The Energon Pub

[Oilspill]

So good. Already have one of these pre-ordered. Haven't scraped up the funds to pre-order a second yet, but am sorely tempted so I can have a separate Swindle & Blast-off in bot modes.

[Swiftpaw]

If I didn't already have these preordered, I'd be sold now!

I love how the additional parts not only give Onslaught some much needed firepower in robot mode, but also allow him to be turned into a launching base for Blast Off remenicient of the G1's 'base' half-mode.

[alldarker]

Wow... Simply wow. I had the Explorer and the Munitioner on pre-order since they were announced, but I was only planning to get them for their own merits. I couldn't imagine that even these figures would make Bruticus look good.

Now, after seeing these pictures, I've just gone straight over to e-Bay and bought myself a Bruticus Maximus. Not having them together combined like this would just be an incredible waste of potential of these figures and their add on's... Bruticus has just become such an AMAZING combiner, its mind-blowing.

And I think I just saw my Warbot Defender dirtying his pants slightly at the thought of having to come up against Bruticus in the shelve wars...

[DevastaTTor]

You know, there is no dispute how awesome this set is, but I have to laugh at these comments about Superion no longer measuring up.

The Superion set is still brilliant, The Aerialbots were 5 planes, the universe/energon team was the same, so yes it doesn't have as many extras, but then again it didn't need that much more unless they were to redo Silverbolt/StormJet. The Combaticons however would never be taken seriously by fans with Blast-Off and Swindle being recast into Vortex/Brawl twins. Thus FP had to step up their game if they wanted to wow us. They have and it's better than some of us could imagine it would be, but there is no need to scrap the fan love that's been heaped on the first crossfire set.

My comments weren't really a dig at the Superion set, more of a final justification for why that set just wasn't for me. I bought it and wanted to like it and just couldn't put my finger on why I didn't. Seeing the photo of the two side-by-side clarified my reasons for selling it.

However, given what FP had to work with for both sets and what each needed, they both represent massive improvements.

I just hope my Snowman Superion went to a happy home.

[Stockade]

This set is totally awesome and cant wait to get it, but one question though: which Onslaught to use? the ROTF version Onslaught or Energon Barricade? I feel the Energon Barricade looks abit better and has a closer homage to G1 Onslaught than the other figure and i wish FP would have made a new head mold for either figure, cause personally i feel Onslaught shouldnt be wearing ear muffs in battle .

After Fans project made the Superion kit, i knew deep down inside they would make a kit for Bruticus and they did, but with all this talk making one more kit for Energon devastator, i will cry cause i dont have him and the last time i saw him mint in box was well over a $100.00 and im not paying that.

[Counterpunch]

Why do people think that fans control the market?

To the large degree that I understand and agree with this point, it is never the less becoming something that I care less and less about over time.

While I know that the larger proportion of consumers are not in that mythical 15% of "collectors", there are a growing number of instances where I see opportunities to cater to collectors or even G1 fans being passed up in favor of product that seems all too questionable.

[Prime Riblet]

The price really seems to right on this one. Quite the amazing spectacle. This is really one of the neatest things I have seen short of some of the customs I have viewed here in the Kitbash forums.

[Flux Convoy]

Funny CP... very Funny.

Pretty sweet hunh? I know you thought you wanted more Classics styled toys, but there's people who get paid somewhere who know what you people really like.

And it's this: Power Core Combiners.

Oh yea baby. PCC does it every way you want.

Don't hate baby, I'm getting it all. Although Crossfire is so far beyond worth the money IMO. Looks freaking amazing. And here you thought I MIGHT say something original. Pffft!

[rpetras]

WANT!!!!

[Kibble]

After Fans project made the Superion kit, i knew deep down inside they would make a kit for Bruticus and they did, but with all this talk making one more kit for Energon devastator, i will cry cause i dont have him and the last time i saw him mint in box was well over a $100.00 and im not paying that.

Agreed...I passed on Classics Dev at the time because I simply wasn't impressed. Selfishly, I can only hope they don't do something anywhere near awesome as this for it...at least not unless TakTom (or Hasbro) gives it a(/another) run.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Wait, there's been talk of a Devastator set?

[LOST Cybertronian]

That group pic is now my wallpaper and it is awesome!

[bvzxa]

If they do a devastator...tha would be amazing.

