The Energon Pub

Hats off to Blurr about this topic!! but for me, PCC is a love/hate relationship, i dont mind looking at them, but cant bring myself to buy them.

PS I wasnt collecting Transformers at the time of the Armada release, but took a peek at Armade Side Swipe and bout upchucked my breakfast....hurrl!!! Even G1 figures look better than that.

Allow me a bit of counterpoint with Blurrz...

Friends, Seibertronians, Countrymen, lend me your ears.

Perhaps we make too much of the faults of this line. After all, has not every era of new Transformers been met with cynicism and anger? How lame were the gimmicks of Cybertron and Energon and how great were the cries against those things, yet someone somewhere recognizes the value of those toys; look to eBay for that truth.

How ugly and horrid were the movie toys in 2007 and again 2009? Yet, somehow you still own more than one Bumblebee…

How strongly did we all condemn Animated at the first teaser picture? Now its fiction is loved in ways matched only by Beast Wars and we clamor pathetically for the last few toys to hit shelves.

So, that being said, allow me to take up the sword and the shield once again and defend this line, these Power Core Combiners. In full disclosure, I agree with Blurrz. This line is a failure and in my mind and way of thinking…a waste of resources. But triumph from tragedy and all that nonsense. Let’s see what’s salvageable from this whole thing…

Let’s start with media and characters. Where can we place these toys and have them be relevant to our shelves? I hear the movie-verse is a popular destination for these toys. Personally, I think that’s a very bad, very simplistic idea. Yes, the faces have a twinge of movie look to them, but that’s where it ends. Instead, I would contend that these are in fact, long lost toys from the Energon line.

Energon brought forth an importance on Scout sized figures as transitional figures to provide weapons and energy to larger bots. All the PCC figures are Scout sized, they all wield energon (though, this time in Minicon form), but that’s not enough. We need the cool sci-fi, space odyssey hook. Remember Energon Prime and his drone team? What if the entire PCC line was the story/battle for that technology? Why not use that as a hook and starting point for placement of these toys? It resolves scale issues, drone issues, and reasons for why these guys don’t look the best in combined mode (they hadn’t gotten it right).

You’re probably saying to yourself, “Golly, that’s a pretty good idea for story placement. But CP, the toys are still pretty much ass.” Fair enough. Let’s talk toys.

I’m going to come right out and admit that the quality issues with these things are HIGHLY distasteful. Hasbro, hyperbole aside, get your **** together. Double Clutch, Skyburst, Bombshock, Sledge, Mudslinger…really? These figures do not manage their intended purpose very well at all. Son, I am disappoint.

In case you missed it, I want to be clear. Some of these figures are truly bad designs. They suck. Blurrz is right. But…

It’s not all bad. Everyone of those figures is of bad design due to one specific design flaw. Double Clutch can’t keep a combined mode, nor can Skyburst. Bombshock was an assembly issue and doesn’t line up in alt mode. Sledge’s transformation causes him to come apart. Mudslinger…no, Mudslinger just sucks. Set those issues aside and Double Clutch is a good scout toy. He’s a passable Classics Freeway. Skyburst isn’t bad as a toy if you’re not combining him. Bombshock can be fixed to work properly and then…he’s pretty cool.

I think many of the issues pertaining to these toys that we’re on the fence about or that we find it easy to pick on, is that those limited flaws are overshadowing a larger benefit. If I had never tried to combine Double Clutch, I’d probably really like him. Same thing with Skyburst. I know it’s not a great defense of the line, we could probably even make a name for this kind of situation. I propose we call this the Energon Dinobots rule. See, much like the Energon Dinobots (not bad toys), they’re good…until you try to use their combining gimmick. For the sake of enjoying those toys, I have had to forget that gimmick ever existed. Sometimes, it’s better to forget.

Where the big tent idea of PCC is often looked at as being crappy, interestingly enough, Smolder, Searchlight, Huffer, Leadfoot, and to a lesser degree Icepick are all looked at favorably. People seem to like these toys for a variety of reasons (because they’re good Scout toys, ssshhh). I’m content ignoring the whole PCC thing if it nets me a small pile of cool new figures. …And these ARE cool new figures. They’re detailed, posable, and they work well with their Mini-cons.

