The Energon Pub

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:His toy had a black visor and Hasbro was probably trying to recreate that as Hasbro always makes their stuff toy accurate. For some reason though they didn't make it a visor but Takara's is a visor...

Yeah, that much is obvious to me. The change from a visor to two doofy looking square eyes, though, is what I don't get. I know recently we've been told that Hasbro's design philosophy, other than making figures G1 toy accurate, is to update them to "look good." I just don't understand how anyone thought Skullcruncher's face is a "good update" of his original look.

My thoughts on Titans Return Hardhead. He is an awesome toy.I thought I was going to like him the least but man is he awesome. His titanmasters head looks like Takaras Hardhead face. He's slightly taller than a combiner wars deluxe figure. His head can't fit on generations brainstorms. It is too small. Brainstorms head is too big to fit on Hardhead's body. His shoulder cannon is awesome with a little cockpit for the titanmaster to go in. The molding on him is great. My only complaints are the hollowness, the loose titanmaster, and the orange wheels. His tank mode looks cool. He only rolls if you move his crotch plate down. Do not forget that step. He has 4 pegs on each corner of his vehicle mode so that the titanmaster can stand on top with the little peg holes on the bottom of the titanmaster feet. I wish his cockpit was more yellowish than orange. He is a great representation of the G1 toy. I give it a 9.5/10. Titans Return has already started and I'm already in love

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:His toy had a black visor and Hasbro was probably trying to recreate that as Hasbro always makes their stuff toy accurate. For some reason though they didn't make it a visor but Takara's is a visor...

Yeah, that much is obvious to me. The change from a visor to two doofy looking square eyes, though, is what I don't get. I know recently we've been told that Hasbro's design philosophy, other than making figures G1 toy accurate, is to update them to "look good." I just don't understand how anyone thought Skullcruncher's face is a "good update" of his original look.

I just realized, it actually is a visor just it isn't all painted in!

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:His toy had a black visor and Hasbro was probably trying to recreate that as Hasbro always makes their stuff toy accurate. For some reason though they didn't make it a visor but Takara's is a visor...

Yeah, that much is obvious to me. The change from a visor to two doofy looking square eyes, though, is what I don't get. I know recently we've been told that Hasbro's design philosophy, other than making figures G1 toy accurate, is to update them to "look good." I just don't understand how anyone thought Skullcruncher's face is a "good update" of his original look.

I just realized, it actually is a visor just it isn't all painted in!

Nah, the middle juts out a little.

Kurona wrote:

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:His toy had a black visor and Hasbro was probably trying to recreate that as Hasbro always makes their stuff toy accurate. For some reason though they didn't make it a visor but Takara's is a visor...

Yeah, that much is obvious to me. The change from a visor to two doofy looking square eyes, though, is what I don't get. I know recently we've been told that Hasbro's design philosophy, other than making figures G1 toy accurate, is to update them to "look good." I just don't understand how anyone thought Skullcruncher's face is a "good update" of his original look.

I just realized, it actually is a visor just it isn't all painted in!

Nah, the middle juts out a little.

Exactly

So I went hunting today, looking for you all know what(Skullsmasher and Hardhead specifically), and it was a bust. Walmart and Target had no returning Titans, unfortunately. However I did stop by the closest Kmart that is closing soon and has a store wide sale. All the toys were 40% but the aisles were extremely empty so nothing was picked up. I'm still super hyped for picking them up in person though.

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:His toy had a black visor and Hasbro was probably trying to recreate that as Hasbro always makes their stuff toy accurate. For some reason though they didn't make it a visor but Takara's is a visor...

Yeah, that much is obvious to me. The change from a visor to two doofy looking square eyes, though, is what I don't get. I know recently we've been told that Hasbro's design philosophy, other than making figures G1 toy accurate, is to update them to "look good." I just don't understand how anyone thought Skullcruncher's face is a "good update" of his original look.

I am just as clueless. It looks ugly and thats a shame because other than that the toy looks awesome and a great representation of the G1 toy. Hopefully the Takara face ends up available as a titanmaster in Hasbro's line.

I'm personally alright with it because the rest of the figure just looks so damn good I can overlook it; but I'm a bit sad I can't recreate this.

Sabrblade wrote:

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:

Kurona wrote:

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:His toy had a black visor and Hasbro was probably trying to recreate that as Hasbro always makes their stuff toy accurate. For some reason though they didn't make it a visor but Takara's is a visor...

Yeah, that much is obvious to me. The change from a visor to two doofy looking square eyes, though, is what I don't get. I know recently we've been told that Hasbro's design philosophy, other than making figures G1 toy accurate, is to update them to "look good." I just don't understand how anyone thought Skullcruncher's face is a "good update" of his original look.

I just realized, it actually is a visor just it isn't all painted in!

Nah, the middle juts out a little.

