The Energon Pub

I got the Abominus set. There weren't many online reviews because the sameness outweighed the differences vs the PotP one. I do like the anime accurate design, however it is a floppy mess. I am not sure how TT were able to improve the stability of Volcanicus (My Selects is far better than my PotP), yet drop the ball so much with Abominus.

Worst of all is Cutthroats bird heat. The 3 pieces (crest, upper heard, and lower jaw) all literally fall apart if you try to move them in any way. I got him into combined mode and he basically just sits on the shelf looking ok.


I understand with most of my grievances, it may be a case of YMMV. TT Selects Combiners have been a mixed bag thus far, (2 good, and 2 not so good) but I cant help but get them all, and insanely wish for more. It's a sickness I tell you.

*update*
So I called the same GameStop I visited on Sunday Evening asking about Artfire, while they did not have it, the employee was able to find another location near me that did, so I went on my lunch and just got it! Also I had a $5 coupon I was unaware of, so yay for that $32.31 out the door, and another canceled Hasbro Pulse Pre-Order.

All I have left now on Pre-Order is Black Zarak (well I also have Victory Saber, but they took payment for that right away, per Haslab purchase agreement).

So, this is my first Selects at Voyager price. It is interesting that the box is basically the same size as any deluxe, just a fraction (maybe 1/4 inch) taller?

o.supreme wrote:I got the Abominus set. There weren't many online reviews because the sameness outweighed the differences vs the PotP one. I do like the anime accurate design, however it is a floppy mess. I am not sure how TT were able to improve the stability of Volcanicus (My Selects is far better than my PotP), yet drop the ball so much with Abominus.

Worst of all is Cutthroats bird heat. The 3 pieces (crest, upper heard, and lower jaw) all literally fall apart if you try to move them in any way. I got him into combined mode and he basically just sits on the shelf looking ok.

Interesting. I just happened to open my set for the first time last weekend and didn't have any major issues. None of them have bad joints and Cutthroat's bird head stays together perfectly fine, much better than my PotP version which just falls off on a whim. I have no regrets, it's a better looking version of the set with the new chest shield, better feet, matching hands and an actual weapon for Abominus. It very much feels like an improvement in every way, unlike the Dinobot set which adds ridiculously oversized swords and new chest armor instead of any kind of torso filler which the original set did have making that the objectively better set in a way. And while the Selects version has better feet and colors, the PotP version has better fists so neither one is ideal on its own and could use some swapping between the two to get the ideal version, didn't get that feeling from Selects Abominus.

Emerje

Marvel Comics Galvatron is en route, I'm surprisingly excited for the second set of this mold. Maybe it's because he's the planned centerpiece of my comics character shelf, or because I've seen pictures of him riding Ultra Magnus in photo recreations of the famous cover.

Emerje wrote:Interesting. I just happened to open my set for the first time last weekend and didn't have any major issues. None of them have bad joints and Cutthroat's bird head stays together perfectly fine,

Yes, definitely a case of YMMV. My PotP Cutthroat holds together just fine, while the selects one is the one that falls apart. I've heard cases of BOTH being true from different sources.

Volcanicus is my favorite of the 4 selects combiners. Although not having the extra 2 HFG to fill out the upper body, its doesn't look bad, and is amazingly much more stable than my PotP version. I really dig the sowrds, they are pretty much the same as what many 3P were offering in terms of size (not so much ingenuity because they don't come apart), but I like them.

Of the 4 here's How I'd rank them (worst to best)

4. Abominus -I love the look and modified chest, but my copy is just a floppy mess that falls apart
3. King Poseidon- Same, very loose. No way the arms can hold an extra deluxe up. The individual figures are GREAT, just not good as a combiner
2. God Neptune, perhaps because of the slightly different orientation of a couple members, but it holds together a little better.
1. Volcanicus- Just better than the PotP version for my money in every way.

