The Energon Pub

[Lunatic Prime]

But we are alteasy getting the tetra jet siege mold as a red redeco

I want a new Acid Storm in Masterpiece colorscheme. In the Cybertron Seeker mold it would look awe-fricking-mazing
Way better than the current tetra jet mold (in my opinion at least).

[Lunatic Prime]

I know everybody is caught up with news and future stuff but can anybody tell me why Brunt has that square hole in his left heel? Is it just to save material or does it have a purpose?

[TF-fan kev777]

I know everybody is caught up with news and future stuff but can anybody tell me why Brunt has that square hole in his left heel? Is it just to save material or does it have a purpose?

IMG_20190712_015636.jpg

My guess would be to account for shrinkage during injection molding. There is a relatively thick part (as compared to the rest of the foot) right behind the grey flip out piece for connecting the 2 feet together that is thicker than the areas around it. This thicker part aligns with the square hole. Since plastic shrinks a little when going from liquid back to a solid, areas that are thicker can have their outer surface cool to a solid while the center is still a liquid. If the area is too thick, when the center cools it can actually pull the outsides inward. Creating an area like you see is one way to combat that by giving the piece a specific area where it can contract some during cooling without pulling the rest of the part out of its intended shape.

Edit: I'm sure saving any material they can is also a consideration.

[Jeddostotle7]

My thoughts are on what characters will we be getting in the subsequent lines, it seems Siege is coming out with all the high profile heavy hitters.

There's still a few '84 and '85 Autobots who might show up, namely Sunstreaker, Wheeljack and Trailbreaker who definitely would be their own mold and each has at least one or two Retool options. There is also Skids, Inferno, Grapple and Blaster for Deluxe Autobots. On the Decepticon end you got all three Coneheads as well as all the Insecticons, regular and the 'deluxe' Insecticons who never showed up in the cartoon.

Why would Inferno, Grapple, or Blaster be Deluxe class? I'd expect all of them to be Voyager-sized.

[Sabrblade]

My thoughts are on what characters will we be getting in the subsequent lines, it seems Siege is coming out with all the high profile heavy hitters.

There's still a few '84 and '85 Autobots who might show up, namely Sunstreaker, Wheeljack and Trailbreaker who definitely would be their own mold and each has at least one or two Retool options. There is also Skids, Inferno, Grapple and Blaster for Deluxe Autobots. On the Decepticon end you got all three Coneheads as well as all the Insecticons, regular and the 'deluxe' Insecticons who never showed up in the cartoon.

Why would Inferno, Grapple, or Blaster be Deluxe class? I'd expect all of them to be Voyager-sized.

All three of them are of comparable size to Ironhide and Ratchet, and both of them are Deluxes. Even Impactor, who is much bigger than both Ironhide and Ratchet, is still a Deluxe.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

I know everybody is caught up with news and future stuff but can anybody tell me why Brunt has that square hole in his left heel? Is it just to save material or does it have a purpose?

IMG_20190712_015636.jpg

My guess would be to account for shrinkage during injection molding. There is a relatively thick part (as compared to the rest of the foot) right behind the grey flip out piece for connecting the 2 feet together that is thicker than the areas around it. This thicker part aligns with the square hole. Since plastic shrinks a little when going from liquid back to a solid, areas that are thicker can have their outer surface cool to a solid while the center is still a liquid. If the area is too thick, when the center cools it can actually pull the outsides inward. Creating an area like you see is one way to combat that by giving the piece a specific area where it can contract some during cooling without pulling the rest of the part out of its intended shape.

Edit: I'm sure saving any material they can is also a consideration.

That's part of it: the hole for the rivet needs to have a certain depth for durability (too shallow and the hole cracks). The inset creates an anchor point on top, leading the forces caused by slamming the pin in away from the hole and spreads it to the rest of the piece.

[Jeddostotle7]

My thoughts are on what characters will we be getting in the subsequent lines, it seems Siege is coming out with all the high profile heavy hitters.

