The Energon Pub

[Adimus Prime]

Prowl should arrest this YouTuber for using that background music.

[TF-fan kev777]

2. It really looks like there will only be 3 leaders in Siege. I read that suppliers did confirm that on other message boards. This is of course only relating to mainline non exclusive toys.

I actually believe Hasbro may be pulling back on the leader class overall for retail releases.
For regular retail releases:
Combiner Wars was 6 Leaders across 3 molds for a 18 month line. And the result was Skywarp shelfwarming pretty bad.
Titans Return was 6 leaders across 4-5 molds for an 18 month line, depending on how you count Sky Shadow/Overlord. And the result was Overlord at heavy Discount for those lucky enough to have an Ollie's.
PotP was 4 leaders across 3 molds for a 12 month line. And the result was Optimus Primal, the fan vote, not really hitting retail until it was almost time for clearance.

What I'm seeing is that apparently Leader class figures just don't move as well in general at regular release. As a parent, this actually makes all the sense in the world to me. I'm not dropping $50 on a toy for one of my kids unless I know they are way into it, have a collection, etc. And even then a $50 toy would almost certainly be reserved for birthday/Christmas, or if they saved up their own money. That would mean that the main buyer for leader class would generally be a collector (adult or kid) as opposed to a casual fan/parent where dropping $20 on a smaller figure would make more sense.

[Hip-Hoptimus Rime]

I picked up Siege Megatron yesterday, and he's missing one of the little gray wheels under his treads. Doesn't matter to me, I'm taking them off anyway, but I don't recall a QC issue like this on a Hasbro toy... pretty much ever. Hm.

[RodimusConvoy13]

I picked up Siege Megatron yesterday, and he's missing one of the little gray wheels under his treads. Doesn't matter to me, I'm taking them off anyway, but I don't recall a QC issue like this on a Hasbro toy... pretty much ever. Hm.

My Titans Return Megatron was missing a wheel.

[o.supreme]

My Titans Return Megatron was missing a wheel.

...and the Joker got away... Hey!

[RodimusConvoy13]

My Titans Return Megatron was missing a wheel.

...and the Joker got away... Hey!

[Hip-Hoptimus Rime]

Holy crap, you guys are both hilarious and fast! I salute you!

[Skritz]

2. It really looks like there will only be 3 leaders in Siege. I read that suppliers did confirm that on other message boards. This is of course only relating to mainline non exclusive toys.

I actually believe Hasbro may be pulling back on the leader class overall for retail releases.
For regular retail releases:
Combiner Wars was 6 Leaders across 3 molds for a 18 month line. And the result was Skywarp shelfwarming pretty bad.
Titans Return was 6 leaders across 4-5 molds for an 18 month line, depending on how you count Sky Shadow/Overlord. And the result was Overlord at heavy Discount for those lucky enough to have an Ollie's.
PotP was 4 leaders across 3 molds for a 12 month line. And the result was Optimus Primal, the fan vote, not really hitting retail until it was almost time for clearance.

What I'm seeing is that apparently Leader class figures just don't move as well in general at regular release. As a parent, this actually makes all the sense in the world to me. I'm not dropping $50 on a toy for one of my kids unless I know they are way into it, have a collection, etc. And even then a $50 toy would almost certainly be reserved for birthday/Christmas, or if they saved up their own money. That would mean that the main buyer for leader class would generally be a collector (adult or kid) as opposed to a casual fan/parent where dropping $20 on a smaller figure would make more sense.

That's a fairly accurate assessment; Leader Class figures aren't the material of 'impulse buy' from parents/kids. They cost too much for a casual purchase. Combine this with most recent Leaders not being a bankable character to casual audiences and parents (Rodimus, Optimus Primal, all the TR Leaders not Powermaster Prime) and that's how you get shelfwarming Sixshot and Overlord who should be, by all account, fairly decent figures which a kid would like. But the kids don't know them enough to be really invested into them and the parents see them as too pricy.

[Flashwave]

2. It really looks like there will only be 3 leaders in Siege. I read that suppliers did confirm that on other message boards. This is of course only relating to mainline non exclusive toys.

I actually believe Hasbro may be pulling back on the leader class overall for retail releases.
For regular retail releases:
Combiner Wars was 6 Leaders across 3 molds for a 18 month line. And the result was Skywarp shelfwarming pretty bad.
Titans Return was 6 leaders across 4-5 molds for an 18 month line, depending on how you count Sky Shadow/Overlord. And the result was Overlord at heavy Discount for those lucky enough to have an Ollie's.
PotP was 4 leaders across 3 molds for a 12 month line. And the result was Optimus Primal, the fan vote, not really hitting retail until it was almost time for clearance.

