The Energon Pub

AcademyofDrX wrote:that a character exclusive to a Japanese animated series, that never had a toy, and turns into an aircraft carrier "deserves" the most expensive retail figure,

Sounds like more elitist western fan base POV to me. If sentiments like this prevailed we would never have TR SkyShadow, or Overlord for example. I thought we were past this... It's not a matter of *deserving* anything, it's that why revisit something that is perfectly fine, when there are other unexplored possibilities. I mean isn't that the whole battle cry of people who are "sick of g1"?

AcademyofDrX wrote:or that people who weren't collecting in 2012 shouldn't get characters because that somehow cheats people who already have them.

T30 Metro didn't come out until Summer 2013, and was readily available until late 2014. TT reissued it twice and was available at least on BBTS until early 2019.

Additionally it boggles my mind that some fans think because a toy is no longer commercially available it is impossible to obtain. I painfully watched as the last TT Metroplex reissues on BBTS slipped away just before I got my tax return last year. Within a couple months I got A T30 Metro MISB for a fair price on eBay (way less than what you would think). Those that have the will can make things happen.

o.supreme wrote:If sentiments like this prevailed we would never have TR SkyShadow, or Overlord for example.

I really want to pick up Legends Overlord but with the way the post office is right now I wouldn't see that figure until Kingdom is on wave 2

And I can't help but think if the leaks hadn't said the Titan was not a Beast Wars figure the speculation here would be more interesting. With as G1-esque as the mainline has been, not many to choose from without dipping back into the well with a repeat or a repaint.

To be fair though, Wardens Metroplex will be a different beast to Archers one, it will be more of an update to the G1 figure in terms of design. I think it would be best to not get our hopes up in terms of who the titan is. This means you won't be let down if it is Metroplex but get the additional feeling of surprise if it is someone new. I mean it could also be the Ark playset...

ZeroWolf wrote:To be fair though, Wardens Metroplex will be a different beast to Archers one, it will be more of an update to the G1 figure in terms of design. I think it would be best to not get our hopes up in terms of who the titan is. This means you won't be let down if it is Metroplex but get the additional feeling of surprise if it is someone new. I mean it could also be the Ark playset...

I doubt it's an Ark playset, as the TFW leaker described it as having a lanky robot mode.

I made a list a while back ago (I wish I could remember where I posted it), of every toy character from 1985-1989 that hasn't been given an update in the last 2 trilogies (since 2015). There were still more than enough to fill an entire line of toys.

Additionally, I'm not trying to be dogmatic or demanding, I apologize if I come across that way. It's just that, if it does turn out to be Metroplex, there's no doubt it will be superior to the T30 one. It's just that when you get too much of a good thing (much like how Disney has done in SW). It tends to be less special. I mean, would we all be praising these Titans if we had gotten other versions of them every 5-7 years from the 90's until now? Certainly not. Their re-emergence in the last decade is what has made each one so special IMO at least. Revisiting one of them again, so soon just makes it feel less special to me.

Initially I thought Metroplex to be a one-off, which is why I never got it the first time around. It wasn't until the 2016 Titan Fan vote (for 2017), that I realized the potential that we could possibly get all of these in the next few years (before that i thought it only to be a fantasy), so I promptly got Fort Max, and have purchased each one as they have come since, and painstakingly waited until last year to finally fill the gap of my collection with a T30 Metroplex.

Hmm, well, if it's got a lanky robot mode, then it can't possibly be a more G1-accurate Metroplex since Metroplex is supposed to be wide and chunky in robot mode.

Autobot N wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:To be fair though, Wardens Metroplex will be a different beast to Archers one, it will be more of an update to the G1 figure in terms of design. I think it would be best to not get our hopes up in terms of who the titan is. This means you won't be let down if it is Metroplex but get the additional feeling of surprise if it is someone new. I mean it could also be the Ark playset...

I doubt it's an Ark playset, as the TFW leaker described it as having a lanky robot mode.

