The Energon Pub

[o.supreme]

I've always wondered about that...I dunno...it seems to me that Japanese fans don't really care about exclusive toys they cant obtain through normal means. I think its just us fans that have the problem

[Hellscream9999]

I've always wondered about that...I dunno...it seems to me that Japanese fans don't really care about exclusive toys they cant obtain through normal means. I think its just us fans that have the problem

Pretty sure it's the exact opposite... we're all the same, so what holds true for us here, likely holds true for fans in Japan...

[william-james88]

PS: I am now wondering if some Japanese fans are now checking e-bay feaverishly to see if they can get a Smokescreen for a decent price No joke, Alpha Bravo is a hot commodity in Japan due to his Hasbro exclusivity.

How about the likes of Offroad and Rook? Are they hot items for Japanese collectors too? I wonder if any are salivating over the TFSS 4.0 Thunder Mayhem guys. They're a bit niche being G1 Marvel comics characters, but less so than brand new characters. But then again, Japan has gotten a lot of mileage out of retroactive G1 characters of late.

Offroad yes, but I dont know about Rook. I had read this on a board from a japanese person last year before Rook came out. Those are important toys, when you think about it, since its rare to get brand new characters these days, especially in a line dedicated to older characters. I feel the club is different since those arent mainline toys and licensed rather than being inhouse. They also arent new characters. So its even more niche. G2 sets are hot too and Japan is importing them and it aint cheap, they are 200$ in Japan and they all sold out : http://www.redmercury.co.jp/shop/detail ... =RED-12631

I've always wondered about that...I dunno...it seems to me that Japanese fans don't really care about exclusive toys they cant obtain through normal means. I think its just us fans that have the problem

Oh they care as much as we do. Check out how much they were willing to pay for G2 Superion in the link above.

[o.supreme]

Pretty sure it's the exact opposite... we're all the same, so what holds true for us here, likely holds true for fans in Japan...

I suppose...Its just I've sold toys on eBay before, and offered world wide shipping, I've sold toys to fans in Mexico, Italy, heck even Isreal, but never did anyone in Japan get anything, and I know I had some stuff I would have *thought* fans would have wanted. If G2 sets were in high demand, I would think you could get them cheap here, and try to sell them on eBay to fans in japan, but that doesn't seem to be the case... I'd love to be wrong, maybe I just don't know the right people

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Gotchya! I like Sky Lynx by himself so he's pretty much staying that way, but Ratchet... I wanted him bad

While the alt mode suits him, his robot mode looks off with the back kibble, he really doesnt look like Ratchet aside from the head. If he was on a retail shelf in the same wave as Ironhide and wasnt an exclusive, would you still feel the same way? Or is it that you just really like Ratchet? But even then, his colours are totally different from IDW Ratchet to the point that both could be seen as different characters:

Since this was directed at me, I'll answer now: If he had been retail, I would have pulled the trigger no second thoughts. Ratchet is a character that I deeply enjoy thanks to MTMTE. And while the colors may not match perfectly, there are other figures on my shelves that don't have the exact paint scheme I wished they had, but the general character is still there and I like the character and I understand that I don't always get what I want. Ratchet is one of those that is particularly difficult seeing as how he doesn't really have a generations toy I like yet the prime incarnation was bomb and Rid and movie designs are not bad at all either and I like both of them. I would just really like a "G1" Ratchet that isn't attached to a movie or TV series, helps complete the set, and this version is one I would have liked, the same way I was ok with getting several of the Autobot car limbs as combiners since they looked close and had that extra gimmick that can make some cool stuff and add some playability.

[Kurona]

Ratchet and Ironhide have always been really painful. So far the options for them are a universe toy few people like, convention exclusives or combiner wars repaints.
While I'm not a stickler for G1 accuracy - in fact I prefer new takes on characters like generations trailbreaker - sometimes I wish they'd just make a line of all the 1984/5 guys in toon accurate bodies. That way we at least have some option to fall back on.l without resorting to third parties or settling for repaints that just barely evoke the character.

[william-james88]

sometimes I wish they'd just make a line of all the 1984/5 guys in toon accurate bodies. That way we at least have some option to fall back on.l without resorting to third parties or settling for repaints that just barely evoke the character.

You mean like the MP line

[D-Maximal_Primal]

sometimes I wish they'd just make a line of all the 1984/5 guys in toon accurate bodies. That way we at least have some option to fall back on.l without resorting to third parties or settling for repaints that just barely evoke the character.

You mean like the MP line

Heh, should add the word "mainline toy price-ish" But even so, considering who Ironhide and Ratchet are and how well they are loved, you'd think we would get more than repaints, exclusives and shite

[Wolfman Jake]

What we desperately need are some voyager sized Classics versions of Ironhide and Rathcet (and Trailbreaker and Hoist for that matter). Maybe make them heavy on the accessories so they can design the figures to be a bit smaller than a typical voyager figure, so as not to look to big compared to the likes of Optimus Prime, Inferno, Grimlock, etc., but definitely bigger than even the Classics/Universe 2.0/early Generations sized deluxe figures. We can dream, right?

[william-james88]

sometimes I wish they'd just make a line of all the 1984/5 guys in toon accurate bodies. That way we at least have some option to fall back on.l without resorting to third parties or settling for repaints that just barely evoke the character.

