The Energon Pub

[Cyberpath]

Source: twitter/tfyuki

[Va'al]

The Takara Tomy Unite Warriors line adds its own deco of the Optimus Maximus - using the Prowl, Sunstreaker, Ironhide and Mirage molds, plus Optimus, of course - to its sequence of box set releases, with UW-05 Autobots as we know. But thanks to TFYuki, and Seibertronian Cyberpath, we have the first in-box picture of the big dude, and a concept sketch; check them out below!

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I just love artwork. it looks so cool

[GuyIncognito]

I love Defensor's box art, with the rainy city in the background.

[o.supreme]

Love the toys & Love the artwork! I just hope Superion & Menasor don't become scarce before February when I get my tax return, I plan to get them all in one fell swoop.

[Stuartmaximus]

Source: twitter/tfyuki

Aww poor Dev doesn't have a Unite Warriors box

[Stuartmaximus]

Source: twitter/tfyuki

Aww poor Dev doesn't have a Unite Warriors box

[Jelze Bunnycat]

I tend to look at details first before being able to look at the whole (if I'm able to), and found something interesting in the titles the combiners are given:

UW01 Superion: Autobot Aerialbots Combiner Superion
UW02 Menasor: Decepticon Stunticons Combiner Menasor
UW03 Guardian: Autobot Protectobots Combiner Defensor
UW05 Convoy Grand Prime: Autobot Car Robots Combiner Convoy Grand Prime

Several things worth noting here:

- "Car Robots" is apparently the team name for the Optimus Maximus 'bots, harking back to the Diaclone line of the same name where the original G1 toys came from.
- As is customary nowadays, they put the Japanese name in kana, and the English name in the Latin alphabet... except for Convoy Grand Prime. Make me wonder if they're going to even use "Optimus Prime" as the English name for Convoy...

[o.supreme]

Make me wonder if they're going to even use "Optimus Prime" as the English name for Convoy...

Well I'm not sure if they are doing it for all media, but I know in the Japanese series Transformers GO! they actually referred to the Autobot Leader as Optimus Prime, rather than Convoy, which was a little odd.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Make me wonder if they're going to even use "Optimus Prime" as the English name for Convoy...

Well I'm not sure if they are doing it for all media, but I know in the Japanese series Transformers GO! they actually referred to the Autobot Leader as Optimus Prime, rather than Convoy, which was a little odd.

No no no, that's not what I was getting at. Since 2007, all new characters receive the same name as their English counterpart (with the occasional hiccup), but for any G1-related line like Masterpiece, Legends and Unite Warriors, the original Japanese names are retained, in Japanese. A recent trend is to provide their proper English name on the packaging, even if the Japanese name is different:

LG02 Rattle: Rattrap
LG02 Convoy: Optimus Primal
LG07 Gelshark: Sky-Byte

They did not do so for Convoy Grand Prime, their version of Optimus Maximus.

[Optimum Supreme]

That boxart looks like it's the red Optimus not the white one, so isn't this technically their Ultra Prime, not Optimus Maximus? (Nitpicking, sure).

[william-james88]

Several things worth noting here:

- "Car Robots" is apparently the team name for the Optimus Maximus 'bots, harking back to the Diaclone line of the same name where the original G1 toys came from.
- As is customary nowadays, they put the Japanese name in kana, and the English name in the Latin alphabet... except for Convoy Grand Prime. Make me wonder if they're going to even use "Optimus Prime" as the English name for Convoy...

I thought the Optimus name was only used since 2006/2007 when the films started coming out. This release harkens back to both car robots Convoy and Battle Convoy so I am pretty sure he is just straight up convoy and not Optimus this time.

That boxart looks like it's the red Optimus not the white one, so isn't this technically their Ultra Prime, not Optimus Maximus? (Nitpicking, sure).

Thats a good point but this isnt Ultra Prime either. Ultra Prime is not meant to be paired with the autobot cars but with anyone since he is just a torso in the west.



