SDCC 2015 Hasbro Transformers Panel Summary

Whatever happened to Hasbro's MP Sideswipe that was announced two BotCons ago?

no technobots, vicky looks like hot garbage, just so much disappointment.

And in case a written summary isn't enough for you, Seibertron has also provided a full gallery of the presentation slides used by Hasbro on the Transformers panel at San Diego Comic Con 2015! Check out below a small sample, click on any of them to find the full gallery, and refer back to this post for the details in the specifics!

Sabrblade wrote:Whatever happened to Hasbro's MP Sideswipe that was announced two BotCons ago?

Presumably vaporware at this point. Speculation: perhaps a licensing issue?

I think a lot of this news is cool, but not mind blowing. Scattershot is bad, I'm not ok with a low effort retool on that one.

Excellent news about the G1 reissue availability though. Would love more detail on MP Starscream's deco.

Finally, after this panel, I really do now think the "Titan Wars" backdrop seen at Botcon was a massive screw up on someone's part, and it wasn't supposed to be seen yet, or even worse, was leftover from a canceled concept.

It's a shame that nothing was said about Titan Wars, not even a silhouette of an upcoming figure. All they've revealed are three box-sets of bad-looking repaints and one bad-looking retool. It looks like Hasbro really did reveal all the good stuff at BotCon...

So people are aware, Seibertron is currently back taking photos at the Hasbro booth area.
There may be more, better images of products coming soon!

While it's awesome that Generation 2 Combiners sets are happening, it's not for me. More money saved for Bruticus!

Computron's happening! Just... not the way I envisioned it. With the overall theme of the line is massive retoolings, kinda expected Scattorshot to be a Silverbolt retool, but... did they not retool Superion's head to better match Computron's? Really? Also, I totally get not having the name to a character anymore and having to give them a different name, but surely they could've done better than "Betatron"?

Also, no Technobot limbs? Surely they're being made as well? If not... incredibly massive missed opportunity.

Masterpiece Starscream, yay! I'd be more excited for this had I not already gotten the Hasbro Asia release exactly a year ago. Is there any confirmation about him coming with coronation gear?

As I said in Victorion's thread, I'm kinda into her, but not really. I'm going to get her, but it's going to be for that kickass sword for this custom idea I have, and as a display buddy for Windblade.

And with that said... what ever happened to Titan Wars?

Sabrblade wrote:Whatever happened to Hasbro's MP Sideswipe that was announced two BotCons ago?

That's what I want to know!

I'm genuinely confused-why is 'Betatron' Scattershot and the 4 autobots that make Optimus Maximus??

Where are the other technobots? And why is every combiner re-tools? I get they need to get mileage out of these molds, but they took it too far fast! Blast-Off and Scattershot deserve new molds-and they have to have made enough money to achieve this by now. Something really awesome has gone bad fast, I feel...

Ok, I finally have something bad to say about Victorion. Those individual bot names are pretty bad and very awkward to say. Luckily I don't care about things like that and will call them whatever I want when I get them. I wonder though, do they have a group name yet? Are they the Victoribots or the Toribots or perhaps the Vicibots maybe even the Fandobots?

I think we just need to wait a bit before we all start going too crazy about the rest of the Technobots not being shown yet. Hasbro has a habit of showing what the toys can do rather than be 100% accurate as to what it's "supposed" to look like. Remember how Superion had Dragstrip in the early photo's and how Ultra Prime did as well. Oh no! Betatron is being shown with what we know of as Optimus Maximus' team. So what? They still have time to make the rest. Maybe they'll be in wave three of next year and they don't have anything to show for that far in advance. Since they didn't want to have just one voyager per wave, maybe they're releasing Scattorshot earlier than the rest of the Technobots. Wave two of the voyagers and deluxes should be the Combaticons with either Sky Lynx or Scattorshot as the other voyager or maybe even both versions of Onslaught packed together. Wave 3 is really only starting to show up in stores now so we have almost a full year before they reveal what the third wave of deluxes will be for next year.

hinomars19 wrote:I'm genuinely confused-why is 'Betatron' Scattershot and the 4 autobots that make Optimus Maximus??

