Live from Botcon 2016(‘s timezone), Vangelus joins Aaron and TJ to break down all the news, all the Computrons, and all the…listen we have a lot to say about Computron and Computron.
You can download and comment on it here: WTF @ TFW – Episode 402
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LordGigaIce
Oh I don't think that there's a fear that the social aspect will be snuffed out in a Hasbro-run fan convention. It's kind of hard to do that unless you just make it unpleasant for people to be there. As much as people crapped on FunPub for the last five years? People generally still enjoyed the social aspect of BotCon.
My biggest concern is the potential loss of those creative niche exclusives. Unofficial conventions do some neat things with third party cooperation, but FunPub's ability to create entire sets using official moulds was one of the draws to the show. They really started to over-do it, and Hasbro could probably afford to scale the number of exclusives down.
It's the creativity of the exclusives that I fear will suffer. Exclusives for an official fan convention should embrace the niche. FunPub understood that. Hasbro has yet to prove that they do.
As for your call to action…I very rarely made it to BotCon. I always make TFCon Canada though, with it being less than an hour away from home. So I've got those bases covered.
I'm just concerned that one of the things that made BotCon stand out might be lost, if Hasbro is unable to up their convention exclusive game.
Vangelus
Barring niche-derived exclusive toys, a great deal of the things feared to disappear from a Hasbro-run Transformers convention have been and will continue to be available in spades in the variety of unofficial shows that have made names for themselves over the last X number of years. If the hypothetical new official show somehow snuffs out or diminishes the social aspect that is the core of any worthwhile convention, there are so many other receptacles to pour that energy into as attendees. Redirected passion could bring a lot of regional shows up to the next level, as far as what they're able to do.
LordGigaIce
Agreed. The FunPub team always had the best of intentions re: the fans even if the end result was sometimes lacking.
Yeah, I'm not expecting much out of Hasbro when it comes to exlusives. Vangelus, TJ, and Aaron were all right when they speculated that Hasbro can more easily communicate and coordinate with factories, but I don't see them bringing the same creative energy to the process that FunPub did.
Look at Hasbro's track record of convention exclusives. It's full of retail release decked out in chrome, clear plastic, or new paint schemes. No cool yet obscure characters. No out there concepts.
Not to say that Hasbro can't up their game if they start running conventions themselves, but given what their track record looks like so far? I'm not impressed.
I never said Aligned's failure was all his fault. It was his initiative though. It ended up directionless, uninspired, inconsistent, and dull. That's not all on him, but he was the head guy in charge. Buck stops here and all of that.
As for the tfwiki article…it mainly draws on the testimony of Rick Alvarez. I don't blame tfwiki for that, as its some of the only first hand info available.
That being said? Alvarez's objectivity, especially in light of how he presented that information, needs to be considered when reading that article.
power3921
Darn it Vangelus, I really thought I could skip that weird barbarian headmaster Alpha Trion, but your enthusiasm is so infectious! You owe me $24 come 3rd quarter!
ciberw0lf
I know I'm in the minority, but I will miss BotCon and the FunPub team. While they were not perfect, and could use some updated tech, this team of 6 were deticated to the fans. Seeing Brian, Pete, and Leeny in tears during the round table panel says it all. I've only been coming to BotCon since 2010 so I was only around for 'the bad time,' but I always had fun at the convention. I found it more enjoyable then the mega conventions like PAX or the Wizard World cons. I knew at BotCon that I could talk transformers and be accepted by any group. While some of the exclusive were not perfect (they did crack jokes about various heads during both the roundtable and BotCon retrospective panels) they pulled from niche or special parts of the history that I liked seeing.
I'm less optimistic for the future then most. I don't see a large corporation wanting to spend money on multiple conventions for their properties. I also don't expect the unique exclusives we've gotten in the past, at best maybe something like the ratchet from the custom class this year where the tooling already existed. Oh, and don't expect to see custom classes or tours, the tours were a big selling point when my wife and son come. I hope I'm wrong, but I just can't get excited about the future right now.
Ultimately, BotCon was about the people, so I hope to see everyone again at whatever hasbro decides or a possible TFCon trip next year
Prime135
Yeah, check out the tfwiki page on aligned and you'll see that that was by no means his fault.
LordGigaIce
A few thoughts…
I'm a bit more sullen over FunPub losing the licence than most. Did they have their problems? Absolutely. It is time to move on from this outdated business/convention model? Yes.
Still? They've been stewards of the only official TF fan convention for over a decade. There's been more good than bad, and they deserve to be recognized for that.
That being said? Them going away will be a net positive. The whole "Uncle Brian" stuff will go away at least. I know Vangelus and co. never meant it as such, but the jokes always came off as "hur hur he's southern, that's hilarious."
Hopefully this allows everyone to just move on. And hopefully allows people to look back on the totality of FunPub's tenure, rather than the turbulent last few years.
Aaron Archer really doesn't deserve standing room only. I know he was the head of "The Team" for many years, but honestly? I think the brand has only gotten stronger since his departure.
He left claiming he didn't like the restraints that the new budget dictated by The Economy placed on him. We've seen the new team make some great toys with that reduced budget.
Aaron's tenure saw half-hearted attempts at combiners. Now we have a whole subline devoted to them. And more super-referential stuff following that.
Just my personal opinion, but I think the decos have gotten stronger recently. We've got prominent, crisp faction emblems back.
