The Energon Pub

Not reading IDW it's hard for me to really make much of a comment on which figures resemble which IDW counterparts, but TR Misfire (admittedly despite not being out yet) seems to resemble his IDW character design fairly well. Well, except for the doofy head. And the wings don't seem to be quite right. And I don't think the chest details match that well either.

...Well at least he's, uh, almost the right color?

(Really though, he's almost certainly the best Misfire toy we've gotten, and so by extension probably the best IDW Misfire toy as well. That's an interesting question too: which TR toys don't resemble their IDW designs (or any given fictional design) perfectly, but still do so better than any other toy?)



And on re-organising shelves, I did that for a while when I was getting fed up of seeing TR Wave 3 for ever and ever. (I still am, but that's beside the point.) TFs kept falling off their pegs and into emtpy spaces behind other figures on the shelf below, or ending up on someone else's peg, and I was like "maybe if I organize them neatly, the store will notice that someone cares about their Transformers and get some new stock in!"

After a few weeks of that though, with no change to the stock situation, I adopted a different - and far more devious - method. If I noticed that a TF had fallen off its peg and disappeared behind other items, eh, that's fine I'll leave it. If I happen to bump one off its peg while checking the stock, whatever someone else will get it.

Basically: instead of making the section look nice to encourage restocking, I'm working under the logic that if I don't fill the pegs back up then it'll look like they have less stock, and maybe then they'll decide to get some new stuff in. It's making me feel a little guilty though (and on top of that doesn't seem to be working), so I'll probably just go back to organizing the shelves properly just to be nice.

Qwan wrote:That's an interesting question too: which TR toys don't resemble their IDW designs perfectly, but still do so better than any other toy?)

Oh BOY.

Rodimus, Chromedome, Nightbeat, Fortress Maximus, Whirl, Red Alert, Ravage, Nautica, Drift, Thundercracker, Arcee, Ironhide... there's so many. You see my pain? I'm in great pain. Huge pain. Absolutely, heart-throbbing, tear-provoking pain.
Beyond some of the Thrilling 30 toys modeled directly after MTMTE (and even then it's a random grab-bag - Skids, Swerve, Tailgate sure; but Trailbreaker?? And why is Brainstorm Voyager???), CW Ultra Magnus and... and I guess Rewind, there simply hasn't been an awful lot for a MTMTE display without a lot of eye-squinting and throwing up your hands in defeat. Even the best example I cited in TR, Perceptor, has a G1-accurate head rather than one that matches his IDW counterpart. I think that's the thing that's frustrating me the most in TR - being accurate to one continuity for certain parts of the toy but then being accurate to a completely different one for other parts. Chromedome has his G1 body but IDW head, etc.

I hope this doesn't come across as entitled; I'm not saying by any stretch that Hasbro should use Generations to cater exclusively to IDW fans (though I will say, it is frustrating when IDW is along with Dreamwave the only major fictional series to not have ever had a direct accompanying toyline); I'm more just venting and airing that it's a frustrating situation to which there is no particularly clear answer or solution without turning to very expensive (though very lovely) third parties. Such is life

LE0KING wrote:So how do they justify starscream's new look in RID15 he's just suddenly different?

Ha ha kidding Cobo.

Has anyone actually seen krok or that wave in stores yet? I want a kup and Perceptor but can't find anything. Not even online.

Yeah they have been found in Walgreens and another store, I forget which one. They are finally showing up at walmart in canada too. But I have yet to see them (will go hunting tomorrow). To answer your other question, you are early. So dont panic. They have yet to reach any kind of saturation and are not available on any retail store online (amazon, HTS, ect).So hold tight, they are coming, just not everywhere yet.

Kurona wrote:I suppose while we're at it, Sentinel Prime, Infinitus, Sovereign, Cerebros and Fortress Maximus or all very IDW-accurate by technicality due to being the figures featured in IDW's Titans Return event.

