New Galleries: Club Nightbeat plus Superlink SC-02 Hot Shot and SC-23 Hot Shot Fire

Although this is considered a bad figure (mold-wise, not character-wise) I think it works well for Nightbeat.

Nice pictures! I had that Nightbeat. He looked alright on my shelf for a while but over time I grew tired of his awkwardness and his big old box kicking around. It was cool that he came with a comic though. Replaced him with the Generations one.

I didn't realize that the Japanese Super Link name was spelled as one word "Hotshot".

Though, notice the Japanese figures each have a different headsculpt from the Hasbro ones.

Don't know why people are hating on this mold, looks mighty fine to me

So this is what "club exclusivity" gets you? yikes

Does anyone know where these custom antenna came from? That helps the figure a lot. I'd love to get some if they are shapeways, etc.

TCC Nightbeat was a product of its time.

Eight years ago there was a lot more limited mold selection, the heads still were done by hand, and communication with the factory was almost nonexistent. So you ended up with Energon Hot Shot as one of the few car molds that were usable, a head sculpt that... well I actually still like (it's very Andy Wildman, which was its aim), and the factory ended up cutting the antennae off the head for clearance without contacting Fun Pub for alternatives.

With that in mind, it was a good figure at the time. I'm not sure how well its aged, but it's earned its place on my shelves and faces no risk of getting resold any time soon.

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:Don't know why people are hating on this mold, looks mighty fine to me

It's a brick with barely any articulation. From 2004.

Nice pics, Seibertron! Energon Hot Shot is such an awesome mold!

Sabrblade wrote:

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:Don't know why people are hating on this mold, looks mighty fine to me

It's a brick with barely any articulation. From 2004.

The 'Energon' repaint does make a good pair of pants for another figure though.

gothsaurus wrote:Does anyone know where these custom antenna came from? That helps the figure a lot. I'd love to get some if they are shapeways, etc.

Here we go, short story long ...

When Nightbeat came out, I was really bummed that he didn't have the antennae. At the time, you could go down to your local Walmart or other big box store and grab a G.I. Joe figure for around $7 give or take a couple of bucks, which I determined some figures came with guns that were the appropriate size for antennae for Nightbeat. If I recall correctly what I did 7 or 8 years ago was buy a 25th anniversary Wildbill. His guns (again if I recall correctly that it was a Wildbill), had some pegs on the side of the gun for some reason (maybe to plug into a holster on his legs or something), which I thought would be perfect to plug into Nightbeat's head if I drilled some holes into the side of his head. Because we were told that the antennae weren't put on from the factory due to "clearance" issues, I wanted the antennae to either be removable or to rotate so that they could stay on when he transformed. The holes were drilled just a tad too big (courtesy of US drill bits versus metric ... anyone know of a nice set of metric drill bits on Amazon?) so the antennae were too loose for what I had envisioned. Because I was bummed about the head and because it took me a little while to figure out a solution, I just never did his gallery at the time.

Fast forward a few years later: after transforming him a few times during the G1 Nightbeat and Generations Nightbeat galleries, I realized that there was more than enough clearance for the antennae during the transformation plus the guns were made of a soft plastic so they'd bend if needed. To fix the loose antennae, I just ended up supergluing the guns in place. He transforms just fine with the antennae permanently in place. It fixes the goofy head and turns a mediocre head into the proper head it should be.

Since I ended up gluing the guns in place (and snipped off the gun's handle), it probably doesn't matter which G.I. Joe's guns you use as long as you think they look like they'd be appropriate as antennas. You also probably don't need to actually drill any holes into the side of his head if you are gluing them to the sides of his head, but mine are probably more sturdy because they peg in plus are superglued. I imagine those store brand army guys that are at Toys R Us and/or Target would probably do the trick as well.

It's one of the few actual "customs" I've done and I'd say I was pretty happy with the end result.

Sabrblade wrote:

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:Don't know why people are hating on this mold, looks mighty fine to me

It's a brick with barely any articulation. From 2004.

The Deluxe Energon Autobots suffered from the Powerlinx gimmick, which most of the time involved "flipping" the figure around and having the legs become the arms (Inferno and Tow-Line were exceptions, coincidentally they share the same design philosophy). Hot Shot suffered the most in that with no forward swinging hip joints, and limited shoulder joints.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:Don't know why people are hating on this mold, looks mighty fine to me

It's a brick with barely any articulation. From 2004.

The Deluxe Energon Autobots suffered from the Powerlinx gimmick, which most of the time involved "flipping" the figure around and having the legs become the arms (Inferno and Tow-Line were exceptions, coincidentally they share the same design philosophy). Hot Shot suffered the most in that with no forward swinging hip joints, and limited shoulder joints.

So what if it does have barely any articulation?

