The Energon Pub

I can't believe this mediocre mold got used for three different TFCC/Botcon figures this year.

Diem wrote:I can't believe this mediocre mold got used for three different TFCC/Botcon figures this year.

I wonder that will be a new trend. We had Pirate Hunter (Shokaract) out of Club Rampage last year and this year Galva Convoy out of Lio Convoy/Nova Prime (albeit more limited), not to mention SG Nightbeat in 2008.

Diem wrote:I can't believe this mediocre mold got used for three different TFCC/Botcon figures this year.

Doesn't bother me with it having another use as a Custom Class figure.

Actually, the internet reaction is funny, here and elsewhere (just remember I'm having fun with generalizations here ).

Club does a custom class figure of something really desirable like G2 Sideswipe: "How dare they, I hate them!"

Club does a custom class figure of something really obscure or weird, like Primal Prime or this one: "That's stupid, what a waste of a figure!"

So that explains the third deco on Nova Prime's box art.

Not sure I like the in hand colours personally, those lavender parts just irk me a little.

For those of you down on the mold, let's be honest. Pretty much all of Generations from the FOC Optimus Prime wave to to Arcee/Chromia was underwhelming. We're goin to be getting plenty of repaints from this line over the next few years, so maybe we should just resign ourselves to mediocrity.

That said, I like the colors on this.

It Is Him wrote:For those of you down on the mold, let's be honest. Pretty much all of Generations from the FOC Optimus Prime wave to to Arcee/Chromia was underwhelming. We're goin to be getting plenty of repaints from this line over the next few years, so maybe we should just resign ourselves to mediocrity.

There were certainly a couple stinkers in the line but that's pretty harsh. Even then, some molds I originally didn't like all that much (Bumblebee/Goldfire) have been massively improved by their repaints (Million Publishing Go-Shooter). I'm actually looking forward to more repaints of Armada Starscream. Sure, it was a little small, but it was really well done and pretty faithful to the source material all things considered.

ScottyP wrote:

Diem wrote:I can't believe this mediocre mold got used for three different TFCC/Botcon figures this year.

Doesn't bother me with it having another use as a Custom Class figure.

Actually, the internet reaction is funny, here and elsewhere (just remember I'm having fun with generalizations here ).

Club does a custom class figure of something really desirable like G2 Sideswipe: "How dare they, I hate them!"

Club does a custom class figure of something really obscure or weird, like Primal Prime or this one: "That's stupid, what a waste of a figure!"

Not a fair comparison. BotCon 2010 G2 Sideswipe wasn't made available, even unpainted, the way recent BotCon customizing class figures were. You couldn't spend an extra $75 to get him in 2010.

And the customizing class figures that have been available have been... Blastcharge Strika? Primal Prime? Maybe you wanted them, maybe you didn't, but certainly more obscure and less popular characters.

Is the one pictured professionally assembled? He looks to have paint apps

ScottyP wrote:

It Is Him wrote:For those of you down on the mold, let's be honest. Pretty much all of Generations from the FOC Optimus Prime wave to to Arcee/Chromia was underwhelming. We're goin to be getting plenty of repaints from this line over the next few years, so maybe we should just resign ourselves to mediocrity.

There were certainly a couple stinkers in the line but that's pretty harsh. Even then, some molds I originally didn't like all that much (Bumblebee/Goldfire) have been massively improved by their repaints (Million Publishing Go-Shooter). I'm actually looking forward to more repaints of Armada Starscream. Sure, it was a little small, but it was really well done and pretty faithful to the source material all things considered.

Don't get me wrong, there were deluxe toys in the line that I liked. Waspinator and Chromia were two that stood out for me last year, and before that Bruticus. I was one on the few that really liked Bruticus, evn with his flaws. But on the whole, I'm underwhelmed. None of them grabbed me in the way Combiner Wars does or the Generations/RTS line did before then. The toys were small, expensive, and transformations unsatisfying. The voyagers, though, that's a different story.

It Is Him wrote:For those of you down on the mold, let's be honest. Pretty much all of Generations from the FOC Optimus Prime wave to to Arcee/Chromia was underwhelming. We're goin to be getting plenty of repaints from this line over the next few years, so maybe we should just resign ourselves to mediocrity.

I'd have to disagree with that statement. The Megatron/Dreadwing mold was surprisingly good, the Waspinator, Rattrap, Skids, Armadascream, Arcee and Centuritron were all very satisfying, the Trailbreaker, Tankor and Scoop mold were all perfectly good updates of unambitious toys to start with, which is why they're nothing groundbreaking, and Sandstorm, Rhinox, Sky-Byte and Brainstorm are all magnificent. It just seems like the weakest molds (this one and the Bumblebee mold) are getting the most focus in repaints, which is bizarre.

