The Energon Pub

itscramtastic wrote:Hot dang!! That's a pretty dang awesome gun that works GREAT with CW Bruticus!!

I had to really work them PE hands though. Would have been wasting my time with the stock HFGs

I'm very happy with the outcome

So I have mixed feelings about X-Ray. There is a lot to like but the figure leaves a little to be desired. Gun mode has a real nice and pleasing G1 vibe going one. The orange is a little questionable, but looks good contrasted against the purple. It's a nice size and only a little bit larger than the legend class. I'm not sure if Bruticus could even get his hands around the handle even with the PE upgrade. Here are some comparison shots of he and legend class Shockwave.









More pics and thoughts to come when I get to bot mode.

G2 or Action Master Shockwave had the orange, right? Pretty cool looking at it that way!!

itscramtastic wrote:G2 or Action Master Shockwave had the orange, right? Pretty cool looking at it that way!!

Aye!



Well that justifies me keeping the figure

I'm considering selling him if anyone is interested

Hooray!! I enabled!

Sell him.

X-Ray is about scout class size and just a little bit simpler. There are still a few tricks up his sleeve though. Here is X-Ray vs Shockwave.






Tall and sleek with pretty nice proportions. The neck/shoulder area is a little awkward. Articulation in the arms are lacking. Could have used a bicep swivel or a ball jointed elbow. This is a model kit after all, but I think a bicep swivel would have fit in. I don't expect very dynamic poses from Shockwave, but the arms are very limiting. The legs on the other had can move all over the place. The articulation isn't needed for transformation either as they just click together and the toes and heels fold in.




That's it folks, all the arm movement you get. The elbows stop just short of 90° with the knees just making it. With ball jointed hips and thigh swivels X-Ray knows kung-fu!



The thing that hurts X-Ray the most is the deco, or lack there of. I know, it's a model kit. To that I say, no stickers were included and they could have squeezed in a separate piece of that orange plastic for an eye with light piping.



Overall X-Ray makes a nice transforming "Action Master" Shockwave (as itscramtastic pointed out). It was a fun (if not tricky in a few spots (high potential to break some very important parts)) build that resulted in a pretty nice scout class figure. I only wanted the set for Bruticus's gun and that was worth the price of admission alone.

SXS Continuously Variable (hence for known as Gears because that's a lot to type and type correctly) is an interesting turduckhen of a figure. Not quite sure what size class they are going for here or who he is supposed to scale with? Masterpiece maybe? The build/transformation is more in par with a standard deluxe or voyager of a few years ago, think CHUG and there are more than a few kibble and bits panels hanging around.



He comes with two guns, one in matching grey and one in a shade off red. From what I understand the red one is a bonus. Two greys please. He can store one or the other on his undercarriage in alt-mode, but not both. I do like that unlike standard releases there are no external alt-mode weapons storage/usage.



He's bigger than deluxe, but not quite voyager sized.



A quick around about to peep them panels. They reall don't look all that bad and do not affect his articulation one bit. He has a bit of a back pack that makes him a little back heavy, but ball jointed ankles combined with the transformation joints make it easy to pose him.





I also found a transformation step not listed in the instructions and it doesn't seem anyone online has found it. The front wheels pull out from the hood, it makes the backpack a little more cohesive, but it really makes absolutely no difference.



In hand he feels like a pointy mess of panels, but his articulation is actually quite nice. Pretty much any pose you can think of is possible. The panels barely get in the way and have enough movement to work with you and still look good.





Alt-mode is nice and has some gnarly knobby tires. The off-road look is Strongarm with this one. Pretty big and has a nice compact dense feel to it.







Gears not having a place to store his extra gun gave Swerve a chance to swipe it.





Will that idiot ever learn?

Continuously Variable is a figure I've been eyeing for a long time. Something about it has just called out to me. Once it hit a price point I liked, I dropped it in my pile. I'm very happy with the figure. I've transformed it back and forth a few times so far and find it to be a fun and intuitive process. I am left a little puzzled on where this Gears is going end up. Probably chilling with the MPs. I mean if an OS KO of a legend class figure can pull it off, surely a fairly nice 3P deluxager can. The plastic is nice and smooth, but has a that brittle feel to it. The kind that shows stress marks really easily, but I have yet to see any. I'm a happy camper and as of right now I don't need another Gears figure in my collection. I'll leave you with Gears' nicely light-piped and delightfully grumpy face.

