The Energon Pub

Man, you guys are kinda late on this. Kingdom Rodimus has been sighted over here at Big W shops for like, a few weeks or so now.
https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/05/22/tra ... lia-433957

Emgo's got lots of his "signature stuff" in his videos, like "transclearance", "sad pac-man," saying Deluxe/Voyager/Leader class in all 4 languages, "you grow old..." and box throwing shticks that I find very repetitive. Got ultimately, they amount to a few extra seconds more per video, no big deal and not that annoying. Since IMO he does put a lot more extra effort (e.g. the sketch comedy) in each of his video than the average YT reviewer does so I do appreciate that. He's up front about sources and sponsors AFAIK so like some people already said here, he's legit.

cloudballoon wrote:Emgo's got lots of his "signature stuff" in his videos, like "transclearance", "sad pac-man," saying Deluxe/Voyager/Leader class in all 4 languages, "you grow old..." and box throwing shticks that I find very repetitive. Got ultimately, they amount to a few extra seconds more per video, no big deal and not that annoying. Since IMO he does put a lot more extra effort (e.g. the sketch comedy) in each of his video than the average YT reviewer does so I do appreciate that. He's up front about sources and sponsors AFAIK so like some people already said here, he's legit.

I appreciate all of his little phrases and lingo
It is pretty repetitive but I enjoy the positivity and enthusiasm in the reviews. The effort is definitely there as you said, emgo is easily my favorite reviewer

I enjoy when he makes a comparison with "MAGNUS" as well as "GEEWUN ___ preciousssss"

Razorbeast88 wrote:

cloudballoon wrote:Emgo's got lots of his "signature stuff" in his videos, like "transclearance", "sad pac-man," saying Deluxe/Voyager/Leader class in all 4 languages, "you grow old..." and box throwing shticks that I find very repetitive. Got ultimately, they amount to a few extra seconds more per video, no big deal and not that annoying. Since IMO he does put a lot more extra effort (e.g. the sketch comedy) in each of his video than the average YT reviewer does so I do appreciate that. He's up front about sources and sponsors AFAIK so like some people already said here, he's legit.

I appreciate all of his little phrases and lingo
It is pretty repetitive but I enjoy the positivity and enthusiasm in the reviews. The effort is definitely there as you said, emgo is easily my favorite reviewer

I enjoy when he makes a comparison with "MAGNUS" as well as "GEEWUN ___ preciousssss"

I also think some people take "PARTSFORMING?! WORST TOY EV.... Shhhhhhh." personally.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Razorbeast88 wrote:

cloudballoon wrote:Emgo's got lots of his "signature stuff" in his videos, like "transclearance", "sad pac-man," saying Deluxe/Voyager/Leader class in all 4 languages, "you grow old..." and box throwing shticks that I find very repetitive. Got ultimately, they amount to a few extra seconds more per video, no big deal and not that annoying. Since IMO he does put a lot more extra effort (e.g. the sketch comedy) in each of his video than the average YT reviewer does so I do appreciate that. He's up front about sources and sponsors AFAIK so like some people already said here, he's legit.

I appreciate all of his little phrases and lingo
It is pretty repetitive but I enjoy the positivity and enthusiasm in the reviews. The effort is definitely there as you said, emgo is easily my favorite reviewer

I enjoy when he makes a comparison with "MAGNUS" as well as "GEEWUN ___ preciousssss"

I also think some people take "PARTSFORMING?! WORST TOY EV.... Shhhhhhh." personally.

I wouldnt doubt it hahaha that's another thing I like, he shuts down a lot of the whining and most of his criticisms are more relevant "in my personal opinion"

There's a plethora of great reviewers out there, and all of them aren't using stolen toys to bolster their ratings. Sure, some might review KO or 3P toys (which might go against the morals of some TF collectors) but at least they usually cite their sources and/or put some genuine effort into their reviews. I have managed to enjoy reviews from China, Japan, the UK, Vietnam, Australia and US, including:

- Benscollectibles/BensKOllectibles
- Mangmotion
- peaugh
- The Lazy Eyebrow
- Toy Polloi
- wotafa
- Bootleg Toys Vietnam (who, ironically, DOESN'T review stolen toys from a nearby factory)
- Bots and Bits
- JobbytheHong (NSFW)
- Kuma Style
- SirToysDotCom
- TheHenshinGuy
- THECOLLECTOR75
- Toyhax.com

I'm sure there are others (I used to watch Optibotimus, and some others).

