The Energon Pub

We can always rely on Chuck to give us the reviews for the newest toys and once again he delivers. Here is what he has for us this time: One Step Drift, Fracture and the highly anticipated Thunderhoof.

With each subsequent wave the RID One-Step changers keep getting better. Drift is a nice scaled down version of the Warrior Class mold while Thunderhoof is a great representation of the animated design. All three are highly recommended but if you only buy one Fracture is it due to how tightly the Motorcycle mode comes together.

william-james88 wrote:

Armentitron wrote:And here in Australia we're still paying $30 AUD apiece.

We're paying 20$ in canada. It's come to the point where both for me and you, we might as well just order the takara stuff from amiami.

Also, since I just listend to the Nenemis podcast episode, I am sure J0n is super thrilled to hear K Mart has a great price drop on TFs.

$20CAD is the equivilant to $16USD, which is what these usually sell for in the States... you're paying no more than us.
$30AUD is ridiculous on the otherhand. It's basically the same price in CAD

william-james88 wrote:

carytheone wrote:I noticed something that that low quality pic didn't show well. This is a temporary price drop until 5/30.

Better start strong arming those other retailers sooner than later.

Smart, I didnt catch that! Now I am wondering why they call it a price drop and not just a sale.

Who knows? I don't have a KMart that's close, so I'm not familiar with their marketing.

I was in a hurry this morning to get where I was going, but went back to consider a purchase. I figured I best share that additonal info.

Pretty cool custom:

william-james88 wrote:Pretty cool custom:

Only that it looses the awesome fork for a more ordinary-looking scoop.

Sabrblade wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Pretty cool custom:

Only that it looses the awesome fork for a more ordinary-looking scoop.

Personally, I really hope the upcoming warrior figure uses the fork FOR the antlers (like splitting it and angling it).

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Pretty cool custom:

Only that it looses the awesome fork for a more ordinary-looking scoop.

Personally, I really hope the upcoming warrior figure uses the fork FOR the antlers (like splitting it and angling it).

So do I. Hopefully it comes with a weapon too.

I can't seem to remember, but have any if the bad guys been announced as Warrior class figures? Obviously there is the wolfie oone.

I dig the beast bot that turns into a car idea.

carytheone wrote:I can't seem to remember, but have any if the bad guys been announced as Warrior class figures? Obviously there is the wolfie oone.

I dig the beast bot that turns into a car idea.

Yup, Megatronus, Quillfire and Thunderhoof (YES!). And Steeljaw was in wave 1. Takara has 2 other warrior class villains as redecos.

william-james88 wrote:

carytheone wrote:I can't seem to remember, but have any if the bad guys been announced as Warrior class figures? Obviously there is the wolfie oone.

I dig the beast bot that turns into a car idea.

Yup, Megatronus, Quillfire and Thunderhoof (YES!). And Steeljaw was in wave 1. Takara has 2 other warrior class villains as redecos.

Cool, I'm not familiar with the first two. I'll have to hit Google up for that. Thanks.

I'm hoping for that crabby guy. You can probably tell I haven't been able to catch as much if the show as I would have liked to.

Don't want them even with the price drop. I guess Hasbro's strategy to grab little kids and neglect the adult collectors backfired on them.

Siger wrote:Don't want them even with the price drop. I guess Hasbro's strategy to grab little kids and neglect the adult collectors backfired on them.

You call the Masterpiece line and Combiner Wars neglect?

william-james88 wrote:

Siger wrote:Don't want them even with the price drop. I guess Hasbro's strategy to grab little kids and neglect the adult collectors backfired on them.

You call the Masterpiece line and Combiner Wars neglect?

Personally I think one step changers shouldnt exist. Its budget wasted that they could design more deluxe class figures. Kids dont want that dumbed down crap, they want the big boy version. I wish Hasbro would take it back to the old school and just make one mold for every character that is ages 5 and up. Buy the 2 year old baby a teddy bear, not a transformer. Seriously...

Rated X wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Siger wrote:Don't want them even with the price drop. I guess Hasbro's strategy to grab little kids and neglect the adult collectors backfired on them.

You call the Masterpiece line and Combiner Wars neglect?

