Earthspark News: Nightshade Preorders Up and Cyber-Combiner Toys Revealed

Neither "WEIRD" nor "UGLY" are enough.

Maybe "CREEPY" is appropriate.

I should know better.

The late Cyberverse Roll & Combine figures told me loud and clear that the RID Crash Combiner concept had no hidden potential waiting to be unlocked by future toylines. Even the awesome interchangeability of the Deluxe and Voyager Energon Autobots wore thin all too soon, but I attributed that to the wretched cartoon having caused the very act of combining to lose all meaning by the bitter end; maybe the Unicron Singularity affected my memory too.

But because my favorite toy of all time is Slamdance, the reveal of any sort of dual-combining TFs just fills me with hope of recapturing the joy I felt stumbling across those last 2 Autobot cassettes in Toys'R'Us!

Interesting that we've been getting so many TF toys of humans in exo-suits lately. I thought conventional wisdom was that parents outside of SE Asia couldn't be bothered to understand the difference between sentient robots, piloted mecha, and drones (boy, that term's gotten loaded with new connotations over the past decade or so, thanks to pesky reality), so toylines never got into many categories beyond 2 major factions, hence Nightbird becoming more of a sentient-Decepticon-all-along with each subsequent toy and fiction incarnation, and no toys of her rough Marvel counterpart Centurion.

So now human children have the ability to form PANTS to prop up alien robots! We'll see if this causes an even bigger slag-storm than Nightshade's clunky pronoun declaration...of course we'll have to wait a year after their debut to be sure there's any reaction at all...

I've seen better looking Happy Meal toys. The bright side is they make the rest of the line look almost passable by comparison.

Bumblevivisector wrote:So now human children have the ability to form PANTS to prop up alien robots! We'll see if this causes an even bigger slag-storm than Nightshade's clunky pronoun declaration...of course we'll have to wait a year after their debut to be sure there's any reaction at all...

Actually these are closer to Energon figures than Crash Combiners. Not only is the combined bot articulated, but they can also trade places so the bot forms the pants. I think they're neat and actually worth getting compared to the previous attempts.

Emerje

Yeah these are pretty cool. Definitely a further testing for possible Energon figures in Generations. During one of the livestreams a year or so ago they mentioned they were looking into it but they wanted to make sure the Autobots could still combine. So this looks like a test run. The figures while still awkward, look pretty decent. The combined mode looks decent as well and has almost full articulation. Just no waist or thigh swivels or ankle tilts for the combined mode. They managed this much with what are basically $15 figures each if we split the cost of the set for each figure. Imagine what they could do with the full budget of a $25 or $35 figure.

I'll most likely be getting two of each because I'm crazy and want them to combine with themselves. I grabbed four Hishoumaru figures for this exact reason. One to combine with Gekisoumaru and Sensuimaru and the other three to combine with each other. This was back when they were on Amazon for like $17 each though.

If I only get one set each then I'll switch the Matlos. Mo with Twitch and Robby with Bumblebee.

Bumblevivisector wrote:So now human children have the ability to form PANTS to prop up alien robots! We'll see if this causes an even bigger slag-storm than Nightshade's clunky pronoun declaration...of course we'll have to wait a year after their debut to be sure there's any reaction at all...

It won't.

Interesting. Maybe these "Cyber-Combiners" will feature in the show's second season?

I got Nightshade, and they are a pretty dang nice toy. Nice to see all 4 of the larger Terrans got good figures. Now Hashtag needs a good toy.

Also took some photos of Mandroid, Grimlock, and Jawbreaker.

The siblings united.

Now we just need a proper sized Hashtag

With Earthspark Shockwave being a rerelease of his mold in Cyberverse, it made sense to assume that the upcoming Prowl would be a rerelease of of that same mold as well. BUT NO. Instead, Earthspark Prowl will be a straight redeco of Cyberverse deluxe Hot Rod. While it makes for an original deco for a Hot Rod toy, that original mold was panned by fans for having major clearance/articulation issues. Still, odd redecos like this have their fans, so let us know what you think.
Also, in what might possible be even bigger news, we have our first look at deluxe Thrash.

william-james88 wrote:With Earthspark Shockwave being a rerelease of his mold in Cyberverse, it made sense to assume that the upcoming Prowl would be a rerelease of of that same mold as well. BUT NO. Instead, Earthspark Prowl will be a straight redeco of Cyberverse deluxe Hot Rod. While it makes for an original deco for a Hot Rod toy, that original mold was panned by fans for having major clearance/articulation issues. Still, odd redecos like this have their fans, so let us know what you think.
Also, in what might possible be even bigger news, we have our first look at deluxe Thrash.

