Yes, I know I’m a slack ass for not having a CE last week. It happens. I did close on my house this past week. You all know what that means…yep, painting, moving in, spending cash on furniture, and all kinds of other nonsense.
I would normally just let Chuck take over for the weekend, but I wanted to write another column before Botcon. Now, if there’s on thing you take away from this mini-column it’s that starting tomorrow IP is changing up the site a bit and figures got the axe. Relax, the CE is still going to be on the site. However, the CE will now be under comics.
It’s actually about 5am as I type this. I’m tired and sore from yesterday, but wide awake at the same time. That means you get a little bit of incoherent rambling mixed with some TF news.
I’m heading to Botcon this coming Friday. Yes, a bit early. I’m driving up and making a few pit stops along the way. Jen and I are hitting up Disney World the first weekend and then heading up to NC with a boat load of TFs. I need to drop a load in NC (why does that sound dirty…) before heading over to Botcon on Thursday morning. Tim and Sal fly in that morning too, so this should be an interesting weekend. We’re meeting up with my buddies D Mack and Chris then hitting the LEX country side. Yep, cow tipping and Walmart are in my future
That’s also team Inside Pulse. You’ll be able to tell by our goofy IP T-shirts I made for the competition. Speaking of, the club emailed everyone in the competition and asked for questions for the game:
We need your help for the Game show!
Please send us 20 questions and format them like below by September 18.
Please use this document and send it back to Rik@botcon.com
Please list what you feel the degree of difficulty (DD) is for each question:
1 easy, 2 medium, 3 hard
Put the degree of difficulty at the end. Please don’t number the questions or the answers.
Please bold the correct answer.
Example1 :
Optimus Primal, Rhinox, and Rattrap all belong to which faction?
Predacon
Decepticon
Autobots
Maximals
DD 1
Example 2:
JE Alvarez has written how many books?
1
2
5
DD 2
Yep, so I’m going to just use my Konundrums from the past to come up with 20 for them. If you guys want to contribute then shoot me over a question. You f*ckers better be rooting for us.
I still have up for bidding a complete boxed Botcon set. We’re at $200 (plus shipping), which is cheaper than anything you’d find on eBay after the event.
I’m also going to try and grab some extra Megs there. I’ll sell them for cost plus a finder’s fee. Hit me up if you’re interested.
Kollector’s Korner
I got Mirage. I know, sounds kind of sad, right? Well, let me just say I’m now in love with the Ford GT model. What a bad ass friggin’ car. However, Alt Mirage isn’t my fav. It’s a nice looking, solid figure with a difficult transformation. Those are all bid plusses in my book. The articulation is good, but something just rubs me the wrong way about it. Maybe it’s the fans thinking its then end all, beat all of Alts before it even came out. That or his silly fruit loop guns.
TNN Headlines
The news articles and pictures come from multiple sources including Transfandom.com, TFW2005, eBay, FantoFan, The All Spark, TFormers, Big Bot, Seibertron, among others. Give these sites a look if you get a chance.
Botcon.com has up previews of the new “Pre-Beast Wars” comic. Looks like a winner. My buddy Chris said it best. Botcon is giving us something that we always knew we wanted, but just didn’t know it.
Random, but you can sign up at the Hasbro booth to have a Prime made in your likeness. WTF? So I get an MP Prime with a little Kaye head? Unfortunately, someone less deserving will win. It’ll probably be Jen who barely knows who Prime is.
The new version of the animated TF movie will be screened at Botcon this year:
“In co-operation with the home entertainment group of SONY BMG Music Entertainment, BotCon 2006 will present an advance DVD screening of TRANFORMERS The Movie 20th Anniversary Special Edition! This is your chance to see this newly restored legendary animated film on a big screen in a special midnight movie setting! Join your fellow Transfans at Midnight on Friday September 29th for this fun and memorable event. All BotCon package holders (Primus, Minicon and Protoform) and BotCon dealers will receive special passes for this one time event. Passes and full details will be available at BotCon registration on Thursday the 28th”
That’s cool. They haven’t done that since 2000 in Indiana. Yes, that’s the one where Tim hit on Venus and was “saving her a seat” at the screening. Got Tim!
Chris also passed along some info from TRU for me. They’ll only be ordering about 6,000 of the new Anniversary prime translating into around 12 per store. They’re gone after that, so if you want one grab it. Don’t be a discount whore
Classics will start showing up in TRU stores at the end of the month. This should beat out Walmart and Target since they aren’t planning to revamp their TF aisle. TRU will be
Chris, you’re a shady ass. He has a box of Classics waiting for him at the TRU in KY. However, I’d have done the same thing in your place. Long live shady Transfans in power.
Cryo-Scourge and Galaxy Force Vector Prime are out. That wraps up the Cybertron line except for a few re-releases with minicon and the BW Primal and Megs on Cybertorn cards, Hightail, the Costco Prime and Wingsaber two pack, Smokescreen, and the Shadow Recon Minicon team. Damn, as I thought I was almost done…
Metroplex is getting released with a Clocker add on. Sure…now we have Clocker, Swerve, Clocker again, and at Botcon we’ll get Tigatron and Cheetor in that mold. He looks to be on the same path as RiD prowl in terms of redeco sluts
Alternator Ravage in beast mode:
I can’t tell if I want to laugh, cry, or cream. It’s different, but I think changing up Alts can be a good thing. Keep with the traditional detail and articulation, but venture into new areas besides cars.
