Even More Crazy Power of the Primes Rumors

[Zobovor]

The Nuremberg International Toy Fair has been running for the last six days in Germany, an event that is open to industry professionals only (no civilians). No photography was permitted but there's some interesting information coming out of the event. I'm getting most of this information from the Transformers message board on Reddit.

Reportedly showcased at the event were the Leader-class Optimal Optimus toy, the Titan-class Predaking, the combined form for Abominus, Inferno with his team, Elita One with her team, the Legends versions of Outback (Brawn retool) and Cindersaur (Slash redeco) and Runamuck (?!), and the Prime Master versions of Bludgeon, Bomb-Burst, Bugly, Groundshaker, Octopunch, Sky High, and Waverider.

Based on packaging reveals or leaked images of toys, we know the following toys are coming as well: Flywheels (two separate Legends toys, just like Battletrap), Deluxe-class Blast Off (the Unite Warriors version previously sold by Takara; it was previously speculated that he might be offered for May Madness with the reported Delxue-class Repugnus), Nosecone (also the Unite Warriors version), and no fewer than three repaints/remolds of Power of the Primes Jazz being used to represent other cars (my guesses: Backstreet, G2 Drench, and Motorvators Lightspeed). There's also a Voyager-class Snaptrap coming (yay!) as well as Scowl, who is a remold of Power of the Primes Grimlock. Finally, there is a Leader-class version of Thunderclash, an Evolutions toy whose cab component is styled after his G1 self, while the combined form is inspired by his current IDW design.

There is also a list of rumored toys that were only mentioned verbally, so no photo confirmation thus far. Among them are Legends-class versions of Freeway, Searchlight, and Runabout, who are all retooled/repainted versions of Runamuck, and tiny versions of Birdbrain and Nautilator. Deluxe-class characters include the rest of the Pretender Monsters and the rest of the Seacons. (This is how we get six-member combiner teams!) We may be getting a Voyager-class version of Thundercracker (a likely Starscream redeco) and Scattershot (the Unite Warriors version). Finally, there may be a Leader-class version of Doubledealer coming, another Evolutions toy that has both his vulture mode and a larger tank mode.

Discuss!


Zob (giddy)

[Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.]

On Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 8:51:33 PM UTC-6, Zobovor wrote:
> The Nuremberg International Toy Fair has been running for the last six days in Germany, an event that is open to industry professionals only (no civilians). No photography was permitted but there's some interesting information coming out of the event. I'm getting most of this information from the Transformers message board on Reddit.
>
> Reportedly showcased at the event were the Leader-class Optimal Optimus toy, the Titan-class Predaking, the combined form for Abominus, Inferno with his team, Elita One with her team, the Legends versions of Outback (Brawn retool) and Cindersaur (Slash redeco) and Runamuck (?!), and the Prime Master versions of Bludgeon, Bomb-Burst, Bugly, Groundshaker, Octopunch, Sky High, and Waverider.
>

The only new news there is that we're getting complete teams for Inferno and Elita 1, but I still want to see the pictures. Still hope Elita 1 is retooled enough to not look like Starscream.

> Based on packaging reveals or leaked images of toys, we know the following toys are coming as well: Flywheels (two separate Legends toys, just like Battletrap), Deluxe-class Blast Off (the Unite Warriors version previously sold by Takara; it was previously speculated that he might be offered for May Madness with the reported Delxue-class Repugnus), Nosecone (also the Unite Warriors version), and no fewer than three repaints/remolds of Power of the Primes Jazz being used to represent other cars (my guesses: Backstreet, G2 Drench, and Motorvators Lightspeed). There's also a Voyager-class Snaptrap coming (yay!) as well as Scowl, who is a remold of Power of the Primes Grimlock. Finally, there is a Leader-class version of Thunderclash, an Evolutions toy whose cab component is styled after his G1 self, while the combined form is inspired by his current IDW design.
>

Thunderclash, I see this being a retooling of the Optimus, and I'm fine with that seeing how the MW Optimus was a retooling of Thnderclash.

