Dominic wrote:-SG Longarm/Shockwave: The descriptions are not clear on exactly how this works. It sounds like some kind of interdimensional posession fan-fickery though. Despite this being a near impossible to find figure of a character that I like (Shockwave) with new moulding, I am really fine with missing this one simply for it being based on such an idiotic concept. (I was more worried about it being an Autotrooper or something.)
I was under the impression it was supposed to be Shockwave disguised as Longarm or something, a la Animated, which is okay, as far as SG cherry-picking ideas to apply to its ‘own’ characters goes. I’m more concerned about the dickish move by FunPub it presents: You have to choose to have your very expensive, super-limited toy effectively be one character or the other. If you really only like Shockwave or Longarm and don’t care about the other, you’re fine, but if you want to add both to your collection, you’re right and truly fucked.
-Bard of Darkmount (Straxus): Lewis spent a fair amount of time compaining (over text) about the name. But, to be fair, it works. SG Straxus has been described as a poet. So, the poetic name kind of works. (The core concept is still dumb, but the execution is about as good as one might expect it to be.) The colouring is based on a really bad German comic from the 80s. Yet another figure I am happy to skip.
Huh, I was under the impression he was supposed to be based on Scrounge. Whatevs, I’ve already got Straxus and Skullgrin, both uses of that mold in *good* color schemes.
-Junkion 3 pack: No word on the moulding for the faces that I know of. I am a bit sorry that I missed these, if only because I could use them as bases for "other Junkion" customs. (A small amount of paint and some stickers are all it would take....) If anybody here gets a set of these, let me know. We might be able to work out a deal.
I’m actually interested in this set too, if only because I like the mold and the colors appeal to me. Dom, if you do get a set, I would be interested in buying one off you, if possible. That goes for anyone else too, actually (is ANYONE here going to BotCon this year?).
-SG Optimus and Kick-off: I am guessing these are recolours of RTS Optimus and Jazz. If I liked either mould more, missing this set would be bothersome. As it stands now, I am just taking this as license to make a new (RiD) Scourge figure.
Go for it, Dom, if only to ensure that Hasbro unveils a new, official Black Convoy/Scourge using the mold a week after you finish it.
-SG Octopunch and Spinister: Octopunch is a recolour of movie Seaspray. I am not sure what Spinister is. Aside from this being the first use of a movie toy in a BotCon set, I cannot think of much to be excited about here. Maybe pics of the toys will change this.
Spinister is based on Tomahawk from the ROTF line, so they’re both movie figures being used (along with Bludgeon as Overlord). Lots of people like Tomahawk, but I never got into the mold, for some reason, I liked his wave-mate Terradive a lot more. I think Spinister is using Tomahawk’s extra head, which previously only saw use in that limited Japanese-exclusive DOTM Vortex toy.
The comic: I am hearing only vague plot points. But, it sounds like the post G1 "Classics" timeline gets wiped out by SG. This may or may not have anything to do with IDW picking up Marvel G1 in a few weeks. Either way, I find it funny that (at least so far) nobody is whining when a BotCon comic wipes out a whole timeline, but IDW cannot even kill off a third tier character without triggering fantrums.
It’s kind of hilarious, actually, considering the Classics timeline over-wrote G2 when it started existing, and now it’s getting erased by an SG crossover. So G2 effectively got decanonized for nothing! Now *that* kind of upsets me. Kind of. Mainly though it’s just kind of funny.