The Energon Pub

nice. they're not perfect, but there's a lot of good stuff going on there. looking forward to the different combinations.

Been holding off on passing judgement or voicing an opinion on these for quite a while now. They have been getting quite a lot of hype and attention and normally when something gets TOO much hype like these have been getting then that equates, in my mind at least, to the subject being pure crap.
I actually kind of like these, at least moreso than anything we are getting in the Prime BH line and even some of the Generations figures but I can't say as I like them enough to pursue them since they aren't "domestic" figures for me. There is also the very strong feel, in my mind, of the middle universe Voltron aesthetic and that is also leaving me conflicted if not a little bit turned off to these figures since I know it's not done in an homage fashion and feels more like a blatant rip-off to me. I know, very silly line of logic to follow there and foolish thing to base an opinion on but it's something that popped into my mind the second I saw these and has bugged me ever since.
Conceptually cool figures, I like the styling and articulation on all of them and they are light years beyond the Energon series combination gimmick but I won't pursue them unless they see a U.S. release and the sad part about that is that if they are released here in the states, Hasbro is going to f--- them up so badly that I'm likely to reject buying them. Sad too since Hasbro could make good money off them here in the states if they didn't do anything beyond repackaging them but we all know that THAT will never happen.

Arctorro wrote:The more I see of them, the less I like them... I just can't help feeling that these guys are a step backwards from RiD's Team Bullet Train.

I kind of agree...but I kind of don't also.

The issue comes from the Aquarion-esque combination style. If they just wanted one perfect combiner, they'd have made Rail Racer again, but they didn't. They tried to do something different,and I'd say it worked reasonably well, but it's far from perfect.

RAcast wrote:

Arctorro wrote:The more I see of them, the less I like them... I just can't help feeling that these guys are a step backwards from RiD's Team Bullet Train.

I kind of agree...but I kind of don't also.

The issue comes from the Aquarion-esque combination style. If they just wanted one perfect combiner, they'd have made Rail Racer again, but they didn't. They tried to do something different,and I'd say it worked reasonably well, but it's far from perfect.

I think it's that "Spindly leg" thing that's killing it. The thing looks like a body builder that has only focused on bulking out everything from the waist up. It looks like the character can take a full tank barrage to the chest and not blink but one quick kick to the shin and he's screwed. I don't see how they managed to get the concept right for a similar toy over 30 years ago but now they drop the ball on it. Doesn't make sense.

T-Macksimus wrote:

RAcast wrote:

Arctorro wrote:The more I see of them, the less I like them... I just can't help feeling that these guys are a step backwards from RiD's Team Bullet Train.

I kind of agree...but I kind of don't also.

The issue comes from the Aquarion-esque combination style. If they just wanted one perfect combiner, they'd have made Rail Racer again, but they didn't. They tried to do something different,and I'd say it worked reasonably well, but it's far from perfect.

I think it's that "Spindly leg" thing that's killing it. The thing looks like a body builder that has only focused on bulking out everything from the waist up. It looks like the character can take a full tank barrage to the chest and not blink but one quick kick to the shin and he's screwed. I don't see how they managed to get the concept right for a similar toy over 30 years ago but now they drop the ball on it. Doesn't make sense.

That's precisely what I was saying, it's good, but the dropped the ball on the proportions a bit.
I would like to point out that RiD was about 12 years ago though. You can hardly compare the immobile bricks of G1 combiners to modern, articulated combiners. It's easy to make something stand that only stands in one position, it's less simple when it's something with lots of joints.

Am I alone in getting a BWII Thrust vibe from the yellow jet guy?
Yeah, despite their size they don't accomplish much in the way of a combination. They're enormous and they didn't really push past Energon in their engineering

welcometothedarksyde wrote:Am I alone in getting a BWII Thrust vibe from the yellow jet guy?
Yeah, despite their size they don't accomplish much in the way of a combination. They're enormous and they didn't really push past Energon in their engineering

Agreed. I think, even with this triple-combining style, they could have done much better than Energon-redux style robot modes.

Of the three, Jinbu's face seems to have the most personality to it, being a bit of a cocky-looking grin as opposed to the stern looks of Kenzan and Ganoh.

