The Energon Pub

[ZeroWolf]

The king!

That's for Studio Series, not Earthrise.

It's Earthrise Starscream.

It's Studio Series 86 Coronation Starscream.

It's Earthrise Starscream that I dressed up. I thought he looked cool, so I wanted to share.
How are you going to insist its one figure when I'm the one posting a picture that I myself took of my Earthrise figure?

Because there's a Studio Series 86 Screamer on the way to recreate the coronation scene and its just Earthrise Starscream (with some new retooling.

Nemesis Primal untangled it all above quite nicely. Good job on the parts by the way.

[o.supreme]

Just received a notice from Amazon that the GO Botropolis set has been pushed back to March 7....

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Thanks to accumulated giftcards between Christmas and birthday I was able to purchase an Earthrise Scorponok for myself off eBay.

[TF-fan kev777]

Nice! and Happy B-Day!

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Nice! and Happy B-Day!

Thanks! It was actually five days ago, altho only yesterday that I finally got the Scorponok purchase locked in.

Getting ER Scorponok is at least some consolation for the fact that the Cybertron Galvatron I bought (for $29.99 plus shipping) just shy of a month ago probably isn't coming (based on the empty eBay shop and the 5 latest feedbacks for the seller being "No messages, never shipped" vs. the feedbacks before that being full of praise for fast shipping, I'm worried the seller may be indisposed or worse).

[Sir_kzhe]

Remember when this was new... CYCLONUS'll be great

[o.supreme]

So I guess other than the 3 remaining GO sets from Amazon, we can call Earthrise "Done" at this point, seeing as how new stock seems to be all Kingdom. I'll just say at the outset, I did get all my wants from the line, but I did not see them all physically in stores. It's still a litmus test I like to do. I know online shopping is becoming more prominent (in fact it was the only way I was able to get any wave 3 ER), but that is the problem, To me, if the only way to get something that is a non-exclusive, is online, then that is a sign to me that something is definitely wrong. Now of course, I'm taking the Pandemic into account for sure, but as we know in previous years there have still been issues with Distribution, with that said, here is my final tally:

ER Sightings -
All Battlemasters Sighted
All Micromasters sighted
Deluxes (Only wave 1 and 2), -Wave 3- Never sighted at retail
Voyagers Only wave 1 and 2 (Quintesson Judge and Megatron never sighted at retail)
Leaders- All Sighted
CC Skylynx- sighted multiple times
Titan Scorponok sighted one time, only 1 in stock

Target Exclusives
Decepticon Clones Sighted 3 times, multiple stock of each
Villains 2 pack (Seen once, only 1 in stock)
Runabout (Seen once, only 1 in stock)
Thrust (Seen once, only 1 in stock)

Kingdom "so far" seems to be doing better, as just today I sighted deluxe wave 1 at a local walmart, making my sightings in-store of Wave 1 now complete, and this is just the end of January.

[aronjlove]

So I guess other than the 3 remaining GO sets from Amazon, we can call Earthrise "Done" at this point, seeing as how new stock seems to be all Kingdom. I'll just say at the outset, I did get all my wants from the line, but I did not see them all physically in stores. It's still a litmus test I like to do. I know online shopping is becoming more prominent (in fact it was the only way I was able to get any wave 3 ER), but that is the problem, To me, if the only way to get something that is a non-exclusive, is online, then that is a sign to me that something is definitely wrong. Now of course, I'm taking the Pandemic into account for sure, but as we know in previous years there have still been issues with Distribution, with that said, here is my final tally:

ER Sightings -
All Battlemasters Sighted
All Micromasters sighted
Deluxes (Only wave 1 and 2), -Wave 3- Never sighted at retail
Voyagers Only wave 1 and 2 (Quintesson Judge and Megatron never sighted at retail)
Leaders- All Sighted
CC Skylynx- sighted multiple times
Titan Scorponok sighted one time, only 1 in stock

Target Exclusives
Decepticon Clones Sighted 3 times, multiple stock of each
Villains 2 pack (Seen once, only 1 in stock)
Runabout (Seen once, only 1 in stock)
Thrust (Seen once, only 1 in stock)

Kingdom "so far" seems to be doing better, as just today I sighted deluxe wave 1 at a local walmart, making my sightings in-store of Wave 1 now complete, and this is just the end of January.

