The Energon Pub

While it's a shame that we're still not getting a proper update to the Pretender gimmick and the motorcycle mode is a hot mess, Iguanus does look nice in robot mode at least. I may still get at least a couple of Core Pretenders as the line goes on (do we know whether or not Legacy is lasting longer than a year?), I may get Iguanus, Skullgrin dependng on how it looks, and Bludgeon and some Autobots if they ever get made.

Skywarp is my favourite Seeker...
I hate the fake cockpit on the chest of some Seekers mold. Anyway, considering the size of this figure, it's accaptable somehow

Burn wrote:

WiseMan wrote:I don't know why they don't make a voyager-sized pretender shell, with movable arms and legs, with a back that opens that can hold a folded-up core class figure. I would buy one of those in a heartbeat.

Because we don't deserve nice things.

I know I'm old (36) but don't deserve nice things? I remember Car Robots, Unicron Trilogy Thundercracker, Energon Shockwave who wasn't called Shockwave.

In my opinion it's been uphill from Combiner Wars for those who remember gimmick riddled bricks. Sure not every single TF since Combiner Wars is a Siege Sideswipe but a lot are good to great. Asking for obscure non-tv characters to get mainstream big size releases is just silly.

Ontopic, Iguanus looks awesome! I would love to see more TF's that have a humanoid beast mode as robot mode. I like the idea!

Skywarp is Skywarp, haven't gotten Starscream. The Combiner Wars figure is great and has no false cockpit chest.

Can't wait for Motor Master reveal!
I do hope they mix Unicron Trilogy and War for Cybertron (Game) designs in Legacy as well. Especially the game designs deserve modern solid designs.

Fans were very quick to pick up on the strange weapons that come with core class Skywarp and Iguanus. Turns out, these same "weapons" can be seen combined to form a larger sword on the box art of core class Kingdom Hot Rod (which will be repacked in Legacy wave 1 with these other core figures). Below you will see images of each weapon along with the combination in the art. We will see how that extends to other classes when people have the varying classes in hand. Also it is unknown if Hasbro will give instructions for specific combos but the artwork from Hot Rod shows that they definitely have specific combos in mind.
Also, another fun tidbit that fans noticed with yesterday's news was the placement of the wheels in Iguanus' robot mode. It pays homage to how the inner robot looked like, as you will see below.










Transformers G1 1988 Iguanus Gallery

For me, Iguanus is disappointing, but not unexpected. At least the toy itself looks good, and given his love for his Pretender shell, having it incorporated as the default robot mode is perfectly in-character (at least far more than the others in that style). Still gonna wait for a proper Pretender revival, but I hope the ones that buy him are satisfied.

Given were the wheels are in bot mode, do you think he might be remolded into Laser Cycle Road Rocket/RiD2001 Sideways/G2 Jazz? It would certainly fit the Energon weapon gimmick (then again, the Core class weapons seem to be normal weapons, so...)

Tuned Agent wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:

Sentinel_Primal wrote:I just had a possibly weird idea, but what if we got Sari from Animated reimagined as a Pretender like this Iguanus? So she'd look like her upgraded form in bot mode and maybe give her a scooter alt mode to reference her jetpack. She'd be a bit too big for proper Animated scale, but if they made her a full Cybertronian like they have with Minerva, I don't see any issue with it.

Core Class Sari would be an instant purchase, take my money.

Grahf_ wrote:I was just thinking of this the other day. I was also thinking similar things for armored Kicker, armored Verity and Apex Armor Miko as well. So you could have Daniel, Spike (assuming he gets his own figure), Sari, Kicker, Verity and Miko all armored up. If it's easy to open up the armors and swap the pilots then you can purchase multiples and change them out for anyone provided someone makes them. Marissa? Carly? Sparkplug? Raul? Chip? Alexis? Fowler? Jack? Raph? Maybe even figures for T-AI, Artemis and even Alice that could also transform into vehicles/animals. Although I don't exactly know how Alice would work if she looked like her human mode.

We're probably just lucky we're getting an exosuit though. It's just a way to keep the core class going longer. Just sprinkle in a few here and there while they do core sized figures for popular characters and the few characters that they'll do that need to be that size.

