The Energon Pub

daimchoc wrote:

I'm constantly surprised at how nice and large UT's version looks in combined mode.

Loving the combined look, the individuals are kinda bland. And yes, I do own the first 3 figures and just ordered the 4th.

I still prefer MMC's offerings, but due to the rate of shipment and getting a few decent deals I started picking up UT's. It'll be nice to have a full 3rd Party Predaking for the new year.

I agree with all y'all. That combined mode looks great! I'd be happy to own it. Sure MMC's is the powerhouse juggernaut version but this slim, vicious and very capable looking Predaking is impressive.

EDIT: what's with that right foot and what looks like an extended foot or something thats making that pose hidden behind the left leg. That is a bit odd to me. What's that about? or am i seeing things.

MGrotusque wrote:I agree with all y'all. That combined mode looks great! I'd be happy to own it. Sure MMC's is the powerhouse juggernaut version but this slim, vicious and very capable looking Predaking is impressive.

EDIT: what's with that right foot and what looks like an extended foot or something thats making that pose hidden behind the left leg. That is a bit odd to me. What's that about? or am i seeing things.

The feet have a "toe/ball" type joint that allows it to pivot like that. The connector to the ankle also moves in several directions, making it look like it is disjointed in that pose.

I was never a huge fan of the original Predaking toys, so despite several 3P companys have a go at producing a new take, I sat back and just offered the odd comment or posted any new pics and info I came across for everyone else to enjoy.

Seeing this Unique Toys take in full sleek combined mode has really turned me on to actually trying to pick him up!

I know UT where new kids on the block and their first figure stumbled slightly, but listening to fan feedback and making these available in a timely manner has really swung it for me.
The individual bot/beast modes have a very Hasbro-esque look to them which works great along side official Hasbro Classics!

I see a couple of shops are now offering the full set, so all being well, perhaps in the new year I would like to grab myself the full package?

Very nice UT, very nice!

And I was annoyed with the amount of crap that wasn't integrated into Uranos This guy is a joke, really glad the first few never appealed to me

Arctorro wrote:And I was annoyed with the amount of crap that wasn't integrated into Uranos This guy is a joke, really glad the first few never appealed to me

Yea, I was wondering where the abdomen/shin plates was coming from. Well, now we know.

Also, from RK, regarding if this is shipping next week:

Sorry not this time.
UT is still modifying it.
They are doing some fine tunes on the mold and will add more paint to it.

After looking at TFC's version,I think that by far is the worse. UT's War Lord comes in 2nd while MMC's version comes in first. I do like the more sleek & Kibble free look that UT created. I Dislike the ugly overly size lion head with the mane. Having the UT predacons being so overly simplified in sculpt,kibble & tansformations makes them seem like low end KO's. I kinda wish MMC's Predacons legs had less kibble like UT Predaking has. I think all those external add on parts included with UT's Razorcaw just seems wrong. Worse offender is UT creating larger secondary Predaking wings. UT should have used Divebomb's wings for Predaking.

I wonder if you can put these big wings on War Eagle, or if they have a different connection.

Alternatively, can you make a winged and armored lion with the combiner kibble?

Wow, this is an offensive use of kibble. Bad enough the wings are different from Divebomb, but the torso and waist too? Yikes! Somehow this offends me more than hands being a separate part of a combiner. Maybe if it all transformed into some kind of lame battle platform I could get more into it.

And yet, I have to admit I do like the combined look. If it was cheap enough as a bundle it might be tempting.

RE: the extra set of wings.

I believe the intent was for these wings to replace Divebomb's wings, which people complained about due to the way they popped on and off their socket. I don't think the intent was that you would throw Divebomb's wings aside, and then attach these larger wings when combining the team.

So, the abdominal, shin, and groin pieces are fair game. The wings less so. I'm not 100% on this, so please correct me if I'm off base.

megatronus wrote:RE: the extra set of wings.

I believe the intent was for these wings to replace Divebomb's wings, which people complained about due to the way they popped on and off their socket. I don't think the intent was that you would throw Divebomb's wings aside, and then attach these larger wings when combining the team.

So, the abdominal, shin, and groin pieces are fair game. The wings less so. I'm not 100% on this, so please correct me if I'm off base.

You may be correct, however the pictures do show Divebomb's wings still attached when in arm mode there (they're folded down at his sides). Maybe they're just showing that if you want to use both sets of wings in combined mode, you can, which is a cool option if you're right.

Either way, I'm not the type to mind parts-forming, especially for combiners.

I really like the look of these guys, especially in combined mode (even more than MMC), but I'm still sticking with TFC but will consider getting these if releases from others (including Has/Tak) slow down with regards to stuff I want and/or they start going for really cheap (heavily reduced BBTS pricing for example ) because one can never have too many Predakings .

