The Energon Pub

As some of you know, for the past several weeks I have been running a Best Beast Wars figure tournament. Figures from all over the Beast Era battling it out for the best toy of all time. 16 figures per wave, two rounds of voting, top 4 move on to the finals. Judging is up to you, for whatever parameters you wish. But it's recommended you judge the figure of the toy alone, not any media tie ins. Molds, colors, play-ability. It's your toy.

We've had a couple interesting surprises so far. Terrorsaur lost with only five votes, against Airrazor who received nearly fifty. The Fuzor Buzzclaw has absolutely dominated every single poll he's been in. And people are, in general, not overly fond of the Botcon figures.

Waves will run on a Mon-Wed schedule for Round one, and Thur-Sat for Round two. You'll have three days total to make your decision. Two days seem to work better and make things go faster, but it's a lot harder on me scheduling these.

Also, in case you didn't know, there's a little square in the corner of each figure's photo. That pops out the photo into full screen, allowing a better look at the figure. In case you didn't recall who some of these more obscure characters were.

If you're interested in participating, I would be very glad to have you, as would the other regulars who have been voting. The more voices, the more exciting it becomes. If you have any questions, comments or commentary, I would be very glad to hear them.

We've taken a week off, and we're coming back at this fresh. I know it's a day early, but I figured y'all deserved a treat. We've made it all the way through the Basics, and Megas, and Ultras. Now we're on the to creme de la creme. The Deluxe figures! And this will take us all the way through to New Years Eve! WOW! I have a Halloween Special planned as well that you're all going to love.

Last weeks results for the 4th Wave of Ultras:
Depthcharge 17 / Optimus Primal 12
Rhinox (JP) 21 / Flash Lio Convoy 8
Rampage 17 / Gigatron 11
OPOP POTP 15 / Gigastorm 14

Aww. I was really hoping Gigastorm would move on. Oh well. That Depthcharge/Primal fight was a tough choice for me. And Flash Lio Convoy was a figure I know what a lot of people's first Lio Convoy figure back in the day (America had an easier time getting Flash Lios than the regular coloration. The regular one would run you $40, but the Flash Lio could be had for as little as $15 on ebay in 2000)

This week, we're seeing some great deluxe figures. There's no theme, no rhyme, no reason, no series. All the figures are mixed up, and anyone can face off against anyone at any time. I'm really pulling for Saberback, because I think he's a great figure. Let's see how he fares against Sea Clamp. And for some strange reason, Combiner Wars Beast Wars figures keep slipping in there. How odd.

16 figures. They'll be down to 8 on Wednesday at midnight. Then 4 on Sunday at midnight. Ready? Fight!

https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/wFDa-TpLR8

6 hrs left on Round 1.

WOW! For the first time ever, every single character I voted for moved on to Round 2! That's amazing. I didn't have very strong feelings about most of them, but that's still pretty cool. And none of them were exceptionally close matches.

This time we're seeing two BWN face offs. That's never happened before. I don't see things going well for Transmutate. She's going up against one of the OGs himself, Waspinator. Probably the days are numbered for Animated Blackarachnia as well. But we shall see if there are any surprises in store.

The Deluxe Waves sure are interesting!

Round 2 is live. Go vote!

https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/wFDa-TpLR8

Just a few hrs left for Round 2. This is gonna be close!

Good morning. Monday morning!

What an exciting round that was! Saberback pulled all the way through. And also, Gimlet! How odd. Sadly Transmutate didn't stand a chance against the Juggernaut that was OG Waspinator.

Here's the results:
Saberback 14 / Guildart 11
Blackarachnia 14 / Air Attack Drone 13
Waspinator 19 / Transmutate 7
Gimlet 15 / Hard Head 11

This ween, in a surprise, random twist, we once again have... Gimlet! Ha! The Telemocha versions of these characters are generally considered to be the best around, and IMO, Telemocha Gimlet is no exception. Telemocha is a Japanese compound word meaning "TV Toy" and some of the characters do look like they stepped right off the screen. Released for the 10th anniversary of Beast Wars, they generally put the American releases to shame. But they also command a much higher price point. The only two Tele figures not in the polls are Cohadra and Arachadis, because they didn't actually get any new paint apps. Much like Hasbro's 10th line, they are slight variations, but otherwise straight reissues. Come on, Japan. I expected more from you.

Other things happening this week: United Megatron, who is a significant recolor of his Cybertron appearance. Torca vs Rhinox I expect to be a close match, as well as Cybershark vs Ramulus. Those are all fan favorites. For me, though, the Frostbite vs Iguanus fight is going to tear me apart. I love them both so much!

