The Energon Pub

News Credits: 23 · by **Prime Evil** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:03 pm

TFBuyer wrote:
UltraPrimal wrote:Oh God! I hope the BotCon 08 exclusives aren't Classics too. I vowed to collect every figure and that included going to BotCon myself. It was terribly expensive for me to do so. And although I've been saving money, I'd rather spend that money on something like a car or tuition.

That's what I was thinking at first, but after some more thought and the realization that getting the Iacon Package wasn't that big a deal....I can deal with more classics....

Maybe an exclusive Autobot set next year? Let's just see what Classics 2.0 brings first!

There shouldn't be any toys from the new line, since Hasbro will want to get the line out to the masses before releasing them to a collectors club. Not saying there won't be classic/universe type characters, but the molds most likely will NOT be from the upcoming Classics/Universe line.

by **Maldroth** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:05 pm

As long as the Botcon 2008 is still interesting. Crappy repaints of characters we don't know or don't really belong (Grimlock as Trypticon?) then they would have sets that would sit since no one will buy.

Random repaints don't sell but charcters that weren't coming to retail anyway? Bring it on. I liked the 2006 set it was a very clever idea and Astrotrain was a really cool retool of an older mold.

Repaints sell as exclusives about as much as they do at retail, except to a smaller market. If its an already established character well then they fare better.

by **Fortress_Maximus** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:28 pm

Oh well, just something else I missed. :-?

News Credits: 127 · by **Counterpunch** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:33 pm

Fortress_Maximus wrote:
microclone wrote:i cannot believe that hasbro has so screwed fans by making these (as ironic as that sounds), yes they are there to be had at a price but that means that favourite $10 seekers will never get to the stores, why these couldnt be released generally and the botcon exclusives be all clear/all black or something typically 'exclusive' is very annoying. I consider myself a (discerning) TF fan despite my meagre 70 or so toys, but i would have got these if they were available generally. continued below incase anybody pulls me up for whining here.....

I completely agreed! Hasbro is F*CKING THE FANS yet again.

Excuse me,

, Yes, you, Exuse me,

A minute of your time?

We're offering up a special one time offer to those fans who have an ego-spanning penchant for spouting off a the mouth despite not only other existing well thought out arguments, but the very facts of the matter as well!

and since you didn't have the time to read any of what's been said already, please accept this nice, warm, and utterly delicious glass of

shut the hell up.

News Credits: 7 · by **waaaaghlord** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:11 pm

Can't wait for my Iacon set to arrive, but I have to so I guess I will.

Seems to be a bit of confusion as to how many of the con exclusives were produced. It breaks down like this:

Games of Deception 1250, 1000 boxed sets and 250 loose,
Clear Mirage unknown quantity, best guess around 1000,
Springer & Huffer 1400,
Alpha Trion & Weirdwolf 1400.
Vector Sigma 1500.

News Credits: 33 · by **Glyph** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:26 pm

... Dammit! :-x

That's been building up for a while, because of course we knew about the exclusives for long enough. But living in the UK, and having a wife, child, mortgage and not a huge amount of disposable income, make my chances of ever getting hold of snacky stuff like this look a lot like 'zippo'.

Of course it's a great* move on Hasbro's part to release highly-desirable items - and here they managed to combine a fantastic mould, iconic characters and 'gotta complete the set!' factor in one package - as con exclusives in limited numbers. But it still stings the hell out of those of us who can only sit on the sidewalk and watch as the power fans go by (go buy?). It's kind of ironic to read comments which boil down to 'hey, if you're a TRUE FAN you'll find a way to buy the exclusives, and anybody who's anybody goes to BotCon!' only a few days after declaiming against the notion of the 'true fan' in another topic.

Ah well, I've now vented my frustration. I've bought another Starscream in order to attempt my first-ever repaint into Thundercracker (I want to complete the 3 seekers that much); maybe I can get another Ramjet to turn into Dirge as well, but I know my modelling ability doesn't stretch to scratch-building Thrust's wings. Ho-hum.

* That's 'great' in the sense of 'smart', not necessarily in the sense of 'universally appreciated'.

by **AbsumZer0** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:47 pm

When this set was first announced, wasn't the big pro-exclusive argument that:

a) There wouldn't be enough demand for Hasbro to release the figures even as a Hasbro online exclusive set, and that because of the larger-than-normal amount of figures being produced there'd be extra sets available at the Mastercollector online store and individual figures on eBay at around $80 bucks each? Because fans who thought there'd be enough demand for something more than a limited convention run were kidding themselves?

b) That Classics was definitely dead, and as a result there'd be no way Hasbro could have possibly shuffled the other seekers (or, at least Thundercracker) into future assortments?

Whatever. I'm sure there are people who think it's just as big a waste of money, but with the money it would have cost me to buy a set of repaints/remoulds of $10 figures I bought a complete set of Lords of Byston Well figures, updated my Neon Genesis Evangelion dvd set to the platinum edition, got a few new Gundam kits, and bought a great new airbrush.

News Credits: 2 · by **TFBuyer** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 5:20 pm

Counterpunch wrote:
TFBuyer wrote:
UltraPrimal wrote:Oh God! I hope the BotCon 08 exclusives aren't Classics too. I vowed to collect every figure and that included going to BotCon myself. It was terribly expensive for me to do so. And although I've been saving money, I'd rather spend that money on something like a car or tuition.

That's what I was thinking at first, but after some more thought and the realization that getting the Iacon Package wasn't that big a deal....I can deal with more classics....

Maybe an exclusive Autobot set next year? Let's just see what Classics 2.0 brings first!

Sideswipe at retail, Sunstreaker at BotCon.

oh the fun times we will have!

Or heck, repaint one into Red Alert... whatever! This past Botcon seeker set has me stoked (much to the anger and resentment of many, apparently...)

