The Energon Pub

We're onto United Wave 3 now and Generations 2011 wave 3 so let's look back at the figures we've had so far and forward at the confirmed figures we're going to get and compare them.

With Classics I think it's fair to say that most people (myself included) thought that Takara Tomy's figures were far superior to Hasbro's with the most extreme case being Megatron where Hasbro delivered one of the worst paint jobs ever. In their defence it was for safety reasons so he could be sold in the US but it was absolutely blown away by Takara's version.

But, this time around I think Hasbro has really stepped up and done much better and it's much closer.

As some of you may know, I live in Tokyo so it's much cheaper for me to buy United figures than imported Generations/RTS ones. With classics I bought all Takara Tomy, no Hasbro figures but this time around I've bought/am going to get Hasbro's Cliffjumper, Scourge and Wheeljack instead of the United versions as I didn't like the metallic paint and I think the choice of which to buy is getting tougher.
If I was living in the States then I think there are a lot of the figures we've had that I would be just as happy with the Hasbro versions.


What do you think: Is Hasbro or Takara Tomy doing better with figure quality, paint jobs, accessories in your opinion?

I think that Hasbro are doing better this time around. As long as they don't make a poinless mistake along the lines of Universe Dinobot being purple instead of blue (seriously, schoolboy error) they'll be fine.

I now prefer to not play one against the other. Not saying it's bad to view it in a 'versus' pov though. For my part, the two lines are complimentary, because I like having alternatives for the characters I like. Having the choice is much more fun.

I think that currently, Hasbro is doing a much better job. I really don't like the metallic paint found on nearly all United figures, especially when it only covers about half of a figure. It also makes me think of Christmas tree ornaments whenever I see United's metallic red or green paint. The only figure on which I think the metallic paint looks at all good is Tracks. I was also mildly disappointed (but also glad, since it would mean I would not be tempted to buy the more expensive version) when we saw that United Jazz still lacked his sponsors and more complete racing stripes, with the light blue. Jazz is the only figure that I think is better in United, and most of what is missing from the RTS version can be added with Reprolabels, aside from the whiter plastic.

I do like Hasbro this round, however I'm not a big fan of the rub signs for RTS.

Price alone has me siding with Hasbro's stuff.

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:Price alone has me siding with Hasbro's stuff.

This too!

The only United figures I'm getting are Wreck-Gar and the Autobot 3 pack, again for the Junkion.

The RTS line doesn't bother me because I has dozens of spare faction symbols but I don't care for the gimmick.

I think Hasbro is doing a superb job. That being said, I definitely think the United figures are not worth the excessive extra money for a few crummy paint apps. The only United figure I'd consider is the new G2 Optimus Prime.

Iu think it comes down to choice. I have 5 united figures now, Grapple, Lugnut, Jazz, Drift, and Bumblebee ...err Goldbug???.

Grapple uses a nice paintjob, not shiny, the only thing you'll notice is the head is painted, which makes it look different than the yellow on the body.

Lugnut is odd. I may pick up the RTS version, but I really like the way he looks.

Drift...well he looks more like the comic...but not spectacular I could have done the touch ups myself. The white is brighter.

Jazz....a stand out. He's not just white, but the way the plastic feels he's sturdy. He just looks so much like G1 Jazz. It's probaly the highlight of my collection.

Other than that, I haven't been googoo for United. I have a personal preference for getting Jazz, Lugnut, and Grapple the others were because they were $20 at the flea market.

My biggest problem with United is that in certain figures, they only paint certain parts of it, leaving some areas with large unsightly bare plastic. Perceptor and Wreck-Gar suffer the worst from this in alt mode, along with Kup. Tracks seems to be the only United fig I've seen with a full-on metallic paintjob. Even customizers would have a hard time trying to find matching metallic paint to cover up the bare plastic parts.

Either paint the whole damn thing or just leave it alone.

In the case of Wreck-Gar and Kup, I'm only picking up their United figs because the Hasbro versions were sold out.

I'm not writing off Takara's United line, but Hasbro seems to be the better choice in many cases.

I couldn't agree more. I canceled my United Scourge and Wheeljack pre-orders and got Generations Cliffjumper for that same reason. The metallic paint has made some figures - Tracks, Kup but ruined others - Scourge and IMO Wheeljack who just didn't need it at all.

Good to see Hasbro raising their game after Classics.

I've been impressed with Hasbro recently. I normally do try and get what I deem the best paint fit for a character. In the past, it has been Takara, but recently, it hasn't and I'm pretty happy about that. It definitely saves me some loot. So out of all the figures out so far between the two, I've only really wanted and have Jazz and Tracks. I was going to do Percy, but I don't think United is superior in this case. The only United stuff that I can see me wanting so far is Lugnut, and Wreck-Gar. And when I do get United Wreck-Gar, I'm gonna head swap it with Gen WG. So far, it looks as though Hasbro will be keeping most of my money with the next few figs. And I'm thankful for that.

I also think Hasbro is doing much better this time. Takara just feels like trying to be different to be too intentionally make them different and so that they missed on many places. Some people may try to compare RtS Jazz and United Jazz. True, RtS Jazz is too plain. But I don't mind, because that gave me more room to customize to my like and Hasbro's price allows me to get another one if I screw up.

Hasbro is doing a pretty good job...some are actually the more desirable versions. I just wish they'd paint all the friggin' wheels! It's a cheap detail (I have to imagine) that goes such a long way. I suppoe I could just buy one of those silver sharpies I hear so much about. I just don't like making permanent modifications to my figures...mostly because I'm not overly artistic and am afraid of farking it up.