Transformers: Energon & Beyond

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Originally Posted by El Chuxter

After tax, more than $16 apiece. $80 for a combiner with an undersized torso is way outrageous. That's convention exclusive pricing there, not what I expect to see at Walmart.

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You should have put them in Layaway. That way, when the price drops, you could pick them up.:encouragement:

JT, it seems that all of the FE Optimus, or at least the ones BBTS received, have a panel under the side windows that was not painted red. Makes the alt mode look not very good at all so I guess I'll keep the mainline TFP Voyager Prime in truck mode. The FE bot mode is excellent though.

I haven't played around with FE Bulkhead as much but he doesn't seem like the vastly superior upgrade to the other Voyager Bulkhead that others claim him to be. There's still gaps from the side in bot mode.


Anyhow, I ordered MP Prime from TRU.com yesterday...however, the card I used got hacked with 2 unauthorized charges yesterday and with my lack of luck, I fear my order may not go through.

Got FE Starscream yesterday at TRU. A pretty nice figure, looks way better than the Voyager release, articulation is very expressive, and paint is pretty good. Vehicle mode takes a hit with

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Originally Posted by El Chuxter

I saw the FOC Combaticons today. Grabbed them all and tossed them in the cart (they had one of each), then noticed the shelf tag. $15.47. :eek: I had almost $80 worth of figures in the cart, and they were five figures who didn't look like they were worth that much. I put them all back. These Deluxe suckers were $10 two years ago, and they've shrunk since then, too. I might eventually get the four limbs and display them with the old Classics Onslaught (who's scaled properly, even if they don't combine), but, holy crap, that was way too much for those figures, especially with Swindle being the only Combaticon anyone gives a fart about.

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That Swindle figure ain't much to talk about either, it's a rather lame mold. I feel ya on the pricepoint angle, especially with these compromise-laden figures. And there's a rumor the price on them is going up to $20.

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Originally Posted by El Chuxter

BTW, why is it that Hasbro has never done a proper TF/Joe crossover line? That'd seem like a major no-brainer. Sure, there'd be some major tooling costs for the TF's, but Joes could be existing parts, and they could sell them at a higher price to make up for the new, larger molds.

Tell me you wouldn't drop $100 easy for a 3.75"-scaled Generation 2 Megatron that transforms and comes with Cobra Commander (and, heck, to make the deal sweeter, kitbash a Dr. Biggles-Jones from the ROC Cover Girl and Rex Lewis, too).

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I suspect either the holdup is the producers of the original crossover comics being varied (Marvel, Dreamwave, and Devil's Due), or they don't see a mass market crossover appeal at the pricepoint (Megatron as a tank that can also transform would be much more complex than the average HISS toy).

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Originally Posted by figrin bran

JT, it seems that all of the FE Optimus, or at least the ones BBTS received, have a panel under the side windows that was not painted red. Makes the alt mode look not very good at all so I guess I'll keep the mainline TFP Voyager Prime in truck mode. The FE bot mode is excellent though.

I haven't played around with FE Bulkhead as much but he doesn't seem like the vastly superior upgrade to the other Voyager Bulkhead that others claim him to be. There's still gaps from the side in bot mode.


Anyhow, I ordered MP Prime from TRU.com yesterday...however, the card I used got hacked with 2 unauthorized charges yesterday and with my lack of luck, I fear my order may not go through.

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Ugh, that's frustrating to hear about FE Optimus. I am not sure I'd ditch it for that, though.

The front of RID Bulkhead is so far off the mark that the FE looked like it couldn't avoid being superior, so I'm quite surprised to hear it.

Sorry to hear about your card being hacked, that sucks!

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Originally Posted by JediTricks

The front of RID Bulkhead is so far off the mark that the FE looked like it couldn't avoid being superior, so I'm quite surprised to hear it.

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I have an FE Bulkhead from Canada and he's awesome. Just the fact that he doesn't have fakey transformation panels makes him superior to the PRID release IMHO. I have BBTS' FE Prime in my pile'o'loot. Waiting for the next set of Generation figures to have him shipped. I'm disappointed that the panel is unpainted, but I'll survive.

What I should have said is that FE Bulkhead > the other Voyager Bulkhead but still isn't perfect. And despite the unprinted panels, I do recommend FE Optimus, even if you only keep him in bot mode. To me he has more character than just about every recent Optimus Prime mold.

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Originally Posted by JediTricks

I suspect either the holdup is the producers of the original crossover comics being varied (Marvel, Dreamwave, and Devil's Due), or they don't see a mass market crossover appeal at the pricepoint (Megatron as a tank that can also transform would be much more complex than the average HISS toy).

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Hasbro owns the rights to almost all of them and licenses them to IDW. IDW's been quite good about reprinting everything they can. The only issue is the Dreamwave stuff, which is somehow still in limbo because of their bankruptcy, but, somehow, IDW was able to reprint the More Than Meets the Eye guidebooks.

I didn't mean this should even be a full line, just one or a few high-end pieces. Not just repaints like the Comic-Con stuff. It'd have to be expensive but, aside from the Masterpiece reissues, they don't put out much, if any, higher end collector-geared stuff. Even the things like the PIT or Unicron or the BMF Falcon are technically just really large toys for kids that happen to be nicely done.

