The Energon Pub

Wreck-Gar looks okay enough, it's a shame he doesn't come packed with one of the three missing Prime Masters (it would SUCK if they never happened), but I may still get one if I can find it for a good price, primarily just to add some orange to my collection's colour palette and give my Lynxmaster a new arm.

Dear Hasbro,

Exclusives don't need the Power of the Primes cards.

How am I ever going to get THE specific one I am looking for?

Why?

Sincerely,
Me and all the other people that can't help but fall for the whole card-variant-collection-crap.

Maybe this is their goal?

while it is intriguing to see news of release happening in other parts of the world, I am curious as to what exactly is going on in the United States. Is it just my area? I have not seen any new product in the last month aside from Studio Series. I mean I know RiD15 is done, so I would not expect to see more, but I have seen no new PotP (aside form some wave 1 deluxe about 6 weeks ago). In the last month, much of the studio series that came in stock has moved, not all of it, but about 75%. I appreciate that Hasbro is being more conservative with this line, as opposed to AoE & TLK which were way overproduced, but still...where are all the Transformers? Even stores that seemingly got more stock in than others are basically vapid at this point. Of course I'm not wasting gas checking all 20+ stores in my area that I could check, but I check 3 to 4 different ones per week based on my commute to work, and when I go grocery shopping, and they are all the same. There was even a specialty toys store in the mall that I was hoping to find something unique at, and they had nothing. Sure they had all the latest Star Wars, Infinity War, and Jurassic Park Product. Just because TF doesn't have a movie coming out that means all it's product lines have to suffer? Could Transformers actually be like GI Joe and disappear from toy shelves entirely, if Hasbro deems its not relevant after the BB movie push ends sometime in late 2019? Of course I'm being overly dramatic, but I wonder sometimes. Not seeing anything new from PotP for several weeks on end gives me cause for concern, even if its old product. This is something that did not happen with CW, or TR. The shelves may have kept on getting the same old stuff I had already seen, but at least it was continuously coming out on a regular basis.

I'm not the biggest fan of the deluxe Groove mold, but this Wreck-Gar deco brings out some the nice detail the mold has to offer. I'm digging it. Deprnding on the scenario, he may just be a rando Junkion in my CHUG world, but actually he'll probably just be combined all the time. Not sure with who yet, though.

O.Sups, where is "Sacto"? Sacramento? Just curious. Trying to put your distro woes on the map. This shoty stocking of wave 2 is definitely an anomaly, but I feel like the beginning of Summer is always a low point in action figure supply and demand. Store always seem to push outdoor play this time of year. As do parents.
And I think you are being a tad dramatic.
Remember, Hasbro's reports stated that TFs was their number one seller last year.

I will say though, the end of the Prime Wars Trilogy is feeling underwhelmingly anti-climatic. Just feels like it's fizzling out.

I certainly like deluxe Wreck-Gar over the CW Legend we recently got! But perhaps that li'l guy could catch a ride lol

I'm hoping to hunt him and wave3 soon! Still waiting on wave2 PMs.....but the Studio Series has been fun.

Cobotron wrote:O.Sups, where is "Sacto"? Sacramento? Just curious. Trying to put your distro woes on the map. This shoty stocking of wave 2 is definitely an anomaly, but I feel like the beginning of Summer is always a low point in action figure supply and demand. Store always seem to push outdoor play this time of year. As do parents.
(

Yeah it's Sacramento. "The Place You Love to leave" For a top 20 market in terms of population, we seem to get the short end of the stick more often than not. Still I know Distribution issues are much bigger than my city.

I was just thinking about TR Trypticon. Sure having a chain like Ollies (which is only east of the Mississippi, and nowhere north of NY). Have them for sale at $50 *and as low as $20 In some spots before that) is great for a small section of the fandom, but what about everyone else? I'm sure Hasbro would wish to sell all of them for a MSRP $150. now of course, there is always room for loss accounted for, but even selling them on HTS for $50 I would think would be fairer, and just as profitable, if not more so, than through a minor retailer. Why this happened I cannot say, but there is definitely a huge problem that needs to be addressed soon.

o.supreme wrote:Yeah it's Sacramento. "The Place You Love to leave"

