The Energon Pub

megatran wrote:

Overcracker wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I am insanely pissed at the fact that this Optimus is $60 while Skybound Prime is $80

That Megatron arm is expensive. Megatron arms don't grow on trees you know. Ratchet had to scavenge it and carefully attach all the little wires.

It cost an arm & no leg, supposedly.

Swindle drove the price up when he traded one for that toaster, then apparently somehow exchanged that for his new trailer/cannon.

I haven't found Megatron or Prime in the wild at all. These might be my cheapest options. Not a fan of the battle damage even though I saw this movie in theaters when it came out.

No doubt the upcoming "Sleep Mode Prime" is going to be using this mold.

Emerje

Is anyone else bothered by SS 86 Thundercracker? It finally dawned on me that it's his chest that I don't like. It's just the wrong shape. He doesn't have the traditional Seeker pecs. They're too flat and at a weird angle. Man I really hope that Hasbro can fix it before they attempt to knock out 20+ Seekers from a mold that has the wrong chest!!! It also doesn't help that the box art of that toy has the correct chest which makes it stand out even more when in package.

Seibertron wrote:Is anyone else bothered by SS 86 Thundercracker? It finally dawned on me that it's his chest that I don't like. It's just the wrong shape. He doesn't have the traditional Seeker pecs. They're too flat and at a weird angle. Man I really hope that Hasbro can fix it before they attempt to knock out 20+ Seekers from a mold that has the wrong chest!!! It also doesn't help that the box art of that toy has the correct chest which makes it stand out even more when in package.

But isn't that how he is in the cartoon?

Besides, only thing that bugged me was I had to apply the autobot stickers myself

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:But isn't that how he is in the cartoon?

The top of the chest is not at all how it is in the cartoon nor how it's ever been before. Look at the top of his chest in both of the images. The angle is incredibly off to the point that it's almost flat on the Studio Series toy versus how it's supposed to be like it is in the screen shot from the cartoon you posted. To be blunt, the new toy is shaped more like a standard male chest versus a female chest.

Seibertron wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:But isn't that how he is in the cartoon?

The top of the chest is not at all how it is in the cartoon nor how it's ever been before. Look at the top of his chest in both of the images. The angle is incredibly off to the point that it's almost flat on the Studio Series toy versus how it's supposed to be like it is in the screen shot from the cartoon you posted. To be blunt, the new toy is shaped more like a standard male chest versus a female chest.

I see what you mean now.

I really don't mind, but I can see why you might.

I don't see how they could slope the chest and make it so his square shoulders fit inside without adding more hinges and more parts potentially straying away from the Voyager price point.

Emerje

Really liking Soundwave so far. Does everything he needs to do. Interesting bit: they went to the trouble of molding in the volume wheel and the slider switch on the back of his legs despite the fact you will not usually seem them in robot mode, and are entirely hidden in Tape Deck mode.

After playing around with Thundercracker, it feels like a lateral move more than an outright improvement.

Like the fact he has some callbacks to the G1 toy though.

It's Toy Fair weekend and right away, before the show even opens, Hasbro comes out the gate with some huge Studio Series 86 reveals for 2026 wave 2! Starting right off we now know that the design team lied when they said SS86 Astrotrain would likely be a Siege Astrotrain repaint. They knew. The new Leader Astrotrain features a more cartoon accurate train mode, a more complete (too put it nicely) shuttle mode and a very mistransformed bot mode. We'll have to wait and see if these are at the show to get a more accurate look at how he turned out.

Then we have Studio Series Kranix just waiting to be eaten by your Sharkticons! Can you believe this is technically his fourth figure? He got two releases included with Unicron repaints and the previous Quintesson Pit of Judgement. This time we get one that's the closest we've gotten to cartoon accurate with the ability to transform. The alt mode is based directly on the Marvel Comics character profile and would probably look decent in a vintage G1 collection as blocky as it is. Should we call this Missing Link Kranix instead?

The rest of the reveals are repaints and repacks. We're getting Skywarp from the Thundercracker mold looking exactly as expected, Voyager Shockwave from the Leader Siege Shockwave mold who appears to be slightly retooled to tab onto Age of the Primes Bruticus' shoulder for some brand synergy, and Sunsteaker and Wheeljack carrying over from the Autobot five pack like Hound will be. Plus, Dinobot Snarl is getting a straight package refresh.

Images come via TFW2005. Are you excited about Astrotrain, Kranix and the others in this wave? Let us know what you're thinking in the Seibertron Energon Pub forums!

Will this be the Astrotrain that finally gets it right? AFAIC his toys rival Ironhide's for number of botched attempts.

And transforming Kranix based on a comic-only design might just be the pointy foot in the door that leads to SS figures based on unused concepts! Well, Missing Link Arcee certainly budged it a bit too.

And if this gets retooled over and over to the point of producing female Lithonians, that would mean Nancy and other female Junkions down the road!