Exactly

Looking closer at Skullsmasher's head, I think Rainmaker might be onto something, Wolfman. It almost kinda looks like the eyes were indeed sculpted to be a visor with a notched center to allow his nose to jut forward, down, and out from behind his visor, but then whoever colored it might've not known that it was possibly supposed to be a specially-shaped visor, misinterpreted the nose-shaped notch in the visor's center as a full on nose bridge, thought instead that this headsculpt was meant to have two separate eyes, and thus colored the notch in the center in the same color as the face's actual nose while coloring the rest of the visor (now rendered as two separate eyes) in black like the G1 toy's black visor.

Granted, this is all just guesswork on my part, but given Hasbro's lacking a strong need to adhere as strictly to past designs as Takara has, being more receptive towards less "faithful" new designs, I can imagine Hasbro simply accepting this new look as an acceptable one to suit their needs, even if the end result not only looks like someone made a coloring mistake but just looks butt ugly to many of us fans.

Even in the artwork he has a visor!

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:

Kurona wrote:

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Raintime Rainmaker wrote:His toy had a black visor and Hasbro was probably trying to recreate that as Hasbro always makes their stuff toy accurate. For some reason though they didn't make it a visor but Takara's is a visor...

Yeah, that much is obvious to me. The change from a visor to two doofy looking square eyes, though, is what I don't get. I know recently we've been told that Hasbro's design philosophy, other than making figures G1 toy accurate, is to update them to "look good." I just don't understand how anyone thought Skullcruncher's face is a "good update" of his original look.

I just realized, it actually is a visor just it isn't all painted in!

Nah, the middle juts out a little.

Exactly

Looking closer at Skullsmasher's head, I think Rainmaker might be onto something, Wolfman. It almost kinda looks like the eyes were indeed sculpted to be a visor with a notched center to allow his nose to jut forward, down, and out from behind his visor, but then whoever colored it might've not known that it was possibly supposed to be a specially-shaped visor, misinterpreted the nose-shaped notch in the visor's center as a full on nose bridge, thought instead that this headsculpt was meant to have two separate eyes, and thus colored the notch in the center in the same color as the face's actual nose while coloring the rest of the visor (now rendered as two separate eyes) in black like the G1 toy's black visor.

Granted, this is all just guesswork on my part, but given Hasbro's lacking a strong need to adhere as strictly to past designs as Takara has, being more receptive towards less "faithful" new designs, I can imagine Hasbro simply accepting this new look as an acceptable one to suit their needs, even if the end result not only looks like someone made a coloring mistake but just looks butt ugly to many of us fans.

Even in the artwork he has a visor!

So, here are my thoughts on Titans Return line, or at least wave one of deluxe class.





I'm not fully sold on the line yet, but Iam in final negotiations on a price. Its not a bad line by any means, but, to me, its not a great line either. It has far more positives than negatives, but the negatives, agian, to me, are quite large and over shadowing. Lets talk about each figure first.

Skullsmasher: This figure looks amazing, but mine is a horrible floppy mess. He will only stand on his own in the most basic of poses. Then, if you give the table he is standing on just the slightest of bumbs, he falls over. He then falls to the floor, landing on his head, and snapping the titan masters little neck. I now have a broken Skullsmasher. For this reason, he is a complete fail, despite being one of the best looking G1 udates we've ever gotten outside of masterpiece. I hope this is just a flaw with mine, and not common for others.

Scourge: This figure is okay, but not great. The paint job makes him feel dull, and the size feels just a bit too small for a character of Scourge's stature. The face sculpt is great though, really brings out the smug arrogance of him. Transformation is nice, and both modes are designed will, just need more paint detail. I will be looking hard at aquiring Takara's version.

Hardhead: This figure is a great update as well. He needs to be a voyager class, and the visible hollow parts on his arms and legs are a real big eye sore, but his paint job is spot on. He really looks great, and all his joints are, yes, a tiny bit loose, but he can hold a pose so that is really a non issue.

Blur: Blur is **** amazing. He just looks and feels great. Nice, tight joints, a clean and inspired transformation. An overall great homage, aside from the fact that Blur is not a damn headmaster. The only negative is his paint job. Takara looks to have fixed that, but honestly, this is still a great figure. Everyone should have one. I am very surprised by just how much I do like him.

Something to note on this line, is slight the bobble head effect the headmaster gimmick gives all the figures. Not a deal breaker, but it is noticable.

Hellscream9999 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Hellscream9999 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

steals_your_goats wrote:Galvatron looks amazing but the crown sits just a bit too far back. Had it sit more flush it would look worlds better

I am feeling the same way. That toy does so much stuff right. I dont need him to be a triple changer but I dont mind, it doesnt take much away from the figure. The headmaster gimick however really gets in the way of this toy looking great. It really looks like 2 distinct parts and the galvatron head doesnt really come together, which is a real shame since that is one of the most integral aspects to a TF's identity. Still, would this be the best official Galvatron we have gotten so far? Or would the Energon version still take the cake.