G2 Megatron with Cobra Commander and Dr. Biggles-Jones. I'm serious. (Yes, I know she's insanely minor, but she actually built that G2 body in the comic, and it would be a cool way to release a character who otherwise would never be produced.)

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Originally Posted by Chaddymac

I have an FE Bulkhead from Canada and he's awesome. Just the fact that he doesn't have fakey transformation panels makes him superior to the PRID release IMHO. I have BBTS' FE Prime in my pile'o'loot. Waiting for the next set of Generation figures to have him shipped. I'm disappointed that the panel is unpainted, but I'll survive.

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Originally Posted by figrin bran

What I should have said is that FE Bulkhead > the other Voyager Bulkhead but still isn't perfect. And despite the unprinted panels, I do recommend FE Optimus, even if you only keep him in bot mode. To me he has more character than just about every recent Optimus Prime mold.

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Thanks for the feedback, guys. I am big on seeing a figure transformed to alt mode and back, so that panel will bother me quite a bit. I'm not sure at this point, I already have the SDCC dlx-sized TFP Optimus which scales well to the RID Voyager Megatron, but that FE Optimus did look like a really nice sculpt and I think TRU lowered their price below $27 recently.

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Originally Posted by El Chuxter

Hasbro owns the rights to almost all of them and licenses them to IDW. IDW's been quite good about reprinting everything they can. The only issue is the Dreamwave stuff, which is somehow still in limbo because of their bankruptcy, but, somehow, IDW was able to reprint the More Than Meets the Eye guidebooks.

I didn't mean this should even be a full line, just one or a few high-end pieces. Not just repaints like the Comic-Con stuff. It'd have to be expensive but, aside from the Masterpiece reissues, they don't put out much, if any, higher end collector-geared stuff. Even the things like the PIT or Unicron or the BMF Falcon are technically just really large toys for kids that happen to be nicely done.

G2 Megatron with Cobra Commander and Dr. Biggles-Jones. I'm serious. (Yes, I know she's insanely minor, but she actually built that G2 body in the comic, and it would be a cool way to release a character who otherwise would never be produced.)

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It's not that simple, apparently, or we'd already have 'em. We did have the Megatron based on that series in the Titanium line, but it wasn't very good or very Joe.

Mark Wahlberg is confirmed for Transformers 4!

Maybe they'll do Beast Wars and there will be Optimus Primal and Mark's character will have to prove to the government that he's not dangerous and he came to life only because they were working on a cure for Windows 8.

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Originally Posted by JediTricks

We did have the Megatron based on that series in the Titanium line, but it wasn't very good or very Joe.

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There's a Legends figure at Big Lots and Dollar General now of him as well. Isn't one of the China/TRU exclusives also a Megatron who's a repaint of ROTF Bludgeon with a new head?

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Originally Posted by JediTricks

We did have the Megatron based on that series in the Titanium line, but it wasn't very good or very Joe.

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Wow, what the understatement that is! That toy was absolute TRASH.

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Originally Posted by JediTricks

Glad to hear you like yours. It looks mediocre to me based on images and info out there at its $70 pricetag, it's smaller than an Alternators, doesn't have working doors, has a bulk of kibble under the vehicle mode tail, lacks die-cast metal and rubber tire elements, and has those weird hollow boots, so at the $70 plus import right now that comes off as mediocre to me.

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I understand why anyone would not jump on it for $70. That being said I'm totally fine with how much I paid for it. I think the lack of working doors and the bulk under the alt mode is just a side effect of keeping the figure in scale with MP-10 and still achieving the G1 accurate in both modes look they were going for. MP Sideswipe may be smaller than Alternators, but he is much better figure by far than anything from that line. I'm pretty glad there is no die-cast; its a highly overrated aspect of older Transformers IMO. Rubber tires would be nice, but it doesn't bother me either way and I have trouble understanding why its such an issue for some. Oh well.

I got Prime Ultra Magnus and Thundertron off of Amazon and they arrived today. Magnus is perfectly OK, although his shoulders could be better articulation wise. Although they are ball-joints they are limited. His hammer is the first "mech tech" weapon from this line that is not complete junk. It actually resembles a gun in one mode and makes a suitable hammer in the other. It has a tab that locks the thing into hammer mode which is VERY much appreciated. Magnus doesn't quite reach the level of the FE voyagers, but he is a pretty decent one. Thundertron I like quite a bit. He is surprisingly stable using the peg leg. The peg leg makes no sense in some respects though since the beast mode has the foot pegged on.. so why does he need the peg leg?? Still it's neat, and it works pretty well. The removable foot as a claw weapon is pretty meh though. I removed the spring from the claw/sword mech tech weapon which allows the sword to be extended without springing back. It's actually pretty good like this. I may eventually look into removing the battery box so it is not quite so bulky. Two decent mech tech like weapon in a row?? *gasp* I like how the claws that rest over his shoulders peg in to the back and do not interfere with the arm articulation. Bot mod articulation is pretty good in general. One quibble I have is that the sliders the hips are on to go from beast to bot mod doesn't seem to lock in in bot mode so they tend to separate while I messed with him. Beast mode is pretty limited in pose-ability due to the way the robot arms and beast mode arms interact. Beast mode looks OK as a whole, but could certainly benefit from more articulation. Thundertron is a bit above Ultra Magnus in my book, possibly pretty close to the FE voyagers in robot mode.