The Energon Pub

well, I think we can all look at Tr Galvatron and say his head could have been worse hahahah (even if its still better figure than the recent one)

https://www.kapowtoys.co.uk/product/act ... KhY3xwev58

Razorbeast88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Razorbeast88 wrote:I wouldve loved an animated blitzwing done right
They could've even given different colored blast effects to mimic the fire and ice thing

There's always the red and blue ones that came with the Tricranius set.

And, are blast effects even a thing anymore in Legacy?

Very true, but no three faces or double turret tank. Closest thing would be if an upgrade kit comes out but even then

Good point, I'm not sure that they are. The rereleases will still be bloosh compatible as emgo would say, but im not sure about the rest

the death of blast effects has been exaggerated.




Add to that the erroneous ideas about the reliability of Hasbro Pulse, and it's been one of those days.

Thoughts on yesterday's reveals:

Tarantulas: Looks great, even with his weird arm proportions. The inclusion of his transmetal pizza slicer buzz saw is super awesome. Bought on sight, and likely the only purchase from this wave.

Elita 1: If you're reading this, Hasbro, please retool this into Arcee. It would be perfect. This is exactly what I've wanted from a fembot mold for years, one that actually incorporates the alt mode into the bot mode and doesn't just have a ridiculous backpack (even if this still has one). Probably won't get Elita 1, but this makes me super excited for Minerva. Come on Hasbro, just milk this mold. You know you want to.

...That being said, are we sure this mold was made to be Minerva first and foremost? The alt mode and robot details are nothing like Minerva's, and if the recent Wreckers comic is anything to go by, only the head is getting retooled. It looks to me more like Elita 1 was the one this mold was designed for, and Minerva is just the headswap retool, with the shoulder pylons being designed in to make the mold more versatile.

Knockout: Pretty much as expected, and about as expectedly underwhelming. It is what it is, and what it is isn't for me. To quote something I read elsewhere a while ago, "these aren't Prime toys for Prime fans, they're Prime toys for G1 fans to put on their G1 shelves." And that's unfortunate, as the "G1-ification" just ends up stripping most of the personality from Knockout's design. At least he still has his gold rims (props to Hasbro for that).

Wildrider: Looks solid, though he's certainly got quite a backpack. Alt mode is great.

Jihaxus: I'm not really familiar with his character so I don't know how accurate this is, but he looks like a good mold. Articulated hands are an unexpected touch. His deco is pretty ugly, though; those huge swaths of white really need something to break them up (but again, maybe that's accurate, it's G2 after all).

Soundwave: Genuinely shocked it's not the Netflix mold. Hot take: other than the clean chest door, this version is a downgrade from Siege. The silver paint pairs reeeaaly well with the dark blue plastic, and this version just has less of that beautifully contrasting silver.

Motormaster: Looks absolutely fantastic. I really hope he ends up being CW compatible, because it would be a 200 IQ move that would nullify all complaints about how much G1-accurate Menasor sucks. This also has me excited to see what they could do with a commander class Armada Prime.

Tuned Agent wrote:Thoughts on yesterday's reveals:

...That being said, are we sure this mold was made to be Minerva first and foremost? The alt mode and robot details are nothing like Minerva's, and if the recent Wreckers comic is anything to go by, only the head is getting retooled. It looks to me more like Elita 1 was the one this mold was designed for, and Minerva is just the headswap retool, with the shoulder pylons being designed in to make the mold more versatile.

Although I stated the mold was seemingly a premold of Minerva, someone at Allspark mentioned the alt mode is a good first step at a more authentic E1, and much closer to her cartoon model than previous iterations.

MeGrimlock78 wrote:Agh! $124.99 on Amazon.ca for Motormaster...those are Commander-class prices!

*edit* I'm an idiot. I thought he was Leaderclass, my bad.

Why don't you buy it at Toys R Us for 150$CAN instead?

Seriously, TrU will never get my business ever again.

Looking back, the initial listing for Soundwave was pretty clear:

Legacy Evolution

Core: Optimus Prime
Deluxe: Wild Rider, Elita 1, Ko Prime, Tarantulas
Voyager: Jhiaxus, S Soundwave Pr
Leader: Blitzwing, Galvatron, Optimus Prime

S Soundwave PR can only mean Siege Soundwave package refresh.
Anyone expecting more was setting themselves up for massive disappointment. And for anyone saying "I get it, but I still hoped" well that hope was indeed just undiscovered disappointment.

Also, unless I missed one, all toys designated as PR are only labeled as such when they are a package refresh of a toy previously available in a non exclusive line.

