The Energon Pub

[Dr. Caelus]

What is the purpose of the hinges on Optimus's calves? They very clearly look like hinges, with metal pins, but they don't do anything.

Because the legs are the same as those from Siege Prime (except some changes with how the wheels work), they carried over from Siege prime. They are used on Earthrise though, if you pop the flaps up all the way it secures the legs a little bit better.

The flaps on the knees are used in the instructions, but the hinges on the backs of the legs (the calves) seem to be totally nonfunctional artifacts, which is puzzling, as a metal pinned part would seem like an expensive inclusion...

For some reason they recycled the blue part of the lower leg (they are flipped from Siege, left leg is right) and like LeAwesome said, bit every other part of that lower leg assembly including the louvres is all new. My only guess is that the hinge is a byproduct of making the wheel assembly fit the original front piece properly, or possibly as a way to make the assembly process smoother in the factory, but I can find no part of mine that is in anyway loose and wants to move. The only other theory is that there is some retool coming down the line that may use either the hinges, the space, or swap out parts in there, explaining why they didnt cast a solid calf piece there.

It's just so weird, because you know the metal pins cost money, as does the additional time workers spend assembling the legs that way. Given how massively they were retooling things already, it's really, really strange they'd leave a money sink like that in there (also strange that they cast those parts in light grey, rather than just matching the blue on the other half of the boot). I almost think it HAS to be related to a retool further down the line, but can't imagine what. Maybe a Powermaster Prime redo?

[Emerje]

They did the exact same thing leaving an unused pin in SS Shockwave's legs leftover from SS DOTM Megatron. Scotty P. thinks there's a possible Energon Prime built into the mold ER Prime mold.

Emerje

[Hellscream9999]

Scotty P. thinks there's a possible Energon Prime built into the mold ER Prime mold.

Emerje

Why?

[ZeroWolf]

It would have to be a hefty retool for Energon Prime to be fair. Also to those saying it doesn't make any sense why to leave expensive things in a mold retool, I give you exhibit A, Titan Fortress Maximus.

[Flashwave]

It would have to be a hefty retool for Energon Prime to be fair. Also to those saying it doesn't make any sense why to leave expensive things in a mold retool, I give you exhibit A, Titan Fortress Maximus.

I guess the more pertinent question then is why when every other part of him from wheels to head is an all new part, did they choose to reuse that one part of his legs instead of designing new?

[TF-fan kev777]

It would have to be a hefty retool for Energon Prime to be fair. Also to those saying it doesn't make any sense why to leave expensive things in a mold retool, I give you exhibit A, Titan Fortress Maximus.

I guess the more pertinent question then is why when every other part of him from wheels to head is an all new part, did they choose to reuse that one part of his legs instead of designing new?

I agree it does seem weird. Could be that it was cheaper to re-use that on both the mold costs and the assembly standpoint than going new if they had any of leg assembly portion automated. They could have moved production right from the Walmart 35th anniversary deco to the Earthrise leader assembly. But admittedly I'm grasping at straws.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

It would have to be a hefty retool for Energon Prime to be fair. Also to those saying it doesn't make any sense why to leave expensive things in a mold retool, I give you exhibit A, Titan Fortress Maximus.

I guess the more pertinent question then is why when every other part of him from wheels to head is an all new part, did they choose to reuse that one part of his legs instead of designing new?

I agree it does seem weird. Could be that it was cheaper to re-use that on both the mold costs and the assembly standpoint than going new if they had any of leg assembly portion automated. They could have moved production right from the Walmart 35th anniversary deco to the Earthrise leader assembly. But admittedly I'm grasping at straws.

Retools have a shorter development to production period (at least 1 year shorter from what I've seen), because there's already a base to start from. Alternate heads are a good example of that. Likewise, including bits of engineering of previous figures could potentially shorten development time. It's quite possible the new system of reusing parts (which is separate from retooling) is more of a time-saving measure than anything else, and combined with an economic way to copy (parts of) molds, quite appealing, really.

[Flashwave]

It would have to be a hefty retool for Energon Prime to be fair. Also to those saying it doesn't make any sense why to leave expensive things in a mold retool, I give you exhibit A, Titan Fortress Maximus.

I guess the more pertinent question then is why when every other part of him from wheels to head is an all new part, did they choose to reuse that one part of his legs instead of designing new?

