The Energon Pub

[Sabrblade]

Look closely. Sound it out.

Lol That's funny...And sad.

I don't get it.

An extra "B" got inside the name.

Hasbro has been giving us too many B's since 2007.

[Emerje]

Look closely. Sound it out.

Lol That's funny...And sad.

I don't get it.

An extra "B" got inside the name.

Hasbro has been giving us too many B's since 2007.

Emerje

[-Kanrabat-]

Speaking of that gray Jeep Bee, I may pick this up to customise into "young Hound."

Now that's a repaint I wouldn't have minded, and might have actually bought. Although I would rather get an accurate version of G1 Hound.

We may get a SS86 Hound or something. With that Bee, I want to make a Bayverse Hound as he should have been. What we got in AoE and TlK was BULKHEAD, not "Hound". Stupid marketing suits deciding random things...

[Deadput]

Speaking of that gray Jeep Bee, I may pick this up to customise into "young Hound."

Now that's a repaint I wouldn't have minded, and might have actually bought. Although I would rather get an accurate version of G1 Hound.

We may get a SS86 Hound or something. With that Bee, I want to make a Bayverse Hound as he should have been. What we got in AoE and TlK was BULKHEAD, not "Hound". Stupid marketing suits deciding random things...

Wasn't Animated Bulkhead inspired by Hound in the first place? If anything it's kinda roundabout.

[TF-fan kev777]

Speaking of that gray Jeep Bee, I may pick this up to customise into "young Hound."

Now that's a repaint I wouldn't have minded, and might have actually bought. Although I would rather get an accurate version of G1 Hound.

We may get a SS86 Hound or something. With that Bee, I want to make a Bayverse Hound as he should have been. What we got in AoE and TlK was BULKHEAD, not "Hound". Stupid marketing suits deciding random things...

Wasn't Animated Bulkhead inspired by Hound in the first place? If anything it's kinda roundabout.

I'm pretty sure Animated Bulkhead pre-dates Age of Extinction, so I don't think that is possible unless I'm missing something. Animated Bulkhead had a voyager toy in 2008, well before the movies with Hound.

[-Kanrabat-]

Speaking of that gray Jeep Bee, I may pick this up to customise into "young Hound."

Now that's a repaint I wouldn't have minded, and might have actually bought. Although I would rather get an accurate version of G1 Hound.

We may get a SS86 Hound or something. With that Bee, I want to make a Bayverse Hound as he should have been. What we got in AoE and TlK was BULKHEAD, not "Hound". Stupid marketing suits deciding random things...

Wasn't Animated Bulkhead inspired by Hound in the first place? If anything it's kinda roundabout.

I'm pretty sure Animated Bulkhead pre-dates Age of Extinction, so I don't think that is possible unless I'm missing something. Animated Bulkhead had a voyager toy in 2008, well before the movies with Hound.

You may be missing a page here. What the voyager toys have anything to do with this? AoE/TLK Hound IS Animated/Prime Bulkhead all the way, but some suits went for a "G1" name for reasons.

Further back, some say that Animated Bulkhead was "inspired" by G1 Hound but appart the color, I don't see any resemblance.

[TulioDude]

Speaking of that gray Jeep Bee, I may pick this up to customise into "young Hound."

Now that's a repaint I wouldn't have minded, and might have actually bought. Although I would rather get an accurate version of G1 Hound.

We may get a SS86 Hound or something. With that Bee, I want to make a Bayverse Hound as he should have been. What we got in AoE and TlK was BULKHEAD, not "Hound". Stupid marketing suits deciding random things...

I going to disagree with this.I can see the argument with the green colors,the AOE vehicle mode and both robots being perceived as fat,but I see them as different characters.One consistent Bulkhead trait is that he like to rely on physical strenght while having a soft spot for kids,while Hound,is for me like a mechanized John Goodman with an affinity for firearms.

[-Kanrabat-]

Maybe not personally wise, but the looks were on point.

[DeathReviews]

"A Studio Series figure nobody could have predicted".... I'm not sure whether that was sarcastic or not. Because, yeah - another Bumblebee figure? Who could have predicted that?

[ZeroWolf]

"A Studio Series figure nobody could have predicted".... I'm not sure whether that was sarcastic or not. Because, yeah - another Bumblebee figure? Who could have predicted that?