Bonus pic because I'm still tinkering with this guy. Friday before a holiday blues.

Holy 3sPlosion!!!!

BIG GUNS ERRY WHERE!

So none of the weapons work in 5mil ports? poop.

The shockwave fig is cool. I think Gears is even cooler. Really like his "neo" design.

Those old analogue boxes in the back make an awesome 80's back drop for the photo, BTW.

Cobotron wrote:Holy 3sPlosion!!!!

BIG GUNS ERRY WHERE!

still got four more to open

So none of the weapons work in 5mil ports? poop.

The throwing knives and rambo knive will. The sword pummel is too large for figures with closed hands as is the end of the small pistol. Open hand figures may be able to hold the swords because the handles are flat instead of round. I haven't messed with them much. I'll probably whittle them all down a bit.

The shockwave fig is cool. I think Gears is even cooler. Really like his "neo" design.

The Shocker is aight, but not Gears is the dopeness. I'm very happy with that figure.

Those old analogue boxes in the back make an awesome 80's back drop for the photo, BTW.

HA, never thought of it that way. I salvaged them from different stores while installing new equipment. Both were buried on shelves under old paper work. I just kept them around cause I thought they looked cool, but now that you mention it...

CV is definitely the winner of the two. He just looks more fun! BUT you were able to assemble X-Ray from sprues, so that's cool too!!

yup

He works good in with that crew.

Cobotron wrote:He works good in with that crew.

He and Optimus shop at the same paint store

Wow.... that's a lot of Ironhide in such a small package

WB Shocky.... I don't wanna be a negative nelly, but I'm not a fan. In gun mode, holy robot legs!

Dat Gears is lookin pretty slick though. Did they make a Swerve too?

Also I got yer mail the other day

Yeah I could take or leave WB Shockster. I was really in for the Brutigun. It was fun to build and transforms satisfyingly enough. I may pop it on ebay and see if anyone bites.

Anyways, been a big day in the man child room. Finally got me a desk to play at and I took care of a small niggle that's been bothering me since I did it. I centered the Prime shelf to the wall and not the window.



I only moved it like 8" but it feels so much better. I feel like it centers the entire room. Just a little insight into my psyche.

That... is a massive cool looking gun!!! It works so well with Brut!

I loves me some TR Kup.

shajaki wrote::APPLAUSE:

I loves me some TR Kup.

Yeah, he's a fun figure. Feels more like and action figure with so little kibble hanging around. Very posable and just looks cool no matter how silly you try and get. Apparently Kup though Mardi Gras was early this year. He was sad when I didn't toss him any beads and pulled his guns on me

Easily one of the best deluxes of the line

Awesome stuff dude!! I was hoping I'd see him at Walmart today but didn't, multiple we there a few weeks ago when Slugslinger was picked up. Oh well. Someday?

carytheone wrote:

Are the guns actually attached there, or just resting?

Amazing pics, too! What camera do you use?

Sigma Magnus wrote:

carytheone wrote:[img]cheating[/img]

Are the guns actually attached there, or just resting?

Amazing pics, too! What camera do you use?

It's just chilling there. Seems like it should attach there though.

Just using my Galaxy S6. You know what they say "the best camera is the one you have with you".

We got a couple Olympus micro 4/3rds (can't remember the exact model) that I shoot with at home (full manual) when I'm trying to be serious. I just got my room back together so that should be coming back around again.

Honestly though, most modern cell phones have excellent imagers these days. Besides a good picture is really 95% lighting anyway (which my office is really bad). If I really want to get specific, a great pic is 50% lighting, 49% right place right time and 1% having the sense to take it.

carytheone wrote:Just using my Galaxy S6. You know what they say "the best camera is the one you have with you".

Agreed, I use my Note 5. Though it seems to not be working properly lately...eh, probably just the lighting in my room.