BotCon 2013 Machine Wars Megaplex Revealed

Noideaforaname wrote:This set is kinda all over the place. It's Machine Wars, but they've included a few Beast Machine characters, and they're using molds from Movieverse, Classics, and now Prime.

PrymeStriker wrote:...

Prime Dreadwing? They used an 6-month-old toy?

ausbot wrote:This would have worked, but only if it had a new head.

RiddlerJ wrote:

PrymeStriker wrote:...

Prime Dreadwing? They used an 6-month-old toy?

Yeah, I thought there had to be a gap between the release of a mold and when they can use it. Did they pay extra or something for this mold?

Pete@BotCon wrote:The Prime Dreadwing mold became available VERY late in planning. All other head molds were done. We decided that with the right deco and characterization he still worked as Megaplex. Worked well actually once we put him up against all the other toys.

As always, its all about context. Once they all are displayed, the Decepticons side by side, they look pretty sharp...

Pete@BotCon wrote:I understand some people don't like it, but this is NOT a Machine Wars Redux. This is taking the concept and expanding it. And just like many other instances within Transformers, the file cards are not going to 100% reflect the character/story. Though many of the aspects FROM then file cards will still be a part of the overall story.

STngAR wrote:This set is reminding me of a bad poem...........no rhyme or reason.

Burn wrote:Think I say it every year.

Ever since FunPub took over, the BotCon exclusives have been boring.

3H may have crashed and burned in the end but at least they came up with ORIGINAL characters that EXPANDED on current mythos instead of unoriginal revamped existing characters slotted into a storyline that is just uninteresting. (And incredibly unoriginal in the case of Shattered Glass)

But that's just my opinion ...

Mkall wrote:Recently finishing a discussion on what an "original character" is,

Mkall wrote:First, only 3/5 characters are actually from Machine Wars.

[...]

They have been saying "Machine Wars" for the last 4 months which means the box set SHOULD BE Machine Wars, not Machine Wars and others...

Seibertron wrote:This would have worked with a new G1 styled Megatron head. But without it, it doesn't look like a clone of Megatron at all. It looks like a recolored Dreadwing. Megaplex with a new head would have sold the set alone. I thought reveals 3 through 5 were supposed to be the ones that wowed us all?



And for good measure ...



And they wonder why there's such an explosion of 3rd party products over the past 1/2 decade. These poor decisions/choices to save a buck are really frustrating. Believe in your products, do them right so that no explanations are needed, toss in a modified weapon for Hoist so he's got a tow hook, a new head for Megatron Megaplex, and charge us 20 to 50 bucks more for the set.

PrymeStriker wrote:

Mkall wrote:First, only 3/5 characters are actually from Machine Wars.

[...]

They have been saying "Machine Wars" for the last 4 months which means the box set SHOULD BE Machine Wars, not Machine Wars and others...

Nobody said that all 5 characters were going to originate from the original Machine Wars line up. They even told us in the very beginning that they would be adding new characters. That was no "tease." They gave us a fair warning. Plus, it's Machine Wars themed, not a Machine Wars redux.

Megatron Wolf wrote:But with that aside how come theres no remolding? If hes suppose to be a clone of megatron shouldnt he look like megatron? The original toy did.

Initially there was some indecision about what mold to use for Megaplex. Character-wise there had to be a toy for him. But there weren't many of the available jets that worked. So there was some hemming and hawing as they were mulled over. And then Fun Pub got their hands on the Dreadwing mold! Pretty much everyone that had a chance to play around with it loved it. Seriously, if you never got TF Prime Dreadwing, go out and get one now. It's a fantastic toy. After the mold was decided, then came the discussion about the head. It's not your typical Megatron bucket head, but we noticed a few things about it that worked for Megaplex. Like the other Machine Wars fans out there, we really enjoyed the...quirks of the original packaging. And looking at Megaplex's original art. We saw something. Since Megaplex reused UK Falcon's box art, he had these funky eyebrows sweeping off the sides of his head. Megaplex art: http://tfu.info/1997/Decepticon/Megaplex/megaplex.htm … Falcon art: http://tfu.info/1992/Decepticon/Falcon/falcon.htm … Then we looked at Dreadwing. And he too had funky eyebrows sweeping off the sides of his head. But Dreadwing still had this very distinct styling to his helmet with all of its curvatures and ornamentation. Then we looked at Skywarp's styling (and a couple of the souvenir figures) and we saw that same style and ornamentation on Dreadwing's head. And putting them all together, they looked like a team. They looked very cohesive - the sculpts just fit together perfectly. So we stepped back and looked at everything. A fantastic mold, a head that - while not the first thing we thought of - still worked. And the decision was made. Megaplex had his mold!And yes, the mold came available VERY late in the planning stages. But there was still a little bit of time to discuss the head.

