The Energon Pub

craggy wrote:Speaking of Bite...reckon they'll do Goldbug and Bugbite repaints?

If they don't, they're leaving money on the table.

megatronus wrote:

craggy wrote:Speaking of Bite...reckon they'll do Goldbug and Bugbite repaints?

If they don't, they're leaving money on the table.

Well, they'll already have Goldbug as part of the Throttlebots line, so I don't think they would do that.

I watched the review, but I actually agree with Tsutsukakushi. (Don't faint!! ) I also find this to be very cartoony and not really part of the aesthetics I prefer with my Classics collection. Bot mode looks pretty good. Alt mode looks like it belongs in a circus with those caricature like proportions.

Agamemnon wrote:

megatronus wrote:

craggy wrote:Speaking of Bite...reckon they'll do Goldbug and Bugbite repaints?

If they don't, they're leaving money on the table.

Well, they'll already have Goldbug as part of the Throttlebots line, so I don't think they would do that.

I watched the review, but I actually agree with Tsutsukakushi. (Don't faint!! ) I also find this to be very cartoony and not really part of the aesthetics I prefer with my Classics collection. Bot mode looks pretty good. Alt mode looks like it belongs in a circus with those caricature like proportions.

No worries - I actually agree, too!

I'm not getting this, or any possible repaints. I too find it cartoony and out of place in a Classics collection. I'm perfectly happy with my Classics 'Bee being... well... Classics. My MP figures scratch that G1 itch, and we have an MP 'Bee coming out, so. [shrug]

I like it. But, as I said once before, I still hope against hope that someday there'll be a version of BB with a G1 toy-accurate head (even as an accessory if possible). I don't have the Art Feather version, but if I can get one of these for cheaper I'd go for it. Sure, Hasbro goes nuts with unnecessary BBs, but most of those are either Movie- or Prime-verse toys.

But some of the talk here has brought up an underlying quirk with the G1 cartoon version's design: they took a toy of a robot that was meant to turn into a toy car (a "penny racer," right?) and passed it off as a robot that was meant to turn into a real-life car, so we have Spike often driving a life-sized yet impractically pudgy VW Beetle. This TW version is closer to what we saw on TV than a Bumblebee that turns into a true-to-scale Beetle.

It does make me wonder what the MP version will look like, and, moreover, how they'll engineer it.

Glarryg

Kapow Toys in the U.K. have a pre-order price of £34.99 with £3.50 shipping!

http://www.kapowtoys.co.uk/toyworld-tw-03-bii.html

Less than forty quid gets you the closest thing to a modern engineered, highly articulated, cartoon accurate Bumblebee!

Glarryg wrote:I like it. But, as I said once before, I still hope against hope that someday there'll be a version of BB with a G1 toy-accurate head (even as an accessory if possible). I don't have the Art Feather version, but if I can get one of these for cheaper I'd go for it. Sure, Hasbro goes nuts with unnecessary BBs, but most of those are either Movie- or Prime-verse toys.

But some of the talk here has brought up an underlying quirk with the G1 cartoon version's design: they took a toy of a robot that was meant to turn into a toy car (a "penny racer," right?) and passed it off as a robot that was meant to turn into a real-life car, so we have Spike often driving a life-sized yet impractically pudgy VW Beetle. This TW version is closer to what we saw on TV than a Bumblebee that turns into a true-to-scale Beetle.

It does make me wonder what the MP version will look like, and, moreover, how they'll engineer it.

Glarryg

This point is exactly why I feel the so called "mini-bot" scale should not be legends/legions as some G1 toy purists suggest. I feel scout scale is the best compromise between the G1 cartoon and the G1 toy. A small deluxe toy also works fairly well. I own the art feather version and am quite satisfied with it. It may have a larger backpack but not by much. Toyworld got rid of the kibble, but they got the chest all wrong. It's upside down. I'm not even sure what they're trying to pass this figure off as. It's the same size as Hasbro Bumblebee so it can be classics. But if you're one of those G1 toy purists who prefer the toy scale over the cartoon scale, this could be a MP scale Bumblebee. Toyworld seems to make a lot of figures that are a little too big for classics scale, but a little too small for MP scale.

So I've been thinking, and while I don't totally believe this, here is my conspiracy theory:

Retailers got a memo that MP WJ and MP BB would be coming this year, 1st and 2nd quarter... but now, we only see prototypes of WJ and it is now reported WJ is not coming out until August? And no updates on BB even though they also have an Ultra Magnus announcement purportedly due out in August.

Maybe Takara got wind from Chinese Manufacturers late last year that Toyworld was creating a G1 cartoon BB and in reataliation put out a false MP BB announcement only to try to discourage the sales of Toyworld's Not-BB...

Maybe Takara currently does not really have a VW license and really has no prototype of BB at this point, gambling on the hopes that they could secure a license in order to release MP BB this year??

..it sounds crazy, but sometimes I over think things and wonder if I should jump on TW-3 because a real MP BB is not gonna happen due to VW licensing.

warzon3 wrote:So I've been thinking, and while I don't totally believe this, here is my conspiracy theory:

Retailers got a memo that MP WJ and MP BB would be coming this year, 1st and 2nd quarter... but now, we only see prototypes of WJ and it is now reported WJ is not coming out until August? And no updates on BB even though they also have an Ultra Magnus announcement purportedly due out in August.

Maybe Takara got wind from Chinese Manufacturers late last year that Toyworld was creating a G1 cartoon BB and in reataliation put out a false MP BB announcement only to try to discourage the sales of Toyworld's Not-BB...

Maybe Takara currently does not really have a VW license and really has no prototype of BB at this point, gambling on the hopes that they could secure a license in order to release MP BB this year??

..it sounds crazy, but sometimes I over think things and wonder if I should jump on TW-3 because a real MP BB is not gonna happen due to VW licensing.

Ha I like it! If that's what they did.

I thought the VW licensing rumour was disproved when someone pointed out that Volkswagen owns Lamborghini, and Takara already did Sideswipe and Red Alert?


This BII is hands down the best looking Bumblebee toy I've seen so far.
However the head is not show accurate enough for my taste, and his hips should be yellow.
The blue painted windshields look nice with the yellow car but not consistent with the MP dark clear windshields. So for now I'll hold for the official Takara figure.

warzon3 wrote:So I've been thinking, and while I don't totally believe this, here is my conspiracy theory:

Retailers got a memo that MP WJ and MP BB would be coming this year, 1st and 2nd quarter... but now, we only see prototypes of WJ and it is now reported WJ is not coming out until August? And no updates on BB even though they also have an Ultra Magnus announcement purportedly due out in August.

Maybe Takara got wind from Chinese Manufacturers late last year that Toyworld was creating a G1 cartoon BB and in reataliation put out a false MP BB announcement only to try to discourage the sales of Toyworld's Not-BB...

Maybe Takara currently does not really have a VW license and really has no prototype of BB at this point, gambling on the hopes that they could secure a license in order to release MP BB this year??

..it sounds crazy, but sometimes I over think things and wonder if I should jump on TW-3 because a real MP BB is not gonna happen due to VW licensing.

I doubt it, but anything is possible I suppose. Even if you're right, it's very likely that because everyone believes there will be an MP BB coming this year from Takara that this figure won't sell very well, meaning that you would have plenty of time to wait and see if Takara follows through on MP BB or not and pick this one up on sale (clearance) as the time draws near.

The statements regarding buying TW-03 right now. because the HasTak MP BB is over a year away are absurd & ridiculous.

HasTak & 3rd party companies have already oversaturated the toy market with BB toys. Buyers have so many versions of BB,They can afford to wait a year to get another one.

HasTak loves Bumblebee,He is currently one of there main toy sellers. Ofcause they have plans to make a MP BB. To think otherwise is denial.

I have very little love for the G-1 Bumblebee 1980's character & toy. He was tiny,annoying,weak & low command ranking.

I have no problem waiting a year for HasTak to make a MP BB toy. Since he's a mild favorite of mine. I'll probably even wait a extra year for the Hasbro USA version that will be priced much lower than Takara's.

When I think of immediate TF characters homage toys to buy from HasTak or from 3rd parties. BB doesn't even make my top 100 list.

Tsutsukakushi wrote:I'll probably even wait a extra year for the Hasbro USA version that will be priced much lower than Takara's.

I sincerely doubt that's going to happen. Exactly how many of the licensed MPs has Hasbro USA released now? Lamborghini mold? Datsun mold? Any announcements about any of these being released in the US (or elsewhere) by Hasbro so far? Remember, just because Takara paid the money to secure the rights to produce those toys doesn't give Hasbro the rights to. Hasbro would have to negotiate their own licensing deal with the automobile manufacturers to produce and release them and so far all I've heard is crickets chirping. Maybe I'm wrong (and for those who skipped the Takara versions I sincerely hope that I am), but I don't think Hasbro's going to be releasing any of them, although given BB's insane popularity throughout the rest of the world (including the US) outside of Japan, he might be the exception assuming Hasbro thinks they can turn a profit from it by the time they develop their own packaging, make any necessary alterations to the plastics and/or paint scheme to differentiate it from the Takara release (as they always do with MPs these days), pay the licensing fees required by the automobile manufacturer and work out whatever 'exclusive' deal with whatever retailer (Toys R' Us in all likelihood, as usual) to sell it (with a guarantee from TRU to order sufficient numbers for Hasbro to turn a profit after all of these expenses).

xyl360 wrote:

Tsutsukakushi wrote:I'll probably even wait a extra year for the Hasbro USA version that will be priced much lower than Takara's.

I sincerely doubt that's going to happen. Exactly how many of the licensed MPs has Hasbro USA released now? Lamborghini mold? Datsun mold? Any announcements about any of these being released in the US (or elsewhere) by Hasbro so far? Remember, just because Takara paid the money to secure the rights to produce those toys doesn't give Hasbro the rights to. Hasbro would have to negotiate their own licensing deal with the automobile manufacturers to produce and release them and so far all I've heard is crickets chirping. Maybe I'm wrong (and for those who skipped the Takara versions I sincerely hope that I am), but I don't think Hasbro's going to be releasing any of them, although given BB's insane popularity throughout the rest of the world (including the US) outside of Japan, he might be the exception assuming Hasbro thinks they can turn a profit from it by the time they develop their own packaging, make any necessary alterations to the plastics and/or paint scheme to differentiate it from the Takara release (as they always do with MPs these days), pay the licensing fees required by the automobile manufacturer and work out whatever 'exclusive' deal with whatever retailer (Toys R' Us in all likelihood, as usual) to sell it (with a guarantee from TRU to order sufficient numbers for Hasbro to turn a profit after all of these expenses).

That leaked 2014 Hasbro 30th,BH,MP list from months ago had a listing for MP Sideswipe on it.

TRU,Amazon & TRU have done shared TF exclusives. So this could happen with Hasbro's MP Sideswipe & MP Prowl. HTS could even sell it.

I kinda wish Hasbro would get creative with the MP Sideswipe mold. by doing a sunstreaker & Breakdown. All that is needed is newer colors,newer head sculpts & newer weapons.

Tsutsukakushi wrote:

xyl360 wrote:

Tsutsukakushi wrote:I'll probably even wait a extra year for the Hasbro USA version that will be priced much lower than Takara's.

I sincerely doubt that's going to happen. Exactly how many of the licensed MPs has Hasbro USA released now? Lamborghini mold? Datsun mold? Any announcements about any of these being released in the US (or elsewhere) by Hasbro so far? Remember, just because Takara paid the money to secure the rights to produce those toys doesn't give Hasbro the rights to. Hasbro would have to negotiate their own licensing deal with the automobile manufacturers to produce and release them and so far all I've heard is crickets chirping. Maybe I'm wrong (and for those who skipped the Takara versions I sincerely hope that I am), but I don't think Hasbro's going to be releasing any of them, although given BB's insane popularity throughout the rest of the world (including the US) outside of Japan, he might be the exception assuming Hasbro thinks they can turn a profit from it by the time they develop their own packaging, make any necessary alterations to the plastics and/or paint scheme to differentiate it from the Takara release (as they always do with MPs these days), pay the licensing fees required by the automobile manufacturer and work out whatever 'exclusive' deal with whatever retailer (Toys R' Us in all likelihood, as usual) to sell it (with a guarantee from TRU to order sufficient numbers for Hasbro to turn a profit after all of these expenses).

That leaked 2014 Hasbro 30th,BH,MP list from months ago had a listing for MP Sideswipe on it.

TRU,Amazon & TRU have done shared TF exclusives. So this could happen with Hasbro's MP Sideswipe & MP Prowl. HTS could even sell it.

I kinda wish Hasbro would get creative with the MP Sideswipe mold. by doing a sunstreaker & Breakdown. All that is needed is newer colors,newer head sculpts & newer weapons.

Yeah, I could see Hasbro doing Sunstreaker out of it, but aside from the new head and weapons, he'd just look like Tigertrack. I'm still waiting on Takara to create a new mold for it and do it right.

Anyway, until anything more concrete comes out about it, I'm not convinced that Hasbro will be releasing Sideswipe or any of the others (or that they'll look right) so I'm sticking with Takara's and my preorder for MP BB isn't going anywhere and I'll be skipping this. Go figure, the two currently most popular TF characters get done by TW and those are the only two TW releases I skip (I didn't get their IDW Prime either).

I'm joining the conversation a bit late, but I just came across the thread and seeing a new Toyworld product caught my eye. My experience with 3rd parties is Fansproject not-Stunticons, Fansproject City Commander and 2 different knock-offs of it, iGear Ultra Magnus, Perfect Effect not-Arcee and the two repaints/remolds, the KFC Ultra Magnus missiles, and the 3 Toyworld not-Throttlebots.

All of my Fansproject stuff is, in my opinion, gorgeous to look at, decently engineered, and no fun at all to do anything with other than display.
All of my Perfect Effect stuff is, in my opinion, gorgeous to look at, really creatively and well engineered, and no fun at all to do anything with other than display.
My KFC missiles are, in my opinion, pieces of garbage and I can't believe I spent $20 for about an ounce of cheap, poorly painted, fragile plastic.
My iGear Ultra Magnus is actually surprisingly decent, and I personally like it better than my MP Ultra Magnus that it is, essentially, a knockoff of.

The reason I mention all of the above is to distinguish Toyworld from this. I do not have Hegemon, Orion, or any Headmasters, but the not-Throttlebots are, in my opinion, fantastic. Good quality plastic, solid engineering, look really nice in both modes (don't know about the combiner yet), and, as the most important elements to me, seem to be in REAL SCALE to each other, and are FUN to transform (their modes look simple to transform, but are actually intricate without being too complicated).

So, as far as this Bii goes, I feel that he is cartoon accurate, which is the aesthetic that he should be judged against, and I have the utmost faith that he will be good quality, will have a cool transformation that will be fun to do, and looks to scale really really nicely (my opinion) with the Masterpiece figures, both in vehicle mode and robot mode (I am a stickler for vehicle mode scaling, which I know puts me in a minority here).

Honestly, looking at the feet/legs, I think this was possibly inspired by MP Prowl and is meant to be a cartoon accurate toy to go with the MPs.

To bring it all home, this looks like it will be a really nice, well designed, quality toy.

But I'm still not buying it.

It's friggin' Bumblebee. I have like 20 versions of him, all stored away and not particularly missed.

I'll buy the not-Throttlebots Goldbug, but please Toyworld, focus on some under-represented characters and knock those out of the park.

I like the bot mode and transformation, but not crazy about the alt mode. Looks too cartoony. I'll wait for the MP version.

And with the reveal of the official MP Bee, I'm leaning towards picking up TW Bii.

Well Mr Postman arrived today with a small brown package adorned in Chinese writing

Very impressed with this guy, dispite my initial worries about it, namly the upside down chest plate and the blue windows, anyway he is much better in hand and any issues I had with him slowly melted away, I dont even mind the blue windows as much in person (still gonna paint them black though)he's an adorable little fella and sits nicely with my Classics collection, my only niggle is that backplate balljoint, it pops off way to easily, does anyone know if the superglue/nail polish fix makes it any better?

Who'd you buy it from? I haven't used any of the stores that are carrying it so far.

Thanks,
Glarryg

Glarryg wrote:Who'd you buy it from? I haven't used any of the stores that are carrying it so far.

Thanks,
Glarryg

Bought him off eBay from this guy

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/271376269941?nav=SEARCH

Great seller, well packed and fast postage.

leakin' lubricant wrote:

Glarryg wrote:Who'd you buy it from? I haven't used any of the stores that are carrying it so far.
Thanks,
Glarryg

Bought him off eBay from this guy
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/271376269941?nav=SEARCH
Great seller, well packed and fast postage.

I totally recommend this seller also, picked up Planet X Swoop from them, great price, well packaged and fast delivery too!

Love this guy!

leakin' lubricant wrote: Bought him off eBay from this guy

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/271376269941?nav=SEARCH

Great seller, well packed and fast postage.

Congrats on your new toy. I think the Sculpt looks nice.

Wish it had Translucent vehicle windows.

Please can you post a few comparisions pics with other HasTak TF toys. If you've got the 1.0 Classics Deluxe Rodimus toy or FP Stunticons. Love to see these pics.

BTW,I like your custom add ons parts for Energon Classics Devatator. Have you ever thought about contacting a 3rd party and having them create a mass produced kit for fans based off your custom parts.

Tsutsukakushi wrote:

leakin' lubricant wrote: Bought him off eBay from this guy

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/271376269941?nav=SEARCH

Great seller, well packed and fast postage.

Congrats on your new toy. I think the Sculpt looks nice.

Wish it had Translucent vehicle windows.

Please can you post a few comparisions pics with other HasTak TF toys. If you've got the 1.0 Classics Deluxe Rodimus toy or FP Stunticons. Love to see these pics.

BTW,I like your custom add ons parts for Energon Classics Devatator. Have you ever thought about contacting a 3rd party and having them create a mass produced kit for fans based off your custom parts.

Yeah he's a great figure, don't let the windows put you off they are nowhere near as noticeable in the flesh. I don't have Rodimus or the Stunticons, but will take some comparison pics with my other Deluxe figures if that helps.

Thanks for appreciating my Custom Devastator , glad you like him. Never really thought of approaching a 3rd party about doing it, as it was more of a personal project to share amongst fans, plus it's kinda rewarding making it for yourself have you had a go yourself?

Here you go Tsutsukakushi, hope they help.