The Energon Pub

[Agamemnon]

Nabbed Greatshot. Grand Max....Just a bit too steep. But, maybe this means Grand Max is a go for production? (Estimated arrival in March...)

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Here’s hoping TFSource isn’t too far behind posting their preorders.

Same. I'll use BBTS, but I prefer the free shipping with more expensive orders (yeah yeah, $4 difference, but still) and the source points. After my MP Megatron, Targetmaster Hot Rod, Nemesis Prime, and G2 Megs come in, I'll have about $20 off should i choose to use it on these guys, or maybe collect their source points too

[Relic0037]

With all the releases & rereleases Takara has coming out in March "Grand" & "Max" aren't going to be names for a Transformer, but instead amounts put on my credit card bill that month

[D-Maximal_Primal]

TFsource has just put up their pre-orders. Placed mine for both

https://tfsource.com/legends-series/lg-ex-greatshot/

https://tfsource.com/legends-series/lg- ... d-maximus/

[Hero Alpha]

I gots my Legends Hot Rod, Kup and Astrotrain in a couple days ago. All have pretty much perfect paint and no lip-bumps on my Hot Rod, which I was really happy about. THese are great looking figures and have awesome matte looking paint that is G1 Sunbow sweet. Like others have said Kup looks like he jumped off the screen. Astrotrain looks so much better in darker grey, now I need to sell my Hasbro Astrotrain. Little targetmaster dudes are cool and a good update on Nightstick from Gen. Cyclonus. Next up on pre-order is Doublecross, Brawn and Octane. That will finish off my wants/needs for Titans Return molds. Targetmaster that comes with Doublecross will go with Uni. Scourge to match up with Cyclonus. I just never really been into Blur, even though Legends Blur looks real good.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

On this glorious Monday, we bring to you a roundup of all the new pre-orders set up for the upcoming Takara Legends Grand Maximus and Greatshot. These pre-orders have the price points for both figures set around $260 and $95, respectively. The expected release date for these figures is March of next year. Head on over to your favorite site now and get your pre-order in!

TFsource:
https://tfsource.com/legends-series/lg- ... d-maximus/
https://tfsource.com/legends-series/lg-ex-greatshot/

BigBadToyStore
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/V ... m_content=
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/V ... m_content=

Robot Kingdom
http://www.robotkingdom.com/lgexgrandmaximus.html
http://www.robotkingdom.com/lgexgreatshot.html

The Chosen Prime
http://www.thechosenprime.com/LGEXGrandMaximus
http://www.thechosenprime.com/LGEXGreatshot

[Flashwave]

Great Shot looks wonderful and is definately worth the markup. Not sure I care enough about the character to spend the money but he is awesome and I want him

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Great Shot looks wonderful and is definately worth the markup. Not sure I care enough about the character to spend the money but he is awesome and I want him

My thoughts exactly. He is a great looking leader figure, and I am getting him just because he is that awesome.

[Wolfman Jake]

TFsource has just put up their pre-orders. Placed mine for both

https://tfsource.com/legends-series/lg-ex-greatshot/

https://tfsource.com/legends-series/lg- ... d-maximus/

Woot! Got mine in too! I'm a happy wolfman!

With all the releases & rereleases Takara has coming out in March "Grand" & "Max" aren't going to be names for a Transformer, but instead amounts put on my credit card bill that month

I always enjoy good word play, so this made me laugh. Know that I still feel your pain, though.

By the way, now that everyone is getting all hot and bothered over Grand Maximus, does that mean people have in general softened on their opinions of the mold? It's essentially just a redeco of Fortress Maximus with maybe a new Pretender shell accessory...and that's it. Last I remember, fans were awfully lukewarm about the new Fort Max, mainly because it is a heavy retool of Generations Metroplex with fewer play features than the original G1 Fort Max toy. Now the same thing is coming out again less than two years later, and no one seems underwhelmed like last time. Is Grand Max just that much prettier, or did everyone just get over all their TF/LG Fort Max grievances?

[Seibertron]

Just wanted to vent a gripe about LG45 Hot Rod real quick that's been bothering me about him for the past couple of weeks since I got him in hand.