Prime would Crank One out in the Movie Theater
The Ark looks to be absent from the movie. The reasoning being is that TFs who transform into ships, planes, etc shouldn’t have a big ship. Yeah, because mass shifting shouldn’t take place, but we should have a vessel large enough to hold a fleet of intergalactic warriors, who are presumable between 20 and 50 feet tall, while only standing 30 feet tall in robot mold.
Logic Rules
K’s Konundrum
Q from last week: What was the history of the Beastformers in America and what were they known as?
A: They were called “Battle Beasts” and thanks to Wikipedia I can be a slack ass again with the answer:
Battle Beasts were created by Takara of Japan in 1984. Tomy Co., Ltd., aka K.K. Takara-Tomy, still owns the worldwide rights to the property. The heyday for the toyline came during the period in which it was licensed to Hasbro for distribution outside of Japan when Hasbro marketed the toys in America and many other parts of the world. Although in the Japanese market Takara branded the toys as a spin-off of Transformers and even named the toys “BeastFormers,” their tie-in to the Transformers universe was not part of the Hasbro story or marketing. As part of the Takara strategy, many of the Battle Beasts appeared in the episode “Rebellion on Planet Beast” of the Japanese Transformers cartoon series “Headmasters.”
Four series were released overall. The first three contain beasts 1 – 76. Each figure has a heat sensitive rub sign on his chest and a hand-to-hand weapon. Three pull back vehicles and three transforming bases were also released. The fourth series had 36 figures and was renamed Laser Beasts, the renaming corresponded with some minor changes to the figures. The entire Laser Beast line was released in Japan, and in small numbers in America and Europe. These figures have orbs in their chest instead of rubs and each came with a gun that resembled the creature who held it. Some small chariots were also released as part of the Laser Beast line in Japan. In addition to these figures some promo figures were also made. These were made of clear plastic and were available only in special sets.
The figures were released in Japan in small boxes of individual figures and in larger multi-packs. In America Series 1, 2 and the 12 Laser Beasts were released on blister cards with two figures per card. Series 3 figures were only available in boxes of eight per package. The vehicles came in boxes and each came with a figure.
TF Reviews
My babies:
Kaye’s Kollection
Kaye’s Kollection 2
Kaye’s Kollection Special Edition: ATB Megatron and Starscream
InsidePULSE’s Botcon Spectacular
The Inside Pulse on…Transformers Alternators
Inside Pulse On…Transformers Cybertron; Speed Planet.
Chucky: NEW!!!Cybertron Primus, Vector Prime, Energon Constructicons, Universe Constructicons, Energon Megs/Galvy, Tow-line, Mirage/Dreadwing, Inferno/Roadblock, Energon Downshift, Energon Starscream, Battle Ravage/Tracks, Sideburn, Energon Omega Supreme, G1 Tracks, Silverstreak, Robot Masters G1 Convoy Energon Ironhide, Smokescreen ,Beast Wars/Universe Optimus Primal, Energon Inferno
Elohim: Cybertron Metroplex, Bruticus Maximus, Bulkhead.
Alessandro “Rikkomba” Riccombeni: Master Galvatron, NEW!!! Crosswise
Plutonium Boss: Cybertron Optimus Prime, Sideways, Beast Wars II Galvatron, Blackarachnia, Universe Nemesis Prime , Car Robots Brave Max, Commorative Series II Power Master Optimus Prime, Snapdragon, Battle Unicorn
And in closing arguments…
Short and sweet again, but that’s what you get after 24 hours of moving, painting,…yawn. I’m getting tired just thinking about it.
I’m out for a few weeks now, but I’ll return to V3 of Inside Pulse with a Botcon Special. Chucks has the handle bars and training wheels until I return.
My days as a weekly columnist are coming close to an end at IP. It’s been a good run, but I think it may be time for someone else to have a crack at it. Elohim did this back in the day too. He asked for someone to take over for a bit and almost three years later here I am. Here’s the deal though. This column isn’t a mark mag. It’s a “smark” for lack of a better term. If you wear a cape and live in your mom’s basement, please don’t apply. If you dig TFs and want to try your hand at writing the CE then send me an example of your work. I’ll forward it to Elohim too so he can check it out.
What will happen to the adorable “K” after that? I’ll probably put out one shots and drop news here and there. Maybe I’ll just have my own randomly written column titled “Kaye’s Konundrum…”
Besides, I still have more of “Kaye’s Kollection” to show case. You know my narcissistic ass won’t be gone long.
Current and defending trivia champ,
K
Disclaimer: From week to week, you will occasionally see thoughts and ideas, as well as news contained in {}’s. These thoughts and ideas are those of Lord Elohim, and as such, do not reflect the thoughts, ideas, or opinions of Mike Kaye, or any other member of the Inside Pulse staff. All comments on anything you find in {}’s should be directed to Lord Elohim.