Somehow I'm expecting the Jazz remolds to be Siren, Nightbeat, Bluestreak, I don't expect Motorvators Lightspeed before we get the Brainmaster component they were designed after, but possibly a redo of Technobot Lightspeed. It'd be nice to get Drench, and maybe a Gobots Crasher (or Fracture if they have to clear legal)

> There is also a list of rumored toys that were only mentioned verbally, so no photo confirmation thus far. Among them are Legends-class versions of Freeway, Searchlight, and Runabout, who are all retooled/repainted versions of Runamuck, and tiny versions of Birdbrain and Nautilator. Deluxe-class characters include the rest of the Pretender Monsters and the rest of the Seacons. (This is how we get six-member combiner teams!) We may be getting a Voyager-class version of Thundercracker (a likely Starscream redeco) and Scattershot (the Unite Warriors version). Finally, there may be a Leader-class version of Doubledealer coming, another Evolutions toy that has both his vulture mode and a larger tank mode.
>
> Discuss!
>
>
> Zob (giddy)

I've heard the rumors of Freeway, Searchlight before.

I don't know how Doubledealer evolves really, I thought he was just a multi-changer. He had better be a missile truck and not a tank.

Scattershot is news to me, and likely to piss off casual collectors who got the CW voyagers but didn't know about the box set, here's another combiner core you can't get limbs for.

If we get Thundercracker, does he share Starscream's limbs? I would have rather had Jetfire, someone to attach all these Autobot Cars to.

I still expect the Seacons and the Pretender Monsters and the Terrorcons to share quite a lot of tooling among the sets. I don't think they would bother with Pretender monsters at all otherwise.

I want the Dinobots, Terrorcons, Seacons, whatever Elita-1's team is called, and possibly the Technobots now. Maybe even the Monster Pretenders. This is going to be an expensive year. I hope they don't all have terrible stickers.

[Travoltron]

On 2/7/2018 4:34 AM, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:
> maybe a Gobots Crasher (or Fracture if they have to clear legal)

That's what I immediately thought when I saw the new Jazz. He already
looks like the white Crasher.

Pretender Monsters, huh? It would be cool if Takaratomy Mall did the
Victory Dino Force. Really all they need to do is remold the Dinobots.

[Zobovor]

On Wednesday, February 7, 2018 at 11:50:19 AM UTC-7, Travoltron wrote:

> That's what I immediately thought when I saw the new Jazz. He already
> looks like the white Crasher.

The robot mode would be all wrong for Crasher, though. Even with a remolded head, it wouldn't look right at all.


Zob (of course, neither did Classics Mirage)

[Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats]

On Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 6:51:33 PM UTC-8, Zobovor wrote:
> The Nuremberg International Toy Fair has been running for the last six days in Germany, an event that is open to industry professionals only (no civilians). No photography was permitted but there's some interesting information coming out of the event. I'm getting most of this information from the Transformers message board on Reddit.
>
> Reportedly showcased at the event were the Leader-class Optimal Optimus toy, the Titan-class Predaking, the combined form for Abominus, Inferno with his team, Elita One with her team, the Legends versions of Outback (Brawn retool) and Cindersaur (Slash redeco) and Runamuck (?!), and the Prime Master versions of Bludgeon, Bomb-Burst, Bugly, Groundshaker, Octopunch, Sky High, and Waverider.
>
> Based on packaging reveals or leaked images of toys, we know the following toys are coming as well: Flywheels (two separate Legends toys, just like Battletrap), Deluxe-class Blast Off (the Unite Warriors version previously sold by Takara; it was previously speculated that he might be offered for May Madness with the reported Delxue-class Repugnus), Nosecone (also the Unite Warriors version), and no fewer than three repaints/remolds of Power of the Primes Jazz being used to represent other cars (my guesses: Backstreet, G2 Drench, and Motorvators Lightspeed). There's also a Voyager-class Snaptrap coming (yay!) as well as Scowl, who is a remold of Power of the Primes Grimlock. Finally, there is a Leader-class version of Thunderclash, an Evolutions toy whose cab component is styled after his G1 self, while the combined form is inspired by his current IDW design.

