The Energon Pub

[sol magnus]

While my Earthrise post went unread for the Gallery news, I just ordered Siege Spoiler Pack Ultra Magnus. Guess I'm going to give my other Ultra Magnus to my boy.

[aronjlove]

While my Earthrise post went unread for the Gallery news, I just ordered Siege Spoiler Pack Ultra Magnus. Guess I'm going to give my other Ultra Magnus to my boy.

I'm about to do the same this coming paycheck. The thought of a Battle Rung has me very intrigued.

[william-james88]

While all of Canada is in quarantine, Walmart is remaining open and some fans have stopped by the toy aisle while getting groceries. From these visits, several fans have brought back sightings of both the Megatron and Hotlink box sets which are part of Walmart's exclusive line of Siege repaints for the Transformers Netflix Series. Here is a specific sighting from Alex, over at Cybertron.ca, who found these in Calgary:

Today I went to the Deerfoot WM. There were 2x Netflix Megatron and 2x Netflix Hotlink (Bought 1 Hotlink).

Megatron looks really good, nice silver paint and plastic with shading done in silver paint on his legs.

Hotlink is great, dark grey plastic with shading in both metallic purple and pale purple (almost lilac) paints. He's not as dark as seen on stock images.
Targetmasters (Heatstroke and Heartbrun) are unimpressive, what you see is what you get.

Now, while sightings can be exciting news, please remember that this is a time of crisis and it has been advised to only venture out if need be. Stay safe fellow fans!

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I'm interested to see if Walmart will honor the original 4/7 release date for the online pre-orders, with all that has happened lately

[Sarahthecutevixen]

I'm interested to see if Walmart will honor the original 4/7 release date for the online pre-orders, with all that has happened lately

4/7?
where are you getting that

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I'm interested to see if Walmart will honor the original 4/7 release date for the online pre-orders, with all that has happened lately

4/7?
where are you getting that

My order states 4/7 as the release date from my 2/22 pre-order

[Tuned Agent]

I wonder if Hotlink would make a good base for a custom Skywarp.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I wonder if Hotlink would make a good base for a custom Skywarp.

Eh... For one thing, I think these releases will be a bit rarer than the main SIEGE stuff. For another, he seems to have the frowning head (Yes, I know the official Skywarp had that - and that was stupid).. I guess if that doesn't bother you.. But then, if that doesn't bother you you could also repaint Starscream (who is not exactly hard to find).

What I would do with Hotlink is strip off the excessive black weathering. Because it's just too much in his case. Unless they toned it down for the production version...

[blackeyedprime]

He's way too shway to be turned into skywarp, though it doesn't look like he will be as hard to get. He should go nicely with redwing. Photo lifted from CyclonusG1s post.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Oh good, they did throttle back on the weathering for the production version. On the toy fair version and the stock image, the black weathering obscured most of his base plastic color!

[Tuned Agent]

Isn't most of him cast in black / dark gray, though?

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Isn't most of him cast in black / dark gray, though?

No. Not even close. Hotlink is cast in purple plastic, which was clear even from the heavily blackened prototype version. Where did you get the idea of him being cast in black/dark gray from?

[Cobotron]

Hmmmmmmmmm. I dunno Zel, I think it's the other way around. I think he IS cast in black or dark grey plastic and all the purple is paint.


All that purple looks to have a lot of variation in gradient. A result usually only achievable through airbrushing. It's especially noticeable on the wings.

[Wolfman Jake]

Hmmmmmmmmm. I dunno Zel, I think it's the other way around. I think he IS cast in black or dark grey plastic and all the purple is paint.


All that purple looks to have a lot of variation in gradient. A result usually only achievable through airbrushing. It's especially noticeable on the wings.

I kind of wish that Hotlink had the same battle damage paint mask as all the other Seekers from Siege. Now he stands out with a completely different take on the idea. I guess the "charring" does play to his use of a flamethrower as part of the "Welcoming Committee."

It's interesting that "Siege" Hotlink comes with two identical Battle Masters colored to look like the flamethrower he used in the scene above. I hope that means we have a Bitstream coming sometime soon to give the extra Battle Master to.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

1. The variation in gradient of the purple looks more like an effect of lighting to me. There might be some paint to it, but only for the extra-light patches.
2. If the purple was airbrushed, I think it's the purple that would have soft edges. Instead, it's the black that has soft edges.
3. The soft edges of the black (and any stray drops from it) can also contribute to the illusion of a gradient on the purple.
4. The inner wrists are purple, and no way are those painted. Some of his plastic probably is black (like the guns), but not all of it.
5. Even on a series with a higher paint allowance, why would Hasbro use black as the dominant plastic color for a character who's meant to be purple?

