The Energon Pub

Qwan wrote:Then again, Beast Wars characters do get figures here and there. Can't imagine how horrible it must be for RiD 2001 or Unicron trilogy fans who are adults by now.

And those BW characters that have had figures here and there? *PERSONAL OPINION* I've found them to be lacking compared to the originals.

Virtually all those BW figures released were bloody good figures, yes, even the likes of Retrax. They had articulation, the looked good in both modes ... well except maybe Retax given his robot mode is basically "COME HERE AND LET ME HUG YOU!!!!!!" (Even Japan got in on the joke by recolouring him and renaming him Powerhug!)

The same goes for RiD 2001, another great line.

The Unicron Trilogy however ... dunno what happened there. Some great figures, some incredibly bad figures.

And hey, whose to say that after PotP finishes we might get some figures from older series. Give it a true Generations feel.

Burn wrote:

Qwan wrote:Then again, Beast Wars characters do get figures here and there. Can't imagine how horrible it must be for RiD 2001 or Unicron trilogy fans who are adults by now.

And those BW characters that have had figures here and there? *PERSONAL OPINION* I've found them to be lacking compared to the originals.

Universe 2008 Cheetor was the worst of the bunch, because of the space allocated for the eye changing gimmick, and the proportions favoring the cheetah mode a bit too much. I will say the Generations toys were steps in the right direction from looks alone.

Virtually all those BW figures released were bloody good figures, yes, even the likes of Retrax. They had articulation, the looked good in both modes ... well except maybe Retax given his robot mode is basically "COME HERE AND LET ME HUG YOU!!!!!!" (Even Japan got in on the joke by recolouring him and renaming him Powerhug!)

I hear ya there.

The same goes for RiD 2001, another great line.

And experimental to an extent. Didn't stray far from the trusted Yuusha/Brave formula from a couple years prior, kept the BW Neo "shellforming" for the Autobot Brothers, gave us a brand-new six-, then 10, now 11-changer, and was filled out with redecos and canceled toys. Quite the hodgepodge indeed.

The Unicron Trilogy however ... dunno what happened there. Some great figures, some incredibly bad figures.

Changes in design direction are always hard to swallow, especially when a gimmick takes priority. That has not changed with the non-Generations lines.

And hey, whose to say that after PotP finishes we might get some figures from older series. Give it a true Generations feel.

Wait 5 to 10 years on that, when Animated, Prime, RiD and Rescue Bots fade into obscurity

Burn wrote:

Qwan wrote:Then again, Beast Wars characters do get figures here and there. Can't imagine how horrible it must be for RiD 2001 or Unicron trilogy fans who are adults by now.

And those BW characters that have had figures here and there? *PERSONAL OPINION* I've found them to be lacking compared to the originals.

Virtually all those BW figures released were bloody good figures, yes, even the likes of Retrax. They had articulation, the looked good in both modes ... well except maybe Retax given his robot mode is basically "COME HERE AND LET ME HUG YOU!!!!!!" (Even Japan got in on the joke by recolouring him and renaming him Powerhug!)

The same goes for RiD 2001, another great line.

The Unicron Trilogy however ... dunno what happened there. Some great figures, some incredibly bad figures.

And hey, whose to say that after PotP finishes we might get some figures from older series. Give it a true Generations feel.

agreed on these. my childhood was beast wars, not g1. that being said, i do understand that among all transformers toylines, g1 and g2 (before laser series introduced) is the one that needs an update the most, as they are from the era where articulation is still non existent, and the mold of the toy is only barely looked like the characters on the show. laser lines and any newer lines after that actually has decent amount of articulation, and while not perfect, still holds an engineering almost as good as modern toys. so my guess is that they want to gives a proper update to all g1 characters first, and then after all of them are done, then they will properly move to other lines.

john warden is a g1 diehard fans, yes, but i do believe he is also a professional. means if the market really demands a character from other lines, then they will give it. the fact that we got generations rhinox, waspinator, rattrap, and even tankor is a proof.

bacem wrote:

Burn wrote:

Qwan wrote:Then again, Beast Wars characters do get figures here and there. Can't imagine how horrible it must be for RiD 2001 or Unicron trilogy fans who are adults by now.

And those BW characters that have had figures here and there? *PERSONAL OPINION* I've found them to be lacking compared to the originals.

Virtually all those BW figures released were bloody good figures, yes, even the likes of Retrax. They had articulation, the looked good in both modes ... well except maybe Retax given his robot mode is basically "COME HERE AND LET ME HUG YOU!!!!!!" (Even Japan got in on the joke by recolouring him and renaming him Powerhug!)

The same goes for RiD 2001, another great line.

