[wrap=left:3himi8af][part_thumb=14000/14092.jpg group=potd:3himi8af]Did you ever see us in a store?[/part_
Almost every line has had its share of figures that are either "short packed" (a figure with fewer numbers in a case than any other figure in the case), simply aren't released in large numbers for whatever reason (for example, the line is winding down and Hasbro is amping up for the next line) or have seemingly lower than normal release numbers due to a popular figure being bought up in large numbers by scalpers. Off the top of my head, some bots that fall into these three categories: Robots in Disguise had
Storm Jet (who was nearly impossible to find upon his initial release, but then turned up much later at Kay Bee in huge numbers at an instant discount), Robots in Disguise
Bruticus (who was released towards the end of the line in seemingly lower numbers), and the ROTF
ice cream truck twins continue to elude brick and mortar collectors (although they are intermittently in stock at HasbroToyShop.com) to this very day. All of this limited release talk brings us to today's subjects - none other than the
Energon figures,
Grimlock and
Swoop, courtesy of Hellscream. Odds are, if you were able to find these guys in a store, they didn't stick around too long. For whatever reason, low distribution numbers, scalpers, etc., there were just some Energon toys that were very difficult to track down.
Beachcomber (a recolor of Cliffjumper),
Treadbolt (a recolor of Armada Scavenger), and
Rapid Run (a recolor of Armada Sideways) were released in lower numbers. However, the aforementioned pale in comparison to
Ultra Magnus, a recolor of Armada Overload. While Rapid Run, Treadbolt, and Ultra Magnus were some of the first figures produced for the U.S. Energon line (and in low numbers), Ultra Magnus was only available in one assortment, which was quickly replaced with the wave 2 assortment, making his time on the shelves almost non-existent. Many people who wanted the figure had to seek help from outside the United States - notably Canada and the
UK, where Ultra Magnus was released in much larger quantities. Getting back to Swoop and Grimlock, the figures are generally believed to not be worth the hype or the inflated price you may have to pay to obtain them. The gimmick of the Energon Autobots was that they could combine, and Grimlock and Swoop were no exception to this rule, forming the uber-creatively named "Mega-Dinobot" when combined. However, perhaps due to the fact that this was an entirely Hasbro venture (with no Takara involvement), popular opinion is that while the individual bots are decent, the combined form is simply "Mega-Awful".