I think it was more that it was a grey Bumblebee from the jeep mold, not that it was another bee.

[Till-all-R1]

Since Hasbro likes mold reuse whenever they can and this one has yet to see it, the safe bet was a BB repaint versus any other character due to his popularity. Who else could it have been really?

[Sabrblade]

Since Hasbro likes mold reuse whenever they can and this one has yet to see it, the safe bet was a BB repaint versus any other character due to his popularity. Who else could it have been really?

Literally any other Jeep-moded character given the Movieverse treatment?

People were calling for Hound and Swindle back when the first version of this Jeep mold was first unveiled.

[o.supreme]

I am not a SS collector, so I may be off a bit, but wasn't the original intent to have representations of characters as close to their on screen appearance as possible? I mean I know there have been deviations both as characters that never appeared in film, or color/design variants that didn't as well. It seems each time this happens there's pushback from fans for good or ill. If Hasbro I think would just state publicly what we all know they are doing, even if that changes the original intent of the SS line, I think it would at least subside most of the negative chatter that comes from quick repaints. You may lose some collectors, but at least the same argument won't happen endlessly.

[Sabrblade]

I am not a SS collector, so I may be off a bit, but wasn't the original intent to have representations of characters as close to their on screen appearance as possible? I mean I know there have been deviations both as characters that never appeared in film, or color/design variants that didn't as well. It seems each time this happens there's pushback from fans for good or ill. If Hasbro I think would just state publicly what we all know they are doing, even if that changes the original intent of the SS line, I think it would at least subside most of the negative chatter that comes from quick repaints. You may lose some collectors, but at least the same argument won't happen endlessly.

It is theorized that this strange Bumblebee redeco with no onscreen precedence was probably supposed to be a Universal Studios exclusive (what with TF: The Ride being the only thing left that still pushes the Autobots' partnership with N.E.S.T., which hasn't been a thing since DOTM ten years ago), but that Covid may have rerouted it to the main line instead.

[TF-fan kev777]

I am not a SS collector, so I may be off a bit, but wasn't the original intent to have representations of characters as close to their on screen appearance as possible? I mean I know there have been deviations both as characters that never appeared in film, or color/design variants that didn't as well. It seems each time this happens there's pushback from fans for good or ill. If Hasbro I think would just state publicly what we all know they are doing, even if that changes the original intent of the SS line, I think it would at least subside most of the negative chatter that comes from quick repaints. You may lose some collectors, but at least the same argument won't happen endlessly.

I actually don't think the intent of Studio Series has changed all that much, aside from the obvious partial takeover of SS86 and the very odd re-use of AoE Bee. There have always been some repaints/remolds within the line, but they have mainly been used on characters that have been in multiple movies and had their decos changed between films (Starscream, Ratchet, Sideswipe OP, Bee). Most of the redecos had the benefit of another film to tie to. The exclusives have been the oddballs and all repaints, so NEST Bee being a Universal release re-routed to the main line makes sense.

Since SS has always had a mix of redecos over the course of a year, I think we are seeing now is that because almost all the SS86 bots are by definition new molds, regular SS gets stuck with the repaint/remold slots needed to make the overall line fit Hasbro's budget/plan. However, they have pretty much run out of deluxes to redeco from previous SS deluxes that were actually in the films. The rumored re-release of TLK Crosshairs like AoE Bee would also fit my theory. I have absolutely no proof, but it does sort of fit what we are seeing. That could also be why none of these are being revealed on a Fan First Friday. The comments would not be kind.

[Rodimus Prime]

since DOTM ten years ago

For some reason that just hit me like a bucket of cold water. DoTM was 10 years ago. A decade ago. I still remember going to BotCon 2011 and getting a sneak preview of it. And then seeing in theaters 3 times. Time flies.

[o.supreme]

Nice I attended Botcon 2011 as well. My son was 5 and seeing most of the Autobot cars from DOTM there was pretty cool. ( Even if the movie itself wasn't great) I still have pics and video of his reactions..Priceless .

[william-james88]

"A Studio Series figure nobody could have predicted".... I'm not sure whether that was sarcastic or not. Because, yeah - another Bumblebee figure? Who could have predicted that?

I think it was more that it was a grey Bumblebee from the jeep mold, not that it was another bee.

Yeah, that it was not representing anything onscreen.

