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Autobot N wrote:The comic implied that Punch had been severely injured and Lifeline was only able to save him by completely removing the Punch mode, thus leaving only Counterpunch. So a Punch figure might not be impossible.

Was the word "removing" used? Because that seems like a loaded word to me.

Lifeline looks good but I'd be pretty upset if the reason for the lack of swords was that including a Micromaster priced them out of this set, especially since they'd have probably had to be molded together with the windscreen and light piping anyway. It's not as if swords doubling as scalpels is unprecedented in this franchise.

RevTibe wrote:
That, and I doubt Optimus #3 is the only pretooled voyager head gone unused in the pretool-happy Combiner Wars line - I'd imagine there'd be interest in unveiling an unused Hot Spot pretool head. These factors left me curious about whether or not FunPub was already "locked" to using the MM/OP mold.

CW Demolishor rest in spaghetti never forgetti.

Diem wrote:

Autobot N wrote:The comic implied that Punch had been severely injured and Lifeline was only able to save him by completely removing the Punch mode, thus leaving only Counterpunch. So a Punch figure might not be impossible.

Was the word "removing" used? Because that seems like a loaded word to me.

Yes. Lifeline (censored so I don't spoil the comic for people that haven't read it) specifically says (and I quote) "We were able to save him only by removing the impaired mode completely."

Autobot N wrote:

Diem wrote:

Autobot N wrote:The comic implied that Punch had been severely injured and Lifeline was only able to save him by completely removing the Punch mode, thus leaving only Counterpunch. So a Punch figure might not be impossible.

Was the word "removing" used? Because that seems like a loaded word to me.

Yes. Lifeline (censored so I don't spoil the comic for people that haven't read it) specifically says (and I quote) "We were able to save him only by removing the impaired mode completely."

Sounds like a very intentional word choice to me.

william-james88 wrote:

-Registration for 5.0 supposedly opens this week

That's a lot earlier than i was expecting! I'm nowhere near ready!

Diem wrote:

Autobot N wrote:

Diem wrote:

Autobot N wrote:The comic implied that Punch had been severely injured and Lifeline was only able to save him by completely removing the Punch mode, thus leaving only Counterpunch. So a Punch figure might not be impossible.

Was the word "removing" used? Because that seems like a loaded word to me.

Yes. Lifeline (censored so I don't spoil the comic for people that haven't read it) specifically says (and I quote) "We were able to save him only by removing the impaired mode completely."

Sounds like a very intentional word choice to me.

Can't say I'm a big fan of Punch/Counterpunch having a split personality since he's supposed to be an Autobot doublespy. Counterpunch should still technically be an Autobot despite his outward appearance so removing his Autobot mode would just leave him stuck in his disguise. Even if there was a split personality thing going on (he has one in some stories) I don't really see why the Autobot personality would go with the removed Autobot parts, he only has one brain (and technically only one head with two faces) so the personality should still be there, just dormant.

That said, yeah, I've said from the start that secret figure would be Punch, story and logic be damned!

I suppose this makes Scorponok the sixth member, going to have to see if we can get Scamper to stick to Motormaster's chest in a convincing way.

Shame they're running these so soon, even with the order window I can't make the first 5.0 payment and the second 4.0 payment so close together, especially with Grand Galvatron coming in the middle of this.

Emerje

The idea of Counterpunch being a developing split personality after years of having been a simple alias was started back in 2003 in the MTMTE profile series.

Emerje wrote:Can't say I'm a big fan of Punch/Counterpunch having a split personality since he's supposed to be an Autobot doublespy. Counterpunch should still technically be an Autobot despite his outward appearance so removing his Autobot mode would just leave him stuck in his disguise. Even if there was a split personality thing going on (he has one in some stories) I don't really see why the Autobot personality would go with the removed Autobot parts, he only has one brain (and technically only one head with two faces) so the personality should still be there, just dormant.

TF_JW wrote:The idea of Counterpunch being a developing split personality after years of having been a simple alias was started back in 2003 in the MTMTE profile series.

