Opening Salvo
Well it seems that everyone like our double shot of Transfan geekdom last week with Mike and I doing a CE together. We’ll see about doing another in the future, perhaps for The Transformers movie opening weekend?
Pluggin Away
Not back yet; Mike is putting up some links every other week to relive the glory days of the TFrC. Hopefully things will be back the way I like it soon.
Toys: What I got, what they got and some news too
Well I was right. The day the last CE posted I got my rather large order from BBTS. Seibertron.com has some great pics of Kiss Play Roddimus. I will be taking pictures during the week of Dancouga and GaoFaiGar so you guys can see some “Other†Transformers. I haven’t had a chance to open up wave 2 of the 1/100 scale Macross Valkries but I’m anxious to do that as soon as possible. From what I’ve heard online Toynami has fixed the problems with the socket joints for the stand so they won’t crack from the weight of the Mechs. Expect some pics soon. The shelves of my TRU are still barren; the overstock of Classic Optimus Prime’s have started to thin which is a good sign that maybe I’ll get to see some more Jetfire’s soon. This toy better live up to all the hype or I’m going to be pissed. Speaking of Classics I did manage to snag a Mirage, he isn’t as lanky as pics make him out to be; that’s a good thing. I finally got to see the end of Cybertron last week. I like how they tied up all the loose ends and set things up for a sequel if all concerned parties are interested. The final battle with Galvatron was all that and a bag of chips; I really dug that new attack mode they unveiled for the silver baddy. I would have tried it out but my Galvatron, and Megatron for that matter, are packed away. I hope that giant Vector Prime sword and Galvatron sword end up as convention exclusives somewhere. I like how they had all they animated all the Japanese voice actors from Micron Legend, Super Link, and Galaxy Force. I didn’t catch it the first time but when I rewound to figure out why Energon Hot Shot was there it clicked. You figure for those guys Transformers has been a part of their lives for roughly the past five years so that was a fitting tribute. Man; I wonder what toy line is going to pick up the slack now that TakaraTomy is taking a break with the Transformer line.
Well if you live in the UK you’re in luck; reports have been confirmed that the first of the final two Alternators, Ravage, has been released in the Argos chain of stores. Lucky guys.
For those of us waiting for Commemorative Soundwave Hasbro has given us good news. Hasbro has announced that Soundwave is starting to ship to TRU’s nation wide. I have no idea what took so long but this news is most pleasing.
Images have surfaced for the toy based on movie Ratchet. He looks like a big yellow Canary; no I’m not kidding. On a related note it appears that the name of the binocular figure will be Longview. One of the big fears coming out of the movie has been realized since most of the toys look like their movie counterparts. Hasbro can’t pull off the designs at an affordable price point and said as much at the last BotCon. The $90 Bumblebee figure will apparently have some sort of voice-activated feature. At this point it’s pure speculation if it will be a self-transforming toy. Speaking of self-transforming toys, images of “Fast action battlers†Optimus Prime, Starscream, Jazz and Ironhide have appeared on the net. The rumored gimmick for these guys will be some sort of spring-loaded transformation. Prime looks ok Starscream still looks like crap and I ain’t saying anything about the other two.
OK, show of hands; how many of you are going to do some XXX rated CosPlay when the Optimus Prime voice changer comes out? Mike, you can put yours down.
The Pros and Cons of Being a Transformer Fan: Hasbro is a McMahon?
This week I went on an old school wrestling kick and bought the “Spectacular Legacy of the AWA.†For those they may not know the AWA was a wrestling fed that at one time drew equal numbers as the WWF, and paid the wrestlers the same for less days of work. Eventually the company ran out of money and talent because they couldn’t stand up to the marketing juggernaut that was McMahon and company. At this point you may be asking, “This is all well and good Charles but what does this have to do with Transformers?†Well the same kind of techniques McMahon used to expand the WWF into a national powerhouse Hasbro used to secure and lift the Transformers brand. What’s ironic is that both companies find themselves in the same position today.
