Botcon 2023 Toys (Magma, Spot, Smolder, Slagge, Dinogorgon, Snarliehog, Rodimouse, Night Glider, Scales, Velasa Raptor)

Some of the Botcon 2023 Exclusives are Beast Box toys manufactured by 52 Toys. They are animals that transform into cubes. Yes, cubes, or boxes if you prefer. I guess they bring new meaning to the old phrase, “it’s hip to be square.” Except that it’s not, because they aren’t. They don’t transform into anything, but they do transform, so they are a step up on Wasp Raider. I just wish they had an alt mode that didn’t make you ask the question, “what’s in the box?” No, it’s not a human head. Transforming from animals to human heads would be better, but don’t get me wrong, they do look kinda cool, and a few of them are meant to represent actual Transformers characters. However, the other exclusives are Beast Drive toys also manufactures by 52 Toys, and these do transform, so that’s great. Still have some issues with them, details below.

Magma

Magma is from the box set, and he’s okay. I just don’t find him as interesting as the animals from the last two years, and the lack of eyes just looks weird.

Spot

I like Spot better than Magma. The gold, black, and gray looks great.

Smolder

I prefer Smolder’s color scheme to Magma’s, and he has eyes.

Slagge

I think Slagge is my favorite, I loved his big floppy ears. I like his color scheme too.

Dinogorgon

And what else would four dogs combine into, but a dinosaur. Okay, why not? He looks better than I thought he would, but I did not enjoy putting him together. So many joints to line up, so many parts that don’t lock into place. The color schemes for the four dogs are meant to represent the Dinobots. I kind of see it.

Snarliehog

Snarliehog was the freebie exclusive. I really like him, great colors, and I love the weapon. He is meant to be Pretender Beast Snarler.

Rodimouse

If you’re not familiar with 52 Toys Beast Drives, they are transforming vehicles, onto which you add armor. They can then transform from vehicle to beast. There is a lot to like about these, mainly that they do transform into two different modes. However, two of the four toys are not actually toys. Night Glider and Velasa Raptor do not contain the transforming toys, they are just armor. These were included with premium registration. To build them, you either need to buy Rodimouse and Scales and build Night Glider and Velasa Raptor instead of Rodimouse and Scales, or you need to buy two each of Rodimouse and Scales, which leaves you with two extra sets of armor you can’t use. I understand why they would do that, so they could give away two sets of cheaper armor and sell twice as many souvenirs, but it does kinda suck that you must do that, and since they use a lot of translucent plastic, which tends to get brittle over time, swapping the armor may not go well down the road. Anyway, Rodimouse, I love the name, is very cool, transforming from vehicle to mouse. I love the colors and he looks great in both modes. He is based on an unproduced 3H toy, a Transmetal Rattrap in Rodimus Prime colors.

Night Glider

Night Glider transformers from vehicle to squirrel. Really great colors, and obviously meant to be Beast Wars Transmetal 2 Nightglider.

tfbc2023-25-30

Scales and Velasa Raptor look great. I love the colors. At the time of writing this, I do not know what these two toys are supposed to represent. Zabgoth is trying to find out. The only thing I can think of is Go-Bots Reptron, a velociraptor that was available in both orange and black. Will update if I get new information.

Thanks for reading!