The Energon Pub

[sol magnus]

You mean.... they decided to combine their lines so that things will be smoother overall, and they decided to go with the WORSE paint applications? So the only hope for better figures is actually going to be 3rd party? BLLLLLAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGH

1. This happened two years ago, what's your excuse for not noticing?
2. Of course they went with the tighter paint budget - I don't think Hasbro's shareholders would allow anything else.
3. It's just freaking paint apps. Stop being such a spoiled brat about it.

1: I don't normally look at toy news other than releases.
2: yeah that makes sense really. the extra paint apps would be expensive and I'd probably go to Reprolabels for things anyway.
3: This is gonna sound weird coming from a guy who was just bitching about paint apps, but wow, calm down.

Yeah. Maybe sit the next couple of plays out.

Yeah, I'm not proud of that. Sorry I'm an idiot sometimes.

I was talking about Zelda, bro. He's going a bit HAM. Unnecessarily.

[o.supreme]

So....Allicions bot hands just hang off the back of the arms in Gator mode? Unless it was mistransformed, that's kind of goofy. With an incredibly simple transformation for a deluxe, you'd think they'd at least have wrists that fold.in.

[Starseeker]

July, day 9. Almost 830 PM.
Still no new stock at Target.
That is all.

[DMSL]

I want vehicle weapon storage like we did in the old classic days, that just completed the figure for me.

[DMSL]

Grrat figure, but his weapon is lame, needs a decent pistol.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I'm sorry for flying off the handle at you, Fires.

I was being reminded of the days when you could hardly move your mouse without hitting a "RARGH THERE'S LESS PAINT ON THIS! HASBRO IS SCAMMING US! GET THE TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS!" post... I wonder if you can get therapy for stuff like that trying your patience.

DMSL, which figure are you even referring to?

[Ultra Mad]

I will maybe pick her up for my War for Cybertron shelf as Cynertronian Arcee but even then...I have the T30 Takara Legend in my G1 display case and she looks a lot better then this. No replacement for Generations past figure of this character.

[Jeddostotle7]

Yep, definitely getting this Arcee. She looks way better than the T30 proportionally, to me.

[Cobotron]

Zelda, dude, you really gotta check yourself before you start typing. It's cool that you apologized. I appreciate that, and I'm sure others do too, but please, try to dial it back a little.
Thanks man.

[blackeyedprime]

You mean.... they decided to combine their lines so that things will be smoother overall, and they decided to go with the WORSE paint applications? So the only hope for better figures is actually going to be 3rd party? BLLLLLAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGH

You do have one more hope...Hasbro. If they release arcee as part of the netflix line up, her paint could be different (and then there is a slim chance of Japanese limited editions -not the standard western releases that they are releasing as limited editions over there) There was some speculation of a Takara alicon set in different colors way back but it might just have been protoypes/non finalised paint schemes.

[Gauntlet101010]

I just remembered I had this on preorder at BBTS. Just canceled. Smokescreen I'll get, Alicon I'll get x3, but this version of Arcee ... maybe if I see it in stores. MAYBE. But this is one of those figures that makes me wish brand unification never happened because a good paintjob could have saved it. Transformation aside the molds are good enough

This and Siege Ultra Magnus make me wish for the glory days of yore.

Maybe I'll pick it up in stores since I do have both Lifeline AND Nightbird sharing the Arcee mold. But this just isn't worth the preorder.

[Sentinel_Primal]

Hopefully we get a Lifeline out of this new one. I'd be willing to pick that up. And I might pick up Arcee and give her Smashdown and retail Lionizer for weapons. Wish the head was a little better, but hopefully a Shapeways upgrade gets made. But, I don't expect one to be made in a way that'd I'd get it because I'd rather we get a more stern/stoic face rather than the smile we tend to get

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

The brand divergence had a huge downside, though. Prior to brand unification, QC was getting patchier and patchier in both the Hasbro and Takara lines (I seem to recall pleeenty of QC complaints in the Legends and UW threads). After brand unification, it stayed hit or miss during the transitional period of PotP and initial Studio Series, before shaping up notably during SIEGE. Horrendous QC faults can be hard to fix or get replacements for (especially on import figures).

