The Energon Pub

News Credits: 5 · by **zodconvoy** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 7:10 am

Okay, if there is one figure I never expected to get a new figure of, it's Banzai-Tron. I had the Actionmaster as a kid and wow could I just not care about him. Seriously, the figure just seemed... lacking. It was the first time I think I really thought about the business side of a figure because at 9 years old I remember thinking that it was probably originally going to be Bludgeon but they changed it for some reason. It was lame, even for an Actionmaster.

Fast forward to 2009 and the BotCon set. E Mirage gets repainted int Banzai-Tron and I thought what most people seemed to: "Huh. Neat, I guess" but nothing beyond that. And now he had a boat altmode and that was fairly neat so checked him off the list of things Hasbro had yet to do.

Then came Revenge of the Fallen with it's new Bludgeon and it's weirdly unfitting repaint as Banzai-Tron. Okay, not everybody could get the Botcon figure, I guess, and Hasbro did just reregister the name so it was understandable. And now he was a tank so he went from no altmode to two in as many years. But the figure was kind of... lacking. Which I suppose is the hallmark of Banzai-Tron. So at this very moment, Headrobots and Maidenjapan over at TFW are planning separate upgrades for it that are still going to leave you with what is obviously an ill fitting repaint of Bludgeon. But still, everyone's Banzai-Tron needs should be covered.

Then there is Japan. I don't know for sure but it doesn't look to me like they ever got a Banzai-Tron figure before. I can't find any reference online about a Takara release on either the G1 or the ROTF versions of the character and Botcon toys were finally only made officially available over there with this years set and in limited quantities. So it seems kind of weird to me that there's an upcoming Alternity repaint Banzai-Tron. Now he's a Seeker repaint, he's a car (altmode three), and he'll only be a little taller than a GIJoe.

What is Hasbro and Takara's relatively sudden interest in what was a non-character? And how many ways can there be to fill a hole no one really had in their collection?

by **WolfDawg** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 7:27 am

Never thought about it as a hole in the collection that no one had. It actually makes sense when you put it that way.

However, I've always been a fan of the Action Master Banzai-Tron. It was my first Action Master, actually. Maybe Hasbro's about to introduce the character into a large role in their fiction (comics, or Prime series). But out of all the recent Banzai Tron figures, the only decent one is the Botcon version. The Bludgeon redeco looks okay, but would have GREATLY benefitted from a remolded head. The Alternity version also seems pretty sleek, but without a remolded head, it looks like a black seeker. At least the Botcon version didn't need a head remold because Energon Mirage's head looks exactly like Banzai-Tron's anyway. I'm just not a fan of all the back kibble.

News Credits: 15 · by **PrymeStriker** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:47 pm

I think it's great that they're bringing unknown and "background" characters from G1 into the spotlight, as long as he doesn't become the Bumblebee of the Decepticons.

News Credits: 5 · by **zodconvoy** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 3:33 pm

PrimeStriker wrote:I think it's great that they're bringing unknown and "background" characters from G1 into the spotlight, as long as he doesn't become the Bumblebee of the Decepticons.

Somehow I think that would still be Bumblebee! :lol: