The Energon Pub

I've been collecting those Big Lots Bugs for a while too, but usually just one of each. I was originally thinking of them as Shokaract's minions in his alternate future, but now that I'm getting into Convertors, I'm thinking of them as relatives of the Insectors, or possibly other disparate alien arthropods, like the Invid/Inbit, and Buddy L's Bug Bots.

Not to reopen any old debates, but I have to preface my main troopbuilding fixation by saying I despise Beast Machines so much that I don't even have singles of half the figures; I usually only buy one to have them represent some other character, like using Snarl for Leonicus. The line's one redeeming feature IMHO was the Vehicons losing any vestigial cockpits for slight facial features in vehicle mode, which makes about half of them perfect fodder for customizing into minions of the G2 Cybertronian Empire. They were perhaps the largest faction in any TF fiction, making it ironic that they've never had a single toy; yes, that orange Jetstorm as "Jhiaxus" was a very nice gesture, but it physically counts more as another Sunstorm. However, that deluxe mold's resemblance to Cyclonus makes him especially well-suited for a repaint, since Manny Galan routinely drew most of Jhiaxus' air force as white and green Cycloni.

So far though, only my first kitbash used deluxe Jetstorm. Most of the ones I've actually finished were Big Lots KOs from a few years back, which are sadly no longer available for further cloning. I've made two gestalt teams from Machine Robo KO's: one with Screw Head's construction team, and another with the enlarged and remolded Fitor team that attaches to a blue central booster. The G2 comics also depicted several of them as being able to combine in pairs into Thunderjets, so those giant versions of the Star and Energon Saber Minicons turned out to be perfect.

Bayniverse Cybertronian mode Cons also have the right appearance, so I fabric-dyed a pair of FAB ROTF Megatron tanks into my first true ground forces. Half my attempts at dying toys have resulted in destroying them though: hard plastic can warp, and the rubbery kind on the one BM Jetstorm I dyed actually seemed to shrink, so make sure you only do that with cheap, replaceable figs. Dye doesn't chip like paint though, so for cloning a huge army it can pay off in the end. I'll have to post pics of this soon, either here or a more custom-oriented thread.

Getting back to Big Lots KOs, the one set that aroused a cease and destroy order from Hasbro, the deluxe-sized Legends of Cybertron molds, included perhaps the greatest clone fig of all time: War Within Starscream in perfect scale with the WW Titanium toys. Glad I got 6 while the gettin' was good.