The Energon Pub

[-Kanrabat-]

Devastator had 6 figures and a weapon for the big guy and cost $100. Predaking is 5 figures no weapons and costs $150. I just don't get it

Dude. That's the SALE price.
Devastator was 200$CAN plus taxes when it came out. So I expect Predaking to be the same. Also, who care about guns? It's the overall engeneering and ammount of plastic there is for the whole toy that really count.

[william-james88]

well, see, while I may want a figure, I may not be willing to pay a higher price for it if it isn't that good, which this has 2 of the 3 modes being not very good, and it's a bit more applicable here with a $150 toy.

As for the Chaos set, I never saw it, and as far as I know, people did NOT wait for it to get clearanced, it was almost impossible to find in many areas. Same with how quick the Siege set sold out on BBTS.

The G2 combiners were cool, but they were niche, and as far as I know, the people who wanted them got them, it was only the people on the fence or even who just found the sets interesting on sale prices that got them.

If a toy is great and it is one on my want list, I will get it. but if it isn't that good, I will not mind waiting and focus elsewhere for the time being.

Amazing post D-Max! I agree with every point (though I do always hope that new items I want come out when sales are around, like the fun times you guys get new items up on HTS when a coupon is still applicable).

And I did buy both TR sets when they came out, along with the other 2 TR exclusives, I didnt wait and have no regrets.

I will wait for Predaking as well, as I did with Fort Max (but didnt with Trypitcon)

[RiddlerJ]

So there's no weapons at all for the individual figures?

[bluecatcinema]

I'll admit there a few small flaws in the design, but all in all, it still looks great.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

So there's no weapons at all for the individual figures?

Being a bit liberal here but:

- Torox/Tantrum and Headstrong use the foot pieces as huge guns, like the Beast Modes from G1 did
- Divebomb has two guns that double as Predaking's shoulder cannons
- Rampage has a gun that doubles as his tail
- Razorclaw has a gun as well, that combines with Rampage's to form Predaking's arm gun.

What they don't come with are their swords.

[chuckdawg1999]

Devastator had 6 figures and a weapon for the big guy and cost $100. Predaking is 5 figures no weapons and costs $150. I just don't get it

Devastator was $150 too

I sit corrected.

[Emerje]

My biggest concern with waiting is that without TRU these guys will basically only be available online for most of us. That means more competition for the online supply. Would be nice if Hasbro found another physical location to stock these like Sam's Club.

Emerje

I don't understand, how is more online competition a bad thing? The combiner wars sets ended up selling pretty cheap and were only available online in the US.

I'm talking about among buyers since TRU was the only physical location selling Titans. Now anyone that would have been buying them from there will have to go online for Predaking unless Hasbro can sweet talk a new nationwide retailer into carrying them.

Unless I'm mistaken the only CW box sets that didn't get released at B&M stores initially were the G2 repaints (which are pretty niche releases so it's no surprise they got clearanced and liquidated) and the Entertainment Earth exclusive Liokaiser set that was doomed by a cheaper Asian release getting pushed on US online marketplaces so they aren't exactly great examples of how online-only sales aren't effected by B&M sales. Victorion and Computron both had US B&M releases, the former even showing up in some Target stores.

I could be entirely wrong, but I do fear Predaking's prices wont go down much thanks to increased online demand. I can't imagine Hasbro will keep their production numbers the same as the previous Titans knowing they wont be supplying to TRU and not having any guarantee other retailers will step up and increase their orders.

Emerje

[TheRebirth]

Third parties are going to make a killing here. Fist replacements, an expanded waist, and a sword will make a 3p kit a must buy. I don't see much being done for the individual modes but the combined form is an upgrade away from awesome.

[-Kanrabat-]

Third parties are going to make a killing here. Fist replacements, an expanded waist, and a sword will make a 3p kit a must buy. I don't see much being done for the individual modes but the combined form is an upgrade away from awesome.

