Transformers: Prime Kinder Surprise Eggs Toys (Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Megatron, Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Soundwave, Starscream)

Kinder Surprise are chocolate eggs with capsules inside containing toys.  You won’t find these in the United States, because they are illegal and the people who made that law are morons.  They are available in Canada, the UK, and other countries.  While I have no eggs, I do have a complete set of the Transformers toys.

Capsule

There isn’t much to say about these.  They all use the same basic design.  Each has a wheel on the back with alternating slats and sockets and a piece that plugs in on the front of the wheels that forms the body and head.  Each has arms that plug in to the sockets.  Some have legs that connect to sockets, while others have legs that plug into the slats on the bottom of the wheel.  They are nothing special, but if you can get them cheap, they’re kind of cool.

Arcee

Bulkhead

Bumblebee

Megatron

Optimus Prime

Ratchet

Soundwave

Starscream

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Transformers: Prime: Beast Hunters Construct Bots (Bumblebee, Ripclaw, Starscream, Optimus Prime, Shockwave, Skystalker, Bulkhead with Airazor and Wolfang, Unicron Megatron with Barrage and Ratbat)

I was pretty sure that these had been canceled, but I discovered, quite accidentally, that they were released in Canada and the UK.  Is it really that hard for Hasbro to either release toys or not release toys?  Instead they screw over the USA.  You suck, Hasbro.

Anyway…

I decided to review these all in one blog since no one will care about them anyway.  It should be noted that they are designed just like the Age of Extinction Dinobot Warriors with the same spring operated piece in the chest that makes them transform much better than the original toys did.  I don’t have a lot to say about these, but I figured I should review them since a lot of people probably don’t even realize that they were released at all.

Scout Class Bumblebee

Bumblebee is pretty generic, very much like the original Construct Bots Bumblebee.  I do really like his head sculpt.

Scout Class Ripclaw

Ripclaw looks pretty great.  I love his colors.  He has a great head sculpt in both modes.  I think I even prefer him to the deluxe toy since he doesn’t have that ridiculous tail.

Scout Class Starscream

Starscream is pretty awesome looking.  His jet mode is really nice.  I love the three missile clusters.  Really nice colors.

Elite Class Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime looks…different.  The dragon head launchers look odd, but then, so did Beast Hunter Optimus Prime on which this toy is loosely based.  I’m not a fan of Optimus’s snarling expression, nor those odd looking feet.  Vehicle mode isn’t bad as long as you ignore that he has a green halo.

Elite Class Shockwave

Shockwave looks awesome.  He’s probably the best of the bunch.  I love his head sculpt, it looks really cool.  I love his tank mode, though it would look better with treads.

Elite Class Skystalker

Much like Dinofire Predaking, Skystalker is pretty cool, and one of the better Construct Bots toys.  He’s got a great head sculpt in both modes.  His Beast Mode wings are a little cumbersome and hard to pose.

Triple Team Class Bulkhead with Airazor & Wolfang

Airazor

Kind of cool, but really not much to his transformation.

Wolfang

I like this one, very cool.  I love the orange and black.

Bulkhead

Bulkhead looks awesome.  I love the colors they used.  Not a big fan of his head sculpt.  It looks odd.  His vehicle mode is nice.  I especially like the plow on the front.

Triple Team Class Unicron Megatron with Barrage & Ratbat

Barrage

Nice colors.  I really like his insect mode.

Ratbat

Ratbat is very cool.  His wings in bat mode look odd.  Not sure if they would look better with the blades on top of his wings, but this is what he is supposed to look like.  His saw mode is awesome.  They did a nice job designing the blades so that they could snap together and still spin.

Unicron Megatron

I love the head sculpt.  The purple and bronze look really cool.  I’m not a fan of his sword sticking out the back of the vehicle, but I guess it kind of looks like flames if you squint at it.

Overall: They are better than the first Construct Bots, but probably not quite up to the level of the AOE Dinobot Warriors and certainly not the AOE Dinobots.  They probably won’t be worth the cost to get them since they are not readily available.

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All Transformers: Age of Extinction Toy Reviews

Transformers: Age of Extinction One Step Changers Wave 4 (Megatron, Prowl, Rollbar, Strafe)

One Step Changer Revenge of the Fallen Megatron

I don’t understand this toy.  They went out of their way to do so very few toys that are not in the movie, and we get this one?  If it was based on Megatron’s Dark of the Moon design, then you could argue that he was in the movie, as we see his head in the lab, which was clearly based on his Dark of the Moon design.  However, this toy is based on his Revenge of the Fallen design, so that makes no sense.  Having said all that, it’s a pretty cool toy.  There is not much to his transformation, just a piece on his back that slides and moves some of the panels around.  Not bad for a One Step Changer.

One Step Changer Prowl

Prowl uses the One Step Changer Drift design, which is the best of all One Step Changer transformations.  He looks pretty cool, though the light bar they gave him is a little odd.  Never seen one like that.  I really like his head sculpt.

One Step Changer Rollbar

Rollbar also uses Drift’s transformation.  He could have used a few more paint apps in vehicle mode, but he looks really great in robot mode.  He’s got nice colors and a great head sculpt, though we don’t have anything to compare it to.

One Step Changer Strafe

Strafe, as near as I can tell, is a completely unique mold.  I really like this one.  The simplistic transformation aside, he looks awesome in robot mode.  This might be my favorite Strafe toy.  I kind of like not having the enormous wings and long tails to deal with.

Overall:  Not a bad wave overall.  They are all worth getting.  Mercifully, this would seem to be the last of the AOE One Step Changers.

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Transformers Mega Drive Megatron

I’m currently taking some heavy duty pain meds for a bad foot, and it makes me a little loopy sometimes.  Whoever came up with this toy was on something way stronger.  This is exactly what it looks like.  It’s a Sega Genesis (known as a Mega Drive in Japan) that transforms into Megatron.  Yeah, I don’t get it either.  At least it makes more sense that the Sports Label transforming sneakers.

First off, at $120 I was expecting a much larger toy.  Not necessarily the full size of an actual Sega Genesis, but decent in size.  This thing is tiny.  In game system mode it’s only 4 to 5 inches wide (I’m estimating, I didn’t actually measure it, and don’t have it in front of me).  In Game System mode it has a fake game you can put in the slot.  The small piece in the photo is a cover for the port that the controller plugs into.  Even with the plug in the ports don’t look the same.  Kind of half assed.  His transformation is kind of ridiculous.  The way his arms and legs fold up are completely counterintuitive, and it constantly feels like it’s going to break.  The left side of the console becomes his gun in robot mode.  The controller splits and forms the sort of wings he has on his back.  The cable from the controller connects to his gun, sort of like shockwave’s cable from his backpack to his gun.  His feet are tiny, and although you can elongate them, they are still too small to make him stand up easily.  He’s way too top heavy.  Robot mode is overall not bad looking.  He would have looked much better in all silver.  Had they billed it as a special edition Mega Drive in silver, they could have done this.

