BotCon 2013 Machine Wars: Termination Box Art Revealed

With only Obsidian as the packaging art for 5 figures? Weird move.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:With only Obsidian as the packaging art for 5 figures? Weird move.

I'd showcase him too.
He's the only one of the bunch that doesn't suck out loud.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:With only Obsidian as the packaging art for 5 figures? Weird move.

I agree. I would've preferred the "scene" artwork depicting the 5 characters in an action shot or moment similar to previous years. It would've been interesting to see a mock-up of the box done in a hybrid G1 Combiner giftset with Machine Wars styling.

What I don't like about this style is too much emphasis on one character when it should be about the set as a whole. Hopefully this point doesn't get lost on the comics like it has during the past 4 or 5 BotCons since the 2010 sets onward.

I get where they're going, and like it. What I don't like is the only characters/figures visible in the art aren't Machine Wars characters >____>

Beast Machine Wars all the way, apparently.

Hoitytoity wrote:I get where they're going, and like it. What I don't like is the only characters/figures visible in the art aren't Machine Wars characters >____>

Beast Machine Wars all the way, apparently.

Technically speaking, only MW Hubcap was a Machine Wars original character, the rest was a collection of returning G1 characters. Obsidian and Strika, while Beast Machines originals, had their backstory roots in pre-Beast Wars (read G1) time if we're to believe their fame in the show.

It looks good and bad, hopefully this isn't the final product because it could definitely use some or a lot of adjustments. One thing that would make it look better is some actual box art instead of just Obsidian looking silly. I do like the fact that they are showing some of the toys in the box unfortunately Obsidian steals the show again!

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Hoitytoity wrote:I get where they're going, and like it. What I don't like is the only characters/figures visible in the art aren't Machine Wars characters >____>

Beast Machine Wars all the way, apparently.

Technically speaking, only MW Hubcap was a Machine Wars original character, the rest was a collection of returning G1 characters. Obsidian and Strika, while Beast Machines originals, had their backstory roots in pre-Beast Wars (read G1) time if we're to believe their fame in the show.

What about Megaplex?

While Obsidian is probably the best figure of the set, I'd argue that Megaplex is the one they should be highlighting, as in this storyline, he's the guy leading all the carnage and throwing Cybertron into conflict.

Henry921 wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Hoitytoity wrote:I get where they're going, and like it. What I don't like is the only characters/figures visible in the art aren't Machine Wars characters >____>

Beast Machine Wars all the way, apparently.

Technically speaking, only MW Hubcap was a Machine Wars original character, the rest was a collection of returning G1 characters. Obsidian and Strika, while Beast Machines originals, had their backstory roots in pre-Beast Wars (read G1) time if we're to believe their fame in the show.

What about Megaplex?

While Obsidian is probably the best figure of the set, I'd argue that Megaplex is the one they should be highlighting, as in this storyline, he's the guy leading all the carnage and throwing Cybertron into conflict.

Megaplex with a new Megatron head should've been the showcased figure.

Seibertron wrote:
Megaplex with a new Megatron head should've been the showcased figure.

If wishing made it so...

I think Obsidian's vehicle mode over Megaplex's typical jet mode is a more interesting look. Plus it has a more steam punk kind of appearence which in my opinion says Machine more than the smooth stream lined jet.

All this talk of Obsidian... I just noticed something.

It isn't visible in the stock photography, but in the box in vehicle mode, it looks like he's got faction symbols on his frame. Kinda hard to tell what... it looks almost like a G2 Decepticon sign.

Henry921 wrote:All this talk of Obsidian... I just noticed something.

It isn't visible in the stock photography, but in the box in vehicle mode, it looks like he's got faction symbols on his frame. Kinda hard to tell what... it looks almost like a G2 Decepticon sign.

redcircles.jpg

That wouldn't make sense as Obsidian and Strika are Autobots in this case, in charge of the protection of Cybertron (something that's carried to the extreme in Beast Machines).

And I did forget Megaplex, stupid me And supposedly he's a new clone made by Jhiaxus, separate from the original Megaplex (original clone? Oxymoron central right here). That would explain away his new noggin, as his G2 Go-Bot clones (the G1-named ones) looked nothing like the originals.

Oh... I bet they used his pic because he's the one you can see thru the window. It's always a bit of a puzzle to cram them into the box. Could have just ended up that layout? Who knows... Still looks pretty good, though I miss the big battle scene. I hope they do a litho.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:
That wouldn't make sense as Obsidian and Strika are Autobots in this case, in charge of the protection of Cybertron (something that's carried to the extreme in Beast Machines).

