The Energon Pub

Wolfman Jake wrote:

sol magnus wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:There are some nice side-by-side comparison shots of Cliffjumper circulating now too. The plastic for the windows is indeed now opaque, solid plastic, not “brittle” transparent plastic. The same goes for Kup and his energon goodies, it’s all opaque now. I hope we see SS86 Jazz get the same treatment in the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line. Maybe they could throw in his correct number too?

Any link to that?

Just check the recent news posts on TFW2005.

I'd rather eat my own young than give that place any more of my time. Isn't that one of the reasons many of us come here instead?

primalxconvoy wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:

sol magnus wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:There are some nice side-by-side comparison shots of Cliffjumper circulating now too. The plastic for the windows is indeed now opaque, solid plastic, not “brittle” transparent plastic. The same goes for Kup and his energon goodies, it’s all opaque now. I hope we see SS86 Jazz get the same treatment in the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line. Maybe they could throw in his correct number too?

Any link to that?

Just check the recent news posts on TFW2005.

I'd rather eat my own young than give that place any more of my time. Isn't that one of the reasons many of us come here instead?

I just looked at the pictures. I avoid the forums and comment sections. I don’t even have a user account there. But, they are quicker on breaking news from time to time. I much prefer the company and conversation here, despite the occasional bad apple or two.

If you thought there were reasons to double dip on Kup, well wait till you get a load of Cliffumper. While the blue chest (which seems to be a solid plastic piece rather than painted clear plastic) is the most obvious part, the grey arms and legs are also different from the original. it has the autobot insignia on the chest too. And the change in deco is not just with the figure, but with the gun too. It is painted blue now, to look more like it did in the G1 episode (photo below). These images came to us from Instagram user tonezone.mp4.

We also have new images of Kup comparing him to the original release.

Oh man, these new Kup and Cliffjumper decos just beat the tar out of the old ones.

Kup's altmode is colored correctly, his eyes are more lively blue, the opaque window matches his overall deco so much better, he's got a proper G1 Autobrand instead of a Movieverse one, his leg wheels are gray instead of black...

Cliffjumper's windows are solid opaque plastic instead of painted translucent plastic, his red is brighter and so much more vibrant, his arms and legs are the correct gray and black instead of red and black, his bazooka is metallic blue, he's got an Autobrand on his chest and on the front end of his car hood...

They both look so GOOD.

Thanks for posting those comparison shots...

I also like that Kup's limb parts are toned-down instead of a minty blue-green.
The backpack part being darker looks better as well.
It almost looks like his eyes are painted and outlined... The brighter blue looks good.

While I don't like the painted windows for Cliffjumper's alt mode, that won't matter because he'll always be in bot mode in my display.
The red-orange color looks fantastic.
And I do appreciate the gray portions of the limbs. It just looks better.
I don't care that much, but the metallic blue of the weapons is also an improvement imo.

So these guys are supposed to be released on the 30th?
This is a hunt I'm looking forward to!

I'm torn between the 2 versions now. I like cartoon accurate but I also like seeing the machine parts in the windshield -- it gives some additional "depth" to the toy.

How do you feel about the painted fists of the BWB version?

I think might be just the push needed to get me to go in on Kup. While the transparent windscreen with the exposed parts is a good aesthetic choice, I like how the extra paint on this new one detracts from the "toy ness" of the bare plastic on the old ones limbs. Plus those eyes!
These are redecos done right

Kup looks better enough that I might be tempted to get him. Cliffjumper I'm not so sure is worth replacing.

Well Kup was already a buy for me, these just reinforce it. And I was already passing on Cliffy, and these reinforce that as well. He just gives me total RtS Rodimus vibes in car mode.

King Kuuga wrote:Kup looks better enough that I might be tempted to get him. Cliffjumper I'm not so sure is worth replacing.

Same, I get that cliffjumper is mote accurate but I don't think that makes him look better.

And sold! The lighter eyes on Kup make him look much less zombie-like.

I missed Cliff the first time (deluxe price for a legends fig really bugged me) and have regretted it.

Yeah, the colors just look better on BB Kup. I’m going to have to double dip. As I said a few times before already, I’m already sold on BB Cliffjumper.

It really is surprising that we're getting these figures now...
And is just so odd that this new Kup isn't what we initially got in SS86.
Is this Hastak's move to sell more of this mold because they weren't able to figure out a better way with something like a SG version?

After looking at that group shot, I'm even more convinced that Wreck-gar should have been a deluxe. His giant bike mode just looks off next to the other vehicles. His bot mode is more passable, but still too big.

Anyway, back to Kup and Cliffy...

Rodimus Prime wrote:After looking at that group shot, I'm even more convinced that Wreck-gar should have been a deluxe. His giant bike mode just looks off next to the other vehicles. His bot mode is more passable, but still too big.

