The Energon Pub

It's a solid B+. I'm not as excited for this as a should be. I probably would be more if I had hope that Vortex had a hand under there somewhere in combined mode. I can definitely work with it though!

I'm more excited that this is a HASBRO product. . . freaking BRUTICUS!!!

Now the part that excites me?

Everyone, especially HasTak knows that Bruticus is a safe bet. Bruticus is what you knock out when you can't think of anything better to do. But hopefully this sets a precedent for more combiners (Who here wouldn't say no to some neo-stunticons, neo-technobots or even neo-predacons), particularly if they based them on G1 rather than WFC.

As such, even though I dislike the WFC style I'm gonna track these down and buy them so Hasbro gets the right message.

Nice try, Hasbro. You get a pat on the head for trying, but your efforts aren't good enough to put on the fridge.

Sabrblade wrote:

Dude, that's some awesome useage of some crap figures. Are you the one who came up with that? Are they all actually connected or are some of them just sitting on each other?

It took me a moment to realize that the Vortex arm was holding a combined gun deal. At first I saw it and thought "WTF; Why can't you give use two real arms!" Overall I am pleased. For a mainstream toy at a mainstream price point, they did a good job (provided they gave him elbows and moving wrists). The limbs seem fine (elbows dammit!), but Onslaught does suffer from the deluxe scale. I admit it does give a very PCC feel; though I did like its final run, the larger core figure is crucial to making the 5 bot combiner work.

My only real gripe is that Vortex kinda stands out with that red. All the others use purple as a joining theme (including the game). He only has a small accent on the tail.

Sodan-1 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Dude, that's some awesome useage of some crap figures. Are you the one who came up with that? Are they all actually connected or are some of them just sitting on each other?

Not my combo. Found this image on TFWiki.

Like, though I probably won't have them combined too often. my main complaint is with the elbows. The way they are here looks like they bend at an awkward angle....

But the feet are winning, and I like the bot modes of most of them; Swindle and Onslaught being my least favourites there, & of the two, I like Swindles alt. mode, so Onslaught's the one that gets no love from me. He had a really neat transformation in WfC though. So much fun to watch. It looks like he's sort of rolling over to get on his back and then "weee! I'm on wheeeeeels!" hahahaaha.

Onslaught really should have been a Voyager.

So getting this! I actually hope this thing doesn't get 3rd Party addons. I can't wait to put this next to Crossfire Bruticus and PCC Bombshock! Not o mention the new Swindle to add to me collection...

I like it.

It could be improved, but overall, I really like it.

Bravo for a step in the right direction Hasbro!

Sabrblade wrote:

Sodan-1 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Dude, that's some awesome useage of some crap figures. Are you the one who came up with that? Are they all actually connected or are some of them just sitting on each other?

Not my combo. Found this image on TFWiki.

They actually all peg in together. I only had enough Combaticons to do half but with about 20 minutes of fiddling, it all worked!

Then I put it back to normal.

zodconvoy wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Sodan-1 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Dude, that's some awesome useage of some crap figures. Are you the one who came up with that? Are they all actually connected or are some of them just sitting on each other?

Not my combo. Found this image on TFWiki.

They actually all peg in together. I only had enough Combaticons to do half but with about 20 minutes of fiddling, it all worked!

Then I put it back to normal.

I wonder if it works with Aerialbots too? I have way too many of those.

At this point, I'm convinced that Hasbro could find a cure for cancer and solve world hunger, and the fandom would complain that it didn't bring world peace.

Why were the third-parties able to do all three?
Because their cure isn't FDA-approved and costs umpteen billion dollars.
So?
That's not even a real number.
[mumbles something about "Michael Bay" and "childhood"]

Bullycon wrote:At this point, I'm convinced that Hasbro could find a cure for cancer and solve world hunger, and the fandom would complain that it didn't bring world peace.

Why were the third-parties able to do all three?
Because their cure isn't FDA-approved and costs umpteen billion dollars.
So?
That's not even a real number.
[mumbles something about "Michael Bay" and "childhood"]

I whole-heartedly agree. These guys looks pretty awesome, and considering the safety restraints a company like Hasbro has abide by, I can't see them doing too much better. A while ago, Hasbro said they wouldn't do any combiners. The fandom raged. Then, Hasbro gave us the legends class Devastator that combined. People bitched about it not being bigger. Then Hasbro gave us the bigger PCC line. Fans complained about the limbs not transforming. Hasbro finally goes ahead and gives us (out of nowhere) a full fledged combiner made up of all deluxe class figures for a Generations subline. Fans STILL whine and moan about how a mistransformed stock photo doesn't look as good as the 3rd party Bruticus that costs an arm and a leg.