Yay! Seacons!

Ultra Magnus really would fit the play pattern of the PotP perfectly, if they were to replace the CW toy's cab with a transforming cab. He would get the Matrix of Futility or something.

[Zobovor]

On Wednesday, February 7, 2018 at 5:34:56 AM UTC-7, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:

> The only new news there is that we're getting complete teams for Inferno and
> Elita 1, but I still want to see the pictures.

I didn't know about Runamuck. I'm a little disappointed that he's going to be a Legends toy. I really wanted the Battlechargers to be Deluxe-class.

> Still hope Elita 1 is retooled enough to not look like Starscream.

I saw a picture of her somewhere recently. She's got the right robot head and robot chest. Still has the huge gauntlets and boots, but what can ya do.

This isn't the one I saw, but here's one:

https://blog-imgs-116-origin.fc2.com/s/n/a/snakas/005CzrXlgy1fkkcx7i4aij30k006gt96.jpg

> Thunderclash, I see this being a retooling of the Optimus, and I'm fine with

> that seeing how the MW Optimus was a retooling of Thunderclash.

Maybe this is how they will end up reusing the Optimus mold to try to justify the production costs. I'm not really sure I need a Thunderclash toy, but then I used to say I would never buy Overlord, either. Shrug.

> Somehow I'm expecting the Jazz remolds to be Siren, Nightbeat, Bluestreak.

I hope not! I still want to see Nightbeat as a Headmaster.

> I've heard the rumors of Freeway, Searchlight before.

Yes, they were mentioned a while back. To get confirmation that they're mold-mates with Runamuck means they're different from Roadburn, though, so that's good.

> I don't know how Doubledealer evolves really, I thought he was just a multi-
> changer. He had better be a missile truck and not a tank.

It seems like a weird idea. It will be interesting to see how he turns out.

> Scattershot is news to me, and likely to piss off casual collectors who got
> the CW voyagers but didn't know about the box set, here's another combiner
> core you can't get limbs for.

Seems to me that if they're offering both Scattershot and Nosecone, they're probably going to do all the Technobots eventually. I already got the Unite Warriors Computron so I'm good, but my thinking is that a lot of fans have been asking them when they can get the other Technobots, since Scattershot was part of Combiner Wars at retail.

> If we get Thundercracker, does he share Starscream's limbs? I would have
> rather had Jetfire, someone to attach all these Autobot Cars to.

Hasbro knows the fans like their Decepticon jets. They'll try to milk Thundercracker and Skywarp redeco versions out of every single Starscream toy they do, from now until eternity.

> I still expect the Seacons and the Pretender Monsters and the Terrorcons to
> share quite a lot of tooling among the sets. I don't think they would bother
> with Pretender monsters at all otherwise.

Well, this is probably why they were saving the combiner teams with creature modes... so they could knock them all out of the way at once. As I've said before, Cutthroat could share a mold with Wildfly and I wouldn't complain. Slog looks an awful lot like Blot. Give Slag some wings and you've got Bristleback.

Scowl as Grimlock seems so wrong on the surface, and yet Scowl was so abstract that I have no idea what he was supposed to transform into. Really, they all were. They're all Pokémon Pretenders.

> I want the Dinobots, Terrorcons, Seacons, whatever Elita-1's team is called,
> and possibly the Technobots now. Maybe even the Monster Pretenders. This is
> going to be an expensive year. I hope they don't all have terrible stickers.

Fingers crossed!


Zob (never thought I'd say this, but I'm really starting to hate the stickers)

[Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.]

