The Energon Pub

kirbenvost wrote:Recently, I was pretty wowed by Generations Skyshadow. The new paint scheme really makes him stand out as whole different character from Thunderwing. And unlike a lot of recent Hasbro TFs, it's just an all-around great paint job. Black and any variety of colors do tend to make a figure stand out.

Am I the only one who thinks that figure is very Voltron-esque?

Windsweeper wrote:I thought the original colour scheme on Classics Starscream was hideous.

Totally agree. I was excited when I first bought him, just because, hey they made a G1-inspired Starscream again but when I looked at him next to the likes of Skywarp and Ramjet, I realized just how much they had dropped the ball with him. That of course was well before all the later seekers came out. I can't believe that some people still have that one as the Starscream in their Classicsverse, especially after we got Henkei and Universe.

I haven't updated my Classics Starscream since the original. Why? I've bought the mold 4 other times since then, in one form or another. I'd rather not buy a duplicate as a character I already own.

OG Classics Screamer was fine, outside of his translucent face. Without paint to cast shadow, that face is worthless.

Hate for Smurfhide too. There are only a handful of guys that can pull off the blue face. Actually, I pretty much hate any robot with a blue face. Treadshot is on the bubble.

Generally, I have little love for the Michael Bay film aesthetic and the related toylines disappointed me, more often than not. Despite that, I really have a soft spot for ROTF Mixmaster; he's a well-engineered toy with an interesting transformation and great articulation. Moreover, his purple, silver, and black color scheme, coupled with a beautifully oversized Decepticon Symbol, make him a great addition to my collection.

I like the mold so much, that I considered buying his G1-esque repaint, until I saw it in person. No thanks! I'm amazed how much of a difference this paint job made in my impression of the toy.

G2. 'nuff said!

I reckon there's a few figures where the original was meh but the repaint was awesome - G1 Seacons - BWII Seacons, G2 Prime - RID Scourge, Classics - Henkei Megatron and Astrotrain all stand out for me.

Andrius wrote:Generally, I have little love for the Michael Bay film aesthetic and the related toylines disappointed me, more often than not. Despite that, I really have a soft spot for ROTF Mixmaster; he's a well-engineered toy with an interesting transformation and great articulation. Moreover, his purple, silver, and black color scheme, coupled with a beautifully oversized Decepticon Symbol, make him a great addition to my collection.

I like the mold so much, that I considered buying his G1-esque repaint, until I saw it in person. No thanks! I'm amazed how much of a difference this paint job made in my impression of the toy.

That huge Decepticon symbol adds a LOT to an otherwise strange toy. The black and silver mix well, too.

I have a dull ass deco to thank for two of my best customs. DOTM Sideswipe's dull as **** grey paint job made me do the mold into screen accurate silver aand DOTM Sunstreaker with a gold deco. Don't ever rely on grey to make a toy look good unless the actual character is that dull ass grey in the movie and or tv show.

I have to echo the sentiments about grey plastic. I don't like it even when it's accurate to the character's look. Example: WFC Megatron. Awesome figure in every way, but I much prefer the gunmetal and translucent purple of the TRU three-pack version over the standard grey release.

Between Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, I'll always go with CJ, even if the head-sculpt is a lazy BB rehash (a la Classics); yellow is a colour I've simply never cared for.

Generations Darkmount (Straxus) looks damn cartoony--and not in a good way--with all the bright red plastic accents, but Skullgrin looks worlds better in somber burgundy and black.

I have five iterations of the Prime Wheeljack mold (Hasbro RID, Dark Energon, Hasbro Beast Hunters, Dead-End, and Arms Micron Wildrider). Dead-End's eye-searing deco is nearly a deal-breaker, while WJ's classic white, red, and green colour scheme falls right in the middle. The translucent royal blue of Dark Energon WJ, however, really knocks it out of the park.


