Dave's Bot Shots Rant: Launchers Wave 1 Optimus Prime Launcher Megatron Launcher Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/BS/Launcher1 What would a Bakugan-ish game be without accessories to obviate the effort of manually rolling things together? Well, slightly cheaper. But these launchers are also battle stations, for play other than the game. They come with exclusive deco versions of the single Bot Shots (although Megatron isn't in the first wave single-packs, just this and a three-pack). CAPSULES The price on both of these was $7.99 at Target, so the trailer itself is a $4 addition. Optimus Prime Launcher: Okay, so Bot Shots are essentially unarticulated jumpstarters, but this is a pretty good one, and the launcher/trailer works well visually and mechanically. Recommended. Megatron Launcher: It's pretty much a new-front-scratch design for Megatron (very faint resemblance to his RotF tank), so it lacks the nostalgia factor of Optimus. It's still pretty good (and therefore recommended), but if you only want to get one, get Optimus. RANTS Packaging: These are in larger carded blister packs that generally follow the design of the single-pack cards. 7.5" (19cm) wide, 8.25" (21cm) tall, 2.5" (6cm) deep. The upper right picture shows the vehicle launching out of the opened launcher, with "Ultimate Battle Crash!" instead of "Crash to change!" The card insert has both Megatron and Optimus on it, but the one in the package is on the right. The bottom of the card insert has two single-pack co-sells. The card back has the chibi art of the character in the upper right, the attack strengths across the top under the name, a photo of vehicle and closed trailer in the middle, and photos of both launchers firing their vehicles along the bottom (mirror-flipped so that the character inside is on the left in both cases, but otherwise the same photo. Inside, the robot mode of the Bot Shot is held in by a rubber band, but the launcher is in trailer mode and held in by rattan strings. There's instructions for the launcher (simple transformations, connecting in trailer mode, using as launcher), but no game rules anywhere in or on the package. Wonder if they just forgot to include the little thing that's packed with the single packs? The launchers seem to have a few elements in common: connection to a Bot Shot, how they trigger, and the fact they're made of a major plastic color for most stuff and a secondary color for wheels, trigger and weapons. Launcher Connection: In theory, every Bot Shot has the connection points at the back of their vehicle mode necessary to connect to any launcher. However, both of these launchers have detailing at the front that prevents any other existing mold from connecting in trailer mode. If you open up the sides but leave the front ramp up, any figure can connect to either base, but that kind of misses the point of being a trailer. Launcher Trigger: Both launchers will fire either by pressing down on the cannon on top, or the rear bumper. In theory, though, there's a safety catch. If a little tab on the bottom isn't pressed in, it's not supposed to trigger. On my Megatron, the safety works fine...jab either button all you want, if the tab isn't pressed in, nothing happens. On Prime, though, it just takes a tiny bit more force to trigger it if the safety isn't pressed, at least for opening up the shell. His actual launcher won't fire of the safety isn't pressed, though. The safety works both ways, by the way: you can't get it cocked back without the button being held in. The launcher itself uses a pair of vertical struts that slam forward a little less than 3cm when either trigger is pressed. As with the single packs, the bio notes are taken from the official site. AUTOBOT: OPTIMUS PRIME Altmode: Truck Launcher: Trailer Series: 1 Number: BL001 Fist: 920 Sword: 280 Blaster: 450 Optimus Prime believes the odds should always be fair in a fight. This is why he uses his launcher to propel him towards any opponent who wants to tilt the odds in their favor, such as Megatron. Typo aside, this makes an interesting in-story point: launchers are considered an unfair advantage, and Optimus will only use his against someone who has already "cheated" by bringing theirs out. Perhaps a dig at games where too much advantage goes to the kid who can afford to buy all the accessories? [Later note: the typo of propel as propell got fixed in later editions of the checklist.] Packaging: Cosells are Starscream and Bumblebee. One string on the launcher. Same mold as the single pack version, review at http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/BS/Single1 Robot Mode Changes: The paint masks are the same in this mode as on the single-pack version, but the red is now brighter and the blue darker (closer to the G1 color scheme). The silver and yellow parts are the same. The gray plastic is a bit darker and warmer, the black is still black. Vehicle Mode Changes: Same as with robot mode, all the paint masks are the same but the red is brighter and the blue darker. Launcher: This is a semitrailer, but bulked out and with a narrowing down at the front to match up with (and mostly cover) the trailer of the Optimus Prime Bot Shot. It has a large incongruous spoiler that partially covers the cannon/trigger that sticks up in back. It has a pair of real wheels in the back, and a pair of molded fake wheels ahead of those, so the combined vehicle has the proper five axles for an 18-wheeler. Combined, Optimus and his trailer are 13cm (5.25") long, the main part of the trailer is 46mm tall but it rises to 56mm tall in the back. It's a match for the gray of the Bot Shot, plus there's the classic blue stripe along the sides, interrupted by a large printed Autobot symbol. The main plastic color is the same gray as the Bot Shot, and the wheels, trigger, launcher spikes and weapons are black. The blue stripe is a match for the blue on the Bot Shot, but the red of the printed Autobot symbol is a little darker than the cab's red. The fake wheels are painted black. Unlike Megatron, it's possible to pop open the trailer while leaving the Bot Shot attached. Tapping either trigger makes the sides fold down in a vaguely wing-like way, leaving the trigger-cannon as a tower based on the repair tower in G1 Optimus Prime's