Overall: At this insane price, I have to say skip it.  If you’re a completist, you can probably wait for clearance.  This is not going to sell out anytime soon.

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Transformers: Masterpiece Megatron Gold Version

Reflector

In lieu of the coin that most recent Masterpiece toys have received, the gold version of Megatron comes with a small die cast metal Reflector.  It’s too small to actually be an accessory for Megatron, but this is such a crappy toy, that’s just par for the course.

Accessories

Megatron comes with his Energon Sword (from Transformers: The Movie), his energy Mace (from More Than Meets The Eye), a laser gun (from Transformers: The Movie), and a small Kremzeek figure.  Pretty much the same as the original version of MP Megatron, though I don’t have mine handy to compare.

Megatron

This won’t be much of a review.  This is one of the worst toys Takara or Hasbro has ever produced.  His gun is so heavy that he can’t stand up straight.  He does not include the stock and silencer (available as a Third Party set).  He’s easily twice the size of an actual Walther P-38.  There is talk that there will be a new MP Megatron mold coming up.  I hope so.  This one sucks.  Hell, I’d rather see him as a tank than an insanely sized gun.  My original version has a broken trigger that happened right out of the box.  Part of that is the idiotic design that the trigger mechanism splits in half down the middle.  Just idiotic.  I wanted to make sure I never got the idea to transform mine again, so I  did this with mine.

He’s just put on with Velcro, but he looks pretty darn cool if I do say so myself.  Can’t imagine a way he would look better.

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Transformers Heerotoys.com World’s Smallest Transformers Stepper

At Botcon 2005, I picked up a World’s Smallest Transformers Ultra Magnus fully transformable trailer.  Back then Takara offered some kind of one day license to manufacture items in limited quantity.  Not sure how exactly that worked, but the boxes had an official Takara sticker making them essentially legal third party toys.

In 2007 I picked up a WST Megatron with a stock and silencer, which I believe were made by the same person/company.

I missed out on the WST Stepper, which I think must have come out in 2006, a repainted Jazz with all accessories including his Targetmaster, gun, missile launcher, and mount.  I’ve been looking for it ever since with no luck.

Until last week!

I was on ebay searching for a WST Blitzwing which I must have missed at some point, and by accident I found Stepper for only $21 shipped!

Now, I don’t know if it is made by the same person who made the Magnus trailer and Megatron parts I have.  He is made by Heerotoys.com.  What’s more, if you go to their web site, they have tons of reasonably priced WST toys.  I’ve picked up a few more, including a G2 Breakdown, G2 Starscream, G2 Ramjet, G2 Optimus Prime, a translucent Bumblebee.  They have the Magnus with trailer available in multiple color schemes, as well as many more.  For anyone who loved WST toys as much as I did, this site has some really cool stuff.

It should be noted that I bought my Stepper on eBay last week, but I’m not sure I bought it directly from them.  I bought the others through their web site today.  I have no reason to doubt their reliability, but I can’t speak to it.

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All Transformers: Age of Extinction Toy Reviews

Transformers 2014 Discount Legends Wave 2 (Grimlock, Megatron, Strafe)

I finally managed to track down the second wave of discount store Legends.  After giving us Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Starscream over and over, we finally got some different ones.  This wave included Grimlock, repainted from Transformers: Prime: Beast Hunters Legion Rippersnapper mold (but in different colors than the Walmart Exclusive Age of Extinction Legion Grimlock that uses the same mold), the tank Megatron that has been released several times and is as far as I can tell, unchanged, and Strafe repainted from the Transformers: Prime: Beast Hunters Legion Windrazor mold.

Not much to say about them.  Grimlock is at best okay, Megatron is great, but I didn’t need another one, and Strafe is pretty good.  They gave him a nice paint job.  Notable on Strafe, they actually put the instructions on the back for Transformers: Beast Wars Terrorsor.

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Transformers Artifact of the Week: Dark of the Moon Kellogg’s Cereal Backpack Clips

These are interesting.  They are clip ons for backpacks.  They came packed in Kellogg’s cereal boxes in the Philippines.  For toys that are solid plastic, the Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Sentinel Prime have pretty great paint apps.  Megatron not so much.  Megatron’s mold is also not quite as detailed as the rest.  I also have a cereal box with the promotion on it.

There was also a Kellogg’s promotion in the Philippines for Revenge of the Fallen, but I only have the boxes.

As always, you can find over 9000 Transformers merchandise items and collectibles at TFMuseum.com.  I have not done an update to the site in a while.  Hopefully I will be doing a major update this winter with more than 1500 more items including a huge number of Age of Extinction items.

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Angry Birds Transformers Deceptihogs Revenge Telepod Racers

I can’t believe they made more of these damn things.  At least there are only a few and I managed to get them at retail.  There is another play set that I haven’t tracked down.  Hopefully it will show up.  I will me really pissed if I have to get it from Australia.

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Transformers: Generations Leader Megatron (G1) and Megatron (Armada)

As these two toys share a mold, I am going to review them together.

Vehicle Mode:  Both tanks look awesome, with one exception.  The black stripe through the turrets looks awful.  It looks worse on the G1 than the Armada, but both look bad.  What really annoys me is that the turret can turn, which considering it’s made up of his two arms, it’s a great piece of engineering, and yet they couldn’t give him a plate or flaps to cover the turret?  It’s unfortunate, because otherwise it’s nearly perfect.  I say nearly as there is one other small issue.

As you can see, instead of having one single tread on each side of the tank, he has two.  Now, from a transformation standpoint, I understand it.  This was you can have two separate treads you can move independently.  Problem is, I think it’s supposed to be an Abrams tank, and I don’t think that has separate treads like this.  It’s a small thing, but it’s really annoying that it’s not more accurate.

Robot Mode:  G1 Megatron is near perfect in robot mode.  He comes with stickers to add the design on his chest lime the G1 toy.  This was a neat idea, but they should have just painted them on.  Worse yet, the sticker has a white background that you’re putting on silver.  What moron thought that was a good idea?  It should have been a clear back sticker.  He otherwise looks fantastic.  I love his head sculpt.  I would prefer the gun be shorter and look more G1, but it’s not that bad.

