The Energon Pub

Rtron wrote:I suspect next year's Commander Class is going to be Armanda Optimus Prime, given Armada Megatron's presence in the line, and that Tidal Wave will either be a Titan, or have to wait a year.

So could that mean we get an Armada Jetfire in 2024 or '25? As either a leader or a commander? Leader if the combo gimmick with Prime is included, commander if it's just Jetfire. I mean, we got Sky Lynx last year as a commander. Jetfire would be similar, he just wouldn't split up.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Rtron wrote:I suspect next year's Commander Class is going to be Armanda Optimus Prime, given Armada Megatron's presence in the line, and that Tidal Wave will either be a Titan, or have to wait a year.

So could that mean we get an Armada Jetfire in 2024 or '25? As either a leader or a commander? Leader if the combo gimmick with Prime is included, commander if it's just Jetfire. I mean, we got Sky Lynx last year as a commander. Jetfire would be similar, he just wouldn't split up.

I wouldn't rule it out at this point, it seems like hasbro is trying to include the greatest hits from all the lines alongside finishing up the G1 team.

So I've been doing a bit of reading, and between what little Q & A escaped the panel, a video interview done by Shartimus Prime, and the big interview TFW just posted, I have compiled the following list of Legacy-relevant confirmations/hints given at SDCC outside of just the figures we actually saw. Notes so far (*inhales*):

-Legacy Wave 4/Breakdown will be shown at Pulsecon
-Legacy Wave 4/Breakdown are scheduled to come out next year
-Evan mentioned that Menasor's lack of Scramble City compatibility/limbs being dedicated to just Menasor has been well-received and they are keeping that in mind for future potential combiners
-No continuity is off the table for Legacy, Cyberverse is an option
-Animated was given a flat-out confirmation by Evan, Animated characters/designs WILL be in Legacy, the theory of those characters/designs being held up by Cartoon Network rights is incorrect
-Evan cited Animated Lockdown, Ratchet, and Prime as characters/designs he specifically would like to work on
-Legacy Animated figures WILL be G1-ified, HOWEVER the team has also heard the feedback on Arcee/Bulkhead/Knock Out and are working to find a better G1-ification balance
-Titans and Selects are both still planned to continue release, called out the theory of Selects ending specifically as incorrect
-Hasbro is considering 2022 and 2023 both to be the Armada anniversary due to the show's release date in Japan (which probably also explains "RiD 2000 Universe")
-Armada Prime "may happen" for the anniversary, unlikely to be the unreleased Takara-initiated one shown years back but may borrow from it if happening
-Cyber Planet Keys and Cheetor's gut gun both being thought about in terms of potential weapon/accessory packs
-They KNOW people want Tidal Wave
-Minicons are something they're intending to figure out "once they move more fully into Armada"
-Wider release/more allotments of Velocitron Cosmos and his in-store availability are up to Walmart, Pulse cannot restock (sounds familiar)
-Next Haslab is being worked on but has no associated dates yet
-No version of Optimus Prime will EVER be a Haslab (when asked about Armada Prime)
-When asked about a new Cybertron OP & Wing Saber: "it would be totally doable to make a new Wing Saber connect to Siege GUOP" (implying Wing Saber is on the table but Optimus is considered done)
-More Titans from Cybertron are possible albeit daunting due to number (Starscream, Primus, Quickmix, & Menasor all mentioned)
-Evan wants to incorporate Powerlinx into Armada/Energon updates
-Mark and Evan talk about making figures of the 13 Primes "all the time", mentioned The Fallen's tank mode
-As far as Evan knows, Legacy is planned to go for 3 years and is a trilogy (?)
-More non-G1 updates can be expected even if/when Legacy ends
-Evan wants to make Beast Machines Vehicons
-Most obscure characters Evan wants to do in Legacy: Velocity, Javelin, Mistress of Flame, Camiens
-Interest in bringing Fan Votes back
-Expansion into non-G1 was due to designer interest, characters needing updates, and people being sick of the same characters
-Positive reaction to being asked about Omnibots, vague "anything is possible" response given
-More Minibots "will make it in eventually"
-Mention of potential Coneheads rerelease in Legacy
-Evan mentioned "having a few more beasts to get through"

