The Energon Pub

primalxconvoy wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:who would have thought that I would fall in love with and enjoy a transforming computer so much? Mainframe really is wonderful, and I still hope for a selects release in his original colors.

Actually, ya know what? What if, we got Animated Omega retooled from the Ark, and Mainframe was given his OG color scheme in that release? I think it could work

As much as they might be nice, I'd rather not have to spend over 300 dollars (in Japan) just to get an originally coloured Mainframe. However, I would be up for a few "mainframe" (animation studio) Easter eggs in such a singular release of the toy, just for giggles.

I feel privileged.



That's in Canadian dollars. So that mean around US105$.
Plus 15% taxes, but still with free shipping.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:My Puffer and Road Ranger shipped from Pulse, should have them next week.

Is the Pipes/Puffer mold easy to swap heads with? I'm really thinking about swapping their heads for an IDW accurate Pipes

Really wish I had a Puffer to do that with, I'm not much of an IDW guy but I much preferred his head there.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:who would have thought that I would fall in love with and enjoy a transforming computer so much? Mainframe really is wonderful, and I still hope for a selects release in his original colors.

Actually, ya know what? What if, we got Animated Omega retooled from the Ark, and Mainframe was given his OG color scheme in that release? I think it could work

As much as they might be nice, I'd rather not have to spend over 300 dollars (in Japan) just to get an originally coloured Mainframe. However, I would be up for a few "mainframe" (animation studio) Easter eggs in such a singular release of the toy, just for giggles.

I feel privileged.

The attachment Ark pas cher.png is no longer available

That's in Canadian dollars. So that mean around US105$.
Plus 15% taxes, but still with free shipping.

It was around ¥28,000 yen, before tax in Japan and
then the price in the screenshot below (including tax) :

-

At least in Japan, all of the Japanese exclusives are much cheaper for obvious reasons. I also love the fact that in Japan, they don't dick around by having the sale taxes include in the displayed price.

-Kanrabat- wrote:At least in Japan, all of the Japanese exclusives are much cheaper for obvious reasons. I also love the fact that in Japan, they don't dick around by having the sale taxes include in the displayed price.

The sales tax isn't always included clearly. It depends on the place. Online, it's included, but it still depends, I think. Amazon includes it up-front, but Takara Tomy includes the tax at the checkout (I think). Some real shops will show the pre-tax price in big fonts, with the actual price in smaller fonts on the ticket. I read an article once that said:

- Once, pre-tax prices weren't a legal retirement.
- Then, they were, and everyone included them clearly.
- After a tax increase, many shops didn't want to lose/scare away customers, so they "hid" the pre-tax price in small/obscured fonts.

Personally, I think "lying" to customers in this way is worse than just showing the actual price.

As for "exclusives", recently, Takara Tomy have been selling some "regular" TFs as their own exclusives. Coupled with the usual late release dates for Japanese TFs (compared to US ones), I've missed-out on some TFs, as I was waiting for them to appear on Amazon Japan.

Also, Takara Tomy Mall is the only place in Japan (that I've encountered) that doesn't accept Japanese debit cards (such as Visa debit). Every other online/real shop, service, etc that accepts credit cards is fine with my card too, except TTM. "Luckily" they accept either cash on delivery or later cash payment at a convenience store (which costs a bit extra if you take the money out of a store's cash-point machine, as you can't pay bills via credit/debit cards at such places).

One "good" thing about TTM is that you don't need to pay to join the website. It's "free", although arguably, customers pay "extra" via the more expensive prices anyway. I also haven't really felt that TTM has offered anything really "exclusive/attractive" since the two Seacon combiner packs. I've also noticed that, in some cases, Japanese exclusives can also be obtained via Hasbro Asia, and possibly cheaper too. In the case of Masterpiece figures, Hasbro Asia also includes coins, which we don't get in Japan.

So, I've been considering buying some characters which have shown up both in Kingdom and Thrilling 30 - namely Rhinox and Rattrap - and I have to ask: which one is the better figure?

Note that I'm not looking for scale, gimmicks or beast mode accuracy; all I care about is bot mode accuracy, posability and general material quality. For example, I'm considering buying T30 Waspinator instead of Kingdom mostly because of the insect leg placement in robot mode.

MaximalNui wrote:So, I've been considering buying some characters which have shown up both in Kingdom and Thrilling 30 - namely Rhinox and Rattrap - and I have to ask: which one is the better figure?

Note that I'm not looking for scale, gimmicks or beast mode accuracy; all I care about is bot mode accuracy, posability and general material quality. For example, I'm considering buying T30 Waspinator instead of Kingdom mostly because of the insect leg placement in robot mode.

