The Energon Pub

[Va'al]

Courtesy of the forums over at 78.dm website, we get a look at three toys from the upcoming movie line. The figures, an armored truck called Duke (probably Hound), a two-headed creature called Paulie (probably Swoop, Strafe or Pteradon) and a Bumblebee called Bumblebee, seem to be Legends or Legion or Scout class, though they could also be very simplified Deluxes. Check out the images below!

[Noideaforaname]

"Paulie" looks awesome! I kinda want a BH Predacon repaint, to go along with Cyberverse Predaking and the Terrorcons (assuming this is a Cyberverse toy, or the character also gets a Cyberverse toy), but I also kinda want a different Predacon repaint:


Bumblebee looks like every other Bumblebee (and reeeeeeeeeally simple), and "Duke" almost looks human. How does he transform? Turn inside out?




I really hope these are Cyberverse, and not Deluxes...

[Mindmaster]

They look more like Fast Action Battlers than Legends or Deluxes.

That third image is obviously Hound. But how come he, along with Two-Head, are labeled Duke and Paulie?

[Noideaforaname]

They look more like Fast Action Battlers than Legends or Deluxes.

I remember saying that about DotM Voyager Optimus Prime.

That third image is obviously Hound. But how come he, along with Two-Head, are labeled Duke and Paulie?

To combat leaks, I assume. DotM concept art labeled Megatron as "Cyclonus" for that reason.

[RhA]

I am getting very curious about the designs in this movie. Obviously these are simplitic versions of what is yet to come... But I feel this is promising. Especially 'Hound' looks cool. So- Uhm... MORE!

[Mindmaster]

Apparently, Two-Head/Paulie's actual name is "Strafe", or at least that's what TFW2005's saying.

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... ys-178866/

[Va'al]

Apparently, Two-Head/Paulie's actual name is "Strafe", or at least that's what TFW2005's saying.

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... ys-178866/

Modified the post a little. Also, don't always believe TFW2005.

[Mindmaster]

Apparently, Two-Head/Paulie's actual name is "Strafe", or at least that's what TFW2005's saying.

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... ys-178866/

Modified the post a little. Also, don't always believe TFW2005.

That's why I said, "or at least that's what TFW2005's saying.".

[Va'al]

Apparently, Two-Head/Paulie's actual name is "Strafe", or at least that's what TFW2005's saying.

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... ys-178866/

Modified the post a little. Also, don't always believe TFW2005.

That's why I said, "or at least that's what TFW2005's saying.".

[Rated X]

Duke looks like a garden nome with his beard. The 2 headed swoop is just plain wrong. And Bumblebee...well he's Bumblebee.

[Megatron Wolf]

Bumblebee is the only one that looks half way descent but i really hope these are cyberverse or the return of FABs cause if those are deluxes or voyagers thats pretty sad.

[sabrigami]

so glad there is a Swoop type character. My general dislike for movie toys aside things are looking up. Can't go wrong with dinosaurs

[RodimalToyota]

Only in Michael Bay's mind can he tell us that boxy vehicles can't be / aren't realistic looking for movies, then make robots with facial hair.

That's just dumb.

[SlyTF1]

Only in Michael Bay's mind can he tell us that boxy vehicles can't be / aren't realistic looking for movies, then make robots with facial hair.

That's just dumb.

And why can't they have facial hair?

[Mindmaster]

Only in Michael Bay's mind can he tell us that boxy vehicles can't be / aren't realistic looking for movies, then make robots with facial hair.

That's just dumb.

And why can't they have facial hair?

I think what he's trying to say is that if boxy vehicles aren't realistic enough, then why make robots with facial hair (ex: Jetfire and Sentinel Prime).

[SlyTF1]

Only in Michael Bay's mind can he tell us that boxy vehicles can't be / aren't realistic looking for movies, then make robots with facial hair.

That's just dumb.

And why can't they have facial hair?

I think what he's trying to say is that if boxy vehicles aren't realistic enough, then why make robots with facial hair (ex: Jetfire and Sentinel Prime).

Because they can have facial hair. Vehicle parts (or fiber optics, or whatever) coming together to form something that resembles facial hair is a lot more realistic than cars that transform into a series of boxes.

[TimothyR]

i see a bunch of metallic colors.. odd.

[RodimalToyota]

Only in Michael Bay's mind can he tell us that boxy vehicles can't be / aren't realistic looking for movies, then make robots with facial hair.

