The Energon Pub

News Credits: 226 · by **Burn** » Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:49 pm

They're no different to any of the other Pretenders really.

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:53 pm

Acesmcgee wrote:Been goofing around with the prime masters, and yeah, they are a little bit for the legends guys I use them with when in weapon mode...but...all I can picture is Cliffjumper holding one and it is ok. With some of wave 2 of PotP out, went searching for some more, new Prime masters, but no luck. Question, does anyone in this thread own one of animal pretenders, and if so, how good are they? Also, went through old family photos and found one of me playing with one of the constructor pretender monster, blue rocky looking one. Explains my love of this silly gimmick.

I own Carnivac. The shell is awesome and the inner beast mode is solid. However, the bot is completely derp. Still, very worth owning. The challenge is to find one complete for reasonably priced of course.

News Credits: 226 · by **Burn** » Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:58 pm

-Kanrabat- wrote:

I swear this looks like a dissection :lol:

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:19 pm

Burn wrote:I swear this looks like a dissection

True dat. It even have the right colors. :SICK:

News Credits: 3 · by **bodrock** » Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:01 pm

Oh the Pretender Beasts, Aces?! YES

Absolutely love Carnivac & that Cybertronian boar. It's hard to find 'em loose/complete for cheap, but still -- they kick ass.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 12:32 am

-Kanrabat- wrote:I own Carnivac. The shell is awesome and the inner beast mode is solid. However, the bot is completely derp.

I think the Autobots came out on top this round. I have Chainclaw and find all of his modes to be pretty fantastic, more in line with the regular Pretenders. The proportions are better and his shoulders actually joint at the top of his arm rather than the middle. Catilla is basically the same, but Chainclaw has that sweet gun.

Emerje

by **Acesmcgee** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 4:47 pm

Funny, Chainclaw was the one I found most interesting so I wiki-ed him to learn more. It would of been awesome to get some of these pretender beasts as titan or prime master homages.

News Credits: 1642 · by **D-Maximal_Primal** » Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:53 am

I want to get a full pretender beast eventually. Chainclaw is probably my favorite of the group too, though Carnivac is a personal favorite

by **Acesmcgee** » Thu Feb 15, 2018 8:32 pm

Decoy armor/pretender, or sad 'con plush?

News Credits: 3 · by **bodrock** » Thu Feb 15, 2018 10:36 pm

D'awwww, Baby Submarauder! I'm going with Sad 'Con plushie. ;)^

Thunderwing keeps getting the Pretender spotlight in my house -- I can only imagine how much cooler he could be with more articulation.....

: Thunderwing Attacks From Behind!

News Credits: 3 · by **bodrock** » Wed Feb 21, 2018 12:11 am

Roadblock is still one of my faves; I'm also digging Roadgrabber.

I also can't wait to get the Prime Master versions of Octopunch & Bludgeon. They look like great weapons for the G1 Pretenders.

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:28 am

Looking forward completing the trio of Prime Masters so that everyone have their "mini-me".

News Credits: 3 · by **bodrock** » Fri Feb 23, 2018 11:36 pm

Carnivac has the worst robot mode next to Snarler, but their alt modes and shells more than make up for it.

: Ayooooah! H0ld 0n 2 ur b0ts

And wolfriders are bad @$$.

: Being short sucks. Unless she's cool with it.

by **Acesmcgee** » Tue Feb 27, 2018 8:42 pm

So, I was perusing Japanese toys, because well, why not. Anyway, while doing my looking over of said toys I hopped over to BBTS to start looking into upgrading my daughter's RID collection from the legions to warriors, so she can have transformers like mine, without borrowing mine. (her reasoning, not mine) I found a micron version of Carnivac. He's a slightly off black Wolf Transformer: The Lost age toy. The only real similarity is that he becomes a wolf, but I just thought it was interesting to see that he was looked at there for some kind of release since his pretender days.

News Credits: 3 · by **bodrock** » Wed Feb 28, 2018 11:08 pm

That Micron version looks pretty cool, Aces. And that's cool your daughter wants to separate her collection from yours -- me any my brother did the same thing, and merged 'em later -- mine was G1 and his was Beast Wars.

It's only recently I went retro and hunted down the Pretenders and others bots of the Beast era.

Now I love mixing those two flavors up!

News Credits: 3 · by **bodrock** » Fri Mar 02, 2018 1:00 pm

Pretenders Gonna Pretend

: YMMV

News Credits: 226 · by **Burn** » Sat Mar 03, 2018 6:42 am

So it's no secret (much to the annoyance of those with delicate sensitivities) that Power of the Primes are rare in my area.

For the most part, they've been seen in two major retailers in Australia, Target and Myer. I have a Target in town but it's a scaled down version that offers mostly clothing. The nearest big ones are 100km's (60mi) away by car (around an hour drive). Same as the movie cinemas.

Intended to go up last week to catch Black Panther and have a look around, but personal issues put a damper on that, so I did it today!

And the best part, Power of the Primes were going to be on special at Target!

So off I went with my partner. After a brief stop over at one store, we made it to the shopping centre that had a Target. I made a beeline there.

Imagine my excitement when I found ... Windcharger and Skrapnel. That was it. Nothing more.

Dejected, I slumped over to the food court to have some lunch before we took in Black Panther. Afterwards I headed to Myer, knowing that any POTP there would be full price.

And lo I did find Power of the Primes. First wave except for leaders.

Now ... I've seen plenty of pictures, even ones where the POTP Pretenders were standing beside their G1 counterparts. I knew they were small. And I've made my disappointment known about them.