I do however have a major issue with Armada Megatron.  While his head sculpt and paint job are great, he should not have an arm cannon.  Armada Megatron never had one.  It should be removable and you should be able to put it on his back sort of like the turret to the real Armada Megatron.  Even if it wouldn’t bend forward like the original Armada Megatron’s turret, just being able to store it on his back would have been fine.

Overall: What kills me is that these two really beautiful toys have big flaws that should have been fixable while it was being designed.  The treads is minor, but the stickers, the turret, and the gun being removable should have been easy to fix.  As is, they are absolutely worth buying, it’s just a shame they aren’t as good as they should have been

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Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015) Tiny Titans Series 3 (Drift, Filch, Fixit, Fracture, Beast Wars Megatron, Optimus Prime, Repugnus, Shockwave, Springload, Twinferno, Wheeljack, Wreck-Gar)

Series 1 Review

Series 2 Review

After a really cool series 1 and a train wreck of awful paintjobs in series 2, Tiny Titans series 3 came out much better than I expected.

Drift isn’t bad, but if they had at least painted the flair on his weapons blue it would have been a major improvement.

Filch’s feathers are way too subdued.  Instead of sticking out they are flat against his arms and legs.

They didn’t bother paint Fixit except for his face.  He looks awful.

Fracture looks pretty cool, though he needed a few more paint apps.

Awesome.  Beast Wars Megatron is really nicely molded.  Could have used more paint apps, but really well done.

G1 Optimus Prime is nearly perfect.  All they had to do was paint his windows, so of course they didn’t.  Seems Hasbro is doing a great job striving for mediocrity and achieving it.

This one is kind of random.  Repugnus is a G1 Monsterbot.  He’s shown here in his monster mode.  A good choice, and pretty well done.

Shockwave is awesome, and while he could use a few more paint apps, he’s fine without them.

What the fuck?

Twinferno is another G1 Monsterbot.  His original name was Doublecross, but I must admit, Twinferno is an awesome name.  He looks pretty cool, but since Repugnus was in monster mode, I would have preferred him in monster mode also.

What is it with this series and white plastic?  Why in god’s name is Wheeljack gray.  Have they lost the ability to use white plastic?  Otherwise he looks pretty good.

Wreck-Gar needs a lot more paint apps.  He’s got way too much orange.

Overall: This is not a bad wave, but a few paint apps and a little bit of change to the plastic color is all it would take to make these awesome.

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Botcon 2015 Box Set Preview and Stupid Things Fun Pub Has Done Again

Wow, it seems like it’s been forever since I’ve done a blog complaining about stupid thing Fun Publications/Botcon has done.  I’ll make this short and sweet since they have done the same stupid things over and over and it’s almost not worth yelling about it.

But I will.

First off, here it is, May 9th, and we still haven’t received the first Subscription Service toys.  The first year they claimed that it was a mistake that delayed them.  This year they haven’t even bothered to blame anyone.  My theory has always been that it’s cheaper for them to have them shipped over with all the Botcon and Club exclusive toys rather than sending them early when they say they are supposed to come out.  I have no proof of that, but it makes sense.  Of course, the site still says they will start shipping 8-12 weeks after the order period ends.  That was October I think.  It’s now May.  I wish they just wouldn’t lie.  Tell us they won’t start shipping until summer.  Just tell the truth.  I doubt anyone won’t buy them because the are preordering them more than six months before they are coming out.

Of course, if we’re really lucky, there won’t be another Subscription Service.

Second, they have again banned third party toys at Botcon, but this time they did it with a twist that means absolutely nothing.  Now they are saying that they are not banning third party items, but any items that infringe on Hasbro’s intellectual property.  Problem is, this really doesn’t change anything.  Hasbro has to sue these third party companies, and win a judgment finding that the items are in violation of Hasbro’s IP.  Until that happens, none of these third party toys are in violation of Hasbro’s IP.  I mean, at least if they said they were banning any items that in “Fun Pub’s opinion” are in violation of Hasbro’s IP, at least that would be accurate.  It would still be moronic, but at least it would be accurate.

Okay, now on to the toys.

I was really disappointed when they started to announce the toys, not with the toys themselves, but with the concept.  When they announced that the concept was five criminals on Cybertron, my first thought was the Combaticons.  In the G1 cartoon, the Combaticons were criminals, whose bodies were destroyed and personalities imprisoned on Cybertron before Starscream stole them and gave them new bodies on earth.  My first thought was that they were going to do G2 Combaticons.  With Combiner Wars coming out this year, it made so much sense.  Of course, they made other announcements which quickly made it obvious they were not doing the Combaticons, but I still held out hope.  I would kill for a set of G2 Combiner Wars Combaticons (Aerialbots, Stunticons, and Protectobots too for that matter).  Essentially they stole an idea from a G1 episode, but instead of doing it in a way that made sense, they just tossed five random toys and characters into it.  So, I am probably subconsciously holding this against the toys a little bit.  Leave it to Botcon to take a great idea (even if it was done previousy) and waste it.

Packrat (Announcement Video / Official Photos)

Packrat is a blue repaint of last year’s Generations Deluxe Rattrap.  Packrat was one of the 1997 Botcon exclusives.  I think it’s really stupid when they do a new version of a former Botcon Exclusive.  Packrat is out there.  We don’t need another version of him.  It’s not a great toy to begin with.  It’s not awful, but frankly, if you’re going to do a Packrat, then they should have also done Fractyl (and don’t tell me they did him as  a Kreon, because that doesn’t count).

Grade: B- (Upgraded to a B if they do Fractyl as a souvenir and he doesn’t suck.)

Battletrap (Announcement Video / Official Photos)

This one I love.  There is no way to do Duocons the way they were done in G1, but a Triplechanger is a perfect way to go.  He’s a repaint of Generations Voyager Springer.  He’s not perfect, he should be a truck, not a car, but it’s as close to perfect as we’re going to get.  I just hope we get Generations Voyager Blitzwing as Flywheels.  My only big complaint is the name.  No one can look at Battletrap (a truck and helicopter) and Flywheels (a tank and fighter jet) and not realize that way back when, Hasbro screwed up and swapped the intended names.  I would have been happier with this if Fun Pub had actually given them the correctly intended names and addressed that in their tech specs.

Grade: A- (Upgraded to a A+ I they do Flywheels from Generations Voyager Blitzwing and he doesn’t suck.)

