The Energon Pub

[steals_your_goats]

It's not even like a half! You have about 2/3's of him already, the rest of it would just be unnecessary background.

Maths skills ... not required to be on the News Crew

The last half of the half but the last piece is the important one, as it includes a look at strafe


(also, it may be slightly out of proportion, but I can't get a good feel on it without some part to link them together...)

It's just supposed to be a repaint of Alpha Bravo!

btw i believe that the final piece of the artwork(Computron) is supposed to arrive today at some point(although i could be wrong on that).

Actually he's going to be a remold of air raid.

[Stuartmaximus]

It's not even like a half! You have about 2/3's of him already, the rest of it would just be unnecessary background.

Maths skills ... not required to be on the News Crew

The last half of the half but the last piece is the important one, as it includes a look at strafe


(also, it may be slightly out of proportion, but I can't get a good feel on it without some part to link them together...)

It's just supposed to be a repaint of Alpha Bravo!

btw i believe that the final piece of the artwork(Computron) is supposed to arrive today at some point(although i could be wrong on that).

Actually he's going to be a remold of air raid.

ok, sorry, maybe i was thinking of Vortex! i do know that the Alpha Bravo repaint as Vortex is going to have 4 rotor blades instead of just the standard 2.

[steals_your_goats]

It's not even like a half! You have about 2/3's of him already, the rest of it would just be unnecessary background.

Maths skills ... not required to be on the News Crew

The last half of the half but the last piece is the important one, as it includes a look at strafe


(also, it may be slightly out of proportion, but I can't get a good feel on it without some part to link them together...)

It's just supposed to be a repaint of Alpha Bravo!

btw i believe that the final piece of the artwork(Computron) is supposed to arrive today at some point(although i could be wrong on that).

Actually he's going to be a remold of air raid.

ok, sorry, maybe i was thinking of Vortex! i do know that the Alpha Bravo repaint as Vortex is going to have 4 rotor blades instead of just the standard 2.

Yeah on the unite warriors Bruticus set he will. I'm curious if Hasbro will bring both him and blast off over here eventually. I think blast off is much more likely though.

[Nemesis Maximo]

Interesting hand and feet pieces. I wonder...they're probably still interchangeable...

So with Computron all but confirmed, wouldn't it be awesome if a new Grimlock was part of Titan Wars, and came with the helmet accessory from Grimlock's New Brain? I would be so happy.

[Alpha Dominus]

Excited? No. Disappointed? Definitely. That is one feeble looking drill on that vehicle. This is what happens when retools/repaints reach ridiculous levels. At this rate I'm just gonna take any random bot in my collection and just assign him a new name every few months. I do have an idea for a new Megatron figure though. They should take any mold of Optimus Prime, doesn't matter which one. Then take Silverbolts gun and put it in his hand. There you go. Instant new Megatron!

[william-james88]

Excited? No. Disappointed? Definitely. That is one feeble looking drill on that vehicle. This is what happens when retools/repaints reach ridiculous levels. At this rate I'm just gonna take any random bot in my collection and just assign him a new name every few months. I do have an idea for a new Megatron figure though. They should take any mold of Optimus Prime, doesn't matter which one. Then take Silverbolts gun and put it in his hand. There you go. Instant new Megatron!

[-Kanrabat-]

Excited? No. Disappointed? Definitely. That is one feeble looking drill on that vehicle. This is what happens when retools/repaints reach ridiculous levels. At this rate I'm just gonna take any random bot in my collection and just assign him a new name every few months. I do have an idea for a new Megatron figure though. They should take any mold of Optimus Prime, doesn't matter which one. Then take Silverbolts gun and put it in his hand. There you go. Instant new Megatron!

The sarcasm cut deep and true.

That's why I don't feel the need to buy any more CW gesthalt toys. I have Whitetimus, Superion, UW-Menasor, and Defensor. I think it's enough. Also, money and shelf space arent infinite.

[Whifflefire]

Why are we getting so many reuses of molds? I was okay with it for a long time, but (Correct me if I'm wrong) Skylynx is the only new mold for the fifteen CW figures coming out this year! (Sky reign, Computron, Liokaiser) What happened to the days when each character got his own toy?

