Kudos Brian
Why? Is it because this past year’s set was fantastic? Nope. Is it because this year’s set looks to be another winner? Nope. Could it be the fact that he has delivered everything he said he would deliver (for the most part…)? Nope
He finally got us a God damn room rate better than what Orbitz offered. For the past two year I’ve been scoring a rate twenty dollars or more less than what Brian secured. How? I just used Orbitz the day the hotel is announced. Why? I am always scared to death the rooms will sell out. Oh, you balk at me? It happened for a few years in a row when Glenn was running things.
The hotel this year was fairly expensive. It was around $250 or so a night. I used an AAA discount to score a rate of $199 a night. Not horrible I thought, but Brian got it down to $129. So what did I do? Called and said “Hi, I have a reservation and will be part of the Transformers/Botcon group in June. Please change my rate.â€
I’m paying $129 a night. Nice…
In other news from the Kollector’s Klub:
“We are very excited as we enter our third year of the Collector’s Club, featuring the all-new bi-monthly 16 page four-COLOR Club Magazine! The bi-monthly magazine contains information on everything Transformers, from G1 to Classics to the upcoming Movie toys. It includes awesome Character Profiles, Product Reviews, Information on new releases, Interviews with Hasbro Transformers designers and much more. Each issue also includes an ongoing six page Transformers comic. A new comic story arc begins with the first issue of each year and concludes with the final issue of that year, making one complete thirty-six page comic story!”
Well, I’m definitely confused on the difference between that and the previous two years worth of newsletters. Oh well…I just got this today too:
Hello Mike Kaye!
Be sure to check the member’s only section of the Club site this Wednesday at 1pm EST. On the Club Forums (under the new Club Magazine header) we will be posting some great news tidbits as well as some other highlights from the upcoming all-new Club Magazine. Also, be sure to take a look around as we are currently working on creating more online content for all our members to enjoy.
I will give it to them…they usually deliver on these “announcements.†I do think that site needs an upgrade too. A little less “fanboy†and just a bit more corporate. It’s a great site for what it’s worth, but the bottom line is I could code most of the stuff on that site and I only know basic HTML.
Random, but my Reissue Soundwave just shipped. What’s funny is I could be the first to break the news…if my posting wasn’t delayed by a few hours.
Anyway, the weekend seemed too short and the week too long. However, I have a huge load coming in from Big Bad. That always makes things go by just a little quicker.
My wit eludes me this week, so let’s get this show on the road
Kollector’s Korner
I got the new and improved “Quint-01†from TF Source. The plusses over the JD Productions variant are pretty great. It has a better paint job and actually came with all its components! I know, that’s not a lot to ask, but it is the little things that make her panties moist…umm that not how that goes. Anyway, my first Quint didn’t come with tentacles or the antennas. I rigged some yellow cable to my original, but that REALLY didn’t work well.
The Quint also has a brand new feature: it lights up. They basically hollowed this bad boy out and put a light coming out of his butt. You manually take each face off, split the bugger in half, and put a battery in him. Then you press the button on the top of the orb and wal-la! You have a Quint riding a red light! The red light has a nice affect on the clear stand. Unfortunately, the clear stand is my only complaint. The Quint is fairly heavy and doesn’t sit very well in the stand. Will it hold it? Yes. Do you want to blow on it? No
I’d do some comparison pics, but my original isn’t at my new place. I’ll try and find him to show the difference.
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.
So why is this hottie McHothot only doing voice acting? I can’t complain because she does the voice of Princess Clara and Toot from Drawn Together. What the hell does she have to do with TFs? She’s doing the voice of “Sari,†the only little girl in the upcoming new “Heroes†TF cartoon. Ok, I have to admit, I didn’t click on her website before. Cute, yes, Hot…eh
Big Bad has up some bad ass new pre-orders. Takara is feeding off of two crazes I can dig: Transformers and MP3 players:
First we have Soundwave (available in blue or white):
An inventive combination of exciting products, the new Soundwave MP3 player features an all new character mold and fully functional integrated digital music player! Soundwave is available in two colors, the traditional blue color scheme and also an all white color scheme in honor of the iPod. Soundwave’s cassette door opens to reveal a Mini SD card reader (Mini SD card is not included). Batteries are requierd, but not included, we are currently not sure what size batteries are required. More information about this cool new MP3 player will be posted as we receive it. Takara requires us to buy equal amounts of each color, so be sure to grab your favorite or save $15 and get both together. The MP3 player will function in both cassette mode and robot mode. We expect this figure to be slightly smaller than the G1 Soundwave so it can fit comfortably in your pocket.
