The Energon Pub

I really hope Cliffjumper isnt the last of the WFC guys. I don't see why they can't remold WFC Soundwave into Blaster. Give him a new head and a new chest plate, mabye some different wheels and take the claw off the waist.....I think that would make for a good classics Blaster.

Seibertron wrote:Hmm ... I can't imagine this has anything to do with giving Mattel some good old fashioned competition at long last? Kind of makes you wonder, if RPMs / Speed Stars is successful, how long it will take for Mattel to come up with a line of transforming robot toys to compete against Hasbro's Transformers to return the favor.

Well, considering the vast array of awesome liscences and custom car designs thay have in their catalogues, we might be able to get some cool stuff out of it... though whether they would transform well or not would be entirely up in the air.

Wow, that was an awesome Q&A session. A lot of great questions with great answers. A big thanks to all those out there listening to the us fans and Seibertron.com for making our voice known.


One thing that kind of boggles my mind is what seems to be Hasbro's take on doing the the Super_Ultra class figures such as Scorpinok or Omega Supreme. People are spending $134 to $200 for MP figures (I'm one of them), not to mention money for third-party toy makes. Even though one by itself is not retailed at $100, companies such as CD, when buying the accessories for one figure could add up to over $100. I feel firm in saying that if Hasbro did a WFC Omega or a Classics-style Metroplex, fans would eat it up.

From what I've been told, playsets like the Star Wars At At are doing good. This comes from the Star Wars fans I talk to who are in the 501st with me. They especially like the vintage packaging they are doing right now, which also makes me wonder if Hasbro would consider doing some sort of vintage packaging for Transformers in the future. Could this be possible?

Plus, as far as my concern goes for combiners, I would prefer Hasbro to use the Deluxe or Voyager class figures, as opposed to the Power Core combiners. I purchased Double Clutch and was disappointed with how it wouldn't stay together. I may be wrong, but it makes me assume that the others would probably do the same. Is Hasbro straying away from the bigger combiners by doing the Power Core, or are they just simply pulling from the drones and mini cons that used to seem to sell well, in my opinion?

Hasbro said at Bot-Con that they wanted to do combiners at a fixed price point that are geared towards a younger age bracket. They tried many different combinations, including transforming drones, but nothing worked. Takara's designers were the ones who came up with the PCC look. All the PCC are "gang molded" meaning the Commander figures are on the same spruce as their mini-cons and the 5 pack drones are together with their Commanders. If you notice the repaint of Smolder as a Protectorbot is blue with blue light piping, the recolor of Chopster is the same color blue. For reference Hasbro did the same thing with GI Joe back in the day since they wanted a child to be able to have all the figures and accessories in a year for under $75.

Hasbro has said in reference to GI Joe play sets like the Terror Drome that for them to be made a store would have to carry it as an exclusive. This was before the $99 Pitt play set failed so I'm not sure what their policy is now. I'm with Seibertron in that I have no idea how $100+ SW vehicles are made every year, the only thing I can think of is that the cost of making them is so cheap that they sell them to stores at such a low price that a retailer doesn't mind if it sits for months or years.

Ooooh, I loved the Terror Drome. i think it was the only playset I had ever gotten as far as G.I. Joe goes.

I saw in a Toys R Us catalog that they have reduced the price of the At At to $78, I think.

headsortails wrote:Ooooh, I loved the Terror Drome. i think it was the only playset I had ever gotten as far as G.I. Joe goes.

I saw in a Toys R Us catalog that they have reduced the price of the At At to $78, I think.

Wal Mart had a roll back and it was selling at $50. I have no idea what it's made of to be sold at that price. I remember the AT-TE legs were made so cheaply Hasbro had to replace them.

Seibertron wrote:

Gandalf wrote:At BotCon this year, someone on the Hasbro panel stated that you were unable to get Generations Thunderwing's "drone" to transform. Why couldn't it have been a Minicon/Targetmaster like with Universe Cyclonus? Would you consider making this drone into a Scout class figure in the future, under a different name if needed?