News Credits: 8 · by **Liege Evilmus** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 5:59 pm

Hey Ryan, I gotta say thanks, I'll be using your pics as a guide in taping and painting my custom ThunderCracker and Trust. Dirge is going to be a little different in my collective, cause much like on the TRU commemorative box, I don't like him as a conehead.

Nice work, but still, I stand strong in my BotCon grudge over these figures.

News Credits: 8 · by **Liege Evilmus** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:11 pm

AbsumZer0 wrote:When this set was first announced, wasn't the big pro-exclusive argument that:

a) There wouldn't be enough demand for Hasbro to release the figures even as a Hasbro online exclusive set, and that because of the larger-than-normal amount of figures being produced there'd be extra sets available at the Mastercollector online store and individual figures on eBay at around $80 bucks each? Because fans who thought there'd be enough demand for something more than a limited convention run were kidding themselves?

b) That Classics was definitely dead, and as a result there'd be no way Hasbro could have possibly shuffled the other seekers (or, at least Thundercracker) into future assortments?

Whatever. I'm sure there are people who think it's just as big a waste of money, but with the money it would have cost me to buy a set of repaints/remoulds of $10 figures I bought a complete set of Lords of Byston Well figures, updated my Neon Genesis Evangelion dvd set to the platinum edition, got a few new Gundam kits, and bought a great new airbrush.

I can't help but both agree and disagree.

Classics only died because of lack of product. ThunderCracker would have sold, same as the scraped Cosmos idea. I think both figures would be a great way to reintroduce Classics 2.0(even though some would still call it hack)

I can't help nod at how you spent the same amount of money that these repaints remolds would have cost on such a varity of diverse and expensive stuff.

BotCon and the TFClub exclusives(to me)are overpriced ways of Hasbro shaking down their overly devout patrons, and I draw the line pretty much there. I can't see any situation in which a basic repaint by HASBRO should cost upwards of $60!

Thats how my dollar and opion side, I'm a collector, who loves TFs, not a money spewing lemming. However, to each their own.

News Credits: 7 · by **Geekee1** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:55 pm

Liege Evilmus wrote:
AbsumZer0 wrote:When this set was first announced, wasn't the big pro-exclusive argument that:

a) There wouldn't be enough demand for Hasbro to release the figures even as a Hasbro online exclusive set, and that because of the larger-than-normal amount of figures being produced there'd be extra sets available at the Mastercollector online store and individual figures on eBay at around $80 bucks each? Because fans who thought there'd be enough demand for something more than a limited convention run were kidding themselves?

b) That Classics was definitely dead, and as a result there'd be no way Hasbro could have possibly shuffled the other seekers (or, at least Thundercracker) into future assortments?

Whatever. I'm sure there are people who think it's just as big a waste of money, but with the money it would have cost me to buy a set of repaints/remoulds of $10 figures I bought a complete set of Lords of Byston Well figures, updated my Neon Genesis Evangelion dvd set to the platinum edition, got a few new Gundam kits, and bought a great new airbrush.

I can't help but both agree and disagree.

Classics only died because of lack of product. ThunderCracker would have sold, same as the scraped Cosmos idea. I think both figures would be a great way to reintroduce Classics 2.0(even though some would still call it hack)

I can't help nod at how you spent the same amount of money that these repaints remolds would have cost on such a varity of diverse and expensive stuff.

BotCon and the TFClub exclusives(to me)are overpriced ways of Hasbro shaking down their overly devout patrons, and I draw the line pretty much there. I can't see any situation in which a basic repaint by HASBRO should cost upwards of $60!

Thats how my dollar and opion side, I'm a collector, who loves TFs, not a money spewing lemming. However, to each their own.

Does anyone understand the meaning of the word exclusive? Seriously. Why would something that is exclusive, that is not made in huge numbers and only available to a small percentage of people, cost the same amount of a massed produced item?

News Credits: 10 · by **Lapse Of Reason** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:00 pm

I love my Botcon set.

I also love the fact that I paid for most of my familiy's 17 day trip (4 days being in RI for Botcon) by buying extra sets and reselling them. I saw an opportunity and grabbed it. Were talking selling enough "extras" to pay for must of a $7,000 trip.

Those who could not be there even had a crack at getting the figures. Don't like the price? Don't buy them! Sorry, but that is how it is. Hasbro does make legend class, deluxe, voyager, etc.. for you.

I am thankful to the club for producing figures that would not have been made. Yes, Hasbro could have made them but they did not.

I fully agree with seibertron and counterpunch.

by **King Starscream89** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:41 pm

By the matrix thats cool all six seekers with starscream out front ...to anyone who ahs all six please do me and all other seeker fans out there a favor ..protect and charish those six above all others that has to be the opitamy (i hope i spelled that right) of awesome

by **noctorro** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 2:48 am

Hello guys, new @ the forum. From Holland, the place that gets 50% of the toyline most of the time.

I think it's a great move from Hasbro's point of view to release these as exclusives. But from a fan point of view it's not a good move. The seekers are one, if not the, most popular group of transformers, to release the coneheads as exclisives okay. But atleast make the first three complete and for everybody to get.

Anyway I still hope they will re-release classics thundercracker, I mean if I buy him of ebay for like 220 usd I'm affraid to get it out of the package :-(

Isn't there a good customizer/repainter amongst us cybertronians that could do a lot of fans a favor for repainting a starscream for like 60 usd or something? I mean a semi-pro or a real pro, it wouldn't be the real deal but at least we would get a change to get those 3 seekers complete.

Hasbro MUST make a movie thundercracker now thet they made 2 repaints. Why can't they make stuff complete? Here's to Classics 2.0 (Fans showed that they truly love G1 and they know it now!)