I agree it does seem weird. Could be that it was cheaper to re-use that on both the mold costs and the assembly standpoint than going new if they had any of leg assembly portion automated. They could have moved production right from the Walmart 35th anniversary deco to the Earthrise leader assembly. But admittedly I'm grasping at straws.

Retools have a shorter development to production period (at least 1 year shorter from what I've seen), because there's already a base to start from. Alternate heads are a good example of that. Likewise, including bits of engineering of previous figures could potentially shorten development time. It's quite possible the new system of reusing parts (which is separate from retooling) is more of a time-saving measure than anything else, and combined with an economic way to copy (parts of) molds, quite appealing, really.

And I would agree with that... If it was either more than a single part or the reuse made any bloody sense. The TR Highbrow/Scourge/Misfire/Slugslinger/Windblade/half the toylinr is a great example of what you judt said. So is WFC Megatron. Instead we have one piece of gis leg and his feet recycled... And of that?b the feet are now flipped so that the locking tabs are on the outside in vehicle mode and the original hitch is now randomly habging off the passenger side uselessly... I guess if a 3P came out with a gas nozzle piece for the trailer you could pretend that is his gas cap now... But its a random vestigal part. Even the leg vents are different (more open) Every other part of him is and works so randomly differently from the previous it just seems wierd. Maybe it was to make sure the trailer height would work with Siege, but a kid with a CAD program could have duplicated the measurements.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Why did they reuse the parts? Because it was a way they could save money, so they did. Corporate beancounters are more addicted to penny-pinching than David Willis is to Hot Shot.

[Flashwave]

Why did they reuse the parts? Because it was a way they could save money, so they did. Corporate beancounters are more addicted to penny-pinching than David Willis is to Hot Shot.

And again I say, they only recycled the front part of the leg and the feet. I'm no bean counter, but recycling 2% of a figure can't outweigh any savings. We're talking about 1/4 of half his leg and the other 3/4s had to be designed around it instead of a new design that could be simplified down. What you said would make sense if there were any more os Siege Prime in Earthrise Prime, but heck, they even recast the vents in his legs to be more open. It boggles the mind

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Why did they reuse the parts? Because it was a way they could save money, so they did. Corporate beancounters are more addicted to penny-pinching than David Willis is to Hot Shot.

And again I say, they only recycled the front part of the leg and the feet. I'm no bean counter, but recycling 2% of a figure can't outweigh any savings. We're talking about 1/4 of half his leg and the other 3/4s had to be designed around it instead of a new design that could be simplified down. What you said would make sense if there were any more os Siege Prime in Earthrise Prime, but heck, they even recast the vents in his legs to be more open. It boggles the mind

Allow me to emphasize the key word. When I said addicted, I meant it. It's a freaking compulsion for them. If corporate beancounters perceive an avenue for cost-cutting, they will almost always take it - even if the prospective savings are petty (Hence the term penny-pinching) and/or it doesn't really work out to savings in practice. That's a big part of why they're derisively called beancounters in the first place.

[Emerje]

Scotty P. thinks there's a possible Energon Prime built into the mold ER Prime mold.

Emerje

Why?

I don't have Prime so I don't know exactly but he said there's a mid-transformation step that resembled him. He sounded pretty confident about this on one of the podcasts.

Emerje

[ZeroWolf]

If we got an Energon Prime I'd reckon it would come from Takara, as there would be more plastic involved then the current leader Class price would allow. Energon Prime is only Energon Prime if he has his drones to combine with... And trailer to store them.

[Hellscream9999]

Scotty P. thinks there's a possible Energon Prime built into the mold ER Prime mold.

Emerje

Why?

I don't have Prime so I don't know exactly but he said there's a mid-transformation step that resembled him. He sounded pretty confident about this on one of the podcasts.

Emerje

Huh, well I don't really see it, but, I'm down for that

[Emerje]

If we got an Energon Prime I'd reckon it would come from Takara, as there would be more plastic involved then the current leader Class price would allow. Energon Prime is only Energon Prime if he has his drones to combine with... And trailer to store them.