SG Stepper (Announcement Video / Official Photos)

This is stupid.  SG Stepper It is based on the Transformers 2010 Deluxe Jazz mold with the Targetmaster from Transformers 2010 Deluxe Cyclonus, essentially a repaint of the G1 Stepper exclusive available through one of the Japanese Generations books.  It is as horribly flawed now as it was then.  There is no port to mount the gun on his roof in vehicle mode.  Add to that, they already did Shattered Glass Ricochet, but since he didn’t come out the way they wanted, they are now doing Shattered Glass Stepper.  What a waste.  That’s two toys in the set that are new versions of previous Botcon exclusives.  That is only okay if it’s G2 Breakdown.  Leaving all that aside, they did a really great job painting him.  He looks amazing, which is the only reason he isn’t getting an F.  What they should have done is added a snap on part so his gun could be mounted on him.  It could have easily been put in the mold for Oilmaster.

Grade: C

Megatron with Boombox, Heavyweight, and Scalpel (Announcement Video / Official Photos)

Megatron first, then the Microns.

I have very mixed feelings on Megatron.  On he positive side, this is the first time this mold has been released in the USA, and that’s great (That is something they should have done with the Japanese only TF Animated toys molds instead of the non combining animated Stunticons, assuming they were available.)  It’s also got a nice paint job and I love the chrome grill

What I don’t like is this toy as Megatron.  I understand the homage to Dark of the Moon Megatron, and that works.  But if you’re going to do a Dark of the Moon Megatron, he should have a Dark of the Moon Megatron head, and he doesn’t have that.  In fact, the head sculpt is awful.  It doesn’t look like any Megatron.  They should have used a more G1 Megatron head sculpt and just painted him silver, or even better, used the Generations Combiner Wars Leader Megatron and painted him in G2 colors, which would be completely awesome and drop Packrat from the set completely.  I would be fine with four toys in the set if they are good enough.  If they wanted to use this mold, there is no end the to other options it could have been painted into.  They could have done him in red and blue as G1 Gears, in red and white and G1 Swerve, or red and yellow and G1 Rodimus Prime.  Perhaps in green as an homage to Age of Extinction hound which would work with the Arms Microns.  They could have done him in black as G1 trailbreaker, or teal and red and G2 Turbofire (I love G2 toys, that would have been my first choice).  They could have even done him as G2 breakdown, since the mold was originally TF: Prime Breakdown.  So many possibilities, and they went with the least interesting and least well executed.

As to the Arms Microns, I love them, especially Scalpel.  Scalpel is made form the Praying Mantis Micron and that’s perfect as an homage to Revenge of the Fallen Scalpel.  I’ve always given Fun Publications credit where it’s due, and the use of Arms Microns weapons has been great.  It didn’t start so well with them not painting them and not including stickers, but once they figured out that at minimum they had to paint the face or at least the eyes, it’s been awesome.  Boombox has his face painted and silver apps (might be stickers, which is fine) on his too.  Scalpel and Heavyweight have their eyes painted.  They did a great job on the Microns, even if they didn’t do such a great job on toy itself.  The only thing that would have been better, is if they did 4 Microns, Scalpel and the set of three that combines into a sword.  That would have been awesome,.

One note of Fun Pub Arms Microns.  I still don’t understand why they don’t come with stickers.  I am no export when it comes to how the toys or sticker sheets are manufactured, I’ve never claimed to be, I can only apply reason and logic.  I would think the sticker templates already exist and they would just need to have their colors changed to match the toys.  Maybe that’s not possible, but I have to think it is, and giving us stickers, would be an enormous improvement.

They keep looking for ways to make money.  How about a set of stickers for all the Arms Microns they have produced so far.  I’ve go for that.

Megatron Grade: C+

Arms Microns Grade: B+

Oilmaster (Announcement Video / Official Photos)

Here is the history of this in short, as I understand it.  Back in the late G1 days there was a concept for a Double Pretender, two robots in one shell.  Hasbro showed a prototype at Botcon 1996 for a monkey in armor shell.  I dot know it the idea of the inner robots being a jet and truck is something knew, or part of the original concept, but no prototype for the inner robots existed.  It became known as Oilmaster when used in an eHobby comic (the name was someone’s screen name).  Not sure if the inner robots being a truck and jet were part of that comic or are new.

It has been confirmed that the shell is an entirely new mold, and not taken from the original, but based on the original prototype.  Unfortunately, Instead of doing a true pretender shell, it’s just a figure with moveable arms and head, a sword and gun, and a hinged backpack.  I doubt that was how the original was designed, I think it must have been a true Pretender shell.  Inside the backpack is a repaint of Generations Legend Swerve and Flanker.

I will give them this.  It’s a pretty big deal to do an all new mold, even if it is just a sort of Pretender shell.  I say sort of, since it’s not a true shell, but a figure with a backpack, so it’s not a true Pretender, and that’s part of why it doesn’t quite work for me.  The original idea of a Pretender was that it was a shell.  This has a backpack for the inner robot, so it’s not really a shell.  Yes, I know I’m being picky, and yes, there are other Pretender offshoots that came later that aren’t completely shells, Mega and Ultra Pretenders and Monster Pretenders.  I think it’s just a cop out to design it like this, and why they did it is obvious.  They can now do a new mold of the backpack to fit a different toy inside if they want.  I admit I’m being really picky, and I won’t downgrade my rating for this.  Just because I don’t like it conceptually, doesn’t make it a bad toy.

This toy is based on a character created by eHobby, clearly as an incentive for Japanese fans to buy the set through eHobby.  It’s one thing to do well known classic Japanese characters like Metalhawk or base a version of Tracks for Shattered Glass on Road Rage, but quite another to do one from an obscure comic book that few are familiar with just to try to sell more sets overseas.  I’ve said in the past that I’d like to see them do more original characters, and one could consider Oilmaster an original character, but he’s just not.  His name is also terrible.  I’ve been told it’s based on someone’s screen name.  If he was an oil truck inside it would make sense.  Bananamaster would have been a better name.  Or not.  What I look for in convention toys is characters I love and originality.  I get none of that here.

I don’t hate the toy, and they get an A for effort, but I would have rather seen a Pretender upgrade of an existing Pretender character instead of an eHobby character, or even a Pretender version of an existing non pretender character.  How awesome would it have been to have a Pretender Optimus Prime in a monkey shell?  Beast Wars Optimus Primal and G1 Optimus Prime combined into one.  (Though that is probably what they will reuse it for in next year’s Subscription Service Set.  Dairycon did Pretender Convoy first, but it wasn’t a monkey shell, it was a Peter Cullen shell.)

Grade: A for Effort, B for Execution.

