The Energon Pub

[ZeroWolf]

Greetings, and salutations true believing Seibertronians! Hasbro have used their Official Transformers Instagram account to tease the next Transformers collaboration line for next year, and it seems like the turn of an eXtraordinary team of heroes, the Uncanny Xmen! It is unclear yet what the figure will be but there could be a hint within the logo shown as the X-Men's jet, the Blackbird, is prominent.



Thanks to fellow Seibertron user, Sabrblade, for passing this information on to us!

What would you like to see in this line? Maybe a transforming Sentinel? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!

[LE0KING]

I see a Cyclonus repaint in our future.

[Sabrblade]

Could be a retool of SS Jetfire.

[Overcracker]

Last time they tried it with the general Marvel license, we got some o.k molds out of it.

Cap's Hummer,
Human Torch Jet
Wolverine's Jeep thing.

Wolverine was the only X-Man though.

I still own The Human Torch and its a decent enough jet mode and transformation.


Hopefully we can avoid a Punisher Toy-Biz Shape Shifters debacle type thing.

[o.supreme]

Could be a retool of SS Jetfire.

This is the first thing I thought of.

Not really any other "iconic" vehicles for the X-Men though, that were not made specifically to be toys. But then again pretty much all the other crossover stuff only had one Vehicle that became a Transformer, so it makes sense. Of all the crossovers so far, this one intrigues me the most. Unfortunately the comic will probably focus on current X-Men lore rather than classic stuff. 70s-90's is my preferred era, but to each his own. It would be awesome if the comic focused on the 92 animated series, but I guess we will see.

[ZeroWolf]

Could be a retool of SS Jetfire.

This is the first thing I thought of.

Not really any other "iconic" vehicles for the X-Men though, that were not made specifically to be toys. But then again pretty much all the other crossover stuff only had one Vehicle that became a Transformer, so it makes sense. Of all the crossovers so far, this one intrigues me the most. Unfortunately the comic will probably focus on current X-Men lore rather than classic stuff. 70s-90's is my preferred era, but to each his own. It would be awesome if the comic focused on the 92 animated series, but I guess we will see.

Have IDW said we're getting a comic? This could be a toy only affair like Maverick. After all do we want another Avengers/ Transformers affair?

[blackeyedprime]

Cross overs have been hit and miss so far, if it's the jet hopefully it will be done better then topgun. Will be nice to have a decent blackbird robot mode other than gobots/machine robo.

Prof X wheelchair might be interesting or sentinels with vehicon style alt modes.

[Mohtrek]

Here's to a Fantasticar and Spider Buggy collab in the future.

[o.supreme]

Have IDW said we're getting a comic? This could be a toy only affair like Maverick. After all do we want another Avengers/ Transformers affair?

I'd say it's a safe bet... I mean Top Gun was the exception, every other crossover has had tie-in comics (and oddly enough Terminator has had no toy). Also, not sure how they could create a Top Gun Comic, the story really doesn't lend itself to one, whereas X-Men and TF are both hugely popular comic book franchises. The only problem is you have to go back to the early 2000's for the last time either of their respective comics were any good.

[WiseMan]

I agree with a Cyclonus retool; I think a SS figure would be too expensive.

Ooh! Maybe the comic will be a sequel to the Avengers crossover! Wouldn't that be awesome . . .

No, I can't even type that with a straight face.

[angtre]

Although similar recent initiatives showed a trend into delivering brand new characters (probably for copyright reasons), this time X-Men actually had a transforming Blackbird once, namely Danger.



For those unaware of the character, "she" basically was the X-Men's "Danger Room" (the place they use to train) turned sentient. And she's awesome.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Well looking at the Blackbird design and classic logo, I'd say you're looking at 90's/TAS X-Men. Which removes any connection between this and the god awful Avengers crossover from years back. So less of the current Mutant Nation, more School for Gifted Youngsters...

The only problem is you have to go back to the early 2000's for the last time either of their respective comics were any good.

Hickman's X-Men is currently the very best stuff Marvel is producing (alongside Immortal Hulk). There was a long stretch wherein X-Men wasn't good. Between Disney's petty Movie rights shenanigans and ...Bendis. But that has passed now.

Meanwhile Transformers on the other hand, hasn't been good since Last Stand of The Wreckers.

[angtre]

Meanwhile Transformers on the other hand, hasn't been good since Last Stand of The Wreckers.

That's a bit harsh. I won't digress into the matter not to go OT, but... well, there are many more beautiful stories after that point. Although the one you mentioned marked the starting point to such greatness IMHO.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

I consider LSoTW the pinnacle of IDW Transformers. Also proof you don't need the most popular characters to tell a great story. Megatron Origins to Spotlight: Sideswipe was the most interesting run. After that, my interest was lost very quickly. It ceased being stories about Transformers and became stories featuring Transformers.


As far as the Crossover goes... That is a very specific era of X-Men. Technically they've had two Blackbirds. Mastermold, the Sentinels, Apocalypse and maybe The Phalanx being the only real "robot-like" antagonists. Actually thinking about it, if they are the antagonists, The Phalanx make a lot of sense.

[MeGrimlock78]

I literally cannot stand up right now.

My two favourite properties together?!?!

Just take my money already.

[Overcracker]

I think the first thing that would need to be clarified is if this in the vein of Ectotron and Gigawatt crossovers or in the vein of the previous Marvel crossovers.

i.e If they are going to make the Blackbird turn into a new character, or it will turn into an X-Men character and who it would be.

Cyclops?
Storm maybe?

If they make the blackbird turn into a new character what name would it have? X-Tron? X-Bot? UncannEx?

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I'm not too big a fan of most Transformers comics in general. I think the Marvel comics were all over the place and went in some annoying and disappointing directions narratively, the Dreamwave comics had some okay ideas and some not but the execution was "meh" to "bleh" and of course the comics are tainted by the company's problems, and that the vast majority of the old IDW comic sucks aside from choice moments here and there; I think all 3 have a problem with edge-to-substance ratio. What I've seen of the newer IDW continuity has been okay, although I'm disappointed they recycled the IDW backstory for Megatron (which Furman actually originally cooked up for Dreamwave) instead of taking the challenge of weaving a good story out of the cartoon origin.

As far as this crossover goes... eh. The X-Men comics have always been all over the place quality-wise from what I've heard, but the cartoon adaptations have been more consistently good and I remember enjoying the '90s series. But I'm just not into it anymore. We might see some cool toys, we might not, we'll have to wait and see.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Given their last few Crossovers, cynically I'd say expect the Blackbird to be a new standalone character/figure. With a mini series attached.

[Burn]

Titan Class Krakoa playset.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Titan Class Krakoa playset.

That would be amazing

[MeGrimlock78]

Given their last few Crossovers, cynically I'd say expect the Blackbird to be a new standalone character/figure. With a mini series attached.

I agree, and prefer it that way. It's silly to have a full-on jet turn into a robot version of Wolverine.

Now, if the Blackbird were to change into a robot version of say Lockheed the dragon (a Skylynx retool!?!?), that would make sense. But I still prefer the idea of a brand new character.

Just better not have kibble like a ROTF Jetfire, or spindly legs like Crossover Maverick.

I think the Blackbird is unrealistic enough that they could hide robot parts pretty easily.

[ZeroWolf]

Yeah this will be a new character, we'll have an answer soon enough anyway, as I expect a reveal soon, including news of a crossover comic (depends on how marvel are feeling I guess)

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Is there some long term goal to all these crossover oddities though? They only seem to exist because someone thought it would look cool. Not based on the merit of some alternate shared universe concept.

[ZeroWolf]

Is there some long term goal to all these crossover oddities though? They only seem to exist because someone thought it would look cool. Not based on the merit of some alternate shared universe concept.

At first, I thought it was purely to celebrate the franchises where the anniversaries overlapped (as was the case with Ectotron) but now, i think it is purely for the designers to have some fun creating their dream crossovers.

[Gauntlet101010]

I like this idea better than Top Gun, but less than GB or BttF. I like the X-Men mainly for Phoenix.

If it looks like anyone it's likely Cyclops, but I'd prefer it to be more it's own thing. A TF that scanned the Blackbird, not a robot X-Man that turns into BB. If it just has Cyclops' visor like Gigawatt has Doc's goggles that's okay.

Gotta say, though, I'd much rather have the Batmobile or the Enterprise.