The Energon Pub

[william-james88]

The fact that we already have 3 of our potential 4 combiners for 2016 laid out kind of saddens me, because there's a lot that I want and only one slot to fill. I kind of wish the second round of Autobot Cars weren't a thing, and Sky Lynx was just an extra torso to use with whoever, like Cyclonus. Then we could get another full team.

Teams we haven't yet seen updated:
Technobots
Seacons
Terrorcons (ignoring the Beast Hunters version)
Predacons
Pretender Monsters

And some Japanese exclusive combiners as well.

I am pretty sure the Pradacons wont be using the CW peg system of 4 deluxes and a voyager since that wasnt how it was in G1. They were all voyager size and not part of scramble city. Neither was Devastator and they made a toy outside of this scramble city 2.0 system for him so I dont see why they wouldnt do that with Predaking.

[ZeroWolf]

Wait...I could make a whole combiner out of Alpha Bravo? Awesome Wonder if I could fashion a gun cannon mode for him so all are used...

Also I would be down for titan class predaking. Though I'll point out that the pretender monsters are also a six mam team so if hasbro does anything with them, I doubt it will be in the current format (and u doubt they would do a titan class for Monstructor) Six combining legends perhaps?

[william-james88]

Wait...I could make a whole combiner out of Alpha Bravo? Awesome Wonder if I could fashion a gun cannon mode for him so all are used...

Also I would be down for titan class predaking. Though I'll point out that the pretender monsters are also a six mam team so if hasbro does anything with them, I doubt it will be in the current format (and u doubt they would do a titan class for Monstructor) Six combining legends perhaps?

Yeah, I am not sure about monstructor either. And plus, Hasbro might want to integrate the pretender gimmick somehow whenever they get around to them.

And yes, you could make a combiner with only alpha bravo limbs:

Alpha Bravo
Vortex
Blades
Either one of Victorion's arms

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Let's put the limit of shells per mold to 2, and heads to 3 per shell, and see what we can make

Sorry for being a mega pessimist Jelze but I dont think there are rules anymore. If Hasbro wants to reuse the same mold 5 times, they can do it (and they are doing it).

Not counting straight redecos here, like Vortex, Spinister, Needlenose, Windsweeper, Smokescreen and Blast Off. I was only counting number of molds, and with a total of 6 potential figure designs per mold (remember, 2 shells, 3 heads per shell), we have a lot of slots to fill.

[william-james88]

Let's put the limit of shells per mold to 2, and heads to 3 per shell, and see what we can make

Sorry for being a mega pessimist Jelze but I dont think there are rules anymore. If Hasbro wants to reuse the same mold 5 times, they can do it (and they are doing it).

Not counting straight redecos here, like Vortex, Spinister, Needlenose, Windsweeper, Smokescreen and Blast Off. I was only counting number of molds, and with a total of 6 potential figure designs per mold (remember, 2 shells, 3 heads per shell), we have a lot of slots to fill.

Eeesh I thought it was 3 heads per mold, not shell. And there are straight redecos too, yikes. I really hope Hasbro doesnt read this post and get ideas. We would be stuck with the same mold for years.

[Hellscream9999]

I'm all for awesome retools, but now the dust has settled a bit and we've absorbed the weekend's excitement.

I'm a little worried that Has/Tak & Funpub are edging into 'Taking the cake' territory here.

Lets look at that alpha bravo mold here.

Alpha Bravo
Hasbro Blades
Takara Blades
FunPub Spinister
Hasbro Vortex
(Takara Vortex presumably TBA)
2X Victorion Arm Helicopter sister/twins

So that's 8 uses of the one mold. All with minimal retooling and from the looks of things the Dead End mold will be going the same way.

So, with that said, we can look at Hasbro alone and see that there is already some abuse here. I mean the same freaken mold with very little difference used over and over takes away some of the fun. Without even having a TFSS subscription, you will actually be able to make a combiner made up on only alpha bravo mold limbs and still have an extra one lying around, which is pretty nuts.

The only problems I have with this is when no effort has been made to differentiate the molds, the biggest offender being A/B with only one new head (blades - thus far). The least they could have done was give a/b jet intakes for arms (like bombshells gun arms) , then blades could have gotten missles (cuz he's like that) and vortex could have gotten a chain gun nose gun and mini-gun arms.

Between the sheer, blatant laziness of it, and the engineering problem with his combiner port, it's really difficult to persuade myself to get all 5 of him (victorion gunna have 2 )

The same can be said for the dead-end/prowl mold. they could have made a new roof that doesn't have a light bar for smokescreen, they could have done something more for prowl, instead of cloning the protectobot (b/c they're both police cars and have similar paint jobs, etc.)

[King Kuuga]

The fact that we already have 3 of our potential 4 combiners for 2016 laid out kind of saddens me, because there's a lot that I want and only one slot to fill. I kind of wish the second round of Autobot Cars weren't a thing, and Sky Lynx was just an extra torso to use with whoever, like Cyclonus. Then we could get another full team.

