The Energon Pub

[Tsutsukakushi]

Was expecting Five Deluxes per team, Overjoyed to see Four deluxes, one legends and one voyager per team. Like all the sculpts, Scale, Articulation, Colors and vehicles chosen.

Think HasTak did a better job here than they did with that trainwreck FOC Bruticus. HasTak keeps hitting it out of the ball park with all of their 30th Generations toys.

Paying $80 for each 2015 HasTak Combiner team is loads better paying almost $500 for a 3rd party combiner TF team.

Have no regrets about buying FP Intimidator. Because I knew HasTak's budget and toy scales couldn't give me a Motormaster like FP did. Like the way FP Motormaster uses his lower body in gestalt mode.

Don't like the way TFC designs their limbs bots team combiners. think TFC sculpts decent core Team Leaders. not a fan of the oversized TFC team members that have Four Voyagers and one Ultra.

Think HasTak created the better 2015 Combiner aerialbots and Superion compared to TFC Uranos.

Speculating 2015 wave 3 , will be the Protectobots Defensor.
While I'm guessing wave 4 will be the 1986 Predacons Predaking. If HasTak does wave 5 in late 2015, early 2016 i'm guessing it will be the Technobots Computron. Further guessing 2016 wave 6 or 1 will have the Terrorcons Abonimus.

Don't think HasTak will bother doing a 1984 Devastator update toy. As they've already done multiple failed attempts already. Just seems too complicated to merge the newer toys like the 1984 version merged.

Speculating that Bruticus won't be on HasTak updates combiners toy list for a while, At least not until 2017. Since Hastak recently released the FOC toy.

Fully expecting HasTak to do G-2 colors for 2015 Superion and Menasor. As Stores or sites exclusives.

Speculating that If HasTak does a Defensor, Computron and Maybe Liokaiser in 2015- 2016 that they won't have Five brand new molds per team. Guessing HasTak will use a Stunticon for protecobot Streetwise, That 2015 rescue helicopter for Protectobots Blades, then use Three new molds for the rest of the Defensor team.

If HasTak does a Computron, Guessing it will have a 2015 protectobots motorcycle, 2015 aerialbot jet, maybe remolded bruticus tank, 2015 stunticon sports car. With a new mold Voyager Scattershot or a heavily remolded 2015 Silverbolt like 30th Sandstorm is.

If HasTak, TFCC or whoever decides to do a Liokaiser in 2015-2016. Think it will take team members from other teams, with no new molds used. HasTak will probably create breast plate animal-targetmasters that have minicon attach points. With the bigger toys getting remolded with minicon ports.

[Rated X]

You get what you pay for. You want "toys" then buy Hasbro. You want adult collectibles then buy 3rd party stuff. And Hasbro's Helicoptor Arielbot and Wildrider pick-up truck blow monkey balls. I give Hasbro credit for trying, but they always gotta screw something up on purpose. My Uranus kicks ass.

[megatronus]

"how does Hastaks 2015 combiners compare to FP Intimidator and TFC Uranos?"

Hard to say, as it's currently 2014.

[Lord Raze]

The combined modes are an eye sore. Hasbro does seem to have done pretty well with the bot and alt modes though, even if Wildrider looks like Evil Goldbug (in bot mode at least). I'll probably get these for my nephew though.

[Genocide G2.0]

I give Hasbro credit for the 1 voyager and 4 deluxe and the individual robots don't look that bad especially MM i think he looks pretty decent it will fill my needs for a voyager MM .

But it goes without saying these will never take place of any third party combiner on my shelf . They still remind me of PPC a little bit when combined .

I'm gonna buy them to play around with there bot modes and for the fact this has been a long time coming and i do appreciate being able to finally buy a set of official Stunticons .

Had these been out a couple of year ago before i jumped in the deep end with 3rdp and i still had a strong craving for ever thing "CHUG" i would have been overjoyed but the game has changed.

Like X said you get what you pay for .

[Gauntlet101010]

Overall I like the 3rd party offerings better. It's good to see Hasbro step up their game, though. Finally!

There will be those who think this is better, and price-wise it is. But X is right, you get what you pay for. I like what the 3rd party companies have done and have no rgrets.

