The Energon Pub

And if anyone's wondering, here's the price when the set was first reported:

SRP price is 4500 Phil pesos or around $100.

SG Blitzwing and G2 Astrotrain? Neat. All in on these.

Seibertron wrote:I'm baffled that they screwed up the colors for Astrotrain and Blitzwing. They could have done the original G1 version to give everyone something different for reissues (especially since there has never been a reissue of Astrotrain in his original Hasbro G1 colors), or they could have done platinum paint jobs on them like the Predaking reissue a few years back, something, anything other than random paint schemes that don't currently have any precedent. Weird.

Ryan, I'm a little baffled too, but I still want them.

They feel very fresh to me. I can't explain it any other way.

Cobotron wrote:I'll be the odd ball.
I never had either of these guys as a kid. In 30 years I have never acquired them. I'm not a hardcore G1 traditionalist. I am also finding I have so many classic-esq versions of so many characters that the odd ones really appeal to me. Out of all the upcoming G1 reisues, confirmed and rumored, this is the set I want most, and I've never had all the Dinobots either.

This all being said, I'm still super curious as to why they went with these decos. I'm starting to wonder if they are really meant for other markets (Asia, Central and South America, etc.), and them being released into ours is kind of an after thought.

I like your approach and these have me really curious (although I already have G1 astrotrain, which indeed is quite cheap without his accessory). But while I would spend a premium on the coneheads, I dont feel as inclined here (or the insecticons). What would be your limit to spending on this set?

Platinum G1 Blitzwing looks like it has Flywheels colors. Wish the 30th Blitzwing toy got this Flywheels recolor. Instead of getting those Double Dealer colors.

Seibertron wrote:I'm baffled that they screwed up the colors for Astrotrain and Blitzwing. They could have done the original G1 version to give everyone something different for reissues (especially since there has never been a reissue of Astrotrain in his original Hasbro G1 colors), or they could have done platinum paint jobs on them like the Predaking reissue a few years back, something, anything other than random paint schemes that don't currently have any precedent. Weird.

I wouldn't even be interested in this set if it wasn't for the wacky colours.

I doubt we'd see anime Astrotrain after eHobby already did it, too. :'(

william-james88 wrote:

Cobotron wrote:I'll be the odd ball.
I never had either of these guys as a kid. In 30 years I have never acquired them. I'm not a hardcore G1 traditionalist. I am also finding I have so many classic-esq versions of so many characters that the odd ones really appeal to me. Out of all the upcoming G1 reisues, confirmed and rumored, this is the set I want most, and I've never had all the Dinobots either.

This all being said, I'm still super curious as to why they went with these decos. I'm starting to wonder if they are really meant for other markets (Asia, Central and South America, etc.), and them being released into ours is kind of an after thought.

I like your approach and these have me really curious (although I already have G1 astrotrain, which indeed is quite cheap without his accessory). But while I would spend a premium on the coneheads, I dont feel as inclined here (or the insecticons). What would be your limit to spending on this set?

Good question. Honestly the most I would pay is $80 max. That includes tax. My strategy on all these over priced re-issues (and year of...) is to wait it out. I got a good deal on Predaking because he sat around for so long. I patiently waited for his price to drop. Patience paid off. If It feels like this won't happen I will switch into coupon mode.
I have to admit reading peoples dissatisfaction with these makes me hopeful that they will hang around for a while.

I hope they repair Chug Blitzing with this color scheme. He'd make a nice Classics Flywheels.

If I have spare bill around I might pick them up. Maybe the person how had the idea likes skittles

Curious to see what color Astrotrain's train mode is. Probably going to pass on these. I don't care if they put ridiculous colors on Blaster & Perceptor, I'm getting them even if they're pink and green. I've always liked the weird Alt-modes in G1. Wish they would have kept doing them.

Railbomb wrote:Curious to see what color Astrotrain's train mode is.

Based on the color layouts of the parts that are supposed to form the train mode parts, I'm thinking his train mode might be primarily gray with some purple, instead of primarily purple with some black.

Look! Hasbro knew we wanted Flywheels out of Blitzwing! Too bad they used the wrong Blitzwing...and they didn't change the name... I actually like how BW looks, but WTF is going on with Astrotrain? Well. They are out of my price range anyway, so...yay?

I'd prefer a rerelease of the original G1 toys since I don't own either rather than a repaint of the CHUG versions.

Astrotrain! Is gray PVC/ABS so hard to procure Hasbro? At least a recreation of the mockup in the 1985 catalog?

mooncake623 wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Blitzwing appears to be a simple color swap. All his tan is now brown and all his purple is now magenta.

