For this story we go a few years back in time, hence the reason why some of the photos shared on this page are a bit different than the pictures you´re used to (with an old Beastformers logo clearly visible). It was a day in the summer of 2012 and this* was the ¨shocking¨ post that´s made on Little Rubber Guys (LRG) that day by The White Rabbit (Beastformers);
Ultra Rare Blue Bloodthirsty Bison Variant Figure
As most of you know by now I’m not that eager about putting a Variant Stamp onto every shade difference or any other doubtful reason to make a figure more rare than it actually is, but here is something special I’d like to share.
In Nov./Dec. last year (2011) I was contacted by a Spanish Battle Beasts (BB) collector for some BB and he mentioned me he had an odd looking Bison within his collection but he was busy and promised me to forward me some pics of it later. A few months had passed and I had actually already forgotten about it when I received an email from Spain with the following pictures in it;
Yes there it was a BLUE BISON! Of course I know how good the quality of custom figs can be so I took a close look at these pics and since its skin is also from a completely different color it could be something interesting indeed. BUT to be sure I contacted one of my BB friends known for his massive collection (JPac) to discuss this with him and to hear about his thoughts on this one. Based on the overall skin color and the color of blue we both agreed that its a variant because even the areas were the blue paint is a little damaged the same skin color appeared. Although we both knew all odd looking figs within the original promotion BB poster must have been destroyed (like the Skunk, and Black Tapir with other colors) we had the idea this could’ve been the original TAKARA prototype similar to those who’ve never been released as such.
We both agreed it was worth it to go after this fig and to give him a closer look. But this was easier sad than done since, as with sending the picture, the Spanish collector wasn’t very quick in replying my mails. After hearing him out about the origin of this fig it turned out that he got it years ago within a big lot from the US. I made him an offer but he rejected it as he thought it was to low, this went on and on and in the end I decided to make him a much better offer and we could agree on it. Again a few months later…… At the end of May I finally got some payment details since I couldn’t pay him via a regular digital transfer, long story but in the end this resulted in more delay.
TILL TODAY (somewhere in June 2012) because I just got the figure in the mail a Blue Bloodthirsthy Bison!
So to all you PRO-VARIANT people out there I’d like to say this is what I call a variant 
*The post was slightly adjusted here and there to make it more readable in the present time and some grammatical errors were removed. For the original post check:
http://www.littlerubberguys.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=124752&hl=variants
Within several hours various replies and comments came in from fellow collectors of which most of them thought it´s an amazing find resulting in all sorts of speculations about the origin and to which realm this Variant belonged. Only a few of them were a bit skeptical suggesting it´s a discoloration issue which was quickly countered by fellow collectors based on the pictures and the fact that there where the paint has come of there´s no different color visible. All in all a source of rumors and speculation which went on for a few hours with people already dropping insane prices (for fun, by TOPHER) based on it´s (unknown) rarity.
On a side note it might also be good to mentioned that at that time (2012) The White Rabbit was quite a rookie/newbie among the die hard and much more experienced BB collectors that were active on LRG that time.
During this period The White Rabbit (Beastformers) only responded once to refute a few assumptions and questions that´re not applicable. Until June 23 2012 when the following reply was posted in the post about the Blue Bison;
‘TOPHER‘, on 23 Jun 2012 – 02:21 AM, said:
Nice find.
Yep definitely a Rare variant.
Worth at least $350 for sure.
LOL
Great, thanks for all the reactions and replies on this one.
Jonny (JPac) and I reacted like most of you did jumping from our chair and expecting it to be a true rare variant.
And based on the pics and the way it looks there didn’t seem to be much wrong with it.
BUT the story wasn’t finished yet………….
‘Beastformers‘, on 22 Jun 2012 – 6:24 PM, said:
TILL TODAY because I just got the figure in the mail a Blue Bloodthirsthy Bison!
I told Jonny the first thing I’d do when I would get this fig is to pull out its arms since that’s the only way this feeling could be verified as confirmed or busted. So the result of the test would be an easy one as Jon mentioned
Quote
Easy way to tell. Pull the arms out of the socket. If they match the outside, it is not a fading issue.
After waiting months to get this figure in my hands I now had the chance to do the ultimate test, and this was what happened;
All this magic and mystery that was present around this fig GONE WITHIN A SEC…………………
I still wonder what has happened with it as it IS some kind of discoloration, although his armor might have been really well painted its skin color is clearly a result of discoloration. But I exclude the influence of sunlight as even in the tightest parts and bellow its feet it has the same skin color, except the hole for its arm and the extended piece of the arm that has to pop in the body again………… To me that is still a mystery, could a microwave do something like that with a figure? I doubt hot water as than it would’ve affected the inner part as well. Any idea/thoughts!?