Paint austerity, on the other hand, can be easily amended in various ways.

Something to consider: Yes, the back of Arcee's waist is unpainted, but it'd also usually be hidden by her backpack. For my money, it looks less off than T30 Arcee's highly visible unpainted car interior.

[Gauntlet101010]

Well, there's also the red lips that do make a difference to me. Some of her character models have the same chalk white skin while others are light pink ... that's a judgement call.

But it's her vehicle mode that suffers the most. It doesn't even have the grey paint the render had. No blue for the lights either, no nothing. It's the blandest execution of her vehicle mode possible - and it was already very bland.

I think the qc comparisons are a myth. They're made in the same factories, or so I heard. I have plenty of both and haven't noticed anything better or worse QC-wise.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Well, there's also the red lips that do make a difference to me. Some of her character models have the same chalk white skin while others are light pink ... that's a judgement call.

But it's her vehicle mode that suffers the most. It doesn't even have the grey paint the render had. No blue for the lights either, no nothing. It's the blandest execution of her vehicle mode possible - and it was already very bland.

I think the qc comparisons are a myth. They're made in the same factories, or so I heard. I have plenty of both and haven't noticed anything better or worse QC-wise.

Takara QC being better than Hasbro is a myth, yes, since Takara oversees the factories. What's not a myth is that before brand unification, QC complaints were piling up across the board.

Now that the brands are unified, QC seems to have stabilized (at least, based on what I've seen).

Regarding the vehicle mode, the sculpt is heavily at fault there. The front fenders are poorly defined compared to the animation model, the sides don't curve inward towards the middle enough, and the splashers for the wheels are overly flat... It really does feel like an unwise attempt to copy MP Arcee at Deluxe size.

As far as paint goes, I'm glad they dropped the half-painted doors instead of the painted seats.

I really do think they should have made her a Titan Master to balance out the shortcomings.

[Gauntlet101010]

I really do think they should have made her a Titan Master to balance out the shortcomings.

Total agreement here. It wouldn't have made the figure better overall, but it would have made her different. Different enough to be more worth the effort.

[Wolfman Jake]

I'll just post a few hot takes after watching the Arcee and Allicon reviews. First off, Allicon looks great. It's not absolutely perfect, but its the first official toy of the character(s) and it's really close enough in terms of overall look, plastic colors, paint applications, and details that make the silhouette very accurate and pleasing to longtime fans. I'll be buying (at least) three of them to go along with my army of Titans Return and Legends Sharkticons.

Unfortunately, Arcee is just one big disappointment. The ONLY thing this new Earthrise figure has on the Takara Tomy Legends version from five years ago is that the rear of the car is more screen accurate in shape. That's literally it. Okay, maybe also the ankle tilts, but that really is it. I'm choosing to compare the new ER version to the older LG version specifically as it is, in my opinion, the best release of that mold. Hasbro's Thrilling 30 and Platinum versions both had more inaccurate paint applications, as compared to the original G1 cartoon character model and on-screen appearances. The robot mode for ER Arcee looks very good, but the LG one looks even better. The lack of pink paint on the face of the ER figure is just sad, and several other key color details on the figure are either missing, like white on the FRONT of the shoulder pauldrons in robot mode, or just wrong, like the pink plastic feet or the clear blue fin for car mode. The LG figure also legitimately transforms. ER Arcee is not only a complete shellformer, she's also partially a partsformer! Yikes! Even though having the robot mode thighs stick out on the back fenders of the LG mold is not accurate to the G1 cartoon, it still looks fine in alt mode due to some excellent design and makes for a much more complex and satisfying transformation that doesn't require you to take off half the car to avoid a huge backpack. How did the designers so utterly fail to improve upon the T30 mold from 5 years ago? If you have either of the Hasbro versions of T30/LG Arcee, I can see how the ER version would be a slight improvement in some respects, mainly regarding color accuracy, but the LG version looks like a mini Masterpiece figure, and might even be better proportioned than the actual upcoming Masterpiece Arcee figure! Earthrise Arcee is a rare pass for me.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Funny you should bring up MP Arcee. I blame that figure for what a mess the Earthrise one is - the ER figure smacks of being a foolhardy attempt to replicate that at Deluxe size.