Energon Prime is pretty simple since his arms and legs need to both fit inside his drones so he'd probably need different legs that aren't as complex as the current ones so that would save some parts. They'd probably only have the top half in common which might explain why ER Prime borrows so many leg parts from Siege Prime. The drones themselves are pretty simple as well, basically just simple limbs that straighten out into something roughly vehicles shape so they'd be cheap to make. A trailer, if there is one, would probably be incredibly simplified. I think it could be easily done if Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime is anything to go by. It wouldn't be a perfect remake, more like a loose homage. If we do get Energon Optimus Prime this time then I wonder if that means they'd try Armada Prime in part 3?

Emerje

[sol magnus]

Scotty P. thinks there's a possible Energon Prime built into the mold ER Prime mold.

Emerje

Why?

I don't have Prime so I don't know exactly but he said there's a mid-transformation step that resembled him. He sounded pretty confident about this on one of the podcasts.

Emerje

Huh, well I don't really see it, but, I'm down for that

I would need specifics, because I don't see it either.

[Hellscream9999]

Scotty P. thinks there's a possible Energon Prime built into the mold ER Prime mold.

Emerje

Why?

I don't have Prime so I don't know exactly but he said there's a mid-transformation step that resembled him. He sounded pretty confident about this on one of the podcasts.

Emerje

Huh, well I don't really see it, but, I'm down for that

I would need specifics, because I don't see it either.

Looking at him more, his chest opens up the same way, and his arms are perfectly free of kibble so that they could (in theory) insert into a drone, assuming they retool the legs, I could see it now

[Rodimus Prime]

I would need specifics, because I don't see it either.

Looking at him more, his chest opens up the same way, and his arms are perfectly free of kibble so that they could (in theory) insert into a drone, assuming they retool the legs, I could see it now

Someone who has both of them should check this.

[Hellscream9999]

I would need specifics, because I don't see it either.

Looking at him more, his chest opens up the same way, and his arms are perfectly free of kibble so that they could (in theory) insert into a drone, assuming they retool the legs, I could see it now

Someone who has both of them should check this.

I have earthrise prime and a lot of experience with the ins and outs of the energon mold - even if I haven’t owned it - all they need to do is retool the matrix cavity and probably the shoulder blocks to allow for a locking system with potential drones - the hands can even fold out of the way already, the legs would have to be completely new unless they made the drones specific to certain limbs; after that all they’d need would be a helmet add-on

[Omegatron.]

I would need specifics, because I don't see it either.

Looking at him more, his chest opens up the same way, and his arms are perfectly free of kibble so that they could (in theory) insert into a drone, assuming they retool the legs, I could see it now

Someone who has both of them should check this.

Something like this I assume. It doesn't really work though, the chest can't lock together in this configuration. CW Prime looked far closer to Energon Prime.

[Hellscream9999]

I would need specifics, because I don't see it either.

Looking at him more, his chest opens up the same way, and his arms are perfectly free of kibble so that they could (in theory) insert into a drone, assuming they retool the legs, I could see it now

Someone who has both of them should check this.

Something like this I assume. It doesn't really work though, the chest can't lock together in this configuration. CW Prime looked far closer to Energon Prime.

I meant the matrix flaps only, and this would probably end up being a more svelte version of energon prime, which is fine by me

[ZeroWolf]

I'm still not convinced, I think that even with plastic saved by new legs and an even simpler trailer then what normal Earthrise Prime got, I don't think there would be enough plastic to do all four drones and keep them individual looking. I think it'd still go over Hasbro's plastic limit. Of course if they still do it, then it just goes a little ways to proving my conspiracy theory that the reason Takara haven't shown any more of Armada Prime is because Hasbro pinched it for part three of the trilogy After all, can't have two parts of the Unicron Trilogy and not the first.

[Flashwave]

I'm still not convinced, I think that even with plastic saved by new legs and an even simpler trailer then what normal Earthrise Prime got, I don't think there would be enough plastic to do all four drones and keep them individual looking. I think it'd still go over Hasbro's plastic limit. Of course if they still do it, then it just goes a little ways to proving my conspiracy theory that the reason Takara haven't shown any more of Armada Prime is because Hasbro pinched it for part three of the trilogy After all, can't have two parts of the Unicron Trilogy and not the first.

My opinion too. Not enough in the parts count for 4 drones, even dead siple ones. And I do t see how the lower legs would be thin enough to fit one

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I'm hoping for a G2 version of ER Optimus. That would be cool.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

I'm hoping for a G2 version of ER Optimus. That would be cool.

Slightly different colors? Black trailer? Backpack with guns?

I could do with that.