All this being said though, if TT wanted to do low cost repaints, Battle Gaia and Guard City were/are right there for the taking. I'd much rather have had them, as they would be new characters vs now just having 2 Volcanicus', and 2 Abominus'.

It's odd that there has been no news on the TT Selects front. Like I said before, even if we just got ONE combiner a year from any of the ones on my wish list, I'd be happy. Also while I'm personally not in the market for it, I know the question of the Armada/Micron Legend Prime shown what, three years ago? Still hasn't been forgotten.

Couple discussion items.

First up, after watching the Cyberverse finale, I kinda want the Takara Selects Volcanicus now. Something about that one has finally caught my eye, despite owning the hasbro one with an upgrade kit. I want it, but now it's gone

Second, My Selects Galvatron II has also shipped, supposed to arrive tomorrow, I am expecting Monday though.

Third, I corrected a monumental mistake on my part today regarding selects. The figure should be here next week, thanks to a random restock at Pulse with a very small stock today.

Finally, I got my Artfire. This is the first time I am experiencing this mold. I like it so far, and I am also glad that Artfire gets to keep it solely to himself. He and the MP are both really nice figures, and I very much enjoy both so far.

Is there a trick to extending the ladder? It's stuck on my Inferno and I was afraid to use too much force trying to get it out.

AcademyofDrX wrote:Is there a trick to extending the ladder? It's stuck on my Inferno and I was afraid to use too much force trying to get it out.

Only thing I really did was use a gun barrel to loosen it up and get it out. you do need to use force on it

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Couple discussion items.

First up, after watching the Cyberverse finale, I kinda want the Takara Selects Volcanicus now. Something about that one has finally caught my eye, despite owning the hasbro one with an upgrade kit. I want it, but now it's gone

Second, My Selects Galvatron II has also shipped, supposed to arrive tomorrow, I am expecting Monday though.

Third, I corrected a monumental mistake on my part today regarding selects. The figure should be here next week, thanks to a random restock at Pulse with a very small stock today.

Finally, I got my Artfire. This is the first time I am experiencing this mold. I like it so far, and I am also glad that Artfire gets to keep it solely to himself. He and the MP are both really nice figures, and I very much enjoy both so far.

Can it hold the Targetmaster Japanese style?

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Can it hold the Targetmaster Japanese style?

negative

Finally the REAL Galvatron is here!

Though for some reason I thought his upper torso would be white or off-white, but it's gray. Looks better than expected. I won't even apply the stickers.

Rodimus Prime wrote:Finally the REAL Galvatron is here!

Though for some reason I thought his upper torso would be white or off-white, but it's gray. Looks better than expected. I won't even apply the stickers.

The included stickers are a bit wonky anyway.
I wonder if Toyhax will make a set of Reprolabels that will be better?

To me he looks just fine without ANY stickers. If only his shoulder pylons weren't red...

Rodimus Prime wrote:To me he looks just fine without ANY stickers. If only his shoulder pylons weren't red...

Well, some paint are sure to fix that. Especially if they can be easily disassembled and re-assembled.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:To me he looks just fine without ANY stickers. If only his shoulder pylons weren't red...

Well, some paint are sure to fix that. Especially if they can be easily disassembled and re-assembled.

I wonder what the Kingdom Galvy would look like with the stickers added...

Anyway, my Selects Galvatron has very tight joints, and his legs don't want to stay tabbed together in cannon mode. I guess it's something that can be worked out with multiple transformations.

And having both of them stand next to each other is giving me the urge to swap parts to make the Kingdom figure as purple as possible and the other one as gray as possible...

Rodimus Prime wrote:To me he looks just fine without ANY stickers. If only his shoulder pylons weren't red...

Ahem...

Sabrblade wrote:Despite what the description says, that deco screams less "Marvel Galvatron II" and more "Japanese Galvatron II".

Are you sure about that? Seems accurate to me

I didn't say it wasn't accurate to the source. I just don't like the red parts.

