The Energon Pub

News Credits: 241 · Wed Oct 12, 2016 1:17 am

As to avoid derailing this thread any further, I will finish my stance on the whole matter with this:

Names rendered in Japanese script are usually left transcribed or romanized, and never translated, because what would be the point in translating names? Romanizing is all TakaraTomy has ever done (Minelba and Gregevor anyone?), it's only recently that they started using US analogs. Trick Diamond and Luna Club are indeed the English names (using proper analogs), but the Japanese originals are still rendered as Trick Dia and Luna Clover in Latin Script.

News Credits: 65 · Wed Oct 12, 2016 12:37 pm

To further right this ship, I'll gush a bit here about Unite Warriors Computron! I got my sets delivered yesterday (at last!). He's terrific, he's sturdy, and he looks fantastic along side his Autbobot combiner brethren.

In person, Afterburner still comes off as mostly red, though a much lighter shade that other red components of the team and gestalt. Some pictures had depicted him with a slightly orange-red hue, but I don't see it in hand, at least with the lighting in my apartment. The only other bummer is that the windshield and front wheel assembly doesn't collapse a little more.

Strafe is truly amazing. Though a retool of the UW Blast Off mold, you'd hardly realize it from the robot mode (or the alternate mode, for that matter). Mine seems to snap together quite a bit more securely, especially in arm mode, than my UW Blast Off, which is a big plus. I also love the attention to detail, like how the tail fins fold away in arm mode to tuck in everything, even the robot mode arms, neatly.

Scattershot is awesome, I already knew what to expect mostly from the "beta" version of him Hasbro released at retail, but the extra remolding and expert paint apps make the Takara version really shine. The new guns are nice, but somewhat awkward to attach in alt mode.

Lightspeed is just what he is. A mostly red repaint of Combiner Wars Wheeljack with a new head. That's fine. He plays the part very well, but there are no surprises here. The new guns are nice too.

Nosecone is perhaps the most fun to transform and play with. He's loaded with guns! More to the point, though, his transformation is very satisfying. The mechanisms to manipulate the huge drill piece work well and are mostly intuitive. It's nice that the drill isn't a "parts" Transformation in this regard, but integrated effectively into the whole of the figure.

Finally, for Computron himself, I'll say that I like that you can combine SOME of the Technobots' weapons into the gestalt mode gun. I was disappointed at first that not all of them are utilized, but soon found there are clever little places to stick the rest of them, to "fill out" the combined mode just a little more. It just adds to the uniqueness of the figure, which manages to feel so new, despite everything being, at best, a remold from earlier in the line.

News Credits: 56 · Wed Oct 12, 2016 12:45 pm

Wolfman Jake wrote:Mine seems to snap together quite a bit more securely, especially in arm mode, than my UW Blast Off, which is a big plus.

Thank you for this. After months of debate about trying to get UW Blastoff separately, I decided to get the whole UW Bruticus set because even though I had CW Bruticus complete, I really liked the animated color scheme, 4 rotor Vortex etc (Besdies I can use CW Blastoff and Vortex for another all-unique 'Con Combiner I am building) ... But UW Blastoff was a bit of a disappointment, in terms of how well he held together, and his head keeps popping off, which worried me with Strafe. Thankfully as you said my UW Strafe is great. Not sure what happened with Blastoff, if it was a QC mishap or what. Just have to handle that one very gently.

Also just ordered a Generations Cosmos off eBay cheap. I'm not exactly the creative type, but I'm going to see what I can come up with; if there is any way to integrate him with UW Computron as CW does for Scrounge. I would rather have gotten a TFA "Adams" but those are going 3-4X what I can get a used Cosmos for.

News Credits: 2 · Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:53 am

For as much I saw everyone complain about UW Dragstrip, they never show up on ebay. I thought that a few people at least would want to sell him off and get CW Dragstrip for their UW Menasor but seems not. Still would like to trade my CW one out and get UW one.

