The Energon Pub

We seem to be quickly running out of Legends product at this point with very little new stuff, beyond this Headmaster booster pack, on the horizon. We're just waiting for Astrotrain, Lio Convoy, and God Bomber to drop...and then what? Is Takara going to put Legends on hiatus for a while to concentrate on The Last Knight? I would have expected some more reveals by now, even if they won't come out for several months.

I hope we at least get a few more holes filled too, like a Legends Eject repaint, Legends Buzzsaw, Rumble, and Frenzy, and some of the other recent Hasbro Legends releases like Brawn, Gnaw, and Kickback (thought I could see them being relegated to the Adventure line instead, like Powerglide, Cosmos, and the other two Insecticons were). It'll be a shame if Takara just skips to the new mold stuff, like Hot Rod, Kup, and Sixshot.

Wolfman Jake wrote:We seem to be quickly running out of Legends product at this point with very little new stuff, beyond this Headmaster booster pack, on the horizon. We're just waiting for Astrotrain, Lio Convoy, and God Bomber to drop...and then what? Is Takara going to put Legends on hiatus for a while to concentrate on The Last Knight? I would have expected some more reveals by now, even if they won't come out for several months.

I hope we at least get a few more holes filled too, like a Legends Eject repaint, Legends Buzzsaw, Rumble, and Frenzy, and some of the other recent Hasbro Legends releases like Brawn, Gnaw, and Kickback (thought I could see them being relegated to the Adventure line instead, like Powerglide, Cosmos, and the other two Insecticons were). It'll be a shame if Takara just skips to the new mold stuff, like Hot Rod, Kup, and Sixshot.

I did notice that TakaraTomy seemingly is leaving the 2017 (aka wave 3) toys alone for now: all upcoming releases, sans Godbomber, are from the 2016 part of Titans Return. With the Headmaster set "filling in the gaps" by giving TM Brawn, Clobber and Skytread Japanese counterparts (their vehicles have been released before), the only two toys without one are Stripes/Steeljaw and Rumble. Considering they're pretools and have no 2016 Titan Masters left to be paired up with (except maybe Sovereign and Orion Pax-faced Apex if they're bold) I don't see them being released in the short run.

Wolfman Jake wrote:and some of the other recent Hasbro Legends releases like Brawn, Gnaw, and Kickback (thought I could see them being relegated to the Adventure line instead, like Powerglide, Cosmos, and the other two Insecticons were).

Too bad they haven't announced any 2017 Adventures figures yet. I have a feeling Takara Tomy's big focus this year is going to be on movie toys and MPs.

Just look at the numbers announced between now and June:

Movie - 11 repaints
MP - 11 (6 new, 5 re-releases)
Legends - 3 (plus the exclusive head set)
Unite Warriors - 2
e-Hobby - 1
Adventures - 0

Emerje

Late so late.

My Legends Ginrai etc just got freed from customs.

One word. Wow! Imagine the original inspiration



into this



or



Close eh?



Anyways what all's been said.

1. Great design. Helmeted form is badass! Mini head is to disproportionate but then again, the original had an oversized head.

2. Cool metallic plastics

3. Great paint apps and redesign

4. Awesome recreation of the anime character

5. Better than sliced bread

6. Sucky feet transform design. Nope, I am not complaining of the design "design" but how to keep the feet steady. There are no ratchets or friction to keep it in place. Or maybe the minute friction (whatever is there) and positioned with his feet spread out does keep the figure steady.......sort of (maybe the omission of the feature was to compensate for the eventual Godbomber release.)

7. His weapon could have had a combine mode. The hollow halves can be a bit of an eyesore.

Soundwave? Another great copy from the Broadcast mold.Though in my version, the paint apps on "Soundblaster's" visor was a bit off mark.

I like the metallic lighter blue flake plastics compared to the Hb one but that's just me. Ravage and Condor were, well a bit meh (I wasn't expecting much from them though given the limitations of their transform mode). The repainted weapon from Broadcast I give an A- for effort. Wished it was like his original to differentiate them from Broadcast's.

