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JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:The fictional setting wouldn't work though. If my guess is correct, the title of the box set means it'll be set either before Beast Wars, or in Beast Wars: Uprising. I don't think Megatron would have a dragon-associated form in either setting.

Good point, but one can hope for at least a color scheme.

Railbomb wrote:I think it's kind of interesting that they didn't show him with the hand/foot gun. Makes me wonder if they're going to have a new combiner accessory and dedicated hands and feet for the combiner similar to Victorion.

Most stock photography for Combiner Wars molds, by Hasbro or by FunPub, omits that piece unless it's stock photography of the combined form.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Throwing this in for the TMII Megs: Using Sky Lynx, they could have it where he was mutated or damaged, and he has a vehicle and beast mode, but now in order to transform to robot mode, he needs to combine, and his combined mode head is his regular TMII head.

There is actually a precedent for a robot mode-less megatron. In Beast Machines, begining of season 2, he was just 2 beast modes.

william-james88 wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Throwing this in for the TMII Megs: Using Sky Lynx, they could have it where he was mutated or damaged, and he has a vehicle and beast mode, but now in order to transform to robot mode, he needs to combine, and his combined mode head is his regular TMII head.

There is actually a precedent for a robot mode-less megatron. In Beast Machines, begining of season 2, he was just 2 beast modes.

Interesting, and nice job remembering that. Noble Savage I believe. Megatron had some pretty interesting alt modes for that cartoon and toy line.

For reference to add to the convo.
Credit: TFWiki

The name "Dawn of the Predacus" suggests this to be the origin of the Tripredacus Council, whom Megatron worked against, so I don't see why he's even being considered for this combiner.

I can see the "Quinpredacus"/"Pentapredacus"/etc. combiner being comprised of the following.

Ravage - CW Breakdown (already confirmed)

Sea Clamp - CW Rook (give him two combiner "Hulk hands" to homage his giant claws)

Cicadacon - CW Air Raid (the mold's wings can swing upward like Cicadacon's wings could, and the pectorals can be decoed to homage the bug eyes on Cicadacon's torso) plus a pair of swords from someone (if possible)

Onyx Primal - CW Firefly or CW Skydive (the wings on both molds swing down like Onyx's) plus Prime Wheeljack's swords (if possible)

Ram Horn - CW Silverbolt/Cyclonus/Scattorshot (none of the other torsos really fit, but the nosecone of this mold could pass for the Cybertronian equivalent of Ram Horn's beast horn, and rhinoceros beetles can fly, and the Superion torso panels hidden on the mold's legs can be colored to homage Tripredacus's torso).

While this would make Ram Horn be the biggest member instead of Sea Clamp, as a kid I always kind of viewed Ram Horn (or rather, the unnamed General in the cartoon whose name I didn't know at the time but later learned to be Ram Horn) as being sort of the leader of the three, even if his toy only formed the arms of the original toy.

Sabrblade wrote:The name "Dawn of the Predacus" suggests this to be the origin of the Tripredacus Council, whom Megatron worked against, so I don't see why he's even being considered for this combiner.

I can see the "Quinpredacus"/"Pentapredacus"/etc. combiner being comprised of the following.

Ravage - CW Breakdown (already confirmed)

Sea Clamp - CW Rook (give him two combiner "Hulk hands" to homage his giant claws)

Cicadacon - CW Air Raid (the mold's wings can swing upward like Cicadacon's wings could, and the pectorals can be decoed to homage the bug eyes on Cicadacon's torso) plus a pair of swords from someone (if possible)

Onyx Primal - CW Firefly or CW Skydive (the wings on both molds swing down like Onyx's) plus Prime Wheeljack's swords (if possible)

Ram Horn - CW Silverbolt/Cyclonus/Scattorshot (none of the other torsos really fit, but the nosecone of this mold could pass for the Cybertronian equivalent of Ram Horn's beast horn, and rhinoceros beetles can fly, and the Superion torso panels hidden on the mold's legs can be colored to homage Tripredacus's torso).

While this would make Ram Horn be the biggest member instead of Sea Clamp, as a kid I always kind of viewed Ram Horn (or rather, the unnamed General in the cartoon whose name I didn't know at the time but later learned to be Ram Horn) as being sort of the leader of the three, even if his toy only formed the arms of the original toy.

