The Energon Pub

I think that may be the case as there seems to be a spring on that Skullgrin in the case of the "unlocking" it might be the 5mm peg or it might be the weapon part (in this case blades). but I expect like an RID activator you can likely just press it with your finger too.

I think there is some fun to be had anyway, for those of us who play with their toys.

For every past "unlocking" gimmick I can recall (Powermasters, Cyber Planet Keys etc..). I believe there has to be a way to just "push the button" to unlock the additional functions. I imagine a lot of kids lose small parts, and also it may have something to do with safety standards. But whatever the secret of the Power Masters is, I'm sure it will add to the cool playability of the toys themselves. I cant wait to see how the Torso's function as bodies for new combiners and/or with Prime Masters as enhanced Limbs.

Of the "unlocking" gimmicks, I think Mini-Cons might be the worst due to the kinda-delicate pegs in combination with a lot of the dumb ports having a slightly-too-narrow hole... Cool conceptually and the unlocked gimmicks themselves are neat, but the tolerance issues with the dumb ports.. Ugh. Also, some of the Mini-Con-activated features required you to slide the Mini-Con after connecting so those are a bugger to work without an intact Mini-Con.

Kurona wrote:People keep using that one picture as proof he was bigger, but has he ever been portrayed as such within the actual fiction? That piece - awesome as it is - was a non-narrative pieces put in one of the earlier issues of Dreamwave just to celebrate that the G1 Transformers were back. And then when Predaking appeared in the series itself, he was the same size as Bruticus. I don't remember him being especially large in Sunbow, Marvel or IDW either. Where does the idea he was 'always bigger' come from aside from the toy and that one image?

Yeah, people don't account for the Predacons being post-movie toys, which for the most part were bumped up to, basically, modern TF sizes.

I'm annoyed that they put Predaking ahead of Scorponok in line for a Titan release, since Scorpy's needed a Titan-size toy since 1987 and Fort Max needs his Decepticon counterpart.
Hopefully due to being 5 Voyagers instead of six and the assorted parts that will have to be accounted for he'll end up more Supreme-height than Titan. Given that Predaking's main rival was Sky Lynx, it would be a nuisance to have a Predaking that dwarfed Sky Reign/Lynxmaster.

On a related note to that, I'm hoping for a Megatron-to-Galvatron evolution amongst the Leader-class offerings so that we'll have a modern Galvy that stands the same height as the new Rodimus Prime.

Jazz is appealing, hopefully there will also be Sideswipe and Windcharger. We should have got those three in CW instead of Prowl, Sunstreaker, and Wheeljack (or Smokescreen since "Brake-Neck" was a Dead End retool), but better late than never.

Still hoping for a Deluxe Springer at some point since to me that scales better with Hot Rod et al.

Also on my wish list for this line is a Supreme-class Ultra Magnus that's basically the original figure with more articulation in design (wouldn't be too hard, just design the super robot legs to clamp over the cab robot's lower legs and leave the thighs available). CW Ultra Magnus is cool and all, but aside from lacking a cab robot... he's just a Leader-class toy (roughly the same size as the original Magnus), so his trailer only has room for 2 Deluxe cars. So an upsized UM who could carry up to 4 would be nice. Especially if the head+chestplate minijet was replicated at the larger size (since it would go great with Titan Masters/Prime Masters).

I think a Braver redeco/retool of Jazz is the most likely. Something about those bulkier HFG/chestplate pieces makes me think of the smaller Brainmasters' big shields/combiner kibble

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Jazz is appealing, hopefully there will also be Sideswipe and Windcharger. We should have got those three in CW instead of Prowl, Sunstreaker, and Wheeljack (or Smokescreen since "Brake-Neck" was a Dead End retool), but better late than never.

Well IIRC, the leaks did detail a Windcharger coming in this line, though it is a Legends-size figure. I think the current goal of the design team in terms of the minibots is to get them all out in Legends scale (even though they already did Windcharger as a Legends figure like three years ago? But I suppose this one'll probably be more G1-style, rather than the IDW-Tailgate body type that the last one had).

Qwan wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Jazz is appealing, hopefully there will also be Sideswipe and Windcharger. We should have got those three in CW instead of Prowl, Sunstreaker, and Wheeljack (or Smokescreen since "Brake-Neck" was a Dead End retool), but better late than never.

Well IIRC, the leaks did detail a Windcharger coming in this line, though it is a Legends-size figure. I think the current goal of the design team in terms of the minibots is to get them all out in Legends scale (even though they already did Windcharger as a Legends figure like three years ago? But I suppose this one'll probably be more G1-style, rather than the IDW-Tailgate body type that the last one had).

Which is why I'm also hopeful they'll do a more accurate Legends Warpath. If they didn't think the previous Windcharger was good enough - despite actually looking like the original design if fairly stylised - then surely they must think CW Warpath isn't good enough.


I also just realised -- with Titan Predaking, this breaks the faction pattern the Titans had going. Metroplex, Devastator, Fortress Maximus, Trypticon... Predaking.


