BotCon 2008 Customizing Class Figure Revealed: Evil Nightbeat

Sidecutter has just informed me by text message that the toy they will be building and custom-painting today is an evil version of the TF Club Nightbeat mold!

whaaaaaaa?

this just reinforces the stance some people have against the expensive (and now delayed) club packaging....

Great news! Many thanks to you and Sidecutter for the update!

Sounds cool.

Eh, I don't think they need ANOTHER evil autobot. They need mmore good 'cons.

EEEhhhh, the bot mode isn't all that cool looking. I never did like this mold. Anywho the class would be worth it even if the bot wasn't great. Man now I really want to go.

I'm actually starting to not care anymore. The delay on Nightbeat is really giving me the time to realize that I don't need him, especially because of the crappy bot mode. The look of his alt mode is what drew me to him, but seeing as how I display my stuff in bot mode....well lets just say the delay may have cost FP 2 purchases.

Yep. (and I agree).

*waits for GBB....*

So that's where our Nightbeats have gone!

Grats to the customization classes! Whatever figure you get, they're a really great experience, though.

Can't wait to see some pictures.

It seems that there's little left for me to say...

So, Nightbeat and the Seacons have been delayed because of some manufacturing issues, right? And now Nightbeat is going to be the customs class figure?

Could this mean that they fixed his head mold and added antennae.... and maybe are getting rid of the extra already-produced non-antennae versions under the guise of the customs class? Eh?

Okay, probably not. But a geek can dream....

I'm right there with ya bud.

No, they're delayed because of packaging issues.

oooo Ur Dreem. Let Me Share It.

Sigh... oh well.

Thanks!

oh, i wish....

i've been fine with the packaging thus far because of the quality, but when it makes 2 highly anticipated figures (for me at least) delayed for months, scrap the packaging and put 'em in baggies.

Awesome! Can't wait to attend the class tomorrow!

Man, I want to go to botcon.

that's f***ing awesome...i want to see some pics of this

Update from Sidecutter (I guess they're on lunch break):

• Colors are the same as the production toy.
• Shawn Tessman (the class instructor) said Brian Savage tried to get the colors on the mold changed, but the factory rejected it.
• The Autobot emblem has been modified to create a dagger shape down through the center, "similar to the Star Trek Mirror-Universe Federation emblem".
• The customizing figure is in the comic

Nice.

And, that, all by itself, changes the nature of this custom dramatically. It's now "official" in a way that no other BotCon customizing class figure has ever been.

That being the case, I'm actually glad that they couldn't get the mold in another color. That means that the rest of us have the option of making our own... we just need to buy multiple Nightbeats!

Me and you, we think alike sometimes, ya know?

Hahahaha! That's awesome. I can't wait to see what he looks like.

Yeah, that was my exact thought. I hope they put up some "how to customize Nightbeat" instructions on the FP site...




Chris (even has Action Master Snarl & Tyrranitron on his Classics display)

Here's hoping we get some good pictures like we did of Overkill last year.

Speaking of which, would somebody be nice enough to write down a copy of the bio they give for evil Nightbeat if they give you one like the last couple of years?
DN

I was thinking the same thing as well

Sounds like my "custom" Universe Razorclaw... I sliced clawmarks into the Maximal glyph on his chest.

great...now i've gotta buy this years botcon set, then get two nightbeats...crazy crazy crazyness....

I was at the customizing class today. It was pretty sweet. Shawn and his crew did a wonderful job. I had a great time.

I could be wrong, but I believe Sean also said if he could have gotten the mold in different colors, he would have made a Minerva figure. He had a mock up of that as well.

I'll get my camera and take some pics of my figure.

Here are a few pics.

Please keep in mind:

1. I suck at taking pictures.
2. I suck at customizing & painting toys.
3. I deviated a little bit (paint-wise) from Shawn's model.

Looking forward to pictures!

Edit: You posted while I was replying. Not too bad. Doesn't make me overly upset I missed it though.

Here are his bio & tech specs:

Autobot
Nightbeat

Function: Secret Police
"Lies and screams are music to my ears."

Bio: Nightbeat serves the Autobot forces as the head of the Secret Police, enforcing the decrees of Optimus Prime and rooting out potential Decepticon sympathizers from the ranks of the Autobot army. Highly suspicious of any soldier who shows even a hint of dissension, Nightbeat will use any means necessary to get the information he wants, including torture and dismemberment. An extreme paranoid, he often sees enemies where there are none. While highly feared by most other Autobots, he mistakes this for their respect. To him, fear and respect are the same thing.

Abilities: While his logic center isn't quite as sophisticated as some Autobots', Nightbeat is more than capable of leaping beyond logic to find the "truth" than some, making him the most effective interrogator in the Autobot ranks. Carries a stun gun that can physically incapacitate his victims, but leave their higher cognitive functions operational.

Weaknesses: Nightbeat suffers from a chronic case of Cosmic Rust, the result of a failed assassination attempt. While treatment has reduced it to a minor irritation, failureto continually monitor the condition can cause it to flare up and render him both highly contagious and unable to funtion.

Strength: 5
Intelligence: 8
Speed: 7
Enurance: 6
Rank: 7
Courage: 9
Fireblast: 7
Skill:9

Other tidbits:

We painted the headlights with "glow in the dark" paint.

The stripes on the door were actually stickers (one for each black line).

We painted cosmic rust on the figure near the tires - it is hard to see in my pic.

There is a gun & missle (not shown in pic).

I believe (and I could be wrong on this - I thought I heard him say this) Shawn said that as far as the mold choices go, he could have picked any of this year's exclusives molds as the mold for the customizing class. I liked what he picked - I'm happy how it turned out.

Man i really wanted to go.

I wish they come to texas but nice for customizing.

Does anyone have or know where I can get a list of all the figures used and made in past BotCon customizing class?

i was just thinking the same thing...

and SWOOPDAWG, that looks cool...but i'm curious about how much customizing was done if its already molded in those colors...are there no paint apps? is the class really just about painting the toy? not that thats bad, just curious

So...anybody wanna make me one and sell it to me?

Apparently the Reprolabels folks have some work to do....

I remember last years what Grimlock and the year before was scrapmetal but thats all i seen.

Freyabeads and myself are no Pros by any means, but we had fun at the customs class. Hope you enjoy our humble efforts:

i think that this is a very cool piece i'm thinking that i'm going to have to get two nightbeats now and do one on my own

Aside from this year's Nightbeat there's been (in the canon's their bios place them in)-

Classics Overkill-


Post G2 Rumble-


Alternate Beast Machines Inferno-


Don't think there was a Customization figure from 2005, at least not one I've ever heard of.
DN

Thanks for these. Incidentally, would you claim to have followed the "official" instructions, or did you, too, take some liberties?

(That's fine if you did take liberties. I'm just trying to get an idea for Shawn's intention)

As I recall, they were Energon Ravages (don't recall if Battle Ravages or Command Ravages). The class was done a little differently then than it has been since.

Wiki says that was for OTFCC 2004, probably why I never heard of them, didn't keep up with stuff like this back then-
http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_Ravage#Trivia
DN