The Energon Pub

[LinaNui]

More pictures of Sideways where he’s much better transformed than in the Chefatron review, note that the head sits much higher and the backpack can compress more:

72C40A0D-825A-4CD7-A50E-9DE26E2B91C3.jpeg

Oh now that looks so much better. Can not wait to get this guy and Galvatron!

[o.supreme]

Just a fun observation regarding the numbering system:

Hasbro had many exclusive SS deco variants not released by TT which caused Hasbro's numbering system to be much higher for a long time. (The first 8 SS releases lined up between both Hasbro and TT, but starting with SS-09 Thundercracker from Hasbro, it became more and more distant with each Hasbro exclusive)

However, Hasbro also used the 86XX system for toys from TF:TM, which TT also didn't follow, but they have released all those toys. Lastly, TT has incorporated the numbering system into SS Core toys where Hasbro did not.

All these events combined have caused Hasbro & TT's SS Numbering system to *almost* realign again

TF:TM Sludge is TT SS-89, which means TT SS-90 will likely be BB Thundercracker, and TT SS-91 be AoE Galvatron , just one number off

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Sideways looks nicer in those photos, I figured the backpack would work like that. Stupid earlier reviewers/leakers with mistransformations.

Scored big today. I have obtained DotM Ratchet, the final retail SS figure I did not own. I cannot wait to assemble the squads when i can finally unpack the SS guys.

[william-james88]

So if Thundercracker and Galvatron are 89and 90, I wonder what 87 and 88 are? One may be the leaked Sideways? Not sure about the other

As a 1987 baby I'm hoping SS87 is something tailored to my interests like ROTF Breakway!

Isn't SS87 the rereleased AOE BB in the Buzzworthy line?

[EvasionModeBumblebee]

Sideways looks nicer in those photos, I figured the backpack would work like that. Stupid earlier reviewers/leakers with mistransformations.

Scored big today. I have obtained DotM Ratchet, the final retail SS figure I did not own. I cannot wait to assemble the squads when i can finally unpack the SS guys.

Nice! DOTM Ratchet is one of my favorites.

Isn't SS87 the rereleased AOE BB in the Buzzworthy line?

The rereleased High Octane Bee is SS-79. DOTM Bumblebee and Sideways likely have the SS-87/88 numbers

[TF-fan kev777]

So if Thundercracker and Galvatron are 89and 90, I wonder what 87 and 88 are? One may be the leaked Sideways? Not sure about the other

As a 1987 baby I'm hoping SS87 is something tailored to my interests like ROTF Breakway!

Isn't SS87 the rereleased AOE BB in the Buzzworthy line?

Yep, High Octane Bee was 79. My guess is 87 will be an exclusive.

[william-james88]

So if Thundercracker and Galvatron are 89and 90, I wonder what 87 and 88 are? One may be the leaked Sideways? Not sure about the other

As a 1987 baby I'm hoping SS87 is something tailored to my interests like ROTF Breakway!

Isn't SS87 the rereleased AOE BB in the Buzzworthy line?

Yep, High Octane Bee was 79. My guess is 87 will be an exclusive.

Thanks guys, I had my numbers mixed up.

[SpaceEagle]

More pictures of Sideways where he’s much better transformed than in the Chefatron review, note that the head sits much higher and the backpack can compress more:

72C40A0D-825A-4CD7-A50E-9DE26E2B91C3.jpeg

14FAB34A-83CB-4AAE-AE56-B4FA2884A9BD.jpeg

Thank you for this. Had a feeling something seemed really off about the backpack being that egregious. I know movie bots can't always have the cleanest look due to how complicated their CGI models are but that butt bumper would've really killed the look!

[EvasionModeBumblebee]

Sam Smith brings us 360 renders and more details on SS Galvatron! https://www.instagram.com/p/CdMoATBFlDv/

Notably, he includes the alt mode rocket launcher seen in the movie, which we didn't know about until now. I think it's neat that he has some back detailign in bot mode too!

The kibble on the back of the truck in alt mode is a little unfortunate, but I can understand how difficult it would be to translate this design into a figure.

[william-james88]

Hasbro designer Sam Smith is now full on revealing toys on Instagram. Now we have Hasbro's official Studio Series SS-90 Age Of Extinction Galvatron reveal with concept images showing how accurate the sculpt is compared to the movie model along with lots of info on the design process. We also have a 360 youtube video at the bottom.

SS-90 Age of Extinction Galvatron

“That is why I have no fear! I am GALVATRON!”

Well this release came about prematurely, but its official SS Voyager Wave 3 is here. So lets get into the details on Galvatron! AOE introduced a total redesign for our core bots, along with a major aesthetic change to help refresh some of the design. While the look of these bots were fantastic, there was certainly a new engineering challenge that was presented in terms of how these guys were going to transform. To make that even more difficult, enters Galvatron.

Galvatron was the reforge body of Megatron by K.S.I. who would utilize matter shifting to transform into his first earth bound vehicle form, a Freightliner Argosy (which would later be reused by Paramount as Dr. Robotnik’s convoy in the first Sonic Movie). Absolutely none of the vehicle mode is present on Galvatron’s robot design, so Takara had their work cut out for them with this design. Regardless, it was absolutely amazing to get Frank Welker to make his return as the theatrical voice of this character.

Thankfully, Yuya Onishi was up to the task. Yuya has been such a fantastic design partner at TT, and this figure was no exception. Yuya and the team got to work on a pretty faithful design plan that would do a pretty substantial job of eliminating most of the exposed vehicle paneling from the robot mode, while retaining a fully licensed vehicle design. We were able to maintain his difficult arm cannon, while also including a removable missile cluster that could be mounted to the figures arm, or loaded onto the side fairing of the truck as it was used in the film.