Rodimus Prime wrote:And having both of them stand next to each other is giving me the urge to swap parts to make the Kingdom figure as purple as possible and the other one as gray as possible...

As long that you don't needs to deal with pins, DO IT!
I really want to see that.

Rodimus Prime wrote:I didn't say it wasn't accurate to the source. I just don't like the red parts.

I see. I did misread that but, I know what you mean. I think aesthetically, the red pylons are supposed to compliment the belt and red on his boots.



That said, it does look better being more uniform. You'll note the sources with silver pylons, also minimise the red of the belt and boots.

To me Comic Book Galvatron, in contrast to grey/white Megatron, was chrome. Hence the tonal difference between them. Alas, I doubt there will ever be a shiny Galvatron figure, to demonstrate that visual.

That said, whenever MP Galvatron is announced, I'd get both but prefer the Grey one first. Favourite character and all that.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I didn't say it wasn't accurate to the source. I just don't like the red parts.

I see. I did misread that but, I know what you mean. I think aesthetically, the red pylons are supposed to compliment the belt and red on his boots.



That said, it does look better being more uniform. You'll note the sources with silver pylons, also minimise the red of the belt and boots.

To me Comic Book Galvatron, in contrast to grey/white Megatron, was chrome. Hence the tonal difference between them. Alas, I doubt there will ever be a shiny Galvatron figure, to demonstrate that visual.

That said, whenever MP Galvatron is announced, I'd get both but prefer the Grey one first. Favourite character and all that.

Me too. I LOVE crazy comic Galvatron! I wish I was good at custom painting I would modify this Selects version.

As for shiny Galvy, if Arcee can get a 'premium' repaint in SS86, who says Galvatron can't get one, though not in SS86 for that version. I mean, there is a version of him just for 1 scene of the movie! Couldn't he get a version for his comic self that was a hugely influential main character in the entire run of the comics? Or is that continuity too far out of. Hasbro's rearview mirror?

Honestly I think we're getting too many alternate deco repaints of the same characters as it is. One of the reasons I like this Selects Galvatron so much is because it's a repaint that stands in for multiple versions, since the toy colors are the basis for the comics version. Nothing wrong with wanting chrome paint or different shoulders, but that's the perfect case for the customization community. Not everyone needs to learn those skills, but there are enough people out there who take commissions that it should be reasonably doable.

That's true enough, I understand that hasbro might not deem it financially viable to keep churning out redecos for every single iteration of the character. I'm just attached to the comic version more than anything, it's what I grew up with.

Bottom line, the Selects version is a home run, I have nothing bad to say about it. Even the Kingdom version was pretty good, I don't even care much about the bad shoulders. I just turn them around.

Insanity has never looked this good

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:That said, whenever MP Galvatron is announced, I'd get both but prefer the Grey one first. Favourite character and all that.

Hopefully the gray version comes with interchangeable pylons, crowns and forearms so we can all have our ideal gray Galvatron.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:That said, whenever MP Galvatron is announced, I'd get both but prefer the Grey one first. Favourite character and all that.

Hopefully the gray version comes with interchangeable pylons, crowns and forearms so we can all have our ideal gray Galvatron.

Emerje

As for this one. I think I'm going to paint the purple crest, as while it's accurate to the Japanese version, the Marvel Comics version is the one I take this figure to be.

sol magnus wrote:

Emerje wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:That said, whenever MP Galvatron is announced, I'd get both but prefer the Grey one first. Favourite character and all that.

Hopefully the gray version comes with interchangeable pylons, crowns and forearms so we can all have our ideal gray Galvatron.

Emerje

As for this one. I think I'm going to paint the purple crest, as while it's accurate to the Japanese version, the Marvel Comics version is the one I take this figure to be.

It's actually only accurate to one or two pieces of Japanese art. Most other JG1 depictions of Galvatron II feature toy-accurate gray horns.



Still, I actually kinda like the purple horns, inaccurate or not. I feel they add a nice bit of color contrast to an otherwise rather plain-looking deco.