Overall: It’s not a bad set.  They’ve done worse (Pirates vs. Knights, Machine Wars, Animated Stunticons, Wings of Honor, Changing Gears).  Battletrap is the one shining light in this set, and if you can ignore that he’s been done before and it’s horrible flaw, Stepper looks good.  I was just hoping that with Combiner Wars this year, we might get something truly special, like G2 Combaticons or Protectobots, hell any G2 Combiner.

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Q Transformers Wave 4 (Optimus Prime, Megatron)

Finally we have a Q Transformers G1 Optimus Prime, and it is really cool.  He looks amazing in robot mode.  In vehicle mode, I wish they had just painted his side cab windows, but that’s not a huge deal.  He’s one of my favorites in the line.

Megatron is based on Alternity Megatron.  He looks okay, but his head mold is a little odd looking.  I really want a G1 silver tank Megatron from this line, but this one isn’t bad.  If nothing else, it’s a good companion to the Q Transformers Alternity Optimus Prime.

Overall: The G1 Optimus Prime is an absolute must.

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Transformers: Generations: Legends Wave 3 (Protectobot Groove, Viper, Warpath)

Viper is a remold and repaint of Powerglide and Warpath is a remold of Megatron.  Please read my reviews of Powerglide and Megatron.

Protectobot Groove

Vehicle Mode: Groove being a Legend Class toy is great for scale, but leaves Defensor a bit less G1 than it really could be.  Groove looks great.  Motorcycles are historically hard to do well, but he really came out great.  He’s got really nice paint apps.

Robot Mode: His robot mode looks great, and his head sculpt is excellent.  I just hate that these Legends don’t come with any weapons.

Links to other Protectobot reviews:

Blades

Defensor

First Aid

Hot Spot

Rook

Streetwise

Viper

Viper looks great.  He’s painted up to look like a Cobra Rattler, and his new face sculpt is meant to look like Rattler pilot Wild Weasel’s mask.  His symbols are from the Cobra Air Guard with Decepticon logos superimposed on it.  Kind of makes it look like it has wings.  This is pretty cool, and frankly, I’m glad they did it before Fun Publications got the idea to do another multi club exclusive.  I hate it when they do that, and there are three of them coming out this year (Serpent-OR from the Subscription Service and the two club exclusive figure/toy sets).

Warpath

Frankly this mold looks a lot better as Warpath than it did as Megatron.  He’s got a new head sculpt that is absolutely perfect.  I just wish he was a shade or two lighter red.  He seems awfully dark.  Not a big deal though, he looks fantastic in both modes.  What I’d really like to see is the Leader Megatron remolded and repainted as Warpath.  That would be awesome.

Overall: A pretty good wave overall.  Groove is a must as is Warpath, but unless you’re a GI Joe fan, you can probably skip Viper, especially if you already have Powerglide.

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Q Transformers Wave 3 (Hound, Bluestreak, Nemesis Prime)

I really like Hound, though I would like him better if he were a jeep.  Bluestreak is very cool, but I wish he was painted like G1 Bluestreak.  Nemesis Prime is really nicely painted.  For some reason, Tracks, who is part of this wave was delayed.  Guess we’ll call that Wave 3.1.  You’ll note we’ve already had Wave 3 and 4.  Well, Wave 3 was technically Wave 2, and Wave 4 came out before Wave 3.  Makes no sense to me either.

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Transformers: Kre-O Battle Changers 2-Packs Wave 1 (Optimus Prime vs. Megatron, Ratchet vs. Soundwave)

In Hasbro’s infinite idiocy, it appears that none of the 2015 Kre-O toys will be available in the USA, but are available in Canada.  Canadian ebay sellers are loving it, jacking up prices on them, but it sucks shift for the rest of us.  If the stores don’t want to sell them, then either cancel them completely, or sell them through their web site.  Hasbro’s inability to use their web site to sell things that stores don’t want is mind boggling, truly idiotic.  There is no excuse for not releasing an entire line in the USA.  Fuckheads.

The really sad part is that Hasbro has finally figured out how to make Kre-O toys that don’t suck (for the most part).  No more big clunky sets where you need to build your vehicle then take it apart and build your robot.  Battle Changers now actually transform, and the RID construction sets are mostly vehicles being used by the Kreons, as they always should have been.  Though let’s not talk about the Kreon Warriors.  Someone was on an awful lot of crack when they came up with those.

Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime is in slightly darker colors than the single pack version.  They’ve added a trailer which is cool, but it does not transform at all.  It’s not a huge deal, but it would have been nice.  Also, there is no flip out stand under the trailer for when it’s not attached to the cab.

Megatron

Megatron is pretty cool.  He looks great in robot mode.  They did an amazing job designing him.  Tank mode is good, but I would prefer the flat part under the barrel be silver.  It doesn’t look right in black.  That’s not a huge deal.  Overall, he’s very well done.

Ratchet

Ratchet’s vehicle mode seems to be based on either Movie Ratchet or Prime Ratchet.  In robot mode, he’s completely G1 based.  Ambulance mode is all right, not fantastic, but he looks awesome in robot mode.  He has G1 Ratchet’s classic window in his chest and red tripe on his forehead.

Soundwave

Soundwave is based on Transformers Cybertron Soundwave.  He looks pretty good, though I would prefer a lighter blue, more G1 Soundwave color.  Jet mode is okay, but he’s kind of hard to transform without popping parts off.  Robot mode is really great though.

Laserbeak

There really isn’t much to Laserbeak.  He integrates into Soundwave in both modes.  He’s Soundwave’s vehicle tail and robot chest.  He’s really kind of a cop out.  You have to remove him to transform Soundwave.

Ravage

Ravage is awesome.  He doesn’t transform, but he really looks fantastic.  Too bad they didn’t include this in the SDCC Class of 1984 Kreon set.  For Ravage alone, this is a must have set.

Frenzy & Rumble

They look pretty great.  They are better than the ones included in the aforementioned SDCC Set.

Overall: It’s hard to recommend these, since they are so expensive to get in the USA, but the Ravage is too awesome not to have, but so is the Prime with trailer.

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Transformers: Kre-O Warriors Collection 1 (Gladiator Bumblebee, Wiseguy Bumblebee, Knight Megatron, Ninja Megatron, Samurai Optimus Prime, Wild West Optimus Prime, Gladiator Ratchet, Pirate Ratchet, Army Shockwave, Ninja Shockwave, Army Starscream, Pirate Starscream)

In Hasbro’s infinite idiocy, it appears that none of the 2015 Kre-O toys will be available in the USA, but are available in Canada.  Canadian ebay sellers are loving it, jacking up prices on them, but it sucks shift for the rest of us.  If the stores don’t want to sell them, then either cancel them completely, or sell them through their web site.  Hasbro’s inability to use their web site to sell things that stores don’t want is mind boggling, truly idiotic.  There is no excuse for not releasing an entire line in the USA.  Fuckheads.

