The Energon Pub

munkimus prime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Nice to see us finally get the second female combiner in TF history.

I'm not trying to sound like a dunce here but who was the first?

This obscure redeco of Energon Perceptor.

shajaki wrote:

Cobotron wrote:I don't know why fembots need boobs to be female. They're not nursing any robo babies.

Anyways, I'm almost positive someone coined "Victorion" in this very thread. Maybe even you Cobs. Am I misremembering things?

I would love to take the credit for that, but it was an option from the poles.

All I did was make this joke which I will gladly regurgitate.

Cobotron wrote:Victorion?
OK, but only if she looks like this...

ScottyP wrote:

william-james88 wrote:While this is great news, I cannot help but feel that this was planned all along. Jerry Jivoins said in all his intereviews that the combiner "could" be female well before the vote ever went live.

Given that there were two choices, and that there's so much known demand for more female characters in the brand without really having to look very hard for it, I don't think there's a conspiracy theory to be had here. Sorry.

I completely disagree. I think that if there is any "conspiracy" here it's most likely true. This thread alone has a number of posts referencing 'fanboys' and others freaking out that some robots would be female. Hasbro's reason for existing is to make a profit. If people don't buy their merchandise, Hasbro will have a problem on its hands.
IF these 'fanboys' were to throw a fit about new female characters and the line suffered sales-wise as a result, it would hurt Hasbro. How can Hasbro diversify a brand while hopefully encountering the least amount of potential resistance and/or damage?
The *fans* voted for more female characters.
Now, if they tank sales wise, Hasbro took a risk, but gave the fans what they wanted, and so there's no blame, as it were, that Hasbro would have to 'apologize' for with the fans.
If they're sales successes, Hasbro has successfully diversified a property while making fans happy.
I'd like to believe that in a thread dedicated to a decision made by the 'voices of the fans,' we won't be so stupid as to bring up that ol' "Fans don't matter to Hasbro" bullshit.
I know people wanted more female characters, and if Hasbro was aware of this, what would have stopped them from just introducing them? They didn't hold any vote for Strongarm, or Chromia or Nautica. If Victorian or whoever doesn't work at stores, Hasbro has an out: it was our fault. They obviously learned from that Simpsons episode where the long lost cousin lets Homer design a car.

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:Probably going to be called sexist for this but its not like I hate female transformers or anything I'm just annoyed that the fan made ones are always female it reminds me of awful Deviantart OCs.

And also this. I've thought this as well.

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:Probably going to be called sexist for this but its not like I hate female transformers or anything I'm just annoyed that the fan made ones are always female it reminds me of awful Deviantart OCs.

Thank you for your courage in stating your unpopular opinion, which I share.

MrBlack wrote:

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:

Diem wrote:I won't say sexist. Just unaware.



Similarly, if you're a female Transformers fan, then you probably notice that the male to female ratio is absurd. The first official non-retcon, non-exclusive TF toy was Transmetals Airrazor. And even when female Transformers do appear they typically get shoehorned into a specific role; often the tough, sensible yet vulnerable character. Male Transformers can be weak, fat, stupid, old, or stubborn, but the female always has to be young, smart, and slim. There are exceptions (Strika) but those are rare in an already rare group. So again, if you're a female fan and you want to see people like you, you have to go to fanworks.

I'm jumping to the conclusion that you're a straight male, in which case representation has likely never been a issue, but try to remember that if fan made Transformers are always female it's because there's a lot of female fans out there who want to get a little taste of the same smorgasbord of choice you get.

I have no problem with female Transformers themselves just how the voting turned out.




A reason why there are so few females is because that Transformers is meant to be a boys themed toyline and Boys don't really like buying females toys now this doesn't stop them from being in comics and tv shows but for the toys themselves female action figures have a hard time being sold.

It's a sticky issue. Female characters do tend to sell less in male dominated toylines, for what I think are obvious reasons. That said, it may have quite a bit more to do with the marketing of said toys than any inherent inclination of female buyers.

Hasbro is looking at this from a marketing perspective. Female fandom in the property has picked up quite a bit in recent years. Both Prime and the MTMTE comic have sizeable female audiences. The Windblade comic apparently did well enough to justify an ongoing. The recent round of fembots apparently sold well; I rarely found any on my local store shelves, and those I did find were quickly snapped up. There is an audience for this sort of thing, and Hasbro and Takara would be foolish to ignore it.

This. If you were at Botcon 2014 during Hasbro's slideshow there was a slide that said the three main purchasers were adult collectors, parents and "boys". There was a massive groan from the audience, which had to have been a good 25-30% female. The subsequent cheers at Arcee and Chromia being revealed were heart warming.

