The Energon Pub

News Credits: 3 · Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:27 am

Thanks ZeroSlash!

Of all the Pretenders I own, Bomb-Burst just keeps getting the most love -- and he originally was not on my short, must-haves list. I had picked him up complete for ~$20 with another Pretender in a lot off of eBay last year.

But today, he'd go for a lot more, thanks to the number of accessories and the recent updates from the Power of the Primes.

Nowadays, all I'm casually hunting are a few missing accessories -- like Thunderwing's cyclone gun, Finback's speargun, etc., but it's not like I plan on selling. It's the Completionist Collector in me, even if said accessories would most likely go in a baggy... >_<

News Credits: 1350 · Fri Apr 13, 2018 1:27 pm

Thunderwings gun...I feel like I've seen that recently :-?

I hate accessory hunting , I remember doing it for g1 metroplex parts but it started getting daft when I needed the parts to complete sixgun

Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:59 am

I'm surprised (and mildly disappointed) you guys haven't compared anymore of the human shells to celebs. I mean Stranglehold's shell is clearly Burt Reynolds:

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I've still got the Gunrunner figure I had a kid (the only pretender), although he is missing his 3 guns, and the rubber on his wheels degraded. I did always like having him sat driving his shell.

About 18 months ago after once again watching Masterforce, I decided I was going to get a few pretenders that I'd always liked the look.
So I've now got Vroom - minus the small gun and sidecar mounting, Cloudburt - minus belt, whip and helmet, and Submarauder with just his shell.

News Credits: 3 · Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:40 pm

OMG ZeroWolf -- accessory hunting really is the worst. It's insane to see accessories go almost as much as the figure itself.

Hah! Stranglehold really does look like a young Burt! I always think of Mike Haggar from FINAL FIGHT.

We know Grimlock looks like Garry Shandling, and Sky High is totally gonna Rick-Roll.

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News Credits: 1 · Sun Apr 15, 2018 2:39 am

If it helps to cap off the discussion from the last page, I have a little story. I was introduced to Transformers through the Cybertron line, so the pretenders should be almost as obscure to me as the '07 kids. Except they're not. I read scans of Dreamwave's MTMTE guides a lot, and the pretenders were easily the most memorable and "out there" designs. Heck, I can still recall some of their backstories off the top of my head: Finback's rust condition, Scowl's goofy alt-mode, and Gunrunner's odd sense of self all compelling them to don the shell. And then there was Mark Bellomo's guide to the G1 toys, which really cemented the pretenders as classic characters to me. Granted, my experience was hardly normal, but it speaks to the strong history of Transformers and how impactful even it's less-popular characters can be.

News Credits: 226 · Sun Apr 15, 2018 2:47 am

The characters are out there, they're just not mainstream enough.

The whole Pretender concept could easily be expanded on. If the Beast Wars characters have to take on animal alt modes to shield them from energon radiation, then why can't Pretender technology be a pre-cursor to that?

News Credits: 1350 · Sun Apr 15, 2018 3:19 am

Those comparisons are going to stay with me for the end of my days. Though admittedly I thought stranglehold had a Freddie Mercury vibe...just if he really worked out. Though it's funny that he's the only human looking decepticon pretender.

@Bodrock it's daft, but they know that there is people out there that will pay those prices so now I stay away from doing that unless I really have to.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:23 am

"Me Grimlock not crook, me President."

That's the only thing I see when I look at the Grimlock shell. I assume most them are based on members of the Hasbro team at the time and their family.

Emerje

Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:26 am

Which brings about another point of intrigue. With Stranglehold being the only human Decepticon shell, and Longtooth the only beastial Autobot shell, what stock do you put into the old rumour that the 2 were meant to be on the opposite factions to what they are?

News Credits: 101 · Sun Apr 15, 2018 7:12 am

Burn wrote:The characters are out there, they're just not mainstream enough.

The whole Pretender concept could easily be expanded on. If the Beast Wars characters have to take on animal alt modes to shield them from energon radiation, then why can't Pretender technology be a pre-cursor to that?

That's a popular fan theory. The beast pretenders being the final prototypes right before proper beastformers were born.

By the way, about Gunrunner and Roadgrabber.

My own picture found via DuckDuckGo. Neat! Still active... for now...

Those two just pretend to be pretenders. They are in fact transformable ACTION MASTERS and they come with their rides. 8-}

News Credits: 3 · Sun Apr 15, 2018 11:14 am

I like that thought, Kanra -- the Pretender Vehicles are the first Action Masters! And I could definitely see the Pretender Beasts helping to pave the way, but the brand needed something fresh to draw in a new crowd, or better yet, expand the fanbase.

I'm a new fan of the Pretenders and Beast Wars, having only acquired some in the last two years, but I'm certainly glad I did.

