Botcon '12 Exclusives

[Onslaught Six]

I've long thought that somewhere along the line, Mega-Octane and Scourge got their names switched. Laser Prime has gotten the nickname "Octane Prime" before because he shares his altmode with Octane, so...you know. Maybe Scourge was supposed to tap into that?

And frankly Scourge is a dumb name for him anyway. BLACK CONVOY, MOTHERFUCKERS!

[Dominic]

Because Prowl demanded it!

'S it just me, or is FunPub getting worse about securing the names of the guys they want to make toys of as years go on?

I cannot really blame this on them. The naming is not really their fault.

the body just doesn't fit him that well, and the disparity is even wider with the Nick Roche-style head slapped on there.

But this shit is. Overlord is not the first convention/club toy to look like the sort of half-assed custom that a kid would come up with, or like something that a grown up would leave on their shelf as an unfinished project.

Like many other people, I just about crapped myself when I heard about this toy. Then, I saw a picture, and was happy because it is going to be easy to skip. (Scourge had a good point. If they wanted to make Overlord, they could have used TFA Blitzwing last year. That would have been better all around.)

but I woulda preferred to see them do something cool with PCC molds or something.

The line is dead. Accept it son. (I mean, if you find extras, get to work customizing them. But, yeah, we are getting nothing new from here on out.)


Because Gomess is asking for it....

I've never been impressed with any BotCon exclusives,

You are crazy. There are some great ones....sadly most of them are pre-Master Collector. Okay, obligatory look back:

2005: The moulds were mostly middling. But, given that the set was put together at the last minute, that is to be expected. The concept (Autobots have to stop a bad guy from doing something) was sound enough for a convention set and there was a good mix of iconic/obscure/new characters.

2006: And, this set is pure crap. There are plenty of good moulds in this set. But, the concept and execution were terrible. (This set actually played a role in making me hate BW more than any GeeWunner could.) I have not only seen better fanfic. But, 2006 actually saw a fanfic made worse by being re-edited to be official and consistent with this set. There are plenty of good moulds ruined by context here. Hell, never have I been less inspired to do obvious custom figures, even when there was plenty of reference art and raw material.

2007: Okay, lets (pretend to) get past Thundergate for a moment. This was not a bad set. Most of the moulds were pretty good. And, even the lesser moulds from this year were still not completely awful. (This is the first year that I bought and kept a Master Collector figure at the convention, as well as the Club Exclusive Astrotrain.) The concept was harmed by being multiversal jibberwank. But, the execution was not terrible. (I have re-read the 2007 comic a few times, and really cannot complain too much about it.)

2008: And...this set is a great microcosm of everything that is wrong with the fandom. "Shattered Glass" is a lazy concept to begin with. And, now, it is a lazy concept with "Transformers" applied to it. And, the fandom loves it because....well, Costa was more right than we probably want to admit he was. The initial handling, (by Yee and Figueroa), was better than anybody had any reason to expect it to be. But, it has gotten worse (thanks to Sipher, Troop and Wittenrich) over time to the point where "Shattered Glass" is actually an insult to a pretty idiotic concept. The real shame of it is that there are some damned good mould pressings in the 2008 set. I actually have the commecial analogues for most of those toys, and would normally support any set that used recolours of them.

2009: This set is notable for being one of the few times that I generally agree with popular opinion. It is forgettable at every level. The execution left a bit to be desired, with the comic reading like a bad pack-in or one of the worse examples of the old US/UK series. But, the moulds are not really bad, and the concept is sound. Even the weakest toy from that year, (Scourge/Sweeps), works conceptually and looks great in vehicle mode.

2010: There is not a bad mould in this set. This is the only year that I would have bought everything, (box set, at show figures, door figure and custom class figure), if I had the money. When the worst thing in a set is a retool of "Energon" sharkticon, the fandom needs to rejoice. I can live with the ugly colours on most of these toys, purely on the strength of the moulding. [edit 11112] The concept is good but the execution is bad. Still, damn, these are some fine toys. (I am still giddy about having Streetstar, Breakdown and Pyro.)

