The Energon Pub

[aronjlove]

Prowl is all loosey goosey in his legs but Barricade, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen seem much tighter in the leg and feet area.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

My Prowl, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen are all pretty good with the joints, but the legs are a bit awkward

[no-one]

but the legs are a bit awkward

I know that feel.

[Hero Alpha]

Fantastic that's a neat idea.

Thanks! After I make some tweaks the model will be available as a free download for everyone.

And that'll probably be the last thing I post here aside from buying/selling stuff...

That is awesome looking, I dont have a 3D printer though. Can/will u put it on Shapeways also maybe?

[Emerje]

Well this came entirely out of nowhere. Despite "brand unification" being a thing we don't always see exclusives crossing the Pacific. Takara Tomy's Siege Nemesis Prime never saw release outside of Japan and Hasbro has had a whole army of exclusives that have never been released in Japan including the Walmart exclusive 35th Anniversary line. So it's rather surprising to see Japanese websites now taking pre-orders for two figures from the also Walmart exclusive War for Cybertron Series-Inspired Netflix line using Siege molds. Given new ID numbers, as the Hasbro line doesn't have them, the first two releases will be WFC-01 Mirage and WFC-02 Hound. The figures appear to be identical and may be a viable option for buyers outside North America.

And of course Takara Tomy also included a bunch of new photos to go with their solicitations available at HLJ and most anywhere else Japanese figures are sold with release planned for September.





















The Walmart release may be delayed, but it's nice to have some new photos to tide us over if just a little. Let us know what you think in the Energon Pub forums!

[Sabrblade]

I was actually wondering if Japan would be getting these since one of the previous Japanese toy magazines had an advertisement for the Netflix WFC cartoon in it.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

All these ID's are confusing when mixed together... For the record:

Hasbro
WFC-S##: Siege
WFC-E##: Earthrise
WFC-GS##: War for Cybertron Selects
TT-GS##: imported TakaraTomy Selects

TakaraTomy
SG-##: Siege
ER-##: main line Earthrise
ER EX-##: Earthrise exclusives
WFC-##: Netflix series

No overlap. Pretty interesting in that Hasbro has given the normally blank TakaraTomy Selects new ID's, and TakaraTomy returns the favor with the Netflix series.

[M. Spector]

On my supply trip to walmart yesterday I caved and bought the 35th Soundblaster. This is my first experience with the mold and goodness I really like it. All the weathering looks sharp and well applied, plus the delightful double jointed elbows for hitting his eject button, dang. Makes me wonder why it hasnt been before

[william-james88]

It's not easy to cover all the different markets at once so it helps when we get a head's up. So we thank those who posted online and wrote on our boards as to the availability of the upcoming figures for the Netflix Transformers show. Especially Hot Link as what one constitutes a new seeker for our collections.

We were told a little while ago that it would be on Kapow toys, for our British fans, and here is the link for those who had not seen it yet. These exclusives are priced the same as retail there, and both Hotlink and Megatron are a few pounds off at the moment. They also have Generations Selects Super Megatron for 49.99 pounds.

German action figure site Actionfiguren24 has them available as well, though at a rather hefty premium. Still, it gives an extra option to fans. They have Super Megatron as well, who is at a much smaller markup, when comparing to what he is costing everyone else at the moment. The Netflix figures there are actually shipping out at the moment, as confirmed on this Facebook post.

[Brokebot]

I read that as "Generations Selects Super Megatron IS 49.99 pounds."

Man, shipping is going to be hell.

[Stargrave]

Now that’s a BIG birthday gift. Thank you best wife eve-rrrrrr.

[Rogue-Primal]

have been wondering something... does rubbing alcohol (hands) work for remove "battle damage" paintjobs on SIEGE figures. Voyager Optimus Prime has a bit too many uneven scratches in my opinion. Does anyone know if the battle damage is safely removeable without damaging other paintjobs underneath specifically Optimus and Deluxe Sideswipe.