Where are the other technobots? And why is every combiner re-tools? I get they need to get mileage out of these molds, but they took it too far fast! Blast-Off and Scattershot deserve new molds-and they have to have made enough money to achieve this by now. Something really awesome has gone bad fast, I feel...

Guys, don't forget: with Victorion confirmed as a set, we possibly still have two waves after the Sky Reign bots. No way will Hasbro cheap out on this, especially with TakaraTomy wanting to release its own version!

Alpha Weltall wrote:Ok, I finally have something bad to say about Victorion. Those individual bot names are pretty bad and very awkward to say. Luckily I don't care about things like that and will call them whatever I want when I get them. I wonder though, do they have a group name yet? Are they the Victoribots or the Toribots or perhaps the Vicibots maybe even the Fandobots?

Funny thing, in Combiner War the Team Names are never mentioned and are probably trivial at this point, when everyone can possibly combine.

Well this SDCC has been a huge disappointment. Just a big pile of repaints and no real new announcements. Victorion will probably look better in molded plastic rather than thick, glossy paint. The G2 repaints are nice, but I'm guessing they'll be exclusives somewhere. Scattershot is total garbage and appears to be all alone just like Cyclonus.

What's more disappointing is what they aren't doing. No beasts, no mention of Titan Wars, no new MPs (will try to get Starscream, though), and no Groove.

At least we had a good showing at BotCon.

Emerje

But does Scattorshot still have the ability to be mistransformed hilariously? If you don't know what I'm talking about, use google.

Also, Bruticus, Sky Lynx and G2 Superion all look amazing.

Genericon #378 wrote:But does Scattorshot still have the ability to be mistransformed hilariously? If you don't know what I'm talking about, use google.

No, the nosecone flips upwards for Scattershot, but since the Silverbolt mold makes a 180 when in torso mode...

O grow up

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Genericon #378 wrote:But does Scattorshot still have the ability to be mistransformed hilariously? If you don't know what I'm talking about, use google.

No, the nosecone flips upwards for Scattershot, but since the Silverbolt mold makes a 180 when in torso mode...

O grow up

It probably deends on how the gun attaches to the nosecone. My guess is tht it uses the molded in wheel on the shield anx not an attached kickstand for thevfron landing gear, and without that, you cant attach the gun to the landing gear to "position". You might be able to do it by partially folding the nosedown, but then he's as long out the back as he is the out the front... yeah I'm gonna leave it at that.

Could someone pst the Victorion names? I'm on a phone and flipping through the gallery is not easy.

And I really want a G2 Defensor now for that dark blue Blades.

I think that betatron is hasbro's way of teasing computron before the technobot limbs show up. I mean the limbs they showcased are already in a different combiner, it would make no sense!

Flashwave wrote:Could someone pst the Victorion names? I'm on a phone and flipping through the gallery is not easy.

leader hotspot retool = pyra magma
helicopter sisters = storm clash and skyburst
breakdown retool = jumpstream
dead end retool = dust-up
groove retool = rust dust

Hope this helps

I'm fast losing faith in Combiner Wars, I have to be honest.

Delta Magnus wrote:I'm fast losing faith in Combiner Wars, I have to be honest.

aw c'mon, lets lighten up. I posted in another thread that this is the way it was revealed last year, superion and menasor super early, and the third reveal wasn't until the NY toy fair of this year and the fourth reveal wasn't until botcon of this year. If victorion really isn't a standard release, that leaves two waves left. we should expect to see them revealed at ny toy fair next year and botcon of next year; lets all just CALM DOWN you're getting your G2 boxsets, we got to see victorion, if you don't like it, that's your problem, not ours

im gonna laugh when Hasbro randomly drops the ball and confirms Nexus Prime using Heat wave from Onslaught , Skyfall and breakaway from from one of the arialbots, Land quake from Brawl , and top spin from the glorious Alpha Brave i'd pay for a combiner that is something different from the Norm

Victorion looks awful in my opinion, that colour scheme is a real eyesore. Smart move by hasbro making it a set because they'll probably lose a substantial amount of money from it from looking at forums its staunch supporters are even saying "ew".

So by "G2" do they just mean repaints or is there anything physically different for the molds, for example "G2 Menasor"?

jay5 wrote:So by "G2" do they just mean repaints or is there anything physically different for the molds, for example "G2 Menasor"?