Where?

william-james88 wrote:With Earthspark Shockwave being a rerelease of his mold in Cyberverse, it made sense to assume that the upcoming Prowl would be a rerelease of of that same mold as well. BUT NO. Instead, Earthspark Prowl will be a straight redeco of Cyberverse deluxe Hot Rod. While it makes for an original deco for a Hot Rod toy, that original mold was panned by fans for having major clearance/articulation issues. Still, odd redecos like this have their fans, so let us know what you think.
Also, in what might possible be even bigger news, we have our first look at deluxe Thrash.

Why?

Overcracker wrote:

william-james88 wrote:With Earthspark Shockwave being a rerelease of his mold in Cyberverse, it made sense to assume that the upcoming Prowl would be a rerelease of of that same mold as well. BUT NO. Instead, Earthspark Prowl will be a straight redeco of Cyberverse deluxe Hot Rod. While it makes for an original deco for a Hot Rod toy, that original mold was panned by fans for having major clearance/articulation issues. Still, odd redecos like this have their fans, so let us know what you think.
Also, in what might possible be even bigger news, we have our first look at deluxe Thrash.

Why?

Kinda makes him look a little like Checkpoint, even.

Sabrblade wrote:

Overcracker wrote:

william-james88 wrote:With Earthspark Shockwave being a rerelease of his mold in Cyberverse, it made sense to assume that the upcoming Prowl would be a rerelease of of that same mold as well. BUT NO. Instead, Earthspark Prowl will be a straight redeco of Cyberverse deluxe Hot Rod. While it makes for an original deco for a Hot Rod toy, that original mold was panned by fans for having major clearance/articulation issues. Still, odd redecos like this have their fans, so let us know what you think.
Also, in what might possible be even bigger news, we have our first look at deluxe Thrash.

Why?

Kinda makes him look a little like Checkpoint, even.

Checkpoint? As in Energon Checkpoint? Redeco of race truck Rodimus Prime?


Maybe a little yes.

Checkpoint it is. Though kind of want a truck Checkpoint now in Legacy.

Sabrblade wrote:

Overcracker wrote:

william-james88 wrote:With Earthspark Shockwave being a rerelease of his mold in Cyberverse, it made sense to assume that the upcoming Prowl would be a rerelease of of that same mold as well. BUT NO. Instead, Earthspark Prowl will be a straight redeco of Cyberverse deluxe Hot Rod. While it makes for an original deco for a Hot Rod toy, that original mold was panned by fans for having major clearance/articulation issues. Still, odd redecos like this have their fans, so let us know what you think.
Also, in what might possible be even bigger news, we have our first look at deluxe Thrash.

Why?

Kinda makes him look a little like Checkpoint, even.

Interesting, and I concur on the Energon Checkpoint connection. Actually, he reminds me of Prime Smokescreen too.

Thanks to InDemand Toys, we have our first images of the upcoming deluxe class Prowl and Thrash from the Transformers Earthspark toyline.

Thrash is a brand new mold that is based on his appearance in the show. Compared to his warrior toy, which is a good toy in and of itself, This toy is more articulated, but appears to have a less pleasing color scheme. He also comes with his shield and a small gun.

Prowl is a little weird though, as he is a repaint of the Cyberverse deluxe class Hot Rod toy. The art on his box suggests he has a very IDW look to him in the show, but the toy uses the Hot Rod mold for some odd reason. There is no retooling done, and he still comes with the flame effects. He does make for a nice little roundabout Energon Checkpoint homage though.

Check out the images below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!

Thrash looks like a sidestep really, I think his warrior toy looks better color wise.

Prowl is weird, but I like it? It makes no sense, but OK. I like it.

Yeah prowl makes no sense but I think the toy looks better than in its original deco

The unintentional recreation of Checkpoint with that Prowl toy makes it one I have to get. I kind of see why that's the mold they picked when looking at the cartoon design. It would be funny if they made a Hotrod using the Prowl mold to follow this up with.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Thrash looks like a sidestep really, I think his warrior toy looks better color wise.

That's a nice way to put it, but I don't think trading the sidecar for more articulation was the right move. The sidecar is essential I think, that shield is a poor substitute.

Prowl is so strange. Really does look more like Prime Smokescreen. Maybe I should just make him that and stick him with the Legacy guys since he really doesn't look like ES Prowl.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:Maybe I should just make him that and stick him with the Legacy guys since he really doesn't look like ES Prowl.

To be fair, we don't really know what EarthSpark Prowl actually looks like, since he's never appeared in the show outside of a cameo appearance of his G1 counterpart's cartoon model in Alex's fantasy-sequence retelling from Episode 1 of how the Transformers' war began.