[Tuned Agent]

There are a few parts that are cast in purple, like his wrists, ankles, heel spurs, around his neck, and possibly his wings, but most of the rest looks cast in dark gray / black. The purple on his pelvis and shoulders definitely looks painted. The purple on his shins also has a painted look to it, and it wouldn't make much sense to paint the insides of his thighs black (though stranger things have happened). The purple on his forearms doesn't match the purple used anywhere else on him and it fades to the dark gray / black color near his wrists, so that is likely paint as well (just not enough coats to fully cover the plastic color). This would also make sense layout-wise, as it would pretty much just be replacing the light gray, red and blue on Starscream with dark gray / black, and replacing the metallic gray with purple (though this wouldn't explain the wings, assuming they are purple). It's admittedly a bizarre deco choice, but that's what it looks like to me. I guess we'll know soon enough.

[Cobotron]

I guess we'll know soon enough.

This.

Only one way to know for sure.

[Rodimus Knight]

So was Hotlink actually available online at any point. I don't remember seeing him when I was ordering the Walmart Exclusives when they were announced.

[Gauntlet101010]

Finally got Siege / ER Astrotrain. Mainly for the robot mode, which I think is better than Legends AT (which I also have). I had AT as a kid, so I have a fondness for the guy he probably doesn't deserve.

I have to say, though ... Henkei AT is probably the best AT. Sure he has train bits on his Space shuttle mode, but the space shuttle is still pretty convincing. And, while his train mode isn't a steam locomotive it is also a more convincing train than Siege's. It's a shame he's just too small now.

But I still like Siege's robot mode a whole lot. The transformation is also pretty fun. And I have a (definitely illogical) fondness for AT. so I'm glad I got him.

[ZeroWolf]

Well Henkei/Classics Astrotrain was developed in the mindset of updating the original alt modes and I thought they did the best they could at that price point. It would have been fun to see what would have came out if it was voyager instead.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I think a steam engine would have been cooler... damnit Archer... Classics/Henkei is definitely the tidiest modern AT tough. I think going off the original toy's chest design helped a fair bit with that.

Finally going to have my hands on Apeface soon; the tracking that for two weeks was stuck on "Processed through facility in Guangzhou" now says "Processed through Los Angeles ISC".

[Sabrblade]

Yeah, Hasbro's mindset at the beginning of the Classics and Friends era was "Why would we make new toys in 2006 that turn into outdated altmodes from the 1980s? That's backwards thinking. Kids want to play with altmodes from today that they see every day."

Oh, how little did Archer and co. realize the power/demand of 1980s altmodes.

[william-james88]

The Walmart exclusive Netflix Series voyager three packs are out in Canada and your fellow news editor found them while getting some milk today. Since these are all simply redecos, I felt in hand images would be all that was needed for a review since all of these molds have already been released multiple times.

This review will be for Hotlink with Battlemasters Heatstroke & Heartburn. Now first, there is indeed a difference between the two targetmasters. Heatstroke has a red visor while Heartburn has a yellow visor. And that's it.

Now as for Hotlink, while the mold is the same as all other Tetrajet Siege seekers, his deco and it's application is the most different so far. Unlike the other toys, he is spray painted to offer some purple highlights throughout the toy, to the point where he ends up being more purple than dark grey/black, which is the plastic colour he is mostly made of. Some joints and smaller parts are made of purple plastic, but it's mostly black and that black is spray painted in gradient patterns. The purple goes from lilac on his chest and pelvis to bright grape on the forearms to a more muted purple on most of the figure. It is more even in jet mode, where we see him mostly in that same muted purple. This does mean he has more paint than any other seeker so far, they even paint the inside of his wings to keep that purple theme. And since he ends up being more purple than black, fans wanting to turn him into Skywarp will have to remove a lot of the paint.

The really cool part of this new spray painted deco is that you no longer have the same kind of battle damage seen on the other seekers, which was always in the same place. I don't really know what the gradient is going for though, if it's meant to represent it's own battle damage or not, but it makes for a unique look. Enjoy the photos and let us know if you'll be getting this guy when he comes out.

[TF-fan kev777]

So was Hotlink actually available online at any point. I don't remember seeing him when I was ordering the Walmart Exclusives when they were announced.

Yes, all 8 (5 deluxe, 2 voyager and 1 leader) were put up for pre-order during toyfair, but I think Scrapface and Hotlink sold out the quickest. I ordered immediately, so I'm not sure how quickly.

[william-james88]

I wonder if Hotlink would make a good base for a custom Skywarp.

it would be since his base colour is indeed black plastic. So you could use whatever custom people do to remove the paint where you don't want it and you'll pretty much have a skywarp.

Isn't most of him cast in black / dark gray, though?

No. Not even close. Hotlink is cast in purple plastic, which was clear even from the heavily blackened prototype version.

To reuse your words: No. Not even close. Hotlink is cast in dark grey/black plastic.

I have him in hand and put the pics in the review above.