The original G2 toys were just straight redecos of the G2 toys, so it stands to reason that same applies here.

Scattershot? Damn. The original G1 toy was one of my faves. This is just a another half-hearted retool. Heh, when I was a kid I used to tease one of my friends for his Masters of the Universe figures constantly re-using the same body parts over and over and over and over but that was kind of acceptable back then as action figures were still a 'new' thing. It's 2015 now and Hasbro are just churning out constant unimaginative boring junk using the same pieces over and over with the increasingly rare pleasant surprise such as Sky-Lynx (though still messed up slightly by forcing him into the Combine Wars gimmick).

Sabrblade wrote:

jay5 wrote:So by "G2" do they just mean repaints or is there anything physically different for the molds, for example "G2 Menasor"?

The original G2 toys were just straight redecos of the G2 toys, so it stands to reason that same applies here.

Cool, I might pick up a few Stunticon cars if they look good.


Any news of an MP Mirage?

jay5 wrote:So by "G2" do they just mean repaints or is there anything physically different for the molds, for example "G2 Menasor"?

Generation 2 started out as bright-colored redeco of G1 molds (with some tweaks done to incorporate new features like sound packs and G.I. Joe guns), so physically there's nothing different:


Transformers Generation 2 Superion Gallery

Delta Magnus wrote:I'm fast losing faith in Combiner Wars, I have to be honest.

I agree. It seems to have just declined into stagnation at this point. Personally I have my fingers crossed that wave 6 (Sky Lynx, Hound, Smokescreen etc.) will be the last full wave in the Combiner Wars assortment and they'll move on to Titan Wars (I NEED that sexy Astrotrain-looking thing in my life) starting from next Summer. Of course I don't think this will actually happen because Victorion is coming out in the middle of 2016 and I really don't think the other Technobots will go unmade, but one can dream.

Carnivius_Prime wrote:Scattershot? Damn. The original G1 toy was one of my faves. This is just a another half-hearted retool. Heh, when I was a kid I used to tease one of my friends for his Masters of the Universe figures constantly re-using the same body parts over and over and over and over but that was kind of acceptable back then as action figures were still a 'new' thing. It's 2015 now and Hasbro are just churning out constant unimaginative boring junk using the same pieces over and over with the increasingly rare pleasant surprise such as Sky-Lynx (though still messed up slightly by forcing him into the Combine Wars gimmick).

Life sucks, you should probably accept it

I'm not actually that fussed about Scattorshot being on his own. As others have said, Drag Strip was part of both Superion and Ultra Prime in wave 1, and I remember hearing it was stated in the panel that Betatron is the "Beta" version of a future Combiner, so it's safe to assume the other Technobots are coming.

My guess would be that they will pad their pockets with "G2" repaints of the existing set of four CW gestalts (Superion, Menasor, Defensor, Devastator, plus the fan-made which they planned to be almost entirely a repaint of existing molds) while simultaneously developing the next set of four gestalts with new molds (Computron, Bruticus, Predaking, pick a fourth [Liokaiser,etc]). Though if Bruticus and some of the other limbs from the next set are partial retools of existing molds, that works to their benefit.

This enables them to maintain a strong cashflow while producing a whole new set of gestalts. At least that's what my business sense tells me.

Wait...

I understand Hasbro's using "Betatron" to give Scattorshot a use until/if they make the Deluxe Technobots...

But why does Betatron (and potentially Computron) LITERALLY have Superion's head, in the exact same paint scheme? Black helmet, gold pipes, red visor, and silver mouthplate? That's not even close to Computron.

Maybe it's a prototype and they haven't used the proper paint apps yet/created the Combiner head?

So much negativity...

I think Victorion in molded plastic colors is going to look amazing. New feet and hands? Hasbro is listening.

The G2 redecos are sweet and something desirable for collectors.

I'm not even a staunch Combiner Wars advocate and I think they did a great job.

(Except Scattershot...that could have gone better. I do think the limbs are forthcoming though. I just hope they are club exclusives because your collective rage is delicious.)

By the by, anybody who "G2" Powerglide and Blackjack are based on? Neither Powerglide or Runabout/Blackjack were released in G2, so I'm wondering where their colors came from.