For the deco of the figure, I took learning from the existing AOE design, and knew where the shortfalls were on the molded silver plastic. I tried to work more from the matte base color of the truck, so that I could allocated most of the paint operations to the robot mode. I think this figure would benefit from a bit more paint, but he used up the budget quick since none of the truck paint really carries over to the robot mode which isn’t often the case.

All in all, I am pretty happy with how this figure came out given the number of challenges that it faced, and I look forward to tackling more of the AOE designs. I mean, if we can figure out Galvatron, the rest of them should be a cake walk.

[whacko]

It just looks... bad.

The square frame behind the robot mode chest give this figure one-step changer vibes, and the kibble on the back of the truck mode doesn't even pretend to not be robot parts they couldn't find a place to store. If you're gonna put robot feet on the back of a truck at least do it G1 Prime style. Sure they'll still look like obvious feet, but at least it doesn't break the silhouette of the truck.

[jtanimator]

Holy mother of monkey milk….that is a seriously ugly figure. It’s absolutely astounding to me that there are people defending it. I haven’t seen a figure in a really long time that has such little redeeming qualities about it visually. In both modes. Dear gosh.

[jtanimator]

It just looks... bad.

The square frame behind the robot mode chest give this figure one-step changer vibes, and the kibble on the back of the truck mode doesn't even pretend to not be robot parts they couldn't find a place to store. If you're gonna put robot feet on the back of a truck at least do it G1 Prime style. Sure they'll still look like obvious feet, but at least it doesn't break the silhouette of the truck.

Haha this made me laugh out loud. I was JUST on another forum mentioning how it looks exactly like a 2011 one step changer in both modes. Thank heavens I’m not going crazy.

[ZeroWolf]

Its because of the initial design not being made to transform like normal. The only way they would be more accurate would be putting more money into it, which would come with other problems.

Still, I like it for what the designers are trying to achieve and how they reduced the back pack from the original Voyager. The feet thing I can overlook quite easily.

[Barricade.it]

Well... no.

As others have already said, the back part of the robot makes it all appear boxy.
In the alt mode, those two "things" on the rear have nothing to do with the original design and have no reason to be.

It's clear that Galvatron was a difficult job: but this isn't a great figure.

[-Kanrabat-]

Considering that impossible design had to be worked in voyager size and budget, it's a valiant effort. I can forgive the bot cancer growth as a "trailer hitch" for the truck mode, but the boxy chest is indeed an eyesore. Yet they reduced the backpack to a minimum and even added bot details on the back which makes me very forgiving of the boxy chest.

I'll be preordering that Galvatron for sure. That transformation will be a blast!

[ZeroWolf]

Considering that impossible design had to be worked in voyager size and budget, it's a valiant effort. I can forgive the bot cancer growth as a "trailer hitch" for the truck mode, but the boxy chest is indeed an eyesore. Yet they reduced the backpack to a minimum and even added bot details on the back which makes me very forgiving of the boxy chest.

I'll be preordering that Galvatron for sure. That transformation will be a blast!

Agreed, seems people were expecting the impossible for some reason (especially at that price point)

[Hellscream9999]

Almost every bay-former has the front on silhouette ruined by a backpack (dino comes to mind), I don't know why this figure is receiving all the hate, the figure is otherwise impossible to engineer, especially at such a small scale. If the prevailing design ethos was: "if it can't be done perfectly, don't bother doing it at all", we wouldn't have any bayformers ever

[Barricade.it]

The problem is not the backpack itself: the problem is that the lower part of the squared shape is exacùtly where the pelvis begins: so it looks kinda a cube with a robot inside...

[Cyber Bishop]

Ugly figure not my taste, those who like it enjoy!!

[EvasionModeBumblebee]

I’m really impressed with how clean they got bot mode, It’s really cool that he actually has back detailing with the chest hole!

[Emerje]

The problem is not the backpack itself: the problem is that the lower part of the squared shape is exacùtly where the pelvis begins: so it looks kinda a cube with a robot inside...

I suspect it wont quite have that same silhouette in hand. Just look at how much it changed just turning his waist and leaning him forward a bit.



I think there's probably more of a gap between his really big (screen accurate) hips and the squaring off of his lower torso that doesn't come across so well in a flat photo.

Emerje

[william-james88]

The problem is not the backpack itself: the problem is that the lower part of the squared shape is exacùtly where the pelvis begins: so it looks kinda a cube with a robot inside...

Yes, hence why people equate this to a one step design where you basically have a robot mode sculpted on a facade (which looks really like that when you compare the CG model with the toy side to side).

There is nice sculpted detail and the transformation will be really something, I am looking forward to that. I do still enjoy that prevous voyager, it has one of the best truck modes of all time.

[SpaceEagle]

Honestly for the price point, its budget, the sheer lack of defined truck parts on the robot mode, AND the extremely impossible to replicate transformation sequence...I think they genuinely knocked it out of the park. I do think the arms feel a bit shrimpy because of the box bod...but it still looks really nice and isn't a shellformer like the AoE toy, and it still manages to avoid a lot of kibble in the robot mode which really shocks me with how there are no truck bits in the CGI model. Honestly the bits on the back of the truck barely bother me (the front looks fantastic - who stares at a cab's hitch anyway?) especially if it resulted in such a kibble-free robo bro. Definitely picking him up.

[TulioDude]

He looks good overall.He just could use a little more bulk to his arms.Makes me wish they used a leader class spot for him,so that they could use more plastic for his design.



Day 857 of waiting for Transformers Armada Masterpiece news.