The Energon Pub

Guys, no Armada update since Universe Hot Shot (the ONLY one who ever has) has come with their partner Mini-Con. This is nothing new.

I bet half the folks here crying over the lack of Swindle did buy the Generations Deluxe Armada Starscream that also lacked Swindle.

Sure there was Leader Megs and Deluxe SS that didn't include them but the former was a retool and the latter atleast had minicon ports.

I wasn't expecting anything besides the status quo but its funny to see them slap the Armada tag on to something and not also include the component (Minicons) that defined the era. I can understand if they wanted to celebrate an Energon or Cybertron character and not include the e-weapons/c-keys cause objectively those aged terribly as gimmicks; but it would nice to see a 2022 revisioning on a mini transforming figure. Oh well.

Blurrz wrote:Sure there was Leader Megs and Deluxe SS that didn't include them but the former was a retool and the latter atleast had minicon ports.

THey are essentially Geewun-izing him. You aren't noticing the difference as much as you can with the TF:Prime figures because the Unicron trilogy had very G1-esque designs to start with but little things like minicon ports helped to identify and make the line stand alone.

Yes, finally, the one true Inferno has arrived! The bulk of the ant mode kinda makes him look more like a carpenter ant than a fire ant, but him being that menacing in alt mode works for him. Having the butt-booster be a gun was admittedly off-putting at first, but having given it time to sit, the 4 barrels totally work for the functionality of what Inferno's guns did. Also, working mouths in both modes? Can't wait.

Screamer....I had already resolved myself to wait for the Thundercracker/Powerlinx Starscream version, but it's cool to get a look at the mold. I was seemingly right about doing the Minicon weapons as Energon (As I was writing this, product descriptions surfaced calling Screamer's other sword out as Energon) based on the inclusion of the Star Saber, so I'm curious to see what happens with Megatron and Hot Shot. I think I'm okay with his sword not actually being the wing? The concept was cool but the asymmetry always bothered me in practice. Alt mode looks great. No Minicon is disappointing but not unexpected, hopefully he happens later down the line like what Mark said about Drill Bit.

Also, as always, since these are stock images and pre-product renders, I feel like it's good to throw out the reminder that there is no guarantee of these being the final paint apps and/or transformed correctly (Screamer's shoulders are blatantly mistransformed in that render on the box, at the very least).

Sabrblade wrote:Anyway, Antagony was brought up in this rumor post along with many other leaked figures that have since come to fruition, but she was mentioned in a category of "Release venue unknown but they exist", meaning we have no idea if she'll be Selects, Amazon, Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Hasbro Pulse, or some other form of exclusive.

Man, it is somewhat amusing to look back at that list and see how much of it was mostly-correct.

Blurrz wrote:Sure there was Leader Megs and Deluxe SS that didn't include them but the former was a retool and the latter atleast had minicon ports.

Considering the Siege/ER Micromasters and that Legacy is still carrying forwards the everyone-gets-weapon-ports-galore "gimmick", I'm wondering if Hasbro is intending to just make the Minicons connect via 5 mm ports if/when they get around to doing them, since that removes the need for specifically molded posts and makes them compatible with the whole line.

Also I know this post is already long enough but I figure y'all might want to see JTPrime's most recent finding:

They both look good. I have all non-prototype versions of the Generations Armada Starscream and I hope that this one gets a Premium Finish version version as I like both decos of Starscream and it would be nice to have them both again with this new figure. Inferno is what I expected. I figured that the robot legs would be moved to the abdomen.

Since the legs were moved to the abdomen, I'll bring back up that Inferno could also work for a new Transquito. When I first said it some time ago, we didn't know where the robot legs would end up and now that we do, it could work. Just move the abdomen panels to the lower legs and you can pull off Transquito's mosquito and robot modes in the process. It would take a little extra work to turn the thorax and wings into the head of the antlion mode though. So it would be best if the third mode was just scrapped if they did it. I doubt they would do Transquito but it would be nice. And apparently it's not an antlion, it's an amblypygi also called a whip spider or tailless whip scorpion. And we can definitely get rid of that third mode now, that's about all I ever want to look at of those. I've had quite enough thank you. Insects and arachnids are crazy looking lol.