You'd think they'd have learned their lesson about that sort of thing after what happened with these disasters.

I really do think they should have made her a Titan Master to balance out the shortcomings.

Total agreement here. It wouldn't have made the figure better overall, but it would have made her different. Different enough to be more worth the effort.

And it would be a more accessible Headmaster Arcee than the exclusive.

[blackeyedprime]

Looks like they could use the allicon for a streets sharks or extreme dinos cross over :p

I might be tempted to remove the allicon arms from one of them in bot mode. They could have had them separate like some of the G1 seacons, it already has the back section to pop on anyway that none of the videos showed. Kind of nice that it has two weapons with it.

[AcademyofDrX]

I really do think they should have made her a Titan Master to balance out the shortcomings.

Total agreement here. It wouldn't have made the figure better overall, but it would have made her different. Different enough to be more worth the effort.

It was a convention/retailer exclusive with confusing distribution, but we just got a Titan Master Arcee three years ago. The TMs we've gotten in WfC were the last of the standard headmasters, they're exceptional. I'm disappointed in the figure, but valuing G1 accuracy with removable kibble is more consistent with the overall line than another Headmaster would be.

[sol magnus]

According to Walmart .com Wave 2 is supposed to be available 9/1/2020 and Wave 3 11/1/2020. I realize these are probably floating dates, but even if that's true Wave 2 is going to be short. Seems like those guys (whatever I'm getting for myself and my son) will have to be gotten pretty quickly.

[ZeroWolf]

You could argue that its G1 accurate to her depiction in the rebirth Though I ultimately agree that it was unlikely to ever happen. Especially as we creep towards the movies 35th anniversary next year.

[ZeroWolf]

Greetings Seibertronians! If the video reviews of Deluxe Class Arcee and Allicon weren't enough for you, fellow Seibertron user, LinaNui, has let us know that YouTube toy reviewer, TonTon, has reviewed another Wave 2 Deluxe! This time, its Airwave's turn. Just like Wave 1 Ironworks, Airwave is an update of one of the Micromaster bases from late G1 and is a modulizer to allow for different layouts and connect to other tf bases! As with the weaponisers from Siege, he can also become armour for compatible figures.

Thats not all though as fellow Seibertron user, Grimmtrigger, has also done a review of the new leader Class Doubledealer! This is an update to one of the original Powermasters from G1 and can triple change just like the original, going from missile carrying truck, to giant bird, to robot mode. While he has lost the powermaster gimmick of his original toy, he does have compatability with the cassette gimmick that Soundwave enjoyed back in Siege.

Check out both reviews below:

TonTon Reviews Deluxe Class Airwave



Grimmtrigger reviews Leader Class Doubledealer



What do you think of these toys? Looking forward to owning them? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!

[AcademyofDrX]

According to Walmart .com Wave 2 is supposed to be available 9/1/2020 and Wave 3 11/1/2020. I realize these are probably floating dates, but even if that's true Wave 2 is going to be short. Seems like those guys (whatever I'm getting for myself and my son) will have to be gotten pretty quickly.

Time between initial distribution of waves /= length of distribution of those waves.

[TF-fan kev777]

Also keep in mind that Wave 1's original date was March 1st and the dates for waves 2 and 3 were set in late Feb/early March when they were first revealed. I believe Hasbro indicated they were planning for a disruption/delay due to Covid-19 when setting those dates, so the 6 month gap between waves 1 and 2 followed by a 2 month gap was probably their best guess in Feb/March on where Covid-19 would slow things down and then pick up again. I would not be surprised to see wave 2 move up a little bit now that wave 1 appears to have hit saturation in most of the US.

Looking at my old toy haul photos, I just realized that the target exclusives have leapfrogged both waves 2 and 3 as compared to last year. I found the Rainmakers relatively early at the end of July last year and had the wave 3 deluxes and Smashdown by then.