2011: While not as obnoxious as 2006 or 2008, the "Animated" themed set nicely brings home what I did not like about TFA with a set full of toys that will not look good with any other BotCon/Club figures. I have yet to read the comic, (making this the only set with a Diamond Edition that I have not read), but will likely do so in the near future.


And...., this year.....


Dom
-more tomorrow, gotta go.

[BWprowl]

but I woulda preferred to see them do something cool with PCC molds or something.

The line is dead. Accept it son. (I mean, if you find extras, get to work customizing them. But, yeah, we are getting nothing new from here on out.)

Just when I was starting to enjoy it, too...

2006: And, this set is pure crap. There are plenty of good moulds in this set. But, the concept and execution were terrible. (This set actually played a role in making me hate BW more than any GeeWunner could.) I have not only seen better fanfic. But, 2006 actually saw a fanfic made worse by being re-edited to be official and consistent with this set. There are plenty of good moulds ruined by context here. Hell, never have I been less inspired to do obvious custom figures, even when there was plenty of reference art and raw material.

At the risk of sounding like a BW toyhack (BeeWunner? Beaboo?), I'm gonna say that I don't see what was so offensive about this set. I mean, it had mountains of precedent; we see in the *first episode* that the BW guys have bodies that aren't their current beast-bodies. So what's the ish with making toys of those forms? With the annoying exception of Waspinator and maybe Rhinox, they even picked molds that worked as 'Cybertronian'. Besides the fact that you hate Beast Wars because, I dunno, it's popular enough that it's harder for you to ignore the annoying fanfic, what problems did this set have?

(I will agree that the comic was a rubbish excuse for trying to retcon Tigatron and Airazor into a backstory they didn't need to have, but those guys weren't even in the actual set, so who cares?)

2009: This set is notable for being one of the few times that I generally agree with popular opinion. It is forgettable at every level. The execution left a bit to be desired, with the comic reading like a bad pack-in or one of the worse examples of the old US/UK series. But, the moulds are not really bad, and the concept is sound. Even the weakest toy from that year, (Scourge/Sweeps), works conceptually and looks great in vehicle mode.

Botcon Scourge is a perfect example of the problem FunPub has with not being able to keep their dick in their pants on these things. Galvatron and Cyclonus had just come out in Universe that year, and instead of waiting for Hasbro to, I dunno, announce a new Scourge less than a year later, FunPub decided they just haaaaaaad to complete everyone's Future Decepticon trio and make a half-assed Scourge out of Sideways for a set that he didn't even fit into the context of (seriously, they just crammed him into the framing story as an excuse for putting this toy in the set). The baby-blue-barely-bearded bitch block got rendered totally redundant and pointless once Generations Scourge came out, and I couldn't be happier. FunPub needs to learn to chill out about these things.

2011: While not as obnoxious as 2006 or 2008, the "Animated" themed set nicely brings home what I did not like about TFA with a set full of toys that will not look good with any other BotCon/Club figures. I have yet to read the comic, (making this the only set with a Diamond Edition that I have not read), but will likely do so in the near future.

Call me crazy, but I don't think they intended anyone to put this set up next to their other Botcon sets; they're clearly meant to hang out in an Animated collection. For people that just wanted a few more Animated toys after the line had died a premature death, I can see this being a nice bone to throw them. Granted, none of the toys here really thrilled me, but I get what they were trying to do and I appreciate it.

Seriously Dom, I'm still wondering how you feel about accidentally making a custom Shattered Glass figure.

[Onslaught Six]

There's no such thing since Shattered Glass is just "repurposing" (hate that term) much better toys and characters with official context (even minor) and turning them into terrible "evil universe" versions of characters who 'sometimes don't even share the moulds.' Like Soundwave!