First off let me say that I am not offended, and would like to answer this question. And please don’t take any offense from my post.

Many people never knew the old fiction, forgot it, or don’t know the new fiction, or can’t keep track of the different fictions. Also, the Transformers franchise reimagines things all of the time and could use Megatron even if it would be contradictory to a certain fiction.

From what I remember, I thought the Tri-Predacus council said something along the lines as Megatron is too rogue, is going to mess everything up, and needs to be dealt with. That sounds like that at one time they were allies or at least on the same side. They were all Predacons, right? Sure there can be differing views within the same faction, but they are still in the same faction, thus Megatron could be a figure for Botcon (this is a perspective from one who doesn’t read the Botcon fiction).

Sabrblade I imagine that this is crystal clear in your mind but to others they don’t know all of the reasons that it would be or wouldn’t be. As usual I learn from you Sabrblade and I appreciate your contributions.

Where did you learn that his name was Ram horn? I’m not doubting you, I just want to know what I am missing, and where I can find that kind of information.

I looked it up on TFwiki because I honestly didn't even know they had names.

The three members of the Tripredacus Council are:

General Ram Horn
General Sea Clamp
General Cicadacon

Sustain wrote:I looked it up on TFwiki because I honestly didn't even know they had names.

The three members of the Tripredacus Council are:

General Ram Horn
General Sea Clamp
General Cicadacon

And those names were taken from the toys that comprise Tripredacus:



Clockwise from top right: Ram Horn, Cicadacon, Sea Clamp...



... with Tripredacus himself.

By the by, they said the combiner would have 5 new head molds... except for a total retool we'd need 6: 5 for the individual members, plus 1 for the Combined Mode. Expect to see one redeco, guys.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:By the by, they said the combiner would have 5 new head molds... except for a total retool we'd need 6: 5 for the individual members, plus 1 for the Combined Mode. Expect to see one redeco, guys.

Unless it's either the combined head or the torso head that doesn't get replaced, in which case the figure will still technically be a retool.

I suppose they could do a head with a face on the front and another on the back and use that for both modes, but that didn't really work for Polar Claw, and having the two faces on the same head be for robots of differing sizes would only make things more awkward, so I really don't think they'd do that.

TK415 wrote:First off let me say that I am not offended, and would like to answer this question. And please don’t take any offense from my post.

TK415 wrote:Many people never knew the old fiction, forgot it, or don’t know the new fiction, or can’t keep track of the different fictions. Also, the Transformers franchise reimagines things all of the time and could use Megatron even if it would be contradictory to a certain fiction.

In all of the Club's fiction that ties in or connects to Beast Wars (aside from its reboot continuity Beast Wars: Uprising), the Club is faithful and/or non-contradictory towards the Beast Wars story as it was portrayed in its cartoon proper. To reimagine the Council in any light contrary to how it was portrayed in said cartoon would go against the Club's M.O. of doing Beast Wars stuff.

While I did mention Uprising as the exception to this, I really can't see the Club doing a new version of the Council that no one cares about instead of the preexisting version that people saw and knew of. Those guys have been mysterious for all this time and if this appears to be their chance to finally be further explored and fleshed out, it'd more likely be done in a manner that adheres to the cartoon's depiction of them.

TK415 wrote:From what I remember, I thought the Tri-Predacus council said something along the lines as Megatron is too rogue, is going to mess everything up, and needs to be dealt with. That sounds like that at one time they were allies or at least on the same side. They were all Predacons, right? Sure there can be differing views within the same faction, but they are still in the same faction, thus Megatron could be a figure for Botcon (this is a perspective from one who doesn’t read the Botcon fiction).

Megatron's official backstory (which contains an inherent link to Club-produced fiction) has him as a lowlife crook who hit it big in the Golden Disk theft after double-crossing his boss and mentor Cryotek, making off with the disk while Cryotek took the fall for the heist.

Megatron's small time position and more risky agenda clashes with both the more esteemed governmental position and the more secretive long-term planning agenda of the Council. For Megatron to have once been a member, it just doesn't add up with the kind of character Megatron was and is.