...and on top of all that semi-official stuff, JTPrime has said as of yesterday that Breakdown and Twincast's EAN numbers have been replaced with new ones that change what we thought the next few waves would be, indicating that Wave 4 will now include Needlenose, "Junkion 1", Hot Shot, Tarn, & Leo Prime (at least, don't think we know Leaders-per-specific-wave yet for 2023) in addition to Breakdown, while Twincast has been pushed back to the wave containing Metalhawk and the Wheeljack & Cheetor repacks have been possibly scrapped.

If you actually read to the end, I appreciate you

Thank you Nemesis for the summary! Very excited if Tarn and Lio Convoy have really been pushed forward. I was hoping Cheetor repack to be in colors closer to the Netflix version, but oh well, it probably wasn't going to be like that anyway and nothing has really been lost.

Nemesis Primal wrote:So I've been doing a bit of reading, and between what little Q & A escaped the panel, a video interview done by Shartimus Prime, and the big interview TFW just posted, I have compiled the following list of Legacy-relevant confirmations/hints given at SDCC outside of just the figures we actually saw. Notes so far (*inhales*):

-Legacy Wave 4/Breakdown will be shown at Pulsecon
-Legacy Wave 4/Breakdown are scheduled to come out next year
-Evan mentioned that Menasor's lack of Scramble City compatibility/limbs being dedicated to just Menasor has been well-received and they are keeping that in mind for future potential combiners
-No continuity is off the table for Legacy, Cyberverse is an option
-Animated was given a flat-out confirmation by Evan, Animated characters/designs WILL be in Legacy, the theory of those characters/designs being held up by Cartoon Network rights is incorrect
-Evan cited Animated Lockdown, Ratchet, and Prime as characters/designs he specifically would like to work on
-Legacy Animated figures WILL be G1-ified, HOWEVER the team has also heard the feedback on Arcee/Bulkhead/Knock Out and are working to find a better G1-ification balance
-Titans and Selects are both still planned to continue release, called out the theory of Selects ending specifically as incorrect
-Hasbro is considering 2022 and 2023 both to be the Armada anniversary due to the show's release date in Japan (which probably also explains "RiD 2000 Universe")
-Armada Prime "may happen" for the anniversary, unlikely to be the unreleased Takara-initiated one shown years back but may borrow from it if happening
-Cyber Planet Keys and Cheetor's gut gun both being thought about in terms of potential weapon/accessory packs
-They KNOW people want Tidal Wave
-Minicons are something they're intending to figure out "once they move more fully into Armada"
-Wider release/more allotments of Velocitron Cosmos and his in-store availability are up to Walmart, Pulse cannot restock (sounds familiar)
-Next Haslab is being worked on but has no associated dates yet
-No version of Optimus Prime will EVER be a Haslab (when asked about Armada Prime)
-When asked about a new Cybertron OP & Wing Saber: "it would be totally doable to make a new Wing Saber connect to Siege GUOP" (implying Wing Saber is on the table but Optimus is considered done)
-More Titans from Cybertron are possible albeit daunting due to number (Starscream, Primus, Quickmix, & Menasor all mentioned)
-Evan wants to incorporate Powerlinx into Armada/Energon updates
-Mark and Evan talk about making figures of the 13 Primes "all the time", mentioned The Fallen's tank mode
-As far as Evan knows, Legacy is planned to go for 3 years and is a trilogy (?)
-More non-G1 updates can be expected even if/when Legacy ends
-Evan wants to make Beast Machines Vehicons
-Most obscure characters Evan wants to do in Legacy: Velocity, Javelin, Mistress of Flame, Camiens
-Interest in bringing Fan Votes back
-Expansion into non-G1 was due to designer interest, characters needing updates, and people being sick of the same characters
-Positive reaction to being asked about Omnibots, vague "anything is possible" response given
-More Minibots "will make it in eventually"
-Mention of potential Coneheads rerelease in Legacy
-Evan mentioned "having a few more beasts to get through"