On Wednesday, February 7, 2018 at 11:08:39 PM UTC-6, Zobovor wrote:
> On Wednesday, February 7, 2018 at 5:34:56 AM UTC-7, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:
>
> > The only new news there is that we're getting complete teams for Inferno and
> > Elita 1, but I still want to see the pictures.
>
> I didn't know about Runamuck. I'm a little disappointed that he's going to be a Legends toy. I really wanted the Battlechargers to be Deluxe-class.
>

Somewhere it was said the Battlechargers and Throttlebots would be in the Scout/legends scale back in November. The G1 Battlechargers were so simple, they were way oversized in G1. Not that I have enough attachment to the characters to buy new versions anyway.

> > Still hope Elita 1 is retooled enough to not look like Starscream.
>
> I saw a picture of her somewhere recently. She's got the right robot head and robot chest. Still has the huge gauntlets and boots, but what can ya do.
>

I'll probably end up getting her. It's a new character that's also an old character that I don't have any representation of. I'm probably buying Moonracer too, even though her vehicle mode looks like a cordless house phone on wheels.

> This isn't the one I saw, but here's one:
>
> https://blog-imgs-116-origin.fc2.com/s/n/a/snakas/005CzrXlgy1fkkcx7i4aij30k006gt96.jpg
>

I'm not allowed to see it. Damn I miss net neutrality.

> > Thunderclash, I see this being a retooling of the Optimus, and I'm fine with
> > that seeing how the MW Optimus was a retooling of Thunderclash.
>
> Maybe this is how they will end up reusing the Optimus mold to try to justify the production costs. I'm not really sure I need a Thunderclash toy, but then I used to say I would never buy Overlord, either. Shrug.
>

That mold was Overlord first, and Skyshadow as an afterthought that was released first. With that said, it's not worth the $40+, even though G1 Overlord is $1200

> > Somehow I'm expecting the Jazz remolds to be Siren, Nightbeat, Bluestreak.
>
> I hope not! I still want to see Nightbeat as a Headmaster.
>

Well, TR is over and we didn't get them. I thought it really odd we got a (terrible) Getaway but no 2nd series Autobot Headmasters. But they were teasing us with Apeface and Snapdragon and that hasn't happened yet either.

> > I've heard the rumors of Freeway, Searchlight before.
>
> Yes, they were mentioned a while back. To get confirmation that they're mold-mates with Runamuck means they're different from Roadburn, though, so that's good.
>
> > I don't know how Doubledealer evolves really, I thought he was just a multi-
> > changer. He had better be a missile truck and not a tank.
>
> It seems like a weird idea. It will be interesting to see how he turns out.
>

I got the idea, that maybe they can have a retool into a movie Megatron, evolve from jet to tank. This sounds terrible, which is why I thought it might happen.

> > Scattershot is news to me, and likely to piss off casual collectors who got
> > the CW voyagers but didn't know about the box set, here's another combiner
> > core you can't get limbs for.
>
> Seems to me that if they're offering both Scattershot and Nosecone, they're probably going to do all the Technobots eventually. I already got the Unite Warriors Computron so I'm good, but my thinking is that a lot of fans have been asking them when they can get the other Technobots, since Scattershot was part of Combiner Wars at retail.
>

There are still a few CW Computron box sets at the specialty stores here, but the price keeps going up.

> > If we get Thundercracker, does he share Starscream's limbs? I would have
> > rather had Jetfire, someone to attach all these Autobot Cars to.
>
> Hasbro knows the fans like their Decepticon jets. They'll try to milk Thundercracker and Skywarp redeco versions out of every single Starscream toy they do, from now until eternity.
>

I have a lot of versions of Thundercracker. Barely any Starscreams.

> > I still expect the Seacons and the Pretender Monsters and the Terrorcons to
> > share quite a lot of tooling among the sets. I don't think they would bother
> > with Pretender monsters at all otherwise.
>
> Well, this is probably why they were saving the combiner teams with creature modes... so they could knock them all out of the way at once. As I've said before, Cutthroat could share a mold with Wildfly and I wouldn't complain. Slog looks an awful lot like Blot. Give Slag some wings and you've got Bristleback.
>
> Scowl as Grimlock seems so wrong on the surface, and yet Scowl was so abstract that I have no idea what he was supposed to transform into. Really, they all were. They're all Pokémon Pretenders.
>

All the Monster Pretenders inner robots were incredibly vague. Are we getting updates of the inner robots or the outer shells? Or could we get both? I highly doubt it's both.

