The Energon Pub

Time for me to chime in! Lots to cover here

Core Dinobots:
Theyre pretty cute, even if most dont seem to have elbows. Having them all conglomerate into Volcanicus is neat and i bet cha itll be more cohesive than the PoTP version

Breakdown:
Defiantly got the short end of the stick here, shame that couldnt remold even the two halves of the hood that fold out and kept the middle part. Not sure if i am going to get him Motormaster yet, Died End for sure tho

Needlenose:
Not a character Im familiar with and from the looks of the figure, not something a, going to pick up. Glad to see so many people are pumped about him

Hot Shot:
I actually had a an Aramda Hot Shot from a thrift store as a kid, this looks like a refined version of what the original toy couldnt be. Probs not going to get him either

Scraphook:
This seems to be the breakout star of the show and I agree. Mad max looking tow truck machine? Dont mind if i yes

Leo Prime:
Looks .. pretty good? Theres some uncanny valley stuff going on with his Lion mode head for sure

Tarn:
Fantastic, his vehicle mode doesnt look like ass, posability seems to be there, all around must have

Pretty interesting reveal season, probably the most curious one in recent times in terms of who the toys are of and the execution, what a time to be alive

Rodimus Knight wrote:I feel like at the current price point, I'm not really impressed.
It would have been nice if they could have moved Sludge's Back Dino legs somewhere else instead of giving him those thick meaty thighs.
I am curious on how the core Dinos combined look will well, look. So far I have not been impressed by the Dinobots combiner modes they've tried. I think they need to go more for a Prediking look with the wings at the back.
I'm not sure how I feel about Lio Convoy. Someone mentioned the beats eyes earlier and I agree, they don't look right. At least give him some pupils.
We're getting pretty good Updates to G1 and Armada. Mediocre updates to Transformers Prime. I'm terrified to see what they might do with animated.
I feel like I'm really starting to loose interest in TF collecting.

The Core Dinobot reveals are not good.
To put it very gentley. I had already said I knew there would be compromises at this scale, but wow.
I was hoping only one mode would suffer, but these are bad all-around.
Sludge’s legs don’t even attach are the bottom of the torso; they only appear to connect; the huge chunks off the sides of the pelvis are what connect the legs. So any bottom half bot poses for him are going to be “interesting” for sure.
Neither of these dino modes really have tails either, which is also a relatively big “miss”.
The gaps around Slag’s front legs also look really bad for that mode.
Obvsly these aren’t easy designs. I still expected more.
Minus the head sculpts, these look like crazy old attempts at TF toys.
I don’t know if even a good combined mode can make up for these sad figures.

Breakdown is a bit of a letdown, although the bot mode may be the best of the limb figures.
Put 2 on preorder through Amazon.

Everything else that was revealed is a pass for me, except maybe Tarn.
Figures like him and Jhiaxus are pretty appealing to me.
They’re different enough, but aren’t tied to some extra play gimmick.
Needlenose caught my eye, but he’s a maybe at best.

I didn’t think we’d see it before the end of 2023, but deluxe figure prices hitting $25 before tax (or shipping, depending on tbe retailer) is a real turn-off.
This is the main reason I’m happily anticipating the end of my collecting days.
It’s not so much that my interest has been lost, but is the juice worth the squeeze?
Nope.

I’ll keep saying it— once I have Snarl, Shrapnel, Bombshell, & Swoop, I’ll be checking out.
Sure there will be some “extras” before I cross the finish line, and those will all be nice to have.
But once I have those last 4 off of my “Most Wanted List”, I’ll be ready to dip.

Rodimus Knight wrote:I feel like at the current price point, I'm not really impressed.
It would have been nice if they could have moved Sludge's Back Dino legs somewhere else instead of giving him those thick meaty thighs.[/img]Might not have been workable with a Core-class budget, especially if their being there is also used for the combination.

I am curious on how the core Dinos combined look will well, look.

Probably like this, but with Volcanicus' head, and dinosaur beast heads & limbs instead of generic robot space monster beast heads and limbs.

Slag's beast head ends up as the chestplate just like Kakuryu's does, so that's one match already.

