Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

[Zeedust]

Yeah, I dont see how that becomes Bruticus, but I now NEED that as Fire Convoy.

Given the choice between Fire Convoy and Smolder, I'd pick Smolder for variety's sake. We've already got an Optimus Prime from the line and a white recolor on the way.

[Crosscheck]

In terms of Onslaught being a pretool of Hot Spot, I bet there is a way that they could put Onslaughts big turret at the back of the figure, just like Hot Spot's ladder base. But, I wonder if they could make it so that the base of the turret transforms into the G1 toy's chest plate, and have it be able to attach a Legends-size figure to make the cartoon chest plate. Hard to fit the chest plate and combiner head all in one turret though. Especially when it will need to form his back cannons in order to look right too.

[shajaki]

As expected Genetic of TFND comes through with the Combiner Wars Protectobots fully combined into Defensor! Well, almost since Legends Groove is absent. He shows off Defensor in a bunch of poses and configurations, and looks like he will make a fine addition to everyone's Combiner Wars collection. According to online retailers this wave is slated to hit our shores in April... so perhaps it's time to begin the hunt? Scroll down to see Defensor in all his glory, and stay tuned to Seibertron.com for all your Transformers News!

[chuckdawg1999]

Those are the best pictures of Hot Spot Yet. I think the way they can do Onslaught it by making the cannon unit on a hinge or track piece allowing it to slide up. This way the head can flip over and the barrels are in the right position. Another possibility is the combined head is in a new compartment on the back of the robot.

[Sabrblade]

Something about Defensor's proportions just make him seen very squat. Like he looks wider than he is tall or something.

Maybe he'd look better-proportioned if his thighs were thinner or something.

[Crosscheck]

I like his proportions. It is better than Superion's ONLY flaw, his spindly thighs. But yeah, he looks kinda squat. Still, looks pretty awesome.

I like that they even have him mostly in the set-up that I am going to put him in (RA-Blades, LA-First Aid, RL-Rook, LL-Streetwise). Rook looks pretty good as a leg. The only thing about this set-up that I don't care for is that I will have both of the First Aid/Offroad molds in the same spot on their combiner. Blades/Alpha Bravo are both arms, just not the same arm.

[Genericon #378]

Because Alpha Bravo has ALWAYS BEEN AN AERIALBOT.

Funny. I just watched The Key to Vector Sigma last night, and I could swear there were five jets, including some guy named Slingshot who was kind of a jerk to Ironhide, and in fact the most prominent member of the team in their introductory episode aside from Silverbolt. And I didn't see any Alpha Bravo anywhere...

So, er, define "always," please. Because the way I understood the word, it was not a subjective word.

Lies. Alpha Bravo has ALWAYS BEEN AN AERIALBOT.

I know it's a Photoshop. I just find some of the venom directed at Alpha Bravo a little ridiculous, and the idea that he has retroactively been made a G1 Aerialbot to destroy the childhood of his naysayers strikes me as funny.

QUIT DESTROYING MY CHILDHOOD MRBLACK!!!

it has nothing to do with destroying anyone's childhood.. it has to do with the fact that it's been thirty years since we've gotten proper combiners. to make them the right way now, but just decide to completely change a member of each team for absolutely no other reason than them being greedy IS a problem.. it's not ruining my childhood, but it's crushing my faith in hasbro which has already been squashed enough as it is.

it's great that they are releasing both slingshot and wildrider.. but it doesn't look like we'll be getting a proper groove. so, that sucks.

it'd be like starting a generations line and not including an optimus prime, but instead, they just out of the blue invent a brand new autobot leader.. so, you'd have all of the other classic autobots being lead by a brand new leader for absolutely no reason. it's just not right and it's easy to see why it would piss some people off.

if they really wanted to add a new member, they should've started with the proper teams first, then introduce the new characters later.

i'm all for new characters, bulkhead, lockdown, the movie decepticons, all really cool. adding a helicopter to a team of combining jets is stupid. adding an SUV to a limb team of sports cars is stupid. now.. had they released the original team first, then in a later wave introduced the new characters in the pack in comics, that would've been pretty cool. but that's not how it went down.

it's a clear money grab. wait until both alpha bravo and offroad had sold a bunch, then reveal slingshot and wildrider online.. that's pretty low.