But seeing them for real, in my hand ... I honestly didn't think my disappointment could sink any further but they did. Maybe my like of Pretenders blinded me to this, and seeing them for real became a stark realisation, but I was left disappointed, heck, even slightly angry that this is what we're going to get in modern Pretenders. In the end I got Micronus and Vector Prime (the only ones they had) but for a moment I considered not bothering with them.

by **Acesmcgee** » Sat Mar 03, 2018 7:34 am

I am honestly curious Burn, is it just the size issue, or are there multiple reasons for your dislike? I know why I enjoy them, but I'm not blind enough to see that some may not like them so much. I mean, neck I generally use my own as something of a joke, using them as a stuffed animal prop for CW Onslaught and CW Bruticus, who due to their faults (still love to play with them though) always look slightly sad to me. So I guess this is the long way of me asking what about them you don't enjoy, and as I hope you know, I may state why I disagree with that thought, but I don't do it to say you're wrong, but rather as a conversation. So yes, I really am curious what you think about the PotP little guys.

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Sat Mar 03, 2018 8:36 am

Sure, those "mini-me" are nothing compared to the original pretenders. And they are quite expensive for what they are. However, I ADORE them. The inner bot turning into an engine is a nice compromise for the size. Not only the outer shell is a direct callback to the originals, but they are also targetmasters that are compatible with the G1 pretenders. And as you can see in my picture a few posts above, they display very well with the originals.

Sure, I would like a true modern update that are fully articulated, very well painted, and fully detailed action figures. The chest area would be big enough to fit a Legend (scout sized) transforming figure. This could very well be for the MP line.

Anyway, I'm looking forward the rest of the Prime Masters to complete the Evil Trio. Also, Octopunch, Bludgeon, and maybe some more!

News Credits: 3 · by **bodrock** » Sat Mar 03, 2018 11:04 am

The Prime Masters don't measure up to the original Pretenders, Burn. But I do find the novelty of them amusing. I don't see them as the "real" Pretenders, but simply the Primes pretending to be Pretenders who lile to play pretend. Or as accessories for other bots.

I've had a lot of fun with Vector Prime & Liege Maximo, though, based on their Powers. But again, they're more prop than PRETENDER.

: Pretender Beasts - accept no substitutes

I like that Prime Master Bludgeon....but I'd still rather have the original. Too bad deals for G1 Bludgeon are nearly impossible to find.

I'm glad PotP made it to Straya! And you at least got the first wave -- I do feel Liege Maximo is better than Micronus and Vector Prime, however, thanks to the shell -- the Bots don't have as much character as Skullgrin.

News Credits: 226 · by **Burn** » Sun Mar 04, 2018 12:42 am

Acesmcgee wrote:I am honestly curious Burn, is it just the size issue, or are there multiple reasons for your dislike?

So much potential lost. They could have been bigger, with better articulation. The inner bots could have been more than just blocks.

News Credits: 12 · by **Evil Eye** » Mon Mar 05, 2018 10:39 am

Burn wrote:
Acesmcgee wrote:I am honestly curious Burn, is it just the size issue, or are there multiple reasons for your dislike?

So much potential lost. They could have been bigger, with better articulation. The inner bots could have been more than just blocks.

I too feel this. Personally I'd have been happy if they just made them in TR as Headmasters, or perhaps made them as "regular" TFs that came with the little Prime Master figures that could fit inside cockpits in the main figure's bodies (and wouldn't have to be removed for transformation unlike the Headmasters). As it stands I'll probably grab a few of the Prime Masters, but I do wish they were a bit better. Still, I do kinda like the idea of the shells being sarcophagi rather than actual armour.

As for how I'd do the Pretenders if Hasbro approached me, I have two ideas.

1: Make them "regular" Transformers (perhaps Headmasters for a little homage to the old gimmick) but have their robot modes resemble the original shells with the vehicle modes updated to look less like absolutely nothing. So Skullgrin would turn from a cow skull headed demon into a biomechanical tank seemingly made of flesh, bone and weapons, Submarauder would turn from a crustacean sea monster man into a horseshoe crab (his old toy's vehicle mode kinda looked like one), etc.

2: Release them as decently poseably action figures with a very simple Transformer that could fit in the body- about Legion sized, or maybe even a little Prime Master styled thing ala the current incarnations. So basically the original gimmick but "done right" (slightly at the expense of the inner robot admittedly).

News Credits: 1642 · by **D-Maximal_Primal** » Tue Mar 06, 2018 3:44 pm

Burn wrote:
Acesmcgee wrote:I am honestly curious Burn, is it just the size issue, or are there multiple reasons for your dislike?

So much potential lost. They could have been bigger, with better articulation. The inner bots could have been more than just blocks.

I do agree with this, we still need proper pretender updates. But for what they are, prime masters are cool too. Just not the perfect back scratcher

by **Acesmcgee** » Tue Mar 06, 2018 11:05 pm

I get it, I guess that, for me, I don't have such a connection to the original source material. Never really played with pretenders(yet), so this is just a fun kin d of like what I imagine they were deal for me.
Thanks for the elaboration Burn, appreciate your thought on the matter.

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Wed Mar 07, 2018 5:37 am

Acesmcgee wrote:I get it, I guess that, for me, I don't have such a connection to the original source material. Never really played with pretenders(yet), so this is just a fun kin d of like what I imagine they were deal for me.
Thanks for the elaboration Burn, appreciate your thought on the matter.

Try to get some original G1 pretenders. Finding them 100% complete can be expensive as balls, but if you can tolerate the missing gun or armor part, you can get some for relatively cheap. The G1 originals are a load of fun!