Botcon 2001...How does one begin an Obsession?

To say that Botcon 2001 was the beginning would be misleading at best. I mean, I still to this day vividly recall obtaining my very first Transformer when I was still only five years old and carrying it with pride through my father's restaurant.

Now whether that is a real memory or something that has been conglomerated over the years I can't say. But while that might have been the beginning of my relationship with these little plastic toys, Botcon 2001 was the event that changed that relationship forever.

Starting from Scratch...almost

When one sells their entire collection and then decides they want to start again, where do you start? Do you try to obtain everything you let go of, or do you explore new opportunities?

This is the question I find myself facing.

Arms Micron Breakdown (with friend)

I'll be honest, I didn't like Transformers: Prime when it first came out. It had way too many "movie" elements to it for my liking, especially the mute Bumblebee. But the more I watched the show the more it grew on me. However I still wasn't completely sold until the folks at Botcon 2011 previewed an upcoming episode for us featuring this guy: Breakdown. The episode was appropriately titled 'Operation: Breakdown' and it really fleshed out Breakdown as a character giving him more than just a "Decepticon SMASH" personality. It was after viewing this episode that I was hooked on Prime as well as Breakdown's character. I've always really enjoyed bad guys that aren't evil just for the sake of being evil but actually have histories and motives for what they do. I had been looking forward to seeing Breakdown released domestically ever since then, but apparently it was not meant to be.

Destination Savcon!

As Transformers conventions go it has been a long time since one has graced my particular corner of the United States. Sure we had Botcon 2010 in Orlando about eleven hours away and of course Botcon 2007 in Rhode Island about thirteen hours away, but not since 2001 (Raleigh, NC) has there been one within only a couple hours drive. I think this was the primary motivator for me wanting to attend Savcon located in Savannah, Georgia; a relatively short four hour drive. However I was also motivated to attend a smaller, local convention without all the bells and whistles that come with Botcon. Since I had only been to Botcons in the past I really had no idea what to expect especially from a first year convention. What I discovered was much more than I could have imagined.

On Transformers Paperwork...

This almost falls under the category of Mail Call, but I haven't done any of those for a while since things are so few and far in between nowadays. What makes this a little different is I wouldn't have this great Fort Max booklet if it weren't for a good friend of mine attending Botcon 2012. I'd like to give a shoutout to fiveironfr3nzy, without his diligence I wouldn't have been able to add this piece to my collection as cheaply and easily as I did. As it stands now I am only three more instruction booklets away from a complete G1 collection and all of those are giftset booklets. For some reason, like with everything else Fort Max related, his booklet is super expensive compared to almost all the others and thus it was one of the last I needed for my paperwork collection.

I was surprised by how small the booklet actually was, I was expecting the size to be more like Sixshot's, but I guess when you break it down Fort Max really isn't that complicated. Just large.

C-301 Goshooter - Shūta Gō!

If there is one thing I have learned over the years it is this: "When Botcon comes around, good deals abound" as our good friend Wheelie might say. I believe this applies whether you attend the convention or not, because while everyone is distracted by all the Botcon exclusives, news, etc. there are a bunch of great deals to be had on eBay and elsewhere. This year a particular TFW seller put up a massive amount of Japanese, European and Diaclone stuff about three days before Botcon! Thankfully Heroic Decepticon alerted me to the thread in time before everything sold out. I wasn't quick enough for some items, but I snagged Landcross, Twincast and GoShooter here. GoShooter is the real gem because he is dead mint with all paperwork, no flap crease and no yellowing. And even though he is only a repaint and not a Japanese exclusive mold he can be hard to come by today.

In honor of Botcon: Action Master Thundercracker

Since Botcon is being held in Dallas this week I thought it would only be appropriate to do a post about a G1 figure that received an update from the Botcon folks last year. Of course I am talking about Action Master Thundercracker. Like so many other things at Botcon, AM Thundercracker has a complicated history that only the most fervent fans tend to appreciate, but I'll do my best to iron it all out.

It's Botcon Time Yet Again

Wow, it is hard to believe it has been almost a year since Botcon 2011 in Pasadena. This year it is a little more convenient for most people since it is in Dallas, Texas, essentially the middle of the country rather than one of the coasts. I was betting on Chicago myself, but I guess when Fun Publications can't figure out where to go they'll just default to Texas. We'll see how this theory pans out in the future...

