The Energon Pub

If only I had the money

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

shajaki wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

shajaki wrote:What I do wonder though, is if they'll repurpose him further as Onyx Primal and whatever the red version was called

Still Convobat. Onyx Primal is the black BotCon one, because you know... onyxes are black.

I knew all about Onyx. I thought maybe the red one was called "Magma Type" or something. But yeah, nothing special about the name.

Whats slightly confusing though, is the character description actually sounds like he's Onyx, what with the assassin bit.

The bio strikes me as being like a dual-homage to the original Convobat and Onyx Primal.

Who was Convobat supposed to be anyway? I thought he was nothing more than a version of Optimus Primal, as his original toy was a direct import of the bat figure (both the grey and red version were called Convobat).

The original Japanese bio for the regular Convobat (the one with the same deco as Hasbro's toy) described him as Optimus Primal/BW Convoy having taken a temporary new form to fight Megatron in the Amazon:

The brave Convoy engaged Megatron in mortal combat in the Amazon. To protect the freedom and peace of all living creatures, he transformed, “I won’t be defeated, Megatron!!”

Meanwhile, the CD exclusive Convobat that sported more G1 Optimus colors had a bio that made him sound more like G1 Optimus/G1 Convoy in a new form:

Speaking of Commander Convoy conjures up his famous tractor trailer form. This time around in order to battle Megatron, he has chosen the form of a bat for aerial manoeuvrability.

Here's a larger non-watermarked image, courtesy of Kazumasa Yasukuni, the artist who will be doing the packaging artwork.

https://twitter.com/zuma_yskn/status/761554177247940608

Nik Hero wrote:

BatPrimal.jpg

Here's a larger non-watermarked image, courtesy of Kazumasa Yasukuni, the artist who will be doing the packaging artwork.

https://twitter.com/zuma_yskn/status/761554177247940608

Does anyone know offhand where the swords come from? They look really familiar but I can't remember from whom.

Seibertron wrote:Does anyone know offhand where the swords come from? They look really familiar but I can't remember from whom.

Prime Wheeljack

I just had a thought. What if the "Convoy" whom Convobat was cloned from isn't Beast Wars Convoy (Optimus Primal) but is instead G1 Convoy (Optimus Prime)? I mean, Straxus is already in the Japanese G1 e-HOBBY fiction doing experiments and such. What if this is an attempt to create a Japanese-original pre-Beast Wars origin story for the Optimus Primal of the Japanese continuity, with this being Japanese Primal's pre-BW body?

Though, if it does turn out to be an origin story for Japanese Primal, I'm not sure how that would fly with Prime being Primal's "ancestor" in the show. I mean, if one guy is a clone of another, can the latter really be considered the former's "ancestor"?

But then again, while this would explain Primal's/BW Convoy's physical resemblance to Prime/G1 Convoy, we also got guys like Lio Convoy, Big Convoy, Great Convoy, and other Beast Era Convoys all running around with Optimus Prime-like head designs and no explanation for their resemblances to Prime/G1 Convoy, so... yeah.

Guess we'll have to see what the comic does with this guy's birth.

Perhaps they can make a Red Bat and Purple croc two pack and make it an amazon exclusive toy.

The Purple Croc would kind of work for that - also some sort of Colour matched Soundwave head would be nice too as a reference to the blue version of the Soundwave bat/croc Beast Wars Mutants toy.

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The mini-Apeface repaint made me chuckle - it might actually make a good accessory for Sentinel Prime too what with the Orange on it.

There is lots of potential repaints for the bat and croc - I don't mind them doing them all so long as they spread them out and spread them around a bit.

City of Steel Croc Optimus Prime
Purple Croc Megatron
Green Croc Megatron
Black Bat Onyx Primal bat (or a Nemesis deco to fill two slots at once)
The Beast Wars Soundwave is kinda redundant though the golden bronze one might work in a gift set - I wouldn't mind the head for him to use on the E-Hobby toy though.
Gato Raider might be nice too. but that would likely work better if they ever make a miniature croc toy

They might be able to retool that mould into a dinosaur too.