Is anyone else bothered by the massive gaps on the sides of his chest? I'm all for Takara making mold improvements over the Hasbro products, but in this case I feel like Takara really dropped the ball. They basically sacrificed a decent chest design just to accommodate the "engine" flipping gimmick for the Targetmaster. I might have been alright with this had trade-off been a cartoon accurate upper chest/collar piece, but what we ended up with was a half assed piece that isn't even cartoon accurate. I would have preferred them to just leave the piece as is, but remold it to allow a spot to plug in the Targetmaster, or even better yet, just do a flip up piece that exposes the port. The translucent chest was also another odd choice that I don't understand where it came (nor do I care for it) from in a line that strives to be more cartoon accurate. It might have been alright had there been something of substance to fill in the giant gaping hole behind his chest.

I prefer the color scheme on LG45 Hot Rod over Hasbro's red version, but the mold trade-off left much to be desired. There could have been a much better solution instead of what they came up with.

[Stuartmaximus]

Wouldn't be the first time that Takara's messed up coz remember Trypticon was supposed to be a darker colour & instead all we got was the exact same dam figure as the Hasbro one(YES!!!...with the hip ratchet issue fixed + a slight mold difference on one of the towers)

[Seibertron]

Wouldn't be the first time that Takara's messed up coz remember Trypticon was supposed to be a darker colour & instead all we got was the exact same dam figure as the Hasbro one(YES!!!...with the hip ratchet issue fixed + a slight mold difference on one of the towers)

Wasn't aware of a mold difference on one of Trypticon's towers. Can you provide a link about this?

[RodimusConvoy13]

Just wanted to vent a gripe about LG45 Hot Rod real quick that's been bothering me about him for the past couple of weeks since I got him in hand.

Is anyone else bothered by the massive gaps on the sides of his chest? I'm all for Takara making mold improvements over the Hasbro products, but in this case I feel like Takara really dropped the ball. They basically sacrificed a decent chest design just to accommodate the "engine" flipping gimmick for the Targetmaster. I might have been alright with this had trade-off been a cartoon accurate upper chest/collar piece, but what we ended up with was a half assed piece that isn't even cartoon accurate. I would have preferred them to just leave the piece as is, but remold it to allow a spot to plug in the Targetmaster, or even better yet, just do a flip up piece that exposes the port. The translucent chest was also another odd choice that I don't understand where it came (nor do I care for it) from in a line that strives to be more cartoon accurate. It might have been alright had there been something of substance to fill in the giant gaping hole behind his chest.

I prefer the color scheme on LG45 Hot Rod over Hasbro's red version, but the mold trade-off left much to be desired. There could have been a much better solution instead of what they came up with.

While I do find it a little annoying, LG45 is just so damn good looking besides that that it doesn't bother me. There's just so much awesomeness about the rest of the figure that I don't care that much.

[Stuartmaximus]

Wouldn't be the first time that Takara's messed up coz remember Trypticon was supposed to be a darker colour & instead all we got was the exact same dam figure as the Hasbro one(YES!!!...with the hip ratchet issue fixed + a slight mold difference on one of the towers)

Wasn't aware of a mold difference on one of Trypticon's towers. Can you provide a link about this?

It was on reprolabels FB page, but I'm also sure that it was touched on, on here before, but maybe you missed it, I'll try n snapshot stuff about it from the reprolabels FB page

[Wolfman Jake]

Just wanted to vent a gripe about LG45 Hot Rod real quick that's been bothering me about him for the past couple of weeks since I got him in hand.

Is anyone else bothered by the massive gaps on the sides of his chest? I'm all for Takara making mold improvements over the Hasbro products, but in this case I feel like Takara really dropped the ball. They basically sacrificed a decent chest design just to accommodate the "engine" flipping gimmick for the Targetmaster. I might have been alright with this had trade-off been a cartoon accurate upper chest/collar piece, but what we ended up with was a half assed piece that isn't even cartoon accurate. I would have preferred them to just leave the piece as is, but remold it to allow a spot to plug in the Targetmaster, or even better yet, just do a flip up piece that exposes the port. The translucent chest was also another odd choice that I don't understand where it came (nor do I care for it) from in a line that strives to be more cartoon accurate. It might have been alright had there been something of substance to fill in the giant gaping hole behind his chest.

I prefer the color scheme on LG45 Hot Rod over Hasbro's red version, but the mold trade-off left much to be desired. There could have been a much better solution instead of what they came up with.

