Oh hey... it's Botcon 2014

Figures, collectables, customs and collecting.
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Clay
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Oh hey... it's Botcon 2014

Post by Clay »

I always forget this is going on until people start posting pictures.

Most interest will be here: Generations Movie 4 and legacy figures

Very, very little we didn't already see at the New York Toy Fair back in January/February. Only new reveal I saw was a deluxe movie stegosaurus as part of a G1 Dinobot repaint set (hinted at as a SDCC exclusive).

The more simplified range is showcased in this thread, which also has the Kreons.

And behold the growing foothold of 3rd party toy previews at dealers' tables, at the official brand convention.
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

I don't think we've seen much new "in the flesh" for the last few BotCons, since NY Toy Fair started to have such a big fandom presence.

Odds are nothing really interesting will be revealed until the Hasbro team's slideshow (which, IIRC, is usually Saturday).

As far as the third-party stuff goes...that's a surprise. As far as I know the stuff is still banned from the show. Unless that's changed and Hasbro just didn't tell anyone but the retailers, some of these dealers can expect to get annoyed calls from their Hasbro reps on Monday morning...
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

I like that FOC-style homage to Sludge, and Nightbeat came out alright.
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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Even the person who drew his box art clearly thinks Nightbeat is a terrible toy as they've just made up their own look for him.
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

Actually, Nightbeat's box art is based on the RTS Jazz mold, which is what this toy was originally solicited as a redeco of back in January. Either there was a really quick about-face on the mold they were using or Hasbro's right hand doesn't know what the left is doing.
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Clay
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Post by Clay »

Warcry wrote:I don't think we've seen much new "in the flesh" for the last few BotCons, since NY Toy Fair started to have such a big fandom presence.
I think that's more a reflection of the movie effect: more stuff comes out in the late spring / early summer now than in the fall. By the time Botcon comes around, stuff that we've seen at the NYC thing has already been released. But not always! I think Rhinox and Whirl were first shown at last year's Botcon.

I assume they'll have more goodies in the showcases tomorrow.
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

Based on the reactions in last year's thread I think Rhinox was the only big surprise in the cases last year, and that most of the rest of the stuff that they were showing off was stuff that we'd already heard of through less-legit channels even if we hadn't actually seen it. Well, that on the upscaled BH Legends-as-Deluxes (did those ever come out in the end?)

(Doubledealer was new too but nobody cares about him.)

Tailgate, Shrapnel, Skywarp, Armada Starscream, Scoop, Whirl and the G1 Predaking reissue were all announced at the Hasbro panel, but it doesn't sound like they were actually shown off. Of course, they're just starting to hit retail now so that's not really a surprise...
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Knightdramon
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Post by Knightdramon »

:lol: at hasbro's "F.U." to everybody who purchased or imported the AOE figures thus far.

Let's see---Drift, Crosshairs, Hound----more detailed paintjobs in the multi pack. Voyager Prime looks the same, more or less.

--Rusty voyager Prime--the backshot of the one in the -OTHER- multi pack isn't enough to go on, but looks like the correct colours, and actually looks dirtier than takara's which is out in August. Plus, 2-3 other deluxes in the pack!

--Dinobots--yeah, SDCC deco is very nice on all of them. Nice pre-emptive F.U. to the people who haven't bought Snarl [retail] yet because he's not out, but worry not, even the people who fork over the cash for the SDCC decos will get f*cked over sometime next year when hasbro will just release them, unchanged, with Sludge as well in matching colours, ala Platinum Bruticus.

--Leader 2 pack...LOL again, the Grimlock deco is nicer than retail, on par with takara's, and LDR Prime appears to be takara's deco!

So yeah, it looks like hasbro's new model is to thank you for buying their figures by releasing better coloured versions next month! :lol::lol::lol::lol:

Generations look nice, Windblade looks especially nice in robot mode. Nightbeat is so last minute change it's ridiculous; he's RTS Jazz on the cover! Crosscut is awesome.

Can't wait for a reveal or hints of the generations leader Megatron!
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

From the Hasbro panel: http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... el-180453/

Highlights:
  • Generations G1 Arcee, a pink car that's pretty cartoon-styled
  • Generations Brainstorm - a Voyager with the Headmaster gimmick
  • Legends Bombshell to go with the Shrapnel that's just filtering out now, and plans for Kickback in the future
  • Legends Windcharger repainted from that ugly Tailgate
  • Voyager IDW Optimus Prime (who knows that that means, he's had 86 different bodies)
  • Leader Megatron is "very G1" apparently
  • He's being redecoed as Armada Megatron (how that works, I dunno)
  • MP Sideswipe and Bluestreak are getting US releases
  • In 2015, they're making a Generations Superion (only a silhouette shown)
Also a bunch of movie stuff that went right over my head because I'm not sure what's new and what isn't.

As per usual, pics will probably show up of some of these in the next couple days, while others will be held back until SDCC.
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Knightdramon
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Post by Knightdramon »

--Update, based on the report without any pics so far

Generations

--Deluxe Arcee and Chromia--different moulds. Chromia is a motorbike/unicycle something.

