The Energon Pub

Wow, lots of opinions on this. Unfortunately I don't have the time to read them all. But I seem to be a minority in that I'm actually more excited about TF collecting now than when ROTF first came out. I think Hasbro's latest offerings (most of the new NEST Global Alliance molds) are far more interesting and appeal much more to me than the earlier figures. They just seem so much more dynamic, since they're largely unrestrained by such things as screen accuracy... big exception being Leader Starscream, which looks great because of its accuracy.

I just bought 2 figures I've been dying for: MP Skywarp and Reissue Perceptor. They may not be 'new' per se, but they're the current offerings, and I'm very interested.

It is true, however, that there hasn't been much from Japan that is really noteworthy, but truth be told, that's a good thing. I'd rather spend my money on Hasbro products, simply because it saves me money. And as long as Takara keeps up its steady stream of G1 Reissues I missed out on, and MPs for Hasbro to release later, that's all I need from them. Alternity is still just a novelty, there haven't been any real must-haves yet. And again,that's fine with me, money saved.

I suppose it helps that I sort of took a break between the end of Animated/Universe and beginning of ROTF. At least, I'd already gotten most of the figures I wanted from those lines a few months before ROTF started, and then I wasn't in any huge rush to buy ROTF at first.

I also did take up another hobby (micro RC) which I'm really enjoying, and is luckily proving to be less costly than TFs while still being a lot of fun. I think having something to other than TFs to focus on helped prevent me from feeling burnt out.

So I guess, to sum things up, I'm not really bored at all, I'm just comfortable with where things are. I do want to see a break in the whole movie storm, because it's good to see something different and too much hype gets tiring fast. But now that ROTF is largely done and the next installment is a ways off, there's a lull in the hype which still allows for some great new figures to be released, which I'm definitely excited about.

I'm not bored, just waiting for new figures to come out. Over in the States where you've got all the latest releases I can see why you'd be bored but here in the UK we've only had half the ROTF line so I'm eagerly awaiting new stuff. I'm also saving up money for those future releases and taking the time to do some kitbashing.

Yeah, I think another thing to consider is that a lot of community members here are from the U.S. where it seems to be the best spot to be in for Transformers availability in general. I think it's easier to become bored quicker because basically if you're in the U.S., you get most of the stuff fairly quickly while other countries have to wait and may not even get all the products.

Cyber Bishop wrote:Yeah, it is slow right now.. But it is like normal, a break in the action before something else comes out.

Totally. I think it is a good thing, really. I have bought so much in the last couple years, Hasbro needs a break too.......from getting into my wallet.

Agreed. Good product is trickling out for collectors who are not big on the Movie line like me. Next figures I care about now is MP Nemesis Prime and then the Protector armor. Other than that, nothing I'm overly excited about right now or the foreseeable future.

Fortunately I found some new Star Wars toys to tide me over like the Legends AT-ST I bought today. Having the extra cash to spend on Christmas gifts is nice too.

I can understand the boredom, and I hope CB is right--that this is the calm before some pure Awesome. Me, I'm just...frustrated. Mind you, my 'collection' is pretty pitiful, because I'm poor, so I've always been forced to be selective about what I buy. I can't buy an entire line--it'll just never happen even financially. So...I'm kind of used to what I'm feeling now: Toys I want...aren't even preordering yet. Leader Starscream. HA Barricade. Heck, it's inevitable that I'll hit the Mart of K for the doofy looking turquoise SS repaint. But...not out yet. Holding pattern. Very dull.

It makes no sense to me that all three of these are... I think, 1Q 2010 releases, because, well, Christmas? That's the weird thing about how this is timing out--I don't really see that many toys upcoming for release for Christmas in TFs. The shelves are still pretty much holding what they had in August, with a few new editions, but none of them huge like, say, Jetfire. So there's no Christmas *bang* coming out, and that's making me frustrated.

HK, well, that and like you know my job and stuff.

hellkitty wrote:I can understand the boredom, and I hope CB is right--that this is the calm before some pure Awesome. Me, I'm just...frustrated. Mind you, my 'collection' is pretty pitiful, because I'm poor, so I've always been forced to be selective about what I buy. I can't buy an entire line--it'll just never happen even financially. So...I'm kind of used to what I'm feeling now: Toys I want...aren't even preordering yet. Leader Starscream. HA Barricade. Heck, it's inevitable that I'll hit the Mart of K for the doofy looking turquoise SS repaint. But...not out yet. Holding pattern. Very dull.

