The Energon Pub

NotEnoughKibble wrote:
JayDee wrote:
I'm not jumping on the Devastator bashing wagon -yet. I will be disappointed if this is the only Devastator set, but I have not seen the rest of the Constructicons in their Voyager or Deluxe version, other than Demolishor and Rampage... and those two have the possibility to turn into parts of Devastator. I remember seeing one of the first Demolishor pics and the tracks can be placed at the shoulders, similar to what this vehicle-only Devastator counterpart does. And if you look closely to Deluxe Rampage, he has enough joints to easily be transformed into Devastator's left leg (and I think he has proper feet, just mistransformed.)


If that were the case it would render the set displayed rather pointless, no? What I don't understand is why Demolishor's "bot" mode blows so majorly when it's not even a compromise for the sake of forming Devastator...



I agree - if the individual robot Constructicon toys were capable of merging together, then why wouldn't Hasbro display that during the Toy Fair event? In addition, the packages don't mention gestalt on them.

The Demolishor bot mode is very silly. I can only imagine that they are trying to make the toy true to the movie.

Well, to tell you the truth, they didn't display The Fallen in figure form, even though his name is on the title of the movie and his face is on the poster... but that doesn't mean that the figure does not exist. I think the same MIGHT have happened with the rest of the Constructicons, as well as the Arcee bikes, Jetfire, and a whole lot of robots we've seen on leaked images.

Maybe this Devastator set is a simple-transformation set for kids, like many have mentioned. If you look at the vehicles detailing, it's not the same quality as leader, voyagers or deluxe figures. And just because the label "it combines with other Decepticons!" is not at the front of the voyager Demolishor package, it doesn't mean it's not labeled at the back of the box, or on its sides. We didn't see the package for this $100 bucks Devastator set either. Maybe it's some sort of FAB, like someone suggested. Maybe the rest of the Constructicons are not ready, or are part of the second wave... no one knows.

Or maybe we'll just get this, a simple Devastator, like what they did with Frenzy for the first movie (no voyager or deluxe, just a robot replica and a FAB.) Still hoping (though I know chances are slim) that we can combine the rest of the more "serious" voyager and deluxe Constructicons.

I really hope someone that has the Demolishor and Rampage early leaked figures, try to mimic the transformation scheme this Devastator has that corresponds to them as limbs, just for fun (an posts the pics, of course.)

this thread is 14 pages long so if im reiterating what others have said forgive me.

while its great to get the pics i have to admit to being disappointed by most of the stuff in it.

prime looks GREAT. i love the swords. and ironhide is really good too. nice to see how close the game is to the toy as well.

the vehicle modes all look good TBH but mudflap and skids have the WORST heads ive ever seen and it took me ages to figure out breakaway even HAD one.

devestator is a MASSIVE disappointment. i was REALY looking forward to seeing him and he turns out to just some kind of gorilla shaped mess.

i mean WTF ?

SOME of his parts look good. long haul scavanger and rampage look almost exactly like their original counterparts (though why the hell is whats obviously MEANT to be bonecrusher called rampage? yes i know bonecrusher was used in the first film but is it such a HUGE leap to call him, say, skullcrusher? makes more sense than taking a name off a predacon that may turn up in a future film with the dinos !)

any way getting back on point WHY the hell is he such a disporportionate mess? does mixmaster even tranform AT ALL ? It seems like all he does is hop on scavanger and show his ass to the world. and WTF is this obsession with bendy legs !! i could understand the rational with the chicken legs with starscram given what he did in the film but i dont expect devestator to be perching on top of skyscrapers.

maybe he'll look great in the film i dont know , but when i heard hasbro were taking a more hands on approach to the designs i was kinda hoping we'd get something a bit more sleeker and refined looking, and that IS evident in the other toys, but dev looks like a monkey bot. he's wider than he is tall for fecks sake.

pity, great great pity.

it almost make we wish they DONT ever do the dinos again.

I've come back and looked at a lot of the pics again...
While I really dig the vehicle and bot modes for the twins,
those freakin' heads/faces just ruin them for me.
Those had a lot of potential, too.
Seems to me like those 2 characters could be the new Jar Jar's of TF.

From looking at Legends Class Springer, there's a chance I'd get a larger class figure of him, but who knows.
I'm a little more on the fence with Soundwave, but still leaning towards 'pass'... I'll wait for some reviews on both of these I guess.