And speaking of: What the fuck, separate headband available online? That's a bad fucking idea, FunPub. I understand if it was cheaper to manufacture it here separately but is there any reason it can't be given away? This is, essentially, saying, "Oh, well, if you want Starscream's null rays, you gotta pay extra online." That's bullshit. I'm tempted to buy up all the headbands and sell them on eBay to prove a point.

[BWprowl]

And speaking of: What the fuck, separate headband available online? That's a bad fucking idea, FunPub. I understand if it was cheaper to manufacture it here separately but is there any reason it can't be given away? This is, essentially, saying, "Oh, well, if you want Starscream's null rays, you gotta pay extra online." That's bullshit. I'm tempted to buy up all the headbands and sell them on eBay to prove a point.

You and me both, dude. I honestly don’t care about SGoundwave enough to complain about his longface, or his high-larious bumper sticker tampo, but when I heard that FP was actually having the gall to make people go online and pay money for an exclusive strip of cloth to complete the toy, that made me seriously question why Transfans would want anything to do with these guys. I mean, come on, buy some sheets of green cloth at a Michael’s or something, cut it into appropriately sized strips, and toss them in the boxes with the toys! There’s only like 1500 or whatever of these things being made, with a dozen or so people doing it you could have it done in an hour! Glenn Hallit or whoever *painted the stripes* on every individual Nightracer back in the day, and this big convention-running crew can’t be assed to cut some strips, and instead use this as an excuse to *charge* fans for the extra bits? Bravo, FunPub. Now you’ve not only created one of the lamest BotCon sets ever, but you’ve also reached a new low, in my eyes.

[Dominic]

So what's the ish with making toys of those forms? With the annoying exception of Waspinator and maybe Rhinox, they even picked molds that worked as 'Cybertronian'.

That is the thing, most of the moulds did not really work. Why the hell did Cheetor have animal print seating? Really? In a $300 set? Dinobot looked like shit, and only happened because people noticed that the head scuplt on Hoist kind of looked like Dinobot.

The key gimmick was half-assery as well. The Golden Disk keys were recoloured X-keys, complete with moulded Decepticon sigils.

The comic was just extra peanuts in the shit.

Galvatron and Cyclonus had just come out in Universe that year, and instead of waiting for Hasbro to, I dunno, announce a new Scourge less than a year later, FunPub decided they just haaaaaaad to complete everyone's Future Decepticon trio and make a half-assed Scourge out of Sideways for a set that he didn't even fit into the context of

In FP's defense, there was no indication that Hasbro was planning a Scourge when the set came out. (Did we even know during BC10?) If not for the off-sized head on BC09 Scourge, I would be a much bigger fan of it. I really liked the vehicle mode and was always kind of sorry that Hasbro never brought over the mass-production type recolour. I actually kind of prefer this mould pressing to the TFG Scourge, just because it looks more consistent with the character.

The comic was pretty bad, I will agree completely there Why the hell did everybody have modern-ish Earth modes millions of years ago....on another planet? Yeah, there are plenty of real-world explanations. But, the more of those you suggest, the more it raises the question of they those issues were not accounted for before writing the shitty comic. In-story, the only explanation that works is that we saw the story as recounted by Kup and (mis)understood by the other Autobots. But, that is giving Fun Publications far more credit than they deserve. There are a few nicely drawn pages, but that does not save the comic by any stretch.

baby-blue-barely-bearded bitch block

Incredibly alliterative effort of insulting exclusives!

Call me crazy, but I don't think they intended anyone to put this set up next to their other Botcon sets; they're clearly meant to hang out in an Animated collection.

Fair point. But, the concept for the set was very fannish, even by peripheral TFA standards.

Seriously Dom, I'm still wondering how you feel about accidentally making a custom Shattered Glass figure.