And I did forget Megaplex, stupid me And supposedly he's a new clone made by Jhiaxus, separate from the original Megaplex (original clone? Oxymoron central right here). That would explain away his new noggin, as his G2 Go-Bot clones (the G1-named ones) looked nothing like the originals.

Perhaps this story will fill in that blank. Maybe Obsidian started out on the wrong side before Strika showed him the path of justice?

It may just be an unrelated sigil, but it looks like a G2 Decepticon logo to me.

Henry921 wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:
That wouldn't make sense as Obsidian and Strika are Autobots in this case, in charge of the protection of Cybertron (something that's carried to the extreme in Beast Machines).

Perhaps this story will fill in that blank. Maybe Obsidian started out on the wrong side before Strika showed him the path of justice?

It may just be an unrelated sigil, but it looks like a G2 Decepticon logo to me.

That's a good point. Maybe they were the greatest generals on opposite sides of the conflict, before joining up together. They could both be loyal to Cybertron before any faction loyalties, but just took different routes in order to serve Cybertron.

Could Strika and OBsidian be the warring machines of the title, seeing as they are the two figures shown and are facing each other on the boxart? Perhaps this story is about them fighting each other before teaming up to repel a greater threat?

I know, JelZe, I know the Jihaxus thing for the storyline this year. I don't need any clarification or whatever.It's just an idea.

I also really like the box design.

If you look really close, those symbols on Obsidian's tail fins are Highbrow's pretzel thingies, not G2 decepticon symbols. he even has the "P+10" tampo

SW's SilverHammer wrote:If you look really close, those symbols on Obsidian's tail fins are Highbrow's pretzel thingies, not G2 decepticon symbols. he even has the "P+10" tampo

That explains why the art on the box looks NOTHING like Obsidian's actual colors. It's presumably just a mock-up at this point?

Ah, pretzel things. Of course!

Shows what I know, I never owned the mold.

Henry921 wrote:Ah, pretzel things. Of course!

Shows what I know, I never owned the mold.

Join the club. After ROTF, I stopped getting toys based off the films. That includes HFTD and the film-themed portion of RTS.

The Official Transformers Collectors' Club has received a final sample of this year's BotCon convention Machine Wars: Termination box set. The set features Obsidian, Strika, Skywarp, Megaplex, and Hoist. Check out the image mirrored below.

Down to the KB Toys price sticker look-a-like

My lack of interest notwithstanding, that's a nice looking box. I much prefer Obsidian in this colouration than that hideous neon green we saw at the start.

The KB Toys price tag is a nice touch!

I like them, but I'm still not thrilled with Skywarp's mold.

Shame I can't afford this.

Seibertron wrote:The KB Toys price tag is a nice touch!

If its removable, I'm never taking it off.

Mkall wrote:My lack of interest notwithstanding, that's a nice looking box. I much prefer Obsidian in this colouration than that hideous neon green we saw at the start.

Looks like Obsidian's final deco has removed the numbering and "pretzels" from the Highbrow mold.

I'm amazed they managed to fit all the figures in that box, given how much space Obsidian takes up...

The comments on Facebook confirm the "sticker" IS actually a sticker. Pretty neat touch. I dig it. Can't wait to be there.

Thanks to the facebook page of the official Transformers Collectors' Club we a look at Strika from this year's BotCon exclusive Machine Wars: Termination box set. The figure is a redeco of Generations Warpath with a brand new head mold. Take a look below.

Much better head design than the first one we saw when she was first teased.

If this set had been available at regular retail, I would pick this up with out a doubt, along with Obsidian, to start building a neo-Beast Wars/Machines shelf, if we get some figures that homage Beast Wars characters in the Thrilling 30 subline.

Great head sculpt. As ugly as it is.
Seriously though......that's a face only a mother could love.

Great choice of molds as well. I'm particularly fond of that sparkly blue plastic in the shoulders and hands.

Mindmaster wrote:if we get some figures that homage Beast Wars characters in the Thrilling 30 subline.

I wouldn't get my hopes up, since the Thrilling 30 toys are themed around IDW G1 characters. Waspinator's toy made sense since he appeared in "Spotlight: Thundercracker".

This figure is the only saving grace to an otherwise corny Botcon lineup.

It's still a pass but Hasbro would've been wise to sell this figure at retail.

The rest I think are crap.

Sabrblade wrote:

Mindmaster wrote:if we get some figures that homage Beast Wars characters in the Thrilling 30 subline.

I wouldn't get my hopes up, since the Thrilling 30 toys are themed around IDW G1 characters. Waspinator's toy made sense since he appeared in "Spotlight: Thundercracker".

True.

But I kinda wanted a bigger Waspinator though...

