The Energon Pub

[sol magnus]

And remember people, this is a “leader class” figure sold for $50. Yeah it comes with more accessories that can make it slightly taller, but this is a $50 figure compared to a $25 figure.

THIS.....One can argue about weight or how solid it is but I feel like this is just the beginning..prices will skyrocket...

Easy pass for me just as Shockwave...even if there are more accessories....he is still just a 50 buck voyager class...

By that reckoning, so are Ultra Magnus and Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime.

Good point....but Prime and Magnus have almost always had that gimmick when it came to being a leader class...they still made me feel like I was getting a leader class figure....Siege Astrtrain and Shockwave don't have that effect, at least to me, if that makes any sense to you...

I think my main gripe about this is I'm worried that we will be paying 30 for deluxe, 50 for Voyager and 60 to 65 for leader class...I mean just look at how much the MP line has went up in such a short period of time. I hate that because it pretty much has knocked me out of getting them and I worry that the rest of the TF line will follow suit.

I made this point a few pages back. Ultra Magnus and GU Prime "feel" like they're worth the 50 spot whereas Astrotrain and Shockwave 'don't necessarily.'

[CircuitBreaker]

I have no qualms, he looks pretty good. Tbh scale in G1 was a mess. Anyone who thinks otherwise and has a titans return sentinel prime to trade can have my TR Astrotrain.

[Dr. Caelus]

Problem is, I'd be displaying him next to TR Blitzwing and Octane.If he were a head taller than them I'd bite, but instead he's a head shorter.

[Treetop Maximus]

$50 deluxe

[NTESHFT]

I have no qualms, he looks pretty good. Tbh scale in G1 was a mess. Anyone who thinks otherwise and has a titans return sentinel prime to trade can have my TR Astrotrain.

Don't get me wrong...both Siege Astrotrain and Shockwave do look good as a figure themselves....I wish they would have just put them on the shelves as simply Voyager....and looking back...the G1 scale was indeed a mess...but back then, I was just a kid overly happy to get my Transformers...I try not to worry about scale today but OCD takes over and I hate that...takes the enjoyment out of it.....

[CircuitBreaker]

Don't get me wrong...both Siege Astrotrain and Shockwave do look good as a figure themselves....I wish they would have just put them on the shelves as simply Voyager....and looking back...the G1 scale was indeed a mess...but back then, I was just a kid overly happy to get my Transformers...I try not to worry about scale today but OCD takes over and I hate that...takes the enjoyment out of it.....

I feel. I still get that childlike wonder myself so just having a representation of a character is fine for me. Since all my G1 stand ins are from different lines I’ve just learned to cope with the size disparity, but I have to say, when some of the more complex figures (and sometimes the simple ones) won’t fit together right, it drives me batty. I photo cars all day so seeing a messed up body panel in an alt mode... ooooooo

The increasing prices are a bit worrying though.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Forgetting the minutiae of a long dead 80's cartoon, that should be largely redundant to a 2019 toyline, the Decepticon Triple Changers should all be BIG, due to their nature. Blitzwing should realistically be the smallest of the three based on his altmodes. Scaling with the rank and file of Decepticon Jets. Octane and Astrotrain should loom over most bots, including Megatron. It makes very little sense, even with the idea of mass displacement, to justify one but who can Transform into an Airliner and another, a train and crew carrying space shuttle, being the height or build of regular bots.

Thickness or not, that is where TR Astrotrain is superior to the new one, before they've even been released.

[Munkky]

For those who live near a Walgreens, has anyone seen Deluxe Ratchet yet? Is it actually out/ Because I'm seeing no listings for it on Ebay and my usual go-to websites like Kapow Toys don't have listings for him.

[Lore Keeper]

For those who live near a Walgreens, has anyone seen Deluxe Ratchet yet? Is it actually out/ Because I'm seeing no listings for it on Ebay and my usual go-to websites like Kapow Toys don't have listings for him.

I checked my local store last week, but no sign of him.

[Sabrblade]

For those who live near a Walgreens, has anyone seen Deluxe Ratchet yet? Is it actually out/ Because I'm seeing no listings for it on Ebay and my usual go-to websites like Kapow Toys don't have listings for him.