Other notables:

ROTF Bansaitron > ROTF Bludgeon
Energon Starscream (steel blue & translucent green) > "Energon Starscream" (G1 colours)
FOC Sideswipe > FOC Jazz
Robot Masters R-Blade > Hooligan, G2 Jetfire, et al.

What's with all the G2 hate? o_O;

I LOVE G2's eye-searing decos! I mean, on one hand I grew up with G2, but...they're just good.

My thought process with Transformers as a whole is specifically -liking- things to be different. Give me three different styles of Seeker and I'll display them together because I think they look better looking different.

When it comes to decos that feel just right... Shattered Glass is really hit and miss.

But on occasion, they knock it out of the park.



Inverting Trypticon's colors was a stroke of genius, and this is probably my favorite convention exclusive as a result. The fact he's Grimlock certainly doesn't hurt, though.

Not sure if anyone mentioned it yet, but Classics Dinobot: terrible colors, ruined the figure; Henkei Dinobot: perfect colors, made the figure a must have and the definitive version of the character.

Another would be the purple version of Energon/Superlink Galvatron. It's such a G1 homage in that deco that you could have convinced me that it was a 'Powermaster Galvatron' back in the late 80's and I would have believed you.

For fails: almost every Hasbro Generations figure (particularly FoC) to come out in the past year or so. For wins: almost every Takara Generations figure (particularly FoC) to come out in the past year or so.

ShadowBlaze wrote:I have to echo the sentiments about grey plastic. I don't like it even when it's accurate to the character's look. Example: WFC Megatron. Awesome figure in every way, but I much prefer the gunmetal and translucent purple of the TRU three-pack version over the standard grey release.

Have you seen the Takara United version? It looks amazing and is all painted up. The same goes for the eHobby purple one. I have every version of this mold (including the TrU version you mentioned as well as the original Hasbro release) and the two Takara United versions really make the other two look bad.

Henry921 wrote:When it comes to decos that feel just right... Shattered Glass is really hit and miss.

But on occasion, they knock it out of the park.



Inverting Trypticon's colors was a stroke of genius, and this is probably my favorite convention exclusive as a result. The fact he's Grimlock certainly doesn't hurt, though.

I, Grimlock, will now kill you all. Kapeesh?

I have yet to buy any iteration of the Generations/FOC Bruticus molds because of the lack of G1 accuracy of the colours, specifically of Blast Off and Vortex. I realise they aren't meant to be the G1 characters, but of all the various versions, surely 1 could have been G1 accurate? And then there's the Wreckers... Hasbro finally, after nearly 30 years, give us an Impactor toy... Then mess up the colours.

Wreckgar wrote:I have yet to buy any iteration of the Generations/FOC Bruticus molds because of the lack of G1 accuracy of the colours, specifically of Blast Off and Vortex. I realise they aren't meant to be the G1 characters, but of all the various versions, surely 1 could have been G1 accurate? And then there's the Wreckers... Hasbro finally, after nearly 30 years, give us an Impactor toy... Then mess up the colours.

Impactor, eh?
Lets see...
Orange? Check.
Purple/Indigo? Check.
Harpoon? Also check.

What are you complaining about with the colors? XD I could understand you his not liking the mold or -how- it's painted, but the colors are right.

RAcast wrote:

Wreckgar wrote:I have yet to buy any iteration of the Generations/FOC Bruticus molds because of the lack of G1 accuracy of the colours, specifically of Blast Off and Vortex. I realise they aren't meant to be the G1 characters, but of all the various versions, surely 1 could have been G1 accurate? And then there's the Wreckers... Hasbro finally, after nearly 30 years, give us an Impactor toy... Then mess up the colours.

Impactor, eh?
Lets see...
Orange? Check.
Purple/Indigo? Check.
Harpoon? Also check.

What are you complaining about with the colors? XD I could understand you his not liking the mold or -how- it's painted, but the colors are right.

Right colours, wrong places. Purple torso/arms, yellow head/legs is the character I knew and loved from the comics as a child. This one's the wrong way round.

