The Energon Pub

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Snarler, for example. When even Actionmasters have been revived ala RED. No one has attempted the Pretender gimmick in a long time. So why not just make them straight up regular Transformers ala IDW's Stormbringer?

-Kanrabat- wrote:Normal pretenders couldn't really be pretenders but they could have the bot mode resembling the outer shell as close as possible while having the relevant altmode. They almost succeeded with ROTF Bludgeon after all.

To be fair, the current leaks/rumors surrounding the Legacy Core Iguanus we have a Target listing for is that he'll be exactly that, an outer shell-based bot mode with his inner bot's motorcycle alt mode, so maybe if that does well they'll make more?

Nemesis Primal wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Snarler, for example. When even Actionmasters have been revived ala RED. No one has attempted the Pretender gimmick in a long time. So why not just make them straight up regular Transformers ala IDW's Stormbringer?

-Kanrabat- wrote:Normal pretenders couldn't really be pretenders but they could have the bot mode resembling the outer shell as close as possible while having the relevant altmode. They almost succeeded with ROTF Bludgeon after all.

To be fair, the current leaks/rumors surrounding the Legacy Core Iguanus we have a Target listing for is that he'll be exactly that, an outer shell-based bot mode with his inner bot's motorcycle alt mode, so maybe if that does well they'll make more?

It was that announcement that got me thinking. It wouldn't take much for, Snarler there, to be a Drill Bot with Boar accents on his Bot Mode. Like the Transmetal 1 designs.

Perhaps, alternatively, a return to the Pretenders concept in general can be made. With an existing compromise...



Reversible altmodes, akin to Punch/Counterpunch?

I'd really like to see a new Glyph figure at some point, which itself isn't out of the question. What probably isn't going to happen, much to my annoyance, is them giving her a different alt mode from Bumblebee to differentiate her. Specifically I'd love it if they gave her another "cute continental car" altmode- either a classic Fiat 500 or for extra laughs a Citroen 2CV.

I really, REALLY love the look of such classic cars. Too bad appart the RotF scout Hubcap and the G2 Laser Rods, there's not much Transformers going for these altmodes.

I'll once again wish for a line of "What If" exploring an alternate universe where the Transformers woke up in 1920 instead of 1984.

-Kanrabat- wrote:I'll once again wish for a line of "What If" exploring an alternate universe where the Transformers woke up in 1920 instead of 1984.

Or earlier...

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:
Or earlier...

Even though it could be cool, it gives too much limitations to the altmodes pool. Best example is for the seekers. Hot air ballons just can't work.

I think the best setting could be the years between the two Great Wars, where tanks and big-ass bomber planes were beginning to be a thing. Not counting all the cool cars, trucks, jeeps, and even warships.

Scourge looked okay as a Blimp in Hearts of Steel. But it didn't really alter his altmode, just attached a balloon to it.

Meanwhile, I think the closest they came to that was the GI Joe/Transformers 2003 crossover.

Im going to put one out there that would be great for Transformers RED though I doubt will ever happen, and that would be RID 2000's T.AI

grimdragon2001 wrote:Im going to put one out there that would be great for Transformers RED though I doubt will ever happen, and that would be RID 2000's T.AI

I'm honestly surprised they never did any sort of little series or even blind-bag thing with all of the important human/human-adjacent characters from across Transformers history. Spike, Sparkplug, T-AI, Mark Wahlberg, etc

I too will love to have a R.E.D T.A.I and other human characters.

For now we have to settle for this little darling:



That's an official Takara product for those who don't know. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

-Kanrabat- wrote:I too will love to have a R.E.D T.A.I and other human characters.

For now we have to settle for this little darling:

IMG_20211022_195719.jpg

That's an official Takara product for those who don't know. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I have that one and shes adorable, but a posable figure would be nice

grimdragon2001 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:I too will love to have a R.E.D T.A.I and other human characters.

For now we have to settle for this little darling:

IMG_20211022_195719.jpg

That's an official Takara product for those who don't know. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I have that one and shes adorable, but a posable figure would be nice

More than nice.

Also, one more time, a R.E.D Sari Sumdak from Animated. Special edition double pack with her young self and grown-up self with switchable heads (with and without helmet.)

Well, I'll go with this one.

The General Lee from Dukes of Hazzards.
A bit insane that the flag is now so "offensive" that it's banned everywhere.
Even more so that the NORMAL U.S flag is also "offensive".

Best compromise would be to make it without the flag on the roof but with the "01" on the sides and let Toyhax handle the rest.

Make it a 2 pack with the sheriff's car (complete with his hat in robot mode) to make it better.

-Kanrabat- wrote:Well, I'll go with this one.

The General Lee from Dukes of Hazzards.
A bit insane that the flag is now so "offensive" that it's banned everywhere.
Even more so that the NORMAL U.S flag is also "offensive".

Best compromise would be to make it without the flag on the roof but with the "01" on the sides and let Toyhax handle the rest.

Make it a 2 pack with the sheriff's car (complete with his hat in robot mode) to make it better.

That would be pretty cool. Never watched Dukes of Hazzard, mind you, but I know it's a pretty fun show. Also the Dodge Charger is just a really nice looking car.

