The Energon Pub

Mindmaster wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:

Hellscream9999 wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:Looks promising so far. The Paradron Medic had to happen at some point. Just a few paint and plastic changes to Arcee is all it takes, no remolding.

I do wonder though......if this is TFSS 5.0...will the TFCC be releasing it? I thought their license wasn't going to be renewed, due to their announcement stating that all memberships would cease to be effective at the end of the year. Or did I read that wrong?

As far as we know, it was always due to continue through 5.0. As for botcon 2017... not sure about that

Well that's what I'm not sure about. TFSS 4.0 is coming out this year (likely after or around Botcon in 2 months), which means 5.0 is next year, 2017. So if they've lost the license, how is 5.0 going to happen? Or does this signal that they'll still be putting Botcon on and just requiring members to sign up every year?

I'm pretty sure it's just them changing up the membership registration dates, and they all now renew/expire at the end of the year.

I know there was a Facebook post from Pete waaaaay back when this was a big deal, and one of the comments was "Say it ain't so!". I think what's happebing is that Pete is stepping down and someone else is taking over FunPub.

Good to know. I hope that's the case.

Survivefan23 wrote:Also another that I discovered.

credit has been given

Is it just me, or is the Quickslinger Targetmaster kind of superfluous, since the Paradron Medic won't be able to hold it? And why use the same mold for Quickslinger that they knew they needed to use for Hi-Q?

That Optimus is actually pretty creative, though. That they got Swerve's mold to evoke Prime's standard design is impressive, while at the same time it's different enough to not blend in with the crowd. I'm not sure I feel the need to own it, but I like it being out there, and I might go after it if I wind up with spare cash somehow.

Mindmaster wrote:Optimus looks to be based on the Generation 2 Gobot mold with Armada Optimus's head. Not sure if the Pretender shell is supposed to homage anything in particular (though I'm getting Universe (2003) Optimus Primal/Robots in Disguise (2001) Optimus Prime vibes from him).

Optimus's deco is more based on the G2 Laser Optimus Prime deco, in vehicle mode, at least. The robot mode deco seems to just be traditional Optimus colors with black limbs thanks to the mold's sprue layout.

The Pretender shell is colored like the variant deco that the original Double Pretender gorilla shell was shown to have at BotCon 1996, along with the other deco that was used as the basis for Oilmaster's shell's deco.

You know, with Prime being based on the G2 Laser Prime figure, combined with the Gorilla Shell...
Could his fiction be an attempt to resurrect the original Beast Wars story? Where they were the original G1 characters and it merely was a sequel to G2?

That doesn't seem to be a stock photo of Generations Arcee with the colors changed. I mention it because it's weird as to what hands are being used then. Those are the first run rectangle hands with the closed fingers and thumb. The second run, which are also used for Nightbird, have the open rectangle hands with the ledge in the bottom. You'd think that with the Targetmaster that they'd use the Combiner Hunters open 5mm peg hands instead. Granted that they don't hold the rectangle handle guns very well but it's still strange that She would come with an accessory that she probably can't use if they do indeed use those or the second run hands. She'd still be able to peg the guns into the forearms or the backpack if they used the 5mm hands.

Anyway though, this existing kinda kills the need for me to keep my CHMS Animated Arcee triplets now. Assuming I sign up for 5.0 that is. 4.0 was the first one I signed up for and only because it had a whole combiner and two extra limbs and I actually had the money for it. I guess I'll just have to figure it out if and when I ever get this Medic. I don't collect for Animated and since having gotten the three, I've gotten a bunch of Arcee and Chromia figures to replace them and only the Medic was really needed. I guess I can just call one of the two Medics Greenlight or Moonracer and not worry about it.

The Optimus Prime looks cool I guess. I was just never wowed by that Pretender shell. I can't wait to see what else they do.

One thing I want to point out is that these (Optimus Prime and Paradron Medic) are very early proof of concept mock-ups, not even the final color guides. They should be fairly accurate, but there may be some color tweaks here and there as the mold layouts get planned.

