The Energon Pub

If it is indeed Vicegrip, I now have a reason to bust out the original Vicegrip whose gallery I have neglected for the past 10 years that I have owned the figure. Can't wait!

No offense to pete, but I hope he's wrong about that first souvenir set selling out. If the lineup is as good as it looks like it will be this year, I want it damnit.

Emerje wrote:

Tranzilla wrote:As soon as I saw blue Chopshop I immediately thought of this...

It would seem we think alike. But now that we know the body is silver instead of a lighter blue it very likely will be named for Vice Grip and the fact that the original Chop Shop from Beetras was blue is just a coincidence. Maybe he'll come with a white Legends Bumblbee as Bugbite.

That clear Beet Chop a few pages back was blue as well and came from the same source. I should note that only the packaging art has Beet Gugal in blue: the figure itself is more grey than blue:

Beet Gugal on the Pre Transformers Page.

Looks like a knight to me.
Vicegrip sounds familiar. I can not put my finger on it.

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:
Looks like a knight to me.
Vicegrip sounds familiar. I can not put my finger on it.

BotCon 1998, redeco of BW Powerpinch:



The name Vice Grip is a pun, referring to locking pliers (one brand is called "Vise Grip" with an "S"), but also to vices, or immoral behaviors. Think of the Seven Deadly Sins

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Tranzilla wrote:As soon as I saw blue Chopshop I immediately thought of this...

It would seem we think alike. But now that we know the body is silver instead of a lighter blue it very likely will be named for Vice Grip and the fact that the original Chop Shop from Beetras was blue is just a coincidence. Maybe he'll come with a white Legends Bumblbee as Bugbite.

That clear Beet Chop a few pages back was blue as well and came from the same source. I should note that only the packaging art has Beet Gugal in blue: the figure itself is more grey than blue:

Beet Gugal on the Pre Transformers Page.

I know, that's why in my post I used just the image of the character art rather than the figure.

Emerje

Lucky Logician wrote:At about 45 minutes in, I really just wanted to punch that one guy in the throat. WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT EXCLUSIVITY. WE CARE ABOUT GETTING THE THINGS WE WANT, NOT ABOUT AFTER-MARKET VALUE. Deluxes cost three times as much for Botcon because of the small run and FunPub's need to make a huge profit to pay for all the stuff at Botcon.

Some people care about exclusivity.

Also, if they're using profits from figures to pay for Botcon stuff, in the long run, or even just from an overall Botcon perspective, would you even consider those gains 'profit'?

That's a nice paint job!

megatronus wrote:

Lucky Logician wrote:At about 45 minutes in, I really just wanted to punch that one guy in the throat. WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT EXCLUSIVITY. WE CARE ABOUT GETTING THE THINGS WE WANT, NOT ABOUT AFTER-MARKET VALUE. Deluxes cost three times as much for Botcon because of the small run and FunPub's need to make a huge profit to pay for all the stuff at Botcon.

Some people care about exclusivity.

Also, if they're using profits from figures to pay for Botcon stuff, in the long run, or even just from an overall Botcon perspective, would you even consider those gains 'profit'?

Consider those gains 'profit'? - I'm sorry, I don't understand the question. Are you saying that a person selling a Botcon set for double what he paid is 'profit' to Funpub?

What Funpub is aiming for is (A) Not to have figures just sitting around after, and (B) NOT have to discount figures like they recently did with all the Machine Wars sets. They want to make the largest profit possible in the shortest amount of time. That is good business.

I can promise you that people weren't disappointed in Machine Wars because it wasn't 'exclusive enough.' The reason they are making less figures this year isn't because of 'exclusivity.' They just don't want to be out of money for a couple of years.

Lucky Logician wrote:

megatronus wrote:

Lucky Logician wrote:At about 45 minutes in, I really just wanted to punch that one guy in the throat. WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT EXCLUSIVITY. WE CARE ABOUT GETTING THE THINGS WE WANT, NOT ABOUT AFTER-MARKET VALUE. Deluxes cost three times as much for Botcon because of the small run and FunPub's need to make a huge profit to pay for all the stuff at Botcon.