Rodimus Knight wrote:So far I have not been impressed by the Dinobots combiner modes they've tried. I think they need to go more for a Prediking look with the wings at the back.

Swoop's wingspan relative to his body size, and his having pterosaur wings instead of bird wings, mean that that might not work as well as you'd think. I know that with PotP it would have ended up looking rather Bulk Biceps-ish.

Rodimus Knight wrote:I'm not sure how I feel about Lio Convoy. Someone mentioned the beats eyes earlier and I agree, they don't look right. At least give him some pupils.

It looks better if you think of them as glowing gold like the boxart depicts. Given what else is made of that gold, it may be unpaintable plastic. Although that does raise the question of if there was room for the beast eyes on the white sprue.

Rodimus Knight wrote:We're getting pretty good Updates to G1 and Armada. Mediocre updates to Transformers Prime.

I'd say one of the Armada updates (Starscream) is also mediocre due to the sword. And the other two (Optimus and Megs) are as yet unknown quantities.

Rodimus Knight wrote:I'm terrified to see what they might do with animated.

As am I. At this point I hope the only thing that comes of that Animated space bridge is reissues, because I don't trust them to do new figures right (not to mention I don't want another rabbit hole opened up..)

I could honestly see Prowl either being Animated, G1, or IDW, but if that really is a muscle car and not just a customized Junkion, I definitely think Animated will be repped by at least Lockdown, probably through Selects. Prowl and Lockdown are the two character who have the biggest history with modifying themseleves (Prowl's armor, Lockdown's... Lockdown) and including them in a line where that's part of the gimmick just makes sense

Sentinel_Primal wrote:I could honestly see Prowl either being Animated, G1, or IDW, but if that really is a muscle car and not just a customized Junkion, I definitely think Animated will be repped by at least Lockdown, probably through Selects. Prowl and Lockdown are the two character who have the biggest history with modifying themseleves (Prowl's armor, Lockdown's... Lockdown) and including them in a line where that's part of the gimmick just makes sense

I can totally see Prowl being a simple bike-bot with a sidecar attachment that becomes armour, maybe they're gonna redo Samurai Prowl from the original Animated line.

I am...intrigued to see how this Prowl will be interpreted. The figures from the other Universes seem faithful enough (G2, Diaclone, Armada) but that's pretty easy to "G1-ify" (Especially G2 and Diaclone for obvious reasons.)
Considering how stylised Prime was and what the end result was, I don't doubt Prowl will probably be compromised aesthetically. I love the Animated art style so I hope it's not done too bad. It'll probably have a pretool ready for some other G2 bot like Arcee did.

Given that they'd screw up Animated completely based on what we've seen so far, and the fact that the PROPER Animated Prowl that actually looks like Animated Prowl can be reissued, I'm still hoping that this turns out to be RiD Prowl. I think that would be a better choice.
1. Greater need, due to the original mold being dead
2. Him, we can trust they'd get right
3. He actually stands to gain from it in a significant way (doors connected in a smarter way than ball joint sockets made from clear plastic)

Sentinel_Primal wrote:Prowl and Lockdown are the two character who have the biggest history with modifying themseleves (Prowl's armor, Lockdown's... Lockdown) and including them in a line where that's part of the gimmick just makes sense

Except that including any Animated characters in a line where the designers have proven they can't be trusted with more stylized aesthetics makes no sense. :/

On one hand: I am very curious to see how a geewun Animated Prowl will look, I had no issues with Arcee or Bulkhead (but I completely understand Prime fans' disappointment.) On top of Derrick (rest in peace.) being a big G1 fan so maybe it'd be a dream come true?

On the other hand: I am also hoping they stick to the Animated style as close as possible if they really want to keep it geewun for the younguns and/or new fans. The Animated style was very unique and dynamic, and it'd be nice seeing that style be used again. Especially with how the toyline didn't seem to get all the characters it wanted to and some in dire need of a redo (such as Animated Swindle.)

I'll probably be happy with the outcome anyway if the toy simply doesn't suck.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

Rodimus Knight wrote:I feel like at the current price point, I'm not really impressed.
It would have been nice if they could have moved Sludge's Back Dino legs somewhere else instead of giving him those thick meaty thighs.[/img]Might not have been workable with a Core-class budget, especially if their being there is also used for the combination.

