The Energon Pub

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Don't worry, I went to two Targets yesterday filled with hope and found squat. Actually I found the shelves packed with everything but Siege. Apparently Omaha Targets missed the memo. I have confirmation Lincoln Targets got it.

My guess is the date is not written in stone, and it all depends on the existing stock they have.
No biggie, though. If collecting TFs has taught me anything, it's patience.

Did you check happen to check other toy aisles/spots? Like I said initially, I almost missed Siege because while the standard TF shelf space was filled with all the other lines, my local Target put Siege (and Op Op for some reason), on another aisle...so frustrating.

You bet your buttermilk biscuits I did! I checked every aisle, and every end cap of both stores. Even asked some seemingly disgruntled employees.

It's fine. They'll show up soon.

Patience is a virtue, and I have no problems with disgruntled employees at my Target, on the contrary. They're eager to help at times, I get asked "Can I help you find anything?" at least 5 times on a single trip. And this is from someone with minor social anxiety

[chuckdawg1999]

So if we're getting Slamdance out of Skytread has anybody else realized they'll be flipping the limb components?

[Wolfman Jake]

So if we're getting Slamdance out of Skytread has anybody else realized they'll be flipping the limb components?

I did. Can't remember if it was in this thread or the Generations Selects one, but no one seemed to perturbed by that until now. I wonder how they're going to handle that, honestly.

Also, sorry about confusing you with the strikethrough in your own quote. Wait...THAT definitely was in the other thread.

[chuckdawg1999]

So if we're getting Slamdance out of Skytread has anybody else realized they'll be flipping the limb components?

I did. Can't remember if it was in this thread or the Generations Selects one, but no one seemed to perturbed by that until now. I wonder how they're going to handle that, honestly.

Also, sorry about confusing you with the strikethrough in your own quote. Wait...THAT definitely was in the other thread.

I'm not THAT perturbed because that jet mode is going to look SICK in blue. I'll be really perturbed if we don't get the proper weapons for each vehicle.

[Wolfman Jake]

So if we're getting Slamdance out of Skytread has anybody else realized they'll be flipping the limb components?

I did. Can't remember if it was in this thread or the Generations Selects one, but no one seemed to perturbed by that until now. I wonder how they're going to handle that, honestly.

Also, sorry about confusing you with the strikethrough in your own quote. Wait...THAT definitely was in the other thread.

I'm not THAT perturbed because that jet mode is going to look SICK in blue. I'll be really perturbed if we don't get the proper weapons for each vehicle.

Well, they might do the jet in red and the tank in blue instead, since unlike Slamdance, the Jet is up top and the tank is on the bottom for Flywhee's robot mode. So, we either get the components in the right colors and the robot mode with the opposite colors, or the components with the opposite colors so that the robot mode can have the right colors. Either way, the silhouette of the robot mode is still going to be wrong.

[Emerje]

I agree that Cannonball would be better suited to the Ironhide/Ratchet mold. And while my first choice for a Hound repaint would be Detritus, if we're getting potential G2 repaints I'd kinda like to see the mold used for Rook.



He's got that same grizzled soldier look as Hound and I think the mold would suit him even if it isn't even a little accurate in bot mode. He's never gotten a figure and this might be our only opportunity.

Emerje

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Hmm. Rook might be more suited to the Selects line. Interestingly, while Rook does not look to have been properly designed as transformable, there is an existing mold who happens to be a halfway-decent match in robot mode:

Cybertron Scattorshot. He has the chest slats for one thing. Granted, he does suffer from sideways knee, but still.

[william-james88]

More Pics!

[ZeroWolf]

You know, at first I wasn't that bothered by Shockwave, but I like him more and more I see him, especially here in his "not bothered pose"

[Cobotron]

IS that the first time we've seen Ironhide in physical form, and not a render? He was shown at Toy Fair, right?

Hope those forearms are gonna be red.

[william-james88]

IS that the first time we've seen Ironhide in physical form, and not a render? He was shown at Toy Fair, right?