Back in 1984 Hasbro launched the Transformers and quickly realized they had not only created a popular toy line but a pop culture milestone. With the dawn of Hulkamania the WWF and wrestling in general began a boom period not seen since Bruno Samartino. Hasbro began to quickly corner the market on all Transformable toys by entering into agreements with Poppy who was quickly bought out by Bandai, Toy Box, along with their partners in the Transformers Takara. This was necessary to keep up with the demand for all things transformable. Using videotape Vince McMahon was able to market the WWF into parts of the Midwest and South that were up till that point strictly NWA.
By entering into exclusive agreements with other toy manufacturers specifically Bandai Hasbro limited the product that lines like Go-Bots and Robotech could release and by having a large marketing machine was able to gain a great deal of the air time during children’s television shows. In the case of Robotech the unavailability to release transformable Veritech fighters due to Hasbro’s agreement with Bandai, and having limited advertising space ultimately caused the line to end prematurely. By entering into agreements with Hollywood studios and such Vince was able to offer WWF wrestlers opportunities and exposure that at that point and time was unheard of. Hasbro had a strong control over quality ensuring top line products. One of the big problems I had as a child with Voltron is that there were a large number of products on the market with the Voltron brand name; some were of questionable quality and really turned me off to the product. Vince was able to exert control over how his wrestlers were used and where thus making the WWF look like the strongest and best wrestling brand out there. This was a real victory for him since the NWA was still considered the “better†brand in terms of wrestling product.
As you can see both Hasbro and the WWF secured their place in their respective fields by focusing on brand recognition and quality of product. Unfortunately time passed both companies were unable to develop new product and kept falling back on established brands; Transformers and GI Joe for Hasbro and Hulk Hogan and DX for the WWF.
Surfing The Space Bridges
Ok guys something big this time. I’ve tried a few things over the years but I’ve never been able to find a sign off that I like, so I’m leaving it up to you. In the forum thread for this column give me the best line to say goodbye with. It can be funny, it can be serious, it can even be a little self-depreciating; just make sure it’s pithy. Have fun with this one; you have until my first column in February; have fun.
Sixty-Second Review
Optimus Primal vs. Megatron
MSRP:$39.99
OUT NOW!!!
I was hesitant at first to pick up this set due to the problems with Megatrons’ locking into place. I was pleasantly surprised that the problem wasn’t that bad and Megatron ended up being a pretty solid toy. It is no secret my disdain for all things Beast Wars, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised here and there by a few of the toys and this set is no exception. For those that may not know this is the American release of the Takara’s Beast Wars Returns set that featured recolor/remolds of Primal and Megatron to make them more show accurate. The only thing not included is the Golden disc CD that included a brief history of the Beast Wars line and some toy pictures. This goes without saying that the set is much cheaper as well.
I have to say before I go over Optimus Primal that the instructions for the Universe version did not mention the switches on his arms which affect whether the lever on his back makes the arms swing back and forth or oscillate. Other than the new face Primal is the same figure that has been released before, several times over. One of the things that I like about Primal is that all of his weapons are self-contained. The swords peg to the sides of his back, two of his missiles can be stored in his shoulder launchers, the other two are stored in the holes behind his head, while his mace is stored in his left forearm. Transformation is smooth and easy; nothing new there.
Besides the aforementioned problems Megatron is quite the gem of a figure. All of the features from the original release were kept including the water squirting head. Although not as armed as Primal Megatron does boast some formidable weapons like his snapping tail and dual hip mounted missile launchers. His transformation is a bit more involved than Primal’s but still nothing too hard.
Although these are both really cool figures I can’t recommend them to someone other than a completist just because of a couple of head remolds. If you have the extra cash and already have Jetfire and the Titaniums you want pick the set up. On Elohims ranking scale I give the Primal vs. Megatron set 7 Energon cubes.
Parting Shots
Well another week has come and gone. Please take part in the sign off contest since I really need something here. As always I am,
The King of the Fanboys,
Charles
