The Energon Pub

If the current crop of Kre-O sets isn't your cup of tea, then Hasbro has another trick up their building set sleeve. Geekdad has pulled the curtains open for Hasbro's new Construct-Bots line. Each set comes with interchangable parts. These sets come in four different assortments including Scout, Elite, Triple Changer and Ultimate with pieces interchangable between assortments. Check out these new sets below.

Geekdad wrote:•The Scout assortment of Construct-Bots will each retail for $9.99, and will have 10 characters, including Starscream and Ironhide seen above.
•The Elite assortment of Construct-Bots will each retail for $14.99, and will have 10 characters, including Wheeljack and Soundwave seen above.
•The Triple Changer assortment of Construct-Bots will each retail for $24.99, and will be just Bumblebee and Blitzwing (seen above) — but they’ll each transform into both a car and a jet.
•The Ultimate assortment of Construct-Bots will retail for $34.99, and will come with both Optimus Prime and Megatron, both seen above. Both Transformers will include projectile-firing launchers.

A3741 Construct-Bots Ultimate Megatron Robot Mode



A3741 Construct-Bots Ultimate Megatron Vehicle Mode



A3741 Construct-Bots Ultimate Optimus Prime Robot Mode



A3741 Construct-Bots Ultimate Optimus Prime Vehicle Mode



A4707 Construct-Bots Bumblebee Triple Changer Jet Mode



A4707 Construct-Bots Bumblebee Triple Changer Robot Mode



A4707 Construct-Bots Bumblebee Triple Changer Vehicle Mode B



A4708 Construct-Bots Blitzwing Triple Changer Robot Mode



A4708 Construct-Bots Blitzwing Triple Changer Vehicle Mode



A4708C onstruct-Bots Blitzwing Triple Changer Jet Mode



A5266 Construct-Bots Starscream Scout Robot Mode



A5266 Construct-Bots Starscream Scout Vehicle Mode



A5267 Construct-Bots Ironhide Scout Robot Mode



A5267 Construct-Bots Ironhide Scout Vehicle Mode




A5273 Construct-Bots Wheeljack Elite Robot Mode



A5273 Construct-Bots Wheeljack Elite Vehicle Mode



A5274 Construct-Bots Soundwave Elite Robot Mode



A5274 Construct-Bots Soundwave Elite Vehicle Mode

They actually look pretty good.

So from what i've seen this is Hasbro's answer to the Lego: Bionicle and/or Hero Factory kits. It's okay in concept, however the colors and molding look like they could be wretched. I'm getting a slight B.t.R vibe from this. Well B.t.R mixed with those mega blok robots anyway.

im not a big fan of lanky gorilla arms, even less those with gorilla wing arms. i dont care for these but im sure theyll find theyre place. i just hope it doesnt mean the end of transformers as we know them, but highly unlikely

A for effort, Hasbro! I'll probably pick up Ironhide, he's easily my favorite. Screamer isn't too bad either.

Bee is just...why is he a triple changer?? XD But it looks good, despite being random (love the head).

I suspect Megatron is a triple changer too, what with the jet kibble on his arms there. Speaking of jet kibble, what in the Pit is Blitzwing!? He's a mess! And speaking of kibble, Prime's a mess too!

Wheeljack looks like he's seriously ready to deconstruct somebody! (and probably put them back together again, in record time! Like the Jackhammer!)

Soundwave is Cybertron Soundwave all over again, and I have no strong feelings one way or the other.

I'm all for these, here's to hoping they get better as they go! I've got a Hero Factory fellow or two (well, three technically ), I'm I quite like them. But I've always had a soft spot for Bionicle.

VioMeTriX wrote:im not a big fan of lanky gorilla arms, even less those with gorilla wing arms. i dont care for these but im sure theyll find theyre place. i just hope it doesnt mean the end of transformers as we know them, but highly unlikely

It's just a random subline to take advantage of the always good Bionicle/HF idea. And, being Lego-type stuff, you can always get shorter pieces for arms if you like. HF stuff is easy-ish to find on sale if you keep an eagle eye out for it at the end of a series.

So TF X Bionicle. That's pretty cool. I might get some of these, especially if we get some good character selection. I'd be down for a Triple Changer Scorponok. He could be a scorpion and jet again (since that'd probably be the easiest thing you could do with him, not to mention homage his Energon incarnation). I definitely see some potential here. And are these really not a subline of Kre-O? It makes sense that it would be.

so do these actually transform or do you have to pull it apart and slap it back together as a vehicle? If they transform im interested, transformers meets bionicle is a win in my book but if they dont transform ill pass (except for soundwave).

