How many Optimus primes have released with the g2 deco? 3 now, that's pretty obscure compared to his normal one. They also could have called Magnus prime Optimus prime but they didn't, so wether you like it or not he is essentially a new character. No comments about the rest? Like I said, every character released in a box set since combiner wars has been obscure for hasbro in one of the following ways
A:deco-g1 decos are much more recognizable than g2
B:appeared in minimal-no western fiction
C:entirely new character
D:hasn't had a non reissue figure with that name since 1986

 

Jesus. You really want to pick a fight with one of the few guys who *isn't* putting the cart before the horse with HASCon?

I'm telling you, don't expect Botcon size and exclusives. HASCon isn't Botcon. That is fact.

 

I'm not saying it is, I'm saying that people should wait for more information before making claims, I'm saying hasbro has become more willing to do more obscure characters in the last few years, and I'm saying that hasbro has started doing their own "botcon style" box sets at mass market retail.

Personally I THINK any hascon exclusives will basically be like the sdcc exclusives more than botcon exclusives since the combiner and titans return sets kind of fill the botcon void, but I don't know, that is my point.

 

*sigh* Yes, Hasbro can do obscure things. To expect Hasbro to load Hascon with BotCon-levels (and styles) of obscure things is, IMHO, just delusional.

We may not have very much information, but we DO have some. And every little bit we've seen says "don't expect what you're used to."



(Obviously, we're defining terms differently to some extent, which doesn't help. I don't see Chaos at Velocitron as meaningfully "BotCon-style" in terms of being a box set.)

 

At best, what I would expect from HASCon is some alternate head or paint job that just missed retail.

Something like that CW Demolisher from Onslaught. Or, as I said before, UW limbs like Nosecone, Ratchet, and Blast-Off that simply didn't come stateside.

 

Stuff like that would be so much better than sdcc style exclusives, I actually wanted that demolishor

 

Same, but then I also want Combiner Wars to continue for another 10 years or so.

 

This, so much this, throw in new molds, remolds, repainted, give us all the combiners that fit into the combiner wars ecosystem (granted I don't know if I'd want another whole line of combiners, split a line between combiners and the different masters for a few years and I'd keep collecting  

 

Just randomly drop a new torso or limb in the mix every few waves.

 

Botcon-level/style is kind of problematic in a couple ways, of course. Shattered Glass is its own thing - very well known characters in different decos. Then you have heavy theme sets (Predacus, Stunticon Job, MW). Then, what I assume most people mean: a collection of kind of random characters put together in a bit of a mishmash with supporting fiction (Most Wanted, KvP, WoH).

I think, and obviously this is an opinion, if you look at the first two TR box sets and the six deluxe+ figures therein, you can make a reasonable case that it's similar in content to one of the less obscure Botcon mishmash sets*. Take Knights vs Pirates (2014) - Scorponok (well known leader with an extra feature - headmaster), Fire Guts Prime (alternate OP deco), Cannonball (UT/AEC), Ferak (IDW character), and Devcon (barely-in-a-scene G1 cartoon character) - and compare to the two box sets - Magnus Prime (well known leader with an extra feature - Godbomber compatibility), Laser Prime (alternate OP deco), Tidal Wave (UT/AEC), Nautica (IDW character), Metalhawk (JG1 character), Quickswitch (obscure G1 toy character). There's a certain similarity to the two groups.

These TR sets are also a bit of a departure for Hasbro. The Platinum Edition sets (of Generations molds) tend to be heavily themed (five '86 movie sets recently, the movie Dinobots in G1 colors). The CW sets were, for obvious reasons, cohesive (well, we can quibble about Scrounge in the Technobot set). I get how having a more diverse group of characters in a set would point people towards a Botcon set since there hasn't been a potpourri Transformers set put out by Hasbro in quite awhile (Ultimate Gift Set w/G2 Jazz, Combat Hero Prime, Motormaster and Thundercracker in 2010 is the last one I could think of).

Now, without the supporting fiction, the souvenir figures, and the actual convention experience, does the similarity (if you agree with me that they're similar) matter? YMMV. At the very least, I do see how one can imagine the TR box sets have a certain Botcon-ish quality to them.

*Just in terms of characters - there's obviously no real fiction, souvenir sets, etc.

 

I think the safest assumption about any Hascon exclusive is that it'll be in the same vane as the TR boxsets. Names we know in ways not as well know paired with something more obscure. Something like G2 GoBot Optimus from a TR mold with High Beam and then a corresponding Decepticon set.

 

If there is a Trypticon exclusive, I'm hoping it's disappointing.....so I'm not tempted to get it over for the regular TR release.

 

Exclusives are likely to be promoting the new line, whatever that may be any given year. From Hasbro's perspective, they would be looking to shine a spotlight on their new stuff, not retooling their old stuff. Hasbro would surely expect a POTP exclusive to sell better and create more buzz than a CW exclusive.

 

More CW exclusives would be great. Bring on G2 Defensor & Devastator. The rest of the Autobot cars done for CW would be great too. Most of them would be easy repaints with just a few new heads needed.

 

I don't have a source as I'm not cryptically revealing information. If anyone goes in expecting this to be a convention similar to BotCon with a tagline like "fun for the whole FANmily" or whatever, they will be in for a major disappointment.

Ok, but don't expect stuff like that for exclusives. Expect more stuff like SDCC.

 

I'd agree that whatever the exclusives are, they'll be more akin to SDCC's in nature.

Honestly some RID exclusives wouldn't be a bad choice for this given it's a family event and you want stuff for the kids.

 

There won't be an exclusive toy at all. It'll be a couple of video rooms, HTS will set up a mini store pretending to be a dealer room, and the last day will show some new commercials with lots of cable news animated logos. That's it.

 

I would also say that I'm not sure obscure things are such great things to offer in the first place. Here or there, yes. But the Club was too obsessed with things 80% of the fandom doesn't care about because the wrong group of people were always in their ear.

Honestly, these things aren't that hard, but you have to actually spend time in the fandom and be able to read and listen. Good luck.

 

I dispute that 80% figure. From where I sit, the club catered to its target audience extremely well, at least in terms of their character offerings.

 

I think going forward obscure stuff is going to be mass retail box sets more than con exclusives will considering the recent box sets