For all we know, he could very well look like a Hot Rod recolor.

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:Maybe I should just make him that and stick him with the Legacy guys since he really doesn't look like ES Prowl.

To be fair, we don't really know what EarthSpark Prowl actually looks like, since he's never appeared in the show outside of a cameo appearance of his G1 counterpart's cartoon model in Alex's fantasy-sequence retelling from Episode 1 of how the Transformers' war began.

For all we know, he could very well look like a Hot Rod recolor.

I'm saying that based on the box art for him which I would guess is accurate and looks nothing like Hot Rod.

Emerje

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:Maybe I should just make him that and stick him with the Legacy guys since he really doesn't look like ES Prowl.

To be fair, we don't really know what EarthSpark Prowl actually looks like

There's a character model of Prowl on the box. Either way, there's an error done here. Either the toy looks nothing like the show character or the artwork used on the box doesn't.

Huh. I gotta say, and agree with others, that Thrash IS a step down. At least it looks like it so far, maybe they’ll surprise us. Instead of him, how about a warrior Hashtag?

Prowl looks cool as a Prowl repaint of Hot Rod.
As Hot Rod the mold looks cool, clean, simple and sleek.

Thrash looks nice/normal, nothing special.

Anybody already know what comes after Earthspark? I'm not fond of the style of the faces and the whole woke series big nope.

That new Grimlock does look amazing!

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Thrash looks like a sidestep really, I think his warrior toy looks better color wise.

Prowl is weird, but I like it? It makes no sense, but OK. I like it.

i do as well

Stormshot_Prime wrote:Huh. I gotta say, and agree with others, that Thrash IS a step down. At least it looks like it so far, maybe they’ll surprise us. Instead of him, how about a warrior Hashtag?

We need a proper bigger Hashtag. I hope she gets a deluxe, but she needs a full proper voyager. We almost need a legacy version of her in the voyager assortment.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Stormshot_Prime wrote:Huh. I gotta say, and agree with others, that Thrash IS a step down. At least it looks like it so far, maybe they’ll surprise us. Instead of him, how about a warrior Hashtag?

We need a proper bigger Hashtag. I hope she gets a deluxe, but she needs a full proper voyager. We almost need a legacy version of her in the voyager assortment.

Maybe EarthSpark will eventually get an Ultra class assortment like Cyberverse had, and then Hashtag could get an Ultra figure with a decent amount of articulation.

Sabrblade wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Stormshot_Prime wrote:Huh. I gotta say, and agree with others, that Thrash IS a step down. At least it looks like it so far, maybe they’ll surprise us. Instead of him, how about a warrior Hashtag?

We need a proper bigger Hashtag. I hope she gets a deluxe, but she needs a full proper voyager. We almost need a legacy version of her in the voyager assortment.

Maybe EarthSpark will eventually get an Ultra class assortment like Cyberverse had, and then Hashtag could get an Ultra figure with a decent amount of articulation.

Would be nice of her to get the Thunderhowl treatment if you will. Hopefully with a rotating head at least

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Stormshot_Prime wrote:Huh. I gotta say, and agree with others, that Thrash IS a step down. At least it looks like it so far, maybe they’ll surprise us. Instead of him, how about a warrior Hashtag?

We need a proper bigger Hashtag. I hope she gets a deluxe, but she needs a full proper voyager. We almost need a legacy version of her in the voyager assortment.

Maybe EarthSpark will eventually get an Ultra class assortment like Cyberverse had, and then Hashtag could get an Ultra figure with a decent amount of articulation.

Would be nice of her to get the Thunderhowl treatment if you will. Hopefully with a rotating head at least

Then again, her getting an Ultra class toy would also make her tower over the other Autobot and Decepticon Deluxe and Warrior toys, when she's supposed to be the same height as Bumblebee, and both are supposed to be smaller than the other 'Bots and 'Cons.

Sabrblade wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Stormshot_Prime wrote:Huh. I gotta say, and agree with others, that Thrash IS a step down. At least it looks like it so far, maybe they’ll surprise us. Instead of him, how about a warrior Hashtag?

We need a proper bigger Hashtag. I hope she gets a deluxe, but she needs a full proper voyager. We almost need a legacy version of her in the voyager assortment.

Maybe EarthSpark will eventually get an Ultra class assortment like Cyberverse had, and then Hashtag could get an Ultra figure with a decent amount of articulation.