Ah yes, PCC Mini-cons. Much has been commented in regards to my feelings on these things. Truth be told, I’m indifferent. Some are good, some are bad, but that’s the way it always is with Mini-cons. What I DO like is their ability to be armor for the larger figure. I think that’s a great play element on the toys, like an energon shield generator or something…

To sum it up; why are these things being made? I think someone made a sales pitch to Hasbro/Takara and they were in the mood for experimenting. Like all experiments, you get a lot of crap before you get to the gems. I would not try to sell anyone on this line, in fact, if you’re wondering if you should get into the PCC line, my answer is a firm “No.” That being said, there are figures to pick up that are worth owning and worth investigating.

I am not a fan of this line. When the pics started coming out for these guys, I told myself not to buy them. Except for Huffer due to his G1-ness. I bought him on sight, knowing he was going on my Classic shelf.

Once I got him home I played with him a bit. Simplistic transformation, G1 looks, nice sculpted and painted details. I messed with Caliburst for a minute and them put him into my tub of crap that I don't display.

Now that Huffer is on display I grab him off the shelf a lot. His simplistic transformation is fun while I am watching TV. He looks great on the shelf next to Classics Bumblebee. From watching the old cartoons, his scale is pretty close.

I won't buy any more of these guys unless they are G1 references. I don't like the gimmick of the combiners. As CP mentioned I don'thave to use that gimmick. Huffer works for my collection.

What I like about PCC Huffer is that it feels like an updated G1 minibot, though a bit bigger. It's a solid toy that is easy to pick up and play around with for a while and then set back down. The transformation is straightforward but still has an element of complexity that isn't too out of reach for younger kids but can also be appreciated by transformation design enthusiasts like me.

I agree with CP, I wouldn't recommend the PCC line, though there are some figures that I think are worth checking out.

I also agree with the sentiment voiced earlier in the thread that the rationalization for poorer toy products is that they're made for kids is a cop out. I think good toys aren't solely the providence of toys made for older consumers.

Some of them are worth the purchase for me. They're definitely flawed, but fun. It was amazing how long both Searchlight and Bombshock stayed on my nightstand, where they were transformed nightly. The only reason they got moved is because I wanted to display my entire Animated G1 movie cast together. If you forget about the wasted potential and sometimes crappy design, they're a lot of fun to play with, and some of them even look cool, no lie.

Convotron wrote:What I like about PCC Huffer is that it feels like an updated G1 minibot, though a bit bigger. It's a solid toy that is easy to pick up and play around with for a while and then set back down. The transformation is straightforward but still has an element of complexity that isn't too out of reach for younger kids but can also be appreciated by transformation design enthusiasts like me.

I agree with CP, I wouldn't recommend the PCC line, though there are some figures that I think are worth checking out.

I also agree with the sentiment voiced earlier in the thread that the rationalization for poorer toy products is that they're made for kids is a cop out. I think good toys aren't solely the providence of toys made for older consumers.

I think maybe what he's getting at is that if these were designed with collectors in mind, the product would be of a higher caliber, not that kids are relegated to junk.

Counterpunch wrote:I think maybe what he's getting at is that if these were designed with collectors in mind, the product would be of a higher caliber, not that kids are relegated to junk.

If that's what was meant, I definitely agree.

I really don't know where I came off as insinuating that kids lack intelligence or brains or enjoy crappy toys... but yeah, you know what - toys specifically for kids aren't unanimously crappy. At one end of the spectrum, you've got Animated Supreme Optimus Prime which is mediocre at best, and then you've got something like Cybertron Leader Optimus Prime which is the freaking boss. Now I could statically check every figure's articulation, designate it as a kid or older TF fan's toy, and then calculate the earnings of each figure - but it would probably be averaging out to have the same profit.

The point is, I don't want to repeat myself, but the Animated toyline crapped the bed. Perhaps not to us fans specifically, but from a financial standpoint, absolutely. Why the heck would good toys like Arcee and Rodimus not want to be sold through regular waves? Why did we get shut down out of a fourth Animated season?

I dare you to ask Aaron Archer how come the Generations toy line was geared for kids, and why Power Core Combiners were for us older fans.