Personally I think one step changers shouldnt exist. Its budget wasted that they could design more deluxe class figures. Kids dont want that dumbed down crap, they want the big boy version. I wish Hasbro would take it back to the old school and just make one mold for every character that is ages 5 and up. Buy the 2 year old baby a teddy bear, not a transformer. Seriously...

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Rated X wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Siger wrote:Don't want them even with the price drop. I guess Hasbro's strategy to grab little kids and neglect the adult collectors backfired on them.

You call the Masterpiece line and Combiner Wars neglect?

Personally I think one step changers shouldnt exist. Its budget wasted that they could design more deluxe class figures. Kids dont want that dumbed down crap, they want the big boy version. I wish Hasbro would take it back to the old school and just make one mold for every character that is ages 5 and up. Buy the 2 year old baby a teddy bear, not a transformer. Seriously...

Yeah, I agree. I think the one step changers would be fun for lil kid me. Watching them change back and forth with just a few simple movements. Trying to figure out the mechanics of it. Hell, I wish I could get my hands on some without dropping the cash.

I agree that the wee ones need simple-formers, but why must they be bricks?
The original BW Rattrap and Terrorsaur were hella fun, simple, and posable to boot. I'd buy every one-step they make if they were like that.

carytheone wrote:Yeah, I agree. I think the one step changers would be fun for lil kid me. Watching them change back and forth with just a few simple movements. Trying to figure out the mechanics of it. Hell, I wish I could get my hands on some without dropping the cash.

Don't be stingy. Just wait for a sale and go nut! That's what I did. Some one-steps are amazing designs like AOE Helicopter Drift. They are excellent desk toys and a lot of fun to transform. Despite what the Master Complainer and his ilk said, the 1steps are there since G1 and are here to stay. I'm a bit partial at having the same characetrs in Power Battler forms, but the 1 steps are pure genius and fun. When kids want to go ZOOOOMMMM KRIKOUKRIK PEWPEWPEW in 3 seconds for awesome action scenes, the 1 steps deliver.

Sigh... I just find pathetic SOME drama queens that talk as if the 1 steps are taking away their precious "serious" TFs.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

carytheone wrote:Yeah, I agree. I think the one step changers would be fun for lil kid me. Watching them change back and forth with just a few simple movements. Trying to figure out the mechanics of it. Hell, I wish I could get my hands on some without dropping the cash.

Don't be stingy. Just wait for a sale and go nut! That's what I did. Some one-steps are amazing designs like AOE Helicopter Drift. They are excellent desk toys and a lot of fun to transform. Despite what the Master Complainer and his ilk said, the 1steps are there since G1 and are here to stay. I'm a bit partial at having the same characetrs in Power Battler forms, but the 1 steps are pure genius and fun. When kids want to go ZOOOOMMMM KRIKOUKRIK PEWPEWPEW in 3 seconds for awesome action scenes, the 1 steps deliver.

Sigh... I just find pathetic SOME drama queens that talk as if the 1 steps are taking away their precious "serious" TFs.

I didn't need training wheels on my bike either as a kid...

Rated X wrote:
I didn't need training wheels on my bike either as a kid...

I did, does that mean anything?

Also, those basic beast wars toys were awesome Shajaki! And it was cool to see that make a comeback with animated. The reason Beast Wars will always have done it better is because they were doing characters you could only get in that class. So kids and collectors alike got to experience them. While the difficulty level differed, the fact that all characters were unique or had unique looks between difficulty levels made it open for everyone to try any difficulty level.

Rated X wrote:
I didn't need training wheels on my bike either as a kid...

I didnt needed any traning wheels either. I went straight from the tricycle to the BMX. I may have been 5 or 6 yo at most. I crashed 2 times. My knees were bloody, I hurt, and my gardian asked me if I wanted to give up. I said "bring it on" and succeeded on the 3rd try.

Still, I guess you DID had your TF "training wheels" like me. I bet you're a old school geewunner. Go bots and G1 Tfs were pretty easy and did transform in just a few seconds. I also remember having plenty of fun with those TFs that were spring-charged. They rolled than BAM! transformed in a jump! You had fun as a kid. So, must I understand you want to deny today's kids their fun?

william-james88 wrote:

Rated X wrote:
I didn't need training wheels on my bike either as a kid...

I did, does that mean anything?