Since Hasbro likes mold reuse whenever they can and this one has yet to see it, the safe bet was a BB repaint versus any other character due to his popularity. Who else could it have been really?

Could have been that same mold with the mask, and battle damage, and John Cena running instead of Sam.

Or anyone else that's a jeep.

[EvasionModeBumblebee]

since DOTM ten years ago

For some reason that just hit me like a bucket of cold water. DoTM was 10 years ago. A decade ago. I still remember going to BotCon 2011 and getting a sneak preview of it. And then seeing in theaters 3 times. Time flies.

It’s great that we got Dino for DOTM’s 10th, but that’s the only DOTM figure we got this year, which is actually a substantial decrease in figures from that movie since SS started. It’s a little annoying that we got several fan firsts non-stop gushing about the 86 movie for its anniversary and nothing at all for DOTM, the highest grossing TF movie (and also the best one, but that’s just my opinion).

Still though, I am glad we got Dino and that it’s a great figure! Hopefully it’s not too long before we get Que, Hatchet, and DOTM Bee in Studio Series.

[Sabrblade]

since DOTM ten years ago

For some reason that just hit me like a bucket of cold water. DoTM was 10 years ago. A decade ago. I still remember going to BotCon 2011 and getting a sneak preview of it. And then seeing in theaters 3 times. Time flies.

Nice I attended Botcon 2011 as well. My son was 5 and seeing most of the Autobot cars from DOTM there was pretty cool. ( Even if the movie itself wasn't great) I still have pics and video of his reactions..Priceless .

I was there too. I was screaming at the top of my lungs over Waspinator's fan-voted victory at the 2011 Hall of Fame. I even managed to buy a Telemocha Series Waspinator and paraded it around the next morning, proclaiming his rightful victory loud and proud.

Oh, and the DOTM sneak peak at the Hall of Fame was incredible (alas, that's all from that movie that I can say was "incredible").

[Rodimus Prime]

the DOTM sneak peak at the Hall of Fame was incredible (alas, that's all from that movie that I can say was "incredible").

Well it was basically the 1st 5 minutes of the movie with no dialogue (I can't remember if it had background music) followed by some fast cuts of action scenes from the movie. Then Michael Bay's horrible acceptance speech (and I sat 2 seats away from him in the audience, right behind Brian Goldner) followed by the character inductions, which were the best part. At least that's the order I remember. It was a decade ago.

As for that being the only incredible thing, I'll have to say that even though the story had its faults and most of the characters (especially Shockwave and Megatron) were grossly misused, we did get a great movie character (and possibly best Bayverse villain) in Sentinel Prime, who I believe got a great SS voyager figure a few years ago. Leader Shockwave is also a top notch piece, but the leader Megatron could have been better.

Now that I'm thinking about it, can you guys list your top 5 SS figures all classes included, if possible? Unless it's been done recently...

[-Kanrabat-]

My top 5 Bayverse SS? I didn't bought much but I bought enough to fill a list. Those I consider absolutely flawless in both appearance and pleasure to handle without anything popping off or annoying steps:

Sentinel Prime, '07 Jazz, Jetfire, DotM Soundwave, (cheating here) DEVASTATOR!!!

[Rodimus Prime]

Devastator was officially sold as 1 figure, so he counts.

[-Kanrabat-]

Devastator was officially sold as 1 figure, so he counts.

Certainly. That's how I got him as SS69, having skipped on the individual releases.

[TF-fan kev777]

Now that I'm thinking about it, can you guys list your top 5 SS figures all classes included, if possible? Unless it's been done recently...

I've got almost the whole line, so I can go top 5 for each class and then see which of them win the rumble for top 5 overall (Devy can join the Rumble on his own as well).

Deluxe:
5 KSI Sentry (I like him slightly better than Stinger, the spinny discs annoy me)
4 ROTF Bee
3 Jazz
2 Jeep Bee
1 Car Dropkick

Voyager
5 2007 Megatron
4 Thrust (like the deco more than Screamer)
3 2007/RotF Starscream (either one)
2 Sentinel Prime
1 Scrapper

Leader
5 Grindor
4 Scavenger
3 Grimlock
2 DOTM Prime
1 Overload

Overall
5 Devastator
4 Sentinel Prime
3 Overload
2 Car Dropkick
1 Scrapper

Yep, I like both Scrapper and Overload more than Devy, but Devy more than most of the other figures overall.