The Energon Pub

To start of this year's coverage of BotCon 2012 from Dallas, TX, the first gallery we have is from the Customizing Class. Early this Wednesday, our own Seibertron traded in his camera for a paintbrush. He got to work on the 2012 Customizing Class figure, Longarm. From the Reveal the Shield Jazz figure, Longarm's name homages Animated Longarm, while looking much like his Generation One self. The gallery features everything related to Longarm, and the hard working people who get to cherish their exclusive figure. All 34 images can be seen by clicking the links throughout the story, or the images below.








Stay tuned to Seibertron.com for more BotCon 2012 Coverage throughout the week.

Would it be possible to get some instructions? I have an extra Jazz that I'd like to make into LongArm as well. Thank you in advance.

Hmm. The Shockwave head looks much nicer than I expected. I'm still not sure on the choice of figure body, but the head's nice.

...9-5? The class is a full 8 hours??

there's no way it will take 8hours to cut if off a sprue, stick the appropriate parts together and do a tiny bit of colouring. people getting paid pennies manage to do it a lot quicker, fully fed and awake Botconners should surely be quicker!

craggy wrote:there's no way it will take 8hours to cut if off a sprue, stick the appropriate parts together and do a tiny bit of colouring. people getting paid pennies manage to do it a lot quicker, fully fed and awake Botconners should surely be quicker!

I have to say I feel foolish for not grasping this sooner. Cool beans, hope you guys are having fun!

I wonder if the FOC Shockwave head will fit Jazz so people will be able to make their own.

The class looks like fun

Autobot032 wrote:Hmm. The Shockwave head looks much nicer than I expected. I'm still not sure on the choice of figure body, but the head's nice.

...9-5? The class is a full 8 hours??

Check this out:

http://www.collecticon.org/2012/01/awes ... ns-botcon/

This is definitely a little confusing. I mean, the figure looks awesome, but I don't get the character association. He's shattered glass Longarm...that looks exactly like a Classic-ized Alternators Shockwave? This just seems like a case where fiction didn't need to be applied to a character. They should have just said "Hey, we're turning Jazz into Shockwave and giving him a new head" and been done with it.

daimchoc wrote:Would it be possible to get some instructions? I have an extra Jazz that I'd like to make into LongArm as well. Thank you in advance.

Unfortunately the fans who get to go to the class are given sprues that are already colored appropriately from the factory. As in they don't start from a RTS Jazz from scratch, but rather pieces that are likely purple and light grey. I bet most of the time in the class is spent nailing in pins which is quite the pain!

Also never realized you were a user on the boards, Daimchoc. Just want to thank you for helping out with the news for a very long time

daimchoc wrote:

Autobot032 wrote:Hmm. The Shockwave head looks much nicer than I expected. I'm still not sure on the choice of figure body, but the head's nice.

...9-5? The class is a full 8 hours??

Check this out:

http://www.collecticon.org/2012/01/awes ... ns-botcon/

That's pretty.

WolfDawg wrote:This is definitely a little confusing. I mean, the figure looks awesome, but I don't get the character association. He's shattered glass Longarm...that looks exactly like a Classic-ized Alternators Shockwave? This just seems like a case where fiction didn't need to be applied to a character. They should have just said "Hey, we're turning Jazz into Shockwave and giving him a new head" and been done with it.

I think it has something to do with Animated Longarm and how he was really Shockwave in disguise. Yeah, reaching, I agree.

So essentially... he's an evil version of Punch/Counterpunch?

Mindmaster wrote:So essentially... he's an evil version of Punch/Counterpunch?

...that fits. Wow, minus the gimmick, what a sucky idea. Fail, thy name is Longarm.

Blurrz wrote:

daimchoc wrote:Would it be possible to get some instructions? I have an extra Jazz that I'd like to make into LongArm as well. Thank you in advance.

Unfortunately the fans who get to go to the class are given sprues that are already colored appropriately from the factory. As in they don't start from a RTS Jazz from scratch, but rather pieces that are likely purple and light grey. I bet most of the time in the class is spent nailing in pins which is quite the pain!

