The Energon Pub

I get a tad bit obsessive as to the amount of retooling on toys and how extensive a retool is.
Maybe not all know, but with the G1 toys, Top Spin and Twintwist only shared the same gimmick/transformation. Mold wise they were completely different toys sharing no parts (granted there werent many parts)



But with Titans Return, they are far more similar since the retooling isnt as extensive as I first thought. The different tooling is found in the titanmaster face, the head(s) of the vehicle and the arms. But everything aside from that is the same mold. So the entire torso and legs.





Also, does anyone know if the colours of their kneepads reference another design? Because they stray from the G1 toy colours (moreso Topspin)

william-james88 wrote:

Also, does anyone know if the colours of their kneepads reference another design? Because they stray from the G1 toy colours (moreso Topspin)

Well, uh... his Diaclone versions had... orange and yellow kneepads, respectively, so uh...

Yeah I got nothin'.

(But for reference, the Diaclone versions:)

Maybe IDW?

*looks*

Na. Idk, maybe they just felt a need to make something look different in order to justify the fact that they are Hasbro and they always are supposed to get SOMETHING wrong in the colors.

The colors are close approximations to those of the stickers used on the G1 toys. The detailing however seems to be all new, especially in the chest. I'm curious about who Freezeout and Flameout are based on.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Was I seeing things or did I see a new mold Pipes under Overlords foot at Toy Fair?

You saw a photoshopped Pipes done as a joke because in MTMTE 15 Overlord stomped Pipes dead

Ah ok, makes perfect sense.

Here's Freezeout/Flameout:



Look familiar? Or is it the first original design for Deluxe Class?

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:I'm curious about who Freezeout and Flameout are based on.

They seem to be a combined homage to both G1 Stakeout and PCC Stakeout, in light of the former having been a Wrecker in "Sins of the Wreckers" (what with the Jumpstarters often being Wreckers themselves).

william-james88 wrote:I get a tad bit obsessive as to the amount of retooling on toys and how extensive a retool is.
Maybe not all know, but with the G1 toys, Top Spin and Twintwist only shared the same gimmick/transformation. Mold wise they were completely different toys sharing no parts (granted there werent many parts)



But with Titans Return, they are far more similar since the retooling isnt as extensive as I first thought. The different tooling is found in the titanmaster face, the head(s) of the vehicle and the arms. But everything aside from that is the same mold. So the entire torso and legs.


Also, does anyone know if the colours of their kneepads reference another design? Because they stray from the G1 toy colours (moreso Topspin)

The two are supposed to be twins right they both look great so what's the problem?

Fandom and the complaints on repaints never nor will they ever make sense to me unless it has a boring color scheme that looks nothing like the character it's supposed to such as Combiner Wars Lightsteed.

Deadput wrote:The two are supposed to be twins right they both look great so what's the problem?

Fandom and the complaints on repaints never nor will they ever make sense to me unless it has a boring color scheme that looks nothing like the character it's supposed to such as Combiner Wars Lightsteed.

In G1 familial relationships were handled a bit differently than today. Back then, it was about similar alt mode (Sideswipe & Sunstreaker, but not Red Alert or the Datsun "triplets"), gimmick (Topspin & Twin Twist) or robot mode design (the Clones) and was more of a story element than anything else. Mold had nothing to do with it, as none of the examples described were retools.
Nowadays, it's "they share molds, so they must be family" or bust. This started in Cybertron I think, where redecos were often described as family to explain their similarity. And that's getting old.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Deadput wrote:The two are supposed to be twins right they both look great so what's the problem?

Fandom and the complaints on repaints never nor will they ever make sense to me unless it has a boring color scheme that looks nothing like the character it's supposed to such as Combiner Wars Lightsteed.