Wreckgar wrote:

RAcast wrote:

Wreckgar wrote:I have yet to buy any iteration of the Generations/FOC Bruticus molds because of the lack of G1 accuracy of the colours, specifically of Blast Off and Vortex. I realise they aren't meant to be the G1 characters, but of all the various versions, surely 1 could have been G1 accurate? And then there's the Wreckers... Hasbro finally, after nearly 30 years, give us an Impactor toy... Then mess up the colours.

Impactor, eh?
Lets see...
Orange? Check.
Purple/Indigo? Check.
Harpoon? Also check.

What are you complaining about with the colors? XD I could understand you his not liking the mold or -how- it's painted, but the colors are right.

Right colours, wrong places. Purple torso/arms, yellow head/legs is the character I knew and loved from the comics as a child. This one's the wrong way round.

That's fair, but it's not quite what you said the first time. I agree though, the head in particular looks kinda...terrible purple, rather than the orange it should be.

RAcast wrote:

Wreckgar wrote:

RAcast wrote:

Wreckgar wrote:I have yet to buy any iteration of the Generations/FOC Bruticus molds because of the lack of G1 accuracy of the colours, specifically of Blast Off and Vortex. I realise they aren't meant to be the G1 characters, but of all the various versions, surely 1 could have been G1 accurate? And then there's the Wreckers... Hasbro finally, after nearly 30 years, give us an Impactor toy... Then mess up the colours.

Impactor, eh?
Lets see...
Orange? Check.
Purple/Indigo? Check.
Harpoon? Also check.

What are you complaining about with the colors? XD I could understand you his not liking the mold or -how- it's painted, but the colors are right.

Right colours, wrong places. Purple torso/arms, yellow head/legs is the character I knew and loved from the comics as a child. This one's the wrong way round.

That's fair, but it's not quite what yous said the first time. I agree though, the head in particular looks kinda...terrible purple, rather than the orange it should be.

I meant messed up as in things in the wrong places than the wrong things (like a messy room), but I see your point. I'd probably use the same term if they did an Optimus Prime with a blue torso and red head/legs/hands as the main release. That's the colours messed up in my book.

Impactor still looks good. He's not Marvel Comics Impactor, but he still looks like Impactor to me, and the rest of Ruination are pretty good looking in comparison to the retail Bruticus as well. The combined mode especially really benefits from the more cohesive colour scheme.

I'd prefer if they reversed the colours on Topspin and Twintwist. They'd seem closer to their G1 selves then.

Unpainted faces can be very off putting and bland. Despite being a huge G1 fan, that was one thing that annoyed me.

The reissues did go some way to restoring some. The blue visor on Outback and painted face on Swerve greatly improve them and I'd almost swear Encore Swerve inspired Roberts' comedic take on the character.

Reissue Wheelie also benefitted from new face paint and blue optics. The blue optics on Sideswipe really added some character. It's amazing how 2 tiny paint apps can make a difference.

I've always loved the G1 Seeker mold but the unpainted faces really detract from the characters. The Worlds' Smallest Starscream's face paint and even Thrust with just 2 red eyes were greatly improved. It's a shame the Reissues were not given the same treatment.

I'm going to put Ironhide's cannons worth of emphasis on my point about grey plastic. I went to my local comic shop and saw a completely grey robot replicas Jazz. I don't have the gun or the packaging so I don't know nor will I pretend to know whether he's really supposed to be silver, but that dullness makes the fact that I'm a Jazz completist the only reason I have him now. Speaking of Hide's cannons, why the frag are they so damn tiny on the leader? I also meant to point out that grey plastic is appearently more fragile than clear plastic via my dotm target Jazz split in half on the transform hinge.

The recent beast hunters Ripclaw. The colors pretty much ruined the figure.
Another example could be that new York comic con Arcee we got in 2010.
There are tons of figures that could make the list