The Energon Pub

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Agamemnon wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:Still trying to figure out....why gumball ?

It's slang derived from this type of siren. Granted a small misnomer here, but I suppose it's evolved to mean any type of siren. Maybe. Google image search gave me long types of sirens when I searched anyway.

Very close. I think you meant the lights, right? The round shaped lights in the picture are round like a gumball or gumball machine from way back when. Today, they are called light bars.

If you ever saw Starsky and Hutch, they had a removable gumball light that they would throw onto the roof when they needed to get somewhere fast.

Edit: Check out this site for the gumball lights for a model police car.

I always thought of the siren as part of the light, but yeah. I meant the lights.

The siren is the wedge shaped, silver thing in the middle. If you ever get a chance, check out what a siren looks like inside. It's pretty fascinating how it creates the sound. (Thank you Mr. Wizard from forever ago on Nickelodean. )

Thanks for the photos, Genocide. It'll be nice to get started on my... sixth G1 Classics combiner.

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:Thanks for the photos, Genocide. It'll be nice to get started on my... sixth G1 Classics combiner.

No problem Striker

GiveMeSkyfire wrote:My issue is the foot. Seems very lazy for a combiner now. Not so much that it is an extra part but it could use some beefing up, maybe some sides to give it an actual foot look. Not liking the slab and joint. Hoping the rest f the combiner ties it together in a way that I can over look it.

yeah... those feet are rather uninspired..

Agamemnon wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Agamemnon wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:Still trying to figure out....why gumball ?

It's slang derived from this type of siren. Granted a small misnomer here, but I suppose it's evolved to mean any type of siren. Maybe. Google image search gave me long types of sirens when I searched anyway.

Very close. I think you meant the lights, right? The round shaped lights in the picture are round like a gumball or gumball machine from way back when. Today, they are called light bars.

If you ever saw Starsky and Hutch, they had a removable gumball light that they would throw onto the roof when they needed to get somewhere fast.

Edit: Check out this site for the gumball lights for a model police car.

I always thought of the siren as part of the light, but yeah. I meant the lights.

The siren is the wedge shaped, silver thing in the middle. If you ever get a chance, check out what a siren looks like inside. It's pretty fascinating how it creates the sound. (Thank you Mr. Wizard from forever ago on Nickelodean. )

Bubble sirens, huh ? Way before my time and Im 37. I wonder how old these toy designers really are ?

Rated X wrote:Bubble sirens, huh ? Way before my time and Im 37. I wonder how old these toy designers really are ?

Bubble lights, er Gumball lights, dude. Didn't you ever watch Starsky and Hutch? (I'm not that much older than you.) I even remember a Friends episode where Ross, Joey, and Chandler were on a police ride-along and Ross was playing with the cop's bubble light, and ended up hiding it under his shirt and pretending to be E.T. (Yeah, it was as lame as that sounds.) I'm pretty sure there have been cop and/or detective type shows where the driver of a car throws up a flashing light on the roof of the car. These have been around forever, and I believe are still in use today.

Agamemnon wrote:

Rated X wrote:Bubble sirens, huh ? Way before my time and Im 37. I wonder how old these toy designers really are ?

Bubble lights, er Gumball lights, dude. Didn't you ever watch Starsky and Hutch? (I'm not that much older than you.) I even remember a Friends episode where Ross, Joey, and Chandler were on a police ride-along and Ross was playing with the cop's bubble light, and ended up hiding it under his shirt and pretending to be E.T. (Yeah, it was as lame as that sounds.) I'm pretty sure there have been cop and/or detective type shows where the driver of a car throws up a flashing light on the roof of the car. These have been around forever, and I believe are still in use today.

Heard of it but never seen it. The only non cartoons I would watch as a kid was dukes of hazzard and knight rider. Dont recall seeing bubble lights on those shows. Was there any on roscoes police car ?

Rated X wrote:Heard of it but never seen it. The only non cartoons I would watch as a kid was dukes of hazzard and knight rider. Dont recall seeing bubble lights on those shows. Was there any on roscoes police car ?

