BotCon 2014 TFCC Cannonball Figure Mold Revealed

Well, now that that's out into the open, might as well also mention that the TFW guy said that the magazine also contains a mention of Squadron X in the accompanying text for Cannonball, in which there is a log written by Squadron X member Tornado, who notes how Cannonball offered to let them join his crew, but Squadron X "saw a striking difference."

To be fair, I really really really like that mold. It's the lack of a nice deco that brought it down (Reprolabels fixed it for me). I have no sentimental connection to the character, either, so I'll be interested to see how this turns out!

Ratchet's mold was always a good one, but I still would have preferred Breakdown for this purpose.

Wow, one of the proposed possibilities actually came true!

Va'al wrote:This still seems not to explain the alternate head found in the Ratchet instructions, pictured below.

We already have an explanation for that head: Arms Micron Swerve. The head design was used for a different mold, and since G1 Swerve was a retool of G1 Gears... See what they did?

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:We already have an explanation for that head: Arms Micron Swerve. The head design was used for a different mold, and since G1 Swerve was a retool of G1 Gears... See what they did?

Except that Swerve's head has different face and is Voyager sized. The head seen on the proposed "Gears" figure looks a lot more like the head seen in Ratchet's instructions (and is Deluxe sized). Though, there is at least a resemblance between the general shape of this head and Swerve's, yes, so we can probably say that the design for Swerve's head was at least based on the "Gears" head.

Here's a close up to compare:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Wow, one of the proposed possibilities actually came true!

Va'al wrote:This still seems not to explain the alternate head found in the Ratchet instructions, pictured below.

We already have an explanation for that head: Arms Micron Swerve. The head design was used for a different mold, and since G1 Swerve was a retool of G1 Gears... See what they did?

Aha, fair enough (and yes, I just saw Sabr's response too; I take on both your points!).

Prime Breakdown made too much sense, so of course they rejected that idea.

Tornado was the UK name of the G2 Cyberjet Windrazor. Silver and red seeker confirmed, but because the Classics mold makes too much sense (see: Making funpub easy money), it'll be a FoC Starscream seeker instead.

Well guys, consider that Cannonball not being a voyager might mean another figure gets that treatment. Plus would you want Cannonball to tower over the other toys in the set? He was kind of a short deluxe in Cybertron

ScottyP wrote:Tornado was the UK name of the G2 Cyberjet Windrazor. Silver and red seeker confirmed, but because the Classics mold makes too much sense (see: Making funpub easy money), it'll be a FoC Starscream seeker instead.

Except that the Tornado who is a member of Squadron X originated as a toyless Marvel Comics character like Straxus and Jhiaxus used to be.



Here's another look at him with Squadron X. Though not the best look, he can be seen towards the middle of the image:

Houston, we have a visual!

https://twitter.com/BotCon/status/431814568705134594/photo/1

Before we ask who is the Navigator, let's show you who the Captain of the Star Seekers is! #PVK pic.twitter.com/VaBzlCXIPR

^^ I completely forgot about that Tornado character. So much apathy, haha.

^ Liking it. Wish it was coming with a version of RA instead of the RiD swords.

Since the cat got out of the bag this morning BotCon decided to go ahead and fully reveal Cannonball from this year's Pirates vs. Knights set. As previously reported earlier this morning the figure is a repaint/remold of Transformers Prime Robots in Disguise Delxue Ratchet, which they also state is the only Prime mold in the set. Check him out below:

Well here we go again...the guy in texas gets the magazine first, but the fan site is more loyal to the club than the fans and wont show the picture. Maybe TFCC should just put the damn magazine on facebook because it will be all over by the end of the day. What a joke. Anyways, I dont see why it was so hard to choose a mold for a figure that was a mere repaint anyways. Its freaking cybertron red alert repainted. I never considered a dodge magnum hatchback to be a rescue vehicle, even if it did have a siren on top. It was red alerts deco that made him a rescue vehicle. The cannonball repaint was by no means a rescue vehicle. Skulls ? Cmon now...I still would have preferred the breakdown mold. This is one character that didnt have to be too faithful to his original mold since he was just a repaint. They could have been a bit more daring. That head only works for ratchet. And TFCCs cheapness not to give every figure a new head isnt helping. Are the new heads really that expensive ? Cant they just order heads from a resin artist here in the States in bulk quantities ? They did for the longarm shockwave custom class figure. It made the TFCCs anti third party stance look like a joke. Like, yeah guys we dont support resin kits in our dealer room but we buy them anyways, lol. But it was good to see that ban lifted last year in San Diego. Even TFCC saw the light that shunning 3rd party items at a TF convention was bad for business. So maybe now Renderform can make a better head for cannonball now that we know the mold. Im not going this year but Im still interested in buying at least some of the figures. Do it Venksta !!! Edit....special thanks to El Duque for letting us see the image. You are the man ! I wish you made all the decisions for this site. Also glad to see the club isnt cheaping out on a new head mold. But im still disappointed they went with that stupid tf primish grin instead of a more serious classics look. Just because they are using tf prime molds, doesnt mean they cant have classics style heads. Or is the real theme of this years botcon tf prime ?