There's still a few '84 and '85 Autobots who might show up, namely Sunstreaker, Wheeljack and Trailbreaker who definitely would be their own mold and each has at least one or two Retool options. There is also Skids, Inferno, Grapple and Blaster for Deluxe Autobots. On the Decepticon end you got all three Coneheads as well as all the Insecticons, regular and the 'deluxe' Insecticons who never showed up in the cartoon.

Why would Inferno, Grapple, or Blaster be Deluxe class? I'd expect all of them to be Voyager-sized.

All three of them are of comparable size to Ironhide and Ratchet, and both of them are Deluxes. Even Impactor, who is much bigger than both Ironhide and Ratchet, is still a Deluxe.

I see what you mean with Inferno and Grapple, but Blaster at the very least has always been one of the tallest non-especially large sized Autobots, almost Optimus Prime's height, more than earning a Voyager-class figure. Plus, I'm fine with Grapple and Inferno being Voyagers to further bump up the Autobot Voyager count.

[-Kanrabat-]

Siege Blue Streak is magnificent! I have the MP, the G1, and the Universe Legion. So I'm getting this one for sure.

As for Mirage... All robot mode, the vehicle can go screw itself. Seriously, the arms-spoiler ruin it. What a stupid design.

[Rodimus Prime]

I would think since Soundwave is a voyager, Blaster would be as well.

Anyway, I know we have a review forum, but this won't be a whole review, just a few quick thoughts on Jetfire. Very first thing, he's not worth the $80 price. Yes, he's larger than a leader, but honestly, he's fairly simple. While I was transforming him, it felt like I was handling an oversized voyager. He looks nice in bot mode, and I actually like the jet mode as well, but there are too many open spaces. I'm not particularly a fan of dealing with an abundance of panels, but this figure could have used a few more to cover up the fact that it's a robot. Otherwise, the jet mode is pretty good as well. It's definitely superior to any previous official releases of the character. I have his double barreled gun mounted on top in jet mode. As for the extra armor and guns, I never even took them out of the box or the ties. Ditto for the orange booster effects. Don't care for them.

Overall, I'm glad I got the figure, but I'm even more glad I got him for $50 and not $80.

There better be a voyager Sunstorm on the way soon. That Dreamwave story with him and Jetfire is one of my favorites.

I also have Lancer and 3 Refraktors on the way. My TF budget is flat lined, and Omega is still listed on Walmart.com as arriving in August.

[frogbat]

When it comes to the dutsan bros, my usual favorite is smokescreen...however, this smokescreen is perhaps my fave for the siege line. I’ve already bitten the bullet and got prowl. Not the strongest in the siege line but quite fun nonetheless.... doubt I’ll get any other cos... money.

Re sureshot, he could work in robot mode too but yeah, the remaining auto it target masters are definitely what I’m hoping they’d release soon. The other auto bots... grapple, inferno, hoist and trail breaker would be awesome because I want a fan of their previous generations toys.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Rodimus, don't forget that mass factors a fair bit into price, so..

Skyfire is making me hope for a Commander-class do-over of Overlord somewhere down the road. The Titans Return Leader-class is decent, but a Commander-class version would scale better and be able to have more features.

[Rodimus Prime]

Rodimus, don't forget that mass factors a fair bit into price, so...

I got that, but what's the point of making a figure bigger if the transformation doesn't become a little more intricate and more of the spaces available get used? That's why I don't think it's worth the extra money. Had it been leader sized, I would have accepted it as it is. But due to its larger size, I was expecting a little more complexity. But I guess that's what the MP line is for.

[Lunatic Prime]

I know everybody is caught up with news and future stuff but can anybody tell me why Brunt has that square hole in his left heel? Is it just to save material or does it have a purpose?

IMG_20190712_015636.jpg

My guess would be to account for shrinkage during injection molding. There is a relatively thick part (as compared to the rest of the foot) right behind the grey flip out piece for connecting the 2 feet together that is thicker than the areas around it. This thicker part aligns with the square hole. Since plastic shrinks a little when going from liquid back to a solid, areas that are thicker can have their outer surface cool to a solid while the center is still a liquid. If the area is too thick, when the center cools it can actually pull the outsides inward. Creating an area like you see is one way to combat that by giving the piece a specific area where it can contract some during cooling without pulling the rest of the part out of its intended shape.