[Autobot N]

Why are we getting so many reuses of molds? I was okay with it for a long time, but (Correct me if I'm wrong) Skylynx is the only new mold for the fifteen CW figures coming out this year! (Sky reign, Computron, Liokaiser) What happened to the days when each character got his own toy?

Hasbro got cheap(er).

[steals_your_goats]

Why are we getting so many reuses of molds? I was okay with it for a long time, but (Correct me if I'm wrong) Skylynx is the only new mold for the fifteen CW figures coming out this year! (Sky reign, Computron, Liokaiser) What happened to the days when each character got his own toy?

Reusing molds is as old as transformers itself. Manufacturing costs rise so to maintain profit and still get characters to us they reuse molds. Honestly all these reuses were the only way we were going to get all the combiners we did at the cost we got them at. If we wanted new molds for every single combiner member (which I feel is completely unnecessary) we would've had to pay a lot more money.

[william-james88]

Why are we getting so many reuses of molds? I was okay with it for a long time, but (Correct me if I'm wrong) Skylynx is the only new mold for the fifteen CW figures coming out this year! (Sky reign, Computron, Liokaiser) What happened to the days when each character got his own toy?

Well Skyreign, computron and liokaiser are not the only CW figures coming out this year. There is also Victorion, G2 Superion, G2 Menasor and G2 Bruticus. So a total of 35 limbs and torsos. And of those the completely new molds for Hasbro are:

Skylynx
Afterburner (that mold was never released by hasbro so far)

But that is just for the completely news ones. Hasbro does count Bruticus as 2016 and he had a new mold. And we dont know how many are retools out of these.

Just a question though, would first aid be considered a new mold, because every part of the mold is as different from Offroad just as every part of Slingshot is from Skydive. And yet one is called a retool while the other is not. In both cases, its only the transformation that is the same.

[Stuartmaximus]

does 3rd party(Perfect Effect, Maketoys ect) figures ever use remolds/retools/repaints?(from their own lines...i mean!) coz some of those are combiners.

[Agamemnon]

does 3rd party(Perfect Effect, Maketoys ect) figures ever use remolds/retools/repaints?(from their own lines...i mean!) coz some of those are combiners.

MMC's Not-Predaking had legs that were nearly identical (Fortis and Bovis) just with different heads (both alt and robot) and different colored plastics. Otherwise there were just straight-up repaints of figures which represented other characters. ([Edit] I guess there were a couple of remolds out there too. MMC's not-Sixshot comes to mind here as well. But this is a big rarity at this point.)

I suppose this could be an argument for repaints. If every limb was unique, would we see figures approaching 3P prices? Myself, costs have already risen so much that I'm perfectly okay with repaints and remolds.

[ThunderThruster]

Just a question though, would first aid be considered a new mold, because every part of the mold is as different from Offroad just as every part of Slingshot is from Skydive. And yet one is called a retool while the other is not. In both cases, its only the transformation that is the same.

Slingshot is head paint job of Firefly. Air Raid was Skydive's mold mate

[william-james88]

Just a question though, would first aid be considered a new mold, because every part of the mold is as different from Offroad just as every part of Slingshot is from Skydive. And yet one is called a retool while the other is not. In both cases, its only the transformation that is the same.

Slingshot is head paint job of Firefly. Air Raid was Skydive's mold mate

That Slingshot bit isnt confirmed since all were designed at the same time and were revealed simultaneously when it came to the Takara release.
And that doesnt answer my question. I will ask it again.

How many more parts are shared between First Aid and Offroad compared to the amount of parts shared between Slingshot/Firefly and Skydive?

[Agamemnon]

Love you, WJ88, [Edit] And now I think the following is exactly your point, WJ...I think I mistook you for having the original opinion about Slingshot and Skydive...[/edit] but I don't think you could compare the Firefly/Slingshot mold to Skydive without adding a bunch of other molds too. The shoulder/upper body transformation is completely unique on Skydive as well. The only way they are similar, in my opinion, is in the way that nearly all of the CW limbs are similar.
* The legs split apart with what, 2 basic transformation schemes?
* Arms come in at the sides (or fold over the top with Rook/Swindle)
* Hoods/nosecones(tail on choppers) folds down to form backpack
* (I'm sure I'm missing some particulars, but this list is generalized)

I guess my point is that if we consider Slingshot a remold/repaint of Skydive, can't we consider nearly every CW limb a repaint/remold of nearly every other one?

