Will there be an Earthrise Inferno?

[Paulbot]

Be kinda funny if they release Grapple in red but as the Rescue Bots firetruck Heatwave.

[Bidoofdude]

They haven't. And oh I want to start a discussion but I'm worried how people will take it. I am all for new characters too, I would love to see more of them but I don't think repainting such a distinctive looking G1 character and saying "now he's Scrapmetal" works. When they reuse the Grapple figure as Inferno (and Artfire) make the most sense and more than making him purple and calling him "Hightower" (or versions of Hot Spot and Pyro(.

I think for the most part the tendency for a lot of fans to jump onto simple repaints/retools for figure ideas is a remnant of the collecting environment of the 2000s, where it seems like fans were begging for anything they could get their hands on, and more often than not, the only option for a G1 character update was a repaint of a Unicron Trilogy or RiD toy. We are truly in a golden age right now, and I think it’s reasonable to assume and expect most repaints nowadays to only be relevant/accurate ones (mouldmates in original toy/fiction). Retools are a bit weirder, but I am generally confident in Hasbro’s ability to pull them off. I can definitely make an exception for some super obscure characters still somehow not good enough for their own toy though, creative uses of moulds can be a good thing! Scrounge and Hauler, I’m looking at you.

I get tired of seeing the ideas thrown around on TFW and the like constantly, that every Wheeljack figure must be made into Tracks, every Sideswipe toy must have some kind of alternate robot mode for Sunstreaker, every Soundwave must be made into Blaster. It’s boring and from an outdated era.

I embrace a lot of the older characters getting new figures, because a lot of the (now really old!) CHUG figures are starting to lose their lustre. Hell, some of those toys were themselves repaints and simple retools. Though getting to every nook and cranny of G1 is super cool and inevitable, I think having more definitive versions of existing characters (and just having more options really) is just as important, especially as the fandom expands. After all, if we’d stopped when a character first got represented, we’d be still stuck with the Springer repaint of Cybertron Evac, or Classics Voyager Megatron!

Be kinda funny if they release Grapple in red but as the Rescue Bots firetruck Heatwave.

I think the Rescue Bots would make excellent new CHUG toys. I’d buy them, and wouldn’t mind if they hammed them up with all the goofy Rescue Bot tidbits.

[Paulbot]

....a remnant of the collecting environment of the 2000s, where it seems like fans were begging for anything they could get their hands on, and more often than not, the only option for a G1 character update was a repaint of a Unicron Trilogy or RiD toy.

We were! But at the same time the line was moving forward with new characters and concepts each year and the "G1" throwbacks were the smaller sub line not the main game.

At one point Generations was meant to cover all previous toylines, but now it's become a G1 remake line -- and I hate that I like that and buy it even though it prevents new TFs characters being introduced or non-G1 concepts being revisited.

[GoktimusPrime]

I embrace a lot of the older characters getting new figures, because a lot of the (now really old!) CHUG figures are starting to lose their lustre. Hell, some of those toys were themselves repaints and simple retools. Though getting to every nook and cranny of G1 is super cool and inevitable, I think having more definitive versions of existing characters (and just having more options really) is just as important, especially as the fandom expands. After all, if we’d stopped when a character first got represented, we’d be still stuck with the Springer repaint of Cybertron Evac, or Classics Voyager Megatron!

I personally skipped Earthrise Grapple because I already have United Grapple. I skipped CW Inferno because I have Henkei Inferno. And I own two United Artfires so... probably would skip an Artfire redeco of ER Grapple too. I don't own any form of CHUG Hauler, so yeah, if they repainted CHUG Grapple as Hauler I would definitely throw my money at that.

Replied further here.

[Deano85]

I was going to skip Grapple while waiting for Inferno but ended up getting him anyway. Definitely a fun figure that works well with alot of other weapons and blast effects. At least they will look good together as a duo.