Some people care about exclusivity.

Also, if they're using profits from figures to pay for Botcon stuff, in the long run, or even just from an overall Botcon perspective, would you even consider those gains 'profit'?

Consider those gains 'profit'? - I'm sorry, I don't understand the question. Are you saying that a person selling a Botcon set for double what he paid is 'profit' to Funpub?

No - nowhere am I talking about resellers.

My point is mostly semantic - yes, FunPub is making a fairly large profit on the figures themselves, but since they're using that profit to pay for the other Botcon stuff, from a big picture perspective it's not like they're making a killing. See?

Anyway, it's kind of a moot point.

A set full of Botcon homages could be pretty cool. Not sure I'll go hunting Vicegrip, but maybe his pack-in will be awesome.

I just want to go back to that Harrier Waspinator though, since I did not get (or much care) for the original DOFP mold choice for Waspy. Maybe someday...

Hairbrained thought: Botcon Rook, using the Gen. Tailgate mold is the pack in. They may not have anything to do with each other, but neither did Tthe yellow Hound guy and Glit/SG Ravage, and Rook is an obvious possibility. Althernative, if they use the same plastics for simplictiy's sake, They could squeeze Vicegrip Packrat and a Glyph from the Generations Legends Bee mold. Not that there's precedent for doing that, but its a possibility.

You know who I want to see now? Tap out from either Prime CLiffjumper mold. The PRID mold would need a GDO style head, but I think it would be more Tap's style

I'm not expecting this to be a set of classic BotCon toy updates (since we already got a bunch of those last year), but it would be a nice surprise.

But something else to consider is what Pete said in the interview about the theme of this set. The "Cybertron's Most Wanted" name has a double meaning, in that it's not only a set of Cybertronian criminals, but is also a set of toys that are considered to be "most wanted" by the fans. These are meant to be ones that the fans want badly and have been asking for, but the reasons behind these being so desired is what we need to figure out if we're gonna figure out what all could be in this year's lineup of exclusives.

Like, Packrat's an obvious want since we got the new Rattrap mold. Battletrap I could see be wanted if they also plan to give us a Flywheels from the Blitzwing/Doubledealer mold. But then that leaves the others to figure out.

Like, I can't figure why many would want a blue redeco of Chop Shop, or a DOTM Megatron-esque redeco of Silas Breakdown, or even a figure of the more-obscure-than-Ferak Oilmaster. I could see people wanting a red redeco of RtS Jazz as Binaltech Zoom-Zoom, but none of the numbers match anything related to Zoom-Zoom, so he's out.

megatronus wrote:

Lucky Logician wrote:At about 45 minutes in, I really just wanted to punch that one guy in the throat. WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT EXCLUSIVITY. WE CARE ABOUT GETTING THE THINGS WE WANT, NOT ABOUT AFTER-MARKET VALUE. Deluxes cost three times as much for Botcon because of the small run and FunPub's need to make a huge profit to pay for all the stuff at Botcon.

Some people care about exclusivity.

I own some of the most desired post 3H Botcon figures and I could care less about exclusivity. I actually wish they were common so I would have saved hundreds and more collectors could enjoy what I enjoy on my shelf. I never liked the greed driven mentality that drives some collectors. "HA HA I got it and you dont" is pretty anal. If you think about it, the demographics of the Transformers fandom are spread out so far, the only other hardcore Botcon collector near you might live 100 miles away. What good are bragging rights when nobody else in your neighborhood, county, or parrish that you know collects Transformers ? Who are you going to show them off too that sees them as more than mere toys ? It's not like collecting rare Air Jordans or expensive Gucci bags that will make you the envy of everyone your neighborhood.

On the figure itself, I would rather get Fansproject Chopshop repainted in blue instead of this tiny thing that becomes a robot by standing on it's butt. I didnt know Bandai did a blue version of that mold. Are there any pics of it out the box ? I owned a Bandai version of Ransack for a few days as a kid. but it cracked and my mom returned it and got me a different robot. I recall it being purple and gold but i cant remember for sure...

