The Energon Pub

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?

Ok, so for the movie 2007 line we saw Optimus Prime get a leader, voyager, legends, cyber-stomping, fast action battler, robot replicas, etc. So, following your logic (and please don't take it personal, this is just friendly discussion among people that love the same TFs figures,) there should be only one version for Optimus Prime -the leader one- since that's the one that has the more complex transformation, lights and sound, and the rest shouldn't exist because they didn't transform, or they had low detail levels, or a very easy transformation scheme. What's the point for those, right? Kids...? Nah!

But anyways, we had at least 7 different versions of Optimus Prime... and yes, he's the hero of the movie and all, but the same happened to Bumblebee, Megatron, Starscream, Ironhide and whatever other character you might think of. Hasbro has 4 different levels of transformation to help you choose which version is the right one for your child's age to play with and solve the transformation puzzle -or choose a non transforming version for very young fellas that just love the robot mode,- and heroes like Prime get to be on all levels. Right? So far we've seen two Devastator versions, and correct me if I'm wrong, but that robot will be extremely impressive for kids, teenagers and us, adult collectors, when we see the movie (it's what gives context to the figures.) Both version we've seen so far look like they don't get a 3 or 4 score points in the complexity level chart that Hasbro uses, or detail level that's up to par with deluxe, voyager or leader class.

In the end, I'm saying that no one has enough info YET to bash Devastator as a figure because no one knows for sure if the voyager and deluxe Constructicons will be able to combine. What we know is that this set costs nearly $100 bucks, and we do not know its class. If someone here can point me to a link where Hasbro says that these are the only Devastator sets that will be available, I guess I'll eat my hat... but until we see the rest of the voyager and deluxe Constructicons and proof that they do not combine, I'll keep my hopes up.

PS. By the way, I do love the Devastator design, and if this $100 version will be the only way to get Devastator, I will get it in a heartbeat. Don't hate Hasbro, hate the game.

EDIT: Regarding price differences, at least here in México, a FAB figure costs only 1 dollar less than a deluxe version and those have lesser detail and complexity levels. Cyber-stomping versions do less (do not transform) and cost remains less than 6 dollars away from voyager versions.

My turn! Going into my opinion, I will first shamefully admit, I did not grow up on G1 or G2, and didn't really even know much about Transformers until the Beast Wars era. Yes I did buy an Inferno a Mirage, and a Sunstreaker original used but fully in-tact at a garage sale, because I enjoyed the toys. That out of the way, this more for the collectors here who are also investors.

Being that the only Gestalts I've had were Tripredacus and Magnaboss, I find this Devstator pretty freakin sweet. From a new generation's point of view, this thing's my hero. What I hate is, what should cost 60-75USD is costing 100. I am dissappointed that there are no individual 'con modes for the combiner. I will not buy this unless the price is 75 (iffy) or 65 (flat-out buy). I would on the other hand love to get paint all over that Devastator. Not to G1 it up, but to put some kind of accent, ANY kind of accent on that Happy Meal-esque paintjob. I was expecting something two-foot tall though... not -ahem- Two feet... wide... *facepaw*

Moving on: Where the hell is Jetfire?! D:< Gimme, pls? c:

Optimus will be an instant buy IF Jetfire looks good and sync up like he is mentioned to be (as indicated by the legends figures) otherwise he's an if leaning towards buy.

I expect Sideswipe to be the hottest seller of the line. The head sculpt is almost decepticon like, which saddens me, but overall, very impressive. Immediate buy.

Rampage: Hands down. I NEED that. Frag wants. NEED. I don't care about petty things like names. I end up forgetting names of thigns after I buy things anyway. (someone said something about bonecrusher, skullcrusher, and about a certain predacon... Yes, it's true G1 Bonecrusher came first... but Bonecrusher was a Buffalo c: and a Maximal at that.)

Breakaway: I'll be conned into buying it at the store, and gripe later

Soundwave: Yes. <3 With much love, he will be mine

Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Starscream: NEVER. EVER. AGAIN. One Bumblebee was enough. Maybe the Ironhide fixed his hip problem. Still say no. Starscream was redone. I still say hell no. I have never liked Starscream. If I were a 'bot, I'd shoot him first. I don't care if Megatron's there. Starscream, goes down.

Mudflap and Skids: I'm torn down the middle. Daresay, I nearly cried. Such a beautiful looking alt mode, turned into two rednecks with deformed faces. If I like their in-movie personality, I'll get 'em. Too bad they don't combine into a "power-link" or somesuch. :/

All in all, while yes, there are many disappointments, I expect this to be a successful line. Especially among the new age lovers, like myself. Trust me, there are a lot of us. It's just... I'm probably the minority who are old enough to be considered adulthood, have their own income, and have money to spend on frivalous things. I believe somewhere, the psychology is: 20% of the consumers do 80% of the buying. They just aren't neccessarily all of the same group.

