Some extremely special pieces of Transformers Convention history have gone up on Ebay, courtesy of Jon and Karl Hartman (of Botcon founding fame). First and foremost is the original paint sample for ”Chaos Armor” Defensor, the planned exclusive for OTFCC 2005 that sadly never got made due to 3H’s insolvency. Chaos Armor Defensor would have been a second version of the planned Defensor exclusive, made to offset the cost of offering a Super (Leader) Class toy as an exclusive.
Next come original paint samples for three Botcon Wreckers characters who were never intended to be offered as exclusives. Rotorbolt, Devcon, and Alpha Trion were all hand-painted by one of Hasbro’s former lead deco artists and are the exact toys pictured in the Botcon Wreckers catalog. These are true pieces of Transformers Convention history!
Next is a piece who did see a release – a pre-production paint sample of Botcon 1999 Windrazor. Unlike the released one, though, this is the test sample that has some slight variations in the paint, such as much more purple on the beast mode head.
The last item is not Botcon related but is still an item of extreme interest for any collector of Transformers, particularly for fans of Beast Wars. This hand-sculpted hardcopy prototype of the Fuzor, Torca, is made at a larger scale than the final produced toy’s Beast Mode, and was used to determine the details for the beast mode before it became a toy. This is a true one-of-a-kind piece which gives a rare insight into the creation of this Beast Wars character and the Transformers line as a whole.
0R10N P4X
Alpha Trion was my favorite of the bunch.
Transfan2
That is understandable & I can agree, I am just looking for an alternative way to get them since getting the originals didn't work out, a win-win so to speak for me. However, The chances that they will be exact…I doubt it, close-ish, perhaps.
-TF2
DoubleClouder
As far as I am concerned the "customs" would be just as legit as the ones that sold.
Transfan2
I am the one who won Windrazor (a.k.a what my mom would call the "Reasonable" one) and I think it looks pretty cool in my opinion (I might do some pictures or something on it if I can find the time too…of course, when I get it..I mean).
Delphan Rane, it would be interesting to see how your Defensor turns out if you do it.
(Regarding Devcon, Rotorbolt, and Alpha Trion…I think I just get someone to make Customs of them, someday.)
-TF2
Delphan Rane
If this defensor was the blue/white version instead of this black repaint, I might've been more inclined to bid on it.
RoboticPlanet
Based what you said about his other purchases, and the insanely high feedback, he's likely a proxy bidding service (aka auction deputy) for people in Japan or China that don't read english
Optimus Prime
The guy who won Defensor has an odd assortment of recent eBay wins, too (i.e. glassware, dog collectables); I wonder if he's a TF collector or just a rare item hunter. $3000+ is ridiculous, though.
Though that guy who won Rotorbolt, Alpha Trion, and Devcon also shelled out a lot of cash. Hopefully he's someone who might put some galleries of them up.
Delphan Rane
WOW, Chaos Armor Defensor sold for $3079.23. Didn't think it was going to go that high.
Windrazor 134.50
Alpha Trion 709.99
Devcon 595.66
Rotorbolt 585.11
Torca Hardcopy Prototype 760.00
Methinks I need to get an extra Sam's Club Prime to kitbatsh.
Optimus Prime
Well, I think I reached my bid limit for any of these.
It sucks, because one guy, ONE GUY has the winning bid on Rotorbolt, Devcon, Alpha Trion, Defensor, Windrazor, and Torca. So he'll end up paying over $3000 if he wins all of them, and there are still 4 hours left in the auctions.
Hopefully this guy's someone who will take care of these and put up some nice galleries of them, and not just put them on his computer desk in his mom's basement so he can look at them while he plays WoW…
airfox
Yeah, 'cause Glen Hallit is the deeeevil.
Which brings me to:
That's what doesn't add up to me.
IIRC, the Hartman's were forced out in late 2002 after Botcon 2002 (around September), and the Defensor exclusive was intended for OTFCC'04 along with Sentinel Maximus with Megazarak as a "hotel exclusive". The auction listing for Defensor states that this Chaos Defensor would've been an OTFCC'05 exclusive. As we know, OTFCC'05 didn't exist because Hasbro pulled the license on August 31st 2004 before it expired by the end of that year, after the delays to ship Sentinel Maximus (and 3H's blaming of Hasbro for the delays )
Granted, I'm not "in the know", and I'm not questioning the validity of these pieces as I trust the source (God knows I want the Alpha Trion and the Defensor … any RiD Prime-based Defensor … that's why I request it every year in the survey), but I would've thought that by the time Defensor out of RiD Prime was being considered as an exclusive, Jon and Karl were already out of the loop. It took me by surprise to know that they have a sample of this toy.
QFT!
I want one for my G1 Twin Twist and Topspin I bought from their table at Botcon '06.
I saved the post-its with the price written on them so one day I can compare them to Jon or Karl's handwriting as proof that those were theirs.
-airfox
Soundwave84
those look really cool!
General Tekno
You guys should do certificates of authenticity that say these were from the Hartmans.
That way if they ever get resold people can say "The Hartmans had this" and boost their return on investment.
Ravenxl7
This just makes me want that Defensor even more. Though a more simplistic paint job would look better, imo. I'd love to own another copy of that mold.
General Tekno
Yeah – these are from back when 3H ran the convention, I believe (and probably before Glen Hallit forced the Hartmans out)
BlueAngel_Bolt
*looks at defensor*
O_O
@_@
*goes epileptic*
Seeker
Man that is one ugly Optimus. I mean Defensor…
Thundershot
ummmm……. Those are toys that were never produced. NOT upcoming Botcon toys….
Cloudraker
Hmm. Which of these are the attendee feebies I wonder?
At any rate, it looks like I'll be saving lots of money on Botcon toys this year if these are indeed Botcon toys. Unless the figures in the box set knock one out of the park.
Defensor or whoever he is looks hideous to me. I was expecting to much perhaps for it being the 25th anniversary.
influence82
The prototypes look cool. Thanks for the behind the scenes lessons, guys.
Beastbot X
Suddenly Botcon exclusives are looking REALLY cheap.