The Energon Pub

Btw anyone else thinkin that Hasbro packaging Wingspan with Cloudraker is a wee bit underhanded? i mean...for some that may only want one out of those 2 figs but also having no choice but to end up with the other one is kinda forcefull in some respect(yeah yeah...i know...it's just Hasbro being Hasbro with their marketing & selling structure) AND having to go through the whole thing again with the Pounce & Fastlane boxset

I'd probably have thought that if it wasn't overshadowed by Pounce and Fastlane being packaged in boxsets five times more expensive

Yup Amazon definitely selling the chaos set. Widely reported on TFW. And I have one from amazon as a result of learning about its availability. I think it was available again today for a few minutes.

Got myself the G1 Chromedome and Highbrow originals!
So, how they stack-up against their recent incarnations?

Let's start with Computron's reject, Chromedome:



In vehicle mode, Chromedome have the arms sticking out of the side of the car, making it look more armored. The G1 is also quite bigger. Of course, the headmaster can ride inside too. One thing to note, the G1 headmaster, like Highbrow, have an extra flap to hide the face when in little dude mode.



In bot mode, G1 Chromedome is TALL. He's still well proportioned but aside the arms, he's a total brick as expected. At first, I was disappointed with TR Chromedome because his transformation is way to similar to a Combiner Wars limb. Still, compared to the G1 original, it show how transformers have evolved in 30 years.

And it show from the side.



And now Highbrow, my clear favorite of the two.


The G1 vehicle is perfect! A nice space copter with dual rotor blades, 3 blades each. The wings are also perfectly streamlined, showing off the not perfect Titan Return with his big arms on the side.



The G1 bot mode have odd lower legs that are the same front to back. Still, the proportions are perfect here. it's shorter than Chromedome, but is way more consistant. Even from the side.



Overall, having the G1 original make me enjoy the new Titan Returns even more!

Just saw the Velocitron set back in and stocked at one of my local toysruses in Des Moines iowa

The Chaos on Velocitron set is one of the hottest items of the year and the demand for it has yet to cease. To help some fans out, we wanted to share with you some recent developments regarding the set that some might not know.

Firstly, several community members are reporting restocks at their local Toysrus. These reports are as recent as today. This is the first restock since the set was released months ago. Also, even though it is supposed to be a Toysrus Exclusive, this set has appeared on Amazon.com with Amazon propper selling it at the same price (see image below). There are only a handful that become available at a time but clicking the refresh button has helped several fans obtain this set, especially those without a Toysrus nearby. Below is a message from fellow Seibertronian Mordhelm confirming both of these new chances of procuring the set.

mordhelm wrote:Hey, I think this might be important to some people.

First, take a look, proof that Amazon is selling Chaos on Velocitron:



And second, some acknowledgement that TRU's distribution system is completely junk, via the fact my local TRU has 3 sets of the Chaos on Velocitron set (and didn't even have a location set for it until this week):

What a time to be broke / for money needing to be used for more important things like bills.

Bills, man.....

bodrock, stay on topic please. There's plenty of other on-topic opportunities to post your memes.
Not that every post needs to be a unfunny meme.

Man, closest one is 3 and 1/2 hours away. When you add in the time lost and gas, it's just not worth it. :-/

Aaannnndddd Amazon is sold out. Duckin' Scalpers.

I don't get what makes this set so hot? Nautica? Fastlane? Are there that many people in love with Quickswitch?

My apologies, Burn.I bought the Velocitron set originally for Nautica....then dug the idea of a different head for Rodimus, liked the look of Fastlane; I never had Quickswitch, and he looked pretty good for being a variation of Sixshot.I suppose I've always had kind of a soft spot for Laser Prime, though.For awhile there, Nautica was in most of the pictures I took.

I'd mostly be wanting this for Laser Prime. Fastlane and Rodimus are alright but I can take them and leave them, and while I still hate that this really doesn't look like Nautica; this is still the only representation of one of my favourite characters and the best female Transformers character.

