The Energon Pub

TR Alpha Trion is VERY "PowerRanger-esque". This is a design that is very ackward and all the modes are iffy at best. Still, I WILL buy that odd UFO. This derpy Transformers look like a ton of fun!

-Kanrabat- wrote:TR Alpha Trion is VERY "PowerRanger-esque". This is a design that is very ackward and all the modes are iffy at best. Still, I WILL buy that odd UFO. This derpy Transformers look like a ton of fun!

I can't decide whether to say "Go Go Alpha Trion" or "Derpformers"

For those in the US, you can "preorder" TR Astrotrain and Alpha Trion from Amazon. Amazon lists both as temporarily out of stock, but you can still order it and be notified when it's back in stock.

For Astrotrain, make sure you select Amazon as the seller (for $24.99) since it's defaulting to a seller asking for $49.99.

nycPrime wrote:For those in the US, you can "preorder" TR Astrotrain and Alpha Trion from Amazon. Amazon lists both as temporarily out of stock, but you can still order it and be notified when it's back in stock.

For Astrotrain, make sure you select Amazon as the seller (for $24.99) since it's defaulting to a seller asking for $49.99.

Thanks for the heads up, dude! I preordered Alpha Trion and the TF: The Movie Blu-Ray while I was at it.

I'd not mind a Thundertron toy from the Alpha Trion mould - but I notice the aligned version is more of a black/green and looking that the black/grey Japanese repaint I'd say maybe that is the way to go basically something a bit like Alternity Bludgeon a mostly black toy that looks a little nemesis like.

Say something along the lines of the Dark Nitro Convoy / Dark Liger Jack / Dark Fang Wolf decos.

That might be a nice change from Black Leo Convoy "HOWEVER" if they do have a slight remould due then I'm happy to see many other things like Leo Prime / Lio Convoy (many colour options there) - but as earlier posters have said the beast head is a bit derpy and the horn is a bit odd.

But I'm fine with both or either a repaint or slight remould.

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As for Wolf repaints - yes I'd think Carnivac would be nice (as long as they are not saving Pretenders for next time) something more like the shell colours ideally - I'd also love a Dark Fang Wolf Colour scheme from Takara.
Maybe Hasbro can do Cybertron Snarl deco as an Autobot/Maximal.

If they were crafty they could even try to remould him into Fangry too I guess.

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I can see some merit and use to a Beast Mould that is designed around a Bull like template as with some tweaking it could be used as Terrorbull or Snarler too perhaps. Maybe even with a lot of tweaking as Torca or Beast Wars Ironhide/ Big Convoy.

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If Takara were in mind to go crazy and make some of their own designs I wonder if they'd consider a Big Convoy Mammoth with a Cybertron Space ship 3rd mode ?

Or something where the 3rd mode was the Beast Wars 2nd Shuttle.

Bradimus wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Bradimus wrote:It looks terrible from the front, totally unbelievable as a ship, and terrible from the rear, though some people might not care about that. It also looks pretty bad from the side (the angle you are sharing in the picture) as the lion legs are clearly visible.

I knew about the legs, I pointed them out earlier, but you said we could see the lion head halves on the ship mode and I just wanted to point out that we dont. Or do we? Becasue I dont see the features of the lion head in the ship mode.

Fair enough, please allow me to clarify: I saw Chefatron's video review and got a very good look at both alt modes and the ship mode loses me with the robot arms (and lion head halves though not fully visible in and of themselves) just sticking out on the sides. It's a very poor transformation that just doesn't work. I do wish it did work because I would love to have an Alpha Trion figure but for whatever reason this figure just doesn't work as a triple changer. Maybe I'd give the lion mode more credit if the cockpit was integrated into the body instead of sticking out on top like a bad ZOID design and there was proper beast mode articulation.

Totally agreed. The cockpit almost seems as if it were an after thought

Bradimus wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

gothsaurus wrote:It's odd seeing some of the Botcon fiction coming to life in the main line, though. I'll probably pick it up for that reason alone.

But I think those botcon references make him Alpha Trion and make him the character this mold was meant for. Alpha Trion didnt have an alt mode in G1, but the botcon toys (from different companies throughout the years) made him a Lion and a Star Destroyer type spaceship, so this toy merges those two ideas. I wont say it doesnt do it well, but all I mean is that Alpha Trion fits these alt modes as an hmage better than any other character which would turn into either a ship or a lion.