I would appreciate if they made a duel use for the kibble. Make the hip guards into hand-shields for the robots, or something.

Scaleface wrote:I would appreciate if they made a duel use for the kibble. Make the hip guards into hand-shields for the robots, or something.

I never cared about parts integration or storage. Anyone who collected G1 figures in the 80's had a shoebox full of parts and weapons. It was never a big deal then and it isn’t a big deal now. I’m not against it either, but I hate it when car hoods become shields, camera lenses become jet packs, or a gestalt hand becomes a weapon. Part of the enigma of G1 was to assume that all this “kibble” disappeared during transformation through some type of advanced robot technology. That’s just my personal opinion.

This is looking very cheap now , i went through phases of starting to appreciate the combiner but this image looks really bad imo .

xyl360 wrote:

megatronus wrote:RE: the extra set of wings.

I believe the intent was for these wings to replace Divebomb's wings, which people complained about due to the way they popped on and off their socket. I don't think the intent was that you would throw Divebomb's wings aside, and then attach these larger wings when combining the team.

So, the abdominal, shin, and groin pieces are fair game. The wings less so. I'm not 100% on this, so please correct me if I'm off base.

You may be correct, however the pictures do show Divebomb's wings still attached when in arm mode there (they're folded down at his sides). Maybe they're just showing that if you want to use both sets of wings in combined mode, you can, which is a cool option if you're right.

Either way, I'm not the type to mind parts-forming, especially for combiners.

I really like the look of these guys, especially in combined mode (even more than MMC), but I'm still sticking with TFC but will consider getting these if releases from others (including Has/Tak) slow down with regards to stuff I want and/or they start going for really cheap (heavily reduced BBTS pricing for example ) because one can never have too many Predakings .

I'm not seeing Divebomb's wings... I am seeing his tail feathers and two ports where his wings look like they should attach and the wings that come with Razorclaw don't look like they can be pegged in there.

As for replacing Divebomb's wings, the new ones are a lot bigger, so are they actually meant to replace Divebombs or are they just for combined mode?

UT hands down has the Best looking Predaking mode sculpt,Minus the ugly lion head with mane. Sadly the individual UT Predacons look so small,narrow & evoke that overly simplified sculpted KO likeness.

Rated X wrote:I never cared about parts integration or storage. Anyone who collected G1 figures in the 80's had a shoebox full of parts and weapons. It was never a big deal then and it isn’t a big deal now. I’m not against it either, but I hate it when car hoods become shields, camera lenses become jet packs, or a gestalt hand becomes a weapon. Part of the enigma of G1 was to assume that all this “kibble” disappeared during transformation through some type of advanced robot technology. That’s just my personal opinion.

It's not a deal breaker for me either, but I do appreciate the effort.

I picked up some KO Seacons once where they had made slight changes in the molds that allowed the combiner kibble to store in the beast modes, and it was very innovative. One of the feet connected under Seawing, one under Snaptrap. They added pegs that allowed Snaptrap to mount his sword on his shell top, and the Piranacon head stored in his turtle's rear, face up, so you didn't see it. It was a good idea.

When Hasbro remolded the Combaticons into the Commandos, they added simple pegs and holes to the weapons and robots, that allowed all the robot mode weapons to be held in vehicle mode, and allowed the weapons to combine into two weapons for Runiation to hold. That was cleaver.

Those FansProject Glacialbots did the same thing, making all the combiner kibble store on the robots. One foot becomes the shell of Tailclub, or becomes his shield in robot mode, and all the guns combine into guns for Glacialord.

If all storage requires is some extra pegs and holes, I'm all for it. I notice that War Hawk even REMOVED weapon holes that were present on G1 Divebomb! That's sorta backwards, actually removing weapon mounts.

The kibble in this project is like a CrazyDevy add-on set for an existing combiner. It's sort of like UT just couldn't get the look right and these add-on parts allow them to do so, but don't do anything else all on their own. That's what bugs me about it so much.

Although it's still sorta tempting. Maybe if I see it on sale someday.

I don't really care about the add on debate. There is a long line of this in 3Dparty merch. I would think that this sort of thing would be assumed as par for the course in dealing with 3rd party releases.

I'm still stoked with the combined look and the extra bits and bobs don't offend me in the least or retract from my perception of the fig.

With that being said.....i wouldn't want to spend anymore than 200-300 (leaning heavily on the 200 mark) on this release. The quality just isn't there but it is certainly pretty to look at. I like the original set up as it is anyways so this add on kit is of no interest to me.

It all depends on how intense you want your Predaking to look like. These guys are giving you an option. As far as i can see it anyways.
No big deal.