The Energon Pub

Thanks to Amazon Japan we have new high res official images of Takara Tomy's Transformers Go! Hunter Smokescreen and Bakudora. Smokescreen features a more show accurate deco, and does not come with the Beast Hunters accessories. Bakudora sports a new deco and brand new head mold. Check the official images out below.

wow, Smokescreen really does have less paint apps than the Hasbro version. and it seems neither Hasbro or Takara want to paint his face a different color than his head to bring it out more. Bakudora looks great though, really do get that Deathsaurus vibe off him.

Okay, that looks much better for Smokescreen than the magazine scans, which made him look more colorless than seen here. Though, I will agree that he could use some more color, like if he were silver instead of bone white.

Bakudora's deco is totally evocative of BotCon 2005's "Descent Into Evil" Timelines Deathsaurus.

Takara's Smokescreen looks so much better than Hasbro's Smokedcrayon. I would've preferred they paint the robot mode's faux headlights, and the crotch-plate, but there's always the possibility for set from Reprolabels.

I'm glad I held off from getting Hasbro Smokescreen. I too hope Reprolabels puts out a set for minor improvements on this awesome fig. I will admit that this Ripclaw repaint is a much more impressive looking than Hasbro's.

So it's safe to assume Hasbro's Predacons look monstrous in their heads, while TakaraTomy's look more humanoid. Interesting, that.

That Predacon looks nice enough to get. One thing that is true is that I will plan to get the Hasbro Preds to make Shockwave's army look more threatning.

That Smokey looks very tight! Too bad they didn't give more facial detail like the mouth, which blends with his very white face, but that looks much better!!!

Did I mention my foreshadow of his blue eyes???

I must be missing something here regarding Smokescreen. I keep hearing all these comments about Hasbro's being better, yet I look at this:


Compare it to this:


And then compare that to this:


How is it that Takara's getting **** on for doing a more accurate deco here? What did I miss?

xyl360 wrote:I must be missing something here regarding Smokescreen. I keep hearing all these comments about Hasbro's being better, yet I look at this:


Compare it to this:


And then compare that to this:


How is it that Takara's getting **** on for doing a more accurate deco here? What did I miss?

its an odd thing, but this seems to be a case where show accurate dosnt translate well to plastic. its true that in the show, Smokescreen is mostly white with a few splashes of red and blue here and there. unfortunately, it does not look very interesting on the action figure.

it may look better in person, who knows how much light is on it in that picture. otherwise, a little bit of a blackwash would do it wonders.

BH Smokescreen is more interesting in the worst way possible. The colors are out of sync, all over the place, and look like vomit together. This more show accurate deco is better balanced in comparison. Even if Smokescreen weren't an in-show character, I'd prefer this over that.

Less paint does not always equal terrible representation.

Not to mention that Ryan slightly customized his Smokescreen, coloring the stripes on his Smokescreen's head red when they really aren't colored at all on a standard, unaltered figure:

I'm glad I've held off on getting Hasbro's Smokescreen. The more detailed '38' apps alone are worth it. The head and chest side panels need more colour though. Takara wins again.

I quite like the new head mold of Bakudora. The horns kind of look like a tiara, maintaining that feminine look of Ripclaw. I don't like the colours much, mainly the contrast of the bright orange wings. Still want it quite badly.

Hopefully this means they'll be shipping soon.

Sodan-1 wrote:I quite like the new head mold of Bakudora. The horns kind of look like a tiara, maintaining that feminine look of Ripclaw. I don't like the colours much, mainly the contrast of the bright orange wings. Still want it quite badly.

Hmmmm, now that you mention "feminine", does anybody think he's not based Deszaras, but rather his (manga-only) wife, Esmeral? My wife would so get it if that was the case

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sodan-1 wrote:I quite like the new head mold of Bakudora. The horns kind of look like a tiara, maintaining that feminine look of Ripclaw. I don't like the colours much, mainly the contrast of the bright orange wings. Still want it quite badly.

Hmmmm, now that you mention "feminine", does anybody think he's not based Deszaras, but rather his (manga-only) wife, Esmeral? My wife would so get it if that was the case

Hard to say since Esmeral's never appeared in color form, IIRC.

Unless you count SG Esmeral, but she's colored like Red Geist.

Bakudora's colors, however, feel less like the original Deszaras and more like the BotCon 2005 Deathsaurus anyway.

Takara Tomy's TF YUKI is back to his teasing ways with a trio of new Takara Tomy Transformers Go! Hunter Smokescreen images. Check out the mirrored images below, this version features a slightly more cartoon accurate deco than his Hasbro counterpart.

OK, slightly different paint, less accessories yet a higher price? OK, Hasbro for me.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:OK, slightly different paint, less accessories yet a higher price? OK, Hasbro for me.

Much better paint, no accessories that I won't use (I threw the armor from the Hasbro version in the misc. parts bin long ago ) and the usual import price? OK, Takara for me (as always) .

I hear ya though, and if you can paint, the Hasbro version can be made to look show accurate anyway .

ok, this looks much better than the last pics we got of him. I still wish he had a silver face, but other than that, he looks good.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:OK, slightly different paint, less accessories yet a higher price? OK, Hasbro for me.

Yeah, I'm not too impressed at all. Seems like you can save tons of money on these imports by just learning to paint. The Takara figs are pretty overpriced, considering they're the exact same figures. Or is the build quality/plastic better? I haven't ever noticed.

Anyway, when even the Takara version doesn't nail the look exactly, it's hard NOT to want to paint these ourselves...

Metrosuplex wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:OK, slightly different paint, less accessories yet a higher price? OK, Hasbro for me.

Yeah, I'm not too impressed at all. Seems like you can save tons of money on these imports by just learning to paint. The Takara figs are pretty overpriced, considering they're the exact same figures. Or is the build quality/plastic better? I haven't ever noticed.

Anyway, when even the Takara version doesn't nail the look exactly, it's hard NOT to want to paint these ourselves...

The build quality is the same, as TakaraTomy and Hasbro share the same facilities, just at different times. By logic, larger runs mean more "defective" figures, and Hasbro has the largest runs of all. That may be the root of the myth that TakaraTomy has better QC, since there are less produced, and hardly anybody can read that's on Japanese toy blogs. That and nowadays everybody seems to blow a gasket at every QC problem, no matter how minor

xyl360 wrote:Much better paint, no accessories that I won't use (I threw the armor from the Hasbro version in the misc. parts bin long ago ) and the usual import price? OK, Takara for me (as always) .

Yup,'nuff said

Yes, Smokescreen is looking a little bland compared to Hasbro's version, but it just looks right. A definite keeper.