News Credits: 332 · Mon Oct 17, 2016 1:02 am

o.supreme wrote:
Wolfman Jake wrote:Mine seems to snap together quite a bit more securely, especially in arm mode, than my UW Blast Off, which is a big plus.

Thank you for this. After months of debate about trying to get UW Blastoff separately, I decided to get the whole UW Bruticus set because even though I had CW Bruticus complete, I really liked the animated color scheme, 4 rotor Vortex etc (Besdies I can use CW Blastoff and Vortex for another all-unique 'Con Combiner I am building) ... But UW Blastoff was a bit of a disappointment, in terms of how well he held together, and his head keeps popping off, which worried me with Strafe. Thankfully as you said my UW Strafe is great. Not sure what happened with Blastoff, if it was a QC mishap or what. Just have to handle that one very gently.

Also just ordered a Generations Cosmos off eBay cheap. I'm not exactly the creative type, but I'm going to see what I can come up with; if there is any way to integrate him with UW Computron as CW does for Scrounge. I would rather have gotten a TFA "Adams" but those are going 3-4X what I can get a used Cosmos for.

Blast Off's head wasn't really a QC issue as just a poor design. The little platform the head sits on gets jarred by the combiner joint. The head should've just attached to the joint proper like an Aerialbot.

News Credits: 56 · Tue Oct 18, 2016 9:21 am

It's a loose fit, but still works

News Credits: 56 · Wed Oct 19, 2016 9:33 am

ok so while my first pic was a loose fit, my 10 year old son actually found a better solution

. If you open Payload's landing gear, you can peg it into the weapon hole on Strafe. You end up with an inverted version of what CW Computron does with Scrounge, but it still looks cool and is a secure fit.

News Credits: 60 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 7:58 am

Battle Gear or Baldigus? Wish it was the former (pun intended).

Another wallet shattering repaint!

http://takaratomymall.jp/shop/default.aspx

News Credits: 4877 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 8:25 am

Those who are still waiting for Takara to show us their version of Liokaiser might have to wait a bit longer (or maybe longer than that) since Takara's next Combiner in their Unite Warriors line is none other than Baldigus, a Bruticus repaint, known as Runation in the west.

While his silhouette is teased on Takaratomymall, he will be fully revealed the 25th of October. The picture's file name is Baldigus, confirming the identity of this release. We do not know if there will be any retooling involved. A silfouette of the individual members was found in the Megatronia comic, also shown below.

Thu Oct 20, 2016 8:29 am

Well, there is my first Unite Warriors purchase. Thank you :TAKARATOMY:

News Credits: 79 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 8:33 am

Well this'll certainly be interesting. Let's hope it looks good...but, considering it's Takara, I'm sure it'll be awesome.

News Credits: 12 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 8:39 am

I'm bummed since I'm one of those waiting for Takara's take on Liokaiser.

News Credits: 10 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 8:59 am

Probably my last chance to get a four bladed Vortex.....

News Credits: 56 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 9:08 am

PeterPrime wrote:Well, there is my first Unite Warriors purchase. Thank you

This might...actually be my first pass. I've purchased/plan on purchasing all the UW sets up until now because IMO they are either superior to CW, or offer something unique (well one could argue that Superion & Menasor are pretty much the same aside from the paint apps). But all the others have been different in some way. I have/enjoy UW Bruticus. If this is a straight up repaint I'll be a bit disappointed. They have to offer something different I would think/hope. Also, Baldigus had nothing to do with Unicron previously..., not sure how this all makes sense.

So we get the full reveal on the 25th...Lynx Master is supposed to come out on the 29th...Hopefully soon we'll be getting a close up of the packaging.

News Credits: 60 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 9:15 am

No love for the Battle Gear colors

News Credits: 191 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 9:48 am

What's odd to me is that they have Movor on the arm even though in the cartoon he was also commonly shown as a leg - which is also a good way to differentiate him from Bruticus.

Thu Oct 20, 2016 10:43 am

If they're doing Baldigus/Ruination, they should really do an Autobot RID combiner too.