Since before that even. Here's his Universe bio (emphasis mine):

Transformers Universe wrote:PUNCH

ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
FUNCTION: DOUBLE AGENT
FIRST APPEARANCE: -

"In my business, there are no friends, only suspects."

Profile: On the surface, Punch is as cool-headed and well-adjusted a character as you could wish to meet. At times of crisis, he keeps his head and takes command, his authoritative nature and imposing presence helping to calm those around him. Many are the Autobots who have admired his tight-lipped, stoic attitude. But Punch fools himself almost as completely as he fools others. He likes to think that he is a robot of few words because, in his business, to say too much is to invite death. In truth, Punch says little because he distrusts absolutely everyone! His role as double agent, constantly switching his appearance to Counterpunch so as to blend in with the Decepticon forces, has left him a paranoid bundle of neuro-circuits. He hides it well, but Punch is constantly on edge, guarding against possible betrayal (from his fellow Autobots) and discovery (by the Decepticons). Only Autobot leader Optimus Prime suspects that Punch's long undercover operations, taking him into the dark heart of the Decepticon camp, may be having an adverse effect. He sees not the calm, aloof warrior others see. He sees a powder keg, about to explode. Knowing how easily and confidently he walks with the Decepticons, Punch looks at his fellow Autobots, wondering if one of them is actually a Decepticon double-agent. Despite all of this, there is no doubting Punch's courage and dedication. Each time Punch receives another infiltration mission, Optimus Prime gives him the chance to back out with absolutely no loss of face. And each time, Punch remains silent.


COUNTERPUNCH

ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON
FUNCTION: DOUBLE AGENT
FIRST APPEARANCE: -

"In my business, there are no friends, only suspects."

Profile: When Punch becomes Counterpunch, he not only changes his outer appearance; his whole personality changes as well. The bizarre fact is, neither Punch nor Counterpunch are aware that there is any mental change. A psychomechanic could make a fortune out of him, because Punch/Counterpunch is one of the best examples of schizophrenia (or split personality). Though, as Counterpunch, he retains his Autobot sensibilities (and carries out his double-agent duties; infiltrating and reporting on Decepticon troop movements and capabilities), he becomes more Decepticon than Autobot. Like Punch, he is tight-lipped and resolute, but where Punch uses mercy and restraint, Counterpunch can be every bit as ruthless as other Decepticons. Even his 'fellow' Decepticons give him a wide berth, knowing him to be volatile and bad-tempered. A casual, jokey remark is often seen as a savage personal attack by Counterpunch, and rarely passes without some form of retribution from him. It can be theorized that perhaps the constant knife-edge pressure has gradually gotten to Punch, and that part of him has been lost, possibly irredeemably. So convincing is Punch's Decepticon alter ego that he was put in charge of the Decepticons' intelligence network, gathering information on the Autobots and controlling the many Decepticon field operatives. This role presents Punch/Counterpunch with a unique problem. How can he maintain his cover and get results, without compromising his fellow Autobots? The great fear is that one day, Counterpunch will take full control of the shared mind, spelling disaster for the Autobots!


Abilities: As both Punch and Counterpunch, he can transform into a sleek, aerodynamic car capable of reaching a maximum speed of 160 miles per hour, with a range of 1200 miles. In Autobot mode, he uses a twin mortar launcher capable of firing its highly-combustible firebombs a distance of 3000 yards. In Decepticon mode, he wields a photon cannon, which emits a high-density stream of circuit-scrambling energy, destroying enemies from the inside out. In order to maintain Punch's cover, all Autobots are fitted with a damper device that reduces the cannon's effect but produces enough fireworks to convince the Decepticons that they have been destroyed. All the Autobots have to do is remember to fall down!

Weaknesses: All of Punch's weaknesses stem from the mental split between him and his alter ego, Counterpunch. He is in constant danger of slipping too fully into his Decepticon role and turning on his Autobot comrades. Should this ever happen, the Autobots would have little option but to stop him. Whether they could do this without harming him remains to be seen. All that is held in check as Punch finds savage release as Counterpunch.