My 'feeling' is that something funky happened around Xmas time though as I swear during the lead-up and all the way until Xmas Eve when I was last out, there wasn't crap on shelves and then two days later the good stuff started popping. This is in-store, all my goodies that arrived for the holiday were online purchases. But for Target exclusives Runabout, Thrust, and I'm throwing in Leadfoot here, only Thrust ever appeared on shelves for me even though all three had spaces labeled for them, pegs for Runabout and Thrust with shelf space for Thrust. Then there was that pic I posted way back with about 24 or 30 sets of Clones discounted half off, what was up with that.

[Sowndwave76]

Either way, it was surprising and disappointing that here in the midwest (KCMO) I never saw any wave 2 or 3 in stores... Except for the random handful of 2 different deluxe figures I saw at Aldi.
The Decepticon Clone 2 pack was plentiful for a while, but never went on any sort of sale.

Yeah, I am more on board now with the idea that the pandemic had something to do with this.
It's still just weird... KC isn't the biggest city, but I'm not exactly in some small rural town that only has 1 Walmart and a Pizza Hut. I'm roughly 20 minutes north of downtown, 20 minutes northeast of the Chiefs and Royals stadiums...
And I checked multiple Targets and Walmarts since back in early November.

Kingdom and Studio Series has made it here. Although since the first couple rounds of shipments (I'm guessing there... It may have been 3, but I doubt any more than that), it's back to close to nothing.

I won't be shocked if somehow ER wave 2 or 3 trickle in... But seems very unlikely at this point.

Oh, on a similar note, Walmarts around here have had almost no new Netflix figures. The closest one to me literally only has Cyberverse stuff.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Yeah, I am more on board now with the idea that the pandemic had something to do with this.

Not just with production, but also the need to supply aka how many people can go out and buy stuff, and what stuff is bought. The focus shifted from buying luxury items to hoarding toilet paper and disinfectants before local lockdowns.

[TF-fan kev777]

Yeah, I am more on board now with the idea that the pandemic had something to do with this.

Not just with production, but also the need to supply aka how many people can go out and buy stuff, and what stuff is bought. The focus shifted from buying luxury items to hoarding toilet paper and disinfectants before local lockdowns.

On top of this, general consumer habits for non-perishables like toys shifted pretty greatly from in store to online during the pandemic, especially if free shipping is available. It seems like all the online retailers have sold through their pre-order limits much quicker this year. Target likely got hit especially hard for waves 2 and 3 with them going up for pre-order during the BOGO sale. I would assume that Target and Walmart as companies planned to buy a certain number of each wave total for online and in store orders combined. If they exceed their pre-order expectations, and only order the same amount as originally planned, then there is less to go into the actual stores. That could explain especially in Targets case some of the cancellations and lack of appearance in stores.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

And of course the slimeball scalpers were taking a fair bit of advantage of people being cooped up.

[Rodimus Prime]

Just received a notice from Amazon that the GO Botropolis set has been pushed back to March 7....

And Amazon just charged me for the Dominus Criminal Pursuit pack, and I should have it by Monday. Can't wait to get my hands on that Punch/Counterpunch.

[TF-fan kev777]

Just received a notice from Amazon that the GO Botropolis set has been pushed back to March 7....

And Amazon just charged me for the Dominus Criminal Pursuit pack, and I should have it by Monday. Can't wait to get my hands on that Punch/Counterpunch.

Yep, more musical chairs with the GO sets.

Set 3 with the micromaters was pushed back to March 3rd at the same time Barricade and Punch got moved forward.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Just received a notice from Amazon that the GO Botropolis set has been pushed back to March 7....

And Amazon just charged me for the Dominus Criminal Pursuit pack, and I should have it by Monday. Can't wait to get my hands on that Punch/Counterpunch.