Sweet! Love how it matches up to the Cybertron original:

One more thing. He's the sole Prime mold in the set:

https://twitter.com/BotCon/status/431816933957058560

@PrimalSabbath and yes. Only Prime mold in the set #lovethoseclassics #Energonreturnstoo?

But does "set" refer to just the boxed set, or the whole collective set of BotCon 2014 exclusives, I wonder?

And... could the Club be breaking their "no Unicron Trilogy molds" decision and be using Energon molds again?

I love it!

SOLD! SOLD! A THOUSAND TIMES SOLD!

HOLD ON TO YER UNDERWEAR BOYS, I'M GOIN' TO BOTCON!

I wouldn't be mad one bit if this was redecoed into Red Alert. Not at all. Even if he was included in this year's set, or one of those two-pack baggies. That's how much this design kicks ass.

Sabrblade wrote:And... could the Club be breaking their "no Unicron Trilogy molds" decision and be using Energon molds again?

I'm gunna be the bad fan here; I'd go absolute hysterical over Energon toys. YOu guys know how I pretty much lost all sense of control when Generations Armada Starscream was unveiled at BotCon and SDCC? Imagine that, but a little less.

Was the animated show bad? Yeah, it was somewhat mediocre. But the toys? Deep down, even though Energon was the worst of the three series of the Unicron Trilogy, people know that Energon had the most kickass toys. There's no denying it.

Rated X wrote:Well here we go again...the guy in texas gets the magazine first, but the fan site is more loyal to the club than the fans and wont show the picture.

You seriously asking the site to be sued by Hasbro for spreading private copyrighted material? BAD Move.

And TFCCs cheapness not to give every figure a new head isnt helping. Are the new heads really that expensive ?

Yes they are.

Cant they just order heads from a resin artist here in the States in bulk quantities ? They did for the longarm shockwave custom class figure.

You'd need a lot of resin for that and even more time, since no machines are involved. Plus, shipping them to China where the factories are?

It made the TFCCs anti third party stance look like a joke. Like, yeah guys we dont support resin kits in our dealer room but we buy them anyways, lol. But it was good to see that ban lifted last year in San Diego. Even TFCC saw the light that shunning 3rd party items at a TF convention was bad for business. So maybe now Renderform can make a better head for cannonball now that we know the mold. Im not going this year but Im still interested in buying at least some of the figures. Do it Venksta !!!

That's Hasbro's stance, not (just) TFCC. Plus, SDCC and NYCC are comic and toy conventions for the most part, it's all fair game. BotCon is TF-only, so we can see the 3rd Party ban there.

This is going to sound like a strange complaint, but I think they missed an opportunity by making this look too much like Cybertron Red Alert's head. I normally dislike asymmetry, but part of the reason I never bought Cannonball back in the day was that painting half his visor black to simulate an eye patch seemed cheap, albeit creative for a repaint. (And from the moment I saw that beautiful mold, the only repaint I was interested in was Crankcase, who we thankfully got).

Here, however, they had a chance to sculpt his optics different from each other to drive the idea home, with either a scope or a plate over the left one. I mean, Wings Universe Cannonball should have a slightly different design from UT Cannonball; surely he lost the eye through different circumstances, right?

Still, it does look slicker than Red Alert's head, and maybe this sketch will be tweaked a bit before it's sculpted.

Sabrblade wrote:One more thing. He's the sole Prime mold in the set:

https://twitter.com/BotCon/status/431816933957058560

@PrimalSabbath and yes. Only Prime mold in the set #lovethoseclassics #Energonreturnstoo?

But does "set" refer to just the boxed set, or the whole collective set of BotCon 2014 exclusives, I wonder?

And... could the Club be breaking their "no Unicron Trilogy molds" decision and be using Energon molds again?

That's pretty cool with me, actually. Doesn't mean they won't use the Ratchet mold more that once though

And bring on some Energon molds. The Mirage/Dreadwing boat makes a lot of sense as a Pirate character, and Wing Saber looks kind of Knight-like.