Walgreens doesn't put out their exclusives like this until closer to the holiday season.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

For those who live near a Walgreens, has anyone seen Deluxe Ratchet yet? Is it actually out/ Because I'm seeing no listings for it on Ebay and my usual go-to websites like Kapow Toys don't have listings for him.

I've had a pre-order with him for a while and his listing went from Aug '19 to 'Q4 '19'. I checked on here and the consensus seems to be he has been held back until either Black Friday or Thanksgiving... Whichever holiday comes first? Although, oddly Canada already has him

[Sentinel_Primal]

For those who live near a Walgreens, has anyone seen Deluxe Ratchet yet? Is it actually out/ Because I'm seeing no listings for it on Ebay and my usual go-to websites like Kapow Toys don't have listings for him.

He should be out around the holidays/at the start of the new year

[TF-fan kev777]

For those who live near a Walgreens, has anyone seen Deluxe Ratchet yet? Is it actually out/ Because I'm seeing no listings for it on Ebay and my usual go-to websites like Kapow Toys don't have listings for him.

I've had a pre-order with him for a while and his listing went from Aug '19 to 'Q4 '19'. I checked on here and the consensus seems to be he has been held back until either Black Friday or Thanksgiving... Whichever holiday comes first? Although, oddly Canada already has him

That is all on Walgreens. For whatever reason they never put their exclusives out until they reset the whole toy section for the holidays. They have typically shown up somewhere around the end of October/beginning of November, so the wait won't be too much longer.

The first sightings will be on the west coast and they usually take about another week or 2 to show up in the midwest. Been that way for Brainstorm, the clones and Wreck-Gar so far, and I expect the same this year.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

This is why giving exclusives to niche [non-global] companies, is a bad idea. Now that Toys-r-us is defunct, Amazon is the logical choice for exclusivity. As Hasbro is reluctant to be a direct distributor worldwide.

[o.supreme]

A lot of people are thinking of replacing their Titans Return Astrotrain with Siege Astrotrain, since that one has alt modes closer to the cartoon. However, that simple swap may not be so simple, when thinking of how all three Decepticon triple changers, which we got in Titans return, match up in height. We got a good in hand look at Siege Astrotrain in the unboxing images we published earlier today, but now we have a comparison image of this Astrotrain next to Takara's version of Titans Return Astrotrain. It comes to us from a fan named Ryan over at Cybertron Philippines. Remember that Astrotrain can be given some platform shoes to stand slightly taller and reach 7 inches (photo shown below as well).

The size difference doesn't really bother me. All of the leaders for Siege have been voyagers with *upgrades* so, I would imagine to be the same with Earthrise. I passed on all the Triple Changer voyagers from TR because they didn't fit in with my collecting MO. The Leaders starting with Astrotrain (and seemingly continuing with Earthrise Prime) have some base connectivity, so I'll be purchasing them for that.

[Rodimus Prime]

That looks like a deluxe figure. I know he has a lot of extra stuff with him, but the figure itself is underwhelming to me. I already decided I was skipping him, and this just reaffirms it. He looks good, but just too small.

On a separate note, I finally found Mirage, Barricade and Impactor at my Walmart. Got Mirage and Barricade.

[Emerje]

Forgetting the minutiae of a long dead 80's cartoon, that should be largely redundant to a 2019 toyline, the Decepticon Triple Changers should all be BIG, due to their nature. Blitzwing should realistically be the smallest of the three based on his altmodes. Scaling with the rank and file of Decepticon Jets. Octane and Astrotrain should loom over most bots, including Megatron. It makes very little sense, even with the idea of mass displacement, to justify one but who can Transform into an Airliner and another, a train and crew carrying space shuttle, being the height or build of regular bots.

Not sure how you can justify this when an old steam engine is considerably smaller than a space shuttle and Octane turns into a tanker truck. And not even a big tanker truck for cross country transport, but the smaller type with the tank attached that might be used delivery. Why does their largest alt mode get to decide their bot size?

Emerje

[SGMLordMirage]

Spotted these guys at a local Target here in Virginia. First time seeing these around my neck of the woods.