I own the Classics Walmart version mint in box. I used to own the Energon Version. Of all the Superlink/Energon combiners it is the worst of the bunch.

E-Superion could substitute the A-10's for legs before the FP appendage kit. The same thing with E-Bruticus who despite he has twins for limbs looks the best.

E-Devastator is a big mess. If you your the crane trucks he's too tall. If you use the crane trucks as arms he looks like he has cherry picker hands. I love the individual robots, but the combined mode was also a meh for me.

The head has the shovel from Steamhammer blocking his view. IF you use both shove trucks, you will get problems from the left arm. I don't see FP engineering a new figure for them, but since we are going for the classic look, they would have to make two or three figures as add ons.

Well thanks to CP I have the Target universe Devastator, which makes for a good stand in until FP makes us drool again.

[Geekee1]

Now after seeing this and the Superion set I no longer give Hasbro the benefit of the doubt. The fact that they can stand there and tell us that it takes too much time and effort to make proper combiners like this, is simply laughable at this point. These sets are made by a bunch of fans that aren't working on anywhere near the budget that Hasbro does, and they don't seem to be having any problems.

At this point the Hasbro session at Botcon is just a joke. You can't believe a single thing anyone at that panel says, and I'll say now that that even includes the whole Thundercracker fiasco. So hey Hasbro, FU!

[Droptested Thrice]

Wait, there's been talk of a Devastator set?

Just fans speculatin'. Especially after FansProject expanded their definition of an add-on to "new replacement Transformers for your gestalts!"

Why do people think that fans control the market?

To the large degree that I understand and agree with this point, it is never the less becoming something that I care less and less about over time.

While I know that the larger proportion of consumers are not in that mythical 15% of "collectors", there are a growing number of instances where I see opportunities to cater to collectors or even G1 fans being passed up in favor of product that seems all too questionable.

It's probably very difficult to predict which products will actually make a profit. It wasn't uncommon for regulars posting on forums like this to predict the '07 movie toys will bomb, for instance. And even when they do put out something specifically for collectors, there's no guarantee the product will appeal enough to make a profit.

And even when they do sell well, fans gripe about how their Masterpiece or Alternity or Binaltech "could be better". Or they complain about why Mighty Muggs or Robot Replicas were prioritized over more Universe figures. Or why it always has to be G1 and later series are treated like an afterthought (imagine the uproar if the next Masterpiece is a Beast Wars character).

Now after seeing this and the Superion set I no longer give Hasbro the benefit of the doubt. The fact that they can stand there and tell us that it takes too much time and effort to make proper combiners like this, is simply laughable at this point. These sets are made by a bunch of fans that aren't working on anywhere near the budget that Hasbro does, and they don't seem to be having any problems.

At this point the Hasbro session at Botcon is just a joke. You can't believe a single thing anyone at that panel says, and I'll say now that that even includes the whole Thundercracker fiasco. So hey Hasbro, FU!

Ever since FansProject became the darlings of the fandom, their names been brought up at almost every Hasbro Q&A. Hasbro, to their credit, have basically chosen not to go after FansProject - or the shops who sell their product. Nothing's stopping Hasbro from deciding not to supply BBTS, Toy Arena and all those other shops which also stock third-party toys.

Wouldn't that be one helluvan FU?

[Geekee1]

Ever since FansProject became the darlings of the fandom, their names been brought up at almost every Hasbro Q&A. Hasbro, to their credit, have basically chosen not to go after FansProject - or the shops who sell their product. Nothing's stopping Hasbro from deciding not to supply BBTS, Toy Arena and all those other shops which also stock third-party toys.

Wouldn't that be one helluvan FU?

Point taken. However they are seriously being outplayed at their own game, and I must admit that I'm more than a bit miffed at Hasbro's quality as of late. All of their figures have been getting to be of a much worse quality lately starting with the Animated line. Lately I've been picking up the Iron Man 2 figures and finding a decently painted one of those is nearly impossible, and I had to purchase three 6" Mark VI figures to find one that wasn't a complete bobble head at the torso joint.

I just want more for my money at this point.

[Droptested Thrice]

Ever since FansProject became the darlings of the fandom, their names been brought up at almost every Hasbro Q&A. Hasbro, to their credit, have basically chosen not to go after FansProject - or the shops who sell their product. Nothing's stopping Hasbro from deciding not to supply BBTS, Toy Arena and all those other shops which also stock third-party toys.