Transforming Ark maybe? It has no pre-existing bot mode design (since there's no way they'll do Animated Omega), so it could be lanky, and the transforming companion could be Teletraan maybe?

o.supreme wrote:Sounds like more elitist western fan base POV to me.

Only the TF fandom would treat denigrating a nobody character from the deepest depths of the wiki as "elitist." If anything, you should criticize me for being too basic. Honestly, if it makes Hasbro and Takara happy, they should make all the Scorponok fill-in characters that they want! I don't see the point in treating one as more important than another. Though if you're going to frame it that way, I think it might be a good idea for a toy company to make a toy that would actually sell, just a thought.

To be fair, Overlord also received a fair bit of exposure from the IDW 1 comic stories, and I knew him before masterforce, from the time when he was released in Europe as part of G1.5

ZeroWolf wrote:I knew him before I knew of masterforce, from the time when he was released in Europe as part of G1.5

Fixed considering Overlord was released originally in 1988, and the European version came later in 1991. It's rare, but some of us outside of Japan actually knew about the Japanese series as they were airing. .

Sorry I was meant to put that, I recall your stories previously of having the lucky position to have had access to them

I hope these rumors about more minibots means we'll be getting a new Gears/Swerve mold. The T30 mold never really worked that well for Gears, and hopefully a new toy would lower T30 Swerve's aftermarket prices.

Autobot N wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:To be fair though, Wardens Metroplex will be a different beast to Archers one, it will be more of an update to the G1 figure in terms of design. I think it would be best to not get our hopes up in terms of who the titan is. This means you won't be let down if it is Metroplex but get the additional feeling of surprise if it is someone new. I mean it could also be the Ark playset...

I doubt it's an Ark playset, as the TFW leaker described it as having a lanky robot mode.

It's Tidal wave

TulioDude wrote:

Autobot N wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:To be fair though, Wardens Metroplex will be a different beast to Archers one, it will be more of an update to the G1 figure in terms of design. I think it would be best to not get our hopes up in terms of who the titan is. This means you won't be let down if it is Metroplex but get the additional feeling of surprise if it is someone new. I mean it could also be the Ark playset...

I doubt it's an Ark playset, as the TFW leaker described it as having a lanky robot mode.

It's Tidal wave

Nah it'll be an Autobots turn at titan class...it'll be Broadside

TulioDude wrote:

Autobot N wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:To be fair though, Wardens Metroplex will be a different beast to Archers one, it will be more of an update to the G1 figure in terms of design. I think it would be best to not get our hopes up in terms of who the titan is. This means you won't be let down if it is Metroplex but get the additional feeling of surprise if it is someone new. I mean it could also be the Ark playset...

I doubt it's an Ark playset, as the TFW leaker described it as having a lanky robot mode.

It's Tidal wave

That would be awesome.

And if it's the Ark, to make it a true G1 toy I would love its robot mode to be either Emirate Xaaron or the Last Autobot. But I know that's just wishful thinking as the comics are not favored by the designers. Too bad.

Lanky Titan you say?



And he can come with a Transforming Action Master Optimus Prime to cover the part about coming with a figure that's never transformed before.

Or watch the Titan actually be Optimus himself to scale with Beast Wars figures and the inevitable repaint of Apeface into Transmetal Optimus Primal.

And because I seem to have a theme running here: Metroplex would hardly be the first highly sought after character to get an expensive figure with multiple re-releases/regional releases only to be replaced by a new figure less than 10 years later. MP-10 Optimus Prime came out in 2011 and MP-44 came out in 2019 and you could buy three Titans for the price of MP-44.

Emerje

One of the many reasons I don't collect masterpiece toys. They've redone Optimus what 3 or 4 times? And a few others more than once? That's ridiculous when you consider the amount they cost. It's not really a Masterpiece, if they choose to keep redoing it.

