The Energon Pub

[AllNewSuperRobot]

The Sourcebook couldn’t even keep its fiction straight...

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Robotssssssssssss in Disssssssguisssssseeeeeeeee

[Sabrblade]

Boy do I wish Colada had better shoulders.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Boy do I wish Colada had better shoulders.

While I do agree with you, I've been OK with his shoulders considering the way he transforms.

I'm also super happy that both of these snake-formers transform almost the opposite of one another: Coladas legs end up where Night Vipers arms are, Night Vipers legs are the tail while Coladas right arm is the tail, snake head on the front or inside the torso, it's brilliant they made these so opposite and both are still quite good

[Sabrblade]

Backing up to the encyclopedia scans, on the page with all of the overseas Transmetals 2, these eight were actually released in Japan as Hasbro imports exclusive to Toys'R'Us, sold in their Hasbro packaging but with a Japanese sticker placed on their packages.

Of particular note for these eight is that, while seven of them kept their English names, one of them actually got a new Japanese name. Scarem got renamed as "Scream".

And that's not a typo. His name is written as "Scream" in Katakana on that page: スクリーム (Sukurīmu)

[AllNewSuperRobot]

It makes sense, considering his name is likely a portmanteau of 'Scarab' and 'Scare them'. Scream isn't too far off.



Scarem is a really cool figure for his size too. Again, another bit of wasted potential.

[Sabrblade]

It's been wondered if he might have started out as a Transmetal 2 version of Insecticon.

[Evil Eye]

Scarem is a really neat looking figure. I like that he can be a sort of insectoid centaur, and his beetle mode is mean.

Speaking of TM2s I kinda-sorta want Jawbreaker, or alternatively his redeco Frostbite. Something about that design is just cool to me. Both have great colour schemes too.

Regarding the snakeformers, Cohrada/Colada (he seriously needs a better name...Battlesnake? Snakeskin? Whiplash?) is pretty interesting. I like the cowboy theme and that he's a good guy who's also a snake. Night Viper meanwhile is weird, but in a good way. The transformation is genius and I love both modes. Kinda gives me Quintesson vibes actually.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Got another Beast Machines Maximal in! And I have to say, this one might be my favorite so far.

I'm maybe about halfway through the Maximals I intend to get from the line at this point (Noble Savage, Buzzsaw, Geckobot, Nightviper, Cerberus, and now Hammerstrike). Ones left that I'd like to get include the deluxe Primal, Quickstrike, Snarl, Magna Stampede, Longhorn, and maybe Skydive. At least Snarl and Magna Stampede are secured from a friend (just waiting international shipping to open again), so it's really the other 4 that are my concentration at this point.

Vehicon wise, I have Thrust, Blastcharge, Mirage, and a T30 Tankor. I have an OG Tankor and Obsidian secured like the Maximals above. Other than a Strika, I'm not sure if I will get any more vehicons. Maybe Jetstorm to finish off the show vehicons, and maybe a Spy Streak.

Any other recommendations BM wise? Or thoughts on the ones I'm thinking about or plan to get?

[ZeroWolf]

You don't like the Scavenger Vehicon?

[D-Maximal_Primal]

You don't like the Scavenger Vehicon?

Holy cow, i completely forgot about that one. Add another Vehicon to the list!

[AllNewSuperRobot]

You don't like the Scavenger Vehicon?

Holy cow, i completely forgot about that one. Add another Vehicon to the list!

I was going to add him. Definitely a highlight of the line.

[TM2 Dinobot]

You don't like the Scavenger Vehicon?

I personally don't. He always annoyed me, even as a kid. Poor articulation, and he seems smaller than he was meant to be. But his concept art was amazing.

Here. I come bearing gifts.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

For what he transforms into, Scavenger should have been a deluxe or voyager.

[Sabrblade]

As of late, some of the TFWiki toyline pages have been getting some major overhauls, including the Japanese Beast Wars toyline.

Of note is that it mentions that, in 1997, prior to the release of Beast Wars Second, the Beast Wars season 1 toys were so wildly popular in Japan that Takara imported a few Hasbro releases to be sold in Japan at the end of 1997.