Also, although the TFSS 4.0 orders are being shipped this year, pre-orders were last Fall. This places them as 2015 offerings. Just as any order window for 5.0 this year locks them in as 2016 product.

With Paradron Medic, there have been multiple designs for the hands. Including regular 5MM openings which would be able to hold Quickslinger. If she can get those and if they make sense with her other accessories, that's always an option.

Optimus Prime's gorilla shell pays homage back to the original prototypes for the Double Pretender gorilla shell. http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Oilmaster You can see at the bottom of that page that the original resin prototype was actually conceptualized in two different color schemes. The brown gorilla with the gun-metal armor became Oilmaster. And the gray gorilla with the red and gold armor will be Optimus Prime. You can also see the different accessories given to each prototype there, which was mimicked with the parts selection for Oilmaster and Optimus.

Also, a note about Ramjet and Skywarp, the pre-production samples that were photographed were the first-run samples. There are color edits that have been submitted, so you can probably expect the stripes on Ramjet's wings/shoulders to be corrected to look more like his digital mock-up on TransformersClub.com.

TF_JW wrote:Also, a note about Ramjet and Skywarp, the pre-production samples that were photographed were the first-run samples. There are color edits that have been submitted, so you can probably expect the stripes on Ramjet's wings/shoulders to be corrected to look more like his digital mock-up on TransformersClub.com.

I also placed them in the wrong thread/category/everything.

hmmm dunno how i feel about Hi Q coming with THIS optimus instead of the Titan Wars Powermaster Prime!

but hey...i guess it gives us our first look at Hi Q

btw a wee while back on the Titan Wars thread i believe that some were speculating about Pretenders! so i guess this brings those speculators to fruition. & i now wonder what other Pretenders we are likely to see

Stuartmaximus wrote:btw a wee while back on the Titan Wars thread i believe that some were speculating about Pretenders! so i guess this brings those speculators to fruition. & i now wonder what other Pretenders we are likely to see

No, this doesn't mean anything like that. This isn't a Hasbro product, it's from Fun Pub. And it's a redeco of the only Pretender shell mold they've ever made. It is not an indicator of anything to come from Hasbro as it is unrelated to any main line.

hmmm dunno how i feel about Hi Q coming with THIS optimus instead of the Titan Wars Powermaster Prime!

but hey...i guess it gives us our first look at Hi Q

btw a wee while back on the Titan Wars thread i believe that some were speculating about Pretenders! so i guess this brings those speculators to fruition. & i now wonder what other Pretenders we are likely to see

Stuartmaximus wrote:btw a wee while back on the Titan Wars thread i believe that some were speculating about Pretenders! so i guess this brings those speculators to fruition. & i now wonder what other Pretenders we are likely to see

No, this doesn't mean anything like that. This isn't a Hasbro product, it's from Fun Pub. And it's a redeco of the only Pretender shell mold they've ever made. It is not an indicator of anything to come from Hasbro as it is unrelated to any main line.

Sabreblade is correct. What Pretenders Fun Publications make do not necessarily reflect the toys that Hasbro release at retail.

Sabrblade wrote:

Stuartmaximus wrote:btw a wee while back on the Titan Wars thread i believe that some were speculating about Pretenders! so i guess this brings those speculators to fruition. & i now wonder what other Pretenders we are likely to see

No, this doesn't mean anything like that. This isn't a Hasbro product, it's from Fun Pub. And it's a redeco of the only Pretender shell mold they've ever made. It is not an indicator of anything to come from Hasbro as it is unrelated to any main line.

ah but! are we not supposed to be getting a Hi Q with TW Powermaster Prime?

Stuartmaximus wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Stuartmaximus wrote:btw a wee while back on the Titan Wars thread i believe that some were speculating about Pretenders! so i guess this brings those speculators to fruition. & i now wonder what other Pretenders we are likely to see

No, this doesn't mean anything like that. This isn't a Hasbro product, it's from Fun Pub. And it's a redeco of the only Pretender shell mold they've ever made. It is not an indicator of anything to come from Hasbro as it is unrelated to any main line.

ah but! are we not supposed to be getting a Hi Q with TW Powermaster Prime?

