Dave's Bot Shots Rant: Three-Pack Wave 1 Autobot Pack 1 (Sentinel Prime, Prowl, Bumblebee) Decepticon Pack 1 (Nemesis Prime, Megatron, Acid Storm) Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/BS/Triple1 While prices are variable (and totally out of whack in the UK, from what I hear), the intention of these packs seems to be a "three for the price of two" deal. All but Megatron have their molds reviewed as single-pack figures, at http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/BS/Single1. Megatron's mold is reviewed at http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/BS/Launcher1 instead. The bio notes are taken from the Checklist PDF available at bot-shots.com, but as of the first posting of this file it was missing Acid Storm and the non-clear Sentinel Prime. [Later updated with the missing notes.] CAPSULES The price point for these is $8 at Target, and seems to be intended as twice the cost of a single-pack. Autobot Pack 1: Good redecos/renames, definitely get over the single pack versions. Recommended. Decepticon Pack 1: Decos not as good. Really only worth getting if you're playing character completist. Mildly recommended. RANTS Packaging: These are boxed with hang tabs, the main box being 7.5" (19cm) wide, 6" (15cm) tall and 1.75" (4.5cm) deep. The back facing of the box is 8.25" (21cm) tall. Inside, two figures are in vehicle mode in one blister tray on the left, while the third is in robot mode in the upper right. The front of the box has chibi art of the vehicle mode characters and their crashing vehicles over the logo framing the left-hand window (same sort of layout as the single-pack inserts), with a red and orange border around the top and right side of that window. The upper right window is bordered in yellow, with the label "SUPER VALUE", implying that this is a free bonus figure. The names of the vehicle mode characters are in the red and orange border, the value character's name is on the right edge of the border. The tab on top has the Transformers logo and a photo of the robot mode figure's vehicle mode in the same "Crash to change!" arrow as on the single packs. The lid of the box is gray with AUTOBOTS or DECEPTICONS as relevant. The left side of the box is cosells of all but Bumblebee from the single-packs (same on both boxes). The right side has the artwork of each robot mode, with name and serial number (BP001 through BP005 and Super Bot 006 for some reason). The bottom is the UPC and legalese. The back has the same mini-rules pic in the center as the single pack cards. The figures inside get swooping character art and their attack strengths around the borders. Inside is a bento-box-like tray with a triangular blister tray in the upper right and a trapezoidal one in the lower left. Each Bot Shot is held in with one rattan string. The rule booklet is included in these, unlike the launchers. Autobot Pack: AUTOBOT: BUMBLEBEE Altmode: Sports Car Series: 1 Number: BP001 Previous Use: B001 Fist: 765 Sword: 325 Blaster: 530 When pushed into a corner, Bumblebee tries to confuse his enemies by changing his look. Bumblebee hopes to prove that no matter what other Bot Shots think of his look, they better watch out for his sting. Yes, redeco as a tactic! Of course, since he changes his look from bright yellow to golden yellow, it may not be very effective.... Oh, and Bumblebee is held in with a rubber band rather than a string, apparently he's too pretty to cover up. Robot Mode: Main color is a more golden plastic, closer to how Bumblebee usually looks these days, but the secondary color is medium gray. Silver paint on face, chest, abdomen, pelvis, thigh fronts and fists. Eyes are bright blue. Vehicle Mode: The windows are black, the front grille (which is faked on his chest) is silver. Overall: Combining this yellow with black secondary would look better than either version we got. They're both equal otherwise, so unless you really can't stand gray tires, go for this version. AUTOBOT: SENTINEL PRIME Altmode: Fire Truck Series: 1 Number: BP002 Previous Use: Super Bot 001 Fist: 360 Sword: 775 Blaster: 485 Sentinel Prime is one of the most arrogant bots to ever compete. Despite being a Prime, Sentinel Prime's true allegiance lies only with himself. [Note: the checklist PDF has this entry for the Super Bot clear version, but the older one pretty clearly is supposed to go with the clear version, so I put this one here.] Robot Mode: Notable for actually having more than one plastic color on the major pieces. The head/chest, vehicle front end and rear vehicle roof are dark red. The arms, feet, central core and middle roof are black, as are wheels and gears. Face and hands are silver, chest windows are light metallic blue, eyes are bright blue. Vehicle Mode: Metallic light blue front windows (nothing on side windows), bright blue lightbar lights, silver rear top roof. The big black chunk in the middle is a bit of a problem, obviously they ran into a sprue problem or they'd have made that part red. Overall: Loads better than the Super Bot version. AUTOBOT: PROWL Altmode: Police Car Series: 1 Number: BP003 Previous Use: B004 Fist: 540 Sword: 835 Blaster: 255 Prowl always like to plays by the rules. He is constantly on the lookout for cheaters and brings them to justice using his combat skills in the arena. Robot Mode: Main plastic color is white, secondary is black. They actually painted the entire crest red, so the Barricade look isn't damped down as much as I'd hoped. The chest sides and biceps are painted matte black, face is silver, eyes blue, crest bright red. Vehicle Mode: The front and sides are matte black, although there's a gap at the trigger. The windows are silver, the lightbar lights are bright red. Overall: A pretty good repurposing of the Barricade mold. I'd have only painted the lower half of the crest, though. Set Overall: Slightly better of the two Bumblebees, good Prowl, much better Sentinel Prime. Definitely go for this set over the singlepack versions of each mold. At most, pick up this and Barricade to get all the characters. Decepticon Pack: DECEPTICON: MEGATRON Altmode: Tank Series: 1 Number: BP004 Previous Use: BL002 Fist: 170 Sword: 625 Blaster: 820 Megatron is a skilled gladiator, so competing against other Bot Shots is perfect for him. Megatron has no pity for anyone who dares to accept his challenges. Robot Mode: All one color of plastic, a sort of slightly purplish very dark gray. The face and most of the legs (all but shins and toes) are painted dark silver, the eyes are red. Vehicle Mode: Dark silver is used on most of the tread drive wheel part (but not the part on the trigger), the cowcatcher between the treads, and the rocket pod sides of the turret. No cannon muzzle paint. Overall: Not as sharp-looking as the launcher version. DECEPTICON: NEMESIS PRIME Altmode: Truck Series: 1 Number: BP005 Previous Use: B003 Fist: 855 Sword: 215 Blaster: 555 Nemesis Prime is fearless and enjoys talking up his strengths and abilities before each match as a way to intimidate his opponents. He enjoys defeat, relishing the opportunity to improve his skills and fight back even harder in the next battle. Robot Mode: All black plastic, naturally. The helmet is painted dark blue, oddly, something not seen on other Nemesis Primes or Scourges. The faceplate and thighs are silver, eyes red. There's light metallic blue on the tiny bits of window that aren't lost to screw holes. Oh, and a nice touch, they actually painted the upper arms silver on the inside, so they stand out from the fake wheels. Vehicle Mode: Front windshield is light metallic blue, but not the side windows. The grille is painted silver, and still has an Autobot symbol molded on it. No paint on the smokestacks. The fenders are dark blue. Capable of swiping Optimus Prime's launcher, of course, and I suppose we might eventually see a black redeco of that. Overall: Eh, it's more of a Scourge than a Nemesis Prime (Nems tend to have pale gold or sand colored bits), and the blue helmet looks wrong regardless. It's okay, but hardly a selling point for this set. Maybe they'll do a better job on a launcher Nemesis Prime. DECEPTICON: ACID STORM Altmode: Jet Series: 1 Number: Super Bot 006 Previous Use: B002 Fist: 420 Sword: 285 Blaster: 905 When he isn't creating acid rain clouds, Acid Storm likes to bring a rain of pain down onto other Bot Shots. The acid in his systems makes his body shine bright even on the darkest of nights. The PDF I have doesn't include this character. In the online game, he's the first "boss" to fight. No idea why he's Super Bot 006 and not 002.... [Later note: added his note, and it looks like the planned for the three-packs to follow the first five waves of singles.] Robot Mode: The main plastic is a slightly foggy clear yellow-green plastic, the secondary color is medium-light gray. The helmet is painted matte black, the face is silver, the eyes are yellow. No other paint, but the foggy nature of the plastic means this hurts less than the paintlessness on Sentinel Prime Super Bot. Vehicle Mode: No paint at all. Really could use cockpit windows, at least. Looks like a gummy candy jet. Overall: A fairly obscure character who joined the ranks of Starscreams redecos a few years ago, and is loosely based on one of the unnamed "rainmakers" from the G1 cartoon. But it's nice to have a new character rather than just "same name variant color". Set Overall: Not really the best decos of any of these molds, and if you get both launchers there's not a lot of reason to pick up this set, unless you really want an Acid Storm. Wave 1 Purchase Recommendations: If you want all the molds for least expense, get both launchers, the Autobot three-pack and the Starscream single. At Target prices, that'd run you $28 plus tax. Alternately, get the launchers and both three-packs, plus Starscream and Barricade. A bit more expensive ($40 plus tax), but you get all the characters. Buying all of wave 1 will run you $52 plus tax, but there's really no reason to get two copies of Bumblebee, Optimus Prime or Sentinel Prime (especially since the clear variant is pretty bad).