Edit: I'm sure saving any material they can is also a consideration.

That's part of it: the hole for the rivet needs to have a certain depth for durability (too shallow and the hole cracks). The inset creates an anchor point on top, leading the forces caused by slamming the pin in away from the hole and spreads it to the rest of the piece.

Thanks guys

Siege Blue Streak is magnificent! I have the MP, the G1, and the Universe Legion. So I'm getting this one for sure.

As for Mirage... All robot mode, the vehicle can go screw itself. Seriously, the arms-spoiler ruin it. What a stupid design.

And we haven't seen the back of the alt mode yet. There's his torso just hanging out of as far as it looks like for now.

[blackeyedprime]

I know everybody is caught up with news and future stuff but can anybody tell me why Brunt has that square hole in his left heel? Is it just to save material or does it have a purpose?

IMG_20190712_015636.jpg

The holer might just be for assembly purposes to differentiate the pieces so the feet don't get missassembled. Not sure why one foot has a pin and the other doesnt but maybe thats something to do with his transformation.

[-Kanrabat-]

Skyfire is making me hope for a Commander-class do-over of Overlord somewhere down the road. The Titans Return Leader-class is decent, but a Commander-class version would scale better and be able to have more features.

I'd be all over that. TR God Ginrai will then have a proper opponent.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Lunatic, it looks more like just the faux-spoiler hanging out as a rear bumper.

Rodimus, don't forget that mass factors a fair bit into price, so...

I got that, but what's the point of making a figure bigger if the transformation doesn't become a little more intricate and more of the spaces available get used? That's why I don't think it's worth the extra money. Had it been leader sized, I would have accepted it as it is. But due to its larger size, I was expecting a little more complexity. But I guess that's what the MP line is for.

What's the point? Scale. And features and accessories (which he has plenty of). And IMO, when rendering some character designs as toys there's a point where it becomes questionable what further complexity adds. Perhaps he's not quite there, but still.
It's not like, say, taking a Voyager-class figure with a limited arm articulation scheme and upsizing it to Supreme/Commander without making any improvements aside from articulating one pair of guns

What other Action Master Partners do people want to see brought back as Battlemasters?

[Jeddostotle7]

What other Action Master Partners do people want to see brought back as Battlemasters?

All.

Speaking more realistically, though, at least Gatoraider, to go with TR Krok.

[Lunatic Prime]

What other Action Master Partners do people want to see brought back as Battlemasters?

All.

Speaking more realistically, though, at least Gatoraider, to go with TR Krok.

But Gatoraider would need to be a jet then

[ThunderThruster]

Well, the fact that they could get more money out of doing a new baja buggy mold by also doing Ranger/Joyride with it gives me hope that they'll do it.

And meanwhile, a Fracture redeco of Mirage would be preferable to me as far as re-using his mold goes, because it would bolster the Decepticon ranks some more.

While you're giving away repaint/molds to random gobots (wrong alt-mode for a proper Crasher!), poor Slapdash is wondering when it's his turn to get a new update from his G1 self.

I know everybody is caught up with news and future stuff but can anybody tell me why Brunt has that square hole in his left heel? Is it just to save material or does it have a purpose?

IMG_20190712_015636.jpg

The holer might just be for assembly purposes to differentiate the pieces so the feet don't get missassembled. Not sure why one foot has a pin and the other doesnt but maybe thats something to do with his transformation.

Doesn't that pin hold the flip out tab that lets you connect both feet together for the large cannon?

[william-james88]

Rodimus, don't forget that mass factors a fair bit into price, so...

I got that, but what's the point of making a figure bigger if the transformation doesn't become a little more intricate and more of the spaces available get used? That's why I don't think it's worth the extra money. Had it been leader sized, I would have accepted it as it is. But due to its larger size, I was expecting a little more complexity. But I guess that's what the MP line is for.

