The Energon Pub

[Sabrblade]

The point being, you always need to jump through hoops to get Thrust.

Not for Generations Thrust. He was a Wave 1 toy. He showed up many times at Target, Walmart, and Toys'R'Us. He was everywhere that his fellow wavemates were (those being WFC Bumblebee, WFC Optimus, and Drift).

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

^Exactly. I remember seeing him on shelves plenty, too.

I can tell you why the Cybertron Thrust-colored Starscream was an exclusive, and why he was Thrust-colored in the first place: To encourage people to buy the Official OSKO Supreme-class version.



Not that it helped much, people didn't want that thing a whole lot until Starscream actually became a giant in the show (and Warner screwing over fans w/o cable - I am STILL salty about that - meant some of us didn't know about that until later). But Hasbro deliberately compromised other toys early-on to try and make it more attractive. They made the show-size Starscream a miscolored exclusive, and they gave Jetfire and Overhaul the wrong Cyber Keys so that Starscream would be the only one at the time with a Cybertron-style key.

[Emerje]

It's not really an upscale, the two molds are completely different. Match the parts and you'll see that things are different proportions, different shapes, screws are in different spots and so on. Everything else you said is probably true, there's no way Hasbro would leave the smaller mold in Japan without finding a way to use it, but also wouldn't want it to interfere with sales of the bigger figure. What annoys me is that they never gave us a Ramjet from that mold after giving us a quasi-Thrust and actual Dirge. Earlier, the Armada mold gave us a quasi-Thrust (in Universe) and an actual Ramjet, but no Dirge. Still wish the Generations Armada Starscream mold would have given us that Universe "Thrust" deco, but I guess we should just be thankful that FunPub got us Skywarp and Ramjet.

Emerje

[Rodimus Prime]

Found a couple of Thrusts in my local Target. If anyone needs him I can pick him up for you at cost plus shipping. $40 in the U.S. Message me if interested.

[william-james88]

I'm currently wondering what my favourite toys from the Earthrise line have been. The main molds I have yet to experience are the Datsun mold (since I opted to just stick with my siege bros) and Skylynx. Is the Earthrise Datsun better than the Siege Datsun?

Anyways, from what I have, I think my favourite toys are Cliffjumper, Prime, Scorponok, Sunstreaker, the Seeker mold and Snap Dragon.

What are your favourites?

[Rodimus Prime]

is the Earthrise Datsun better than the Siege Datsun?

I guess that depends on what you look for in a figure. For me, the Siege Datsun vehicle mode is beautiful. But I prefer the ER robot mode. Since I prioritize robot mode over vehicle mode, I opted to go with Smokey and prowl from ER. But it was HARD to let go of the Siege versions.

Personally, I highly recommend Sky Lynx, and I don't even like any iteration of the character. But the ER figure is great, and leaps and bounds above the previous Commander Class figure.

What are your favourites?

Definitely Scorponok and the Seekers. But to be honest, I love all the ER figures. I don't think there's a bad one in the bunch.

[TF-fan kev777]

On Siege vs. ER datsuns, I really like the Siege versions and went all in. Initially I was really irritated that they re-did them right away, although I should have expected it. I'm going all on the 4 of them in the ER mold as well. A lot like Siege Prime vs. ER Prime, I really like both molds for different reasons. I'll eventually thin out some of the Siege versions but keep all 4 ER ones.

As for my favorites of ER:
Sky Lynx and Scorpy for the big guys
Prime is the best Leader for me.
The seekers the best voyager.
Runabout is actually my favorite deluxe, followed by Cliffjumper and Trailbreaker
I liked the Ironworks modulator mold better over Airwave, more/better city building options.
For the little fellas, I like the shuttle pair the best.

[Sabrblade]

ER Prowl needs Siege Prowl's head.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I do like the more detailed SIEGE head better, but I think ER Prowl needs replacement headlights and a spoilerectomy more. Not that I currently own ER Prowl, but still.

I own a grand total of two Earthrise figures: Snapdragon and Airwave. If you count the carryover Astrotrain, it's raised to 3.
Airwave is meh. His ankle hinges are a bit too restrictive, and because of that you can't actually put him in the artillery mode his instructions suggest without forcing and luck.

Snapdragon and Astrotrain are both very cool and fun, dodgy hinge on Astrotrain's tender aside. They did a bang-up job tidying up Snapdragon's design while preserving the G1 look and I really appreciate that. Hard to say which I like more.

[sol magnus]

ER Prowl needs Siege Prowl's head.

Not at my house.

[TF-fan kev777]

ER Prowl needs Siege Prowl's head.

Not at my house.

Same here. I mean, I get why people prefer otherwise, but I really just don't care as much.

[sol magnus]

ER Prowl needs Siege Prowl's head.

Not at my house.

Same here. I mean, I get why people prefer otherwise, but I really just don't care as much.

That's not what I meant. LOL

I had a plan to swap heads and got a Prowl for 5 bucks to do the swap the day I got my Autobot Alliance version.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Favorite ER figure wise, here is a top 5 list from me:

5) Ironworks - another good deluxe mold, I love the coloration and industrialization feel to him. he forms several great base modes, and with his paired up micromaster he is a great overall package.
4) Runabout - the mold is strong, but with the black and red he is ultra strong. really good repaint, he is a sharp looking figure despite some small nitpicks with the legs.
3) Cliffjumper - a fun little mold, a lot jammed into a small package, with a great head sculpt. He is the best deluxe of the line.
2) Sky Lynx - an excellent commander worth his price. all kinds of fun stuff, and nothing feels particularly wasted. Great colors, fun to transform and mess with, he's great.
1) Doubledealer - fantastic update, fantastic mold, really fun, lots of play value, great colors, and even gets bonus mini partners/Powermasters. Love him.