Would be nice of her to get the Thunderhowl treatment if you will. Hopefully with a rotating head at least

Then again, her getting an Ultra class toy would also make her tower over the other Autobot and Decepticon Deluxe and Warrior toys, when she's supposed to be the same height as Bumblebee, and both are supposed to be smaller than the other 'Bots and 'Cons.

True, but I would almost rather her scale with her siblings than with the other bots. Twitch is already really big in comparison, and I would like to let Twitch sit on Hashtags shoulder

I've said this before, Hashtag should be a Spin Changer. It's the closest thing to an Ultra class that this line has and it would suit her well enough. I'm actually surprised they've only made two of those, I thought maybe we'd get a Megatron or something at some point.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:I've said this before, Hashtag should be a Spin Changer. It's the closest thing to an Ultra class that this line has and it would suit her well enough. I'm actually surprised they've only made two of those, I thought maybe we'd get a Megatron or something at some point.

Emerje

It's a higher price point, and with toylines catering only kids Hasbro tends to not do too many. We saw that with Cyberverse, the pricier classes usually only had 2 releases (and they were often just BB and Optimus).
That said, yes, a Hashtag Spin changer would work.

Great news for people looking to stock up on Christmas toys for young Transformers fans. The entire Earthspark toyline is on sale until November 1st at Toysrus in Canada. You can see the picture below for the different price points. While they have skipped several waves of the Studio Series and Legacy line, Toysrus stores have been more up to date on Earthspark than other Canadian stores, and has that line well stocked. You can see an image of how well Toysrus stores are stocked these days, which tends to happen around the holiday season (especially in movie years).

Gonna check this out and then checkout!

Gee why can’t Walmart shelves at least have this stock here in the states

Richeetf wrote:Gee why can’t Walmart shelves at least have this stock here in the states

Because they aren't a specialized toy store. So they will liquidate or remove or simply not stock items rather than let them accumulate like Toysrus does.

We've actually noticed that when TRU Canada was sold to a we believe Investment Trust the prices went through the roof and nothing was moving. They have since fallen and the sales from before the sale to that Trust have returned. Thank goodness as if they didn't TRU Canada would have also gone under.

Dino-Snarl wrote:We've actually noticed that when TRU Canada was sold to a we believe Investment Trust the prices went through the roof and nothing was moving. They have since fallen and the sales from before the sale to that Trust have returned. Thank goodness as if they didn't TRU Canada would have also gone under.

Yeah TRU has switched hands a few times, glad prices have finally come down and sales are back.

Unrelated note: just got warrior Thrash and I LOVE the transformation. Very well done figure, reminds me of Animated Prowl. Great deco too, probably the best face sculpt this year. And the sidecar has 4 modes for maximum playability
Easily my favourite Earthspark figure so far.

The Earthspark show and toyline continue on in 2024 and we now have a good look at many of the new toys coming out, aimed at the kids who watch the show. We see warriors Twitch and Bumblebee which have these black hooks, leading us to believe they may have a combining gimmick. Below you will also see images of one step Skullcruncher + Elita-1 and Tacticon Twitch. These were found on Entertainment Earth.

Combining gimmick? The first Twitch looks like her drone mode has an ass-grabbing gimmick!



Oh, I get it, she's one o' them predator drones. Maybe the U.N. should ban them.

I'd be more interested in the 1-step having a combining gimmick, since that drone appears to be a Titan-Master for Shockwave or Whirl.



So many Skullcrunchers since TR, and yet none of them are really the upgraded one I've wanted since my 8th birthday...

These new figures look good, hopefully they'll be easier to find online.

Interesting that those are still being considered Warrior class despite having an obvious new gimmick worked into them. Twitch also has extra articulation in her feet that aren't used in alt mode and Bumblebee has an unusually large upside down symbol on the car mode roof leaving me to believe it'll form a chest.

BTW, these seem to use the same connectors as the upcoming Cyber Combiners we saw back in September (and also featured Twitch and Bumblebee), but don't appear to be compatible.

Might get these, and will probably get Skullcruncher simply because it's Skullcruncher.

Emerje

Not our cup of tea, but happy if it is for others.

Gonna need that FFF Skullcruncher

That Twitch picture on the package looks....evil. And the vehicle mode looks way to similar to a mosquito for this Wisconsinite's liking. Causing flashbacks...

And that were the crappiest Skullcruncher - what I ever did see....

DeathReviews wrote:And that were the crappiest Skullcruncher - what I ever did see....

Slander. I love him.

Great stuff. Especially Elita.

DeathReviews wrote:And that were the crappiest Skullcruncher - what I ever did see....

No lie. Looks like I'll be saving a lot of money next year. Or burning more of it on 3rd party stuff.