At the risk of outing myself as a weirdo, I've never watched a transformers toy review. Like ever. Certainly not for anything I didn't receive yet. The only times I can think of watching any type of review was to modify or fix a known issue like the TR Trypticon hip fix.

I just kind of like experiencing each new mold/figure all on my own first, especially the transformation.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:At the risk of outing myself as a weirdo, I've never watched a transformers toy review. Like ever. Certainly not for anything I didn't receive yet. The only times I can think of watching any type of review was to modify or fix a known issue like the TR Trypticon hip fix.

I just kind of like experiencing each new mold/figure all on my own first, especially the transformation.

For me, I've also watched them AFTER I've bought a toy, do see reinforce my own biased opinions about them or, like you, to look for "fixes" to problems.

No sure what to think. I don't remember the last time, "leak" information was supposed to be legal. And, and, and, we all like to read and watch "leak" materials, but complains about it. smh. Maybe we should put a disclaimer on the news, saying something like, stop here if don't want spoilers or "leak" info.

primalxconvoy wrote:

TF-fan kev777 wrote:At the risk of outing myself as a weirdo, I've never watched a transformers toy review. Like ever. Certainly not for anything I didn't receive yet. The only times I can think of watching any type of review was to modify or fix a known issue like the TR Trypticon hip fix.

I just kind of like experiencing each new mold/figure all on my own first, especially the transformation.

For me, I've also watched them AFTER I've bought a toy, do see reinforce my own biased opinions about them or, like you, to look for "fixes" to problems.

I often watch reviews purely for the entertainment. Even for things I'll never buy.
My favorite entertainer reviewers being Thew, Emgo, and Jobby the Hong. Especially Jobby. That guy is NUT!

-Kanrabat- wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:

TF-fan kev777 wrote:At the risk of outing myself as a weirdo, I've never watched a transformers toy review. Like ever. Certainly not for anything I didn't receive yet. The only times I can think of watching any type of review was to modify or fix a known issue like the TR Trypticon hip fix.

I just kind of like experiencing each new mold/figure all on my own first, especially the transformation.

For me, I've also watched them AFTER I've bought a toy, do see reinforce my own biased opinions about them or, like you, to look for "fixes" to problems.

I often watch reviews purely for the entertainment. Even for things I'll never buy.
My favorite entertainer reviewers being Thew, Emgo, and Jobby the Hong. Especially Jobby. That guy is NUT!

I forgot Thew, and I'm already subscribed to him!

primalxconvoy wrote:And that's why I watch Emgo! The man is legit.

My only issue is the inflections he does with his voice, just like most youtubers do, just give a f'ing review without your own silly sound effects and such, If I want to be entertained Ill watch a movie.

primalxconvoy wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:

TF-fan kev777 wrote:At the risk of outing myself as a weirdo, I've never watched a transformers toy review. Like ever. Certainly not for anything I didn't receive yet. The only times I can think of watching any type of review was to modify or fix a known issue like the TR Trypticon hip fix.

I just kind of like experiencing each new mold/figure all on my own first, especially the transformation.

For me, I've also watched them AFTER I've bought a toy, do see reinforce my own biased opinions about them or, like you, to look for "fixes" to problems.

I often watch reviews purely for the entertainment. Even for things I'll never buy.
My favorite entertainer reviewers being Thew, Emgo, and Jobby the Hong. Especially Jobby. That guy is NUT!

I forgot Thew, and I'm already subscribed to him!

I literally only watch Thew for the entertainment. I don't consider what he does actual reviews. If I want to see a product showcase, I'll watch someone else. Thew I just find fun to watch. He could "review" a fork and I'd still watch it.