And I wouldn't say Devestator's off the table. Bruticus may be, as they've done a new mould for him very recently. Which is sort of a shame since that mould is terrible and not G1 at all.

[mooncake623]

I'm liking Superion a lot! And since I never brought TFC's and sold my old Energon one I'm pretty happy about this.

[rpetras]

I'm not a huge fan of FP's Menasor, so I might be interested in the Hasbro offering ... BUT I much prefer the FP motormaster's truck mode, so maybe not.

That said, I'm still holding out hope for a TFC Menasor.

I have to agree with X, nothing I see here is going to keep me from buying the 3P combiners I like.

HOWEVER, for the combiner teams I care about a little less, I may end up buying Hasbro offerings over 3P to save $$$.

[Yotsuyasan]

"how does Hastaks 2015 combiners compare to FP Intimidator and TFC Uranos?"

Hard to say, as it's currently 2014.

This, pretty much. Until we start getting these in hand, it is hard to do a true comparison.

Based on appearance alone, however, I will say the following.

Aerialbots: I'm disappointed one of them is now a helicopter. But it isn't the end of the world. Overall, I think they look quite great and I look forward to owning them!

Stunticons: God, he looks rather horrid. Hopefully I'm not just saying that to make him seem less attractive to me, so I don't feel I wasted money buying the Fansproject versions! But seriously, Wildrider (or whatever the new not-Wildrider taking his place's name was, again) being a pick-up is stupid, the gestalt has wonky looking proportions, and the gestalt's head sculpt is just plain awful!

Hmm, guess I am feeling that the Fansproject version wasn't a waste, after all! Normally I strongly prefer official over third party, but Hasbro seems to have dropped the ball on the Stunticons well enough that I don't think I shall feel bad if I don't buy it. Who knows? Maybe I'll change my mind if I see it in stores... Or maybe Hasbro might repaint the limbs to go with their previously announced Optimus Prime that shares Motormaster's mold? That might be cool.

Overall: Sucks that Hasbro felt the need to mess with the teams by changing the alt-modes of one member in each team. The Aerialbots, at least, look good enough otherwise that I can get past this. The Stunticons... not so much.

[Agamemnon]

Overall: Sucks that Hasbro felt the need to mess with the teams by changing the alt-modes of one member in each team. The Aerialbots, at least, look good enough otherwise that I can get past this. The Stunticons... not so much.

Not to nitpick too much, but there are other changes too. Firefly is more of a harrier now than a F-4 phantom (which is disappointing since they could have had Slingshot in this mold.) Air Raid is an F-14 instead of an F-15. Skydive looks like an F-18 instead of an F-16, though the wings and where they attach to the fuselage area look more F-16 ish. Alpha Bravo would look good on a Protectobots set. And Silverbolt is definitely an updated supersonic passenger jet that doesn't look much like a Concorde. Still I do like them for their "Classics" themed updated jet modes aligned with the characters, except for Air Raid. The F-14 is older than the F-15 and has been out of general service for a while now, with F-15s still in service.

(Man, I love talking fighter jets. )

[Yotsuyasan]

Overall: Sucks that Hasbro felt the need to mess with the teams by changing the alt-modes of one member in each team.

Not to nitpick too much, but there are other changes too.

Sorry, I suppose I should have said "drastically changing the alt-odes of one member in each team."

[Mkall]

I'll be replacing my FP Superion with Hasbro's for sure. I don't even mind the re-imagined Slingshot.

[Agamemnon]

Overall: Sucks that Hasbro felt the need to mess with the teams by changing the alt-modes of one member in each team.

Not to nitpick too much, but there are other changes too.

Sorry, I suppose I should have said "drastically changing the alt-odes of one member in each team."

Oh, yeah! I just like talking fighter jets, and it gave me the opportunity.

I'll be replacing my FP Superion with Hasbro's for sure. I don't even mind the re-imagined Slingshot.

I'm on the fence. I think I will definitely get both combiners. But, part of me is almost thinking of trying my hand at painting Firefly into Slingshot and seeing if I can kitbash some of the others. I don't know yet...

What would be really cool is if they use the same combining pegs as Energon and I could just replace the core and a couple of the limbs. Somehow I doubt it.