So this isnt Ultra Prime either. This is car robots Convoy Grand Prime, a different iteration/character of the "Optimus Combiner".


Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Optimus Prime Gallery

Love the toys & Love the artwork! I just hope Superion & Menasor don't become scarce before February when I get my tax return, I plan to get them all in one fell swoop.

Good luck, so far they are still all available. I hope it works out for you.

[o.supreme]

So is the white Optimus Maximus akin to the Decepticon Cyclonus? (just use any limbs to combine)? I just thought Optimus Maximus was a white variant of Optimus Prime, not supposed to be an entirely different character. I'm Still Hoping Takara/Tomy comes up with 4 unique Decepticon Limbs (even if they are repaints of others) for a unique Galvatronus Combiner.

Additionally, other than Cyclonus, I always thought those diagrams on the back for the Combiner wars packaging were erroneous, and just loose suggestions based on what was released in a particular assortment. If you see the Airialbots/Stuntacons, packaging they each show their respective teams with one incorrect limb based on how the first assortments came out.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

So is the white Optimus Maximus akin to the Decepticon Cyclonus? (just use any limbs to combine)? I just thought Optimus Maximus was a white variant of Optimus Prime, not supposed to be an entirely different character. I'm Still Hoping Takara/Tomy comes up with 4 unique Decepticon Limbs (even if they are repaints of others) for a unique Galvatronus Combiner.

Additionally, other than Cyclonus, I always thought those diagrams on the back for the Combiner wars packaging were erroneous, and just loose suggestions based on what was released in a particular assortment. If you see the Airialbots/Stuntacons, packaging they each show their respective teams with one incorrect limb based on how the first assortments came out.

No, the red Prime in CW is the torso like Cyclonus, just slap any limbs on him. The Battle Core Optimus is the one with a designated team (the 84 cars). This combiner prime is different from both

[o.supreme]

So, the toys do the opposite of what happened in the IDW comic? I would think the 84 team would look better with the Red Optimus rather than the white one... Just me I guess.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

I thought the Optimus name was only used since 2006/2007 when the films started coming out. This release harkens back to both car robots Convoy and Battle Convoy so I am pretty sure he is just straight up convoy and not Optimus this time.

We already know the CW Optimus Prime will be called "Convoy" in Japanese. The given English name for Convoy Grand Prime is the same as the Japanese, which may have consequences for the given English name for Convoy. Will it be "Optimus Prime" to line up with the Anglophone world, or "Convoy" to line up with the English name for the combined form?

[D-Maximal_Primal]

So, the toys do the opposite of what happened in the IDW comic? I would think the 84 team would look better with the Red Optimus rather than the white one... Just me I guess.

Yeah, it's a bit confusing why they made some choices, but it's happening. But that doesn't matter here, since Unite is doing the red prime with good hips

[DedicatedGhostArt]

Btw are there any images at ALL of the UW Devastator's box art yet? I've been searching for a good while.

[o.supreme]

Btw are there any images at ALL of the UW Devastator's box art yet? I've been searching for a good while.

Just an educated guess, but it will probably be the same as the U.S. CW box (since that one came out first), but just with Japanese text/names as is with all the other UW boxes.

[Stuartmaximus]

I tend to look at details first before being able to look at the whole (if I'm able to), and found something interesting in the titles the combiners are given:

UW01 Superion: Autobot Aerialbots Combiner Superion
UW02 Menasor: Decepticon Stunticons Combiner Menasor
UW03 Guardian: Autobot Protectobots Combiner Defensor
UW05 Convoy Grand Prime: Autobot Car Robots Combiner Convoy Grand Prime

Several things worth noting here:

- "Car Robots" is apparently the team name for the Optimus Maximus 'bots, harking back to the Diaclone line of the same name where the original G1 toys came from.
- As is customary nowadays, they put the Japanese name in kana, and the English name in the Latin alphabet... except for Convoy Grand Prime. Make me wonder if they're going to even use "Optimus Prime" as the English name for Convoy...