I'll do a quick rundown of a few non-Transmetals that I mentioned before that could happen fairly easily if retooled. I mean, Takara seems to be doing amazing work with a limited budget lately.

B'Boom from Primal.
Transquito from Inferno.
Insecticon from Tarantulas.
Polar Claw from Rhinox.
Snarl from Rattrap.
Nyx or Convobat/Optimus Primal from Airazor.
Manta Ray from Airazor.
Drillbit from Tarantulas.
Powerpinch from Tarantulas.
Bonecrusher from Rhinox.
Armordillo from Rattrap.
Razorbeast from Rattrap.
Airhammer from Airazor.
Torca from Rhinox.
Heinrad from Primal? A gorilla doesn't quite look like a raccoon dog but if you sit him down and give him some really big...bongos...it could work. The robot mode would work a lot more easily though even down to the clock on the chest.

Well at the very least, I would like to see all of those and more I didn't mention. I just want all the Beast Wars redone now. Even if they are mostly just retools of a few molds. It's just the transformations would work for several characters if they were all reshelled and retooled a bit.

AAAYYYYYYYY THERE'S MY BOY! I love that the mouth is articulated!

AND WHY IS HIS ANT MODE SO CUTE?

bought on sight

Nemesis Primal wrote:
Also I know this post is already long enough but I figure y'all might want to see JTPrime's most recent finding:

MH2.jpg

And that’s likely the retool for Jiahxus.

I really hate that they neutered the wing sword on Armada Starscream, one of the key features of the toy and character.

Man, a lot to catch up on.

The listings that leaked out:

Core Dinobots interest me a decent bit, especially since Slug and Sludge are coming before Grimlock.

Needlenose at last! Tracks shall have his brother!

Hot shot! I suspect the Armada version, which would be neat.

Junkion = Hound repaint as Detritus?

TARN!!!!! And Lio Convoy!!!! wonderful voyager listing.

Armada Megatron is a great sounding listing too. UT wins all around!

Prime Skyquake as a leader is interesting but disappointing. they have been screwing the Prime designs so badly, I am afraid of what they will do to Skyquake, especially since a Dreadwing repaint could be likely.

As for the new reveals:

Armada Starscream looks good! I wish the wings were a little better shaped though, and that the wing sword was part of the wing. I also wish the Star Saber was larger.

Inferno looks great! articulated jaw!!! Love all of it. He looks great.

I also got Legacy Skywarp. He is OK, I only got him for this reason:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I also got Legacy Skywarp. He is OK, I only got him for this reason:

Did you modify the part that comes with skywarp?

Hellscream9999 wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I also got Legacy Skywarp. He is OK, I only got him for this reason:

Did you modify the part that comes with skywarp?

Yes, I trimmed it down to fit the sword in that manner

ZeroWolf wrote:

Emerje wrote:Man, these both look fantastic! I can't wait to buy Starscream four or five times! Really love the update, I want to see him with his shoulder canons deployed (looks possible). Not sure about the wing sword not just being removable wings, but I guess they didn't want to do the folding gimmick. Wish they would have painted it red and white instead of the whole thing red, feels like a wasted paint asset when it looks better in white on the back of the box. Star Saber is pretty cool, too. So far the Unicron Trilogy remakes are killing it.

I actually like the way they changed up Inferno's transformation. Always thought the arms and legs looked weird as ant limbs being so big. We actually got a preview of this on the Cybertron Metroplex box art so we should have all seen this coming. The articulated head reminds me of Ramhorn. Should be a really fun figure. Looks like the ant mandibles are still articulated.