I think Devestator will be really awesome on the screen. The toys just won't give us all the blessings a giant, movie line gestalt could offer, like each member being fully transformable. Too bad.

I do think Bonecrusher might be returning as that one Constructicon though. Maybe that is why his is the only new robot form of any of the rest of the Constructicons shown so far. Marketing ploy.

Is it just me or does this artist's concept of a movie Sideswipe eerily resembling the actual ROTF Sideswipe?

First-Aid wrote: 2. I'm going to reiterate by earlier assertion that Hasbro doesn't want a combiner that is too complicated. Children have very short attention spans. If you make something that is too complicated, the kids get frustrated and mad and just won't play with it. As a result Hasbro has to balance the complicated look and engineering of the movie bots with the potential abilities of the 5-9 y/o target audience. Rail Racer was a fairly complicated combiner, yes. All three bots had alt modes and decent robot modes. I may be in the minority here, but I always felt there was something odd about the proportions for those figs...and they lakced some poseability in minor cases. The Landfill figs were also decent, but again lacked some poseability, especially in combined mode. Rail Racer may had the best, most poseable combiner mode ever. But consider he was only made of three figs. Lastly on Devs, again this boils down to ILM and when they got the final models for the figures to Hasbro. Since we are JUST NOW seeing renders, I'd wager that Hasbro only got the designs within the last six months. That means that they will have had to rush to get these toys ready. Shortcuts will have had to be made. I'm going to give them some time before we see an actual combiner with 6 individual alt modes and robot modes. Like I said, wait for the premium line.

I understand what you're saying, but I'd argue that a figure with a $100 price tag is NOT targeted at the younger TF fans, but rather at the older crowd of collectors. The last time Hasbro released a near $100 Transformer was Fortress Maximus, and I think it's pretty safe to say that a majority of kids didn't find a 'Fort Max' under their tree for Christmas (or Hannukuh), even during the times of excess in the 80's. The fact that Hasbro waited approximately 22 years to release another $100 figure lends evidence to the fact that they realize that a toy baring a price point that high is just too steep for the majority of parents out there.

Now more than ever, Hasbro has really balanced the Transformers toylines to market figures towards collectors and kids alike. Look at all the TF Universe stuff they have coming out: kids don't recognize Targetmaster Cyclonus or Hound w/Ravage, those figs were DEFINITELY released for the collector crowd familiar with the G1 continuity, and any uninitiated parents who snatched them up for their youngsters simply because they were Transformers brand was gravy on top of the collectors' haul for Hasbro. We've got Tf Animated figs and movie figs to satiate the young fans, and Universe stuff for us. Collectors now share in the majority of TF target audience -- we're no longer a small secondary market.

Thus, the outrage isn't over the fact that Devastator has two release versions (after all, nobody complained that Optimus Prime saw both a Voyager AND a Leader Class release last time around), rather, the anger is over the fact that Hasbro DELIBERATELY engineered Devastator as alt-mode only in an attempt to goad us into buying both versions. Let's face it: Devastator is marketed towards us, the collectors, not the kids. Even though Hasbro raised their prices for the upcoming season, they're acutely aware of the current economic crisis sweeping the nation, and from their point of view, the demographic that is most resistant to these hard economic times are the collectors. Just go on to eBay and look at the number of G1 Devastator giftsets selling for upwards of $250.00 daily. How many hard working parents can afford to shell out that kinda cash for their kids? Thus, Hasbro is banking on collectors' affinity for having the 'biggest and the best' to fork over $100.00 for a non-robot mode Constructicons giftset, and unfortunately, they're gonna make money off it.

Don't be fooled into thinking that Hasbro is on the short end of the stick on this one -- Hasbro is pulling the strings on the TF Property. Hasbro has approval over EVERYTHING. The fact that the property has passed through so many creative hands (Marvel, Sunbow, Mainframe Ent., Activision, Cartoon Network, Paramount, etc.) attests to that. Hasbro is the ONLY company to hold control over the TF UNiverse for its 25 year existence, and they are the 'Gods' over the TF dominion.

Hasbro could've made a fully Transforming Devastator giftset in time for the release of the film -- they chose not to. No matter how they may explain it away at panel discussions at conventions, the move was motivated by greed.