Now, let's suppose that Megatron really was once a member of the Council. Given the kind of character that we know him to be, it just really doesn't seem believable that he'd have either given up or been removed from his seat of power. He's too crafty and charismatic to be bested by the other three who preferred more diplomatic and slow-paced planning. If anything, Megatron would be the kind of bot who'd secretly have the other three taken out of the picture, rather than the opposite, just as he'd done to Cryotek. It'd be no time at all before Megatron would be the sole power in the Predacon government, and with as silver a tongue as he has, he'd easily have every Pred working under him eating out of the palm of his hand.

Though, while it's true that in the Beast Era cartoons Megatron had some of his underlings try to go against him, but each case could be overturned with Megatron in governmental charge of all Predacons. Tarantulas was loyal to the Council more than to Megatron, but in this case with Megatron being the Council, he'd be the one Tarantulas would be loyal to. Terrorsaur was a typical Starscream type who wanted to lead Megatron's small team on Earth, but he never seemed so ambitious as to want to take over a political office. Tankor-Rhinox also wanted to dethrone Megatron, but with Megatron in politics, it isn't likely that events would have played out the same way as those that led to Rhinox getting turned into Tankor. And Cryotek, being a small time crime boss far below any political authority, wouldn't have Megatron as his apprentice, and so wouldn't have Megatron as a flunky for him to want to betray.

In short, the situation would likely be completely different from how it was in the cartoon if Megatron had been a Councilor instead of a criminal thug. So different that it does not seem like the kind of story that would be told in this forthcoming set.

TK415 wrote:Where did you learn that his name was Ram horn? I’m not doubting you, I just want to know what I am missing, and where I can find that kind of information.

All three of the Tripredacus Council generals were given toys back in the day, in which they were named Ram Horn, Sea Clamp, and Cicadacon. Of course, since the toys were made first, the toys weren't advertised as being anything more than a Predacon combiner team, as this was the time before the toys began to mesh with the cartoon's storyline.

When the season 2 finale of the cartoon came along, the cartoon took three members of the Tripredacus team and reimagined them as the Predacon governmental body called the Tripredacus Council. Though their individual names were not given in the episode itself, they were included in the episode's script, which identified which was which of the three. The script was posted on Ben Yee's website BWTF.com back in the day, and fans who saw it and read were able to deduce who was Ram Horn, who was Sea Clamp, and who was Cicadacon.

Currently, the three are easily identifiable on their respective TFWiki pages.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:By the by, they said the combiner would have 5 new head molds... except for a total retool we'd need 6: 5 for the individual members, plus 1 for the Combined Mode. Expect to see one redeco, guys.

No problem. If they go with Onyx as the fifth member, they can redeco CW Firefly since Firefly's head is a close enough match for Onyx's, allowing the other four and the combiner to all have new heads.

Sabrblade wrote:

TK415 wrote:First off let me say that I am not offended, and would like to answer this question. And please don’t take any offense from my post.

TK415 wrote:Many people never knew the old fiction, forgot it, or don’t know the new fiction, or can’t keep track of the different fictions. Also, the Transformers franchise reimagines things all of the time and could use Megatron even if it would be contradictory to a certain fiction.

In all of the Club's fiction that ties in or connects to Beast Wars (aside from its reboot continuity Beast Wars: Uprising), the Club is faithful and/or non-contradictory towards the Beast Wars story as it was portrayed in its cartoon proper. To reimagine the Council in any light contrary to how it was portrayed in said cartoon would go against the Club's M.O. of doing Beast Wars stuff.

While I did mention Uprising as the exception to this, I really can't see the Club doing a new version of the Council that no one cares about instead of the preexisting version that people saw and knew of. Those guys have been mysterious for all this time and if this appears to be their chance to finally be further explored and fleshed out, it'd more likely be done in a manner that adheres to the cartoon's depiction of them.

TK415 wrote:From what I remember, I thought the Tri-Predacus council said something along the lines as Megatron is too rogue, is going to mess everything up, and needs to be dealt with. That sounds like that at one time they were allies or at least on the same side. They were all Predacons, right? Sure there can be differing views within the same faction, but they are still in the same faction, thus Megatron could be a figure for Botcon (this is a perspective from one who doesn’t read the Botcon fiction).