The head guy's called Apex, although his body looks Hi-Qish. Sincerely doubt there's any link between the FunPub double Pretender mold and Hasbro's future plans.

and just a minute! granted that THIS Pretender is a Fun Pub creation! but you can't just slam your fist down & declare that there's NEVER gonna be Pretenders in Hasbro's future plans! none of us know bar Hasbro what they have in store for the future!

now they've already given us Combiners! & next Headmasters!(ok...titan thingymajigs! or whatever they're calling them now), so Pretenders could be a viable option for what comes next

Stuartmaximus wrote:and just a minute! granted that THIS Pretender is a Fun Pub creation! but you can't just slam your fist down & declare that there's NEVER gonna be Pretenders in Hasbro's future plans! none of us know bar Hasbro what they have in store for the future!

No one's slamming their fist down and saying never, we're just saying that FunPub's Double Pretender mold doesn't offer us positive or negative evidence.

Sabrblade wrote:

Mindmaster wrote:Optimus looks to be based on the Generation 2 Gobot mold with Armada Optimus's head. Not sure if the Pretender shell is supposed to homage anything in particular (though I'm getting Universe (2003) Optimus Primal/Robots in Disguise (2001) Optimus Prime vibes from him).

Optimus's deco is more based on the G2 Laser Optimus Prime deco, in vehicle mode, at least. The robot mode deco seems to just be traditional Optimus colors with black limbs thanks to the mold's sprue layout.

The Pretender shell is colored like the variant deco that the original Double Pretender gorilla shell was shown to have at BotCon 1996, along with the other deco that was used as the basis for Oilmaster's shell's deco.

Oops, I've been had! Could've sworn that's what the Gobot Prime looked like...

So what we got here is an optimus prime that has an g2 laser prime deco, and has an Hi-Q figure but now an targetmaster. As well as is an pretender thats monkey well Looks like tfcc solved trukk not munky debate with trukk in munky guess we could call it an trunky while at it XD

At first gance I thought Hi-Q was wearing some kinda sleevless trenchcoat similar to AoE Crosshairs or the original Star Wars figures of Vader and Kenobi. It's just the way the grey stuff on the back looked to me.

Anyways yeah the Medic and Pretender Prime don't look too bad. I don't care for the Seekers though mainly cos I don't like that design.

RevTibe wrote:

Stuartmaximus wrote:and just a minute! granted that THIS Pretender is a Fun Pub creation! but you can't just slam your fist down & declare that there's NEVER gonna be Pretenders in Hasbro's future plans! none of us know bar Hasbro what they have in store for the future!

No one's slamming their fist down and saying never, we're just saying that FunPub's Double Pretender mold doesn't offer us positive or negative evidence.

Exactly, this has been an established rule of thumb since the beginning of the tfss, reinforced by both funpub and hasbro, if something happens to break that rule, it's happy coincidence; so to speculate that this means pretenders are making a comeback is tantamount to pointless hyperbole

I never would have thought of using Gears for OP, but that looks surprisingly not awful.

Optimus and Hi-Q being the Double Pretender for this deco of the shell works well with Hi-Q and Optimus being one and the same person.

Optimum Supreme wrote:I never would have thought of using Gears for OP, but that looks surprisingly not awful.

It works out since the Swerve mold was used for Oilmaster, so it's a mold that the shell was made to house.

TF_JW wrote:Sabreblade is correct. What Pretenders Fun Publications make do not necessarily reflect the toys that Hasbro release at retail.

I know that many folks dislike Shattered Glass stuff, but I was always hoping to get a 2-pk of SG Pretender Dirge with shell from Shattered Expectations.


On a side note, I would have liked a Squeezeplay from Beast Wars Quickstrike in translucent purple colors. Similar to this...