Optimus Prime - Hot Spot mold
Side Burn - Dead End mold
Prowl - Breakdown mold
Skid-Z - Dragstrip mold
X-Brawn - First Aid Mold

News Credits: 13 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 10:47 am

Terrsolpix wrote:Probably my last chance to get a four bladed Vortex.....

I don't know if it's worth it. It only looks good in alt mode (where it is awesome :michaelbay:

). In every other mode, it just makes everything a mess. The helicopter blades are my least favorite thing about the AB mold and four blades makes it worse.

News Credits: 462 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 10:53 am

Kurona wrote:What's odd to me is that they have Movor on the arm even though in the cartoon he was also commonly shown as a leg

That's not entirely true.

Back when I was putting this together, I determined that Ruination/Baldigus formed his Flight Mission formation exactly nine times in RiD 2001 (eight times in Car Robots since one of the times in the dub was added to the dub). Meanwhile, his Land Mission formation was formed a mere seven times in RiD 2001 (six times in Car Robots since one of the times in the dub was in one of the dub's clip shows). So he was seen in his Flight Mission a little more often than his Land Mission.

Thu Oct 20, 2016 11:06 am

kurthy wrote:
Terrsolpix wrote:Probably my last chance to get a four bladed Vortex.....

I don't know if it's worth it. It only looks good in alt mode (where it is awesome ). In every other mode, it just makes everything a mess. The helicopter blades are my least favorite thing about the AB mold and four blades makes it worse.

I agree, they are the worst part of that mold and having four doesn't make things any better. They get in the way and really don't position well at all. They really should've redesigned the rotor completely instead of just adding two more blades using the exact same design.

News Credits: 462 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 11:12 am

RiddlerJ wrote:If they're doing Baldigus/Ruination, they should really do an Autobot RID combiner too.

Optimus Prime - Hot Spot mold
Side Burn - Dead End mold
Prowl - Breakdown mold
Skid-Z - Dragstrip mold
X-Brawn - First Aid Mold

Any combiner using the Autobot Brothers as limbs ought to, IMHO, have Tow-Line as the fourth limb since, in Car Robots, he is their cousin, part of their family.

News Credits: 18 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 11:30 am

leokearon-s-digibashes-t105245s25.php#p1785312

leokearon-s-digibashes-t105245.php#p1779232

My Digibashes I did of Ruination and RID Autobot Combiners

Thu Oct 20, 2016 11:32 am

RiddlerJ wrote:If they're doing Baldigus/Ruination, they should really do an Autobot RID combiner too.

Optimus Prime - Hot Spot mold
Side Burn - Dead End mold
Prowl - Breakdown mold
Skid-Z - Dragstrip mold
X-Brawn - First Aid Mold

First, I wanna see Devastator repainted as Landfill.

Yeah, I know it's a poor match in combined mode -- but in addition to the CR Build Team, we've got G1 Targetmasters Quickmix and Scoop we could throw in to the set, giving each Constructicon an Autobot repaint:

Hook -> Hightower
Scavenger -> Grimlock (needs a new name)
Long Haul -> Heavyload
Bonecrusher -> Wedge
Mixmaster -> Quickmix
Scrapper -> Scoop

That last one alone would make it a big seller among IDW fans.

News Credits: 462 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 11:37 am

mblase75 wrote:Scavenger -> Grimlock (needs a new name)

New name could be Buckethead.

News Credits: 56 · Thu Oct 20, 2016 11:46 am

couple of things..first off. If TT did any other Combiners, they would be based off of Japanese characters, so even if say...they did a CR team, or Buildmaster, they would have all the Japanese names. I seriously doubt they would remold Devastator into Buildmaster as it would not be accurate to the animated series. The same reason why I seriously doubt they will be doing LioKaiser (at least not Hasbro's version). They may totally shock and surprise us with some new molds, but considering all the effort TT took to design just two unique molds of their own...I don't know how they would do a whole new combiner. Still...it would be awesome.