Can someone help me out here? I'm reading online that the presentation helped some understand how Wild Rider's backpack was necessary for the combining component. HOW? I took the opposite message from the presentation. Seeing that all that was needed was for the car to lie flat and have some plug in holes, there was very little in the way of limiting the robot mode's look. They could have made a transformation where the wheels do end up on the shoulders.

i'm just glad they got rid of that "hover board" and she's a car again for Elita-1. reason why i never bought her WFC toy was because of that "hover board".

william-james88 wrote:Can someone help me out here? I'm reading online that the presentation helped some understand how Wild Rider's backpack was necessary for the combining component. HOW? I took the opposite message from the presentation. Seeing that all that was needed was for the car to lie flat and have some plug in holes, there was very little in the way of limiting the robot mode's look. They could have made a transformation where the wheels do end up on the shoulders.

The front third of the car bends at a 90 degree angle to become the back half of the foot. If the wheels were on the shoulders, then they would have needed to have the arms form from the engine block, and the doors would have to be backpack wings anyways to replace no longer having those kibble panels on the arms.

alekese wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Can someone help me out here? I'm reading online that the presentation helped some understand how Wild Rider's backpack was necessary for the combining component. HOW? I took the opposite message from the presentation. Seeing that all that was needed was for the car to lie flat and have some plug in holes, there was very little in the way of limiting the robot mode's look. They could have made a transformation where the wheels do end up on the shoulders.

The front third of the car bends at a 90 degree angle to become the back half of the foot. If the wheels were on the shoulders, then they would have needed to have the arms form from the engine block, and the doors would have to be backpack wings anyways to replace no longer having those kibble panels on the arms.

Thanks!

Two images popped up online of Transformers toys in new decos which do not appear to be customs (meaning the plastic colour is different). One is a redeco of Titans Return Twin Twist and the other is a redeco of the Kingdom Waspinator mold using the mutant head. While tey appear random at first, we recall this bit of news from a little while ago which I am posting here as a refresher:

william-james88 wrote:It is a Wreckers themed line that will include two packs and the like. The Wreckers will all be redecos of previously released toys but there will be new tooling found on 2 fossilizers. Here is a breakdown of the characters rumoured to be in that line:

Deluxe Impactor redeco
Deluxe Leadfoot ( from kingdom mirage)
Deluxe Topspin
Deluxe Twintwist
Voyager Springer redeco
Voyager Bulkhead redeco
Fossilizer Mammoth
Fossilizer Spinosaurus

It is also rumoured that the jumpstarters will not have their traditional colours.

As rumoured, that Twin Twist toy does not have traditional colours and rather has the Diaclone colours (image of vintage toy in box below).Speaking of Diaclone, the villains were the Waruders, which Botcon had already given us using the older Waspinator mold. Well, this purple redeco could be a Waruder to match that theme. It's not for certain if these will all be released in the same subline or not.




Transformers BotCon Exclusives Waruder Parasite Drone Gallery

Otherwise known as Beast Wars Skywasp.

Lots to catch up on, I haven't been to this thread in almost 3 weeks.

so, let's start with the reveals:

Wildrider: this one got my hopes up for the Stunticons. I actually really like how this one looks. i will get this one.

Elita: She doesn't really appeal to me, I love the PotP one. I look forward to the mold as Minerva though.

Tarantulas: It looks like a good toy. It took me a day to figure it out, but it doesn't really appeal to me as much as I had hoped it would, and that is because the Transmetal look is THE look for me. It's odd to see him back in his season 1 body. Doesn't help that Sins of the Wreckers made his TM form his main mode but still gave him a fully organic beast mode.

Knockout: this one really bothers me. Prime Arcee ended up working as a Prime figure mostly, and is a pretty nice figure. Bulkhead is not the Prime character to me, the head and wrecking ball are about the only things that work for me as that character. Knockout falls into the Bulkhead status. He needed a new mold. He is too bulky/square, and the head sculpt is a disappointment. He's the wrong shape for Knockout, and simplifies some of his most distinct features. for me, Knockout is another victim of G1-ification, and it sucks to see him done dirty this way.

Jhiaxus: I enjoy this one a good bit. He feels too skinny though. he seems off somehow. That headsculpt is utterly wonderful though.

Soundwave: don't care.

Blitzwing: he ugly.

Motormaster: this one wiped out the goodwill I had towards the Stunticons after seeing Wildrider. I just don't like him that much. Too much cartoon, which is OK, I'm not the audience for him.

Now, as for wave 1 figures, I got Arcee, Ignuanus, and Bulkhead.

I got Arcee first. She is actually quite adorable and fun. The aesthetic changes hinder her as a Prime figure, but her design is pretty good. Transformation is really good, they nailed that. I wish I could give her her wings without having to put the wheels on her back too, but it's necessary since I will not use those wheels as a gun. Overall, very nice, I like her.