Transformers is a funny beast. It's a cartoon geared towards little boys that fell ass backward into a long term appeal for kids and adults of both genders, but to a certain extent it feels like Hasbro never "caught up". If you look at other brands that straddle that line, like Power Rangers (to a lesser extent) and Marvel, female representation is still far from equal but it's a lot stronger; often more like 1/6 or 1/10 rather than Transformers' 1/1000 (a number I pulled out of my arse, but it's got to be close).

I'm sure that some of the people who voted female did so to be contrary, or out of trollishness, but there's still clearly a massive wave of fans who are not satisfied with the level of representation. It's getting better, but it's still not good.

So yeah, I salute this combiner. I'm prepped for ignorant parents who are concerned about their daughters buying boy toys and vice versa. I'm prepped for reviewers obliviously using the word "gimmick", as though half the world's population is a gimmick. I'm prepped for Hasbro to sit on their laurels afterwards and say "Well 9 of the 200 Transformers toys we released this year were female, good enough, job done." And yes, I'm prepped for fanboys to scream about a feminist agenda and to ask if Hasbro plan to make Transformers tampons and bras too (and why the hell not?). I'm ready.

Victorion? I think they mean Slammoth D:<

Diem wrote:This. If you were at Botcon 2014 during Hasbro's slideshow there was a slide that said the three main purchasers were adult collectors, parents and "boys". There was a massive groan from the audience, which had to have been a good 25-30% female. The subsequent cheers at Arcee and Chromia being revealed were heart warming.

Relevant.

The only thing I don't like is the name, it's probably a play on Victory but I can't help but think it's a play on Victoria, which is weird lol.

That Bot wrote:

Diem wrote:This. If you were at Botcon 2014 during Hasbro's slideshow there was a slide that said the three main purchasers were adult collectors, parents and "boys". There was a massive groan from the audience, which had to have been a good 25-30% female. The subsequent cheers at Arcee and Chromia being revealed were heart warming.

Relevant.

Pretty much. It wasn't quite that female intensive and the Hasbro rep pulled it off a lot better (as soon as he heard the groan from the audience he joked "I'm gonna kill the guy who made this slide"), but yeah.

YRQRM0 wrote:The only thing I don't like is the name, it's probably a play on Victory but I can't help but think it's a play on Victoria, which is weird lol.

Well "Victoria" is a latin word for Victory, as well as being the name of a goddess of victory. So it's no weirder than a dude named "Optimus"

YRQRM0 wrote:The only thing I don't like is the name, it's probably a play on Victory but I can't help but think it's a play on Victoria, which is weird lol.

Superion=Superior
Victorion=Victory
And since it IS a female combiner, the Victorion/Victoria thing works out pretty well.

ScottyP wrote:

william-james88 wrote:While this is great news, I cannot help but feel that this was planned all along. Jerry Jivoins said in all his intereviews that the combiner "could" be female well before the vote ever went live.

Given that there were two choices, and that there's so much known demand for more female characters in the brand without really having to look very hard for it, I don't think there's a conspiracy theory to be had here. Sorry.

Not a conspiracy, just a thought that you confirmed. Hasbro knew there was a bunch of interest and thus I am certain that they knew they would get the female vote all along if given the option. Mr Jivoin was reinforcing the female option simply to hedge their bets, just in case the vote wouldnt have gone over what they had planned. While I cant prove this was already predetermined through a demand they knew well, you cannot prove that it wasnt.

Wheeljack808 wrote:
Okay total noob question here but I'm still relatively new to posting here. Where exactly are these older pages of this thread? I can't seem to find the link to them.

No worries, at the top of the first post you will see what page we are on (it will be the number in the square that is coloured in. That shows what page we are on. You can look at all the pages from there.

That Bot wrote:

YRQRM0 wrote:The only thing I don't like is the name, it's probably a play on Victory but I can't help but think it's a play on Victoria, which is weird lol.

Superion=Superior
Victorion=Victory
And since it IS a female combiner, the Victorion/Victoria thing works out pretty well.

I pray to God that Victorion will become best buddies with Superion.

Good to finally see the end results. Now we wait and see what molds they're gonna use.

On a related note, "Centuritron" was an option in the Windblade vote and they ended up using it anyways for the Minicon combiner. There is hope for Slammoth.

Perhaps, and i'm really going out on a limb here, the reason that a lot of people in this thread are crying foul and conspiracy is because they simply dont represent the fandom at large.