[TF-fan kev777]

have been wondering something... does rubbing alcohol (hands) work for remove "battle damage" paintjobs on SIEGE figures. Voyager Optimus Prime has a bit too many uneven scratches in my opinion. Does anyone know if the battle damage is safely removeable without damaging other paintjobs underneath specifically Optimus and Deluxe Sideswipe.

Yes, it will take off the battle damage, but if the battle damage is on top of paint, trying to take it off will take off the battle damage and the paint underneath.

For Sideswipe, his shins and waist are battle damage over black plastic, so those should be fine, but his feet are battle damage on top of silver paint on top of black plastic.

For OP, his thighs are gray plastic and should be fine, his shoulders are red plastic and should be fine, but his chest windows are clear plastic, I'd stay away from there.

[Tuned Agent]

have been wondering something... does rubbing alcohol (hands) work for remove "battle damage" paintjobs on SIEGE figures. Voyager Optimus Prime has a bit too many uneven scratches in my opinion. Does anyone know if the battle damage is safely removeable without damaging other paintjobs underneath specifically Optimus and Deluxe Sideswipe.

Yes, it will take off the battle damage, but if the battle damage is on top of paint, trying to take it off will take off the battle damage and the paint underneath.

For Sideswipe, his shins and waist are battle damage over black plastic, so those should be fine, but his feet are battle damage on top of silver paint on top of black plastic.

For OP, his thighs are gray plastic and should be fine, his shoulders are red plastic and should be fine, but his chest windows are clear plastic, I'd stay away from there.

Does rubbing alcohol damage clear plastic?

[no-one]

have been wondering something... does rubbing alcohol (hands) work for remove "battle damage" paintjobs on SIEGE figures. Voyager Optimus Prime has a bit too many uneven scratches in my opinion. Does anyone know if the battle damage is safely removeable without damaging other paintjobs underneath specifically Optimus and Deluxe Sideswipe.

Yes, it will take off the battle damage, but if the battle damage is on top of paint, trying to take it off will take off the battle damage and the paint underneath.

For Sideswipe, his shins and waist are battle damage over black plastic, so those should be fine, but his feet are battle damage on top of silver paint on top of black plastic.

For OP, his thighs are gray plastic and should be fine, his shoulders are red plastic and should be fine, but his chest windows are clear plastic, I'd stay away from there.

Does rubbing alcohol damage clear plastic?

It can especially considering you'll need the 90%+ alcohol stuff to remove paint. The 70% will only take the shine off at best.

[Tuned Agent]

have been wondering something... does rubbing alcohol (hands) work for remove "battle damage" paintjobs on SIEGE figures. Voyager Optimus Prime has a bit too many uneven scratches in my opinion. Does anyone know if the battle damage is safely removeable without damaging other paintjobs underneath specifically Optimus and Deluxe Sideswipe.

Yes, it will take off the battle damage, but if the battle damage is on top of paint, trying to take it off will take off the battle damage and the paint underneath.

For Sideswipe, his shins and waist are battle damage over black plastic, so those should be fine, but his feet are battle damage on top of silver paint on top of black plastic.

For OP, his thighs are gray plastic and should be fine, his shoulders are red plastic and should be fine, but his chest windows are clear plastic, I'd stay away from there.

Does rubbing alcohol damage clear plastic?

It can especially considering you'll need the 90%+ alcohol stuff to remove paint. The 70% will only take the shine off at best.

That's really good to know. Is nail polish remover any better? I'm planning to turn a Hotlink into a custom Skywarp, and step 1 is removing a lot of the purple paint, including the paint around his clear plastic cockpit bits. The close proximity of some of that purple to the clear plastic could be problematic, I certainly don't want damage those parts.

[no-one]

have been wondering something... does rubbing alcohol (hands) work for remove "battle damage" paintjobs on SIEGE figures. Voyager Optimus Prime has a bit too many uneven scratches in my opinion. Does anyone know if the battle damage is safely removeable without damaging other paintjobs underneath specifically Optimus and Deluxe Sideswipe.

