The Energon Pub

[Sentinel_Primal]

So, this is just a general question, but assuming Doubledealer's made (because why wouldn't they? He's the original mercenary after all) how do you all think HasTak would handle his Powermasters? Would they be included, or would it be like Soundwave and his minions?

[Jelze Bunnycat]

So, this is just a general question, but assuming Doubledealer's made (because why wouldn't they? He's the original mercenary after all) how do you all think HasTak would handle his Powermasters? Would they be included, or would it be like Soundwave and his minions?

Good question... I could see them try the original Powermaster gimmick with him with some Automorph or springloaded mechanism triggered by either Knok or Skar. One standard mode is always accessisble, but the other one needs the partner. In other words, the toy would always be able to be transformed, and the gimmick isn't (totally) detrimental to the toy. It would have to be Voyager or taller not just for the Triple Change gimmick, but also to have ample room for the mechanisms involved.

[Sentinel_Primal]

So, this is just a general question, but assuming Doubledealer's made (because why wouldn't they? He's the original mercenary after all) how do you all think HasTak would handle his Powermasters? Would they be included, or would it be like Soundwave and his minions?

Good question... I could see them try the original Powermaster gimmick with him with some Automorph or springloaded mechanism triggered by either Knok or Skar. One standard mode is always accessisble, but the other one needs the partner. In other words, the toy would always be able to be transformed, and the gimmick isn't (totally) detrimental to the toy. It would have to be Voyager or taller not just for the Triple Change gimmick, but also to have ample room for the mechanisms involved.

I'd love for a return to the original Powermaster gimmick with Doubledealer, but I'm not convinced HasTak would return to it because of the fact that if someone loses the Powermaster it would limit the figure to only one mode. If they do remake the Powermasters, I think it'd be like Titans Return where the head doesn't really do anything and they release smaller figures to also provide a different different "powers" for you to imagine the character getting when they're installed

[sol magnus]

So, this is just a general question, but assuming Doubledealer's made (because why wouldn't they? He's the original mercenary after all) how do you all think HasTak would handle his Powermasters? Would they be included, or would it be like Soundwave and his minions?

Good question... I could see them try the original Powermaster gimmick with him with some Automorph or springloaded mechanism triggered by either Knok or Skar. One standard mode is always accessisble, but the other one needs the partner. In other words, the toy would always be able to be transformed, and the gimmick isn't (totally) detrimental to the toy. It would have to be Voyager or taller not just for the Triple Change gimmick, but also to have ample room for the mechanisms involved.

I'd love for a return to the original Powermaster gimmick with Doubledealer, but I'm not convinced HasTak would return to it because of the fact that if someone loses the Powermaster it would limit the figure to only one mode. If they do remake the Powermasters, I think it'd be like Titans Return where the head doesn't really do anything and they release smaller figures to also provide a different different "powers" for you to imagine the character getting when they're installed

They could make it in a way that it's just for appearance. It doesn't have to have anything to do with the transformation at all.

[Sabrblade]

So, this is just a general question, but assuming Doubledealer's made (because why wouldn't they? He's the original mercenary after all) how do you all think HasTak would handle his Powermasters? Would they be included, or would it be like Soundwave and his minions?

Good question... I could see them try the original Powermaster gimmick with him with some Automorph or springloaded mechanism triggered by either Knok or Skar. One standard mode is always accessisble, but the other one needs the partner. In other words, the toy would always be able to be transformed, and the gimmick isn't (totally) detrimental to the toy. It would have to be Voyager or taller not just for the Triple Change gimmick, but also to have ample room for the mechanisms involved.

I'd love for a return to the original Powermaster gimmick with Doubledealer, but I'm not convinced HasTak would return to it because of the fact that if someone loses the Powermaster it would limit the figure to only one mode. If they do remake the Powermasters, I think it'd be like Titans Return where the head doesn't really do anything and they release smaller figures to also provide a different different "powers" for you to imagine the character getting when they're installed

They could make it in a way that it's just for appearance. It doesn't have to have anything to do with the transformation at all.