Well, some people like rare figures because of the gratifying nature of finally having a holy grail. It also makes them more special to the owner, and some of my most cherished figures are exclusives... if they were mass market retail I would probably not think that much more about them then anything else I can purchase at the store. I collect for myself, not for what others think of my collections.
You can personally not like exclusives, but to project you opinion that everything should be MMR is fairly dismissive of other people's interests... also, most of what 3H/FunPup have done Hasbro would never do for retail, so without the exclusives we wouldn't have those guys and gals at all.

Rated X wrote:I didnt know Bandai did a blue version of that mold. Are there any pics of it out the box ? I owned a Bandai version of Ransack for a few days as a kid. but it cracked and my mom returned it and got me a different robot. I recall it being purple and gold but i cant remember for sure...

I think you're misremembering a few things, as Ransack (or Beet Vadam) was never released by Bandai or Takatoku Toys. Generally speaking, all of the Beetras figures were redecoed for the Deluxe Insecticons. Here's a link for you to check out:

Kikou Chutai Beetras on the Pre Transformers Page

A similar line called Zectron was produced by Mark and released in Select's Convertors line as the Insectors. Two of them are effectively downsized versions of two Beetras figures (Beet Gadol/Barrage, and Beet Zeguna/Venom). Here's a link:

Convertors Insectors on Super Toy Archive.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Rated X wrote:I didnt know Bandai did a blue version of that mold. Are there any pics of it out the box ? I owned a Bandai version of Ransack for a few days as a kid. but it cracked and my mom returned it and got me a different robot. I recall it being purple and gold but i cant remember for sure...

I think you're misremembering a few things, as Ransack (or Beet Vadam) was never released by Bandai or Takatoku Toys. Generally speaking, all of the Beetras figures were redecoed for the Deluxe Insecticons. Here's a link for you to check out:

Kikou Chutai Beetras on the Pre Transformers Page

A similar line called Zectron was produced by Mark and released in Select's Convertors line as the Insectors. Two of them are effectively downsized versions of two Beetras figures (Beet Gadol/Barrage, and Beet Zeguna/Venom). Here's a link:

Convertors Insectors on Super Toy Archive.

I believe that brown ransack in the link was indeed the figure I had as a kid. Only had it for a couple days though so I dont remember the lines name or company. Always assumed it was bandai. I thought they were the originators of the deluxe insecticon molds.

Rated X wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Rated X wrote:I didnt know Bandai did a blue version of that mold. Are there any pics of it out the box ? I owned a Bandai version of Ransack for a few days as a kid. but it cracked and my mom returned it and got me a different robot. I recall it being purple and gold but i cant remember for sure...

I think you're misremembering a few things, as Ransack (or Beet Vadam) was never released by Bandai or Takatoku Toys. Generally speaking, all of the Beetras figures were redecoed for the Deluxe Insecticons. Here's a link for you to check out:

Kikou Chutai Beetras on the Pre Transformers Page

A similar line called Zectron was produced by Mark and released in Select's Convertors line as the Insectors. Two of them are effectively downsized versions of two Beetras figures (Beet Gadol/Barrage, and Beet Zeguna/Venom). Here's a link:

Convertors Insectors on Super Toy Archive.

I believe that brown ransack in the link was indeed the figure I had as a kid. Only had it for a couple days though so I dont remember the lines name or company. Always assumed it was bandai. I thought they were the originators of the deluxe insecticon molds.

It's a bit more complicated. Dorvack (Whirl, Roadbuster), Beetras (Deluxe Insecticons) and Macross (Jetfire) were originally by Takatoku Toys. However, the company went backrupt in 1984 and the assets all went to Bandai, who continue owning them to this day.

On the side, another company named Mark was making smaller toys based on Takatoku designs (that "Ransack" is based on Venom btw) while having a few original likes of their own. Much like what Takara did for Hasbro, and Bandai for Tonka, Mark licensed their toys to Select for its own line of transforming robot toys: Convertors. If you see a smaller version of Jetfire, Roadbuster, or Whirl, that's where they came from.

