The Energon Pub

Nightbeat from Smokescreen doesn't look right. I think it's the chest. Vehicle mode would've worked, though

Crosshairs would've been awesome.

I would've liked Triggerhappy, but now nothing can hold a candle to the Titans Return guy.Nothing.

Brainstorm would probably work? It's a stretch, but if it happened before any of the Generations figures I wouldn't be mad.

these look great, but im satisfied with the figures we've received at retail
i'm 70% certain we'll get Crosshairs as a retool of TR Kup

Some of these are neat. That Crosshairs makes far better use of that mold than Kup does.

Brainstorm works oddly well from that Cyclonus mold.

And that Triggerhappy looks much more interesting than the rather boring Titans Return figure. Sorry the TR figure just didn't even appeal to me enough to open the packaging before I quickly sold it on (as I bought it as the 2nd figure in a buy one get one half price promotion)

Carnivius_Prime wrote:Some of these are neat. That Crosshairs makes far better use of that mold than Kup does.

Brainstorm works oddly well from that Cyclonus mold.

And that Triggerhappy looks much more interesting than the rather boring Titans Return figure. Sorry the TR figure just didn't even appeal to me enough to open the packaging before I quickly sold it on (as I bought it as the 2nd figure in a buy one get one half price promotion)

you dont like triggerhappy
what...........
the best deluxe of the line

so glad none of these panned out so that we can get molds that are more representative.

Interesting but the smokescreen repaint I want is a blue one from Beast Hunters and also i'd like a RID 12 or First Edition Bumblebee in his show accurate black (no spikes) I keep hoping Takara will slip those into the adventure line of millionaire publishing line or something like that.

If you don't like TR Triggerhappy I suggest a new hobby may be in order like Macrame.

I am really happy to see these concept decos make their way out.
Even if they were never used, the ideas behind them and the thought process leading up to them are great to follow.

Well just got an idea for a TR Digibash

That Crosshairs is really good. I{m sure we{ll see Kup used for Crosshairs very very soon. Very little retooling to accommodate some larger tires, and you have Crosshair's

Carnivius_Prime wrote:Some of these are neat. That Crosshairs makes far better use of that mold than Kup does.

Brainstorm works oddly well from that Cyclonus mold.

And that Triggerhappy looks much more interesting than the rather boring Titans Return figure. Sorry the TR figure just didn't even appeal to me enough to open the packaging before I quickly sold it on (as I bought it as the 2nd figure in a buy one get one half price promotion)

The Triggerhappy concept is so close to the TR figure it is very strange you like one but not the other.

How is the TR boring? How is the FOC concept much more interesting?

Apart from being the FOC Seeker mold, the major elements of TriggerHappy are there on both figures. Both are blue and gray, both have very large guns, both have cockpits in there chest, both have wings on their backs.

I don't get how TR can be boring while an 80% similar figure in color and features layout is not.



In fact the TR Triggerhappy mold I dare say is leagues better in both looks and engineering than the FOC Seeker.

To each their own I guess, I just have a hard time grasping what is bland in such similar color layouts and robot modes features and what is not.

Nightbeat: The Smokescreen car mold is seriously sexy (I never had the issues with transformation that some people complained about) and looks better than the Musclebee retool worked out. The robot mode works as a Prime version of Nightbeat but if it was intended to be G1 it doesn't look right to me.

Crosshairs: This looks about as good as a non-original mold for Crosshairs could look; I could kind of imagine this is how Crosshairs looked on Earth during whatever he was up to before The Rebirth. And I'm a sucker for repaints of Universe Nightstick. And I don't have either of these molds to hand but I'd love to see how Nightstick's robot mode looks lounging in the truck bed.

Brainstorm: I appreciate the concept here but the head, general shape and gun just don't work for the character. Maybe I'd be less fussy if there weren't 2 good versions of this guy released recently. I'd have loved to have seen the spacejet mode for this mockup. On a sidenote, I really love how Cyclonus, probably the most character-specific, unrepurposable mold from Universe was intended for like 4 different guys.

Triggerhappy: In a universe where there wasn't the recent release of a near-perfect original mold Triggerhappy this would have been a neat-ish release.

Carnivius_Prime wrote:And that Triggerhappy looks much more interesting than the rather boring Titans Return figure. Sorry the TR figure just didn't even appeal to me enough to open the packaging before I quickly sold it on (as I bought it as the 2nd figure in a buy one get one half price promotion)

You are of course entitled to your own opinion but I fear you may have done yourself a mis-service by judging this figure by its cover. Triggerhappy is an exemplary figure with a very sophisticated deco for a retail release, a novel transformation (which is impressive for a figure nowadays), two fantastic modes, and a wealth of 5mm sockets. Pretty much the only thing keeping this guy from perfection is the lack of a socket on the top of his spacejet mode.

Loving getting a glimpse into the work the club did. Seeing what might have been reveals the thought and work they put into the exclusives... and gives us customizers fun ideas for projects.

While there are a few I wish happened, for the most part I'm very please with the choices for the figures they actually got to release. (especially knowing their hands are often tied with what molds are available at the factory... and which characters are allowed by Hasbro.)