ScottyP wrote:Actually, the internet reaction is funny, here and elsewhere (just remember I'm having fun with generalizations here ).

Club does a custom class figure of something really desirable like G2 Sideswipe: "How dare they, I hate them!"

Club does a custom class figure of something really obscure or weird, like Primal Prime or this one: "That's stupid, what a waste of a figure!"

I have nothing for or against the character use. I'm just not a big fan of Cybertronian TFs ("Hey, it turns from a robot into a ...thing") and this mold seemed mediocre even by those standards.

I agree with ScottyP! I like the obscure, but not entirely needed, uses for the custom class mold the last two years. I'm interested enough, and if I was in the class, I would not feel ripped off. When the class was building SG this and that I felt a bit ripped off when I was there, without them being really inspired SG versions that had diaclone, or rare or obscure references.

When I missed out on G2 Sideswipe, and Animated Minerva, I felt like those should have been more accessible versions, versions most collectors would REALLY want in their collections. I'm still waiting for HASBRO to release a more accessible version of each.

Now the club / HASBRO has learned a little bit, and made at least some available to folks who could not get into the custom class. And they've also started making the plastic in colors that are different from the initial release, so the class is less on painting and stickering the same club exclusive figure (or other figure) differently to make a new character (SG). I have yet to experience the new type of class, but I'm sure it's rewarding as well.

Ultimately, the rule still applies-- you can't please everyone all the time--hopefully, HASBRO and the club are at least pleasing the folks who pay to be a part of the class experience. I feel that mostly the custom class has upped its game, and that being a part of it should feel as special as the initial classes (Energon Ravage, and Cyberton Rumble). Even the class that turned Classics Grimlock into Classics Overkill was awesome, until HTS and HASBRO Asia decided to release the same basic item a few years later.

By the by, I happen to like this mold. It's not horrible, but is a little small.

Tigertrack wrote:
By the by, I happen to like this mold. It's not horrible, but is a little small.

I agree! I think this mold is actually pretty awesome. I just wish they would stop making Convoy or Prime figures out of it because it really is too small for them. How bout a Kup out of this!

Henry921 wrote:Not a fair comparison.

Agreed, as stated, was just having some fun and generalizing Tigertrack-senpai actually put it best:

Tigertrack wrote:When I missed out on G2 Sideswipe, and Animated Minerva, I felt like those should have been more accessible versions, versions most collectors would REALLY want in their collections. I'm still waiting for HASBRO to release a more accessible version of each.

I very much agree with this at the end of the day.

mooncake623 wrote:I agree! I think this mold is actually pretty awesome. I just wish they would stop making Convoy or Prime figures out of it because it really is too small for them. How bout a Kup out of this!

I was really hoping for Thunderclash out of it. Of course, the club did him 6 years ago with Energon Rodimus, so maybe it got looked over due to that.

To me, this looks very, very nice!!
This is the kind of thing I think should come out of Botcon; Obscure characters, references or homages!
I like it!

Aha! So he's the clone of Lio Convoy instead of Nova Prime. Another one to add to the ever-growing Beast Wars: Uprising shelf!

Now it's back to wondering if Nova Prime might or might not be Shattered Glass Optimus Prime reformatted by the good Unicron.

Sabrblade wrote:Now it's back to wondering if Nova Prime might or might not be Shattered Glass Optimus Prime reformatted by the good Unicron.

Does any Negative Polarity universe affect Primus and Unicron though? Last I remember, it was Primus who reconstructed Nexus Maximus Prime and his power resurrected Megatron into Galvatron, despite it happening in Shattered Glass.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Now it's back to wondering if Nova Prime might or might not be Shattered Glass Optimus Prime reformatted by the good Unicron.

Does any Negative Polarity universe affect Primus and Unicron though? Last I remember, it was Primus who reconstructed Nexus Maximus Prime and his power resurrected Megatron into Galvatron, despite it happening in Shattered Glass.

Have you been following any of the Ask Vector Prime Facebook posts this year? Some big things have been revealed in those, and Jim Sorenson has been strongly hinting of some massive game-changing things to come in this year's TCC fiction that will dramatically alter the Singularity concept, for better or worse. For instance, one of the things revealed by Vector Prime so far is that non-Singularity versions of Singularity characters (like Unicron and the Thirteen) do exist within the Multiverse.