PCC's are completely and utterly geared for children. I don't need to be lectured as to what kid's like, because I'm probably younger than most of you and my memories are still intact. Sure I know toddlers who just want to have an Optimus Prime, or a Bumblebee.... but they also want to have fun. Why the heck does crap like Bakuman or Beyblade sell? Cause they're great toys? Because they've got a captivated TV show? Hell no, it's cause they're fun and easy to play with. That's why Transformers were simplified down into Power Core Combiners.

Someone told me not to underestimate kids. I don't underestimate any of my fellow human beings on this planet, but you know what, the common kid who's not immersed with Transformers, gets Leader OP gifted to him on his birthday. Either he's going to magically transform it, or he and his parents won't be able to transform it. The $50 figure bought by the parents is returned or whatever, and Transformers is completely tuned out of that family. Power Core Combiners prevent this entirely.

Filler line? What the heck is there to fill? The missing shelfwarming gaps at Wal*Mart, TRU and Target? To fill out the mediocre category so Generations and the Movie line look like Robot gold?

Hey, I don't mind this line at all. All power to the people who enjoy it, and I hope you get what you want from the line. Personally I'll take them to enlarge my mini-con fleet, but this still doesn't stop me from saying that this line is wrong. Medically wrong.

I thank you if you like or didn't like my article. I thought Seibertron.com needed some comedy and discussion this weekend. Getting people talking and thinking intelligently over toys is something we need more of. Thanks as well CP for your opinion too. Mkall's up next week.

Honestly, I am pretty happy that a "simple" transformer line that is still on par with Gerations is out there. My son loved animated, and loves the toys, but can't transform any of them. Something on his level is much appreciated as a parent.

I think the sad part of the PCC line is the way that many people are either neutral towards or hate the combining gimmick, which is supposed to be the main draw of the toys. For me, I came for the combining concept but stayed for the commander figures.

Out of curiosity, is there a source for verifying that TFA's demise was due to financial failure? The reason I ask is that I didn't read/hear of any indication that the TFA toys were selling so bad that it would cause Hasbro to so suddenly end the line.

Convotron wrote:I think the sad part of the PCC line is the way that many people are either neutral towards or hate the combining gimmick, which is supposed to be the main draw of the toys. For me, I came for the combining concept but stayed for the commander figures.

Out of curiosity, is there a source for verifying that TFA's demise was due to financial failure? The reason I ask is that I didn't read/hear of any indication that the TFA toys were selling so bad that it would cause Hasbro to so suddenly end the line.

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe it was said at one of the panels (either SDCC or Botcon) that the line didn't perform as well as they (Hasbro) had hoped.

Plus, if you look back at all the Wal-Marts, TRUs, Targets, K-Marts, and now TJ Maxx stores, you'll notice that it didn't sell out like other lines had. There was always a full shelf or a full peg with Animated on it.

We've seen certain figures sell out, or a certain size class, but with Animated, there was always something in stock, and usually multiples.

Because of this, Ultra Magnus didn't make his way to a lot of stores, except in larger metro areas with heavier business. In fact, small towns like mine, didn't see Magnus until 1-1.5 years AFTER he was released originally. I got mine in August '08 from BBTS.

I saw him in clearance during Christmas '09 at my local Wal-Mart. Along with Bulkhead.

If stuff doesn't sell, new stuff doesn't come in, no new sales, line dies.

It also doesn't help that the series was off the air for the better part of a year. (maybe even longer, I can't really remember offhand)

Kids have a short attention span. Without the cartoon, and there was no comic at the time, there was nothing for kids to latch onto.

Bottom line is, Animated was handled badly from beginning to end. Retailers and Hasbro specifically. Especially the retailers. They wanted more movie ('07) toys because they were such phenomenal sellers. Animated was delayed until Botcon '08, and then mass released in June of that same year, but the show started airing after Christmas '07.

Obviously, the idea is a winner, the Japanese have embraced it and it's become a huge hit, toys included. That tells me that Hasbro has no backbone. They should've put a bit more fight into backing Animated.

I realize when Wal-Mart tells you to jump, you say how high, but you do so with a modicum of common sense. You cannot turn yourself inside out every time they ask you to, and this time they did, and Animated suffered for it.

Rabble Rabble!