Hmmm, what should the new member for the AERIALbots transform into? I've got it.......a helicopter!

[Crosscheck]

I think it would be hilarious if Hasbro reissued the G1 Aerialbots, but instead of including Slingshot...or Quickslinger, they include a white repaint of Vortex as Alpha Bravo.

[SW's SilverHammer]

Because Alpha Bravo has ALWAYS BEEN AN AERIALBOT.

Funny. I just watched The Key to Vector Sigma last night, and I could swear there were five jets, including some guy named Slingshot who was kind of a jerk to Ironhide, and in fact the most prominent member of the team in their introductory episode aside from Silverbolt. And I didn't see any Alpha Bravo anywhere...

So, er, define "always," please. Because the way I understood the word, it was not a subjective word.

Lies. Alpha Bravo has ALWAYS BEEN AN AERIALBOT.

I know it's a Photoshop. I just find some of the venom directed at Alpha Bravo a little ridiculous, and the idea that he has retroactively been made a G1 Aerialbot to destroy the childhood of his naysayers strikes me as funny.

QUIT DESTROYING MY CHILDHOOD MRBLACK!!!

it has nothing to do with destroying anyone's childhood.. it has to do with the fact that it's been thirty years since we've gotten proper combiners. to make them the right way now, but just decide to completely change a member of each team for absolutely no other reason than them being greedy IS a problem.. it's not ruining my childhood, but it's crushing my faith in hasbro which has already been squashed enough as it is.

it's great that they are releasing both slingshot and wildrider.. but it doesn't look like we'll be getting a proper groove. so, that sucks.

it'd be like starting a generations line and not including an optimus prime, but instead, they just out of the blue invent a brand new autobot leader.. so, you'd have all of the other classic autobots being lead by a brand new leader for absolutely no reason. it's just not right and it's easy to see why it would piss some people off.

if they really wanted to add a new member, they should've started with the proper teams first, then introduce the new characters later.

i'm all for new characters, bulkhead, lockdown, the movie decepticons, all really cool. adding a helicopter to a team of combining jets is stupid. adding an SUV to a limb team of sports cars is stupid. now.. had they released the original team first, then in a later wave introduced the new characters in the pack in comics, that would've been pretty cool. but that's not how it went down.

it's a clear money grab. wait until both alpha bravo and offroad had sold a bunch, then reveal slingshot and wildrider online.. that's pretty low.

Hmmm, what should the new member for the AERIALbots transform into? I've got it.......a helicopter!

aer·i·al
ˈerēəl/
adjective
1.
existing, happening, or operating in the air.
"an aerial battle"

my god, it doesn't just mean jets

[Bumblevivisector]

Because Alpha Bravo has ALWAYS BEEN AN AERIALBOT.

Funny. I just watched The Key to Vector Sigma last night, and I could swear there were five jets, including some guy named Slingshot who was kind of a jerk to Ironhide, and in fact the most prominent member of the team in their introductory episode aside from Silverbolt. And I didn't see any Alpha Bravo anywhere...

So, er, define "always," please. Because the way I understood the word, it was not a subjective word.

Lies. Alpha Bravo has ALWAYS BEEN AN AERIALBOT.

I know it's a Photoshop. I just find some of the venom directed at Alpha Bravo a little ridiculous, and the idea that he has retroactively been made a G1 Aerialbot to destroy the childhood of his naysayers strikes me as funny.

QUIT DESTROYING MY CHILDHOOD MRBLACK!!!

it has nothing to do with destroying anyone's childhood.. it has to do with the fact that it's been thirty years since we've gotten proper combiners. to make them the right way now, but just decide to completely change a member of each team for absolutely no other reason than them being greedy IS a problem.. it's not ruining my childhood, but it's crushing my faith in hasbro which has already been squashed enough as it is.

it's great that they are releasing both slingshot and wildrider.. but it doesn't look like we'll be getting a proper groove. so, that sucks.

it'd be like starting a generations line and not including an optimus prime, but instead, they just out of the blue invent a brand new autobot leader.. so, you'd have all of the other classic autobots being lead by a brand new leader for absolutely no reason. it's just not right and it's easy to see why it would piss some people off.

if they really wanted to add a new member, they should've started with the proper teams first, then introduce the new characters later.

i'm all for new characters, bulkhead, lockdown, the movie decepticons, all really cool. adding a helicopter to a team of combining jets is stupid. adding an SUV to a limb team of sports cars is stupid. now.. had they released the original team first, then in a later wave introduced the new characters in the pack in comics, that would've been pretty cool. but that's not how it went down.

it's a clear money grab. wait until both alpha bravo and offroad had sold a bunch, then reveal slingshot and wildrider online.. that's pretty low.