The Return of Convoy

Back in 1991 when Generation One was dying off Takara was trying to think of a way to bring kids back into the toys. I must assume they decided that the re-creation Convoy (Optimus Prime to those of us outside of Japan) in the form of a Micromaster base would be the best idea since they were all the rage at the time. Since in the Japanese fiction Powermaster Prime was actually a different character named Ginrai this was the first new Convoy toy since the Goodbye version back in 1986! Nothing like bringing back the most popular character from past fiction to revitalize a series, huh? On an additional note they brought Megatron back too but unfortunately there was no toy created for his new form.

Pipeline, Gusher and the Tanker Transport

This is more of a celebratory post than anything. I have been attempting to complete this particular G1 figure for a very long time. It was one that not only has been expensive for a while now, but I never had as a kid either. A few years ago I found a boxed Mexican sample in a local comic store which I purchased for a cool $40, but unfortunately when I got home I discovered it was missing four of the parts! These parts really don't come up very often and after two years and one Botcon of looking I finally found all four. Now they did cost me a good bit because they are so obscure, but it was still a lot cheaper than buying the entire set over again for the ridiculous prices they go for on eBay.

With this comes a complete loose Beast Wars Collection

Being able to replace my failing Rattrap with Metals Rattrap at last year's Botcon I was only one other figure away from completing my loose Beast Wars collection. That remaining figure was Transmetal Megatron. Much like figures with GPS, TM Megatron is notoriously brittle, but for different reasons. Therefore it is difficult to find one today that hasn't broken in some manner. I'm proud to say my original lasted for at least eight years before it decided to snap one day in mid transformation. I also have a MISB version just for completion's sake, but my display never looked quite right with such an iconic and important character missing. The solution? Purchase the Japanese version of the figure which uses a different and stronger type of plastic and doesn't have the same breakage problems.

Collection Pics Updated

You may or may not have noticed, but I have finally completed the last round of my collection pics. It took a lot longer than I anticipated because I got so busy with other stuff. So anyway, enjoy the Animated, Botcon and Classics pics here!

Classics Special Edition: Overkill

Overkill has always been a bottom-rung character. He only got one appearance in the U.S. Cartoon, no appearances in the Marvel comics from what I remember, and very little in the way of fan characterization. However it seems that anytime a Grimlock repaint is required, Overkill fits the bill nicely. This special edition (SE) classics figure does just that.

The SE Classics were initially released for the non-Japanese Asian market but were eventually made available through Hasbro Toy Shop. Also in the wave was a repainted Mirage as Drag Strip, Optimus Prime in a semi-unique color scheme and Tank Megatron in a colorscheme that matched his G1 look. Overkill is a direct repaint of Classics Grimlock and the only one of the four figures that actually interested me. And frankly the only reason I actually wanted him was for another Decepticon for my Classics display since my sides are a little uneven. So I never really put a lot of effort into obtaining him, but I happened to find one at Botcon for a good price.

The box is really nice.

Yup, here he is.

At least now he has a robot mode...

...vs just having a cassette mode. Vintage Overkill here is in his robot mode.

With Grimlock and Shattered Glass Grimlock.

They all look pretty good together!

So that's another one off the bucket list, but much like Weirdwolf he was purchased more out of necessity than actual desire.

Japanese Exclusive: Sky Garry...What the hell is a Garry?

I've had my eye on Sky Garry here for a very long time. Probably at least ten years or more ever since I learned about the Japanese exclusive Transformers. However in the past I never pulled the trigger on purchasing him because he never really seemed that rare or hard to find. As time went by, this of course changed. My basic philosophy to buying old transformers is to "buy it now before it becomes more expensive later". I applied this mindset to the Dinocassettes, Liokaiser, Black Shadow, and countless other hard to find figures. But for some reason Sky Garry always seemed easy to find, almost like and afterthought. So that is how I began to see him. I would only buy him when I found a deal I couldn't refuse. And I found that deal at Botcon this year. A MISB Sky Garry in near perfect condition for only $100. Hell, I paid that much for Movie Starscream!

So of course I had to open him up. If you've never had the pleasure of opening a mint vintage Transformer, it is quite an experience. The smell is what is really memorable to me, that new toy smell. It is kinda like opening up a pack of baseball cards for the first time, you always get that little hint of print along with a little adrenaline at not knowing exactly what you might find.