Megatron's official backstory (which contains an inherent link to Club-produced fiction) has him as a lowlife crook who hit it big in the Golden Disk theft after double-crossing his boss and mentor Cryotek, making off with the disk while Cryotek took the fall for the heist.

Megatron's small time position and more risky agenda clashes with both the more esteemed governmental position and the more secretive long-term planning agenda of the Council. For Megatron to have once been a member, it just doesn't add up with the kind of character Megatron was and is.

Now, let's suppose that Megatron really was once a member of the Council. Given the kind of character that we know him to be, it just really doesn't seem believable that he'd have either given up or been removed from his seat of power. He's too crafty and charismatic to be bested by the other three who preferred more diplomatic and slow-paced planning. If anything, Megatron would be the kind of bot who'd secretly have the other three taken out of the picture, rather than the opposite, just as he'd done to Cryotek. It'd be no time at all before Megatron would be the sole power in the Predacon government, and with as silver a tongue as he has, he'd easily have every Pred working under him eating out of the palm of his hand.

Though, while it's true that in the Beast Era cartoons Megatron had some of his underlings try to go against him, but each case could be overturned with Megatron in governmental charge of all Predacons. Tarantulas was loyal to the Council more than to Megatron, but in this case with Megatron being the Council, he'd be the one Tarantulas would be loyal to. Terrorsaur was a typical Starscream type who wanted to lead Megatron's small team on Earth, but he never seemed so ambitious as to want to take over a political office. Tankor-Rhinox also wanted to dethrone Megatron, but with Megatron in politics, it isn't likely that events would have played out the same way as those that led to Rhinox getting turned into Tankor. And Cryotek, being a small time crime boss far below any political authority, wouldn't have Megatron as his apprentice, and so wouldn't have Megatron as a flunky for him to want to betray.

In short, the situation would likely be completely different from how it was in the cartoon if Megatron had been a Councilor instead of a criminal thug. So different that it does not seem like the kind of story that would be told in this forthcoming set.

TK415 wrote:Where did you learn that his name was Ram horn? I’m not doubting you, I just want to know what I am missing, and where I can find that kind of information.

All three of the Tripredacus Council generals were given toys back in the day, in which they were named Ram Horn, Sea Clamp, and Cicadacon. Of course, since the toys were made first, the toys weren't advertised as being anything more than a Predacon combiner team, as this was the time before the toys began to mesh with the cartoon's storyline.

When the season 2 finale of the cartoon came along, the cartoon took three members of the Tripredacus team and reimagined them as the Predacon governmental body called the Tripredacus Council. Though their individual names were not given in the episode itself, they were included in the episode's script, which identified which was which of the three. The script was posted on Ben Yee's website BWTF.com back in the day, and fans who saw it and read were able to deduce who was Ram Horn, who was Sea Clamp, and who was Cicadacon.

Currently, the three are easily identifiable on their respective TFWiki pages.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:By the by, they said the combiner would have 5 new head molds... except for a total retool we'd need 6: 5 for the individual members, plus 1 for the Combined Mode. Expect to see one redeco, guys.

No problem. If they go with Onyx as the fifth member, they can redeco CW Firefly since Firefly's head is a close enough match for Onyx's, allowing the other four and the combiner to all have new heads.

Awesome! Excellent! Very cool, thank you sir.

One point of clarification, I was thinking “Predacon” and virtually dismissed “council.” Or just thought of it as any Predacons one would want to make up a council. I see now that you were specifically thinking the actual “Tripredacus Council.”

That is really cool about the script.

Thank you for the info, I didn’t know that the club so carefully adhered to BW fiction. I would enjoy reading Botcon fiction, but I haven’t been able to (time, money, and opportunity), may be some time in the future.

Sabrblade you are a master archivist!

Again, thank you Sabrblade.

TK415 wrote:Thank you for the info, I didn’t know that the club so carefully adhered to BW fiction. I would enjoy reading Botcon fiction, but I haven’t been able to (time, money, and opportunity), may be some time in the future.

Some pieces of BotCon/Club fiction are free for anyone to view, with links to which can found here.