On the fiction end of things? Archer oversaw the ill-fated and ill-conceived Aligned mess. Now? The new team seems to be embracing the IDW neo-G1 take. I'll take the latter every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Aaron, like FunPub, is representative of a different, past era. Like with the convention it's time for everyone to move on and embrace the new hotness.
Scaleface
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijl0wXlGwaQ
Don has asks at the BotCon panel if they are going to make a Headmaster Arcee figure. He's famous for it. Been doing it on and off for over a decade.
Lumpy
Dammit, now I want Toxitron… I was leaning towards maybe getting the set anyway, and just selling off the two pretenders… but now i'm leaning more…
me too man… Botcon 2012 was a fantastic weekend for me. One of the best birthday's I've ever had, hanging out with a ton of people I'd never actually met in person before. I drank SO much that weekend. It was awesome. Hitting In-N-Out, the Lego store in whatever mall it was in, and otherwise just having a great time with a lot of really cool people. Plus a panel or three… I think I might've shared my casino winnings with Aaron, now that I think of it… I got bored after awhile, and have a recollection of just seeing him and handing him my tokens before wandering off to find more alcohol… and I'm pretty sure I'm in the background of one of the podcasts rambling about something too…
I almost went again in 2014, and regret not going since the ride to Pasadena was free, as was the room… I could've made it work, but got worried about the money… oh well…
MechanovaKing
2:50ish time
LOUD TYPING!
Requiem Prime
Hey Vangelus and the gang, I'm not sure how to get you to pick a question but I've recently become a regular listener.
Given how anyone from past "-master" lines appear to be one of Titans Return's bullet points, do you think we'll finally get a new Hot Rod/Rodimus as a surprise or late wave toy?
While technically coming out alongside the movie cast boxset, his old engineering is starting to look pretty dated next to everyone's much more modern molds. Any other unannounced characters the dark parts of your inner collector are hoping for?
Click?
Rexidus
As someone else who is COMPLETELY unaware what "The Question" Don could have asked, the only thing I've been able to find is this.
BotCon 2016 – Collector's Club Panel Report Transformers News Reviews Movies Comics and Toys
So it SEEMS the question was asking if they would make the human versions of which ever two didn't get made recently.
zandergb
I'm only mad at Minimus Ambus being in that Platinum set because this was the perfect time to redeco it into an exo-suited human and they squandered that.
Wh33l JcK
Oh man… was this recorded for historical purposes… Asking for Headmaster Arcee at the final botcon?
Cosmoglide
So I got Generations Sideswipe in the mail, today. As I look at him in front of me and pull up a picture of a certain Technobot, it occurs to me that with minimum painting, Lightsteed could be repurposed as CW Sideswipe. If I end up getting both sets, I might do that.
Scaleface
Since the host asked where he saw that Optimus Prime before, several of them appeared on ebay months ago and everyone thought they were prototypes or something.
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans…n/1055731-version-classics-optimus-prime.html
Spyne98
I was born in the 80's, so my earliest memories of Transformers are the reruns my mom tapped off TV, the figures that my brothers had… and Headmaster figures. I remember seeing them in stores and getting those guys for Christmas/birthday gifts. I think I am more excited for the Titan Master guys, specifically the "original 7" as Vangelus calls them, than I have been for anything else in a long time. Even the new Powermaster Prime looks awesome to me. My G1 Powermaster Prime survived my childhood and I think the two will look great together on a shelf.
I really want to know if that Brianstorm is coming out by itself too. I don't want to have to buy a SDCC set just for him.
Scaleface
I think you guys wondered who Alpha Trion might be recolored/remolded into. I saw a hint in the molding of his Titan Master, called "Autobot Sovereign". chest, arms legs and head for the molding on Sovereign are exact copies of the molding on the molding on the Mini-Con Safeguard, which came with Vector Prime. So that would seem to be a hint they intended for the toy to be done as Vector Prime.
Autobot Sovereign:
Cybertron Safeguard:
I did an online trademark check. As you may know there are different trademark categories. Hasbro generally registers as toys.
Weirdwolf was briefly owned by Marvel Comics as a comic character, but they let it expire. No one owns the name in the toy category. Hasbro has never even applied for it!
Gort as a toy is currently owned by 20th Century Fox. Seems to be a toy for The Day The Earth Stood Still.
Monzo is currently registered under trademarked for several industries, like food and leather and scientific instruments, but nothing in toys. No one has applied for it.
That Guy
I am sad that I never got the chance with my schedule to go to a Botcon, but I am excited for whatever convention comes next!
As for toys revealed, I think I am most excited about Bisk! I've been really enjoying the RID Decepticons. Vehicled that turn into animal men just sits right with me, and he looks really interesting! I'll be picking up a couple Titanmaster Deluxes, a couple voyagers, surprisingly some of the Titan Master individual sets, and waiting on repaints for a lot of figures as the molds look interesting but I have those characters represented in my collection already.
I wanted to check, is there any good method to find someone who want to split a set like an SDCC box set? I really dig that Fort Max painted Windblade, and the one I am not interested in is Highbrow as I already have the voyager one that I am really happy with. I guess I can always try and grab it and resell Brainstorm…
Also quick question on the Hasbro TFW2005 interview/panel. I though RID2015 Season 2 was confirmed to be the last season, is Hasbro now unconfirming it?
guard convoy
you know, even if i disagreed how funpub went in the end, i will be sad to see botcon go. i went to my one botcon 2012, after waiting years to finally go. i had an amazing time, and i will never forget it. i am excited though for the future