The Energon Pub

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Sigma Magnus wrote:

william-james88 wrote:I dont see much similarity between those titan masters and that artwork.

It's not exact, but a lot of little details are there. Look closely.

It sure is no ramhorn, now that is freaken accurate to a T!

The side guns and head are Ramhorn's, though.

I was only referring to the head the titan master turns into.

So basically is making some missing Headmasters based on the Japanese artwork.

Sabrblade wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Sigma Magnus wrote:

william-james88 wrote:I dont see much similarity between those titan masters and that artwork.

It's not exact, but a lot of little details are there. Look closely.

It sure is no ramhorn, now that is freaken accurate to a T!

The side guns and head are Ramhorn's, though.

In other words, while the Beast Mode is G1 Cassette Ramhorn, the Head Mode is the unproduced rhino Master Warrior. Nice going Hasbro, if only for the sake of finding something to redeco/retool the Shuffler mold with.

For those curious, here are animals considered. Note that some are quite specific:

I: Alligator
J: Dugong
K: Black-banded Sea Krait (a type of sea snake)
L: Kouprey (a type of ox)
M: Malay Flying Lizard (most likely the Common Flying Lizard)
N: Indian Rhino
O: Jackson's Chameleon
P: Bear
Q: Cobra
R: Igunana
S: Chameleon
T: Crocodile
U: Buffalo
V: Wolf
W: Cougar

It's all good, Ramhorn can be Blaster's additional gun just like I have Overboard Overslay Overkill in Soundwave's hand now or by his side.

william-james88 wrote:

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Will, you mentioned the digital integration. Much as I'd like to see that happen across the board for all transformers toys, do you really think that might be the Power of the Primes gimmick? It seems wierd that the flagship Generations line would follow the suit of the tv-tie-in RID line.

I was just thinking myself what the new gimmick could be, and I wondered; what if it's accessories? Eh? What always seems to be the difining artifact of primehood? The matrix. Now obviosuly not everyone can have a matrix. But what if everyone had a stupid Mech Tech weapon, or perhaps they go Cyber Planet Keys, which would unlock the so-called "power".

Heck, there's even precedent. Doesnt each of the original Primes have their own artifact? The Magnus Hammer, The Forge of Solus, etc?

In the alligned continuity yeah, they all have their own legendary accessories. Although I dont konw how much of g1 is picking up on alligned and where the toyline is now. If they do 13 primes in the generations line then does that mean that the generations line is not a reinterpretation of G1 but of the alligned ocntinuity instead? My head hurts.

Anyways... about me thinking if the ditigal integration is the line wide gimmick, yes I do 100%. This is of course pure speculation but its what I believe. People have been reading between the lines as to what hasbro was expressing during the last week-end when people asked reps random questions and the general consensus is that the gimick is line wide but wont have the same customisation angle (of CW or TR). So that lines up with the other rumours of it being more digital based. Its just a lot of rmours lining up together.

Anyways, Nemesis Maximo, I have a question for you. I remember what you said about TR Sixshot. Do you feel similarly to TR Overlord?

Similarly, but not necessarily the same. Where TR Sixshot fails spectacularly on almost every level for me - proprtions, poseability, sculpted detail - Overlord here at least has those in good form. Now where he loses points is the fact that Sky Shadow actually looks way better in that mold I think, probably in part due to the hype and excitement in waiting to see him. He never could have lived up to the beloved IDW characterization, but at least he doesn't straight up suck. (This is, of course, my own opinion on Sixshot.). Now, I would have liked to see Hasbro go to greater lengths to give him that gloriously sinister snarl/smile; with the faces being so important in this toyline, that's a missed opportunity in my mind.

And to your question of which continuity the toyline is following - be it G1 or Alligned - I'm not entirely sure my thoughts here will alleviate your headache or worsen it, but here goes. Obviously, the toyline is primarily G1, but we have and will continue to see additions from other series. Thrilling 30 had Beast Wars and Armada in the mix, Combiner Wars added new characters to well establieshed teams, and Titans Return has given us more Armada stuff and even a character who has never had a retail-release figure in Alpha Trion, who was made important by the Alligned continuity as far as the modern telling is concerned.