Besides, it's not like the original 1988 Powermaster toys couldn't be transformed at all without their little partners. All one had to do was simply press their finger into the slot where the little partner would go if one was missing said partner's toy.

[AcademyofDrX]

If they were serious about the Powermaster gimmick, they would have built that into Power of the Primes. It's not impossible, but it seems like it would be a lot of work to develop a play feature for a single toy. There are only a couple Powermasters without recent Generations designs, but that would need too be a line-wide event.

They could easily repurpose Soundwave's minions without mold changes, so if they do anything for DD's PMs, I think it would be that. Honestly, even though they're not a perfect match, Ratbat and Rumble could substitute for Skar and Knok with the same deco.

[Skritz]

I think we might just see Powermaster designs without the Powermaster gimmick, given Powermaster Optimus Prime, Overlord and the Dreadwing duo. I'm fine with that.

[Wolfman Jake]

Time for some more Earthrise speculation! This time, I want to focus on the implications of the past few fan polls from Hasbro. The 2018 poll gave us three vs. sets, the winner of which was Mirage vs. Impactor, and both have shown up in Siege as promised (both with two variants, in fact). But when we were surprised with the reveal of a fifth wave of Siege, we found out that Hasbro went ahead and made half of another proposed pairing, Spinister, with his vs. partner Wheeljack being revealed just a few months later as part of the first wave of Earthrise. If indeed the polls aren't as much about deciding IF a figure is made, but WHEN, it stands to reason that the third and final pair will be coming along soon at some point, that being Tracks vs. Needlenose! And, if Needlenose is made, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that we'll see his G1 Targetmaster partners, Sunbeam and Zig-Zag, in some form, likely as Battle Masters.

The 2019 fan poll gave us a choice of four new figures, Gnaw, Needlenose (again), Runamuck, and Shrapnel. The fact that Needlenose has appeared in the poll a second year in a row makes me believe that Hasbro has something ready to go for this guy, but is just waiting for the right time. Needlenose may have lost (again), but Runamuck won and will be made. It's unlikely he wouldn't be retooled/repainted as Runabout at some point, given the natural pairing of the two as THE Battlechargers from G1. I'd suspect a store exclusive or Generations Selects release for Runamuck.

Gnaw would be another welcome addition to the roster. His Titans Return figure was great, but small, and could probably stand to be at the Deluxe size class to scale better with the rest of the line. Army building for the win!

Shrapnel is an interesting possibility, and implies that, eventually, we'd get Bombshell and Kickback too. I'm not sure why Hasbro and Takara are so eager to revisit the Insecticons already, given that they hit them out of the park in Thrilling 30 and the Prime Wars Trilogy, but maybe they want them redone in a more unified color scheme and just a bit bigger than Legends size, though I don't think the Generations figures we have of them now are terribly out of scale as it is. Here's hoping they would come with a lot of accessories to help pad out the plastic quota of the Deluxe size class, like some energon cubes to munch on! The more exciting prospect, IMO, is that we may also get some nice retools/repaints of the regular Insecticons as the four "Deluxe Insecitcons" form the G1 toyline that never showed up in the Sunbow cartoon. Chop Shop was redecoed from Thrilling 30 Shrapnel for Combiner Wars before. The same could happen again in the War for Cybertron Trilogy. Maybe we could get a retool of Bombshell into Barrage, and of Kickback into Venom and Ransack?

I've got a lot of hope for the Deluxe Insecticons, mainly because Hasbro and Takara Tomy have been so good about slotting in a lot of original toyline figures each year that never got featured in the Sunbow cartoon. We got Roadbuster and Whirl from Thrilling 30. We got the Jumpstarters Topspin and Twintwist from Titans Return. We got the Duocons Battletrap and Flywheels from Power of the Primes and Siege. Siege also brought us the Powerdashers, Aragon, Cromar, and Zetar, of all things! Earthrise is sure to give us something in this vein, and if it isn't the Deluxe Insecticons, maybe it will be the Omnibots! They were also mail-away figures from the first year of Transformers product, along with the Powerdashers mentioned above and the "Time Warrior" wrist watch. Downshift could be retooled from Earthrise Wheeljack, or even better, Earthrise Tracks (if he indeed comes to fruition). Camshaft could be (yet another) retool/repaint of the Siege Prowl mold. For that matter, Overdrive would be a good repaint of Siege Prowl as well, or perhaps again the proposed Earthrise Tracks, especially to include his deployable wings in his alt mode.

