The Energon Pub

I was just thinking. We haven't seen listings yet for the Terrorcons in Takara's Power of the Primes line-up for later this year. There's still a chance they might save them for a revival of the Unite Warriors line, possibly as a Takara Tomy Mall exclusive release. The Dinobots were never a classic combiner, so it's possible Takara doesn't have as much interest as far as what Volcanicus "should" look like. However, for Abominus, they may consider him important enough to "do it right," even if it means as a higher-priced exclusive release. Just some food for thought!

After being disinterested in most of PotP so far, this Elita One looks pretty good. She still has most of Starscream’s problems but she certainly is letting them hold her down. Hopefully we get some more photos soon.

Jim Maximus wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Jim Maximus wrote:Picked mine up this morning here in Oregon.

Did you see anything else from POTP wave 2?

Rated X wrote:The whole point of chug is to give us the toys from the cartoon we never had.

Nope. The whole point of CHUG is to have toys on the shelves in between films and tv show based lines to keep brand awareness.

What is included in a CHUG line or how the toys look will change depending on which designer is in charge of the line, there is no set rule.

There were two Hun-Grrs and two Elita-1 toys in my local Walmart. There was also the leader class Optimus Prime (I bought him last month) and the Rodimus Unicronus (spelled right I hope).

THE HUNT IS ON! Too bad my week looks terrible with workshops. ;_;

Qwan wrote:

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:I really wish those gauntlets were a different colour than the forearms. I still have issues with these proportions. And I think the combiner torso is super lame, especially how the head is basically the same as her normal head. At least Starscream had that crown to give it a different look.

Basically the same? They're only vaguely the same. The combiner head doesn't even have the round things iconic to Elita-1, instead she has a bunch of lines and doesn't seem to be based on anything specific.

I think the thick arms are like one of those exercises in perception where you either see an old lady or a young woman in a picture. It's clear that there's a group of people that can't see the armor on the arms of Starscream and Elita-1 as anything but part of the arm because of the color, while another group (that I'm a part of) has no problem seeing the extra armor as separate from her actual arm. I'm guessing the designers saw it that way as well, otherwise they would have sculpted (or even painted) a thicker line between the two parts.

Emerje

I'd say "vaguely the same" is Hun-Gurr to Abominus. He's a roboman with a visor and a helmet with a little crest-thing (and a long nose and pouty lips), and his face is purple.

I'm not sure if vague even describes how slight those similarities are.

Elita-1's heads share the same basic silhouette, the same color layout, the same eye shape and color even (which I think actually matters a lot when it comes to heads and faces looking similar).

I guess my definition of "vague" is different from others since these are things I would describe on the overall head (the shape is similar, but sculpted very differently) as vaguely similar since...

The biggest differences I can see are the single pointy bit on top of the combiner's head, and the lack of circles (which personally I'd never seen noticed before now, let alone would I call them iconic).

These are things I see as more obviously different between the two, especially when you add the different shaped forehead "light".

Just because you never noticed the circles before doesn't make them any less an integral part of her design. The circles can be found in pretty much every piece of official art, new and old.






This figure is the only time I can think of them not being used in her head design (even the art for the Thunderblast repaint above added them).

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

Qwan wrote:I'd say "vaguely the same" is Hun-Gurr to Abominus. He's a roboman with a visor and a helmet with a little crest-thing (and a long nose and pouty lips), and his face is purple.

I'm not sure if vague even describes how slight those similarities are.

Elita-1's heads share the same basic silhouette, the same color layout, the same eye shape and color even (which I think actually matters a lot when it comes to heads and faces looking similar).

I guess my definition of "vague" is different from others since these are things I would describe on the overall head (the shape is similar, but sculpted very differently) as vaguely similar since...

The biggest differences I can see are the single pointy bit on top of the combiner's head, and the lack of circles (which personally I'd never seen noticed before now, let alone would I call them iconic).

These are things I see as more obviously different between the two, especially when you add the different shaped forehead "light".

Just because you never noticed the circles before doesn't make them any less an integral part of her design. The circles can be found in pretty much every piece of official art, new and old.
[snip]

This figure is the only time I can think of them not being used in her head design (even the art for the Thunderblast repaint above added them).