I think the Takara versions of T30 are the best. Great paint (Rhinox has Maximal symbols on his head) and if you Easpinator, you can also get the Kingdom mold via the upcoming "Buzzsaw" repaint/remold (head).

Then, it's win-win.

MaximalNui wrote:So, I've been considering buying some characters which have shown up both in Kingdom and Thrilling 30 - namely Rhinox and Rattrap - and I have to ask: which one is the better figure?

Note that I'm not looking for scale, gimmicks or beast mode accuracy; all I care about is bot mode accuracy, posability and general material quality. For example, I'm considering buying T30 Waspinator instead of Kingdom mostly because of the insect leg placement in robot mode.

If you find them at the same price, I would say go for the T30 versions

william-james88 wrote:

MaximalNui wrote:So, I've been considering buying some characters which have shown up both in Kingdom and Thrilling 30 - namely Rhinox and Rattrap - and I have to ask: which one is the better figure?

Note that I'm not looking for scale, gimmicks or beast mode accuracy; all I care about is bot mode accuracy, posability and general material quality. For example, I'm considering buying T30 Waspinator instead of Kingdom mostly because of the insect leg placement in robot mode.

If you find them at the same price, I would say go for the T30 versions

T30 rhinox is genuinely awful, I haven't heard of anyone whose rhinox isn't a floppy mess that can't hold up the weight of the bot mode, it's also really lanky which just doesn't really fit the character in my opinion.


Also T30 rattraps orange plastic is similar to the gold plastic in that it can develop GPS, mine cracked an broke in several places after a couple years of average use and storage.

Hellscream9999 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

MaximalNui wrote:So, I've been considering buying some characters which have shown up both in Kingdom and Thrilling 30 - namely Rhinox and Rattrap - and I have to ask: which one is the better figure?

Note that I'm not looking for scale, gimmicks or beast mode accuracy; all I care about is bot mode accuracy, posability and general material quality. For example, I'm considering buying T30 Waspinator instead of Kingdom mostly because of the insect leg placement in robot mode.

If you find them at the same price, I would say go for the T30 versions

T30 rhinox is genuinely awful, I haven't heard of anyone whose rhinox isn't a floppy mess that can't hold up the weight of the bot mode, it's also really lanky which just doesn't really fit the character in my opinion.


Also T30 rattraps orange plastic is similar to the gold plastic in that it can develop GPS, mine cracked an broke in several places after a couple years of average use and storage.

As a counter to that, both of my Takara-Tomy versions of those two figues are still great, with tight joints and no degradation to the plastic on Rattrap.

primalxconvoy wrote:

Hellscream9999 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

MaximalNui wrote:So, I've been considering buying some characters which have shown up both in Kingdom and Thrilling 30 - namely Rhinox and Rattrap - and I have to ask: which one is the better figure?

Note that I'm not looking for scale, gimmicks or beast mode accuracy; all I care about is bot mode accuracy, posability and general material quality. For example, I'm considering buying T30 Waspinator instead of Kingdom mostly because of the insect leg placement in robot mode.

If you find them at the same price, I would say go for the T30 versions

T30 rhinox is genuinely awful, I haven't heard of anyone whose rhinox isn't a floppy mess that can't hold up the weight of the bot mode, it's also really lanky which just doesn't really fit the character in my opinion.


Also T30 rattraps orange plastic is similar to the gold plastic in that it can develop GPS, mine cracked an broke in several places after a couple years of average use and storage.

As a counter to that, both of my Takara-Tomy versions of those two figues are still great, with tight joints and no degradation to the plastic on Rattrap.

Well, I suppose I can only talk about the hasbro versions, so if you can find the TT versions and like the look of them, then get them, T30 rattrap is a great figure in his own right. I still think T30 rhinox is way too lanky for that character though.

MaximalNui wrote:So, I've been considering buying some characters which have shown up both in Kingdom and Thrilling 30 - namely Rhinox and Rattrap - and I have to ask: which one is the better figure?

Note that I'm not looking for scale, gimmicks or beast mode accuracy; all I care about is bot mode accuracy, posability and general material quality. For example, I'm considering buying T30 Waspinator instead of Kingdom mostly because of the insect leg placement in robot mode.

Thrilling 30 Rattrap is an absolutely fiddly, overcomplicated mess of a figure that is genuinely not fun to transform. And his robot mode elbows can only bend at 45 degree angles, not even a full 90 degrees. and his front rat legs constantly pop off at every turn. Avoid at all costs.

Kingdom Rattrap's only issue is that his lower robot legs have an extra joint in them for the transformation, which can make them fairly loose and unstable depending on the copy (as in, YMMV), but he's an otherwise decent figure.