Unfortunately half the boxset's price is taken up by some nobody who doesn't even look like himself.

Odd to see so much people exited over a thing I don't care about.

I really don't like Sixshot, so much that I even sold my G1. So having 1/3 of the price of the set for a leader I don't care about nag me a little. And appart Fastlane and Optimus, I have all these molds. I own G2 Lazer Optimus Even though that remake look neat. Nautica and fastlane are too. And A diecast Rodimus Prime head would be lovely to have....

UGGGHHHH! NOW I CARE ABOUT THE OTHER 2/3 of the set!

Sigh... Maybe TrU will have a bunch of them in store and will fall into a 99$CAN sale one day. Then, I'll be sure to buy but not before.

Flashwave wrote:Aaannnndddd Amazon is sold out. Duckin' Scalpers.

I don't get what makes this set so hot? Nautica? Fastlane? Are there that many people in love with Quickswitch?

I don't think it's 100% scalpers. Folks on TFW are reporting its availability on amazon and other folks are able to pick it up.

I also don't get why it's so hot, but I'm glad it is. Part of the reason I got it was because of the prices Nautica and some others. So I'm not really paying 100 just for Fastlane and Rodimus.

Kurona wrote:I'd mostly be wanting this for Laser Prime. Fastlane and Rodimus are alright but I can take them and leave them, and while I still hate that this really doesn't look like Nautica; this is still the only representation of one of my favourite characters and the best female Transformers character.

Unfortunately half the boxset's price is taken up by some nobody who doesn't even look like himself.

I'd happily taker Fastlane off your hands, but I have to agree that this is a p*ss poor representation of Quickswitch (so much so that I bought the G1 version off of eBay).

Kurona wrote:I'd mostly be wanting this for Laser Prime. Fastlane and Rodimus are alright but I can take them and leave them, and while I still hate that this really doesn't look like Nautica; this is still the only representation of one of my favourite characters and the best female Transformers character.

Unfortunately half the boxset's price is taken up by some nobody who doesn't even look like himself.

There's a chance, if you don't mind saving up and going the unofficial route, that MMC might do a Nautica in their Reformatted line, which will probably be a lot better than the official one (assuming they sort out whatever the hell is going on with their factory).

Topic: Now that the line's almost over, what do you guys think would have made nice TR releases? I for one would have liked a Voyager class Hosehead (maybe retooled into Roadhauler or some other crane?), as he was a Headmaster, and also a fire engine with cabin seating for Headmasters would be great. Not sure what his third mode would be though.

And as mentioned way way before, a Leader class Big Convoy that transforms from beastly Mecha-Viking to technorganic murder-mammoth to a mammoth bone hut as the base mode would have been amazing. Granted they'd probably need to rename him, but that's OK- Slammoth Prime, Colossus Prime or Behemoth Prime would all work, with Titan Master Tuskor.

Black Hat wrote:And as mentioned way way before, a Leader class Big Convoy that transforms from beastly Mecha-Viking to technorganic murder-mammoth to a mammoth bone hut as the base mode would have been amazing. Granted they'd probably need to rename him, but that's OK- Slammoth Prime, Colossus Prime or Behemoth Prime would all work, with Titan Master Tuskor.

Cobotron wrote:

Black Hat wrote:And as mentioned way way before, a Leader class Big Convoy that transforms from beastly Mecha-Viking to technorganic murder-mammoth to a mammoth bone hut as the base mode would have been amazing. Granted they'd probably need to rename him, but that's OK- Slammoth Prime, Colossus Prime or Behemoth Prime would all work, with Titan Master Tuskor.

And best of all, it can be redecoed into a Nemesis Prime ala the Universe figure, with Titan Master Extinctor! Plus it'd go with the Legends Lio Convoy.