Four Maximals and seven Predacons were imported:
Snarl, Bonecrusher, K-9, and B'Boom
Drill Bit, Powerpinch, Spittor, Jetstorm, Retrax, Manterror, and Transquito

These were identical releases to the Hasbro versions right down to their American packaging, but with some Japanese stickers slapped onto the boxes containing localized information like their names and such.

However, this also resulted in a small number of mistranslated names for a few of them. The ones whose names were changed are as follows:

• B'Boom became "B'Boon"
• Bonecrusher became "Bonecrush"
• Manterror became "Manterra"
• Transquito became "Transcute"

Of further note is that all of these are ones that would happen to later see domestic release in Japan the following year as part of the Beast Wars Second line (with K-9 receiving further retooling as Max-B).

[Evil Eye]

Ha! "Transcute"! Nothing cute about a mosquito the size of a car!

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Spent the last week and a half doing some extensive work on the Den. The Beast shelf got a major overhaul, and now the top left half of the shelf is the Beast Machines shelf. I'm really happy with how it came out

[Sabrblade]

Here's an obscure little Beast Wars manga originally published in a 1997 issue of Comic Bun Bun. It seems to be advertising the gator Megatron toy as a separate individual from Megatron named Megalligator (the toy's bio did depict it as just Megatron in a new form he took during a battle set in the Amazon jungle, but this little manga is its own thing).

It's called "Trembling Beast Land" and is just a little comical thing about the Predacons. I'll also include TFWiki's summary of it so that it can be understood what's going.

Also, like most Japanese publications, this manga reads right-to-left.

(click to view full size)

Today, the Predacon army that seeks to conquer the universe plan to do all they can for wickedness.

Scorponok tends to a bonsai tree; Waspinator makes some honey; Tarantulas sews; and Terrorsaur flies himself as a... kite? Anyway, the four of them transform and introduce themselves as the strongest and evil Predacons. Megatron appears, explaining himself as the boss of the Predacons, Emperor of Destruction, and against the Maximals of justice.

As Megatron's Tyrannosaurus head-hand gets torched by Cheetor's laser blast, Megalligator shows up to join the fight! Megatron enjoys the arrival of another Predacon and warns him to not lead with his hands.

Later, at the Predacon base, Megatron in his Tyrannosaurus form whines in pain, having not realized that his burnt hand becomes his head in beast mode...

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Got this guy from a buddy in a group chat, and boy is this nice. This perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the original Lio Convoy as a truck, prior to his lion mode. i love it, and I'm glad I finally got the mold.

[Sabrblade]

On a note related to Lio Convoy, until I first saw the following image posted here, I had never considered the notion that the likes of Tigatron, Dinobot, and Rhinox would all be taller than Lio Convoy and Big Convoy if they all were to stand next to each other.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

You know, the Beast Wars MPs are pretty decently in scale with the different 6" lines that are running right now, and it makes for some fun battle scenes and some fun teamups. So here, we dive into the D-Maxiverse

[Sabrblade]

All thanks to Takara scaling them around Optimus Primal's MP, who in turn was scaled to match the height of the original Big Convoy mold.

[just_aCloud]

Ha! "Transcute"! Nothing cute about a mosquito the size of a car!

Unless it's a Japanese mosquito (apparently).

[D-Maximal_Primal]

This has been a good week for Beast Wars II. Got my God Neptune, and now I have completed my Lio Convoy thanks to getting the 5 missing missiles!



The lion mode looks so goofy with his 4 guns, I love it



Beast Wars II!!!!



Have some God Neptune too

[Sabrblade]

Would you guys believe that, yesterday, I just found a relatively local comic book store that specializes in Transformers and just so happens to have, among toys from many series (mainly G1), BotCon 2000 Apelinq, BWII Gigastorm, Lio Convoy, God Neptune (the vintage one), Scuba vs. Thrust, and Car Robots Devil Gigatron all sealed in their original packaging?

And that's not even getting into all of this place's loose figures, let alone all of its non-Transformers stuff (GoBots, Rock Lords, Machine Robo, Star Wars, Power Rangers, Jurassic Park, G.I. Joe, comic books galore). Fossilsaurus MISB!!!