Yes, it will take off the battle damage, but if the battle damage is on top of paint, trying to take it off will take off the battle damage and the paint underneath.

For Sideswipe, his shins and waist are battle damage over black plastic, so those should be fine, but his feet are battle damage on top of silver paint on top of black plastic.

For OP, his thighs are gray plastic and should be fine, his shoulders are red plastic and should be fine, but his chest windows are clear plastic, I'd stay away from there.

Does rubbing alcohol damage clear plastic?

It can especially considering you'll need the 90%+ alcohol stuff to remove paint. The 70% will only take the shine off at best.

That's really good to know. Is nail polish remover any better? I'm planning to turn a Hotlink into a custom Skywarp, and step 1 is removing a lot of the purple paint, including the paint around his clear plastic cockpit bits. The close proximity of some of that purple to the clear plastic could be problematic, I certainly don't want damage those parts.

Nail polish remover is harsher and can melt some plastics or take the shine off of them or make them brittle. Some nail polish removers are acetone based. It's likely to give clear plastics a haze if not outright damage them to some degree.

High alcohol content rubbing alcohol is your best/safest bet. Clean the bare plastics and be prepared to repaint the others. Also be careful of the faction symbols, those will come off quicker than the paint. Optimus has battle damage on his shoulder symbol, so it's a leave it be or replace situation.

Side note, I've tried 70% on a non Siege figure and it didn't even take the sheen off the paint. The 90% alcohol took the paint off pretty quickly, but still required some elbow grease here and there. I also hit a few painted areas by mistake and completely removed the sheen.

Take it slow and plan before you touch the figure. Might even be best to disassemble the figure. Less chance of wet fingers touching things you don't want.

[TF-fan kev777]

Take it slow and plan before you touch the figure. Might even be best to disassemble the figure. Less chance of wet fingers touching things you don't want.

This^^^ Dis-assemble as much as easily possible (ball joints and mushroom pegs) and get the area you are working on as open as possible before starting. Q-tips can be used for areas where your fingers might be too large.

[Rogue-Primal]

One annoying aspect that one of the battle damages on siege voyager optimus prime happens to cover the autobot symbol on his shoulder. Talk about annoying or even worse designers intentionally trolling fans who consider modding.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Thanks to a heads up from @Weebot17 on Twitter, we have news that the recently online pre-order delayed Netflix War for Cybertron figures have shown up at US retail!

This sighting comes to us from the Walmart in Mocksville, North Carolina, where Weebot17 found both Megatron and Hotlink. This comes as quite a shock, as just in the past 2 weeks everyone who had pre-ordered the figures online received word that the figures had been delayed into May or June, while we also had simultaneous sightings of the figures in Canada. Either way, it is cool to see that these figures are starting to make their way out to retail outside of Canada, and that the online delays haven't seemed to impact the actual store stock.

Check out the sighting below, and please, during this time of crisis, only check out the toys if you are already out getting necessary groceries, and remember to social distance! Let us know if you do find these guys and any other figures in the comments section below!

[Tuned Agent]

have been wondering something... does rubbing alcohol (hands) work for remove "battle damage" paintjobs on SIEGE figures. Voyager Optimus Prime has a bit too many uneven scratches in my opinion. Does anyone know if the battle damage is safely removeable without damaging other paintjobs underneath specifically Optimus and Deluxe Sideswipe.

Yes, it will take off the battle damage, but if the battle damage is on top of paint, trying to take it off will take off the battle damage and the paint underneath.

For Sideswipe, his shins and waist are battle damage over black plastic, so those should be fine, but his feet are battle damage on top of silver paint on top of black plastic.

For OP, his thighs are gray plastic and should be fine, his shoulders are red plastic and should be fine, but his chest windows are clear plastic, I'd stay away from there.