Ultimately, I get the feeling that there is a fatigue going on where some would like to see something new while others are just enjoying what we are getting. I'm in that latter category, preferring to enjoy the characters. Personally, I am more bugged by the shoehorning of characters into barely appropriate molds (Prowl, Wheeljack being prime candidates for me). But, otherwise, despite the shared molds/designs, I really am enjoying all the G1 gestalts we are getting updates on!

[ZeroWolf]

does 3rd party(Perfect Effect, Maketoys ect) figures ever use remolds/retools/repaints?(from their own lines...i mean!) coz some of those are combiners.

Bringing third party in to this isn't the best of ideas as they aren't comparable to hasbro, strictly speaking they are going for two different markets, have different costs, have different marketing which ties into business strategy. They'll also have vastly different business models and budgets. I have no proof for this but I believe hasbro budget for entire lines at a time where 3p go from figure to figure.

[ThunderThruster]

Just a question though, would first aid be considered a new mold, because every part of the mold is as different from Offroad just as every part of Slingshot is from Skydive. And yet one is called a retool while the other is not. In both cases, its only the transformation that is the same.

Slingshot is head paint job of Firefly. Air Raid was Skydive's mold mate

That Slingshot bit isnt confirmed since all were designed at the same time and were revealed simultaneously when it came to the Takara release.
And that doesnt answer my question. I will ask it again.

How many more parts are shared between First Aid and Offroad compared to the amount of parts shared between Slingshot/Firefly and Skydive?

As Skydive and Slingshot aren't mold mates, its a bad analogy. There is not one component that on the two that match. The only thing they share is a base transformation scheme, which is shared by the majority of the the other CW limbs.
Had you asked you used Air Raid and Skydive, it would make for a comparable analogy.

And to answer about Off Road/First Aid, I view one as a heavy retool of the other. As we have yet to see another use of the First Aid tooling, I eir on the side that he is the retool, just as I look at Skydive and consider him the retool of Air Raid

[Rodimus Prime]

Maybe this was brought up and I just missed it, but will the Technobots be sold separately or come as a set? Should I pick up a Scattershot now, or wait until all of them are out?

[steals_your_goats]

Maybe this was brought up and I just missed it, but will the Technobots be sold separately or come as a set? Should I pick up a Scattershot now, or wait until all of them are out?

It's going to be a box set

[Zeedust]

To clarify, I really need to start proof reading messages

In any case, given that all the box sets we know of are six member teams will liokaiser and computron be the first box set with only five members?

I don't know, it does kinda duck.

I think the G2 sets have set the precedence and price point, that they would/could include a sixth Legends member. But we have yet to find out who, or if at all. the cost of new hands, feet and any other accessories could void that.

That wasn't a problem for Victorion, so I would be surprised if it was one for Computron and/or Liokaiser.

I spy with my little eye... unique hand and feet pieces!

I'm actually kid of disappointed by that. I know I'm bordering on heresy here, but I'd much rather have the Combiner Wars hand/foot/gun pieces than single-purpose retro-G1-style hands and feet. That thing is great.

[william-james88]

I guess my point is that if we consider Slingshot a remold/repaint of Skydive, can't we consider nearly every CW limb a repaint/remold of nearly every other one?

Yes, as you realized, that is the point I was trying to make. Since no part is shared, I consider First aid a retool of Offroad just as much as I consider Firefly a retool of Skydive, or vice versa. Because in reality all they share is the transformation.

I only dont care about repaints and redecos when its opportunistic and lazy. The components of Defensor are perfectly fine even if they share the same transformation as some stunticons. Streetwise has a compeltely different than Dead End. I am actually a bit more pissed at Dead End since he has the wrong alt mode, and should have his own shell to dinstinguish himself from Wildrider. They end up looking like clones on the team and it doesnt work too well for me. The Jet blast off really pisses me off because nothing is new about it. If Hasbro gave him a new shell, he could be his own figure in a bold new interpretation of the character as a combaticon. But by just using a pre-existing jet, it feels lazy. Same for the drill addition aproach. I mean they had 3 uses for a drill robot already (ramhorn, drillhorn and nosecone), they could have made a nice reshell where the drill is more prominant. But instead its just an accessory attached to brawl.

