#BotCon 2015

[soyrapido]

Botcon 2015 General Optimus Prime - repaint of Generations Roadbuster based on an unreleased G2 toy #optimusprime #generaloptimusprime #transformers #transformersg2 #transformersgeneration2 #autorollers #botcon #hasbro #toyphotography #toycollection

[andrusi]

miscellaneous

[allspark]

Taking the goods from the Allspark Studios (and ultimately the credit for this photoshoot too) is long time Botcon repaint, Packrat!  Will he be content to bask in the Divine Light of our studio, or will he secretly stash some of our nerd trophies on the way out?  Tune in after the break to see what happens!

I was unable to attend any of the original run Botcons, and hence missed out on some of their awesome Beast Wars repaint goodness until much later in my collecting.  Getting married and going to college kinda soaked up my resources at the time.  Once I was a little more established, I started picking them up, one by one, and Packrat and Fractyl were the first ones I was able to snag, during the first or third FunPub Botcon.  I have always been a HUGE fan of the “flipchanger” basic class Transformers from Machine Wars and Beast Wars, so getting these was a no brainer.  Getting the Rattrap mold in delicious blue and gold was icing on the cake.

Packrat Beast Mode

I got Packrat very shortly after finally getting a real Rattrap (my first was a knock off).  Getting him was an energon storm of confliction.  One of the things that always kind of disappointed me about the mold was how…solid it was.  Let’s face it, Packrat/Rattrap was pretty much a full-on brick, with rotating feet and a single jointed tail.  He has no lower jaw, which makes the limitations of the mold even worse.  That being said, he has a true retro feel that fans of classic toys will definitely enjoy.  He displays well in action scenes that don’t require him to do anything other than…stand there.  😀  In addition to the overall color scheme changes of blue, grey, and gold between this version and Rattrap’s tan, brown and pink, there are two small deco pattern differences.  First off, Packrat does not have a paint opp on the back of the rat mode like Rattap does.  Additionally, he actually has irises, making the blue rat look slightly more “realistic” than the tan one.  I love it.  He has a little more personality in this mode than his predecessor.

Packrat Robot Mode

One of the greatest things to ever happen to Transformers was the addition of the ball joint.  Packrat has ball joints at the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees.  For the basic size class, this mean a nicely poseable toy that could reasonably stand in a few poses.  Over time, I think my love for the joint has clouded my memory on the instability of this mold.  While the appendages can be placed in numerous positions, the mold is less stable than I would like.  Beyond straight standing poses and kneeling down poses, there is only so much you can do with it before gravity kicks in.  Being a top heavy, back heavy figure is not strange in the Transformer world, so I find it does not ruin my love for the figure.  If you really want to get him in great poses, just be prepared to use some of those action figure bases you can get for Gundam and S.H. Figuarts style figures.

Handle with Caution

Should you purchase any version of this figure, I want to help you avoid messing it up.  Make sure you loosen the hands from the pegs inside the rat body before you complete flipping him open.  Not doing so means the gears will slip, which could damage the mechanism.  You should also be very careful with the included blaster.  One of my Rattrap figures split at the fist because the gun was just a little big for the fist hole.  I would not want that problem to repeat itself with an expensive or rare convention exclusive, so I normally do not even display him with it in hand for that reason.

Recommendation

Packrat is a figure I love seeing on my shelf, and I highly recommend him for you too.  While the Rattrap mold has its issues, I love it for what it is: a great classic Beast Wars figure with retro style and decent poseability in robot mode.  The colors on Packrat are nice and vibrant, and the irises add more personality to the mold than those of the original Rattrap.  I think the best part of all is that this was a figure of a character that expanded the Beast Wars universe, which is still my favorite era of the Transformers franchise.

A cursory glance of eBay at the writing of this article did not find any listings, so if you are looking for him, your best bet is a Transformers related convention.  Packrat is a figure that now runs at an even greater premium than before, so set aside your money and look for him first before going crazy on the vendor floor this summer.  Track down this thief (or the Botcon 2015 Generations update) before he escapes your grasp for good!