And this:



I know Takara was like trying to go for the anime look but they could have colored the entire part and none would be the wiser unless you are an OCD fan to notice the difference.

fenrir72 wrote:

And this:



I know Takara was like trying to go for the anime look but they could have colored the entire part and none would be the wiser unless you are an OCD fan to notice the difference.

Something looks off there

fenrir72 wrote:Ravage and Condor were, well a bit meh (I wasn't expecting much from them though given the limitations of their transform mode).

Takara Legends Ravage came out a bit basic and plain looking because he's almost entirely black plastic. That's a weird choice for Takara, since they're so good about screen accuracy, usually. I bought a Hasbro TR Ravage and swapped the lower legs around between it and the Takara Legends version. He looks a LOT better now. I didn't simply just go with the Hasbro version, btw, because it has some gray plastic in parts that it shouldn't and I like Takara's "retro" stickers for the tablet mode much better. Now, I've got a nice Legends version of Ravage with gray lower legs and black paws. He's almost perfect now, except for the fact that his hind thighs should be gray too, and he's still a tablecat. I can take some pictures when I get home from work if anyone is interested.

Wolfman Jake wrote: I can take some pictures when I get home from work if anyone is interested.

Always!

fenrir72 wrote:Late so late.

My Legends Ginrai etc just got freed from customs.

One word. Wow! Imagine the original inspiration

...

3. Great paint apps and redesign

4. Awesome recreation of the anime character

5. Better than sliced bread

6. Sucky feet transform design. Nope, I am not complaining of the design "design" but how to keep the feet steady. There are no ratchets or friction to keep it in place. Or maybe the minute friction (whatever is there) and positioned with his feet spread out does keep the figure steady.......sort of (maybe the omission of the feature was to compensate for the eventual Godbomber release.)

7. His weapon could have had a combine mode. The hollow halves can be a bit of an eyesore.

Yea he's pretty cool. His rifles do combine, just not in a way that works for im. They tab in sideways to form a gun emplacement that pegs in sideways, so not very useful for him.


But I can do this with him and that is very very cool:

Would any of you buy that set of heads for $45? Because you could preorder it for that now. Available from Robot Kingdom for 25$ + 20$ shipping

http://www.robotkingdom.com/lgexheadmaster.html

Not gonna lie....i would

william-james88 wrote:Would any of you buy that set of heads for $45? Because you could preorder it for that now. Available from Robot Kingdom for 25$ + 20$ shipping

http://www.robotkingdom.com/lgexheadmaster.html

For Brawn, Clobber and Skytread I wouldn't. I'd rather get the individual Hasbro ones, the vehicles rock!

Cobotron wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote: I can take some pictures when I get home from work if anyone is interested.

Always!

Here you go, Lobotron!

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Cobotron wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote: I can take some pictures when I get home from work if anyone is interested.

Always!

Here you go, Lobotron!

Nice piece of surgery you did there

I like it, Jake!

GalvatronG1 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

And this:



I know Takara was like trying to go for the anime look but they could have colored the entire part and none would be the wiser unless you are an OCD fan to notice the difference.

Something looks off there

The paint app. Really off. Though in Ginrai, Takara even added the extra royal blue paint on his crotch button. Same like in the anime. Sometimes screen accuracy don't always translate good upon implementation.

william-james88 wrote:Would any of you buy that set of heads for $45? Because you could preorder it for that now. Available from Robot Kingdom for 25$ + 20$ shipping

http://www.robotkingdom.com/lgexheadmaster.html

My JP supplier told me it would be very very expensive to order the WF versions so.......bit the bullet and PO'd

fenrir72 wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Cobotron wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote: I can take some pictures when I get home from work if anyone is interested.

Always!

Here you go, Lobotron!

Nice piece of surgery you did there

It is really quite easy to do, too. All the plastic involved is flexible enough that breakage is extremely unlikely, as long as you are careful and don't use excessive force. You don't need any tools either, as all joints are simple friction joints or split pegs in sockets. There are no pins or screws to deal with whatsoever.

Wolfman Jake wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Cobotron wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote: I can take some pictures when I get home from work if anyone is interested.

Always!

Here you go, Lobotron!

Nice piece of surgery you did there

It is really quite easy to do, too. All the plastic involved is flexible enough that breakage is extremely unlikely, as long as you are careful and don't use excessive force. You don't need any tools either, as all joints are simple friction joints or split pegs in sockets. There are no pins or screws to deal with whatsoever.