I will say Sky Garry does not disappoint in the toy department. Sure his robot mode is a brick, but so are all G1's. Not only does he transform into his 'Micromaster' carrier mode, he also transforms into a base that can be connected to other TF: Return of Convoy (the series to which he belongs) bases. There is a tremendous amount of play value in this toy. And he comes with a ton of stickers! I haven't had the chance to apply them yet, but I will sometime soon. Not to mention he comes with an exclusive Micromaster. Micromasters were like the mini-cons of my youth so they still retain that "collect them all" mentality. Obtaining some of these rarer Japanese Micromasters can be very hard to do (Grandus, I'm looking at you).

Robot Mode with Micromaster Shotbomber

Vehicle Mode

There's room for a pilot!

Very cool base mode. I love bases.

I hope to purchase more Return of Convoy figures in the near future, so I can build a massive Micromaster City, but with the cost of Grandus these days it may be a while yet.

Animated Blackout! I must have a thing for Helicopters lately...

If you read my post last week on the other Blackout you may have noticed that I have a certain fondness for the character that I can't really explain very well. So I was thrilled when I was able to obtain Animated Blackout here. I was actually planning on purchasing him at Botcon however no one there seemed to have one; at least not that I could find. So as soon as we got back I purchased him online from Japan and he arrived yesterday. True to all the prior Animated figures, Blackout does not disappoint in characterization as well as engineering.

Animated Blackout only appeared in the cartoon in one episode at the beginning of Season 3 as part of Team Chaar (a reference to the planet of the same name in G1). He was described as the biggest Cybertronian ever created before the Omega Project (this is what I love about Animated: it has such a rich backstory for being a brand new continuity. I'll explore this topic further in another post). Unfortunately the toy itself isn't that large. He is only about as tall as a deluxe although he is very wide. His transformation is similar to Lugnut in that the front of the helicopter splits apart to reveal the head and chest. However his toy conveys a certain feeling of massiveness about him. He is definitely not a character you want to take on by yourself if you are an Autobot.

I was so disappointed when Blackout wasn't released in America, the toy is definitely fun and one of the last molds I need for a complete Animated collection. Unfortunately the Animated show and toyline was canceled before he could be released and unlike Rodimus, Ironhide and Arcee he is too large to be a store exclusive. His helicopter mode (which I don't think we actually see on screen) is a very nice homage to Movie Blackout and at the same time does a very nice job of fitting into the Animated universe. This is one of the main travesties of canceling the Animated cartoon too early, it actually made the Movie designs palatable. The Animated Almanac Vol. 2 (available on Amazon) does a great job of demonstrating this fact with all the characters that were being prepped to be added to the show and possibly the toyline. Unfortunately it will never happen.

I don't mind a movie character that looks like this!

With the only other Team Charr member: Oil Slick.

With his movie counterpart (at least one version of him)

Vehicle mode

I like helicopters!

Now all I need to do is find another one and repaint him into Venom.

X-Dimension Air Defense Microns - The Fire Saber!

Wow things are getting random around here lately. But I did make a lot of random purchases recently so it isn't that surprising. I also figured that most bloggers are in the process of talking about either the Botcon Exclusives or the recent TF Collector Club Exclusives so I thought I should offer up something a little different. When Transformers: Armada was just getting started back in 2002 one of the innovative new things about the line was the introduction of Minicons (or the reintroduction of Micromasters if you like to think of it that way). Minicons were normally either sold with a larger figure or in three-packs usually revolving around a theme. One of the first three packs was the Air Defense Minicon Team: Sonar, Runway and Jetstorm. They could each transform from a small jet to robot and could also combine to form the Star Saber; a mythical weapon of great power in the series (and named after the Japanese only Supreme Commander of Transformers: Victory).

The idea behind the minicons was to emulate the "collect them all" mentality of Pokemon which was incredibly popular at the time. So it was no surprise that every minicon released was recolored over and over again. By my count the Air Defense Team was recolored at least three, maybe four times and remolded and recolored twice more for later releases. When Armada first came out I was determined to collect every single minicon that was released, whether it was a recolor or not. Unfortunately it became immediately clear to me that this would never be a reality due to all of the Japanese exclusive releases, some of which are very, very rare. However, I really liked the idea behind the combining minicons, so I was determined to at least attempt to collect all of the combiners. Two weeks ago, that goal became one step closer with the purchase of the X-Dimension Air Defense Team: a Japanese exclusive repaint of the Air Defense Team in a "fire" theme that was very limited. To my knowledge (and Flywheels may need to correct me here) that was the last repaint of these figures I needed in order to complete my "Star Saber" collection.

So now I can finally display all of my "Sabers" together!

