The Energon Pub

-Kanrabat- wrote:Just imagine a proper action figure with a Core sized bot inside. Those could be perfect voyagers. Then as leaders, the Mega transformable like Leader Thunderwing................ and Leader Vroom!

Well, I'm glad I'm not alone. I'd love to see some people do some sketches of what modern day Pretenders would look like.

I've also pondered the idea of "reverse" Pretenders that are more like the Masterforce concept. Larger robots with 3.75" action figures of the humanoid shells. I can hear the G1 commercial now ... "Pretender Robots hide the creature (or humanoid) inside!"

I still think the most feasible way for Hasbro to do Pretenders without a massive size or complexity difference, or compromises in articulation, between the inner robot and outer shell would be to essentially have the shells be individual armor pieces placed on top of a normal-sized inner robot, probably through 5mm pegs. You could have then really easily have the armor pieces interchangeable between figures, and have that be a/the gimmick of the line. It would also give Hasbro the opportunity to revisit a lot of the lackluster core robot designs and make them stand on their own more while still resembling their G1 selves.

Looking good! Trailer looks a bit underwhelming and I think a Commander Class price/slot is a bit overboard. And I'm perfectly fine with my Power of the Primes Rodimus Prime, I love the gimmick and the vehicle mode in both versions is very good for me.

What's all this love on obscure Takara Transformers figures? I saw what came after the Rebirth and it was god aweful. I have never had to drag myself through a series so much, well except Gotham which I quit at a certain point. As I remember, The Headmasters, and the other two, can't even remember the names. It was complete trash, animation, characters, story everything.
Maybe those characters are better done in the comics?

I do get why some want a Star Saber, his design is very cool. I wish they just redid Energon Wing Saber without the splitting in 4 parts gimmick.

noctorro wrote:Looking good! Trailer looks a bit underwhelming and I think a Commander Class price/slot is a bit overboard. And I'm perfectly fine with my Power of the Primes Rodimus Prime, I love the gimmick and the vehicle mode in both versions is very good for me.

What's all this love on obscure Takara Transformers figures? I saw what came after the Rebirth and it was god aweful. I have never had to drag myself through a series so much, well except Gotham which I quit at a certain point. As I remember, The Headmasters, and the other two, can't even remember the names. It was complete trash, animation, characters, story everything.
Maybe those characters are better done in the comics?

I do get why some want a Star Saber, his design is very cool. I wish they just redid Energon Wing Saber without the splitting in 4 parts gimmick.

I find the Takara series much better then the shows previous. Though it probably helps that I'm a fan of Japanese anime to begin with thus know the tropes.

Only a few of the characters were featured in comics (star saber and deathsarus only really featured in IDWs first run towards the end with completely different personalities in one case)

So when fans want Star Saber, they want the original version from Victory.

Sabrblade wrote:

Cyberpath wrote:Couldn't you have released these like ten years ago?

We all wish that, man. But ten years ago was a different Hasbro team with a different mindset. That team believed 80s altmodes wouldn't sell in today's market and that everything had to be changed, updated, and different in order to be appealing (hence their constant refusal to make Soundwave a tape deck again). In their minds, making new toys based directly on the old character designs was "backwards thinking", and that the toys' real future lay in the live action movies.

The current Hasbro team that's been giving us these proper G1 updates didn't form until around 2014, with their first Generations offerings coming in 2015's Combiner Wars, a mere six years ago instead of ten.

For sure, but even Combiner Wars was not quite there yet, and while Titans Return was good to the actual Headmasters, the other characters got stuck with the gimmick. I feel like this new trilogy is on a whole new level: the likeness, the unified scale, the transformations (clever yet easy enough and fun), the articulation (ankle tilts!), special-effects, no forced overbearing gimmicks, the huge selection of characters (they almost completed the TFTM cast, even Quints and their minions. I know some are branded under the Studio line, but still, just technicality.) I don't even hate the ports gimmick and all the Weaponizers stuff, it's actually fun.

Sure there are still some figures that fall short (jarring part-forming.) And some figures are (for some reason) less screen-accurate than others. But overall it's amazing.
Had they released these a decade ago I'd probably never gotten into MP (just admire them vicariously.) (I don't know, SS Hot Rod looks like it may have even surpassed MP-27.)

