BotCon 2010 toy speculation

[griffin]

With the recent speculation of a Scorponok redeco and a Hound/Ravage redeco as BotCon toys, I wanted to see how that affects the Gen2 balance in this Gen2 themed BotCon.

So far known - Spark, Clench, Breakdown, Streetstar/Streetwise, Skybyte.
Likely - Gnaw, Rapido, Scorch, Ravage.
Possible - Doublepunch, Slicer.

When Sorted into their eras:

Gen2 Original toy/character
- Rapido

Gen2 redeco of a Gen1 toy/character
- Breakdown
- Streetwise (called Streetstar for legal reasons)

Hasbro Euro Gen1 (later repacked into Gen2)
- Spark
- Clench

---------------------------------------

Hasbro Euro Gen1
- Scorch
- Slicer
- Doublepunch

Hasbro Gen1
- Gnaw

Robots in Disguise
- Skybyte

FunPub's Shattered Glass/Mirror-verse
- Ravage

(And IF they rework Streetwise into Streetstar after having to rename it, then that's a JP Gen1 toy, throwing the balance even further away from Gen2 content.)


So how many Original toys were actually produced for Gen2?

38!

Yes, 38 (plus 6 original characters using existing Euro Gen1 moulds), and all FunPub could produce in their Gen2 theme/homage set this year is one (Rapido).


For those playing at home, the 38 Gen2 original toys -
Dreadwing, Smokescreen
Windrazor, Terrordive, Eagle Eye, Afterbuner
Rapido, Windbreaker, Skram, Turbofire
Jolt, Sizzle, Volt, Electro
Roadrocket, Roadpig
Manta Ray, Leadfoot, Ransack, Powerdive
Roadblock, Dirtbag
Air Raid, Strafe, Jetfire, Skyjack, Spacecase, Hooligan
Highbeam, Firecracker, Doubleclutch, Motormouth, Gearhead, Blowout
Ironhide, Meanstreak, Bulletbike, Staxx

And the 6 Gen2 Original Characters using existing toy moulds (but would still qualify for a Gen2 homage theme) -
Jetstorm, Deluge, Gobots, Drench
Archforce, Sureshot

How hard could it be to do redeco homages to half a dozen of those 44 Toys/Characters that Originated in Gen2, so that this year's set of toys would be considered without a doubt, Generation 2?
Instead, all we have (so far known) is one, with 4 other characters that originated in Gen1 and the rest from other eras.

What a wasted opportunity.
I doubt we'll see another BotCon that homages Gen2, as it's one of the least popular eras by fans.

[lcz128]

What a wasted opportunity.
I doubt we'll see another BotCon that homages Gen2, as it's one of the least popular eras by fans.

As you pointed out griff, it never was that popular to start with, so funpub must have decided to take the safe route and choose characters that really are g1 characters to entice classicsverse collectors. Like you said, wasted opportunity indeed. Personally, completely giving this year a pass. onlythinf I wouldve been interested in was breakdown's head... ^^;

[Sky Shadow]

Your point is a good one, Griffin. And as much as I love the homages this year, the theme shouldn't have been entitled "Generation 2". If the Official Transformers Collectors' Club refers to Post-US G1 (and even post-1985 toys like Gnaw!) as "G2" it only goes to cement fans' incorrect use of the term.

[griffin]

As I was posting it up on TFW2005 (still debating on if I should risk posting it on the Club forum), I realised that the 8 Axelerators/Jets were Euro Gen1 like Pyro/Spark and Clench, which removes the only figure I creditted as being Gen2-original (Rapido).

As such, I put forth the question - should the set really be labelled as Euro themed, rather than Gen2 themed, as more figures are Euro themed than Gen2 themed.

(reworked post)

It was brought up a while back when the boxset figures were revealed, that it wasn't very Gen2. Now that more figures have shown up that could also be BotCon toys, I had a look at the ratio of actual Gen2 characters in a set that is labelled as Gen2.
The result is thinking that this set is wrongly labelled as Gen2, as the majority of figures are European, not Gen2..

This follows the recent speculation of a Scorponok redeco and a Hound/Ravage redeco as BotCon toys, throwing out the balance even further away from Gen2.

So far known - Spark, Clench, Breakdown, Streetstar/Streetwise, Skybyte.
Likely - Gnaw, Rapido, Scorch, Ravage.
Possible - Doublepunch, Slicer.

When Sorted into their eras:

Gen2 original characters/toys:
(none)

Gen2 redeco of a Gen1 toy/character
- Breakdown
- Streetwise (called Streetstar for legal reasons)

Hasbro Euro Gen1 (later repacked into Gen2)
- Spark
- Clench
- Rapido

---------------------------------------

Hasbro Euro Gen1
- Scorch
- Slicer
- Doublepunch

Hasbro Gen1
- Gnaw

Robots in Disguise
- Skybyte

FunPub's Shattered Glass/Mirror-verse
- Ravage

(IF they decide to rework the character of Streetwise into Streetstar after having to rename it, then that's a JP Gen1 toy, throwing the balance even further away from Gen2 content.)