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I'd quite like the City of Steel Optimus as a retail toy as it would be fun to have such an eccentric Optimus toy as well as simply to have a Deluxe scale Optimus in the line.

I suppose if you want to go really nuts there also potential for a Beast Machines Noble out of Weirdwolf's mould.

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* I refer to the characters by their original names as it's so hard to keep track of which ones got renamed sometimes.

Ok, I'm going to need the money to buy this, and an extra Skullsmasher to paint up, and a rockin fedora for the newly cusomized BW Gator Megs to wear

His name is Megatron non Meninistron - why'd he need a Fedora ?

RAR wrote:His name is Megatron non Meninistron - why'd he need a Fedora ?

to fit my personal head cannon

Sabrblade wrote:I just had a thought. What if the "Convoy" whom Convobat was cloned from isn't Beast Wars Convoy (Optimus Primal) but is instead G1 Convoy (Optimus Prime)? I mean, Straxus is already in the Japanese G1 e-HOBBY fiction doing experiments and such. What if this is an attempt to create a Japanese-original pre-Beast Wars origin story for the Optimus Primal of the Japanese continuity, with this being Japanese Primal's pre-BW body?

Though, if it does turn out to be an origin story for Japanese Primal, I'm not sure how that would fly with Prime being Primal's "ancestor" in the show. I mean, if one guy is a clone of another, can the latter really be considered the former's "ancestor"?

But then again, while this would explain Primal's/BW Convoy's physical resemblance to Prime/G1 Convoy, we also got guys like Lio Convoy, Big Convoy, Great Convoy, and other Beast Era Convoys all running around with Optimus Prime-like head designs and no explanation for their resemblances to Prime/G1 Convoy, so... yeah.

Guess we'll have to see what the comic does with this guy's birth.

That's my thought too.

RAR wrote:His name is Megatron non Meninistron - why'd he need a Fedora ?

Fedoras were cool before shitheads took 'em. Still are, honestly. Just as long as you forget any modern context.

I think the technical term is "Sh*tlord" Sh*thead is what Nelix from Voyager is called.

I forgot to do something here when I noticed the name of his Optimal Optimus-inspired partner drone: Ape-X Arms...

*groans*

Do we know when he will be available for pre-order/order?

Looks like the theory of Takara expecting those who want a full-bodied Megalligator to use Skullcruncher's body with the Megalligator head may prove true after all (unfortunately).

https://twitter.com/eHOBBY_SHOP/status/763646089257902080

e-HOBBY限定コンボバット大好評予約受付中です！LG22スカルと一緒にこんな遊び方もできます！！是非ご注文ください！！http://www.e-hobby.co.jp/shopdetail/000000002984/ …

EDIT: Not a theory after, but cold hard reality. Was just told that the product description for the Convobat figure on e-HOBBY's order page apparently states that the Megalligator head is intended to use Skullcruncher as its body. We just didn't know this until now since no one had translated the description beforehand. Either way, this is a bummer for those hoping for a legit Megalligator body.

Ultra Mad wrote:Do we know when he will be available for pre-order/order?

http://hlj.com/product/TKTE-0044-TF

http://tfsource.com/legends/combobat/

E-Hobby has tweeted a new image of their exclusive Combo Bat, which homages the Optimus Primal bat toy from Beast Wars. In this image we can see him fighting Megatron which is simply the Megatron head he comes with attached to Skullsmasher (sold seperately of course). This confirms that this is what the head is intended for and that there will not be a seperate release for Megatron. That means you save some money which is good news once I tell you how much this guy goes for. If you are in Japan, you can get him directly from E-Hobby for 5,000 Yen ($50). If you are not in Japan, you can currently preorder him from HLJ for $74, Robot Kingdom for $70, or if you want to buy from an American importer, TFsource has him for $90.