[Zobovor]

On Wednesday, February 7, 2018 at 11:08:02 PM UTC-7, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:

> Somewhere it was said the Battlechargers and Throttlebots would be in the
> Scout/legends scale back in November. The G1 Battlechargers were so simple,
> they were way oversized in G1.

The Throttlebots were always like miniature Battlechargers, so in theory it make sense. But now the Battlechargers can't go head-to-head against the Jumpstarters. We should be getting bigger, better versions of the old characters, not tiny ones!

> I'm not allowed to see it. Damn I miss net neutrality.

Try this:

http://news.tfw2005.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/Power-Of-The-Primes-12-Elita-1.jpg

> Well, TR is over and we didn't get them. I thought it really odd we got a
> (terrible) Getaway but no 2nd series Autobot Headmasters. But they were
> teasing us with Apeface and Snapdragon and that hasn't happened yet either.

I have faith. John Warden is a straight shooter. I've never seen any evidence that he's lying to us. He promised us Dinobots and he delivered.

> All the Monster Pretenders inner robots were incredibly vague. Are we getting
> updates of the inner robots or the outer shells? Or could we get both? I
> highly doubt it's both.

Inner robots seems much more likely. In-universe, when we met these guys, they had only just recently gotten their Pretender shells and they were plagued with problems (Birdbrain's was always malfunctioning, Bristleback hated his because it made him super slow, etc.) So, maybe the Pretender upgrade was just a temporary thing for them, like Krok not being able to transform for a while.


Zob (and, really, the Pretender Monsters are so obscure that it's not like their Pretender shells are any more or less iconic than their inner robot forms)

[Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.]

On Thursday, February 8, 2018 at 7:41:46 AM UTC-6, Zobovor wrote:
> On Wednesday, February 7, 2018 at 11:08:02 PM UTC-7, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:
>
> > Somewhere it was said the Battlechargers and Throttlebots would be in the
> > Scout/legends scale back in November. The G1 Battlechargers were so simple,
> > they were way oversized in G1.
>
> The Throttlebots were always like miniature Battlechargers, so in theory it make sense. But now the Battlechargers can't go head-to-head against the Jumpstarters. We should be getting bigger, better versions of the old characters, not tiny ones!
>

I don't know why we got Deluxe Jumpstarters.

> > I'm not allowed to see it. Damn I miss net neutrality.
>
> Try this:
>
> http://news.tfw2005.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/Power-Of-The-Primes-12-Elita-1.jpg
>

Darn, was hoping for a Cybertronian alt mode.

> > Well, TR is over and we didn't get them. I thought it really odd we got a
> > (terrible) Getaway but no 2nd series Autobot Headmasters. But they were
> > teasing us with Apeface and Snapdragon and that hasn't happened yet either.
>
> I have faith. John Warden is a straight shooter. I've never seen any evidence that he's lying to us. He promised us Dinobots and he delivered.
>

Yeah, but will it be after the PoTP? We're still in the first wave of this series and I'm already asking what comes next?

> > All the Monster Pretenders inner robots were incredibly vague. Are we getting
> > updates of the inner robots or the outer shells? Or could we get both? I
> > highly doubt it's both.
>
> Inner robots seems much more likely. In-universe, when we met these guys, they had only just recently gotten their Pretender shells and they were plagued with problems (Birdbrain's was always malfunctioning, Bristleback hated his because it made him super slow, etc.) So, maybe the Pretender upgrade was just a temporary thing for them, like Krok not being able to transform for a while.
>
>
> Zob (and, really, the Pretender Monsters are so obscure that it's not like their Pretender shells are any more or less iconic than their inner robot forms)

people could see the shells as something, where the inner robots were so vague as to be less detailed than Lego characters.The shells in G1 are memorable. they had paint, and a form that didn't look like something to be confused for a 3rd party. It's a combiner of Micromasters with stickers, but less detail than a Micromaster, the whole combiner fits in TR Trypticon's mouth. The shells are far more recognizable.