The really sad part is that Hasbro has finally figured out how to make Kre-O toys that don’t suck (for the most part).  No more big clunky sets where you need to build your vehicle then take it apart and build your robot.  Battle Changers now actually transform, and the RID construction sets are mostly vehicles being used by the Kreons, as they always should have been.  Though let’s not talk about the Kreon Warriors.  Someone was on an awful lot of crack when they came up with those.

And unfortunately, this blog is about the aforementioned Kreon Warriors.  To put it simply, they have taken Transformers characters and had them play dress up wearing costumes like knight, gladiator, pirate, and more.  This might be Hasbro’s dumbest idea ever.  The truly saddest part is that this is replacing the awesome Micro-Changer line.  Somewhat ironically, I don’t think we got Micro-Changers of any of these characters.  Hasbro really screwed up.  They should have done one or two more series of Micro-Changers at least so that we could get all the core characters that have never been released as Micro-Changers.

Also, as an FYI, none of my comments below are terribly constructive.  Basically just hating on these.  (At least I admit it.)

Bumblebee (Gladiator)

Gladiator Bumblebee’s only redeeming quality is the bee on his shield, and that’s only because it’s amusing.

Bumblebee (Wiseguy)

Making an Autobot as a Mafioso is idiotic.  I will say they did a nice job designing the Tommy Gun.  Had they been thinking, the Autobots could have been FBI and the Decepticons Wiseguys.  This is probably better, lest this idea have any kind of legitimacy.

Megatron (Knight)

When I first saw a photo of Knight Megatron, I didn’t know that was what he was supposed to be.  Frankly, those horns on the side of his head make him look more like a Viking than a knight.  Stupid either way.

Megatron (Ninja)

I think Vanilla Ice said it best.  “Ninja!  Ninja crap!  Ninja!  Ninja crap!”  That was the line, right?

Optimus Prime (Samurai)

I kind of like the look of Samurai Optimus Prime.  This makes me sad.

Optimus Prime (Wild West)

I give them credit for making his chest the side of a stage coach.  Creative, and at the same time stupid.

Ratchet (Gladiator)

Of all the characters to choose for a Gladiator.  Ironhide would have been a better choice.

Ratchet (Pirate)

WTF?  What crack was someone of when they designed this?  He’s got a flag pole sticking out of his head.  Probably represents the one the person had up their ass when they came up with this series.

Shockwave (Army)

Shockwave has run off and joined the army.  He’s got a sword for a hand.  That could be dangerous when he salutes.  :-)

Shockwave (Ninja)

See Ninja Megatron above.

Starscream (Army)

This one is mildly interesting.  Rather than a modern army soldier like Shockwave, Starscream is dressed as world war one fighter pilot.  Only because of the Hearts of Steel comic series does this one’s existence make any sense.

Starscream (Pirate)

Why wouldn’t he have weapons on both arms?  I’m almost sorry for asking that.  It might be misconstrued as a constructive comment.

Overall: Unless you are a completist like me, you don’t want any part of this garbage.  I wish I could have no part of this garbage.

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Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015) Toys R Us Exclusive Clash of the Transformers Five Step Changer Megatronus

Clash of the Transformers is a series of mostly repaints exclusive to Toys R Us stores.

Megatronus is a Five Step Changer.  It’s basically like a Three Step Changer, they just admit you can’t actually transform it in three steps.  Tank mode is pretty cool, though the barrel sits on an port that can be tipped up and down. This means it won’t really stay in place very well.  Robot mode looks cool.  He’s got way too much black on him.  As you can see in the picture, you can barely see his head sculpt because everything behind it is black.  We don’t know what next year will bring, but as of now there is no scheduled Warrior class Megatronus, so this might be the best we get.  That is most unfortunate.

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Transformers: Kre-O Kreon Warriors Collection 2 (Army Bumblebee, Knight Bumblebee, Samurai Hound, Wild West Hound, Samurai Megatron, Wild West Megatron, Gladiator Optimus Prime, Pirate Optimus Prime, Knight Soundwave, Wiseguy Soundwave, Starscream, Ninja Starscream, Wiseguy Starscream)

In Hasbro’s infinite idiocy, it appears that none of the 2015 Kre-O toys will be available in the USA, but are available in Canada.  Canadian ebay sellers are loving it, jacking up prices on them, but it sucks shift for the rest of us.  If the stores don’t want to sell them, then either cancel them completely, or sell them through their web site.  Hasbro’s inability to use their web site to sell product that stores don’t want is mind boggling, truly idiotic.  There is no excuse for not releasing an entire line in the USA.  Fuckheads.

The really sad part is that Hasbro has finally figured out how to make Kre-O toys that don’t suck (for the most part).  No more big clunky sets where you need to build your vehicle then take it apart and build your robot.  Battle Changers now actually transform, and the RID construction sets are mostly vehicles being used by the Kreons, as they always should have been.  Though let’s not talk about the Kreon Warriors.  Someone was on an awful lot of crack when they came up with those.

And unfortunately, this blog is about the aforementioned Kreon Warriors.  To put it simply, they have taken Transformers characters and had them play dress up wearing costumes like knight, gladiator, pirate, and more.  This might be Hasbro’s dumbest idea ever.  The truly saddest part is that this is replacing the awesome Micro-Changer line.  Somewhat ironically, I don’t think we got Micro-Changers of any of these characters.  Hasbro really screwed up.  They should have done one or two more series of Micro-Changers at least so that we could get all the core characters that have never been released as Micro-Changers.

Bumblebee (Amry)

Bumblebee (Knight)

Hound (Samurai)

Hound (Wild West)

Megatron (Samurai)

Megatron (Wild West)

Optimus Prime (Gladiator)

Optimus Prime (Pirate)

Soundwave (Knight)

Soundwave (Wiseguy)

Starscream (Ninja)

Starscream (Wiseguy)

Thanks for reading!

Toy Reviews: Botcon 2015 Toys & Merchandise

2015 is possibly the worst year for Botcon toys ever.  There is not a single toy that is not flawed, either in design or concept.  Some of the utter failures are particularly demoralizing as they could have been fantastic, but they are conceptual failures due to completely unconscionable decisions that ruined them.  Fact is, the best toy of the year was four fifths of the Kre-O set.  That’s the best thing I can say.

