The Energon Pub

I dont mind the parts forming when its adding on additional parts G1 style. But im not fond of the idea of disassembling the figure.

I almost wish I didn't have the FP Bruticus, because this looks truly awesome. Loving the fixes they made for the individual bots too. The arms splitting apart does annoy me a little, but not very much (certainly not to the degree that having the hands and feet on combiners be separate pieces that do absolutely nothing in the separated modes does...).

Maybe I should buy this set, a set of FoC Combaticons and paint them up into a Ruination (AKA the best named combiner ever). I'll either go with the show-accurate colours or the grey "urban camo" scheme that someone (Wal-mart I think) did.

Delta Magnus wrote:I almost wish I didn't have the FP Bruticus, because this looks truly awesome. Loving the fixes they made for the individual bots too. The arms splitting apart does annoy me a little, but not very much (certainly not to the degree that having the hands and feet on combiners be separate pieces that do absolutely nothing in the separated modes does...).

Maybe I should buy this set, a set of FoC Combaticons and paint them up into a Ruination (AKA the best named combiner ever). I'll either go with the show-accurate colours or the grey "urban camo" scheme that someone (Wal-mart I think) did.

MBC has hinted that other versions are coming - a Ruination version might be in the cards, so I would hold off on customizing for a bit.

I think I'm going to keep my preorder until the end of the month. If we don't get an update by then, preorder cancelled.

Suddenly very glad I kept my preorder.

Looks great, scales perfect for classics, and that price for what you get is such a bargin imo!

Henry921 wrote:Suddenly very glad I kept my preorder.

Holy Crap! I'm suddenly very happy that I forgot to cancel mine.

I still might, but good to know that I still have the option to pick him up at the early bird price.

looks amazing. i knew it would. all they had to do was release different colored versions and theyd have free reign to my credit card.

shajaki wrote:looks amazing. i knew it would. all they had to do was release different colored versions and theyd have free reign to my credit card.

Watching the review, I'm going to cancel my preorder in hopes of a grey version. That blue is really bright, and doesn't quite mesh with the SDCC/Platinum sets.

You know what I'd like to see? A "model-kit" version of this with all the pins and permanent joins replaced with screws or snap-tabs, so you can paint it in whatever colours you want. If they did that I'd get this and paint it and the HasTak Combaticons in Ruination colours, specifically the Wal-Mart Exclusive "Urban Camo" scheme. You know, this one:

It's looking great, but in all honesty I'd only be interested in the Voyager sized Onslaught. I'm not that keen on it in robot mode, but I'd get it just to make Bruticus' torso and thighs bulkier, and to improve Bruticus' stability.

I've already got the Boosticus kit, and whilst this is a lot better, I haven't got much of a problem with it. I don't like the idea of splitting apart my figures just to add in extra bits either.

Syn_13 wrote:I don't like the idea of splitting apart my figures just to add in extra bits either.

same. i watched vangelus' review last night, and was shocked to see how many pieces blast off is in before assembly. to me, thats not "incorporation". they might as well have made 5 new figures.

cant say it doesnt look great though. but id rather spend my money on boosticus to match my takara and G2 brutici anyways.

I'm not in love with the way blast-off has to come apart either, but since it does not require screws or anything, and they are just slip or pop joints, meh, I'll live with it.

He'll end up in combined mode 99% of the time anyway.

shajaki wrote:

Syn_13 wrote:I don't like the idea of splitting apart my figures just to add in extra bits either.

same. i watched vangelus' review last night, and was shocked to see how many pieces blast off is in before assembly. to me, thats not "incorporation". they might as well have made 5 new figures.

cant say it doesnt look great though. but id rather spend my money on boosticus to match my takara and G2 brutici anyways.

Yep, that's where I'm at too. I'm quite pleased with Boosticus as it is anyway. As I said, I'd only be interested in the Voyager Onslaught to bulk out my Bruticus a bit.

