The Energon Pub

[ThunderThruster]

I think this would be a nice easter egg if Magnus' colour scheme was based on this:

KillingJar_negative_Magnus_Marissa.jpg (92.79 KiB) Viewed 6603 times

[leokearon]

SharimusPrime has a review of Decepticon Mirage

[TF-fan kev777]

Sweet, I was hoping we would see some reviews soon for the Netflix line. Mainly so we can see Ultra Magnus before he hits stores and know whether or not I want to cancel my pre-order if the deco isn't something I want.

[AcademyofDrX]

This is the third version of this mold and the third Mirage, would it really kill them to give us a Slapdash

[Jelze Bunnycat]

This is the third version of this mold and the third Mirage, would it really kill them to give us a Slapdash

With a Mirage head?

[Wolfman Jake]

This is the third version of this mold and the third Mirage, would it really kill them to give us a Slapdash

With a Mirage head?

At least "Invisible" Mirage had a slightly different Mirage head.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

This is the third version of this mold and the third Mirage, would it really kill them to give us a Slapdash

With a Mirage head?

At least "Invisible" Mirage had a slightly different Mirage head.

And that's the crux of the problem. Hasbro is way past simple post-release head retools, if any they are built in, 2 per mold on average. If a Slapdash out of Mirage is planned, he'd get a lot more changed, but nobody minds that, right?

[Nemesis Destron]

With Earthrise figures now appearing in retail stores I wonder how long it will be until we see price mark downs especially on one of our favorite shelf-warmers Shockwave.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

With Earthrise figures now appearing in retail stores I wonder how long it will be until we see price mark downs especially on one of our favorite shelf-warmers Shockwave.

That... could be a bit of a logistic problem for thew stores, as they're considered the same assortment as the Earthrise ones. Not by Hasbro, mind you.

[TF-fan kev777]

With Earthrise figures now appearing in retail stores I wonder how long it will be until we see price mark downs especially on one of our favorite shelf-warmers Shockwave.

That... could be a bit of a logistic problem for thew stores, as they're considered the same assortment as the Earthrise ones. Not by Hasbro, mind you.

This could end up getting a bit weird. A few targets near me were overflowing with the cyberverse Cheetor with the battleship after Christmas and somehow marked all the Cheetors down while not marking down any of the others they have from the same size class. So Target's system must have some way of marking down a specific UPC code, but I suspect it may take more effort than simply marking down an entire size class. On top of that, I believe each individual Target decides when and how much to mark down. I've found some stores really quick to mark down and move product and others take forever.

And aside from Target, it just dawned on me that I don't think we've seen a single sighting of Earthrise in a Walmart yet, have we?

[Jelze Bunnycat]

With Earthrise figures now appearing in retail stores I wonder how long it will be until we see price mark downs especially on one of our favorite shelf-warmers Shockwave.

That... could be a bit of a logistic problem for thew stores, as they're considered the same assortment as the Earthrise ones. Not by Hasbro, mind you.

This could end up getting a bit weird. A few targets near me were overflowing with the cyberverse Cheetor with the battleship after Christmas and somehow marked all the Cheetors down while not marking down any of the others they have from the same size class. So Target's system must have some way of marking down a specific UPC code, but I suspect it may take more effort than simply marking down an entire size class. On top of that, I believe each individual Target decides when and how much to mark down. I've found some stores really quick to mark down and move product and others take forever.

And aside from Target, it just dawned on me that I don't think we've seen a single sighting of Earthrise in a Walmart yet, have we?

Cheetor is an exclusive, existing outside of the regular assortment. More than likely he's shipped in solid cases too.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I know I'm like 8 months late to the party, but I want to blab about Skyfire for a minute.

This is a damn good toy. He is big but solid feeling, really fun to mess with, and i love all the guns and extra armor. I personally won't be leaving him in un-armored mode ever. The robot is tall and imposing, I love the shade of red used, and the black really helps add to him. I also really like the mask, even if there are no antennae on the sides.

Transformation is pretty fun, I like how the feet work to make a nice flush area with the jets on the back.

The jet mode is pretty sweet, I really like the T30 one, but this ain't bad. And while I haven't done it yet, I will sling some other Siege guys to his underside to drop into battle.

As for him and my T30 Jetfire, they both are going for 2 very different things, and i am OK with this. The new guy will be Skyfire while the T30 guy will remain Jetfire. 2 different characters, 2 different looks and sizes, it all works out. I still like my T30 better, but this is a great addition to the collection and I don't feel any regrets for getting him

[Rodimus Prime]

Probably the best $40 figure ever. Not a penny more.