Not all reviewers are necessarily our "cups of tea", but all the ones we've mentioned aren't receiving stolen goods, which makes them at least worthy of my time, even if I don't watch their full video or subscribe to them. PVP and his ilk, on the other hand, aren't.

Possible first sighting? Nah. Rodimus Prime came out in Big W stores here in Australia about two and a half weeks ago. Pretty readily available too. It'll be on sale there as of next week. A number of waves get skipped here, so it's nice to get a win with an early release every so often.

I've had my Kingdom Rodimus sitting on my desk for the last week. I can confirm, it's a lot of fun. And worth the commander class price point. There are a lot of parts involved.

I like how Emgo has obviously played with the figures a lot before doing the review. He really looks closely at the ins and outs of transformation and a lot of the play patterns involved.

william-james88 wrote:Id expect his crotch To be fully blue like the original TWrecks. That definitely stops the colour layout from being 100% what the original had.

I've mentioned this before, they should have taken the pointless white paint from his chest, below his neck, and used the cost of that asset to properly paint in his belt blue. Would have gone a long way in improving the figure.

I'm hoping for a third party head and some ToyHax labels to fix the belt.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Id expect his crotch To be fully blue like the original TWrecks. That definitely stops the colour layout from being 100% what the original had.

I've mentioned this before, they should have taken the pointless white paint from his chest, below his neck, and used the cost of that asset to properly paint in his belt blue. Would have gone a long way in improving the figure.

I'm hoping for a third party head and some ToyHax labels to fix the belt.

Emerje

I hope more "mainstream/accessible" 3P companies start doing add-on kits for regular figures. Currently, there only seems to be kits for titan class figures and then either 3D printed stuff, Toyark or Nonnef (all of which are either unavailable, or cost too much).

I love Emgo. He enthusiastic, positive and entertaining. All of his reviews are fun and I like his Big Build series with the parts works Enterprise D.

He's great fun!

~ Grim

It’s CRAZY watching people lose their mind about something that for those of us in Australia is no big deal, as the toy has been available for purchase since last week.

And to see accusations of theft being tossed around with no proof. Bizarre.

For the conspiracy theorists who still believe someone is smuggling toys out of a factory (going to be pretty hard to slip Rodimus under your shirt), the toy is available for purchase at Big W as part of their toy sale. It secured an exclusive release of an early batch to coincide with their annual toy sale. You can see it displayed in the toy catalogue at www.bigw.com.au if you still think its stolen. It’s available at the non-sale price of 149 AUD, but next week when the sale starts will be available for only 109. Now that’s actually super cheap and under the suggestered retail price….. but there’s a catch, in that its limited to about 6-12 per store.

I’ll be waiting until next week, but we’re already having people buy the full six or twelve units at the higher price, because they’re selling it to people in the US or planning to eBay it. Sad, but there are scalpers everywhere.

I have a good relationship with Hasbro. I receive their marketing packages as do other major Transformers reviewers, fan site owners and other comparable media outlets. I'm around 99% certain that these early samples are not from Hasbro. You know when you get something from Hasbro because it comes in a super nice one-of-a-kind press kit package, generally along with other items as well (unless it's SDCC Fortress Maximus or something like that).

The factory leaks issue has been ongoing since the early days of eBay. I used to buy early samples directly on eBay back in the day to photograph on Seibertron. While the practice may be in the gray area, we also don't know for sure what the story is behind them. I've always had the mindset that it's up to Hasbro to fix leaks at the factory. We also have no idea what business agreements they have with their factories either or what the agreements are pertaining to factory samples, factory defects, factory extras, etc. I've never seen a binding contract between Hasbro and their factories, and I doubt any of those debating this issue have either.

If Hasbro wants to shut that down, they could get their lawyers involved with it, make a public statement about it, clarify what these samples are, and clamp down on early samples becoming available. That's their fight. Because we can argue and debate about it until the sun explodes and we'll have accomplished nothing other than arguing about something we really don't know much about.

I don't want to see this discussed in this topic, but I am curious how many of you attacking the reviewers for getting early samples also purchase 3rd party products or KO products to have in your collection, which is another area that I think is a little clearer what the rights and wrongs are.