I'm lucky to have gotten a Fortress Maximus when I was a kid, not because my parents had money (which they didn't), but because I mowed lawns and saved up for him. I still have him, 100% complete in the box, and he's one of my most valuable TF possessions. Somehow, I don't feel that buying the new Devastator giftset will give me even a remotely satisfying experience. I think I'll pass, and wait for the Premium line as some have suggested.

Here's hoping this year brings collectors and young fans something we can all celebrate for...

I don't think Toyfair was half-bad this year. I'm kinda disappointed in Devs, but i may get him anyway. I really like ROTF STarscream and Rampage, i don't give an Energon cube for all the non-toy merchandise, and i just hate animated because thye screwed up the designs in my mind. Plus i can't stand the look of the humans, especially Sari. They look too stupid to me.

However, I do agree with you. HAsbro can make up whatever excuses tehy want to justify their major mistake, but in the end, it is pure greed. Honestly, it's very likely that they knew we'd want it, so why they didn't just give it to us and maybe charge $200, I have no idea. But I am angry.

rwalsh17 wrote:I understand what you're saying, but I'd argue that a figure with a $100 price tag is NOT targeted at the younger TF fans, but rather at the older crowd of collectors. The last time Hasbro released a near $100 Transformer was Fortress Maximus, and I think it's pretty safe to say that a majority of kids didn't find a 'Fort Max' under their tree for Christmas (or Hannukuh), even during the times of excess in the 80's. The fact that Hasbro waited approximately 22 years to release another $100 figure lends evidence to the fact that they realize that a toy baring a price point that high is just too steep for the majority of parents out there.

Great point! I agree on a lot of what you said which is why I left out most of the quote. The balance really is there...and Hasbro doesn't have to do that. Figures indicate that roughly 3-5% of the TF market are what are considered "collectors" (read: old guys like me who didn't grow up). That really is not a large market share...and of that I'd wonder how much is what would be considered "aftermarket" such as eBay.

As for the $100 price tag, we just had an $80 Bumblebee figure and a $70 Prime reissue (though that predictably turned into a shelf warmer in most cases). If you go through the toy aisles nowadays, seeing a $100 price tag is not that unusual. Video games are $50-60 each. RC cars can easily be $100. Wasn't there a Millenium Falcon last year that retailed for $160? In the 80's seeing a $100 toy was a rarity. Nowadays not as much. Even in the "troubled" economic times we are in, inflation has rendered $100 as not really a lot of money to a good chunk of the populace...or rather the perception is that it really isn't a lot of money as compared to the 1980's.

I'm going to hold out that, if this figure does well, we WILL see a "premium" edition, maybe an improved mold. Perhaps they will take it a step further...who knows? All I know is I sure as heck don't wanna see this as a bright green and purple repaint. It just wouldn't look right...and it would desecrate the memory of our G1 gang. I want to see these figs held in their own right, not judged against our memories.

Wait a minute I'm confused(I know, I know big surprise ), but the actual transforming Constructicons won't combine to form Devastator? Or they will and it won't be as large as the previously rumored Supreme Class Devastator? I was excited about the prospect of movie combiner toys that had all three modes, robot, vehicle, and gestalt parts.

First-Aid wrote:Figures indicate that roughly 3-5% of the TF market are what are considered "collectors" (read: old guys like me who didn't grow up). That really is not a large market share...and of that I'd wonder how much is what would be considered "aftermarket" such as eBay.

where did you get that figure from? I'm extremely curious to see. (please note I'm not calling you out, or a liar or anything i would just be very interested to see what the percentages are in terms of tf buyers)

By the way, this may not be as bad as it sounds. I think we should give the figure a chance before we judge it completely. Anyone agree?

Lol...Hasbro just saved me ALOT of money showing these pics. I will avoid the movie line like the plague personally with the exception of Ramjet and Skywarp. I will most def. be picking up the animated stuff tho. Diggin on the Arcee.