I agree with the idea fitting Alpha Trion, but I cannot overlook the terrible interfering crotch plate, poor cockpit integration in beast mode, and poor execution of space ship mode. I will readily admit sometimes one mode of a triple changer needs to be given some slack (like TR Astrotrain's strange Build Ressha train homage which I kind of like but would not if I had not seen and enjoyed Toqger), and I think the alt mode that could and should have worked well is space ship, but I can't give slack to both modes and a problem with the robot design. That's a negative hat trick in my book.

That really is a close homage. I'm looking ar TR Sentinel Prime with new eyes now...

And as far as other characters it could be, I'm intrigued as to how Victory Leo's colour pallette would work for this mold. I'm not taken with this as Alpha Trion, but as someone else it may be better

Toysrus.ca has posted an image featuring the Titans Return toys with the yet to be revealed Deluxe Class Doublecross at the centre. We had only seen the leaked image artwork along with some small images behind the boxes for Titans Return wave 1 2017, but this gives us the best look at his stock images yet. Not only is his CG stock image present, but the backdrop is the box image with his head floating atop his body. Enjoy!











Don't forget to check out Seibertron.com's gallery of G1 Doublecross by clicking on the image below.

Pretty sure this is our best look at him yet...

Looking pretty good! What a shame that the Repugnus figure is most likely just a head

Legs are looking a little fat... which isn't really as true for the original toy more than it is for the likes of Skullcruncher and Spinister.





Still he's looking pretty cool.

On a more positive note, I do like the idea of making the folded up beast legs his feet instead of leaving them off to the side - that plagued the G1 Predacons and a ton of Beast Wars figures so much and still plagues poor Skullsmasher. So while I'm still not entirely sure if I like how it turns out, I'm all for any effort to make them not just hang off the sides.

Do you guys think there's any molding similarities between this toy and Sinnertwin?




I'm still riding this Doublecross and Sinnertwin sharing engineering in the same way Chromedome and Dead End do theory.

I'm not surprised that Repugnus might only be a Titanmaster. Expect Grotesque to be one too. I just can't see how those would fly with execs or kids. However what kid doesn't want a two-headed dragon that turns into a robot with dragon head hands?

Doublecross is definitely turning out to be a must have for the line. I won't have him use those guns though ,I think he'll just shoot fire out of his dragon head hands instead.

I'm sure this will be one of those moments once it is answered...but who is the white car/autobot to the far right?

wow. Have to say they nailed this one... right down to the minute details. And if the rumor is true, seeing it retooled as a limb for Abominus also sound fantastic.

I think they're playing all their cards right these days. Planning for smart retools, upping the detail and quality and size... using a size and transformation "template" where limbs and torso sizing is the same size, etc. All of that has made for some nicely proportioned, good quality toys that don't feel too cheap.

(Comparing with where things were headed with Fall of Cybertron Jazz, etc. Smaller toys, thin plastic, clearly skimping in a lot of areas of transformation.) Those had me deeply worried where things were headed.

Things seem up to par again with Combiner Wars and Titans return.

Not to mention they are giving us some real G1 homages... not just in a subtle way, but really nailing it.

They're also adding in extra functionality like the hidden cockpit on Hardhead... extra seats for titan drivers... pegs to stand mini figures... extra pegs to mix and match weaponry... ramps to connect other toys.... not to mention the obvious main gimmicks of swapping limbs or heads.

It's really clear how detail oriented they have been... and how they have upped the ante on the play pattern. These have been loads of fun to play with. Lots of options.

o.supreme wrote:I'm sure this will be one of those moments once it is answered...but who is the white car/autobot to the far right?

Preliminary design for Getaway.

Maybe they can retool Skullsmasher or Wolfwire into Grotusque

Autobot N wrote:

o.supreme wrote:I'm sure this will be one of those moments once it is answered...but who is the white car/autobot to the far right?

Preliminary design for Getaway.

ok...makes sense...but I don't feel so bad. TBH, I'm not too familiar with many of the toy designs post 1987 since that's when I stopped collecting as a child. Never had any of the Powermaters. But I never knew the original Getaway toy had any blue in it. I guess that's what you get when all you see is Lightfoot in Masterforce which had black limbs on the show (even though the Japanese toy even had blue limbs) . But in an odd twist, in a line *mostly* inspired by the original series, Getaway seems to have a more IDW look.

o.supreme wrote:

Autobot N wrote:

o.supreme wrote:I'm sure this will be one of those moments once it is answered...but who is the white car/autobot to the far right?