[megatronus]

What would be really cool is if they use the same combining pegs as Energon and I could just replace the core and a couple of the limbs. Somehow I doubt it.

The combining pegs are new technology. Check out their chests - those things in the middle are the new combiner ports/pegs.

Actually, my only nit-pick isn't he Slingshot-as-helicopter issue people are griping about (I like him!). It's the non-articulated wrists. But then again, if Roadbuster doesn't have wrists I guess I shouldn't expect it from the combiner deluxe figures.

[Tsutsukakushi]

Suspect the reasons why some of the 2015 combiners members have different names. Is because Hasbro is always losing the rights to some of the names and needs to create newer names or put prefixes in the front of a name they lost.

Doubt they are different persona characters on the 2015 combiner teams toys.

[Tsutsukakushi]

You get what you pay for.

This is all my opinion below, I state nothing as fact.

When your paying 3rd party prices of five to six times more than Hasbro's USA TF toy of the same size. You are not getting what you pay for, You are being overcharged plain and simple.

When buyers in 2015 buy those Hasbro USA combiners toys, They will get what they pay for. $15 or $22 for a deluxe or Voyager combiner that is a Tripple changer, is highly articulated, highly sculpted is a fair competive market price.

"You get what you pay for", Sounds more like a ironic self imposed life sentence. Not if it means not getting married,having no kids,no family,no friends. budgeting all of this out of my life, So I can have more money for toys is not something I'm willing to do.

[necr0blivion]

I want to start with the merits of these new Hasbro figures. First off, a highly reminiscent display of G1 roots here (with the exception of the 1 team member who is so different now - makes me wonder what the repaint is scheduled to be). Even some design cues like the combiner chests and the wide but spindly legs makes me look back at that G1 collection and smile. And 5 unique figures, instead of the Energon combiner schema.

As a mass-retail product, I think these hit all the right points. I really like most of these guys, and you can tell that the designers have been incorporating fans' comments into the product (larger torso/leader, smaller limbs). The molds on even the smaller guys are great. I don't care that they are missing wrist swivel, look how awesome and evocative each figure is! I know I was excited about FoC Bruticus, but I'm even more excited for these new releases. Definite buy on my part.

Now, comparing to their 3rd party equivalents: TFC caters to collectors wanting large robots adorning their shelves. That's okay, because I am one of those guys. Sure, the Hasbro versions will not be as intimidating (*snicker*) as a TFC combiner, but look at all the things it does right. There are heavy G1 influences, which seem to be the cornerstone of fans' desires in newer figures. We may not get the same amount articulation out of these new official products as opposed to the 3Ps, but at a fraction of the cost I don't have much room to complain.

Hasbro really seemed to take our requests into consideration. There's probably more to it than we know currently (Alpha Bravo could easily be repainted into Vortex or Blades). There's a lot to like here. And even our "adult-priced" 3Ps come with their own nitpicks or straight-up flaws.

In the end, this is headed in the right direction for Hasbro. I think the economy of scale is going to pay off and make a lot of fans happy (maybe even gain new fans), but there will always be a niche market to fill for those who have the money to spend on these unofficial products. And as long as the products continue to be attractive, I'll buy as much as I can.

[megatronus]

You get what you pay for.

This is all my opinion below, I state nothing as fact.

When your paying 3rd party prices of five to six times more than Hasbro's USA TF toy of the same size. You are not getting what you pay for, You are being overcharged plain and simple.

When buyers in 2015 buy those Hasbro USA combiners toys, They will get what they pay for. $15 or $22 for a deluxe or Voyager combiner that is a Tripple changer, is highly articulated, highly sculpted is a fair competive market price.

I don't know. "You get what you pay for" seems pretty self-explanatory to me.

This (purposely shown because that scrambled configuration is NICE):



vs. the weird love child of Loki and Voltron:




I don't mean to bash Hasbro's attempt. I'm still planning on getting it. But I don't think either of us can pretend that FP Intimidator/M3 does not win the prize on articulation, proportions, or resemblance to G1. You get what you pay for.

"You get what you pay for", Sounds more like a life jail sentence.
Not if it means not getting married,having no kids,no family,no friends. budgeting all of this out of my life, So I can have more money for toys is not something I'm willing to do.