TulioDude wrote:Inferno looks pretty menacing. Can someone say which kind of ant this is based on?

It's in the name, he's a fire ant.

Emerje

If you look on the back of the box the wing sword is white

I mentioned that. The box art on the front has it red so that's certainly the final color.

Emerje

I just got a notice from Amazon that Jhiaxus will ship this week. Is this for real? He'll be super early if it is.

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:Transformers is nothing but disappointment lately. Inferno is my favorite Predacon & I couldn't wait to see him. Robot mode looks good but that ant mode sucks! I might just save my money because I have the original it's far superior. I see no reason to blow $30 for a downgrade.

You're absolutely right. This new figure looks terrible in comparison to the old one. The same thing is true of Kingdom Scorponok in comparison to the old one.

I sometimes wonder if people just like things because they're new, instead of judging them on their merit. For example, Kingdom Blackarachnia is a fantastic figure, obviously much better than the old one. The same is true of Kingdom Tigatron.

But this Inferno looks awful.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I really hate that they neutered the wing sword on Armada Starscream, one of the key features of the toy and character.

This. I love the Armada version but I would have loved if both wings could have formed swords instead of one, now they've completely abandoned that to have a lump of plastic dangling from the wings. ughhhh. No.

Rodimus Prime wrote:I just got a notice from Amazon that Jhiaxus will ship this week. Is this for real? He'll be super early if it is.

It should be for real. He's been available at JB Hi-Fi in Australia for a few days and I just had my local EB Games call me to let me know I had a figure to pick up which I'm assuming is Jhiaxus.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Hellscream9999 wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I also got Legacy Skywarp. He is OK, I only got him for this reason:

Did you modify the part that comes with skywarp?

Yes, I trimmed it down to fit the sword in that manner

I feel like I asked you the same question but at another time and place. Am I traveling through the multiverse?

Rodimus Prime wrote:I just got a notice from Amazon that Jhiaxus will ship this week. Is this for real? He'll be super early if it is.

Yep, I should have mine Friday.

TFW2005 is reporting a listing for Legacy Metalhawk (which I would totally want to buy).

sol magnus wrote:TFW2005 is reporting a listing for Legacy Metalhawk (which I would totally want to buy).

Yes, posted by Nemesis Primal in the previous page.



I speculated it would be retooled from Jiahxus.

Overcracker wrote:

sol magnus wrote:TFW2005 is reporting a listing for Legacy Metalhawk (which I would totally want to buy).

Yes, posted by Nemesis Primal in the previous page.



I speculated it would be retooled from Jiahxus.

Ahh, I missed that. Thanks for catching me up. I don't care if he's a retool, I want him.

I'm hoping beyond hope that the Metalhawk listing is real, and a new deluxe sized mold with Magnus styled armor that pegs on to replicate the shell. Or has a shell. As long as it isn't a Prime sized figure with a human face

Jhiaxus is in stock right now on Amazon. Just ordered mine. He looks so super badass.

sol magnus wrote:

Overcracker wrote:

sol magnus wrote:TFW2005 is reporting a listing for Legacy Metalhawk (which I would totally want to buy).

Yes, posted by Nemesis Primal in the previous page.



I speculated it would be retooled from Jiahxus.

Ahh, I missed that. Thanks for catching me up. I don't care if he's a retool, I want him.

Yeah, I did not get the TR version, but this one should be interesting

I really hope that this Metalhawk is a 100% original mold.
Appart the G1 original and the tiny titan, all of them were repaints/retool of pre-existing molds.

Let's hope for a truly new design worthy of the original.

-Kanrabat- wrote:I really hope that this Metalhawk is a 100% original mold.
Appart the G1 original and the tiny titan, all of them were repaints/retool of pre-existing molds.

Let's hope for a truly new design worthy of the original.

I think it will be. most voyagers released in the mainline are original molds. Hasbro instead pads out the line with rereleases.

One thing though, when you say "all of them", how many Metalhawks have there been?