The Energon Pub

Agamemnon wrote:I am sorely disappointed in this set. The colors are the more bluish/lavender purple that more closely matches the blade of the sword than the anything else. The gun is very cheap feeling, and the shoulder fix needs to be removed to transform the figure. Since I pretty well fixed the shoulders with a heat gun, I really didn't need the fix. For those who have shoulder problems and don't want to disassemble or risk using a heat gun, the fix will definitely help in bot mode.

I'll try to take some pics this weekend.

That's a real shame. I've been happy with the few SXS offerings I already have (WFC mace for Megatron, Jetpack for MP Prime), and figured this would be up to snuff.

Looking forward to your pictures.

If Dr. Wu announces their set (which I actually thought was more G1-ish), maybe I'll get that instead.

Yeah i noticed the colour difference but i bought it regardless i just need to get rid of that stinking hasbro head that wont even turn round , i might pick up the wu kit if i feel the same way .

Ill be happy to get rid of the Hasbro head. I dont really care about storage for the shoulders because it can go with the sword in my parts box if I ever display it in tank mode. I mean who really displays a tank with a sword clamped to it ?

The shoulder piece doesn't work with transformation!???

Bummer, I thought they did....

When I get them though, I will paint them with Model Masters Acrylic Grape Pearl... It matches the toys purple pretty well.

Alright, pic blitz time. (Heh, I'm a punny guy, eh?)




Okay, so the flash and the pictures don't show the true colors very well. The new pieces are much closer to the OEM blade in color. What I can say is that the pictures show about as much contrast between the new parts and the OEM plastic as in person. (Does that make sense?) While the shoulder fix does look lined up here, I am very concerned that it is putting stresses on the shoulder pieces similar to what the packaging did. Here's some more close-up pics of the shoulder fix:




See that extra material in front of the shoulder tab? That's what I am concerned about. In order to make it flush, the overall piece is crooked on the shoulder, like in that last pic (our left shoulder, Blitzwing's right.) Also, here's one pic of why this fix cannot be incorporated into the transformation:

The shoulder pieces cannot be folded up into the top "engines." Here's a couple of more comparison pics on the components:


I did put the new head on. It helps some with the nosecone issue. Also note where the shoulder fixes end up in plane mode. I think maybe it might look better if I didn't also use the sword:





I have to say that I am definitely feeling some buyer's remorse. However, I had already fixed Blitzwing's shoulder issue. I think the spring in the head/cockpit area influences the nosecone issue more than the size of the OEM head, so now I don't think this is as much of an issue. The gun and the missiles don't make it worth it, in my opinion.

If you need a shoulder fix, and are going to primarily keep Blitzwing in bot mode, then this set isn't bad. I still wish it was a better color match.

Agamemnon wrote:Heh, I'm a punny guy, eh?

Oh... right, I get it

Thanks for taking the time to review this. I wasn't initially interested, but have been keeping an eye on it recently, and now will be passing.

I'm on the fence with this one. If you could just buy the head, I's be all over it. I don't care for the rifle, I think the black one is ok. Also, I don't really care about the shoulder fix since I don't play with my figures outside of posing them for photos. The head sculpt looks very nice tho

The more I think of this set, the more I find I am glad I didn't get it. The missiles look kind of cool but aren't essential. The gun never did it for me -- it looks slightly more imposing in robot mode, perhaps, but seems comically oversized attached to either alt mode. The shoulder fix presented seems to be getting lukewarm reviews, and the more I think on it the more I feel I'll just eventually try the file-down method if I ever get too annoyed with it. The new head might have been nice, but is not worth it to me by itself.

If they hadn't worried about replacing a perfectly fine gun, maybe put a bit more thought into the shoulders, and tried to do something about the nosecone, maybe this could have been awesome. As it is, it seems ill suited to the task.

Looking at the images i could probably pass the colour of the shoulders of as just part of his deco and his missiles imo are needed and so is his much bigger rifle i hate the hasbro gun and he will never be displayed in alt mode with sword and guns hanging of it that's were the missiles come in .