Disclaimer: I hold absolutely no interest in TFormer toys other than Deluxe, Voyager, Leader, Supreme, and Ultimate. To me, Scouts, Legends, Voice-Changers, Role-Play gear, apparel, Hot Wheels cars, and Rbot Replicas, are completely and entirely invisible to me. Except possibly Wheelie. And that's just because he's my third favorite. (Go Mixmaster and Blurr!)

Firebird wrote:

MegatronTheGreat wrote:

Diem wrote:

MegatronTheGreat wrote:I will be buying the "Electorstatic Soundwave" no matter what. I guess Hasbro couldn't get the trademark for Soundblaster.

Either that or they want the name recognition for the younger audience that Animated is hypothetically aimed at. I don't think many of the kids saw "The Headmasters".

True. Exactly what instrument is Ratbat supposed to be? I see piano/keyboard keys but the robot mode picture shows it held like a Guitar.

Why it's a Keytar of course

Thanks

Counterpunch wrote:Anyone else remember when Devastator was awesome?

I f***ing hate 4 paragragh rants and rumor mills. This Devastator issue needs to be addressed in the upcoming Hasbro Q & A, and then put to bed!

rwalsh17 wrote:

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.

97.2% of all percentages posted on the internet are made up.

craggy wrote:

rwalsh17 wrote:

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.

97.2% of all percentages posted on the internet are made up.

.
That's only true 90% of the time...

.

correct, but at least 60% of the time, it works every time.

NotEnoughKibble wrote:

SoundGearsShock wrote:Okay, I'm getting a little confused. Here's what I thought:

The $100 Devastator will be six construction vehicles that combine into one giant two-foot figure. They will not have individual bot modes.

The separate Constructicon Voyagers and Deluxes will have robot modes and will not combine.

Is this how it is, or do I have it wrong?

That is correct. I think some are just posting without reading the previous posts or are in a bit of denial and still holding out hope.

WHAT?! WHAT A RIP! $100 for that? now, i have to buy that, AND all the constructicons

Ok after the huge request from the fan base for a TF movie Devastator they show us what they've got for us. This figure is obviously directed towards much younger children around the age of 6. I at least hope that a 6 year old can figure out how to transform this Devastator! I remember getting my (Optimus Prime, Prowl, and Trailbreaker)tranformers when I was 4 and did NOT need any instructions to transform them. That being said; there are some TF figures out there that recently do boggle my mind the first time around where I do need to break out the instructions, but then put the instructions away and never look at them again. I'm sure the very young kids will love these simple toys, but also want something that will give them a challenge. As of yet I cannot see the rumored $100 dollar value for this figure being justified by these photos. I do hope that a fully functional Devastator will be released!

The standard deluxe and voyager figures look great so far and can't wait to see the engineering that goes along with the transformation. I never was a fan of the Fast Action Battlers except for frenzy just because his transformation held true to the movie. At least the FAB's vehicle modes are decent looking. The rest of the TF toy lineup seems more for younger kids! Even the leader class Optimus looks a step backwards from its predecessor. I love the idea for the RPM's. It's simple yet looks great. Just like Robot Heros. My biggest fear of these new toys being directed at the youngest children is that they will be played with; loose interest and throw away after a year or two later. Never knowing of other TF figures that will remain a treasure for a life time.

Not getting any movie toys unless the new prime combines with Jetfire in some awesome way.

I'll be getting as many universe toys as I can this year I guess.

craggy wrote:correct, but at least 60% of the time, it works every time.

Anyone else having a "Naked Gun" flashback?

"The doctor's say he's got a 50-50 chance to live, but there's only a 10% chance of that."

"Mrs. Nordberg I think we can save your husband's arm! Where would you like it sent?"

One thing that I have to mention that I'm not sure has been brought up about Devs. If memory serves me correctly (Allez' cuisine!) Devs is supposed to have significant electronic gadgetry to him. My guess is that it's Mixmaster and that certain plug ins from the various vehicles activate it. Could there be enough electronic gadgetry in it to warrant a $100 price tag?

Just a thought...the more I think about it, the more I hope this isn't the $100 version because I do want more. Though I like this version in and of itself...

hmph!