That's all for now. There will plenty more speculation to come. I've covered the Battle Master, Micromaster, and Deluxe classes pretty thoroughly already, so I'm hoping to contribute some thoughtful ideas of potential Voyager and Leader class releases next.

[TF-fan kev777]

"snip"
We got the Duocons Battletrap and Flywheels from Power of the Primes and Siegie.
"snip"

I know it was probably a typo, but Siegie has just become my favorite nickname for that line. So PotPie Battletrap and Siegie Flywheels to me.

Also works well as an adjective for the line too. Earthrise looks great, but I wish some aspects were a bit more Siegie.

[AcademyofDrX]

I'm going to call for Leader class:
- Extensive retool of ER Optimus into Thunderclash
- Redeco of that into Action Master Optimus

Add in Doubledealer, and I think you have your Leaders covered.

Voyagers:
Inferno
Hauler (GS)
Skywarp
Thrust
Dirge
Thundercracker
Ramjet
Sunstorm

Commander: Sky Lynx

I'll do Deluxes later, I think that'll be more interesting

[Sentinel_Primal]

Why's everyone saying Leader Class Doubledealer? Was he that big in the cartoon? Because from the screenshots I've seen, I tend to think of him as Voyager Class

[ZeroWolf]

Why's everyone saying Leader Class Doubledealer? Was he that big in the cartoon? Because from the screenshots I've seen, I tend to think of him as Voyager Class

He'll still be voyager sized like Leader Class Siege Astrotrain. The extra price point will pay for more parts to make the alt modes better

[Skritz]

If we get somehow Thunderclash I'm going to eat a Beast Wars figure.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

OK, since we are going full on guestimating fun mode, Here is my prediction for the entire line:

Battlemasters:

Wave 1: Smashdown, Soundbarrier
Wave 2: New character, Haywire
Wave 3: Recoil, Nightstick
Wave 4: Fulcrum, new character

Exclusives: Spoilsport, Peacemaker, 2 new characters, Artfire Targetmaster with new name

Micromasters:

Wave 1: Hot Rod Patrol, Military Patrol
Wave 2: Spy Patrol 3 (Rumble, Buzzsaw), IDK
Wave 3: IDK
Wave 4: IDK

Exclusives: some repaints with Micromaster base repaints

Deluxes:

Wave 1: Hoist, Wheeljack, Ironworks, Cliffjumper
Wave 2: Greasepit, Tracks, Jazz, Sureshot
Wave 3: Trailbreaker, Sunstreaker, Air Wave, Skids
Wave 4: Runamuck, Hot House, Aileron, Pointblank

Exclusives: Roadrage, Cordon, Runabout, Micromaster base repaints, Hubcap

Voyagers:

Wave 1: Grapple, Starscream
Wave 2: Megatron, Doubledealer
Wave 3: Inferno
Wave 4: Dirge

Exclusives: Thrust, Ramjet, Artfire, welcoming committee 3-pack

Leaders:

Wave 1: Optimus Prime
Wave 2: Thunderclash (new mold)
Wave 3: Rodimus Prime

Exclusives: Nemesis Prime, Machine Wars Optimus Prime

Commander: Sky Lynx

Titan: Scorponok

[AcademyofDrX]

I'm not going to try to put them in Waves, but my picks for Deluxe:
Greasepit
Air Wave
Hot House
Bumblebee
Runamuck
Runabout
Skids
Crosscut
Tracks
Sunstreaker
Lockdown
Road Rage
Crosscut
Windblade
Slipstream (WB retool)
Trailbreaker
Huffer
Pipes
Gears
Swerve
And some surprise Action Master characters with new alt modes, maybe Axer and Rad

I think it's too early for Jazz after PotP, and with a Ricochet redeco last year, but who can really say.

