The Energon Pub

Did Cryotek originate as a redecoed figure of the TM2 Megatron first, or was he first conceived as a character in TF fiction?

From what I can gather, his toy came out in late 2001 as a Target exclusive in the RiD toyline, and his first fictional appearance was in The Wreckers issue 2: Betrayal at BotCon 2002.

However, I wholeheartedly remember having once read a FAQ question regarding when/if Cryotek would be getting a toy release at all and if it would be a BotCon exclusive or not. The answer given said that it would be a Target exclusive in the RiD toyline, which did come to pass. Though, the way the question was asked implied that the nature of his character was already made known ahead of his toy's release date, which has me wondering if his persona was conceived and made known prior to the release of his toy.

If I could find this old question it would greatly help me in trying to figure this out. I've been searching on the WayBack Machine's archives of BotCon.com and OTFCC.com, but have found nothing yet. Any assistance to figuring this out would be greatly appreciated.

Sabrblade wrote:Did Cryotek originate as a redecoed figure of the TM2 Megatron first, or was he first conceived as a character in TF fiction?

From what I can gather, his toy came out in late 2001 as a Target exclusive in the RiD toyline, and his first fictional appearance was in The Wreckers issue 2: Betrayal at BotCon 2002.

However, I wholeheartedly remember having once read a FAQ question regarding when/if Cryotek would be getting a toy release at all and if it would be a BotCon exclusive or not. The answer given said that it would be a Target exclusive in the RiD toyline, which did come to pass. Though, the way the question was asked implied that the nature of his character was already made known ahead of his toy's release date, which has me wondering if his persona was conceived and made known prior to the release of his toy.

If I could find this old question it would greatly help me in trying to figure this out. I've been searching on the WayBack Machine's archives of BotCon.com and OTFCC.com, but have found nothing yet. Any assistance to figuring this out would be greatly appreciated.

Not sure if it helps Sabr but my understanding is that there may (or may not) have been a rare blue version of Transmetal 2 Megatron who may (or may not) have had the fan nickname of Cryotek. I apologise for the vagueness but I believe that's where it started.

Diem wrote:Not sure if it helps Sabr but my understanding is that there may (or may not) have been a rare blue version of Transmetal 2 Megatron who may (or may not) have had the fan nickname of Cryotek. I apologise for the vagueness but I believe that's where it started.

Yeah, I probably should have mentioned that I knew of that too. It was an eBay auction that sparked controversy on alt.toy.transformers on whether or not it was a fake.

It might lean towards the argument of him begin a toy first, but I wanna hear if there's anything more solid to say on the matter.

I don't have an answer to you question unfortunately but i used to have Cryotek and never opened it. He is such a cool toy too. I went through financial difficulties and had to sell of a lot of my toys at the time and Cryotek had to get let loose. It sucks. i wish i still had him. but now they are just to expensive and hard to find for me to buy one to open. I'm to scared to open expensive figures. Still debating whether or not to carefully opening my masterpiece collection for display. I want them open so bad. Anyone else have that dilemma? Why am I such a chicken to open a great toy just because it will lose a little value. Ridiculous. Maybe I just need to go for it and get it over with. lol

HoosierDaddy wrote:I don't have an answer to you question unfortunately but i used to have Cryotek and never opened it. He is such a cool toy too. I went through financial difficulties and had to sell of a lot of my toys at the time and Cryotek had to get let loose. It sucks. i wish i still had him. but now they are just to expensive and hard to find for me to buy one to open. I'm to scared to open expensive figures. Still debating whether or not to carefully opening my masterpiece collection for display. I want them open so bad. Anyone else have that dilemma? Why am I such a chicken to open a great toy just because it will lose a little value. Ridiculous. Maybe I just need to go for it and get it over with. lol

Give it to me and I'll do it for you. That way you don't have the guilt.

seriously, TFs no matter how rare are meant to be opened and displayed. Don't let value stop you. When a figure gets to a certain point in rarity, even opening won't affect it's value.

robofreak wrote:

HoosierDaddy wrote:I don't have an answer to you question unfortunately but i used to have Cryotek and never opened it. He is such a cool toy too. I went through financial difficulties and had to sell of a lot of my toys at the time and Cryotek had to get let loose. It sucks. i wish i still had him. but now they are just to expensive and hard to find for me to buy one to open. I'm to scared to open expensive figures. Still debating whether or not to carefully opening my masterpiece collection for display. I want them open so bad. Anyone else have that dilemma? Why am I such a chicken to open a great toy just because it will lose a little value. Ridiculous. Maybe I just need to go for it and get it over with. lol

Give it to me and I'll do it for you. That way you don't have the guilt.

seriously, TFs no matter how rare are meant to be opened and displayed. Don't let value stop you. When a figure gets to a certain point in rarity, even opening won't affect it's value.

Good enough for me. I'm an now convinced to open and enjoy. And I'll do just that. I can wait to feel those opened MP's in my hands.

TFWiki has this to say:

* Cryotek first debuted in an eBay auction by a seller with zero feedback, packaged inside a Beast Wars Transmetals 2 Megatron box. One of the largest flame wars the fandom had ever seen erupted over this early sample as fans argued over whether the toy was merely an easy Photoshop job or if it were a real production piece.[3] Even when a buyer received the "blue Megatron" from the seller and confirmed that it was, in fact, blue, claims of fraud were not silenced. Not until BotCon 2001, where a few copies of this early mispackaged sample were seen in person and its authenticity (and name) confirmed by 3H Productions, did the fandom finally simmer down.

“ Definitely faked, looking at the bottom of the box. There's no consistency in the brightness/readability of the fonts. Especially considering the angles of the boxes below it, for the way it would be pointing. Plus the bottom looks like it's just stuck ontop of the pic. ”

—Brendocon, alt.toys.transformers

he was a Visionary first.

Toy first.