The Energon Pub

So whenever there is a big event like Toyfair with the beckoning glass cases and shiny trinkets within, there is always one question on everyone's lips: "What would Diem make of this?" Well wonder no longer.

First up, Metroplex. He's either too G1 or not G1-enough, I'm not sure. What I do know is that if you put a G1 Metroplex in front of me right now and said "How could we make this better?" my answer would not be "Make it more lanky and gangly." I do enjoy that everything unfolds in an orgy of panels and hinges, but he doesn't come with a little black car buddy. That's a deal breaker. My verdict? Probably not worth the purported $125 pricetag but since people are paying that much for deluxe-sized third party figures now that probably won't slow many fans down.

Springer and Blitzwing. Love it. Looooooove it. Partly because they're great and partly because Springer fans are a loud and dissatisfied crowd, and this might stop them whinging. Springer is very cool. A great looking triple-changer with a double-missile launcher? You have found your way into both my wallet and my pants, Hasbro. I love the simple yet effective method for turning a thin helicopter cockpit into a wide car body. And speaking of which, I love that his car mode actually looks vaguely like a car. That's novel. And while I would prefer an original mold I really wouldn't mind if this got a retool into Sandstorm.

Blitzwing looks awesome too. I'm not sure the face-swap gimmick is necessary but it's cute. Both jet and tank modes look amazing with no compromises. The robot mode has a bit of a case of "high knee" but I'm buying toys to play with so I don't really care. If this mold winds up being half as good as it looks I will happily snap up the Overcharge repaint at Botcon 2015.

Generations Deluxes: Trailbreaker looks fantastic. At this point we would all have been happy with a turnip as long as it was black with a chrome engine block thing. It has the same wide-chest/skinny arms thing that really didn't do FOC Jazz any favours and I feel trepidation that Hasbro thinks it's still okay to use car roofs as shields but the vehicle mode with its retro stripes is a thing of wonder. Please don't let those stripes go away on the final shelf product.

As for the other 3, when I heard "IDX" I was hoping more for Chromedomes and Tailgates, not 3 guys that we already have a million figures of. As figures, the Megatron and Pax look good so I look forward to getting them when they get repainted into someone else. Bumblebee looks very hollow-torso-y at this stage. The car mode looks okay but I literally cannot get interested in a Bumblebee figure any more.

Beast Hunters: The Ultimates look pretty cool, though those images look verrry photoshopped at this stage. Optimus has had a bad tendency towards cheapy grey plastic of late. Voyager Shockwave looks just non-G1-enough to piss off Shockwave fans, which is a plus. Grimwing looks good in a generic dragon way. Really not sure why all the Predacons are dragons. And UM joins the ranks of Primes With Jet Backpacks, which seems to be a thing. Hasbro are gonna be experts at dragons and truckpacks at the end of this.

As for the deluxes, Skystalker's dragon mode looks great but with a disappointing robot mode, Ratchet has gone horribly wrong in a range of different directions And Dreadwing is gradually turning into a Final Fantasy villain. Those marbled wings? That's amazing. We have marbling technology now? Why isn't everything marbled?


Cyberverse: Everything that is a Terrorcon is exciting. Everything that isn't is blah.

Legends: I love the whole Targetmaster thing they're doing, but I reeeeally don't need yet another Optimus and Bee.

Kreos and Botshots: They're all adorable but I really can't keep up with them.

In other news: Domestic release of MP Soundwave with all 5 tapes? Yes please!

As much as I want to be optimistic about the new slate of IDW figures, I really think that Hasbro is just going to test the waters WFC style and only release this initial wave of Orion, Megs, BB and Trailbreaker. I honsetly think it is going to tank despite there being a bunch of fans who do like the comics and these characters, there's also the other half of the fanbase who has already had enough of their filling of the three.

Knowing this and how wave numbers never seem to go the fans way, Trailbreaker is going to be 1 to the case, and Megs, BB and Orion will be shelfwarming all day.

So that's what the whole IDW thing turned out to be?

Massively disappointed that IDW Optimus is a mere legion/scout/cyberverse--...whatever you call the class that's below deluxe these days. Or is it a legends class toy?

I'll pick up IDW Bee. Orion's kinda meh. Would have picked up Megs if OP were a deluxe also.

Needless to say, Springer, Blitzwing and Metroplex are bought on sight.

Skipping the whole Beast Hunters line.

Diem wrote:Cyberverse: Everything that is a Terrorcon is exciting. Everything that isn't is blah.

My succinct rebuttal:

Diem wrote:In other news: Domestic release of MP Soundwave with all 5 tapes? Yes please!

Well, we can agree on something.

Henry921 wrote:

Diem wrote:Cyberverse: Everything that is a Terrorcon is exciting. Everything that isn't is blah.

My succinct rebuttal:



It would be more exciting if a deluxe hadn't come out of him last year and a voyager this year.