Does rubbing alcohol damage clear plastic?

It can especially considering you'll need the 90%+ alcohol stuff to remove paint. The 70% will only take the shine off at best.

That's really good to know. Is nail polish remover any better? I'm planning to turn a Hotlink into a custom Skywarp, and step 1 is removing a lot of the purple paint, including the paint around his clear plastic cockpit bits. The close proximity of some of that purple to the clear plastic could be problematic, I certainly don't want damage those parts.

Nail polish remover is harsher and can melt some plastics or take the shine off of them or make them brittle. Some nail polish removers are acetone based. It's likely to give clear plastics a haze if not outright damage them to some degree.

High alcohol content rubbing alcohol is your best/safest bet. Clean the bare plastics and be prepared to repaint the others. Also be careful of the faction symbols, those will come off quicker than the paint. Optimus has battle damage on his shoulder symbol, so it's a leave it be or replace situation.

Side note, I've tried 70% on a non Siege figure and it didn't even take the sheen off the paint. The 90% alcohol took the paint off pretty quickly, but still required some elbow grease here and there. I also hit a few painted areas by mistake and completely removed the sheen.

Take it slow and plan before you touch the figure. Might even be best to disassemble the figure. Less chance of wet fingers touching things you don't want.

This^^^ Dis-assemble as much as easily possible (ball joints and mushroom pegs) and get the area you are working on as open as possible before starting. Q-tips can be used for areas where your fingers might be too large.

Thank you guys for the advice. Wasn't sure which of those to use, so I'll plan on using rubbing alcohol. And I'm definitely planning to disassemble Hotlink, considering how easy to disassemble that mold is. Hopefully I can figure out a way to remove the paint around his cockpit parts. I want him to turn out well, so all advice is appreciated.

And now that Hotlink has been found in the US, maybe I can get started soon. If I can ever leave my house.

[triKlops]

Hopefully I can figure out a way to remove the paint around his cockpit parts. I want him to turn out well, so all advice is appreciated.

Just to throw in my 2 cents; blue painters tape to mask off areas and a shaved qtip for accuracy should be helpful.
All my best regarding this and good luck!

[Rogue-Primal]

Just a note does Ethanol/Isopropyl 70% rubbing hand alcohol work for this ? or are they rough.

[no-one]

Just a note does Ethanol/Isopropyl 70% rubbing hand alcohol work for this ? or are they rough.

Probably not. I've only ever used 90+% "rubbing alcohol" successfully. I'm not sure and I don't have the bottle handy to confirm which one it was (probably isopropyl). Honestly I didn't even know there was a difference until just now (thanks google).

I used to work in the retail paint industry and I have some familiarity with different solvents (most of which will melt plastic). We frequently cleaned metal surfaces with denatured alcohol, but I couldn't tell you if it's safe on the plastics used for toys. My guess would be no.

What I can tell you is that 70% alcohol didn't touch the paint I tried to remove from TLK Sqweeks, but the 90% took it off very quickly (and deglossed a few other painted spots I didn't know was painted). 90% alcohol may not be the easiest thing to find these days though.

[Flashwave]

Just a note does Ethanol/Isopropyl 70% rubbing hand alcohol work for this ? or are they rough.

Probably not. I've only ever used 90+% "rubbing alcohol" successfully. I'm not sure and I don't have the bottle handy to confirm which one it was (probably isopropyl). Honestly I didn't even know there was a difference until just now (thanks google).

I used to work in the retail paint industry and I have some familiarity with different solvents (most of which will melt plastic). We frequently cleaned metal surfaces with denatured alcohol, but I couldn't tell you if it's safe on the plastics used for toys. My guess would be no.

What I can tell you is that 70% alcohol didn't touch the paint I tried to remove from TLK Sqweeks, but the 90% took it off very quickly (and deglossed a few other painted spots I didn't know was painted). 90% alcohol may not be the easiest thing to find these days though.

91 os what we use for model trains as well.