[TF-fan kev777]

Cheetor is an exclusive, existing outside of the regular assortment. More than likely he's shipped in solid cases too.

Okay, that makes a bit more sense why there were so damn many, I don't collect Cyberverse, so I wasn't aware of his exclusive status.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Probably the best $40 figure ever. Not a penny more.

I personally find him worth the $55 I paid. maybe not the $80, but the $55 was worth it

[Hellscream9999]

Probably the best $40 figure ever. Not a penny more.

I personally find him worth the $55 I paid. maybe not the $80, but the $55 was worth it

Having seen how much was splurged on sky lynx for an equivalent $80, I now agree that jetfire was not an $80 figure

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

@JelZeGoldRabbit We haven't entirely moved beyond mere headswap redecoes *looks at TR Krok, Quake, and Breakaway, PotP Inferno and Cindersaur, and Selects Hot Shot* But it's often nice when figures do go beyond that.
And in Slapdash/Road King's case, I would rather he be his own new/mostly-new mold rather than a mere headswap redeco.

On the subject of Jetfire/Skyfire... I just can't stand T30 Jetfire's unnecessary lack of integration from foolishly trying to have the cartoon robot mode and the Valkyrie jet mode. I'd pass on him even if I found him complete at a yard sale price, that's how little I think of him. He's the Jetfire equivalent of Earthrise Arcee and with even less justification for being designed that way. ROTF Jetfire has the triple burden of being a Bayformer, being inflicted with an unnecessary AA battery box, and having to combine; what's T30 Jetfire's excuse?

Probably the best $40 figure ever. Not a penny more.

I personally find him worth the $55 I paid. maybe not the $80, but the $55 was worth it

With as big and articulated and dense as he is, he would never have been a $40 toy even before the Great Thinning. $50, yes, but not $40. He's essentially a Unicron Trilogy Supreme-class figure (and specifically, a good one like Primus and Unicron), height and mass and all, adjusted for the inflation of today. I got mine as a Christmas present, but I would have happily paid the full $80.
...I'm curious, has anyone weighed him compared to 3 SIEGE Seekers?

For my money, "best $40 figure ever" is a tie between Cybertron Leader Optimus and Megatron. Or if it stretches to allow $45 figures, a four-way tie between them, ROTF Leader Optimus, and HFTD Leader Starscream.

Hellscream, what more is it that you would have wanted them to give Skyfire after seeing Sky Lynx? Can you actually name it?

[Jelze Bunnycat]

@JelZeGoldRabbit We haven't entirely moved beyond mere headswap redecoes *looks at TR Krok, Quake, and Breakaway, PotP Inferno and Cindersaur, and Selects Hot Shot* But it's often nice when figures do go beyond that.
And in Slapdash/Road King's case, I would rather he be his own new/mostly-new mold rather than a mere headswap redeco.

Those were all built-in, I specifically meant retools created after the figures are done.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

@JelZeGoldRabbit We haven't entirely moved beyond mere headswap redecoes *looks at TR Krok, Quake, and Breakaway, PotP Inferno and Cindersaur, and Selects Hot Shot* But it's often nice when figures do go beyond that.
And in Slapdash/Road King's case, I would rather he be his own new/mostly-new mold rather than a mere headswap redeco.

Those were all built-in, I specifically meant retools created after the figures are done.

Ah, fair enough.

On a less grumpy and defensive Skyfire note... I want to build a lecture theater so that I can do shots of him and Starscream presenting, in accordance with their prewar career as scientists.

[Rodimus Prime]

Okay I admit I'm being salty about Jetfire. But it's because I was looking forward to him quite a bit and I got a borderline cyberverse figure. To me, basically he's an oversized KO of a deluxe figure. The only way he looks good to me is in jet mode from overhead. He just has too many unjustified gaps in his jet mode for such an expensive figure. The robot mode looks better, but again, for that price, he's not good enough. The T30 figure looks sharper paint-wise and even though his jet mode isn't accurate it's still a better value for the price. I know a lot of you will disagree and that's fine. Remember, this is just an opinion, don't lose your mind over it.

[william-james88]

Sweet, I was hoping we would see some reviews soon for the Netflix line. Mainly so we can see Ultra Magnus before he hits stores and know whether or not I want to cancel my pre-order if the deco isn't something I want.