But thats the reverse causality, using the comics to promote the toys. I think we were really looking for the other way around with the toys looking like previously established comic looks (skids, deluxe megatron, orion pax, legends seekers, legends megatron, legends Prime, wow lots of legends I am realizing). TR Chromedome's head is a great example. And technically Nautica is IDW Nautica, she cant be anything else even though she doesnt really look like her And as metioned, perceptor is mostly IDW inspired, which is a great look!

There really seem to be more comic inspired styles in the generations line before Combiner Wars happened with the stuff since being mosly G1 toy inspired.

Kurona wrote:

william-james88 wrote:The only Prime hasbro specifically made as IDW Prime was the Legends prime mold which was eventually used for Huffer and Pipes

If we wanna get technical; Thrilling 30 Orion Pax was directly based on the design in IDW's Spotlight: Blurr.
I'm still very confused why of all designs the one that made a cameo only in a very minor short story not even about him got the toy, but hey, I'm not complaining.

I was really referring to Optimus Prime and not his previous persona (and more specifically the earth truck look people were commenting on).

Thanks guys I was getting worried there.

The thrilling 30 line is what got me back into collecting (namely springer) and those are some of the best figures we've ever gotten. orion pax is my favorite mold ever, the most posable official tf figure in existence? Maybe.
You have to admit that Megatron is awesome, (Takara's is spot on) and trailbreaker and hoist are great too. Heck even arcee (while super G1) is a great figure.
Skids walked off the comic and into my heart. This was a great line.

Before that I only occasionally grabbed a cyberverse and legends figure, which this line nailed too.

It's a shame that this new team isn't willing to take risks with the designs like the old guys did. Imagine if t30 springer was just his G1 toy with knees and elbows. I wouldn't be collecting anymore at least.

LE0KING wrote:Thanks guys I was getting worried there.

The thrilling 30 line is what got me back into collecting (namely springer) and those are some of the best figures we've ever gotten. orion pax is my favorite mold ever, the most posable official tf figure in existence? Maybe.
You have to admit that Megatron is awesome, (Takara's is spot on) and trailbreaker and hoist are great too. Heck even arcee (while super G1) is a great figure.
Skids walked off the comic and into my heart. This was a great line.

Before that I only occasionally grabbed a cyberverse and legends figure, which this line nailed too.

It's a shame that this new team isn't willing to take risks with the designs like the old guys did. Imagine if t30 springer was just his G1 toy with knees and elbows. I wouldn't be collecting anymore at least.

For the most posable transformer, I would have to go with ROTF Lockdowns neck

LE0KING wrote:orion pax is my favorite mold ever, the most posable official tf figure in existence? Maybe.

No way. Not by a long shot. His level of articulation is pretty average at best.

Sabrblade wrote:

LE0KING wrote:orion pax is my favorite mold ever, the most posable official tf figure in existence? Maybe.

No way. Not by a long shot. His level of articulation is pretty average at best.

Average for what?
He's got a lot for a deluxe, namely double wrist (hinge and swivel), double shoulder (swivel and ball), double ankle (hinge and ball) joints. That's added to the biceps swivel, the thigh swivel, and waist swivel. His only hindrances are that his knees and elbows only bend 90 degrees.
Also has a balljointed head.

LE0KING wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

LE0KING wrote:orion pax is my favorite mold ever, the most posable official tf figure in existence? Maybe.

No way. Not by a long shot. His level of articulation is pretty average at best.

Average for what?
He's got a lot for a deluxe, namely double wrist (hinge and swivel), double shoulder (swivel and ball), double ankle (hinge and ball) joints. That's added to the biceps swivel, the thigh swivel, and waist swivel. His only hindrances are that his knees and elbows only bend 90 degrees.
Also has a balljointed head.

Lots of Deluxes have that same range, and some have more.

Sabrblade wrote:

LE0KING wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

LE0KING wrote:orion pax is my favorite mold ever, the most posable official tf figure in existence? Maybe.

No way. Not by a long shot. His level of articulation is pretty average at best.