As always, Round 1 is Mon-Wed, and Round 2 is Thu-Sat. Be sure to cast your vote then come back here to check the results.

https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/qajPKfN6RD

6 hrs left for round 1

Alright, that was interesting. I truly thought Ramulus was more popular than that. I guess that's what I get for listening to specific voices. United Megatron just dominated, and I agree, he's got good colors. Frostbite and Iguanus was really tough for me. I'm glad to see some obscure Universe figures get some love though. Gimlet won. Again. Ha! That's amusing.

Round 2 is going to be a lot tougher in some instances Cybershark vs Waspinator I see being a close match. Maybe Cohadra vs Longrack too.

Round 2 starts now. Go vote! https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/qajPKfN6RD

Happy Monday! We are not onto wave 3. I can't believe how time flies. This week I think we somehow managed to get a figure from every single sub-line. That's incredible! You really get a chance to see the change and evolution in characters and styles. Also, clearly Mecha-tron is the best character, and you're all racist against Beast Riders. :p

Go vote now. See you on Thursday! https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/cjvw0jScj2

Wave 2 poll results:
Frostbite 14 / Gimlet 9
Cohadra 13 / Longrack 8
Cybershark 19 / FK Waspinator 4
Torca 14 / Megatron 9

Man that was a close round! Wow, we had several tight fights, but ultimately the winners prevailed. We may end up with the battle of Airrazors. That would be neat! It's still a nice spread of characters. How do you feel about the results?

Round 2 ends Sunday. Go vote! https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/cjvw0jScj2

Is it Monday? It's Monday. Why is it Monday? What happened to my weekend? Did anyone see where it went?

Airrazor certainly didn't see that coming. She got her cute little butt handed to her. Twice! Optimus had a double win. And Bighorn managed to pull all the way through. The only one that didn't surprise me was Tigatron. He's so pretty.

Optimus Primal 14 / Armada Airrazor 6
Convobat 11 / Fox Kids Rattrap 6
Tigatron 13 / Blackarachnia 7
Bighorn 11 / Airrazor II 7

I was really sad that neither of the Airrazors made it. That Botcon one is a thing of beauty if you've ever held it.

This week, I'm going to make a prediction. Legends Waspinator makes it all the way to the semi finals. I just don't see Huggy or Autolauncher beating him. We're also going to have to contend with the possibility of Transmetal Tigatron vs X-9 Ravage. That's going to be tough for me, if that works out.

Deluxe Wave 4. Fight! https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/fQHrj8WoDn

It's Thursday. Did everyone enjoy their week? Let's take a look at the contestants.

Tonbot and Shadow Panther was out closest race. I suppose a lot of people went for SP out of nostalgia (I know I did) But let's see if fan favorite Scylla can beat him.
Tigatron and X-9 is going to be one toooooooough fight. If you've ever had a pony in this race, do it now. I forsee this being our most hotly contested vote of all time.
Botcon Dinobot made it through. Good for him. He'll be facing off against Cyb Megatron.
And then there's Waspinator and Powerhug, the little bugs that could. They both just want to be loved. Life is so unfair for them. Someone give them cuddles!

And that's it. See y'all on Monday. https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/fQHrj8WoDn

Once again it is Monday. Once again we awaken in a world where the Best Beast Wars Figure Poll is a bright spot in our lives. How sad is that?

Friends, I come to you with grave news. Huggy didn't make it. Alas, he was undone but Legends Waspinator. I'd like to say it was a valiant fight, but alas, we all know it wasn't. The ugly boi didn't stand a chance. I dislike that Waspinator figure. I don't understand why they made the beast mode mechanical? It makes no sense.

Scylla has also fallen. The last home for the squid lady has vanished. A moment of silence for our beloved best girl.

Also, the Tigatron/X-9 fight wasn't even close. At all. I was completely shocked. I thought it would have been a slugfest, but it wasn't.

Results:
Waspinator 11 / Powerhug 6
Shadow Panther 14 / Scylla 4
X-9 Ravage 11 / Transmetal Tigatron 7
Dinobot (BC) 12 / Megatron (Cyb) 6

This week we have Wave 5. It's a real mixed bag, and it could be anyone's game. But I don't see Transmetal Tarantulas losing. I expect when we get to the semi-finals, that guy has a real chance of taking the championship. We also, again, have the battle of the Snarls. Man, Hasbro just loves calling characters Snarl. Reptillion is a personal favorite of mine. I will be eager to see how he does.

Ready? Fight! https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/sLUPicyJuj

That was an interesting race. This is going to be a Universe-strong wave, I can tell already. There are so many classics in here, so many dear to my heart. I don't want any of them to lose! Don't make me chose between Skywarp and Reptillion! I can't take it! Also, Prowl's image stopped working, but it's still there if you click on the expansion box. Odd.

Round 2 is live now. It's gonna be a tough one. Do your civic duty and go vote! https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/sLUPicyJuj

Just a few hours left on Wave 5. Now's your last chance to vote.