I am curious on how the core Dinos combined look will well, look.

Probably like this, but with Volcanicus' head, and dinosaur beast heads & limbs instead of generic robot space monster beast heads and limbs.

Slag's beast head ends up as the chestplate just like Kakuryu's does, so that's one match already.

Rodimus Knight wrote:So far I have not been impressed by the Dinobots combiner modes they've tried. I think they need to go more for a Prediking look with the wings at the back.

Swoop's wingspan relative to his body size, and his having pterosaur wings instead of bird wings, mean that that might not work as well as you'd think. I know that with PotP it would have ended up looking rather Bulk Biceps-ish.

I wonder if I broke the quote up correctly.
The monstructor / Dinoking combiner used a number of additional parts to build the combiner. It looks like they won't be using extras with the Dinobots. At least not so far.

Till-all-R1 wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:For the record, when I say Needlenose should be voyager, I mean he should be physically bigger. I don't really care if his transformation doesn't change much. May be flatten out the underside kibble some?

I'm curious since it's already been stated here several times that Voyager doesn't mean "bigger bot" but simply more "engineering", so I'm not sure what you're getting at.

But it's not restricted to that. Which is why I said transformation doesn't have to change much either. Bottom line, I think Needlenose needs to be seeker-sized. And the seekers were voyagers. But that's just my personal preference, I think all jets should be voyagers, even future Aerialbots.

While my wallet would say otherwise, I'd have to agree with you. Deluxe just makes something like a Jet feels/seem tiny. That's one of my biggest pet peeves about Powerglide and with him being a minicon.

I prefer robo-scale over vehicle scale, and I think Needlenose wouldn't work too well as a bigger 'bot. That being said I don't know what the true scale of Legacy NN is anyway, for all I know he could still be a fairly tall robo much like Spinister or Ironhide was. Powerglide was a Minicon? Or do you mean Mini-Vehicle? Teehee.

If jet size is your thing, there'll probably be an oversized knock-off, or buy a model kit of a F-16 Fighting Falcon and play pretend!

So hyped for this Lio Convoy (I refuse to call him Leo Prime, lol).

I’ve been skipping the core class versions of bigger characters, but I’ll probably be getting these Dinobots since they combine.

So... any guesses on the 6th core Dinobot? I'm guessing, if this really is a Dinoking pre tool it will be an Ankylosaurus. Probably using the name Scowl picked up from RiD15, if Hasbro still can use that name.

o.supreme wrote:So... any guesses on the 6th core Dinobot? I'm guessing, if this really is a Dinoking pre tool it will be an Ankylosaurus. Probably using the name Scowl picked up from RiD15, if Hasbro still can use that name.

It's Skar if I read the synopsis correctly.

btw a name used in animation doesn't automatically clear it for use on toys.

Reminder, again, that one of the Hasbro designers said at SDCC that Animated reps in Legacy is a matter of when, not if, that he in particular wants to do Animated Prime, Ratchet, and Lockdown, and that they would be G1-ified but also that they're adjusting their approach in doing so after the feedback on the Prime characters.

Sentinel_Primal wrote:but if that really is a muscle car and not just a customized Junkion

It's definitely a muscle car Junkion, and it doesn't look like it's made from the parts from the other two? Looking at this poster I'm seeing:
-A bike (being ridden by probably it's own robot mode design)
-Same bike but with a sidecar made out of parts of Scraphook and the muscle car
-Scraphook but with his hood replaced by multiples of the front of said bike (and another Scraphook standing on the back)
-The muscle car

o.supreme wrote:So... any guesses on the 6th core Dinobot? I'm guessing, if this really is a Dinoking pre tool it will be an Ankylosaurus. Probably using the name Scowl picked up from RiD15, if Hasbro still can use that name.

We have a listing for a Core Skar, which is the name of a short-lived ankylosaurus Dinobot from IDW.

Nemesis Primal wrote:Reminder, again, that one of the Hasbro designers said at SDCC that Animated reps in Legacy is a matter of when, not if, that he in particular wants to do Animated Prime, Ratchet, and Lockdown, and that they would be G1-ified but also that they're adjusting their approach in doing so after the feedback on the Prime characters.