Wouldn't that be one helluvan FU?

Point taken. However they are seriously being outplayed at their own game, and I must admit that I'm more than a bit miffed at Hasbro's quality as of late. All of their figures have been getting to be of a much worse quality lately starting with the Animated line. Lately I've been picking up the Iron Man 2 figures and finding a decently painted one of those is nearly impossible, and I had to purchase three 6" Mark VI figures to find one that wasn't a complete bobble head at the torso joint.

I just want more for my money at this point.

Oh I agree. It's absolutely annoying buying a product, only to find something wrong with it.

But Hasbro and FansProject have different business models. Even if both maintain quality control that results in the same defect rate of - for example, one percent of a specific toy's entire production run - Hasbro's production volume means that their one percent means more defective units than FansProject. And that's simply because Hasbro can produce much more units than FansProject.

Essentially, having a huge production run means it's easier for a consumer to have that product replaced, compared to something that would be more focused on a niche market. That doesn't mean Hasbro shouldn't further improve their QC, and I would welcome any steps being taken to do so.

[Nickolai]

Wow, thanks, FP. Now my toilet is full of bricks.

[Hal7300]

Anyone else toying with the idea of replacing Onslaught with Energon Barricade?

Personally prefer the colours on Barricade, slightly more G1 accurate (plus Onslaught's paint job is dull IMO).

[Prime Evil]

Anyone else toying with the idea of replacing Onslaught with Energon Barricade?

Personally prefer the colours on Barricade, slightly more G1 accurate (plus Onslaught's paint job is dull IMO).

I thought about it a lil and I think I'm deciding to go with the ROTF Onslaught only because the combined form will look more like G1 Bruticus. Because in the orig toy, he had that grey chest piece added to his torso and grey was mainly the color of ROTF Onslaught. I still might switch both and see how it looks once I get it in hand though.

REMEMBER FOLKS, FansProject does do recolors! I keep on seeing people wanting to buy two sets. I say just wait for the eventual recolor and go from there. With the ebay releases of Gunbarrel and Reverb, I think with E-Barricade, I wonder if FansProject will do a red colored munitioner and a white explorer...giving us Battle Gaia.

That's kiinda what I'm hoping for.

[Flux Convoy]

People bad-mouth the Energon/Classics Devs? Really? He is easily the most posable and solid of all 3 of those combiners. Easily, that's not opinion it's fact. That and if you don't stop speaking ill of him, I'ma find you while you're sleeping.

[GEEWUN]

.... That is just EPIC... better than my JaAm sandwich!!!!

[--B--]

Thanks a lot guys, now I am looking for Devestator just in case there is an upgrade.

Damn it.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Wait, there's been talk of a Devastator set?

Just fans speculatin'. Especially after FansProject expanded their definition of an add-on to "new replacement Transformers for your gestalts!"

All right, thanks.

Devastator would be... difficult, at best. Both Bruticus and Superion were scramble-city combiners, same as their G1 counterparts. Superion, in both incarnations, was basically five jets. Bruticus needed a Swindle and Blast-Off, but the basic configuration was still the same.

Devastator... honestly, would almost require a whole new team.

[bvzxa]

Wait, there's been talk of a Devastator set?

Just fans speculatin'. Especially after FansProject expanded their definition of an add-on to "new replacement Transformers for your gestalts!"

All right, thanks.

Devastator would be... difficult, at best. Both Bruticus and Superion were scramble-city combiners, same as their G1 counterparts. Superion, in both incarnations, was basically five jets. Bruticus needed a Swindle and Blast-Off, but the basic configuration was still the same.

Devastator... honestly, would almost require a whole new team.

My sediments exactly.

Devs is stable, but it's hands down the worst of the three combiners. He has a shovel obstructing his view in combined mode.

What FP would have to do would be to make two new members. Let's also take into account that E-Devs is based on the whole Scramble City combiner configuration, a leader, and four members where the leader is the main body. I don't see FP making three new members unless they figure out a way to re-engineer E-Steamhammer. The original constructicons had six members with a unique design, plus helper parts to make Devastator. I do see them making two new members perhaps where they add the wing chestplate, and possibly the drill/fist replacements.