Just to give you a rundown of what this combo set includes:

Combobat: Bat Optimus Primal which is a redeco of the Mindwipe mold with the Sentinel Prime face
Megalligator: A Megatron face which is taken from the Nucleon mold (Galvatron's Titan Master)
2 energy swords: From Prime Wheeljack
Ape-X Arms drone: The vehicle that comes with the Apeface Titan Master coloured to resemble Optimal Optimus
A 16 page comic

Thanks to Seibertronians Sabrblade and Spider 001 for the info!



ALso, here is the dtailed info on this release:

This awesome figure, exclusively offered by E-Hobby, commemorates the 20th anniversary of "Beast Wars"! A clone of Optimus Prime (a.k.a. Convoy), the bat-winged Combobat was the result of an attempt to introduce organic elements to Transformers. With his silent flight ability, Combobat was engineered to be an ideal assassin, but he would prefer a different path. He comes with his Headmaster Megalligator, two energy swords, and the Ape-X Arms drone. A 16-page comic book is also included!

william-james88 wrote:E-Hobby has tweeted a new image of their exclusive Combo Bat, which homages the Optimus Primal bat toy from Beast Wars. In this image we can see him fighting Megatron which is simply the Megatron head he comes with attached to Skullsmasher (sold seperately of course). This confirms that this is what the head is intended for and that there will not be a seperate release for Megatron. That means you save some money which is good news once I tell you how much this guy goes for. If you are in Japan, you can get him directly from E-Hobby for 5,000 Yen ($50). If you are not in Japan, you can currently preorder him from HLJ for $74, Robot Kingdom for $70, or if you want to buy from an American importer, TFsource has him for $90.

Just to give you a rundown of what this combo set includes:

Bat Primal which is a redeco of the Mindwipe mold with the Sentinel Prime face
A Megatron face which is taken from the Nucleon mold (Galvatron's Titan Master)
2 swords from prime Wheeljack
The vehicle that comes with the Apeface Titan Master coloured to resemble Optimal Optimus

Thanks to Seibertronians Sabrblade and Spider 001 for the info!

Do we know if Takara TOMY Legends Skull green will match Hasbro Titans Return Skullsmasher/Skulkcruncher?

Nik Hero wrote:Do we know if Takara TOMY Legends Skull green will match Hasbro Titans Return Skullsmasher/Skulkcruncher?

I may be wrong, but it looks like that is the Hasbro version used on that picture. The salmon colour looks less fluo

william-james88 wrote:

Nik Hero wrote:Do we know if Takara TOMY Legends Skull green will match Hasbro Titans Return Skullsmasher/Skulkcruncher?

I may be wrong, but it looks like that is the Hasbro version used on that picture. The salmon colour looks less fluo

I think that is the Takara one. The legs and claws are too white to be the Hasbro version.

william-james88 wrote:

Nik Hero wrote:Do we know if Takara TOMY Legends Skull green will match Hasbro Titans Return Skullsmasher/Skulkcruncher?

I may be wrong, but it looks like that is the Hasbro version used on that picture. The salmon colour looks less fluo

That is the Takara version pictured.

But previous comparison pics between the two versions confirm that the Hasbro and Takara versions have very similar, nigh-identical greens. The Hasbro version should do fine for those who wish to use it for Megalligator's body.

Thank you. Note I can save some money on this.

Nik Hero wrote:Thank you. Note I can save some money on this.

However, that also means Megalligator wouldn't get to use the purple tyrannosaur Partner Drone that comes with Takara Skullcruncher.

Sabrblade wrote:

Nik Hero wrote:Thank you. Note I can save some money on this.

However, that also means Megalligator wouldn't get to use the purple tyrannosaur Partner Drone that comes with Takara Skullcruncher.

True. There is some value in that. Also it is a place to store the Headmaster to Skull/Skullsmasher/Skullcruncher too.