Hmmm, what should the new member for the AERIALbots transform into? I've got it.......a helicopter!

aer·i·al
ˈerēəl/
adjective
1.
existing, happening, or operating in the air.
"an aerial battle"

my god, it doesn't just mean jets

Now wait a sec, that just crossed a line into the same semiotic exclusion principle debates that ultimately led "Seeker" to be diverged from all official synonyms containing "jet", "plane", "sky", etc. since they could apply to hundreds of other TFs not associated with said body type. That line of reasoning opens the door to Doubleheader, Gurafi, and all 5 cartoon Dinobots being Aerialbots too. Nuh-uh. This debate has already reached Bay-vian levels of predictable monotony, the dullness of which must not spiral out further.

A character is an Aerialbot if officially cited as such, as Alpha Bravo is; to argue otherwise without specifying continuity and sentience is meaningless fanwank. However, there's nothing new or original about his being a helicopter Aerialbot, as Ro-tor, Chopper Drone, and Combat Helicopter Drone all beat him to it. For that matter, a hot-air-balloon Aerialbot precedes the first of them by 2 decades. I can assume without checking that -blade and/or -rabbit have already pointed this out.

Yet despite being 4th whirlybird to the party at best, Alpha Bravo is so awesome that his mom was also in every G1 episode, and they were able to achieve wincest from the very beginning, like his namesake and Bunny. I will keep repeating that whenever this thread reaches omnidichronexversal fracture points of stupidity, until such time as I am banned.

...

Soooo, any signs of Rook being able to attach a scout in kneecap configuration, or have we heard definitively that Groove only goes on the chest?

[Amelie]

Oh man - this conversation is hilarious.

For a start, this is "Combiner Wars", not G1. They're homages at best and if you want the G1 experience - buy G1 or a Masterpiece. This is the "Combiner Wars" iteration of the "Aerialbots" and since its Hasbro and its their franchise, they can put whoever they want into the team and make it official.

If the whole thing is enraging you, you really need to take in some deep breaths and remember - its a children's toy, designed to be played with. You don't 'have to' or 'need' any of these toys. I personally love G1 which is why I buy G1 toys - I don't buy a modern figure and fool myself into thinking that every Classics\Universe\Generations\ECT release is going to straight up be a G1 update because I know it won't.

That said - Defensor is awesome. Rook looks great and I always thought Groove was a stupid idea as a kid.

[RhA]

Oh man - this conversation is hilarious.

'Hilarious' might be phrasing it wrong. I'm leaning towards 'sad', 'redundant' or 'exactly what normal people think Transformers fans do all the time'. Or a combination of everything.

After all, these *ARE* the Combiner (flame-)Wars.

[Rated X]

Defensor is going to need some seroius 3rd party help to hide those monkey arms. A proper Groove would be nice too. Rook is pure garbage.

[Yotsuyasan]

A proper Groove would be nice too. Rook is pure garbage.

Saying this as someone who is kind of trying to be a G1 purist with his combiners, and thus never had any plans to buy Alpha Bravo and ordered the Takara Superion...

I dunno, Rook kind of doesn't seem as bad. I suppose it helps that, even if downgraded to chest plate, at least Groove is still a part of the team. So Defensor does still contain all five of his original members. But I won't be upset to have Rook in my collection.

Granted, that all being said, if Takara announces their Defensor tomorrow and it has a Deluxe Groove that looks pretty good, I may have some pre-orders to cancel! But even if that happens, unlike Alpha Bravo, I may still try to snag Rook separately.

Not sure if I should hold my breath, though. Unlike Slingshot and Wildrider, who would Takara make Groove from? Unless there is an as yet unrevealed motorcycle mold (perhaps being developed for Computron), there isn't exactly a ready to go pre-existing mold for Takara to redeco as Groove like they did for the other two Hasbro-replaced Combiner Wars limbs.