Iguanus is as good as I could have hoped. He's so posable too! I love this lizard man, they understood the assignment and they killed it. I look forward to more Pretenders like this.

Bulkhead isn't too bad. He is not the Prime guy to me, it just doesn't work. But I'm thinking he can be my Wrecker Bulkhead, giving him a spot to go. I think a lot of my issues with the guy would be resolved if he wasn't explicitly called "Prime universe Bulkhead." He seems like a good figure. joints are pretty stiff too, so he can hold those poses really well. Hoping we can maybe get Pyro from him. That's a Wrecker I need.

Sabrblade wrote:Otherwise known as Beast Wars Skywasp.

This conflicts with my headcanon of Kingdom Skywarp being the G1 guy who switched sides

primalxconvoy wrote:

Elita 1.jpg

That's not Elita's real cartoon model. It's a fanmade one.

This is (a preliminary version of) her real one:

Autobot N wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Otherwise known as Beast Wars Skywasp.

This conflicts with my headcanon of Kingdom Skywarp being the G1 guy who switched sides

Why? Skywasp isn't G1 Skywarp. He's a Predacon analogue, like what BW Megatron and BWII Starscream are to G1 Megatron and Starscream.

Sabrblade wrote:

Autobot N wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Otherwise known as Beast Wars Skywasp.

This conflicts with my headcanon of Kingdom Skywarp being the G1 guy who switched sides

Why? Skywasp isn't G1 Skywarp. He's a Predacon analogue, like what BW Megatron and BWII Starscream are to G1 Megatron and Starscream.

It kinda seemed like they were the same guy since he has the same prankster personality trait as the original

william-james88 wrote:

Emerje wrote:Jhiaxus retooled into Armada Thrust, I can actually see that, but would they make a Voyager Thrust?

Emerje

Thrust is usually a voyager, as are seekers, these days. Him not being a voyager would be more odd for me.

Armada Thrust, not G1. He's only had two previous figures, both Deluxe.

Sowndwave76 wrote:Thanks to Will and whoever else helped news Target's preorder link for Motormaster...
I still can't believe how horrible their website is... What a joke.

Will had nothing to do with it...

blackeyedprime wrote:well, I think we can all look at Tr Galvatron and say his head could have been worse hahahah (even if its still better figure than the recent one)

https://www.kapowtoys.co.uk/product/act ... KhY3xwev58

There's plenty of people that would have been happy with that head since it's seemingly based on some of the Japanese art that greatly exaggerates his crown.

Tuned Agent wrote:...That being said, are we sure this mold was made to be Minerva first and foremost? The alt mode and robot details are nothing like Minerva's, and if the recent Wreckers comic is anything to go by, only the head is getting retooled. It looks to me more like Elita 1 was the one this mold was designed for, and Minerva is just the headswap retool, with the shoulder pylons being designed in to make the mold more versatile.

Can't really think of why they would do the shoulder thing in the first place if not for Minerva. It's not like it has anything to do with Elita's design. Even Mark on the live stream seemed to prefer them folded away despite being unfolded in all of the stock photos. Granted they'd have to swap out most of the torso and maybe the lower legs and there's still no guarantee she'll be a Headmaster, but at the same time we're getting used to exclusives with heavy retooling so it's possible.

Sabrblade wrote:Otherwise known as Beast Wars Skywasp.

Otherwise known as a poor consolation prize for never getting that cool Transmetal repaint. Do the right thing, Hasbro, give us this as a Walmart exclusive!



Emerje

Emerje wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:Thanks to Will and whoever else helped news Target's preorder link for Motormaster...
I still can't believe how horrible their website is... What a joke.

Will had nothing to do with it...

Well thanks very much to you then!!

I may be crazy, but between that promotional discount, a couple giftcards, and the 'ol Redcard, I went back and preordered TWO... Both for just over $115.

I figure there's time to cancel if I that's what I decide. And even if they both get delivered and I change my mind after that, returning one would be easy enough.

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Emerje wrote:Jhiaxus retooled into Armada Thrust, I can actually see that, but would they make a Voyager Thrust?

Emerje

Thrust is usually a voyager, as are seekers, these days. Him not being a voyager would be more odd for me.

Armada Thrust, not G1. He's only had two previous figures, both Deluxe.

I'm well aware, but I still think non combining planes are voyagers at a minimum now. Plus, in that grand galvatron set, those deluxe figures were deluxe sized versions of voyager characters (like Starscream and Breakdown). Basically, I would be very surprised if Armada Thrust is released as a deluxe if ever they choose to incorporate him in this unified Transformers universe toyline.

Tuned Agent wrote:...That being said, are we sure this mold was made to be Minerva first and foremost?