I think very early on, like first season, there was the older style Gumball lights:



Then later, they were definitely the light bar:



Have you seen Striking Distance with Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Frasier's dad? Early in that one there was an unmarked car that I believe had the temporary gumball light on the roof.

Ah, I love these walks down nostalgia lane. Too bad this isn't enough to get me to buy Prometheus...

[Edit] Or maybe Smokey and the Bandit?







(I love that last pic!! )

The 60's Batmobile had one, as did the police cars of that incarnation of Gotham City.



Police squad and the "Naked Gun" movies used them in the intros.



[youtube]www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWOrtgiG7EI[/youtube]

I've seen gumball lights before, and for the record I'm 35. Starsky and Hutch. Good lord that brings back memories.

that foot.... so lazy...

That photo with Drift makes Gumball pale in comparison. He's just too plain looking. Also, his windshield seems to cover the bottom half of his face. Not very excited about these new pictures, or the project as a whole.

Woo $100 drift!!! Sign me up

Agamemnon wrote:

Rated X wrote:Heard of it but never seen it. The only non cartoons I would watch as a kid was dukes of hazzard and knight rider. Dont recall seeing bubble lights on those shows. Was there any on roscoes police car ?

I think very early on, like first season, there was the older style Gumball lights:



Then later, they were definitely the light bar:



Have you seen Striking Distance with Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Frasier's dad? Early in that one there was an unmarked car that I believe had the temporary gumball light on the roof.

Ah, I love these walks down nostalgia lane. Too bad this isn't enough to get me to buy Prometheus...

[Edit] Or maybe Smokey and the Bandit?







(I love that last pic!! )

I heard of most of those shows, but never got to see any of them. Hey didnt they use one of those gumball lights in the naked gun ?

Rated X wrote:I heard of most of those shows, but never got to see any of them. Hey didnt they use one of those gumball lights in the naked gun ?

Yes, indeed.

rpetras wrote:The 60's Batmobile had one, as did the police cars of that incarnation of Gotham City.



Police squad and the "Naked Gun" movies used them in the intros.

necr0blivion wrote:That photo with Drift makes Gumball pale in comparison. He's just too plain looking. Also, his windshield seems to cover the bottom half of his face. Not very excited about these new pictures, or the project as a whole.

I agree. I think TFC has resorted to "hey it's part of a combiner, buy it!" I don't think I like any part of his robot mode.

Autobot Genocide wrote:

Looking at these Two pics. by default Gumball has to be a Deluxe toy since he's so much smaller than the Voyager GDO Hotspot toy.

$100 for a 3rd party deluxe combiner team member is just too high of a price to pay.

Doctor McGrath wrote:

necr0blivion wrote:That photo with Drift makes Gumball pale in comparison. He's just too plain looking. Also, his windshield seems to cover the bottom half of his face. Not very excited about these new pictures, or the project as a whole.

I agree. I think TFC has resorted to "hey it's part of a combiner, buy it!" I don't think I like any part of his robot mode.

Yeah, very weak offering. I'm still gonna wait to see the final product before I write it off, if I like the unseen 3 as much as I do the motorcycle limb there is still a chance for this....hoping I am wowed by it but worse case scenario I save 600 bucks.

Tsutsukakushi wrote:

Autobot Genocide wrote:

Looking at these Two pics. by default Gumball has to be a Deluxe toy since he's so much smaller than the Voyager GDO Hotspot toy.

$100 for a 3rd party deluxe combiner team member is just too high of a price to pay.

I quite agree. He stands pretty much the same height as Drift. If this was priced more like a 3P Deluxe, or at least closer to FP's Stuntacons...nope, I can't even say I'd buy him then. Maybe $15?

Happy Free Comic Book Day...

Tsutsukakushi wrote:

Autobot Genocide wrote:

Looking at these Two pics. by default Gumball has to be a Deluxe toy since he's so much smaller than the Voyager GDO Hotspot toy.

$100 for a 3rd party deluxe combiner team member is just too high of a price to pay.

