The Energon Pub

Welcome to the latest edition of the Seibertron.com Twincast / Podcast! This episode features the John Oliver of the Twincast, Scotty P, on hosting duties, as well as regular cast Rotorstorm, Seibertron, and Tigertrack.

Episode 90 "Dark Scorponok" is available directly and in our RSS Feed and should appear on iTunes within 24 to 48 hours of when you see this news post.

Botcon 2014 inches closer and we have a pair of exciting reveals to discuss. The latest and greatest of these is Scorponok, a killer cool looking remold of Energon Scorponok featuring a new G1-style Headmaster, Olin Zarak!



We then give our thoughts on the long awaited toy debut of Devcon. This bounty hunter from the 80s is finally immortalized in plastic, so tune in to find out what the cast thinks of this character finally getting his day in the sun.



Our focus then shifts over to the latest Transformers comics, and the end of Dark Cybertron, as we give our thoughts on the arc as a whole.



We also look ahead to the upcoming continuations of Robots in Disguise and More Than Meets the Eye. Are we ready for Earth and Autobot Megatron, or are we really just pining for Windblade?



After that it's time again for more toys, namely Masterpiece toys! We discuss the recently released Soundblaster and Ratbat set, then look into the future at more images of Wheeljack and the shadow of Ultra Magnus



Toy talk then wraps up with a brief discussion of upcoming Age of Extinction toys, which are hitting shelves even now in some parts of the world!

While you listen to that, be sure to check out the first site galleries of Age of Extinction toys featuring Voyager class Grimlock and Evasion Mode Optimus Prime!



Your listener questions come next, featuring a foot in a mouth and extremely polite questions.

We then wrap up with some Bragging Rights. What lost-wave Cyberverse stuff did we overspend on this week?




Thanks everyone for listening and we appreciate the continued support! Don't forget, the show only gets better if you tell us how. Drop us a review on iTunes and be sure to tell us what you love, what you hate, and what you want to hear!

Not on the show to give your take? Probably not, so don't forget to keep the discussion going on the Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums by simply replying to this post!

Got a question for the Twincast? We take all of them, we just don't take them all seriously! Leave a question in the Ask the Twincast thread and, if it makes the cut, it may get read and answered on the show.

So what'd you guys think of this episode? Yay? Nay?

I just have one question, (so far, I'm still waiting for he Podcast to downlaod and its 2am here...) why, when the flying wing toy was actually available, did it go to Devcon, and not the obscure Marvel comics character with the flying wing altmode?

Seibertron wrote:So what'd you guys think of this episode? Yay? Nay?

What do you mean? Energy is a little low I suppose but still enjoyable.

I liked it when you commented on stealing the molds from the KO companies. I've recently made the same comments (Takara KOing the KO company's G1 Dinobots) on the forums here and some folks commented about how I've sunk to a new low and such?? whatever hahaha keep up the good work guys.

mooncake623 wrote:

Seibertron wrote:So what'd you guys think of this episode? Yay? Nay?

What do you mean? Energy is a little low I suppose but still enjoyable.

Haha, I was feeling like this dude while hosting ->

So that's probably why it's a bit low energy this time around.

ScottyP wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:

Seibertron wrote:So what'd you guys think of this episode? Yay? Nay?

What do you mean? Energy is a little low I suppose but still enjoyable.

Haha, I was feeling like this dude while hosting ->

So that's probably why it's a bit low energy this time around.

Hope you're feeling better! Surprise that no MP Magnus prototype came out after your recordings!

I came away with one main thing eating away at the back of my mind. I think you (ScottyP) are sort of unnecessarily negative about the FunPub figures in saying that we'll be disappointed anyway. I don't love every figure they've done but I'm certainly not disappointed in any of them that I own and I own all but four offerings. Sometimes I think they miss an opportunity to use a mold or a deco for a certain Botcon set. Never have I been disappointed in the overall whole though. I will grant that some of the heads could have been better. We're looking at you Astrotrain, Punch/Counterpunch, Nightbeat, Ironhide and Ratchet. I'd be curious to hear what figures you're disappointed with. I'll chalk it up to the cold medicine.

Flux Convoy wrote:I came away with one main thing eating away at the back of my mind. I think you (ScottyP) are sort of unnecessarily negative about the FunPub figures in saying that we'll be disappointed anyway. I don't love every figure they've done but I'm certainly not disappointed in any of them that I own and I own all but four offerings. Sometimes I think they miss an opportunity to use a mold or a deco for a certain Botcon set. Never have I been disappointed in the overall whole though. I will grant that some of the heads could have been better. We're looking at you Astrotrain, Punch/Counterpunch, Nightbeat, Ironhide and Ratchet. I'd be curious to hear what figures you're disappointed with. I'll chalk it up to the cold medicine.