...and on top of all that semi-official stuff, JTPrime has said as of yesterday that Breakdown and Twincast's EAN numbers have been replaced with new ones that change what we thought the next few waves would be, indicating that Wave 4 will now include Needlenose, "Junkion 1", Hot Shot, Tarn, & Leo Prime (at least, don't think we know Leaders-per-specific-wave yet for 2023) in addition to Breakdown, while Twincast has been pushed back to the wave containing Metalhawk and the Wheeljack & Cheetor repacks have been possibly scrapped.

If you actually read to the end, I appreciate you

Thanks for this write up!

I think there's a lot to be excited about here, and ironically, Animated has already seen some of it's designs translated to other styles.

Interesting stuff.

A Commander Class Armada Prime would be awesome.

It would be great if we got a second chance at the Coneheads at least Thrust.

Nemesis Primal wrote:-Evan mentioned that Menasor's lack of Scramble City compatibility/limbs being dedicated to just Menasor has been well-received and they are keeping that in mind for future potential combiners

Excellent! I'm loving how Legacy Menasor is shaping up (as people would know if they've seen my earlier posts) and would love to see this style carried over to other combiners. CW Menasor was the weakest of the CW combiners by far, and I do like Superion, but the style and engineering for Legacy far surpasses the best of the CW combiners so bring on more!

Nemesis Primal wrote:-Most obscure characters Evan wants to do in Legacy: Velocity, Javelin, Mistress of Flame, Camiens
...
-Expansion into non-G1 was due to designer interest, characters needing updates, and people being sick of the same characters

I can think of more obscure characters, like the majority of G1.5...

Burn wrote:I can think of more obscure characters, like the majority of G1.5...

Blanker would make a decent Flash, for one.

So much good stuff in that post.

Animated! Please!

I am glad they are finally hearing us that we are sick of G1 redone and to do some other stuff, thank you.

Glad to hear more Armada love, especially with the stuff they are thinking about with it.

i hope Tigerhawk is on their Beast Wars list.

Cyberverse? YES! And if I may, if we are hinting at Cyberverse and titans continuing...

SDCC may have wrapped up but it looks like there's still a lot left to talk about when it comes to the future of Legacy! HUGE thanks to our own Seibertronian Nemesis Primal for combing through Q&As and interviews to find many key bits of information about the future of Legacy. His post to our Energon Pub Forums is as follows:

Nemesis Primal wrote:So I've been doing a bit of reading, and between what little Q & A escaped the panel, a video interview done by Shartimus Prime, and the big interview TFW just posted, I have compiled the following list of Legacy-relevant confirmations/hints given at SDCC outside of just the figures we actually saw. Notes so far (*inhales*):

