The Energon Pub

News Credits: 65 · Sat Apr 13, 2013 12:36 pm

At this point, we've seen almost everything that has been promised to be in the pipeline for the Beast Hunters subline of Transformers Prime toys. I think maybe we have yet to see a Deluxe or two, but all the Voyagers are now known. With the show ending soon and a new one in production, is Hasbro going to rely on the Generations line alone to be the stopgap that keeps the Transformers brand on toyshelves?

I hope they'll keep re-running the Prime cartoon on TV for a while, at least until the next show is ready to air. Maybe we could see a third assortment of Prime toys at retail until then? I'd love to see a second go at the new beefier Optimus Prime model, with show accurate detailing and none of the BH gimmicks that don't show up on screen. They could reuse the PRID Bumblebee mold and release it with his new screen-accurate black deco. Maybe get a few non-show characters from other PRID molds, like finally a Rumble to go with Frenzy, and an Ironhide from Kup. Really, there are a lot of possibilities for Hasbro, and they don't need to retool the molds they already have.

Sat Apr 13, 2013 1:28 pm

Wolfman Jake wrote:At this point, we've seen almost everything that has been promised to be in the pipeline for the Beast Hunters subline of Transformers Prime toys. I think maybe we have yet to see a Deluxe or two, but all the Voyagers are now known. With the show ending soon and a new one in production, is Hasbro going to rely on the Generations line alone to be the stopgap that keeps the Transformers brand on toyshelves?

I hope they'll keep re-running the Prime cartoon on TV for a while, at least until the next show is ready to air. Maybe we could see a third assortment of Prime toys at retail until then? I'd love to see a second go at the new beefier Optimus Prime model, with show accurate detailing and none of the BH gimmicks that don't show up on screen. They could reuse the PRID Bumblebee mold and release it with his new screen-accurate black deco. Maybe get a few non-show characters from other PRID molds, like finally a Rumble to go with Frenzy, and an Ironhide from Kup. Really, there are a lot of possibilities for Hasbro, and they don't need to retool the molds they already have.

I'm sure we'll see some redecos down the line, perhaps in filler lines, maybe in the next movie line (like they did for all those Cybertron molds in the 07 Movie line), but for now, Hasbro's gearing up for Transformers 4 and all the new molds for that. I'm eagerly looking forward to it, if just to see how/who they do for the next one!

News Credits: 65 · Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:29 pm

Unfortunately, I'm kind of soured on the live-action movie figures after all the problems with the DotM line. Hasbro has juggled three concurrent Transformers iterations at once before, though. I believe we had a movie line, Animated, and Universe running all at once, right?

At any rate, if Prime is representative of the new "modern/aligned" continuity moving forward, I'd like to see some more characters at least in toy form to fill out the "new" universe. It would be nice to see the Takara/Tomy Breakdown and Unicron molds come out here at last. We could maybe get a Deluxe Tailgate repainted from PRID Cliffjumper, like the Cyberverse Legion figure. Along the same vein, maybe a Deluxe Flamewar too from PRID Arcee.

Sun Apr 14, 2013 1:28 am

What's most likely to happen is we get one more wave of deluxes, almost certainly all repaints/retools. Prowl's already been announced and Ser-Ket would be a straight repaint of Ripclaw. One mold that I'm hoping we get as a wave filler is the Jet Vehicon/Jet Vehicon General, because Hasbro already expressed interest in bringing that one over, as it isn't as expensive for them to produce as Breakdown would've been.