You really need to just stop. It's not funny, fair, or in the spirit of these boards. If kids, family and friends are really so important, maybe you should take the time you devote to harassing X and spend it on them instead.

[Rated X]

You get what you pay for.

This is all my opinion below, I state nothing as fact.

When your paying 3rd party prices of five to six times more than Hasbro's USA TF toy of the same size. You are not getting what you pay for, You are being overcharged plain and simple.

When buyers in 2015 buy those Hasbro USA combiners toys, They will get what they pay for. $15 or $22 for a deluxe or Voyager combiner that is a Tripple changer, is highly articulated, highly sculpted is a fair competive market price.

"You get what you pay for", Sounds more like a ironic self imposed life sentence. Not if it means not getting married,having no kids,no family,no friends. budgeting all of this out of my life, So I can have more money for toys is not something I'm willing to do.

"You get what you pay for" goes for anything in life, not just Transformers. You keep bringing up my comments about having no wife or kids means having more spending money. So I'm going to assume you have a wife and kids. With that being said, I gotta ask....

Do you...

A. Rent a movie and get them all Taco Bell on the weekend ? (cost equivalent to a cheap Hasbro figure)

B. Take them out to the IMAX theater and then to a nice steakhouse for dinner ? (cost equivalent to an expensive 3rd party figure)

If you chose B, then you enjoy the finer things in life and realize you get what you pay for. If you chose A, then you are just a cheap bastard.

[Tsutsukakushi]

I want to start with the merits of these new Hasbro figures. First off, a highly reminiscent display of G1 roots here (with the exception of the 1 team member who is so different now - makes me wonder what the repaint is scheduled to be). Even some design cues like the combiner chests and the wide but spindly legs makes me look back at that G1 collection and smile. And 5 unique figures, instead of the Energon combiner schema.

As a mass-retail product, I think these hit all the right points. I really like most of these guys, and you can tell that the designers have been incorporating fans' comments into the product (larger torso/leader, smaller limbs). The molds on even the smaller guys are great. I don't care that they are missing wrist swivel, look how awesome and evocative each figure is! I know I was excited about FoC Bruticus, but I'm even more excited for these new releases. Definite buy on my part.

Now, comparing to their 3rd party equivalents: TFC caters to collectors wanting large robots adorning their shelves. That's okay, because I am one of those guys. Sure, the Hasbro versions will not be as intimidating (*snicker*) as a TFC combiner, but look at all the things it does right. There are heavy G1 influences, which seem to be the cornerstone of fans' desires in newer figures. We may not get the same amount articulation out of these new official products as opposed to the 3Ps, but at a fraction of the cost I don't have much room to complain.

Hasbro really seemed to take our requests into consideration. There's probably more to it than we know currently (Alpha Bravo could easily be repainted into Vortex or Blades). There's a lot to like here. And even our "adult-priced" 3Ps come with their own nitpicks or straight-up flaws.

In the end, this is headed in the right direction for Hasbro. I think the economy of scale is going to pay off and make a lot of fans happy (maybe even gain new fans), but there will always be a niche market to fill for those who have the money to spend on these unofficial products. And as long as the products continue to be attractive, I'll buy as much as I can.

You hit all the nails on the head. This is something similar to what I was saying in this thread.

It goes without saying, when 3rd parties and imports sites can no longer get decent sales and turn a worthwhile profit for combiners. They will stop making combiners and do other Transformers things. Think these 2015-2016 HasTak combiners has what it takes to cause this damage to 3rd parties making combiners.

[guarayakha]

It goes without saying, when 3rd parties and imports sites can no longer get decent sales and turn a worthwhile profit. They will stop making combiners and do other Transformers things. Think these 2015-2016 HasTak combiners has what it takes to cause this damage to 3rd parties.

Nah, with Hastak still making the molds with repaint/retool in consideration like Motormaster/Prime as well as production costs plus a wider target audience, 3rd party will most likely continue to flourish until they screw up big time with bad QCs/response to critics.

[Tsutsukakushi]

Think HasTak 2015 Superion looks more better, blocky and G-1 than 2015 HasTak Menasor does.

HasTak 2015 Menasor might look better, less beefed up steroids,more G-1 Blocky with that car removed from his chest. Suspose a replacement 3rd party Menasor head might work further wonders for this toy. If 3rd parties want to go a step further. They can create a replacement More G-1 styled Motormaster that transforms from robot to cab+trailer.