  Botcon 97 Packrat Retro Gallery and Review! Taking the goods from the Allspark Studios (and ultimately the credit for this photoshoot too) is long time Botcon repaint, Packrat! 

[wildrun-toys]

[taciturnraccoon]

Bringing this back because it's been getting some attention these past few days.

To answer some questions:

Where can I find it?

Who knows! But honestly no, it is no longer on youtube. It was removed some time in 2016 and I've not been able to find it in all my years. I would consider it... 👻 Lost Media 👻 oooooh

What happened in the short?

The short, called Steeljaw's Morning, begins with a shot of the Steel Mill. It then shows us Steeljaw, who is sleeping like the first frame above. There's an alarm clock beside him that goes off at 8 AM. He smashes it.

Steeljaw gets up and goes to the bathroom and looks at himself. He's drawn very ugly to emphasize how tired he is. He tries to pull a smile by pulling at his face but is disappointed in the results. He returns to the main room and shakes it off, and begins practicing.

"We meet again Bumblebee," he says but its just not right. He needs more power. "We meet again, Bumblebee!" He's still not there.

Steeljaw puffs his chest, takes a deep breath, "*We meet again, Bumblebee!"

Theres a cough. Fracture and Clampdown have entered his room unannounced. He barks at them to get out. They scramble out and Steeljaw deflates when they're gone.

That's where the short ends.

If anyone was at BotCon 2015 and was there for that short, feel free to pitch in if I missed any details.

Wait, there was a rid short around steeljaw considered? And they cut it?! >:v

It was part of their shorts series, they only had story boards for it though. But they played it for an audience at BotCon 2015 and someone recorded it.

Here are some frames:

[thelastgherkin]

TFNation Roundup: BotCon 2015 Lift-Ticket

[textsfrommytoys]

[stairre]

Primus’ Nepotism (Long Post!)

So. I, er. I was deep-trawling through TFWiki the other day, as you do when you’re a TF fanfic writer, and I spotted something that I... honestly didn’t know, but intrigued me greatly. I feel that this is one of those things that either you know or you get blindsided by, so give me a minute.

Hot Rod | Rodimus Prime - primarily the G1 Marvel comics version (though this phenomena did overlap a bit into the Dreamwave comics, and the 3H Productions comics) - looks like Primus. I mean, a lot like Primus. And it’s apparently intentional. 

Here’s a picture of Primus’ head from the 3H Productions comic Transformers: Universe #1, published in 2003 (he’s the big disembodied head in the centre, but I feel like you’ve figured that out already):

And here’s a picture of Rodimus Prime’s head from IDW’s The Transformers: Regeneration One #81, published in 2012 (I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that his head design has been pretty much made similar across continuities and has had its basics set in stone for decades now):

Notice any similarities? Across most continuities, his helm is shaped like this, whether he’s Hot Rod or Rodimus Prime. Sometimes the kibble at the top centre is shaped like the one in the Primus picture above (notably in IDW’s More Than Meets The Eye and Lost Light), but he always has that same piece of kibble. And he always has rounded audios on either side of his helm. 

But wait, there’s more! 

Here is a picture of Primus from the 3H Enterprise’s BotCon 2000 exclusive comic Terminus (sorry for poorer quality):

And here is a picture of Rodimus Prime from the Marvel US comic The Transformers #43, published in 1988:

Notice the spoiler wings on their backs? The shape of their helms? These are two very different comic panels, done by different artists, by different companies, at different times. And they chose to continue to make them look similar.

Not convinced yet? Here’s Primus from the Japanese continuity’s Generations Selects Special Comic: Super Megatron #3, published by TakaraTomy Mall: 

That’s an awfully familiar paint scheme... The TakaraTomy Mall comic is from 2020. This has been a Thing since Transformers comics began, over thirty years ago. 