I think this all comes down to cost and getting this toy/mold to fit within the confines of the deluxe class price range. The more complex the tooling, the more expensive the toy (or the less profitable a toy depending on how the toy is sold or marketed). I think the upcoming Scourge toy is victim of this as well. Someone at Hasbro or Takara Tomy surely had to say "Hey, why aren't we making Fracas to go with this?" I will be the first to point out that my argument here can quickly be flawed simply by pointing out that Nightstick got made with Cyclonus. Maybe this has to do with the changing markets, or the cost of plastic or not enough time to design Thunderwing's drone and Scourge's partner Fracas.

From my personal opinion, I think Thunderwing having a drone would've been confusing in today's market and for many fans unfamiliar with the Pretender concept. It is my belief that the Thunderwing toy, as are any Pretenders homages going forward, are an amalgamation of the Pretender shell and inner robot since the Pretender concept isn't being used.

I wouldn't count on Thunderwing's drone ever being released separately. No need for this.

Why would it be confusing? It would be no more confusing than a Targetmaster or Minicon. "Look Mom! That one has an extra little guy with it!" It would just be a big Transformer with a little Transformer. I don't expect Hasbro would make any mention of the Pretender concept, so I don't see how that would be confusing at all.

No need for a separate drone? Since when has there been a need for anything? There is no need for constant homages in non-G1 based lines. There was no need for recent interactions between Voyagers and Scouts. I know it isn't likely, but what I'm getting at, is that a Scout class, or even Legends class version of the smaller Thunderwing character/toy would be cool. It would be an homage to a G1 toy, and it would compliment, and possibly interact with, a recent Deluxe. Isn't that enough? Seems to be by Hasbro's standards.

Gandalf wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

Gandalf wrote:At BotCon this year, someone on the Hasbro panel stated that you were unable to get Generations Thunderwing's "drone" to transform. Why couldn't it have been a Minicon/Targetmaster like with Universe Cyclonus? Would you consider making this drone into a Scout class figure in the future, under a different name if needed?

I think this all comes down to cost and getting this toy/mold to fit within the confines of the deluxe class price range. The more complex the tooling, the more expensive the toy (or the less profitable a toy depending on how the toy is sold or marketed). I think the upcoming Scourge toy is victim of this as well. Someone at Hasbro or Takara Tomy surely had to say "Hey, why aren't we making Fracas to go with this?" I will be the first to point out that my argument here can quickly be flawed simply by pointing out that Nightstick got made with Cyclonus. Maybe this has to do with the changing markets, or the cost of plastic or not enough time to design Thunderwing's drone and Scourge's partner Fracas.

From my personal opinion, I think Thunderwing having a drone would've been confusing in today's market and for many fans unfamiliar with the Pretender concept. It is my belief that the Thunderwing toy, as are any Pretenders homages going forward, are an amalgamation of the Pretender shell and inner robot since the Pretender concept isn't being used.

I wouldn't count on Thunderwing's drone ever being released separately. No need for this.

Why would it be confusing? It would be no more confusing than a Targetmaster or Minicon. "Look Mom! That one has an extra little guy with it!" It would just be a big Transformer with a little Transformer. I don't expect Hasbro would make any mention of the Pretender concept, so I don't see how that would be confusing at all.

No need for a separate drone? Since when has there been a need for anything? There is no need for constant homages in non-G1 based lines. There was no need for recent interactions between Voyagers and Scouts. I know it isn't likely, but what I'm getting at, is that a Scout class, or even Legends class version of the smaller Thunderwing character/toy would be cool. It would be an homage to a G1 toy, and it would compliment, and possibly interact with, a recent Deluxe. Isn't that enough? Seems to be by Hasbro's standards.