As you can see I’ve opened a serious topic about it showing (in first instance) its a new VARIANT FIGURE to see the reactions of those people who think they’ve found a variant with every little shade difference they find, which in my opinion is insane because than almost every fig would be a variant. But I think this is a wise (and for me expensive lesson) to learn seeing what discoloration is able to do with a fig, because its clear this Bison has been exposed to I don’t know what kind of force but it is changed radically. Even in such a way that even most of us believed it was something special.
Even though I hoped the Fig really was something special its a good thing I can make a statement with it now revealing the true story behind it hoping to get those Pro-Variant people back to earth again.
But it still is a cool figure to me especially knowing how much effort I had to do to get it over here resulting in the fact that I have payed 25 euro for a completely discolored Bison fig which I can get MINT for five times less (back in 2012) LOL Due to all this he has really earned his place within my collection. But if someone still would be willing to offer me $350 I’ll consider to let it go
It was fun reading all your replies and good to see that near the end the issue of discoloration came up because that’s actually the case here, but how and from what did this Bison get this color?!
Hope its a wise lesson seeing that discoloration can do a LOT with the color of a figure so I hope to gain a bid more followers when it comes to my critical view on ‘variants‘
ps. For the people who didn’t believe this post was a set up, I’ve contacted Jonny (Jpac) with a PM about the Blue Bison Fail right after the opening this Topic and most of the text in it is copied for you above. Thnx for the fun! 
The old pictures posted back in 2012 were used as they still tell the story and as you can imagine and as explained in; A possible risky (costly) operation… It is never advised to pull BB arms out when there is no need for it.
A post on purpose, which didn´t held FALSE information but it just showed what was there and which assumptions and speculations were triggered because of that. Today we´d call a post like that FAKE NEWS…
Of course this page was added to the Beastformers Blog for a reason because since the moment this post was created on LRG there have not been a lot of changes in the whole order of variants. It was and still is clear that the way we´re used to address and name Variants within the BB line has become outdated and with the evolving knowledge about this line the use of the term Variant in general has become doubtful because of the origin of various differences. Reason enough to make a statement and suggest a new order as explained in the; Variant ¨Checklist¨
Another wise thing learned from this Blue Bison is the fact that in order to properly determine discoloration on a figure the arm pull is an unavoidable step that has to be made in order to rule out other possibilities. Of course in case of sun damage you´d see the fading much clearer as the discoloration is not equally the same all over the figure so certain things can be ruled out much earlier.
You probably are stuck with one remaining question…
What did happen to the Bison that it became the Blue Bison?!
After some debate about the fact that the inner parts didn´t show the discoloration causing some doubts the general consensus was that it had to have been submerged in a something, probably for a longer period of time. Some raised the idea that it might´ve been caused by chlorine water as in that it might´ve been dropped in a chloride pool for a longer period of time. Luckily we did have some awesome members on LRG back in the day and one of them, Onyxiaphil, was willing to do a little test with a beat up figure to see how it´d come out for the sake of science. Sadly enough the pics he shared after having a figures submerged are no longer present (I´ll try to find them again) but the result after a less than a week was showing that the possibility of the Bison being affected by chlorine was more than plausible. Only doubtful detail that remained were the pegs that showed the original color but that´s something that possibly was caused by the fact that a vacuum had occurred in the socket area causing the inner parts to be protected by a little air bubble explaining why they remained intact.
And that´s how the Ultra Rare Blue Bison turned, in a period of less than a week, from a RARE highly wanted unique Variant into a regular Bison that´s been saved from the bottom of a chlorine pool where it´s been submerged for a few weeks or months… No on knows exactly but one thing is for sure it´s not the ULTRA RARE VARIANT some people believed.
Since 2012 the Blue Bison is part of the Beastformers Collection as a curiosity piece and one that more than deserves its place because it not only stands out in the way it looks it is also a great example of a wise lesson learned for me and the whole community.
In time some people informed about whether it might be available but the answer has and will always remain the same because despite any offer I would still hang on to it because the experience and story behind it is much more valuable to me.
But with the information shared here there are enough tips and tricks in order to try and make your own. If so please use a beat up figure.
The Blue Bison, a wise lesson learned…
THE END
The Beastformers Team
Beastformers Blog 