The Energon Pub

News Credits: 6188 · Sat Sep 01, 2012 1:34 pm

I've just found a stash of them in a shop in town, and I'm considering picking up one or two.

Any suggestions on which ones you think are the best?

I'm currently looking at Icepick, Thunderhead and Sandstorm/Half Track.

Thanks!

News Credits: 6 · Sat Sep 01, 2012 1:58 pm

Sandstorm and Icepick are the best out of that lot, you wont be disappointed.

Sat Sep 01, 2012 2:03 pm

The Thunderhead mold is cool for being different, though I kinda hate his head sculpt. Icepick has a weird weapon mode, but he's pretty cool otherwise. And you simply can't go wrong with Sandstorm!

News Credits: 6188 · Sat Sep 01, 2012 2:03 pm

So the Sandstorm deco over Half Track?

Sat Sep 01, 2012 2:12 pm

Va'al wrote:So the Sandstorm deco over Half Track?

That's my preference. I really dislike how Half Track's head came out. The red-on-black looks a lot better, in my opinion.

News Credits: 1 · Sat Sep 01, 2012 2:16 pm

Sandstorm is great. Easily the best HA.

Sat Sep 01, 2012 2:17 pm

RhA wrote:Sandstorm is great. Easily the best HA.

If I had to pick a favorite, I'd say Whirl. It's just a shame he doesn't have a monoeye.

News Credits: 1 · Sat Sep 01, 2012 2:19 pm

RAcast wrote:
RhA wrote:Sandstorm is great. Easily the best HA.

If I had to pick a favorite, I'd say Whirl. It's just a shame he doesn't have a monoeye.

Whirl is a close second. He should have been blue, that would have put him at the top of my list.

News Credits: 4 · Sat Sep 01, 2012 3:19 pm

haven't got Whirl, sadly, but Sandstorm is one of my favourite official TFs of recent years. Either colour is good.

News Credits: 1 · Sat Sep 01, 2012 3:44 pm

a lot of those toys are pretty good. I say buy them all.

Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:18 pm

The basics ("Commanders")?

Excellent.

The limbs ("drones") ?

Suck except for about a third of them. Love the dinobots, myself.

Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:29 pm

Valandar wrote:The basics ("Commanders")?

Excellent.

The limbs ("drones") ?

Suck except for about a third of them. Love the dinobots, myself.

The HA Basics have nothing to do with the PCC Scout "Commanders," friend.

News Credits: 101 · Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:14 pm

Just pointing out that the one that came in the two-pack with Gray Bumblebee make one hell of a badass BFG for Ultimate Optimus Prime.

Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:23 pm

-Kanrabat- wrote:Just pointing out that the one that came in the two-pack with Gray Bumblebee make one hell of a badass BFG for Ultimate Optimus Prime.

Which is appropriate because:
"Human Alliance Backfire's energy cannon mode seems to be rather heavily based on a concept design from artist collective Massive Black for an unused shoulder mounted cannon for Dark of the Moon Optimus Prime seen here."

News Credits: 7 · Sat Sep 01, 2012 9:41 pm

Whirl is kick-ass, especially partnered with Armorhide.

The only other HA Basic I have is Drag Strip, and he's really not that great. He's articulation is limited, the weapon mode is a joke, and the human partner can't easily sit in him.

Sat Sep 01, 2012 10:59 pm

RAcast wrote:
Valandar wrote:The basics ("Commanders")?

Excellent.

The limbs ("drones") ?

Suck except for about a third of them. Love the dinobots, myself.

The HA Basics have nothing to do with the PCC Scout "Commanders," friend.

Whoops, sorry.

I was preparing to go eat, and the combination of hunger and reading several threads simuiltaneously messed with my brain.

Sat Sep 01, 2012 11:01 pm

Valandar wrote:
RAcast wrote:
Valandar wrote:The basics ("Commanders")?

Excellent.

The limbs ("drones") ?

Suck except for about a third of them. Love the dinobots, myself.

The HA Basics have nothing to do with the PCC Scout "Commanders," friend.

Whoops, sorry.

I was preparing to go eat, and the combination of hunger and reading several threads simuiltaneously messed with my brain.

No worries no worries! I'm sure I've done the same myself.

News Credits: 6188 · Sun Sep 02, 2012 3:29 am

It's also understanadable, as I'm a big fan of the PCC line!

I think you've convinced me on Sandstorm. Now to check if Whirl is still there, or if I prefer Icepick.

Sun Sep 02, 2012 6:26 am

Va'al wrote:It's also understanadable, as I'm a big fan of the PCC line!

I think you've convinced me on Sandstorm. Now to check if Whirl is still there, or if I prefer Icepick.

The thing about HA Icepick is he looks VERY different from all the other movieverse figures. He's got more of an iPod "smooth" look to him, compared to the greebled "terminator endoskeleton with car vomit on it" as someone once described the designs back when the movie came out. It looks really nice, but he probably actually fits better with Prime than with the Movieverse.

Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:03 am

RAcast wrote:If I had to pick a favorite, I'd say Whirl. It's just a shame he doesn't have a monoeye.

His head turns around to become a searchlight in gyrocopter mode. It can be used for a more G1 Whirl-esque head.

Icepick looks smooth and not very movie-like on first glance, but his lower legs and arms have some detailing that fit the aesthetic pretty well.

-

I have seven out of the eight HA Basic molds. I still can't find Reverb, though he looks pretty great.

Sandstorm / Half-Track:
- Excellent dynamic style, proportions and poseability
- Cool, pretty realistic dune buggy
- Artillery mode fine as a stand-alone, looks bulky hand-held.
- Partner Private Dedcliff is a nice generic military man, Major Altitude makes for a great Neil Armstrong/ Buzz Aldrin except for his NEST belt.

Icepick:
- Sleek robot with hockey mask face, but weird weapons
- Nifty though overscaled snowmobile which looks great with his human partner
- 'Hoverbike' is not really a third mode, more like the alt mode with his tread deployed as a saw weapon.
- Human partner SERGEANT CHAOS very much like a Cobra Snow Serpent from GI Joe, great name and mold. Multipack Icepick has Chaos as a Tungsten repaint.

Thunderhead / Crosshairs:
- Robot very stylized with tread limbs and lower-back kibble, unusual look for a TF
- Very sci-fi spider tank, can be made more normal by posing the treads flat to the ground
- Exo-suit battle mech, can't be wielded by a bigger bot, but looks really cool!
- Human partner Major Tungsten (w/ Thunderhead) is a boring retool of Lennox, Sergeant Cahnay (w/ Crosshairs) is a less-good looking repaint of Sergeant Chaos.

Backfire
- Clunky robot with gimpy alt-mode chunks for hands and massive lower legs, cool face and chest though
- unusual tricycle alt-mode as seen in Shanghai in RotF, looks powerful
- Cannon mode one of the most convincing weapon modes among the HA basics, along with Whirl
- Cool human partner which reminds me of the NEST Mech Soldier concept art, Multipack Backfire has a repainted Sam as a partner.

Whirl
- Robot somewhat hampered by huge ski-feet, pot belly and four copter blades on back.
- Alt mode a very toy-esque mini copter which looks a bit comical.
- Rail Gun mode looks awesome provided you ignore the instructions and tf it with the shoulder-bars acting as a handle to carry him like a mini-gun
- Partner Major Sparkplug is well sculpted and painted compared to most HA humans and looks great

Tailpie & Pinpointer
- Great duo of a scout-sized Spliter Cell-esque cycleformer and a batlike Mini-Con thingy.
- A very bulky oversized cruising cycle with a huge turret on the back. Looks better without the puny human.
- Like Icepick, hoverbike is too similar to alt mode and best served as a variation instead of full third mode.
- Human partner Sergeant Noble looks terrified but his outfit makes him look appropriately themed with the robot duo.

Drag Strip
- Robot mode nicely styled but hampered by the purple back-kibble, nice blades and head though
- Indy racing car looks very sleek and better than PCC Leadfoot, but the blades only fit on front like some odd wings, but just don't quite fit underneath (their shield-mode location) where they'd be better hidden.
- Shield mode is an absolute joke and looks like an Indy car with side-mounted wings held vertically by a bot. Just ignore it.
- Human partner MASTER DISASTER also awesome name and one of the best HA partners. Cyberglyphics and translucency make him a proper holographic image.

TL; DR: Go for Sandstorm and Icepick, maybe Tailpipe. Still, all have something awesome about them and they're a great deal for the money.

News Credits: 6188 · Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:47 am

Rushie wrote:TL; DR: Go for Sandstorm and Icepick, maybe Tailpipe. Still, all have something awesome about them and they're a great deal for the money.

News Credits: 241 · Sun Sep 02, 2012 2:01 pm

I'd be of no help between your decision between Sandstorm and Half-Track. I picked Half-Track solely because of his blue colors and space theme. I'm biased like that :lol:

Sun Sep 02, 2012 2:37 pm

Honestly, Sandstorm and Half-Track are pretty much on par. They have the exact same plastic lay-out and paint-apps sake for the colour itself. Half-Track features an Autobot/NEST symbol on his vehicle hood instead of an Autobot symbol on the chest like Sandstorm. That, and his head has more coloured stripes than Sandstorm. So it's either the different human partner (both have a unique sculpt not used anywhere else) or the general theme of the colours.

News Credits: 6188 · Sun Sep 02, 2012 3:48 pm

I should have been clearer: the photo above is what I got today, Sandstorm and Icepick.

Thanks for the help, everyone!

News Credits: 5 · Sun Sep 02, 2012 4:12 pm

Half Track by far is the best, but then again, I love Space.
So in reality, Sandstorm/Half-track are steals for the price.
They both very articulated and can pose very well, but also have a bunch of modes,
a lot just made up ones lol.