Energon, easily. Looks way cooler, and like proper Galvatron. I'd much rather get that than this new one

Even if his alt mode isn't a canon and his articulation isn't as good?

His alt mode is epic, but what's wrong with his articulation?

Energon Galvatron's articulation is limited due to his proportions. His big legs make him hard to pose in anything else aside from looking dead on. His ratchets are not close either so any pose involving his legs ends up looking awkward. Also, he has less articulation in general. Today's average transformer has between 20-25 points of articulation or more. He has 17.

@Ironhidensh put clear nail polish on his ball joints

Ironhidensh wrote:<insert lengthy review here>

Sounds like you just got a bum Skullsmasher. Both reviews of him that I saw (Peaugh and TCP) didn't have that kind of QC issues.

@ Iron- Glad you're finding some pros along with the cons. Bummer about the floppiness.
Surprised and happy to hear your praise on Blurr. I fell like he's been dubbed the under dog of the wave, but I think he looks amazing. Of course the Takara version looks better, but I think even the Hasbro looks good. I'm not in the mood of late to go outa my way for the Tak stuff.

While walking my mod beat last night I came across this really nice custom MarcusCole1978 has already done.Check it out.

Cobotron wrote: I'm not in the mood of late to go outa my way for the Tak stuff.

I cant beieve the yen is practically at par with the US$

william-james88 wrote:

Cobotron wrote: I'm not in the mood of late to go outa my way for the Tak stuff.

I cant beieve the yen is practically at par with the US$

The "Golden Era" is over...for now.

Ironhidensh wrote:
Skullsmasher: This figure looks amazing, but mine is a horrible floppy mess. He will only stand on his own in the most basic of poses. Then, if you give the table he is standing on just the slightest of bumbs, he falls over. He then falls to the floor, landing on his head, and snapping the titan masters little neck. I now have a broken Skullsmasher. For this reason, he is a complete fail, despite being one of the best looking G1 udates we've ever gotten outside of masterpiece. I hope this is just a flaw with mine, and not common for others.

Contact Hasbro about it : https://hasbro-new.custhelp.com/app/uti ... direct/ask

Send them a pic and answer the questions they will ask and they will send you a new one. They might send you another one as part of wave 1 if they no longer have any of skullsmasher, but then you coudl always go to wherever you purchase them and exchange the new one you get for skullsmasher when showing your reciept. At the very least you will have a new figure and ot a broken one.

Cobotron wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Cobotron wrote: I'm not in the mood of late to go outa my way for the Tak stuff.

I cant beieve the yen is practically at par with the US$

The "Golden Era" is over...for now.

I just made a purchase at HLJ and the exchange rate looks to be about the same as its always been?

Ironhidensh wrote:

Cobotron wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Cobotron wrote: I'm not in the mood of late to go outa my way for the Tak stuff.

I cant beieve the yen is practically at par with the US$

The "Golden Era" is over...for now.

I just made a purchase at HLJ and the exchange rate looks to be about the same as its always been?

100 Yen was usually only 85 cents US but now its pretty much 1$ USD. Look at your previous purchases and check out how much it was converted, you will see there has been a big difference. The exchange is no longer in America's favour (and that means shipping costs have also increased for people paying in US$).

Here shows how much the Yen has climbed in a year

Autobot N wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:<insert lengthy review here>

Sounds like you just got a bum Skullsmasher. Both reviews of him that I saw (Peaugh and TCP) didn't have that kind of QC issues.

I don't know about TCP but Peaugh's figure had loose hips, they kept spreading out on him during the review; he just didn't mention it.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Autobot N wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:<insert lengthy review here>

Sounds like you just got a bum Skullsmasher. Both reviews of him that I saw (Peaugh and TCP) didn't have that kind of QC issues.

I don't know about TCP but Peaugh's figure had loose hips, they kept spreading out on him during the review; he just didn't mention it.

I never said he didn't have any, I just said that he didn't have QC issues of that magnitude.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Autobot N wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:<insert lengthy review here>

Sounds like you just got a bum Skullsmasher. Both reviews of him that I saw (Peaugh and TCP) didn't have that kind of QC issues.

I don't know about TCP but Peaugh's figure had loose hips, they kept spreading out on him during the review; he just didn't mention it.

Peaugh often fails to mention issues. Its very irritating and negates the point of a review.

Autobot N wrote: I just said that he didn't have QC issues of that magnitude.

Autobot N wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Autobot N wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:<insert lengthy review here>

Sounds like you just got a bum Skullsmasher. Both reviews of him that I saw (Peaugh and TCP) didn't have that kind of QC issues.

I don't know about TCP but Peaugh's figure had loose hips, they kept spreading out on him during the review; he just didn't mention it.

I never said he didn't have any, I just said that he didn't have QC issues of that magnitude.

Yes he did. All the issues Ironhidensh had Peaugh had, and the Chinese reviewer who had his video stolen. In that video the figure could barely stand.