The Energon Pub

Mindmaster wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Mindmaster wrote:Super excited for the Blaster we’ve waited so long for, but… no preorder window? Just a “he’ll pop up on 1 January, 2022 in stores and online, good luck scoring one”? This makes me super anxious about him and the remaining members of W5…

There is a preorder for him and Bulkhead here

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/ ... ils/181712

It just so happens that that’s the set I preordered. So this is basically confirmation that Blaster will be repacked into Legacy?

Yes. But we already had confirmation with priduct listings and the wave 1 poster.

Sabrblade wrote:Ben Yee, TFU.info, Vangelus, and Allspark.com are so far confirmed to have been in the conference call. Wonder who else?

I was supposed to be on but I misunderstood and thought it was a clothing-optional call. It became clear very quickly that it was NOT. Rather unfortunate and awkward.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Ben Yee, TFU.info, Vangelus, and Allspark.com are so far confirmed to have been in the conference call. Wonder who else?

I was supposed to be on but I misunderstood and thought it was a clothing-optional call. It became clear very quickly that it was NOT. Rather unfortunate and awkward.

Happens to the best of us

Nah I don't need this Blaster...I'm totally content with my LG-Blaster and he is great as he towers over Netflix Soundwave just like their G1 counterparts...'nuff said!

For the 1 or 2 people I imagine still see my posts...

Blaster looks good, but like Soundwave is undercut by being sized strictly for the gimpy Micromaster failed attempts at the cassettes.

"The only other info of note that happened during this call was the confirmation that Menasor had its own combiner system and was not scramble city"
Menasor does not deserve release until that dumb decision is changed. Between this stupidity and the crypto crap, part of me is hoping the factories somehow get destroyed.EDIT: Okay, that part was @#$%ing stupid. But I am very frustrated by this... The CW system was good and IMO could easily be adapted to this. Ankle tilts aren't so allfire necessary as to require discarding a good system and the interoperable play that went with it... I'm also worried they're trying to emulate the "Stunticons as Motormaster's Minicons" error that happened near-constantly with Menasor's arms... Hopefully plastic limits will prevent that. And hopefully there's also an extreme-retool Optimus coming out of this.

The crypto bs has erased rather a lot of my goodwill towards Hasbro, and stupid frustrating design calls that significantly undermine figures that would have been perfect otherwise reeeally don't help. EDIT: And I do hope something happens to shake Hasbro up and get them to rethink this stuff. Figures that could and should have been upgrades shooting themselves in the foot is getting old. Looking at you, Kingdom Tracks. You should have built on the lessons from RTS Tracks' design to be even better, but instead you're a fragile shellformer because they just slagging HAD to go for the stupid faux-parts chest... The only good thing about you is you have a better flight mode than RTS Tracks did. Sigh...

I know I'm really negative anymore, but stuff like this does not put me in a good place wrt Transformers (and Hasbro in general)...

i have enough blasters. im good

-Kanrabat- wrote:

griftimus prime wrote:i have enough blasters. im good

I don't have enough. So I'm not.

I have none, I just have Soundwaves. Here's hoping for a Rewind, Ramhorn and Steeljaw; gotta have them all, you know?

Hm, something just seems off with his alt mode but I can't quite put my finger on it..
I do really like what I can see of his Bot mode though and look forward to hopefully finding him, and this should mark my last purchase for this line unless they feel the need to reissue some of those previous HTF figures like Dirge or Netflix Bee.

Finally, a Blaster remake what looks like it doesn't STINK. Hopefully the supply chains hold up...

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:"The only other info of note that happened during this call was the confirmation that Menasor had its own combiner system and was not scramble city"
Menasor does not deserve release until that dumb decision is changed. Between this stupidity and the crypto crap, part of me is hoping the factories somehow get destroyed.

I know a lot of people wanted the CW system retained, but I don't get it. We literally got dozens of combiners with that system over the last five years, I'm all for something new. Whether you think Menasor "deserves" release or not, I think it's too late for them to reengineer and change their approach.