* Note to self: Need to update that list. *

Alright, I have a really far out there idea, mostly because it seems weird enough to happen and I kinda want another reason to own this mold:

Sky Lynx redone as Mangaboss

How? Look at the dino form combined mode of Mangaboss and then look at CW Sky Lynx. I know its a bit of a leap, but I could see the club doing it. Also, you get around the issue of 5 new head sculpts, you can't really do much with Sky Lynx's head. Also, if you squint at the Sky Reign torso, it has some resemblance to the Tripredacus torso.

ciberw0lf wrote:Alright, I have a really far out there idea, mostly because it seems weird enough to happen and I kinda want another reason to own this mold:

Sky Lynx redone as Mangaboss

How? Look at the dino form combined mode of Mangaboss and then look at CW Sky Lynx. I know its a bit of a leap, but I could see the club doing it. Also, you get around the issue of 5 new head sculpts, you can't really do much with Sky Lynx's head.

Thing is, the Sky Lynx mold might not yet be available by the time BotCon comes around next April. While the Club was able to work out a way to get the Onslaught mold from Hasbro for next year's subscription service, Sky Lynx isn't coming out until the wave after Onslaught, so if the Club had to go to Hasbro to squeeze out a deal with them to get Onslaught as early as they did, Sky Lynx might be even harder to get, so much so that it might just be flat out beyond the Club's reach for the moment.

Besides, there already are CW molds for Prowl, Silverbolt, and Ironhide, so any fan can make up their own Magnaboss right now if they so pleased.

Sabrblade wrote:

ciberw0lf wrote:Alright, I have a really far out there idea, mostly because it seems weird enough to happen and I kinda want another reason to own this mold:

Sky Lynx redone as Mangaboss

How? Look at the dino form combined mode of Mangaboss and then look at CW Sky Lynx. I know its a bit of a leap, but I could see the club doing it. Also, you get around the issue of 5 new head sculpts, you can't really do much with Sky Lynx's head.

Thing is, the Sky Lynx mold might not yet be available by the time BotCon comes around next April. While the Club was able to work out a way to get the Onslaught mold from Hasbro for next year's subscription service, Sky Lynx isn't coming out until the wave after Onslaught, so if the Club had to go to Hasbro to squeeze out a deal with them to get Onslaught as early as they did, Sky Lynx might be even harder to get, so much so that it might just be flat out beyond the Club's reach for the moment.

Besides, there already are CW molds for Prowl, Silverbolt, and Ironhide, so any fan can make up their own Magnaboss right now if they so pleased.

Never thought of that! MagnaBoss! and a few extras

BotCon.com update with a new figure reveal and guest announcement:

http://www.botcon.com/BotCon2016/

Alec Willows (Voice of Tarantulas) and, of course then, Tarantulas from CW Rook. This figure is inspired by the Transmetal color scheme for Tarantulas and has a new head sculpt to capture Tarantulas' look on the show.

I feel like there's a joke about this replacing a motorcycle to be made, but I can't put it together.

It definitely works better than Ravage, though.

I wished this were a hoax. I call betrayal!

SW's SilverHammer wrote:I wished this were a hoax. I call betrayal!

It certainly doesn't seem to fit his toy, his peronality, or his ethos; I would say that this mold would fit ramhorn;

I suppose, that you guys at fun pub, or wherever, couldn't get the TT groove mold?

Also, his cg head seems a little to big, maybe scale it down the tiniest of tiny bits...

But I LOVE that color scheme, and that mettalic gunmetal, is great; I like this overall, even if the mold could've worked better as someone else.

Kind of disappointed with how recently we got a Pre/Non-BW Tarantulas, and now we're getting another? Not pleased...

Not too long ago, it was announced that Botcon 2016's box set would be called "Dawn of the Predacus" and consist of a combiner made up of Beast Wars components linked to the Tripedicus group. The first reveal was Ravage (a Tripedicus agent) using the combiner wars Breakdown mold. They have just revealed on their website today that another figure part of this set will be Tarantulas, as many fans guessed due to the character's affiliation with the Tripedicus council. Not only that but it was also revealed that his Beast Wars voice actor, Alec Willows, will also be a guest at the show.