Screw that. I made Roadrage, which is consistent with my eHobby duplicating theme. I have even removed the RTS sticker and replaced it with a proper Autobot sigil. Problem solved. Yeah, the mould still looks far too masculine to be Roadrage. But, I am just going to have to accept that.

By the way, mea culpa. I thought the "very dark blue" of the Takara figure was actually black. So, either way, I fucked up. I will probably fix it at some point. Either way, it remains to be seen if the BC figure will actually look better than mine.

This is actually getting to be a thing, marking the fourth time that FP has released an official toy of something that I (and often others) did a custom of.

-Punch/Counterpunch: Better than most every custom effort by virtue of new moulding, but the new moulding is lazy.
-G2 Sideswipe: Better by virtue of having base plastic, rather than paint, for the most dominant colours.
-G2 Ramjet: Not a bad effort, but I prefer mine for having the package art accurate head.
-SG Thundercracker: Lazy, even by SG standards. The mis-coloured front section of the jet, (between the nose and cockpit), is inforgivable. If they were not willing to spring for paint to match it with the rest of the jet, they should not have bothered. (And, if they did not know it would happen, shame on them for not studying the moulding trays before hand.)

Either way, I almost feel obligated to buy a copy of SG Tracks, if only as a base for a superior custom Roadrage. (Yes, I think so little of this year's set that I am considering customizing it.

And, this is as good a time as any to get into my thoughts on the set.

Overlord: Crap. I want to like it. But, it is crap. The base mould is fine. But, the head sculpt is way off stylistically. It makes SG Thundercracker look well executed by comparison.

Tracks: I feel obligated to at least consider buying one. And, realistically, this mould opens to the door to 2 other figures that I might want. There is ample precedent for a black or a yellow recolour in one of the at show sets, as the give-away or the (always limited) custom figure. I would definitely want a figure with base-colour yellow as a base for a custom yellow tracks. (Yellow paint rarely looks good.)

Soundwave: This figure will be easy to skip, and probably easy to sell off if I end up buying and breaking up a set. (I do appreciate that it is another legitimate TF/Joe crossover toy though.) The base mould opens the door for....black Ironhide and green Ratchet. I would want both of them. Ironhide would be an official pressing of a custom that I made. And, green Ratchet would be a good base for a Takara Ratchet. And, this mould opens to the door for Autotroopers, which I could want at least one of.....

Magnus: This one will also be easy to skip/part with. But, as has been mentioned above, it opens the door for Scourge. As much as I want Scourge to be a mass release, it would make sense as a BotCion figure. RiD Scourge is a peripheral character from a dead line. BotCon is a fair place to release an updated toy. (This set is actually making me hold off on some customs, at least until I know what is coming out this year.)

And speaking of: What the fuck, separate headband available online?

Completely agree here. This is bullshit. They are effectively selling an incomplete figure as part of the box set. Think about this. They are selling a $300+ set, and one of the figures is incomplete.

There's no such thing since Shattered Glass is just "repurposing" (hate that term) much better toys and characters with official context (even minor

Yeah, this is an example of the worst elements of the fandom making their stupidest ideas official.



Dom
-does not know anybody who actually likes FP....

[BWprowl]

That is the thing, most of the moulds did not really work. Why the hell did Cheetor have animal print seating? Really? In a $300 set? Dinobot looked like shit, and only happened because people noticed that the head scuplt on Hoist kind of looked like Dinobot.

The key gimmick was half-assery as well. The Golden Disk keys were recoloured X-keys, complete with moulded Decepticon sigils.

Cheetor had the animal-print seats...as a cute reverse-forshadowing of his future altmode. Did you seriously not get that? Cheetor, cheetah spots, come on.

Like I said, I thought the molds they picked worked well. Yeah, even Dinobot. But hey, opinions. The keys were the best they could do with what they had (are there any keys that don't have molded faction symbols?).

I actually kind of prefer this mould pressing to the TFG Scourge, just because it looks more consistent with the character.