Average for what?
He's got a lot for a deluxe, namely double wrist (hinge and swivel), double shoulder (swivel and ball), double ankle (hinge and ball) joints. That's added to the biceps swivel, the thigh swivel, and waist swivel. His only hindrances are that his knees and elbows only bend 90 degrees.
Also has a balljointed head.

Lots of Deluxes have that same range, and some have more.

I honestly can't think of any. If you can name a few, I'll gladly buy them, I love posable figures.

ebo716 wrote:

LE0KING wrote:Thanks guys I was getting worried there.

The thrilling 30 line is what got me back into collecting (namely springer) and those are some of the best figures we've ever gotten. orion pax is my favorite mold ever, the most posable official tf figure in existence? Maybe.
You have to admit that Megatron is awesome, (Takara's is spot on) and trailbreaker and hoist are great too. Heck even arcee (while super G1) is a great figure.
Skids walked off the comic and into my heart. This was a great line.

Before that I only occasionally grabbed a cyberverse and legends figure, which this line nailed too.

It's a shame that this new team isn't willing to take risks with the designs like the old guys did. Imagine if t30 springer was just his G1 toy with knees and elbows. I wouldn't be collecting anymore at least.

For the most posable transformer, I would have to go with ROTF Lockdowns neck

Ah yes, Lockdown's neck is one of my favorite Transformers of all time.


Orion Pax is not a brick by any means, but he's not exactly the best Transformer in that area either. In theory yes, the number and variety of joints is impressive (especially for such a small figure); in practice though, so many joints are so restricted, or near-useless in actual posing, or just plain too tough to move (plus connected directly to wibbly transformation joints, like his shoulders are) that I find it's difficult and not at all impressive to try and pose that guy. He's just not that dynamic-looking either, which really hurts him there too.

(Now if you wanna talk dynamicism without super-lots of special joints, look no further than Weirdwolf in both modes! Not only can he pull of some amazing stuff with some amazingly average joints, he's also on topic! )

The most poseable official tfvfigure is MP hot rodimus.
Also you can tell the IDW influences ended when John Warden became the head designer since his first tfs wete gen roadbuster and whirl which were G1 toys with articulation, which is what the TR line is for the most part.

william-james88 wrote:The most poseable official tfvfigure is MP hot rodimus.
Also you can tell the IDW influences ended when John Warden became the head designer since his first tfs wete gen roadbuster and whirl which were G1 toys with articulation, which is what the TR line is for the most part.

Those were also two of the most disappointing toys of the line...

My take on it is that if it's a character that we're not short of toys of then IDW-type designs are fair. If on the other hand it's the first incarnation of that character since the 80s-late 90s then I think it's fair for them to get a character that's styled after how they looked for 25-ish years rather than how they looked for the last 5-ish years. It's why I wish we'd gotten a Tailgate from RTS Windcharger, rather than vice versa, and also why I'm pleased that TR Chromedome was mostly classically styled (aside from the head) rather than his frankly odd-looking IDW present-day appearance that transforms into a nothing-in-particular.

With regards to the future of TR (and I frankly love the gimmick so I hope the play pattern extends beyond the end of the line) I really hope we get a fill out of the Headmasters, Targetmasters and Powermasters, not least of all because my "I'm so sick of getting yet another Prime/seeker/1984-guy toy when we've yet to get a modern toy of XXXXX" tends towards using the likes of Joyride and Sureshot for XXXXX. I'd love to be able to bump that further back to the likes of Vroom, Backstreet and Stranglehold.

I feel there is a superficial similarity between Motormaster's alt mode and IDW Prime's alt mode (i.e. the shape of the roof spoiler) the chest isn't very IDW like at all on CW Prime - I think they are bringing other cues in there - and the toes are very G1. but you can see what I mean if you put Toyworld Orion and CW Prime Side by side - and the upgrade kits didn't require a huge number of new parts to make the characters more alike mostly it's a new spoiler, head and leg covers.

As I said I don't think they sat down and said lets make a G1 Prime as such I think the took multiple cues - there is even a hint of movie in the fragmented triangles on his side chest area.