-Legacy Wave 4/Breakdown will be shown at Pulsecon
-Legacy Wave 4/Breakdown are scheduled to come out next year
-Evan mentioned that Menasor's lack of Scramble City compatibility/limbs being dedicated to just Menasor has been well-received and they are keeping that in mind for future potential combiners
-No continuity is off the table for Legacy, Cyberverse is an option
-Animated was given a flat-out confirmation by Evan, Animated characters/designs WILL be in Legacy, the theory of those characters/designs being held up by Cartoon Network rights is incorrect
-Evan cited Animated Lockdown, Ratchet, and Prime as characters/designs he specifically would like to work on
-Legacy Animated figures WILL be G1-ified, HOWEVER the team has also heard the feedback on Arcee/Bulkhead/Knock Out and are working to find a better G1-ification balance
-Titans and Selects are both still planned to continue release, called out the theory of Selects ending specifically as incorrect
-Hasbro is considering 2022 and 2023 both to be the Armada anniversary due to the show's release date in Japan (which probably also explains "RiD 2000 Universe")
-Armada Prime "may happen" for the anniversary, unlikely to be the unreleased Takara-initiated one shown years back but may borrow from it if happening
-Cyber Planet Keys and Cheetor's gut gun both being thought about in terms of potential weapon/accessory packs
-They KNOW people want Tidal Wave
-Minicons are something they're intending to figure out "once they move more fully into Armada"
-Wider release/more allotments of Velocitron Cosmos and his in-store availability are up to Walmart, Pulse cannot restock (sounds familiar)
-Next Haslab is being worked on but has no associated dates yet
-No version of Optimus Prime will EVER be a Haslab (when asked about Armada Prime)
-When asked about a new Cybertron OP & Wing Saber: "it would be totally doable to make a new Wing Saber connect to Siege GUOP" (implying Wing Saber is on the table but Optimus is considered done)
-More Titans from Cybertron are possible albeit daunting due to number (Starscream, Primus, Quickmix, & Menasor all mentioned)
-Evan wants to incorporate Powerlinx into Armada/Energon updates
-Mark and Evan talk about making figures of the 13 Primes "all the time", mentioned The Fallen's tank mode
-As far as Evan knows, Legacy is planned to go for 3 years and is a trilogy (?)
-More non-G1 updates can be expected even if/when Legacy ends
-Evan wants to make Beast Machines Vehicons
-Most obscure characters Evan wants to do in Legacy: Velocity, Javelin, Mistress of Flame, Camiens
-Interest in bringing Fan Votes back
-Expansion into non-G1 was due to designer interest, characters needing updates, and people being sick of the same characters
-Positive reaction to being asked about Omnibots, vague "anything is possible" response given
-More Minibots "will make it in eventually"
-Mention of potential Coneheads rerelease in Legacy
-Evan mentioned "having a few more beasts to get through"

...and on top of all that semi-official stuff, JTPrime has said as of yesterday that Breakdown and Twincast's EAN numbers have been replaced with new ones that change what we thought the next few waves would be, indicating that Wave 4 will now include Needlenose, "Junkion 1", Hot Shot, Tarn, & Leo Prime (at least, don't think we know Leaders-per-specific-wave yet for 2023) in addition to Breakdown, while Twincast has been pushed back to the wave containing Metalhawk and the Wheeljack & Cheetor repacks have been possibly scrapped.

If you actually read to the end, I appreciate you

And there you have it. It looks like the design team isn't leaving much off the table which may well make this the most exciting era of the Transformers franchise. It's a lot to unload but feel free to leave your thoughts in the Energon Pub Forums!

@Nenesis Primal, I read till the end and I am appreciative of all your research.

Most excited about how they are working on a better balance for G1ification. It has been done right in the past, like with Animated Lugnut and Evergreen Barricade (regarding the design).

Animated lockdown and ratchet woo-hoo! Prime is cool too. One step closer to getting animated Shockwave ouuuu

G1-ification balance, noice. Tidal wave, noice. Clearly these guys do their homework and I appreciate that a lot of us are heard in what we want

Gut gun in an accessory pack would be dope, wonder what else could come of that pack. 13 primes yesssssssss. More beasts yessss. Minibots? Powerglide?

All of wave 4 sounds great, idk if I'd want Hot shot but I'm curious for needlenose and junkion 1, and excited for tarn and Leo prime

-Evan mentioned that Menasor's lack of Scramble City compatibility/limbs being dedicated to just Menasor has been well-received and they are keeping that in mind for future potential combiners

Well I for 1 think it's a good idea for each combiner to be unique. I was never a big fan of the scramble concept, even if it was fun to mix up limbs.

I noticed that no matter what, they never flat-out said no to any question or idea. Trying very hard to keep that positive image, even if they have no intention of following through on some things.

I'm glad they pretty much confirmed Tidal Wave. Here's hoping for a Titan.

Why wouldn't they use Takara's previously designed Armada Prime? It's like the heavy lifting was already done for them. Will they design a simpler (and thus cheaper) version?