[Alpha Dominus]

I haven't finished my Superion yet but if Defensor's articulation is an indication of what all the other combiners can pull off I'm super excited to form these gestalts. Also digging the scaffolding on his shoulder's. Sort of gives him a tough, industrial appearance. Also, is that battle damage directly on the mold of his face? I like it-also adds to that tough-guy, battletorn look.

[peaces]

first aid looks great as a leg due to all the colors on white. he looks too busy as an arm. rook looks better as a leg. streetwise better as an arm. and blades better as an arm due to the silver parts. i will probably take a silver sharpie to the wheels. thinking of how i can turn defensor's eyes into a visor. maybe add more blue or silver to his face.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

And the Combined mode did not in any way fail to impress. That is a good looking Defensor, especially since he is the first since the 1980's. I am very impressed, and I cannot wait to get this guy. I really like Rook and the whole system works for me, especially since Groove is still there as a pretty cool chestplate. I'm trying to get the wave 2 deluxes to finish off my first 2 combiners, so this guy will probably hit my desk top sometime in the fall. Can't come soon enough!

P.S. I can see the real potential for Nexus Prime. I hope they make him along with the Fan-built combiner, Computron and Bruticus next year. That would be awesome!

[megatronus]

Nexus Prime = TFSS 4.0?

[shajaki]

Rook is pure garbage.

Now I wonder, is this just auto-hate for the noob or do you genuinely dislike Rook? Will you hate him just as much when he's retooled into Brawl?

[RiddlerJ]

I'm liking that Defensor. To be fair, I thought the G1 Defensor was one of the better built combiners. He was pretty solid and sturdy, nothing flopping around.

I don't mind if the combiners are a little awkward in their construction. They're supposed to be powerful machines for emergencies. Not something that needs to comfortably walk around day to day.

[Shuttershock]

Rook is pure garbage.

Now I wonder, is this just auto-hate for the noob or do you genuinely dislike Rook? Will you hate him just as much when he's retooled into Brawl?

Knowing Rated X, I'd say he will.

[RhA]

I'm liking that Defensor. To be fair, I thought the G1 Defensor was one of the better built combiners. He was pretty solid and sturdy, nothing flopping around.

I don't mind if the combiners are a little awkward in their construction. They're supposed to be powerful machines for emergencies. Not something that needs to comfortably walk around day to day.

While I agree, I do remember the Headmasters series where these guys where combining so much and so often, they might as well be made for constant use.

Or the teams REALLY started to like each other so much that they wanted to stay together.

Which is fine.

I mean, they're all consenting adults, right?

Who am I to judge?

[Shockwave7]

Aw, heck yeah. I had G1 Defensor, and always thought he was kind of a throwaway creation - made simply to give the autobots another combiner to 'match' the Combaticons/Bruticus. It always seemed to my mind that Hasbro focused more attention and care into the Combaticons. But when I had G1 Defensor assembled, I was surprised because he turned out be one of the most solid, stable and aesthetically neat combiners.

And Defensor 2015 seems to be carrying on that tradition of pleasant surprise.

I don't mind losing Groove as a limb for the sake of G1 purity. Because it never made sense to me that a 2-wheeler bike would have enough mass to form a proper 'limb' of any kind. Even factoring in the silly phenomenon of mass alteration, it just didn't work in my mind. Proportionally, it makes much more sense to have him as chest armor. This makes sure he's still part of the team, and allows for the addition of Rook, who is much beefier, and makes much more sense to have as an arm or leg to Defensor. (Though I still plan to make him the second 'leg' instead of Streetwise - Rook makes a much better symmetrical match to First Aid in that regard)

Is Defensor 2015 stumpy? Yes. But so is Menasor. And Defensor just looks GOOD. Can't wait to order this one....

[Sabrblade]

Is Defensor 2015 stumpy? Yes. But so is Menasor.

That is not helping either's case. Superion is the only one whose torso looks well proportioned.

[shajaki]

Is Defensor 2015 stumpy? Yes. But so is Menasor.

That is not helping either's case. Superion is the only one whose torso looks well proportioned.

But we've all found ways to make Menasor's proportions better, and I'm betting the same can be done for Defensor.