And don't forget, we're still seeing some of the effects of The Covenant of Primus in the media: while TF: Prime and the WFC/FOC games have ended, the IDW comics brought in the idea of the original 13 primes, and so far IDW is the closest thing we really have to "The New G1." So I guess my point is, don't worry too much about the continuity of the toyline itself. Now my head hurts too.

The answer's really quite simple. The toyline is very clearly G1-centric - though fortunately, other things like JG1, IDW, Armada and hopefully going by the vote Beast Wars are starting to leak through - but there are certain things that have happened since G1 that Hasbro just wants to say how things are, like the 13 as portrayed in Aligned. Think of it as no different as when the Matrix of Leadership was retroactively said to have been in Optimus' chest for Seasons 1 and 2 in the movie, or when Beast Wars said that every Transformer has a spark within them, or how the Enigma of Combination is suddenly everywhere. If G1 is retconned to have always had the 13 as portrayed in Aligned, then that's just how it is.

tl;dr - it's G1 but we have the Aligned version of the 13 in it now

Sabrblade wrote:

Albatross250 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:
But the original Mega and Giga godmasters are dead. Unless they or their personalities still live in the armor?

No They aren't dead, they were revived by Alpha Trion's Drill-something-warper that caused many Universes of the G1 and Masterforce which cause them to be alive, did you read the Chapter of Springer in the Manga?
Also, Mega is revived, also Giga too

The Ultra-Drill doesn't bring people back from the dead. It just enables people to travel between universes. Mega's appearance there was most likely just a temporary thing, with her being brought there from (and sent back to) a time before her death.

That makes sense. Maybe during the Masterforce episode, A3 pulled them out and returned them back within a nanosecond with non knowing the wiser.

Reminds me of Kal El's stint as a member of LoSH. in the past, he was gone like a minute while in the future, cut his teeth in what is like a lifetime as a Legionnaire. Time travel paradoxes indeed

Finally! 10 pages and I've finally caught up! I should have just taken Saturday off from work...

As far as what I want from Titans Return at Toy Fair this year, that's easily summed up.


Yeah, there isn't anything there I don't want, it's going to be a great year! I don't want to spend a lot of time on picking things apart, but I will make a few quick comments.

I'm very curious about what Takara Tomy plans to do with Trypticon. All of my Titans have been Japanese thus far and I have no regrets since I feel they've all been far superior to the Hasbro versions. But looking at Trypticon I really can't see anything that needs improving. Adding a light up Brunt is about the only improvement I can think of and that would probably require Hasbro doing the same for SDCC (along with lots of chrome).

Overlord would make a really neat G.I.Joe crossover in a Cobra Night Raven deco with a Strato Viper Titan Master and Seeker head. Not even close to comic perfect, but good enough for me.


Not crazy about Seaspray's face just being slightly covered by a panel. Any shots of how the Titan Master stores in him? Also strange that they displayed him with other figures we've seen finished and in stores, but also hand painted.

I'm really sold on the box sets (they're like cheap BotCon sets), especially one of them being a BBTS exclusive. TRU exclusives are so hard for me to find offline and aren't much better on their site. We'll see what happens, but I feel like it'll be hard for me to get that TRU set.

I know people are complaining about certain things not being in the sets that were originally rumored, but I think it's possibly we'll see them in other sets. With Super Ginrai being used there's a really good chance that Godbomber will show up as a Leader class figure for one of the other sets (Firepower most likely if that's really how the naming works). That would still leave another Leader for the intelligence set. Maybe Thunderwing? I know we're getting his Titan Master already, but why not consider it an alternative? Make Sky Shadow and Overlord jealous by giving him two pilots. It's not like these sets have rules.

Ramhorn might be my new favorite Titan Master. I want one in orange and purple very badly!

fenrir72 wrote:That Metalhawk fig doesn't do the character justice! Heck, even the official scratch model kit of the character in Wonderfest 2017 floors this piece of turd by lightyears!!

Legal =/= official. They aren't official, they're simply legal due to the nature of Wonderfest, Comiket, and other such events that allow these to be sold legally for the day (though they can be sold second hand anytime).

