The Energon Pub

Wed Mar 08, 2023 10:27 pm

Literally all you had to do was shrink the original Bumblebee, and make the arm detachable, how do you fumble the ball THIS hard?
Blah blah blah COVID blah blah designers. I don't care whose fault it is. It. Is. A. Bad. Figure.
Optimus is perfect, Barricade will look better when his legs are properly transformed. It takes long enough to set up the display, maybe take that time to properly transform the figures?
No excuses. Multi Billion dollar company.

News Credits: 2 · Wed Mar 08, 2023 10:31 pm

84everfan wrote:Literally all you had to do was shrink the original Bumblebee, and make the arm detachable, how do you fumble the ball THIS hard?
Blah blah blah COVID blah blah designers. I don't care whose fault it is. It. Is. A. Bad. Figure.
Optimus is perfect, Barricade will look better when his legs are properly transformed. It takes long enough to set up the display, maybe take that time to properly transform the figures?
No excuses. Multi Billion dollar company.

Are you EVER positive? I have yet to see you make a positive post. It makes me sad.

Wed Mar 08, 2023 10:57 pm

I think the new BB looks better than the old one IMO. I at least hope this BB's weapons don't shatter as easily as the old one's blades. :lol:

Thu Mar 09, 2023 1:21 am

First-Aid wrote: Are you EVER positive? I have yet to see you make a positive post. It makes me sad.

News Credits: 6 · Thu Mar 09, 2023 2:19 am

Rtron wrote:Wait what, that tank thing Broadside turns into was a level in the Decepticon campaign in Fall of Cybertron, wasn't it? Did I walk around the guy's insides without ever knowing it?

TFWiki wrote:Broadside is amazingly large and transforms into an Autobot transport. Hopefully he didn't transform into the one that the Combaticons busted up and stole.

Had Broadside been the transport used to ferry Energon from the Sea of Rust, this would have made him a triple-changer like his original G1-self, able to transform into either a wheeled transport or an aircraft transport.

So the general gist I've been able to find is, while that was his altmode. It wasn't necessarily him. Likely if he had made it into the game, it probably would have been. Akin to first boarding then fighting Tidal Wave in the PS2 Transformers game.

News Credits: 1646 · Thu Mar 09, 2023 8:43 pm

I think Jazz needs to be a high priority figure for them. We may have gotten one before, but it is pretty weak and he definitely deserves a good proper deluxe. I really want him, he is my favorite!

Also, that Springer would be great to have.

I also personally really want a proper titan FOC Metroplex.

Thu Mar 09, 2023 10:37 pm

I know it's 100% going to be FoC styled because that's just plain easier and at least appeared in the big console game; I'd still like to see a WfC Cliffjumper styled after the DS game's version. Mainly because that one actually was different enough of a look in both modes from Bumblebee and Cliffy deserves that bit of love.
I don't dislike the FoC design one bit of course I just think it'd be fun if they went for that instead. :lol:

News Credits: 1646 · Fri Mar 10, 2023 7:43 am

I'm really hoping Cliffjumper gets his proper FOC head, I love that head design, and was sad that the original toy did not use it

Fri Mar 10, 2023 11:25 am

Although I did just say I'd prefer the WfC DS design, I do think the FoC head swap could help with parity for an eventual Legacy version of Prime Cliffjumper honestly.

News Credits: 462 · Fri Mar 10, 2023 1:33 pm

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I'm really hoping Cliffjumper gets his proper FOC head, I love that head design, and was sad that the original toy did not use it

The original toy came out two years before FOC did. The head it had was the head Cliffjumper had in the WFC DS game. The Prime-based OFC head design didn't exist yet.

News Credits: 2 · Fri Mar 10, 2023 10:06 pm

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I think Jazz needs to be a high priority figure for them. We may have gotten one before, but it is pretty weak and he definitely deserves a good proper deluxe. I really want him, he is my favorite!

Yes, that Jazz design was excellent, but the toy was...lacking, to say the least. Especially compared to the other Generations Jazz that came out around the same time.

And then they remolded it to make a just as mediocre Sideswipe (although at least he had a weapon that was actually in the game).

Would love to see updates of both that were as awesome as their in-game designs.

News Credits: 101 · Fri Mar 10, 2023 10:39 pm

That FOC Jazz toy was the poster child of Hasbro's downward spiral of quality at the time. Instead of increasing the prices, the toys kept getting smaller and cheaper. That Jazz along FOC Bruticus felt like Dollar Store K.O.

Deluxes may be 35/40$CAN nowadays instead of 15$CAN, but at least they are generally GOOD.

Regardless, that Jazz design NEEDS to be revisited. But this time, with the high quality we can expect from the current Generations lines.

News Credits: 2 · Sat Mar 11, 2023 11:06 am

-Kanrabat- wrote:That FOC Jazz toy was the poster child of Hasbro's downward spiral of quality at the time. Instead of increasing the prices, the toys kept getting smaller and cheaper. That Jazz along FOC Bruticus felt like Dollar Store K.O.

Heh, given the last couple SS figures I've gotten, now they're smaller and cheaper made AND cost more. SS Hot Rod has pieces of his ankles/bumper that constantly pop off, and he is TINY, even compared to earlier SS figures.

Hopefully this line is shown a little more love.

News Credits: 1646 · Sat Mar 11, 2023 11:11 am

Spider5800 wrote:
D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I think Jazz needs to be a high priority figure for them. We may have gotten one before, but it is pretty weak and he definitely deserves a good proper deluxe. I really want him, he is my favorite!

Yes, that Jazz design was excellent, but the toy was...lacking, to say the least. Especially compared to the other Generations Jazz that came out around the same time.

And then they remolded it to make a just as mediocre Sideswipe (although at least he had a weapon that was actually in the game).

