Actually, that is not correct. Ratchet and Ironhide share the same head sculpt. The remolding was on Ratchet's weapon which also served as his emergency lights. So in 05 they only had 3 new head sclupts and new remolding on one of the figures. It would make sense that this year we could see 3 new head sculpts and remolding on one of the figures, i.e. Thrust's wings.
Even the WSTF Dinobots are technically illegal since they duplicate real Transformers at a different scale.
OMG. This is really adding up already. This is insane. Already spending money when I'm not even at the convention yet. I might have to break down and sell some extra stuff I have.
I think it's more the idea that this may be part of a limited run intended for a specific customer that might be attending the convention specifically to receive the figures that are being sold. that's why I would have an issue with it. if it's just test shots, extras, or otherwise discarded toys, then by all means sell them.
This is what I hate about At Convention exclusives. It is unrealistic for Hasbro to expect every serious collector to able to sacrifice the time and money to attend. And even worse to create a situation were Scalpers will take advantage of the fans desire for a unique product.
Curses for having to fly across the entire damned country! But at least my plane ticket only cost me $10.
I can see your point and I certainly do not want to sound rude but we can't pick and choose when it's OK and when it isn't to be upset about this. Just because this 'stolen' item is one that hits close to home to Botcon attendees doesn't make it any more of an issue than the rest of the stolen/KO'd stuff that floods ebay every day.
My plane ticket. It cost me $10. And I'm flying from San Francisco to Chicago to Providence and back.
You Sir are correct! Any stolen transformer off e-bay pisses me off but I can not really do anything about other than not bidding on them. Which is something I will not do since the final product is always better anyway. That is if it is a test shot. Even if I complain to e-bay I have no proof that it is stolen so like I said nothing I can do about it.
It would be interesting to see Hasbro formally address the test shot issue at this year's Botcon, if for nothing else than to finally have a conclusive answer to the question, "are they stolen?" While I think most of us already believe that to be the case, when asked at a previous Botcon, Hasbro basically just said "don't buy them". It would be much more conclusive for them to say, "When you see a test shot on eBay, yes, it has in fact been stolen from one of the factories." (provided that's actually the case, of course). Not that I believe it would make a difference to those who buy them, but it would put some long-ongoing arguments to rest, e.g., "you don't have any proof, it COULD be a dealer sample!!111!"
All I can say is thank God for credit cards, nothing like a 30 day window to make sure the cash is in place. So much for paying the cable bill in July He's the flight attendant
Yup. 25,000 miles to fly from SFO to PVD. United Mileage Plus was doing a deal with Visa where if you sign up for their credit card, you automatically get 20,000 miles after your first purchase. So I signed up, bought a pack of gum, got the 20,000 miles, combined it with the miles I already have and viola. $10 for tax and that's it. I KNEW you'd poke your head around.
Fantastic job on that Alpha Trion. If it's a convention exclusive, I'll do everything within my power to get one. I hope FP uses the same type of clear plastic used by Takara's Vector Prime, though. Like others, I'm surprised now that BC07's fiction is based around Marvel Comics' G1, and at the same time some cartoon-only characters have been used/introduced there. While I like Alpha Trion a lot, I think other comic-only characters could've been used. Then again ... FP, where is Defcon? I want a cartoon-accurate Defcon! Make it happen! I wouldn't worry too much. Last year we got Megatron and Primal, both Voyager sized and both with new heads. On top of that, there was the new heads for Cheetor and Tigatron and the mix-and-match of parts for Dinobot, so I think it's still within realistic expectations to have Thrust, Dreadwing and Alpha Trion using new parts. This does put the nail in the coffin of Elita-1 being a convention exclusive with a new head, so I'm currently leaning towards her being a Club Exclusive and Springer and Huffer being con exclusives. Isn't Lexington somewhat close to Columbus? I know it's an hour away by car from Cincinnatti (I stayed there last year before the convention) and I had figured the drive from Columbus to Cincinatti isn't that long. Also, there have been 2 Botcons in Ft. Wayne, IN. I don't know how close that is to Columbus, but I remember while driving in Ft. Wayne signs directing to Columbus, OH on the freeways, so I figured Columbus is one of the "big cities" closer to Ft. Wayne. -airfox