Emerje

The Metalhawk figure does work for his Masterforce incarnation. Sure, there's a few inaccuracies; but unlike Nautica these actually seem to benefit him by giving him a more interesting visual identity (the cockpit chest, for instance).

And, something I've not seen brought up yet... it kind of continues a trend started by ROTF Bludgeon and (to some extent) Generations 2011 Skullgrin. Combining a pretender inner robot with their alt mode and the much more interesting visual elements of their outer shell. It's something I enjoyed quite a bit, and even when it's a simple redeco like this, it works wonders as an update. They weren't exactly going to be able to make a full Pretender shell for him or, alternatively, make him look close to his IDW counterpart; so this is a very, very nice alternative especially when it's of a mold a lot of people considered toy of the year. He's possibly the best thing about these boxsets so far aside from the Primes and Clones.

Heh. Ramhorn ends up having a far better animal mode than any of his data-sette buddies. And is oddly enough what some friends and I discussed some time ago when complaining that Blaster and Soundwave are far too big as Leader class figures and that their minions would have made more sense in this line as Titan Masters instead of those weird table-like forms they ended up with. They'd be cheaper too. Could sell them in packs of two or three.

If Kabaya made a Triggerhappy toy then one could justify repainting it as Metal Hawk and giving it a suitable pretender shell now.

Speaking of Pretenders - how about a concept where there were Pretenders with full mobile arms and legs that interacted with something similar to Titanmasters vehicles or The Micromaster-Targetmaster types ?

Imagine a figure similar to a Masher only with a hollow torso. The only reason I wouldn't suggest headmaster/pretenders is it limits the function of the beast type Pretenders and might look a bit weird to have humanoid faces on a headmaster/titanmaster.

But that diagram posted just above <- shows the idea has some merit perhaps to find a use for those Headmasters - but I guess they are all the wrong size now. But as soon as they made Humanoid Titanmasters It did cross my mind as to the possibility of animal themed ones too.

Kurona wrote:The Metalhawk figure does work for his Masterforce incarnation. Sure, there's a few inaccuracies; but unlike Nautica these actually seem to benefit him by giving him a more interesting visual identity (the cockpit chest, for instance).

And, something I've not seen brought up yet... it kind of continues a trend started by ROTF Bludgeon and (to some extent) Generations 2011 Skullgrin. Combining a pretender inner robot with their alt mode and the much more interesting visual elements of their outer shell. It's something I enjoyed quite a bit, and even when it's a simple redeco like this, it works wonders as an update. They weren't exactly going to be able to make a full Pretender shell for him or, alternatively, make him look close to his IDW counterpart; so this is a very, very nice alternative especially when it's of a mold a lot of people considered toy of the year. He's possibly the best thing about these boxsets so far aside from the Primes and Clones.

This version of metalhawk is purely inner robot based. For what you're talking about with the shell as the robot mode, you need to see the botcon metahawk from a few years ago that used the deluxe thunderwing as the base. Red chest, human face. But I'd be happy to see more if that come up in figures. It was a great idea.

Insurgent wrote:

Kurona wrote:The Metalhawk figure does work for his Masterforce incarnation. Sure, there's a few inaccuracies; but unlike Nautica these actually seem to benefit him by giving him a more interesting visual identity (the cockpit chest, for instance).

And, something I've not seen brought up yet... it kind of continues a trend started by ROTF Bludgeon and (to some extent) Generations 2011 Skullgrin. Combining a pretender inner robot with their alt mode and the much more interesting visual elements of their outer shell. It's something I enjoyed quite a bit, and even when it's a simple redeco like this, it works wonders as an update. They weren't exactly going to be able to make a full Pretender shell for him or, alternatively, make him look close to his IDW counterpart; so this is a very, very nice alternative especially when it's of a mold a lot of people considered toy of the year. He's possibly the best thing about these boxsets so far aside from the Primes and Clones.

This version of metalhawk is purely inner robot based. For what you're talking about with the shell as the robot mode, you need to see the botcon metahawk from a few years ago that used the deluxe thunderwing as the base. Red chest, human face. But I'd be happy to see more if that come up in figures. It was a great idea.

Yyyyeah, my mistake; I was remembering his Pretender shell as being the one with the Jet mode. Mixing up Ultra Pretenders and Mega Pretenders and whatever other variants they had.