I actually quite like LG45 Hot Rod quite a bit. Yeah, the chest gap is unfortunate, but it doesn't bother me too much. I'm also not bothered by things like MP-28 Hot Rod's "backpack," just for reference. My main concern is that my Transformers figures look good from the front, which Legends Hot Rod does. Good looking sides are nice too, but can be sacrificed if needed. Backs are rarely of great concern, and I'm happy with anything decidedly "non-accurate/ugly" happening back there. I've just come to accept a little bit of give and take when translating on screen Transformers character models into workable toys. With LG45, though, Takara did retain some of the abdominal detailing from the Hasbro mold, as well as some "chest" looking stuff under the hood in robot mode. You can consider the hood more of Hot Rod's "kibble" from vehicle mode, or even just some additional "armor" for his torso and think of the detailing underneath as what his true robot anatomical torso would be if he had a different alt mode, or none altogether.

I like the ability to hide the exposed engine block in robot mode. It's just a nice little extra to appreciate, and not really intrusive. I'd have to check when I get home, but I think it may be an optional step too, if you so desire. As for the clear plastic hood Takara used, to give Hot Rod's flame deco an actual fiery effect, I can see how that's disappointing, especially since there are few good ways to pipe some light through there to really get the look they were going for. Maybe that's why they left the sides a little "gappy," to let some more light through? I'm going to see if I can find some nice, shiny/glossy yellow paper and cut out a piece to fit snuggly on the underside of the hood to give the transparent yellow plastic a little more saturation and opacity. It should make the flames look a lot better without needing to get more light piped through the torso somehow.

[Sabrblade]

Wouldn't be the first time that Takara's messed up coz remember Trypticon was supposed to be a darker colour & instead all we got was the exact same dam figure as the Hasbro one(YES!!!...with the hip ratchet issue fixed + a slight mold difference on one of the towers)

Wasn't aware of a mold difference on one of Trypticon's towers. Can you provide a link about this?

It's more of a running change mold variant between the first and second run versions of the Hasbro Trypticons' towers.

Here's the info from the Trypticon thread:

https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/titans-return-titan-class-trypticon-thread-p1913104.php#p1913104

https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/titans-return-titan-class-trypticon-thread-p1913104.php#p1913109

https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/titans-return-titan-class-trypticon-thread-p1913104.php#p1913120

https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/titans-return-titan-class-trypticon-thread-p1913104.php#p1913122

https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/titans-return-titan-class-trypticon-thread-p1913104.php#p1913129

https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/titans-return-titan-class-trypticon-thread-p1913104.php#p1913130

[Stuartmaximus]

Wouldn't be the first time that Takara's messed up coz remember Trypticon was supposed to be a darker colour & instead all we got was the exact same dam figure as the Hasbro one(YES!!!...with the hip ratchet issue fixed + a slight mold difference on one of the towers)

Wasn't aware of a mold difference on one of Trypticon's towers. Can you provide a link about this?

It's more of a running change mold variant between the first and second run versions of the Hasbro Trypticons' towers.

Here's the info from the Trypticon thread:

https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/titans-return-titan-class-trypticon-thread-p1913104.php#p1913104

https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/titans-return-titan-class-trypticon-thread-p1913104.php#p1913109

https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/titans-return-titan-class-trypticon-thread-p1913104.php#p1913120

https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/titans-return-titan-class-trypticon-thread-p1913104.php#p1913122

https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/titans-return-titan-class-trypticon-thread-p1913104.php#p1913129

https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/titans-return-titan-class-trypticon-thread-p1913104.php#p1913130

thanks Sabr

[Seibertron]

thanks Sabr

Ditto!

[Nemesis Destron]

I procrastinated on getting Fort Max but I think I will line up all my ducks and get GM in stead.

[Stuartmaximus]

Unfortunately since Takara have already released Trypticon, the hope for a Gigastorm is all but lost , even though now we're getting a Grand Max repaint(as well as an additional POTP pretender/targetmaster style fig), maybe I can still hope for a Black Zarak(Scorponok) & Guardian Robot(Omega) repaints from Takara, but I'm not setting that in stone

[Wolfman Jake]

Unfortunately since Takara have already released Trypticon, the hope for a Gigastorm is all but lost

What makes you say this?

[Kurona]

Honestly, I'm surprised no-one's made a Gigastorm conversion set yet. Literally all you need is a different horn piece and some stickers.

[Stuartmaximus]

Honestly, I'm surprised no-one's made a Gigastorm conversion set yet. Literally all you need is a different horn piece and some stickers.

I did think of that, but not seen anything yet

[chuckdawg1999]

Hot Rod has the same amount of hollowness on both versions of the figure, it's just how the mold wears it. You either have a bare patch on the belly or a hollow interior.

[grimdragon2001]

Just got my Legends Kup today, along with Legends Wheelie. Kup's robot mode looks awesome, but the vehicle mode does suffer for the retooling in the shoulders.