And still I fail to understand why they call it a "customising" class.

Burn wrote:

Blurrz wrote:

daimchoc wrote:Would it be possible to get some instructions? I have an extra Jazz that I'd like to make into LongArm as well. Thank you in advance.

Unfortunately the fans who get to go to the class are given sprues that are already colored appropriately from the factory. As in they don't start from a RTS Jazz from scratch, but rather pieces that are likely purple and light grey. I bet most of the time in the class is spent nailing in pins which is quite the pain!

And still I fail to understand why they call it a "customising" class.

From what I can tell, it's the painting aspect that falls under the custom label.

I would like to know, the paints they provide, are they the same quality as what's applied at the factory? If so, where do I get my mitts on some? I use paint pens and stuff like that, and they work well, but some of those factory apps look fantastic and my work just doesn't compare.

Autobot032 wrote:From what I can tell, it's the painting aspect that falls under the custom label.

Yeah but even then you're using their paints. From what I can tell they're more about assembly than customising.

But eh, i'm probably just being grumpy and bitter again because I missed out on another BotCon.

Burn wrote:

Autobot032 wrote:From what I can tell, it's the painting aspect that falls under the custom label.

Yeah but even then you're using their paints. From what I can tell they're more about assembly than customising.

But eh, i'm probably just being grumpy and bitter again because I missed out on another BotCon.

It could be as chintzy as this: Because it's a redeco/remold of an existing figure, assembling it could be considered working on a custom figure. (Now that I say it, I'm thinking that's exactly what it is....)

Oh it is, but to me, and this is strictly my interpretation because it's what i've done in the past, "customising" is taking an existing figure and modifying it, which can involve such things as disassembly, modification to existing parts, addition of new parts, painting, and reassembly.

Either way, it seems like false advertising, but damn those classes fill up fast each year.

Blurrz wrote:

daimchoc wrote:Would it be possible to get some instructions? I have an extra Jazz that I'd like to make into LongArm as well. Thank you in advance.

Unfortunately the fans who get to go to the class are given sprues that are already colored appropriately from the factory. As in they don't start from a RTS Jazz from scratch, but rather pieces that are likely purple and light grey. I bet most of the time in the class is spent nailing in pins which is quite the pain!

Also never realized you were a user on the boards, Daimchoc. Just want to thank you for helping out with the news for a very long time

I've been lurking since early 2K, but I wanted to be able to contribute. Might as well, right?

Regarding the instructions, it would just be nice to get all the locations of the pins that would be in the instruction book. Thank you sir.

Burn wrote:Oh it is, but to me, and this is strictly my interpretation because it's what i've done in the past, "customising" is taking an existing figure and modifying it, which can involve such things as disassembly, modification to existing parts, addition of new parts, painting, and reassembly.

Either way, it seems like false advertising, but damn those classes fill up fast each year.

8 hours, though? That's...dedication on a planetary level.
Mad props to those who can.

After 2.5 hours of "Now why the hell doesn't the arm bend THAT way?!", I'd be ready to throw up my white flag.

Mate I can barely tolerate half an hour of painting before my eyes scream "TOO MUCH FOCUSING! WE WANT TV!"

aww man, that's a really cool figure...
I might have to get a jazz to make one myself.

Im sorry, I just dont like the concept. Dumb. Just plain dumb. Especially with Generations Shockwave just a few months away. At least when Funpub made "young Kup" in 2009, they did it a couple years before Generations Kup came out. I dont see any people using this figure to stand in as Shockwave.

And why in the blue hell is the guy in the last picture dressed like puss in boots ???

Rated X wrote:Im sorry, I just dont like the concept. Dumb. Just plain dumb. Especially with Generations Shockwave just a few months away. At least when Funpub made "young Kup" in 2009, they did it a couple years before Generations Kup came out. I dont see any people using this figure to stand in as Shockwave.

And why in the blue hell is the guy in the last picture dressed like puss in boots ???

I..uh..wow, that's a fancy hat.

pretty interesting recolor, although the weeds of continuity are rough to wade through
however, regardless of definition of customizing, this is a cool toy to walk away with after the con