... still, it's a nice update that reminds me of the likes of Generations 2011 Scourge and Classics Astrotrain. That wonderful little aesthetic where it's not an exact remake, but a fun little revamp of the character in order to make them more look a bit more interesting while still retaining all the key visual iconography. And despite this being simple a redeco with a new head, I think TR Metalhawk pulls it off well.

Thanks everybody for confirming for me just who Metal Hawk is. I thought he was the Pretender but wasn't sure, and hadn't taken the time to research it.
#can'tknowerrythangallthetime

So what does IDW's Metal Hawk look like? Was he the bot that Bee hung out with in Robots In Disguise that was the leader of the non faction bots. Kind of drawn like the pterodactyl from Cybertron?

Cobotron wrote:Thanks everybody for confirming for me just who Metal Hawk is. I thought he was the Pretender but wasn't sure, and hadn't taken the time to research it.
#can'tknowerrythangallthetime

So what does IDW's Metal Hawk look like? Was he the bot that Bee hung out with in Robots In Disguise that was the leader of the non faction bots. Kind of drawn like the pterodactyl from Cybertron?

Yes, he's the one that hung around with Bumblebee.



I think the TR version suits him alright.

RodimusConvoy13 wrote:Yes, he's the one that hung around with Bumblebee.

Thank you kind sir!
Who needs to do research with friends like y'all.

RodimusConvoy13 wrote:I think the TR version suits him alright.

Agreed. Kind of a nice blend of both designs.

When you reach deep down there and pull out a concept that never made it to the plastic surface, and you turn it into a modern toy, that is awesome. Ramhorn, and the titan master class in general, is really hitting it home peeps!

Emerje wrote:Finally! 10 pages and I've finally caught up! I should have just taken Saturday off from work...

As far as what I want from Titans Return at Toy Fair this year, that's easily summed up.


Yeah, there isn't anything there I don't want, it's going to be a great year! I don't want to spend a lot of time on picking things apart, but I will make a few quick comments.

I'm very curious about what Takara Tomy plans to do with Trypticon. All of my Titans have been Japanese thus far and I have no regrets since I feel they've all been far superior to the Hasbro versions. But looking at Trypticon I really can't see anything that needs improving. Adding a light up Brunt is about the only improvement I can think of and that would probably require Hasbro doing the same for SDCC (along with lots of chrome).

Overlord would make a really neat G.I.Joe crossover in a Cobra Night Raven deco with a Strato Viper Titan Master and Seeker head. Not even close to comic perfect, but good enough for me.


Not crazy about Seaspray's face just being slightly covered by a panel. Any shots of how the Titan Master stores in him? Also strange that they displayed him with other figures we've seen finished and in stores, but also hand painted.

I'm really sold on the box sets (they're like cheap BotCon sets), especially one of them being a BBTS exclusive. TRU exclusives are so hard for me to find offline and aren't much better on their site. We'll see what happens, but I feel like it'll be hard for me to get that TRU set.

I know people are complaining about certain things not being in the sets that were originally rumored, but I think it's possibly we'll see them in other sets. With Super Ginrai being used there's a really good chance that Godbomber will show up as a Leader class figure for one of the other sets (Firepower most likely if that's really how the naming works). That would still leave another Leader for the intelligence set. Maybe Thunderwing? I know we're getting his Titan Master already, but why not consider it an alternative? Make Sky Shadow and Overlord jealous by giving him two pilots. It's not like these sets have rules.

Ramhorn might be my new favorite Titan Master. I want one in orange and purple very badly!

fenrir72 wrote:That Metalhawk fig doesn't do the character justice! Heck, even the official scratch model kit of the character in Wonderfest 2017 floors this piece of turd by lightyears!!

Legal =/= official. They aren't official, they're simply legal due to the nature of Wonderfest, Comiket, and other such events that allow these to be sold legally for the day (though they can be sold second hand anytime).

Emerje

I'm not going into the argument over legalities. The Metalhawk example I posted is NOT 3rd Party. Takara has officially allowed the maker to sell the likeness without any legal impediment.And I know for a limited time. That is enough for me.