Happy Monday. We have our first 0 vote of the deluxe wave. I knew TM Tarantulas was a powerhouse, but surely 10th Megatron deserved better than this? And the Reptillion/Skywarp vote was incredibly hard for me, as I love both their colors. I am glad to see Reptillion get some love, but I will be sad to see Skywarp go.

Results:
Walmart Rattrap (TM Packrat) 15 / Shocrat 11
Reptillion 17 / Skywarp 10
Transmetal Tarantulas 27 / Megatron (10th) 0
Prowl (black) 15 / Snarl (Armada) 11

Say goodbye to Wave 5 and hello to wave 6. We are officially halfway through the Deluxes, and very near the end of the preliminary waves! Oh how time flies. We've got just enough to make it through the end of the year. I've got a couple special themes waves, including a Christmas theme and a Halloween wave next week! It's going to be so much fun!

This week we are looking at Wave 6 of Deluxes, with is our 20th wave over all. We've got some returning champions in new paint jobs, as well as some new faces. Strika shows up a couple times, and I expect Buzzsaw to do well. He may end up taking on Japanese Waspinator. Old vs new. That would be interesting. But they've got to get there first. I'm curious to see how Microverse Orcanoch fares. This is the first Microverse playset we've had. And Megabolt Megaplex vs Jetstorm. I never had either of those until very recently. I am still undecided.

But at least I have 3 days to figure it out. And so do you. Vote now! https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/maaE1VM4h_

Ah! Those were surprising results! Neither Strika made it through. And Dinobot got beaten out by Buzzsaw. I think some of these now are going to be tough fights. Telemocha Megatron vs Transmetal Rattrap, for instance. And Microverse Orcanoch absolutely dominated. That's shocking. How well will he do against Jawbreaker though? Only you can decide.

Round 2 is live. Go vote. https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/maaE1VM4h_

This is shaping up to be a weird poll! I am enjoying this immensely!!!!

Bone Age wrote:This is shaping up to be a weird poll! I am enjoying this immensely!!!!

I'm glad you're enjoying it, Bone Age. That means a lot to me!

Good evening Ghouls and Goblins. Can you feel the chill in the air? The tingle down your spine? That's not your imagination, that's the Tie Alert going off! WE HAVE A TIE! I repeat, we have a tie! The first tie of the deluxe waves. Microverse Orcanoch and Transmetal 2 Jawbreaker will both be moving on. I am rather shocked at out well the Microverse set has held on. Hasbro, pay attention! Apparently people like Microverse. Do more!
It was fairly standard after that. Blastcharge got dominated by Jetstorm with a RESOUNDING 25 votes, a figure I did not have as a kid, and always forget exists. Rattrap won handily, no surprise there. And shockingly, Buzzsaw lost to that terrible T30 Waspinator again. Apparently, I'm the only person on the face of the planet who actively hates that mold. Oh well.

Results:
Waspinator 19 / Buzzsaw 9
TM Rattrap 19 / Megatron (tele) 9
Microverse Orcanoch 14 / TM2 Jawbreaker 14
Jetstorm 25 / Blastcharge 3

It's time for ghouls and goblins, spooks and scares. Halloween is here, and what better what to celebrate that the dead rising from their graves? We've got a very special wave here for you, 16 figures that are all dead as a doornail, who never saw an actual release, and died in their cradles. That's right, this week in Canceled Beast Wars Figures!

We've got 4 categories: Orange, Wreckers, Horrorcons, and others.
The orange category consists of characters that were intended to be released in an orange color scheme in the prototype stage but were later changed. Scorponok, Tigatron, Tarantulas were all first wave releases. Only the hand-painted Tigatron has ever been seen in person. Scorponok and Tarantulas only exist in promotional images. And with 30 year old transparent plastic, their odds of floating around somewhere aren't very good. Orange TM2 Cheetor is a bit of a cheat on my part. Most of the Transmetal 2s were designed to have a running change at one point. White/Black Prowl and Creme/White Dinobot were the only two that made it to the shelf. A Yellow/Orange Cheetor was planned but never happened. Hey, he's orange, and he fit the theme. Cheetor will occasionally show up on ebay.

The Wreckers were a series of releases planned for Botcon. The prototypes were all beautifully hand-painted, and the mockups were hopped to be released in the future. They all showed up in the Wreckers comics. Then 2003 happened. Go read the wikipedia article for more information. These figures occasionally showed up at Botcon in display cases, and they are beautiful to behold. Alpha Trion came the closest to production, and was the direct inspiration for Botcon Alpha Trizer.