Rated X wrote:

Seibertron wrote:This would have worked with a new G1 styled Megatron head. But without it, it doesn't look like a clone of Megatron at all. It looks like a recolored Dreadwing. Megaplex with a new head would have sold the set alone. I thought reveals 3 through 5 were supposed to be the ones that wowed us all?



And for good measure ...



And they wonder why there's such an explosion of 3rd party products over the past 1/2 decade. These poor decisions/choices to save a buck are really frustrating. Believe in your products, do them right so that no explanations are needed, toss in a modified weapon for Hoist so he's got a tow hook, a new head for Megatron Megaplex, and charge us 20 to 50 bucks more for the set.

So if Dr. Wu makes a Megatron head that installs easy without damaging the figure, are you in ?

Sabrblade wrote:Clarification on the decision to use this mold from Jesse Wittenrich's Twitter:

Initially there was some indecision about what mold to use for Megaplex. Character-wise there had to be a toy for him. But there weren't many of the available jets that worked. So there was some hemming and hawing as they were mulled over. And then Fun Pub got their hands on the Dreadwing mold! Pretty much everyone that had a chance to play around with it loved it. Seriously, if you never got TF Prime Dreadwing, go out and get one now. It's a fantastic toy. After the mold was decided, then came the discussion about the head. It's not your typical Megatron bucket head, but we noticed a few things about it that worked for Megaplex. Like the other Machine Wars fans out there, we really enjoyed the...quirks of the original packaging. And looking at Megaplex's original art. We saw something. Since Megaplex reused UK Falcon's box art, he had these funky eyebrows sweeping off the sides of his head. Megaplex art: http://tfu.info/1997/Decepticon/Megaplex/megaplex.htm … Falcon art: http://tfu.info/1992/Decepticon/Falcon/falcon.htm … Then we looked at Dreadwing. And he too had funky eyebrows sweeping off the sides of his head. But Dreadwing still had this very distinct styling to his helmet with all of its curvatures and ornamentation. Then we looked at Skywarp's styling (and a couple of the souvenir figures) and we saw that same style and ornamentation on Dreadwing's head. And putting them all together, they looked like a team. They looked very cohesive - the sculpts just fit together perfectly. So we stepped back and looked at everything. A fantastic mold, a head that - while not the first thing we thought of - still worked. And the decision was made. Megaplex had his mold!And yes, the mold came available VERY late in the planning stages. But there was still a little bit of time to discuss the head.

Sabrblade wrote:With a slight modification to the head connector, the GDO Megatron head can fit onto the Dreadwing mold.

Note: Not my pic.

Jesse Wittenrich wrote:Seriously, if you never got TF Prime Dreadwing, go out and get one now. It's a fantastic toy.

PrymeStriker wrote:

Megatron Wolf wrote:But with that aside how come theres no remolding? If hes suppose to be a clone of megatron shouldnt he look like megatron? The original toy did.

Because four new heads is the limit, and they already used them on Hoist, Skywarp, Strika, and Obsidian.

Mkall wrote:Anyone who knows me well knows that I will be quick to call FunPub out on errors, but just as quick to jump to their defence. In every previous Botcon Boxset I found far more positives than I did negatives.

Not so this year's. In my oppinion Fun Pub messed up in their Boxset design. Here's why I believe this to be the case

First, only 3/5 characters are actually from Machine Wars. This is the Box Set that is teased publicly to every fan out there. They have been saying "Machine Wars" for the last 4 months which means the box set SHOULD BE Machine Wars, not Machine Wars and others... this was supposed to bring people to the event and cause excitement, not cause confusion. Don't get me wrong, I like Strika and Obsidian, but they should've been attendee-only figures in their own pack of two.

Second, the aesthetics are all over the place. There have one movie mold, one TF: Prime mold and 3 Universe/Generations/Classics Molds. Sure the molds may "work" for the individual character, but they don't work for those who like a unified look... If I get the box (big If right now), then I'm going to leave some in the box because they don't work with the aesthetics I collect.

I think I'm just going to get the few figures I like off of eBay this year. Sorry but this is a low set for me. The lowest in a very long time.

Seibertron wrote:Please no. That is a horrible Megatron head.

PrymeStriker wrote:

Jesse Wittenrich wrote:Seriously, if you never got TF Prime Dreadwing, go out and get one now. It's a fantastic toy.

Go out and get one? How? You can't find the damn thing.

Sinnertwin wrote:

PrymeStriker wrote:

Jesse Wittenrich wrote:Seriously, if you never got TF Prime Dreadwing, go out and get one now. It's a fantastic toy.

Go out and get one? How? You can't find the damn thing.

They're practically shelfwarming everywhere, didn't you know ?

Cybershark wrote:And making characters that literally Nobody wants or cares about in Machine Wars and Beast Machines?

Mkall wrote:I will say this in The Club's defence about their Machine Wars themed set: They chose molds from different lines. Remember that the small figs were new articulated molds and the bigger figs were all G1.5 molds, so in that they're celebrating the line's diversity...

...yeah even I can't convince myself of that one.