Also, just curious, where is the info about the Titan being tall and skinny coming from?, All I saw/read was this:

-Titan comes with multiple accessories and a transforming companion that never transformed before, uncertain if it features Airlock ramps

I've been thinking a lot about which characters we're likely to get in Kingdom, and at what size class. It's probably safe to assume the 2021 product line will go with the same set-up of fourteen Deluxes (not including exclusives), six Voyagers and three Leaders that 2019 and 2020 did, and if the Kingdom leaker is to be believed, so far we know of five Deluxes (Cheetor, Airazor, Warpath and at least two Fossilizers with the working names "Catbone" and "Wingsaur"), three Voyagers (Optimus Primal, Dinobot and Autobot Inferno), and potentially all of the Leaders (Predacon Megatron, Rodimus Prime and Galvatron). While I know that Rodimus size technically hasn't been confirmed by the leaker, I doubt he'll be anything other than Leader class. So what does that leave us with?

We know from the leaked poster that Blackarachnia, Scorponok, Rhinox and Tigatron will be in Kingdom. Blackarachnia and Tigatron are probably going to be Deluxes, Rhinox is most likely a Voyager, and Scorponok could really work as either in my opinion. If Scorponok is a Voyager that leaves one empty slot, and to be honest I'm expecting just another re-package of the Earthrise Optimus Prime without the trailer. I can't see Optimus Prime being limited to just the Core class. However if Scorponok is a Deluxe, that potentially leaves room for at least one Voyager Decepticon, so seeing as Galvatron is presumably the big bad of Kingdom's story, that new Cyclonus toy we saw a while back would fit well into the line (unless of course it's part of Studio Series).

I think Kingdom will stick to season 1 Beast Wars characters, I'm not expecting any Transmetals, Fuzors, toyline characters or anything from Beast Wars II or Neo. It would be awesome of course, but I'm not getting my hopes up. So as far as season 1 characters we've neither seen nor heard of from leaks yet, that leaves Tarantulas, Waspinator, Terrorsaur and Predacon Inferno. All four of those would work as Deluxes, but I could also see Waspinator and Predacon Inferno (if he is included) being put in the Core class alongside Rattrap. That would leave four empty slots for Deluxe, and I'm speculating they'll be Tracks, Needlenose, a third Fossilizer, and another version of Bumblebee, perhaps repainted as a more flat yellow instead of the golden yellow on the Netflix figure. Of course the Kingdom leaker has said more Deluxe Minibots are coming, so to make room for them I'm guessing either Tigatron or Tarantulus (as an extensive retooling of Blackarachnia) could be that year's Walgreens exclusive, or even an Amazon exclusive.

Munkky wrote:I've been thinking a lot about which characters we're likely to get in Kingdom, and at what size class. It's probably safe to assume the 2021 product line will go with the same set-up of fourteen Deluxes (not including exclusives), six Voyagers and three Leaders that 2019 and 2020 did, and if the Kingdom leaker is to be believed, so far we know of five Deluxes (Cheetor, Airazor, Warpath and at least two Fossilizers with the working names "Catbone" and "Wingsaur"), three Voyagers (Optimus Primal, Dinobot and Autobot Inferno), and potentially all of the Leaders (Predacon Megatron, Rodimus Prime and Galvatron). While I know that Rodimus size technically hasn't been confirmed by the leaker, I doubt he'll be anything other than Leader class. So what does that leave us with?

We know from the leaked poster that Blackarachnia, Scorponok, Rhinox and Tigatron will be in Kingdom. Blackarachnia and Tigatron are probably going to be Deluxes, Rhinox is most likely a Voyager, and Scorponok could really work as either in my opinion. If Scorponok is a Voyager that leaves one empty slot, and to be honest I'm expecting just another re-package of the Earthrise Optimus Prime without the trailer. I can't see Optimus Prime being limited to just the Core class. However if Scorponok is a Deluxe, that potentially leaves room for at least one Voyager Decepticon, so seeing as Galvatron is presumably the big bad of Kingdom's story, that new Cyclonus toy we saw a while back would fit well into the line (unless of course it's part of Studio Series).

