The Energon Pub

[LOST Cybertronian]

Amazon has posted bios for many of the upcoming Beast Hunters and Generations figures. from Beast Hunters we get bio for Cyberverse Commander Unicron Megatron and Ultra Magnus. From the Generations line come Legends Class Swerve with Flanker and Cosmos with Payload. The Generations Voyager class brings us bios for Rhinox and Doubledealer. The images used were from our coverage of BotCon 2013.

The ruthless Decepticon leader harnesses the power of Unicron to vanquish anyone foolish enough to stand in his way. Autobots beware, because this Unicron Megatron figure is armed with the power of dark Energon. He'll shred his enemies with his dark Energon sword in robot mode, and when he needs to take the battle "off-planet," he'll convert to spaceship mode.

Ultra Magnus leads his elite Autobot strike team with the mighty Forge of Solus battle hammer.

Riding with Swerve is a terrifying experience. The Autobot technician lives up to his name. His attention span is so short that he finds even exit ramps boring, which more often than not results in him drifting, uncaring, into oncoming traffic. So it's good he's partnered up with Flanker. The little jet is almost compulsive about scanning everything around him for Deception activity. And when his shouted warnings don't make an impression on Swerve, his impenetrable force field does a good job of protecting the other vehicles on the road.

You may never meet a pair that is more eager to please than Autobot Cosmos and Payload. They're both proud of their ability to fly into space, and eager to use it to benefit the Autobot cause. It's a lonely life in orbit, but they both make up for it by performing some of the most awesome daredevil space stunts anyone has ever heard of. It's just too bad there's no one else up there to see them.

Rhinox is rare among robots. He has a brilliant scientific mind, as well as a deep philosophical curiosity about the nature of the universe around him. He is astoundingly strong – able to hold his own against even the most powerful opponents. He is friendly, good-natured and charismatic, with a fine strategic mind that would make him an ideal leader for the Maximals forces if they didn't already have one. What's more, he carries one of the most powerful weapons of any Maximals in the form of the twin Gatling Guns of Doom, which pump out a Predacon-shredding storm of hot lead.

Decepticon Doubledealer doesn't really care whom he works for, as long as they can pay his fee. And pay they do. The amount of firepower he carries more than makes up for the fact that he's totally untrustworthy. He carries enough explosive power with him to shatter mountains to dust, and for that both the Autobots and the Decepticons are willing to pay dearly, handing over crates full of Energon chips in exchange for a single battle's worth of services. This Decepticon warrior is a 3-in-1 changer and he's out to make triple trouble for any Autobot or Decepticon that gets in his way

[RAcast]

twin Gatling Guns of Doom

Sometimes they just get these bios right.

[Mindmaster]

Oh, the fan service in Rhinox's bio! They actually named them the Gatling Guns of Doom!

[MarkNL]

Can't wait till I can get those new Generations Legends!

Edit: And Ultra Magnus, of course!

[Bumblevivisector]

Hmmm, "Decepticon Doubledealer" kind of undermines his original mercenary gimmick.

Unless it's all a ploy to gain the Cons' trust and infiltrate them for the Autobots' interests! Never cared for the character enough to seek out his Powermaster toy, but I have to give him credit this time around.

So no word on Flanker converting to My First Blaster? I still haven't read that far anyway.

Been a while since a TF bio explicitly said their weapons shoot bullets, let alone lead, hasn't it?

[Sodan-1]

I really shouldn't get excited by that passing reference to Primal but, well....

[Whitemest]

I wish they'd make a Dinobot like they made an awesome looking Rhinox!

[Dark Ops]

They'd have probably gone with "Chain Guns of Doom", but I did some digging. Found out "Chain gun" is a registered trademark of Alliant Techsystems Inc. And they'll go after anyone that uses it.

Never knew that.

[RAcast]

They'd have probably gone with "Chain Guns of Doom", but I did some digging. Found out "Chain gun" is a registered trademark of Alliant Techsystems Inc. And they'll go after anyone that uses it.

Never knew that.

You learn something every day, huh? Good to know!

[megatronus]

I continue to be impressed by Rhinox.

I like Doubledealer, but his face is rather... I'll say... special...

[Sabrblade]

So no word on Flanker converting to My First Blaster? I still haven't read that far anyway.

IIRC, one of the panels at SDCC had someone ask Hasbro about a My First Blaster for Swerve in the panel's Q&A, to which Hasbro answered "No plans now."

[Metrosuplex]

I think the writer of most TF toy bios needs to be taken out back and beaten severely.

I take a larger interest in writing than I do in TFs, and some of the bios I've read have been so horrifically bad, I could have a 5 year write something of similar flare.

The most egregious errors I find are somewhere between humorously bad and excruciating painful - to paraphrase typical bio writing: "He's a long range fighter who can take out anyone from afar... but don't get too close, cause he's also a badass at close-range!"
Or, "He doesn't like being with others, but ask his closest friends..."
Or, "He's a terrible shot, but he makes up for it by firing continuously so that nothing survives!"

