The Energon Pub

Hi y´all! While knowing there is a bigger thread like this I have done a pretty thorough analysis of what has been released so far and felt it might deserve a discussion of its own. I present it all in the latest post on my blog:

https://tftheoretician.wordpress.com/20 ... edictions/

Some of the things I am considering might happen is that we have now seen all the vehicle-mode combining molds, that Misfire, Triggerhappy and Slugslinger might make a comeback, and that Ultra Magnus is splitting into two characters. Before you choose to dismiss these claims, take a look at the logic behind them

...and then decide, are my predictions modest, reasonable or just plain crazy?

/Theoretician

Cheers for posting your thoughts. Had a quick read and I think there's a few good points in there, and some I don't agree with.

Firstly, you're assuming that the Fan Built Combiner poll is rigged from the get go, if they're alredy planning on using the Hot Spot mould a third time for that one. Now it may well be, I always have my suspicions on these things, but if it isn't then we could end up seeing a 4th use of the Motormaster mould, or a 3rd use of the Silverbolt mould. I wouldn't be surprised if it does turn out to be Hot Spot's mould though, with Hasbro steering people that way at least, by giving/showing us the other 2 moulds first. Most people would probably vote for a brand new mould, and at the time the Hot Spot mould hadn't been revealed. In fact, that was pretty much the reveal.

I totally buy Hot Spot being retooled as Onslaught, think it really works. You say that a new bike member might be on the cards for the Combaticons if it's Hot Spot's mould (what with them adding new members to teams now), but I felt that the Legends Shockwave rumour was going to indicate that he'd be used for Bruticus as a weapon in the same way that Viper and Powerglide are weapons for Galvatronus and Superion respectively. However, it depends on how the chest section looks on Defensor, as it may be necessary to have something there to fill the gap. Alternatively, Shockwave may end up being something other than a gun (or perhaps all 3 depending on engineering!). If you look at the shape of Bruticus' G1 toy's chest you can easily see it being made from an aerial vehicle not far off Shockwave's recent Cybertronian jet mode from FoC. Also, we have to consider that there may be a new replacement member for one of the limb bots, following on from the creation of Offroad, Rook and Alpha Bravo. Brawl and Blast Off could create issues for Hasbro and they might choose to replace one of them. Brawl could end up being a heavy re-tool of Rook, or possibly share a new mould with Nosecone in the future (although Nosecone may also be a Rook re-tool). Blast Off causes a bigger problem. Despite sharing alt mode similarities with Alpha Bravo/Blades, Vortex is most likely the re-deco here. Blast Off could end up being substituted for a new member, paving the way for Takara to simply re-tool the AB/Blades mould as Blast Off for their version in the same way that Slingshot is a Firefly re-deco (and I reckon Wildrider will just be a Dead End re-deco).

The team made from the 1987 Decepticon Targetmasters is a nice idea, and I'd love to see a new mould which Slugslinger and Strafe could share. Although I don't know if this whole Cyclonus/Galvatronus thing is based off IDW, as I haven't quite caught up to speed yet (just finished Dark Cybertron!), so I'm not sure if that team will be characters aligned with Galvatron in the comics. If not then that's a great idea for a team. I actually hoped we'd see the Predators as the Decepticon Jet team consisting of re-decos from the Aerialbots. Rook would make an awesome Stalker too and I'd love to see Takara pulling this one out of the bag in future. As for your Optimus Maximus team made from the Movie characters...I'm just not so sure. Mostly because we've only recently had an Arcee, and (to a lesser extent) Springer, but I do like your idea of there being a theme to it. I am stumped as to who they'll use though.

I'm not sure if I totally buy into the "Three per one" theory you're going with, but it is a feasible notion. Re-using moulds is more cost effective for Hasbro, but they are in this for the long haul it seems, and I'm sure we'll see a couple of new moulds next year. I'm loving the rumours coming out at the moment, Scattershot being the one that really intrigues me. I think it'd be a big shame if they just re-use Silverbolt's mould there. If Technobots are on the cards then I can see Afterburner becoming the Legends counterpart from a Groove re-tool and a new member.

Of course there are more Autobots than Decepticons, that's just how they roll lately (look at AOE for the most glaring example). I don't think they'll put out extra con combiners later on to even things out. If anything they'll redeco them too to also make more bot combiners, like (as I said in another thread) if they do Predaking, maybe some new bot combiner using Leo Prime as a redeco of Razorclaw.

Dude, that was awesome! Thank you!

I love it. It is beautifully organized. I love the chart. This is exactly what I having been looking for! That was a fascinating read, very intelligent theories and breakdowns.

Here are some of my theories:
Look at Alpha Bravo, imagine him without the copter blade, and some re-tooling, he looks like a space shuttle. I wonder if they will re-tool him into Blast-off as well. Though, like you said, maybe it would just be easier to turn a plane into a shuttle.

You may be right about Brawl. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they did make a new Brawl mold as an actual tank, that is repainted as Nosecone. That hole on Rook dows seem to suggest that he will be Nosecone. Maybe we get Generations Brawl as that truck, and MP Brawl (years from now) as a tank. More sales that way. Your 3, 3, 9, 9 theory is an excellent breakdown/theory. It makes a lot of sense, and may very well be right. But since they are a toy company and not a math problem, they may throw in an extra mold here or there or only use some for two characters. But you are probably right. I love your predictions and the choices for Optimus Max.