I don't think there ever truly was a correlation between size and complexity. Especially for bots bigger than leader. I will admit that Unicron was rather complex for his time, but other giant bots since have been rather simple. Primus even has an automorph gimmick while Supreme Starscream and Cheetor are just bigger versions of much smaller toys, in terms of their engineering. I actually feel the bigger you get, the less complex it becomes, where you are left with the current titan class which are all rather simplistic. I think its because since it takes more effort to move bigger pieces, there are less steps. It's what made me stay away from Metroplex in 2014 (well that and money and me not really caring about the character).

The correlation isn't even there with MPs, with BW Megatron being even simpler than cheetor.

[Lunatic Prime]

I know everybody is caught up with news and future stuff but can anybody tell me why Brunt has that square hole in his left heel? Is it just to save material or does it have a purpose?

IMG_20190712_015636.jpg

The holer might just be for assembly purposes to differentiate the pieces so the feet don't get missassembled. Not sure why one foot has a pin and the other doesnt but maybe thats something to do with his transformation.

Doesn't that pin hold the flip out tab that lets you connect both feet together for the large cannon?

Yup

[Flashwave]

Rodimus, don't forget that mass factors a fair bit into price, so...

I got that, but what's the point of making a figure bigger if the transformation doesn't become a little more intricate and more of the spaces available get used? That's why I don't think it's worth the extra money. Had it been leader sized, I would have accepted it as it is. But due to its larger size, I was expecting a little more complexity. But I guess that's what the MP line is for.

Keeping in mind, that mask scales exponentially faster than than size does, you have to remember that larger figures, the joints have to hold more weight. Intricate Transformations often in complex joint, and those simply may not be up to the job of holding a larger part and wear out quickly over time compared to a more simplified transformation maybe a little bit panel work break things down cosmetically

[no-one]

Well, the fact that they could get more money out of doing a new baja buggy mold by also doing Ranger/Joyride with it gives me hope that they'll do it.

And meanwhile, a Fracture redeco of Mirage would be preferable to me as far as re-using his mold goes, because it would bolster the Decepticon ranks some more.

While you're giving away repaint/molds to random gobots (wrong alt-mode for a proper Crasher!), poor Slapdash is wondering when it's his turn to get a new update from his G1 self.

Oh wow, you're right. I was thinking Fracture/Crasher as well. PotP Jazz mold would work way better for the alt-mode at least.





I'll take either Fracture or Slapdash or any F1 car bot that isn't Drag Strip out of the Siege Mirage mold (I'd also rather a 'Con). It looks like a cool mold with an interesting transformation.

[JazZeke]

Y'know, of all his mold-mates, Bluestreak's alt mode looks the best.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Rodimus, don't forget that mass factors a fair bit into price, so...

I got that, but what's the point of making a figure bigger if the transformation doesn't become a little more intricate and more of the spaces available get used? That's why I don't think it's worth the extra money. Had it been leader sized, I would have accepted it as it is. But due to its larger size, I was expecting a little more complexity. But I guess that's what the MP line is for.

I don't think there ever truly was a correlation between size and complexity. Especially for bots bigger than leader. I will admit that Unicron was rather complex for his time, but other giant bots since have been rather simple. Primus even has an automorph gimmick while Supreme Starscream and Cheetor are just bigger versions of much smaller toys, in terms of their engineering. I actually feel the bigger you get, the less complex it becomes, where you are left with the current titan class which are all rather simplistic. I think its because since it takes more effort to move bigger pieces, there are less steps. It's what made me stay away from Metroplex in 2014 (well that and money and me not really caring about the character).

There's also the fact that the character designs being made at the big sizes have been straightforward for the most part, with Unicron and ROTF Devastator being exceptions.

The correlation isn't even there with MPs, with BW Megatron being even simpler than cheetor.

Well, I think he brought up MPs because on the whole they go for more complexity than mainline non-Bayformer toys.