So that is my stance on all this. If every part of a toy is new, than it is its own new toy. The transformation is similar on all these guys anyway and they probably (actually no, I think they must) share the same core design for them all to match up, so giving one a whole new shell to me is not different than just having a new toy. I mean you could argue, though incorrectly, that first aide and offroad are retools of the jets since their leg transformation is the same. And yet that shouldnt be a negative since these are all new toys as well. Just liek in G1 where all the limbs had the same transformation but still looked unique one from the other.

I dont mind that aspect of CW when its appropriate.

[william-james88]

Maybe this was brought up and I just missed it, but will the Technobots be sold separately or come as a set? Should I pick up a Scattershot now, or wait until all of them are out?

It's going to be a box set

Yeah so Rodimus Prime, DO NOT BUY Scattershot if you are thinking of getting the whole team.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Here we go again...

I think we can all agree all of the first-year CW molds and designated characters were designed all at once. With that, using a time-based definition of "retool" (whichever's designed/released first is the original from which the retool is made) goes right out the window.

What should we call a "retool" then? Aside from Victorion and what the Club is churning out (as they're designed outside of the regular process AFAIK), I couldn't tell you. All I know is, is that Hasbro has used a limited number of generic design bases, from which the toys are derived. Instead, I'll be using "head" and "shell" to separate them, and straight redecos won't be listed. Also, the number is for designation purposes only, but is based on order of retail release.

Torsos

Large Jet
Shell 1
Head 1: Silverbolt
Head 2: Scattershot + alternate parts
Shell 2
Head 1: Cyclonus
Head 2: ???

Semi
Shell 1
Head 1: Optimus Prime
Head 2: Battle Core Optimus Prime
Shell 2
Head 1: Motormaster
Head 2: ???

Truck
Shell 1
Head 1: Protectobot Hot Spot
Head 2: ???
Shell 2
Head 1: Onslaught
Head 2: "Armada Demolishor"

Space Shuttle
Shell 1
Head 1: Sky Lynx
Head 2: ???

Limbs

Helicopter
Shell 1
Head 1: Alpha Bravo/Vortex
Head 2: Protectobot Blades

Harrier
Shell 1
Head 1: Firefly
Head 2: Quickslinger

Formula 1 Racing Car
Shell 1
Head 1: Decepticon Dragstrip
Head 2: Mirage

Tank
Shell 1
Head 1: Brawl
Head 2: Nosecone + alternate parts

F-Series Jet
Shell 1
Head 1: Skydive
Head 2: Ghost Starscream
Shell 2
Head 1: Air Raid
Head 2: Curse Armada Thrust

Sports Car
Shell 1
Head 1: Breakdown
Head 2: Sunstreaker
Shell 2
Head 1: Wheeljack
Head 2: ???

Ferrari
Shell 1
Head 1: Brake-Neck
Head 2: Dead End
Shell 2
Head 1: Protectobot Streetwise
Head 2: Prowl

4WD
Shell 1
Head 1: Decepticon Offroad/Ruckus
Head 2: Ironhide
Head 3: Trailbreaker + alternate parts
Shell 2
Head 1: Protectobot First Aid
Head 2: "Autobot Ratchet" (sketch shown)

Army Vehicle
Shell 1
Head 1: Protectobot Rook
Head 2: ???
Shell 2
Head 1: Swindle
Head 2: Autobot Hound

I purposely left out the Liokaiser team and the unconfirmed Technobots. Also, "3rd" heads may or may not have been added later after the initial final design, but were listed anyway.

[william-james88]

Truck
Shell 1
Head 1: Protectobot Hot Spot
Head 2: ???
Shell 2
Head 1: Onslaught
Head 2: "Armada Demolishor"

I dont think Onslought is a totaly new shell. Doesnt he have the exact same legs as Hotspot hence the lightbar still being there?