Glad to see we got a brand new Astrotrain instead of a reissue of the Siege POS. Will that mean a brand new Blitzwing as well? I was going to pass on Kranix, but the more I see him the more I like him. Hopefully we get a new Rodimus as well, instead of a repainted and repacked Kingdom figure.

aw man they all look great

I dig these but I'm surprised Sunstreaker doesn't come with a blaster. Here's the thing, in some episodes of the toon he had a gun that looks like the one Devastation Wheeljack comes with. Synergy?

I mentioned this in the article a bit, but I'm definitely by two Kranixs, one to stick with my regular stuff and one to go with my Missing Link figures. His blockyness is giving me such strong vintage G1 vibes I think he'll fit right in. We'll have to see if we get a ML Gnaw.

I think they went ahead and made a new Astrotrain when they realized how much they can potentially milk it if they choose. Mainly Hasbro vintage toy colors/comic colors and Takara vintage toy colors.

We need a new Shockwave, leaks show that he's pretty tiny next to a lot of characters like Soundwave and Blaster. His mini-me gun appears to be a new mold, it's not the same as the one from the weapons pack and the handle is all the way back for some reason. Also as mentioned, he can attach to Bruticus. It's a bit odd giving him a shoulder canon, it's not exactly cartoon accurate, but it's something.



Emerje

Apparently a TRU in Singapore put the new figures out early and somebody was able to buy them.

Emerje wrote:Also as mentioned, he can attach to Bruticus. It's a bit odd giving him a shoulder canon, it's not exactly cartoon accurate, but it's something.

13-Studio-Series-Voyager-Shockwave.jpeg

Emerje

Something like Haslab LioKaiser Deathcobra envy?

Or testing the waters for a Lightning Bug with new personality and bot mode that's big enough for Legacy Menasor to wield? Maybe it can have a new submarine mode too...but then it'd be a water bug.

megatran wrote:Hasbro flat out refuse to release a 'G1' mode Megatron but has no qualms triggering childhood psychological trauma in now adults 40 years on.
* lays on floor in fetal position sucking thumb *

And now Hasbro announces 40th Anniversary TFTM "APOLOGY TOUR".

megatran wrote:

megatran wrote:Hasbro flat out refuse to release a 'G1' mode Megatron but has no qualms triggering childhood psychological trauma in now adults 40 years on.
* lays on floor in fetal position sucking thumb *

And now Hasbro announces 40th Anniversary TFTM "APOLOGY TOUR".

I haven't been able to leave my house in 40 years.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I dig these but I'm surprised Sunstreaker doesn't come with a blaster. Here's the thing, in some episodes of the toon he had a gun that looks like the one Devastation Wheeljack comes with. Synergy?

That is pretty weird since Sunstreaker and Wheeljack both came with one of the Elita-1/Minerva guns in the Autobot 5 pack, and this Wheeljack release still has the same gun from the 5 pack, while Sunstreaker got shorted. I guess I'm glad I went for the 5 pack after all.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I dig these but I'm surprised Sunstreaker doesn't come with a blaster. Here's the thing, in some episodes of the toon he had a gun that looks like the one Devastation Wheeljack comes with. Synergy?

That is pretty weird since Sunstreaker and Wheeljack both came with one of the Elita-1/Minerva guns in the Autobot 5 pack, and this Wheeljack release still has the same gun from the 5 pack, while Sunstreaker got shorted. I guess I'm glad I went for the 5 pack after all.

Yeah I gotta call Di*k Move on HasTak for this one IMO. Both Wheeljack and Sunstreaker recently on the pegs. Correct me anyone if I dreamt this....? And now for your viewing pleasure for a second time, bravo HasTak bravo!

Nemesis Destron wrote:

TF-fan kev777 wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I dig these but I'm surprised Sunstreaker doesn't come with a blaster. Here's the thing, in some episodes of the toon he had a gun that looks like the one Devastation Wheeljack comes with. Synergy?

That is pretty weird since Sunstreaker and Wheeljack both came with one of the Elita-1/Minerva guns in the Autobot 5 pack, and this Wheeljack release still has the same gun from the 5 pack, while Sunstreaker got shorted. I guess I'm glad I went for the 5 pack after all.

Yeah I gotta call Di*k Move on HasTak for this one IMO. Both Wheeljack and Sunstreaker recently on the pegs. Correct me anyone if I dreamt this....? And now for your viewing pleasure for a second time, bravo HasTak bravo!

You are 100% correct. In fact, both figures went on sale recently, with Sunstreaker hitting clearance in some areas. While I'm interested in both, I just know SS86 Wheeljack will go on sale.

Kinda funny how Kranix is the only one here that interests me.

Most of these are repacks or slight reworkings of good figures I have.

Shockwave basically being Siege but smoothed out is funny, but I dont need him.

I am not going to judge Astrotrain too hard until we get proper in hand looks in a couple months, but woof, all those mistransformations, a hollow tummy for a bowtie, the skinniness of the limbs... yikes. Honestly have no idea how anyone can say, at first glance, this could be better than Siege.

Siege Skywarp is also my Skywarp. So I am glad the 40th anniversary is a lot of stuff I am happy with, will let me focus on the overpriced AotP stuff instead of both overpriced lines. Thanks a lot there.