In Japan, there was even a highly limited toy for Primus put out in 2004 as a Lucky Draw toy. It’s a golden recolour of Rodimus Prime. Here is a photo of it pulled straight from the TFWiki Primus page (credits to the contributors TFWiki users FigureGunplaFan and Monzo):

If you’re still not convinced... the question has been posed before, and answers from the sources themselves have been given:

In Marvel Comic’s The Transformers #160, published in 1988, there is a section called Grim Grams, where Grimlock answers questions sent in by fans. I’ve highlighted in red the relevant part:

The text, shortened for relevance, asks:

Dear Grimlock, I have a few questions to ask you. 1) Rodimus Prime looks a lot like Primus (the energy being who became the Creation Matrix). Is this because Hot Rod was changed by the Matrix?

And Grimlock’s answer is:

Ah, yes. I suspected Issue 150′s shocking revelations about the origin of we Transformers would provoke a few comments and suggestions. I’ll do my best to answer what I can. 1) I reckon you’re spot on there, kid. Primus recreated Hot Rod in his own image, calling himself Rodimus Prime.

And, more recently, on the 30th August 2015, someone asked the Ask Vector Prime Facebook page... (link here to the archive page for that on TFWiki):

Why does Rodimus resemble Primus so much?

And the answer was:

Dear Godly Guy,

Nepotism?

Just some food for thought, everyone. 

[polyhexian]

Human Alliance arcee. Just a random little thing off my list.

Shatter.

Racecar heatwave and RBA hot shot.

Takara version of generations arcee.

Burnout! 2015 Botcon exclusive.

Windblade, 2016 SDCC exclusive.

Telemocha Black Arachnia. Japanese exclusive from a line of more show accurate bw toys.

This is Brake, Damper, and Filter slash Breakage, Kickflip and Mudbath, I am not entirely certain which set of names is supposed to be correct. The wiki uses them both in different contexts. Either way, they're from the armada preceptor mold and they're a combiner set! They become "Heavy Metal," who is the VERY FIRST female combiner ever!!! I will probably combine them before I put them on the shelf since the combiner itself is also a girl, not just a combiner with a female component.

Now here we fucking GO. This is the one I was actually most fucking excited to get. This is Guardian Speed. from tfwiki: "it was only available in Japan as a Bic Camera/Yodobashi Camera promotion exclusive to those who bought 2,000 yen worth of Revenge merchandise at said stores on or after May 30th, 2009." THAT is crazy. My favourite stuff is anything that is WEIRD or an oddity of some kind. This thing was exclusive to a Japanese camera store and you could only get it by buying a certain amount of product! That's so weird! I'm obsessed. It's one of the things on my list I didn't actually think I'd ever get. I am SO happy.

Next time: sparkbots

WOOHOO! I have so many girls, god. And some truly SICK ones now. MY full list is 814, but my list is basically anything in my house, but me and Alphonse share our collection. So we count our total together. Or. We are supposed to. If something goes directly to my house he doesn't always catalogue it on his sheet. We should fix that. But he is at 2900 something and I'm pretty sure it just kicked over 3000.

Anyway I hope you all ready to hear me gush lol

[chibigingi]

Back from the (Art) Grave

https://www.deviantart.com/chibigingi/art/Transformers-Prime-Knockout-Returns-845161968

Long story short, I finally got around to gutting the hard drive from my now defunct PC and salvaged as much unfinished art that I could.  This was from 2015 and was going to be a piece for Botcon, if the title of the file had anything to do with it (it was literally called BotconPiece.psd).  

Anyways, more like this to come.  I hope.  

[overlordraax]

@ Fire Truck Friday post: the boy in the top right corner is Hosehead from TFA! He was featured in The Return of Blurr, a script reading in BotCon 2015

Ah! Thank you! That makes sense. Also I looked up pictures of this bot. He’s adorable. What a sweetie.