The Hb Metalhawk does NOT do the figure justice! Heck, even my original die-cast Metalhawk floors that piece of slag!

fenrir72 wrote:I'm not going into the argument over legalities. The Metalhawk example I posted is NOT 3rd Party. Takara has officially allowed the maker to sell the likeness without any legal impediment.And I know for a limited time. That is enough for me.

The Hb Metalhawk does NOT do the figure justice! Heck, even my original die-cast Metalhawk floors that piece of slag!

Emerje wrote:Legal =/= official. They aren't official, they're simply legal due to the nature of Wonderfest, Comiket, and other such events that allow these to be sold legally for the day (though they can be sold second hand anytime).

Emerje

fenrir72 wrote:The Hb Metalhawk does NOT do the figure justice! Heck, even my original die-cast Metalhawk floors that piece of slag!

I disagree, I think it looks really good, especially taking hint at the bulky torso of the G1 toy.

Quick comparison

G1 Metalhawk


Transformers G1 1988 Metalhawk Gallery

TR Metalhawk





Garage Kit Metalhawk



At least the TR one goes more towards gold rather than yellow for the chest, which I think is super cool. Its defintel more an homage to the toy colours.

You know, looking at those Metalhawk pics, I think I'm liking him more. I may keep him from the boxoset afterall.



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 Trupticon 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.

Insurgent wrote:You know, looking at those Metalhawk pics, I think I'm liking him more. I may keep him from the boxoset afterall.
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 Trupticon 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.

I wish I had a like button, I agree with all of this. Darker shades and a leff doofy helmet would have done wonders for overlord. But I am still getting him.

Man, I cant believe Black shadow looks better to me.

So..went to Wal-Mart yesterday. The same day I finally see a Leader Soundwave on a toyshelf (Wave 2), is the same day I see, and purchase Shuffler and Repugnus (Wave 4 TM's...)....

So now I am just waiting on Sixshot, and Sky Shadow (also waiting to see Wave 3 Voyagers even though I wont be purchasing them).

As for NYTF. What was shown was ok...I guess I just don't *get* the idea of selling box sets for this line. I mean with CW you obviously have a theme, with 5 (or 6) robots that combine to make one larger one. With the Cybertron and Velocitron set, they just seem to be random recolored figures. I see these having huge resell on eBay as people will be breaking them up because only one or two are desired from each. I'll admit I'm glad I didn't spent almost $100 to get the Japanese version of Super Ginrai, since Hasbro is releasing him, but without the God Bomber, it seems kind of pointless.

Also I'm very disappointed in Quickswitch, seems like a very lazy release, this would have worked much better as Greatshot (which is arguably just as well known as Sky Shadow in North America, in fact GS appeared in more episodes of Victory than Black Shadow). so I don't know why they went with Quickswitch who had basically zero appearances in media (at least in the United States) other than in the toy commercials in 1988.

Trypticon looks great, Overlord does also -I'll definitely be getting both of those. I wish a little more would have been shown of individual Deluxes and TM's, but I guess you cant have everything.

Also if someone can confirm...I assume what was shown at NYTF was not all of the remainder of the TR line? Or was all of wave 5 and 6 basically revealed?

william-james88 wrote:
Garage Kit Metalhawk

Oh God.

william-james88 wrote:I wish I had a like button, I agree with all of this. Darker shades and a leff doofy helmet would have done wonders for overlord. But I am still getting him.

Man, I cant believe Black shadow looks better to me.

I know we don't get along with the other sites but I think Tfw2005 recently updated their forums with a like button something similar here on Seibertron would be cool.

But only if there is no "downvote" button to go alongside it otherwise Seibertron would turn into Reddit and it's "disagree" button thing it becomes sometimes.

Anyways I think were all surprised that Black Shadow looks more interesting.

o.supreme wrote:Also if someone can confirm...I assume what was shown at NYTF was not all of the remainder of the TR line? Or was all of wave 5 and 6 basically revealed?

I'm pretty sure most of wave 5 was revealed and none of wave 6. Wave 5 so far (might be missing a few):
TM Ramhorn
Legends Cosmos (re-issue) and Seaspray
Deluxe Windblade and Topspin
Voyager Blitzwing and Octone
Leader Overlord