The Energon Pub

[Cyberpath]

The Yen has grown so strong that as of writing this UW04 Devastator is actually cheaper on BBTS than HLJ.

HLJ had him for $160 not long ago, then $130 on sale, and now he's $195(!) Crazy.

BBTS now has him for $180 (down from $225.) (Maybe HLJ will agree to sell him for sale price, they seem to have stock.)

Personally, Devastator is the only one I got from CW/UW. I thought the mold reuse on the 5-member combiners was an overkill, and the combined modes didn't always look great either. But Devastator looks incredible! Like he stepped out of the cartoon, and with lots of detail. And the individual robots are fun, too! (took me a while to get excited about them six because the taxes and fees put me off for a while.)

[william-james88]

If anyone is debating which version fo Devastator to get, he is a comprehensive guide to the differences written by yours truly:

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... -04/34421/

[william-james88]

But yeah, when it comes to combined mode, the only thing that can really sway your choice is that Takara's has a retractable Visor - so you instantly switch between the face with the eyes and the face with the visor, since he had both in the cartoon and seemed to switch even from scene to scene never mind episode to episode. There's also the fact his hands are purple instead of black.
That said... if that's the only thing, then that is probably not worth an extra 40-50 at all. Again, only go the extra mile for Takara if you care in the slightest about the individual guys. If you can find them for the same price though, Takara's is objectively better imo.

There is more than that. He has extra ratchets on his arms to keep a pose and his foot (mixmaster) is actually painted.

[Cyberpath]

Elbows are fun. :)

[Insurgent]

Don't get me wrong Will, the Takara one is superior in combined mode as well. I'm not saying that. I'm saying those improvements by themselves are not worth an extra 50 dollars, especially for someone who says they are on a budget. If you can find the Takara one for the same price as the Hasbro one, or even 10 to 20 dollars more, then yes go Takara. No question there. But to drop an extra 50 dollars? For that to be worth it, you have to be interested in the improvements to the individual modes as well, not just some extra paint and shoulder ratchets (I actually didn't know the Hasbro version didn't have shoulder ratchets).



It probably was Vangelus. I do watch him and it sounds like something he'd say.

[william-james88]

Don't get me wrong Will, the Takara one is superior in combined mode as well. I'm not saying that. I'm saying those improvements by themselves are not worth an extra 50 dollars, especially for someone who says they are on a budget. If you can find the Takara one for the same price as the Hasbro one, or even 10 to 20 dollars more, then yes go Takara. No question there. But to drop an extra 50 dollars? For that to be worth it, you have to be interested in the improvements to the individual modes as well, not just some extra paint and shoulder ratchets (I actually didn't know the Hasbro version didn't have shoulder ratchets).

Oh right, I see. Yeah your right, if it costs you much more then some improvements may not be as drastic as others

[Autobot N]

Your priority should be devastator. UW Superion is nice, but if you can only afford one thing, make sure you have a devastator in your collection. Of course if you are not ok with some of his toys not having elbows, then dont get it.

Thanks for the advice WJ. Would you say that the UW version of Devastator is worth the extra $40-$50 over the CW version?

I'd go Superion. I have the CW versions of both, and Superion is much better. Plus, if you get Superion instead of UW Devs, you can use the extra $40-$50 to buy one of the Perfect Effect upgrade kits that make even better than he already is.

[joeprime276]

That's a good argument also Autobot-N. This decision is killing me

[william-james88]

Your priority should be devastator. UW Superion is nice, but if you can only afford one thing, make sure you have a devastator in your collection. Of course if you are not ok with some of his toys not having elbows, then dont get it.

Thanks for the advice WJ. Would you say that the UW version of Devastator is worth the extra $40-$50 over the CW version?

I'd go Superion. I have the CW versions of both, and Superion is much better. Plus, if you get Superion instead of UW Devs, you can use the extra $40-$50 to buy one of the Perfect Effect upgrade kits that make even better than he already is.

I think I should be fully honest here: I ended up geting both UW Devastator and UW Superion. I am not rich, I went Hasbro for all the rest, but I felt those 2 were the most worth it to go the UW route. And I am doing the same with Computron. But of course I didnt want to just write "get both" since money can be a major issue. While Superion is a great combiner I will admit that he is the least fun to transform back and forth because its the exact same transformation 4 times for the jets. The 5 jets are the least interesting jet transformers to come out in a long time since they are all just robots hiding underneath a plane. The simplicity makes for a solid combiner and the torso transformation is great, but I really feel Superion has the weakest alt modes of all the combiners so far. Devastator is a winner in all categories though.

[MemphisR56]

The Postman's just delivered my UW Bruticus at home, I'm still in work for like another 4 hours, but I'm willing to put up information and photo requests regarding anything in the set, especially the new blast-off mold.

So Y'all get your questions in now if you have any and I'll get back to you in a couple of hours.

[Autobot N]

(much information)

But it also allows Superion to be quickly combined and decombined, given the ease of transformation. On the contrary, there are several points in Devastators's transformation that are a pain in the butt (like tabbing in the chestplate and making sure that Hook and Long Haul are connected properly).

[Cyberpath]

I actually like the process and how everything fits together just right.

[fenrir72]

(much information)

But it also allows Superion to be quickly combined and decombined, given the ease of transformation. On the contrary, there are several points in Devastators's transformation that are a pain in the butt (like tabbing in the chestplate and making sure that Hook and Long Haul are connected properly).

Superion imho is most stable. Menasor the suckiest(Motormaster's right foot/aka Menasor's right knee wont slot in securely like the left knee and the center of gravity makes him do limbo.........) hence one reason I skipped Optimusmaximus. Defensor left shoulder won't lock but almost as stable as Superion (a reversal from the G1 incarnation).