Lolwut? The Scourge in the right color of blue with a better head, real wings, a gun that looks like his Targetmaster and that was, y'know, designed from the ground up to be Scourge isn't as consistent with the character as a half-assed repaint with a cruddy head? This isn't even opinions on this one, Dom, I'm flat-out calling you wrong.

Fair point. But, the concept for the set was very fannish, even by peripheral TFA standards.

I know, it's like they thought only fans would be buying it or something.

-SG Thundercracker: Lazy, even by SG standards. The mis-coloured front section of the jet, (between the nose and cockpit), is inforgivable. If they were not willing to spring for paint to match it with the rest of the jet, they should not have bothered. (And, if they did not know it would happen, shame on them for not studying the moulding trays before hand.)

I kinda think the mismatchery was intentional/the point, since Action Master Thundercracker is hardly designed around well-designed color consistency in the first place. When your toy is already lime green, neon pink, blue, and gold, making the cockpit colors match isn't going to smooth that out, and you wouldn't want that if you're buying this toy anyway. The *express purpose* of it is to look unfathomably ridiculous.

[138 Scourge]

You know, I think the 2006 set was the last one I've really wanted. I wasn't a hundred percent sold on Dinobot, and Rattrap only about half-worked for me, but overall that was a decent bunch of repaints from a decent bunch of toys. Even the Tigertron looked pretty neat, even if there's no good reason that he'd have a pre-Earth mode by the cartoon's logic. Fun set with a neat gimmick.



They almost got me with the Animated set, though. Almost. I liked Animated quite a bit, and I like the Stunticons pretty well, and Drag Strip, Breakdown, and Dead End looked really good. But they lost me with Wildrider and Motormaster. Probably just as well.

So, man. That SG Soundwave, huh? Is it just me, or is that thing about as appealing as a pile of gorilla dicks, headband or no?

[Shockwave]

So far I've liked most of the later Botcon sets. The ones when FP took over. The ones before that which had shit like Catscan and 13 different versions of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker or the repaints of beast era toys just really didn't do anything for me.

having said that, FP has had it's ups and downs. If nothing else, they did set an established format for the sets. So far, my faves have been the 2007 set, followed by 2010 and 2011. 2012 so far is just complete epic fail for me. Red Tracks is about the only thing that interests me and the headband thing with Soundwave makes me damn glad I'm skipping this one. And so far out of all the sets they've released, I really do think the 2011 one is the best. It has one cohesive theme and it's the first time that a merge group has comprised the set in it's entirety.

Dom, I'm wondering what part of the concept of that set is "fannish"? Stunticons are fannish? A team going undercover is fannish? A prison break is fannish? Or is it just the fact that Derek J Wyatt likes giving fans what they want that bothers you?

[Dominic]

Cheetor had the animal-print seats...as a cute reverse-forshadowing of his future altmode. Did you seriously not get that? Cheetor, cheetah spots, come on.

It also just looked stupid. "Ohohoho, leapard print seats! Brilliant!"

The keys were the best they could do with what they had (are there any keys that don't have molded faction symbols?).

The convex angling on the keys ruins the effect. But, yes, there are keys without moulded faction sigils. Remember the Optimus/Demolishor recolours from "Cybertron"? (Their keys also had Minicon ports.)

This isn't even opinions on this one, Dom, I'm flat-out calling you wrong.

I like the vehicle mode for Sideways/BC09Scourge. I also prefer Scourge to be clearly unearthly, like Cyclonus.

kinda think the mismatchery was intentional/the point,

I think you are giving them way too much credit on this question. I doubt that the Fan Club has that kind of creativity working for it. Look at their work product.

Dom, I'm wondering what part of the concept of that set is "fannish"?

The execution of the concept, the fact that it was "continuing a series that had ended to keep the most obsessive fans happy". And, wow, Toxitron is so creative! Look, he is a moronized Optimus!


Dom
-still better than SG though.