The Energon Pub

News Credits: 7 · Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:31 pm

Hard to ignore the chunks of dune buggy hanging off the sides of the VTOL copter on Takara's version.

News Credits: 2 · Sat Dec 14, 2013 2:23 pm

craggy wrote:wasn't the green plastic on Takara's Springer much darker than the Sour Cream Pringles green of Hasbro's?

Yep, and the yellow was a different shade (lighter) and the grayish/silverish plastic was a slightly different shade as well. Taken separately, they are definitely minor distinctions, but add them all up and look at them side by side and it definitely makes a difference. How much difference and whether that actually matters to you is in the eye of the beholder of course, but it is what it is.

I actually have both versions because I wasn't able to choose one that I liked more than the other based on all the pics. Now that I have them, I still feel the same. I like each for different reasons. I like the vivid "toy" like colors on the Hasbro version because they really "pop" but I like the deeper, more muted tones on the Takara version because they make him look more "real" if that makes any sense. I seldom buy both versions of any of the releases these days, but for Springer and Sandstorm I did because I just couldn't choose which I liked better, so I got both.

I did the same with Waspinator and Rhinox even though I actually really prefer the Takara versions, but that's just because I want to help encourage both companies to keep doing Beast Wars stuff instead of it being a one-off sort of thing like Dinobot and Cheetor were, although we did get some very weird versions of Primal and Megatron, both of which looked like they'd fit in better with Beast Machines or Transtech than Beast Wars. Of course, the only reason I actually got them was for the mini Axalon and unnamed Predacon ships from the show (yes, I know that unofficially it is called the "Darksyde", but Terrorsaur was clearly NOT referring to the name of their ship, just the fact that Dinobot was now in enemy territory, similar to when Dinobot refers to the Maximal ship as "Enemy Arms" in the very same episode, so don't you dare try to correct me on this one Sabre

!

Anyways, back on topic. I have Hasbro Sunstorm and I, much like several others in this thread, actually prefer him to Springer (not that Springer is bad at all, just a bit bland by comparison). The Vtols work and they make for an awesome look when spread out in bot mode. I look forward to receiving the Takara version, and if it drops into my POL prior to or on the same day as my Hasbro Waspinator, then I'll get it in my next shipment. If not, then he'll just have to wait because I gotta get Wazzpinator :grin:

.

News Credits: 241 · Sat Dec 14, 2013 2:55 pm

xyl360 wrote:Of course, the only reason I actually got them was for the mini Axalon and unnamed Predacon ships from the show (yes, I know that unofficially it is called the "Darksyde", but Terrorsaur was clearly NOT referring to the name of their ship, just the fact that Dinobot was now in enemy territory, similar to when Dinobot refers to the Maximal ship as "Enemy Arms" in the very same episode, so don't you dare try to correct me on this one Sabre !

It was actually named "Darksyde" by Terrorsaur (off-panel) in the BotCon 2006 comic. Waspinator thought "Buzzerbot" would have been a better name :lol:

*quickly hides*

News Credits: 2 · Sat Dec 14, 2013 4:38 pm

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:
xyl360 wrote:Of course, the only reason I actually got them was for the mini Axalon and unnamed Predacon ships from the show (yes, I know that unofficially it is called the "Darksyde", but Terrorsaur was clearly NOT referring to the name of their ship, just the fact that Dinobot was now in enemy territory, similar to when Dinobot refers to the Maximal ship as "Enemy Arms" in the very same episode, so don't you dare try to correct me on this one Sabre !

It was actually named "Darksyde" by Terrorsaur (off-panel) in the BotCon 2006 comic. Waspinator thought "Buzzerbot" would have been a better name

*quickly hides*

true, but if you know nothing else, know this: I don't read the comics nor do I accept them as being a part of the show's cannon (yes, even when the show writers themselves participate because these are the same guys who in interviews often state things about the show itself that were not true/not accurate and they were known for participating in what many would call "fanwank", especially when it came to the conventions

).

News Credits: 60 · Sat Dec 14, 2013 6:25 pm

Noideaforaname wrote:Hard to ignore the chunks of dune buggy hanging off the sides of the VTOL copter on Takara's version.

And the chunks don't hang in the Hasbro version? I'm confused. :???:

News Credits: 3 · Sat Dec 14, 2013 8:06 pm

fenrir72 wrote:
Noideaforaname wrote:Hard to ignore the chunks of dune buggy hanging off the sides of the VTOL copter on Takara's version.

And the chunks don't hang in the Hasbro version? I'm confused.

There are no chunks of dune buggy on the Hasbro version because the actually BLEND with the VTOL mode whereas they stick out like a sore thumb on the Takara release. They look out of place.

News Credits: 60 · Sat Dec 14, 2013 11:22 pm

You mean the sides that make up his left and right shoulder in root mode? Come to think of it, you are right.It does stick out like a sore thumb. There goes the corner cutting to save a few Yen by Tomy.......arrgh! Someone must have gone overboard in ordering too much banana yellow pvcs.