Astrotrain, however, it a much more complex color change. His black is now purple, except for where it's still black. His gray is now orange, except for where it's still gray. And his purple is now gray, except for the tips of his wings and his rear boosters being orange. Oy.

Are these fancy new repaints homaging anything?

Blitzwing appears to be homaging G1 Duocon Flywheels, with a hint of G1 Thrust.

Ah okay, what about Astrotrain?

Movor, more or less.

Emerje

Blitzwing looks cool, but the orange and blue parts completely ruin Astrotrain's shuttle mode. Too bad they're not being sold separately.

Amelie wrote:

Seibertron wrote:I'm baffled that they screwed up the colors for Astrotrain and Blitzwing. They could have done the original G1 version to give everyone something different for reissues (especially since there has never been a reissue of Astrotrain in his original Hasbro G1 colors), or they could have done platinum paint jobs on them like the Predaking reissue a few years back, something, anything other than random paint schemes that don't currently have any precedent. Weird.

I wouldn't even be interested in this set if it wasn't for the wacky colours.

I'm with Amelie on this one. I think the vast majority of collectors that would care about and pay premium pricing for G1 reissues probably have Astrotrain and Blitzwing in their original colors. Would I have preferred this be the e-hobby "Anime" Astrotrain colors? Of course, but some other weird thing is ok too, because I just don't need another White/Black or White/Purple Astrotrain.

It may be noted that this might seem conflicting to opinions given my posts in regards to the Coneheads. Explanation below:

- Insecticons - Reissued twice, including in the US. This isn't a change of color scheme or, well, anything that I can tell. Really not interested but will pick it up if and only if it can be had for not a lot someday to get some more of those Energon cubes that fit in the Diaclone driver cockpits.

- Coneheads - Aside from Dirge, no reissues beyond a very limited e-hobby release for Ramjet and Thrust. No problem with the straight reissue here due to this factor, but still would have been more excited for new or "enhanced" decos.

- This set - explained above. Probably the only color combination I would have preferred over this would be the Animetrain, but "enhanced" or "shiny" versions of the original decos would be cool. Were these just the Takara book-style Blitzwing along with the Commemorative Astrotrain, would not care one bit to get this set.

For the fun of it, I e-mailed customer services to ask what was up with the deco of these upcoming figure. I know many of you are reading this shaking your heads while lowering your heads and yeah, I got what you'd expect:

Hi William James,

Thank you for your interest in Hasbro, Inc.

Since many revisions may occur prior to a product release, information, such as release dates, possible new items and where to buy future products, is not available in advance for distribution.

We ask that you visit our web site at http://www.hasbro.com often for the most current product information.

We appreciate your understanding and your interest.

Warm regards,
Jason

Ohh i feel so bad about these figures. I have a G1 Astrotrain and a G1 Blitzwing, but my Astrotrain is damaged from my childhood. Of course I'd love to see a remake in orginal g1 colors to replace my damaged Astrotrain. The colors for Blitzwing are nice. It has the feal of a retro toy even though the colors are different from the original or the Diaclone. G1 Astrotrain is just ugly. Astrotrain honestly looks someone at the factory ate too many skittles and subsequently puked all over the mold.

Jokes aside, Hasbro knows that many G1 collectors will not pick up multiple duplicates of figures they already own. How many 1986 blurs do you really want cluttering up your shelf space, right? ScottyP and Mr. Jivoin talked about this kind of thing at ToyFair. Mr. Jivoin even went to as far to say that they would NOT release old figures unless they could do something SPECIAL with it. That is why they wont rerelease a g1 duplicate of Blitzwing and Astrotrain. This is especially bad for these two as I don't believe either has had a Western brick and mortar release in 25 years.

What about the over priced G1 accurate insecticons warming the shelves right now? Well, Hasbro also knows that MOST of us WILL pick up multiples of generic troop building bots. A swarm of insecticons is always fun; a gang of vehicons would be even better! Though i think the price point is a little high and the box is too big for what’s inside. I hate oversized boxes with lots of empty space to justify overpricing. A book with a new cover is still the same book.