As for the crypto, I've been critical of that over in that thread, but it hasn't pushed me away from toys that I would want.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

DeathReviews wrote:Finally, a Blaster remake what looks like it doesn't STINK. Hopefully the supply chains hold up...

Appart the forced headmaster gimmick, and the lack of any scale, and the bad "cassettes", the Titan Return leader was pretty g...
...Hmmmmmmmmmm............

The scale and headmaster gimmick didn't bother me, and I would have cared more about the TR cassettes style if they had released more of them. Since his G1 toy was oversized, the scale works in that sense. As it is, TR Blaster may remain in my collection to represent his toy and comics incarnations even as the Kingdom version becomes the new standard.

AcademyofDrX wrote:I know a lot of people wanted the CW system retained, but I don't get it.

A lot of people just want Motormaster and want to use the existing CW Stunticon limbs with him, rather than having to rebuy the whole team all over again since it was mainly just the torso that was wrong with CW Menasor.

Sabrblade wrote:

AcademyofDrX wrote:I know a lot of people wanted the CW system retained, but I don't get it.

A lot of people just want Motormaster and want to use the existing CW Stunticon limbs with him, rather than having to rebuy the whole team all over again since it was mainly just the torso that was wrong with CW Menasor.

Bingo. Going by Dragstrip only so far, the CW limbs seem to be the better option. But it's all a matter of individual taste and preference.

Sabrblade wrote:

AcademyofDrX wrote:I know a lot of people wanted the CW system retained, but I don't get it.

A lot of people just want Motormaster and want to use the existing CW Stunticon limbs with him, rather than having to rebuy the whole team all over again since it was mainly just the torso that was wrong with CW Menasor.

This, it's definitely what I was hoping for, but galvatronus can always use the stunticons, since he has no limbs. I'm a big fan of all things combiners, so I'm gonna get him assuming he doesn't look like crap. I've never understood why he was the only combiner drawn that way, nor do I greatly approve of it, but I'm down to see how hasbro's version looks.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

DeathReviews wrote:Finally, a Blaster remake what looks like it doesn't STINK. Hopefully the supply chains hold up...

Appart the forced headmaster gimmick, and the lack of any scale, and the bad "cassettes", the Titan Return leader was pretty g...
...Hmmmmmmmmmm............

I'm fine with the Headmaster and the cassettes (Rewind at least, he was the only one I got), but he's just way too big for me. Works great as an MP stand in though

Sabrblade wrote:

AcademyofDrX wrote:I know a lot of people wanted the CW system retained, but I don't get it.

A lot of people just want Motormaster and want to use the existing CW Stunticon limbs with him, rather than having to rebuy the whole team all over again since it was mainly just the torso that was wrong with CW Menasor.

I mean, nobody has to buy a whole new team, but I get the frustration with Motormaster. I guess part of why I don't feel the same way is that I have the UW version which is supposed to be marginally better. The bigger issue is that I don't want to try to fix a seven-year old design, I want something more contemporary. I never liked how Combiner Wars cared for elbows, so I'm hopeful that the new design has a joint other than the smaller figure's knees.

I don't plan to get any new versions of Combiners already released in the Generations line, but I don't begrudge anyone wanting the new Stunticons. I just liked how extensive the CW/UW/PotP/Selects lines went, even moreso than the Original series, giving us new combiners like Grand Convoy ( or Ultra Prime if you prefer) Sky Reign, Volcanicus etc in addition to most of the classics. Heck, I'd have been over the moon if they scaled Devastator and Predaking down and made them compatible with all the others somehow, it's just something I enjoy. It wasn't a perfect system, but it is what brought me back from being out of the toys for 10 years. Now I guess it's just a slow burn. Being content with maybe 1 or 2 items in a whole year as opposed to a whole line worth of items to look forward to.

I agree, although I like combiners enough, & especially the Stunticons & Menasor enough to want this new version.
While I thought this group was probably the weakest (out of the classic, well-known teams), I didn’t think it was horrible. I really appreciate the UW version, & with a couple add-on kits, it’s pretty solid.
I also enjoyed CW/UW, & personally think it was the brightest highlight in TF toys since I started collecting back in ‘07.