Emerje

Hmmn, I see your point. I guess I am just unobservant then I'd still say that, since Elita's actual head shape is so distinctive, it overrides the presence/absence of any other details because just those general shapes so clearly signal the one particular character to me.

But on the other hand, I can totally see now why you think they look different! In that case, I'm glad for you since you aren't bothered by "same-head syndrome" like some of us are. I envy you in fact

Qwan wrote:I envy you in fact

Thanks, I don't mind being easily pleased. The same arguments could be made about CW Optimus Prime. As long as they aren't doing a total duplication I'm fine with a few similarities.

Emerje

Curious to know if anyone else thinks or has noticed this: While the toy is labeled as "Elita-1", her name is more commonly spelled as "Elita One"; at least it has been in IDW, which has been her largest role in fiction to date. Anyway, I wonder if the reasoning behind this is because of the stickers and tampos on her jet mode looking "cooler" or "better" as E1 on the jet parts that end up next to her combined mode head, rather than as EO, which would just look odd. Thoughts?

Bounti76 wrote:Curious to know if anyone else thinks or has noticed this: While the toy is labeled as "Elita-1", her name is more commonly spelled as "Elita One"; at least it has been in IDW, which has been her largest role in fiction to date. Anyway, I wonder if the reasoning behind this is because of the stickers and tampos on her jet mode looking "cooler" or "better" as E1 on the jet parts that end up next to her combined mode head, rather than as EO, which would just look odd. Thoughts?

Elita One's name just goes through hell on a regular basis. Her names have apparently ranged from the most common 'Elita One', to 'Elita-One' and 'Elita-1', to insanity like 'Eleta-1' and "Aleta-1'.

As for how they chose this one, who knows? Hasbro probably has a hat with all her different names in there, and they just pull out a random piece of paper each time they want to use the character

Qwan wrote:As for how they chose this one, who knows? Hasbro probably has a hat with all her different names in there, and they just pull out a random piece of paper each time they want to use the character

Probably not too far off, just depends on which one they can get the trademark on at any given time.

Emerje

Elita is looking pretty nice I must say, though I'll reserve final judgement till I see in hand pictures of her combined mode with limbs.

@black hat's epic response :applause:

Remember when the Combiners combined into a new robot with a "unique" personality? This is one thing I dislike about Elita-1 and Starscream.

I still would have liked Elita-1 to have a land mode instead of a jet, but they the wouldn't have the immediate Star Scream mode reuse.

I hope they make the other female Autobots from the G1 episode so we can have them as a single combiner.

OMG!!! I was in Yuba City yesterday for an event. I thought about going to the TRU because I know its closing down, passed right by the Wal Mart, didn't have time for any shopping though... Never in a million years have I ever been close to a possible *first* sighting* . That's what I get for not checking up on the weekends. Of course this will never happen again.

Rodimus Knight wrote:Remember when the Combiners combined into a new robot with a "unique" personality? This is one thing I dislike about Elita-1 and Starscream.

I still would have liked Elita-1 to have a land mode instead of a jet, but they the wouldn't have the immediate Star Scream mode reuse.

I hope they make the other female Autobots from the G1 episode so we can have them as a single combiner.

There could be a few surprises left. Regarding the combined form name just treat her as if it's a mega mode where the consciousness of the others is being suppressed so there's only one personality. If that still bothers you make a new name up

Not too blown away with Hunn-Gur. Robot mode's face-sculpt is kind of derpy, and his beast mode seems badly proportioned, with under-sized, single piece stub legs and necks that fill half of its length. Combined mode structurally looks good, but wish the head was cartoon accurate.

Liking Moonracer a whole lot. Shame about all the back kibble in robot mode. Elita-1 is pretty awesome too. Jet and robot modes are really awesome. Combined mode is even more garbage than Starscream.

Ok, so finally catching up:

Neat news about Blastoff having a clear Megatronus. But I hate individual -master guys since they don't really have a place to go. Rodimus Prime will go with LG-63 G2 Megatron's dragon dude, Thunderwing is with Nitro Zeus, and Scorponok with Tidal wave, but finding more guys to pair these guys with kinda sucks.

Moonracer looks pretty good, I don't mind her backpack.

snarl looks awesome, may be my favorite Dinobot, not surprising since I love the Stegosaurus.