Preliminary design for Getaway.

ok...makes sense...but I don't feel so bad. TBH, I'm not too familiar with many of the toy designs post 1987 since that's when I stopped collecting as a child. Never had any of the Powermaters. But I never knew the original Getaway toy had any blue in it. I guess that's what you get when all you see is Lightfoot in Masterforce which had black limbs on the show (even though the Japanese toy even had blue limbs) . But in an odd twist, in a line *mostly* inspired by the original series, Getaway seems to have a more IDW look.

That's due to him being a redeco of chromedome who was specifically referencing the idw look, so that will then carry down through any future recolors.

Doublecross looks very nice indeed- so much so that I'll even turn a blind eye to the gaps in his neck this once.

I can certainly see some possible mild remould potential there be it as Sinnertwin (with new front beast arms and heads) or as a body to make Fangry from... he's most of the way there to Fangry already.


I'll get a kick out of owning him as I still have not chased up an original one as best as I can remember I only have Repugnus and Grotesque and both of them are well loved carboot sale finds so are not in the best of condition.

The only problem with these random selection is it's quite crazy making not having a set... it happens so often to not get a full team but it still drives me a bit nuts every time... I don't know if any of the Legends cars we may get will be suitable for Backstreet for example to complete that set.

I don't think they will be completing the set in any great hurry as they sure left a lot of obvious toys undone in Combiner Wars like Jazz, Sideswipe & Hoist for a start.

For some reason, seeing this made my mind think back to the sparking gimmick for the Monsterbots. (Same for the later Sparkabots & Firecons) Of course such a thing would never be allowed to be designed in a toy today.

Yes to everything RAR just said. I do hope Hasbro is paying some serious attention to completing "sets". That's very important to the collector. It looks like they are off to a good start with the four Headmaster autobots and three Deceps. Keep that up.

Complete sets of seekers, etc. should be a top priority. I'm much more interested in new characters than a hundred Bee or Prime repaints. I'm much more excited in a "Sentinel" Prime than an Arctic Blast or Night Attack Prime. Same for Bluestreak, Prowl, Smokescreen, etc.

AND yes, I've been holding my breath for the remaining Ark crew. Jazz and Sideswipe really need to happen as limbs. Badly. Plus repaint/retools like Hoist are a no brainer. Pass some of those on to a retailer like BBTS or a convention like TFCon. (???)

I'd totally be okay with a Troop Builder box set featuring a couple of molds but with different schemes... like Hoist in normal and Diaclone colors plus Diaclone Trailbreaker. Basically the same mold, but some cool options. They could be manufactured in the same pressing, being the same mold.

That could also be a great way to do something like a combiner seeker army. Same mold, but an entire limb set. They could be displayed 2 as jets, 2 as robots. I'd love the original trio plus the "generic" purple one Hotlink. Slap those on Cyclonus. Awesome.

o.supreme wrote: Of course such a thing would never be allowed to be designed in a toy today.

Golly gosh darn it that Doublecross looks dope! Great big Con stomping feet and all.
I am now looking forward to Alpha Trion and Doublecross the most.

I saw the new Thunderbird 3 that has real smoke coming out of it (awesome toy incidentally) and was frankly amazed that was allowed to exist myself... but I guess it must be safe as its in toy trains too.

I have always thought Repugnus was kind cute - like an ugly dog's puppy or something - I like Grotesque because of the Fuzor version too.

Sure they could be tweaked a little but the basic look of them is sound - as a character design i'd say - likewise something like Fangry or Horribull - they need some mild tweaks (so sony doesn't shout at them about Horibull looking like a Terrordog) - But This here dragon is so obviously ideal for a mild remould into Fangry it would be shocking to me if they didn't do that.

Yeah, I'm on board for a Fangry. They need to crank out all those headmasters.

I also love the notion of them putting out some alternate heads... even new character ones.

I'd also love a Fort Max head put out in other colors. Could be Grand Max, Brave Max, or a new character. Would be sweet to swap out and change the character. He's the only one we can't head swap now.

You guys do know that Jazz, Hoist and Sideswipe already exist right







Granted they could stand to be re-issued - especially Jazz - but if you want to complete your original ark crew or whatever there's no shortage of options just because they weren't CW limbs.