[Zobovor]

On Thursday, February 8, 2018 at 11:05:24 AM UTC-7, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:

> I don't know why we got Deluxe Jumpstarters.

Come on, the Titans Return Jumpstarters were awesome. And that's the first time anybody has ever used "Jumpstarters" and "awesome" in the same sentence!

> Yeah, but will it be after the PoTP? We're still in the first wave of this
> series and I'm already asking what comes next?

I've posted this quote before, but what John Warden said, specifically, was this: "We always get a lot of, like, '[they're] not going to do Snapdragon and Apeface now, because they weren’t in Titans Return.' Like, no. You know, you just have to wait sometimes. There were a lot of people who were thinking we would never do the Terrorcons because we didn’t get to them in Combiner Wars."

I know we've gotten spoiled and that we're accustomed to reveals or leaks many months in advance, so it's worrisome that we haven't heard anything about the Headmaster Horrorcons yet. But, we only know about the first few waves of Power of the Primes, right? As a frame of reference, we had no idea that Misfire and Slugslinger and Triggerhappy were coming when Titans Return was first announced.

> The shells in G1 are memorable. The shells are far more recognizable.

Maybe so. I'm probably biased because I never owned them, but I have so much trouble telling them apart, regardless of whether they're in their shells or otherwise. I think that if I had to choose between Pretender Monsters who aren't Pretenders, though, or Pretender Monsters who are tiny Prime Masters with decoy suits, I'd rather get Deluxe-class toys that can actually form Monstructor. But that's just me.


Zob (Micromaster Monsters)

[Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.]

On Thursday, February 8, 2018 at 6:28:32 PM UTC-6, Zobovor wrote:
> On Thursday, February 8, 2018 at 11:05:24 AM UTC-7, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:
>
> > I don't know why we got Deluxe Jumpstarters.
>
> Come on, the Titans Return Jumpstarters were awesome. And that's the first time anybody has ever used "Jumpstarters" and "awesome" in the same sentence!
>

Yes, but I would have rather had Deluxe Headmasters that were headasters, actual headmasters were skipped over in favor of Jumpstarters that can't jump...

> > Yeah, but will it be after the PoTP? We're still in the first wave of this
> > series and I'm already asking what comes next?
>
> I've posted this quote before, but what John Warden said, specifically, was this: "We always get a lot of, like, '[they're] not going to do Snapdragon and Apeface now, because they weren’t in Titans Return.' Like, no. You know, you just have to wait sometimes. There were a lot of people who were thinking we would never do the Terrorcons because we didn’t get to them in Combiner Wars."
>
> I know we've gotten spoiled and that we're accustomed to reveals or leaks many months in advance, so it's worrisome that we haven't heard anything about the Headmaster Horrorcons yet. But, we only know about the first few waves of Power of the Primes, right? As a frame of reference, we had no idea that Misfire and Slugslinger and Triggerhappy were coming when Titans Return was first announced.
>

I am incredibly happy with Misfire, Triggerhappy, and somewhat by Slugslinger. I have no idea why but I really liked their G1 toys and went to a lot of work hunting them down the first go around. They were not easy to find in the early 2000s

> > The shells in G1 are memorable. The shells are far more recognizable.
>
> Maybe so. I'm probably biased because I never owned them, but I have so much trouble telling them apart, regardless of whether they're in their shells or otherwise. I think that if I had to choose between Pretender Monsters who aren't Pretenders, though, or Pretender Monsters who are tiny Prime Masters with decoy suits, I'd rather get Deluxe-class toys that can actually form Monstructor. But that's just me.
>
>
> Zob (Micromaster Monsters)

You don't want a Prime Masters combiner? I think that would be hilarious and awesome. The original Monstructor I only owned Slog and Birdbrain. Their names were obviouslyfrom the shells. But it was a tiny combiner. I think another tiny non-$100 combiner would be cool.