The Energon Pub

Emerje wrote:

o.supreme wrote:Also, Will *exclusives* such as Nemesis Prime, Wreck-Gar, Counter Punch & repugnus get releases by , or will these perhaps be excusives for thenm as well, or not released at all?

Unless I'm totally forgetting it, Japan isn't getting the exclusive Studio Series Thundercracker in another line that's basically Hasbro's same figures, though they're putting a bit more effort into the packaging. That might mean exclusives aren't part of the sharing deal.

Yup, Studio Series Thundercracker is skipped by TakaraTomy, resulted in their numbering being off by one starting with Jazz.

Wreck-Gar, Counterpunch, Repugnus and Blast Off (shame on you for forgetting him!) will have to find a proper outlet, but Nemesis Prime is a global Amazon exclusive, which may include Japan.

to be honest would anybody have noticed it if it wasnt pointed out?
because at first all i see is a black square with a white autobot logo and 4 microscopic white dots
and the square is already pretty tiny to begin with

MAGA versions will be the most COLLECTIBLE!

ZeroWolf wrote:As for wave saturation, living in the UK, we get one or two max. So shopping online is normally my default anyway. Welcome to how tf fans in the UK feel.

While I do live in the States.... I feel like I'm slowly forced to shop online for figures too... between strange distribution patterns (at target) or lack of product at all (walmart). My biggest gripe about online shopping is trying to get single units at MSRP... they're either wave/cases (BBTS/EE/TFSource) or sold out instantly and jacked up (Amazon).

I do miss the actual hunt... but it's just no fun any more, or cheap (gas). Although Toys R Us usually left me more disappointed more often.... they would occasionally surprise me with things I didn't even know existed. For the post part they were to sold distributor of the Power Rangers Legacy System, or NECA/McFarlane figures. Target is starting to get into some of that with their "geek corner". Never thought I'd see the day that Nendroids were sold at mass-retail in the US.

Back on topic: I'm curious if we'll see Predaking at brick and mortar. Toys R Us seemed to be the only store I ever (rarely) saw them. Target had the Combiner War boxsets online though... I wonder if they'd done better on the shelf? (But that *is* a lot of real-estate to take up).

While he may have many flaws and I'm sure most purists will be glad to 'skip' on him I still think that Optimus Primal/Optimal Optimus has better display options and p;ay value than previous Leader Evolution. However it's clear this guy would have been better with a big wheel to fill out his back and allow for his missing ground vehicle mode. On the more positive side, his two robot modes are, sacrifices made for gimmick aside, rather spot on all things considered, safe for a distinctly less metallic palette.

This is going to be a Leader class I'm sure many will pass on and I can't blame them as he certainly lose value without the nostalgia factor. That and I can't really imagine the kids will like him due to his coloration and a lack of understanding and attachment to Beast Wars.

And to you angry Star Saber fans; trust me guys, if we all had known about the line gimmick for Leaders he would have gotten 100% of the fan vote and no one would be mad. While I do find this is an interesting concept of a figure I would have certainly preferred some form for Primal without the gimmick in the long run as it would have made for a more solid toy.

But hey...he still seem quite fun. Haters gonna hate.

Is the 'official' line up for the Elita-1 combiner Novastar, Moondancer, Jazz & Wreck Gar?

Leaving Starscream with Dreadwind, Blackwing, Blast-Off (shuttle) & ???

There is no official line up for Starscream, Elita 1 or Inferno. Just mix and match per your imagination

ZeroWolf wrote:There is no official line up for Starscream, Elita 1 or Inferno. Just mix and match per your imagination

ah yes I forgot about Inferno

Con limbs
Dreadwind
Blackwing
Blast-Off (Shuttle)
Counterpunch !?! (can switch between the two sides) buy two everyone

Bot limbs
Jazz
Moondancer
Novastar
Wreck Gar
Counterpunch !?! (can switch between the two sides) buy two everyone
Repugnus

8 limbs only 5 Bots

Lucky Logician wrote:I was already pretty sure that the black figure serves no purpose for combining, but this picture confirms it. After seeing this, I am SO tempted to just punch out that pin and have two Optimals on display.

You lose the jet mode doing that since the connection point is on the inner Primal, unless there was a second one somewhere in there I missed.

I was hopeful on Primal, but yeah after seeing the video, I'm disappointed. I'll still get him since his combined Robot mode looks good, but the rest is pretty awful.

Twitchythe3rd wrote:You lose the jet mode doing that since the connection point is on the inner Primal, unless there was a second one somewhere in there I missed.

This toy is already missing the 'tank' mode, so losing the 'jet' mode is no big deal to me.

Lucky Logician wrote:

Twitchythe3rd wrote:You lose the jet mode doing that since the connection point is on the inner Primal, unless there was a second one somewhere in there I missed.

This toy is already missing the 'tank' mode, so losing the 'jet' mode is no big deal to me.

Then what's the point of him being Optimal Optimus if he loses both of the two modes that made that body form of his so special? Gorilla mode was nothing to sneeze at. Primal barely even used it.

Sabrblade wrote:Then what's the point of him being Optimal Optimus if he loses both of the two modes that made that body form of his so special? Gorilla mode was nothing to sneeze at. Primal barely even used it.