Also, those basic beast wars toys were awesome Shajaki! And it was cool to see that make a comeback with animated. The reason Beast Wars will always have done it better is because they were doing characters you could only get in that class. So kids and collectors alike got to experience them. While the difficulty level differed, the fact that all characters were unique or had unique looks between difficulty levels made it open for everyone to try any difficulty level.

My point is that one step changers, fast action battlers, shampoo bottle warriors, or whatever Hasbro chooses to call them are dumb.

We didn't have this junk in G1. Sure back then the figures were easier to transform. But back then we had faith in our little ones and didnt insult them with dumbed down versions of the same character big brother has. I am not suggesting that all figures be as complex as Bayverse figures, but I dont think a young kid should have problems figuring out how to transform Armada Starscreem, Generations Scoop or any of the RID Deluxe Figures. They dont need the dumb stuff. Just my opinion...

william-james88 wrote:

Siger wrote:Don't want them even with the price drop. I guess Hasbro's strategy to grab little kids and neglect the adult collectors backfired on them.

You call the Masterpiece line and Combiner Wars neglect?

Considering how seldom you find those lines in stores, yes, neglect would be a perfect term.

Optimum Supreme wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Siger wrote:Don't want them even with the price drop. I guess Hasbro's strategy to grab little kids and neglect the adult collectors backfired on them.

You call the Masterpiece line and Combiner Wars neglect?

Considering how seldom you find those lines in stores, yes, neglect would be a perfect term.

Dont know about you but all my walmarts and toysrus are filled to the brim with deluxes and voyagers from AOE, generations (so many sjybytes and roadbusters) and Combiner Wars wave 1, neither of which are targetted for little kids.

Rated X wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Rated X wrote:
I didn't need training wheels on my bike either as a kid...

I did, does that mean anything?

Also, those basic beast wars toys were awesome Shajaki! And it was cool to see that make a comeback with animated. The reason Beast Wars will always have done it better is because they were doing characters you could only get in that class. So kids and collectors alike got to experience them. While the difficulty level differed, the fact that all characters were unique or had unique looks between difficulty levels made it open for everyone to try any difficulty level.

My point is that one step changers, fast action battlers, shampoo bottle warriors, or whatever Hasbro chooses to call them are dumb.

We didn't have this junk in G1. Sure back then the figures were easier to transform. But back then we had faith in our little ones and didnt insult them with dumbed down versions of the same character big brother has. I am not suggesting that all figures be as complex as Bayverse figures, but I dont think a young kid should have problems figuring out how to transform Armada Starscreem, Generations Scoop or any of the RID Deluxe Figures. They dont need the dumb stuff. Just my opinion...

Ahem...

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Topspin_%28G1%29


http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Runabout


http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Action_Masters


Need I say more?

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Rated X wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Rated X wrote:
I didn't need training wheels on my bike either as a kid...

I did, does that mean anything?

Also, those basic beast wars toys were awesome Shajaki! And it was cool to see that make a comeback with animated. The reason Beast Wars will always have done it better is because they were doing characters you could only get in that class. So kids and collectors alike got to experience them. While the difficulty level differed, the fact that all characters were unique or had unique looks between difficulty levels made it open for everyone to try any difficulty level.

My point is that one step changers, fast action battlers, shampoo bottle warriors, or whatever Hasbro chooses to call them are dumb.

We didn't have this junk in G1. Sure back then the figures were easier to transform. But back then we had faith in our little ones and didnt insult them with dumbed down versions of the same character big brother has. I am not suggesting that all figures be as complex as Bayverse figures, but I dont think a young kid should have problems figuring out how to transform Armada Starscreem, Generations Scoop or any of the RID Deluxe Figures. They dont need the dumb stuff. Just my opinion...

Ahem...

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Topspin_%28G1%29


http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Runabout


http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Action_Masters


Need I say more?

I guess I need to quote myself a couple times since you disregarded the basis of my comment...

Rated X wrote:Sure back then the figures were easier to transform.

By saying this, I acknowledged all the above existed in G1. Those were never really targeted just for smaller children, they were one size fits all. It's just the engineering was that bad in the 80's for mini bots and similar sized characters.

Rated X wrote:dumbed down versions of the same character big brother has.

So with that being said, do we really need a different Bumblebee for every year from ages 2-10 ???

Back then we got one Topspin, one Runabout, one Banzitron. Not 5 different versions encouraging kids not to exercise their brains.