Anyway, back to Kup and Cliffy...

I tend to agree about Wreck-gar...
A height in-between Springer and Hot Rod would've been ideal imo, but even slightly closer to HR.
And the alt mode situation is just what it is... Even with a smaller figure overall, the bike was always going to be too big.

Even though I'm alrady certain I'll get this new CJ, earlier this evening I was looking at my ER version.
These new photos are just a little misleading in terms of the size of that window on the chest...
It's actually not that large, which considering that really bright blue paint, is a really good thing imo.

I don't mind Wreck-Gar, the only thing that bothers me in that group shot is Rodimus's spoiler in alt-mode. Even if they were going to have him as a standalone car, I wish they'd made a way that it could slide closer to the windscreen and have the car slot deeper into the trailer. Even with that criticism, it's still a great set and a fantastic companion to the SS86 lineup.

MeGrimlock78 wrote:And sold! The lighter eyes on Kup make him look much less zombie-like.

I missed Cliff the first time (deluxe price for a legends fig really bugged me) and have regretted it.

When you'll pick it up you'll see that it's nothing like a legends fig.

Definitely like this deco better. More tune accurate for sure. Just wish they would've taken the opportunity to improve the head sculp. It's not a bad head sculp per say but looks a little off to me

I think Kup looks slightly better, but they really needed to give him a new head, that one is not good.

As for Cliff.... Wow. I really love my ER Cliffjumper, it's a fun mold that looks great. But this repaint makes him look dreadful. This is the repaint that shows to me attempts at cartoon paintwork don't work. The windows look terrible in both mode, and the car mode color and the weird paint layout make this toy legit look like a dollar store toy. That was not good. So glad it's exclusive and hopefully it stays that way.

Sowndwave76 wrote:It really is surprising that we're getting these figures now...
And is just so odd that this new Kup isn't what we initially got in SS86.
Is this Hastak's move to sell more of this mold because they weren't able to figure out a better way with something like a SG version?

Nah, they just repainted all the ones my local walmarts got and shipped them elsewhere [/joke (seriously, the 4 walmarts I check in on have had at least 4 Kups each since I moved in June).

Sowndwave76 wrote:It really is surprising that we're getting these figures now...
And is just so odd that this new Kup isn't what we initially got in SS86.
Is this Hastak's move to sell more of this mold because they weren't able to figure out a better way with something like a SG version?

Kup has the Orion Pax retool/redeco option, which looks like they will be doing anyways.
But I don't think it's about selling more of this mold per se but rather ensure that retailers have constant stock on their shelves for anyone who wants to buy Transformers. And thus is what they settled on as the low effort product.

Sabrblade wrote:Oh man, these new Kup and Cliffjumper decos just beat the tar out of the old ones.

Debatable Some of the "improvements" you note are big downgrades in my book.

Sabrblade wrote:Kup's altmode is colored correctly,

Nice enough on its own, but for me it gets dragged down by other things.

Sabrblade wrote:his eyes are more lively blue,

Although at the cost of being painted.

Sabrblade wrote:the opaque window matches his overall deco so much better,

Meh. For me that's always been one thing that's made most of the movie onward G1 molds look kinda cheap. I think the look would be better done via a colorless clear window and off-white paint behind it. But even if the blue isn't exactly on, I'll take it over the opaque one any day.

Sabrblade wrote:he's got a proper G1 Autobrand instead of a Movieverse one

Something you have to squint to really take notice of lol

Sabrblade wrote:Cliffjumper's windows are solid opaque plastic instead of painted translucent plastic,

Which is a massive downgrade because it makes him look like a candy toy or Happy Meal toy. Seriously, where the actual smeg did people get this unholy fetish for downgrading to cheap opaque windows?

Sabrblade wrote:his red is brighter and so much more vibrant, his arms and legs are the correct gray and black instead of red and black, his bazooka is metallic blue, he's got an Autobrand on his chest and on the front end of his car hood...

All of which is undercut by the poopy Happy Meal toy windows.

I wonder how many people will buy the new Kup and switch it with the older Kup before returning it.

primalxconvoy wrote:I'd rather eat my own young than give that place any more of my time. Isn't that one of the reasons many of us come here instead?

I only go to TFW for news sourcing. I started coming here when I was being harassed by a news writer at a certain other Transformers site for correcting their constant major news errors in the comments.

Anyone else getting pre-WFC Takara Tomy vibes from these? Feels like the old days when TT would take Hasbro molds based on G1 toys and do their own versions with decos based on G1 cartoon models.

Definitely getting both. Kup's head sculpt still isn't great, but the brighter colors and painted eyes are such welcome improvements. CJ's new colors make for a much more visually interesting figure than just being another black and red bot.

Emerje

Perhaps some clear blue paint, over the solid light blue paint, would give a "best of both worlds" look?