Botcon 2011: Crazy’s BotCon Haul Part 2 – Animated Ironfist, Fisitron, AutoTrooper

by Crazy, filed in BotCon, Events, Toys on Jun.14, 2011

The theme of Botcon 2011 was Transformers Animated and as a huge fan of the series, I made sure I picked up all the convention exclusives. This year’s attendee exclusive was an Animated version of IronFist using the Animated Ironhide/Ratchet mold with a brand new head. IronFist was never in Transformers Animated, but his big claim to fame was his starring role in IDW’s recent Last Stand of the Wreckers comic. I’m sure due to naming rights, most likely with Marvel, the tech spec does not actually use the name IronFist (though the comic book does), it actually uses Fisitron, the pseudonym, under which, IronFist wrote his chronicles of the Wreckers’ adventures.

I was also able to pick up the troop builder 3-pack of Animated AutoTroopers. AutoTroopers are effectively Autobot Stormtroopers. They are the police force of Cybertron and had several brief cameos in Transformers Animated.

IronFist and the AutoTroopers share the same head sculpt. Its a brand new head made just for Botcon. The paint application on the two heads was remarkable and really did a great job of differentiating the two likenesses.

If you have seen or played with either Animated Ironhide or Animated Cybertron Ratchet, there is not much different here aside from the heads. There are a few small differences, though, that I feel compelled to mention. Moreso, because these differences are really differences between Ratchet and Ironhide’s molds and the two exclusive figures both use Ironhide’s tooling. The first difference is on the side of the knee. You’ll note in the transformation video that during the transformation, the lower leg locks into place just below the knee. Ratchet’s mold is missing the little ledge of plastic for the leg to lock onto.

Also, the surface of Ratchet’s plastic is very smooth, while the surface of the plastic on the other figures has a slight rough matte texture. This really makes Ratchet feel like the cheapest of the four figures, not to mention incomplete paint applications on his head. Fortunately for us, the Botcon figures do not suffer any of Ratchet’s issues and look and feel like the highest quality of the four. And Ironfist’s chest logo is totally compensating for something.

Its fun to line them all up and see all the differences and similarities so I took the liberty of snapping a few photos of just that.

The vehicle mode is a fun mode that is not constrained to a typical earth vehicle form. The robot mode is nicely articulated and has all the personality of a typical Animated figure. The paint applications, as is typical for recent Botcon exclusives, do not disappoint.

I got this figure for free with my set because I attended the convention. I got a whole lot of value for a free figure. If you are looking to catch him on the after market, I wish you luck. The character’s popularity has sky rocketed recently thanks to the comic stories. Also, Botcon Attendee exclusives, in and of themselves, call for a high demand and a short supply. Not to mention the popularity of the Animated series in general. If you can find him for a reasonable price and you are a big fan of Animated, then I see no reason why you would not want to add him to your collection. If you are a fan of the character, I would put forth the same reasoning. If you are neither then this is a pretty easy figure for you to save your money and take a pass on. The same arguments can easily be applied to the AutoTroopers.

As for me, I love the heck out of these figures. It sounds strange to say, but I don’t often open up the exclusives after the convention just to play with the toys, but thats exactly what I did with these. They are heaps of fun.