You're forgetting that the main exposure to the toys came from either the animation or (later on) the Marvel comics. In both Bludgeon's and Thunderwing's cases, they hardly ever exited their shells, so the casual fan may not realize or even remember there was a smaller robot inside. Hasbro takes that into consideration as well, even more so than aspects of the original toy. That's vital in either completely removing a feature, or slimming it. In today's economy, less (meaning less parts produced to construct the toy) is more, but given that we're still able to recognize aspects of the original toy incorporated into the new one, neutered as they are, it's a safe bet that Hasbro considers the homage aspect a success.
Now that I think about it, another aspect that may have played a role are the Power Core Combiners, specifically the 2-packs. Hasbro wants to keep things logical, and features within their designated lines. In this case, smaller transforming figures interacting with larger figures are strictly PCC territory, so Fracas and Thunderwing's smaller form are nixed. We had something similar with Energon Grimlock and Swoop. They were originally intended for Universe 2003 as the first original molds especially for the line, combination gimmick and all, but because of that gimmick they were moved to Energon to keep the combination gimmick unique to that line.

heres a good question: will we see the return of the autobot and decepticon targetmasters like chromedome, triggerhappy or misfire? how bout a updated sixshot? or even some of the decepticon headmasters like snapdragon or mindwipe(actual g1ish figures, not movieverse)

Galvatrondestroyer wrote:heres a good question: will we see the return of the autobot and decepticon targetmasters like chromedome, triggerhappy or misfire? how bout a updated sixshot? or even some of the decepticon headmasters like snapdragon or mindwipe(actual g1ish figures, not movieverse)

Hasbro doesn't like doing multi-changers due to the difficulty in repainting the molds so something like a new Sixshot is iffy to no.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Galvatrondestroyer wrote:heres a good question: will we see the return of the autobot and decepticon targetmasters like chromedome, triggerhappy or misfire? how bout a updated sixshot? or even some of the decepticon headmasters like snapdragon or mindwipe(actual g1ish figures, not movieverse)

Hasbro doesn't like doing multi-changers due to the difficulty in repainting the molds so something like a new Sixshot is iffy to no.

Or might they have something in the works for us just possibly?

If they just happened to make a new Sixshot, they could, with a little creative engineering (ala sideswipe/sunstreaker) and at least 1 new head, get 4 characters out of 1 mold: Sixshot, Quickswitch, Sixknight, and Greatshot.

Seibertron wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Galvatrondestroyer wrote:heres a good question: will we see the return of the autobot and decepticon targetmasters like chromedome, triggerhappy or misfire? how bout a updated sixshot? or even some of the decepticon headmasters like snapdragon or mindwipe(actual g1ish figures, not movieverse)

Hasbro doesn't like doing multi-changers due to the difficulty in repainting the molds so something like a new Sixshot is iffy to no.

Or might they have something in the works for us just possibly?

If they just happened to make a new Sixshot, they could, with a little creative engineering (ala sideswipe/sunstreaker) and at least 1 new head, get 4 characters out of 1 mold: Sixshot, Quickswitch, Sixknight, and Greatshot.

Don't forget the remold they did for the Brave King Exkaiser line. In all seriousness the designers have said in the past for whatever reason they don't like making triple changers. Don't know why, I think they're great.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Galvatrondestroyer wrote:heres a good question: will we see the return of the autobot and decepticon targetmasters like chromedome, triggerhappy or misfire? how bout a updated sixshot? or even some of the decepticon headmasters like snapdragon or mindwipe(actual g1ish figures, not movieverse)

Hasbro doesn't like doing multi-changers due to the difficulty in repainting the molds so something like a new Sixshot is iffy to no.

Or might they have something in the works for us just possibly?

If they just happened to make a new Sixshot, they could, with a little creative engineering (ala sideswipe/sunstreaker) and at least 1 new head, get 4 characters out of 1 mold: Sixshot, Quickswitch, Sixknight, and Greatshot.

