#botcon 2016

Who is Unit-3? Long story short, he’s a character created for this year’s Botcon comic, based off of a McDonald’s Happy Meal toy from back in the Beast Wars era.  I say “created” because as the weakest of the McDonald’s Happy Meal toys, he really wasn’t much of a character.  The toy existed, and that was pretty much it (or so I “mostly” thought).  To get an idea of how underwhelming this original figure was, check it out here at the TF wiki page: A black and red Optimus Primal inside a giant lion head. Wow.

                              OK, full disclosure here, I haven’t actually read this year’s Botcon comic. I’m not really sure why, I just haven’t gotten to it. However, after reading the TF wiki page, I have to admit I’m a little bit intrigued. Unit-3 sounds like he is grimdark to the point of hilarity. Guess I have some reading to do this weekend. But enough about the character, let’s talk about this deliciously awesome figure.  When I finally got the exclusives this year, Unit-3 was one of the last ones I opened. Let’s be honest, everybody was chomping at the bit to get Megatron.  I’m no different.

                              Once I got to the last of the figures, I finally understood how wrong I was in judging him. This is one beautiful bot. The red and black parts of the car mode and robot torso contrast nicely against the overall yellow from the body of the car. One of the nicest things about this deco is the sharpness of all of the tampoed details.  They are crisp and clean and really pop against the background colors of the robot and car.  Additional silver highlights bring out more features from the mold and help salvage the details from getting completely lost in a sea of black in bot mode. The organic black stripes contouring down the yellow body of the car give the impression of a wavy lion’s mane.  Finally, I think the best part of this entire setup are the Maximal symbols. I will never get tired of seeing Maximal/Predacon symbols on a deco.

  Like I said, he’s beautiful.  <3

                                Obviously, one of the other reasons that this toy is so awesome is the great mold choice. The Streetwise mold is one of the best Combiner Wars limbs in my opinion.  Not only does he have a nice balance for dynamic poses, he’s very well proportioned. His car parts fold nicely all the way behind him and don’t hinder his shoulder or hip articulation in any shape, form or fashion.  This places him nicely at the top of the combiner hill. He also makes one of the most solid legs and arms out of all of the other potential limbs.  As a leg he is one single unit with no kibble getting in the way of the knee joint. As an arm, everything pegs into place and he gives a very bulky look.

  Now, once we heard that this figure was an alternate for Magnaboss, I knew I was going to have to get a real Combiner Wars Magnaboss. I went the extra mile and had my good friend and former Allspark staff member Cheetimus Primal, aka Cheets, make me a set that was a little truer to the original Maximal trio.  Personally, I think it’s a masterpiece. It definitely helps me forget how much I dislike this year’s Tigatron, due to his flat head. Anyhow, I like Unit-3 so much I bought one to combine and one to leave loose. Shut up. I’m weak and I know it.

                                All in all, I would have to say that due to the solid deco and mold choice, this figure is one of the best exclusives I have ever bought at a Botcon.  Combined with him apparently being hilariously grim in the comic even though he is based off the most kid friendly Transformers figure in history, and he is an absolute must have.  I had no idea months ago that I needed him, and yet he now stands in a place of honor on my shelf, and he likely will for years to come…right beside this year’s Megatron. ;)

Getting off my lazy butt after seeing @keyismykitty write out her recap, and @shirobutterfly‘s vlogs.

Tay and Key stayed over for several days before we went to the con. They put up with the place being half-finished, and me dragging them around Austin to play tour guide.

Met @clipchip at the airport and spread the word of Botcon.

The hotel was not only extremely fancy - like, the kind of place you’d pay three times what we did to stay at - but the staff were really, really nice. Met a super awesome bellhop, still kinda bummed we didn’t see him again ‘cause I owed him a big tip.

Judd Nelson looks like an actual madman, but is very chill. And I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one who got a girl crush on Venus Terzo.

I feel the need to apologize for talking smack about Stan Bush, because he’s actually one helluva performer. That concert was fantastic!

Someone in artist’s alley had a Jem poster, and it was glorious. I really hope he can work on the comic in the future, his artwork brought out the style of the comic so well~

That elevator’s speed cannot have been legal.

Louisville is smaller than we thought. We just wanted some burgers, alright, that’s what happens when you binge-watch Bob’s Burgers all weekend, why was everything closed whyyyyy...

Apparently, this being “the last Botcon in its current form” was the cue to some to let out their sexist flags. You can’t compliment people by insulting others; why the fuck do we need to have husbands to go (and really? we’re unicorns?); and only bad business owners tell a customer they’re “using [their] feminine wiles” to haggle. That sort of thing has virtually never been a problem for us in all the years we’ve gone. I guess it being the last day of “the last con,” some felt the need to make up for lost time.

Shout out to the magnificent bastards who saw that no limit was placed on buying con exclusive figures, then proceeded to buy, like, 40 of the Megatron ones. I cannot blame you for the smart business move, but screw you, too.

Louisville Zoo was THE BEST. We chatted with some of the workers, who told us how they got their bears. (And learned we’d been lied to all our lives, because bears don’t actually hibernate. What a bummer.) The exhibits were very open in the safest way for both people and animals, and we got some seriously cool pics out of it.

Major shout out to the uber driver who not only offered to take us through the drive-thru because the White Castle’s restaurant side was closed, even after we told him we’d go back to the hotel; but who also got out of the car to knock on the drive-thru window after no one would answer us on the speaker. (Yes, they were open, by the by.)