This is one very long blog, as these toys and their mistakes are so often shared and intertwined, it made more sense to put them all in one place.  Pictured of the merchandise is after the toys.

The Box Set

Battletrap

Battletrap (formerly Duocon, now Triplechanger) is repainted from Generations Voyager Springer with a new head.  His paint job is okay, but he needed some more paint apps, especially on his head.  It’s a really nice head sculpt, but I would have liked to see something other than just his eyes painted.  This is probably the best toy of the year if you ignore the obvious screw up.  Hasbro has said, and thus far kept their promise, to complete teams.  They are doing Mini Cars, Decepticons Jets, and Insecticons in the Legends line, and seem to plan to do them all.  Pity Botcon can not do the same.  While the Generations Voyager Blitzwing mold is not the greatest mold, it is the perfect mold to do Flywheels, the other Duocon.  They should have done that instead of the deplorable General Optimus Prime toy as a souvenir.  While Battletrap is a good toy, the lack of paint apps and Flywheels really takes away from him.

Grade: B

Megatron

Megatron’s Arms Micron partners have no names.  I am sure someone will point out that they either put names online or in the comic book.  Who cares?  If a toy name is not included in or on the package, it doesn’t count.  You should not need to go to a second source to get the name of the toy you bought.  Never really liked the ape Micron, and Bulkhead’s Micron is so heavy that Megatron can’t hold it up.  Note in the picture below that his left arm is lower than his right.  He doesn’t have ratcheting joints and the weight is too much.  When picking accessories for a toy they really should make sure the toy is capable of holding it properly.  The mantis was a really nice idea as it can represent The Doctor from Revenge of the Fallen.  Unfortunately, it looks pretty lousy without paint apps.  Now, there is a sticker sheet pictured above that was given out at the Custom Class.  It’s idiotic to give out stickers that a toy needs to a small number of people that went to an event that had NOTHING to do with this toy.  So I don’t consider this sticker sheet in any way an official part of the toy but an aftermarket add on.

Megatron is supposed to be inspired my Revenge of the Fallen Megatron.  They did a decent job on his paint details making him look rusted.  Unfortunately the head sculpt does not look enough like G1 or movie Megatron, and really isn’t very good at all.  It seems too small for the body, and yes, it needs to be small to fit, but that is a good reason why this toy was a poor choice.  I know they wanted to use the mold since it was not released in the USA.  As it was originally Breakdown, they should have painted it like G1 or G2 Breakdown.  What really irks me is that they went out of their way to make poorly conceived toys that they could name Megatron and Optimus Prime.  As I understand it, and this might only be rumor, they are no longer allowed to do traditional versions of classic characters.  So, they can make a bizarre Megatron out of a toy that has no business being Megatron, but it can’t actually look like Megatron.  Why would they do that?  They are desperate for people to actually want their toys and think that using the big names on lousy toys will make people want them.  Clearly they are mistaken.

Grade: D

Oilmaster

Oilmaster is a repaint of Generations Legends Swerve & Flanker.  He also has a Pretender Shell of sorts which I will get to in a minute.  This isn’t a bad looking repaint.  Problem is, I feel cheated getting a Legends toy in the box set instead of a Deluxe or Voyager, especially since the price of the set went up again.  Also, they named him Oilmaster because it was used in some obscure Japanese comic.

Of course, the Legend comes with a third party Pretender Shell.  You might be saying, wait, the company that has spent years pointlessly fighting third party toys with erroneous legal reasoning is now making them?  Well, this year they changed their official terminology of what they are banning to items that violate intellectual property, or words to that affect.  Of course, they still haven’t figured out that until Hasbro files a lawsuit, THERE ARE NO THIRD PARTY ITEMS THAT VIOLATE HASBRO’S IP.  An item does not violate IP simply because you say it does.  A court needs to decide that, or a manufacturer has to acquiesce to threats.  None of that has happened.  Add to that, everyone knows the only reason they care about curbing third parts toys is that people are spending money on them instead of bad Botcon toys.  I mean, this is pure speculation, but their sales must be falling given that they cut production and still have toys left over in the club store that stay there for a long time.

The shell is nicely painted with fairly detailed molding.  He has a backpack that flips up to put the robot in rather than splitting in half like most true Pretender Shells do.  I believe only Ultra Pretenders and Mega Pretenders didn’t have splitting shells, and they were kind of their own thing.  Now, I don’t hate this toy, but it’s such poor quality that I can’t like it either.  If you look at the pics above, you can clearly see that one of his legs isn’t glued on right.  One is flush to the body, the other has a gap.  This makes it so he can’t stand flat.  This is inexcusable.  Of course, it could be even worse and be intentional, as in reviews I’ve seen they all seem to have the same defect.  This toy was all hype with little to no payoff.  I think this quote sums up this toy best.

“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more.  It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” – Macbeth

To be clear, Oilmaster is Life in the quote.  I’ll leave you to speculate on who the idiot might be.

Grade: F

Packrat

First off, did we really need another Packrat?  Are they really that short on ideas?  And how did he end up a criminal?  He’s a Maximal.  This is not my favorite mold.  It’s a bitch to transform.  They did a nice job painting him up like Packrat, but I already have a Packrat and it’s a far superior toy.  While I don’t think they should have made it at all, much like with Battletrap, if they were going to make Packrat, then they should have also made Fractyl.  Made him out of what?  I don’t know.  Perhaps Animated Swoop.  Not sure if Age of Extinction Strafe would have been an option or not.  I can’t think of any other off the top of my head, but not being able to do closely related characters together is a major drawback to me.  It’s not a bad toy, it’s just an unnecessary one.

Grade: B

Stepper

So, when they did Shattered Glass Ricochet in 2008, apparently they weren’t happy with him.  So now they’ve done Shattered Glass Stepper.  Talk about running out of ideas.  Now, they did do an amazing job on his paint job.  He looks awesome.  I love the gold and black flames on orange.  The biggest problem with this toy, aside from the fact that they did this before, is that there is no port on the vehicle mode to mount the Targetmaster.  This is not the first time this mold was used for Stepper, and it too was flawed.  Leave it to Fun Pub to take a flawed idea and reuse it.  Too bad when they were making their Oilmaster statue they didn’t add in an accessory for the mold to clip on Stepper’s spoiler so you can mount the gun.  That would have been awesome.  But alas, not awesome.  It only gets as high a grade as it does because of the amazing paintjob.  It’s just not enough to overcome the flaws.