Look at this muffin.

[taciturnraccoon]

waiting for the day the "Steeljaw's Mornings" short from botcon 2015 will resurface at some point.

[polyhexian]

all the girlformers left on my list:

Arcee (botcon 2001, BA retool)

Convention/club exclusives

Antagony (beast wars)

Nightracer (botcon 1995) [1000]

Nightracer (2015 tfcc tailgate retool)

Roulette, otfcc 2003 exclusive

Arcee - combiner hunters

Windblade - combiner hunters

Chromia - combiner hunters 

Airrazor, botcon 2016 windblade retool

Lifeline (tfcc 2016) [40]

Quickslinger (tfcc 2016)

Arcee (human?)

Flareup, ratchet doublepack botcon '05

Angela (Sparkbot, Japanese Tokyo Toy Festival 2007) (120 for set)

Blastcharge Strika Drone (Customization Class toy, BotCon 2013) [30]

Strika (Botcon 2013)

Strika (botcon 2013, kreon)

Nightbird (2015 botcon kreon)

Marissa Fairborn

Masterpiece

Black Arachnia [100]

Arcee [100]

Nightbird 

Cyberverse

Windblade

Windblade redeco

Combiner Megaempress (jp exclusive) [300ish]

Power of the primes

Sticky McGee

Botbots

Arctic guzzlerush

Angry cheese 9

Hawt Diggity

Fit Ness monster

Lolly licks

Frohawk

Vigitente (SDCC)

Bottocorrect (S2)

Scribby (S2)

Brock head (S2)

Hawt Mess (S2)

Must Turd (S2)

Ice Sight (S2)

Tropic Guzzlerush (S2)

Grampiano (S2)

Drillit Yaself (S2)

Grrr'illa grimes (S2)

Big Cantuna (S2)

Sour Wing (S2)

Javasaurus rex (S2)

Lolly Mints (S2)

Sippyberry (S2)

Ollie Bite (S2)

Glitch Face (S2)

Hashtags (S2)

Technotic Sonic (S2)

Nope Soap (S2)

Ol' Tic Tock (S2)

Overpack (S2)

Rebugnant (S2)

Bankshot (S3)

Clawsome (S3)

Knotzel (S3)

Sheriff Sugarfeet (S3)

Sweet cheat (S3)

Tutu Puffz (S3)

Latte Spice Whirl (S3)

Sensei spiny (S3)

Highroller (S3)

Terror tale torch (S3)

Dingledeedo (S3)

Kikmee (S3)

Halloween Knight (S3)

Disgusto desserto (S3)

Sugar saddle (S3)

Wristocrat (S3)

Grave rex (S3)

Greeny Rex (S3)

Fail Polish (S3)

Nanny McBag (S3)

Smooth Shaker (S3)

Aday (S4)

Hiptoast (S4) (light green)

Tricitrustops (S4)

Crabby grabby (S4)

Pressure Punk (S4)

Roarista (S4)

Whirlderful (S4)

Chef Nada (S4)

The great mumbo blumbo (S4)

Movie Munchster (S4)

Ladoutsky (S4)

Pop n Lock (S4)

Face Ace (S4)

Flare devil (S4)

Dj Fudgey Fresh (S4)

Frostfetti frostyface (S4)

Grandma crinkles (S4)

Smore n'more (S4)

Disaster Master (S4)

Goggly spy pi (S4)

Miss mixed (S4)

Gold dexter (S4)

Goldface (S4)

Pop o'gold (S4)

Bot-T-Builder (S5)

Nomaste (S5)

Jet setter (S5)

Sandy shades (S5)

Tidy trunksky (S5)

Drama sauce (S5)

Super bubs (S5)

Wasabi breath  (S5)

Leafmeat alone (S5)

Bok bok bok-o (S5)

Bratworst (S5)

Shifty gifty (S5)

Outta order (S5)

Professor scope (S5)

Flood jug (S5)

Handy dandy (S5)

Goldie terrortwirl (S5)

Goldito favrito (S5)

Goldpin baller (S5)

Ant Farmwell (S6)

Ulf the orange (S6)

Minerva

Super god masterforce

Nightbeat minerva (possibly identical to regular nightbeat? Was released as nightbeat Minerva in Japan. May have packaging?)