Still looking forward to the reveal of the last club exclusive. One more surprise for us before out TFCC membership ends.

Carnivius_Prime wrote:Some of these are neat. That Crosshairs makes far better use of that mold than Kup does.

Brainstorm works oddly well from that Cyclonus mold.

And that Triggerhappy looks much more interesting than the rather boring Titans Return figure. Sorry the TR figure just didn't even appeal to me enough to open the packaging before I quickly sold it on (as I bought it as the 2nd figure in a buy one get one half price promotion)

Wow...

This is the equivalent of only looking at a movie cover and immediately saying it's crap without watching it I mean opinions and such whatever but you just passed on the best deluxe in years without even opening it up I don't even have a connection with the character and I still have had a complete blast with him over some figures of characters I love.

Why did you buy it in the first place instead of just you know not buying it and picking a different figure instead?


That FOC Seeker mold can rot in hell for awful figure it is except for the weapon the only decent part of it.

Does... Brainstorm have FoC Vortex's head there, or am I just seeing things? Like I assume that he wouldn't have had that head in the final release (if nothing else, because Cyclonus' body has a swivel neck and Vortex has a balljoint), but it just strikes me as an odd choice for a Brainstorm mock-up.

Also I think it's interesting that Crosshairs-from-Kup has Cyclonus' weapon, and Brainstorm-from-Cyclonus has Kup's. I wonder if they were intended to be produced together somehow, and the weapons swapped? That or they just hail from a time when swapping accessories between figures wasn't as big a deal.

Aside from those things, I don't have much more to say on these other than they look pretty good! I mean, I love the TR versions of most of these guys way more (where that's applicable, some don't have a TR toy - yet, please TR Nightbeat ), but if there's one thing I love to see it's creative mold reuse! And that's definitely what these guys are: creative, and surprisingly good fits to boot even if they're just mock-ups!

Qwan wrote:Does... Brainstorm have FoC Vortex's head there, or am I just seeing things?

Now that you mention it, he does!

In fact, I think all four just have preexisting headsculpts digibashed onto their bodies. Nightbeat's looks familiar, but I can't think of what it is right now. Crosshairs's is the head of BotCon 2013 Hoist/Electrons. Brainstorm's is FOC Vortex's. And Triggerhappy's looks like some Optimus Prime head without his side antennae.

Qwan wrote:Like I assume that he wouldn't have had that head in the final release (if nothing else, because Cyclonus' body has a swivel neck and Vortex has a balljoint), but it just strikes me as an odd choice for a Brainstorm mock-up.

Just a quick and dirty mock-up using preexisting materials before any new headsculpts would be drawn up.

Qwan wrote:Also I think it's interesting that Crosshairs-from-Kup has Cyclonus' weapon, and Brainstorm-from-Cyclonus has Kup's. I wonder if they were intended to be produced together somehow, and the weapons swapped? That or they just hail from a time when swapping accessories between figures wasn't as big a deal.

My guess is, were they to have been made, they might have come with their own respective weapons and would have encouraged fans to switch them around to give each the "correct" weapon.

Qwan wrote:Aside from those things, I don't have much more to say on these other than they look pretty good! I mean, I love the TR versions of most of these guys way more (where that's applicable, some don't have a TR toy - yet, please TR Nightbeat ), but if there's one thing I love to see it's creative mold reuse! And that's definitely what these guys are: creative, and surprisingly good fits to boot even if they're just mock-ups!

And since these mock-ups were most likely produced years before Titans Return was announced, they probably would have been pretty popular items had they been made back then, much like how TFSS Breakdown was a hot item before CW Breakdown happened to come about roughly one or two years later.

I could have sworn that Beast Hunters Smokescreen saw a release...

I'm amazed to see a Nightbeat for prime. I kinda like it but that is a lot of yellow. Would have looked better if it were more broken up. Dunno why it looks cheesy but it does. A little paint and it would look alright though.

WreckerJack wrote:I could have sworn that Beast Hunters Smokescreen saw a release...

In his white and blue colors, yes.

The blue and gold deco only came out as a Cyberverse Legion.

That Crosshairs from Kup being pictured beside the G1 toy makes me believe that a TR Crosshairs from Kup is more likely to happen especially since Crosshairs is also the name of a main movie character although not the same the name recognition would help sell him like with Rid Drift.

These aren't bad, I really like Crosshairs, though I'd prefer he had a mouth rather than a mouthplate.

Sabrblade wrote:

Qwan wrote:Also I think it's interesting that Crosshairs-from-Kup has Cyclonus' weapon, and Brainstorm-from-Cyclonus has Kup's. I wonder if they were intended to be produced together somehow, and the weapons swapped? That or they just hail from a time when swapping accessories between figures wasn't as big a deal.

My guess is, were they to have been made, they might have come with their own respective weapons and would have encouraged fans to switch them around to give each the "correct" weapon.

There appears to be an actual connection between the Cyclonus mold and Kup's gun. Remember this?


It would be quite the coincidence if there wasn't a connection and both Fun Pub's and Hasbro's design teams came up with the same gun for Cyclonus. Also they wouldn't have been able to switch the guns around after molding them, the colors would be all wrong and it would take a lot of paint to turn a green and gray Pinpointer red.

Emerje

The first thing I think when I look at Brainstorm is "How would a new head even work with that mold?" Universe Cyclonus's horns form part of the nosecone, after all.

I dunno, none of these guys really excite me as much as most of what we actually got in the past few years does. I'd rather have Toxitron than all four of these put together.

Deadput wrote:That FOC Seeker mold can rot in hell for awful figure it is except for the weapon the only decent part of it.

I have to disagree. To me, at least, those guns were a serious letdown. I want my spinning things to SPIN, dammit.

Sabrblade wrote:And since these mock-ups were most likely produced years before Titans Return was announced, they probably would have been pretty popular items had they been made back then, much like how TFSS Breakdown was a hot item before CW Breakdown happened to come about roughly one or two years later.

I dont think these are that old. They seem to have been done for the previous subscription series before they opted for the Combiner Wars molds. They were going for the targetmasters theme and they still gave us Spinister. By that time Hasbro was already doing Titans return and probably veto'd this. Thats what I am thinking.

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:And since these mock-ups were most likely produced years before Titans Return was announced, they probably would have been pretty popular items had they been made back then, much like how TFSS Breakdown was a hot item before CW Breakdown happened to come about roughly one or two years later.

I dont think these are that old. They seem to have been done for the previous subscription series before they opted for the Combiner Wars molds. They were going for the targetmasters theme and they still gave us Spinister. By that time Hasbro was already doing Titans return and probably veto'd this. Thats what I am thinking.

I'd say they're at least 2014 given the age of the Hoist/Electrons head, the Smokescreen mold and the time buffer between Hasbro and FunPub, but they may not all have been proposed at the same time. Nightbeat would have been nixed due to his planned T30 figure, but the mold was used for TFSS 1.0 Barricade instead. Brainstorm was rendered obsolete with T30 as well, but the rest...

It's been pointed out to me that the head of Triggerhappy in this mock-up is MP-1's head minus its side antennae. Still not sure about whose head Nightbeat's is, though.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:And since these mock-ups were most likely produced years before Titans Return was announced, they probably would have been pretty popular items had they been made back then, much like how TFSS Breakdown was a hot item before CW Breakdown happened to come about roughly one or two years later.

I dont think these are that old. They seem to have been done for the previous subscription series before they opted for the Combiner Wars molds. They were going for the targetmasters theme and they still gave us Spinister. By that time Hasbro was already doing Titans return and probably veto'd this. Thats what I am thinking.

I'd say they're at least 2014 given the age of the Smokescreen tooling and the time buffer between Hasbro and FunPub, but they may not all have been proposed at the same time. Nightbeat would have been nixed due to his planned T30 figure, but the rest...

2014 at the latest.

Sabrblade wrote:It's been pointed out to me that the head of Triggerhappy in this mock-up is MP-1's head minus its side antennae. Still not sure about whose head Nightbeat's is, though.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:And since these mock-ups were most likely produced years before Titans Return was announced, they probably would have been pretty popular items had they been made back then, much like how TFSS Breakdown was a hot item before CW Breakdown happened to come about roughly one or two years later.

I dont think these are that old. They seem to have been done for the previous subscription series before they opted for the Combiner Wars molds. They were going for the targetmasters theme and they still gave us Spinister. By that time Hasbro was already doing Titans return and probably veto'd this. Thats what I am thinking.

I'd say they're at least 2014 given the age of the Smokescreen tooling and the time buffer between Hasbro and FunPub, but they may not all have been proposed at the same time. Nightbeat would have been nixed due to his planned T30 figure, but the rest...

2014 at the latest.

2014 at the earliest. They couldnt have released figures of the targetmasters before.

Triggerhappy is the odd one out, he has to be at least 2015 with... *looks up name* CaliburstTracer from T30 Scoop.

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:It's been pointed out to me that the head of Triggerhappy in this mock-up is MP-1's head minus its side antennae. Still not sure about whose head Nightbeat's is, though.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:And since these mock-ups were most likely produced years before Titans Return was announced, they probably would have been pretty popular items had they been made back then, much like how TFSS Breakdown was a hot item before CW Breakdown happened to come about roughly one or two years later.

I dont think these are that old. They seem to have been done for the previous subscription series before they opted for the Combiner Wars molds. They were going for the targetmasters theme and they still gave us Spinister. By that time Hasbro was already doing Titans return and probably veto'd this. Thats what I am thinking.

I'd say they're at least 2014 given the age of the Smokescreen tooling and the time buffer between Hasbro and FunPub, but they may not all have been proposed at the same time. Nightbeat would have been nixed due to his planned T30 figure, but the rest...

2014 at the latest.

2014 at the earliest. They couldnt have released figures of the targetmasters before.

Well then, at the latest for Crosshairs, since he was shown at the BotCon 2014 panel.

Guess this means they all (or at least Triggerhappy) couldn't have been conceived at the same time.