BotCon 2013 Machine Wars Megaplex Revealed
Thursday, February 28th, 2013 3:15PM CST
Categories: Toy News, Event News, Collector's Club NewsPosted by: El Duque Views: 47,703
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Our 5th and final reveal for the 2013 MACHINE WARS: TERMINATION box set is the Clone Army Commander... MEGAPLEX! Utilizing a very popular voyager mold from the Transformers: Prime line, this figure is the perfect compliment to this years MACHINE WARS box set!
So, who exactly IS Megaplex and what is his origin? Megaplex was built by Jhiaxus as a clone of Megatron, copying the Decepticon tyrant's aggression, cunning, and battlefield skills into a brand new body ready for the modern age. Charged with leading an assault against the planet Cybertron and securing the heart of Jhiaxus' new, unified Cybertronian Empire, Megaplex uses the traits he has inherited from Megatron with chilling efficiency as he smashes through planetary defenses and culls the planet below. Check out the Con Exclusives page for this final figure reveal.
The Termination has begun! Don't miss out on this amzing MACHINE WARS box set, available exclusively through BotCon!
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Posted by GuyIncognito on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:19pm CST
Posted by Jelze Bunnycat on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:19pm CST
This really caught me by surprise, Prime Dreadwing of all things. But no new head mold? I was really hoping for one, but it seems that 4 is the limit for this set. It does work in fiction a bit though, as Wings Jhiaxus has made clones of G1 characters before, but with G2 Gobot (aka RiD Spychanger) bodies who looked anything but the real deal.
Posted by PrymeStriker on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:21pm CST
Prime Dreadwing? They used an 6-month-old toy?
Posted by Sabrblade on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:21pm CST
Posted by El Duque on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:29pm CST
Posted by Noideaforaname on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:32pm CST
Posted by Sabrblade on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:35pm CST
Regarding the molds, what else could they have done? All they had to work with were post-UT molds.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.
Posted by Mkall on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:38pm CST
Posted by RiddlerJ on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:42pm CST
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?
Posted by STngAR on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:50pm CST
Posted by ausbot on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:52pm CST
Posted by Jelze Bunnycat on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:57pm CST
ausbot wrote:This would have worked, but only if it had a new head.
Funny you should mention that. I just looked into the original MW Megaplex, specifically his packaging art:
Machine Wars Megaplex Packaging Art on TFwiki.
It's recolored from the G1 Predator Falcon art, but it shows some very superficial similarities to Prime Dreadwing. And I said very superficial.
Posted by datguy86 on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:57pm CST
Posted by Sabrblade on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:57pm CST
Pete Sinclair wrote this over at Allspark.com: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...
He also wrote this:
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.
Posted by SW's SilverHammer on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:58pm CST
Posted by Cybershark on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:58pm CST
STngAR wrote:This set is reminding me of a bad poem...........no rhyme or reason.
Totally True, Im sorry but this ranks up there as 1 of the WORST Botcon sets I think I have ever seen. And making characters that literally Nobody wants or cares about in Machine Wars and Beast Machines? Plus using a "new" mold already AND no new head on it?
The entire thing is not getting bought by me now. At least I get to save $375 or so. Maybe with any luck they will have some decent Botcon attendee sets? Does anybody have any guesses or leads on them yet?
Posted by Mkall on February 28th, 2013 @ 3:59pm CST
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.
Posted by Seibertron on February 28th, 2013 @ 4:13pm CST
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.
Posted by Burn on February 28th, 2013 @ 4:18pm CST
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 ...
Posted by rpetras on February 28th, 2013 @ 4:21pm CST
I didn't think Machine Wars would interest me much, and I was right.
If I can get a Hoist CHEAP for a custom, I'm interested, but I won't spend big dollars on fodder figures.
Oh well, I get to save some cash for other stuff this year.
Posted by kirbenvost on February 28th, 2013 @ 4:24pm CST
Posted by Samsonator on February 28th, 2013 @ 4:28pm CST
Posted by FracturedKoi on February 28th, 2013 @ 4:31pm CST
Posted by Mindmaster on February 28th, 2013 @ 4:53pm CST
It kinda works I suppose, but like everyone else is saying, he should have a Megatron-esque head, if he's supposed to be a "clone" of Megatron.
Posted by craggy on February 28th, 2013 @ 4:57pm CST
Posted by Mkall on February 28th, 2013 @ 5:01pm CST
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 ...
I disagree to some extent.
I like modern takes on old characters, so seeing a Red Tracks, or a new Pyro, Dreadwind in '07; even Thunderclash was neat. I would've been all for it had they kept the box set to Machine Wars characters in a similar style and I would've been appeased.
But they didn't. They took multiple characters from multiple eras and multiple toys from multiple lines and tossed them all in a box.
Recently finishing a discussion on what an "original character" is, I'd rather not do it again, but yes I would love FunPub to come up with new characters. This set would have been perfect to create a new unique set of Machine Wars-esque characters, but it isn't looking like they want to do that. They ripped characters from another series and retconned them in with very little originality.
It's lazy plain and simple.
I'm sure the comic will be good as it always is (after all, they have a year to write it) but whatever exposition they come up with is probably not enough to satisfy me that this is anything close to a good set.