trailer. Double-barrelled cannons fold out in front, and enhance the impression that this is a flying truck mode for Optimus. The inside walls are also painted and molded with the classic stripe, but they're painted gunmetal rather than blue. Detaching the Bot Shot lets the front ramp fold down. As a standalone, the battle platform is 10.5cm (4") long and 13.5cm (5.25") wide. The ramp doesn't swing all the way down, it has a little tab to keep it from getting flush with the surface. There's no foot pegs here, but there really isn't room for any robot to stand flat anyway. It's scaled pretty well for Cyberverse figures, though, and there's enough room on the launcher for most of the car/truck modes in that line. The only real problem is that the two struts may not push evenly on the back of a car if it's not flat enough. While there's only the two real wheels in back, there's a couple of tabs at the front that let it slide along okay on its own. The flat spaces on the wings are actually just the right size for Kreons, who also do a decent job of fitting in with the Choro-Q-ish aesthetic of Bot Shots vehicles. Overall: A chibi Optimus Prime with a proportional base that becomes a proper trailer? Heck, even without the game-based gimmicks, it's almost worth getting just for that. Definitely worth picking up, especially if it stays $8. DECEPTICON: MEGATRON Altmode: Tank Launcher: Trailer Series: 1 Number: BL002 Fist: 530 Sword: 210 Blaster: 900 When strength alone isn't enough, Megatron uses his weaponized launcher to charge into battle. Built by Megatron himself, his specialized launcher inflicts a large amount of damage in a short amount of time. Even without the trappings of fair play, there's still an implication here that using a launcher is somehow cheating. Megatron would clearly rather just rely on his own strength, only using the launcher when that's not enough. Packaging: Cosells are Barricade and outlined Super Bot 001. No love for single-pack Optimus Prime. Two strings on the launcher. Robot Mode: 46mm tall. The main plastic color is a very dark bronze metalflake that is pretty close to what Games Workshop paints call "Tin Bitz", while the wheels and gears color is charcoal gray. The face and the chest boundary are painted silver, the eyes are red. The tops of the arms are painted charcoal gray for the tank treads, and he has the usual wheel-fists. The head is more reminiscent of the general shape of the Prime or TFA Megatrons, but the face is more TFA/G1. Like most Bot Shots, his mouth is canted at an angle, but it's less smirk and more of a "Bah!" expression. The size of his vehicle shell bits make it look like he's standing in front of a wall, might be worth painting the inside of the turret piece black. Vehicle Mode: A Cybertronian armored assault vehicle of some kind. It has tank treads and a main gun, but it's hard to tell from the Choro-Q'ing whether it's supposed to have a turret or not. It might just be a tank destroyer with fixed spinal mount cannon. The main gun is flanked by secondary barrels angled up and out, and then rocket pods on the outside of those. Behind the main gun is a mass of Bayformery shard stuff that looks like it's supposed to be the generators for the cannon, and it has twin tails at the back to act as robot mode heels. They also plug into the trailer, as noted below. 55mm long, with the entire front tread section being the bumper trigger. There's charcoal paint on parts of the treads (annoyingly, not all parts), red on the tip of the main gun, and silver on the shardy bit. It doesn't roll all that great, due to small caster-style wheels and the robot chin dragging on the table. Launcher: This is not based on the truck trailer from Dark of the Moon, but is instead a new design meant to blend with the tank. Oddly, while looks like it has tank tread drive wheels, it doesn't actually have the treads, making the combined vehicle a sort of reverse halftrack. While it has a big (non-firing) gun on top for the trigger and rocket pods on the front corners, it otherwise looks more like an armored cargo hauler or ammo tender. The combined vehicle is 13.5cm (5.5") long, sloping upward to the cannon in back that rises a total of 6.5cm (2.5"). The tin bitz plastic and dark gray plastic match, and there's a linkup at the front that the tank's tail fins plug into. This plug-in means that you can't open it up while the tank is attached, although you can still remove the tank, open and then plug the tank back onto the front. A vent on the front end is painted silver and more or less blends into the silver on the tank, and there's silver stripes on the sides with purple Decepticon symbols printed in them. The rocket pod tips and the fake wheels along the sides are painted dark gray in a good match to the plastic. Combined it rolls better than the tank alone does, as the back end of the tank is lifted up a bit and the robot chin clears better. Rather than folding down, the shell folds out and back so that the base mode has a back wall. Gray plastic energy cannons fold out from inside the shell. The entire inside surface of the shell is painted a darkish silver, while the centerline of the ramp is painted silver and has various plating patterns molded into it. The insides of the fake wheels are molded as vents, to increase the feeling that this is the interior of a bunker. The battle base is 11cm (4.5") long and 19.5cm (7.5") wide. Since it doesn't really have a floor other than the ramp, there's no call for foot pegs, but it also means that anything sufficiently short can use it as a base, not just Bot Shots. As with Prime's base, Kreons find a good home here. (Oh, and the narrowest possible Lego-style cart with small wheels around a 2-stud-wide center can fit on the launcher, but you need to give it a bumper behind the wheels or the launcher will just skid it along.) Overall: Megatron really doesn't have a history of trailers, and the one he DOES have (Dark of the Moon) doesn't look anything like this. So there's no sentimental reason to pick this up like there is for Optimus. It's a decent toy in its own right, though, and worth picking up. Just, if you only want to get one launcher, get Optimus. Dave Van Domelen, off to see Wrath of the Titans, fully expecting it to be very very cheesy.