[TF-fan kev777]

Ironworks - another good deluxe mold, I love the coloration and industrialization feel to him.

You just made me remember one of my favorite things about Ironworks and specifically his deco. The yellow painted crane arm and the subtle weathering effect they used to make it really look like a dirty piece of construction equipment. I spent part of my teens replacing windows on construction equipment in various scrapyards, and the look is spot on.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Ironworks - another good deluxe mold, I love the coloration and industrialization feel to him.

You just made me remember one of my favorite things about Ironworks and specifically his deco. The yellow painted crane arm and the subtle weathering effect they used to make it really look like a dirty piece of construction equipment. I spent part of my teens replacing windows on construction equipment in various scrapyards, and the look is spot on.

As someone who has also done work in scrapyards, I really liked how it came out too. Ironworks is kind of a sleeper in the line, I think he might be the best overall modulator from the line and selects. He's really good. Plus he actually has his micromaster partner, which adds an extra layer to how good he is

[Evil Eye]

Ironworks looks amazing, amazing enough that when I saw someone selling three of them together for the price of two I jumped at the opportunity and bought them. Hopefully they arrive soon!

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Having got my Thrust, he is pretty good. I love the colors on him, black and red are my favorite. I would probably say he's my 2nd favorite Conehead after Sandstorm. Pretty good.

[o.supreme]

G.O. Botropolis pics looking pretty good.

https://blacklai1979.blogspot.com/2021/ ... ction.html

I still wish they would have named the Ironworks repaint Glasspit, despite not having the right paint deco, but that's ok, It's what I'm going to call him .

[TF-fan kev777]

Sweet, and confirmation (if we didn't already have it) that it will come with Doubledealer's rocket.

[Emerje]

Looks like the second round of Scorponoks is coming this summer. BBTS and TFSource (and probably others) are taking pre-orders for June.

Sweet, and confirmation (if we didn't already have it) that it will come with Doubledealer's rocket.

We didn't so this is great to know. Really adds extra value to the set.

Emerje

[william-james88]

Looks like the second round of Scorponoks is coming this summer. BBTS and TFSource (and probably others) are taking pre-orders for June.

Sweet, and confirmation (if we didn't already have it) that it will come with Doubledealer's rocket.

We didn't so this is great to know. Really adds extra value to the set.

Emerje

I thought we all knew, it was in the initial pics, that was the big feature we were all talking about.

https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-F08 ... B0863S8V52

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Looks like the second round of Scorponoks is coming this summer. BBTS and TFSource (and probably others) are taking pre-orders for June.

Sweet, and confirmation (if we didn't already have it) that it will come with Doubledealer's rocket.

We didn't so this is great to know. Really adds extra value to the set.

Emerje

I thought we all knew, it was in the initial pics, that was the big feature we were all talking about.

https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-F08 ... B0863S8V52

It was in the pics, but we didn't know if it was actually coming. Bugbite had a piece of Brunt in all of his photos, yet didn't come with it, so there was precedent for not expecting a release to come with one of the accessories

[Nemesis Primal]

It was in the pics, but we didn't know if it was actually coming. Bugbite had a piece of Brunt in all of his photos, yet didn't come with it, so there was precedent for not expecting a release to come with one of the accessories

1. Pretty certain that happened with Hubcap, not Bugbite.
2. Hubcap didn't have the Brunt gun in any OFFICIAL product photos though, the only time he was ever shown with that part was by early reviewers with presumably stolen copies.

[Sowndwave76]

Having got my Thrust, he is pretty good. I love the colors on him, black and red are my favorite. I would probably say he's my 2nd favorite Conehead after Sandstorm. Pretty good.

Totally agree...
I like the coneheads better than the first 3, which I was surprised about, but am obvsly more than okay with... Those guys were $90 that was really really well spent.

Even though I don't have much from ER, I've watched enough reviews to feel good about everything I've passed on.

I'm not happy about having to buy mixed 2 packs to get ER Sidewipe and Mirage...
May have to see if I can cut a deal with someone since I don't want the BW figures.
But considering I'll probably get the one with Sideswipe no matter what, it has me wanting Sunstreaker (which is one of many I still haven't seen).

[Emerje]

Sweet, and confirmation (if we didn't already have it) that it will come with Doubledealer's rocket.

We didn't so this is great to know. Really adds extra value to the set.

Emerje

I thought we all knew, it was in the initial pics, that was the big feature we were all talking about.

https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-F08 ... B0863S8V52

Many of us talking about it were questioning if the missile was actually included since it was only used in one picture and none of the others, not mentioned in the bulletpoints, not mentioned in the features, not mentioned in the story, and not mentioned in the description. We wouldn't have been surprised if it was just a vestigial thing that was left in a photo but didn't come with the set.

It was in the pics, but we didn't know if it was actually coming. Bugbite had a piece of Brunt in all of his photos, yet didn't come with it, so there was precedent for not expecting a release to come with one of the accessories

1. Pretty certain that happened with Hubcap, not Bugbite.
2. Hubcap didn't have the Brunt gun in any OFFICIAL product photos though, the only time he was ever shown with that part was by early reviewers with presumably stolen copies.

Here's a better example:



T30 Chromia was shown on package with Arcee's smaller guns, unpainted. Note the little sticker next to her head.

Another example:



Early stock photos of SS06 Starscream showed him with the rotor blade (again unpainted) that would come with SS21 Starscream instead.

These things happen. Plans change all the time up until they're in production.

Emerje