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:Don't know why people are hating on this mold, looks mighty fine to me

It's a brick with barely any articulation. From 2004.

The Deluxe Energon Autobots suffered from the Powerlinx gimmick, which most of the time involved "flipping" the figure around and having the legs become the arms (Inferno and Tow-Line were exceptions, coincidentally they share the same design philosophy). Hot Shot suffered the most in that with no forward swinging hip joints, and limited shoulder joints.

So what if it does have barely any articulation?

During a time when articulation was a long-established norm for TF figures? (barring an interruption with the Armada line's hindered articulation)

Not to mention his combined torso mode has even less articulation and no hands at all (only the ends of his altmode kibble with holes in them).

Compared to his wavemate Inferno, who by comparison was a fantastic figure, the Hot Shot mold had barely any real playability as an action figure, being more functional instead as a paperweight.

Sabrblade wrote:

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:Don't know why people are hating on this mold, looks mighty fine to me

It's a brick with barely any articulation. From 2004.

The Deluxe Energon Autobots suffered from the Powerlinx gimmick, which most of the time involved "flipping" the figure around and having the legs become the arms (Inferno and Tow-Line were exceptions, coincidentally they share the same design philosophy). Hot Shot suffered the most in that with no forward swinging hip joints, and limited shoulder joints.

So what if it does have barely any articulation?

During a time when articulation was a long-established norm for TF figures? (barring an interruption with the Armada line's hindered articulation)

Not to mention his combined torso mode has even less articulation and no hands at all (only the ends of his altmode kibble with holes in them).

Compared to his wavemate Inferno, who by comparison was a fantastic figure, the Hot Shot mold had barely any real playability as an action figure, being more functional instead as a paperweight.

Well I don't think that.

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:Don't know why people are hating on this mold, looks mighty fine to me

It's a brick with barely any articulation. From 2004.

The Deluxe Energon Autobots suffered from the Powerlinx gimmick, which most of the time involved "flipping" the figure around and having the legs become the arms (Inferno and Tow-Line were exceptions, coincidentally they share the same design philosophy). Hot Shot suffered the most in that with no forward swinging hip joints, and limited shoulder joints.

So what if it does have barely any articulation?

During a time when articulation was a long-established norm for TF figures? (barring an interruption with the Armada line's hindered articulation)

Not to mention his combined torso mode has even less articulation and no hands at all (only the ends of his altmode kibble with holes in them).

Compared to his wavemate Inferno, who by comparison was a fantastic figure, the Hot Shot mold had barely any real playability as an action figure, being more functional instead as a paperweight.

Well I don't think that.

Well, that's cool, just know, that most really dislike it with a passion; and they were only explaining to you why people didn't like it, answering your question.

Thanks for the info, I am hopefully going to attempt this on mine as well

Seibertron wrote:

gothsaurus wrote:Does anyone know where these custom antenna came from? That helps the figure a lot. I'd love to get some if they are shapeways, etc.

Here we go, short story long ...

When Nightbeat came out, I was really bummed that he didn't have the antennae. At the time, you could go down to your local Walmart or other big box store and grab a G.I. Joe figure for around $7 give or take a couple of bucks, which I determined some figures came with guns that were the appropriate size for antennae for Nightbeat. If I recall correctly what I did 7 or 8 years ago was buy a 25th anniversary Wildbill. His guns (again if I recall correctly that it was a Wildbill), had some pegs on the side of the gun for some reason (maybe to plug into a holster on his legs or something), which I thought would be perfect to plug into Nightbeat's head if I drilled some holes into the side of his head. Because we were told that the antennae weren't put on from the factory due to "clearance" issues, I wanted the antennae to either be removable or to rotate so that they could stay on when he transformed. The holes were drilled just a tad too big (courtesy of US drill bits versus metric ... anyone know of a nice set of metric drill bits on Amazon?) so the antennae were too loose for what I had envisioned. Because I was bummed about the head and because it took me a little while to figure out a solution, I just never did his gallery at the time.

Fast forward a few years later: after transforming him a few times during the G1 Nightbeat and Generations Nightbeat galleries, I realized that there was more than enough clearance for the antennae during the transformation plus the guns were made of a soft plastic so they'd bend if needed. To fix the loose antennae, I just ended up supergluing the guns in place. He transforms just fine with the antennae permanently in place. It fixes the goofy head and turns a mediocre head into the proper head it should be.

Since I ended up gluing the guns in place (and snipped off the gun's handle), it probably doesn't matter which G.I. Joe's guns you use as long as you think they look like they'd be appropriate as antennas. You also probably don't need to actually drill any holes into the side of his head if you are gluing them to the sides of his head, but mine are probably more sturdy because they peg in plus are superglued. I imagine those store brand army guys that are at Toys R Us and/or Target would probably do the trick as well.