It makes no sense to me that all three of these are... I think, 1Q 2010 releases, because, well, Christmas? That's the weird thing about how this is timing out--I don't really see that many toys upcoming for release for Christmas in TFs. The shelves are still pretty much holding what they had in August, with a few new editions, but none of them huge like, say, Jetfire. So there's no Christmas *bang* coming out, and that's making me frustrated.

HK, well, that and like you know my job and stuff.

I think they're deliberately holding back on new stuff before the holidays so they clear all the existing log jam of Interrogator Barricades, HA Bumblebees, NEST Ironhides, Wheelies, and Chromias. That's why we're seeing massive sales (deluxes for $8.99 at TRU, leaders for $35, etc). You won't see those sales when the new figures are out.

boredom is good. it's time to appreciate the figures you have and stock up funds for the next run. I have a great job and can afford my hobby, but I don't need to be spending hundreds of dollars a month buying figures all the time.

I enjoy them enough for their designs, buying them is just how I acquire them. Buying them doesn't really occupy my time, so lulls in buying don't matter. Can you honestly say you gave 100% attention to detail if you bought all of the launch ROTF figures at the same time? I can't, so a break to go back and check them out is appreciated.

Also, it gives some time to go get some older pieces I have been wanting. G1 Hardhead and chromedome are calling for me, and Sixshot has been on the list for a while

I'm just like the rest of you and getting bored with the movie line, but at the sametime, i cant wait for Bludgeon, recon ironhide and mindwipe and anticpanting TRU 3.0 to see whats new from hasbro. Only time will tell and it's always calm before the storm....

I am really bored but there are several reasons contributing to my boredom.

1. I'm not really liking most of the stuff from ROTf. i mean My only purchases so far have been Sideswipe and Leader Prime.


2. Availability is abismal. In my area, I'd be lucky to find anythng that is not the ROTF preview BB and soundwave, and a few lingering Leader Megatrons. That's it. Wal-Mart has stopped stocking new waves of figures because they can;t get rid of the overwhelming amount of wave one figures they ordered to begin with.



What I'd like to see? Is something closer to what Matty Collector is doing for Masters of the Universe, and Ghostbusters.

I'd like to see the TF collector's Club come out with say 2 figures a year that are available for purchase to general public without having to pay 90 dollars for an international membership for some other junk I just don't care for.

And yes you can go buy stuff without being a member but again what's with the Prices.
I'd gladly buy Nightbeat for 40 dollars, but 80 for non-collectors? even 48 for collectors seems kind of steep for what is essentially a deluxe sized figure with a new head.
so what do we end up doing, we go to BBTS or some other store and get the same figure at almost half price. $44 at BBTS vs $88 at TFClub Astrotrain: $81 at BBTS vs $127 at TFClub.

Even for Members its cheaper to buy them at BBTS.

The Tfclub needs to restructure its MO. 1 deluxe figure at $40 with some added accessories even if there's no remolding, just a good enough paint job and most people would give in. More so if its a good figure.

And I'm not saying their upcoming Punch/Counterpunch isn't going to be cool. but there's no way I'm paying 90-100 dollars for it plus shipping.

Boredom/interest comes and goes. It depends if something catches my fancy. I'm into a TF upswing right now. I'm catching up on the some of the Henkei and Universe figures I've wanted.

Bored... No I can't say that as I recently i have grabbed a few things that I've wanted, and my USB Ravage is in transit as we speak but I do feel a bit more apathy towards Transformers and GIJoe right now more than anything else.

Off hand i would say that said apathy is based on:
--Animated--
I really enjoyed Animated and what was being done with the show and the toys. I understand the reasons Hasbro killed the show with the whole setting up their own channel and such, but I feel there was a lot of potential there that has gone to waste.

The knowledge that the next version of show we get may not be until after the third Bay movie doesn't help.

--FunPub--
When it was first announced that the club was starting I was really excited, and signed up as soon as I could regardless of the "Canadian Cost" (the whole difference in cost against the currency rate is a long winded rant for another time) and was really pleased to get Skyfall despite already having 2 of that mold (now 5 in total) with the promise of other extras. Instead I have witness them not following thru with the promised retools (should have been on 4 of 5 pieces, instead of only on the Maximus head) The promice of extra exclusives has become a couple over-priced figures I couldn't care less about, and a bi-monthly magazine that looks cheaper and smaller than some IKEA ads i get in the mail. And where they could spearhead many things they drop the ball. Why are they not using their connections to become a source outside of Japan for Takara releases? If it's easier to just get remolds why aren't we seeing masses of mini-cons or other cheaper figures that they can get quicker turn-about on? why doesn't the magazine take a roll in other fan pursuits?
I have been surprised to find their customer service quite good, but It still doesn't help me see the point in staying. The Cons may be good, and I do hope to attend one some day, but I can't shake the feeling that they just don't care.