Hellscream9999 wrote:T30 rhinox is genuinely awful, I haven't heard of anyone whose rhinox isn't a floppy mess that can't hold up the weight of the bot mode, it's also really lanky which just doesn't really fit the character in my opinion.


Also T30 rattraps orange plastic is similar to the gold plastic in that it can develop GPS, mine cracked an broke in several places after a couple years of average use and storage.

Agree with T30 Rhinox. I got rid of him because of that. Kingdom's may be flawded, but at least he's solid.

As for T30 Rattrap, I'm surprised he have something like GPS. But appart that, he's way too big to be in a WFC display. I think he's in fact MP scaled. I have the mold in blue and white from my Most Wanted BOTCON set. He's still a nice toy by himself.

-Kanrabat- wrote:I think he's in fact MP scaled.

Not even. He's way too big to be MP scaled. He's way to big to ride on MP Optimus Primal's back like he did in the show.

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:I think he's in fact MP scaled.

Not even. He's way too big to be MP scaled. He's way to big to ride on MP Optimus Primal's back like he did in the show.

Dang. That's one hell of a big rat!
So I think he can only work as that Botcon character in his locked universe.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:I think he's in fact MP scaled.

Not even. He's way too big to be MP scaled. He's way to big to ride on MP Optimus Primal's back like he did in the show.

Dang. That's one hell of a big rat!
So I think he can only work as that Botcon character in his locked universe.

The only Optimus Primal figure that T30 Rattrap scales with is the original 1996 Ultra class mold.

Though, when talking about IDW1 Rattrap, he scales fine with the other Autobot and Decepticon characters since he's their size in those comics.

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:I think he's in fact MP scaled.

Not even. He's way too big to be MP scaled. He's way to big to ride on MP Optimus Primal's back like he did in the show.

I thought that was the whole point of the mysterious peg on his back? You aren't wrong about him being out of scale, though.



Emerje

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:I think he's in fact MP scaled.

Not even. He's way too big to be MP scaled. He's way to big to ride on MP Optimus Primal's back like he did in the show.

I thought that was the whole point of the mysterious peg on his back? You aren't wrong about him being out of scale, though.

The peg did end up being used for his "Weapon Rack" in the Legendary Leader version.

Blaster showed up in San Luis Abispo California at Target -

Super late but here's my take on the fossilizer combiner
Big mess but all parts are used and the joints and connections are way more solid

Thanks to everyone who answered my previous question; you all helped a lot! I doubt I'll buy TT though, due to price and customs (postal services here are a pain for anything coming outside EU, and even then it can be annoying ).

Razorbeast88 wrote:Super late but here's my take on the fossilizer combiner
Big mess but all parts are used and the joints and connections are way more solid

20211225_162011.jpg

You know, I noticed some hidden peg connectors on Paleotrex' bot legs/fossil thighs that don't have any purpose in any of the modes in the instructions; likewise with a couple of pegs on Ractonite's legs. Has anyone tried using those for the combined mode?

MaximalNui wrote:Thanks to everyone who answered my previous question; you all helped a lot! I doubt I'll buy TT though, due to price and customs (postal services here are a pain for anything coming outside EU, and even then it can be annoying ).

Razorbeast88 wrote:Super late but here's my take on the fossilizer combiner
Big mess but all parts are used and the joints and connections are way more solid

20211225_162011.jpg

You know, I noticed some hidden peg connectors on Paleotrex' bot legs/fossil thighs that don't have any purpose in any of the modes in the instructions; likewise with a couple of pegs on Ractonite's legs. Has anyone tried using those for the combined mode?

I wanna say I saw a YouTuber using those pegs, mightve been tonton reviews or something

Wow! Where were all these Megatrons Even a week ago? It's Siege Shockwave all over again.

Razorbeast88 wrote:

MaximalNui wrote:Thanks to everyone who answered my previous question; you all helped a lot! I doubt I'll buy TT though, due to price and customs (postal services here are a pain for anything coming outside EU, and even then it can be annoying ).

Razorbeast88 wrote:Super late but here's my take on the fossilizer combiner
Big mess but all parts are used and the joints and connections are way more solid

20211225_162011.jpg

You know, I noticed some hidden peg connectors on Paleotrex' bot legs/fossil thighs that don't have any purpose in any of the modes in the instructions; likewise with a couple of pegs on Ractonite's legs. Has anyone tried using those for the combined mode?

I wanna say I saw a YouTuber using those pegs, mightve been t*nt*n reviews or something

Wash your mouth out with soap, Sir!

o.supreme wrote:Wow! Where were all these Megatrons Even a week ago? It's Siege Shockwave all over again.

Yeah my Target has like 5 of him now. I checked if that variant with the sneer actually made it onto shelves or not. Or if that was even for real or someone mistook T-Wrecks for Megatron.