Hun Gurr looks pretty good. Dragon mode is kinda wonky but ok, and he kills the torso.

Elita looks pretty awesome! They did far more with her than I thought. And they killed it.

Wave 2 showing up? Pre-orders for these figures aren't showing them coming till March or April. That sucks. And people are finding Rodimus Unicronus, which is awesome and he is the figure I want most from wave 2. Please come to me soooooooooooooooooooooooon!!!!

Elita definitely looks better than Starscream. Probably the feet make the difference.

I'm happy I didn't jump on him and waited until onw.

With the Hun-Grrr voyager, the forelegs look like they don't pose at all beyond the swivel where they join to the body. And the hind legs don't look much better. I'll have to wait and see how it handles. But in robot mode? The dragon heads open the mouths to become the feet. Does that mean Hun-Grrr can 'taste' everything he steps on whenever he walks?

DeathReviews wrote:With the Hun-Grrr voyager, the forelegs look like they don't pose at all beyond the swivel where they join to the body. And the hind legs don't look much better. I'll have to wait and see how it handles. But in robot mode? The dragon heads open the mouths to become the feet. Does that mean Hun-Grrr can 'taste' everything he steps on whenever he walks?

Yes. Yes it does, and may i just say LICK,LICK,LICK

Hotconvoy wrote:

DeathReviews wrote:With the Hun-Grrr voyager, the forelegs look like they don't pose at all beyond the swivel where they join to the body. And the hind legs don't look much better. I'll have to wait and see how it handles. But in robot mode? The dragon heads open the mouths to become the feet. Does that mean Hun-Grrr can 'taste' everything he steps on whenever he walks?

Yes. Yes it does, and may i just say LICK,LICK,LICK

Gotta sacrifice something for that open mouth feature we didn't get back in 1987. Also you could just say that he's taking in matter, to be used as projectiles upon transformation to alt mode.

Qwan wrote:

william-james88 wrote:I really wish those gauntlets were a different colour than the forearms. I still have issues with these proportions. And I think the combiner torso is super lame, especially how the head is basically the same as her normal head. At least Starscream had that crown to give it a different look.

Agreed on most of these points, and yet... I'm really digging Elita-1 actually! I probably won't be a huge fan of the combined mode, and jet mode is likely gonna suck for me once I actually get it in hand, but that robot is really appealing to me right now! I mean, some of it might be the comparison to Screamy McScreamFace that's making her seem so good, but I dunno, something about the little design changes just works perfectly for me so far

Maybe it's because the contours seem a little more 'feminine' in robot mode (although the forelimbs are still ridiculously bulky). And the foot tips look more like heeled shoes in that configuration. But unless they fix that rotating, flipping rear wing section on the back, it's a no-go. The combined modes actually look a lot like the Bayverse movie starscream toys from 2007.

Looks better, but still not for my collection. If I purchase it, she will be for my daughter so she may have a little more complex TF than what she has already.

Between Moonracer and Elita one my collection is going to have SO many ladies XD

WreckerJack wrote:Between Moonracer and Elita one my collection is going to have SO many ladies XD

A whole two?

Do you have a bunch of fembots in your collection?

The United States is becoming a real haven for first sightings in the Transformers Power of the Primes line. Not only was it the very first country to get the first toys in the line, but it is also the first place to get the wave 2 voyagers, leaders and Prime Masters (the latter were found at Meijer). Adding to all these wave 2 sightings is another, sent to us by TF fan Micosay, about the wave 2 Legends class toys being found at US retail.

Micosay found Power of the Primes Roadtrap at their local Walmart in Bolivar, Missouri. This is one of the components for Battletrap which combines the aforementioned Roadtrap and Battleslash. Legends class tailgate is also part of this second wave. These toys retail for around the $10 mark and were supposed to be coming out in march. Power of the Primes seems to be coming out quicker than expected in general in the US.

If you want in hand images of Roadtrap and Battleslash, click here and click here if you want to see a video review.

The only wave 2 toys left to find are the deluxes so please let us know if you find any. If you find any wave 2 (or even wave 1) Power of the Primes toys, you can let the members of the community know by writing a short post in the sightings forums and indicating it in the sightings section.