If we get any new voyagers at all, I'd expect a retool of something we already have, like a repainted Grimwing with a new had. Sadly, it doesn't seem we'll be getting the Voyager Hardshell mold we all secretly long for. :-(

News Credits: 65 · Sun Apr 14, 2013 10:08 am

Yep, I know Prowl is in the works under the BH imprint. Hasbro has announced that Beast Hunters will have 16 Deluxe figures, of which 15 are now known (including Prowl). Ser-ket is not a bad guess for #16, as she should be a simple repaint of Ripclaw, plus we know Lazerback will be repainted as Vertebreak. As for BH Voyagers, we already know them all. There will be 6 in total: Optimus Prime, Predaking, Shockwave, Ultra Magnus, Grimwing, and Megatron. What I'm hoping for is a third subline for Prime to help round out our collections, at least with on-screen characters, if not also a few more "expanded universe" characters for good measure. Transformers Prime: Robots in Disguise, then Beast Hunters, then...More Than Meets the Eye? I dunno, you get the idea.

Sun Apr 14, 2013 10:47 am

Wolfman Jake wrote:Yep, I know Prowl is in the works under the BH imprint. Hasbro has announced that Beast Hunters will have 16 Deluxe figures, of which 15 are now known (including Prowl). Ser-ket is not a bad guess for #16, as she should be a simple repaint of Ripclaw, plus we know Lazerback will be repainted as Vertebreak. As for BH Voyagers, we already know them all. There will be 6 in total: Optimus Prime, Predaking, Shockwave, Ultra Magnus, Grimwing, and Megatron. What I'm hoping for is a third subline for Prime to help round out our collections, at least with on-screen characters, if not also a few more "expanded universe" characters for good measure. Transformers Prime: Robots in Disguise, then Beast Hunters, then...More Than Meets the Eye? I dunno, you get the idea.

The entire point of my post was saying that this isn't going to happen, at least not until after the next movie line is over. Maybe, MAYBE, we'll get some redecos in the movie line, but there will be no third sub-line. After BH, Prime is done until after TF4 is done.

News Credits: 7 · Sun Apr 14, 2013 6:02 pm

I wouldn't be shocked if we get another wave or two next year. After all, something has to fill the shelves until it's time for the new movie toys.

Sun Apr 21, 2013 2:36 pm

I have been winding down on purchase for Transformers Prime and have grown fond of the Classic/Generation/FOC/WFC/3rd Party stuff. overall, I am just disappointed with the BH line and have grown weary of its aesthetic and the show. I also feel the same way with the movie stuff.

News Credits: 7 · Sun Apr 21, 2013 3:19 pm

Speak for yourself. I'm really digging the Predacons.

News Credits: 656 · Mon Apr 22, 2013 8:56 am

I'd expect Beast Hunters through the summer, with maybe some repaint filler in the holidays. Gotta get that 30th Anniversary stuff out before TF4 - and right after BH is the seemingly logical place to do that!

News Credits: 7 · Mon Apr 22, 2013 9:52 am

ScottyP wrote:I'd expect Beast Hunters through the summer, with maybe some repaint filler in the holidays. Gotta get that 30th Anniversary stuff out before TF4 - and right after BH is the seemingly logical place to do that!

The 30th anniversary stuff is Generations, from what I can tell, and Generations has been running alongside Prime for a while now, so I don't think that it'll be a factor in when the Prime toyline ends. The TF4 toyline, on the other hand, could indeed be a deadline for both Beast Hunters and Generations, but that's how it goes, the movie lines always seem to kill everything else.

News Credits: 3 · Mon Apr 22, 2013 11:23 am

I really liked the Prime cyberverse line. It was much better than the DOTM cyberverse line...which I did not even touch. I'd like to see more cyberverse but I will be sad to not see the TFP aesthetic. :-(

Mon Apr 22, 2013 2:04 pm

Was mentioned earlier that all the Voyagers were announced, That's Prime, Predaking, Shockwave, Magnus, Grimmwing and are we resigned to fact the 6th is that crap redo of Megatron into....another Megatron?

News Credits: 656 · Mon Apr 22, 2013 4:01 pm

Maxman wrote:are we resigned to fact the 6th is that crap redo of Megatron into....another Megatron?

Yep. Or you could ignore the box and pretend he's just another in the infinite ranks of Seacons and have your Autobot pretenders beat him up!