Teams we haven't yet seen updated:
Technobots
Seacons
Terrorcons (ignoring the Beast Hunters version)
Predacons
Pretender Monsters

And some Japanese exclusive combiners as well.

I am pretty sure the Pradacons wont be using the CW peg system of 4 deluxes and a voyager since that wasnt how it was in G1. They were all voyager size and not part of scramble city. Neither was Devastator and they made a toy outside of this scramble city 2.0 system for him so I dont see why they wouldnt do that with Predaking.

To be quite fair, I never said they were all Scramble City. That's why I included the Pretender Monsters. Anyway, Predaking could be made to be Scramble City more easily than some since he fits the traditional five bot format. Or he could be a titan. I'm fine either way. I love my Feral Rex but he's hard to play with.

[william-james88]

The fact that we already have 3 of our potential 4 combiners for 2016 laid out kind of saddens me, because there's a lot that I want and only one slot to fill. I kind of wish the second round of Autobot Cars weren't a thing, and Sky Lynx was just an extra torso to use with whoever, like Cyclonus. Then we could get another full team.

Teams we haven't yet seen updated:
Technobots
Seacons
Terrorcons (ignoring the Beast Hunters version)
Predacons
Pretender Monsters

And some Japanese exclusive combiners as well.

I am pretty sure the Pradacons wont be using the CW peg system of 4 deluxes and a voyager since that wasnt how it was in G1. They were all voyager size and not part of scramble city. Neither was Devastator and they made a toy outside of this scramble city 2.0 system for him so I dont see why they wouldnt do that with Predaking.

To be quite fair, I never said they were all Scramble City. That's why I included the Pretender Monsters. Anyway, Predaking could be made to be Scramble City more easily than some since he fits the traditional five bot format. Or he could be a titan. I'm fine either way. I love my Feral Rex but he's hard to play with.

You are perfectly right, you never did say that. I was just giving a reason as to why i dont think we'd see him using this system. Though you are right, he is easier to implement it than the 6 bot combine teams like LioKaiser.

[Sabrblade]

Pradacons

Heh heh.

[Chronchitisbot]

Fort Max a retool of Metro? Better cost the same!

[william-james88]

Pradacons

Heh heh.

They always seemed super stylish

[King Kuuga]

The Devil Gigatron wears Pradacons.

[ZeroWolf]

The Devil Gigatron wears Pradacons.

Now I'm thinking of a devil gigatron combiner core with four predacon limbs...and strangely, I would buy it.

[Rodimus Prime]

The Devil Gigatron wears Pradacons.

Now I'm thinking of a devil gigatron combiner core with four predacon limbs...and strangely, I would buy it.

Who would be the 4? RiD had only 3 deluxe Predacons, didn't it? Sky-byte was a Predacon, but I don't see him as a limb for Gigatron, he's voyager class.

[Sabrblade]

The Devil Gigatron wears Pradacons.

Now I'm thinking of a devil gigatron combiner core with four predacon limbs...and strangely, I would buy it.

Who would be the 4? RiD had only 3 deluxe Predacons, didn't it? Sky-byte was a Predacon, but I don't see him as a limb for Gigatron, he's voyager class.

Who says Sky-Byte has to stay bigger than the other three?

[chuckdawg1999]

I'm thinking Brawl is the same as Rook really based on the hips, the legs have the same transformation using a double hinge. It also appears that Brawl's turret works the same way as Rook's backpack. If it's not a retool then I feel Brawl and Rook are buck brothers.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

I'm thinking Brawl is the same as Rook really based on the hips, the legs have the same transformation using a double hinge. It also appears that Brawl's turret works the same way as Rook's backpack. If it's not a retool then I feel Brawl and Rook are buck brothers.

The double hinge in the legs is used on nearly all of the Limb-bots in different orientations. Plus, from the looks of it, Brawl has no fold-out feet unlike Rook and Swindle, and his waist makes a 180. Also, the turret looks like it's stationary, moving neither forward or back.

The Devil Gigatron wears Pradacons.

Now I'm thinking of a devil gigatron combiner core with four predacon limbs...and strangely, I would buy it.

Who would be the 4? RiD had only 3 deluxe Predacons, didn't it? Sky-byte was a Predacon, but I don't see him as a limb for Gigatron, he's voyager class.

Who says Sky-Byte has to stay bigger than the other three?

Forgetting Bruticus the Cerberus? Shame on you!

[Sabrblade]

The Devil Gigatron wears Pradacons.

Now I'm thinking of a devil gigatron combiner core with four predacon limbs...and strangely, I would buy it.

Who would be the 4? RiD had only 3 deluxe Predacons, didn't it? Sky-byte was a Predacon, but I don't see him as a limb for Gigatron, he's voyager class.

Who says Sky-Byte has to stay bigger than the other three?