Clear plastic super collection minerva figure

Minerva, botcon 2011 custom class tfa arcee [1000-2000]

Minerva (gutto kuru human figure yellow)

Minerva (resin kit human figure red)

Kiss Players

Three awful anime girl figures

TFA

Slipstream, legends, windblade redeco

TFP:

Arcee, clear blue plated, only 40 pcs

Arcee, go! takara beast hunter 

Arcee, 2022 legacy 

Arcee, Kinder Surprise

Arcee, Kre-o

Arcee, arms micron, pink

Arcee, arms micron gray

Airachnid, kre-o

Airachnid arms micron blue

Robots in Disguise 2015:

Strongarm, radz

Strongarm, legion class

Strongarm, legion class, clear blue plastic

Strongarm, battle pack

Strongarm, hasbro one step

Strongarm, patrol mode one step

Strongarm, one step take 2

Strongarm, warrior class

Strongarm, activator combiner

Strongarm, kre-o

Strongarm, hero masher

Strongarm, surprise drink figure

Strongarm, surprise drink pencil topper

Strongarm, kinder surprise

Strongarm, lunar force

Strongarm, one step 2017

Windblade, legion #2

Unicron trilogy:

Arcee, x-dimensions

Paradron medic - arcee mold

Chromia

Stockade - Universe 2008 (redeco of knockdown, blue triceratops minicon

Thunderblast - Cybertron, white chromia repaint

Treadbolt - energon 2004 [40]

Sureshock - CD pack in

Sureshock - change micron, candy toy pack in, arcee redeco

Sureshock - Magna Convoy DX set

Sureshock - blue, universe version [13]

Sureshock - Cybertron, has autobrand

Combusta - 2003 minicon, came packaged with volume six of micron legends dvds in japan

Twirl - came with the 7th volume of micron legends

Falcia - Came with the 5th volume of micron legends

Sunburn - volume 10 of micron legends (100)

Ironhide - came with terrorsaur, armada [10]

Spiral - the gray one, given away at world hobby fair and ito yokaido stores in japan 2003

Spiral - the red one

Offshoot - Cybertron, 2006

Heavy Metal:

Brake - Micron booster 2004 (only called a girl by fanclub, may not count) 

Kickflip - same as above

Mudbath - same as above

Road Rebel - 2004 minicon [40]

Guardian Speed - stupid ass camera store exclusive [80]

Mugen - japanese store exclusive

Triac - micron booster (canonized as girl by ask vector prime)

Generations:

Arcee, legends

Misc:

Arcee, alternator

Arcee, pewter super collection figure

Arcee, mc axis garage kit

Arcee, 2022 stamp

Arcee, mighty jaxx lil maxx

Arcee, authentic bravo 

Elita one, mc axis garage kit

Hello kitty, q transformers [50]

Hello kitty, q transformers, halloween [30]

My melody, q transformers [40]

Mp-10 unit 01 

Road rage, e-hobby exclusive

Flip Sides, e-hobby exclusive

Windrazor, micron booster 

Howlback, e-hobby exclusives

Freezon, electric racing set 1985 [40-50]

Windshear, minicon, thrilling thirty

Nightbird, arcee retool, legends

Wedge Shape - japanese camera store exclusive minicon. Shes a red bird [300]

Windblade - flame toys kit [50]

Arcee, Super high breed mode (unreleased 1987) [600]

Ahsoka - star wars crossover

Chun LI - (preordered)

Micromasters:

Clipper (gingham)

Discharge 1992

Discharge 2002

Discharge, reverse evolution (black chase)

