Toy Review - BotCon 2010 toys

[griffin]

Toy Review:
Pre-reg set - Spark/Pyro, Clench, Breakdown, Streetstar/Streetwise, Sky-Byte
Attendee Figure - Slice/Slicer
Big pair - Doublepunch, Turbomaster/Scorch w/ Ravage
Small pair - Cindersaur, Rapido
3-pack - Airshark, Landshark, Skyshark

Series - BotCon 2010
Sub-line - Timelines, Generation 2 Redux
Size - Deluxe to Voyager
New/remould/redeco - redecos and remoulds
Wave - (6)
Released here - No (June in America)
Approximate Retail Price - $500
Alt-modes - Spark/Pyro (rescue vehicle), Clench (tank), Breakdown (sportscar), Streetstar/Streetwise (police car), Sky-Byte (shark), Slice/Slicer (sportscar), Doublepunch (Scorpion), Turbomaster/Scorch (offroad) w/ Ravage (cassette), Cindersaur (dinosaur), Rapido (race car), Airshark (shark), Landshark (shark), Skyshark (shark).
Main Colours - See below
Main Accessories - Numerous

[tinyJazz]

I really like this set. Then again, I really like any Classics/Universe repaints - and apparently so do a lot of other tf collectors - so it was a winner from the start anyway!

I don't have Slice... Slicer, or the Sharkticons - not bothered because the molds aren't particularly strong IMO.

The Best:
Double Punch, Spark (Sir Pyro Ignatius Spark. teehee!) and dino Cindersaur look fantastic on display. More pink on tfs I say!
DP's "gigantic hover jet mode" looks like a huge, highly-poisonous, predatory bird-thing. Awesome!

Not so good - but still good?
I'm not sure I like the mold for Sky-byte, but I can't think of a better one so it still works with the set.
SG Ravage < eHobby/kissplay Glit. Seriously, it just looks like he got blue carpet-burn on his legs.
Also, Streetstar doesn't really have lights, so you just have to pretend he's got the retro flip-up style lights and mechanical failure.

Apparently this (neon-coloured transforming cars) is the kind of thing mum would have bought for my bro when he was a kid. :/ I think I got plastic dinosaurs or something.

Thanks to TheHandsomeCrab and Griffin for the souvenir sets
Thanks to ebay guy for the box set: still waiting for my feedback :/

[blackoptimus]

Wasn't there G2 Sideswipe too? Or how was that obtained and was it official?

[griffin]

Gen2 Sideswipe was indeed a figure for this year, but was limited to just 50 units, in the Customising Classes.
(two classes of 25 - each get a bag of bits, to paint and build the toy like a model kit)

[kup]

Gen2 Sideswipe was indeed a figure for this year, but was limited to just 50 units, in the Customising Classes.
(two classes of 25 - each get a bag of bits, to paint and build the toy like a model kit)

Are the customized toys part of the official Botcon toy line of the respective year? I ask since it is pretty much being made by an individual who is making it from parts than something Hasbro/club is actually selling as a product.

[griffin]

It's officially produced by Hasbro/TT's factory... the only difference is the enthnicity of the person assembling it...

[kup]

It's officially produced by Hasbro/TT's factory... the only difference is the enthnicity of the person assembling it...

If the person has to paint it by hand then each figure becomes unique and of varying quality. What I am getting at is that the toy becomes more of a group kitbash sponsored by Hasbro rather than an actual collector toy so I am not sure how this works as far as a collectable 'exclusive' toy goes.

[griffin]

I don't think there is much painting involved. I think most of the effort is cutting up the 'trees', cleaning up the parts, some paint-aps, assembly, stickers... and that should be it. I think the only difference to the factory is that the paint could be applied by machine.
If they were dissassembling existing toys of different characters, painting them up and then re-assembling them, it would be a custom job. These are effectively mass-produced (on the same machines that produce the regular toys) in different colour plastics, and are sent from the factory in the condition that the factory workers would get them when they put the toys together. The only real difference is that the 'toys' are shipped before they are constructed.

It can go either way though - personally, I'd prefer to classify them as 'fan customs' so that I don't have to even think about collecting them, but am leaning the other way because they are following a set pattern, with factory-produced parts... not to mention being similar to the various BotCon toys that have exclusive parts (heads/wings) for FunPub to put toghether, or paint/sticker details of BotCon 95 Nightracer (done by hand as well).

[kup]

I don't think there is much painting involved. I think most of the effort is cutting up the 'trees', cleaning up the parts, some paint-aps, assembly, stickers... and that should be it. I think the only difference to the factory is that the paint could be applied by machine.
If they were dissassembling existing toys of different characters, painting them up and then re-assembling them, it would be a custom job. These are effectively mass-produced (on the same machines that produce the regular toys) in different colour plastics, and are sent from the factory in the condition that the factory workers would get them when they put the toys together. The only real difference is that the 'toys' are shipped before they are constructed.

It can go either way though - personally, I'd prefer to classify them as 'fan customs' so that I don't have to even think about collecting them, but am leaning the other way because they are following a set pattern, with factory-produced parts... not to mention being similar to the various BotCon toys that have exclusive parts (heads/wings) for FunPub to put toghether, or paint/sticker details of BotCon 95 Nightracer (done by hand as well).

So you are saying that the toys are something more to being manufactured by old fashion manual labor than a factory machine. Still kind of weird but I agree from that perspective that it is less of a kitbash and more of an 'oddly' produced toy.

The thing is that so few of them are made (and bound to be of varying quality) that it would be next to impossible to find. I personally choose to ignore them as they would be very difficult to get and there are alternatives to the characters portrayed or they don't fit that well with the set like that Custom class Inferno from Botcon 06 as there is no canonical background to support it.

[GoktimusPrime]

Got Cindersaur today. Man he's ugly! The mould also just screams of Megatron and doesn't evoke Cindersaur to me at all. But ironically, as Megatron this mould doesn't appeal to me at all (I passed up the previous versions of this mould). I wish they'd at least retooled the head... ah well.

I'm happy with the toy, but I must admit that a large part of the appeal is the exclusivity... but there's no way I'd pay a big premium for it - so I'd say only get it if it's "cheap" (i.e. not massively inflated).