The Energon Pub

News Credits: 19 · Sat Dec 08, 2018 9:30 pm

TR Gnaw, whilst not a bad figure the deceptive packaging of him with hus legs out to look taller, I display hims with his legs as he was packaged but have to stand other things in front of him to hide that. A few bots have to have other things in front of them to look good/passable but can't think of any others at the mo and other bots with fisapointing size issues (POTP dinobots etc though they can go with legends sixed figures/hotsoldiers at least in dino mode).

Protoform Baynus toys were a...thing, robots to lumps. I think they were even used as sneak peek figures for the films, yowsers. Even the devestator design outshines them and it is hard for that imagining of devestator to do (tho the seperate robot forms are nice and I have found myself wanting the new SS version but can't think why).

Don't really agree with the MP Tracks (the third use of the mold is never discounted and omitted) where as Roadrage fills the nostalgia of finally having a toy that was on the back art of G1 boxes and with a toy accurate gun and twincast.

Sat Dec 08, 2018 10:20 pm

I would have to say that the Combiner Wars Titan Metroplex was the biggest disappointment to me. I was so hyped up when he was first announced, it was all the more of a let down to see him, then get him in hand. Instead of a powerhouse we got an overly tall, gangly robot with comically long legs. Not to mention a chest ramp that doesn't go to the ground, hands that are just there and a non-hideable head. To me, this was the 1 figure Hasbro should have gone better on, not necessarily bigger.

Sat Dec 08, 2018 10:33 pm

I was most disappointed by FOC Bruticus. That was combiner execution gone horribly wrong. Fortunately Hasbro demonstrated that they learned from that in Combiner Wars!

News Credits: 51 · Sat Dec 08, 2018 10:40 pm

BATTLEMASTER IIC wrote:I was most disappointed by FOC Bruticus. That was combiner execution gone horribly wrong. Fortunately Hasbro demonstrated that they learned from that in Combiner Wars!

Seconded.

I would also add SS VW Bee somewhere, as much as I love his robot mode, because transforming him is an aggravating ordeal every time and his vehicle mode won't tab together/stay tabbed together.

News Credits: 11 · Sat Dec 08, 2018 10:54 pm

Expensive, explosive, and embarrassing. Stunningly beautiful but ridiculously disappointing for me. This was the only Transformer that I felt a weight disappear upon its sale.

News Credits: 26 · Sun Dec 09, 2018 12:54 am

I'd add Airachnid for obvious reasons and PotP Predaking, that thing is so bad that I refuse to believe those saying it's good are being honest, not a single sword, they are all kibbletastic and when you manage to outbrick G1, you know you screwed up.

News Credits: 7 · Sun Dec 09, 2018 1:26 am

Another good list. It’s always nice to see these. I get where most of this list is coming from, but my personal disappointments are different. I think that’s why I like the comments on these lists so much. We’re all part of the same community of collectors, but we’re all divided into these little sub factions, in a way, in terms of what we look for in a toy, what works, or doesn’t work for us, what disappoints us, what’s refreshing, and ultimately what makes or breaks a toy. So I think this list’s subject is very interesting. There’s a lot of different perspectives.

For as great as some of the TF Prime figures were, there were some massive disappointments in that line. Airachnid, Smokescreen, RiD Bee, RiD Arcee, the modified Beast Hunters toys with their bizarrely swirly plastic and unnecessary extra bits. There’s a few others that were disappointments to me, but not as egregiously so as the above mentioned,

Pretty much all of the Fall of Cybertron line. I bought that first wave online, and the level of disappointment I felt when I opened that box...I was expecting the same level of quality and scale from the WfC toys. That experience was a massive let down.

Titans Return Galvatron is definitely on my list.

As a whole the PotP Dinobots were a disappointment to me. Even knowing that they were going to be combiners, and that that was going to hinder each one in a fairly significant way, I was still hoping they’d be better than they turned out to be. The Dinobots deserve a better representation in modern toys than what they got.

Sun Dec 09, 2018 2:02 am

I say THBBBBT to the "The Dinobots were hindered" thing. I'm highly satisfied with mine. Lots of juicy G1 detail, gains in robot mode height even on the Deluxes, Slag's tail being dealt with waaaay better... Trading the cockpits and Swoop's chest closure for the combiner stuff doesn't hurt them, really the only disappointments for me were Slag losing his wings and no included weapon for Volcanicus. But I'm not too bothered because of how much I enjoy everything else about them.

Sun Dec 09, 2018 2:28 am

Here are mine(in no particular order, mind you):
1. FoC Bruticus for wonky proportions and being completely inaccurate to the game. And the individual Combaticons being pretty lackluster on their own.
2. Generations Blitzwing for some really bad QC.
3. CW Menasor, while the individual Stunticons are pretty cool on their own, the combined mode needed a more work to put into it.
4. FoC Jazz/Sideswipe, doesn’t seem to hold well together.
5. Voyager Class Animated Cybertronian Megatron, cannon too heavy for the figure to hold, poor stability, poor transformation, has so much potential but completely wasted.