Okay, I know these won't get a Hasbro release, but lets pretend they did, and they were all repainted...who'd you like to see them as?

I'd like Jinbu as Armada Starscream, or at least in those colours.
Kenzan already has a more or less Prowl paintjob, so maybe Barricade? Or if they must be Autobots: Stakeout?
Ganou is clearly meant to be a firetruck, but I think he'd be an okay Grapple, which would work nicely in flipping the colours about somewhat, or else he could be HotSpot blue?

a bit of remolding to make any Autobot logos into Decepticon ones would be cool, and could then have Ganou maybe in black or a darker red as Smoulder or something? Likewise, the Shinobi team could be Predacons of sorts, but Razorclaw, Divebomb and...Jawbreaker? If they stick with them as good guys I'd like to see a Lio Prime, Airrazor and Cybershark team.

craggy wrote:Okay, I know these won't get a Hasbro release, but lets pretend they did, and they were all repainted...who'd you like to see them as?

Chase, Heatwave, and Blades.

Now this is just pure win!

LOST Cybertronian wrote:Now this is just pure win!

I didn't care about these for a long time, and I still won't be getting them, but that picture will probably never stop making me smile. It's just that awesome.

CaptainMagic wrote:

LOST Cybertronian wrote:Now this is just pure win!

I didn't care about these for a long time, and I still won't be getting them, but that picture will probably never stop making me smile. It's just that awesome.

Why are they not designed this way to begin with? That is infinitely awesome!

GoMechaKali!

So, six-armed combinerman is awesome, I love the fire truck's combiner helmet, with the stag beetle lookin horns on it.

RAcast wrote:

CaptainMagic wrote:

LOST Cybertronian wrote:Now this is just pure win!

I didn't care about these for a long time, and I still won't be getting them, but that picture will probably never stop making me smile. It's just that awesome.

Why are they not designed this way to begin with? That is infinitely awesome!

Sold.

And more in-hand images, this time of their promotional Arms Micron partners: Zan out of L.P., Jin out of S.2 and Gan out of Sou, and their combined form: the SanjouHaouKen.

Worth noting is that they still need to be assembled, they have no stickers at all, and their crystals have the symbol tampographed on them. And that I want them so bad!

Just for completion's sake: Shining Optimus Prime Blaster

That picture reminds me of gilgamesh in ff12.

Also seen pics of two only combined, in Energon Powerlinx style.

craggy wrote:Also seen pics of two only combined, in Energon Powerlinx style.

Specifically - http://higekumatoytoy.blog60.fc2.com/blog-entry-1957.html

Also contains a ton of fan modes for these guys.

Plus, galleries for...

Zan, Jin, Gan, the Arms Microns who form the Sanjōhaōken - http://higekumatoytoy.blog60.fc2.com/blog-entry-1962.html

Shining Optimus Prime Blaster - http://higekumatoytoy.blog60.fc2.com/blog-entry-1961.html

Sabrblade wrote:

craggy wrote:Also seen pics of two only combined, in Energon Powerlinx style.

Specifically - http://higekumatoytoy.blog60.fc2.com/blog-entry-1957.html

Also contains a ton of fan modes for these guys.

Plus, galleries for...

Zan, Jin, Gan, the Arms Microns who form the Sanjōhaōken - http://higekumatoytoy.blog60.fc2.com/blog-entry-1962.html

Shining Optimus Prime Blaster - http://higekumatoytoy.blog60.fc2.com/blog-entry-1961.html

*feels overlooked, again!*

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:*feels overlooked, again!*

D'oh!

Sabrblade wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:*feels overlooked, again!*

D'oh!

No harm done, buddy

Well BBTS got them in so hopefully sometime next week I'll be able to tell you how they are.

RhA wrote:

RAcast wrote:

CaptainMagic wrote:

LOST Cybertronian wrote:Now this is just pure win!

I didn't care about these for a long time, and I still won't be getting them, but that picture will probably never stop making me smile. It's just that awesome.

Why are they not designed this way to begin with? That is infinitely awesome!

Sold.

And this!!! This is how mine will be mostly displayed, he looks terrifying. So there was a thread for these!