Think the only thing hurting the look of that 2015 HasTak Menasor is that badly sculpted Motormaster figure in both modes. Think the other four limbs-bots Stunticons toys look just as good as the FP Stunticons toys do in all Three modes.

I'd make HasTak 2015 Breakdown a menasor arm and dragstrip a lower Menasor leg. As Breakdown looks terrible as a lower leg.

[rpetras]

Think the only thing hurting the look of that 2015 HasTak Menasor is that badly sculpted Motormaster figure in both modes. Think the other four limbs-bots Stunticons toys look just as good as the FP Stunticons toys do in all Three modes.

This^^^^

I think the limb-bots look fine, but that Motormaster is total crap.
If someone fixes that like they did for FoC Bruticus, I'll be a happy camper.

[megatronus]

Think the only thing hurting the look of that 2015 HasTak Menasor is that badly sculpted Motormaster figure in both modes. Think the other four limbs-bots Stunticons toys look just as good as the FP Stunticons toys do in all Three modes.

This^^^^

I think the limb-bots look fine, but that Motormaster is total crap.
If someone fixes that like they did for FoC Bruticus, I'll be a happy camper.

I have no problem with Motormaster's bot or vehicle modes (which I find delightfully chunky - or fluffy, if you get the reference), but the torso mode is a bit squat. Still, I think he'll be a lot of fun, and certain poses should help alleviate the odd proportions.

[Rated X]

I want to start with the merits of these new Hasbro figures. First off, a highly reminiscent display of G1 roots here (with the exception of the 1 team member who is so different now - makes me wonder what the repaint is scheduled to be). Even some design cues like the combiner chests and the wide but spindly legs makes me look back at that G1 collection and smile. And 5 unique figures, instead of the Energon combiner schema.

As a mass-retail product, I think these hit all the right points. I really like most of these guys, and you can tell that the designers have been incorporating fans' comments into the product (larger torso/leader, smaller limbs). The molds on even the smaller guys are great. I don't care that they are missing wrist swivel, look how awesome and evocative each figure is! I know I was excited about FoC Bruticus, but I'm even more excited for these new releases. Definite buy on my part.

Now, comparing to their 3rd party equivalents: TFC caters to collectors wanting large robots adorning their shelves. That's okay, because I am one of those guys. Sure, the Hasbro versions will not be as intimidating (*snicker*) as a TFC combiner, but look at all the things it does right. There are heavy G1 influences, which seem to be the cornerstone of fans' desires in newer figures. We may not get the same amount articulation out of these new official products as opposed to the 3Ps, but at a fraction of the cost I don't have much room to complain.

Hasbro really seemed to take our requests into consideration. There's probably more to it than we know currently (Alpha Bravo could easily be repainted into Vortex or Blades). There's a lot to like here. And even our "adult-priced" 3Ps come with their own nitpicks or straight-up flaws.

In the end, this is headed in the right direction for Hasbro. I think the economy of scale is going to pay off and make a lot of fans happy (maybe even gain new fans), but there will always be a niche market to fill for those who have the money to spend on these unofficial products. And as long as the products continue to be attractive, I'll buy as much as I can.

You hit all the nails on the head. This is something similar to what I was saying in this thread.

It goes without saying, when 3rd parties and imports sites can no longer get decent sales and turn a worthwhile profit for combiners. They will stop making combiners and do other Transformers things. Think these 2015-2016 HasTak combiners has what it takes to cause this damage to 3rd parties making combiners.

Hasbro gets a little better each time, but they are worlds apart from third party combiners. The "cool factor" third parties bring to the table just isnt there. Maybe its saftey regulations. Maybe its budget requirements. Maybe its a different vision from the designers trying to impress kids, not collectors. There will always be a market for third party transformers because of collectors. The question is will their always be a market for offical transformers products that homage G1 ? Remember kids are a weird bunch that change likes and dislikes every few years. Collectors are a lot easier to please because we are very vocal about what we want. With the kids its hit or miss. Proof is the movie lines collecting dust on walmart shelves. The beast hunters line was another flop. 3rd parties are going nowhere.