On the flip side, after all the complaining about TFCs Constructicons and Aerialbots being too big and out of scale with hasbro figures, its nice to see they finally got the scale right. Id rather have a $100 figure that scales properly with hasbro figures than $100 figure that is big for the sake of being big. This is the scale we should have gotten for the other TFC combiners. And this is the scale FP stunticons should have been. As far as the price goes, do like me and just wait for the whole set to be released and buy the inevitable bundle pack and save money. Im guessing it will be around $460. Remember this is TFC so they will be in stock for a long time while we wait for the "protect your ass" upgrade set to make him look more G1.

This is the scale that you wanted, to speak for the rest of us is a bit presumptuous. Not everyone collects exclusively classics scale. Obviously enough consumers like a larger toy or all these companies would have changed their behavior by now. I dont mind a smaller scale though, i just put them on different shelves.

GiveMeSkyfire wrote:Obviously enough consumers like a larger toy or all these companies would have changed their behavior by now.

...but TFC just did. That's what the pictures are showing.


Also, it's a bit strange of them to show their $100 toy in comparison shot alongside Hasbro $30 and $15 toys that put theirs to shame and give me even less reason to buy it even if it was a cheap Hasbro figure. could they just mold a lower Defensor leg and give me that for $20 or something?

GiveMeSkyfire wrote:This is the scale that you wanted, to speak for the rest of us is a bit presumptuous. Not everyone collects exclusively classics scale. Obviously enough consumers like a larger toy or all these companies would have changed their behavior by now. I dont mind a smaller scale though, i just put them on different shelves.

Where were you when the hercules and uranus discussions were in full heat ? Scale was a major factor for those who chose who wanted to stick with FP scale. Go read the old threads. Thats why giant did so well even though the individual bots were crap. Thats why theres a 4th party add on to make FP Superion scale with giant. The peopke who wanted them huge were in the minority. And this is coming from a guy who bought both here and uranus and is buying mmc feral rex. I dont like the huge scale. I put up with it because mass shifting makes the combiners size cartoon accurate even if the individual bot modes arent.

Rated X wrote:Where were you when the hercules and uranus discussions were in full heat?

Right here and it was relatively divided otherwise there would not have been a "full heat" debate. Maybe more wanted giant in the end, I didn't do a head count. Surely not more than a 10% margin I would bet. This is also assuming that everyone that had an opinion chimed in. I am willing to bet they sold more than the 20 or so people that carried that debate on for so long. Maybe if we had the numbers from both companies showing units sold we could say which did better. For now Im comfortable saying it was 50/50 with a 10 point swing.

RatedX wrote:Thats why theres a 4th party add on to make FP Superion scale with giant.

Irrelevant since they were add on parts for and existing toy made by Hasbro which generally doesn't ever do big.

RatedX wrote:The people who wanted them huge were in the minority.

Again, I never claimed one way or the other, simply that they got enough market share to make more in the same vein as Herc. Your statement I objected to was your use of "we should have got" as if everyone shares your opinion of what is best and that these companies are somehow defying the voice of the people. Its cool that you collect classics scale, some cool figures. Its a bit obtuse to think that anyone is making toys with what X wants in mind. Its likely that as companies get better at designing the size will shrink and they will still be able to put in the same level of complexity. I won't complain, I like the new masterpieces as much as the old. If someday these gestalts are released all in 9" format and they are just as awesome I will buy. Its a little odd to be so obsessive about scale. I like well made figures that look cool. That fact that MP 10 is up to Hercs chest kinda blows any illusion of scale anyway. Maybe if I had WST figures at his feet it would mean more to me.

RatedX wrote:And this is coming from a guy who bought both here and uranus and is buying mmc feral rex. I dont like the huge scale.

You should learn to speak with your money better and stop encouraging behavior you don't like.

RatedX wrote:...mass shifting makes the combiners size cartoon accurate....

Im not 5, I don't believe in mass shifting. I don't buy toys based on how tall one should be next to the other. A head or two in either direction is whatever...

To date, a substantial amount of these 3rd party offerings are pretty big. Warbatron and Computron look to be pretty big as well. All I was saying to begin with here is that lots of people like the bigger toys. Lots of people like the smaller ones.
Some people just like them for the design. It might start trending smaller idk. I do know if everything was reversed I wouldn't say "look how big they are! this is the size WE should have gotten in the first place!"

Who is this we?