Hope those forearms are gonna be red.

We have seen painted samples before, where they were red.

[Cobotron]

IS that the first time we've seen Ironhide in physical form, and not a render? He was shown at Toy Fair, right?

Hope those forearms are gonna be red.

We have seen painted samples before, where they were red.

Ok. I thought so. They look like prototype grey in those shots, so hopefully that's just a factory sample.

[Wolfman Jake]

IS that the first time we've seen Ironhide in physical form, and not a render? He was shown at Toy Fair, right?

Hope those forearms are gonna be red.

We have seen painted samples before, where they were red.

Ok. I thought so. They look like prototype grey in those shots, so hopefully that's just a factory sample.

That's got to be a factory test shot/sample and not a finalized production piece. I think they only painted on the yellow and silver stripes and a little "battle damage," honestly. I'd bet that, like Sideswipe, that plain red plastic will be painted over in the actual retail release.

Starscream is looking great. The battle damage in robot mode seems to be limited to the legs. Shockwave looks great too. I'm happy that the purple isn't quite as deep as some of the renderings and initial stock photos have portrayed. This looks just right, a bit darker that MP-29+, but it works very well. I'm most surprised by Ultra Magnus. I was gonna pass on him entirely, but he looks a LOT better now that the battle damage has been toned down significantly, especially on his chest. I think Hasbro took some notes from the shows over the summer.

[Omegatron.]

A few pages back someone mentioned getting a Skytread with a frozen hip joint. I also got one with a frozen hip and sent it back for a replacement. I just got this email about it:

Dear Customer, Due to the high volume of Flywheels with this flaw we are delaying sending out a replacement as we do not want you to receive a replacement with the same issue. We are working with Hasbro to try and resolve this, and will keep you up to date with any news. Many thanks The Kapow Toys team.

Just in case anyone is interested.

[Wolfman Jake]

Now that it's been a few days, I thought I'd go ahead and share some of my thoughts on the Battlemasters, Micromasters, and Deluxe figures for the first wave of Transformers: SIEGE. I'll start with the Deluxe Class figures.

First is perhaps my favorite of the bunch: Sideswipe. He is a beautiful figure! It look a little doing for me to find one with acceptable paint apps, but once I did, I was very pleased. He does look just a tiny bit on the short side next to some of the Thrilling 30 and Prime Wars Trilogy Deluxes we've had over the pats 5 years, but he doesn't look out of scale or out of place with them at all. His transformation is efficient and elegant without being boring. The result is a solid, no fuss transformation between a futuristic (but not quite "alien") Lamborghini and a robot that looks almost like his Masterpiece figure in Deluxe Class form. His colors look great. The shade of red used is gorgeous. I was a bit off put at first by the "creamy" white color of some of his parts, but it definitely looks better in person under normal lighting conditions (e.g., not a photography studio). The "battle damage" paint is well done and restricted to the feet, shins, and pelvis. The paint gives the intended effect of looking like he's been scratched up a bit during a scrap with some Decepticons, as opposed to some other figures who seem to have been splashed by a mud puddle or are coming down with a case of "Cosmic Rust." I would have preferred a more "clean" look, but honestly, I hardly notice it now. I hope Hasbro goes for this "less is more" approach on the later figures in the line too.

Earlier reviews noting the lack of a real "clasp" when putting Sideswipe's chest into place for robot mode are true, but it stays there nonetheless, even when shaking the figure around. What was more concerning for me, at first, was how tight some of the transformation hinges are versus how soft some of the plastic parts "seem," like his shin plates and the joints that attach the feet to the legs. Especially with the feet, I was afraid I would stress or even snap the plastic trying to push them back up into the legs for transformation into car mode. With some gentle coaxing and careful support of the joints involved, I got them to bend and collapse correctly. This got easier after the first time, but it's a bit scary when you have to use a bit more force that you would think should be necessary.

