The Energon Pub

New images have shown up via TF Club of the TFC EX-004 Targetroids, which are new 3rd party figures paying homage to the Generation 1 Target Masters. The four figures shown are Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream and Hotrod, and all of which transform into weapons. To view the image of them scroll down:

Could be interesting to pick up, do we know price ranges? or if theyre a set or seperate?

Sniper Rifle Megatron, Powercannon Optimus, handgun Rodimus...the only one I'm even mildly reluctant about is the twin-laser Starscream.

...Is that TFC's Devastator bit off to the right side of the picture?

Interesting idea but not for me. Why make OP and the gang targetmasters when there are countless G1 targetmaster characters that need some lovin'.

Now! Target your hemroids with "Targetmaster" precision,
TARGETROIDS!

Definitely don't care about them since they look like actual characters... should have had different robot modes and I would have been extremely interested.

That thar's crazy talk.

What a bizarre idea. Carrying a mini version of yourself?

Mykltron wrote:That thar's crazy talk.

What a bizarre idea. Carrying a mini version of yourself?

Worked for Dr. Evil.

Haha, yeah, these look cool, but the concept isnt really my thing either.

Maybe it can be used with other figures than the characters they represent (i.e. Unicron, Primus, Cybertron Supreme Starscream, or Cybertron Metroplex).

Wack !!!

People dont want mini versions of autobots and decepticons. People want new versions of the Nebulans targetmaster figures to replace their lost ones or upgrade figures that carried one in the G1 cartoon like Scourge and Hot Rod.

I can't see it happening, but I'd get the Prime one if it were painted to be a Modus Prime figure. I've always wanted him to get a toy.

I got really excited by the article's title. I got less excited when I read the piece, and a lot less excited when I saw the photo. It really doesn't make a whole lot of sense to have Targetmaster versions of main characters. Megatron and Prime don't even look that good in gun mode. Such a wasted opportunity.

When I heard this I was excited I thought they were Partners for Kup Blurr and Scourge but I'm not that Impressed

I don't think these are the "first" images we've seen of them. More like the fifth or seventh. I dunno, I don't pay attention to these kinda things anymore.

Yeah, we're not seeing anything new here.

I have to admit, I kinda like the "mini me" thing goin' on here, but like others I dunno. With all the other neat things coming out, are these worth it?

These look great. They are better looking than PE Frenzy and Rumble or Eject and Rewind.

Mindmaster wrote:I don't think these are the "first" images we've seen of them. More like the fifth or seventh. I dunno, I don't pay attention to these kinda things anymore.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Yeah, we're not seeing anything new here.

I have to admit, I kinda like the "mini me" thing goin' on here, but like others I dunno. With all the other neat things coming out, are these worth it?

Actually, we'd never seen any of the weapon modes outside of Rodimus, so if you're looking, you ARE seeing something new.

Blurrz wrote:I'd need some crazy good fiction for any of these to work. Crazy good.

I don't. I like transforming toys.
These are like articulated Legends w/ all new alt modes.
The fact that it's not the same thing over and over is nice too. The gun modes look pretty good too. I really like what I can see of megatron.

It's an interesting idea, but I'm not too eager to own them unless the price is really good.

Blurrz wrote:I'd need some crazy good fiction for any of these to work. Crazy good.

- Cloning into minicon protoforms
- Transformers sliding into a dimension where the natives are larger
- Transformers transforming into smaller weapon alt modes, then something causes their link to subspace to malfunction, leaving them stuck with minimal mass
- Nebulon Halloween

It's easy enough to come up with something if you need to.


-edit-

In fact, I want to expand on one of those. Picture this:

A G1-ish universe. Megatron already transforms into a weapon that is much smaller than his body, by shunting most of his mass into subspace. But, IDW rules apply. So the decrease in mass means a huuuuuuuge increase in power. A increase so great that Megatron forces the process of becoming a mass-shifter onto Starscream. So great that the power of Megatron and Starscream in weapon mode (wielded by whichever Decepticons you prefer) are winning the war on their own.
The Autobots, desperate, managae to steal plans for the technology. But because the process is dangerous, Optimus won't let anyone other than himself become a mass-shifter. While he is unconscious for the... uh, surgery... Hot Rod convinces the scientists to make him a mass-shifter too. Now that both sides have two exceedingly powerful weapon transformers, the war evens up.
Shockwave decides it is time to win the war for himself. During a battle, he sets off a sort of pulse bomb that disrupts connections to supspace. The four weapon transformers are now stuck with their small size, and since they no longer have mass displaced, are greatly reduced in power. Shockwave seizes command of the Decepticons and starts conquering the Autobots.
The weaponformers manage to reconfigure into new, human-sized robot modes but are useless in battle. Eventually, Jetfire finds a way to extract from supspace the mass that Optimus and Hot Rod are missing. He expects to pull out, essentially, two lumps of metal. Instead, he pulls out two almost-full-sized robots who think they are Optimus and Hot Rod. Apparently, the mass-shifting process had some redundancies in place that weren't made for this situation. The Decepticons, not enjoying Shockwave's rule, steal this process and use it on Megatron and Starscream.
So... now there is a big Optimus Prime, who can wield a little Optimus Prime.

WarGraver wrote: So... now there is a big Optimus Prime, who can wield a little Optimus Prime.

Are you sure you want to word it that way?

MINDVVIPE wrote:Now! Target your hemroids with "Targetmaster" precision,
TARGETROIDS!

Think they'll work for pouchitis, too? (If you don't want to know, don't look it up )

I don't understand the idea of carrying a mini-version of a character, but I could see using the molds to make OTHER characters who the main ones could carry. Why not have Starscream carry a tiny-seeker clone? Or Megatron carry Megaplex? Optimus could carry Ultra Magnus... or better yet Megatron could carry Nemesis Prime!

Man I'm getting myself a Classics Prime KO, chop off its head and replace it with the upcoming headmaster Optimus figure and give it this prime as a gun. Now wee need an Optimus Powermaster and Minicon to make him the ultimate Prime

Also i think these look net and shouldn't be too expensive, definitely want.