The Energon Pub

News Credits: 54 · by **Deadput** » Sat Apr 11, 2020 9:44 pm

While it sucks in comparison the Hasbro version is still a fine set all around.

Then again I prefer having most of them to repurpose them as generic Autobots for my collection, they work great there.

And I love the drill from the Brawl mold version, tiny pointy drills are just as good as big drills.

News Credits: 22 · by **Rodimus Prime** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 2:33 am

Zelda you gotta remember it's all a matter of opinion and perception. To him the Hasbro version is better, because he looks for different things in the figures than you do.

by **ZeldaTheSwordsman** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 3:32 am

Well, I think that in terms of sculpt the UW Technobots do a better overall job matching the originals... Although the thing that ultimately pushes Hasbro Computron into "complete hopeless write-off joke" territory for me is that on top of that... he still has Superion's head and chestplate. :-x

Three of four limbs falling short (in my book) would be disappointing-but-bearable on its own. But he doesn't even have the decency to have the right head and chest! :BANG_HEAD:

News Credits: 1 · by **Bumblevivisector** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:37 am

So this top 5 inevitably devolved into the old CW/UW Technobot debate. The only mix-and-match commonplace we haven't brought up is how some fans claim to have made their ideal Strafe by swapping the Hasbro head onto the UW toy, because they prefer the original toy design, and that's the primary new part that Hasbro did knock out of the park in their Computron box. And I'll admit, I got a powerful nostalgia-reflex when I first saw that visored face, and the color scheme on Afterburner and Nosecone, because they evoked childhood memories of opening my Technobots on Christmas morning in '87, Candy Claus on TV in the background, and all the epic battles they waged thereafter, my favorite of the 3 Autobot Scramble gestalt teams.

But then I rewatched a few late Sunbow eps, and appreciated just how hard Takara tried to make their set show-accurate. Swapping even a single piece out would just detract from that.

While I understand wanting toy accuracy in some aspects of MP and CHUGGURLetc figures (putting original toy colors on Sunbow-accurate sculpts often leads to semi-intentional Marvel-accurate toys, always a good thing), my philosophy on this has always been that if you want accuracy to the original toys, you can always, y'know, just hunt down the original toys! The general point any update to a classic toy character is usually to improve it in terms of media accuracy, even if that means more poseability than a design overhaul. Neither set got Scattershot's leg thrusters or Afterburner's alt mode right, so I couldn't care less about one set having a visor and two paint jobs that look more like the original set when they both fail miserably to reproduce so much of what I love about it.

And while the Prime Wars Nosecone face-off always focuses on drill-size (as well it should here, given the topic), can anyone who prefers Hasbro's Nosecone offer a defense of his robot mode? His tread-arms best the UW's Rook-arms, but the head and torso completely miss the mark. I can forgive everything about that mold as Brawl given the show-accuracy of the bot mode, but for Nosecone? Place that cordless drill in his fist instead of on his vehicle mode, and it ceases to be the saddest joke in his ensemble. (Still cool enough for what it is though; works for Preadicus Ramhorn)

Only the original toy is accurate to the original toy. The UW set took several HUUUUGE steps towards media accuracy, so there was more of a point to its direction than the CW set. Even an MP Computron wouldn't be "perfect" relative to the G1 toy.

But again, that's just why I personally don't see the point of swapping parts around. CW Computron is perfectly serviceable as an alternate reality Computron who appears during a multiversal crisis requiring him to escort Scrounge from Marvel continuity to Japanese continuity so he can save it from the influence of Machinima or something.

OH, right, drill tanks! Um...

Anyone else use Drill-Dasher to represent Corkscrew, and Rescue Force Drillhorn to represent Borebit? Because neither toy really had a proper name for the longest time?

News Credits: 1350 · by **ZeroWolf** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 7:44 am

I always took the argument between CW/UW Computron as being indictive of the wider Hasbro/Takara deco battle that had been brewing. Of course we all know who won that (hello Brand Unification!)

Onto the list:

I'll echo others, Transmetal Scavenger needs to be on this list somewhere but I can appreciate it being hard to call with the other entries. Good job either Will!

News Credits: 54 · by **Deadput** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 12:44 pm

I actually prefer the Hasbro Strafe to the Takara one, I feel like the former is just better besides maybe paint, same with the colors of Afterburner which I prefer the Hasbro orange with the green over the Takara red since I feel it's better for group color diversity.

But Nosecone and Lightspeed from the Hasbro set do make for some really good WFC/FOC styled generic Autobots and the paint on the former is great not to mention he's actually brown thus actually having a better color scheme then the Takara Nosecone.

While Hasbro Computron might not be the best Computron, it does make for a great Betatron.

The Hasbro Nosecone has a great "cowrubble-catcher" if you place the drill like how the thumbnail of the article does it not to mention it's a drill-tank and that's pretty damn awesome so I disagree on the notion that it's just a tooth-pick.