Devs? but it takes getting used to especially Hook's hands that need to be folded........

[william-james88]

I actually like the process and how everything fits together just right.

Me too. Its far more impressive that connector points are made for different figures than just have the same port for the same jet. Both have their ups and down but I am far more impresed with the engineering of Devastator. The only thing truly impressive about superion is the transformation of the torso, which I adore.

[Insurgent]

Yes, but remember, the jets are designed to be scramble city. You can't knock the toys for having the same connection joints while Devastator has unique ones when that was half the gimmick of the line.

[william-james88]

Yes, but remember, the jets are designed to be scramble city. You can't knock the toys for having the same connection joints while Devastator has unique ones when that was half the gimmick of the line.

The question was for one or the other. If you are only getting one combiner, the one with the unique porting would be the more interesting one. Scramble is fun if you are getting other combiners to scramble with. But this is all secondary to my issue with all the jets looking so similar and having very subpar alt modes. I much preffer the car/truck alt modes in CW (aside from breakdown). Its less a robot under a car and more like a robot surrounded by the car. Dont know if that makes sense.

[joeprime276]

I think I'm gonna go with Devastator after all the points made above. Now just deciding whether I personally want the UW or CW version.
I love jet planes but if they are all as boring as claimed than I'll wait to get it next month.

[william-james88]

I think I'm gonna go with Devastator after all the points made above. Now just deciding whether I personally want the UW or CW version.
I love jet planes but if they are all as boring as claimed than I'll wait to get it next month.

You can judge those planes for yourself, but you'll see what I mean by them all being the same and just a bot under a jet:


Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Air Raid Gallery


Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Air Raid Gallery


Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Firefly Gallery


Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Firefly Gallery


Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Quickslinger (Slingshot) Gallery


Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Quickslinger (Slingshot) Gallery


Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Skydive Gallery


Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Skydive Gallery

He has a great combined mode but I really wonder if anyone would object to saying that the CW jets are the most boring molds from CW.

[MemphisR56]

Uuggh... I was so excited for Bruticus, but in hand, it feels like a bit of a swing and a miss.

Lots of QC issues with tolerances everywhere across the set. Especially with swindle. It almost feels like his tan plastic has swollen outside of the original mold. Nothing lines up with him. The same is sort of true for blast-off's brown, but to a lesser extent. The nosecone straight up refuses to sit flush. The feet/boosters' swing arms are too thick for to sit comfortably at either end of a 90 degree angle, so I've had to shave some plastic off them so the rear of the fuselage can hold together.

The metallic swirl in onslaught's thighs worries me. I already have stress marks, and they are SO tight I had to use physical force to move the thigh swivel.

Brawl is brawl, and while the soft locking detent on the hip now functions as intended, brawl is still terrible, he's hust a nicer looking terrible. Plus they totally ignored the sculpted spot on his combiner peg for a logo tampo and placed it on his arm instead.

Vortex is great. No issues there. Less tolerance issues than I had with AB or Blades even. It's just that where the new rotors mount don't really allow you to do much of anything with them outside of altmode. So no recreating the rotor buzzsaw scene from revenge of bruticus here.

All in all a lot to be sad about here. Having this is something I was really looking forward to and it was an absolute letdown.

[william-james88]

All in all a lot to be sad about here. Having this is something I was really looking forward to and it was an absolute letdown.

I am so sorry to hear that memphis. But does he at least look cool combined ?

[MemphisR56]

All in all a lot to be sad about here. Having this is something I was really looking forward to and it was an absolute letdown.

I am so sorry to hear that memphis. But does he at least look cool combined ?

Yeah, dude, He looks super awesome.
Nice tight joints, paintwork is all crisp and flawless. He's pretty beautiful.

[william-james88]

All in all a lot to be sad about here. Having this is something I was really looking forward to and it was an absolute letdown.

I am so sorry to hear that memphis. But does he at least look cool combined ?

Yeah, dude, He looks super awesome.
Nice tight joints, paintwork is all crisp and flawless. He's pretty beautiful.

SO I guess its not all bad afterall! I got the hasbro one and for some reason I didnt really see much problems with it because as soon as I combined the beast he just radiated awesome. So I assumed it would be the same with takara but even better (because those colours kick ass!)

[MemphisR56]

All in all a lot to be sad about here. Having this is something I was really looking forward to and it was an absolute letdown.

I am so sorry to hear that memphis. But does he at least look cool combined ?

Yeah, dude, He looks super awesome.
Nice tight joints, paintwork is all crisp and flawless. He's pretty beautiful.

SO I guess its not all bad afterall! I got the hasbro one and for some reason I didnt really see much problems with it because as soon as I combined the beast he just radiated awesome. So I assumed it would be the same with takara but even better (because those colours kick ass!)

The colours are just plain great, but I'm a little worried about Blast-off's paint. The nosecone assembly does not have enough clearance in transformation joints, and the metallic purple around the windows rubs pretty badly. there are a pair of little flank panels that fold outwards to form the side of the chest which are brown with black paint and suffer a similar problem.

Aside from that, the only display problem I have is that I have the perfect effect feet on Menasor, who just towers over him by a good inch, inch and a half. So I'm gonna have to hunt down one of those sets now.

[Evil Eye]

I'm glad you like him! I must admit I think he LOOKS awesome. I'm not going to buy him for reasons I shan't bother repeating over and over, but I do think he's a neat looking set. Onslaught's colours are just superb.

I just really hope this doesn't put 3P companies off releasing a CHUG scaled Bruticus. He's one of my favourites and I'd hate to not be able to get him in the scale I like because HasTak have already done one. But then I hear MakeToys is doing a Superion so hopefully that's nothing to worry about.

[Kurona]

Haven't third parties been doing Bruticus over and over since, like, before the dawn of time?