WfC takes up less space and cost less and has more characters. It's funny, I have some of the cast as MP and some as CHUG and it's sorta takes the enjoyment out of it because I don't want to keep buying MPs, but I don't want to rid of the ones I already have, yet I don't want to repeat characters (other than Optimus, etc.) So I end up with two "incomplete" and incompatible collections. 'sides, It's all become too much so I decided to just get a handful that really get my attention, Cyclonus & Scourge, for instant. They finally became available yesterday. And maybe it is time to clear out some figures that I care less about. (Just thinking "out loud.")
long story short, I feel WfC has come too late.

It's amazing what power the original cartoon has, still selling toys after 36 years. Bet Hasbro never DREAMED when they commissioned it

They do a gold primus version of the rodimus im all in.

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:I can bet my left AND right nuts that those will never appear at my local Walmart.

Do you want me to get you some if I find both of them? Going on a hunt tomorrow.

You're going to get him left AND right? You're such a good friend!

-Kanrabat- wrote:I heard about the dual commander. And if two commanders will replace a titan, I hope it would be Victory Saber and Leo. Thus creating Titan Victory Saber!

I've mentioned this before, but I don't think Victory Leo needs to be a Commander, a Leader about the size of Grimlock should be plenty. A lot of the armor configurations are used in either lion or bot modes so it really just needs a sturdy way to disconnect some pieces and for that they can just go to God Bomber and his Combiner Wars legs. Star Saber would definitely benefit from being a Commander with all his bot and alt mode configurations.

Now, about Rodimus. I like him and will get him, but I'm not so sure I like him as a Commander. Yes, he has more articulation and a more complete trailer than Optimus, but I can't stick him next to Jet Fire or Sky Lynx and say these figures are all equal. He looks more like a $65 figure than an $80 one. And then to not be able to give us BOTH the sword and fishing pole AND give us recycled effect parts feels like they're taking advantage of us. But, like I said, I'm still going to pay the price because as much as I disagree with the price I've spent a lot more for a lot less.

Emerje

william-james88 wrote:

sol magnus wrote:I could certainly do with a Commander Class Overlord.

What happened with people being sick of getting the same toys over and over? We got an overlord, a good one, in an imposing size and a good price point, we even got a Takara version to suit whatever needs one may have. No need for commander class.

To be fair, I never said when. I've also never said anything about the same toys 'over and over', which would be hypocritical seeing as how I got everything made in Siege and also in Earthrise to a figure. Replication doesn't bother me if it's warranted by theme.

Takara added a gallery to their Transformers website using the same stock photos already shown, plus this new one:

Sabrblade wrote:Takara added a gallery to their Transformers website using the same stock photos already shown, plus this new one:

I saw some posts saying the Matrix effect was the same as SS86 Hot Rod's but that definitely looks different. I'd say about 10% bigger and, unless it is a lighting thing, the blue is much darker.

So Hasbro is pulling the same thing they did with Voyager Optimus Prime... Add a trailer to a class size and it gets bumped up to the next price point. It wasn't so long ago that we got a good Rodimus Leader Class, and Primus knows we've had a sh*t ton of Hot Rods in the last few years. You want to tell me they couldn't find another character that Commander Class would have been more fitting and deserving. I'd have to find Rodimus on super, can't resist clearance to even think about it, but between my POTP Rodimus and Rodimus Unicronus I don't need or want this...

Thanks for saving me $80 Hasbro. Since the Ark is coming out, I think a Commander Class Nemesis would've been cool...Or everyone keeps saying Transmetal Megatron / Dragon form. Just about anything would've been better. Not saying it's a bad toy, just saying 1) we don't need it and 2) It shouldn't have taken up the Commander Class slot in this line.

zatara1701 wrote:You want to tell me they couldn't find another character that Commander Class would have been more fitting and deserving.

More deserving for the 35th anniversary of Transformers: The Movie than the starring hero of the film?

Sabrblade wrote:

zatara1701 wrote:You want to tell me they couldn't find another character that Commander Class would have been more fitting and deserving.

More deserving for the 35th anniversary of Transformers: The Movie than the starring hero of the film?

This ^ plus you would not get this exact toy at a lesser price point, even minus the accessories. If he was done for Leader or lower their would be more compromises.

Given current rumours, we'll be getting more commanders next year anyway

ZeroWolf wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

zatara1701 wrote:You want to tell me they couldn't find another character that Commander Class would have been more fitting and deserving.

More deserving for the 35th anniversary of Transformers: The Movie than the starring hero of the film?

This ^ plus you would not get this exact toy at a lesser price point, even minus the accessories. If he was done for Leader or lower their would be more compromises.

Given current rumours, we'll be getting more commanders next year anyway

Based on the fact that ER Optimus Prime is a Leader just because of that bare-bone trailer, I couldn't imagine what compromises a leader Rodimus Prime would had to submit to.

Rodimus could have been done at the Leader Price Point. Just compare the original 1984 Optimus to the original 1986 Rodimus. Despite being released several years apart, they are about the same size, and have basically the same level of complexity (and were about the same price initially IIRC).

I think the point was...while there is no argument that Rodimus is pretty much the only option to Celebrate the 35th Anniversary of TF:TM, I think the Celebration was unwarranted to begin with. (again, this coming from an absolute fan of the film). I've already seen comments that this will likely lead to a CC Optimus Prime of the same complexity, something we don't need.

IF the WFC Trilogy had stuck with the simple premise of Past (Siege), Present (ER), and Future (???) A lot of classic characters in need of updates could have been developed for this year Star Saber is just one of many. Then in 2022 go Full BW. Hasbro's past shows that Anniversary Celebrations of certain lines is mostly a fabricated construct of convenience. They did nothing for BW 20th. I highly doubt there will be a NEW Armada line for next year on it's 20th.

I'll be clear. Rodimus appears to be a very well developed toy. In fact most entries in Kingdom are. It's just the haphazard "jam as much fiction as we can in Kingdom" mentality that leads to only half as many great toys as we could get for each line, instead of dedicating a full line to each. Of course it was the same with PotP. I understand the shift in thought to take an 18 month plan and reduce it to 12, but they really should have waited until Siege to start that. Just too much "Ready, Fire, Aim" going on with respect to the big picture of things to come, and it's not until fans complain, and it's too late to change anything that Hasbro takes notice, if at all.

Sabrblade wrote:

zatara1701 wrote:You want to tell me they couldn't find another character that Commander Class would have been more fitting and deserving.

More deserving for the 35th anniversary of Transformers: The Movie than the starring hero of the film?

I don't agree with Zelda on a lot, but in Kingdom I wanted to see Rodimus and Magnus swap spots. A commander Magnus would have been better. I love this Rodimus robot mode, but I'm not paying an extra $50 just for a trailer with some extra plastic. I understand that it is an update on the original G1 figure, but it could gave bern a leader class. And that way fans would have had the choice between 2 different sizes of Magnus.

Apparently (from the leakers), hasbro aren't interested in Star Saber and the like, because they didn't win the potp poll.

It's also easy to imagine the compromises, hollow parts, thinner plastic, less parts count.

Also I believe hasbro made more of an effort for Beast Wars because it didn't bother with the 20th, but did push the movie for it's 30th and got raked over Hot coals for the fans (the ones who are happy that Beast Wars got its due)

Still I'm looking forward to rodimus having a show down with Galvatron in the cartoon

ZeroWolf wrote:Still I'm looking forward to rodimus having a show down with Galvatron in the cartoon

Although we haven't seen a single shot from The Kingdom animated series yet. I would not be surprised if Rodimus and Galvatron don't even show up, (I think What we got in ER form Galvatron is it) considering all the characters already present, and the large focus on BW. There;s already going to need to be a story for Primal and BW Megs. Do you think they can effectively give screen time/story development to 6 faction commanders in 6 episodes??

o.supreme wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:Still I'm looking forward to rodimus having a show down with Galvatron in the cartoon

Although we haven't seen a single shot from The Kingdom animated series yet. I would not be surprised if Rodimus and Galvatron don't even show up, (I think What we got in ER form Galvatron is it) considering all the characters already present, and the large focus on BW. There;s already going to need to be a story for Primal and BW Megs. Do you think they can effectively give screen time/story development to 6 faction commanders in 6 episodes??