--Border Envy--
Because as much as I should call it anger at exclusives, it's more than that. I love the city I live in, and this Province but truth be known I have no issue if either North America merged or if everything here broke up and the Pacific and Western States and Provinces allied. But I get pissed off not knowing whether to organize a trip less than an hour away to shop at Target or other US stores, or wait another 2-3 months to see if they are released here. I know that there are a lot of collectors that have a much harder problem that I do getting exclusives in this regard, so I don't want to sound like a whiny *****, but it amazes me how much a couple miles causes such differences to an international company like Hasbro.

--Future Shock--
This effects Joe more than TF's as we haven't seen as much for 2010 TF releases, but with Joe, we have already seen the main releases thru to Q4 2010, so I know that the main ones I'm interested in won't be available for 6-7 months. A bit hard to get too excited about seeing the same stuff on shelves every week, knowing the ones you're interested in won't be there for ages.

--New Tech Scalpers--
I've always had an issue with some stores despite having policies against staff either buying out stock before consumers have a chance, and hiding stock so certain friends can grab them, yet never enforcing those rules if you know it's happening. But that has been a reality for so long i'm used to it.

No the issue I am having a bigger issue with is organized raids by users of other sites where as soon as one user spots new stuff, rallying others to wipeout the new stock, then post on how they cleared them out. I'm all for using resources like the one offered on this site to assist others in finding things but seeing people brag about buying 3-4 Masterpiece Skywarps at a shot knowing that others are still looking for them is just arrogance and frankly I think they are douchebags.

All in all, I'm still happy and glad to be a collector and fan however these things have weighed on me, and has led me to more apathy for the franchises than I had over the last few years.

Editor - Where are all the Joe releases through Q4 2010 listed? I would very much love to peruse that.


My main problem is frustration that my RotF master plan didn't come through as expected. I was planning on running around picking up older stuff while everyone was concentrated on scalping/hoarding/hunting for the new figs. What ended up happening was...

- Similar to the 2007 CC Bumblebee episode, eventually stocks did appear to satisfy demand on everything from Fallen to Jetfire to Ice Cream Guys. So people quickly bought what they wanted from the line and two weeks later were competition again.

- While my willingness to purchase the old stuff never waned, and I had the finances to pursue them, nothing ever really appeared. The same old stuff that was overpriced and rotting on shelves never got cheaper and the few figs I was looking for never showed up. Well, except for a very cheap MISB Sonokong GF Starscream.

-It seems a lot of people had 'my' plan in mind themselves. Especially with relation to G1.

Thus, I spent most of my disposable income on G.I. Joes instead of filling the holes in my AEC/G1 collection. Disappointing, to say the least.

Nickolai wrote:Editor - Where are all the Joe releases through Q4 2010 listed? I would very much love to peruse that.

If you check the Joe sites with reports and photos from JoeCon 09, Hasbro was showcasing many of the releases, with previews of items stating the proposed release times

such as this.

Editor wrote:

Nickolai wrote:Editor - Where are all the Joe releases through Q4 2010 listed? I would very much love to peruse that.

If you check the Joe sites with reports and photos from JoeCon 09, Hasbro was showcasing many of the releases, with previews of items stating the proposed release times

such as this.

Looks good, but I'm more an ARAH guy than RoC guy. I assume you mean Hisstank and yojoe by the joe sites?

Once animated died, my excitement died with it. I loved that show, and i love every toy that went with it. I dont hate the movie toys, I just hated the second movie.....and i didnt realize how much that affected my interest in the toys but it does. Oh well, its all good.

I guess it depends on what your into,
yeah there is lots of Transformers in the toy shelves today, that is GREAT and all but
its dominated by ROTF and animated... two lines which I have absolutely no interest in whatsoever.

So yeah I'm just waiting for the next stuff and waiting can be... well... boring

Geez Editor, air some grievances why don't you?