Profile published in: TRANSFORMERS # 71

So literally from day one, Counterpunch has been a Decepticon, has been a split personality from Punch, and has been in danger of taking over.

If they were to be separated as the comic is possibly hinting it's pretty clear that without Punch's restraint Counterpunch would go full Decepto.

megatronus wrote:If Impactor is part of this particular combiner, that means the bonus 7th figure of 5.0 will likely be the 5th member of the team.

Or the 7th figure of 4.0.

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:

megatronus wrote:

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:

megatronus wrote:If Impactor is part of this particular combiner, that means the bonus 7th figure of 5.0 will likely be the 5th member of the team.

Wouldn't be surprised if Wreckage and Thunder Mayhem were nemeses.

Agreed. Would be cool if the 7th was Punch somehow

If I were a betting man, I would sure wager on that! Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

Imagine if this combiner had both Punch and Counterpunch and they were the arms.

"I'm gonna punch you!"
"Then I'll Counter-punch you!"

Some are gonna consider Counterpunch's arm mode to be his "Punch" mode.

'Course, the combiner would need another arm named "Falcon".

megatronus wrote:But if the head was pretooled, why wasn't it used on Grand Scourge?

Grand Scourge at first seemed to be a means for Takara to use the standard Optimus Prime version of the mold for their market before it was decided to use it for Convoy Grand Prime. The standard Optimus head worked well enough for Grand Scourge and, IMHO, better than the Nemesis Prime/Toxitron head since the regular Optimus head is closer in shape to the headsculpt of Energon Optimus Prime, whom the original Grand Scourge was a redeco of.

Plus, the pretooled Nemesis/Toxitron head was pretooled onto the Motormaster version of the mold rather than the Optimus version, which had its own pretooled head in the one used for Battle Core OP. Thus far, we haven't seen any pretooled heads assigned to one version of a mold used on another version of the same mold that has its own set of pretooled heads. So the Optimus version has the normal Optimus and Battle Core Optimus heads while the Motormaster version has the Motormaster and Nemesis/Toxitron heads.

RevTibe wrote:(Hmmm, Ask Vector Prime mentioned a case of RID Scourge (i.e., Nemesis Prime) being forcefully converted into Toxitron. Wonder if there's a connection...).

I wouldn't worry about that. That story was for something else. The Toxitron that that RiD Scourge got turned into most likely looked like this:

Emerje wrote:I suppose this makes Scorponok the sixth member, going to have to see if we can get Scamper to stick to Motormaster's chest in a convincing way.

It was said at BotCon that Scorponok is supposed to finally complete the set of pre-Earth Beast Wars characters from Fun Pub, so he's included with Fractyl as a bonus accessory rather than coming by himself or being part of the Wrecker combiner.

Well, this is looking like a pretty good set. Wonder who the last limb is gonna be...

I still never understood why FanPub simply didn't use the originally planned mold (G2 Optimus)to give people the Toxitron toy that was never produced. If they can go as far back as the 2001 RID Megatron mold for this year's exclusive, then why can't they use another old mold?

RiddlerJ wrote:I still never understood why FanPub simply didn't use the originally planned mold (G2 Optimus)to give people the Toxitron toy that was never produced. If they can go as far back as the 2001 RID Megatron mold for this year's exclusive, then why can't they use another old mold?

The G2 Laser Optimus mold, truck and trailer, is much more massive than most anything they've ever offered. It's roughly the equivalent of a Leader class figure, and the Club's never used a mold so big before. It's likely far too expensive for them to use. They'd probably have to use it twice just to offset the cost, like how 3H originally wanted to do for the RiD Optimus mold when they wanted to make Defensor out of it.

Plus with this CW Motormaster remold, we're at least getting a new head made by Hasbro that we otherwise probably wouldn't get, whereas the G2 Laser Optimus mold is nothing new. And we get one more new combiner out of it.