Effectively? No. Will they try? Quite possibly Alternatively, they could blend Rodimus and the Maximals into one faction with Primal taking on an Elita-1 type role of second in command, and have Megatron transform into either Galvatron or Predacon Megatron because of the Matrix (I think he stole that? Been a while since I watched it initially)

o.supreme wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:Still I'm looking forward to rodimus having a show down with Galvatron in the cartoon

Although we haven't seen a single shot from The Kingdom animated series yet. I would not be surprised if Rodimus and Galvatron don't even show up, (I think What we got in ER form Galvatron is it) considering all the characters already present, and the large focus on BW. There;s already going to need to be a story for Primal and BW Megs. Do you think they can effectively give screen time/story development to 6 faction commanders in 6 episodes??

The ER cartoon was super haphazard with the entire ark crew going on an adventure, plus a war raging on cybertron at the same time and Optimus had to confront Scorponok, Skylynx, Megatron (with special guest Galvatron) and a Quintesson. We got a lot of stuff going on in that short show so anything can happen. Galvatron has already been introduced (though I am 100% certain the showmodel does not match the upcoming toy) and while I have 0 actual evidence of this it seems like the WFC trilogy show has the mandate of including the Commander Class and Titan Class of each line, no matter how much it's shoehorned in.

Cyberpath wrote:For sure, but even Combiner Wars was not quite there yet, and while Titans Return was good to the actual Headmasters, the other characters got stuck with the gimmick.

I loved it, it gave such a great playability. Diaclone was based on the idea that the vehicles had working cockpits for smaller figures, so the Titans return line was amazing at bringing back that play pattern into the Transformers brand proper for this new generation. Plus, not having to deal with a head gave an opportunity for more transformation options and we got some really amazing transformation schemes ad cleaner vehicle modes that I do not think would have been possible otherwise.

I play Transformers with my kids and the Titans Return line is by far the one I bring out most to play.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

zatara1701 wrote:You want to tell me they couldn't find another character that Commander Class would have been more fitting and deserving.

More deserving for the 35th anniversary of Transformers: The Movie than the starring hero of the film?

And that way fans would have had the choice between 2 different sizes of Magnus.

Why would there be need for 2 different sizes of Magnus in a line where scale is finally at the forefront?

Also, you mention that in your interpretation, the extra 50$ for Rodimus is going toward the trailer but it's not the case. The "base" figure is more articulated than any figure we have gotten in any class in the entire WFC trilogy. It's closer to what you might see as an MP where an MP is the same size as a Generations figure but has far more articulation and parts. Like how MP Sideswipe is as big as a WFC Voyager but costs at least double. No one questionned that. I think it's a similar case here, you are getting a higher quality voyager figure which would probably cost leader prices on it's own, and you pay an extra $30 for the trailer. Something like that. Comparing the base Rodimus bot to a WFC voyager is not comparing apples to apples.

o.supreme wrote:Hasbro's past shows that Anniversary Celebrations of certain lines is mostly a fabricated construct of convenience. They did nothing for BW 20th. I highly doubt there will be a NEW Armada line for next year on it's 20th.

They did nothing for BW 20th because they were too busy celebrating TFTM 30th. They thought fans cared more about that anniversary than BW 20th. It's because they got flak for doing nothing for BW 20th that they're finally doing BW for its 25th, but still think TFTM 35th is important too.

You're probably right on the money about no Armada 20th since this Hasbro team seems to think that no one cares about anything other than G1, TFTM, the movies (what with the effort they put into Studio Series), and now BW. They seem to only celebrate the anniversaries that they think are worth celebrating.

Sentinel_Primal wrote:

o.supreme wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:Still I'm looking forward to rodimus having a show down with Galvatron in the cartoon

Although we haven't seen a single shot from The Kingdom animated series yet. I would not be surprised if Rodimus and Galvatron don't even show up, (I think What we got in ER form Galvatron is it) considering all the characters already present, and the large focus on BW. There;s already going to need to be a story for Primal and BW Megs. Do you think they can effectively give screen time/story development to 6 faction commanders in 6 episodes??

Effectively? No. Will they try? Quite possibly Alternatively, they could blend Rodimus and the Maximals into one faction with Primal taking on an Elita-1 type role of second in command, and have Megatron transform into either Galvatron or Predacon Megatron because of the Matrix (I think he stole that? Been a while since I watched it initially)

yes, my thoughts exactly, nothing's been really effective so I doubt this would be. As for Galvatron, did he not say in the Earthrise cartoon that Megatron does turn into him? I thought I remembered a line that inferred that.

I'd rather have gimmicks put into an entire line, even for G1 characters that didn't have that gimmick, than the half-hearted adoption in the annual WfC lines. Sure, Titans Return gave Headmasters to Targetmasters and a Powermaster, but that was a good way to represent those lines without spreading the line too thin. It means that my season 4 displays can have dozens of little bots running around.

I'm apprehensive that after two trilogies themed around play features with diminishing levels of commitment, might go back to generic groupings of characters. While the themes can be limiting, they can also open up exciting options. We got modern updates of Micromaster bases! That was only possible with the evolution from Siege to Earthrise, with Battle Masters leading to similarly-scaled Micromasters and Weaponizers giving way to those Modulators.

When I look back over the last decade, these play features brought far more to Generations than we lost.

william-james88 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:Still I'm looking forward to rodimus having a show down with Galvatron in the cartoon

Although we haven't seen a single shot from The Kingdom animated series yet. I would not be surprised if Rodimus and Galvatron don't even show up, (I think What we got in ER form Galvatron is it) considering all the characters already present, and the large focus on BW. There;s already going to need to be a story for Primal and BW Megs. Do you think they can effectively give screen time/story development to 6 faction commanders in 6 episodes??

The ER cartoon was super haphazard with the entire ark crew going on an adventure, plus a war raging on cybertron at the same time and Optimus had to confront Scorponok, Skylynx, Megatron (with special guest Galvatron) and a Quintesson. We got a lot of stuff going on in that short show so anything can happen. Galvatron has already been introduced (though I am 100% certain the showmodel does not match the upcoming toy) and while I have 0 actual evidence of this it seems like the WFC trilogy show has the mandate of including the Commander Class and Titan Class of each line, no matter how much it's shoehorned in.

Cyberpath wrote:For sure, but even Combiner Wars was not quite there yet, and while Titans Return was good to the actual Headmasters, the other characters got stuck with the gimmick.

I loved it, it gave such a great playability. Diaclone was based on the idea that the vehicles had working cockpits for smaller figures, so the Titans return line was amazing at bringing back that play pattern into the Transformers brand proper for this new generation. Plus, not having to deal with a head gave an opportunity for more transformation options and we got some really amazing transformation schemes ad cleaner vehicle modes that I do not think would have been possible otherwise.

I play Transformers with my kids and the Titans Return line is by far the one I bring out most to play.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

zatara1701 wrote:You want to tell me they couldn't find another character that Commander Class would have been more fitting and deserving.

More deserving for the 35th anniversary of Transformers: The Movie than the starring hero of the film?

And that way fans would have had the choice between 2 different sizes of Magnus.

Why would there be need for 2 different sizes of Magnus in a line where scale is finally at the forefront?

Also, you mention that in your interpretation, the extra 50$ for Rodimus is going toward the trailer but it's not the case. The "base" figure is more articulated than any figure we have gotten in any class in the entire WFC trilogy. It's closer to what you might see as an MP where an MP is the same size as a Generations figure but has far more articulation and parts. Like how MP Sideswipe is as big as a WFC Voyager but costs at least double. No one questionned that. I think it's a similar case here, you are getting a higher quality voyager figure which would probably cost leader prices on it's own, and you pay an extra $30 for the trailer. Something like that. Comparing the base Rodimus bot to a WFC voyager is not comparing apples to apples.

This ^ Well said Will.