Outside of the Stunticons, here’s who I’m waiting for during the “slow burn”:
Snarl
Sludge
Swoop
Blitzwing
Shrapnel
Bombshell
Kickback
Blaster
Perceptor

I’m sure there will be a few others along the way, such as SS86 Rumble,
but that’s about it.
I’ll keep an eye & ear out because I’d like a new Astrotrain & Reflector, but assuming I can check those characters off my list by the end of 2023, I’ll be pretty much done collecting.
A new Devastator would be tempting; I Iove that group, & I’d love to have those 6 displayed together as individual bots. I’d let the CW version remain being my definitive Devastator.

But I’m definitely with you in this “slow burn”…
The next couple years will be very different from these previous two;
which in some ways I’m more than okay with…
Hunting has become more of a hassle than something enjoyable.
And these rising prices are becoming more than just an annoyance.
They’re flat-out next to impossible to justify.

All I have currently is:

Artfire ( pre ordered)
Black Zarak ( pre ordered)
Slammer ( pre ordered)
Haslab Victory Saber ( pre-ordered/ paid for)
MPG Shouki (pre Ordered)

I'll still check out Walmart and Target occasionally just to see if they have anything new. But as of this moment, unless by some miracle I see Slammer in store before Amazon ships it, I won't be purchasing any TF's at retail for the foreseeable future.

o.supreme wrote:All I have currently is:

Artfire ( pre ordered)
Black Zarak ( pre ordered)
Slammer ( pre ordered)
Haslab Victory Saber ( pre-ordered/ paid for)
MPG Shouki (pre Ordered)

I'll still check out Walmart and Target occasionally just to see if they have anything new. But as of this moment, unless by some miracle I see Slammer in store before Amazon ships it, I won't be purchasing any TF's at retail for the foreseeable future.

Good for you!!!
I do have the PulseCon Galvatron on preorder…
But I’m looking forward to getting to the stage where you’re at…
Getting the last of my list on preorder, & then sitting back and pretty much just spectating.

Sowndwave76 wrote:I’ll keep an eye & ear out because I’d like a new Astrotrain & Reflector, but assuming I can check those characters off my list by the end of 2023, I’ll be pretty much done collecting.

We've just had two reflectors, (one for cartoon fans
, one for toy fans) I doubt hasbro will look at them for a while yet. Astrotrain is more likely to happen, given how many people were unsatisfied with the Siege/Earthrise version but that is definitely 2023 and beyond.

ZeroWolf wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:I’ll keep an eye & ear out because I’d like a new Astrotrain & Reflector, but assuming I can check those characters off my list by the end of 2023, I’ll be pretty much done collecting.

We've just had two reflectors, (one for cartoon fans
, one for toy fans) I doubt hasbro will look at them for a while yet. Astrotrain is more likely to happen, given how many people were unsatisfied with the Siege/Earthrise version but that is definitely 2023 and beyond.

Even though some fans were hating on Astrotrain, I'm not sure what obvious improvements there could be. Maybe they'll go for a much larger scale, but I think the Voyager+ will be the standard for that size for more than just a couple of years.

AcademyofDrX wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:I’ll keep an eye & ear out because I’d like a new Astrotrain & Reflector, but assuming I can check those characters off my list by the end of 2023, I’ll be pretty much done collecting.

We've just had two reflectors, (one for cartoon fans
, one for toy fans) I doubt hasbro will look at them for a while yet. Astrotrain is more likely to happen, given how many people were unsatisfied with the Siege/Earthrise version but that is definitely 2023 and beyond.

Even though some fans were hating on Astrotrain, I'm not sure what obvious improvements there could be. Maybe they'll go for a much larger scale, but I think the Voyager+ will be the standard for that size for more than just a couple of years.

Same, I was just saying he had more of a chance then Reflector. I quite like Siege/Earthrise Astrotrain myself (and Titans Return Astro, helped by the fact they dived in with the art done for Stormbringer)