have Air Raid on pre-order too. The price of the set is OK but the customs and import charges are likely to be ridiculous.

[Desslok2201]

Has anyone seen pics of Takara Powerglide yet? I can't imagine there'd be much of a change on him, but I'd be interested to find out

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Has anyone seen pics of Takara Powerglide yet? I can't imagine there'd be much of a change on him, but I'd be interested to find out

We have seen blacked-out silhouettes of the Insecticons (for the Transfomers Adventure line), but if the TakaraTomy versions of the Aerialbots are any indication, we can expect him to be more show-accurate.

[Desslok2201]

Has anyone seen pics of Takara Powerglide yet? I can't imagine there'd be much of a change on him, but I'd be interested to find out

We have seen blacked-out silhouettes of the Insecticons (for the Transfomers Adventure line), but if the TakaraTomy versions of the Aerialbots are any indication, we can expect him to be more show-accurate.

I expect that, but given that he's so simplistic, I can't imagine that there will be much of a difference on him

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Has anyone seen pics of Takara Powerglide yet? I can't imagine there'd be much of a change on him, but I'd be interested to find out

We have seen blacked-out silhouettes of the Insecticons (for the Transfomers Adventure line), but if the TakaraTomy versions of the Aerialbots are any indication, we can expect him to be more show-accurate.

I expect that, but given that he's so simplistic, I can't imagine that there will be much of a difference on him

Lighter red and more detailing at the very least. And I'm expecting Bombshell and Skrapnel to match in shades, unlike the Hasbro versions:

[william-james88]

I've already got him (inc Powerglide) and have Air Raid on pre-order too. The price of the set is OK but the customs and import charges are likely to be ridiculous.

I hear you. I live in Canada so I get the same problems as you. Lucky Aericans with their cheap within US shipping AND they dont get taxed if its shipped out of state.

[Desslok2201]

I've already got him (inc Powerglide) and have Air Raid on pre-order too. The price of the set is OK but the customs and import charges are likely to be ridiculous.

I hear you. I live in Canada so I get the same problems as you. Lucky Aericans with their cheap within US shipping AND they dont get taxed if its shipped out of state.

Yeah, but there's other crap we have to deal with and you guys are WAY more polite

[Optimum Supreme]

Sorry Sabr, just care about the Raiden. Though I would consider JRX.
the others I just could not give a care about.

I've been looking this pic over real hard. Looks like they did indeed just slap a new head on Firefly. Works for me. If Takara went through the trouble of sculpting a new one, I don't see why Hasbro wouldn't use it.

While they are at it put the same head on Air Raid, color him all grey and call him Leader-1.

That would be pretty sweet. As would some sort of attempt at redecos of the stunticons to make Puzzler.

[peaces]

i turn the legs around on skydive to get a leader-1 thing going.