The Unicron Trilogy however ... dunno what happened there. Some great figures, some incredibly bad figures.

And hey, whose to say that after PotP finishes we might get some figures from older series. Give it a true Generations feel.

agreed on these. my childhood was beast wars, not g1. that being said, i do understand that among all transformers toylines, g1 and g2 (before laser series introduced) is the one that needs an update the most, as they are from the era where articulation is still non existent, and the mold of the toy is only barely looked like the characters on the show. laser lines and any newer lines after that actually has decent amount of articulation, and while not perfect, still holds an engineering almost as good as modern toys. so my guess is that they want to gives a proper update to all g1 characters first, and then after all of them are done, then they will properly move to other lines.

john warden is a g1 diehard fans, yes, but i do believe he is also a professional. means if the market really demands a character from other lines, then they will give it. the fact that we got generations rhinox, waspinator, rattrap, and even tankor is a proof.

Was John the design head during Thirlling 30? I seem to remember the design team changed hands around that time.

Regardless, I also hope he'll listen to demand for other continuities when said demand gets high enough. Still gonna be a while before it gets to that point I'm sure, but I have no doubt it will eventually. For now, I suppose we may as well enjoy all the awesome stuff that we are getting in this line, regardless of its origin. Dinobots and Abominus HYPE!

I look at it as a generational thing. Look outside of Transformers and see how much love there is for 80's stuff at the moment.

Why is that?

Because those of us from that era, are now at the age and in the positions to lead creative teams.

It will be interesting to see in another 10-20 years whether BW and/or the Unicron trilogy become a central focus when those who grew up with them take over those lead positions

Qwan wrote:Was John the design head during Thirlling 30? I seem to remember the design team changed hands around that time.

His first toys, Whirl and Roadbuster, showed up in that line, but he and his team didn't fully take over from Aaron Archer's team until after Thrilling 30 with Age of Extinction.

Which also brings me to another point: Those few remade Beast Wars figures that got mentioned before? Those were all made under the tenure of Archer's team, not Warden's team. Or some of them were Takara initiatives like the old RobotMasters ones or the recent MP Primal and Cheetor. The forthcoming PotP Leader class Optimus Primal toy will be the first and so far only Beast Wars-update toy to be developed and released by Warden's Hasbro team, and is only happening because of a fan poll.

Got these from sunson son's facebook page. Lots of new info.

Rysquad wrote:

Prowl4 wrote:

Burn wrote:

Prowl4 wrote:I think inferno is a missed opportunity to include heatwave and the other rescue bots in chug. It'd be cool to get those characters.

Now that's a damn good idea!

They would be a small bridge from rescue bot fans to chug fans then and they already are known through their tv series and IDW could certainly expand upon them. I'm just surprised hasbro don't see these angles rather than constantly reverting to characters not really seen since g1.

Sign me up for CHUG Rescue Bots.

Heatwave/Hot Spot
Chase/Prowl
Boulder/Rook
Blades/Blades

Salvage/First Aid
High Tide/Broadside
Quickshadow/Jumpstream
Medix/First Aid
Brushfire/Beachcomber
Blurr/Blurr

Etc.

That is my thinking. Would love to see them become more mainstream.

bacem wrote:

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Still can't pass over these feet. same failure as Windcharger's face for me. Too bad the rest was looking ok.

bacem wrote:

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Elita1 torso is interesting, at least. Can't wait to see it on real/colored.

We have even more images from upcoming figures in the Transformers: Power of the Primes toyline, courtesy of the usual suspects on Weibo social media. The images mirrored below include more looks at Elita-1, Moonracer and Inferno, plus Prime Master compatibility, package shots for Dinobot Slug and Swoop, and Windcharger, Skrapnel, Vector Prime, Micronus, and some more combination schematics for Abominus and Elita-1. Check it all out, and join the conversation in the Energon Pub!

So, Vector Prime's shell is actually Metalhawk, and who is Micronus' shell supposed to be... Groundbreaker?

Swoop looks great.

Overcracker wrote:So, Vector Prime's shell is actually Metalhawk, and who is Micronus' shell supposed to be... Groundbreaker?

Cloudburst.

Sabrblade wrote:

Overcracker wrote:So, Vector Prime's shell is actually Metalhawk, and who is Micronus' shell supposed to be... Groundbreaker?

Cloudburst.

ahhh, Cloudburst with his parts attached, that makes sense.

Thanks.

Okay, so I've been tossing around an idea in my head based on the most recent leaks of the artwork and packaging.

First off the disclaimer, I know relying on packaging art is shaky at best, but hear me out.

I think Hasbro is using 2 methods on combiners this time around, teams and evolved/enhanced individuals.