As they did for CW Devastator. However, I bet that the upgrades will end up costing as much as the original set. So if that price have to be paid, might as well go full 3P then. :/

[TheRebirth]

As they did for CW Devastator. However, I bet that the upgrades will end up costing as much as the original set. So if that price have to be paid, might as well go full 3P then. :/

I'm expecting the set to be on sale for around $100 in November or December. The PC Devastator kit is available for $60, so assuming it's comparable, $160 total isn't too bad. Feral Rex was the only other version I'm interested in - I like the size, and I've heard good things about it. I don't really want the Jinbao one - I'll put up with Titan or KO but not both. I'd love the original Feral Rex, but not for $500. What ever happened to the Neoart Toys release?

[Ultra Markus]

Third parties are going to make a killing here. Fist replacements, an expanded waist, and a sword will make a 3p kit a must buy. I don't see much being done for the individual modes but the combined form is an upgrade away from awesome.

As they did for CW Devastator. However, I bet that the upgrades will end up costing as much as the original set. So if that price have to be paid, might as well go full 3P then. :/

All I can see as a must have add-on for the set is swords for all five and a great big sword for predaking and maybe an add-on knuckle dusters to the existing fists
Im sure there's more that can be done for add-ons but the swords are what I would want first and foremost

[Zobovor]

That does mean Divebomb carries the lion's share of the excess Predaking bulk.

No, Razorclaw has the lion's share. Divebomb only gets the eagle's share.

[Emerje]

That does mean Divebomb carries the lion's share of the excess Predaking bulk.

No, Razorclaw has the lion's share. Divebomb only gets the eagle's share.

I dunno, sure looks like he's got both considering how much of the torso he forms that Razorclaw should have.

Emerje

[DecepticonFinishline]

You know what?! I'm even MORE on-board than I was before.

Predaking was ALWAYS the epitome of blocky-ness. So most of these gripes do not bother me in the least.

There are only three things I don't like:

1. Divebomb's alt-mode. Worth it, though, because that wing transformation into Predaking looks HELLA fun.

2. Razorclaw is TOO SMALL. There isn't really an upside to this. He is the central component and leader... Yet he is the smallest. Real-life leaders can be shorty-bois... But this doesn't seem to fit.

3. Onyx Prime. Just be a Pretender with the rest of the Primes. F***.

All-in-all, I prefer this to all the third-party ones I've seen. I'm in.

[Emerje]

There are only three things I don't like:

1. Divebomb's alt-mode. Worth it, though, because that wing transformation into Predaking looks HELLA fun.

It's a bit mistransformed in the new photos. The right way isn't perfect, but at least he has legs.

2. Razorclaw is TOO SMALL. There isn't really an upside to this. He is the central component and leader... Yet he is the smallest. Real-life leaders can be shorty-bois... But this doesn't seem to fit.

They're all exactly the same height in robot mode, though. Razorclaw just looks short because he's stocky, but he isn't.

3. Onyx Prime. Just be a Pretender with the rest of the Primes. F***.

It's an exclusive repaint (like the Megatronus that comes with PotP May Mayhem Blast Off), we should be getting a proper retail version with shell at some point.

Emerje

[DecepticonFinishline]

3. Onyx Prime. Just be a Pretender with the rest of the Primes. F***.

It's an exclusive repaint (like the Megatronus that comes with PotP May Mayhem Blast Off), we should be getting a proper retail version with shell at some point.

Emerje

Are you SURE, though? I had mentioned the same hope when they first revealed the matrix. But I'm feeling less and less confident about that idea.

[william-james88]

Are you SURE, though? I had mentioned the same hope when they first revealed the matrix. But I'm feeling less and less confident about that idea.

We currently have no evidence that they will be releasing more prime masters with decoy armour at retail. Not saying we wont get them in some other way or if they will come or not, just saying that no one can be sure right now.

People asked Hasbro is wave 4 of POTP would have more leaders and they said no. They should have asked for all classes and helped settle this at least.

[Flashwave]

Are you SURE, though? I had mentioned the same hope when they first revealed the matrix. But I'm feeling less and less confident about that idea.

We currently have no evidence that they will be releasing more prime masters with decoy armour at retail. Not saying we wont get them in some other way or if they will come or not, just saying that no one can be sure right now.

People asked Hasbro is wave 4 of POTP would have more leaders and they said no. They should have asked for all classes and helped settle this at least.