What I'm seeing is that apparently Leader class figures just don't move as well in general at regular release. As a parent, this actually makes all the sense in the world to me. I'm not dropping $50 on a toy for one of my kids unless I know they are way into it, have a collection, etc. And even then a $50 toy would almost certainly be reserved for birthday/Christmas, or if they saved up their own money. That would mean that the main buyer for leader class would generally be a collector (adult or kid) as opposed to a casual fan/parent where dropping $20 on a smaller figure would make more sense.

I agree with most of what you are saying, Hasbro pulling back, Retailers not as interested in big ticket TFs, but I wouldnt be as quick to count Overlord and Primal, simply because they were something of a victim of circumstance. For Overlord, the Ollie's Stock came from TRU, and there were quite a few Sky Shadows in that mix as well. (Sadly, I never got one...) Primal cpuld be the Retailers not ordering stock or it could be Hasbro was late getting him out, but either way I am still more inclined to blame Distribution thsn lack of interest. Although to be fair, Optimal Optimus did not have thr fandom jumping up and down like Prime and Rodimus did.

[william-james88]

I agree with most of what you are saying, Hasbro pulling back, Retailers not as interested in big ticket TFs, but I wouldnt be as quick to count Overlord and Primal, simply because they were something of a victim of circumstance. For Overlord, the Ollie's Stock came from TRU, and there were quite a few Sky Shadows in that mix as well. (Sadly, I never got one...) Primal cpuld be the Retailers not ordering stock or it could be Hasbro was late getting him out, but either way I am still more inclined to blame Distribution thsn lack of interest. Although to be fair, Optimal Optimus did not have thr fandom jumping up and down like Prime and Rodimus did.

Which is pretty crazy considering he was the fan vote. But yes, of the 3 leaders, I think he was the most poorly recieved as none of his modes were deemed better than the other two molds.

I just wanted to say that any distribution problem with Primal could not come from hasbro being late since the product was already appearing in other markets at the designated time.

[o.supreme]

Not saying you guys are wrong, but I don't seem to be living in a world of "shelf warming leaders", not since CW Skywarp at least. If I had not purchased TR Sixshot and Overlord on first sight, there's a good chance I would not have them.

However, If they are scaling back in production all around with Leader Class, I can agree that would be a wise choice, they only made 2 Leaders in the first year of SS, and considering there is only one chain in my area that carries them (Target), that limits their availability, as they are constantly going in-and-out of stock. Also this is good, because hopefully the 2019 Leaders (Jetfire & DotM Megatorn) will be *easier* to find, for those that want them.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Regarding Jhiaxus, his original robot mode from the G2 comics was something of a bastardization of the Seeker design (although his altmode looked more like Scourge's) and his Generations toy was no mere palette-swap - new wings, new head, new torso/nosecone-and-cockpit assembly, new weapons.

I would love it if the other lines in the Trilogy gave us some figures for seldom-represented characters from G1, since John Warden is so focused on that era. Straxus and Thunderwing come to mind immediately, with at least Straxus being leader class. I know it's an impossible wish, but one can dream.

Straxus as Leader-class and not Thunderwing?

Him too, but Straxus for sure. He was larger (both taller and bulkier), despite T-wing being a Pretender. And that's another gimmick that could be updated in the upcoming lines, the Pretenders. With today's engineering technology, it certainly can be done.

To my knowledge Straxus was only ever between the Seekers and the Insecticons in size. Where was he bigger?

My Titans Return Megatron was missing a wheel.

...and the Joker got away... Hey!

Nah, that would be if Cybertron Megatron was missing a wheel:

[Emerje]

A couple things... the number of *13* PotP deluxes is only the most basic general release number for the United States, other deluxes which were specific retailer exclusives for the US, were regular releases in other countries.

Only Japan really deviated from the assortments and that isn't Hasbro. There were a few small markets like Hong Kong and Taiwan that got Punch/Counterpunch and Wreck-Gar, but that's more about Hasbro giving up on trying to figure out how to make them exclusives and just tossing them out there and as far as I know they didn't change the assortments around to accommodate them.

Emerje

[no-one]

So I swung by a local Target on my way home today and the Siege truly has begun!

It's like looking in a mirror...

Something did seem off though

[starrhero]

So I swung by a local Target on my way home today and the Siege truly has begun!