In G1 familial relationships were handled a bit differently than today. Back then, it was about similar alt mode (Sideswipe & Sunstreaker, but not Red Alert or the Datsun "triplets"), gimmick (Topspin & Twin Twist) or robot mode design (the Clones) and was more of a story element than anything else. Mold had nothing to do with it, as none of the examples described were retools.
Nowadays, it's "they share molds, so they must be family" or bust. This started in Cybertron I think, where redecos were often described as family to explain their similarity. And that's getting old.

To be fair... it generally works out well, and I'd rather the two guys who look almost exactly the same be given the same mold and have a new mold go toward someone who really needs it.

Kurona wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Deadput wrote:The two are supposed to be twins right they both look great so what's the problem?

Fandom and the complaints on repaints never nor will they ever make sense to me unless it has a boring color scheme that looks nothing like the character it's supposed to such as Combiner Wars Lightsteed.

In G1 familial relationships were handled a bit differently than today. Back then, it was about similar alt mode (Sideswipe & Sunstreaker, but not Red Alert or the Datsun "triplets"), gimmick (Topspin & Twin Twist) or robot mode design (the Clones) and was more of a story element than anything else. Mold had nothing to do with it, as none of the examples described were retools.
Nowadays, it's "they share molds, so they must be family" or bust. This started in Cybertron I think, where redecos were often described as family to explain their similarity. And that's getting old.

To be fair... it generally works out well, and I'd rather the two guys who look almost exactly the same be given the same mold and have a new mold go toward someone who really needs it.

True that. I should do a mold count between Combiner Wars and Titans Return.

So I picked up Voyager Optimus Prime today, he's now officially my updated Star Convoy, I just hope we get that alternate head as a singles Titan Master.

So what's the story with the symbols on the boxes? By that I mean the flaming fireball symbols on the tops and sides. Both Sentinel and Galvatron had Autobot symbols in wave 1 and Astrotrain and Alpha Trion had Autobot Symbols in wave 2 making it seem like just the way the boxes are designed, but then Megatron and Optimus both have Decepticon symbols on their boxes in wave 3. Isn't that a little strange? Same pattern for Leader waves 1, 2, and 3 and I think wave 4 for Voyagers and Leaders are also toting Decepticon symbols. I wonder what the reasoning is, why not just match them with the character? If I'm not mistaken all of the Combiner Wars figures used Autobot symbols so why switch it up now?

Emerje

It looks like so long as a Titanmaster in head mode can fit in Overlords chest with the legs facing out the look of them will be kind complementary to the Powermaster/Godmaster look.

I wonder why they held off showing the new Titanmasters (other than Ramhorn) isn't there supposed to be an Optimus one too ?

Emerje wrote:So I picked up Voyager Optimus Prime today, he's now officially my updated Star Convoy, I just hope we get that alternate head as a singles Titan Master.

So what's the story with the symbols on the boxes? By that I mean the flaming fireball symbols on the tops and sides. Both Sentinel and Galvatron had Autobot symbols in wave 1 and Astrotrain and Alpha Trion had Autobot Symbols in wave 2 making it seem like just the way the boxes are designed, but then Megatron and Optimus both have Decepticon symbols on their boxes in wave 3. Isn't that a little strange? Same pattern for Leader waves 1, 2, and 3 and I think wave 4 for Voyagers and Leaders are also toting Decepticon symbols. I wonder what the reasoning is, why not just match them with the character? If I'm not mistaken all of the Combiner Wars figures used Autobot symbols so why switch it up now?

Emerje

its just a change with all of wave 3
i think sixshot has it too and the deluxes have a purple outline somewhere on the back

Emerje wrote:So I picked up Voyager Optimus Prime today, he's now officially my updated Star Convoy, I just hope we get that alternate head as a singles Titan Master.

So what's the story with the symbols on the boxes? By that I mean the flaming fireball symbols on the tops and sides. Both Sentinel and Galvatron had Autobot symbols in wave 1 and Astrotrain and Alpha Trion had Autobot Symbols in wave 2 making it seem like just the way the boxes are designed, but then Megatron and Optimus both have Decepticon symbols on their boxes in wave 3. Isn't that a little strange? Same pattern for Leader waves 1, 2, and 3 and I think wave 4 for Voyagers and Leaders are also toting Decepticon symbols. I wonder what the reasoning is, why not just match them with the character? If I'm not mistaken all of the Combiner Wars figures used Autobot symbols so why switch it up now?