You mean like the MP line

Heh, should add the word "mainline toy price-ish" But even so, considering who Ironhide and Ratchet are and how well they are loved, you'd think we would get more than repaints, exclusives and shite

Yeah,I mean think about it. Those 2 are usually repaints of eachother anyway. But they made them redecos of other characters (and thus end up being retools of eachother in combiner wars in the end) And for the SECOND time now, a decent Ratchet is an exclusive redeco of another unrelated toy.

[william-james88]

We can dream, right?

Yeah. But you know once upon a time that was actually te Mega Class. Its gone now but Takara still releases in between class toys like taht from now and then. Like Prime Breakdown and their exclusive Prime Hunter Combiner individual toys.

[Kurona]

sometimes I wish they'd just make a line of all the 1984/5 guys in toon accurate bodies. That way we at least have some option to fall back on.l without resorting to third parties or settling for repaints that just barely evoke the character.

You mean like the MP line

Well, yknow what I mean lol. Actual chug budget and sizes all released within the same year or two the line runs, rather than massive high-end expensive figures that are perfect and complex reproductions. I'd be so happy to just pick up a voyager G1 accurate optimus, a voyager Shockwave and a good Ironhide. There may be cooler redesigns of them in the future I'd prefer for a chug display, but if there were at least that I could rely on so there's no vacancy for those really relevant and important characters... would just be nice.

[CruciblePrime]

I should have waited. Better paint apps all around and Ratchet. Man, what a nice set.

[steals_your_goats]

Lynx master is up for pre-order at tfsource for $160 same price as the other exclusives like grand convoy and Galvatron. http://tfsource.com/transformers-unite/ex-sky-reign/

[william-james88]

Lynx master is up for pre-order at tfsource for $160 same price as the other exclusives like grand convoy and Galvatron. http://tfsource.com/transformers-unite/ex-sky-reign/

So who's getting it now that the preorder is up?

[steals_your_goats]

Lynx master is up for pre-order at tfsource for $160 same price as the other exclusives like grand convoy and Galvatron. http://tfsource.com/transformers-unite/ex-sky-reign/

So who's getting it now that the preorder is up?

I preordered one but it's mostly for hound and ratchet.

[o.supreme]

BBTS has pre-orders of Lynx Master for the same price. $159.99. They still have plenty Defensor in stock, same price. The only reason I'm not pre-ordering Lynx Master is that I have no idea if I'll have the cash on hand when it comes out. Sometimes I have to wait a bit.

The only thing that bothers me, as I am a stickler for numbers in a series, is why is this "EX" and not UW-09? It just makes me think this will be the last one. I know there was some talk about possibly ending the line based on how well Bruticus pre-sold, but evidently it sold well enough to get Computron & now Lynx Master. I know its being presumptuous, but I was hoping to see Takara's take on possibly Victorion, and definitely LioKaiser. That's not to say it wont happen, there's been no news saying this is the end of the line, but lets just say the "EX" has me a bit concerned.

[ZeroWolf]

Why would takara victorion be any different to hasbro? As for lio, I don't think they'll do it just because it's too different from its original form, especially given that uw has been about g1 toon authenticity.

Good for the people who want this that the price wasn't higher

[o.supreme]

Why would takara victorion be any different to hasbro...uw has been about g1 toon authenticity.

It has been *mostly* about G1 toon authenticity, which is one of my favorite aspects of the line. However...if that had been strictly the case, they never would have released Grand Galvatron, which from all indications, is immensely popular. Takara could easily recolor Victorion, and make them into new characters (Elita-1, Chromia, Starfire, Monracer, & Arcee perhaps?) that would be quite different and more G1 accurate, but who knows...just pure speculation.

[Kurona]

Considering what they did for Skids and Swerve, I'd expect Takara to make Victorion more IDW accurate.

[silverbolt1977]

Am I the only one who thinks they should have made a new combined mode head for Lynx Master instead of just using Sky Lynx's tiny head?

I mean - it just looks...small.

Just me?

[Hellscream9999]

Am I the only one who thinks they should have made a new combined mode head for Lynx Master instead of just using Sky Lynx's tiny head?

I mean - it just looks...small.

Just me?

Having the figure in hand, it's easily as big as all the other combiner heads, it's quite a bit larger than Menasor, and about the same size as Silverbolt, but, I think that Bruticus' head is bigger though.

[silverbolt1977]

Am I the only one who thinks they should have made a new combined mode head for Lynx Master instead of just using Sky Lynx's tiny head?

I mean - it just looks...small.

Just me?

Having the figure in hand, it's easily bigger than all the other combiner heads, save Bruticus...

Seriously? So it's bigger than Superion's...?
Maybe it's it just the proportion of head to chest/shoulder that makes it look off in the pics?

[Wolfman Jake]

Lynx master is up for pre-order at tfsource for $160 same price as the other exclusives like grand convoy and Galvatron. http://tfsource.com/transformers-unite/ex-sky-reign/

So who's getting it now that the preorder is up?

Me!

[Hellscream9999]

Am I the only one who thinks they should have made a new combined mode head for Lynx Master instead of just using Sky Lynx's tiny head?

I mean - it just looks...small.

Just me?

Having the figure in hand, it's easily bigger than all the other combiner heads, save Bruticus...

Seriously? So it's bigger than Superion's...?
Maybe it's it just the proportion of head to chest/shoulder that makes it look off in the pics?

I edited my post, but yes, the large chest, and large, chunky limbs don't help the illusion