While it may be odd that we are getting another exclusive Tarantulas in such a short time, they do indicate that this will be based on his Transmetal deco. As you recall, that body did have a motorcycle mode, however, he will not be using the deluxe Groove mold but instead the Rook mold as seen below.




Also, this means that the remaining three members of the combiner are probably the original members of the Tripedicus combiner: General Ram Horn, Sea Clamp, and Cicadacon.

Botcon wrote:10/09/2015 - We are thrilled to announce that Alec Willows, voice of the villainous and venomnous TARANTULAS from the Beast Wars cartoon series, will be our guest At BotCon 2016. Along with David Kaye, Alec will be available for autographs and panels as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Beast Wars.

Speaking of the robotic spider, we are also pleased to reveal that our second BotCon 2016 Predacon themed Combiner Wars boxed set character is in fact TARANTULAS, inspired by his season 2 "Transmetal" deco and featuring an ALL-NEW head sculpt. Along with Ravage, Tarantulas will merge with the other 3 Predacons in the box set to form PREDACUS!

Stay Tuned for more figure reveals, guest updates and info regarding events and registration for BotCon 2016 - North America's LARGEST Transformers fan convention!

Personal observation here (as a guy who had nothing to do with the mold choice on this one).

Transmetal Tarantulas was... well he was a bit like Bruce Lee. He wasn't bulky, but the guy was trim and toned (look at those abs!). And then he had a ginormous linebacker's shoulder pads thrown on, giving him an extremely wide chest and shoulders.

From the day Rook was revealed, that's kind of how I saw him too. His upper legs aren't all that bulky, and with the bomb disposal claw defining his job, I can interpret him as a moderate-sized guy inside of massively oversized protective shielding. And with this being Tarantulas working with the Predacon Secret before/instead of on ancient Earth getting turned into a spider, I can catch some interesting story vibes of him putting on some riot gear or a bomb disposal suit for a particularly tricky assignment.

As for the size of the head, thanks for pointing that out. But there has been a 3D printing made and correctly fitted to the body, even if the digital color/paint mock-up might appear to show something different.

TF_JW wrote:Personal observation here (as a guy who had nothing to do with the mold choice on this one).

Transmetal Tarantulas was... well he was a bit like Bruce Lee. He wasn't bulky, but the guy was trim and toned (look at those abs!). And then he had a ginormous linebacker's shoulder pads thrown on, giving him an extremely wide chest and shoulders.

From the day Rook was revealed, that's kind of how I saw him too. His upper legs aren't all that bulky, and with the bomb disposal claw defining his job, I can interpret him as a moderate-sized guy inside of massively oversized protective shielding. And with this being Tarantulas working with the Predacon Secret before/instead of on ancient Earth getting turned into a spider, I can catch some interesting story vibes of him putting on some riot gear or a bomb disposal suit for a particularly tricky assignment.

As for the size of the head, thanks for pointing that out. But there has been a 3D printing made and correctly fitted to the body, even if the digital color/paint mock-up might appear to show something different.

Cool, that's good to know about the head

I don't mind the mold choice, I can see it; but I must say, as the 'stalwart tank' ramhorn or seaclamp would have probably worked better, but I wonder if brawl and/or swindle are going to make an appearance; I can see ramhorn from brawl with a 'techno' barrel that looks like his horn

Seeing as how Takara's Groove is apparently too costly to make to use anywhere else, this isn't bad as a 2nd best.

So, it's not going to be that much of a surprise as to who the other 3 members are. The question is, WHO will be the Voyager in the middle and what mold will he use? Maybe Cicadacon? He has Tripredacus' head after all.

Hmm...

Actually, IF Cicadacon is the torso/voyager, maybe he'll make use of the Silverbolt mold? It would make more sense than the Optimus/Motormaster or Hot Spot/Onslaught molds. That leaves Sea Clamp and Ram Horn though.

I guess I could see Ram Horn using the First Aid or Offroad mold? It has the kind of bulk and shape that resembles his beetle mode. Plus, he'd work well as the Left Arm of the new Combiner and even resemble the original Tripredacus' Left Arm.

As for Sea Clamp... maybe the Dragstrip mold? That one hasn't gotten much use besides Mirage, and it's vaguely Crawfish shaped.