That's the second reference I've seen to some sort of factory error with his face, but I've yet to see any explanation of what this error is or how we know that there's an error in the first place. What's the story here?
There is one listed on ebay right now, from a seller in Singapore? If it IS a Walgreens exclusive like was rumored, I hope they have plenty online, because none of my local Walgreens even have a spot for deluxe Transformers on their toy planograms anymore...
...I'm hoping she gets moved to Selects.
Yeah, and looks like the render was trying to do a slightly more show accurate version of the original toy's face
Though now I'm wondering why they went with the purple eyes
They were green on the original and red in the show
Confirmed by Mark Maher: The Energon Monsters were dropped at the last minute and replaced by Skullgrin and most likely Bomb-Burst.
But what were the energon monsters supposed to be?
Somebody found Minerva in the US. It accidently got shipped to Wal Mart, but still seems to be a Walgreens exclusive.
Sigh. Got excited about Bomb-burst and realized I have no idea where my Iguanus is. Spent an hour searching for him around the house and so far no luck. I'm pretty sure I knew where he was pre hospitalization but a week in the hospital and about a month recovering now and I no longer have any clue where I left the guy.
-ZacWilliam, at least I got time till Bomb-burst hits, it would bug me more if I had BB and couldnt find Iguanus...
-ZacWilliam, at least I got time till Bomb-burst hits, it would bug me more if I had BB and couldnt find Iguanus...
Looking at Skullgrin's concept art I guess see what they were going for
the weapons are are doing a lot of the work, and I still wish his legs did something more in the final product
the weapons are are doing a lot of the work, and I still wish his legs did something more in the final product
Ah, yes, forgot about that incident. If they're shipping out now, I would think some kind of preorder window would be imminent, then.
From what the designers said in posts the Pretenders were fairly late replacements for the "Energon monsters" concept that was dropped. My guess would be that dictated what sizes they needed to be. If 2 Core and 1 Deluxe Energon monster were planed then these guys had to slip into those size class spots.
I agree one unified size for at least all the 88 Pretenders would have been nicer. But if there were tied to the size classes that were dropped it makes sense to make Skullgrin the Deluxe. After Bludgeon and Thunderwing he's really the 3rd most prominent Pretender.
-ZacWilliam, I just hope we can get more of them in general, Autobots as well as Cons.
I agree one unified size for at least all the 88 Pretenders would have been nicer. But if there were tied to the size classes that were dropped it makes sense to make Skullgrin the Deluxe. After Bludgeon and Thunderwing he's really the 3rd most prominent Pretender.
-ZacWilliam, I just hope we can get more of them in general, Autobots as well as Cons.
It wouldn't shock me in the slightest if we got a Cryotek out of the Generations Selects line at some point down the line. I mean, they gave us a Titan in that assortment, and we've already seen one Leader-Class figure there, so why not another?
Worst case scenario, you can always buy another Iguanus. They're fairly plentiful on the shelves around here.
Since these Pretenders just transform without any of the shell nonsense, there really is no reason that they have to be the same size. Other subgroups are allowed to be different sizes.
True, but the Pretenders have generally all been depicted as being roughly the same size in fiction.
I am a little upset these are core size. And I love the core class, I think the figures are fun and its great for putting with the Titan class figures. Hasbro / Takara have really been nailing it with the size classes lately and better scaling. With that, I wish these were all deluxe class to fit in a little bit better.
Skullgrin being a last minute thing explains why he looks like the action figure equivalent of unfinished middle school homework
The “logical” inference would be something akin to the Fossilizers/Weaponizers/Modulators we’ve been getting since Siege started. Some sort of little energy monsters that would become weapons/armor for the larger figures. Probably one of those things that sounds FAR more interesting “on paper” than what Hasbro would have been able to deliver in the end.
That said, the omission DOES sting a bit harder because it comes across as Hasbro moving away from trying anything new in favor of just “MOAR G1 remakes”, regardless the characters being far less used than other options. The Energon monsters might not have been particularly impressive…but it still would have been something that was somewhat “new” (or at least, interesting) in a brand segment that is seeing less and less of it.
And you KNOW one of the Energon monsters would have been a play on Kremzeek as well! And knowing that we lost an Energon monster for that (frankly, exceptionally mediocre) Skullgrin isn’t much of a consolation.
And in terms of the Pretenders, with Core class Spike and Rumble, Hasbro has established precedent for that being roughly “normal person” sized characters. I’d almost prefer to see the Autobot Pretenders in that scale since they’re supposed to be “in disguise” as people. Though, I’m fine with some play with the Decepticon sizes.
The loss of the Energon Monsters probably explains why wave 1's clear plastic weapons gimmick disappeared. Legacy seems to have had a chaotic development.
I don't hate Skullgrin's tank mode but it is a strange downgrade from what they originally had in mind. I don't get what happened.
Bombburst looks like a home run though. I haven't cared for the modern Pretender approach but they've finally convinced me. I guess it's because they finally convincingly made a shell based robot mode look like a totally separate thing from the vehicle mode. They didn't just slap a monster head on a normal robot, nor did they invent a new vehicle mode to match the look of the shell. They made the shell and the inner vehicle mode morph back and forth between each other.
I don't hate Skullgrin's tank mode but it is a strange downgrade from what they originally had in mind. I don't get what happened.
Bombburst looks like a home run though. I haven't cared for the modern Pretender approach but they've finally convinced me. I guess it's because they finally convincingly made a shell based robot mode look like a totally separate thing from the vehicle mode. They didn't just slap a monster head on a normal robot, nor did they invent a new vehicle mode to match the look of the shell. They made the shell and the inner vehicle mode morph back and forth between each other.