Emerje

What do you think of Prime? I'm thinking about picking him, up, but I can't decide. Trying to get people's opinion on him.

RodimusConvoy13 wrote:What do you think of Prime? I'm thinking about picking him, up, but I can't decide. Trying to get people's opinion on him.

You may want to wait for that boxset version, thats what I am doing inorder not to have that same toy twice.

william-james88 wrote:

RodimusConvoy13 wrote:What do you think of Prime? I'm thinking about picking him, up, but I can't decide. Trying to get people's opinion on him.

You may want to wait for that boxset version, thats what I am doing inorder not to have that same toy twice.

I'm not interested in the box set version. I like the look of this one over the G2 version. I was just curious about the quality of the figure.

Qwan wrote:(But for reference, the Diaclone versions:)

Oh I'd rather like those to be made from the 3rd party Mech Ideas moulds they are different enough from Basil & Manuel & Twin Twist & Top Spin and they'd be a nice complement to the fun pub stuff in those colours.

https://tfsource.com/mech-ideas/demolition-crue/

Insurgent wrote:And, quote from somewhere, yes, Overlord is just an upscaled G1 toy. And while he's not a perfect Overlord (I don't like his helmet, it looks doofy like Sixshot's does), he's of a decent size for my shelf and not way, way expensive like the third party one. Which is why I'm more forgiving of this guy than Trypticon being the same.


And, whoever was mentioning about the right chest flap. Takara doesn't need to do anything, you can see that's got a hinge on the outside like the left, so it's safe to say both chests open and store a titan master. Although I would have preferred if his blue was a bit darker, make him a little more menacing.

He looks fine to me The head looks like he looks like in toy terms to me - the only part I don't like is his feet they are a funny shape and to wide the original toy has little purple booties that stick out under the shin covers.

The Leaderclass would actually be a lot smaller than the original toy by a few inches G1 Overlord is a pretty big toy he's 33cm tall where as say Leader class Optimus is 24cm Blaster & Soundwave a 22cm so he's going to be in that sort of size range too. But I don't object to that size at all. I hope Thunderwing isn't off the cards even if he'd require a lot or remoulding to add organic pieces to the chest and legs.

RAR wrote:I wonder why they held off showing the new Titanmasters (other than Ramhorn) isn't there supposed to be an Optimus one too ?

No clue why. They did the same thing lasst time at NYCC where they only showed Perceptor from wave 4 and thus we saw all the others at retail before they were announced last week-end (aside from Kup who had a magazine special).
And they are doing the same mistake now, we will see that Optimus Titan Master and Toraiser at retail before theyshow them at Hascon. Same with Misfire.

william-james88 wrote:

RAR wrote:I wonder why they held off showing the new Titanmasters (other than Ramhorn) isn't there supposed to be an Optimus one too ?

No clue why. They did the same thing lasst time at NYCC where they only showed Perceptor from wave 4 and thus we saw all the others at retail before they were announced last week-end (aside from Kup who had a magazine special).
And they are doing the same mistake now, we will see that Optimus Titan Master and Toraiser at retail before theyshow them at Hascon. Same with Misfire.

I think calling it a 'mistake' is a bit harsh. I like to get some surprises...

Kurona wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

RAR wrote:I wonder why they held off showing the new Titanmasters (other than Ramhorn) isn't there supposed to be an Optimus one too ?

No clue why. They did the same thing lasst time at NYCC where they only showed Perceptor from wave 4 and thus we saw all the others at retail before they were announced last week-end (aside from Kup who had a magazine special).
And they are doing the same mistake now, we will see that Optimus Titan Master and Toraiser at retail before theyshow them at Hascon. Same with Misfire.

I think calling it a 'mistake' is a bit harsh. I like to get some surprises...

