The Energon Pub

News Credits: 60 · Fri Jul 02, 2010 10:01 pm

Nice designed figs though.......something about them isn't selling for me.

News Credits: 9 · Fri Jul 02, 2010 10:04 pm

I love these guys! I bought huffer and Smolder, passed on Icepick for now. Had to mod Huffer to expose his hands in robot mode, his biggest flaw.

Can't wait to get the 5-packs.

Sat Jul 03, 2010 8:28 pm

tigertracks 24 wrote:-Bombshock has a nice looking commander. Alt mode is carp.

Ah jeez! He turns into a freakin' FISH? I thought he became a tank or something! :lol:

Seriously, though. I have the 3 two pack figures, and apart from being a bit loose-jointed, they're not bad. Huffer and Smolder are my favorites with Searchlight being my least fave. I've been looking forward to getting the five packs, but the flaws I've been hearing, such as not being able to stand and parts snapping is making me a bit nervous.

Sat Jul 03, 2010 9:01 pm

Cobalt Prime wrote:
tigertracks 24 wrote:-Bombshock has a nice looking commander. Alt mode is carp.

Ah jeez! He turns into a freakin' FISH? I thought he became a tank or something!

Seriously, though. I have the 3 two pack figures, and apart from being a bit loose-jointed, they're not bad. Huffer and Smolder are my favorites with Searchlight being my least fave. I've been looking forward to getting the five packs, but the flaws I've been hearing, such as not being able to stand and parts snapping is making me a bit nervous.

As for the parts snapping, if you're referring to my post:

1 ) The only one that had any fragility issues was Skyburst. A BIGGER problem was that the joints were so durn tight that I could barely move them into position.

2 ) It may have been just my horrid luck, yannow.

News Credits: 1082 · Sat Jul 03, 2010 9:10 pm

No parts snapping on mine, but ball joints popped out, and I had the darndest time getting the plane leg drone on... I feel dumb, after all it is supposed to automorph!!!!

Sun Jul 04, 2010 6:27 am

Valandar wrote:

As for the parts snapping, if you're referring to my post:

1 ) The only one that had any fragility issues was Skyburst. A BIGGER problem was that the joints were so durn tight that I could barely move them into position.

2 ) It may have been just my horrid luck, yannow.[/quote]

Which brings us to another issue down the line. If the joints are that tight, it means we should all be prepared in a few years to experience splitting and cracking joint syndrome as the plastic ages. Marvelous.

Sun Jul 04, 2010 3:08 pm

I just got Huffer and he kinda sucks. The figure is totally bland and the transformation is legends class simple. The minicon thing feels tacked on, it doesn't look right no matter how you combine them.

News Credits: 1082 · Mon Jul 05, 2010 8:57 pm

I just bought all three two-packs.

My assessment:

Best overall- Huffer
Best Commander bot- Smolder, but all three are decent to good.
Best Combiner Leader- Huffer
Best alt- Smolder, I loved the transformation, and the tight alt mode!
Best combiner leader alternate head- Smolder. Too bad I'll never see it because I cannot see him being used as my core guys, as he has high arm/shoulder sockets, and a very short chest hip, and foreleg section (torso)

Loser in the group seems to be Searchlight and I love me helicopter TFs very dearly. Blades on arms is win, but the colors are so blah...as is the alt mode, it is very simple.

Minicons:

Best overall- Chopster
Best chest armor- Caliburst
Best weapon- Chopster, a good gun, and axe mode... too bad the gun from vehicle mode cannot be held in robot mode (not really). Looks like the most traditional targetmaster type.
Best robot mode- it's a tie, they all suck

Worst overall- Backwind (long i). He's a pile of green goo.

I am not a big fan of the clear, non-detailed minicons. Basically, it's turn and fold, or rotate, nothing that flips, or hides really. I hope they get better as time goes on, or I will be giving up on this line very quickly.

TBD: Best looking combination. I do know that I hate that you cannot hide the combiner joints in alt or robot mode in them.

News Credits: 11 · Mon Jul 05, 2010 9:01 pm

I finally saw these in stores, and I'm not really impressed. Searchlight was tempting, but the other two just didn't look great. Will skip for now.

News Credits: 12 · Tue Jul 06, 2010 6:58 am

I'm actually happy with them. I was lucky enough to find them at TRU while they still had the "Buy one get one 50% off sale", so I got both 5-packs, plus Huffer and Searchlight.

I understand it's a little disappointing that the limbs don't have bot modes, but it's really neat the way they auto-transform, and it's fun to swap the limbs between the two sets and mix it up with Huffer and Searchlight. I'll definitely buy a couple more sets, and then the combinations will really open up and get interesting.

Huffer and Searchlight and cool enough on their own that they're worth buying even if you never use them as "combiners". And actually, one of the things I AM disappointed with is that Huffer and Searchlight are a little too loose when used as the core for the limbs. They LOOK cool, but the combined figures are harder to stand up and balance; they stand and balance better with Bombshock and Skyburst as the cores.

Tue Jul 06, 2010 3:29 pm

Yeah, they're a nice little sub-line. I got the three two-packs a week ago and got Bombshock's 5 pack today. Since they have not been clear about what series they are a part of, I've gone and made them part of my Classics/Universe, since I did not invest in the Energon combiner repaints for that group.

So far I like them. Naturally they are not G1 Bruticus, but then I did not go in with the expectation that they were. It's a nice line for what it is. Drones? Sure, why not. Something new, then. Interchangeability has always been a big plus with me so this latest offering has my interest so far. We'll see how things take off when the next wave arrives and the limb-switching options expand exponentially.

Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:53 pm

Yeah, just got Bombshock and his crew today. While I must admit the drones are FAR better than the crappy planes (of which only the 'spy plane' is worth anything), Bombshock himself is the most disapppointing of all the currently released cores.

Bombshock's alt mode is meh. It's a robot laying down, with a large gap visible where his arms fold up. His robot mode is not only short, it's long-torsoed and short limbed, plus blockier than the others. And finally his torso mode doesn't look like a robotic torso, but rather like his robot mode performing yoga while wearing a big mask and mantle over his head and shoulders.

The drones are pretty good. They're easier to connect to a core than the planes were, and they're more "solid" than the planes. The missile carrier isn't THAT great an arm, but still better (by far) than the helicopter arm. Only the spy plane is on par with these guys.

In short, with the purchase of the planes, I found myself almost dreading the future drones. But the purchase of the military vehicles has actually given me some hope.

Oh... and am I evil for noticing that the 'combined mode' heads on the cores are the perfect size to swap out onto Deluxe sized figures (after, of course, carving the proper sized hole if needed) ? Already scavenged the head from my broken plane, and looking at the helicopter's it looks like it Deluxe sized Animated Ultra Magnus head...

News Credits: 7 · Thu Jul 08, 2010 1:41 am

I finally picked up searchlight and his partner and bomb shock and the combaticons. I have to say both of these are pretty cool now all I need to get is arialbot five pack to go with my searchlight figure. I can't wait to see the dinobot power core combiners five pack. The one other thing I noticed was that if you are into customizing figures if you painted huffer black with purple windows and add a silver decepticon symbol you would be able to create at pretty convincing Menasor when combine with car drones that are coming in the near future.

News Credits: 1082 · Thu Jul 08, 2010 4:45 am

shortround wrote:I finally picked up searchlight and his partner and bomb shock and the combaticons. I have to say both of these are pretty cool now all I need to get is arialbot five pack to go with my searchlight figure. I can't wait to see the dinobot power core combiners five pack. The one other thing I noticed was that if you are into customizing figures if you painted huffer black with purple windows and add a silver decepticon symbol you would be able to create at pretty convincing Menasor when combine with car drones that are coming in the near future.

Nice idea, but you are ruining HASBRO's idea of what combiner groups are! :lol:

Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:19 am

shortround wrote:I finally picked up searchlight and his partner and bomb shock and the combaticons. I have to say both of these are pretty cool now all I need to get is arialbot five pack to go with my searchlight figure. I can't wait to see the dinobot power core combiners five pack. The one other thing I noticed was that if you are into customizing figures if you painted huffer black with purple windows and add a silver decepticon symbol you would be able to create at pretty convincing Menasor when combine with car drones that are coming in the near future.

That's very likely the intent - My guess is it'll be among the first wave of inevitable repaints in the line.

News Credits: 11 · Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:30 am

fenrir72 wrote:Nice designed figs though.......something about them isn't selling for me.

You have to get the Commander Bombshock with Combaticons.

News Credits: 1 · Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:23 am

shortround wrote:I finally picked up searchlight and his partner and bomb shock and the combaticons. I have to say both of these are pretty cool now all I need to get is arialbot five pack to go with my searchlight figure. I can't wait to see the dinobot power core combiners five pack. The one other thing I noticed was that if you are into customizing figures if you painted huffer black with purple windows and add a silver decepticon symbol you would be able to create at pretty convincing Menasor when combine with car drones that are coming in the near future.

Heh, that right there is the whole reason I bought Huffer. Turns out he's a good figure on his own right.

I do feel a Menasor repaint is inevitable though, especially looking at Huffer's Torso mode head.

News Credits: 12 · Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:40 am

I'm having a lot of fun playing with the PCCs. They may have their drawbacks, but I keep finding myself picking them up to play with more often than my other recent purchases.

News Credits: 7 · Thu Jul 08, 2010 1:21 pm

Well I combine smolder and the combaticon drones just to see what he would look like as the body, and I have to say I think he kind of looks like they took optimus primal and made him a decepticon rescue vehicle.

Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:36 pm

I like to transform Caliburst into chest armor differently from the instructions, I point the gun forward so it looks like Huffer has a shoulder cannon. Also, since the minicons have both pegs and holes, you can combine them into one B.F.G. for the lucky commander of your choice to hold.

(I've had fun doing that) I don't have the combaticons or smolder yet because they were conspicuosly absent from the TRU I found the other PCCs in. Some lucky kid probably picked up bombshock before I got there! :lol:

News Credits: 609 · Fri Jul 09, 2010 6:55 am

I finally got the five packs last night. The Aerialbots are ass in a can except for the recon drone, but the Combaticons are pretty sweet. I particularly love the coloring on the missile truck (black and mint is a great color scheme).

Fri Jul 09, 2010 9:03 am

Yannow, if you take Huffer, keep him in robot mode, and flip out one or both of the connectors on his shoulders, then add one or two arm drones, it kind of resembles a "Savage Claw" mode for him...

News Credits: 332 · Fri Jul 09, 2010 7:15 pm

One thing that bothers me with the PCC and the few Generations figures I've gotten is that the instructions leave out rather important steps. For example to rotate Bombshocks waist without hitting the cannon turret you have to pull his waist forward. Don't even get me started on WFC Prime. I can see lots of kids breaking toys because of this.

News Credits: 1082 · Fri Jul 09, 2010 7:27 pm

Valandar wrote:Yannow, if you take Huffer, keep him in robot mode, and flip out one or both of the connectors on his shoulders, then add one or two arm drones, it kind of resembles a "Savage Claw" mode for him...

Or any of them you want to do this with...

Interesting idea, but I won't use it... :KREMZEEK: