The Energon Pub

We've known for a while now that 2026 would see the main Age of the Primes line get two Commanders in exchange for Studio Series getting the Titan for the year (which we now know is Age of Extinction Grimlock). We new one of the Commanders would be Onslaught to finish out the Combaticons, but the second Commander remained a mystery. Thanks Jtprime17 over on TFW2005 we now know the second Commander will be Armada Jetfire! He'll be a perfect companion piece for the previous Commander Armada Optimus Prime. Time will tell just how well he fits the price point.

TRA GEN PRIMES CMDR 2 (Armada Jetfire)
Product Number: G1972

Are you excited for a new Jetfire to finish out Prime's jet pants? And for that matter are you hoping for Hasbro to give Armada Prime a rerelease in 2026? Let us know in the Seibertron Energon Pub forums!

So, they make a companion for a toy that barely was available? Great move. Re-release armada prime and id consider jet fire.

Yes, Armada Prime definitely needs a rerelease.

How about an online exclusive Titan-priced 2-pack of Prime and Jetfire?

Rodimus Prime wrote:Yes, Armada Prime definitely needs a rerelease.

How about an online exclusive Titan-priced 2-pack of Prime and Jetfire?

If it's Star Convoy priced, I can see it happening. But to make that 2 pack worth it, they should be in a unique deco. Like this one:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:Yes, Armada Prime definitely needs a rerelease.

How about an online exclusive Titan-priced 2-pack of Prime and Jetfire?

If it's Star Convoy priced, I can see it happening. But to make that 2 pack worth it, they should be in a unique deco. Like this one:

Or add a new Overload to them like in that shot

Rodimus Prime wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:Yes, Armada Prime definitely needs a rerelease.

How about an online exclusive Titan-priced 2-pack of Prime and Jetfire?

If it's Star Convoy priced, I can see it happening. But to make that 2 pack worth it, they should be in a unique deco. Like this one:

Or add a new Overload to them like in that shot

In that case, the price would be higher than Star, but lower than the standard titan. I expect Overload to be a voyager.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:Yes, Armada Prime definitely needs a rerelease.

How about an online exclusive Titan-priced 2-pack of Prime and Jetfire?

If it's Star Convoy priced, I can see it happening. But to make that 2 pack worth it, they should be in a unique deco. Like this one:

Or add a new Overload to them like in that shot.

In that case, the price would be higher than Star, but lower than the standard titan. I expect Overload to be a voyager.

He would have to be leader sized to carry Jetfire in vehicle mode.

Rodimus Prime wrote:He would have to be leader sized to carry Jetfire in vehicle mode.

Oh yeah, I forgot about this feature. Plus this time around, the minicon would be mandatory. That minicon could almost be deluxe sized too.

Personally I think if they're mad enough to do a 3 pack then it needs to be in Powerlinx colors and instead of Overload or Ultra Magnus they should do Sentinel Maximus and Ape-linq! I think the red, white and blue would look great on the "tower of doom".



Emerje

I was just wondering/thinking if Hasbro might delve into more Throttelbots when they're done with minibots, Goldbug could use some friends. I remember having Wideload as a kid.

Should have my Sideways from Walmart.com in the next few days. So weird that they cancel pre-orders like this only to put them in stock a few days later.

Till-all-R1 wrote:I was just wondering/thinking if Hasbro might delve into more Throttelbots when they're done with minibots, Goldbug could use some friends. I remember having Wideload as a kid.

That would be nice. They don't really have the sort of recognition as the minibots, but then neither does Jalopy. I'd like them to do Autobot Double Targetmasters first, though.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:Should have my Sideways from Walmart.com in the next few days. So weird that they cancel pre-orders like this only to put them in stock a few days later.

The Sideways cancelations were due to a mistake where they were sending out entire cases of the figure instead of single individual figures.

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:Should have my Sideways from Walmart.com in the next few days. So weird that they cancel pre-orders like this only to put them in stock a few days later.

The Sideways cancelations were due to a mistake where they were sending out entire cases of the figure instead of single individual figures.

I wish I could say that surprised me but it doesn't. Though, that same week they canceled a bunch of MotU pre-orders.

Emerje

I was able to buy Sideways and pre-order Seaspray, but I won't be surprised if the same cancel-fest happens again when Seaspray starts to ship within the US.

Does anyone else feel Crasher wasn't done justice?
I don't mind the mirage mold, I prefer the Siege version, but it might have looked better on the Cybertron Hot Shot/Excellion mold.

I'm not opening her. After looking at G2 Mirage, it's such a bad alt mode.
But in a box, in robot mode, behind a plastic window... Mm.

DISCHARGE wrote:Does anyone else feel Crasher wasn't done justice?
I don't mind the mirage mold, I prefer the Siege version, but it might have looked better on the Cybertron Hot Shot/Excellion mold.

That mold didn't yet exist at the time the Velocitron subline was first released. Crasher is a reissue of that same release, rereleased due to how difficult to find she was the first time around.

Plus, she's inspired by the 2007 Movie Fracture figure that was likewise a Mirage redeco, as they can't make her look too much like the original GoBot/Machine Robo toy whose likeness is owned by rival company Bandai. She needs to look legally distinct enough in order to not infringe on Bandai's IP, especially when trying to market the toy in Japan where Bandai's competition with TakaraTomy is even greater than it is with Hasbro in the west.

Sabrblade wrote:

DISCHARGE wrote:Does anyone else feel Crasher wasn't done justice?
I don't mind the mirage mold, I prefer the Siege version, but it might have looked better on the Cybertron Hot Shot/Excellion mold.

That mold didn't yet exist at the time the Velocitron subline was first released. Crasher is a reissue of that same release, rereleased due to how difficult to find she was the first time around.

Plus, she's inspired by the 2007 Movie Fracture figure that was likewise a Mirage redeco, as they can't make her look too much like the original GoBot/Machine Robo toy whose likeness is owned by rival company Bandai. She needs to look legally distinct enough in order to not infringe on Bandai's IP, especially when trying to market the toy in Japan where Bandai's competition with TakaraTomy is even greater than it is with Hasbro in the west.

My only real complaint is using that ugly G1 Mirage toy head instead of the softer cartoon head. Applying the same deco would have differentiated it enough just like the movie figure did. Heck, use the regular Siege head on the Kingdom body and that would really differentiate things.

Emerje

Sabrblade wrote:

DISCHARGE wrote:Does anyone else feel Crasher wasn't done justice?
I don't mind the mirage mold, I prefer the Siege version, but it might have looked better on the Cybertron Hot Shot/Excellion mold.

That mold didn't yet exist at the time the Velocitron subline was first released. Crasher is a reissue of that same release, rereleased due to how difficult to find she was the first time around.

Plus, she's inspired by the 2007 Movie Fracture figure that was likewise a Mirage redeco, as they can't make her look too much like the original GoBot/Machine Robo toy whose likeness is owned by rival company Bandai. She needs to look legally distinct enough in order to not infringe on Bandai's IP, especially when trying to market the toy in Japan where Bandai's competition with TakaraTomy is even greater than it is with Hasbro in the west.

So, I get what you are saying, but they knew the mold was coming as they plan many of the molds far in advance. They could have just waited on this particular release, and I'm not even super set on the Hot Shot toy as the model, even a Whpeeljack mold would have been a fresher idea.
Maybe they produced a certain amount at the initial pressings and held them back in a warehouse to package in aotp packaging. It kinda makes sense logistically, but would be super lazy and uninspired. Mirage is just not the figure to embody Crasher, imo.

DISCHARGE wrote:So, I get what you are saying, but they knew the mold was coming as they plan many of the molds far in advance. They could have just waited on this particular release, and I'm not even super set on the Hot Shot toy as the model, even a Whpeeljack mold would have been a fresher idea.

While it is likely that the Legacy United Cybertron Hot Shot mold was in development at the time that Velocitron Crasher was released, that same timetable would also apply to when Crasher was first in development, which would have been even further back during the War For Cybertron Trilogy long before the point when Legacy United would have been in planning stages. If the time from conception to release for each figure is about two years, then Crasher would been first planned back during Earthrise in 2020, since she was released during Legacy Year 1 in 2022. Legacy United was released in 2024, with Cybertron Hot Shot being part of the Wave 3 Deluxes released in the latter half of the year, so the earliest that that mold would have enter the planning stages would have been back during the middle of 2022 either around the time or after Velocitron Crasher was already set and ready to go for release at retail.

And, like I said before, she's not supposed to precisely resemble the GoBot (because, legally, she can't), she's supposed to resemble 2007 Movie Fracture, who only wasn't named "Crasher" at the time due to both trademark reasons and the Hasbro team at the time frowning on obvious GoBots homages (designer Joe Kyde had to get around Hasbro Legal by arguing that Fracture's deco was based more on a real-life F-1 racer instead).

DISCHARGE wrote:Maybe they produced a certain amount at the initial pressings and held them back in a warehouse to package in aotp packaging. It kinda makes sense logistically, but would be super lazy and uninspired. Mirage is just not the figure to embody Crasher, imo.

Package refreshes are more common a thing now. This isn't old stock taken out of Velocitron packaging and put into AOTP packaging. This is a newly-manufactured production run of the same figure with new packaging. The current Hasbro team is willing to do this kind of thing nowadays for figures that are harder to find.

DISCHARGE wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

DISCHARGE wrote:Does anyone else feel Crasher wasn't done justice?
I don't mind the mirage mold, I prefer the Siege version, but it might have looked better on the Cybertron Hot Shot/Excellion mold.

That mold didn't yet exist at the time the Velocitron subline was first released. Crasher is a reissue of that same release, rereleased due to how difficult to find she was the first time around.

Plus, she's inspired by the 2007 Movie Fracture figure that was likewise a Mirage redeco, as they can't make her look too much like the original GoBot/Machine Robo toy whose likeness is owned by rival company Bandai. She needs to look legally distinct enough in order to not infringe on Bandai's IP, especially when trying to market the toy in Japan where Bandai's competition with TakaraTomy is even greater than it is with Hasbro in the west.

So, I get what you are saying, but they knew the mold was coming as they plan many of the molds far in advance. They could have just waited on this particular release, and I'm not even super set on the Hot Shot toy as the model, even a Whpeeljack mold would have been a fresher idea.
Maybe they produced a certain amount at the initial pressings and held them back in a warehouse to package in aotp packaging. It kinda makes sense logistically, but would be super lazy and uninspired. Mirage is just not the figure to embody Crasher, imo.

Since Crasher is not an original transformers character, I think Hasbro really looks at those from the opposite perspective as you are. Meaning, they have a mold first and then try to figure out who else the mold can be used for rather then what mold would be the best-ish fit for the character.

On top of that the best mold fit they already had at the time of release and it would have been PotP Jazz, which I'm actually surprised did not happen.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:On top of that the best mold fit they already had at the time of release and it would have been PotP Jazz, which I'm actually surprised did not happen.

To be fair, that mold kinda sucked anyway.

Sabrblade wrote:

TF-fan kev777 wrote:On top of that the best mold fit they already had at the time of release and it would have been PotP Jazz, which I'm actually surprised did not happen.

To be fair, that mold kinda sucked anyway.

Oh, big time, so I'm actually fine with them using the Mirage mold. It was just the absolute correct shape for the car for Crasher that is seemed like a no brainer.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

TF-fan kev777 wrote:On top of that the best mold fit they already had at the time of release and it would have been PotP Jazz, which I'm actually surprised did not happen.

To be fair, that mold kinda sucked anyway.

Oh, big time, so I'm actually fine with them using the Mirage mold. It was just the absolute correct shape for the car for Crasher that is seemed like a no brainer.

Yeah, but, legally-speaking, that's probably a reason why they didn't ever use it for Crasher.