Sentinel_Primal wrote:That, or make her a Brainmaster with the brain figure taking cues from her design and the faceplate being her armored face, and then she plugs into the robot body. Plus, you could repaint this version into an "Apex Armor" figure and use the brainmaster as Miko for Selects. The major advantage I think to making Sari a Brainmaster-styled figure would be that we'd get a smaller section that'd be good for referencing how small she was and make the armor seem a lot more important. That and it'd add to playability of the future Brainmasters (that I seriously hope are coming to compliment Victory Saber and the rumored Deathsaurus)

Pretty much my thoughts too. I could also add Coby and the Cobybot/Scrapmetal, Animated Headmaster, the Battlesuits from Marvel UK comics, the IDW crash suits and Cybernoughts, Jan and the Illumina II (or the other Victories, for that matter), Cylas and Circuit Breaker with or without her Frankensteined battle suit (oh, right, rights issue ... Marvel hasn't done anything with her for years, shouldn't it have expired by now?). And if they planned another crossover or intra-company Collaborative, the G.I. Joe mechs from the Devil's Due Press crossover.

noctorro wrote:Ontopic, Iguanus looks awesome! I would love to see more TF's that have a humanoid beast mode as robot mode. I like the idea!

I'd like that too, but probably a bit more evened out, like having some beast-looking bots on the Autobot's side as well. Most of the time the non-human designs end up entirely on the Decepticon side (take movies 2007 to TLK and RiD2015, for example), which makes them look more like different species than two factions.

william-james88 wrote:--snip--

Huh, good eye.

The combining weapons will be interesting. At core class they will have a mix of 3mm and 5mm posts meaning they are clearly intended for some larger bots but can still be used by the core class. The main downside is the individual weapons are kind of meh, but at least I don't care enough about the combined weapons to feel like I have to go all in on core class.

At least, not yet, for the sword from Hot Rod/Skywarp/Iguanus, it just doesn't do much for me. What would really suck (and isn't out of the question) is if they just keep using the same 3 parts over and over again across all the core bots.

Can't wait to see what kind of ridiculous and/or absurd giant combined weapons can be made.

Terrorsaurs on his way, counting him as legacy pretty much.
(S)Wooop

I'm kinda wanting a road runner collab with skywarps magnet.

While combining the Core figure weapons is a neat idea, I still don't think it should come at the expense of Skywarp's null-ray accessories....

Combining Weapon? GIMME! Skywarp's lucky he's my favourite Seeker...

I'm not a fan of the combining weapons idea like this especially with a sword. I think it'll just look ridiculous overall.

I think Skywarp should come with the null rays as well. I can't imagine it would have cost hasbro much extra since you'd think they were already in the tooling for Starscream.

Whomever mentioned the Core Class Sari, is brilliant. We're getting Spike, probably get a Daniel, but why not get a Sari too. Sure we're going for G1 characters lately, but out of all the other animated series, Sari was one of the best characters they created, plus she's part cybertronian. It should be a no brainer.

Rodimus Knight wrote:I'm not a fan of the combining weapons idea like this especially with a sword. I think it'll just look ridiculous overall.

I think Skywarp should come with the null rays as well. I can't imagine it would have cost hasbro much extra since you'd think they were already in the tooling for Starscream.

Whomever mentioned the Core Class Sari, is brilliant. We're getting Spike, probably get a Daniel, but why not get a Sari too. Sure we're going for G1 characters lately, but out of all the other animated series, Sari was one of the best characters they created, plus she's part cybertronian. It should be a no brainer.

Does she have an alt-mode though?

AcademyofDrX wrote:

Rodimus Knight wrote:I'm not a fan of the combining weapons idea like this especially with a sword. I think it'll just look ridiculous overall.

I think Skywarp should come with the null rays as well. I can't imagine it would have cost hasbro much extra since you'd think they were already in the tooling for Starscream.

Whomever mentioned the Core Class Sari, is brilliant. We're getting Spike, probably get a Daniel, but why not get a Sari too. Sure we're going for G1 characters lately, but out of all the other animated series, Sari was one of the best characters they created, plus she's part cybertronian. It should be a no brainer.

Does she have an alt-mode though?

Yes: Human.

AcademyofDrX wrote:

Rodimus Knight wrote:Whomever mentioned the Core Class Sari, is brilliant. We're getting Spike, probably get a Daniel, but why not get a Sari too. Sure we're going for G1 characters lately, but out of all the other animated series, Sari was one of the best characters they created, plus she's part cybertronian. It should be a no brainer.