20190114_161146.jpg

Something did seem off though

Did someone actually swap the figure?!

This is the first time I've ever actually seen this happen. I've only ever heard of it via the TFWiki.

[Sabrblade]

To my knowledge Straxus was only ever between the Seekers and the Insecticons in size. Where was he bigger?

Some examples:

[william-james88]

Looks voyager class to me

[D-Maximal_Primal]

So I swung by a local Target on my way home today and the Siege truly has begun!

20190114_161146.jpg

Something did seem off though

4th time in the past few months I have seen this. These types of folks deserve to be struck in the parking lot

[Sabrblade]

Looks voyager class to me

That'd be perfect for him, rather than the (admittedly hefty) Deluxe size he got before.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

So I swung by a local Target on my way home today and the Siege truly has begun!

20190114_161146.jpg

Something did seem off though

Did you report it to customer service?

[william-james88]

20190114_161146.jpg

Something did seem off though

Get to the 13 min mark:



Also, this is plain dumb and wasteful. There is still a market for TR Megatron, the person could sell their copy and then use that money to get a Siege one. Everybody wins. Such sad news.

[SpikeyTigertron]

So my leaders rolled in today and I absolutely love them. But I do love them for very different reasons. The mechanics of Ultra Magnus are certainly more interesting than Shockwave. But it’s a pretty binary armor on/off deal.... which is disappointing. I love me some white prime though.

Shockwave on the other hand, while simpler; I’m having a lot more fun with his extra parts. The drone/sled is solid. I have fun rearranging his shoulder parts. In their default configuration it feels like extra firepower/mobility. But if you reattached them by their sides.... suddenly it’s like he’s got massive rocket boosters. I think my *only* disappointment is I can’t figure out a laser turret mode like G1.

I’m also fine with both their sizes, Magnus is a hefty boy. Both effectively feel like a Voyager with an armor kit system like Cog. Consider Cog, Six Gun, and Brunt will also run $20.... I can see the $30+$20 methodology.

[SpikeyTigertron]

*pics*

[AllNewSuperRobot]

I agree with most of what you are saying, Hasbro pulling back, Retailers not as interested in big ticket TFs, but I wouldnt be as quick to count Overlord and Primal, simply because they were something of a victim of circumstance. For Overlord, the Ollie's Stock came from TRU, and there were quite a few Sky Shadows in that mix as well. (Sadly, I never got one...) Primal cpuld be the Retailers not ordering stock or it could be Hasbro was late getting him out, but either way I am still more inclined to blame Distribution thsn lack of interest. Although to be fair, Optimal Optimus did not have thr fandom jumping up and down like Prime and Rodimus did.

Which is pretty crazy considering he was the fan vote.

Bad altmodes aside (which Optimal Optimus has always had) maybe this further highlights the disparity between the fans that vote on these polls and the wishes of the majority of the fan base, that mostly don't have access to them. I know online polls and petitions are "trending" right now, but hypothetically speaking if you had a fan base of 100,000 people and a decision was made based on a vote from 300, it is going to fail more often than not. Specific to Hasbro/Takara limiting their options with confirmation biased poll groups, not democratic voting in general.

[Sentinel_Primal]

I agree with most of what you are saying, Hasbro pulling back, Retailers not as interested in big ticket TFs, but I wouldnt be as quick to count Overlord and Primal, simply because they were something of a victim of circumstance. For Overlord, the Ollie's Stock came from TRU, and there were quite a few Sky Shadows in that mix as well. (Sadly, I never got one...) Primal cpuld be the Retailers not ordering stock or it could be Hasbro was late getting him out, but either way I am still more inclined to blame Distribution thsn lack of interest. Although to be fair, Optimal Optimus did not have thr fandom jumping up and down like Prime and Rodimus did.

Which is pretty crazy considering he was the fan vote.

Bad altmodes aside (which Optimal Optimus has always had) maybe this further highlights the disparity between the fans that vote on these polls and the wishes of the majority of the fan base, that mostly don't have access to them. I know online polls and petitions are "trending" right now, but hypothetically speaking if you had a fan base of 100,000 people and a decision was made based on a vote from 300, it is going to fail more often than not. Specific to Hasbro/Takara limiting their options with confirmation biased poll groups, not democratic voting in general.

On the flip side though, typically they are using a third party source as the base for polls, rather than using a forum dedicated to that section of the fandom. But, I would argue that they included too many characters in that poll because it would divide the votes for characters. It should have just been Magnus, Primal, Megatron, Star Saber, and Thunderwing