News Credits: 1 · Sun Dec 09, 2018 2:31 am

[quote

For as great as some of the TF Prime figures were, there were some massive disappointments in that line. Airachnid, Smokescreen, RiD Bee, RiD Arcee, the modified Beast Hunters toys with their bizarrely swirly plastic and unnecessary extra bits. There’s a few others that were disappointments to me, but not as egregiously so as the above mentioned,[/quote]

I disagree,except for Smokescreen and Bee but because they are originally ugly,the ugliest being Sound and Shock.The first is a foreshadowing to...RID 2015:he has a small head like Scream and Arcee but with giant épaulette like the other Bee,Optimus and Fracture which heads are worst.This list is coming from someone who like their figures and design presumably,no credibility for me.Just a better head...Fracture doesn't even have a proper punk hairstyle...

My main problem with the colorful BH line is some common production blemishes,some kind of plastic oxydation,Dreadwing can have black stain on his dull grey,i suggest a black paint,much better looking(don't open his wings),his feet are much better than the horrible blade-feet.

EDIT
"unnecessary extra bits"...Nothing outside of Wheeljack.Don't make generality out of exception,classic critic mistake.

News Credits: 3 · Sun Dec 09, 2018 5:21 am

No 'Butterfly Optimus' on the list? Disappointed.
That robot armor mode is so bad I keep him in alt mode always.

News Credits: 1 · Sun Dec 09, 2018 6:31 am

I don't remenber an overhype about Airachnid,just a "PLASTIC ADDICT" video,she's a deluxe with a decent,original vehicule:a "copter-lobster" OUHOUH!Really,there's worse like the overrated vehicon and Soundwave.

Overhype,enthousiasm...Dissapointing suggest that...I remember that about 2015 Sideswipe before the handle.

Also,who like the movie devastator?I don't like combiner invariably.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · Sun Dec 09, 2018 7:33 am

PerfectVision wrote:My main problem with the colorful BH line is some common production blemishes,some kind of plastic oxydation,Dreadwing can have black stain on his dull grey,i suggest a black paint,much better looking(don't open his wings),his feet are much better than the horrible blade-feet.

That's intentional, some of the BH figures had very pronounced swirly plastic on certain parts.

Emerje

Sun Dec 09, 2018 7:43 am

Have Power of the Primes Dreadwind and Blackwing been mentioned here yet?

News Credits: 1 · Sun Dec 09, 2018 7:52 am

Emerje wrote:
PerfectVision wrote:My main problem with the colorful BH line is some common production blemishes,some kind of plastic oxydation,Dreadwing can have black stain on his dull grey,i suggest a black paint,much better looking(don't open his wings),his feet are much better than the horrible blade-feet.

That's intentional, some of the BH figures had very pronounced swirly plastic on certain parts.

Emerje

Okay,thank you.
I found a very dirty Wheeljack with a missing wheel,awful on white.It's not a problem on the Bulkhead's hood.
This line is colorful,any lack of color is memorable.What is this dull grey?That want to be black by the way.

Sun Dec 09, 2018 8:36 am

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Have Power of the Primes Dreadwind and Blackwing been mentioned here yet?

Blackwing and Dreadwind are good toys on their own, just so long as you don’t combine the jets.

Never combine the jets.

News Credits: 656 · Sun Dec 09, 2018 9:01 am

I usually agree with these to some extent but I think these are all poor choices. Maybe Galvatron belongs here. Tracks is also a good toy and I'll repeat here what I said on the podcast a while back - not liking the backpack is 90% likely due to transforming it wrong >:oP

Sun Dec 09, 2018 9:43 am

Okay, nice list. Very much agree on Revenge of the Fallen Devastator. In fact, I'm really trying to enjoy him, he stands on the tables now. But man, he's heavy and looks like a gorilla pug. Really hard to like him and his alt mode is a coulpe of vehicles.
I don't mind Galvatron as much, don't have that Masterpiece. Windblade was very underwhelming and shoddy.

My top 5 most dissapointing Transformers from the past years (no particular order)

1. Combiner Wars Optimus - his head is terrible, they even redid that with the white one. FAKE CHEST (again). I've been wanting a good chest-cab voyager Optimus for years. We're finally getting one!

2. Movie Dinobots (well most of all movie figures so far) - Spikey, not staying to gether robot modes, strange hand positions and posability. Man I tried to 34 year old man play with these but I couldn't do it. They'll be on ebay soon, I LOVE power of the primes Dinobots

3. Power of the Primes Optimus - I know, this is blasphemy, everthing Combiner Wars and up has been solid decent to excellent figure. But I was expecting no fake chestery. Other than that, this is one sexy figure only to be topped by (for me) the Siege Optimus

4. Classics/Universe Ironhide and Ratchet, well they are terrible and I recently bought both of them for a crap ton (sealed). Got rid of the front and probably will 3d design/print a piece to make it a van again. And then pictures of Siege started showing up, so that probably won't happen

5. Walgreens / Cyber Battalion Starscream - reason: I can't find him!!! This hoodlum is a voyager sized Starscream, painted worse, of the Cyberverse/Legion class which is a very decent little Seeker. The Combiner Wars Leaders are crap, sorry guys, but fake chestery again and didn't need to be. I have Cyber Batallion Jetfire, a simple little easy to transform voyager. And he has the right chest, he has decent articulation. They have a Starscream, why not repaint him twice and give everybody easy to transform little voyager Seekers?