That's just dumb.

And why can't they have facial hair?

I think what he's trying to say is that if boxy vehicles aren't realistic enough, then why make robots with facial hair (ex: Jetfire and Sentinel Prime).

Because they can have facial hair. Vehicle parts (or fiber optics, or whatever) coming together to form something that resembles facial hair is a lot more realistic than cars that transform into a series of boxes.

Uh.. Wat?

Because they can? Yeah that's a relevant answer.

I'm not going to debate what's more "realistic" about Alien
Robot transformers in fiction.

It's just dumb.

[Bumblevivisector]

To me it doesn't look like facial hair as much as how early Pretenders' chest armor would come up and obscure part of their face. Landmine would've been a more appropriate fake name for this guy than Duke.

[welcometothedarksyde]

These don't look like small figures, I think this is Hasbro's solution to the complexity problems. I honestly don't think that Transformers were too complex, hell I was probably 11 when I first started buying ROTF toys, I hardly had any problems. What I think was happening is that parents were buying their 5 year olds ROTF Leader Prime. So either Hasbro should start emphasizing that those toys aren't for young kids, or make simpler toys. Clearly they made that decision, and I can't say I disagree. Kids my age and younger are increasingly not into toys. That only leaves the under 10 group. I have a question, the complexity during late Beast Wars was easily comparable to more recent TFs, did anyone hear complaints? I think that only because of the smartphone era hasbro, that is simply having to market these complex toys to increasingly younger demographics. So could that mean a disappearance of complex toys? I honestly think that with a shrinking window of Transformers buyers collectors are becoming more significant. although it is obviously the 30th anniversary, it is still relevant to point out that those toys aren't marketed to kids, they're for us. So If I can make a prediction I say that we'll continue to see that kind of stuff marketed towards us alongside the normal stuff (With the exception of during movies).

However something still leaves me frustrated, the movies try to create extremely complex designs despite the need to make simple toys. The bastard results are often disappointing. I say that the need for simplicity should inform the design process. What we have seems lazy and poorly thought out.

As for the future of simplicity, does anyone else think that they should be doing something closer to Fansproject's Retro Future theme? Modern engineering, interesting gimmicks, however simple in it's execution. If they're trying to replicate G1, why aren't they looking at those toys and simply trying to improve those concepts with modern knowledge. What they're doing is just taking ridiculously complex designs and trying to reduce them to a 5 year old's comprehension. It just doesn't work well. Any ideas?

[primematrix1986]

I hope those are not deluxes. The Leader Optimus Prime doesn't look like a million dollars, but it somehow reminds me of the first movie leader Optimus Prime because of how simplistic it looks. I am still debating on it, but I don't plan on getting the full like this time around.

[SKYWARPED_128]

However something still leaves me frustrated, the movies try to create extremely complex designs despite the need to make simple toys. The bastard results are often disappointing. I say that the need for simplicity should inform the design process.

And therein lies the problem.

With the first movie, you can see that the designers actually made an effort to ensure that the TF's at least looked as if they really do transform into vehicles. Those red boxlike things below OP's chest actually do exist on a Peterbilt truck if you remove the hood.

And during the TF1 and ROTF era, Hasbro was also able/willing to accommodate the complex designs by upping the complexity, especially in the case of ROTF. For the reasons you mentioned (catering to an increasingly younger market) they did a 180 starting from DOTM and made the toys increasingly simpler.

The problem is, the movie designers kept increasing the complexity, regardless. If you noticed in DOTM, Megatron and the Dreads (all of whom actually have Earth modes) hardly had any car parts on them, besides tires.

NOTE: I have absolutely no problem with the AOE designs as CGI models in a movie, but those designs are probably not going to translate well into screen-accurate toys.

Hopefully, though, we'll be pleasantly surprised when the actual toys are finally released. Just not holding my breath is all.

[Sabrblade]

Based on the listings we got before, "Paulie" is Strafe and "Duke" is Hound.

Codename -> Real name
Thunderlips = Slug
Southpaw = Scorn
Ivan = Grimlock
Max = Lockdown
Bruce = Drift
Paulie = Strafe
Rocky = Slash
Duke = Hound
Adrian = Galvatron

[Mindmaster]

Aha! So it was Strafe!

Va'al, you owe me a Starscream figure.

[Sabrblade]

Strafe makes sense in a way since G1 Strafe was a twin-headed jet and this is essentially the dinobot equivalent of such.