News Credits: 12 · by **Evil Eye** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 12:51 pm

Hasbro Computron is a funny one. I actually prefer some of the more toy inspired deco choices, especially Afterburner and Scattershot's vehicle mode, and Strafe is kinda cool in his own right. Scrounge is a cool addition, and I don't even hate Nosecone, as his vehicle mode is a bit like a roadheader:

The only real bummers with him are the lack of retooling on the torso mode features and weapon, and everything about Lightspeed, whose deco sucks and doesn't even have any new tooling (even Nosecone got his drill!).

I love my UW Computron, mind, but I don't think Hasbro Computron is awful. Now "Beta" Scattershot on the other hand...

by **Windsweeper** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 2:05 pm

Always enjoy your lists.

Problem with 3 of these was availability. Drillhorn and United Nosecone were only available in Japan and Titans Return Twintwist had limited availability too.

I'd love Unite Warriors Strafe and Nosecone but along with Twintwist, the prices are ridiculously expensive on the secondary market. Pity because I really hate CW Nosecone's faceplate, and Computron for that matter.

I'm surprised G1 Quickswitch didn't make the list though I know most fans don't like unarticulated, G1 blockiness.

I'd have included Inner robot Snarler. They made him a physical pun being a boar.

I have the unnamed European Autobot repaint of Drill Horn. I was pleasantly surprised at how big he was. I expected it to be similar in size to a Scramble City limbs.

As I said, I enjoyed the list. Considering the drill tank subject matter, it could have been boring...

News Credits: 4838 · by **william-james88** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 3:37 pm

-Kanrabat- wrote:For me, I prefer about all the Hasbro components for their unique moldings and toy colors. Only the drill tank suck.

I am surprised with the unique moldings comment. Only strafe and Afterburner had new headsculpts for instance, while the rest were all straight redecos of previously released toys. I get that it's a bit unfair to say about scattershot's head who is a redeco of retail scattershot but for the boxset, they couldn't even bother giving this combiner a new headsculpt, which was my default reasoning behind getting UW Computron instead.

Deadput wrote:And I love the drill from the Brawl mold version, tiny pointy drills are just as good as big drills.

That's just something fembots say to make the bots with small drills happy.

Bumblevivisector wrote:So this top 5 inevitably devolved into the old CW/UW Technobot debate.

As long as we are just having fun and distracted by the world going to hell, I'm ok with it. And thanks for your perspective on that debate!

ZeroWolf wrote:I'll echo others, Transmetal Scavenger needs to be on this list somewhere but I can appreciate it being hard to call with the other entries. Good job either Will!

Thanks! And he is here now that many have mentioned him. I agree that he is one of the best Transformers toys ever made and he got his due on my lists a couple of times, most recently here. For this list based on alt modes, I tried to keep it obvious, and I personally always felt his drills applied more to his robot mode. That's just me though.

Black Hat wrote:Hasbro Computron is a funny one. I actually prefer some of the more toy inspired deco choices, especially Afterburner and Scattershot's vehicle mode, and Strafe is kinda cool in his own right.

I think Hasbro even botched the toy decos. Afterburner is the wrong kind of orange. At least takara went all cartoon accurate while hasbro pulled their usual jack of all trades master of none thing with these guys.

I will say that I really love that Scattershot alt mode deco though, it's just a nice mix of red and white, highlighting the molded detail.

Windsweeper wrote:Always enjoy your lists.

Problem with 3 of these was availability. Drillhorn and United Nosecone were only available in Japan and Titans Return Twintwist had limited availability too.

Thanks! As for availability, I get the issue with the g1 toy (though one would argue that for any g1 toy for collectors who weren't even alive in the 80s), but UW Computron was available to any fan who wanted him and had acces to the internet. Hasbro computron was just as hard or easy to find, when thinking of global availability, with him being a boxset. In the end, both were boxsets you could buy from most online vendors and none were readily available at brick and mortar retail compared to the other retail combiners in the line.

Windsweeper wrote:As I said, I enjoyed the list. Considering the drill tank subject matter, it could have been boring...

Black Hat wrote:I'd be tempted to put Armada Drillbit in here as an honourable mention, largely because I do love me some Minicons, and Drillbit is a really cool one, with his drill arm and neat vehicle mode.

Drillbit is one of my all time favourite minicons, that's why I gave him a shout out on this list: https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... oys/43762/

News Credits: 12 · by **Evil Eye** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 3:49 pm

Ah, so you did! I'd forgotten all about that somehow. One of my biggest TF regrets incidentally is not picking up the Road Wrecker team when they were on shelves (granted I was a kid at the time). I'm actually not sure which version I prefer- the Destruction team's deco is awesome but I do kinda like the Road Wrecker version's unified deco.

Website · by **RK_Striker_JK_5** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 6:59 pm

Drill tanks rock.

A good list, although I would've put Menasor higher. I love the guy.

News Credits: 4838 · by **william-james88** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 8:19 pm

Someone on Facebook brought up Beast Wars Galvatron. I was never a huge fan of that toy but it's true he does have a drill tank mode, so that makes it yet another drill tank in the Beast Era.

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 8:24 pm

william-james88 wrote:Someone on Facebook brought up Beast Wars Galvatron. I was never a huge fan of that toy but it's true he does have a drill tank mode, so that makes it yet another drill tank in the Beast Era.