News Credits: 2 · Mon Apr 22, 2013 11:30 pm

Any new word on the massive 'Leader' sized (or whatever they're calling them

) Prime and Predaking? I haven't heard anything about preorders for them yet. They are still planned, right?

Tue Apr 23, 2013 8:34 am

xyl360 wrote:Any new word on the massive 'Leader' sized (or whatever they're calling them ) Prime and Predaking? I haven't heard anything about preorders for them yet. They are still planned, right?

They look awful, didn't you see them?

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/updated-official-images-transformers-prime-beast-hunters-beast-fire-predaking/26883/

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/updated-official-images-transformers-prime-beast-hunters-ultimate-optimus-prime/26877/

Tue Apr 23, 2013 9:05 am

Well Prime is terrible. Predaking is simple but tbh I think he looks cool.

Tue Apr 23, 2013 10:07 am

I'd like to see a follow-up line of Prime moulds repainted into other characters... no more bumblebees for crying out loud! I mean, use the mold by all means, but make it in to a different character! So many possibilities! So much money to spend! Okay, maybe not that last part....

News Credits: 2 · Tue Apr 23, 2013 3:22 pm

RAcast wrote:
xyl360 wrote:Any new word on the massive 'Leader' sized (or whatever they're calling them ) Prime and Predaking? I haven't heard anything about preorders for them yet. They are still planned, right?

They look awful, didn't you see them?

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/updated-official-images-transformers-prime-beast-hunters-beast-fire-predaking/26883/

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/updated-official-images-transformers-prime-beast-hunters-ultimate-optimus-prime/26877/

They look OK to me, particularly Predaking.

News Credits: 12 · Tue Apr 23, 2013 3:27 pm

What makes you think you've seen everything in the pipeline? Did you know about this?

transformers-prime-beast-hunters-cyberverse-commander-huffer-revealed-t94132.php

Wed Apr 24, 2013 1:03 pm

I've Really Liked The Transformers Prime Series, Along With The Action Figure Line. I Really Hate To See It End So Soon. I've Enjoyed It So Much. If It's True That A Beast Hunters Deluxe PROWL Is In The Works, That Would Be Fantastic. I Have The Legion Class Version, But A Deluxe Class Version Of PROWL Would Make Me VERY Happy. And I Know That Hasbro Will Make Him Look Really Good As A Deluxe Class Figure.

News Credits: 7 · Wed Apr 24, 2013 2:43 pm

OPTIRODIMUS wrote:I've Really Liked The Transformers Prime Series, Along With The Action Figure Line. I Really Hate To See It End So Soon. I've Enjoyed It So Much. If It's True That A Beast Hunters Deluxe PROWL Is In The Works, That Would Be Fantastic. I Have The Legion Class Version, But A Deluxe Class Version Of PROWL Would Make Me VERY Happy. And I Know That Hasbro Will Make Him Look Really Good As A Deluxe Class Figure.

Why are you talking like a Homestuck character?

For some reason, I think a deluxe Prowl would likely be a retool of Smokescreen. I have... mixed feelings on that.

Wed Apr 24, 2013 2:49 pm

Opinions. Each To Their Own.

Wed Apr 24, 2013 2:50 pm

Opinions. Each To Their Own.

Wed Apr 24, 2013 2:50 pm

Nemesis Primal wrote:For some reason, I think a deluxe Prowl would likely be a retool of Smokescreen. I have... mixed feelings on that.

Same here. While I do like the Smokescreen figure, the "racing car" doesn't look very cop-car-ish to me. I know that Smoke, Bluestreak and Prowl are supposed to be the same mold, but really, look at Ratchet and Ironhide... since G1 (or G1-inspired Classics) have they ever been the same?

I would much rather see Prowl as a redeco of either Bumblebee (GASP!) or Knock Out (DOUBLE GASP!) I think the Knock Out thing comes from the Arms Micron Smokescreen... with the right decals, that could be Prowl... and the Knock Out figure's mould isn't nearly as bad in hand as the pictures make it seem, it's just the paint that sucks (hellooooo Reprolabels!!!!)