News Credits: 1 · Tue Dec 17, 2013 12:55 pm

The orange used by Takara does seem richer than Hasbro's, but the colours aren't as different as I thought they were going to be. I can see where folk are coming from saying it's too orange or that Hasbro's seems more balanced but at the end of the day, what's important to me at least is that Sandstorm was orange. Plus I haven't sprung for the Hasbro version yet either so I'll probably stick with my Takara pre-order.

I will admit that I don't like the all orange gun though. I'll probably ditch that and look for some generic blaster for him to use.

News Credits: 60 · Sun Dec 22, 2013 10:15 pm

I'm not sure if its the lighting or the resolution but amiami uploaded these pics

The chunks of dune buggy ain't that bad.

News Credits: 668 · Mon Dec 23, 2013 5:44 am

TFYuki is at it again, firing up his twitter to post new pictures of upcoming Transformers products. This time? Generations Sandstorm. As we previously reported, the deco is slightly different from the US version with added silver paint to bring out extra detail.

And he's not the only one! Amiami posted a small in hand gallery, linked to us by seibertron.com member Fenrir72!

We have mirrored the images here for ease of use.

Keep your optics tuned to seibertron.com for the latest in news, updates and the best galleries around!

Mon Dec 23, 2013 8:11 am

the pose in that last image is pretty damn epic.

News Credits: 60 · Mon Dec 23, 2013 8:33 am

TF Yuki is one lucky dude! Official release via online is "late December" :sad:

The wait is killing me!

(Thanks Autobot032)

griftimus prime wrote:the pose in that last image is pretty damn epic.

Indeed bro'. Epic indeed........ :APPLAUSE:

News Credits: 2 · Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:33 am

Hasbro Sandstorm is great, but Takara Sandstorm is omnomnomnomnomnom tasty, especially in bot mode

. I love how the orange vtol arms contrast with the yellow on his back in bot mode. He pulls off that backpack much better than the Hasbro version IMO (although the Hasbro version pulls it off quite nicely itself).

I may actually trade their guns though so that the Hasbro version gets orange and the Takara version gets black. I think that might look nifty.

Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:40 am

call me crazy, but the takara version suddenly looks a lot better than in the first round of pictures

News Credits: 2 · Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:51 am

wilcosu35 wrote:call me crazy, but the takara version suddenly looks a lot better than in the first round of pictures

Yeah, it's the warmer/more red hew of the lighting used in those pics I think. It brings out deeper tones in the orange. It's still going to look different from that in hand though, and I suspect that until someone like Ryan gets more professional shots of the Takara version up via his galleries side-by-side with the Hasbro version, we won't have a clear comparison between the real differences between them as far as what they'll look like in hand.

News Credits: 5 · Mon Dec 23, 2013 10:10 am

Interesting how the radical color changes to his alt-modes don't really carry over to his robot mode

News Credits: 2 · Mon Dec 23, 2013 10:13 am

welcometothedarksyde wrote:Interesting how the radical color changes to his alt-modes don't really carry over to his robot mode

Yeah, it's because most of it is on the back I guess. It does highlight some nice details though and breaks things up a bit (like with the vtols on his back which I pointed out earlier).

News Credits: 60 · Mon Dec 23, 2013 11:25 am

Yup! As I have previously mentioned in other posts, initial pics don't always do the figure justice.

Unless someone shoots an item on a hi res cam like Ryan's you can hardly tell the quality of the fig. Just like the 2 contrasting sources, amiami and TF Yuki. The former has more subdued colors while the latter has very bright banana yellow.

News Credits: 668 · Mon Dec 23, 2013 12:01 pm

fenrir72 wrote::BANG_HEAD:

TF Yuki is one lucky dude! Official release via online is "late December" The wait is killing me!

(Thanks Autobot032)

griftimus prime wrote:the pose in that last image is pretty damn epic.

Indeed bro'. Epic indeed........

No, thank you! We appreciate all submissions.

News Credits: 3 · Mon Dec 23, 2013 6:06 pm

YAY!! HIGH RES PICS!

Oh wait.....no, it's still too much orange.

News Credits: 60 · Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:12 pm

And as you previously mentioned, already have the alternative less orange Hasbro version.

News Credits: 1 · Wed Dec 25, 2013 6:06 am

The Amiami images look a helluva lot like the official Takara photos, just without any of the watermarks we've seen on them before.

I'm liking the look of the Takara figure more and more. I'm still not keen on the all orange weapon, and if I'm honest I wish the coloured parts of the rotors matched the wings. But I'm being picky. Will still buy, easily.

News Credits: 60 · Wed Dec 25, 2013 7:48 am

Just released officially via online Japan stores (amiami and hobbysearch). Not sure if applicable via retail Japanese stores.

News Credits: 668 · Thu Dec 26, 2013 2:28 pm

Seems Sandstorm is making the rounds on the 'net and he's quite popular. First it was TFYuki, then it was AmiAmi, now it's Alfes2010 and he's posted quite possibly the best gallery yet.

We've mirrored the images here, but you can visit his twitter feed here: https://twitter.com/Alfes2010/