For years, the only way to have special repaints was to go to some special conventions in the USA and/or be a member of the Collector Club. Nowadays, most special repaints if not all, can be bought online or in store by anyone without any need to travel or pay exorbitant reseller prices.
I have a few Botcon toys, but I never experienced a whole boxset because the prices are usually way too much for me. However, the stars aligned with a lucky Ebay find and this year's hefty tax return.
So here's the set that I wanted the most, the
BOTCON 2015 MOST WANTED BOX SET!Painful Global shipping and taxes aside, I had a great deal on that set.... Considering that I'm around 5 years late to get it. The set come in a very high quality carboard box with a nice print on it. Deluxe foam inserts protect the toys inside. It come with cards and instruction for all the main bots and a comic book. Finally, the certificate of authenticity to seal the deal.
A closer look at the paperwork. I don't need the instructions so the paper baggies can remain sealed. The cards have interesting characters stories. the comic bokk have standard art and I'll read it later. (if ever)
Now, on to the bots!
First, here's deluxe Shattered Glass Stepper. He's an Autobot, but he's an EVIL version from a parallel universe. He's a repaint of the old Generations RTS Jazz. The car mode is magnificent.
Like the normal version, he can deploy his speakers. Unfortunately, they are just pure white with no extra painted details.
He come with his partner, Nebulon, who have a nice face.
Transformation is easy enough and all the joints feel tight and solid. Only flaw are the speakers who tend to pop off the clear door hinges too easily. But better pop off-n-on than simply breaking. Nebulon become Stepper's gun.
I wish the face would have better paint though.
Next is deluxe Packrat. Repaint of the old Generations deluxe T30 Rattrap. I don't get why the rat is blue, but eh, why not. He's still adorable.
I suppose this mantis thing is his partner. It's an Arms Micron. Normally, those are Japan Takara exclusive. They came with the Transformers Prime figures. They all come unassembled on sprue. You have to assemble them yourself and put on the stickers like snap-on model kits. But in this set, they come fully assembled.
Packrat's transformation is a bit fiddly but not too bad. The bot look nice. He can store his gun under his tail in rat mode. The Mantis Micron can become a claw thing or something.
Once again the face is lacking a bit of paint.
His arm hide a "grenade" but I prefer imaginative is as a flask of booze.
His gun can also separate in two for dual-wielding action.
And all his weapons can combine to become the POTATO OF DEATH.
Next is voyager Battletrap. The original G1 toy was two vehicles combining into a single bot. Here, his "schysophrenia" have been fixed so he became a triple changer. Nice concept! This repaint of Generations T30 Springer is much more "delicious" than the original. Like grape flavored candy!
The car mode is not bad at all.
The copter mode is a bit awkward, but it work.
I love the "Duo" on his tail that reffer to his origins.
The bot mode is pretty nice and is tall.
Once again, the face lack paint.
Overall, Battletrap is a pretty solid.
Next is voyager Megatron. He's a repaint and slight remold of the Prime Arms Micron Breakdown. The original figures had basically no paint and you had to put on cheap stickers. This version of the mold have paint through the gills, including a nice chrome grill.
His two Arms Micron partner are adorable. He have a bat-thing and a thing-thing.
Both can go in weapon mode on the vehicle, but that look daff.
Transforming Megatron is a bit fiddly, but enjoyable. However, I'm pretty sad to report that my copy have TWO LEFT FEET. For fox sake. And of course, this cannot be fixed in any way, and no recourse are possible. Not the end of the world, but each time such a thing happen, it's really frustrating.
Despite his handicap, Megatron can still pose. He look powerful and bulky. This choice of Arms Microns for him are clever because they reffer to his original weapons.
This toy is the only one with a new head. The paint could be better, but is good enough.
Megatron is one of the main draws of this set, but not the #1. Despite the manufacturing defect, he's still incredible.
Now here's the main course of this set, DOUBLE PRETENDER Oilmaster! The Pretenders were basically hollow shells that contain the true transformers within. This one was never produced back in the 1980's and was left on the drawing board. Funpub Publication desided to make him a reality along another shell. Both were used to make a special two pack of Double Pretender Megatron and Optimus Prime.
Oilmaster is a repaint of that very Optimus Prime. However, Oilmaster have a way better deco than the original release.
He come with a gun and a sword. Only his head and shoulders rotate. But based on how the hollow space is organised in his torso, he could have been fully articulated except for a waist joint. Oh well.
The paint is just perfect on him and his face is fabulous!
There's plenty of room inside for the TWO bots. Hence "Double" Pretender.
The two inner bots are repaints of the Generations Legends Swerve and his spaceship Targetmaster. I think it work very well here. 3 bodies, one soul. The brute, the handyman, and the scout.
The pick-up part is just so beautiful! Perfect details for such a small vehicle!
The tiny ship get the job done.
Bare minimum details here, of course on the little guy. Still, good enough. His jet wings have a tendency to pop on and off when transforming though.
Truck guy have the perfect amount of paint for his bot mode, including his face. I love that asswipe expression of his!
Together, they are awesome!
Little truck bot can wield the big guy's weapons and the jet thing can become a gun.
This trio is was main reason to get this set and he's effectively the best thing in the box. Could I had bought just him alone? Yes. But counting the total price shipped, this trio would have cost HALF the price of the whole box set, shipped and taxed as well! So for that price, might as well get the full experience.
Overall, was this set worth the 420$CAN shipped and taxed total? Considering most figures are worth around 100$ to 150$CAN each, plus taxes and shipping, I say yes, totally. Too bad about Megatron two left feet, but that was the only bug of this set. Everything feel good in hand and not once did I had the impression of handling cheap stuff. Everything feel premium and solid in hand.
The Botcon 2015 Box Set is one of the most affordable set around and is worth getting. Just find one for sale and put it on your Watch List on Ebay. You may get an automated offer that is very tempting like it happened for me. The 300$US set suddenly became 250$US. So I knew it was time.
I hope this review will be useful for you if you ever decide to have a taste at some premium Botcon stuff!
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