I was just going through the Star Wars gallery. As happy as I am that HK-47 is getting Build a Droid treatment (because SW: Knights of the Old Republic is among my all-time favorite games and Revan should have the assassin droid he built at his side, hating all the meatbags around him whose name isn't Revan), I've just gotta ask: Where's T3-M4? It's kind like when Revan and Malak were done as figures; I just can't get my mind around HK-47 being done without T3-M4 being around to unlock Sith base doors, lock down navi-computers, fix ships well enough to drift into explosive asteroid fields hiding space stations waiting to tractor those ships in and sell the Jedi within to criminal organizations, and anything else a good T3-series astromech can pull of in a pinch.

Assuming HK-47 is part of the single-carded BAD line (not 2-packs like what had the parts for Darth Maul's assassin droid), it's all but a given that HK-50 (from KOTOR 2: The Sith Lords) will also be done since all the BAD parts used for single-carded figures have always been used twice up till now.

First-Aid wrote:

craggy wrote:correct, but at least 60% of the time, it works every time.

Anyone else having a "Naked Gun" flashback?

"The doctor's say he's got a 50-50 chance to live, but there's only a 10% chance of that."

"Mrs. Nordberg I think we can save your husband's arm! Where would you like it sent?"

Made me think of Anchorman

Brian Fantana: "It's called Sex Panther by Odeon. It's illegal in nine countries... " "They've done studies, you know. 60% of the time it works, every time."

ShGarland_1383 wrote:hmph!

I was just going through the Star Wars gallery. As happy as I am that HK-47 is getting Build a Droid treatment (because SW: Knights of the Old Republic is among my all-time favorite games and Revan should have the assassin droid he built at his side, hating all the meatbags around him whose name isn't Revan), I've just gotta ask: Where's T3-M4? It's kind like when Revan and Malak were done as figures; I just can't get my mind around HK-47 being done without T3-M4 being around to unlock Sith base doors, lock down navi-computers, fix ships well enough to drift into explosive asteroid fields hiding space stations waiting to tractor those ships in and sell the Jedi within to criminal organizations, and anything else a good T3-series astromech can pull of in a pinch.

Assuming HK-47 is part of the single-carded BAD line (not 2-packs like what had the parts for Darth Maul's assassin droid), it's all but a given that HK-50 (from KOTOR 2: The Sith Lords) will also be done since all the BAD parts used for single-carded figures have always been used twice up till now.

Hmm... Just noticed that gallery. Darth Krayt and the Yuuzhan Vong is a must buy!

(And yes, the whole KotOR cast should have a figure)

Pet peeve time: IT'S NOT A STEAM SHOVEL IF IT'S NOT POWERED BY STEAM!

I blame that "Mike Mulligan" children's book we probably all read as kids.

Ennyway, the ones you see today are powered by diesel engines and are called "excavators."

Nice to finally know what I should call the guy. "Constructicon" wasn't much of a name.

Chaoslock wrote:(And yes, the whole KotOR cast should have a figure)

Agreed. Revan and Malak got the toy fair fan's choice that year because Quinlan Vos was already being planned for a comic pack, and Darth Nihilus (from the Sith Lords) was in "The Sith Legacy" Evolutions box with Bane and Maul, but at least the rest of the cast of the first game should also be done.

Devastator is a screwy rabbit

So now that you guys have gone through a number of pages on Devastator and the rest of the movie... I think I'll come in here an interject with something that I've been wondering about. Is that alright? GOOD! I know that there are some of you out there who can't stand the thought of TF Animated in the slightest. But there do happen to be a few of us out there (like me) who will get their TFormers in almost any fashion. Almost. I am completely against any of the "Transformers" that don't, uh, TRANSFORM! Anyway... to my point. Being that I wasn't at ToyFair...I would like to know if anyone has heard any news on the Animated series from there... More specifically, if they are planning to make an Omega Supreme toy from the series. I saw him in only the one episode and I immediately knew that I would have to own him the day he hit the shelves... So, any knowledge would be ever so appreciated. Thanks!

TFA soundblaster(or whatever they call him in tfa) looks cool but I hope ratbat can fold up more for car mode. I shall definately get him WHEN he arives in uk

whi did they call him 'electrostatic sondwave' sounds like some gobot or fast action battler or something

That's a very good question... Along with that one: why did they repaint him charcol gray? Why wouldn't they release just the keytar (Ratbat) seperately for those of us who already own Soundwave? Are we going to see a new version of Soundwave everytime they want to add a new cassette? Where's Ravage and Rumble? Laserbeak, Ravange and Rumble were always the three big ones.. Why did they jump to Ratbat? And, when are we gonna see the radio/tape player version we saw at the end of "Sound and Fury?" Sorry for rattling off a little there... just some stuff that I've been thinking about.