A pity it'll never happen in a million years, but oh well. Maybe if I learn to 3D model I can design one and sell the blueprints to an enterprising 3P company. The question is, should the TM cockpit be tucked out of the way inside the mammoth, or be positioned on its back like a howdah?

Sabrblade wrote:

steals_your_goats wrote:Real talk though, should they even be considered retools? The only thing that is the same on them are the legs (which is a completely separate piece) and even then the crotch is different. I have a hard time believing that they would retool a figure this extensively.

Then would't this make them... "reshells"? That's a word that's been tossed around in recent years since the likes of Voyager Springer and Sandstorm.

Reshelling is more when the base body is the same but the altmode bits are changed, Overlord goes beyond that.

I propose a new term: Cotool/Co-tool, for toys designed from the start to share some but not all of their parts. Universe Sideswipe and Sunstreaker would be a good example. Generations Tracks and Wheeljack even moreso.

Retool, meanwhile. is left to apply to permanent mold alterations (which is Hasbro's strict definition) and alternate parts toolings created after that fact. Things like the Targetmaster versions of existing toys, Optimus Prime (Wing hinges retooled so that he could be packaged in robot mode because Hasbro and their ironclad packaging sizes), Dark Crumplezone, Longrack, Blurr, Runamuck, and Dark Scorponok from Cybertron, Universe Leo Prime, Botcon 2009 Razorclaw...

I would've loved a Nightbeat, personally -- bias since he's always been one of my favourites, but I think being one of if not the most popular and well-known Headmaster he's a bit of a missed opportunity. Then again, I bet he's being made out of Chromedome for one of the boxsets.

While not a unique mold - though a unique mold for him would be wonderful - I also would've liked to have seen Weirdwolf done into Carnivac. Again, assuming that's not coming in a boxset and let's face it it's fairly likely.

And, naturally, as always, I do want toys of pretty much every MTMTE/LL character. And ex-RiD/OP! And TAAO! That's a huge wish list I've got there

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:I propose a new term: Cotool/Co-tool, for toys designed from the start to share some but not all of their parts. Universe Sideswipe and Sunstreaker would be a good example. Generations Tracks and Wheeljack even moreso.

Honestly, while my kneejerk reaction is to not like the idea because it doesn't include 're'... yeah, that's perfect. 'Re' does imply coming back to something after the fact. So naturally, if we think retool or redeco or etc. our minds will immediately turn to who comes first, even if that doesn't become the discussion. Even though something like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker being 'retools' of each other is clearly different from something like Krok and Skullsmasher.

Burn wrote:bodrock, stay on topic please. There's plenty of other on-topic opportunities to post your memes.
Not that every post needs to be a unfunny meme.

wha...?

Burn's watching in the background

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

steals_your_goats wrote:Real talk though, should they even be considered retools? The only thing that is the same on them are the legs (which is a completely separate piece) and even then the crotch is different. I have a hard time believing that they would retool a figure this extensively.

Then would't this make them... "reshells"? That's a word that's been tossed around in recent years since the likes of Voyager Springer and Sandstorm.

Reshelling is more when the base body is the same but the altmode bits are changed, Overlord goes beyond that.

I propose a new term: Cotool/Co-tool, for toys designed from the start to share some but not all of their parts. Universe Sideswipe and Sunstreaker would be a good example. Generations Tracks and Wheeljack even moreso.

Wouldnt a lot of G1 toys be co-tools then? Like the minibot cars, the jumpstarters, the throttle bots, micromasters and many combiner limbs? I just feel its something thats been happening from the very begining so I am surprised a new word must be made for it.

I think it's because TR brought it into much more prominence than before with how it practically revolutionised retooling and parts-sharing and all that. Most of the time before it was pretty easy to define since most toys which shared a mold were fairly easy to spot; usually retools went as far as a swapped out head or slightly more heavy retooling than that though the base design was still largely spared. I don't think we've had anything like Scourge/Highbrow/Windblade or Alpha Trion/Broadside before, at least not on this scale.