I know this will come as a gut punch to some, but a lot of fans dont engage here, many have been frustrated by some of the horrendous opinions thrust upon discussions, I know i have. I know a lot of fans, from forums, facebook and I know theres a lot on twitter and tumblr, and they probably outnumber the denizens of this forum or any other by a fair margin, and you know what, they went for female because its something new. And clinging to a 25 year old franchise like its the life raft of the Titanic is ridiculous, something new does not lessen EVERYTHING ELSE and females are not going to steal your manhood.

Many people here saw this fan vote for what it was, a chance to inject something genuinely new into the franchise. And thats good, its moving forward. These may be repaints, but will most likely be extensive retools of existing toys, fine with that given what we are getting has been great. But if you dont like it, pass over it, coz the people DID vote and we ARE getting a female combiner.

I know 99% of what I say will be ignored and the whining and theorising about Hasbro screwed us again will continue, but seriously, this is either a good thing or something to ignore.

And yes, people will buy the **** out of this.

This is great! Love getting more female transformers. However, there is still a strong strong lack femmecepticons.

Stumpybot wrote:
And yes, people will buy the **** out of this.

Are you sure about this part?



The fans that want her will buy it and I'm not saying its not going to sell i just don't think it will be sold out consistently.

Stumpybot wrote:Perhaps, and i'm really going out on a limb here, the reason that a lot of people in this thread are crying foul and conspiracy is because they simply dont represent the fandom at large.

I know this will come as a gut punch to some, but a lot of fans dont engage here, many have been frustrated by some of the horrendous opinions thrust upon discussions, I know i have. I know a lot of fans, from forums, facebook and I know theres a lot on twitter and tumblr, and they probably outnumber the denizens of this forum or any other by a fair margin, and you know what, they went for female because its something new. And clinging to a 25 year old franchise like its the life raft of the Titanic is ridiculous, something new does not lessen EVERYTHING ELSE and females are not going to steal your manhood.

Many people here saw this fan vote for what it was, a chance to inject something genuinely new into the franchise. And thats good, its moving forward. These may be repaints, but will most likely be extensive retools of existing toys, fine with that given what we are getting has been great. But if you dont like it, pass over it, coz the people DID vote and we ARE getting a female combiner.

I know 99% of what I say will be ignored and the whining and theorising about Hasbro screwed us again will continue, but seriously, this is either a good thing or something to ignore.

And yes, people will buy the **** out of this.

Dont worry, your voice isnt being ignored. And I am not sure about what conspiracy theories are being made. All I meant to say about that was that Hasbro had a really good idea the fandom would vote female, and thus already started the cycle on this toy before the vote was concluded. I dont call that a conspiracy though, its just being a smart business and being aware of the demand. So they are giving people what they asked for and what was voted for, but I am pretty certain they had predetermined the gender before the vote to accelerate production.

And also to those who are worried that they will look like dudes with lipstick some molds could work.


For example this digibash proves that Drag Strip can work as a Fracture/Crasher

Stumpybot wrote:Perhaps, and i'm really going out on a limb here, the reason that a lot of people in this thread are crying foul and conspiracy is because they simply dont represent the fandom at large.

Maybe I'm being naive, but I'm not getting the sense that there are that many in here crying foul. I would say, over all people seem to be ok with this.

Stumpybot wrote:And yes, people will buy the **** out of this.

I'm certainly one of those people.

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:

Stumpybot wrote:
And yes, people will buy the **** out of this.

Are you sure about this part?



The fans that want her will buy it and I'm not saying its not going to sell i just don't think it will be sold out consistently.

Wingblade, Arcee and Chromia sold very well though.

william-james88 wrote:
Wingblade, Arcee and Chromia sold very well though.

Well I wouldn't know we don't get Transformers in Canada.




I'm just guessing.

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:And also to those who are worried that they will look like dudes with lipstick some molds could work.


For example this digibash proves that Drag Strip can work as a Fracture/Crasher

I pointed this and others out a few pages back.

How exactley can you retool there chests to be more "feminine" when there combiner pegs protrude from there bosom?

RhA wrote:

Rated X wrote:I would be more excited if they were going to use new molds with actual fembot bodies instead of repainted male bodies with fembot heads. Robobutch is not going to be very feminine in my opinion no matter what shade of pink or pastel easter egg colors they paint her.

I'm sure some third party will make a bunch of robo-boob add-ons so you're less confused about it all. Maybe wait untill those get knocked off so they can be cheap as well.

Thats a great idea !

I would love for all of them to be shaped like the girl in your signature that you glorify as being perfect !