It's terrible - the bios are important, but apparently, Hasbro doesn't think so. At least the BH bios have been mercifully brief (but similarly idiotic): "He has a big gun and he likes to fire it... at DECEPTICONS! BOOM!"

For a good example of GOOD bio writing, see 3rd Party KFC's Micro Robo. Ahhh, 3rd Parties - because making HasTak look like incompetent idiots isn't very hard at all.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

I think the writer of most TF toy bios needs to be taken out back and beaten severely.

I take a larger interest in writing than I do in TFs, and some of the bios I've read have been so horrifically bad, I could have a 5 year write something of similar flare.

The most egregious errors I find are somewhere between humorously bad and excruciating painful - to paraphrase typical bio writing: "He's a long range fighter who can take out anyone from afar... but don't get too close, cause he's also a badass at close-range!"
Or, "He doesn't like being with others, but ask his closest friends..."
Or, "He's a terrible shot, but he makes up for it by firing continuously so that nothing survives!"

It's terrible - the bios are important, but apparently, Hasbro doesn't think so. At least the BH bios have been mercifully brief (but similarly idiotic): "He has a big gun and he likes to fire it... at DECEPTICONS! BOOM!"

For a good example of GOOD bio writing, see 3rd Party KFC's Micro Robo. Ahhh, 3rd Parties - because making HasTak look like incompetent idiots isn't very hard at all.

It's true that the toy bios nowadays leave something to be desired, 9 times out of 10 they're trumped by the fiction the toys appear in. And let's face it: the days of Marvel bios are long gone.

[Mindmaster]

9 times out of 10 they're trumped by the fiction the toys appear in.

I'm looking at you, Prime Predaking.

[Dead Metal]

Holy crap, Rhinox's bio is full of win.

[g1grimlock]

I never really cared for legends toys but man do they look outstanding and I'm glad to see Rhinox finally getting a cool toy! Can't wait to see what else they have to reveal in 2014!

[chuckdawg1999]

Commander Ultra Magnus was in stock for a bit but moved to unavailable before I could order. It's nice to have listings for when they get in stock.

[Arctorro]

You may never meet a pair that is more eager to please than Autobot Cosmos and Payload. They're both proud of their ability to fly into space, and eager to use it to benefit the Autobot cause. It's a lonely life in orbit, but they both make up for it by performing some of the most awesome daredevil space stunts anyone has ever heard of. It's just too bad there's no one else up there to see them.

It's nice to see that Cosmos has a friend now

Rhinox is rare among robots. He has a brilliant scientific mind, as well as a deep philosophical curiosity about the nature of the universe around him. He is astoundingly strong – able to hold his own against even the most powerful opponents. He is friendly, good-natured and charismatic, with a fine strategic mind that would make him an ideal leader for the Maximals forces if they didn't already have one. What's more, he carries one of the most powerful weapons of any Maximals in the form of the twin Gatling Guns of Doom, which pump out a Predacon-shredding storm of hot lead.

This made me think of Waspinator getting owned by one of Rinox's Gatling Guns of Doom

[Ravage XK]

Not normally a Beastformer fan but Rhinox looks excellent.

[Heckfire]

I dunno, I still think the redeco of Blitzwing should have been Overlord, not Doubledealer...but, then again, they probably would have needed a remolded head, and they blew their redeco budget on Springer-to-Sandstorm.

...HINT, HINT, FANPUB...

Also, Countdown goes from "Intergalactic hero of peace and freedom, beloved by billions across the universe who has made the Autobrand the symbol of justice on countless worlds" to "Cosmos' barnstorming buddy WEEOOOO!" Little disappointing.

Otherwise, the toys look great!

[Sabrblade]

I dunno, I still think the redeco of Blitzwing should have been Overlord, not Doubledealer...but, then again, they probably would have needed a remolded head, and they blew their redeco budget on Springer-to-Sandstorm.

...HINT, HINT, FANPUB...

(*speaking in a snooty British accent*)Nay! The Blitzwing mold should obviously be made into Flywheels. Overlord would look terrible in that mold.

Also, Countdown goes from "Intergalactic hero of peace and freedom, beloved by billions across the universe who has made the Autobrand the symbol of justice on countless worlds" to "Cosmos' barnstorming buddy WEEOOOO!" Little disappointing.

Countdown? That's Payload.

[Deathscythetransform]

Cosmos, Swerve = instant buy

Rhinox ? okay he will go with my generations Dinobot... Waspy? him too!

all the others? nope

[Grimlock Predaking]

I hope they retool the cyberver se unicron megatron with new transformation, mold and design but it can work as galvatron but not unicron megatron and ultra magnus is very screen accurate .

[ausbot]

I really want a gears from that swerve mold

[RhA]

I really want a gears from that swerve mold

I think we all do.