No Optimus EVER in HasLab. Good news?

We might get a Wing Saber to go with Galaxy Prime? Wasn't Wing Saber in Energon/Super-Link?

If they were going to do Mini-Cons, why not start with Starscream? I hope at least Megatron will come with Leader-1.

The other stuff I can take or leave.

I would like to see an accurate Voyager Shockwave as well as a new Bludgeon.

Rodimus Prime wrote:We might get a Wing Saber to go with Galaxy Prime? Wasn't Wing Saber in Energon/Super-Link?

He was, but that's not the Wing Saber they're talking about. They're talking about this guy:


Galaxy Force Sonic Bomber, aka Cybertron Wing Saber

He combines with Optimus Prime for Sonic Wing Mode:

An yes, thank you for the reminder. The Energon version is more prominent in my memories.

But since my GUOP is messed up, I'll take Sonic Bomber to go with him, since he can't wear his backpack anymore.

ZeroWolf wrote:I think there's a lot to be excited about here, and ironically, Animated has already seen some of it's designs translated to other styles.

william-james88 wrote:Most excited about how they are working on a better balance for G1ification. It has been done right in the past, like with Animated Lugnut and Evergreen Barricade (regarding the design).

The difference in the cases like Reveal the Shield Lugnut, ROTF Lockdown, and Cyberverse Clobber is that those were alternate-continuity G1/Movie/Aligned/Cyberverse/etc.-native versions of their Animated counterparts (like how Armada Optimus Prime is to G1 Optimus Prime is to Movie Optimus Prime, etc.), rather than specifically the actual Animated universe characters in G1/Movie/Aligned/Cyberverse/etc.-styled bodies (save for Legends Slipstream, whom Takara retooled enough in an active attempt to make her mold look more like an Animated mold).

The latter of which is how Hasbro is treating all the non-G1 characters in Legacy, including all the G1-ified Prime universe characters.

Rodimus Prime wrote:Why wouldn't they use Takara's previously designed Armada Prime? It's like the heavy lifting was already done for them. Will they design a simpler (and thus cheaper) version?

Since Takara made the previous prototype version on their own without Hasbro's input, it might not fit into Hasbro's more rigid budget restrictions, requiring Hasbro to design a new one from the ground up that does fit into their budget.

I'm down for the Camiens. I don't read the comics or anything, I just love Transformers. I don't need any attachment to pick anything up so long as I think it looks good. I'm also more drawn to female figures as well due to the lack of them in many lines growing up. And when they did show up, they were scalped like they were in the old 90's Toybiz Marvel lines.

Titan Menasor would be great. Quickmix could be a commander. Primus should be another Haslab but I never did get Unicron so I doubt I'd get it. Starscream would be cool as a titan but ultimately, I'd rather it go to Quickmix at that point.

However, I don't want a titan Tidal Wave. I couldn't care less about how big he was in the game. Commander would be fine.

It's great that they're still considering Minicons after the supposed fail of the Micromasters.

Don't care about Cyber Keys but more weapons packs would be nice. Like maybe release all the new energon weapons all together in one pack each in a single color with multiple packs released in different colors. Actually, do the old Energon weapons that the Omnicons and Terrorcons had instead. I'd love packs of those weapons...and they had better combined modes.

The thirteen Primes would be awesome.

Omnibots would be amazing to get.

So would some Beast Machines Vehicons.

Minibots are cool but I'm more interested in all the potential updates from everything else to get more excited about them honestly.

It's nice that they're reconsidering reissues of certain characters. I don't think anyone needed Wheeljack and Cheetor.

Bringing back the fan vote would be cool. I wonder if they could combine it with the reissues as well. This way when they're looking for figures to fill the waves, it would be figures that people need like the Coneheads or the Battlechargers or whoever else. Regular fan votes still too though. New characters are always fun.