El Duque wrote:Here's my two cents on Devastator. I'm not sure why everybody keeps saying he's a non-transforming TF. He's six construction vehicles that "transform" into a giant robot? Now before everybody goes into attack mode, I understand the complaint and I'm also an old school Devy fan. I got the G1 giftset when I was in grade school and have every incarnation since. Would it be better if each vehicle had a bot mode and could combine, of course it would. I'm okay with having one big ass Devastator and a set of smaller individual transforming figures if that's what if takes to get the job done. We all knew going in that if Devy was going to be in the movie he would be radically different from anything we have seen before, but at least he retains some aspects for the original concept. He's made of six constructions vehicles just like the original, that each have their own personality it would seem. Would people have been more happy if Devy had been one singular bot that split into six alt modes that shared one personality and had no individual bot modes? Personally that's what I thought we would get and I would have been cool with that. I was plesantly surprised that each piece would have an individual bot mode.

You've fallen for Hasbro's trap. Prepare "separation money sequence", starting...3..2..1...

Adimus Prime wrote:Is it just me or does this artist's concept of a movie Sideswipe eerily resembling the actual ROTF Sideswipe?

Niiiice I could definitely handle that as movie Sides! Murcielago for the win

Some figures look good, some are a letdown. WTF is up with combined Devastator? Come on Hasbro! New leader OP I like but I wish he was transformed properly, few parts need to be moved around to make him fully correct. Will pick up some of the figures--Soundwave preview, transforming Constructicons, the Fallen. Definitely won't replace 1st movie figures with updated versions (SS, Ironhide, etc.). Might not even decide on leader OP until I see him in the store unless we get better previews on web.

JayDee wrote:Well, to tell you the truth, they didn't display The Fallen in figure form, even though his name is on the title of the movie and his face is on the poster... but that doesn't mean that the figure does not exist. I think the same MIGHT have happened with the rest of the Constructicons, as well as the Arcee bikes, Jetfire, and a whole lot of robots we've seen on leaked images.

The point wasn't that it isn't the case because they weren't there on display, it was that there is no reason in having an additional set that just does less. For example, I put out a game system that plays one game and another system that plays the same game and a hundred others. Both cost about the same price. Makes the first system seem pretty stupid, right? Why would anyone buy that one over the second?

that electrostatic soundwave doesnt look bad

we're getting a soundblaster figure and the ratbat doesnt look bad either

King Henrik wrote:

First-Aid wrote:Figures indicate that roughly 3-5% of the TF market are what are considered "collectors" (read: old guys like me who didn't grow up). That really is not a large market share...and of that I'd wonder how much is what would be considered "aftermarket" such as eBay.

where did you get that figure from? I'm extremely curious to see. (please note I'm not calling you out, or a liar or anything i would just be very interested to see what the percentages are in terms of tf buyers)

The numbers are kind of assumed and translated. They were taken from a survey a few years (maybe 2 or 3) back regarding sales of Star Wars figures...you have to figure that our numbers are a little lower since SW has a massively rabid collector base...if you Google it you should be able to find the article but I can't remember where it is specifically...I want to say it was a Reuters article. The numbers stuck in my head...

Sur_G wrote:Looking at the Jetfire (legens)picture. The first thing that came to mind, was that its really slim like The Fallen. And the head is in the same position, so who knows, maybe The Fallen Really becomes Jetfire ???

Another point, look where the cockpit/nose is. Its in the same position as the fallen, which leaves me to believe Jetfire is the Fallen.

Crossfire wrote:

Sur_G wrote:Looking at the Jetfire (legens)picture. The first thing that came to mind, was that its really slim like The Fallen. And the head is in the same position, so who knows, maybe The Fallen Really becomes Jetfire ???

Another point, look where the cockpit/nose is. Its in the same position as the fallen, which leaves me to believe Jetfire is the Fallen.

I love this design and I want legends Jetfire, but I doubt he is the Fallen. The Fallen would not become an Autobot. Anyway, can someone please remind me how much legends figures sell for?

Stormrider wrote:

El Duque wrote:Here's my two cents on Devastator. I'm not sure why everybody keeps saying he's a non-transforming TF. He's six construction vehicles that "transform" into a giant robot? Now before everybody goes into attack mode, I understand the complaint and I'm also an old school Devy fan. I got the G1 giftset when I was in grade school and have every incarnation since. Would it be better if each vehicle had a bot mode and could combine, of course it would. I'm okay with having one big ass Devastator and a set of smaller individual transforming figures if that's what if takes to get the job done. We all knew going in that if Devy was going to be in the movie he would be radically different from anything we have seen before, but at least he retains some aspects for the original concept. He's made of six constructions vehicles just like the original, that each have their own personality it would seem. Would people have been more happy if Devy had been one singular bot that split into six alt modes that shared one personality and had no individual bot modes? Personally that's what I thought we would get and I would have been cool with that. I was plesantly surprised that each piece would have an individual bot mode.