Yep, more musical chairs with the GO sets.

Set 3 with the micromaters was pushed back to March 3rd at the same time Barricade and Punch got moved forward.

Wasn't the Barricade set moved back to March and then suddenly forward over the course of this week too?

[TF-fan kev777]

Just received a notice from Amazon that the GO Botropolis set has been pushed back to March 7....

And Amazon just charged me for the Dominus Criminal Pursuit pack, and I should have it by Monday. Can't wait to get my hands on that Punch/Counterpunch.

Yep, more musical chairs with the GO sets.

Set 3 with the micromaters was pushed back to March 3rd at the same time Barricade and Punch got moved forward.

Wasn't the Barricade set moved back to March and then suddenly forward over the course of this week too?

No, I think it was the Ironworks/Overair set that was pushed back earlier this week. But that does mean all 3 remaining sets got to play musical shipping dates, so yay?

[sol magnus]

Just received a notice from Amazon that the GO Botropolis set has been pushed back to March 7....

And Amazon just charged me for the Dominus Criminal Pursuit pack, and I should have it by Monday. Can't wait to get my hands on that Punch/Counterpunch.

Yep, more musical chairs with the GO sets.

Set 3 with the micromaters was pushed back to March 3rd at the same time Barricade and Punch got moved forward.

Wasn't the Barricade set moved back to March and then suddenly forward over the course of this week too?

Yes. Mine says it'll be here 2/1/21. And they took the money.

[TF-fan kev777]

Just received a notice from Amazon that the GO Botropolis set has been pushed back to March 7....

And Amazon just charged me for the Dominus Criminal Pursuit pack, and I should have it by Monday. Can't wait to get my hands on that Punch/Counterpunch.

Yep, more musical chairs with the GO sets.

Set 3 with the micromaters was pushed back to March 3rd at the same time Barricade and Punch got moved forward.

Wasn't the Barricade set moved back to March and then suddenly forward over the course of this week too?

Yes. Mine says it'll be here 2/1/21. And they took the money.

I think you might have misread his question (or I did). The Barricade set wasn't pushed back and then forward, just forward, its original date was always March 3rd. It was the Botropolis set that was pushed back earlier this week from mid Feb to March 3rd.

Edit: I can't wait for all the GO sets to finally ship, so I don't have to keep going so far back in my order history to find them (the wife Amazon Primes a lot).

[Wolfman Jake]

So I guess other than the 3 remaining GO sets from Amazon, we can call Earthrise "Done" at this point, seeing as how new stock seems to be all Kingdom. I'll just say at the outset, I did get all my wants from the line, but I did not see them all physically in stores. It's still a litmus test I like to do. I know online shopping is becoming more prominent (in fact it was the only way I was able to get any wave 3 ER), but that is the problem, To me, if the only way to get something that is a non-exclusive, is online, then that is a sign to me that something is definitely wrong. Now of course, I'm taking the Pandemic into account for sure, but as we know in previous years there have still been issues with Distribution, with that said, here is my final tally:

ER Sightings -
All Battlemasters Sighted
All Micromasters sighted
Deluxes (Only wave 1 and 2), -Wave 3- Never sighted at retail
Voyagers Only wave 1 and 2 (Quintesson Judge and Megatron never sighted at retail)
Leaders- All Sighted
CC Skylynx- sighted multiple times
Titan Scorponok sighted one time, only 1 in stock

Target Exclusives
Decepticon Clones Sighted 3 times, multiple stock of each
Villains 2 pack (Seen once, only 1 in stock)
Runabout (Seen once, only 1 in stock)
Thrust (Seen once, only 1 in stock)

Kingdom "so far" seems to be doing better, as just today I sighted deluxe wave 1 at a local walmart, making my sightings in-store of Wave 1 now complete, and this is just the end of January.

I'll add to this with my own anecdotal evidence. The distribution woes of last year were more annoying than usual. I know things were out of whack because of COVID-19, but things opened up a lot over the summer months, and it seems like nothing came of it. Stores should have been STOCKED for Xmas, but there was almost nothing the whole season. Anyway, here's what I observed in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area for Earthrise availability.