Offtopic:

My surprises from the last years:

1. Cyberverse Beeftank Megatron - Man I love this guy, huge, imposing, cannon, tank = win

2. Authentics Megatron - I bought 3 of these dudes, they're perfect little Megatron drone soldiers. Great robot mode, good articulation, cheap as hell and bigger than a legion.

3. Cyberverse Shockwave - Cool little Scientist army builder soldier guy

4. Cyber Battalion Shockwave - A very cool G1 voyager classic style Shockwave (altmode's a bit whatever) But he's a perfect Classics Shockwave. Cheap, easy transformation and excellent robot mode

5. Siege Sideswipe - This guy is just perfect imho, perfect robot mode, perfect alt-mode. Mayeth the HasTak gods giveth him manyeth repaints and remolds (Redalert/G2/ArmadaWheeljack/etc.)

ZZ. Cyberverse Ultra Slipstream - Man she looks good, I love the War for Cybertron game character and it looks like this will be a solid toy (and not a shoddy remold like what we got before)

News Credits: 25 · Sun Dec 09, 2018 12:25 pm

Man, I completely forgot how much of a total fail the PotP Dinobots were. Especially Grimlock, god I hate that toy.

Sun Dec 09, 2018 2:00 pm

I don't get the hate for the Power of the Primes Dinobots. I really, really don't. I own all 5 G1 Dinobot toys and think they're awesome, and I find the Power of the Primes versions to be wonderful Generations versions. The only knocks against them are the lack of accessories (an issue with most CHUG figures) and Slag losing his robot mode wings. But in my book that's more than made up for by the gains, Like, say, the way Slag's tail is dealt with.
Here's the original:

Yeah. Now that is some epic clunky kibble. And the only way to deal with it is to awkwardly tuck it under the legs. It gets it out of the way, sure, but it still feels awkward. PotP Slag on the other hand has the tail split and fold into the legs. Much better.

I really do think G1 Ratchet and Ironhide should be here in some capacity. Like, I knew what I was getting into since I got my G1 Ratchet as an adult collector. But I just know that those two must have disappointed countless kids back in the eighties.

Sun Dec 09, 2018 2:22 pm

Ironhidensh wrote:Man, I completely forgot how much of a total fail the PotP Dinobots were. Especially Grimlock, god I hate that toy.

I’m with ya, Densh. We’ve wanted CHUG Dinobots for YEARS, and what should have been as big a deal as Devastator (I know you don’t care for him, but you can’t deny he was an event of a toy release) ended up being Grimlock featuring scrawny dino-babies.

I’ll admit that Volcanicus is cool, but the dinobors should be barbaric. Instead they look like dweebs IMO.

News Credits: 6 · Sun Dec 09, 2018 2:24 pm

I did wonder why I saw a random ad with MP Roadrage at £20? I was far too skeptical of an MP figure being That Cheap to buy it.

A decent list. I would have to disagree about TR Fort Max though. While he is currently being defended in City Mode by my four Wolfang variants on my shelf, he doesn't look out of place beside Generations Metroplex or Trypticon. If anything the reuse of the Metroplex mold endears him to me even more, given I am a fan of the concept.
I did see on a YouTube vid that you can position his legs upright in City Mode, with Guns facing forward. It does look a bit more like an actual (armed) City with two giant skyscrapers.

I do patiently await the future New Scorponok to complete my City Bots. His transformations were always the best of the four.

Sun Dec 09, 2018 2:38 pm

i thought ultimate optimus prime from DOTM was pretty disappointing

Sun Dec 09, 2018 3:31 pm

Nemesis Maximo wrote:
Ironhidensh wrote:Man, I completely forgot how much of a total fail the PotP Dinobots were. Especially Grimlock, god I hate that toy.

I’m with ya, Densh. We’ve wanted CHUG Dinobots for YEARS, and what should have been as big a deal as Devastator (I know you don’t care for him, but you can’t deny he was an event of a toy release) ended up being Grimlock featuring scrawny dino-babies.

They're not scrawny, I don't get how people see them as such. Also, the Dinobots got a better deal than the Constructicons did. The Dinobots all actually have proper arm articulation. And Slag, Sludge, Snarl, and Swoop also have significant added articulation in dino mode. Snarl's forelegs aren't any more articulated, but still.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:I’ll admit that Volcanicus is cool, but the dinobors should be barbaric.

Why? These are the G1 Dinobots, not the Animated ones. They have as much barbaric look as the G1s did, no more and no less

The G1 toys for reference.

Sun Dec 09, 2018 6:03 pm

Rogue-Primal wrote:Cybertron Backstop, if i had known how bad he was including his gimmick i would have never bought him. I took him apart with a screwdriver a few years later out of spite. then tossed the remains.

Funny that. I had him as a kid and loved him to bits. Easy and fun to convert for quick play. Awkward-looking and impossible to pose for the adult collector? Yes. Does a kid care about that? Not so much.