It's one of the few actual "customs" I've done and I'd say I was pretty happy with the end result.

Finally RAMJET arrives and he is awesome! My last figure from the current TFCC so its bittersweet.

Wow. Wow. I just did a check online and found out that the 100% complete Pirate Brimstone and Pirate Hunter figures I got at Comicon for $60 is actually selling for up to $150. I am so never selling these.

Magazine arrived. Features a recap of Botcon 2016, an explanation of why the Unit-3 figure exists, and the comic features a Pretender Prime hint gorilla in a zoo, Pretender Megatron from the mysterious guy, and Ramjet teaming up with the Mayhem Attack Squad.

Thanks to fellow Seibertronian Tigertrack, we have a new reveal from the joint exclusive figures for the Transformers and G.I. Joe Collectors' Clubs, in addition to Hologram Megatron and Ratbat, as we have already seen through BotCon 2016. With no new figures on the Joe front other than previously seen Ninja Force Scarlett, Dr Sidney Biggles-Jones and Cobra Commander, we now know from the pages of the Joe magazine that Autobots Blackcat and Toaster will be joining the set, respectively repaints of Comic-Con exclusives Ravage and Blaster. Check out the images below!

OMG, Toaster has a toy!!!!!!! Glory day!!!!!!

Frakkin' Toaster! WOOHOO!!!

Having trouble remembering where that Ratbat/Megatron set will be released. Is that SDCC ... or club exclusive?

gothsaurus wrote:Having trouble remembering where that Ratbat/Megatron set will be released. Is that SDCC ... or club exclusive?

This is that set. Megatron and Ratbat come with all these G.I. Joe characters (and now Blackcat and Toaster as well), as a TCC/GIJCC Club Store exclusive.

Thanks so much for helping clear things up. Guess I'm in for the set, since I want Ratbat.

It's very cool to get an official Blackcat figure. I hope it will eventually usher in a G1 and Masterpiece release of the toy... as much of a long shot as that is.

gothsaurus wrote:It's very cool to get an official Blackcat figure. I hope it will eventually usher in a G1 and Masterpiece release of the toy... as much of a long shot as that is.

I wish the Club had been able to acquire either the MP or the Universe version of Ravage so as to give us a transformable version of Blackcat.

Though, the more I think about it, shouldn't Toaster's toy ought to be, well, a toaster?

It's really cool that a character as obscure as Blackcat is getting a toy, but I can't help but wonder if his being an immobile figure is a result of some sort of monkey's paw wish-gone-wrong.

(Considering that parts-count seems to be a notable factor in cost, I suppose it isn't surprising they went with a lovingly painted statuette.)

I only want that Megatron. Anyone wanna split a set?

Just found some pics to show scale. Looks like BlackCat will be roughly the size of G1 Ravage. I'm pretty pleased with that now. Even without it Transforming, will at least scale well with characters. And with the recent load of comic-featured characters (from Scrounge to Impactor), it will certainly have a home on a shelf.

I'm actually quite amazed people (aside from Sabrblade) know who Blackcat actually is When it comes to obscurity, he gives Stripes a run for his money!

While i'm sad they didn't make a crazy SG Toaster out of Ejector, at least I get a Blackcat out of it!

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:I'm actually quite amazed people (aside from Sabrblade) know who Blackcat actually is When it comes to obscurity, he gives Stripes a run for his money!

I had a slightly higher than base knowledge of the cassette bots, but I only learned about Blackcat the previous night

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:I'm actually quite amazed people (aside from Sabrblade) know who Blackcat actually is When it comes to obscurity, he gives Stripes a run for his money!

Well while browsing Recordicons I started to learn a lot more about the Mini-Cassettes. When linked to Solarbot on the TFwiki I found out about Blackcat and more.

Twitter user and G.I.Joe Con attendee RID_NightViper snapped some shots of joint exclusive figures from the Collectors' Clubs! Included is Hologram (G2) Megatron, Ratbat, Blackcat, and Toaster (repaints of Comic-Con exclusives Ravage and Blaster), the later three inspired by the G1 Marvel Comics. Also of note is Cobra Commander with his very own hand held Megatron. See the incredibly obscure crew below, and stay tuned to Seibertron.com: home for the best Galleries and Conversation around!

Soooo... what's taking Skywarp so long to show up on the store. I thought we'd be seeing orders soon now since Ramjet is out the door, but I guess the wait continues.

Emerje

I realize Toaster comes with recolored "cassettes", but since he's um, a toaster.....are those meant to be minions that transform into toaster pastries?

Bounti76 wrote:I realize Toaster comes with recolored "cassettes", but since he's um, a toaster.....are those meant to be minions that transform into toaster pastries?

shajaki wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:I realize Toaster comes with recolored "cassettes", but since he's um, a toaster.....are those meant to be minions that transform into toaster pastries?

