Opening Salvo
Some bigish movie news this week and Mike has his Internet back so his Bot-Con review should be up before Friday now on with the show.
Pluggin Away
OK fWo roll call:
Some people call him the Professor or Mike but to the fWo he is Big Sexy.
Next the guy that got the ball rolling and an OG if there ever was one Plutonium Boss.
Of course there is yours truly The Lone Wolf.
Because we need him; call him Elohim, call him Lord, we call him Vince.
You know him as Batesman but he is a MAN among men long live EzE.
Last but certainly not least our leader the almighty PK, Hollywood.
Toys: What I got, what they got and some news too
Well on Friday I got home to discover my Bot Con goodies waiting for me. A big thank you to Professor Mike for getting all the stuff for me. It actually cost more than what I sent him but only by a bit. I was surprised that it cost more this year than last. Did anyone else notice that the key that came with Tigatron had a Decepticon logo imprinted on the back? The box set its self is nice but I think it’s odd that the instructions and such are underneath the foam. Saturday I ordered a zippered hooded jacket and one of those caps with the earflaps that tie down. I don’t buy T-shirts; I buy practical clothing, and yes I fully expect all of it to fall apart in a week or two. That reminds me, I still haven’t received Master Collector yet. Hmm. On the toy front I checked another figure off my list by picking up the Jungle Planet repaint of Optimus Primal. Interesting enough the key code mentions that the model is a tribute to the original design from 10 years ago. Like we didn’t know that. I also bought Commemorative Starscream; easiest way to get me to buy something, only put one on the shelf. I added to my preorder list at BBTS with Gaofaigar; don’t ask me who he is but I’m pretty sure he has something to do with the post Transformers Takara line Gaogaigar. I must say that my sister had an adventure this weekend at her Barbie collectors’ convention. Apparently there was a con artist at the event who was trying to steal people’s credit card numbers. Hotel security knew this because she is a LOCAL! Eventually they did do something but wow, this never happens at Bot-Con, on with the news.
Well the big movie news this week is that Don Murphy has announced that Megatrons’ head has changed from what we saw in the leaked images. He also went on to mention that not once did he or any one working on the movie confirm that was how he was going to look. While that is true I tend to believe that the leaked images are what was going to be seen in the movie due to our second piece of movie news that being the first images of movie preview toys in and out of package. Thus far we have only seen Optimus Prime and Starscream. While the bodies are different they both have the head designs that were seen in the concept images, yes that means Starscreams’ head looks like a turd. Folks, they ain’t pretty. Both figures don’t have vehicle modes but “Entry” modes. They look like giant Rock Lords. Apparently the story is that this is what they look like before landing on Earth and scanning a new form. On a completely unimportant note Dane Cook looks to be done with the movie. For those who may not have known, or not cared Cook was going to have some sort of cameo. Details are sketchy but it appears that the writers were not happy with the scene he wrote that included Optimus Prime and Cook fighting his car. I think Dane Cook is funny but he isn’t nearly as good as most people my age make him out to be.
Vince Di Cola has released some tracks to the net that he was working on in hopes of being able to do the score to the new TF movie. One of the tracks is a reworked suite he first performed at a Bot-Con a few years ago. Stan Bush is still on track to do a new song for the movie that will coincide with his new album to be released some time in 2007. On a related note, it appears that the interview that Vince Di Cola did for the Rhino DVD of Transformers: The Movie will not be on the new Sony release of the movie. This is a shame since it was a good interview and gave some insight as to where he got his inspiration for some parts of the score.
Another thing about the new Sony release of the animated movie; apparently Sony will be going ahead and re-releasing the G1 seasons on DVD; for the love of God I hope there isn’t anything new on them since the Rhino sets cost an arm and a leg.
The Pros and Cons of Being a Transformer Fan: How Far Will One Fan Go.
This week I thought I would share one of my happy narratives about the joys of collecting; enjoy.
It was a crisp autumn day in mid October. It was Saturday; it had to be since that’s the only day I can make a run. Today’s hunting ground was Target; as usual my sister was with me since I hate hunting alone. She generally doesn’t like to go since she thinks it’s silly that I feel I need a wingman for my hunts. Today is different, since she needs to pick up a few things for her trip. This isn’t a usual hunt for me either; today I need tubs, the season has been good to me and I need to reclaim my room from my collection. I haven’t seen my electric guitars in quite awhile, which is ok since my acoustic is always at hand.
I decided that watching my sister shop for clothing she didn’t need would be too much of a strain on my psyche. Without speaking a word she told me she would meet me over by the tubs; she knew where I was going. In my Target, Transformers share an isle with Star Wars and GI Joe; good for me since I’ve been meaning to pickup one or two of the Sigma Six figures as well as one of the larger scale General Grevious’. Today though, I told myself, I was only buying storage equipment. Thankfully there wasn’t anything tempting on the shelves. Most of the figures I want are repaints that I only want for the key code. I notice on a higher shelf a row of Beast War Figures. Normally I would skip them as I have all of the reissues as well as the re-imagined Megatron. At TRU Megs and Primal are usually stacked separately from the other toys to make them easier to find. Something told me though, that at Target; things would be different.
I stretched over my head to start moving the boxes out of the way. My hunch was right; all the way in the back was the re-imagined Optimus Primal that I was looking for. There was one problem though; the box was to far back for me to get a good grip on no mater how hard I tried. I paused for a moment as I tried to figure out how to get the figure down. Right at that moment a young lad was called by his mother leaving behind the lightsaber he was playing with. That would be my salvation. Slowly I telescoped out the blade and began pushing on the box. About midway through I realized I would have to go around to the other isle to complete my task. Gingerly I stepped around the corner only to realize that my efforts were in vain; apparently I didn’t push the toy far enough. It was at this point that I revised my technique and returned to the original isle. Instead of pushing the box I began pulling it forward, using the lightsaber as a lever of sorts. Finally Primal was in my grubby mitts and I was hastily leaving to rejoin my sister. The hunter must always be vigilant in going after his prey.
Parting Shots
I was surprised this week; thought there was more news than there was. Next week the return of Mike, I know, I missed him too.
The King of The Fanboys,
Charles