Hmm, if I have one worry, I can't tell if they'll implement "friction adder" joints for some of the larger kits, like the HF line has been doing for, say, the XL heroes. They really help keep things from getting weaker with wear. The Claw Jaw/Splitface combo I put together is on the topheavy side, and while it stands up and poses just fine, the ball joints can slip if I'm not careful.

First time we've seen a Blitzwing since Animated. I hope it's a good omen.

Either way, it's a neat expansion on the Kreo line, but in keeping with my buying habits and the Kreo line, I will not be buying these.

RAcast wrote:Hmm, if I have one worry, I can't tell if they'll implement "friction adder" joints for some of the larger kits, like the HF line has been doing for, say, the XL heroes.

Of topic real quick, what are these "friction adders" you speak of. I don't know because I haven't bought any HF stuf..at all.

SW's SilverHammer wrote:

RAcast wrote:Hmm, if I have one worry, I can't tell if they'll implement "friction adder" joints for some of the larger kits, like the HF line has been doing for, say, the XL heroes.

Of topic real quick, what are these "friction adders" you speak of. I don't know because I haven't bought any HF stuf..at all.

It's simply a link that fits over an existing piece with a ball joint. Basically you can think of it as a piece that adds a bit of height without adding an extra point of movement. But they also have a bit of rubber inside the ball joint cup to add some friction.

yeah no thanks.

RAcast wrote:

SW's SilverHammer wrote:

RAcast wrote:Hmm, if I have one worry, I can't tell if they'll implement "friction adder" joints for some of the larger kits, like the HF line has been doing for, say, the XL heroes.

Of topic real quick, what are these "friction adders" you speak of. I don't know because I haven't bought any HF stuf..at all.

It's simply a link that fits over an existing piece with a ball joint. Basically you can think of it as a piece that adds a bit of height without adding an extra point of movement. But they also have a bit of rubber inside the ball joint cup to add some friction.

ah thanks

Blurrz wrote:And the only Blitzwing we'll get for another decade.

I know right! the last blitzwing we got was animated, and he doesn't even count.

I dare say that bot and spaceship Bumblebee are badass!

My son loves hero factory, so he may like these. Those aforementioned friction joints keep things steady, but pop off easier than Titanium figures.

These look interesting, if they transforn more so

I've never liked the bionical/hero factory stuff, the limb connectors break way to easily. While some of these look nice I believe I'll be passing, cool idea though.

Megatron Wolf wrote:so do these actually transform or do you have to pull it apart and slap it back together as a vehicle? If they transform im interested, transformers meets bionicle is a win in my book but if they dont transform ill pass (except for soundwave).

It looks to me like they transform by folding up and then you move around a few parts like wheels or accessories. So...minimal disassembly required?

njb902 wrote:I've never liked the bionical/hero factory stuff, the limb connectors break way to easily. While some of these look nice I believe I'll be passing, cool idea though.

Geez, what do you do to your poor Bionicles? I played the crap out of mine when I was a kid and I never broke a single part. That stuff is made sturdy.

In response to people constantly stealing our IP, we at Hasbro are proud to introduce our new and improved Classics lineup for 2013 !!!

i have to say that im not thrilled by this line-the concept of having transformers with customizable aspect is one Ive talked about with my pales a bunch -personally i think you could make deluxe size transformers that have parts that could be swapped around or otherwise customized to be a different bot. But these don't look great and their kind of look like their made of plastic noodles.
Also a scout is 10 dollars -seriously hasbro needs to reconfigure their price points its almost as expensive to buy voyagers as it is to buy deluxes. If im paying almost 20 anyway id rather have more voyager figures.

chaosmage42 wrote:i have to say that im not thrilled by this line-the concept of having transformers with customizable aspect is one Ive talked about with my pales a bunch -personally i think you could make deluxe size transformers that have parts that could be swapped around or otherwise customized to be a different bot. But these don't look great and their kind of look like their made of plastic noodles.
Also a scout is 10 dollars -seriously hasbro needs to reconfigure their price points its almost as expensive to buy voyagers as it is to buy deluxes. If im paying almost 20 anyway id rather have more voyager figures.

Just like the Kre-o stuff, give them time. This is their first try with this and it's bound to be flawed. Give it a few waves, I guarantee they'll get better as they play more and discover more tricky ways to make things work.
And those prices are basically in-line with the Lego sets, which are FAR larger than even RTS Windcharger (often hailed as Mr. Oversized Scout). For reference, the Lego sets which I'm guessing would be the same size are $8-9, $12-13, and $20-ish. Obviously you're paying for the engineering those extra couple bucks for the fact that these are engineered to transform, and I think they're pretty cool for it.

As much as I want to buy the hell out of ALL of these, I don't get it. Apart from ball joints, how are these any different from Kre-O?

Rated X wrote:In response to people constantly stealing our IP, we at Hasbro are proud to introduce our new and improved Classics lineup for 2013 !!!

oh god no