Battle Masters:
Wave 1 - saturated
Wave 2 - scarce
Wave 3 - scarce

Micromasters:
Wave 1 - saturated
Wave 2 - semi-saturated
Wave 3 - semi-scarce

Deluxe:
Wave 1 - super saturated
Wave 2 - spotted twice
Wave 3 - spotted ONCE

Voyager:
Wave 1 - saturated
Wave 2 - semi-scarce
Wave 3 - semi-scarce

Leader:
Wave 1 - semi-saturated
Wave 2 - semi-scarce

Commander:
Sky Lynx - semi-saturated

Titan:
Scorponok - scarce

Target Exlcusives:
Decepticon Clones - saturated
Thundercracker and Skywarp - scarce
Runabout - never spotted
Thrust - spotted ONCE

[Munkky]

While I haven't been charged for my Dominus Pursuit set yet, I did get an e-mail through today saying the estimated delivery has been moved forward to the second week in February. I'm not getting my hopes up, because my Paradron Medics set was moved up from December to October for a bit, but still ended up coming in December.

[aronjlove]

While I haven't been charged for my Dominus Pursuit set yet, I did get an e-mail through today saying the estimated delivery has been moved forward to the second week in February. I'm not getting my hopes up, because my Paradron Medics set was moved up from December to October for a bit, but still ended up coming in December.

Mine has shipped with an expected delivery date of tomorrow and I've been charged. Looking forward to this one.

[Emerje]

My Pursuit sets say Monday.

Since others are doing it I may as well list my Earthrise B&M finds this year.

Battlemasters: Wave 1 only (Target)
Micromasters: Wave 1 only (Target)
Deluxe: Wave 1 only (Target and Walmart)
Voyagers Wave 1 (Target and Walmart) and wave 2 (Walmart) no Wave 3
Leader: Wave 1 and 2 (Target and Walmart)
Commander: Sky Lynx (Target)
Titan: Not sold in my local Target

Target Exclusives: None, the clones didn't even get a shelf tag.

Glad I pre-ordered most of Earthrise and bought nearly everything online, it would have been Titans Return all over again if I hadn't. My ER collection is 100% complete.

Emerje

[Sowndwave76]

As I've started opening the figures I've bought since this past summer/fall,
it really hit me how crazy the lack of distribution in my area has been.

The only Autobot figures I found in-store in that photo are Cliffjumper, Hoist, and Wheeljack (who my son bought me for my birthday, and I know it came from Target when my parents took him there).
I found that 35th Anniversary Prime at Walmart, then Smokescreen and Grapple (obvsly the Prowl/Ironhide 2 pack as well) were ordered from Amazon.
Now, I did see multiple modulator figures, but I never wanted any of them.

In the grand scheme, I know this isn't the end of the world. In fact, I've been able to get some figures I really want; I have the 3 Target exclusive seekers... I got the Amazon conehead 2 pack.
I found ER Starscream at Walmart, as well as Netflix Soundwave and Prime.
Cyclonus, Scourge and Hot Rod are on a shelf... I have Jazz and Grimlock on preorder if I don't find them in-store first...

So I'm actually very happy with my purchases and the good far outweighs the bad considering what I've added to my collection in the last 7-8 months.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

If we're talking in store finds:

Battlemasters: only ever found Smashdown in stores
Micromasters: saw them all at least once in stores
Deluxe: only ever saw wave 1
voyager: I only ever wave 1 and 2, and I only saw Snapdragon once
Leader: I saw all 3 once each
Commander: found him once
Titan: never saw

[TF-fan kev777]

I'll play along too.

Micros and Battlemasters - all 3 waves
Deluxes - all 3 waves, but wave 3 only once
Voyagers - wave 1 and 2 only
Leaders - both waves
Commander - a few times
Titan - did not see, but also wasn't looking. My local store didn't carry him but the next closest one did. I had mine from Amazon by that time.