Windy, 1992

Windy, red (chase)

Beast Wars:

Blackwidow, beast wars returns

Blackwidow, beast wars returns, telemocha

Black Arachnia, legends animated retool

Black Arachnia  - Kre-o

Skimmer - 2014 kre-o

Volcanicon - 2014 kre-o

Freefall - 2014 Kre-o

Snarl blast - predator attack team

Rid 2001

Nightcruz [15]

Beast Wars 2

Scylla - Japanese exclusive

Scylla - 2020 generations 

Beast Machines:

Nemesis strika

Bayverse:

Arcee, battle damage (the Nautica looking mold)

Arcee, wondercon exclusive (pink and white)

Arcee, human alliance

Arcee, smoky clear pink plastic

Elita-1 (deluxe)

Chromia, human alliance

Chromia, robot heroes

Mikaela banes, brown shirt

Override - 2010 legends (MAYBE girl, only said in botcon panel)

Quintessa figure

Shatter (Titan changer)

Shatter (mission vision)

Shatter (power series)

Arcee (studio series bumblebee movie)

Arcee (bumblebee movie model kit)

Cyberverse

Slipstream (scout class)

Windblade (nezha block) (super buy agent was unable to locate, taobao fell through, try elsewhere)

Volcanicus (?) (Combiner, one part is a girl but this is a single figure. ??)

Tiny Turbo Changers 

Blackarachnia (G)

Acid Storm (P)

Chromia (C2)

Arcee (E2)

Slipstream (4-H / 5-B)

TTC strika (alpha strike)

TTC arcee (movie)

TTC shatter

Third Party: 

ProjectEffect "ninja" rosanna

KFC Rosanna "Mandy"

HTB Rosanna

Mastermind r-30 nitro (override)

Iron factory "Night Assassin" nightbird

Iron factory "Alleria" elita one

IF "Miko for Iron Titan" "The Hunter" Combiner Hunter Windblade 

IF "Dark Assassin" combined Hunter arcee

IF "Rainwing" Acid Storm

Takara Hello Kitty Trainformer [70]

Arcee, apc blue

Arcee, apc pink

Arachnid, apc

Lady Tarn lol (preordered)

Magic square arcee

Magic square nightbird

CDL-02 elita 1

Mech fans blackbird

Mech fans nursy

Mech fans nightbird

Mech fans snow

CDL-01 arcee / Nicee (?)

Ex-01 mookah

Fanstoys arcee titties

[soundwavereporting]

there’s a couple posts i’ve seen recently abt people’s parents knowing about their fandoms/ships/fanfic and i’m just. mind blown. maybe it’s from having ultra-conservative, paranoid parents, but with the exception of the time i went to botcon, there is absolutely no way in HELL i would ever tell my parents (or family) i am into ‘fandom’, much less write ‘fanfiction’ and ‘connect with other fans’ (literally everyone is ‘oh someone i met at botcon in 2015′).  

it’s not a bad thing, of course, but their experience is so different from my own i’m always ???? why would you do tell them that? don’t you know they’ll mock you for it? 

[siphersaysstuff]

The second batch of @tfwiki Patreon-backed pics for September, countinuing the PEOPLE POWER theme! Kreons, Rescue Bots and more!

https://www.patreon.com/gregstfwikipics https://www.paypal.me/msipher

Kicker Jones (Energon)

Kicker Jones (Super Link, SS-03 version)

Captain Fanzone (Kre-O)

Kicker Jones (Kre-O)

Daniel Witwicky (Kre-O, IDW’s “Sparkplug”)

Henry “Headmaster” Masterson (Kre-O, BotCon 2015)

Dr. Arkeville (Kre-O, BotCon 2015)

Cody Burns (Rescue Bots, Rock Rescue set)

Graham Burns (Rescue Bots, Arctic Rescue set)

[wildrun-toys]

ダブルターゲットマスター！