Really, what could have been done to please these people? Would you be happy if the figure jumps out of the box and gives free blow jobs???

Diem wrote:

zodconvoy wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Sodan-1 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Dude, that's some awesome useage of some crap figures. Are you the one who came up with that? Are they all actually connected or are some of them just sitting on each other?

Not my combo. Found this image on TFWiki.

They actually all peg in together. I only had enough Combaticons to do half but with about 20 minutes of fiddling, it all worked!

Then I put it back to normal.

I wonder if it works with Aerialbots too? I have way too many of those.

A while back we had someone who combined the Airealbots and the Combaticons into one huge badass robot.

Dead Metal wrote:

Diem wrote:

zodconvoy wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Sodan-1 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Dude, that's some awesome useage of some crap figures. Are you the one who came up with that? Are they all actually connected or are some of them just sitting on each other?

Not my combo. Found this image on TFWiki.

They actually all peg in together. I only had enough Combaticons to do half but with about 20 minutes of fiddling, it all worked!

Then I put it back to normal.

I wonder if it works with Aerialbots too? I have way too many of those.

A while back we had someone who combined the Airealbots and the Combaticons into one huge badass robot.

Pics or it didn't awesome.

Gandalf wrote:Well...it is definitely a step in the right direction. I commend Hasbro for that. Hopefully this was a learning process, and they will get the hang of it and make improvements for future combiners and triplechangers. Especially if these sell well.

Also note there is a quote from Joshua Lamb, "director of design for the Transformers brand at Hasbro" visible in the image of Swindle:

"Overall, it's about a two-year process, from early concept to when the product hits the shelf".

Wouldn't that put them working on this around the time Power Core Combiners were the "hot new item"? That would explain the obvious PCC influences.

Thats not true anymore, most companies LIKE to have that kind of time but I have seen Hasbro and other toy companies say that they can have action figures as well as Transformers out in 9 months time!!! Also according to the Movie figures it is even a less time frame then that!!

Bullycon wrote:At this point, I'm convinced that Hasbro could find a cure for cancer and solve world hunger, and the fandom would complain that it didn't bring world peace.

That's because their cure for cancer would be to just kill the patient and world hunger would be to feed them dogshit.

Kibble wrote:

Bullycon wrote:At this point, I'm convinced that Hasbro could find a cure for cancer and solve world hunger, and the fandom would complain that it didn't bring world peace.

That's because their cure for cancer would be to just kill the patient and world hunger would be to feed them dogshit.

No, they would feed the dead cancer people to the hungry to solve world hunger.

Diem wrote:
Pics or it didn't awesome.

I'll see if I can find the thread.

Seriously, I think Onslaught would have benefited from being a Voyager-class figure. Other than that, I think Hasbro did a great job.

People seem to forget that the G1 combiner figures were bricks, both the individual figures and the combined form. Even the vaunted Predaking. Plus, you've got the bazillion spare kibble parts.

Here, Hasbro has made five individual figures, with articulated robot modes and distinct vehicle modes. They combine together into a distinct Bruticus. They have actual fists, not whatever the Energon figures had. And there is no parts-forming, whatsoever.

If you can't appreciate this, I don't know what to tell you.

necr0blivion wrote:

Lord Onixprime wrote:I don't quite get the PCC comparison everyone keeps making, I mean, besides the drones, PCC just used the Energon method of combining.

This has 4 transformable limbs, a step up from PCC.

For me, it's the issue of lanky, overextended connections from the body to the limbs. It looks better on the legs than it does on the arms. Again, it could be to allow the limbs more movement, but looking at them head on, they look a little "off".

That said, I'm still excited about collecting him.

I agree... I'm ok with it being deluxe figures and all, but I thought it be beefier. At least almost as beefy as FP Colossus but those arms and leg connections are a bit skinny for what is supposed to a walking behemoth..

i like the Vortex mold quite a bit, but the colours make it look like one of those G1 KO sets where there's a random Technobot in every gestalt.

WOW!!! Looks like a giant pile of crap.

I pass.

After comparing the toy with the video game pic I now believe that the toy is not put toghether correctly. It looks like Onslaughts legs should be folded up more and the legs on the right arm are over extended. I think once the figure is properly put toghether he will looks alot better.