Not just good... CRAZY GOOD

Is it just me, or is "hologram" Megs kind of uninspiring with Double Pretender Megs also on the way?

Zeedust wrote:Is it just me, or is "hologram" Megs kind of uninspiring with Double Pretender Megs also on the way?

Hologram Megs is a G2 Megs homage (as Megs's G2 body was built by Cobra in the G.I. Joe story that these Cobra humans were in), Double Pretender Megs is an unreleased G2 Combat Hero Megs homage. Both just happen to be tank-altmoded Megatrons.

Zeedust wrote:Is it just me, or is "hologram" Megs kind of uninspiring with Double Pretender Megs also on the way?

Maybe that's why they made him translucent: that made the reference just that more niche, especially in in combination with G.I. Joe.

I have to ask: There's Universe and Masterpiece Ravage molds presumably available, and the original mold may have been an option too (it was used in 2012 for Stripes)... So why the heck did they use a non-transforming Ravage for Blackcat instead?

Sabrblade wrote:

Zeedust wrote:Is it just me, or is "hologram" Megs kind of uninspiring with Double Pretender Megs also on the way?

Hologram Megs is a G2 Megs homage (as Megs's G2 body was built by Cobra in the G.I. Joe story that these Cobra humans were in), Double Pretender Megs is an unreleased G2 Combat Hero Megs homage. Both just happen to be tank-altmoded Megatrons.

I get that, I'm just saying it's the same mold and the same character being released at what looks like it'll be about the same time. How many people will feel like they've just got to have both?

They did shift their manufacturing to a different country. A mold that was available a few months or years ago might take some real string pulling to get sent to a different country to press.

gothsaurus wrote:They did shift their manufacturing to a different country. A mold that was available a few months or years ago might take some real string pulling to get sent to a different country to press.

I either forgot about that or never knew in the first place. Now it makes sense. Thank you.

Zeedust wrote:

gothsaurus wrote:They did shift their manufacturing to a different country. A mold that was available a few months or years ago might take some real string pulling to get sent to a different country to press.

I either forgot about that or never knew in the first place. Now it makes sense. Thank you.

Plus, Blackcat was never officially confirmed to transform into a cassette: his depiction was in Jaguar mode only.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Plus, Blackcat was never officially confirmed to transform into a cassette: his depiction was in Jaguar mode only.

There are plenty of bit-part Transformers, and even a few somewhat significant ones (like Animated Arcee), who we only ever see one mode of in fiction.

And if they never confirmed whether he turned into a cassette or not, wouldn't that leave it open for them to make him one if they so chose? (Assuming Hasbro approved, of course, but what are the odds of them having plans for Blackcat?)

The way I see it, this set is more like the SDCC TF/Joe crossover sets than not, and those feature non-transforming TF toys rather than transforming ones. That this set has two transforming TFs (and one of which is, of all things, a Masterpiece mold) at all is quite impressive as is.

Do I wish they had been able to get a transforming mold for Blackcat? Sure, that would have been even more impressive. But that were getting an official Blackcat toy at all (and an official toy of frakkin' TOASTER) is already astonishing on its own, even if it's via a nontransforming mold (the same Ravage mold from the SDCC 2013).

After all, this set was initially announced with all of its known pieces except for Blackcat and Toaster. Perhaps their inclusion came at a later point than the other pieces, with the Club's budget only allowing them to be nontransforming accessories rather than two more full figures, as two more transforming figures might've upped the cost too much to be manageable.

We received an update on the upcoming GI Joe/Transformers Club Membership figure courtesy of the Club. Here is the update:

To members of both clubs:

All Domestic free figures were mailed on 6/2/16. These items were sent via bulk mail service through the Post Office, which can take 3-4 weeks for delivery.

All International free figures were mailed on 6/24/16. These items were sent via bulk mail international service through FedX, which can take 6-8 weeks for delivery. These originally were supposed to go DHL and we had many issues with them so we had to switch to Fedex. Fedex transports the figures to your country and puts them in your country's mail system. We apologize for the delay.

If you do not receive your figure(s) by the end of July, please contact us at admin@funpubinc.com, and we will be happy to check on your figure.

These shipments do not have individual tracking numbers since they were sent via bulk mail services. If your item has to be re-routed for any reason this can make the delivery process even longer. If your item is returned to us due to an address change, you will be notified, and you will be responsible for the new shipping fee. If you had multiple memberships and multiple figures coming, these are not guaranteed to be delivered together. To be eligible for the 2016 free figure item you had to be an active member on or by 3/18/16.

Please do not contact our office until the end of July concerning these figures.

Thanks for your support! Have a great summer!

Brian

I'm guessing they could have saved themselves a lot of customer service emails and sent this note out when the figures were shipped, but, you know, funpub.