& what about Guardian? it sounds kinda like a 3rd party name for Defensor

[Yotsuyasan]

...but this isnt Ultra Prime either.

It isn't?

Ultra Prime is not meant to be paired with the autobot cars...

Okay...

...but with anyone since he is just a torso in the west.

But... but doesn't "anyone" by definition include the Autobot cars?

So this isnt Ultra Prime either.

I'm so confused... So... Ultra Prime is a gestalt formed by taking Combiner Wars Optimus Prime and attaching any four limb-bots to him. But somehow, the Autobot car limb-bots are excluded from this? Why?

This is car robots Convoy Grand Prime, a different iteration/character of the "Optimus Combiner".

I'll grant that he is Convoy Grand Prime in the sense that that is the name of the Takara release of the figure. But the way I see it, it is much the same as the fact that I own a reissue of G1 Convoy, but to me he is named Optimus Prime. It is the same character. I call him by the name I know him by.

Unless, of course, Takara's version has an entirely different fiction, and is not supposed to be the same character. Then I suppose it would be a bit more analogous to this guy:



Technically, the toy I own there is not Optimus Prime at all, but an entirely different character called Ginrai. But even knowing that... I still have this toy in my Optimus Prime collection.

Of course, Takara vs. Hasbro naming on these figures is all academic to me, anyway, since this is the one Combiner Wars/Unite Warriors gestalt I am currently planning on that I am going with the Hasbro version of. The closest this comes to applying to my collection is your assertion that, somehow, Ultra Prime cannot use the Autobot Cars as limbs... an assertion I am still confused by...

[fenrir72]

I love Defensor's box art, with the rainy city in the background.

The style gives me the same vibe of the original battle scenes in the Diaclone catalogues and the G1 boxes of yore

[william-james88]

...but this isnt Ultra Prime either.

It isn't?

Ultra Prime is not meant to be paired with the autobot cars...

Okay...

...but with anyone since he is just a torso in the west.

But... but doesn't "anyone" by definition include the Autobot cars?

So this isnt Ultra Prime either.

I'm so confused... So... Ultra Prime is a gestalt formed by taking Combiner Wars Optimus Prime and attaching any four limb-bots to him. But somehow, the Autobot car limb-bots are excluded from this? Why?

Ultra prime can be made up of the autobot cars, definitely, but he is solely defined by the fact that the combiner torso is the red Optimus. You need not look elsehwere to identify that gestalt. Convoy Grand Prime here is ONLY defined by this specific team up. So, there is a combination of Ultra Prime that resembles that of Convoy Grand Prime, but that is just one configuration out of many.

[DedicatedGhostArt]

Btw are there any images at ALL of the UW Devastator's box art yet? I've been searching for a good while.

Just an educated guess, but it will probably be the same as the U.S. CW box (since that one came out first), but just with Japanese text/names as is with all the other UW boxes.

I don't know, I have a feeling it's gonna be a bit different. At least the inside should be nicer than just cardboard, like a plastic tray.

[Convoy]

I'll grant that he is Convoy Grand Prime in the sense that that is the name of the Takara release of the figure. But the way I see it, it is much the same as the fact that I own a reissue of G1 Convoy, but to me he is named Optimus Prime. It is the same character. I call him by the name I know him by.

Unless, of course, Takara's version has an entirely different fiction, and is not supposed to be the same character. Then I suppose it would be a bit more analogous to this guy:



Technically, the toy I own there is not Optimus Prime at all, but an entirely different character called Ginrai. But even knowing that... I still have this toy in my Optimus Prime collection.

Of course, Takara vs. Hasbro naming on these figures is all academic to me, anyway, since this is the one Combiner Wars/Unite Warriors gestalt I am currently planning on that I am going with the Hasbro version of. The closest this comes to applying to my collection is your assertion that, somehow, Ultra Prime cannot use the Autobot Cars as limbs... an assertion I am still confused by...

You're doing it wrong. Do it right or pay the price.