Last year was great to have homages to several Euro characters, as does this year with Pyro/Spark, Clench, Slicer, Doublepunch, Scorch and Rapido. But why not call it a Euro theme, and do a proper committed Gen2 theme later with actual Gen2 Characters?

If the 11 figures above are all correct and no others show up, we have:
5 Gen2 toys (Breakdown, Spark, Clench, Streetwise, Rapido)
Vs
6 Euro toys (Spark, Clench, Rapido, Scorch, Slicer, Doublepunch)
Less than half are Gen2 related.

So how many Original toys and characters were actually produced for Gen2 you ask?

36 -
Dreadwing, Smokescreen
Jolt, Sizzle, Volt, Electro
Roadrocket, Roadpig
Manta Ray, Leadfoot, Ransack, Powerdive
Roadblock, Dirtbag
Air Raid, Strafe, Jetfire, Skyjack, Spacecase, Hooligan
Highbeam, Firecracker, Doubleclutch, Motormouth, Gearhead, Blowout
Ironhide, Meanstreak, Bulletbike, Staxx
Jetstorm, Deluge, Gobots, Drench
Archforce, Sureshot

I wonder if they tried to do redeco homages to some of those 36 Toys/Characters that originated in Gen2, so that this year's set of toys would be considered without a doubt, Generation 2?
I know that the BotCon people can't reveal the at-Con toys, but I'd be interested in seeing if anyone can at least say if we will be getting any toys from that list of 36? Or if they were just really unlucky and had every submitted Gen2 redeco idea rejected by Hasbro.
As it stands, all we have (so far known) is 5 Gen2 characters that originated in Gen1, and the rest from other eras.

I'm a huge fan of BotCon (travelled over 300,000kms to 10 BotCons so far), and am keen to get the toys - I'm just puzzled as to the Gen2 theme this year, if it doesn't look like we are getting toys or guests that are Gen2 themed.

[Seraphim Prime]

I must admit I was a little disappointed when I heard about Breakdown being part of the G2 set, but I let it go as he has BotCon sentimentality. When Streetwise was announced I also accepted it as it would provide the set with balance - EuroG1 v EuroG1, G2 recolour v G2 recolour, Sky-Byte as a sign of things to come (hence putting RiD in continuity, between G2 and Beast Wars).

To say that they aren't G2 toys is a stretch of the truth - the toys (excluding Sky-Byte)in the Boxed Set were all released as part of America's G2 line-up, and that is how most fans remember them. So technically it is a G2 box set.

The concention exclusive figures don't always necessarily tie in directly with the box-set's theme, but are designed to complement it -

Rapido - Was originally EuroG1, but like Pyro and Clench was also rereleased as G2
Scorch, Slicer, Doublepunch - Technically not G2, as you said, but colour scheme and the fact that they're Euro G1 means that they can be semi-included.

Gnaw (not G2, but the colour-scheme is similar, and he probably ties in to why Sky-Byte is there)

SG Ravage - no G2 Ravage, and since they had to do something with the mould if they were doing a Hound redeco, why not make something that complements a previous set?

From memory, the advertising pitch early on pitched this set as a what happened on Earth once the main cast left? It sets up the idea that while the G2 comics may have focused on the core cast on Cybertron, there were still other battles happening around the Universe with a core team being stationed on Earth to act as its continued protectors. They kinda supposed to be the characters that time forgot, hence why I like the use of the EuroG1 characters, as they are often the characters that the fandom forgets.

As for the suggestions you made about characters that were actually G2 moulds, from memory, Jetstorm, Deluge, Gobots, Drench were again originally released as part of EuroG1 as the Aquaspeeders, so would run into the same complaints raised regarding the current figures. Archforce and Sureshot were, again from memory, originally released in the US as G2 Megatron and Optimus Prime, and it wasn't until they were released in Europe that they became Archforce and Sureshot, so again would come under similar criticism.

The other characters I suppose have validity, but would not be as marketable as a set as Pyro, Clench, and other G2 characters.

[llamatron]

Even though some of the figures aren't "technically" G2 they tend to have the spirit / essence of G2.

[Sky Shadow]

To say that they aren't G2 toys is a stretch of the truth - the toys (excluding Sky-Byte)in the Boxed Set were all released as part of America's G2 line-up, and that is how most fans remember them. So technically it is a G2 box set.

I think it's "a stretch" to say that Streetwise was "released".