This is one silly toy that I'd really love to have, but only for a reasonable price.

News Credits: 20 · by **Tuned Agent** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 8:33 pm

Interesting list! It's not every day drill tanks get the spotlight. Twin Twist is one I definitely want to track down sometime, and hearing him praised like this makes his unfortunate aftermarket prices that much more painful (or more palatable, depending on how you look at it).

I'm glad to see Armada Drillbit get some love in the comments, he was the first toy I thought of when I saw this list. One of my favorite minicons, and my favorite minicon team in general.

News Credits: 2 · by **X3ROhour** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 8:39 pm

What about...

not to mention...

: I KNOW... not a toy... sorta.

News Credits: 54 · by **Deadput** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 10:12 pm

You could probably replicate that IDW drill Impactor with either Zetar or Hasbro Nosecone's drills.

News Credits: 4838 · by **william-james88** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 10:51 pm

Tuned Agent wrote:Interesting list! It's not every day drill tanks get the spotlight. Twin Twist is one I definitely want to track down sometime, and hearing him praised like this makes his unfortunate aftermarket prices that much more painful (or more palatable, depending on how you look at it).

Well you can get the gist of how good he is by experiencing Top Spin since it's inhetently the same mold with the same neat tricks.

by **cruizerdave** » Tue Apr 14, 2020 3:38 pm

No BW II Galvatron! I demand my money back!

[wait, you didn't pay anything for this list]

I don't care!
BW II Galvatron's drill actually spins when you push the little button! LITTLE BUTTON MAN! None of those guys have an actual working drill. Or an awesome dragon mode! Or are named after Galvatron! So much better than Drillhorn. Or a Power Core figure who's really more of an accessory than an actual figure.

Anyway, always nice to read these lists. Better luck making us whiney BW II fanboys happy next time.

News Credits: 4838 · by **william-james88** » Wed Apr 15, 2020 1:41 pm

Love your post Cruizerdave, though I have some stuff to add

cruizerdave wrote:BW II Galvatron's drill actually spins when you push the little button! LITTLE BUTTON MAN! None of those guys have an actual working drill.

They don't but I just thought of someone else who does:

Windchill the yeti bot!!!

He transforms into an arctic drill tank with a spinning drill when you push a button.

Or an awesome dragon mode!

Your right, they don,t have an awesome dragon mode, but neither does BW Galvatron

Anyway, always nice to read these lists. Better luck making us whiney BW II fanboys happy next time.

Haha, funny enough, I do have a top 5 Neo toys in the works, I hope that can be a decent enough consolation prize.

News Credits: 1350 · by **ZeroWolf** » Wed Apr 15, 2020 2:21 pm

william-james88 wrote:
cruizerdave wrote:Or an awesome dragon mode!

Your right, they don,t have an awesome dragon mode, but neither does BW Galvatron

That is an awesome burn right there. So much so that Dave might need to ask Windchill for some ice :lol:

by **cruizerdave** » Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:57 pm

william-james88 wrote:Love your post Cruizerdave, though I have some stuff to add

cruizerdave wrote:BW II Galvatron's drill actually spins when you push the little button! LITTLE BUTTON MAN! None of those guys have an actual working drill.

They don't but I just thought of someone else who does:

Windchill the yeti bot!!!

He transforms into an arctic drill tank with a spinning drill when you push a button.

Or an awesome dragon mode!

Your right, they don,t have an awesome dragon mode, but neither does BW Galvatron

Anyway, always nice to read these lists. Better luck making us whiney BW II fanboys happy next time.

Haha, funny enough, I do have a top 5 Neo toys in the works, I hope that can be a decent enough consolation prize.

It was the finest dragon mode ever given to a drill tank!

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Sat Apr 18, 2020 2:42 am

Shame on me to have forgotten that G1 Quickswitch existed. I own him and he's one of my favorite G1.

He's my #1 Drill Tank Transformers especially because he's a six-changer (with 3 more modes that I can pull off!)

News Credits: 4838 · by **william-james88** » Sat Apr 18, 2020 11:45 am

cruizerdave wrote:It was the finest dragon mode ever given to a drill tank!

I won't argue that :lol:

News Credits: 4838 · by **william-james88** » Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:28 am

Deadput wrote:You could probably replicate that IDW drill Impactor with either Zetar or Hasbro Nosecone's drills.

You cannot since Zetar's peg is on his head, not the drill and the peg for Hasbro's Nosecone is perpendicular to the drill.

The only one that works is the powerdasher that uses the Brunt mold (but it's not a great look).

News Credits: 1350 · by **ZeroWolf** » Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:38 am

william-james88 wrote:
Deadput wrote:You could probably replicate that IDW drill Impactor with either Zetar or Hasbro Nosecone's drills.

You cannot since Zetar's peg is on his head, not the drill and the peg for Hasbro's Nosecone is perpendicular to the drill.

The only one that works is the powerdasher that uses the Brunt mold (but it's not a great look).

Isn't it Zetar that uses the brunt mold?