Not to mention that we got a glimpse at the good Unicron in last year's prologue for this year's "Another Light" story:

Sabrblade wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Now it's back to wondering if Nova Prime might or might not be Shattered Glass Optimus Prime reformatted by the good Unicron.

Does any Negative Polarity universe affect Primus and Unicron though? Last I remember, it was Primus who reconstructed Nexus Maximus Prime and his power resurrected Megatron into Galvatron, despite it happening in Shattered Glass.

Have you been following any of the Ask Vector Prime Facebook posts this year? Some big things have been revealed in those, and Jim Sorenson has been strongly hinting of some massive game-changing things to come in this year's TCC fiction that will dramatically alter the Singularity concept, for better or worse. For instance, one of the things revealed by Vector Prime so far is that non-Singularity versions of Singularity characters (like Unicron and the Thirteen) do exist within the Multiverse.

Alpha Trion is a good example of that. So basically, there are versions of Primus and Unicron out there that aren't gods, like the G1 cartoon Unicron which was completely built from scratch by Primacron...

FunPub fiction be cray-cray.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Now it's back to wondering if Nova Prime might or might not be Shattered Glass Optimus Prime reformatted by the good Unicron.

Does any Negative Polarity universe affect Primus and Unicron though? Last I remember, it was Primus who reconstructed Nexus Maximus Prime and his power resurrected Megatron into Galvatron, despite it happening in Shattered Glass.

Have you been following any of the Ask Vector Prime Facebook posts this year? Some big things have been revealed in those, and Jim Sorenson has been strongly hinting of some massive game-changing things to come in this year's TCC fiction that will dramatically alter the Singularity concept, for better or worse. For instance, one of the things revealed by Vector Prime so far is that non-Singularity versions of Singularity characters (like Unicron and the Thirteen) do exist within the Multiverse.

Alpha Trion is a good example of that. So basically, there are versions of Primus and Unicron out there that aren't gods, like the G1 cartoon Unicron which was completely build from scratch by Primacron...

Something like that, yeah.

Here's a copy of all the questions and answers given thus far - http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Ask_Vector_Prime/Facebook_src

Man, a custom paint job really brings the flaws of that headsculpt to light. I don't hate it... but boy, Galva Convoy looks like he stuck his head in a Washing Machine.

Gearslide wrote:Man, a custom paint job really brings the flaws of that headsculpt to light. I don't hate it... but boy, Galva Convoy looks like he stuck his head in a Washing Machine.

The head itself is fine, sizewise. It's that obnoxiously tall flap that sits behind the head that makes it look too small. I always hated that flap even on the Orion Pax version.

When put side-by-side with Pax, the heads are about the same size (Pax's is just a smidge wider, not taller), with the flap towering over Pax's head too:





Click each pic to see the full size.

Sabrblade wrote:

Gearslide wrote:Man, a custom paint job really brings the flaws of that headsculpt to light. I don't hate it... but boy, Galva Convoy looks like he stuck his head in a Washing Machine.

The head itself is fine, sizewise. It's that obnoxiously tall flap that sits behind the head that makes it look too small. I always hated that flap even on the Orion Pax version.

When put side-by-side with Pax, the heads are about the same size (Pax's is just a smidge wider, not taller), with the flap towering over Pax's head too.

Oh no, I'm fine with the size and design. Everything about it looks cool. It's like a perfect blend of Nova Prime from IDW and Lio Convoy.

But the mold itself is not smooth at all. It's lumpy and full of indents. The reflective paint used for customs really shows the faults.

So as the guy who hates every thing funpub, supposedly, what do I think? Well i think it was extremely telegraphed, especially with lio convoys box. But as a toy it's a cute repaint that works for the custom class. Nothing integral like G2 sideswipe or animated Minerva, but nothing throw away like the pseudo blastcharge. If you like it for tue fiction your golden, if you like it for the toy, your golden, and if you don't care about who it is, you get decent mold with neat color mapping. But the head still sucks.

ScottyP wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:I agree! I think this mold is actually pretty awesome. I just wish they would stop making Convoy or Prime figures out of it because it really is too small for them. How bout a Kup out of this!

I was really hoping for Thunderclash out of it. Of course, the club did him 6 years ago with Energon Rodimus, so maybe it got looked over due to that.

Kup out of Orion Pax could be amazing, if Jin Saotome is any indicator:




Also, I've seen speculation that Combiner Wars Motormaster might see a Thunderclash repaint - MM's chest is already shaped like the Elite Guard insignia.

What would be the point of making a Kup out of Orion Pax when the Generations Sergenat Kup figure is already a great Kup figure?