Read your predictions the other day and I had the following few thoughts.

1) hasbro will never do a line where there is more cons then autobots, think about all previous lines, kids love heroes. it's not all doom and gloom after all the titan class is Devestator so it's Superion and Defensor versus Menasor and Devestator. Cyclonus and Optimus are more meant to be scramble city style extra torsos.

Now we know there is currently four unknown deluxes at this point but there evidence that they will be Autobot cars but there is also the chance that they will be exclusive redecos of the Stunticons for tru, Walmart etc.

If that's the case then the combaticons may be the fourth combiner (we will get him but when is the question)

Another thing you didn't take into account is takara. We may have one combiner to go from so far but it stands to reason that the rest will follow suit. Menasor will come with Wildrider (made from one of the other Stunticons) but what about Defensor? They can't start by doing original G1 teams then just not (not even a name change would settle this). I think they'll borrow Afterburners new mold from the technobots and retool that into deluxe Groove. The same will happen then with the combaticons.

I agree with beast combiners next year as it would be 2-3 years at that point since Prime Abominus.

Also why is it anytime we get a fan poll, people jump to "it's fixed" or words to that effect. Is it just because it didn't go their way?

Personally I want completely new combiners and characters. We need something for the fans of the future to look forward to homages of

Hi y´all, sorry bout the most belated reply! But foremost, thank you for the great response! I have read your thoughts and they are very sensible, indeed. I too have started too lean towards Afterburner being a remolded Groove, but in that case, I think he will be wielded as a weapon for Computron, possibly as a bonus member. This would fit another pattern; that each combining team so far has gotten a new member, which in this case could take Afterburner´s place. I however think Scattershot will use Silverbolt´s mold and will thus be paired with another Powerglide mold for "official" weapon. Maybe I am overreaching here to justify the patterns I think I´ve identified. What do you think?

Also, about the fan built combiner being rigged; it could be a bit of both. Maybe they really want to get a third use for Hot Spot´s mold (in tandem with Groove´s) and let us choose limbs, colors, superpower and origin?

My point was that takara will take Afterburners new deluxe mold and retool it themselves to create a deluxe Groove for their domestic defensor release since they are going for complete G1 accuracy.

As for the poll I honestly think everything is left to chance with the mold, the hot spot mold would be used again regardless as there is repaints galore that can be done (G2, Guard Gaia, rid 2001 Prime)

ZeroWolf wrote:My point was that takara will take Afterburners new deluxe mold and retool it themselves to create a deluxe Groove for their domestic defensor release since they are going for complete G1 accuracy.

As for the poll I honestly think everything is left to chance with the mold, the hot spot mold would be used again regardless as there is repaints galore that can be done (G2, Guard Gaia, rid 2001 Prime)

I am not sure Afterburner will get his own deluxe mold at all (even though I´d like it), but your idea is quite interesting in the sense that it makes me think about how Takara will handle Defensor... I´ve heard that there might be a way to pin Groove to Rook, covering him, for a more G1 accurate approach, not sure if it has substance to it though. There sure is a lot to speculate about for this sub-line, right?

TheTheoretician wrote:Also, about the fan built combiner being rigged; it could be a bit of both. Maybe they really want to get a third use for Hot Spot´s mold (in tandem with Groove´s) and let us choose limbs, colors, superpower and origin?

I wouldn't be surprised if it is a bit of both, perhaps Hasbro steering us towards a direction. I wasn't surprised about it being an Autobot, since they produce more Autobot characters than Decepticons, and with them already announcing Galvatronus, a massive Devestator and Menasor, that'll be enough to fill those ranks until next year when they may announce Bruticus (with Computron being the Autobot counterpart).

I also expect it to be a female combiner based off Hot Spot's mould. Firstly, because I think they are listening to the fans and realised how well received Windblade was. She's had her comic series extended, they've brought in a female character into the RiD cartoon (that isn't a typically slender looking fembot). Secondly, because it's something new and unique. A fembot combiner. Regular Transformers (whether you want to argue that they're male or neutral gendered) are commonplace, and will be releasing plenty of them over this toyline. It's great marketing for a start and it does show a willingness to embrace sexual equality in the toy industry.

The Hot Spot reasoning is purely based on the thought that the other 2 moulds were already known when the poll appeared. That mould was basically revealed in the poll and I think Hasbro felt that many people would go for that because it was something brand new to look at. I doubt it'll be the Prime/MM mould because we've already seen it a couple of time and, although Silverbolt's Cyclonus re-tool wasn't revealed yet, it was already an existing mould and people may have guessed that it was going to end up being re-used anyway.

My opinion exactly! They are steering us towards something they want to do anyway... I think it´s very likely the upcoming combiner has the hot spot mold for torso, is female and called "Victorion". The hot spot mold is the most slender and "feminine" so far (although has massive thighs in torso mode, another indication? LOL) and yes, I think they started the poll at the exact time they did because they knew we would take the "new mold" bait. And they wanted us to take it simply because they want to use all the CW molds at least three times each, and there ain´t no firetruck as popular as Optimus and Cyclonus for the other respective molds...