@Emerje -- Haha, Grimlock as Nixon! I totally see it.

@ZeroWolf -- I definitely see Freddie Mercury in Stranglehold as well -- I've tried hunting him several times but get sniped. ;p

@ ThunderThruster -- I believe that rumor! And I think it made those two fit in better, even if they are nothing like the others in their faction. Because really, a man-walrus is not in the same boat as a man-bat.

@Latebrus-K -- my kids are growing up now with DVDs of G1, Beast Wars/Machines, and the Bellomo guide!

News Credits: 1350 · Sun Apr 15, 2018 1:22 pm

Imagine grimlock hitting the campaign trail...imagine the debates :lol:

Can we find matches for more though?

MyFigureCollection.net collection · Sun Apr 15, 2018 2:43 pm

ThunderThruster wrote:Which brings about another point of intrigue. With Stranglehold being the only human Decepticon shell, and Longtooth the only beastial Autobot shell, what stock do you put into the old rumour that the 2 were meant to be on the opposite factions to what they are?

I'd take it a step further and say at some point during the design process they also swapped Bludgeon's and Pincher's inner bots since there are three beasts and three vehicles between the six Pretenders. I think it would have had to have been after they settled on shells since if Longtooth was a Decepticon it'd be weird for him to have a scorpion or rhino alt mode. A tank is a strange alt mode for a samurai skeleton to take and a scorpion is a weird alt mode for an Autobot, but a samurai scorpion and an Autobot tank seems more practical in '80s logic. They'd just have to make the swap early enough to fit them to the shell.

Emerje

News Credits: 1 · Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:33 pm

bodrock wrote:@Latebrus-K -- my kids are growing up now with DVDs of G1, Beast Wars/Machines, and the Bellomo guide!

Brilliant - they'll be fans for life!

On a slightly different note, what would you all think of a Generations line made entirely of modernized, snap-on-armor pretenders? I created a massively-overthought mold/Wave plan and made a little rant in the Your Best Ideas thread. https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=110516

News Credits: 3 · Sun Apr 15, 2018 10:00 pm

Latebrus-K wrote:
bodrock wrote:@Latebrus-K -- my kids are growing up now with DVDs of G1, Beast Wars/Machines, and the Bellomo guide!

Brilliant - they'll be fans for life!

On a slightly different note, what would you all think of a Generations line made entirely of modernized, snap-on-armor pretenders? I created a massively-overthought mold/Wave plan and made a little rant in the Your Best Ideas thread. https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=110516

I'd buy those Pretender updates ASAP if that happened, Latebrus-K! I wish HasTak thought of that so it could happen in the line after PotP...

News Credits: 1350 · Mon Apr 16, 2018 4:06 am

There's still chance they could happen in the lines after wfc, we don't know the direction they'll take their story. Might wreck their planet again meaning the bots and cons need the armour to continue the fight on their home world...or be boring and bring it back to earth.

News Credits: 3 · Mon Apr 16, 2018 11:39 am

lol, Yeah, I'd also prefer the war be fought on other planets. We can already empathize with these alien, sentient machines, so why add Earthlings?

The Autobot Pretenders can play that role.

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News Credits: 1350 · Mon Apr 16, 2018 3:17 pm

Those are some good likenesses, especially splashdown as Bruce Lee (although here in blighty there's a power company advertising through a Bruce Lee inspired campaign so I'm just thinking him saying "tap me")

News Credits: 3 · Mon Apr 16, 2018 4:44 pm

I though a bit about Bumblebee and Starscream...

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MyFigureCollection.net collection · Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:37 pm

See, I always thought the Starscream shell looked like Marvel's Sub Mariner, maybe as a nod to them for their support.

Emerje

News Credits: 1350 · Mon Apr 16, 2018 6:34 pm

I can see both to be honest, it's the hair style choice that really sells the sub-mariner reference.

Fri Apr 20, 2018 7:53 am

I didn't realise how small the small pretenders are.

I bought a Stranglehold of e(vil)Bay, and its arrived today at the same time the G1 Warpath I got. Only upon having them both stood on my desk facing each other did I see that Stranglehold is minibot sized.

News Credits: 101 · Fri Apr 20, 2018 2:12 pm

ThunderThruster wrote:I didn't realise how small the small pretenders are.

I bought a Stranglehold of e(vil)Bay, and its arrived today at the same time the G1 Warpath I got. Only upon having them both stood on my desk facing each other did I see that Stranglehold is minibot sized.

That's because he's part of the "small" pretenders wave. The older pretenders had about the same inner bot, which are as tall as a deluxe. However, they were all pretty similar. For the smaller pretenders, each inner bots were uniques but were minibot sized. The mega pretenders and the animals pretenders had inner bots that were roughly scout sized.