Would love to see updates of both that were as awesome as their in-game designs.

Yes yes yes to all of this

News Credits: 9 · Sat Mar 11, 2023 11:32 am

It’s still a pass for me but I’m a fan of that Barricade design.

News Credits: 101 · Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:26 pm

Spider5800 wrote:
-Kanrabat- wrote:That FOC Jazz toy was the poster child of Hasbro's downward spiral of quality at the time. Instead of increasing the prices, the toys kept getting smaller and cheaper. That Jazz along FOC Bruticus felt like Dollar Store K.O.

Heh, given the last couple SS figures I've gotten, now they're smaller and cheaper made AND cost more. SS Hot Rod has pieces of his ankles/bumper that constantly pop off, and he is TINY, even compared to earlier SS figures.

Hopefully this line is shown a little more love.

That FOC Jazz and those FOC combaticons, had a very, very small parts count. Plus they felt like empty plastic containers with limbs.

The SS deluxes may be small, but they are so compact with parts, it's insane. Each times that I handle one, being 07 Jazz, TLK Hot Rod, or DOTM Bee, I'm amazed at the engineering that went into them.

The difference is huge.

News Credits: 6 · Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:30 pm

In spite of their reception, I still have a fondness for the FoC Combaticons. My very first non-Beast Wars Gestalt. Whose design and proportions typified the "alien" part of Giant Alien Robots that I always champion in Transformers.

Noting that I only ever had Shockwave (plus redecos) and Bruticus. So scaling and such were irrelevant concerns to me.

News Credits: 462 · Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:34 pm

Yeah, the FOC Combaticons may have formed a mediocre combiner, but individually they felt like decent figures in their own right.

Except for Onslaught. That mold is yeesh no matter what.

But the limbs were good. Swindle especially. That mold was probably the best one. Then Blast Off. Then Vortex, and finally Brawl. But there's no helping the Onslaught mold.

News Credits: 101 · Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:39 pm

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:In spite of their reception, I still have a fondness for the FoC Combaticons. My very first non-Beast Wars Gestalt. Whose design and proportions typified the "alien" part of Giant Alien Robots that I always champion in Transformers.

Noting that I only ever had Shockwave (plus redecos) and Bruticus. So scaling and such were irrelevant concerns to me.

That combiner was amazing in the fact that it was the prototype for Combiner Wars. But Deluxe Onslaught and the overall quality ruined the whole thing. I owned the team twice (G2 colors and Game colors) and twice I sold them back.

They should be remade for sure. But to make some "poetic justice" I'd like the limbs to be fully Combiner Wars compatible deluxes. Same size and same functionality as the other CW figures. Same for Onslaught. But instead of being a "voyager", he should be a leader for the parts counts and to make sure he have SOLID legs in combined mode. Plus he would come with the combiners hands and feet to justify the price.

Then in pure CW fashion, you could mix-n-match team members with other CW toys if you want.

News Credits: 1646 · Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:42 pm

The FOC Wreckers were my first ever combiner that was actually made of bots who transformed in their own right (RotF supreme Devastator doesn't really count). after I slapped the black upgrade kit on it, it improved but is still not overly good. I would love to see that combiner get updated with the Combaticons, that was a fun combiner in the came and looked great.

And maybe, just maybe, we can get a selects release of the wrecker repaints

News Credits: 6 · Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:43 pm

Personally, I don't like the Scramble City/CW design. I think it looks cheap and creatively lazy. When the individual pieces of a Gestalt aren't integrated into their respective combiner team designs.

News Credits: 101 · Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:46 pm

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Personally, I don't like the Scramble City/CW design. I think it looks cheap and creatively lazy. When the individual pieces of a Gestalt aren't integrated into their respective combiner team designs.

You talk about making custom teams, or something else like the obvious scale issues?

News Credits: 6 · Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:49 pm

The custom aspect. FoC Bruticus kept it simple:

Onslaught (torso)
Vortex (left arm)
Brawl (left leg)
Blast Off (right arm)
Swindle (right leg)

That way, the Bruticus hands are built into the "arms". The feet built into the "legs" etc No clip-on feet and hands.

News Credits: 101 · Sat Mar 11, 2023 1:46 pm

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:The custom aspect. FoC Bruticus kept it simple:

Onslaught (torso)
Vortex (left arm)
Brawl (left leg)
Blast Off (right arm)
Swindle (right leg)

That way, the Bruticus hands are built into the "arms". The feet built into the "legs" etc No clip-on feet and hands.

Ah, you meant the partsforming hands and feet.
Those with integrated hands and feet are rare. The fact that feet and hands are separated pieces is often for engineering purpose. Especially when there is no room to store the hands or feet inside the bots.

ALL the members of the FOC combiner could be arms or legs. All had that little hand inside. but the hand was really tiny and he literally had no feet, walking on amputated stumps.

The only one who truly had everything integrated with no compromises are Gobot's Puzzler.

Sat Mar 11, 2023 1:56 pm

I personally enjoy the Scramble City approach mainly because of how "toyetic" it feels to be honest. I think what makes me appreciate CW Menasor over Legacy Menasor is how it feels like a fun play pattern that I can mix and match with to make all sorts of crazy combinations. Plus the kibble mainly just being the hands and feet didn't bother me much because said parts could at least become weapons (no matter how dorky some of them looked), it was just plain fun.

That being said, er, I don't really dislike FoC Bruticus/Ruination. I currently have the wrecker redecos and it's still a fun set. They didn't age the best but for the time it was pretty cool seeing a more "classic" combiner. Toy engineering just wasn't advanced enough yet and it sure was a rough start choosing a design that more or less cheats the whole thing heh. The end result was still commendable and had a charm to it.
An update would be much appreciated to bring it up to modern standards.