Posted by Burn on February 28th, 2013 @ 5:12pm CST
Mkall wrote:Recently finishing a discussion on what an "original character" is,
Apelinq, Shokaract, CatSCAN, Antagony, Fractyl, Packrat, Onyx Primal ... this is what I mean by "original characters", and they were all BotCon exclusives pre-FunPub.
Posted by PrymeStriker on February 28th, 2013 @ 5:39pm CST
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.
Posted by Yweggo on February 28th, 2013 @ 5:45pm CST
Still to bad he doesn't have a Megatron head.
Posted by Rated X on February 28th, 2013 @ 6:02pm CST
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 ?
Posted by Mkall on February 28th, 2013 @ 6:03pm CST
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.
Very much so, and I expected non-MW characters in the set. What I did not expect was them taking two fairly prominent characters from the Beast Machines line and saying "These two are now in this set."
The original Machine Wars concept was taking G1 Characters and giving them facelifts. Strika and Obsidian were not treated with the same respect. For a Machine Wars: series 2 (as Pete called it) it is not a faithful continuation of what he said they were going for IMO.
Posted by Megatron Wolf on February 28th, 2013 @ 6:11pm CST
Posted by Sabrblade on February 28th, 2013 @ 6:13pm CST
Note: Not my pic.
Posted by PrymeStriker on February 28th, 2013 @ 6:15pm CST
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.
Posted by Sabrblade on February 28th, 2013 @ 6:27pm CST
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.
Posted by Seibertron on February 28th, 2013 @ 6:38pm CST
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 ?
Of course not ... just saying they should do it right the first time.
Posted by Seibertron on February 28th, 2013 @ 6:42pm CST
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.
This sounds like rationalizing a poor decision. Where's the discussion about how much more money it would have cost to make a head instead and how much more that would have increased the cost of the set or concerns about making the set too expensive that it wouldn't sell, etc? You know, the actual business side of these decisions instead that allow cost saving measures such as this to go through?
Posted by Seibertron on February 28th, 2013 @ 6:43pm CST
Sabrblade wrote:With a slight modification to the head connector, the GDO Megatron head can fit onto the Dreadwing mold.
Note: Not my pic.
Please no. That is a horrible Megatron head.
Posted by PrymeStriker on February 28th, 2013 @ 6:45pm CST
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.
Posted by Seibertron on February 28th, 2013 @ 6:50pm CST
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.
While I understand that, it's unfortunate that those choices were made. Megaplex should have had a new head over everyone else. He's the clone of Megatron. If he doesn't have a Megatron head, then he's not very clone like and definitely not very Megatron-like with a jet for a body. What made the original Machine Wars Megaplex believable was that he had a Megatron head so the jet mode worked. When you remove the Megatron head, the jet body goes out the window for Megaplex being a Megatron clone.
What's unfortunate about this choice is that I can easily see Megaplex/Dreadwing/Skyquake now being painted into "Megatron" to help pull off the whole Megaplex is a clone of Megatron bit. That's the part that really makes me cringe.
Order of importance for new heads: Megaplex, Strika and Obsidian. Hoist was a waist because they should've just used the Movie 2007 TRU Hoist in MW colors. If he wasn't available, they shouldn't have done him. Skywarp would've been fine as a MW colors Classics Seeker (which I'm sure a lot of you are extremely tired of getting the most used mold EVER) or figured out something else for him.
These sets are becoming increasingly frustrating year after year ever since the 2009 set (and arguably the 2008 and 2007 sets depending on where you stand with the Classic seekers and Shattered Glass).
Posted by Seibertron on February 28th, 2013 @ 6:51pm CST
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.
I merged your topic with the other 5 topics and turned it into a massive Machine Wars: Termination discussion topic.
Posted by Sabrblade on February 28th, 2013 @ 7:03pm CST
Truth be told, I agree. Though, I find it to be more "silly" looking than outright "horrible". But I agree that it doesn't look right.Seibertron wrote:Please no. That is a horrible Megatron head.
On the other hand, the un-Megatron-like smirk does kinda seem fitting for a guy whose supposed to be a fake Megatron, in a "looks like Megatron and yet doesn't seem like Megatron" sort of way.
Posted by Sinnertwin on February 28th, 2013 @ 7:11pm CST
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 ?
Posted by Sabrblade on February 28th, 2013 @ 7:18pm CST
Ah, you must mean the Cyberverse Commander class version.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 ?
Posted by Nemesis Maximo on February 28th, 2013 @ 7:23pm CST
Posted by RiddlerJ on February 28th, 2013 @ 8:22pm CST
It's a shame they didn't wait a couple years for this theme. They could've used the new IDW Megatron jet mold that's coming out.
Posted by Dr. Caelus on February 28th, 2013 @ 8:25pm CST
Cybershark wrote:And making characters that literally Nobody wants or cares about in Machine Wars and Beast Machines?
Actually, I really want Obsidian and Strika, and I'd want Dreadwing if they'd painted him like MW Starscream.
Posted by Shadowstream on February 28th, 2013 @ 8:33pm CST
Posted by Mkall on February 28th, 2013 @ 8:40pm CST
...yeah even I can't convince myself of that one.
Posted by Seibertron on February 28th, 2013 @ 8:42pm CST
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.
I'm right there with you. I don't think anyone actually cares about that. It was a retail exclusive line full of repaints and molds that were never used in G2 or released in the US for G1.