Yes, FunPub is aware of and has used Convertors in their story lines: Zardak and the Maladroids are from there.

MartianSpyGirl1996 wrote:Well, some people like rare figures because of the gratifying nature of finally having a holy grail. It also makes them more special to the owner, and some of my most cherished figures are exclusives... if they were mass market retail I would probably not think that much more about them then anything else I can purchase at the store. I collect for myself, not for what others think of my collections.
You can personally not like exclusives, but to project you opinion that everything should be MMR is fairly dismissive of other people's interests... also, most of what 3H/FunPup have done Hasbro would never do for retail, so without the exclusives we wouldn't have those guys and gals at all.

All of this.

I don't have any friends that collect TFs (one of the reasons I'm so happy to be on the podcast now... finally, people to talk too!). I collect for my own personal satisfaction, and exclusivity makes something special to me, and allows me to reflect on how fortunate I am to be able to indulge in this hobby the way I do. It's not something to lord over others.

Also, exclusivity is what makes many figures possible - only so many TFs can be released to the mass market before saturation kills it. Limited releases give fans the opportunity to acquire items that would never be available otherwise.

Rated X wrote:I believe that brown ransack in the link was indeed the figure I had as a kid. Only had it for a couple days though so I dont remember the lines name or company. Always assumed it was bandai. I thought they were the originators of the deluxe insecticon molds.

Yeah, if your figure cracked that easily then it was most definitely a Convertor as those were made from notoriously brittle bootleg quality plastic rather than the stronger, more forgiving stuff major toy companies use. I owned a lot of Convertors as a kid, but I don't have any of them today while I still own most of my childhood Transformers and GoBots. Still a big fan of Robat; best transforming bat ever designed (even if it fell apart like any other)!

Emerje

SW's SilverHammer wrote:

megatronus wrote:I'm surprised they're doing a Waspinator - especially since we got a really, really nice Generations version that both homages Beast Wars and ties into the IDW comics. I guess I'll have to listen in to see how Pete justifies this guy...

No they aren't releasing the waspinator. He's somewhere with fem fatale Cy-kill and FOC ransack.

Wait, there was going to be a FOC Ransack?!

SW's SilverHammer wrote:

megatronus wrote:I'm surprised they're doing a Waspinator - especially since we got a really, really nice Generations version that both homages Beast Wars and ties into the IDW comics. I guess I'll have to listen in to see how Pete justifies this guy...

No they aren't releasing the waspinator. He's somewhere with fem fatale Cy-kill and FOC ransack.

Wait, there was going to be a FOC Ransack?!

SW's SilverHammer wrote:

megatronus wrote:I'm surprised they're doing a Waspinator - especially since we got a really, really nice Generations version that both homages Beast Wars and ties into the IDW comics. I guess I'll have to listen in to see how Pete justifies this guy...

No they aren't releasing the waspinator. He's somewhere with fem fatale Cy-kill and FOC ransack.

Wait, there was going to be a FOC Ransack?!

Sorry, did a triple post there.

Genericon #378 wrote:

SW's SilverHammer wrote:

megatronus wrote:I'm surprised they're doing a Waspinator - especially since we got a really, really nice Generations version that both homages Beast Wars and ties into the IDW comics. I guess I'll have to listen in to see how Pete justifies this guy...

No they aren't releasing the waspinator. He's somewhere with fem fatale Cy-kill and FOC ransack.

Wait, there was going to be a FOC Ransack?!

Not specifically.

Back at the BotCon Retropsective panel at BotCon 2014, there were images of 20 unreleased proposals for BotCon/TCC exclusives that never came to be. One of which was to have been the Generations FOC Kickback mold in the colors of the G1 Deluxe Insecticon Ransack, and would have come with two Arms Microns (presumably ones of the bug variety).

Just for fun, any wild speculation about the add-on souvenir sets for 2015? They don't always follow the exact theme of the box set, often including additions to past years' themes. For instance, I would love to see a G2-colored repaint of Generations Jhiaxus.