Honestly, you do make a good point. That being said, I guess what I want to express is extreme disappointment with the 'evolution' gimmick in a character I loved growing up and was looking forward to a new toy of.

Hot Rod and Orion Pax become an essential part of the chest of the larger figure. Optimus Primal literally becomes backpack kibble. There has been a lot of great and fun engineering in transformers the past few years. Optimal Optimus just feels like he was created overnight.

Other POTP toys give me play mechanics I don't get in prior versions of the same characters. The POTP Optimal Optimus is strictly worse that the original BW toy that I already own. He loses the tank mode and only gains a half gray/half black surfboard.

Well I'm not completely sure how doable an 'Optimus Primal to Optimal Optimus' was on the basis that, unlike the previous two figures, his forms have two completely different color schemes. The only want he could have worked better was if one form had been compromised in its look/color palette, which you'll note that for all the flaws of the figure this is not something to fault this one: the color and shape of both robot modes are, backpack parts aside, completely spot-on.

Skritz wrote:Well I'm not completely sure how doable an 'Optimus Primal to Optimal Optimus' was on the basis that, unlike the previous two figures, his forms have two completely different color schemes. The only want he could have worked better was if one form had been compromised in its look/color palette, which you'll note that for all the flaws of the figure this is not something to fault this one: the color and shape of both robot modes are, backpack parts aside, completely spot-on.

I understand and agree with your point. I just wish that the black robot could collapse inside of the orange robot's chest cavity or something.

The looks of them are amazingly spot on... which is why I'm okay separating the two of them. Optimal Optimus can still transform between robot and gorilla. Optimus Primal can just sit there and pretend to be a pre-BW version in robot mode.

Honest opinion from me?

This figure is why I’m upset Star Saber didn’t win the poll. Dude is literally perfect for the line’s leader gimmick yet the oust him and shoehorn Primal into something he shouldn’t have been in. Voyager figure that goes from cartoon-like bot to gorilla, sure, but not this guy.

I'm a Beast Wars fan. Heck, I've got Rhinox on my voicemail, for crying out loud. I follow Garry Chalk on Facebook. I watched Duck Tales and immediately recognized David Kaye playing Scrooge's ghost butler.

That all said--if I knew that the line's gimmick was going to be what it is, I would have been campaigning HARD for Star Saber. Not because I have a lot of love for the figure (though I do have a semi-working minus guns and weapons version of the G1 toy), but because it FITS the gimmick so well.

Optimus Primal doesn't, and (I think this is important) when they said Optimus Primal, I doubt most of the audience was thinking about a new Optimal Optimus toy. We wanted our freaking monkey bot.

Shame to hear that Optimus Primal isn't as good as he could have been, but I'm likely to still get him since it's an accessible version of a character that I've wanted in my collection for a while. Besides, I love me some Beast Wars and I'll take whatever Beast Wars toys I can get.

Also, I posted this in the toy haul thread, but Cindersaur showed up in the mail today and I figured I'd share his Amalgamous Prime card.

Yeah well, when we voted we didn't know about the gimmick. And probably neither did Hasbro at the time.

BombshellDaBug wrote:Shame to hear that Optimus Primal isn't as good as he could have been, but I'm likely to still get him since it's an accessible version of a character that I've wanted in my collection for a while. Besides, I love me some Beast Wars and I'll take whatever Beast Wars toys I can get.

Also, I posted this in the toy haul thread, but Cindersaur showed up in the mail today and I figured I'd share his Amalgamous Prime card.

**** hilarious! Cindersaur-Inferno custom when?

after seeing that review, while i still think he looks fun, i also feels like he doesn't get as much love from the designers, compared to another figures from this line. guess this is what happens, when a hardcore g1 fans designer, who even consider BW as obscure, forced to make BW character because he unexpectedly won the vote.

Upcoming Takara listings for POTP in November

Well, color me surprised with Unicronus being a standard release.

May has come and gone and none of the exclusive figures we were hoping to get for May Mayhem were released and most are still not revealed. For those keeping tabs, the exclusives that have yet to be revealed officially are Repugnus, Counterpunch and shuttle Blastoff.

While we still have no images of Repugnus, we do have some new info courtesy of a new Amazon listing.

It statues the following:

Special Edition Titans Return Repugnus and Titan Master Dastard
Features a Deluxe Class Repugnus figure with premium deco
Also comes with a special edition Prime Master figure, Solus Prime
Comes in special edition packaging; celebrate the Prime Wars Trilogy with this collectible set
Includes Deluxe Class Repugnus figure, Titan Master Dastard figure, special edition Solus Prime Prime Master figure, 2 accessories, and instructions.

The big take away from this is that Repugnus will be a headmaster and not a combiner. This means Hasbro will be completing the 3 monsterbots with them using the same gimick. It also seems he will be released in a similar packaging as Titans Return Arcee. The reason he is still part of Power of the Primes, at least somewhat, is because he does include the Prime Master Solus Prime. Like the Megatronus figure that will come with Blastoff, this is a special edition version of Solus Prime, so probably with clear plastic. Feel free to speculate as well.

Wonder which Beastformer this dastard will be based on this time (if the trend continues, that is).