Ah, right, completely forgot about that.
I'm still very curious to see how they'll be interpreted, though I wonder if they'll have the foot articulation to make sure most of them can pull off the hero stance.

Oof....I thought Jhiaxus would be more popular...

SpaceEagle wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:Reminder, again, that one of the Hasbro designers said at SDCC that Animated reps in Legacy is a matter of when, not if, that he in particular wants to do Animated Prime, Ratchet, and Lockdown, and that they would be G1-ified but also that they're adjusting their approach in doing so after the feedback on the Prime characters.

Ah, right, completely forgot about that.
I'm still very curious to see how they'll be interpreted, though I wonder if they'll have the foot articulation to make sure most of them can pull off the hero stance.

Although I'm interested in the nuances that defined each of the Animated characters, I still hope it's more CHUG in aesthetic than Animated. For me, it's the only multiversal design that looks at odds with any other bots that might show up at Axiom Nexus (to the point that entering any other universe just manifests them as either 2D animated cell, shaded characters, or G1-ified representations of themselves). Animated's universe, is more of a "lense" or "aesthetic" (like a "toon universe", rather than the other TF cartoons being toons of actual 3D universed, if you get my drift).

o.supreme wrote:Oof....I thought Jhiaxus would be more popular...

No, he's mainly a niche comic character, appealing to older fans. Yeah some kids might get him because he's a jet, but his stupid name (yes, it's a stupid name) and no major media support prevents him being very sought after.

So it looks like a youtube review has been posted for a looky-looky at Breakdown!



https://youtu.be/IBLGkacjlN4

o.supreme wrote:Oof....I thought Jhiaxus would be more popular...

Yeah, this means he's not that popular among older fans, the first to pick up new toys. But we'll see how well the toy does with the coming holiday season, for kids.

As for the 6th dino, I covered that in the article, he's Skar

I'm curious how the interchangeable parts are going to hold out over time, surely they will suffer the loose joint syndrome simply due to the nature of wear.

william-james88 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:Oof....I thought Jhiaxus would be more popular...

Yeah, this means he's not that popular among older fans, the first to pick up new toys. But we'll see how well the toy does with the coming holiday season, for kids.

I wouldn't go that far. Just because he was apparently overstocked at that one store doesn't mean he's overstocked everywhere or that that's that store's entire stock of him, they could have sold some earlier before that photo was taken. Plus he's sold 2 to a case with Soundwave so he's going to be overstocked a little.

We were told during the panel that Jhiaxus came in second place behind Motormaster for the Transformers Toy Hall of Fame poll so that should really say everything we need to know about his popularity among older fans.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:Oof....I thought Jhiaxus would be more popular...

Yeah, this means he's not that popular among older fans, the first to pick up new toys. But we'll see how well the toy does with the coming holiday season, for kids.

I wouldn't go that far. Just because he was apparently overstocked at that one store doesn't mean he's overstocked everywhere or that that's that store's entire stock of him, they could have sold some earlier before that photo was taken. Plus he's sold 2 to a case with Soundwave so he's going to be overstocked a little.

We were told during the panel that Jhiaxus came in second place behind Motormaster for the Transformers Toy Hall of Fame poll so that should really say everything we need to know about his popularity among older fans.

Emerje

Can confirm Jhiaxuses fly off the shelves in my area, I've only ever seen Bulkheads shelfwarm and I wouldn't consider Bulkhead "unpopular." I was lucky to even see one Jhiaxus at a Target I went to and snatched it up quick!

As much as I sometimes want to believe something like the above, shelf-warming products could be so for a number of reasons:

- Overstocked.
- Too many in any given box (similar to above).
- Staff putting "any old stock" on the shelves without checking for variety (as to them, it's "all the same").
- Other, similar (TF) products selling extremely well, necessitating "any old stock" to be used to fill the gaps on the shelves.
- etc.

Conversely, when someone uses the "It sold out rapidly at Hasbro's website" as a reason for a product doing well, similar (yet reversed?) arguments can be used to critique such statements ("Limited stock online", etc).