Grab your torches and pitchforks and meet me in Rhode Island!

wow u guys are really fighting over this next thing i know ther ewill be a coke or pepsi thread personally i hate taking sides but this is just dumb your fight over a side line if you dont like you dont if you do you do justkeep it to your selves plzzz stop the madness

soundwave#1!!!500% wrote::CON: wow u guys are really fighting over this next thing i know ther ewill be a coke or pepsi thread personally i hate taking sides but this is just dumb your fight over a side line if you dont like you dont if you do you do justkeep it to your selves plzzz stop the madness

Err...who's fighting? I see some strong opinions, but I haven't seen anyone outright viciously attack another.

Maybe I missed it, feel free to point out the posts that do.

soundwave#1!!!500% wrote::CON: wow u guys are really fighting over this next thing i know ther ewill be a coke or pepsi thread personally i hate taking sides but this is just dumb your fight over a side line if you dont like you dont if you do you do justkeep it to your selves plzzz stop the madness

Pft. Sucks to this post.

A man has to have an opinion. (A gentleman can hold his opinion until asked for it.)

soundwave#1!!!500% wrote::CON: wow u guys are really fighting over this next thing i know ther ewill be a coke or pepsi thread personally i hate taking sides but this is just dumb your fight over a side line if you dont like you dont if you do you do justkeep it to your selves plzzz stop the madness

These boards exist so fans like us can discuss these things as we would if we could meet up and discuss in person.I don't see it as fighting more the strenghts and weaknesses this line has.Its actually nice to see peoples opinions on this line as whole instead of a bunch of little ,hard to find threads.I'm one of the fans on the fence for this line.I like Huffer and I see just a few others that I'm just curious about.The thread has lead me to decide to get Huffer and wait for a few others to go onsale /clearence before I decide to try them.So its been very helpful indeed.

Blurrz wrote:PCC's at the bottom of the league, and they traded away their first round draft pick. I just don't see that there's any hope for this line.

PCCs won't be on the bottom - I've just seen something that will be bigger shelfwarmers - Stealth Force! While they are nice in car mode, and have a lot of G1 characters (Silverstreak, Hound looks awesome)- I don't know how many more times will Hasbro try and fail with no-robot mode transformers.

Personally, I like PCCs - I have the Searchlight-pack, and a buddy sold me the Mad Max-cons from his five-pack to let me have a "combiner" - the powered up scout looks all right, but not perfect. The little drones lack even shoulder movement, which could be easily built in.

Still better than the movie line.

So far I've gotten the Arielbots team, the Combaticons team, Searchlight, Huffer and Smolder. Of those I like Huffer and Smolder the most, they fit in well with Classics/Universe/Generations and I've already got profiles and such in mind for them to write out.

The rest though, hmm, Searchlight is alright, but tends to feel like he's going to fall apart. The teams suffer from very bad Quality Control, like the left leg limb drone for Skyburst not even plugging in unless you transform it manually, then carefully, while holding it in place, slot it in.
With the Combaticons set one limb refuses to even stay on, another leg one, due to the strength of the spring within pushing the combiner plug out, at the same time it's hard to make the combined stand because the same limb's foot print folds right back in.

The line has potential, but it needs vastly better quality control.

As a scientist by trade, I feel short-changed by this article...

Interesting essay. I've been around since BW and I still think there is no better thing than that( vs. FTW!) .
PCC is a line that I really like (since in my country I haven't found generations yet), at first, I thougth they wouldn't be that cool, but I decided to give it a try ( My backwind w/ searchligth came with a broken leg ) . It's a line I learned to love, and sometimes hate.
great essay!

Autobot032 wrote:

Blurrz wrote:

The Legend wrote:It's such a cop-out when people excuse TFs being crap because they are 'designed for kids'. TFs of 25 years ago were designed for kids and we enjoyed them so much then that some of us pay ridiculous amounts for them and their homages 25 years later.

Give a 5 year old boy Revenge of the Fallen Leader Class Optimus Prime and see if he can transform it.

Fair point, but I guarantee you that there are 5 year olds out there that would have no problem transforming him, like a pro.

Kids tend to have that ability more than we do.

Give a kid a video game controller sometime, you'll be surprised how well they take down the boss you've been cursing at all day. Drowning in your own tears. I should know, I've been there.

