So this years Botcon Set (2015) ...

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Yep... the most cohesive sets have been the most popular - Beast Wars and Stunticons.
The sets that are a mix-n-match of subgroups, universes or allegiances just end up looking like a mixed bag, and rely on their combined use in a comic to explain how they came together... a comic that most people won't read or remember.

Sadly the majority of the sets are mix n match. I was reading though some of the club comics the other day. They haven't gotten any better with age, as the panels don't flow very well and they try and cram so many characters in (or very obscure ones) I don't know who is saying what, or what is going on. Either that, or I can't be bothered using my brain to work it out

I remember seeing Pretenders in the catalog that was included in G1 Transformers and thought they were dumb at the time. Why would I want a Transformer that looks like a human? I'm still not impressed by them, but at least a couple of the characters have some good IDW fiction behind them now.

When pretenders were out in the shops, I ended up buying a couple of the smaller ones, and they were OK. But I always thought they were pretty silly. Now that I'm older, I still think they are kind of silly, but appreciate them more for their campness (I guess).

In a way, it's a kind of evolution for the Autobots if they want to hide on Earth, but the Decepticons to 'hide' themselves as monsters it doesn't make a lot of sense. Even taking into the consideration that they might have been the basis as mythological beasts. If they were around that early, their robot modes alone would have made them monsters anyway.

[griffin]

Sadly the majority of the sets are mix n match. I was reading though some of the club comics the other day. They haven't gotten any better with age, as the panels don't flow very well and they try and cram so many characters in (or very obscure ones) I don't know who is saying what, or what is going on. Either that, or I can't be bothered using my brain to work it out

And they take it very personally too. I had a problem understanding the first half of last year's comic, and I mentioned it at around the time Pete stopped responding to me... and we saw how defensive he got with people questioning the theme last year (asking what made it a "30th Anniversary" theme), and people not liking the comic in the Club Magazine.

[GoktimusPrime]

When pretenders were out in the shops, I ended up buying a couple of the smaller ones, and they were OK.

The smaller Pretenders came out in 1989 and were actually better than the larger 1988 Pretenders. IMO one problem with the 88 Pretenders isn't just that they're Transformers inside human/monster looking shells, but that the robots inside aren't very good Transformers in their own right. They transform from robots to... umm... folded up robots. Tack on some wheels or wings and call it an alt mode. They're more like Cosplaying contortionists. The 89 Pretenders were generally better because their alt modes looked like alt modes. Bludgeon's alt mode is clearly a tank and Bumblebee is a VW Beetle etc. The very first Pretender that I got was Waverider; it was a birthday present and I remember opening it and playing with it before I bothered to read the tech specs. I honestly thought that the alt mode was a spaceship. You can imagine my surprise when I eventually did read the tech specs and discovered that it's meant to be some kind of sea-faring submersible!

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

The smaller Pretenders came out in 1989 and were actually better than the larger 1988 Pretenders. IMO one problem with the 88 Pretenders isn't just that they're Transformers inside human/monster looking shells, but that the robots inside aren't very good Transformers in their own right. They transform from robots to... umm... folded up robots.

Ha ha ha. Yeah that's true. But the smaller ones did need a significant chunk of their alt mode. AS an ecample, I had Longtooth and Pincher. Long tooth had a cool vehicle mode, but without the backpack it didn't work.

[GoktimusPrime]

Ha ha ha. Yeah that's true. But the smaller ones did need a significant chunk of their alt mode. AS an ecample, I had Longtooth and Pincher. Long tooth had a cool vehicle mode, but without the backpack it didn't work.

Neither of them are nearly as bad as Gunrunner. My Longtooth is missing his accessory, but he's still transformable as a vehicle. Pincher would be a legless and tailless scorpion, but at least the head, body and arms are still there. Doubleheader would be a wingless jet (still capable of interstellar flight at least) -- you get the idea. Gunrunner on the other hand is utterly useless without his accessory. His accessory is the alt mode! All Gunrunner does is fold up as undercarriage stowage. The accessory can still transform into a jet in its own right without Gunrunner! It actually looks more like a jet without him because there isn't that chunky undercarriage.

And of course, those smaller Pretenders were cheap carded figures, whereas Gunrunner was a more expensive boxed toy! I didn't bother getting Roadgrabber after I got Gunrunner because I was so off-put by Gunrunner in '88, but Roadgrabber is by the better of the pair. In hindsight I should've bought him instead of Gunrunner; I've since acquired Roadgrabber for free anyway -- but yeah, if you're gonna spend money on either of the Pretender Vehicles, don't pay for Gunrunner! That toy was rubbish even by 1988 standards.

[Jaxius._]

The only pretender I want is bludgeon. Fully articulated and has the tank insides