Botcon theme is (SPOILER ALERT)

[reillyd]

For those who haven't heard yet, the theme for this year's Botcon is the awesome but underrated "MACHINE WARS" line of toys that were exclusive to the late Kay Bee toy chain.

Obviously this has may have a limited appeal over here, as I don't think we got any of the toys [CORRECTION - WE DID], but having played with Starscream and Megatron I just loved the series. This news was the clincher for a Machine Wars buying spree. I expect prices on the original toys to SKYROCKET over the next week or two on eBay. Some of the toys will be "replacements" at a more appropriate size (deluxe or voyager perhaps, for example Megatron), but it appears this will also introduce new characters as "Series 2" of Machine wars.

Check out the interview with Pete Sinclair of the club at Seibertron

[Paulbot]

We got the Machine Wars toys here, but the line wasn't a store exclusive like it was in the US.

[GoktimusPrime]

Obviously this has may have a limited appeal over here, as I don't think we got any of the toys,

Dude, we did get Machine Wars here. They were everywhere and they shelfwarmed horribly! They were exclusive to U.S. Kay Bee and KB Toys in 1997. I personally had a U.S. contact get them all for me and thought it was pretty cool owning an overseas exclusive line. To make matters worse (for me), I was living in Japan at the time, so I had the toys sent from the US to JP so I could open them up and play with them, but then I mailed them all to Australia when I moved back. Then in 1999 they came out all over the place and we couldn't get rid of those things for ages! Oh yeah, Australia also had exclusive Machine Wars two-packs too (nothing fancy, just two toys stuck together with shrink wrap ).

But Machine Wars was a US KB exclusive for at least 2 years... and I remember one time walking into an Uncle Petes and asking them if they had Machine Wars toys, and the lady replied, "Machine Wheels? No, we have Hot Wheels."

but having played with Starscream and Megatron I just loved the series.

Some of the toys had nicer colours -- and Starscream and Optimus Prime definitely looked better than Skyquake and Thunder Clash IMO. But I didn't like how their gimmicks were modified. Starscream's scope is no longer "easily compatible" with other Predator jets (I once attached either Falcon onto it and I felt like I nearly broke the toy trying to disconnect them -- and the loss of the Mega Missile rapid launcher gimmick on Optimus Prime was disappointing too). Megatron is a nice toy though, I agree (wish they'd given him proper light piping on the eyes though). And I really liked the creation of the new character Megaplex. MW Thundercracker was just weird...

This news was the clincher for a Machine Wars buying spree. I expect prices on the original toys to SKYROCKET over the next week or two on eBay.

Damnit! Someone travel back to 1998 now and stop me from offloading my spare MISB MW Optimus Prime!!

[Lord_Zed]

I actually thought the Machine wars toys had very boring an unimpressive colour schemes. Yes I suppose they were a bit more realistic but the small ones were devoid of paint aps and just looked a bit like KO's compared to Beast Wars.

So will probably give this Botcon a miss, not that I have ever actually bought any Botcon toys.

Give me Skyquake or Stalker any day.

[kup]

I actually thought the Machine wars toys had very boring an unimpressive colour schemes. Yes I suppose they were a bit more realistic but the small ones were devoid of paint aps and just looked a bit like KO's compared to Beast Wars.

So will probably give this Botcon a miss, not that I have ever actually bought any Botcon toys.

Give me Skyquake or Stalker any day.

Like I said in the other thread, I feel the same way. Not a very interesting theme, I would have preferred more Euro G1 and G2 tributes.

[i_amtrunks]

Give me Skyquake or Stalker any day.

We already have a Skyquake from Energon Starscream. But I digress, give me a Predator/Turbomaster Botcon set and I'll happily hand over my moolah. CD Red Alert was made to be Stalker, and with a new head the RotF Mindwipe Voyager could pass as a larger Skyquake. Struggling to think of any more larger jets to play the part.

Pretty easy to get a few other jets and cars to fill out the cast.

[Bartrim]

We already have a Skyquake from Energon Starscream. But I digress, give me a Predator/Turbomaster Botcon set and I'll happily hand over my moolah. CD Red Alert was made to be Stalker, and with a new head the RotF Mindwipe Voyager could pass as a larger Skyquake. Struggling to think of any more larger jets to play the part.

Pretty easy to get a few other jets and cars to fill out the cast.

I think that they missed the boat with the CD Red Alert mould. During the "-ion" comic run he would of been perfect for a Doubledealer mould IMO.

Although I do like your idea Trunksy

[Shirokaze]

The Machine Wars line came out around the time of my 10th birthday and I went absolutely nuts for it since they were the first vehicle transformers I'd seen since G2. Ended up getting Prime(with 2 left hands), Starscream and the flipchange jet Megatron and I was a happy boy.

Soooooo i'm really keen to see what they come up with for this set.