The Energon Pub

So I was basically out of the game for these two series. I purchased nearly every armada figure and every RiD figure prior... but somehow I fell off the radar for these two series. I suppose it was because my first reaction was the toys all seemed big for no reason. The first Optimus I saw was energon i believe and looked like a power ranger throwback. Since I had optimus I had to get megatron to accompany him, but he seemed large and bulky for no reason also. I think i watched the TV show once and it was like terrible anime and stupid babble even a kid version of myself would hate.

Can anyone please school me on these lines? Not neccessarily what figures are good because I have seen the threads asking and I honestly don't plan to go on a massive ebay hunt to get them... It just seemed like all the toys were needlessly large so they could sell at a higher price point and didn't include the more complex modes/details/transformations that you expect to get with a larger toy. I saw no reason to spend the money to buy larger figures if they just scaled up the ones that were designed to be smaller.

I've since seen a few primus's in the store and almost bought one, but thought to myself 50$ on a toy line I hated (even if it is the one figure from the line i should get) just seemed backwards. I MUCH MUCH MUCH prefered the classics line with there small toys, and G1 styling.

edit: jeez i am going through these galleries and it seems like half of them are either repaints of armada figures, or repaints of other toys in the same line. If there is one thing i HATE it is repeat mold repaints... man what a money scheme they have going... I may have to reconsider working at hasbro as a transformer designer in the future...

I was kinda out of the loop with the Energon toyline as well. All I gotta say is that Optimus Prime was absolutely horrible in my opinion. For the Energon toyline you pretty much had the basic Armada contiuition here. There were some Armada repaints, still a load of mini-cons, and an introduction to Terrorcons and Omnicons. The toys had no powerlinx ports so no Mini-cons couild attach. Autobots could Powerlinx with each other. So Hot Shot could be the legs of Jetfire, or Ironhide being the Torso of Jetfire, kind of like Armada Jet Optimus.

Cybertron was a lot better. Still had the Mini-con repaints, but introduced Cyber Keys which activated weapons on Autobots and Decepticons just like Mini-cons did for Armada. Alot of repaints in this line, but several very good new molds.

ohhhhh thats why I didn't get the energon line. I remember looking through the mini catalog that came with the late armada figures and being like... man these toys look stupid. That whole powerlink gimmick was lost on me instantly... that plus the dumb looking leaders and I was gone.

I think the energon and cybetron lines meshed together for me whenever i saw them in a store, I think i figured it was both the same line and kept on walking

But seriously, I am actively looking into working at hasbro and getting on board the transformers development team. If anyone has an email contact there I could inquire through it would be greatly appreciated.

Energon Optimus Prime reminds me of the old power rangers megazord. =P

I didnt get much of the armada/energon or cybertron toys due to the whole..Fisher price like feel on the voyagers. =\

You aren't half wrong with all the repaints that featured in the Cybertron line.

But barring the various repaints, it was a strong line with some of the best variety in figures since the G1 days, cars, planes, boats, motorcycles, alien styled vehicles, animals, you name it, the Cybertron line had it (or something very close to it).

As a general rule, the figures were well made, very well painted and they will last for many years to come. Some of the transformations were a tad simple, even for the size of the figure (looking at you supreme Starscream), whereas others are complicated enough to keep your mind turning over for many minutes.

Generally the molds, sculpting, painting and transformations are either on par or above the quality seen in the Classics line. I think the Movie line has done nothing but strengthen how I feel about how well made and designed the Cybertron toys were, they are made to be played with, as well as being made to last.

The gimmick was for the most part forgettable, and in no way anywhere near as good as the Armada Minicon gimmick (seeing as they are more-or-less the same thing), but having a panel reveal extra weapons can never be a bad thing. Mostly the Cyber-key gimmick did not hinder the figure.

All price points had well made "must buy" figures, and some molds I felt were more than good enough to have the repaint bought as well.

Many of the repaints were some of the best I have seen, in terms of being better than the original paint scheme, and many of the repaints that were homages to G1 or Beast Era characters were top notch; Swerve and Kup in particular.

Hope that helps you with Cybertron.

Energon was a tad more hit and miss, and did not have such a good, wide variety of different figures, had more QC issues, and more transformations and robot modes were hindered by the gimmick than the Cybertron line.

The combination gimmick was not very well executed in some figures, and decently executed in others. The Energon weapons that came with the basics figures were nice, but could and should have been implemented across the entire line.

Energon suffered form repaint fever as much as Cybertron did, but did far less with them, with many repaints simply being their to make up numbers, rather than improve the original paint scheme, or play a homage to a pre-existing character.

Some figures transformations seemed to be all about working around the Superlink gimmick, and most figures 'failed' at being 1 of the 2 superlink halves. (some figures failed at being either half).

There are still some well made, and very nice figures in the Energon line, but there are not as many figures that stand out as much as the 15 or so topline figures from the Cybertron line.

Cybertron got me back into rabid collecting, so I absolutely LOVE the line.


Man, I remember people on here looking for Wing Saber (and to a lesser extent Evac and Soundwave) the same way we look now for Concept Bumblebee...