Me thinks I'm gonna get myself a TR Ravage then. Thanks!

fenrir72 wrote:Me thinks I'm gonna get myself a TR Ravage then. Thanks!

Glad to be of help!

I did some "surgery" on a few other Takara Legends/Hasbro Titans Return figures too, namely the Autobot Headmasters. I swapped the faces around for the Headmaster/Titan Master versions of Chromedome, Highbrow, and Brainstorm. Note: I didn't just swap around the Head/Titan Masters between the Hasbro and Takara versions. I unscrewed the faces from the little bots themselves and swapped the faces between them before screwing them back together. It's very easy if you have a size 0 Philip's head screw driver. Of course, now that Takara has announced the EX set of additional/alternate heads, my work was somewhat in vain. Although, as you'll see below, Takara's version of Brainstorm's "faceplated" look will match much better than the Titans Return Walgreen exclusive version, with the bright white helmet and the yellow (rather than orange) faceplate.

fenrir72 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Would any of you buy that set of heads for $45? Because you could preorder it for that now. Available from Robot Kingdom for 25$ + 20$ shipping

http://www.robotkingdom.com/lgexheadmaster.html

My JP supplier told me it would be very very expensive to order the WF versions so.......bit the bullet and PO'd

To be able to get these for $25 must mean there'll be an Asia release. $25 is less than the exchange rate by about $1.50 and doesn't include any type of import markup. Keep an eye on TFSource and BBTS in the coming days.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Would any of you buy that set of heads for $45? Because you could preorder it for that now. Available from Robot Kingdom for 25$ + 20$ shipping

http://www.robotkingdom.com/lgexheadmaster.html

My JP supplier told me it would be very very expensive to order the WF versions so.......bit the bullet and PO'd

To be able to get these for $25 must mean there'll be an Asia release. $25 is less than the exchange rate by about $1.50 and doesn't include any type of import markup. Keep an eye on TFSource and BBTS in the coming days.

Emerje

Just like those special MP releases with extra accessories I guess.

Wolfman Jake wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:Me thinks I'm gonna get myself a TR Ravage then. Thanks!

Glad to be of help!

I did some "surgery" on a few other Takara Legends/Hasbro Titans Return figures too, namely the Autobot Headmasters. I swapped the faces around for the Headmaster/Titan Master versions of Chromedome, Highbrow, and Brainstorm. Note: I didn't just swap around the Head/Titan Masters between the Hasbro and Takara versions. I unscrewed the faces from the little bots themselves and swapped the faces between them before screwing them back together. It's very easy if you have a size 0 Philip's head screw driver. Of course, now that Takara has announced the EX set of additional/alternate heads, my work was somewhat in vain. Although, as you'll see below, Takara's version of Brainstorm's "faceplated" look will match much better than the Titans Return Walgreen exclusive version, with the bright white helmet and the yellow (rather than orange) faceplate.

You're a Doc "Ratchet" now!

Speaking of which, I also received the final Headmaster of the set Brainstorm. Brainstorm's head fits snugly into his port. Same with Chromedome and Hardhead. It's the Highbrow design, both Hb and Takara that's floppy based on the feedback I read here abouts.. Too bad with the latter as no fix can be done based on what I posted a few clicks back.

Would anyone like to name all the bots in the picture other than the Autobot Headmaster quartet of Hardhead, Highbrow, Chromedome, and Brainstorm? Some of them are a bit obscure, and still others are quite obscured, but I'm sure there are some among us who are up to the challenge!

And just to be fair I'm staying out of this

Wolfman Jake wrote:Would anyone like to name all the bots in the picture other than the Autobot Headmaster quartet of Hardhead, Highbrow, Chromedome, and Brainstorm? Some of them are a bit obscure, and still others are quite obscured, but I'm sure there are some among us who are up to the challenge!

Cybertron Quickmix, Thrilling 30 Sandstorm, Universe 2008 Countdown, Cybertron Longrack, Thrilling 30 Crosscut; a user of the Generations Wreck-Gar mold (can't tell which one because I can only see their weapon)