The Energon Pub

[Kurona]

Y'know, I'm almost surprised they didn't package Ravage/Buzzsaw/Laserbeak with Soundwave - likewise I'm kinda surprised they didn't package one of Blaster's cassettes with him.

Hasbro I get, but Takara has a freed up price range so isn't restricted by how much plastic they can put in the box - hence why they partnered the titan master vehicles with the deluxes. Hmmm.

[Mindmaster]

Depending on if Hasbro Brainstorm proves to be a massive asshole when it comes to finding him, I may have to go Takara with this one... *sigh*

Interested in seeing how they do Laserbeak. Hasbro's doesn't have enough red, IMO. Interested in seeing how different Astrotrain might be, too.

Ginrai's a given. Glad I didn't dip for PMOP just yet!

[Randomhero]

Depending on if Hasbro Brainstorm proves to be a massive asshole when it comes to finding him, I may have to go Takara with this one... *sigh*

Interested in seeing how they do Laserbeak. Hasbro's doesn't have enough red, IMO. Interested in seeing how different Astrotrain might be, too.

Ginrai's a given. Glad I didn't dip for PMOP just yet!

Probably won't be too hard. It's a Walgreens exclusive so it may shelfwarm there. I found the Walgreen exclusive Agent venom from marvel legends pretty easily. I heard it was an exclusive drove to the nearest one and there it was.

[william-james88]

Yup. Figured they'd skip Sentinel. Funny we we're just discussing this yesterday and there's the news. I had complete faith they'd do Soundwave. Retool or not it's Soundwave. They're not passing that up and next year they'll have Soundblaster

I was pretty sure they would do soundwave because it has new tooling, unlike Sentinel which doesnt have any. Takara tries to release all the new tooling on their end, but they dont seem fond of redecos. Hence why I am not certain they will release getaway. The reason I was iffy on Brainstorm was not because he was a retool but because they already had a Brainstorm in the Legends line and they seemed to be following the Hasbro schedule, which is no longer the case.

This is new though. In the 2000s, when they didnt release a deco themselves, they would just distribute the Hasbro version in Japan as a US edition. They stopped doing that recently for redecos.

[Prowl4]

Looks like astrotrain still has his head on in shuttle mode from the image. Interesting.

[Kurona]

Looks like astrotrain still has his head on in shuttle mode from the image. Interesting.

Where do you see it?

[Prowl4]

Looks like astrotrain still has his head on in shuttle mode from the image. Interesting.

Where do you see it?

Shuttle mode right at the back where the head would be in robot mode it looks to be there in shuttle mode.

[ZeroWolf]

Looks like astrotrain still has his head on in shuttle mode from the image. Interesting.

I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, legends galvatron was still a headmaster after all.

Anyway, bring on the full reveal of super ginrai! The teasers weren't enough, I need to see what they've done for my favourite godmaster

[Kurona]

Looks like astrotrain still has his head on in shuttle mode from the image. Interesting.

Where do you see it?

Shuttle mode right at the back where the head would be in robot mode it looks to be there in shuttle mode.

Excuse the atrocious quality and resizing, but as you can see here, there appears to be nothing new at the back. I assume that what you believe to be the head is the spherical thing poking out the back of the Takara silhouette; but as you can see, it's there on the Hasbro toy as well - the raised section between the bottom wing and the top wing. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but it's no different from the Hasbro version.

[Prowl4]

Looks like astrotrain still has his head on in shuttle mode from the image. Interesting.

I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, legends galvatron was still a headmaster after all.

Anyway, bring on the full reveal of super ginrai! The teasers weren't enough, I need to see what they've done for my favourite godmaster

All I said was it's interesting.

[ZeroWolf]

Looks like you've solved it kurona, that bump looks like the closed cockpit section. All you can expect from this release is a cartoon accurate colour scheme

[kurthy]

This is awesome, now I know which Hasbro versions to get like Sentinel. I also can skip the SDCC box set a date pick up RID windblade.

So excited for Super Ginrai! Come on Apex armor!

[Kurona]

Looks like you've solved it kurona, that bump looks like the closed cockpit section. All you can expect from this release is a cartoon accurate colour scheme

I'm hoping for some more painted detail as well; I recently noticed on the Hasbro toy there's some unpainted windows at the front.



Usually missed-out details don't annoy me that much - I kinda just live with it - but that one really got to me for some reason.

[Randomhero]

Looks like you've solved it kurona, that bump looks like the closed cockpit section. All you can expect from this release is a cartoon accurate colour scheme

Maybe. Who knows. Takara is weird with astrotrain. They've done both Grey and purple or White and purple. I'm curious if they change his head to give his his visor eyes it's not carton accurate but the entire mold doesn't scream cartoon accurate.

[william-james88]

This is awesome, now I know which Hasbro versions to get like Sentinel. I also can skip the SDCC box set a date pick up RID windblade.

So excited for Super Ginrai! Come on Apex armor!

Just wait till TAV Windblade is released, that might be an even better option than any.

[Wolfman Jake]

Great, now I just look stupid.

Don't worry, we still love you, even though you were wrong in every conceivable way about a Takara release of deluxe Brainstorm.

[william-james88]

Great, now I just look stupid.

Don't worry, we still love you, even though you were wrong in every conceivable way about a Takara release of deluxe Brainstorm.

I just dont like getting my hopes up.
And to be Frank, I wont be getting TT's Brainstorm. I am not fond of how you are stuck paying for those extra targetmasters if you want to get the deluxe (and you dont get the extra head).