Forgetting Bruticus the Cerberus? Shame on you!

Onscreen cartoon characters come first, darn it!

And the trio Preds weren't Deluxes, they were Basics. So like Sky-Byte, Bruticus is also bigger than them.

Besides, Sky-Byte would consider it the highest honor to combine with his master, even if he formed a leg.

[King Kuuga]

I'm thinking Brawl is the same as Rook really based on the hips, the legs have the same transformation using a double hinge. It also appears that Brawl's turret works the same way as Rook's backpack. If it's not a retool then I feel Brawl and Rook are buck brothers.

Brawl and Rook don't even share the same hips. They have no common parts in either mode, and they have different transformations. Compare to Swindle:


He's extensively redone but you can still see the shared elements with Rook. Face it, Brawl is an all new mold.

[william-james88]

I'm thinking Brawl is the same as Rook really based on the hips, the legs have the same transformation using a double hinge. It also appears that Brawl's turret works the same way as Rook's backpack. If it's not a retool then I feel Brawl and Rook are buck brothers.

To be honest I think we should distinguish between mold and engineering at this point. For instance, I believe every combiner peg share some kind of engineering, they have to innorder to combine in the same fashion and to simultaneously be an arm and a leg. Every single Aerialbot and Stunticon limb has the arms in the same spot. And in the case of the stunticons, all the arms are made up of the side panels (the vehicle doors) with the legs being back half of the vehicle splitting in half (which is the same engineering as Cybertron Hotshot). Looking at things this way, Brawl is similar to the others. But his mold is still unique in its chest area meaning that it is not a reshell of any other mold but instead just shares the same engineering he is forced to share innorder to acomodate his 4 mode combining gimmick.

It's similar to how the datsuns and Jazz might be similar or how the gobots are similar. They all have similar engineering but different molds all the same.

[peaces]

whether or not he is a new mold or not, he looks good. so it doesn't really matter.

[william-james88]

Forgetting Bruticus the Cerberus? Shame on you!

I have been trying to forget Bruticus for a long time. But I am writing a Top 5 ugliest transformers list so....

[Jelze Bunnycat]

I'm thinking Brawl is the same as Rook really based on the hips, the legs have the same transformation using a double hinge. It also appears that Brawl's turret works the same way as Rook's backpack. If it's not a retool then I feel Brawl and Rook are buck brothers.

To be honest I think we should distinguish between mold and engineering at this point. For instance, I believe every combiner peg share some kind of engineering, they have to innorder to combine in the same fashion and to simultaneously be an arm and a leg. Every single Aerialbot and Stunticon limb has the arms in the same spot. And in the case of the stunticons, all the arms are made up of the side panels (the vehicle doors) with the legs being back half of the vehicle splitting in half (which is the same engineering as Cybertron Hotshot). Looking at things this way, Brawl is similar to the others. But his mold is still unique in its chest area meaning that it is not a reshell of any other mold but instead just shares the same engineering he is forced to share innorder to acomodate his 4 mode combining gimmick.

It's similar to how the datsuns and Jazz might be similar or how the gobots are similar. They all have similar engineering but different molds all the same.

The waters become murky when the percentage of parts shared is below 50% though... For the purposes of Combiner Wars, we should deem any figure that shares transformation as well as some parts with another a retool, part of a twin if you will. With that, we have there pairs:

1.) Skydive & Air Raid
2.) Breakdown & Wheeljack
3.) Dead End & Streetwise
4.) Offroad & First Aid
5.) Rook & Swindle
6.) Optimus Prime & Motormaster
7.) Silverbolt & Cyclonus
8.) Hot Spot and Onslaught

These have yet to receive a twin:

1.) Alpha Bravo
2.) Firefly
3.) Dragstrip
4.) Brawl
5.) Sky Lynx

The main technique used to make figures in Combiner Wars is switching out major parts while keeping the basic transformation intact. That's what I based these pairs on: transformation first, and parts second.

[william-james88]

These have yet to receive a twin:

1.) Alpha Bravo
2.) Firefly
3.) Dragstrip
4.) Brawl
5.) Sky Lynx

The main technique used to make figures in Combiner Wars is switching out major parts while keeping the basic transformation intact. That's what I based these pairs on: transformation first, and parts second.

Those recieved way worse though. 2 of those got just straight up redecos and the first three also got some new heads. I though a new head was considered a retool, no?

[Jelze Bunnycat]

These have yet to receive a twin:

1.) Alpha Bravo
2.) Firefly
3.) Dragstrip
4.) Brawl
5.) Sky Lynx

The main technique used to make figures in Combiner Wars is switching out major parts while keeping the basic transformation intact. That's what I based these pairs on: transformation first, and parts second.

Those recieved way worse though. 2 of those got just straight up redecos and the first three also got some new heads. I though a new head was considered a retool, no?

Yeah, I need to get into the habit of saying "reshell" more, which is what the twins all are.