Speaking of cool cars, I'd love to see a kind of "Alternators 2.0" line; done at a smaller scale than the originals so they can fit in with other lines, but still done at a consistent scale- either 1:32 to look alright next to MPs or smaller (1:48?) to fit in with CHUG. They might not have the interiors but they would have super-accurate car modes, which would be designed as a priority, with the robot modes being more "original" in service of them working really well as action figures whilst still maintaining that tasty alt mode. In general it'd be more of a reinterpretation/classic CHUG line than trying to slavishly reproduce a character model- existing characters would be instantly recognizable but noticably new, and there would be fresh characters too.
Also, the car shell parts would all be designed to be easily removable (not "falls off" easy, but all the panels would be separate pieces from the robot parts and would be held on by screws at most) so that people who wanted to could easily repaint the car shell into colours of their liking; think McFarlane's paint-your-own 40K figures. This would also make it easier to retool existing figures into new altmodes for the designers, as the shells being separate pieces from the core robot means that you could hypothetically make minor changes to the actual robot whilst chainging the entire car shell and having a totally different figure as a result. I'd also like to point out this doesn't mean shellformers- when I say "car shell" I'm strictly referring to the main bodywork of the car (the red on Cliffjumper for instance), so with clever parts breakdown and engineering you could still have the easily removable, customizable car parts without ending up with the car equivalent of BWN Break.

I find it odd that time and money are the great equalizer. Both the Cosby show and Dukes were pulled from the networks airing them in reruns several years ago. Also all DVDs were pulled from retail shelves. Now I'm not sure about Cosby, but I know at my local Walmart right now, I could purchase the DVD box set of the full Dukes of Hazard series.

I would love an Alternators 2.0 line. But we kinda did with Takara's Alternity line. Still, I'd really want a new Alternators line with those points:

-- MP scale.

-- Fully licensed and accurate cars.

-- Cars spawning from the 1900's to the 1970's exclusively.

-- Diecast car shell and joints.

-- Rubber tires.

-- Complete interiors.

-- Hood lift to reveal the engine block.

-- Completely ORIGINAL robot modes that would work around the compromises of the accurate vehicle modes.

I don't care if each of these toys would be 100$. I'd make a collection out of them.

I am surprised, given their recent fascination with crossovers. That they haven't gone for some of the more popular ones.





I'm sure either of these, for example, would have outsold Maverick.

I always thought the A-Team van, KITT from Knight Rider and Airwolf would be the perfect 80s trifecta of TF/ Tv show crossovers

Exactly. They make a lot more sense to the crossover line than Top Gun. Not to mention the fact that it wouldn't take much to retool any of them from the existing Van, Copter and Car Bots.

I've been thinking, since they need to come up with something to replace the next movie line for 2022 they should go all out and finally do a comics line. Marvel, Dreamwave, IDW, nothing's off limits. Finally do the figures that people have always wanted, Xaaron, Tarn, IDW Thunderwing, Flame and so on. It can be a mix of retools and new molds to balance costs and instead of trying to come up with some cohesive story they can just include a comic featuring the character. Yeah, there isn't much time to work on something like this, but I'm sure they've got some unused digital renders they haven't used yet along with probably quite a few unused alternate heads.

Emerje

A comics line would be enjoyable if they don't cheap out on the molds as they did with Nautica.

I'd hesitate to say that the A-Team is something Hasbro would never do yet. It makes sense. Could still happen.

But I see TMNT as more unlikely. I'd also love to see a Beast Wars Battle Cat - NOW if the time! MOTU is in a resurgence AND there's a brand new Tigatron mould. It would take so little to make this work. But I don't see this happening either. I just don't see two toy-first brands teaming up. Even if, I guess, MOTU and TMNT aren't as toy-first as they once were.

Emerje wrote:I've been thinking, since they need to come up with something to replace the next movie line for 2022 they should go all out and finally do a comics line. Marvel, Dreamwave, IDW, nothing's off limits. Finally do the figures that people have always wanted, Xaaron, Tarn, IDW Thunderwing, Flame and so on. It can be a mix of retools and new molds to balance costs and instead of trying to come up with some cohesive story they can just include a comic featuring the character. Yeah, there isn't much time to work on something like this, but I'm sure they've got some unused digital renders they haven't used yet along with probably quite a few unused alternate heads.

Emerje

And there's enough distinct comic designs of the core characters (like a new version of that stealth bomber Megatron) that Hasbro could still include them in some capacity just to have some Big Names

Also fitting for mention of the comic characters to be in this thread...

Autobot N wrote:

Emerje wrote:I've been thinking, since they need to come up with something to replace the next movie line for 2022 they should go all out and finally do a comics line. Marvel, Dreamwave, IDW, nothing's off limits. Finally do the figures that people have always wanted, Xaaron, Tarn, IDW Thunderwing, Flame and so on. It can be a mix of retools and new molds to balance costs and instead of trying to come up with some cohesive story they can just include a comic featuring the character. Yeah, there isn't much time to work on something like this, but I'm sure they've got some unused digital renders they haven't used yet along with probably quite a few unused alternate heads.

Emerje

And there's enough distinct comic designs of the core characters (like a new version of that stealth bomber Megatron) that Hasbro could still include them in some capacity just to have some Big Names

Absolutely, I still want this version of Optimus Prime as a figure:



It even has an easy super mode built into the trailer.

We're overdue for a good Optimus redesign. Last time we got a figure that wasn't either tied into some product (car brands, shoes, Playstation, etc.) or remaking something earlier (Laser Prime, Galaxy Upgrade) was 2006 Titanium Optimus from the then-recent the War Within comics for Cybertron mode and Classics Optimus for an Earth mode. That was 15 years ago!

I love the classic G1 Prime design, but I don't see why they can't mix in something new every now and then as well. Then again we can't even get them to make a super easy Delta Magnus repaint because they're so set on what I can only describe as "character purity". Optimus has to be a red truck and only Ultra Magnus can be a car carrier.

Emerje

Crossing my fingers for an "Origins" Jazz and/or Wheeljack.

Glarryg