I wonder if they will risk doing Pretenders and Micromasters in 2019/2020 or if they will slip them in before - I suspect Micromasters will show up earlier than that.

RAR wrote:I feel there is a superficial similarity between Motormaster's alt mode and IDW Prime's alt mode (i.e. the shape of the roof spoiler) the chest isn't very IDW like at all on CW Prime - I think they are bringing other cues in there - and the toes are very G1. but you can see what I mean if you put Toyworld Orion and CW Prime Side by side - and the upgrade kits didn't require a huge number of new parts to make the characters more alike mostly it's a new spoiler, head and leg covers.

As I said I don't think they sat down and said lets make a G1 Prime as such I think the took multiple cues - there is even a hint of movie in the fragmented triangles on his side chest area.

I wonder if they will risk doing Pretenders and Micromasters in 2019/2020 or if they will slip them in before - I suspect Micromasters will show up earlier than that.

To be completely honest, I've never owned a pretender, mostly because they were before my time, but the idea seems really stupid and I hope they don't do them.

I'm all for pretender updates but only if the designs are mixed between shell and inner robot, or just straight up inner robot. I hope they don't do actual shells. It's just a dumb idea

steals_your_goats wrote:I'm all for pretender updates but only if the designs are mixed between shell and inner robot, or just straight up inner robot. I hope they don't do actual shells. It's just a dumb idea

So not a fan of sky shadow then ?

LE0KING wrote:

RAR wrote:I feel there is a superficial similarity between Motormaster's alt mode and IDW Prime's alt mode (i.e. the shape of the roof spoiler) the chest isn't very IDW like at all on CW Prime - I think they are bringing other cues in there - and the toes are very G1. but you can see what I mean if you put Toyworld Orion and CW Prime Side by side - and the upgrade kits didn't require a huge number of new parts to make the characters more alike mostly it's a new spoiler, head and leg covers.

As I said I don't think they sat down and said lets make a G1 Prime as such I think the took multiple cues - there is even a hint of movie in the fragmented triangles on his side chest area.

I wonder if they will risk doing Pretenders and Micromasters in 2019/2020 or if they will slip them in before - I suspect Micromasters will show up earlier than that.

To be completely honest, I've never owned a pretender, mostly because they were before my time, but the idea seems really stupid and I hope they don't do them.

Very much this. I just see no way of getting the whole Pretender thing to work properly and make a worthwhile toy out of it. I mean really, the whole draw of Transformers is that they're hyper-poseable action figures (at least, they seem to be so compared to most other action figures) that can turn into things. Pretender shells basically take all of that away as the concept is now, and I just can't see any method of updating it to make it work better in a modern market.

(In fact, Pretenders even really take away the other most basic draw of Transformers - that they're giant robots! Pretender shells aren't ever robotic as far as I remember, and half the time they're not even giant either. It's just... the most confusing direction to take Transformers, arguably even moreso than Action Masters in concept.)

Not that I object to Pretender characters getting an update, of course! Bludgeon, Sky Shadow, any of those guys (or more obscure characters) are fine by me! It's more that, like Action Masters, an update really would require abandoning the original "gimmick" in order to have a good chance of making a properly good toy out of them. Like Krok! I don't think anyone would have been really happy if we'd gotten a non-transforming Krok figure as his most recent (only?) mass-retail update. Dropping the Action Master concept led to a better toy of that previously-Action-Master character, and while TR is working really well for most -Master guys I think Pretenders are probably in a similar sort of spot.

(Also please do forgive any repetition or fuzzy statements in the above couple paragraphs, I'm way too tired to be sharing thoughts on the internet right now )

Qwan wrote:Very much this. I just see no way of getting the whole Pretender thing to work properly and make a worthwhile toy out of it. I mean really, the whole draw of Transformers is that they're hyper-poseable action figures (at least, they seem to be so compared to most other action figures) that can turn into things. Pretender shells basically take all of that away as the concept is now, and I just can't see any method of updating it to make it work better in a modern market.