All in all, I think Hasbro and the Collectors would benefit more from a Premium paint job on G1 reissues. I'd kill for a Takara level of detail on Hasbro toys. They could have given them nice paint aps instead of stickers and A sweet chrome outer layer to make them shine. I'd definitely pay more for that. What I won't pay for is overpriced bots we have had time and time again or color blind vomit decos.

redoutlander wrote:
Jokes aside, Hasbro knows that many G1 collectors will not pick up multiple duplicates of figures they already own. How many 1986 blurs do you really want cluttering up your shelf space, right? ScottyP and Mr. Jivoin talked about this kind of thing at ToyFair. Mr. Jivoin even went to as far to say that they would NOT release old figures unless they could do something SPECIAL with it. That is why they wont rerelease a g1 duplicate of Blitzwing and Astrotrain. This is especially bad for these two as I don't believe either has had a Western brick and mortar release in 25 years.

What about the over priced G1 accurate insecticons warming the shelves right now? Well, Hasbro also knows that MOST of us WILL pick up multiples of generic troop building bots. A swarm of insecticons is always fun; a gang of vehicons would be even better! Though i think the price point is a little high and the box is too big for what’s inside. I hate oversized boxes with lots of empty space to justify overpricing. A book with a new cover is still the same book.

While I understand from an individual collector's point of view, those two statements dont hold up with one another. Reissuing a toy that has been reissued before in the exact same colours while reissuing a toy that was never reissued with its original colors, in crazy colours not linked to anything sounds pretty insane to me. The fact that this is in the same line as the insecticons is as bonkers as the insecticon price. And plus, the seekers were never reissued by hasbro and they get the G1 deco, so once again that argument doesnt hold at all. If ever there is another interview, I really hope someone asks what the logic was behind this, both the deco and the price. I am really curious to see how deep the final discount will be on both the insecticons and the triple changer set.

I'ma pass on this set HARD. I don't care if there's some slow-jack in the left lane, I'll use the mofockin' shoulder!

william-james88 wrote:

redoutlander wrote:
Jokes aside, Hasbro knows that many G1 collectors will not pick up multiple duplicates of figures they already own. How many 1986 blurs do you really want cluttering up your shelf space, right? ScottyP and Mr. Jivoin talked about this kind of thing at ToyFair. Mr. Jivoin even went to as far to say that they would NOT release old figures unless they could do something SPECIAL with it. That is why they wont rerelease a g1 duplicate of Blitzwing and Astrotrain. This is especially bad for these two as I don't believe either has had a Western brick and mortar release in 25 years.

What about the over priced G1 accurate insecticons warming the shelves right now? Well, Hasbro also knows that MOST of us WILL pick up multiples of generic troop building bots. A swarm of insecticons is always fun; a gang of vehicons would be even better! Though i think the price point is a little high and the box is too big for what’s inside. I hate oversized boxes with lots of empty space to justify overpricing. A book with a new cover is still the same book.

While I understand from an individual collector's point of view, those two statements dont hold up with one another. Reissuing a toy that has been reissued before in the exact same colours while reissuing a toy that was never reissued with its original colors, in crazy colours not linked to anything sounds pretty insane to me. The fact that this is in the same line as the insecticons is as bonkers as the insecticon price. And plus, the seekers were never reissued by hasbro and they get the G1 deco, so once again that argument doesnt hold at all. If ever there is another interview, I really hope someone asks what the logic was behind this, both the deco and the price. I am really curious to see how deep the final discount will be on both the insecticons and the triple changer set.

First off I'd like to state that I'm not trying to validate Hasbro's choice for reissues and repaints, I just am trying to guess why they did it. I myself would love to see more reissues. I started collecting again back in 2007. I completely missed out on the Toys 'R' Us Generation One Commemorative Series. The Universe 2008 Insecticons and Preceptor were the first "reissues" I ever bought.

You bring up a good point about the Coneheads, I do wonder why they are treating the triplechangers any different than the conehads. One thing is for sure the price will be a big thing. None of these figure sets are worth $85-$100 in my book. I might spring $70 for coneheads. Astrotrain and Blitzwing? In this state? $40 on sale.

Cobotron wrote:I'll be the odd ball.
I never had either of these guys as a kid. In 30 years I have never acquired them. I'm not a hardcore G1 traditionalist. I am also finding I have so many classic-esq versions of so many characters that the odd ones really appeal to me. Out of all the upcoming G1 reisues, confirmed and rumored, this is the set I want most, and I've never had all the Dinobots either.

This all being said, I'm still super curious as to why they went with these decos. I'm starting to wonder if they are really meant for other markets (Asia, Central and South America, etc.), and them being released into ours is kind of an after thought.

I agree these are very strange colors, and don't carry a lot of appeal in this market.

Also guys, remember those black and green ironhide and ratchet redecos... and how they are still available (and those even had a logic!)