Botcon 2008 Wrap Up

I know what you’re thinking. Botcon was weeks ago. We know everything already. Well, do you? I always found it hard to keep track of what news flowed out of Botcon because every site had a different post for each comment, picture and mention of something new. I have put together one big brain dump of every note I took during the convention with some pictures and links to more pictures and some design notes on Transformers.com. If you have any further comments, questions, or praise for the upcoming products, feel free to leave a message as a comment to this post.

Also, you can see more photos from the convention in my personal galleries here.

More after the jump!

Animated

Season 1 available on DVD in August. We also saw some slides of Wreck-gar, Swindle, Jetstorm, Jetfire, Shockwave (think Armada Megatron with the Shockwave eye), Perceptor, Blurr, Scrapper, Mixmaster, Arcee and possibly others I’m leaving out.

Sentinel Prime (Voyager?) – Sept. ’08
Swoop (Deluxe) – Sept. ’08
Elite Guard Bumblebee (Deluxe – black/green) – Sept. ’08
Ultra Magnus (Leader – Headmaster will fit on him) – Sept. 08
Skywarp (Voyager – Starscream Repaint – Toy only) – ??
Wreck-gar (Voyager) – ??
Jetfire/Jetstorm (Voyager 2 pack)
Lockdown (Deluxe – Flame Redeco w/ possibly fixed hands and new weapon) – ??
Prowl w/ Sidecar/Armor – (Deluxe) – ??

 

It was mentioned that Scrapper and Mixmaster would be voiced by Tom Kenny and Jeff Bennet (was not clear who is which)
It was specifically mentioned when Skywarp’s color sheet came up that Cartoon Network was not interested in a clone army, so the other seekers won’t make an appearance anytime soon.
Oilslick is a toy outside of the show. More product was needed so he was designed by Hasbro’s Eric Siebenaler to offset the product offering. Cartoon Network really likes his design and want to use him now.
They are currently working on a toy design for Arcee based on her show likeness.
Jetstorm and Jetfire will play off each other in an elemental fashion (fire and ice).
When asked what faction Jetstorm and Jetfire were, no comment was the response.
Prowl’s sidecar samurai armor will appear in the show.
Capt. Fanzone’s name is from Carmen Fanzone, a former 3rd basemen for the Chicago Cubs and next door neighbor to Marty Isenberg.
Carmen Fanzone plays the trumpet.
A Wreck-Gar prototype garbage truck toy was shown in the slides.
Perceptor was also shown during the slide presentation.

       

Universe

Hasbro wanted to make it clear that this line was a compilation of all stories and eras. Basically this line will be the container for any merchandise not directly related to Movie or Animated characters and also where they get to have some fun. With the 25th Anniversary coming up next year, this line will contain many treats for fans.

Ironhide (Deluxe) – October ’08
Sideswipe (Deluxe) – October ’08
Silverbolt (Ultra) – August ’08
Stormcloud (Ultra) – September ’08
G2 Megatron (Legends) – August ’08
G1 Jazz (Legends) – August ’08
Hound (Deluxe) w/ Ravage (will fit in soundwave, no accessories, old accessories might fit)
Cyclonus (Deluxe) w/ Nightstick
BW Cheetor (Deluxe)
Armada Hot Shot (Deluxe)
Brawn (Legends)
Beachcomber (Legends)

   

In the presentation, Sideswipe was shown with Sunstreaker’s head, but it was made clear that he had his own head, which could be seen later in the display case at the Hasbro booth.
Silverbolt is a BIG figure and his robot mode is amazingly G1 toy accurate.
Also, Powerglide will feature a panel in his chest that will reveal a heart based on the G1 episode “The Girl Who Loved Powerglide”.
Since Stormcloud is a repaint of Powerglide, he will also have this feature.
Stormcloud is based on the micromaster of the same name.
Since Powerglide was a small figure originally and made much larger in this series, they wanted to follow suit with the repaint, thus, Stormcloud.
Armada Hot Shot was shown to us as a very very early prototype. Looks really really good.

       

Robot Heroes

Kickback v. Ironhide
BW TM Megatron v. Silverbolt
Thrust v. Blaster
BM Cheetor v. BM Tankor
RID Prime v. RID Megs

  

The Beast Machines and RID Robot Heroes were mentioned during the 25th Anniversary sneak peak and were not on display at the Hasbro booth. They wanted to show these to help illustrate that both the Universe line and the 25th Anniversary spanned all generations of Transformers.