I think we'll see more Generations versions of characters from other media, especially if they can fit into the Mercenary faction. My best guesses are Voyagers, and I just don't think there's room for too many given that we'll see at least four Seekers. Lugnut? Bulkhead?

I'm not sure that there will be too many Mercenaries in the larger size classes. They'll probably be the default faction for Battle Masters.

[blackeyedprime]

Hoping for a merc BW Ravage, giving up on the idea of thunderclash or other big figures with the reduction in size of leader class figures (expecting some still too small voyager dinobots so that they will never be at a size that I want them at tho but even then I'd probably happily replace the potp ones)

[AcademyofDrX]

Thunderclash doesn't need to be any bigger than ER Optimus, or Siege Magnus, they just need to design his trailer a little differently. I wouldn't expect it to have many bells and whistles, but it just needs to have some base-like elements and a small weapons platform.

I'm confident we'll see an official one eventually, by 2022 at the latest. The main reason I thought he could work now is that I could easily imagine an Optimus retool that fits within the current play pattern and with a design that hasn't yet been seen in Generations.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I honestly think Thunderclash is perfect for this line with bases. We could get a roughly voyager sized Thunderclash, and his trailer bit could form his G1.5 base/cannon platform that he can man and that can attach to all the micromasters and Omega

[Sentinel_Primal]

I'd love a new Thunderclash. Especially if they manage to get a decent battle-platform out of his trailer. I think best bet for Thunderclash though will be the last part of the trilogy because then they can get the last leader class Prime out of the way as "Mechanical Upgrade Optimus Prime".


That totally sounds like one of those bootleg KO names

[AllNewSuperRobot]

To be honest, this is the line to dig up all the gimmicky characters of old. Keeping the themimg, like Thunderclash, with the Motorvators and/or the Rotor Force, for example.

[Skritz]

Honestly if they did Thunderclash may as well have them do a Leader Skyquake too. He's big, he's impressive and much like Thunderclash the original toy is collapsing into golden dust by now. Generations Leader class Skyquake would make for an impressive offering in the Decepticon side of any line with his unique colors and impressive jet mode and he's got retool/reshell potential up the wazoo.

That and ever since Optimal Optimus I'm bugged whenever a faction leader lack his arch enemy.

[ZeroWolf]

He wouldn't be big though, not with the current trend of leaders...Commander Sky Quake on the other hand...

[Skritz]

He wouldn't be big though, not with the current trend of leaders...Commander Sky Quake on the other hand...

Skyquake doesn't need height so much as simple wingspan. Like Siege's Galaxy Convoy.

[william-james88]

Honestly if they did Thunderclash may as well have them do a Leader Skyquake too. He's big, he's impressive and much like Thunderclash the original toy is collapsing into golden dust by now. Generations Leader class Skyquake would make for an impressive offering in the Decepticon side of any line with his unique colors and impressive jet mode and he's got retool/reshell potential up the wazoo.

That and ever since Optimal Optimus I'm bugged whenever a faction leader lack his arch enemy.

I would be surprised (pleasantly though) if Skyquake ever gets an original mold made for him again. Japanese exclusive G1 toys or characters have their own mystique in the fandom but the Hasbro toys they never bothered releasing in their primary market have been getting the shaft for so long that there isn't enough of even the fandom to support it. Thunderclash makes more sense to me since he can always be redeco'd into another optimus (as the original was) and he did get previous toy references, plus he had quite the following in the most popular TF comic since G1. Now I am the one thinking like a corporate suit

[Skritz]

However, all Skyquake would need is a suitably chunky jet to be reshelled from, the same way Thunderclash just need to be retooled/reshelled from an Optimus Prime.