Grade: B

Attendee Toy

Zaptrap with Beet-Chit and Unnamed Micron

So, here s where this year’s toys start to get stupid.  First off, We only got a Legend instead of a Deluxe as the Attendee toy.  Talk about cheap.  They keep raising the price and reducing what people get for it.  Typical.  Worse yet, Zaptrap isn’t even a Transformer.  He is supposed to be a Diaclone toy.  You know, I like Transformers repainted in Diaclone colors as Transformers.  I do not like Transformers made into Diaclone toys.  This is crap.  No Autobot or Decepticon symbol and a meaningless Tech Spec.  This is just stupid.  It fails completely as a Transformer because it isn’t one.  If this was Diacon, then this would be fine, but it’s not.  This is unfortunately only the first of a number of horrible toys that aren’t even Transformers.  It’s kind of unfortunate, because it’s not a bad looking.  Just too bad it’s not a Transformer.

Grade: F

Kre-O Set

Nightbird

Nightbird is absolutely awesome.  This is literally one of the best toys Fun Pub has ever made and it’s a Kreon.  Do you realize how demoralizing that is?

Autobot Spike

Not only is this an awesome toy, but they did an amazing job painting him.  I never thought there would ever be any kind of toy of Autobot Spike.

Doctor Arkeville

Another great looking one.  Dr. Arkeville may not have appeared in a lot of episodes, but he was a very important villain in the ones he was in.

Robot Master

I’m not as high on this one only because I am much more about the G1 cartoon than the comic books, but this is a very cool figure from the comics.

Sentinel Prime & Headmaster

Well, there had to be one stinker, right?  We have four classic characters that have never really had toys before (though Nightbird has one incoming in Japan) and they throw in an Animated character.  It’s not a bad figure, but when I think of some of the other Kreons they could do, this one is really disappointing.

Grade: A-

Custom Class Galva-Lio Convoy

If you read my review of Nova Prime, you might remember that I predicted that we would get Galva-Lio Convoy.  I know, not exactly a bold prediction since he was on the box.  This is a really nice repaint.  Problem is, it’s unpainted.  Fun Pub has some nerve charging $80 for an unfinished toy.  It’s not a bad toy, but it’s a clear case of price gouging.  There is no justification for this toy to be $80.

Grade: D+

Souvenir Toys

General Optimus Prime

In case you aren’t aware of where the idea for General Optimus Prime and Sergeant Hound came from, there was supposed to be a second wave of Autorollers back Generation 2.  That wave had repaints of the two Autorollers as General Optimus Prime and Sergeant Hound.  No, the ranks in front of the names make no more sense now than then.  This is an absolutely beautiful toy.  Unfortunately, it makes no sense at all since Prime was supposed to be a dump truck.  What really upsets me is that that they should have done Flywheels from the Blitzwing mold instead.

Grade: F

Scoop

This really pisses me off.  The Targetmasters that come with Hound are meant to be the pilots for the other 2-pack.  You might be wondering how it makes sense that they need pilots.  More on that below.  Perhaps you’re confused as to why someone thought it was okay to sell this toy with parts that belong to another one.  I don’t have any idea.  This is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen.

Hound is really great.  They got his alt mode right and did a nice job painting him.  If it wasn’t for him coming with another toy’s parts, and being packaged with the incredibly nonsensical Optimus Prime, I would really love this toy.  Unfortunately, that’s a whole lot of crap to overcome.

Grade: B-

Burn Out

So, like Zaptrap, Burn Out is not a Transformer.  He is a Diaclone toy.  How they managed to bungle this I don’t know.  All they had to do was stick purple Autobot logos on him and call him Shattered Glass Skids.  It was that easy.  It would have been a great toy.  As is, he’s crap.  Also of note, mine had two right feet.  My guess is a lot of people have this but didn’t notice.  I got the foot replaced.  After spending so much money on crap, I at least wanted the right parts to the crap.  As I previously mentioned one of Scoop’s Targetmasters is meant to serve as Burn Out’s pilot.  His name is Dia.  The other one’s name is Cline.  Dia-Cline, get it?  The lack of creativity is astounding.

Grade: F

Lift-Ticket

I hate it when they reuse GI Joe names.  This is even a better looking toy than Burn Out.  Unfortunately, he too is not a Transformer.  Again, all he needed was a purple Autobot symbol and he could have been Shattered Glass Hoist.

Grade: F

Troop Builder Waruders

These Waspinator repaints are supposed to be based on Beast Wars Fox Kids Deluxe Transmetal Waspinator, unreleased Beast Wars Halloween Horrocon Waspinator (not sure if that was Transmetal or regular), Bug Bite, and I still don’t know what the last one is.  The reason they have the little partners is that they are supposed to be their riders.  These are also Diaclone toys, but are even worse than the ones above.  They are not robots.  They are supposed to be real insects.  What were they thinking?  Not only aren’t they Transformers, but they aren’t even robots!

Grade: F, F, F, F

Certificate of Authenticity

Toys Overall: This year was one of the worst years ever for Botcon toys.  Some of these toys should have been really good but were so conceptually flawed that they are complete garbage.  They tried to make toys that were not Transformers exclusives for a Transformers convention and then wonder why they don’t sell.  They tried the old, “if you can’t beat them, join them,” with their own third party toy and that is a complete flop.  The average grade I gave their toys was a D, and I’m surprised it ended up that high.

Autographs Cards

Uncut sheets are pictured.  I didn’t bother scan the individual cards.  The last card is the exclusive version of the Mayhem Returns card that was given out at a panel.

Cap

So, I preordered the cap and shirt with my Iacon package as I always do.  Then when I got my order, there was a note saying that the cap and shirt preorders were not available.  I bought another shirt of a different size and several weeks later, I was sent the cap.  They apparently found one.  Of course, before I was told I wouldn’t get the cap they sold them in the club store.  In the end, I got a shirt in a different size and a cap, but I’m really annoyed that I spent weeks looking for a cap with no luck.  Had they asked me about a different size shirt, I would have said that was fine, but they didn’t bother doing that.  There is no excuse for offering a preorder on something like this and then not making good on it.  This isn’t like toy that Hasbro cancels.  These are their own product.  Anyway, I wrote a really angry post when I first found out I didn’t get the cap, but never got around to posting it before they sent me the hat.  Kind of wish I’d posted it immediately.  Oh well.

Lithograph

Pins

The first pin is the box set pin.  The second one is the Welker package pin, and the third is the first day pin.  I think the Megatron pin is the best pin they have ever made by far.

Prints

The fourth one below was part of the Welker package.

T-Shirt

Thanks for reading!