Yes, because the robot mode functionalities match up more to her than Elita. They even straight up give us Minerva's gun (see below). Not an homage or something that can work both ways, they literally made a mold of Minerva's G1 rifle and that is the gun that comes with Elita 1.

Here is a digibash showing how this mold works as Minerva.



Hasbro is trying to be toon accurate now, more than ever. So it makes absolutely no sense that they wouldn't give Elita her actual cybertronian alt mode unless this tooling was made to give to a character that has an earth mode.

Autobot N wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Autobot N wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Otherwise known as Beast Wars Skywasp.

This conflicts with my headcanon of Kingdom Skywarp being the G1 guy who switched sides

Why? Skywasp isn't G1 Skywarp. He's a Predacon analogue, like what BW Megatron and BWII Starscream are to G1 Megatron and Starscream.

It kinda seemed like they were the same guy since he has the same prankster personality trait as the original

Well, BW Starscream is a self-serving schemer and backstabber. BW Megatron is a tyrannical conqueror with ambitions of ruling Cybertron. BW Optimus is a brave defender of justice and freedom. Some things are just constant with certain names or name homages.

And, to be frank, Skywasp's bio was written just to make Skywarp fanboy Randy "Powered Convoy" Para happy about another Skywarp-esque character existing.

I love it all! I know nothing about Jhiaxus beyond what I've read on the Wiki but for some reason I LOVE his guns! Elita-1 looks great, SG Magnus is very cool, Tarantulas looks spot-on...honestly, all of these guys and gals look terrific!

As I've never been a Stunticons guy I have to call out Motormaster: he looks awesome and I'm super intrigued by the new combiner format as well as his battle station. I'm very excited to see Menasor in full as well as the other combiners (waiting on Superion and Blades, because plane guy).

Knock Out. He was my favourite character of Prime and I absolutely loved his toy I easily transformed him the most out of all my many figures from that line. I regret selling it and now even more so. I really like this new version, but the fact he's not an obvious Aston Martin is disappointing - as is the fact his face isn't moulded with a smirk!!! How?! All that said, I want him!

I'm really enjoying Legacy. More power to the design team and bring on more cool new stuff!

I've said a lot of negative things about Legacy Menasor, particularly since seeing that Drag Strip split. And I don't know that I'd call the "skeleton" thing "real G1 look" since it was only ever a frequent animation error (probably caused by the simplification and the Stunticons' gray undercarriages, now that I think about it). But finally getting the actual damn pics has turned me around at least on Motormaster.

Because not only is Motormaster not left out in the cold while the combiner torso is purely made from his trailer (which is what I feared would happen), he can indeed still use CW limb connections if one chooses. The legs are obvious, and seeing this photo:


In relation to this one:


Seems to prove that the arm "bones" use them as well.

So hey, I'm actually interested in this Motormaster after all; I can get a Menasor I like out of him. Yaaaay! I'm also going to get Drag Strip (and eventually kitbash him to use a CW joint, most likely). That will have the added benefit of letting me convert my current CW Drag Strip back to Mirage (pain though that's going to be, between someone at Takara seeming to have it in for customizers and the fact that I'll have to re-Mirageify (or else replace) the head), bringing my "Masquerade" set to 3 out of 5.

william-james88 wrote:Hasbro is trying to be toon accurate now, more than ever. So it makes absolutely no sense that they wouldn't give Elita her actual cybertronian alt mode unless this tooling was made to give to a character that has an earth mode.

Although funnily enough, this mold blows toon accuracy on the Minerva end too, since it's influenced by the IDW design (which itself my have been influenced by either Fans Hobby or Animated) which has completely different arms compared to the G1 toy and cartoon, and a different chest.

Sabrblade wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:

Elita 1.jpg

That's not Elita's real cartoon model. It's a fanmade one.

This is (a preliminary version of) her real one:

For my money, the fanmade model is in fact much closer to that prefinal than it is to the Legacy toy. The person doing the comparison is using a photo of Legacy Elita that severely foreshortens the car mode's Armada Hot Shot-esque aft (and is underestimating the more straight edge of the front bumper).


Although the Legacy toy is certainly trying to evoke Elita's cartoon altmode more than past outings have, given the head poking up (probably where Minerva's lightbar will be) and having details based on her cartoon chest on the hood.

Tuned Agent wrote:...That being said, are we sure this mold was made to be Minerva first and foremost? The alt mode and robot details are nothing like Minerva's, and if the recent Wreckers comic is anything to go by, only the head is getting retooled.

For the benefit of those who haven't seen the comic, the robot mode details are a dead-on match for her appearance there (though I don't think they look much like Elita One's or Minerva's cartoon models).