Sabrblade wrote:

RiddlerJ wrote:I still never understood why FanPub simply didn't use the originally planned mold (G2 Optimus)to give people the Toxitron toy that was never produced. If they can go as far back as the 2001 RID Megatron mold for this year's exclusive, then why can't they use another old mold?

The G2 Laser Optimus mold, truck and trailer, is much more massive than most anything they've ever offered. It's roughly the equivalent of a Leader class figure, and the Club's never used a mold so big before. It's likely far too expensive for them to use. They'd probably have to use it twice just to offset the cost, like how 3H originally wanted to do for the RiD Optimus mold when they wanted to make Defensor out of it.

Plus with this CW Motormaster remold, we're at least getting a new head made by Hasbro that we otherwise probably wouldn't get, whereas the G2 Laser Optimus mold is nothing new. And we get one more new combiner out of it.

Oh, that makes sense.

Another question. How did they get the Combiner Wars molds so soon? I thought they had to wait a few years before the molds were available.

RiddlerJ wrote:Another question. How did they get the Combiner Wars molds so soon? I thought they had to wait a few years before the molds were available.

Not "a few years". The trend for a long time seemed to be "at least one full year", with an occasional exception occuring once in a while. But Hasbro and Fun Pub had since grown closer in their work relationship that recent years had Hasbro permit Fun Pub to use newer molds much closer to their retail release dates. I think Fun Pub's branding their toys from this year under "Combiner Wars" instead of as "Timelines" helped in that as well.

Plus, with Fun Pub and Hasbro breaking ties after this year, all these perks of their close relationship seem to be part of the Club's swan song, going out with a last hurrah of releasing recent molds very close to their retail releases, along with more Hasbro-pretooled headsculpts that Hasbro themselves won't get to release at normal retail before the changeover to Titans Return. In a way, it's like a dual send-off to both the Club and Combiner Wars.

Sabrblade wrote:

RiddlerJ wrote:I still never understood why FanPub simply didn't use the originally planned mold (G2 Optimus)to give people the Toxitron toy that was never produced. If they can go as far back as the 2001 RID Megatron mold for this year's exclusive, then why can't they use another old mold?

The G2 Laser Optimus mold, truck and trailer, is much more massive than most anything they've ever offered. It's roughly the equivalent of a Leader class figure, and the Club's never used a mold so big before. It's likely far too expensive for them to use. They'd probably have to use it twice just to offset the cost, like how 3H originally wanted to do for the RiD Optimus mold when they wanted to make Defensor out of it.

The closest they probably came to g2 prime would be rid megs from this year, as a 12-former, he has the largest parts count of any release so far, but, I bet the air pumps and electronics (g2 laser prime had electronics, right?) would further price it out of their - and certainly our - grasp.

Hellscream9999 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

RiddlerJ wrote:I still never understood why FanPub simply didn't use the originally planned mold (G2 Optimus)to give people the Toxitron toy that was never produced. If they can go as far back as the 2001 RID Megatron mold for this year's exclusive, then why can't they use another old mold?

The G2 Laser Optimus mold, truck and trailer, is much more massive than most anything they've ever offered. It's roughly the equivalent of a Leader class figure, and the Club's never used a mold so big before. It's likely far too expensive for them to use. They'd probably have to use it twice just to offset the cost, like how 3H originally wanted to do for the RiD Optimus mold when they wanted to make Defensor out of it.

The closest they probably came to g2 prime would be rid megs from this year, as a 12-former, he has the largest parts count of any release so far, but, I bet the air pumps and electronics (g2 laser prime had electronics, right?) would further price it out of their - and certainly our - grasp.

CR Black Convoy and RiD Scourge lacked the original's electronics, but the reissue and Laser Ultra Magnus kept them. Don't know about Year of the Goat OP, though.

If anyone doesn't want that megatron shell (aka grand max pretender shell) please LMK as if be happy to buy that

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:I suppose this makes Scorponok the sixth member, going to have to see if we can get Scamper to stick to Motormaster's chest in a convincing way.