--Superion. Combiner. Only silhouette was shown//or not a very good glimpse. 2015. Theme of generations

--Voyager Brainstorm is a proper headmaster. Sounded G1 like, not IDW based.

--Generations Voyager Prime, based on IDW design. Finally.

--Generations leader Megatron, said to look very G1 like, transforms into tank. Has a new head and will also be released as Armada Megatron remould/repaint. Faction changing gimmick.

--Legends Windcharger from Tailgate, another Insecticon up.
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Knightdramon
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Post by Knightdramon »

Some pics of actual toys up on tfw2005.

Arcee, Chromia and Brainstorm look very nice. Brainstorm is very bulky.
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

Warcry wrote:Actually, Nightbeat's box art is based on the RTS Jazz mold, which is what this toy was originally solicited as a redeco of back in January. Either there was a really quick about-face on the mold they were using or Hasbro's right hand doesn't know what the left is doing.
Much better fit than the Jazz mould, though, so eh...

Look forward to pics of the rest.
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Post by zigzagger »

Huh. Okay. These turned out nice.

Brainstorm takes a lot of cues from Milne's design, as to be expected. And the Headmaster gimmick isn't at all intrusive as I had feared (it's not fat and blocky, at any rate). The colors are spot on too. I got a thing for turquoise Transformers, which was all too commonly used on the 87-89 'bots (especially when it is coupled with purple). So far, he's this year's winner in my eyes. I think the designers nailed it.

Liking Arcee and Chromia too.

Surprised Hasbro went all-out bubblegum pink with Arcee, instead of the usual off-red shades (usually it's that -- I dunno, what would you call it? A dark salmon-ish tone?). Also surprised that it is essentially based off the Sunbow animation model and not one of the IDW designs, as is the trend these days. Wasn't expecting that.

Chromia turned out nicely -- and I like the head sculpt -- though I'm getting a Prime Arcee vibe from this one. All the same, it's good to have a Chromia that is uniquely... well, Chromia. Though the cycle mode, like most Cybertronian vehicle modes often do, kind of cheats a little.

....

And, I, uh... I've seen the leaked images of the Leader Class Megatron :o

Not too shabby from what I could make out. And yes, it is very much "G1 inspired". From the crotch up, it's definitely G1 Megs.
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

Case photos, with Arcee and Chromia: http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... es-180463/

Brainstorm stock photos: http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... es-180468/

He'd look pretty good if those big wings fold up, and it looks like they do. His Headmaster looks worse than the G1 version, though.

Legends: http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... es-180465/
an http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... es-180467/

Bombshell looks really good.

Powerglide is okay, but other than style I'm not sure there's much difference here between the already-good DOTM version.

Windcharger... :lol: Glad I found the RTS version...
zigzagger wrote:And, I, uh... I've seen the leaked images of the Leader Class Megatron :o

Not too shabby from what I could make out. And yes, it is very much "G1 inspired".
Really? I wasn't all that impressed. The proportions aren't very good for such a big toy, even if the big forearms and skinny legs are a deliberate artistic choice to make it feel more G1.

Though I might feel different when I'm looking at something other than a blurry camera-phone shot I found on a sketchy image board...
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Post by Osku »

They're doing wonderful voyagers lately, Skybyte and Brainstorm especially. Want those little insecticons as well. I usually like deluxes the most, but now I didn't see anything interesting. :/
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Post by Warcry »

Warcry wrote:Though I might feel different when I'm looking at something other than a blurry camera-phone shot I found on a sketchy image board...
That was quick! :)

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... ns-180471/

(Still don't like him. If it was a Deluxe, maybe...)

Also Arcee and Chromia stock pics: http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... es-180470/

Arcee wears her entire alt-mode on her back, but how else would you make a toy of the G1 design?

Chromia is really slick.

And the worst Optimus Prime toy I've ever seen: http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... es-180469/
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zigzagger
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Post by zigzagger »

Oooh. Dig Bombshell and Powerglide. Pleased to hear that Hasbro intends to release more Insecticons.

And who knows... maybe we'll get a Ransack, Chop Shop and Barrage out of it.
Though I might feel different when I'm looking at something other than a blurry camera-phone shot I found on a sketchy image board...
Yeah, probably. Saw the image once before it was taken down. May reevaluate my stance once we get a better look at him.

I didn't think it looked that bad, though. As crappy the quality of the image was, that is.

EDIT

And Voyager Optimus. Forgot that was announced.

Oh... oh, that's unfortunate.
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

Bombshell's not bad, encourages me to keep Generations Shrapnel and hold out for a Kickback (but for display I'm digging the Fansproject version of Bombshell with Reprolabels).

Brainstorm turned out very nicely and with a sufficiently different look to the FP one I'd be happy to get both.

Chromia's okay and I particularly like the bike mode, but Arcee steals the show. It's taken a long time (and some nice third party attempts, such as the iGear one) to get to an 80s style retail release, and the overall aesthetic is pretty good.
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

For Voyager and Leader figures the Prime and Megatron don't look good at all. Glad I've got a Hegemon on the way.
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zigzagger
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Post by zigzagger »

Okay. Seen Megatron now.

Eh. It's okay. Not great, just okay. It looks... simple, I guess? Really not getting the Armada Megatron, though. Don't care much for it.
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