The Energon Pub

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Once again via Twitter user TFYuki we have another prototype image to share with you, and this time we have the 3rd Technobot on the list: Lightspeed! Lightspeed is a redeco of Combiner Wars Wheeljack with a new head and weapon and is the 3rd technobot revealed to us via these prototypes following Scattershot and Afterburner. The images have been mirrored below for your enjoyment. Check out the images, and let us know what you think of Takara's take on Lightspeed in the comments section below. And as always stay tuned to Seibertron.com for all your latest Transformers news and galleries!

[leokearon]

Once again via Twitter user TFYuki we have another prototype image to share with you, and this time we have the 3rd Technobot on the list: Lightspeed! Lightspeed is a redeco of Combiner Wars Wheeljack with a new head and weapon and is the 3rd technobot revealed to us via these prototypes following Scattershot and Afterburner. The images have been mirrored below for your enjoyment. Check out the images, and let us know what you think of Takara's take on Lightspeed in the comments section below. And as always stay tuned to Seibertron.com for all your latest Transformers news and galleries!

Looks like I had the right idea when I did my Lightspeed Digibash, looks really good, though I'm not a huge fan of the Breakdown mold

[Rainmaker]

Is it worth it to get Takara's (usually) better paint for more money?

[ZeroWolf]

Is it worth it to get Takara's (usually) better paint for more money?

In this case there is a significant amount of retooling as well. It all depends what you want from your computron. If you want lavish attention to g1 cartoon colour schemes then go takara if you don't care for all that just stick to hasbro

[Rainmaker]

Is it worth it to get Takara's (usually) better paint for more money?

In this case there is a significant amount of retooling as well. It all depends what you want from your computron. If you want lavish attention to g1 cartoon colour schemes then go takara if you don't care for all that just stick to hasbro

Optimus Maximus definitely looks better than the Hasbro one to me.

[Evil Eye]

Damn, Lightspeed looks good. Not good enough to sway me from my "no official combiners" policy, but good nonetheless. Really nice headsculpt, and the Wheeljack mold suits him well.

[kurthy]

Why is he mixing the HFGs to the wrong molds?

[Nemesis Maximo]

Why is he mixing the HFGs to the wrong molds?

Shits and giggles. Takara does what Takara wants, bitches.

[Mindmaster]

Liking Lightspeed (Likespeed?). This is exactly what I wanted; Lightspeed from the Wheeljack tooling.

[william-james88]

Is it worth it to get Takara's (usually) better paint for more money?

Thats a myth, Takara prices are the same and not related to the amount of paint.
When it comes to the CW toys, paint has had little to do with it. Hasbro and Takara seem to have different paint apps but one doesnt necessarily have more than the other. And prices are the same as well so you arent paying more money. Especially when BBTS was selling onslaught for 30$ and up. You just pay more shipping depending on where you live, but thats the same with hasbro.

Why is he mixing the HFGs to the wrong molds?

Shits and giggles. Takara does what Takara wants, bitches.

[Gallifreyan Autobot]

with my distate for the breakdown mould..... *cringes* i might have to stick with the Hasbro Computron..... hoping that is a walmart exclusive in which Walmart hasn't had a exclusive in 5 years(DOTM).... the Dead End mould is less fidgity than the Breakdown(Lamborghini) mould.... in my personal opinion.....

[Gearslide]

For me, this is another case where a retool wears a mold better than the original design.

Combiner Wars Wheeljack looks good to me, but it's missing some key things that make a Wheeljack a Wheeljack (Like the shoulder spike/wings or fender feet). It has a great looking vehicle mode, but the robot mode kinda just looks like someone made a tiny Wheeljack head and stuck it on a car body that looked reasonable enough.

Meanwhile, Unite Warriors Lightspeed totally works the mold work in both modes. It has all the details that a "modern" Lightspeed would have (Is this the first toy called "Lightspeed" since the 1991 Motorvator?). And he's not even painted yet! Also helps that he comes with an actual gun, and not some weird thing that looks like a badly attempted Squall Cosplay prop or a fist pretending to be a gun.

[kurthy]

Also helps that he comes with an actual gun, and not some weird thing that looks like a badly attempted Squall Cosplay prop or a fist pretending to be a gun.