Mindmaster wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Mindmaster wrote:if we get some figures that homage Beast Wars characters in the Thrilling 30 subline.

I wouldn't get my hopes up, since the Thrilling 30 toys are themed around IDW G1 characters. Waspinator's toy made sense since he appeared in "Spotlight: Thundercracker".

True.

But I kinda wanted a bigger Waspinator though...

Good thing the Waspy that appeared in the comic was basically in his BW 10th Anniversary toy body.

Sabrblade wrote:

Mindmaster wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Mindmaster wrote:if we get some figures that homage Beast Wars characters in the Thrilling 30 subline.

I wouldn't get my hopes up, since the Thrilling 30 toys are themed around IDW G1 characters. Waspinator's toy made sense since he appeared in "Spotlight: Thundercracker".

True.

But I kinda wanted a bigger Waspinator though...

Good thing the Waspy that appeared in the comic was basically in his BW 10th Anniversary toy body.

Which, on the life of me, I cannot find anywhere at a reasonable price.

Plus, I've got other priorities, so until those are fulfilled, Waspinator, like many past figures I'd like to get, isn't on my list.

Mindmaster wrote:Much better head design than the first one we saw when she was first teased.

Oh, agreed. I like her much more than before.

This set's really grown on me. I'm still disappointed overall, but I hate it slightly less each time.

Damn it, I might have to get her too. I was going to be happy with just Obsidian and the two Seekers...

El Duque wrote:

..with the addition of..


http://www.shapeways.com/model/1129958/impactor-update-kit-ver-1-w-head-update.html?li=productBox-search

..equals =

robotmel wrote:

SCHWEET

The official BotCon facebook page has shared production sample images of Machine Wars Skywarp from this year's convention exclusive Machine Wars: Termination box set. As you can see the figure sports a brand new head mold and a nice teleporting translucent effect on the it's wings in jet mode.

The effects & new head sculpt, although very cool, are not nearly enough to save this terrible, terrible mold.

Props for trying, though.

Oh god, the white plastic is so bland and unpainted that most of the details become flat, bland, unnoticeable. Although, the new headsculpt's quite nice.

Thank goodness for the drop shadow effect! If not for that, I'd swear this was a photo of some missiles and blobs of paint.

So is this the worst figure in the set?

GuyIncognito wrote:So is this the worst figure in the set?

Pretty much.

I have the original Revenge of the Fallen NEST Dirge version; I think it's okay, but only as that specific character in that specific line. Using it as anyone else just doesn't look right. In my opinion, the mold they should have used for this specific character should have been Prime FE Starscream.

GuyIncognito wrote:So is this the worst figure in the set?

Depends. I personally like it better than Hoist, but he's still far from being my favorite.

This one looks really bland. Should've guessed the white plastic would go largely unpainted...

Okay, while I have mixed emotions about the set... and mold choices... I do really like the teleporting effect. Since I don't have this mold — or any movie molds — it may be fun to mess with.

Mind you, I hope they can avoid movie molds in the future... especially MIXING them. They don't fit with the aesthetics of the other figures, and I'd much prefer some Classics for Botcon.

gothsaurus wrote:Since I don't have this mold — or any movie molds — it may be fun to mess with.

I wouldn't get my hopes up. From my experiences with this particular mold, I'd give it a 7-7.5 out of 10. The fact he has two visible canopies (one of which is the faux part you see on the chest) is one of my main issues. You can always take it off - in fact, I've actually lost that piece - but even then, it's still meh. Especially the "shield" arm, as I call it.

Mind you, I hope they can avoid movie molds in the future... especially MIXING them. They don't fit with the aesthetics of the other figures, and I'd much prefer some Classics for Botcon.

I'm with you there. If they opt for a movie theme, I'd have no problem, 'cuz you know, movie . Maybe even add a couple molds from lines past here and there into said theme (they've done it before, and it didn't look too bad). But mixing movie molds in with fictions such as this aesthetically doesn't look good on the toys in my opinion. Same goes for Prime figures.

They really should have retooled Megaplex with a Megatron-esque head, but the damn budget only allows for four retoolings.

You gotta love the way Funpub poses his arms to make him look symmetrical. I'm no fan of the "teleporting" wings, It's just as silly as battle damage. But Ill take him, I've seen worse.

There's one complaint about Skywarp that bugs me. I accept that the mold is...an acquired taste, to say the least, and that the unpainted white plastic washes out ALL of the molded detail.

But Skywarp has a mid-warp deco. How is that not a good thing? It's even pulled off quite nicely; it's subtle but effective. I mean...maybe they should have made it -less- subtle? Maybe made the entire thing translucent? But all in all it's a pretty good effect.