The collective "we" as a fan community is what I was referring to, or at least was intending to refer to. Seems the '09-'13 sets, outside of probably 2011, were largely a disappointment. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but I haven't gotten a super excited vibe from the fandom at large over these sets in a long time. I think overall they do a good job with the limited molds available, paint/cost restrictions, and restrictions on characters from Hasbro's end.

For this year, I'm only disappointed by Ferak so far, but only because I think it's a boring offering, not a poor figure/mold.

ScottyP wrote:

Flux Convoy wrote:I came away with one main thing eating away at the back of my mind. I think you (ScottyP) are sort of unnecessarily negative about the FunPub figures in saying that we'll be disappointed anyway. I don't love every figure they've done but I'm certainly not disappointed in any of them that I own and I own all but four offerings. Sometimes I think they miss an opportunity to use a mold or a deco for a certain Botcon set. Never have I been disappointed in the overall whole though. I will grant that some of the heads could have been better. We're looking at you Astrotrain, Punch/Counterpunch, Nightbeat, Ironhide and Ratchet. I'd be curious to hear what figures you're disappointed with. I'll chalk it up to the cold medicine.

The collective "we" as a fan community is what I was referring to, or at least was intending to refer to. Seems the '09-'13 sets, outside of probably 2011, were largely a disappointment. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but I haven't gotten a super excited vibe from the fandom at large over these sets in a long time. I think overall they do a good job with the limited molds available, paint/cost restrictions, and restrictions on characters from Hasbro's end.

For this year, I'm only disappointed by Ferak so far, but only because I think it's a boring offering, not a poor figure/mold.

You aren't likely to ever get that collective feelgood. The most vocal in any community are the ones who aren't contented. I'm not sure where and to whom it would seem 9-13 were disappointments. Even 09, with the original characters no one cared about. It gave us a Classics Kup and Scourge along with our first troop builder set of Sweeps. We also got a legacy souvenir set which expanded on previous sets with Razorclaw and Elita-1. The set no one loved gave us some good stuff. G2: Redux? That set is brilliant all around. Streetwise could have used a new head but he was my least desired of the year in total. It even got us an SG Ravage. Animated(11) sold like gangbusters. It too had a legacy set to expand on previous years. Invasion(12) had some pretty amazing decos and characters we weren't likely to ever get anywhere else. It seems people like to complain about SG and yet it sells every time. The troop builder Junkions? Genius! Each with a different head? Unprecedented! We got so many different heads in that set, it seemed to be a perfect storm of planned heads and FunPub new heads. Finally, Machine Wars. Honestly, I have all of the Botcon sets completed, minus Ratchet. This past set are my favorite yet. I know I'm the minority here but listen. We got a Rainmakers/Welcoming Committee set of Seekers. People griped about them and yet they sold out amazingly fast. We got Strika and Obsidian in the correct decos. We aren't likely to get them any other way. We got MW versions of the main three seeker characters in good molds. Thundercracker is my favorite of the entire set. The mold is very fun. My only complaints were this. I wish Megaplex had been the Stealth Megatron mold with Megatron being a figure we got at the show as well. Getting Electro instead of Hubcap, I feel, was a misstep. Finally, Sandstorm should have gotten a new head to distance that figure from the movie vibe. Overall, I played around with them more than any other set so far. I look forward to trying to discuss this all at further length with you while drunk at Botcon. Because, you know, you're wrong.

As for Ferak, dude needs to be purple. Otherwise he's fine. Obscure should be what we get from a collectors club. Of course, I'm always a little amped up for Botcon. The people, friends and some who are more like family, are the reason to go. Adding cool, coloful new figures to my collection is just a huge bonus.

Flux Convoy wrote:

ScottyP wrote:

Flux Convoy wrote:** said some stuff **

** replied to some stuff that was said **

** more stuff was said **

I'm with ScottyP on this. I think you're being very forgiving Flux Convoy. We should have you on the show some time. It'd be nice to have someone give a more positive spin on the Club and BotCon offerings from the past 6 six years.

The 2009 through 2013 sets were pretty disappointing to me. For it to have been 6 or 7 years since there was a set that I liked, the Botcon exclusives become more and more frustrating to me as a collector who spends an absurd amount of money on Transformers toys every year.