I'm very tired of gun-swords and lead tailpipes and gun-axes. Most of them don't fit the character which is highly annoying. For exampe, I switched First Aid's axe with Chromia's gun, better for both parties. Most of the autobots don't feel right with those weapons, but I think Deadend would have been better with the triple barrel shotgun and Streetwise better with the pipe since it looks like a nightstick.

[Dr. Caelus]

I like the tailpipes and such for the Stunticons, because I tend to think of them more like a biker gang than a military unit; clubs, chains, and such seem appropriate.

The Combaticons, of course, get full access to the armory drawer.

[Wolfman Jake]

If it weren't for the Lancia front bumper, the Wheeljack mode would have nailed Lightspeed's look completely. As it is, it's still amazing how well it works. Takara really went the extra mile with their Computron. I wonder why Hasbro's ended up so different this time?

[william-james88]

with my distate for the breakdown mould..... *cringes* i might have to stick with the Hasbro Computron..... hoping that is a walmart exclusive in which Walmart hasn't had a exclusive in 5 years(DOTM).... the Dead End mould is less fidgity than the Breakdown(Lamborghini) mould.... in my personal opinion.....

its been confirmed to come to toysrus, so its not a walmart exclusive. But walmart will probably carry it too.

Edit: Also Walmart had exclusives for AOE, they had those awesome beast wars and energon redecos.

[Nemesis Maximo]

If it weren't for the Lancia front bumper, the Wheeljack mode would have nailed Lightspeed's look completely. As it is, it's still amazing how well it works. Takara really went the extra mile with their Computron. I wonder why Hasbro's ended up so different this time?

My theory is this: remember when Hasbro had no intention of releasing the Technobots? Then they went ahead and made Scattorshot, and Betatron. They wanted a standalone torso BECAUSE BUZZBOMB. But when they saw the positive (kinda) fan reaction and how much we all actually WANT the Technobots, they needed to throw something together quickly.

Which also means that Takara is not only engineering all of these, they're also designing more than just Devs and Arcee. They've also done Blast-Off from scratch, and also used extensive tooling on almost all of their own Technobots. Their not working in complete tandem with Hasbro.

Lastly, because Hasbro is not using any of these awesome new toppings for the Computron, it leads me to believe they have zero intention of releasing Shuttle!Blast-Off. A bit negative of me for sure, and I'll happily be proven wrong, but I will not be surprised if we never see him in the West.

[Sabrblade]

To me, the new Lightspeed head looks too stylized and detailed and overall too good for that rather blocky and simplistic-looking Wheeljack mold body. It's like if one put a Movieverse toy head on an Animated toy body, only not to that extreme extent but still along those same lines. The head looks so much nicer and more complex in design than how the body looks.

[william-james88]

To me, the new Lightspeed head looks too stylized and detailed and overall too good for that rather blocky and simplistic-looking Wheeljack mold body. It's like if one put a Movieverse toy head on an Animated toy body, only not to that extreme extent but still along those same lines. The head looks so much nicer and more complex in design than how the body looks.

I totally agree. Still, I want that headsculpt and I believe in takara's vision. And I dont have the wheeljack mold. I really dont like those blicky legs though and how simple those arms are. Cant wait to see the alt mode in colour.

[shajaki]

Man I like this. But maybe I just have a soft spot for him, having the OG as a kid

If they ever do the Terrorcons, I'll be able to make the Scramblers I had as a kid!

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Image I found comparing the different bots and alt modes for the mold:

[Jelze Bunnycat]

(Is this the first toy called "Lightspeed" since the 1991 Motorvator?)

Funny you should ask: the short, on-topic answer is "yes".

The long answer is "Yes, but only because Hasbro doesn't own the trademark anymore as his Kre-O figure is called Lightstorm". TakaraTomy still has access to those names as far as I know, but expect a few name changes from Hasbro's side, like Afterbreaker and Lightstorm.

[steals_your_goats]

Image I found comparing the different bots and alt modes for the mold:

Are there more pictures like this of the other molds? I actually love looking at crap like this Lol

[Nemesis Maximo]

That's awesome, SYG.

[Hellscream9999]

Man, TT is really stepping up to the plate on this one, I feel like, even if we see hasbro's take on it at botcon, it'll be too late, we'll have already seen what it could - and SHOULD - have been (like last botcon when they were trying to hype up the hasbro devs and we had just seen TT;s glorious version, it all became a sad joke)