Those video reviews helped to further solidify my resolve and not buy the set. When I saw their Onslaught, I thought I must have him, Even though I have Boosticus already, but once I saw what happens to Blast Off, I realized I made the right choice and saved money. Now, if you only had to disassemble the figures once, to accommodate the new pieces and they remained integrated, that would be fine, but as is, we're going to see a lot of destroyed Blast Offs in the future.

Autobot032 wrote:Now, if you only had to disassemble the figures once, to accommodate the new pieces and they remained integrated, that would be fine

I fully and completely agree with this part. It would have been nice to only have had to retrofit these once. Even if both were like Vortex and only had 1 joint to add to the mode it would be better. Blast-off is a lot of disassembly!

Autobot032 wrote:we're going to see a lot of destroyed Blast Offs in the future.

I'm not so sure this is the case, however. These guys do pop apart pretty easily, and I suspect a lot of folks will only do this once or twice with their figures. Even with my combiners that ARE easy to take apart, I know I don't disassemble them very often.

rpetras wrote:

Autobot032 wrote:Now, if you only had to disassemble the figures once, to accommodate the new pieces and they remained integrated, that would be fine

I fully and completely agree with this part. It would have been nice to only have had to retrofit these once. Even if both were like Vortex and only had 1 joint to add to the mode it would be better. Blast-off is a lot of disassembly!

Autobot032 wrote:we're going to see a lot of destroyed Blast Offs in the future.

I'm not so sure this is the case, however. These guys do pop apart pretty easily, and I suspect a lot of folks will only do this once or twice with their figures. Even with my combiners that ARE easy to take apart, I know I don't disassemble them very often.

Snap on areas should be fine, but the ball joints should shred nicely. Several Hasbro figures have that problem out of the box. First Edition Prime Cliffjumper comes to mind. While I haven't noticed it on my G2 Boosticus'd set, just ripping him apart at the shoulders and hips just makes me cringe.

My biggest problem with the set is the mushroom pegs. I don't know about you, but I've had one of two problems with a figure using those pegs, they either slide off the peg with one little bit of posing, or they're on there so tight and you'd like to disassemble it to customize and it just won't budge. Plus it's natural human movement to want to twist and pull at the same time and someone's going to shear the peg cap right off. It's just a matter of time.

No doubt that the set looks amazing, but their design is terribly flawed.

Autobot032 wrote:My biggest problem with the set is the mushroom pegs. I don't know about you, but I've had one of two problems with a figure using those pegs, they either slide off the peg with one little bit of posing, or they're on there so tight and you'd like to disassemble it to customize and it just won't budge. Plus it's natural human movement to want to twist and pull at the same time and someone's going to shear the peg cap right off. It's just a matter of time.

No doubt that the set looks amazing, but their design is terribly flawed.

Oh, I'm sure some people will rip their stuff apart, no doubt, but I don't think it will be a rampant issue.

But I think we both agree this could have been designed better.

Had they put in the joint in such a way as to be an elbow in combined mode and a waist joint in bot mode, that would have worked. It might have made the figure lanky, because it wasn't designed to have it from the get-go, but it would solve the disassembly issue.

rpetras wrote:Oh, I'm sure some people will rip their stuff apart, no doubt, but I don't think it will be a rampant issue.

I hope it isn't. I'd hate to see a perfectly good figure ruined by an idiotic design.

rpetras wrote:But I think we both agree this could have been designed better.

Absolutely.

rpetras wrote:Had they put in the joint in such a way as to be an elbow in combined mode and a waist joint in bot mode, that would have worked. It might have made the figure lanky, because it wasn't designed to have it from the get-go, but it would solve the disassembly issue.

This is the best option. He's already sporting ridiculous arm formation proportions, out of the box full stock, so what's another few centimeters to an inch? It's amazing how you and I and others like us can see this just by looking at it, but they thought ripping him to shreds was the best idea. *smh*

I really think Microblaze should just make the other 4 combaticons. The Boosticus set works fine for me. I don't pose my combiners kneeling or doing karate kicks.