Seriously though, I'm on your side. I don't have the Canadian problem, but it would have been nice to get some retooled Club combiners. Unless Fun Pub counts translucent plastic as a retooling, which I guess wouldn't sruprise me much. I like the club magazine, but I feel like that figure review colum at the end is too mass-market biased. That might sound real dumb, but it's just my feeling. I know ROTF is still the main line, and I know a lot of people like the figures, but eh, I guess I just don't care for them so much that two ROTF figures in a row grates on me.
In the future I do hope we get better out of the Club in a general sense. I like the exclusive figures, I like the Club comic. But if their big 2010 preview was really a 2010 preview, then we get like six new figures to look forward to, and two of them are poopy Legends. Maybe that's what you're getting at with the Joe stuff. Hasbro knows that they have more 2010 product planned, why do we only get pictures that we've already seen? Some people may not have seen it yet? BS. IF you belong to the Club you're probably on a board somewhere, so you've seen Dirge/assorted crap. And if Botcons are being planned before the current Botcon ends, why can't we get some information beyond "Oh, you'll love the hell out of the '10 boxset, at a location TBA!!!!" Booooo!

Dagon wrote:Geez Editor, air some grievances why don't you?

Sometimes just getting it out helps, and you know what, it did a bit.

With a bit of a clearer head, I do have to say that with my own experiences with running anime conventions that it's not easy to do especially seeing they do have two to run each year, but it still feels that they could be doing more.

i'm bored with 99.9% of recent stuff thats came out.

and to me the movie toys look funny. Honestly if they had better faces it might be worth getting some, but they all look like an exploded manifold to me. i like some of the body designs, but the faces just kill me

I think the boredom may be enhanced by the fact that last year was a really good year. We had about 3 main retail lines at once, so something for everyone between universe, movie and animated. Then there was some great Encores and it was year of the garage companies with the likes of City Commander. Plus there was great hype and anticipation for ROTF, and the Animated show was entertaining and there were some good comics.

This year, ROTF (the film) didn't float a lot of peoples boats, and it's pretty much all there is for the main retail line. Comics haven't been brilliant and there's no cartoon to speak of.

When Universe 3.0 protos start leaking out or we start getting news of the next show things will get interesting again.

Second the scalper complaint. The whole MP Skywarp debacle was freaking ridiculous. But it doesn't weaken my love for the hobby, just lessens my liking for some of the people in it. Kind of shows something about humankind in general, sadly.

It's a sad world when I am more excited by GI JOE: ROC figures/vehicles, Star Wars, and LEGO than I am any Transformers.

It is very boring right now. I am thankful, it's allowing for my cc's to get back down to where they should be, but I am losing interest in the franchise. Met many collecting goals already, running out of room, and 6 month old boy, has kind of changed my order of priorities.

Yep, kinda not feeling it the way it was before. Only 3 figures I'm looking forward to for the foreseeable future: Universe Hardhead, ROTF Bludgeon, and TFCC Punch/Counterpunch. After that, it's pretty much whatever Animated figures come out, if and when they come out. After that...?

It seems like Hasbro and Takara don't have anything going on. Seriously, what is Takara putting out these days Transformers-wise? A bunch of overpriced exclusives like Gentei Clear Starscream and Masterpiece Black Convoy. What's Hasbro got? The NEST subline? We don't even know what's going on with Animated. Are the toys going to be widely available? Is it gonna be a secondary line, because if so, then it won't be widely available. And after that? Power Core Combiners? Whatever that is.

That's why I've been buying DC Infinite Heroes and Marvel Universe figures. First non-Transformers related toys I've bought in a decade.

UltraPrimal wrote:It seems like Hasbro and Takara don't have anything going on. Seriously, what is Takara putting out these days Transformers-wise? A bunch of overpriced exclusives like Gentei Clear Starscream and Masterpiece Black Convoy. What's Hasbro got? The NEST subline? We don't even know what's going on with Animated. Are the toys going to be widely available? Is it gonna be a secondary line, because if so, then it won't be widely available. And after that? Power Core Combiners? Whatever that is.

C'mon mate, do you really expect to know everything Hasbro is doing for forseable future? Where's the sense of anticipation, imagination and what not? Every year in December we don't know what's exactly going on, but we always knows there's going to be Transformers. RotF just took a chunk out of our time and many fan's wallets. I'd probably wait till the good ole' Botcon - another 4-5 months - and see if anything is going to happen. If there isn't, then yeah, you can start panicking and swearing at Hasbro..