2008 "Shattered Glass" - not for me, but a clever set regardless. I knew what the purpose of the set was and I think that's what frustrated me the most. They went the boring route possible in response to the huge backlash from the previous year over the Seekers. They did the one thing that Hasbro most likely will never do ... which is turn the Autobots evil and the Decepticons heroic. To me, I just saw it as a lame attempt to prevent the 2007 drama from happening again and create some really unimaginative repaints by reversing color schemes. We got a few cool things out of it though ... I love the Marvel head on Megatron and black Rodimus with a goatee wasn't too bad either. They wasted a head by doing a new head for Blurr, when Blurr already had a G1 head. Complete waste. Poor decision. The rest, along with Blurr, I could do without.

2009 "Wings of Honor" - Just a boring set. It was cool getting Kup, but that was a poor choice for him. Scourge was pretty cool at the time considering that we didn't have a Classics Scourge yet. I think Leozack was really the only thing that I was pretty happy with that year. He went nicely with 2005 Deszaras.

2010 "G2 Redux" - I think I would have bought into this set more had it been called "Generation 1.5". Calling it G2 and not doing some obvious figures like G2 Sideswipe, G2 Grimlock, G2 Ramjet, etc was just a really poor set and had very little to do with G2. It was also the first comic that I just thought was a waste. Double Punch is the lone figure that I think of every time I think of this set. He's pretty frikkin' cool. And so's G2 Breakdown, but outside of those two I could do without the rest. The BotCon comic should basically focus on the set and show exclusives. If it tries to have too many other characters in it, it just becomes a story with ADD issues and little is accomplished. Little cameos here and there are OK, but the comic should focus on that year's toys.

2011 "Animated" - Had the comic worked harder to tell the story about the Stunticons instead of focusing on Toxitron, I think I might have liked this set more. I had a big issue with the Optimus Prime body being used for Motormaster when I thought Wreck-Gar would have been a much better choice (and also provided a way for that mold to get used again, rather than re-using a mold that I own 8 times or something like that). The square head on the super hero looking Optimus Prime body just looks flat out awkward. I also had a big issue with Drag Strip being female. The Kill Bill spin on her design was kind of cool, but weird at the same time. Just reminds me of the Pulp Fiction references at BotCon 1996 which I wasn't too keen on at that time either. Hm ... interesting that there have been two Uma Thurman fictional references at BotCons now. I liked getting a US version of the Autobot drone warriors from Binaltech and I liked Sideswipe but would have preferred a G1 colored Sideswipe. The G2 colored Sideswipe just rubbed salt in the wound for not getting a G2 Sideswipe the prior year.

2012 "Shattered Glass Pt 2" ... reds and blues everywhere. Bad Overlord head/face. What the heck happened to Metalhawk? How'd Road Rag/SG Tracks get screwed up color wise? SG Soundwave using the abysmal Ironhide/Ratchet mold? Just reminded me why SG was most likely created in the first place and didn't like the idea getting double dipped so soon. SG Junkions are OK if you like Shattered Glass, but that's not what I was looking for. I'd rather have new heads to build out the Junkion army. Please do not revisit this concept for a long, long time. Not needed. Not wanted.

2013 "Machine Wars" ... some OK choices but it's tough to accept updates of figures that already had pretty cool toys. I love the Machine Wars "scout" class/basic toys. They're fantastic, fun, and simple. Hoist without being a tow truck is silly. Didn't care for an Electro without his sword (though I appreciate the effort to explain that in the fiction, but it just reminded me of the poor attempt to explain the absence of Nightbeat's antennas in his comic). It was too soon to get an update of Megaplex by not giving the Dreadwing/Skyquake mold a new head. It's just a gray Dreadwing too me. Also, what's the point of having Megaplex without an appropriately colored Megatron? Mirage was pretty cool, but they really missed the opportunity of not having Prowl. I'm assuming he'll be a subscription figure or a future BotCon figure at some point but it would have been better to have had it last year instead. G2 Redux and missed opportunities comes to mind with the 2013 Machine Wars set. I also could have cared less about Obsidian and Strika in a Machine Wars set. I think it would have been better to not have them in the box set and sold them as Generations Extended Universe or something like that as souvenir exclusives at the show. I did enjoy the comic more this year because it focused more on the toys and the fiction that should be behind these toys. Hopefully they will follow this trend with the 2014 set. Seekers are OK, but I really want a Generations/Classics Sunstorm. That was close but not Sunstorm. We just ended up with a yellow seeker with black parts instead of the white parts it should have.