For the teams the combined form will have a separate name like Volcanicus/Abominus. For the evolved individuals, the torso will keep their name in combined form.

What really make me this this is the art for Elita-1 and Inferno having Jazz or Dinobots as limbs. If it is an evolved voyager, then they get whatever limbs are coming out in that wave.

For the actual designed teams, they will show all their intended limbs. Take a look at the Abominus drawing with all 5 members. Rippersnapper and Hun-Gurr are coming out before the other 3 limbs, and the other 3 are indicated as available late 2018. It almost seems like they learned from their mistake with CW Superion using Dragstrip as a limb.

This would also mean that technically there are only 2 "teams" so far in the terrorcons and dinobots. (I'm treating Predaking as different since it will be a titan set.) Starscream, Elita-1 and Hotspot would all then be the evolved combiner torsos, without a designated team, and Jazz, Moonracer, Blackwing, etc. would all be independent bots who can be free agents as limbs and combine with whomever.

I actually think taking this track gives Hasbro an out if they want to cancel a wave like they did for TR. This would also give them an easy way to crank out Skywarp/Thundercracker repaints of Starscream without having to give them "teams".

Again, just speculation here, but it actually fits what we've seen pretty well. The real tell will be seeing the artwork on the instructions Grimlock and Starscream. If Grimlock shows the remaining dinobots as his team with the ones coming out later indicated on the packaging like on Abominus, and Starscream's packaging just gives him whatever wave 1 limbs, then I think I may be onto something.

Swoop's still looking fantastic, and Abominus' torso is looking downright incredible.

Elita's torso on the other hand... nnnnngh. That's a bit of a mess. I'll cross my fingers that she's better in hand, and I'm at least liking that detail in jet mode.

Moonracer looks much nicer than before.

Elita's torso reminds me of that of Movie Starscream.

Sabrblade wrote:Elita's torso reminds me of that of Movie Starscream.

I can see it too. There sure is a lot going on behind the head there.

Oh, and it's now pretty clear that the Onslaught shoulders on Inferno's art were a mistake. Which in retrospect should've been obvious; that just wouldn't have worked with the ladder assembly in vehicle mode.

On the bright side, it looks like with him we've got a reversal of the CW Legends repaints -- he comes with more accessories instead of less! He's still got the standard guns of that mold but he also of course has the new Combiner feet.

I don't think I've seen this commented on yet, but it seems that the leaked images are legit. Dreadwind's wings are mis-transformed...

i will be getting all of these. but that chest gear gimmick thing looks awful.

good to see Skrapnel getting another crack at the whip in terms of release(or re-release) since he never turned up in the UK(well....not quite true...the repainted mold as Chop Shop was released in the UK).

Bummer, Inferno is just a repaint. They didn't even retool part of the truck to make it look more like the classic character. Elite-1...yikes those legs. At least all the other stuff looks good.

Deadput wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Yes. That mold in no way is good for him other than being a fire truck, and honestly, a retooled Hun-Gurr as IDW Strafe, or a retooled Grimlock as someone else would have been more applicable and fun, not a (let's see, Hot Spot, Onslaught, G2 Slaught, Pyra Magna) 5th Hasbro usage of that mold.

If you don't like retools don't buy em and let the others who don't mind such as my self get them.

There will always be retools and repaints for cost reasons and to make sure HasTak gets full millage out of the molds.

I know that, but I can still protest the idea of using a fairly well used mold again in a different line.

Prowl4 wrote:I think inferno is a missed opportunity to include heatwave and the other rescue bots in chug. It'd be cool to get those characters.

And I agree with this. If they were going to use this mold, this would have been more fun. Bring in a rescue bot character into generations (like Blurr in RiD) or even bring in the Shattered Glass Heatwave who formed Nexus Prime. Get a bit more creative

Sabrblade wrote:Elita's torso reminds me of that of Movie Starscream.

Exactly my thought too. I really like how Abominus looks, though the design really does remind me of the Silverbolt mold. But it's a beast and far different and cool looking, so that is perfectly ok.

Inferno... come on buddy, you can do better!

DMSL wrote:Bummer, Inferno is just a repaint. They didn't even retool part of the truck to make it look more like the classic character. Elite-1...yikes those legs. At least all the other stuff looks good.

Look at the pic, they retooled the head to look more like Inferno.

Has Inferno's forearm been retooled to accommodate a Prime Master, or is he holding a combiner foot with the gun plugged into that? I think the later, but what do you all see?

I'm not so curfuffled over the re-release of this mold, and I like the looks of the new head sculpt for robot mode, but I do wish they had given the torso a new combiner head.