Don't forget the remold they did for the Brave King Exkaiser line. In all seriousness the designers have said in the past for whatever reason they don't like making triple changers. Don't know why, I think they're great.

Yep, that's what they said in the past. But is the past the future?

Seibertron wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Galvatrondestroyer wrote:heres a good question: will we see the return of the autobot and decepticon targetmasters like chromedome, triggerhappy or misfire? how bout a updated sixshot? or even some of the decepticon headmasters like snapdragon or mindwipe(actual g1ish figures, not movieverse)

Hasbro doesn't like doing multi-changers due to the difficulty in repainting the molds so something like a new Sixshot is iffy to no.

Or might they have something in the works for us just possibly?

If they just happened to make a new Sixshot, they could, with a little creative engineering (ala sideswipe/sunstreaker) and at least 1 new head, get 4 characters out of 1 mold: Sixshot, Quickswitch, Sixknight, and Greatshot.

Don't forget the remold they did for the Brave King Exkaiser line. In all seriousness the designers have said in the past for whatever reason they don't like making triple changers. Don't know why, I think they're great.

Yep, that's what they said in the past. But is the past the future?

I've been thinking about it all night, what if they make a figure like RID Megatron who's linear design allows for multiple modes without modification to the mold?

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Galvatrondestroyer wrote:heres a good question: will we see the return of the autobot and decepticon targetmasters like chromedome, triggerhappy or misfire? how bout a updated sixshot? or even some of the decepticon headmasters like snapdragon or mindwipe(actual g1ish figures, not movieverse)

Hasbro doesn't like doing multi-changers due to the difficulty in repainting the molds so something like a new Sixshot is iffy to no.

Or might they have something in the works for us just possibly?

If they just happened to make a new Sixshot, they could, with a little creative engineering (ala sideswipe/sunstreaker) and at least 1 new head, get 4 characters out of 1 mold: Sixshot, Quickswitch, Sixknight, and Greatshot.

Don't forget the remold they did for the Brave King Exkaiser line. In all seriousness the designers have said in the past for whatever reason they don't like making triple changers. Don't know why, I think they're great.

Yep, that's what they said in the past. But is the past the future?

I've been thinking about it all night, what if they make a figure like RID Megatron who's linear design allows for multiple modes without modification to the mold?

it would be so nice to have a generations or reveal the shield sixshot...also would be nice to have a generations/reveal the shield blitzwing to complete the con triple changer triad

chuckdawg1999 wrote:
Don't forget the remold they did for the Brave King Exkaiser line. In all seriousness the designers have said in the past for whatever reason they don't like making triple changers. Don't know why, I think they're great.

Shadowmaru, from Brave Police J-Decker.
Furthermore, it is Brave Exkaiser and King of Braves Gao Gai Gar.
Got a whole bunch of mixing up in this business, yeah?

NuclearConvoy wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:
Don't forget the remold they did for the Brave King Exkaiser line. In all seriousness the designers have said in the past for whatever reason they don't like making triple changers. Don't know why, I think they're great.

Shadowmaru, from Brave Police J-Decker.
Furthermore, it is Brave Exkaiser and King of Braves Gao Gai Gar.
Got a whole bunch of mixing up in this business, yeah?

Yes J-Decker. I liked how for his gun mode they all had to carry him. Wasn't Exkaiser called King Exkaiser when he was merged with the king loader?

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

NuclearConvoy wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:
Don't forget the remold they did for the Brave King Exkaiser line. In all seriousness the designers have said in the past for whatever reason they don't like making triple changers. Don't know why, I think they're great.

Shadowmaru, from Brave Police J-Decker.
Furthermore, it is Brave Exkaiser and King of Braves Gao Gai Gar.
Got a whole bunch of mixing up in this business, yeah?

Yes J-Decker. I liked how for his gun mode they all had to carry him. Wasn't Exkaiser called King Exkaiser when he was merged with the king loader?

Yeah, he was called King Exkaiser when merged, but the show was simply Brave Exkaiser.