You've fallen for Hasbro's trap. Prepare "separation money sequence", starting...3..2..1...

I fell for Hasbro's trap 25 years ago, and we've all happily separated from our money countless times already.

Anyone else remember when Devastator was awesome?

First-Aid wrote: Lastly on Devs, again this boils down to ILM and when they got the final models for the figures to Hasbro. Since we are JUST NOW seeing renders, I'd wager that Hasbro only got the designs within the last six months. That means that they will have had to rush to get these toys ready. Shortcuts will have had to be made. I'm going to give them some time before we see an actual combiner with 6 individual alt modes and robot modes. Like I said, wait for the premium line.

First-Aid wrote:I'm going to hold out that, if this figure does well, we WILL see a "premium" edition, maybe an improved mold. Perhaps they will take it a step further...who knows?

That's not how it works. The most Hasbro ever did for a premium version is a few silvery paint apps, and then if they really made that extra effort, a new head mold and a different weapon.

They aren't going to make non transforming constructicons transform.

We can only hope the voyager and deluxe constructicons are to scale such that they could at least be fan-modded to form Devastator.

Counterpunch wrote:Anyone else remember when Devastator was awesome?

He's just a lil' different now

He still may be frickin' awesome in the movie regardless of the toy. I know of a few G1 toys that sucked it up but were sweet in the Cartoon Movie. Sucky thing is, we gotta wait a few months to find out...


.

Has anyone else noticed that the Bulldozer constructicon's ( Rampage I believe ) head scult is kinda similer to Bonecrusher from the first film. I also saw that the shovel ( Demolisher ) Had Scavenger abbreviater on it. I found it weird because those names reflect their G1 counterparts. Just an observation I had. Sorry if this has been discussed I am at work so I just had a few seconds to pop in.

First-Aid wrote:

King Henrik wrote:

First-Aid wrote:Figures indicate that roughly 3-5% of the TF market are what are considered "collectors" (read: old guys like me who didn't grow up). That really is not a large market share...and of that I'd wonder how much is what would be considered "aftermarket" such as eBay.

where did you get that figure from? I'm extremely curious to see. (please note I'm not calling you out, or a liar or anything i would just be very interested to see what the percentages are in terms of tf buyers)

The numbers are kind of assumed and translated. They were taken from a survey a few years (maybe 2 or 3) back regarding sales of Star Wars figures...you have to figure that our numbers are a little lower since SW has a massively rabid collector base...if you Google it you should be able to find the article but I can't remember where it is specifically...I want to say it was a Reuters article. The numbers stuck in my head...

I HIGHLY doubt that collectors make up a paltry 3 to 5% of the market. If that were the case, we wouldn't have TF Universe or hasbrotoyshop.com. Hasbrotoyshop.com was specifically created to get Hasbro product in the hands of sophisticated target buyers (such as collectors) across the nation, circumventing the need for secondary markets like eBay or regional brick-and-mortar specialty toy stores. Hasbro realized that they could make more money by selling directly to the consumer, and it would appear that their bet paid off and then some.

The fact that hasbrotoyshop.com now sells AFA graded figures proves my point. Collectors now make up a LARGE portion of the Transformers marketshare, so much now that Takara has catered to us with the Encore series, an expensive line marketed solely to collectors (not to mention the 'Masterpiece' line).

Furthermore, any survey taken 3 years ago is now unreliable for one major reason -- the Transformers live action movie of 2007. Even if the figure of 3 - 5% was accurate 3 years ago, it definitely has changed by now, as the movie brought in a whole legion of new fans and rekindled interest in the brand for countless G1 fans around the world. I'd argue that collectors are what's keeping Hasbro afloat, as Hasbro's profit margins are greater for selling collector-themed product ($69.99 for 25th Anniversary Prime, anyone?).

I understand what you're saying about Hasbro needing to consider the gamut of demographics when engineering a figure, but I believe that the sub-par Devastator giftset was a thinly veiled move to take advantage of collectors' devotion to the TF brand, and that is what I'm upset about...