The Energon Pub

[El Duque]

Having trouble deciding if you want to import Takara Tomy's Transformers Generations TG-21 Springer and TG-22 Blitzwing? Japanese toy blogger Alfes 2010 has posted some nice in-hand images of the pair complete with comparisons to their Hasbro counterparts. We've mirrored a selection of his images below, but many more images can be found by clicking here.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

And the three faces of Blitzwing get call-outs on the packaging: "Hothead", "Icy" and "Random". Nice one, TT

[Bumblevivisector]

Yes, Takara's Blitzwing is so awesome that their Springer wants to emulate him, claiming his alts are a jet and tank too!

[Evil Eye]

Surprise surprise, the Japanese versions look a million times better.

[LOST Cybertronian]

Hasbro's Springer looks better but there is barely even a difference in them. Blitzy, I like Takara's especially with that metallic helmet.

[Sabrblade]

I'm happy with my Hasbro versions.

And the three faces of Blitzwing get call-outs on the packaging: "Hothead", "Icy" and "Random". Nice one, TT

Methinks Hydra might have helped with that.

[Overcracker]

2 questions

1. Did Takara fix Blitzwing's Shoulder issue?

2. did they make his nosecone hard plastic?

Other than that, damn that shiny paint on the helmet makes all the difference. Sprung on the other hand is just not different enough. Lighter gray on the gray plastic is about t.

[Sodan-1]

These photos leave me very impressed. Not with Takara's figures, but with Hasbro's. I don't think I can honestly say one version is better than the other. I'd say it purely comes down to preference.

Good work, Hasbro.

[rockman_fan]

way to go takara. you made the greens inconsistant and made the yellow match even less than the hasbro version. good job.

[megatronus]

Love that Blitzwing - especially the torso detail.

I'm still a fan of the yellow helmet though... it makes him seem more G1 to me.

Thank goodness we have that SXS upgrade coming out!

[Sabrblade]

Love that Blitzwing - especially the torso detail.

I'm still a fan of the yellow helmet though... it makes him seem more G1 to me.

I don't understand.

[fenrir72]

Sweet!

[megatronus]

Love that Blitzwing - especially the torso detail.

I'm still a fan of the yellow helmet though... it makes him seem more G1 to me.

I don't understand.

When I think of G1 Blitzwing, I think "Yellow Helmet" - right or wrong, that's my mental image. Takara Blitzwing has a gold helmet.

For whatever reason, the fact that Takara Blitzwing's purples are metallic don't bother me. The helmet, though...

[Sabrblade]

Love that Blitzwing - especially the torso detail.

I'm still a fan of the yellow helmet though... it makes him seem more G1 to me.

I don't understand.

When I think of G1 Blitzwing, I think "Yellow Helmet" - right or wrong, that's my mental image. Takara Blitzwing has a gold helmet.

For whatever reason, the fact that Takara Blitzwing's purples are metallic don't bother me. The helmet, though...

Ah, okay. The way you worded it made it sound like there was a "not" missing between "I'm still" and "a fan of", sounding like you didn't like the helmet being yellow because it looked too G1. I get ya, now.

Though, it is undoubtly true that G1 Blitzwing had a yellow helmet, yes. But, suppose that, on his day off, he decided to give his armor a nice wash and polish, making his parts look all nice, shiny, and clean like new. The yellow of his helmet might very well resemble shiny gold then, right?

[megatronus]

Love that Blitzwing - especially the torso detail.

I'm still a fan of the yellow helmet though... it makes him seem more G1 to me.

I don't understand.

When I think of G1 Blitzwing, I think "Yellow Helmet" - right or wrong, that's my mental image. Takara Blitzwing has a gold helmet.

For whatever reason, the fact that Takara Blitzwing's purples are metallic don't bother me. The helmet, though...

Ah, okay. The way you worded it made it sound like there was a "not" missing between "I'm still" and "a fan of", sounding like you didn't like the helmet being yellow because it looked too G1. I get ya, now.

Though, it is undoubtly true that G1 Blitzwing had a yellow helmet, yes. But, suppose that, on his day off, he decided to give his armor a nice wash and polish, making his parts look all nice, shiny, and clean like new. The yellow of his helmet might very well resemble shiny gold then, right?

Indeed, good sir! There's nothing wrong with the gold helmet - it's just a metallic interpretation of the colors. Some art and/or depictions of Blitzwing have him with more of a tannish helmet anyway, which help makes the interpretation palatable. But alas, I prefer my Blitzing with a yellow helmet.

Which is why I'm happy SXS has a new head, with a yellow helmet, on the way! I can have my cake and eat it, too.

[Sabrblade]

According to user Powered Convoy, Takara Blitzwing's jet mode fits together quite well, the tank mode is slightly better than the Hasbro version, but Takara did not fix the robot mode's shoulder problems.

[Mkall]

According to user Powered Convoy, Takara Blitzwing's jet mode fits together quite well, the tank mode is slightly better than the Hasbro version, but Takara did not fix the robot mode's shoulder problems.

I don't know about others, but I didn't really expect them to do so. To my knowledge, Takara has never fixed a flaw discovered in Hasbro's releases before. Why start now?

[Jelze Bunnycat]

According to user Powered Convoy, Takara Blitzwing's jet mode fits together quite well, the tank mode is slightly better than the Hasbro version, but Takara did not fix the robot mode's shoulder problems.

I don't know about others, but I didn't really expect them to do so. To my knowledge, Takara has never fixed a flaw discovered in Hasbro's releases before. Why start now?

The most recent tweak between Hasbro and TakaraTomy belongs to RtS Laser Optimus Prime. On the TakaraTomy and later versions, the tabs for the front of the cab were adjusted so they'd no longer hinder shoulder articulation.
Mold tweaks like that have been done before, but not with concurrent releases I believe (i.e. both Hasbro and TakaraTomy releases aren't that far apart).