Robot Modes

Vehicle Modes

Jetstorm and his repaints/remolds

In robot form

Sonar and his repaints/remolds

In robot modes

Runway and his repaints/remolds

Robot modes

From Left to Right: The Cybertron Saber, The Fire Saber, The Star Saber, The Dark Saber, The Ice Saber, The Energon Saber

All the Robots!

I wasn't planning on purchasing "The Fire Saber" while at Botcon, I just happened upon it (a lot like Rattrap) and I couldn't resist since it was at such a good price and was still sealed. Maybe I will end up with all the minicons after all, it may just take a really long time :-)

C-43 Metals Rattle AKA Transmetal Rattrap!

If you've had an opportunity to look at my collection pages you will notice one glaring omission from the Beast Era: Transmetal Rattrap. I do actually have the figure however after 15 years the vacuum-metalized paint on the figure had disintegrated. I actually had to put him in a ziplock bag a few years ago just to prevent little red flakes all over everything. A similar fate befell Beast Machines Ultra Jetstorm. So for quite a while I haven't been able to display Rattrap with his teammates. While at Botcon I happened upon this little gem: a Beast Wars Metals Rattle MISB for only $15! I could not pass that up so even though I hadn't planned on purchasing him at the show I was able to fill a large hole in my collection.

Beast Mode

Because this is the Japanese version of the figure, there are a few differences between this one and the American version. First and foremost is the color of the vacuum paint. You may or may not be able to tell through the pictures but it is more of a pink color than the show-accurate red. Also on the rear of the figure where Rattrap's name was tampographed is instead the word "Cybertron" (the Japanese equivalent for Autobot even though he is technically a Maximal). Other than those small differences the figures are the same. I didn't get my old figure out for comparison because I still don't want to deal with little red flakes everywhere.

Also of interest are his instructions because they also include the instructions for D-43 Terrorsaur. I believe this is due to the figures being sold in a two-pack and Takara just used the same instruction sheet for the individually packed figures instead of reprinting it. It also comes with a cool holographic card that switches between non-transmetal beast mode, transmetal beast mode and transmetal robot mode.

Vehicle mode (all Transmetals had this 'in-between' mode)

Robot Mode

The two Rattraps of Beast Wars

Rattrap's Evolution

It is funny his figure continued to get bigger as time progressed.

With the Wal-Mart Exclusive Blue Rattrap. Blue Rattrap is also known as Transmetal Packrat.

The beauty of the figures from the Beast Era was that they were more or less screen-accurate. In the show Rattrap's 'backpack' flipped around but other than that this figure was dead-on accurate. We are spoiled nowadays as we expect our figures to look like what we see on TV, but when Beast Wars was going on I can remember my excitement at actually having toys that looked 'right'. Back when G1 was on TV, we weren't so lucky.

Transformers Animated Tech Specs!

As you probably already know from the flurry of posts recently I was pretty excited about Botcon this year mostly due to the fact that the exclusives were themed from the Transformers: Animated show. So imagine my surprise upon arrival in Pasadena at the two exclusive lithographs this year: Animated Tech Specs in the G1 style! Naturally one for Autobots and the other for Decepticons.

Usually the annual Lithographs don't excite me very much, but this was completely different. The team at Fun Publications (who runs Botcon) had partnered with Art Director Derrick J. Wyatt and Writer/Story Editor Marty Isenberg for the Transformers: Animated Television Show to expand the Animated Universe even further. What is great about these sets is they include all of the Animated Tech Specs that had been shown in the Transformers Collector's Club Magazine in prior years. I had been upset when these specs were produced exclusively in the Magazine and had resolved myself to eventually scan the pages and reprint them for myself. Now, I don't have to!

Additionally, we get a lot of new characters, including techs for all the Animated figures exclusive to this year's convention. Not only that, but the creators opened up a whole new can of worms with four of the 'Con' specs: Shattered Glass Animated. I believe this was done because two of the exclusive toys this year were from the 'regular' Shattered Glass Universe: Galvatron and Thundercracker. However we now have specs for Shattered Glass Optimus Prime (complete with goatee), Bumblebee, Sumdac and Sari. This provides a jumping-off point for future Animated storylines and gives us a whole new universe to consider. I fully expect some intrepid customizer to provide us with real-life examples of these characters sometime in the near future.

As you can see, I cut my lithographs up into the individual techs so I can place them in my tech spec books right behind the Beast Wars. I certainly hope that FunPub continues to produce these in the future as I really like seeing the old G1 style with new characters as well as the expansion of the Animated Universe.