It was said at BotCon that Scorponok is supposed to finally complete the set of pre-Earth Beast Wars characters from Fun Pub, so he's included with Fractyl as a bonus accessory rather than coming by himself or being part of the Wrecker combiner.

I don't really see why that would make a difference. It's already a combiner made up of Toxitron, Counterpunch, Fractyl, Impactor, and someone else, so what difference does him being pre-BW make when he's a Legend in series partially made up of combiner parts?

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:I suppose this makes Scorponok the sixth member, going to have to see if we can get Scamper to stick to Motormaster's chest in a convincing way.

It was said at BotCon that Scorponok is supposed to finally complete the set of pre-Earth Beast Wars characters from Fun Pub, so he's included with Fractyl as a bonus accessory rather than coming by himself or being part of the Wrecker combiner.

I don't really see why that would make a difference. It's already a combiner made up of Toxitron, Counterpunch, Fractyl, Impactor, and someone else, so what difference does him being pre-BW make when he's a Legend in series partially made up of combiner parts?

Emerje

He's also not a CW Legends mold. The Scamper mold was made long before CW was ever a thing, and designed only to be an accessory piece meant to accompany Metroplex. It isn't a mold meant for integration with a CW combiner.

Sure, fans could try to force it into fitting with the Motormaster mold somehow, but it isn't supposed to.

Plus, all of the other CW combiners that Fun Pub has done or will do only have five members (a torso and four limbs) with no Legends members. Given this pattern, Wreckage ought to be no different unless the Club pulls a surprise use of the Blackjack/Rodimus mold on us.

Sabrblade wrote:Plus, all of the other CW combiners that Fun Pub has done or will do only have five members (a torso and four limbs) with no Legends members. Given this pattern, Wreckage ought to be no different unless the Club pulls a surprise use of the Blackjack/Rodimus mold on us.

Well, we have the rest of the year to find out. For all we know they'll stick retail Generations Legends Chopshop into the Mayhem Attack Squad's story canon. You can sort of make a weapon mode out of him by putting him in bug mode and flipping his bot legs around under him and flipping him over. That puts a peg hole on the bottom that can be used to attach to the combiner.

On the other hand the MAS does have four Targetmaster partners with it...

Emerje

I like the G2 Mini Optimus, not much else though, shame I'll never get one

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Plus, all of the other CW combiners that Fun Pub has done or will do only have five members (a torso and four limbs) with no Legends members. Given this pattern, Wreckage ought to be no different unless the Club pulls a surprise use of the Blackjack/Rodimus mold on us.

Well, we have the rest of the year to find out. For all we know they'll stick retail Generations Legends Chopshop into the Mayhem Attack Squad's story canon. You can sort of make a weapon mode out of him by putting him in bug mode and flipping his bot legs around under him and flipping him over. That puts a peg hole on the bottom that can be used to attach to the combiner.

On the other hand the MAS does have four Targetmaster partners with it...

Emerje

They need to repaint Legends Waspinator into the little bee drone that came with Scorponok.

We just received a message from the folks over at the Transformers Collectors' Club, who are letting everyone know that whatever leftover stock from BotCon is now available to purchase online on their store. The items include the Reflector 3 pack, the Dawn of the Predacus set (minus Terrorsaur) both boxed and loose, plus prints, t-shirts, sunglasses, shot glasses, autograph cards, pins, the comic, and some items even featuring autographs from the guests! Why not check out our own galleries of the toys to refresh your memory before heading to buy some, if you're so inclined.

Check it out...what's left is now online! Don't miss these last BotCon items! Please note that the boxed sets are a pre-order and will not arrive from the manufacturer until the end of May. If you pre-order the boxed sets along with other items, you will receive 2 shipments.

Thanks for your support!

Brian

This looks like a really weird SS to go out on. I wouldn't have thought it'd have run its course, but based on this offering it may have.

I kinda wish I had the money to blow to get Unit-3 and Tigatron so that way I could have Magnaboss. And I wish I could get Predacus too. Both of those would be awesome things to own.