My problem with Boosticus is that the parts storage in separated mode is...pretty weak. It forms a kinda crappy looking multicoloured trailer that is not only totally game-inaccurate but also really ugly. Also, it doesn't do anything about the unspeakable mess that is the deluxe Onslaught. The combined mode doesn't looks all that much better either, and really just looks like the regular figure wearing a puffer coat.

Really, the 4 limb-bots are largely fine, and the Microblaze set fixes almost all the problems they have (although Swindle's partsforming is a shame). Honestly I don't think the limb-bots need replacing.

Autobot032 wrote:Those video reviews helped to further solidify my resolve and not buy the set. When I saw their Onslaught, I thought I must have him, Even though I have Boosticus already, but once I saw what happens to Blast Off, I realized I made the right choice and saved money. Now, if you only had to disassemble the figures once, to accommodate the new pieces and they remained integrated, that would be fine, but as is, we're going to see a lot of destroyed Blast Offs in the future.

I don't mind taking my figures apart, and I don't mind partsforming when it comes to combiners, since combiners are just one big partsformer anyway. That's the concept we're dealing with.

What I do mind are the assembly issues, like Swindle's gestalt foot, and the lack of waste swivel on either Onslaught or combined Bruticus. Also, the strange balance, and the small hands... even the color, since that vibrant blue is a bit off when paired with the Platinum set. I dunno. I just expected more from a set that was delayed for 5 months... Vangelus' lukewarm review clinched the "no sale" sentiment.

Delta Magnus wrote:My problem with Boosticus is that the parts storage in separated mode is...pretty weak. It forms a kinda crappy looking multicoloured trailer that is not only totally game-inaccurate but also really ugly.

What, you didn't like Onslaught's cyberbass fishing boat?

Years ago, Bought the SDCC and retail versions of FOC Bruticus. A year later I got rid of both because the sculpts were awful. Colors just looked horrible. The engineering was low quality.

Would never buy a 3rd party add on kits for HasTak figures I deem to far gone terrible.

Only willing to buy add ons kits if the HasTak or 3rd party figure has extremely minor problems.

Still amazed HasTak made almost Seven color varations on these FOC Bruticus molds. And yet they never bothered to do the molds in 1985 toys colors.

megatronus wrote:

Autobot032 wrote:Those video reviews helped to further solidify my resolve and not buy the set. When I saw their Onslaught, I thought I must have him, Even though I have Boosticus already, but once I saw what happens to Blast Off, I realized I made the right choice and saved money. Now, if you only had to disassemble the figures once, to accommodate the new pieces and they remained integrated, that would be fine, but as is, we're going to see a lot of destroyed Blast Offs in the future.

I don't mind taking my figures apart, and I don't mind partsforming when it comes to combiners, since combiners are just one big partsformer anyway. That's the concept we're dealing with.

What I do mind are the assembly issues, like Swindle's gestalt foot, and the lack of waste swivel on either Onslaught or combined Bruticus. Also, the strange balance, and the small hands... even the color, since that vibrant blue is a bit off when paired with the Platinum set. I dunno. I just expected more from a set that was delayed for 5 months... Vangelus' lukewarm review clinched the "no sale" sentiment.

Honestly I don't really care much about the waist swivel- out of the 3 articulation points that the TFW crowd gets worked up over if they aren't there (wrist swivels, ankle tilts and waist swivels) the waist is the least important to me.

Swindle's foot assembly does look a bit hinky though, although I reckon peg tightening to fix that. The hands are a bit small but I can live with it. The colours are a tad vibrant, but they certainly don't look bad, and getting "game accurate" colours is basically impossible because, well, FoC Bruticus blatantly changes colour when he combines.

Also, compared to all the wibblyness/joint issues I've had with the FP Bruticus kit, this guy looks ridiculously solid. I dunno, he looks OK to me, and certainly the best option out of the 3 ways of having him (vanilla, Boosticus and this). He could do with some improvements, sure, but I think for what it is it's pretty impressive, and a very good debut piece.

Peaugh update vid .