SGM

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Forgetting the minutiae of a long dead 80's cartoon, that should be largely redundant to a 2019 toyline, the Decepticon Triple Changers should all be BIG, due to their nature. Blitzwing should realistically be the smallest of the three based on his altmodes. Scaling with the rank and file of Decepticon Jets. Octane and Astrotrain should loom over most bots, including Megatron. It makes very little sense, even with the idea of mass displacement, to justify one but who can Transform into an Airliner and another, a train and crew carrying space shuttle, being the height or build of regular bots.

Why does their largest alt mode get to decide their bot size?

Emerje

Because



It always



Has...

Not sure how you can justify this when an old steam engine is considerably smaller than a space shuttle and Octane turns into a tanker truck. And not even a big tanker truck for cross country transport, but the smaller type with the tank attached that might be used delivery.

I don't know how this concept still loses people? Astrotrain is not "an old steam engine". He is an alien shape-shifting robot that looks like an old steam engine. Only on a superficial, visual level. Hence how the entire Decepticon army is able to board him in both altmodes as transport.

[Deadput]

Because

It always

Has...


I don't know how this concept still loses people? Astrotrain is not "an old steam engine". He is an alien shape-shifting robot that looks like an old steam engine. Only on a superficial, visual level. Hence how the entire Decepticon army is able to board him in both altmodes as transport.

Scale was always inconsistent so no not always, only sometimes

You show off Broadside who's size was always changing.

Combiners like Bruticus should not have even limb sizes with this logic.

I think robot scale is more important then vehicle scale for story purposes, giant characters get shoved to the side because it's too much hassle to work them in for stuff like conversations and only exist to be big fighting machines.

Like Shatter and Dropkick from Bumblebee suffer from this due to triple changer stuff.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I wish Astrotrain was the height of Galaxy Prime in super mode, I wish he were taller. that is my main beef.

He looks good, but he needed height!

[emlit]

Regardless of the timeless Scale Argument™, I think most agree that Siege/Earthrise Astrotrain could have been a bit taller.

[-Kanrabat-]

but now we have a comparison image of this Astrotrain next to Takara's version of Titans Return Astrotrain. It comes to us from a fan named Ryan over at Cybertron Philippines.

That's it? No vehicle modes comparisons?
Too bad.

I have about all the TR triple changers and my Decepticons display is perfect. I don't see that particular Astrotrain replacing my TR one ever. But, I do have the G1 in NASA colors and the Henkei one too. So there's still high chances that I'm going to pick the Siege one regardless.

[Sideswipe G-Win]

Is anyone else unhappy that the Cybertronian look was just dropped in favour of Earth modes? I'm all G1 and I love the new reveals for Earthrise, but I'm really bummed out that most of the G1 Autobot roster won't be finished in the Cybetronian forms. Has there been any word on this from Hasbro? (I'm new, so please no flame-blasts for my not being up to date!)

I’ve mentioned it numerous times before, so many are probably tired of me discussing it - but since you brought it up, yes, I was very disappointed when I found out Earthrise would include yet more 80’s-inspired designs. I was hoping the entire trilogy would include Cybertronian alt modes. I think there is a wealth of opportunity there which needs further exploration.

I totally agree! It's surprising to me that after all these years the civil war on Cybertron has still remained largely untapped. We could see a whole slew of new characters and concepts. As others have said here, hopefully there will be room for some more in part 3, or if Hasbro (or a 3rd party ) can at least finish the original crew....or at the very least give us Cybertron Jazz, Wheeljack and Bumblebee as a nod to the 84 cartoon.

[Stargrave]

Just in from Youtuber TFA1024 is a video review for the Transformers 35th Anniversary SoundBlaster! From the Transformers Addict himself:
"35 years of The Transformers has dawned upon us ans we given another exclusive Japanese character. Today we celebrate 35 years of our favorite giant shape-shifting robots and see if Soundblaster is worth adding to the collection."

For fans who don't know this character's history, in the Japanese exclusive cartoon series Transformers: Headmasters our beloved Soundwave was blasted to bits in a fatal fight to the finish with his arch enemy Blaster. Both were rebuilt into new characters, SoundBlaster and Twincast, with each toy reconfigured to hold two cassettes at one time. This Siege version follows suit by upgrading the Siege Soundwave chest cavity to hold two cassettes simultaneously. Enjoy the view and share your thoughts in the forum and as always stay tuned to Seibertron for the ultimate in Transformers news!