More combiners like Menasor without the scramble aspect? I wouldn't mind. Maybe they go so far as to change up the size classes for some. Not every torso would work as a commander. Some would work as leaders and maybe some still as even voyagers. Not all limbs would need to be deluxes either. Since Menasor's design works so differently to the rest, voyagers could work for the limbs of the other combiners instead. Like four voyagers and a leader. The extra budget going towards more tooling so that the robot modes still scale properly. That would put it at roughly the same price as the Menasor components if they were to sell them as boxsets.

Not using that teased Armada Prime? Well that sucks. It should be able to work as a commander class. Or at least based just on the cab figure it looks like it could work. It would all depend on what they do with the trailer. But if they can get what amounts to a fully functioning Menasor as a commander along with that complex a Motormaster then I imagine that whatever Takara had in mind with that Armada Prime would still work at that price point. Whatever happens though, I hope it's not leader class. I like GUOP and all but I don't think an Armada Prime update would work as well at that price point. Energon Prime would work better as a commander as well but at least he could be separated from his drones to save the size class for something else. Like have Energon Prime and the empty trailer as a leader class then the drones as core or something.

Oh and it sucks about Cosmos. The same must go for Buzzworthy Cliffjumper as well. I wish Target at least had a listing for BWCJ so I could maybe use the store tracker like I did to track down other exclusives. With gas prices being what they are, I don't want to go far on blind runs if I have no other reason to go near the "better" stores in my area.

Sabrblade wrote:Takara Armada Prime budget.

I think they should use the design, and fit their budget around it. If they had plans to make a leader figure but it turns out to be too expensive, bump it up to commander. Based on the prototype we got, it looks like it's worth the money. Unless Hasbro completely butchers the trailer, or gives us something cheap and hollow like ER leader Prime just to fit the budget.

They did really well with Legacy Motormaster in giving us our money's worth. I would have taken ER Prime at commander class if we got that voyager Prime and a better trailer. They did it with Rodimus. (For me, that trailer for perfectly with my deluxe TFP Prime figure. It looks cheap enough to go with a deluxe.)

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Takara Armada Prime budget.

I think they should use the design, and fit their budget around it. If they had plans to make a leader figure but it turns out to be too expensive, bump it up to commander. Based on the prototype we got, it looks like it's worth the money. Unless Hasbro completely butchers the trailer, or gives us something cheap and hollow like ER leader Prime just to fit the budget.

They did really well with Legacy Motormaster in giving us our money's worth. I would have taken ER Prime at commander class if we got that voyager Prime and a better trailer. They fid it with Rodimus. (For me, that trailer for perfectly with my deluxe TFP Prime figure. It looks cheap enough to go with a deluxe.)

There's also the possibility that the Takara Armada Prime didn't pass Hasbro's toy safety drop test (the same drop test that prevented the G1 Fort Max mold from being rereleased in the West as RiD 2001 Fort Max).

Yes, there are most likely a few reasons for that design not being used. But the prototype looked really good. Like I said, based on that visual evidence, we would have gotten a really nice looking piece if it made it to store shelves.

Nemesis Primal wrote:If you actually read to the end, I appreciate you

A most excellent writeup! Thank you!

~ Grim

Nuclearxpotato wrote:

-Evan mentioned that Menasor's lack of Scramble City compatibility/limbs being dedicated to just Menasor has been well-received and they are keeping that in mind for future potential combiners

I don't see why the Scramble City gimmick can't be used on the new combiner design. The deluxe "limbs" simply ride the torso's skeleton so like the original concept, the deluxes could ride any skeleton on any limbs.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Nuclearxpotato wrote:

-Evan mentioned that Menasor's lack of Scramble City compatibility/limbs being dedicated to just Menasor has been well-received and they are keeping that in mind for future potential combiners

I don't see why the Scramble City gimmick can't be used on the new combiner design. The deluxe "limbs" simply ride the torso's skeleton so like the original concept, the deluxes could ride any skeleton on any limbs.

In case of the arms, the deluxe would have to split apart.