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BotCon/Fan Club toy discussion 2015

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2015 11:33 am
by Dominic
Not sure how many of these any of us will be getting. But, for all of the valid complaints about them, Fun Publications releases some damned fine toys.


Oilmaster: This is a recolour of "Generations" Swerve (w/Minicon) wrapped in a (new mould) Pretender shell. Aside from a character specific facial sculpt (which may or may not be out of order for Oilmaster), this looks to be a good toy. This is something that I would not mind paying an inflated price for (especially as I have a retro-G1 Magnificus).


Stepper: Yet another "Shattered Glass" toy that I like despite context. (Not likely to pay too much for it though.)

Zapmaster: Very nice. Looking in to getting one. (The Insecticon clones are something I I have always liked.)

Salvage: A good mould in good colours. Bonus points if it is the Bayformers character translated to "Generations".

SGT Hound: A good mould. But, unless there is a particularly impressive comic (which is unlikely) or some other media I would have a hard time seeing this toy as Hound. If I see one cheap, I might grab it though.

Crossover toys: All of these are really solid. The only real problem is that Hasbro is consistently dropping the ball about not making them general release figures. It is not the level of Thundergate in terms of scale. But, there has been proven demand for this type of thing over the years. Hasbro is ignoring potential money.


Skywarp/Ramjet: Good, if obvious, recolours. And, once again, options that Hasbro really should have beaten Fun Publications to the punch on. This is not quite getting in to Thundergate territory. But, it is awfully close. I really hope that Fun Publications gets around to Thundercracker and maybe considers Acid Storm or some other Seekers in the "Unicron Trilogy" body. (UT Sunstorm would be a recolour of UT Thrust. But, characters like Acid Storm, Hot Link or Bit Stream are still fair game.)


Mayhem Attack Squad: This is probably the best formalized effort we are going to see at making the Decepticon Wreckers. It would have been nice if Hasbro had made a few new figures a year. But, considering the more obvious things that Hasbro has missed, this is probably as good as it is likely to get.

The Target Masters are a good effort. But, Hasbro really needs to make more Target Masters.

Bludgeon looks especially good. (I can almost see Fun Publications making Turmoil out of this mould.)


My best guesses for the mystery figure are either Turmoil (from the Onslaught/Bludgeon mould) or another use of Oil Master's shell.

Re: BotCon/Fan Club toy discussion 2015

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 5:32 am
by Onslaught Six
Dominic wrote:SGT Hound: A good mould. But, unless there is a particularly impressive comic (which is unlikely) or some other media I would have a hard time seeing this toy as Hound. If I see one cheap, I might grab it though.
Granted, it would have been equally hard to see this toy as Hound in his original release in '95 or whatever.
Crossover toys: All of these are really solid. The only real problem is that Hasbro is consistently dropping the ball about not making them general release figures. It is not the level of Thundergate in terms of scale. But, there has been proven demand for this type of thing over the years. Hasbro is ignoring potential money.
I have a problem thinking that these kind of things would work as a general release. As club exclusives or SDCC, they're fine--in fact, SDCC or NYCC or whatever is probably the best possible place for these.
Skywarp/Ramjet: Good, if obvious, recolours. And, once again, options that Hasbro really should have beaten Fun Publications to the punch on. This is not quite getting in to Thundergate territory. But, it is awfully close. I really hope that Fun Publications gets around to Thundercracker and maybe considers Acid Storm or some other Seekers in the "Unicron Trilogy" body. (UT Sunstorm would be a recolour of UT Thrust. But, characters like Acid Storm, Hot Link or Bit Stream are still fair game.)
It's arguable at this point that if Funpub is doing it, Hasbro has no plans to do so in the immediate future.
Bludgeon looks especially good. (I can almost see Fun Publications making Turmoil out of this mould.)
What. Bludeon looks like a hunk of hot nasty ass. I mean that in the worst possible way. The thing has no cohesive colour scheme and does not look like Bludgeon in either of his "robot" modes. He is a hodgepodge of colours, some taken from his toy and some completely random. I have seen a lot of Bludgeons over the years. This is literally the worst one.
My best guesses for the mystery figure are either Turmoil (from the Onslaught/Bludgeon mould) or another use of Oil Master's shell.
They stated at the panel that the 7th figure would be a Deluxe, which disqualifies both of those.

Also, you missed the best exclusives from the show: the Diaclone black Skids and red Hoist, Burn Out and Lift Ticket. They are cool enough that I am stalking eBay trying to pick up a pair for under $100 shipped.

Re: BotCon/Fan Club toy discussion 2015

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:08 pm
by Dominic
Granted, it would have been equally hard to see this toy as Hound in his original release in '95 or whatever.
No question. SGT. Hound would have been one of those toys I skipped back then, especially as the comics had ended.

I have a problem thinking that these kind of things would work as a general release. As club exclusives or SDCC, they're fine--in fact, SDCC or NYCC or whatever is probably the best possible place for these.
Hasbro should at least float the idea at mass retail with something more significant than Viper.


It's arguable at this point that if Funpub is doing it, Hasbro has no plans to do so in the immediate future.
Which is kinda my point. Hasbro is missing the obvious stuff.



Also, you missed the best exclusives from the show: the Diaclone black Skids and red Hoist, Burn Out and Lift Ticket. They are cool enough that I am stalking eBay trying to pick up a pair for under $100 shipped.
Both of those are good. (I am interested in Lift Ticket, which I mistakenly called "Salvage".)

Re: BotCon/Fan Club toy discussion 2015

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 3:46 pm
by Dominic
The 2015 issue of "Timelines" shipped this week. It is in my pull file, and is going to stay there (along with the corresponding Joe issue) until I catch up on other comics.

Re: BotCon/Fan Club toy discussion 2015

Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:57 pm
by JediTricks
Dominic wrote:Not sure how many of these any of us will be getting. But, for all of the valid complaints about them, Fun Publications releases some damned fine toys.
I suspect I will never in a million years understand your position on that matter.

Re: BotCon/Fan Club toy discussion 2015

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:58 am
by Dominic
What do you mean?

Re: BotCon/Fan Club toy discussion 2015

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:00 am
by JediTricks
They don't seem like "damned fine toys" to me in any capacity.

Re: BotCon/Fan Club toy discussion 2015

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:18 am
by Dominic
Fun Publications figures are pricey, and often have abysmal context.

But, they look good.

Re: BotCon/Fan Club toy discussion 2015

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 12:58 pm
by JediTricks
Dominic wrote:Fun Publications figures are pricey, and often have abysmal context.

But, they look good.
I've never found them to be any more attractiveness than any Hasbro main line figures. And the amount of assembly problems with FunPub figures is shocking at times.

Re: BotCon/Fan Club toy discussion 2015

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 2:34 am
by Onslaught Six
Joe Club toys have assembly problems more often than TF. But they do still happen.

I ended up picking up Black Skids and Red Hoist though. Whatever their names were. Hoist is possibly the best colour scheme on this mould. Skids is up there, but AOE Rollbar tops him. It is unforgivably stupid that these are Diaclone characters (in fiction!) whose drivers came with an unrelated toy (Sgt. Hound) making them basically unattainable for a non-completionist.

Funpub toys are generally on par with Hasbro releases, maybe a little more painted up. JT has a point there. And they do occasionally have a whacked out idea that nobody asked for (Combiner Wars Tripredacus. Just why?) But when they nail it, they really do nail it.