Though just for giggles it might be worth pointing out that the original Pretender inner robots were some of the first to raise the bar on posability, and are still some of the most posable transforming G1 figures.

(In fact, Pretenders even really take away the other most basic draw of Transformers - that they're giant robots! Pretender shells aren't ever robotic as far as I remember, and half the time they're not even giant either. It's just... the most confusing direction to take Transformers, arguably even moreso than Action Masters in concept.)

Well they are "Pretenders", if the giant robot part was obvious it would kind of give the game away

To give a little bit of toy history context, two of the biggest toys in 1987 were Micro Machines (which obviously "inspired" Micromasters) and The Real Ghostbusters (which may well have been an inspiration for Pretenders, given that they appear as specially-equipped humans and as monsters). In hindsight it's easy to bash on Pretenders as they really do look and sound bizarre but in the context of the time you can see which hoop HasTak were aiming at.

I can't see HasTak releasing Pretenders nowadays as they were, but I'm certainly not dissatisfied with the "hybrid" releases they've produced such as ROTF Bludgeon and Skullgrin or the outer-shell releases like Thunderwing or Sky Shadow.

Either way I'm at least up for TR Metalhawk and wouldn't mind seeing a Longtooth or whoever in the line.

william-james88 wrote:

steals_your_goats wrote:I'm all for pretender updates but only if the designs are mixed between shell and inner robot, or just straight up inner robot. I hope they don't do actual shells. It's just a dumb idea

So not a fan of sky shadow then ?

No I'm fine with him, I meant more physical shells. Just give me a cool looking robot that transforms, there's no need for an outdated shell gimmick. I think TR black shadow she metalhawk are examples of how to do modern pretenders right.

Dont't get me wrong, I never really liked Pretenders. I thought, for all their flaws, they were portrayed pretty well in the Masterforce Anime series, but it loses translation in toy form. The human "shells" and the monster "shells" never really worked I will agree. But I am looking forward to TR Sky Shadow, but keep in mind, these new renditions of Metalhawk and Sky Shadow are no longer Pretenders, they are Titan Masters (Or Headmasters if you want to get technical).

The only modern Pretenders are the Optimus & Megatron coming in the last of the TFCC series 5.0 very soon, and again , they look goofy as pretenders do, and hold no interest for me.

I think the best way to do Pretenders is as a novelty follow on from a previous Cyberverse Commander / legends like line - you basically do the same sort of thing as Legends-Pretenders (like Grimmy/Jazz/Bee & Screamer) but with the Genrations Legends type moulds - then the funds and effort can be put into the shells. they'd end up being pretty big though which is a bit of a problem - one way around that is to store the robot inside them in vehicle mode. Then some joints can be put in the arms and legs and possibly the neck.

So more like Monstructor shells really.

The other way might be to only make Ultra & Mega Pretenders & pretender vehicles.

I'd not mind to much a giant APC shell with a full decent Transformer inside and some ability to play interact as with Ultra Pretenders and Pretender Vehicles.

The Pretender Beasts are just kinda cool looking I wouldn't mind something like TR Weirdwolf with the legs folded up and given an organic shell.

I'm not sure I can get into why I like Micromasters & Pretenders here and why they complement 'Masters' and are an important part of Transformers evolution and their place on Earth in that process.

I might need to write an essay on it it and give it it's own post.
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P.s. speaking of IDW Optimus there was another toy one too : The Cyber Battalion one that came out in South America and that you can also buy in Universal Studios.

Thanks to user EbonyLeopard, we have confirmation that the brand-new Titans Return "Chaos on Velocitron" box set has hit Retail shelves in the US! This particular set was found at an Erie, Pennsylvania Toys R Us for $99.99 (Skw 630509524143)! Check out the provided photos, and please tell us in the forums below if you've run a cross any upcoming Transformers Toys at retail!

Guess who's gonna make a call to TRU within the next 2 days

How much was the set?