Does she have an alt-mode though?

Just as with Iguanus, her alt mode can be more of an homage to past toys/concepts.

For instance, there was an unproduced Sari toy that was based off of Windblade, so you could have a core class Sari that turns into a jet as an homage to that.

william-james88 wrote:For instance, there was an unproduced Sari toy that was based off of Windblade, so you could have a core class Sari that turns into a jet as an homage to that.

Was this a lost FunPub/TFCC idea?

Wolfman Jake wrote:

william-james88 wrote:For instance, there was an unproduced Sari toy that was based off of Windblade, so you could have a core class Sari that turns into a jet as an homage to that.

Was this a lost FunPub/TFCC idea?

That image is from a Japanese publication, so it could also be a TakaraTomy idea, presumably for Legends before being replaced with Slipstream.

The answer is: Lame.
What is the combing weapon gimmick for Legacy, Alex?

cruizerdave wrote:The answer is: Lame.
What is the combing weapon gimmick for Legacy, Alex?

Hahahaha
I feel it's the least intrusive gimmick so far though

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:

william-james88 wrote:For instance, there was an unproduced Sari toy that was based off of Windblade, so you could have a core class Sari that turns into a jet as an homage to that.

Was this a lost FunPub/TFCC idea?

That image is from a Japanese publication, so it could also be a TakaraTomy idea, presumably for Legends before being replaced with Slipstream.

The image was contributed to the Japanese book by former Fun Pub members. It was part of a discarded Fun Pub set idea called "Transformers Unanimated". The concept was to take Animated characters/designs and apply them to molds that lacked the Animated aesthetic. Needless to say, the idea was dropped since it was essentially "taking the Animated out of Animated".

Other concepts in this idea were Universe Inferno as Optimus, Thrilling 30 Brainstorm as Headmaster-controlled Starscream, and Thrilling 30 Trailcutter as Sentinel Prime.

Other pics in the same section of the book show concepts from another discarded Fun Pub idea: "Beast Wars Animated". Animated Sentinel Prime as pre-beast Primal Major, Animated Snarl as Rhinox, Animated Grimlock as Predacon Megatron, etc.

Core Iguanus is brilliant like ROTF Bludgeon. A nice interpretation that takes all the good points of the pretender.

But what's up with the "Scorponok" weapons on both Skywarp and Iguanus?

-Kanrabat- wrote:Core Iguanus is brilliant like ROTF Bludgeon. A nice interpretation that takes all the good points of the pretender.

But what's up with the "Scorponok" weapons on both Skywarp and Iguanus?

They combine with Hot Rod's sword

Sabrblade wrote:Other concepts in this idea were Universe Inferno as Optimus, Thrilling 30 Brainstorm as Headmaster-controlled Starscream, and Thrilling 30 Trailcutter as Sentinel Prime.

Other pics in the same section of the book show concepts from another discarded Fun Pub idea: "Beast Wars Animated". Animated Sentinel Prime as pre-beast Primal Major, Animated Snarl as Rhinox, Animated Grimlock as Predacon Megatron, etc.

These all woulda been amazing to see! Is Sari the only one that made it to digibash phase?

Sentinel_Primal wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Other concepts in this idea were Universe Inferno as Optimus, Thrilling 30 Brainstorm as Headmaster-controlled Starscream, and Thrilling 30 Trailcutter as Sentinel Prime.

Other pics in the same section of the book show concepts from another discarded Fun Pub idea: "Beast Wars Animated". Animated Sentinel Prime as pre-beast Primal Major, Animated Snarl as Rhinox, Animated Grimlock as Predacon Megatron, etc.

These all woulda been amazing to see! Is Sari the only one that made it to digibash phase?

Nope. All of the ones I mentioned were digibashed. Some (if not all, I'm going off memory here) are found in the book.

Some people mentioned Iguanus should be repainted as his Beast Wars name sharer. If that happened I'd rather have TM2 Iguanus and simply a new headed added to the Core body. I think the armored body and more interesting head would be a better fit.



Emerje

-Kanrabat- wrote:
But what's up with the "Scorponok" weapons on both Skywarp and Iguanus?

I wrote a whole article about it

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... med/46617/