I think Kingdom will stick to season 1 Beast Wars characters, I'm not expecting any Transmetals, Fuzors, toyline characters or anything from Beast Wars II or Neo. It would be awesome of course, but I'm not getting my hopes up. So as far as season 1 characters we've neither seen nor heard of from leaks yet, that leaves Tarantulas, Waspinator, Terrorsaur and Predacon Inferno. All four of those would work as Deluxes, but I could also see Waspinator and Predacon Inferno (if he is included) being put in the Core class alongside Rattrap. That would leave four empty slots for Deluxe, and I'm speculating they'll be Tracks, Needlenose, a third Fossilizer, and another version of Bumblebee, perhaps repainted as a more flat yellow instead of the golden yellow on the Netflix figure. Of course the Kingdom leaker has said more Deluxe Minibots are coming, so to make room for them I'm guessing either Tigatron or Tarantulus (as an extensive retooling of Blackarachnia) could be that year's Walgreens exclusive, or even an Amazon exclusive.

Two things with this:
1. The leaker said there are Weaponizers in both the Deluxe and Core classes, and did not specify which classes Catbone and Wingsaur belong to, so those Deluxe numbers could be inaccurate.
2. Predacon Inferno is just barely shorter than Dinobot, Core class would be way too small for him and I'm pretty skeptical of how he could possibly work as a Deluxe.

I will be shocked if we don't see Tracks and Needlenose by the end of this trilogy though.

Nemesis Primal wrote:I will be shocked if we don't see Tracks and Needlenose by the end of this trilogy though.

I would hope so. Tracks, Whirl, Roadbuster, and the Deluxe insecticons sans Chopshop are the only members of the 1985 line that haven't had a figure in the last 2 trilogies (all of 1984 and 1986 are done IIRC). And with that, Whirl and Roabuster came late in T30 designed by Warden just after Archer left.

o.supreme wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:I will be shocked if we don't see Tracks and Needlenose by the end of this trilogy though.

I would hope so. Tracks, Whirl, Roadbuster, and the Deluxe insecticons sans Chopshop are the only members of the 1985 line that haven't had a figure in the last 2 trilogies (all of 1984 and 1986 are done IIRC). And with that, Whirl and Roabuster came late in T30 designed by Warden just after Archer left.

If we're looking at it from a completion POV, then I think we're still missing the Omnibots and technically Skids, since the last Skids was pre-Warden and based on the IDW design rather than original/Sunbow G1 (not that that's a bad thing, I still want an IDW Whirl).

Also, on the rumor/leak side:
Core Optimus and Megatron are both confirmed to just be their G1 selves/designs but small, which is fine since the last commentary I posted on them was more of conjecture based on wording from the credible sources rather than a straight confirmation.

I will definitely be picking up the core prime and megs, small guys are usually quite fun

I thought Fossilizers were replacing Battle Masters, not the new name for Weaponizers?

Emerje

Emerje wrote:I thought Fossilizers were replacing Battle Masters, not the new name for Weaponizers?

Emerje

Fossilizers are the new Weaponizers/Modulators, Core class replaces Micromasters and allegedly Battlemasters (although I don't know why Battlemasters would be gone because of Core class, since Core class is basically Scouts/Legends coming back by the sounds of it).

More Kingdom leaks have come up on TFW2005, from a user named Notomus who claims to have seen both Kingdom and Studio Series 86 listings in Target's computer systems, including assortment product codes.

Notomus claims to have seen listings for six Cores, sixteen Deluxes, seven or possibly eight Voyagers, and two Leaders, but only gives specific details of Voyagers. The Voyager line-up includes the already leaked Dinobot and G1 Inferno, but also Rhinox, Tigatron, Starscream and Cyclonus. Notomus also confirms a Voyager Optimus Prime, but is unsure whether or not that's a mistake in the listing and it's actually Optimus Primal.