Horrorcons were a Walmart-exclusive Universe wave in 2004, a year already clogged with Walmart-exclusive Universe waves. The retailer pulled out, and the wave never went into production. A few prototypes will occasionally show up on ebay, and it is a known fact that Hasbro still has copies floating around. Waspinator was repainted into Skywarp colors, and Blackarachnia was also given a new deco. Cheetor was beautifully re-imagined as Nightprowler, and most bizarrely of all, Beast Wars Mutants Soundwave was repainted as Leatherhide. Of all the canceled Beast Wars releases, this one hurts the most. Especially if the packaging could have been on Walmart exclusive Beast Wars backed blister cards. Oh, my heart can't take it.

Rounding out this wave, we have two more running change Transmetal 2s. Optimus Minor was remolded in blue, indicating it was not just the four deluxes that were intended for a running change. Who his wave-mate would have been is unknown, but speculation strongly suggests Scarem. More information on the Blue Optimus Minor isn't really available, as even Hasbro seems to have lost that knowledge. Green Ramulus was so close to production, he was actually folded into the Botcon cannon as a sure thing. This one got SO CLOSE to release. A few of them *may* have made it into the wild, but mostly, he just shows up on ebay for insane prices. Lastly, we have Wasp and Blackarachnia. Wasp was a planed repaint of Animated Bumblebee, and would have made it out, if Animated hadn't been cut tragically and unceremoniously short. So many lost moments. Binaltech Blackarachnia was intended as a repaint of Binaltech Arcee, neither of which were released in America. But by 2006/2007 the line was faltering and sales were slowing, and Takara decided to not release the second Predacon of the line. (The first was Battle Ravage. We voted for him in June. He lost against Rampage with a paltry single vote.) As an addendum, Titanium Primal Prime was the only Beast Wars figure not on this list. As the 17th candidate, I decided to exclude him, as every other Titanium figure was knocked out in the first round of voting. I am sorry, Titanium Primal Prime. You stood on the shoulders of ants, and never had a chance.

So that's our Halloween wave of creep toys from beyond the grave. OooooOOOOOOoooooOOOO. Spooky. Round 1 ends on Wednesday night, so be sure to pick your favorite creepy critter. Ready... Haunt! https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/76Ip0hM9Se

Round two is here. It was fairly close all the way around, until poor Rotorbolt and Devcon lost out. I am shocked at how well loved that Scorponok is. Let's see he is can carry that momentum to round two. He's gonna have a tough fight against Nightprowler. And as much as I love Animated, I don't see Wasp advancing. But hey, what do I know? I've been wrong before.

We are more than halfway done with the Deluxes, and the last of our preliminary rounds. Go vote. See you at the polls! https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/76Ip0hM9Se

Just a few hours left before the polls close. This is your last chance to get out and vote.

Well, they did it! The Horrocons and Wreckers totally took this round. Green Ramulus finally has his due, as does Fractyl. Horrocon Waspinator dominated in a totally shocking turnout. And Nightprowler is begging for a release. You hear that, Hasbro? Give us these repaints!

Horrorcon Waspinator 26 / Orange Tarntulas 5
Horrocon Nightprowler 19 / Orange Scoroponok 13
Green Ramulus 22 / Horrorcon Leatherhide 10
Wrecker Fractyl 30 / Animated Wasp 2

That's it for our Halloween special. If you are in America, you have a different kind of voting to do this week. Go do your civic duty. I'll be taking a week off, and I'll see you guys fresh on he 9th. We have 7 more waves, and I even have a year end, Christmas-themed special to finish us off. I'll see you then!

TM2 Dinobot wrote:I'll be taking a week off, and I'll see you guys fresh on he 9th. We have 7 more waves, and I even have a year end, Christmas-themed special to finish us off. I'll see you then!

Man you are awesome. Looking forward to the 9th.

Good morning. I hope everyone had a good week off. How about some fun and levity?

Wave 8 is here, and we're down to the last stretch of the preliminaries. This one is a real mishmash of characters from ever generation. We've got six Waspinators this time around. That's crazy! I hope you all like bugs. -_- Lots of Botcon figures and repaints. And Microverse Arachnis! Remember him? I'm eager to see how he does.

Take a look. Discuss it among yourselves. And then go vote. Tell me, who if your favorite figure this round? Good luck! https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/TOcKm-gOcP

6 hrs left for Round 1

Y'all are very weird. 6 out of the 8 figures that moved on are all Waspinator. I should have just called this the Waspinator wave. We had some close matches. Primal Prime, Thrust, Arachnid and Terrorsaur all barely lost. But in the end, they could not stand against the might of the hive. The swarm comes for all men in the end, apparently. All hail Waspinator. :p

Round 2 is live. You have till Saturday night to decide which Waspinator moves on, and which one stays. Oh, and Airrazor and Rhinox, too. https://www.polltab.com/bracket-poll/TOcKm-gOcP