Also also, talking of Ultra Magnus; I wouldn't be surprised to see him as a redeco/retool of that Leader Optimus. Standard-sized robot cab that forms the central part of a leader-sized robot formed from a truck? Easy peasy.

Getting really exited about the return of the pretenders. ALL my favorites have been announced, notably Bludgeon, Skullgrin, Submarauder and Bomburst!

I thought we weren't allowed to post the leaks

Rainmaker wrote:I thought we weren't allowed to post the leaks

We just aren't allowed to news them. Talk away about 'em all you like.

william-james88 wrote:John Warden told us that they actually unlock toy mechanics and that what they unlock isnt just up to kids' imagination.

So as this guy as the spark for Liege Maximo he's going to be able to empower the entire line with the kids' imagination.

Each one of the Deluxe class figures is going to be coming with special armor that you'll be able to place this guy onto the armor and imagine the power of this guy going into the spark of that Transformer.

And so on. He never once says anything in this interview about physically unlocking anything in the toys themselves. Prime Masters ride inside Legends figures, snap into Deluxe HFGs, connect to shields that come with Voyagers, and sit inside the chest of Leaders. He also specifically says inserting the Prime Master into a Leader is the final step in the evolution, they don't unlock the evolution beforehand.

He did say there are more features that haven't been revealed yet ("stay tuned!"), but that was most likely referring to the combiners and how the decoy weapon modes are used.

Emerje

I'm really hoping that wave 4 here isn't going to turn out like wave 6 for Titans return where there's only one new deluxe and nothing else. But the fact that they show wave 4 for deluxe's only and no other size class worries me.

We can talk about the leaks but we are asked not to post the images, thanks.

william-james88 wrote:We can talk about the leaks but we are asked not to post the images, thanks.

Glad I saw it on 4chan.
This is REALLY getting me exited.
Especially for Predaking and the return of the Pretenders.

Kurona wrote:Which is why I'm also hopeful they'll do a more accurate Legends Warpath. If they didn't think the previous Windcharger was good enough - despite actually looking like the original design if fairly stylised - then surely they must think CW Warpath isn't good enough.
[...]
Also also, talking of Ultra Magnus; I wouldn't be surprised to see him as a redeco/retool of that Leader Optimus. Standard-sized robot cab that forms the central part of a leader-sized robot formed from a truck? Easy peasy.

Indeed, I'm fairly certain a more barrel-chested (heh) Warpath must be in the works. Personally Warpath was always the one minibot that I felt needed to be in a larger scale to make sense (man I should really get around to picking up Gen Deluxe Warpath ) but if they're doing the rest of the group, and it seems like they almost certainly are, they'll need a proper Warpath to go with the rest of 'em.

I'm also very much in support of the Leader Prime mold being reworked into Magnus. It's literally exactly what his G1 toy did from what we can tell, there's no way the current design team'll pass that up. Though I'm a little worried he's not mentioned in the leaks and instead we're seeing a straight repack of Prime, I feel almost certain he'll come in time. I sure hope so, at least... (I'm kind of amused that the Magnus mold from CW was made into Prime for TR, and now presumably this new Prime mold will be made into Magnus during this or the next line. Funny that even when UM isn't just a white Prime, he's still almost always sharing a mold with the boss-bot one way or another.)

I'm starting to become fairly more excited at the prospect of Prime Masters - ie the idea of Titan Masters without faceplates - than I was before because of certain reasons I'm coming up with. And, quite specifically, they're all to do with making my Titans Return figures (and possibly POTP legends) better.

Having, say, Doomshot piloting Megatron's jet mode cockpit while Liege Maximo is in the cannon seat is a much better illusion than if I'd just grabbed a random Headmaster. Same effect, sure, but to me it's weird that Megatron would be carrying around two guys that turn into heads, especially when one of them is very clearly not his head. What does he need two heads for, and why would he ever use the second one instead of Doomshot? So having a Prime Master creates a much better illusion of just a little dude he's carrying around as a companion.

But secondly, and perhaps most importantly -- it fills up the Titan Master seats in a way cooler way. If you have the Prime Masters folded up, it creates the illusion of Hardhead's shoulder cannon or Kup's combined weapon having a huge badass engine attached to it for maximum firepower. That makes much more sense and is way cooler to me than just having a little guy manning it in robot mode.

One thing I wish we'd gotten instead of the pretender-themed shells is "sarcophagi"/"idols" themed after the actual Primes they represent. I mean, it's nice they remembered the Pretenders exist, don't get me wrong, but as toys of the Pretenders, they're even worse than the original G1 toys. I'd much rather we got actual transforming figures of the Pretenders, preferably pulling an ROTF Bludgeon and integrating elements of the shell designs into the actual robot mode.

Speaking of which, is ROTF Bludgeon still worth it? I heard his elbows have a habit of melting for some reason.

Black Hat wrote:Speaking of which, is ROTF Bludgeon still worth it? I heard his elbows have a habit of melting for some reason.

Where's this crazy rumor come from? I got both Banzaitron and Bludgeon and both still hold up and transform well after all these years.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Black Hat wrote:Speaking of which, is ROTF Bludgeon still worth it? I heard his elbows have a habit of melting for some reason.