Exclusives

SDCC (July ’08) – Nemesis Classics Prime (Black Windows)
SDCC (July ’08) – Titanium Skywarp
Japan (Wonderfest?) – Nemesis Classics Prime (Red Windows)

Wal-Mart – Breakaway (Cybertron Defense Hot Shot)
Wal-Mart – Fracture (Classics Mirage)
Wal-Mart – Crankcase (Cybertron Red Alert)

Transformers.com has some really nice design notes on these three available here.

 

Target Comic 2-pack Dirge (Voyager Cybertron Starscream) & Roadbuster (Cybertron Defense Hot Shot)
Target Comic 2-pack Ratbat (Cybertron Sideways) & Spinger (Cybertron Evac)

From Transformers.com: “In a panel at BotCon Saturday, the Hasbro team unveiled 2 exclusive action figure comic packs available only at Target later this fall. Each of the two sets is themed around a comic book battle and includes a Deluxe figure, a Voyager figure and the comic that inspired the pack.”

    
“AUTOBOT ROADBUSTER vs DIRGE
Includes Target 2006 #3
In the comic, AUTOBOT ROADBUSTER fights (and kills) DIRGE in a simulated battle training program. AUTOBOT ROADBUSTER is a member of the Wreckers: an elite AUTOBOT special forces unit. AUTOBOT ROADBUSTER’s mold was chosen because the design team thought it was a perfect match for his original mode—a futuristic off-road vehicle bristling with weaponry.

DIRGE is a redeco of the hard-to-find Voyager STARSCREAM mold from Cybertron, representing DIRGE in his Cybertronian mode.”

    
“SPRINGER vs RATBAT
Includes War Within Comic #2
In the comic, SPRINGER confronts RATBAT and berates him for escalating the war on Cybertron by bringing DEVASTATOR into the conflict. Although SPRINGER was originally a triple changer that could change into both a car and a helicopter, design wanted to represent SPRINGER as a helicopter because the Botcon 2007 exclusive SPRINGER converted into a ground vehicle.

RATBAT’s 1986 toy changed from a cassette into a bat. In the comics, he’s given a robot mode, converts into a spaceship and is a member of the ULTRACONS, a DECEPTICON splinter faction. RATBAT can also switch his DECEPTICON emblem to the ULTRACON emblem due to the faction-switching ability of the CYBERTRON SIDEWAYS mold for this character.”

K-Mart – 12 pack of minicons
Design notes on these are available here with pictures of each.

TRU Exclusive Titanium War Within Grimlock
TRU Exclusive Titanium War Within Prowl
Images of these are available here.

25th Anniversary – Celebrates all eras, not just G1
G1 Prime Reissue in November
Voicebox (similar to G2 voicebox) w/ Cullen sound clips
MTMTE Remastered DVD
Reprint of Marvel Transformers #1

Extras:
During one of the Q&A’s someone asked about a Masterpiece Thundercracker. Aaron Archer responded that it was on their short list for possible exclusives for maybe a Spring/Fall ’09 release. When it was mentioned how hard Masterpiece Starscream was to find, Archer sympathized and told us that he actually had to go on ebay to get one for himself.

A Q&A question revealed the possibility that it is within the realm of possibility that we could get Robot Heroes of Gestalt characters (Devastator, Defensor, etc.)

An official statement was made on counterfeits. It was written on a powerpoint slide and was read to us aloud. Basically, they do not support counterfeiters, they are going after them, but their hands are tied because they have to go through the appropriate channels. When someone yelled out that they were on sale in the dealer’s room, Greg Lombardi said that he knew, but reiterated that he had to go through the proper channels. Rather than going after the dealers, it sounds like they are going directly after the factories. It might be interesting to note that Hasbro posted some customizing guidelines to collectors via their GI Joe site here.

Transformers was the #1 Action Figure Toy Brand for 2007 as awarded at the most recent Toy Fair in New York. (Power Rangers has dominated the top spot for years.)

The Movie Deluxe class was voted Action Toy of the Year also at Toy Fair.