But is it still a surprise if you know its coming? We just dont know what it looks like and thus cant budget properly. I say either make it a full on surprise (like that RID Starscream, Paralon and PS Prime) or tell us everything. In the case of the titan masters, the listings and product codes are already in the open, and distributors are allowed by Hasbro to say the contents of the waves to store owners who can then do whatever they want with this info. We just dont have images.

I feel Takara has got it down. They have specific mediums for reveals and never have leaks. Its a really well oiled machine. You get the info when the preorder is available, and they are always available months in advance (unlike Hasbro), you have a dedicated PR twitter (which doesnt seem hard to maintain), and you have associated magazines. And you have seasonal toy shows. We have all the same mediums here but they arent used to this effect or to their best effect possible. Hasbro could use their twitter or better yet facebook for reveals, but dont do it often. They could also use previews magazine, but dont do that either.

Anyways I am ranting off and getting into stuff that wasnt asked.

william-james88 wrote:

Kurona wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

RAR wrote:I wonder why they held off showing the new Titanmasters (other than Ramhorn) isn't there supposed to be an Optimus one too ?

No clue why. They did the same thing lasst time at NYCC where they only showed Perceptor from wave 4 and thus we saw all the others at retail before they were announced last week-end (aside from Kup who had a magazine special).
And they are doing the same mistake now, we will see that Optimus Titan Master and Toraiser at retail before theyshow them at Hascon. Same with Misfire.

I think calling it a 'mistake' is a bit harsh. I like to get some surprises...

But is it still a surprise if you know its coming? We just dont know what it looks like and thus cant budget properly. I say either make it a full on surprise (like that RID Starscream, Paralon and PS Prime) or tell us everything. In the case of the titan masters, the listings and product codes are already in the open, and distributors are allowed by Hasbro to say the contents of the waves to store owners who can then do whatever they want with this info. We just dont have images.

I feel Takara has got it down. They have specific mediums for reveals and never have leaks. Its a really well oiled machine. You get the info when the preorder is available, and they are always available months in advance (unlike Hasbro), you have a dedicated PR twitter (which doesnt seem hard to maintain), and you have associated magazines. And you have seasonal toy shows. We have all the same mediums here but they arent used to this effect or to their best effect possible. Hasbro could use their twitter or better yet facebook for reveals, but dont do it often. They could also use previews magazine, but dont do that either.

Anyways I am ranting off and getting into stuff that wasnt asked.

*shrug* I just prefer getting a surprise on what it looks like, I guess. It's a double edged sword - reveal everything beforehand, and you're able to budget correctly. Don't reveal anything, and then each toy's a surprise. That's why I prefer getting some reveals but not all of them; it's a nice balance.

I kinda felt like the Toy Fair reveals were lack luster due to the rumor mill grinding so hard lately. Still had fun though.

Cobotron wrote:I kinda felt like the Toy Fair reveals were lack luster due to the rumor mill grinding so hard lately. Still had fun though.

Not to mention that there were very few new molds. Overlord, Blitzwing and 'Octone' (ie all the standard Leaders and Voyagers shown off) were all (p)retools of previous figures; as was one of the two new Deluxes shown off, Twin Twist. The only new molds we saw were Seaspray, Ramhorn and Windblade - the former two of which, while lovely, are still small figures and not as incredibly exciting; and Windblade... looks a little odd, and people are kinda fatigued on her by now. I love her, but I know a lot of people hate her and have reason to with how much Hasbro insists on pushing her.

Not to mention the boxsets themselves were disappointing. Nautica especially; she was the one most people here seemed exciting for and... once the initial hype was past, she looked kinda bleh and not a very good representation of the character. There were a few really neat surprises like the Clones being new molds, Ginrai getting a Hasbro release and Metalhawk being kinda cool... but yeah, there just wasn't much mindblowing in the TR department especially since we knew about Trypticon a few days prior. Mostly just new uses for old molds, most of which were predictable even without rumours.