The words from John Warden was "the price classes could have a different number of waves, but none of them had more thsn 4"

[william-james88]

Are you SURE, though? I had mentioned the same hope when they first revealed the matrix. But I'm feeling less and less confident about that idea.

We currently have no evidence that they will be releasing more prime masters with decoy armour at retail. Not saying we wont get them in some other way or if they will come or not, just saying that no one can be sure right now.

People asked Hasbro is wave 4 of POTP would have more leaders and they said no. They should have asked for all classes and helped settle this at least.

The words from John Warden was "the price classes could have a different number of waves, but none of them had more thsn 4"

We know that. What we are asking is: does any class other than deluxe have new toys in wave 4. That is unknown.

[Wireless_Phantom]

So far I like this set, despite it's faults. It definitely suffers for not having Razorclaw be larger, but at the same time that does lead to some interesting engineering. I'll make my judgement when we get full reviews.

[Emerje]

3. Onyx Prime. Just be a Pretender with the rest of the Primes. F***.

It's an exclusive repaint (like the Megatronus that comes with PotP May Mayhem Blast Off), we should be getting a proper retail version with shell at some point.

Emerje

Are you SURE, though? I had mentioned the same hope when they first revealed the matrix. But I'm feeling less and less confident about that idea.

We do have reasons to believe there will be either a wave 4 of Prime Masters in PotP or they'll be part of wave 1 of War for Cybertron.

1. Predaking Onyx Prime is colored differently from how he appears in art.
2. He's listed on the Predaking box as a "special edition" the same way the clear Megatronus that comes with Blast Off is listed on Amazon. Special edition indicates a variant of a character, otherwise Hasbro prefers to say "exclusive".
3. The Waverider decoy shell exists but hasn't been used yet by Hasbro. Doesn't mean they go together, though Waverider is black as onyx can be.

Emerje

[Jelze Bunnycat]

3. Onyx Prime. Just be a Pretender with the rest of the Primes. F***.

It's an exclusive repaint (like the Megatronus that comes with PotP May Mayhem Blast Off), we should be getting a proper retail version with shell at some point.

Emerje

Are you SURE, though? I had mentioned the same hope when they first revealed the matrix. But I'm feeling less and less confident about that idea.

We do have reasons to believe there will be either a wave 4 of Prime Masters in PotP or they'll be part of wave 1 of War for Cybertron.

1. Predaking Onyx Prime is colored differently from how he appears in art.
2. He's listed on the Predaking box as a "special edition" the same way the clear Megatronus that comes with Blast Off is listed on Amazon. Special edition indicates a variant of a character, otherwise Hasbro prefers to say "exclusive".
3. The Waverider decoy shell exists but hasn't been used yet by Hasbro. Doesn't mean they go together, though Waverider is black as onyx can be.

Emerje

Onyx is not paired with Waverider. Onyx's sculpting is all new, while Waverider is a retool of Cloudburst, so the Prime Master, whoever it is, will resemble the latter.

[partholon]

those new pics make him look ALOT better.

i still wont be getting im as ive got the G1 version (with all his nice die cast metal weight) but the engineering thats gone into the lad is fantastic making him pop some serious poses.

plus i love the sholder guns.

TBH i doubt the lad will get a release in ireland, trypsie was the only titan class we ever got here at retail but if he slips through like the box set of computron did and he's going for a ridic price like he did i cant say i wont be tempeted to pick him up.

be just a matter of finding fecking room for him.

[Brokebot]

I will be getting him with all the money I save letting the Bayformers and Cheapobatallions rot on the shelves. Admittedly, the animal modes are a bit weak, but that's not much of an issue for me as they'll be in combined mode on my shelf.


Knuckle spikes would have been nice, though.

[Qwan]

If or when I do end up getting Predaking, you can bet I'll be supergluing grey Lego cones to his knuckles. Should work well enough for me, seeing as I have no actual customizing skills and just doing that will hopefully look decent enough. I don't need his hands to store inside the feet if that's the reason he doesn't have 'em in the first place; I just want Predaking not to look like someone held him down and clipped his nails like a housecat.