That bad huh? Can't be too terrible, you guys stole my NBA team when I was a kid (Kansas City Kings). Did they even stick around? Or did they leave too? (I don't sports.)

o.supreme wrote:I was just thinking about TR Trypticon. Sure having a chain like Ollies (which is only east of the Mississippi, and nowhere north of NY). Have them for sale at $50 *and as low as $20 In some spots before that) is great for a small section of the fandom, but what about everyone else? I'm sure Hasbro would wish to sell all of them for a MSRP $150. now of course, there is always room for loss accounted for, but even selling them on HTS for $50 I would think would be fairer, and just as profitable, if not more so, than through a minor retailer. Why this happened I cannot say, but there is definitely a huge problem that needs to be addressed soon.

Just FYI. Hasbro doesn't profit from MSRP. They've sold and filled their orders at cost, got their money, and are happy. These Ollie's Trypticons were dumped by a retailer. Maybe amazon. Maybe TRU. Not sure, but it's the retailer who is taking the loss. I'm sure they sold them for close to cost, and Ollies is putting whatever mark up they need to turn a profit.

Kind of telling about how much the actual cost is on these toys.

Jumping in to say I love the Wreck Gar figure. Great size, head sculpt, and true to form color and shape for the cycle. My only regret is that they couldn't somehow squeeze out a secondary head for us... or more than that.

Maybe a third party will come through for us with more junkion heads. I'll be planning to buy extra figures to paint and customize just in case.

Wreck-gar looks good! I'm not sure he'll be my Wreck-gar (I'm set on hunting down DX9 Splinter some day as he's Voyager sized, thus appropriate as a "leader" character, vehicle scale is already out the window with the Junkions so no worries there, and he is from what I gather a very good figure) but if I see him for a sensible price I might nab him and replace his noggin to make him into another Junkion.

I would have liked it if he came with a Prime Master ala the planned Blastoff, but oh well.

Wow. I hadn't seen pictures of scale for Splinter. Just heard he was Masterpiece size. But seeing him in line with other figures and with the other Junkions released to date... He does look pretty darn good.

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Carnivius_Prime wrote:It still just looks so...normal? I dunno how to explain. Like he's officially an autobot rather than a junkion. I dunno.

Exactly what I was getting at above. He looks so clean and symmetrical now, not lopsided and "junky" like his G1 self. It's still a good looking figure, with a great head sculpt and nice paint apps and plastic color choices. If anyone didn't have the Reveal the Shield or United version of Wreck-Gar, this would do. For me, having the United version, this PotP version is just going to be a limb for a combiner that needs another team member.

They're basically betting on most of us just being happy to get a bike with Wreck Gar's name.

And they can use his weapon as proof of his love for junk. LOL!

This is why I'm not all that hyped for it. If I eventually find him discounted, I'll buy a couple then.

He does look nice Gothsaurus, doesn't he? Again, he's a Junkion so vehicle scale is kinda in the eye of the beholder even more than usual, and the "boss" being a Voyager makes sense to me. And he looks so cool! He also has a really neat box but that's neither here nor there.

In any event, I kinda wanna get this Wreck-gar, replace his head and make a bunch of custom Junkions out of random CW limbs (who says Junkions have to be bikes?) and some sufficiently cheap torso, and make a custom Junkion combiner. Not sure on the name though. Perhaps a really long-winded, fancy sounding name- "Lord-Regent of the Refuse Mountain, Derelict McTrashcan the Third Esquire". Or perhaps for something a bit snappier/punny, "Rusticiar" (after the old English term "Justiciar", a monarch's first minister in medieval parliament).

Cobotron wrote:

o.supreme wrote:Yeah it's Sacramento. "The Place You Love to leave"

That bad huh? Can't be too terrible, you guys stole my NBA team when I was a kid (Kansas City Kings). Did they even stick around? Or did they leave too? (I don't sports.)

Well it's odd. The Sacramento Kings are probably the most pathetic and laughable professional team of any of the big 4 pro sports organizations,(NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) with the exception of maybe the Cleveland Browns. But 4 years ago, they were almost purchased by a group of investors from Seattle. There was this unprecedented grass-roots campaign to keep them. An even more wealthy investor came in and purchased the team, they stayed in Sacramento and even built a new arena. The team still sucks though . Being from the bay Area, I am a Warriors fan, which after a long drought, has felt pretty good the last few years .