I agree that Prime is a heck of a challenge for almost anyone, including kids, but kids don't know they can't do something and barrel through it like mad and usually end up with a positive end result.

Kids are smarter and far more resilient than we give them credit for. Hasbro needs to treat them better than PCC.

I would agree entirely with your statement. Each generation surpasses the last in so many ways, growing up casually with tech we're still getting the swing of in any respect.

But the fact of the matter is, no matter the age, the combined 'Jetfire Prime' is a display piece and little else. From my own six-year-old to my thirteen-year-old nephew, that toy has no play value.

Covenant wrote:

Autobot032 wrote:

Blurrz wrote:

The Legend wrote:It's such a cop-out when people excuse TFs being crap because they are 'designed for kids'. TFs of 25 years ago were designed for kids and we enjoyed them so much then that some of us pay ridiculous amounts for them and their homages 25 years later.

Give a 5 year old boy Revenge of the Fallen Leader Class Optimus Prime and see if he can transform it.

Fair point, but I guarantee you that there are 5 year olds out there that would have no problem transforming him, like a pro.

Kids tend to have that ability more than we do.

Give a kid a video game controller sometime, you'll be surprised how well they take down the boss you've been cursing at all day. Drowning in your own tears. I should know, I've been there.

I agree that Prime is a heck of a challenge for almost anyone, including kids, but kids don't know they can't do something and barrel through it like mad and usually end up with a positive end result.

Kids are smarter and far more resilient than we give them credit for. Hasbro needs to treat them better than PCC.

I would agree entirely with your statement. Each generation surpasses the last in so many ways, growing up casually with tech we're still getting the swing of in any respect.

But the fact of the matter is, no matter the age, the combined 'Jetfire Prime' is a display piece and little else. From my own six-year-old to my thirteen-year-old nephew, that toy has no play value.

I didn't mention Jetfire, though. I was talking about Optimus, only. "Jetfire Prime" has little to no play value, this is true, but that combo has nothing to do with what I was talking about. That's not really a fair assessment. Taking the weakest part of the figure (which really isn't Prime, seeing as it just tabs and slots on his body that are used and nothing else) isn't fair at all.

Kids, transforming Optimus back and forth from robot to vehicle, like a pro and outclassing some adults is what I was getting at. That and that alone. No Jetfire.

I'm not really sure what point you were trying to make, other than an excuse to jab at Jetfire's toy. Which is fine, but it doesn't make a great deal of sense at the moment.

I see the PCC line as a "fill-in" line.

I'm a big fan of scout class figures, as well as minicons that can be used as weapons.

So that's a check one and check two for PCC.

However, I'm not loving the "drone" limbs for the combiners, so I have not purchased any of the combiner sets yet. and a couple of the PCC commander figs have been less that appealing. I doubt I'll ever buy the aerialbot commander in any form, for example.

But I like Huffer, who is proudly standing in with my classics, and I really like the ambulance mold.

So, much like the Crossovers lines, I will probably pick and choose the items from the line that I think I will like, rather than be a completist.

I don't own any, and had no idea they got so much hate, they seem like a nice idea except that the drones don't transform.
The thing that bothers me is that the Minicons look VERY cheap and terrible, especially compared to the Armada/Energon/Cybertron Minicons.

They seem like the have repurposing/customizing potential, I remember someone making Staxx out of...Huffer? Or someone who was a truck...


Another thing that bugs me...the whole point of Combiners is for a larger and stronger robot.
These basically form armor that makes them the size of an average TransFormer.

I remember Hasbro saying that they were capitalizing on the combiner appeal of Devastator from the movie. However I think they're going about it all wrong.

For instance, there's only one Transforming figure and the rest are drones. It's like Energon Optimus Prime all over again. I would rather have seen something a little more like an updated Generation One combiner line, with four Transforming Scout Class figures led by a Deluxe figure as the torso. Only not duplicating two of the limbs like they did in previous lines. Perhaps have a Predacon and Dinobot team made up of all Deluxes. They could have created a line that was appealing to the target audience of kids, and if it didn't sell amongst them without the support of a cartoon or comic, it would have still moved units amongst adult collectors who could stand them up alongside their Generations figures.