Unfortunately, it just goes to show that you can't please everyone all the time. Here's hoping the rest of the 2014 set returns us to the level of the 2006 set which was pretty amazing.

I suppose it's just different strokes. I think most people are just too critical. If I can get over not having a complete season one cast of classics Transformers at nine years later, I can certainly get over any given Botcon not delivering all the characters I feel it should. I see a lot of nitpicking in general. Especially coming from guys who are completists of a sort. Believe me when I say I'm not attacking you or anything like that. It just baffles me that people can be ga ga for Bot Shots and be so obsessive/compulsive over Botcon sets. Of course maybe that's just my niche. Like I said, different strokes.

As for being on the show, I'd love that but I'm never really available during the week. Often just being out of town altogether. Talking shop with friends though, never a bad thing. I look forward to seeing all of you again in a few short months, my friends.

Flux Convoy wrote:It just baffles me that people can be ga ga for Bot Shots and be so obsessive/compulsive over Botcon sets. Of course maybe that's just my niche. Like I said, different strokes.

The explanation for that is simple. It comes down to $$$$$. When I'm paying 4 times or more than retail for these figures at a convention for collectors, I have a much higher expectation for them. When it's a $4.99 or less Bot Shot figure, I'm much more forgiving of issues than I am for a $600 BotCon set (with hotel and airfare on top).

Flux Convoy wrote:As for being on the show, I'd love that but I'm never really available during the week. Often just being out of town altogether. Talking shop with friends though, never a bad thing. I look forward to seeing all of you again in a few short months, my friends.

WEll BotCon for sure then for the 2nd annual Seibersocial Podcast!

I've also gotta say that, as negative as I am towards Funpub sometimes, mostly fairly but sometimes unfairly, Botcon is my favorite thing all year. I look forward to it every year regardless of toys/events, and the Thursday/Friday night of the convention where I get to just sit down in my room or at a bar or somewhere and mess around with ~13 new Transformers all at once is always an awesome time.

Having to run a QC check on it all kinda stinks, but they always handle the issues (only ever had one personally, but that's enough to make you check forever) and it's better than getting home and realizing one of the toys has a problem.

ScottyP wrote:I've also gotta say that, as negative as I am towards Funpub sometimes, mostly fairly but sometimes unfairly, Botcon is my favorite thing all year. I look forward to it every year regardless of toys/events, and the Thursday/Friday night of the convention where I get to just sit down in my room or at a bar or somewhere and mess around with ~13 new Transformers all at once is always an awesome time.

Having to run a QC check on it all kinda stinks, but they always handle the issues (only ever had one personally, but that's enough to make you check forever) and it's better than getting home and realizing one of the toys has a problem.

I'll second all of this as well except I'll one up you and get a little sappy at the same time. Best part is getting to hang out with our ever growing group of friends each and every year. That's honestly the best part for me. New additions are always welcome!

Seibertron wrote:

ScottyP wrote:I've also gotta say that, as negative as I am towards Funpub sometimes, mostly fairly but sometimes unfairly, Botcon is my favorite thing all year. I look forward to it every year regardless of toys/events, and the Thursday/Friday night of the convention where I get to just sit down in my room or at a bar or somewhere and mess around with ~13 new Transformers all at once is always an awesome time.

Having to run a QC check on it all kinda stinks, but they always handle the issues (only ever had one personally, but that's enough to make you check forever) and it's better than getting home and realizing one of the toys has a problem.

I'll second all of this as well except I'll one up you and get a little sappy at the same time. Best part is getting to hang out with our ever growing group of friends each and every year. That's honestly the best part for me. New additions are always welcome!

Oh yes, this is by far the best part. Always great to have something that can bring together people from every corner of the country!

You guys aren't being sappy at all. I have said for years now that the people are what keeps us coming back. The toys are a huge bonus. Again, we look forward to seeing you guys and the rest of our Botcon family soon.

I really enjoyed, and agree on, the comments about Dark Cybertron's cleaning up function, and for the better enjoyment of the final third (I'd even go as far as saying the last three issues). It was an average run with an excellent ending, smoothing out continuity stuff and bringing us to where we could've been before the Costa run.

A note about the Newsarama previews: ARGH. We had such a good deal with IDW before the word 'exclusive' was thrown about, and now *we* have to keep to the embargo date so Newsarama gets the first looks. And other fansites, stubbornly, keep linking to that preview, angering me even more. Rant rant rant. So much frustration. I know Seibertron agrees, too. Just.. argh.