Working on something now (no magnus though)

[william-james88]

Okay I admit I'm being salty about Jetfire. But it's because I was looking forward to him quite a bit and I got a borderline cyberverse figure. To me, basically he's an oversized KO of a deluxe figure. The only way he looks good to me is in jet mode from overhead. He just has too many unjustified gaps in his jet mode for such an expensive figure. The robot mode looks better, but again, for that price, he's not good enough. The T30 figure looks sharper paint-wise and even though his jet mode isn't accurate it's still a better value for the price. I know a lot of you will disagree and that's fine. Remember, this is just an opinion, don't lose your mind over it.

I see where you are coming from. I felt as dissapointed and brought it back to the store. I just found it too expensive for something I didn't care enough for. But I also see what others see, with the extra features that go a long way. And the sculpting is great. I mean, he looks great. I just don't care much about him as a toy and when it comes to looks, I always cared more for his valkyrie roots than his show looks (don't have much of a connection with G1).

[Rodimus Prime]

Yeah I understand what you're saying regarding the Valkyrie influence, that's why I like T30 Jetfire much better that Siege.

[william-james88]

People who attended Hasbro's event at the 2020 Toy Fair were given goody bags and in them was a deluxe from the upcoming exclusive Netflix Transformers series exclusive toyline. They are all Siege toys with different paint apps and each come with a cardboard piece to make Teletran One. Since they are all out in this way, it was not long for reviews to come in.

Below you will see a review of the entire first wave, done by RFC Reviews. These deluxes are Chromia, Scrapface, Sideswipe, Decepticon Disguise Mirage and Hound.



We also have a nice pictorial review of Chromia from Allspark with nice comparisons to the original. It is clear that this one looks better. However, it is still the Chromia toy so the improvement can only go so far.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I don't call the black splotches (which at the same time aren't quite splotchy enough) an improvement

Okay I admit I'm being salty about Jetfire. But it's because I was looking forward to him quite a bit and I got a borderline cyberverse figure.

"borderline cyberverse"? That, my good sir, is going too far and veering into the ridiculous. There is simply too much intricacy in the transformation for that to be an apt comparison, and too much articulation in robot mode as well.
Cyberverse figures don't have folding nosecones like his, they don't have chest intakes that pivot 90 degrees and then swing around into robot mode position, they don't have wings that fold up on themseslves to protrude less in robot mode, they don't have the ends of booster engines unfolding from their tidy hiding places in the legs to connect to the rest of the engines, they don't have deployable handles for smaller figures to hang onto (at least, as far as I've seen). Cyberverse figures, even the large ones, don't have articulated hands that retract the 5mm port for better looks when opened, they don't have a full range of motion in all limbs as well as a a waist swivel, a neck tilt, and ankle tilts... Really, the additional armor is the only comparable thing

To me, basically he's an oversized KO of a deluxe figure.

That's considerably less ridiculous than calling him "Borderline Cyberverse", but IMO he still has too many moving parts in his transformation for it to be fair, plus he has a lot of features (like the ability to tuck the hands into the arms without having to leave an exposed gap) that are too far beyond the average Deluxe. You wanna talk OSKO, I refer you again to Supreme-class Starscream. Which is still a fun toy, but man is it irritating that HasTak pretty much just straight-up upsizing the Voyager and doing nothing to improve the arm articulation.

The only way he looks good to me is in jet mode from overhead. He just has too many unjustified gaps in his jet mode for such an expensive figure. The robot mode looks better, but again, for that price, he's not good enough.

Here's your justification for those gaps (by which if memory serves, you are chiefly talking about the view of his shoulder balls in jet mode): Not much of a good place to stash the panels that would cover them in robot mode, plus they decided to splurge more on the accessories front (accessories inspired by the Valkyrie). And the robot mode has a full, functional articulation scheme (including the aforementioned articulated hands) as well as snap-on armor, and has that level of engineering while still being on par mass-wise with figures the same size from 15 years ago. They're called size classes for a reason Now, if on the other hand he was a featherweight like T30 and Prime Wars Leaders are, then I'd be ticked about the price... But he's not.

The T30 figure looks sharper paint-wise and even though his jet mode isn't accurate it's still a better value for the price. I know a lot of you will disagree and that's fine. Remember, this is just an opinion, don't lose your mind over it.

I disagree with you about his jet mode being better value. Accuracy has nothing to do with it, it's the unjustified lack of integration. Very little of his robot body seems to make up any part of the jet mode, and for no good reason. Would you consider Earthrise Arcee to be more value for money than T30 or Animated Arcee?
Frankly, I think T30 Leader Jetfire can go kiss the Classics Voyager's skidplate. That one uses a hybrid design to preserve the Valkyrie influence as best it can without sacrificing an integrated transformation, and has the added bonus of the boosters (which point up over his shoulders in robot mode like they should on a Valkyrie) containing deployable cannons.