It’s that time of year again where we patiently wait for the unveiling of each of the Botcon box set exclusives to be revealed until registration goes on sale before we see all of them and quickly sells out. The theme this year for the box set is Machine Wars. This was a very short lived line from 1997 that was really only available at Kay-Bee Toys stores.

Today we get a look at Hoist. Hoist was a basic figure in the line. He was a tow truck that looked a little more like a dump track with a hook on the back of it. Fun Publications has chosen to use the Generations Kup mold with a retooled head for this figure. The image seen is just a mock-up and not the actual figure, so our mileage is likely to vary, but as far as robot mode goes, it looks pretty good. The head is pretty spot on and I’m pleased with the translation from the original figure. The color scheme is very basic, so it matches pretty well. I imagine they saved some money on paint apps for this figure so they can lavish some other figure in the line. I don’t think the vehicle mode is a good match. Kup is a pickup, whereas Hoist is supposed to be a tow truck. He’s not really hoisting anything, though. He’s more hauling than anything else.

What do you think of Hoist? Tell us in the comments and help us speculate what other figures could be coming in this set!

ActionFigurePics got some nice photos of some prototype Star Wars figures that were on display at the ThreeA Toys booth. Apparently, these figures are strictly prototypes meant to be shown to Takara and are not meant for sale. ThreeA is not making these toys. Yet? Ashley Wood of ThreeA toys took out the Stormtrooper to show off some of its seemingly decent articulation. On display were a carded Stormtrooper, uncarded Stormtrooper and a carded Boba Fett.

If, ever, a 6 inch Star Wars toy line ever made it to production, I fear it will set the action figure collecting world on its side.
For more pictures, be sure to check out AFP’s gallery here.

  

A great deal of concern has been voiced in the Transformers fandom about the fate of the Generations line after the Dark of the Moon toy line runs its course and the Transformers Prime toy line gets kicked off at the end of the year. Online retailer, Kapow Toys checked in with Full Metal Hero to let us all know that they just received solicitations for a new wave of Generations figures along with a case breakdown for the new wave.

The case will include:
2x Wheeljack
1x Sergeant Kup
1x Warpath
2x Black Shadow
2x Junkion

Black Shadow is expected to be a Thunderwing repaint with a newly tooled head. We heard of this based on the instructions included with Thunderwing. I believe we heard that there were three heads created for the Junkion mold. One was for Wreck-Gar, another for the Japanese exclusive E-Hobby set and the third was set for an North American release. It can be expected that this Junkion will have the aforementioned third head.

When I purchased Top Spin and Twin Twist in the dealer room on Friday, I also noted a bag filled with translucent and clear knock-offs of the Laserbeak and Rumble/Frenzy cassette molds. The bag was labeled five dollars each and contained seven different cassettes. Four Laserbeaks and three Rumbles. I took a mental note of the bag and decided if I was still thinking about it Saturday, I would go back and see if they were still there and sure enough they were. I decided to just pick up the whole bag since they were small and my purchasing has been limited so far.

Read on for more pictures and details of these interesting knock-offs.
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I found Trailcutter on a table in the dealer room. He was loose and in a box with about twenty other Trailcutters. He is one of the classics legends figures that I just assumed I’d never find at retail, so when I saw him my interest was definitely piqued.

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The first table I walked up to on Friday had these two figures sitting on it in plastic bags. Top Spin came with his chrome weapon and was marked $3, while Twin Twist included his chrome weapon, instruction booklet and tech spec. Twin Twist was marked $5. Both figures seemed to be in pretty good shape. I picked them both up and handed the dealer exact change.

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