I understand the thought that outdoor toys are popular for summer, but I've also heard some reason that *end of school year* often brings kids and parents into stores, so hopefully maybe early June we may see some product hit the shelves.

I have to say, too, that I'm grateful for some extra limbs. Curious which other May Mayhem exclusives will be viable arms/legs... (or Titan Masters.) After the club doing Counterpunch, I could see them going a different route with two different heads on same toy this round. But, we shall see!

Wreck-Gar – YES
Blast Off – YES
Repugnus – Maybe?
Punch Counterpunch – Maybe?
Nemesis Prime – Neither

I dont want this

I dont want this

I Dont want this

Gosh dang it I want this.

Someone will be getting my Collector Card. But really Hasbro? Putting the collector card on the overpriced exclusve Deluze?

Really I think Hasbro is intending for us to use the interwebs to find out what each of the various unique cards say... rather than trying to collect the entire set of all variants. Gads, my heart goes out for anyone trying to track down a full deck of cards. Just the shipping alone would be hundreds of dollars and months of hunting.

On the plus side, if this ends up being a walgreens, we might have a chance of seeing it in the US

o.supreme wrote:Yeah it's Sacramento. "The Place You Love to leave" For a top 20 market in terms of population, we seem to get the short end of the stick more often than not. Still I know Distribution issues are much bigger than my city.

Hey...I’m originally from Marin County, and now living (or as you say, stuck) in Sacramento.

Still better than being stuck in Lodi again.

o.supreme wrote:I was just thinking about TR Trypticon. Sure having a chain like Ollies (which is only east of the Mississippi, and nowhere north of NY). Have them for sale at $50 *and as low as $20 In some spots before that) is great for a small section of the fandom, but what about everyone else? I'm sure Hasbro would wish to sell all of them for a MSRP $150. now of course, there is always room for loss accounted for, but even selling them on HTS for $50 I would think would be fairer, and just as profitable, if not more so, than through a minor retailer. Why this happened I cannot say, but there is definitely a huge problem that needs to be addressed soon.

Has there been any precedence for other Titan figures over the years (Metroplex, Devastator, and Fortress Maximus) winding up at other more ubiquitous discount chains, like Marshall's, TJMaxx, or Ross?

A few reported seeing Fort Max at such places, but again it was in very small limited quantities, no other titan has had this mass discount release, at a limited geographic area like Trypticon. They could very well have been excess from TRU, but why TRU didn't themselves decide to sell them at a discount price is odd. I know BBTS is getting some exclusive TLK product from TRU, how they worked that out I have no clue.

I seem to remember Fort Max showing up at Ross last year. As well as Ollie's.

Flashwave wrote:Someone will be getting my Collector Card. But really Hasbro? Putting the collector card on the overpriced exclusve Deluze?

They shouldn't be ridiculously overpriced. As a Walgreens exclusive they should be the same price as regular Deluxe figures just like Brainstorm and the clones, so about $17.99, only about a dollar more than Walmart or Target.

I'd be more concerned about the cards coming with the Amazon exclusives.

Emerje

chuckdawg1999 wrote:But, Groove's guns were part of the bike mold. Did they retool the Prime Master module to slot in the back, because there's no peg hole.

The Bike Mode retains the hole for the CW HFG on front of the seat, the ax plugs into one of the thumbs. The Robot Mode simple holds them, or if you're creative with the front wheel it can store on the back too.

Emerje wrote:

Flashwave wrote:Someone will be getting my Collector Card. But really Hasbro? Putting the collector card on the overpriced exclusve Deluze?

They shouldn't be ridiculously overpriced. As a Walgreens exclusive they should be the same price as regular Deluxe figures just like Brainstorm and the clones, so about $17.99, only about a dollar more than Walmart or Target.

I'd be more concerned about the cards coming with the Amazon exclusives.

Emerje

Wreck-Gar for Walgreens isn't officially confirmed yet, despite the hints pointing towards that. The original listing appeared during Titans Return, things could have changed. Just a pre-emptive warning.

I was going to get Wreck-Gar anyway, but I am so glad he looks good! He will go good wit Jazz, Moonracer, and Novastar as limbs for Artfire/Infernocus or Elita Infin1te.