Long story short, we should keep this conversation and news about the actual products instead of debating this issue about factory leaks and YouTube reviewers. If you want to have that debate, please debate it in a separate topic and keep topics about the toys on-topic. Thanks.

Seibertron wrote:I have a good relationship with Hasbro. I receive their marketing packages as do other major Transformers reviewers, fan site owners and other comparable media outlets. I'm around 99% certain that these early samples are not from Hasbro. You know when you get something from Hasbro because it comes in a super nice one-of-a-kind press kit package, generally along with other items as well (unless it's SDCC Fortress Maximus or something like that).

The factory leaks issue has been ongoing since the early days of eBay. I used to buy early samples directly on eBay back in the day to photograph on Seibertron. While the practice may be in the gray area, we also don't know for sure what the story is behind them. I've always had the mindset that it's up to Hasbro to fix leaks at the factory. We also have no idea what business agreements they have with their factories either or what the agreements are pertaining to factory samples, factory defects, factory extras, etc. I've never seen a binding contract between Hasbro and their factories, and I doubt any of those debating this issue have either.

If Hasbro wants to shut that down, they could get their lawyers involved with it, make a public statement about it, clarify what these samples are, and clamp down on early samples becoming available. That's their fight. Because we can argue and debate about it until the sun explodes and we'll have accomplished nothing other than arguing about something we really don't know much about.

I'm curious how many of you attacking the reviewers for getting early samples also purchase 3rd party products or KO products to have in your collection.

Long story short, we should keep this conversation and news about the actual products instead of debating this issue about factory leaks and YouTube reviewers. If you want to have that debate, please debate it in a separate topic and keep topics about the toys on-topic. Thanks.

Thank you. Where is the topic/thread to discuss this?

primalxconvoy wrote:Where is the topic/thread to discuss this?

Someone should start one if they want to have that debate/discussion.

I was watching Death's Review of Core Class Optimus. Not a first to be sure, but it is the first I've seen to compare one of the newer Core class with any of the Previous Legends Class figures...which begs the question...Why the name change? I mean I know this particular size of Transformer disappeared for two years during Siege and ER to focus on Micromasters. But now that it is back (under a new name), it just doesn't seem to make sense. Sure the toys have slightly better engineering and articulation than previous Legends class. But the same could be said for all other toy class sizes, and their names haven't changed. Was it maybe to avoid conflict with another Hasbro line (Marvel Legends?).

I was just curious what anyone else thinks? Sure in hindsight does it really matter? No...but since June, by all appearances, is going to be a slow news month, we have to drum up some sort of conversation, otherwise it devolves into other things that go off topic, which I am guilty of myself, and I apologize. Just trying to keep the ball rolling is all.

I know a LOT of people have praised the Core Class. I mean they are great as a more economic way to obtain smaller versions of famous characters, but they just don't fit anywhere in my collection. If I were collecting all BW characters, then sure Rattrap would be a must, but poor Vertebreak and Dracodon don't have much going for them other than if someone is just awed by something new. They aren't fossilizers, they aren't previously established characters. It's just the "oh cool a Dinosaur!" factor, I guess Hasbro hopes to sell, in two different colors .

I've actually found myself lately going back and picking up some of the previous CW. TR, and PotP Legends class that I skipped because I now have a use for them. Fortunately because of their small size none of them are too expensive. The TT Transformers Adventure ones though Yeesh.... I am glad I got those a few years ago...

My best guess on renaming the Legends class to Core class was likely something as simple as wanting a new name for the class when the revived it that avoided any of the Legends/Legion confusion from the past.

I could see something as simple as the marketing team saying we want to revive the Legend class, but not specifically for smaller bots who only fit at that scale. Rather we will include all the core characters in a smaller more affordable scale for kids/parents and fill in the rest with smaller bots who fit the scale. Well, if it is mostly core characters, why not call it Core class?

As for Vertebreak, she actually is a pretty fun little bot to play around with. Plus she has a unique transformation for a dino alt mode in that the dino head becomes the cod-piece.