The Energon Pub

My next goal is to convince you of how awesome Stalker is!

Welcome D-Max!! I hope you enjoy the hunt like I did.

Who's on yer shortlist?

Burn wrote:My next goal is to convince you of how awesome Stalker is!

I have his mold mate (MW soundwave), so you can see I do like the mold... And the character was really cool in Last Stand of the wreckers, so I don't see how much more work you need to do!

bodrock wrote:Welcome D-Max!! I hope you enjoy the hunt like I did.

Who's on yer shortlist?

With regards to Pretenders, any I can find at a decent price is good for me, but my main focus would be the Decepticon pretenders, specifically the larger ones. I really want a Thunderwing, Bludgeon, and Monstructor!

Ah, so you're interested in tha best of the Pretender Bunch! All three will run a bit expensive, especially complete. But as Burn & Kanra have pointed out, it may be in your best interest to get them complete, since those three specifically are highly sought after -- meaning their accessories can be as expensive as their shell & innerbot combined! That's only regarding Thunderwing & Bludgeon -- Monstructor is a whole other story, since he's a combiner....

I loved the Cons the most, too -- but that may also be in general.

The con pretenders are simply the best. They look so much cooler than the bots!

They go together like Tango & Cash...

Well, I finally did it. I was overconfident, had a brain aneurism, and tried to put the small gun into Roadblock's tiny GOLD PLASTICS fist holes.

Yeah, you guessed it.

I glued back on the fist the 2 tiny, tiny pieces out of 3 that I managed to find. The fist still look good and the break give him an "open hand" look.

Still, it's a cautionary tale. NEVER PEG ANYTHING IN GOLD PLASTICS HOLES. I will also refrain to peg his feet on the vehicle's weapon platform from now on. The big joints still work fine but by playing with the thing I'm walking on thin ice.



Broken hand with parts glued back on:


Unbroken left fist:


Roadblock's inner bot, asking me "Y U DO DIS?"

OMG GPS!It hits me hard to see that, Kanra -- in buying Roadblock, that was always a risk. But I've also played with him quite a bit (he's so cool!), so I roll the dice everytime too.
I never did put the gun in his hands, but I did peg him into his tank-top to man the turrets. Other than that, there was one fist-bump, and the rest of the time he has remained within his shell....

That tiny gun is the straw that broke the camel's back.

I didn't raged at all when it happen. I just shrugged and told myself "Eh, what did you expect?".

A shame though because it was a PERFECT and 100% complete Roadblock. Well, not anymore.

At this point in time there's probably a market out there for people to 3D print parts that are known to suffer GPS.

Even if it means changing the colour (to something that probably makes more sense and looks better anyway), at least you won't have a figure slowly crumbling away.

Burn wrote:At this point in time there's probably a market out there for people to 3D print parts that are known to suffer GPS.

Even if it means changing the colour (to something that probably makes more sense and looks better anyway), at least you won't have a figure slowly crumbling away.

It would be really hard to mod Roadblock's inner bot this way. Because all the limbs are held with huge pins.

My local geek store have G1 Pretender Skyhammer too but he's already half crumbled to dust. 100% complete however for "only" 90$CAN plus taxes. A shame because if it weren't for that damn gold plastics, he'd look really awesome. I never looked at that toy closely so I dunno if the problematic parts would be easy to disassemble.

Skyhammer does look cool -- and yeah, he's definitely one you'd want to inspect closely for GPS. Depending on the piece that's crumbling, maybe you could just replace that for cheap....?

I'm certainly not above looking to replacemant 3D prints for parts (especially since I have no foreseeable plans to sell lol) for the sake of completion, but I would prefer if it was only needed for accessories.

As you said, Kanra, it does look like he's got an open fist now!

Since my PretenderQuest began, I've broken one peg on Skullgrin's shell, his "male" gun, a peg for Bomb-Burst's belt....and Iguanus' chest hole got a bit bigger. But his right foot was already kinda broken when he came home, so I need to replace dat innerbot.

I already replaced Skullgrin's gun....and will need to get Longtooth a hood. Unless I say eff it and just never take him out of his space walrus self.

Submarauder becomes legend....

I imagine Longtooth and Seaspray would be pals; Nautica would be entertained (by their voices).

I had given up on finding Thunderwing at a reasonable price, but eBay finally came through: $54, near complete. He's missing his small gun, which ranges from $57 to $140. As a result, I may never, ever have him complete...but I'm okay with that. For now.

Congrats on Thunderwing!
But the tiny gun for the inner bot... Jesus... 1/3 to 1/2 of the whole figure's value is in that tiny gun. Madness.
Make me feel almost guilty to had my 100% complete Thunderwing for around 100$CAN... in trades!


And in case some labels are missing or too damaged, you can get the repros HERE. That's what I did.

$54 near complete?

Hate you.

Thanks for the link, Kanra! I'm definitely gonna need dem labels.

You definitely lucked out with your scores, my friend. I can only hope that I can score a complete Bludgeon for ~$100, but he may very well be the hardest to find cheap.

Haha, thanks Burn! I thought in the last 5 minutes I'd get sniped -- but surprisingly, I only paid $4 more than the opening bid.

bodrock wrote:Thanks for the link, Kanra! I'm definitely gonna need dem labels.

You definitely lucked out with your scores, my friend. I can only hope that I can score a complete Bludgeon for ~$100, but he may very well be the hardest to find cheap.

Haha, thanks Burn! I thought in the last 5 minutes I'd get sniped -- but surprisingly, I only paid $4 more than the opening bid.

Missing that tiny gun sure was a bummer, but it's not crucial to the overall look of the figure. Still, that price was really good.

Be patient and you may have a similar score with Bludgeon. We never know!

Here's hoping, Kanra!

There's this auction for Thunderwing complete:
https://www.ebay.com/i/232489892292

He looks pristine, but the bidding starts at $100 and doesn't end for 6 days...I imagine snipers will wait until the last 5 minutes to get in a war.

Although I can live without Thunderwing's cyclone cannon, there's absolutely a minimum of accessories any Pretender would need for me to impulse-buy.

This custom is brilliant! https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/custom-bludgeon-p1047910.phpFor Bludgeon, the only thing I could do without is his gun -- I'd need his helmet included at the very least, along with his innerbot & shell.

Bludgeon's gun is the cheapest accessory. Then the shell itself is pretty cheap too. Finally, the inner robot is not too bad. However, things get difficult with the helmet... and downright vulgar with the tank turret that come in TWO parts, the "shield" and the cannon that is also the innerbot's gun. All of these accessories ARE a MUST for the complete vehicle mode.

...

I checked out Ebay and holy crap... There is two listings from the USA. One is missing the small cannon, the other is missing the turret/shield.
Both listings are buy-it-now at 350$-375$. In US dollars!

At least, pretenders from Europe are much reasonably priced but the 100% complete one from Germany is still 231$US.

I'm so glad I got Bludgeon for less than 100$CAN... in trades!

Trades are totally the way to go! And I love that shelf of Bludgeons.

bodrock wrote:Trades are totally the way to go! And I love that shelf of Bludgeons.

However, I'm totally tap-out as far as trades go. Still, I'm glad I took my Geek Store's best stuff before the drought.

You totally did too! Headmasters, Action Masters and, most importantly, PRETENDERS!

bodrock wrote:You totally did too! Headmasters, Action Masters and, most importantly, PRETENDERS!

Hell yeah!
But the most bizarre and unexpected haul was the 98% complete collection of Action Masters for so cheap.

By the way, when the time come, we should welcome the Power of the Primes "Pretenders" in this thread as well. Man, I look foward these cute little guys so much!