[fenrir72]

Yup. Figured they'd skip Sentinel. Funny we we're just discussing this yesterday and there's the news. I had complete faith they'd do Soundwave. Retool or not it's Soundwave. They're not passing that up and next year they'll have Soundblaster

Isn't Soundwave's head "Soundblaster"? Or is that in the US continuity?

[Kurona]

Having just marathoned - and loved - MTMTE, I'd be kinda tempted to get a faceplateless Brainstorm now...

[fenrir72]

If Takara is following their G1 continuity then Girai will indeed have his Godbomber upgrade which will eventually lead to the Victory series were for all intents and purpose, well Godbomber is already permanently bonded to him until he "died" at the hands of Deathsaurus to be resurrected as Victory Leo.

[Randomhero]

Yup. Figured they'd skip Sentinel. Funny we we're just discussing this yesterday and there's the news. I had complete faith they'd do Soundwave. Retool or not it's Soundwave. They're not passing that up and next year they'll have Soundblaster

Isn't Soundwave's head "Soundblaster"? Or is that in the US continuity?

Just hasbro for now. This is the first reveal of takara doing sound wave. To be honest would that stop takara of doing a black repaint of a figure?

I'd wager even hasbro will do a sound blaster redeco if it means the using the mold again. They released both Foc soundwave and soundblaster as waves mates 3 years ago after all

[Wolfman Jake]

Great, now I just look stupid.

Don't worry, we still love you, even though you were wrong in every conceivable way about a Takara release of deluxe Brainstorm.

I just dont like getting my hopes up.
And to be Frank, I wont be getting TT's Brainstorm. I am not fond of how you are stuck paying for those extra targetmasters if you want to get the deluxe (and you dont get the extra head).

I kinda like the "bonus" Titan Master vehicles we're getting with the Takara Headmasters proper. I intend to get the Hasbro versions as well, though, for the extra color variations. In for a penny, in for a pound! I'll probably end up double dipping on deluxe Brainstorm too, so I can get a nice screen accurate deco from Takara with a mouth-plated face from Hasbro's media.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Yup. Figured they'd skip Sentinel. Funny we we're just discussing this yesterday and there's the news. I had complete faith they'd do Soundwave. Retool or not it's Soundwave. They're not passing that up and next year they'll have Soundblaster

Isn't Soundwave's head "Soundblaster"? Or is that in the US continuity?

Just hasbro for now. This is the first reveal of takara doing sound wave.

Actually, TakaraTomy's Twin Cast is colored blue, not red. That would lead to him being called "Twincast", so the same could apply to little Soundblaster if he's colored black.

To be honest would that stop takara of doing a black repaint of a figure?

Nope, tho they may get stuck with naming the little head. Maybe role-reversal is in order?

By the by, the vehicle included with Brainstorm is... Brawn's

[Randomhero]

Yup. Figured they'd skip Sentinel. Funny we we're just discussing this yesterday and there's the news. I had complete faith they'd do Soundwave. Retool or not it's Soundwave. They're not passing that up and next year they'll have Soundblaster

Isn't Soundwave's head "Soundblaster"? Or is that in the US continuity?

Just hasbro for now. This is the first reveal of takara doing sound wave.

Actually, TakaraTomy's Twin Cast is colored blue, not red. That would lead to him being called "Twincast", so the same could apply to little Soundblaster if he's colored black.

To be honest would that stop takara of doing a black repaint of a figure?

Nope, tho they may get stuck with naming the little head. Maybe role-reversal is in order?

By the by, the vehicle included with Brainstorm is... Brawn's

I don't think they'll rename the head because headmaster partners don't exist in Japan. The head is the character so Soundwave will be Soundwave and if they make a soundblaster deco it will just be Soundblaster.

I'd believe Japan is weird enough to make a blue twincast deco and make a little headmaster red and call it twincast.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Yup. Figured they'd skip Sentinel. Funny we we're just discussing this yesterday and there's the news. I had complete faith they'd do Soundwave. Retool or not it's Soundwave. They're not passing that up and next year they'll have Soundblaster

Isn't Soundwave's head "Soundblaster"? Or is that in the US continuity?

Just hasbro for now. This is the first reveal of takara doing sound wave.

Actually, TakaraTomy's Twin Cast is colored blue, not red. That would lead to him being called "Twincast", so the same could apply to little Soundblaster if he's colored black.

To be honest would that stop takara of doing a black repaint of a figure?

Nope, tho they may get stuck with naming the little head. Maybe role-reversal is in order?

By the by, the vehicle included with Brainstorm is... Brawn's

I don't think they'll rename the head because headmaster partners don't exist in Japan. The head is the character so Soundwave will be Soundwave and if they make a soundblaster deco it will just be Soundblaster.

I'd believe Japan is weird enough to make a blue twincast deco and make a little headmaster red and call it twincast.

Toy bios and fiction don't mix well, no matter where you look, and TakaraTomy is not immune to that. Case in point: the original G1 Headmaster toys got names for both the head and the Transtector, but only the name of the Transtector was used for both in fiction. The rundown:

Stylor: Chrome
Gort: Gort
Arcana: Cana
Duros: Ros
Spike: Cerebros

Vorath: Vorath
Monzo: Monzo
Grax: Grax
Zarak: Scorponok

That found its way in later toys, specifically for Brainstorm: while Arcana went unnamed for the Generations release, the first Legends release called him out as Cana on the back of the box.

Fortunately, Masterforce had the toy bios align with the anime when it came to names, so no separate names for the little guys (and girl) here, except for Goshooter where a pun is present:

Head: 剛 秀太 Gō Shūta (traditionally, names in Japan are written in Kanji, family name first)
Robot: ゴーシューター Gōshūtā (traditionally, names for Transformers are written in Katakana)