I've got Siege Sideswipe on my "Classics" shelf right now, standing beside Unite Warriors Sunstreaker. They look great together! I'll snap some pics later on, if anyone is interested.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I'm really hoping the Leader Optimus ends up being a Cybertron homage or something. I'm hoping it's not a Voyager with a trailer cause it would be really cool to get 2 very different types of Optimus in the line. And I want the voyager with the axe

[Jelze Bunnycat]

A few pages back someone mentioned getting a Skytread with a frozen hip joint. I also got one with a frozen hip and sent it back for a replacement. I just got this email about it:

Dear Customer, Due to the high volume of Flywheels with this flaw we are delaying sending out a replacement as we do not want you to receive a replacement with the same issue. We are working with Hasbro to try and resolve this, and will keep you up to date with any news. Many thanks The Kapow Toys team.

Just in case anyone is interested.

Wait, it's a common issue? Yipe, better hold off on getting him then

[Wolfman Jake]

I snapped a few pictures to show off the Lamborghini brothers. Included are Sideswipe and Sunstreaker in their Masterpiece molds, their Henkei molds, and, of course, Siege Sideswipe and Unite Warriors Sunstreaker. There's a nice group shot of the three versions of Sideswipe over the past 10 years as well. Unfortunately, I don't have the G1 versions of these guys, or the Alternators versions anymore for that matter. Still, this should give you a good idea of what you're getting with the new Siege Sideswipe if you want to update your collection.

Contemporary (Siege and Unite Warriors):

Contemporary with Henkei:

Contemporary with Masterpiece:

Siege, Henkei, and Masterpiece Sideswipe:

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Here's hoping we get an actual Sunstreaker mold in the WFC trilogy. Both the Universe and Combiner Wars versions are fairly obviously his head and colors on a mold made for someone else. Even with the Universe version's clever hat trick.

Henkei Sideswipe is a confused ripoff. A ripoff because they left out the supercharger (which on Sideswipe is meant to combine with the exhaust pipe gun to make a representation of Sideswipe's launcher) for G1 accuracy, confused because they then ruined that accuracy by chroming his spoiler instead of his forearms or feet where it would be appropriate:

[Cyberpath]

Grey prototypes from Takara --






























Source and more pix:
http://snakas.blog95.fc2.com/blog-entry-6840.html

⠀

[ZeroWolf]

Thanks to a tip off from fellow Seibertron user, Cyberpath, we bring you pictures of grey prototypes for some of the forthcoming Siege figures (Soundwave, Chromia, Prowl, Autobot Rescue Patrol and Pteraxadon). These are, of course just the grey unpainted prototypes of the figures but do show off all the wonderful molded detail that has been lovingly added to them. These photographs were found on the Snakas Blog.

We have mirrored the images below for your convenience.

Pteraxadon





Stakeout (Autobot Rescue Patrol)







Red Heat (Autobot Rescue Patrol)







Combined Micromaster Weapon Mode



Chromia











Prowl













Soundwave

















What do you think of these? Will you be adding these to your collection? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews.

[Sentinel_Primal]

Soundwave's mold looks really good without the battle damage. I'm hoping that they do what they did with Magnus and tone the battle damage way back for Soundwave cause that robot mode and also "space-barge" mode look great imo. And if they don't, I wouldn't be surprised if they release that mold in Studio Series with Ravage and call it "Cybertronian Soundwave" from the Bumblebee movie, cause that actually looks fairly close to that version of the character as well

[Nathaniel Prime]

I NEED that Soundwave in my collection Laserbeak is awesome and Ravage is... fine. But I will probably change him out for my Universe Ravage from Hound. Ptery guy looks cool and so does Prowl. Chromia is cool too.

[Evil Eye]

Soundwave is delightful and will be mine. Chromia, eh, she looks alright but I'd rather have one of the combining versions of that transformation scheme. Prowl looks gorgeous but the shins being made from clear plastic makes me nervous.

[Carnivius_Prime]

I still really don't like that Soundwave at all even here in just grey. Never been fond of his design in general (too boxy for me) but I don't think all that detailing works for him. And yes that alt-mode is still junk