Where's this crazy rumor come from? I got both Banzaitron and Bludgeon and both still hold up and transform well after all these years.

It's not the elbows. It's the parts of the rubber pieces that rub up against the plastic pieces. ROTF Demolishor is said to also be a victim of this.

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Black Hat wrote:Speaking of which, is ROTF Bludgeon still worth it? I heard his elbows have a habit of melting for some reason.

Where's this crazy rumor come from? I got both Banzaitron and Bludgeon and both still hold up and transform well after all these years.

It's not the elbows. It's the parts of the rubber pieces that rub up against the plastic pieces. ROTF Demolishor is said to also be a victim of this.

Must depend on how and where they are stored. Mine still feel brand new all over.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Black Hat wrote:Speaking of which, is ROTF Bludgeon still worth it? I heard his elbows have a habit of melting for some reason.

Where's this crazy rumor come from? I got both Banzaitron and Bludgeon and both still hold up and transform well after all these years.

Not a crazy rumour, its 100% true and a phenomenon we see in other TF toys, such as the plastic on G1 pretenders.

Whatever piece of solid plastic the ROTF Bludgeon tank treads are touching will start to lose detail and melt since the molecules that make the plastic soft are slowly travelling to the harder plastic, making it lose its shape. Check your ROTF Bludgeon and Banzaitron to see if the parts where they touch are the same or slightly mishappen and different to eachother (they should have the same detail if ther was no "melting").

Anyways that said Black Hat I still recomend him. All toys eventually breakdown but luckily we humans have a much shorter lifespan so you will be able to enjoy Bludgeon for as long as you live, I am pretty sure.

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Black Hat wrote:Speaking of which, is ROTF Bludgeon still worth it? I heard his elbows have a habit of melting for some reason.

Where's this crazy rumor come from? I got both Banzaitron and Bludgeon and both still hold up and transform well after all these years.

Not a crazy rumour, its 100% true and a phenomenon we see in other TF toys, such as the plastic on G1 pretenders.

Whatever piece of solid plastic the ROTF Bludgeon tank treads are touching will start to lose detail and melt since the molecules that make the plastic soft are slowly travelling to the harder plastic, making it lose its shape. Check your ROTF Bludgeon and Banzaitron to see if the parts where they touch are the same or slightly mishappen and different to eachother (they should have the same detail if ther was no "melting").

Anyways that said Black Hat I still recomend him. All toys eventually breakdown but luckily we humans have a much shorter lifespan so you will be able to enjoy Bludgeon for as long as you live, I am pretty sure.

Does GDO Megatron have the same problem? That's the only version of that mold I own.

DigitalBrave3 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Black Hat wrote:Speaking of which, is ROTF Bludgeon still worth it? I heard his elbows have a habit of melting for some reason.

Where's this crazy rumor come from? I got both Banzaitron and Bludgeon and both still hold up and transform well after all these years.

Not a crazy rumour, its 100% true and a phenomenon we see in other TF toys, such as the plastic on G1 pretenders.

Whatever piece of solid plastic the ROTF Bludgeon tank treads are touching will start to lose detail and melt since the molecules that make the plastic soft are slowly travelling to the harder plastic, making it lose its shape. Check your ROTF Bludgeon and Banzaitron to see if the parts where they touch are the same or slightly mishappen and different to eachother (they should have the same detail if ther was no "melting").

Anyways that said Black Hat I still recomend him. All toys eventually breakdown but luckily we humans have a much shorter lifespan so you will be able to enjoy Bludgeon for as long as you live, I am pretty sure.

Does GDO Megatron have the same problem? That's the only version of that mold I own.

They all do, but GDO megs is much younger than the others so the problem isnt as apparent yet.

Thanks for the advice. I'll probably go for Bludgeon in that case (with upgrades of course, that floppy rubber katana ain't doing it for me).

Funny, I actually saw a Banzai-tron at TFNation for like £15 but the sword hilt/tank barrel was rather warped and I'd already gotten enough TFs for the day. Given the prices he commands on evilBay I either slagged up horrendously by not bujying him or else there was something amiss with him.

Black Hat wrote:Thanks for the advice. I'll probably go for Bludgeon in that case (with upgrades of course, that floppy rubber katana ain't doing it for me).

Funny, I actually saw a Banzai-tron at TFNation for like £15 but the sword hilt/tank barrel was rather warped and I'd already gotten enough TFs for the day. Given the prices he commands on evilBay I either slagged up horrendously by not bujying him or else there was something amiss with him.

Be seriously careful with the hands, the thumbs have a nasty habit of snapping clean off (like mine on my very rare banzaitron - thanks hasblo)

I'm not crazy about unlocking things either -- cyber-keys were annoying and I got my first Mini-Con in Dead End (the one who came with Armada Unicron).

I simply prefer stuff like the Titan Masters and having them as weapons/accessories only. We shall see what our Mini-Pretenders got!

I wish Shockwave is a Voyager BECAUSE i want him as a combiner
and also a Jet too