Autobot tap out wrote:im gonna laugh when Hasbro randomly drops the ball and confirms Nexus Prime using Heat wave from Onslaught , Skyfall and breakaway from from one of the arialbots, Land quake from Brawl , and top spin from the glorious Alpha Brave i'd pay for a combiner that is something different from the Norm

That's FunPub's playground. I'd expect that for Pasadena in 2017, maybe.

Heatwave from Hotspot
Breakaway from Air Raid
Landquake from Brawl
Topspin from Alpha Bravo
???? from Rook (Chase would fit)
Skyfall from Powerglide

I was actually expecting to see the G2 Menasor from the club. Maybe G2 Animated, then. Given they try to 1UP each year, make them COMBINE!!!!! Just sayin'.
As far as next year's Botcon, they need to center around a Beast Wars theme for the 20th Anniversary. Would love to see them finish the Beast Wars arc they opened up at the end of Animated's run in 2009.

Ranting over. You may now return to SDCC coverage already in progress.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:By the by, anybody who "G2" Powerglide and Blackjack are based on? Neither Powerglide or Runabout/Blackjack were released in G2, so I'm wondering where their colors came from.

The closest thing I thought of with Powerglide, is that he's either in a deco inspired by the 2008 Universe toy, OR he's based on Bad Boy, but with all the blue turned red (Like, he's nearly spot on in resemblance if you switch the colors).

Blackjack just seems to be based on the Purple car accessory that was going to come with the original G2 Menasor toy (with bonus details to prevent him from looking bland).

We return after that short post-Hasbro panel break with a new Seibertron.com gallery, directly from San Diego Comic Con 2015! The Hasbro booth was populated with more products than earlier today, and we get a much better look at the Combiner Victorion, with the six Torchbearers each taking a little of the spotlight too - check out below Pyra Magna (the torso), Jumpstream & Dustup (arms), Stormclash & Skyburst (legs) and Rust Dust (chest piece)!

Here's another thought on the Computron/betatron thing. Maybe the plan is to only do Scattershot, so there will be no Computron proper. I really can't see Takara doing all 4 limbs just to put out Computron. Unite Warriors may just not have an Abominus or Computron

The next gallery from the Hasbro Booth at San Diego Comic Con 2015 shows the latest iteration of the Transformers Combiner Wars Silverbolt mold as Scattershot, plus the Autobots part of Optimus Maximus in the IDW Combiner Wars finale: Prowl, Mirage, Ironhide and Sunstreaker.

Check out below a selection from the full gallery, which you can access by clicking on any image, and let us know what you think on this take on Computron in the new Betatron monicker. Do you think this even his final form..?

These look much better, full praise to seibs, and anyone else there Victorion looks pretty nice in these pics, wish they allowed for one more color to accent certain parts, or to break up the monotonous paint scheme; will be getting it, can't wait

Beta-thingy looks distinctly lazy in combined mode, maybe this is a super-early release, and they don't have the head molded for computhingy yet It's not even got painted detail in combined mode (please don't let this be official

Desslok2201 wrote:Here's another thought on the Computron/betatron thing. Maybe the plan is to only do Scattershot, so there will be no Computron proper. I really can't see Takara doing all 4 limbs just to put out Computron. Unite Warriors may just not have an Abominus or Computron

Considering how often Takara makes toys that never show up in Hasbro markets, I actually COULD see them making Computron at the very least. Prime Breakdown, and all of his remolds, never made it to Hasbro markets (excluding the Botcon exclusive Megatron), and is a great example. And who knows if Hasbro will ever put out that new Decepticon lady trio that Takara is making.

They have a Scattorshot mold now, and he would just need the actual Computron head.
Strafe could be remolded from the Air Raid, Skydive, or Fireflight mold (just give him a new head and fuselage).
Lightspeed could be remolded from the Dead End mold (Just needs a new head, and maybe a spoiler and front bumper).
Afterburner could be remolded from the (Already Takara-exclusive) Groove mold (give him a new windshield really; Groove's head already works pretty well for Afterburner).
Nosecone could be remolded from the Brawl mold (Seriously, give him a drill instead of cannon barrel, MAYBE a new tank top, and a new head, and you have Nosecone).

Edit: I just realized how interesting it is, that coming up with that on the fly, each Deluxe Technobot would be a remold from a different team in that scenario (Strafe from an Aerialbot, Lightspeed from a Stunticon, Afterburner from a Protectobot, and Nosecone from a Combaticon).

The next two galleries come with an eyesight warning - these are not the combiners your parents knew! Taking the Superion and Menasor sets as is, Hasbro has redecoed them, including adding the G2 faction symbols, into their Generation 2 neon, gold, wonderfully tacky incarnations - and you can check them out below as sample, with the full galleries here for the Aerialbots and here for the Stunticons.

They should change the name into Repaint Wars. There are way too many repaints in this line for my taste. Scattorshot looks horrible. The headsculpt is okay, but the detail just isn't there and both modes look way too bland.

Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Fan Built Victorion
B3901 Wave 1 2016
$99.99 SRP
AVAIL May 16

That's actually not that bad of a deal...

Alpha Weltall wrote:Oh no! Betatron is being shown with what we know of as Optimus Maximus' team. So what? They still have time to make the rest. Maybe they'll be in wave three of next year and they don't have anything to show for that far in advance. Since they didn't want to have just one voyager per wave, maybe they're releasing Scattorshot earlier than the rest of the Technobots.

You realise this response would be just as easy to understand without the sarcasm? I was initially confused and posted as such. Is Betatron a new name for a combiner made of Scattershot and the 4 G1 cars, or is it the new name for Computron due to copyright? If so, where is the rest of Computron?
Your post clears part of that up, so thanks

Counterpunch wrote:So much negativity...

I think Victorion in molded plastic colors is going to look amazing. New feet and hands? Hasbro is listening.

The G2 redecos are sweet and something desirable for collectors.

I'm not even a staunch Combiner Wars advocate and I think they did a great job.

(Except Scattershot...that could have gone better. I do think the limbs are forthcoming though. I just hope they are club exclusives because your collective rage is delicious.)

Not sure that last line is necessary, dude The G2's and Victorion not withstanding, (G2's are self explanatory and Victorion was obvioulsy re tools from the poll options-and I have no problems with any of them) I see nothing wrong with being disappointed that what started as a great line with Superion is quickly descending into 2-3 years of the same molds re-hashed over and over.
It's been a long day full of bickering and I just don't see the point in everybody keep jumping on each other. Pretty sure negative views on a product are still allowed.
I have TT's Defensor on pre-order, after that my only interest is Bruticus; and even then I may go for TT if Blast-off is a new mold because I need some variety. After that, I'm not that fussed.

Potential Technobot reveals at a later date may change that, but I'm guessing they will be more re-tools. Scattershot already is and I have no interest in him as he is. May not be the happy jingle of celebration everybody wants to hear, but it's the truth.

I AM happy to see G2 Menasor join Superion, but it's not something I can afford, especially when, through no fault of it's own, it's yet more repaints of molds I will already own most of twice as it is. I want Victorion, but price and time of release will decide that.

jay5 wrote:Any news of an MP Mirage?

That's Takara's department since they're the masterminds behind the Masterpieces, not Hasbro. And Takara only just recently announced MP Ironhide and MP Optimus Primal, and Hound's rumored to be the next one after Ironhide, so don't expect any more news to come so soon.

Well these look wonderfully hideous, hope they aren't all at that bloated price point, I've gotten all of my combiners for ~$70 so an extra 30 is NOT cool for the G2 figures, not sure it's even worth it for Victorion.

those new photos are fantastic, seriously, thanks to all involved.

Victorion looks better, but still feels like they are all lacking detail to break up that red.
The individual bots are lovely seeing them up close. My only real gripe since earlier today was the colour mapping, these photos prove I love the overall sculpts

G2 stunticons are tasty...

Counterpunch wrote:I do think [insert toy here] are forthcoming though. I just hope they are club exclusives because your collective rage is delicious.

This may have to be my new signature soon..

The Stunticon repaints look all right in alt modes so I'll probably pick up the 4 Deluxe cars.

Va'al wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:I do think [insert toy here] are forthcoming though. I just hope they are club exclusives because your collective rage is delicious.

This may have to be my new signature soon..

Do it