Blue is already sold out…
Then we have Convoy:
Two iconic products have merged to create the new Convoy iPod Docking Bay! Convoy is presented in an entirely white iPod color scheme and fully functional iPod Docking Bay with Speakers. This product is fully licensed by Apple. The trailer holds two speakers and all standard size iPods will mount in the center of the trailer to play your favorite tunes (iPod not included of course). Please note that the iPod Shuffle will not work with this product. An AC adapter cord is also included. Convoy himself will be the same size as the G1 mold and a brand new Convoy head mold has been used.
I dig the new head mold on the G1 toy. Very cool
And if IPODs don’t fit your fancy…
Shoes…special…with a capital SPECIAL. Takara is definitely “branding†the TF product
Takara continues to release more innovative and imaginative products with the new Transformers Sports Label series! This new series features 1/2 scale transforming Nike shoes! These licensed items should be somewhere around 6″ in length in shoe mode and it looks like they even have real laces connected to the top of the shoe. Convoy and Megatron are also each sporting a miniature pair of Nike Free 7.0 as a finishing touch.
They are sporting miniature Nikes…oh f*cking A Christ on a pogo stick. I want a Prime that sold out to Pepsi and has the logo all over him. Wait, that happened…
TFW2005 has up images of TF Movie Ratchet in box and the Op “Battle Rig Blasterâ€
Ratchet with what appears to be the face of an alien from HALO
Dude…that Rocks
What the hell is wrong with a square box? I’m serious…just a square friggin’ box would be amazing. Hasbro just needs to chill on this round/fishbowl/sandbox/fractal looking boxes. What the hell is a fractal? That would be my vocab word for the day courtesy of Jen:
Fractal: A fractal has statistical self-similarity at all resolutions and is generated by an infinitely recursive process. In reality, those fractals generated by finite processes may exhibit no visible change in detail after some stage so are adequate approximations. So, for computer graphics we can extend the definition to include anything that has a substantial measure of exact or statistical self-similarity. This is illustrated by three stages of the construction of the von Koch snowflake below where each straight edge is repeatedly replaced by a copy of the entire figure. Fractals are useful for generating natural appearing shapes or textures, such as land and cloudscapes.
Yeah, anyway…
It’s interesting that the “robot eye†is behind the toy. Plus, the face (that I’m guessing is very similar to the CGI version) is placed in the bottom corner. If you click on the link you can see the back of the box is VERY similar to everything else to come out over the last few years. Neat little tiny pic of Blackout though…
That Prime blaster does rock. How cool would something of that been if you were like ten? *cough*or25*cough*
In other movie news…Prime and Megatron!
I’ll give it to them…the Megs toy does look evil. This doesn’t look good in terms of him picking up an Earth alt mode. Then again, there seems to be ten of each of the characters. Battle chargers? Quick change figures? I’m already confused…more on that in a min
Megs appears to have a space ship alt mode similar to his Energon counterpart. The robot mode looks just like the CGI images we’ve seen…except for all the extra shit hanging off of him. Let’s hope it’s detachable. What the hell is with the little creepy hands?
Prime looks cluttered…bad. His alt mode is fabulous, but I’m not digging this robot form. However…
This one kicks ass. This almost looks like a “Masterpiece†movie Prime. It’s very detailed and doesn’t look like someone made and alt mode and went “Damn, now we just need a robot mode…â€
That second Prime is definitely one of my fav new molds along with Blackout.
Classics Magnus vs Skywarp is out at Target. Go, Run!
Ha…â€Optimash Marketing Strategy Primeâ€
That would be the Mr. Potato Head Prime. Yep…
And last, but not least…
Now who doesn’t want to make love to that image? Some of you may even fit in that big ass scope. Ladies…you know what to do
K’s Konundrum
Q: How much money did your dumb ass (and mine) spend on a recolored toy you already owned?
A: Around $460 for Cybertron…
Around $370 for Energon…
Around $300 for Armada…
So basically we spent around $1130 on redecos. I did some averaging to get those numbers, so they may be a bit higher or lower in places. I didn’t want to cry by calculating an exact price of my soul
This Week’s Q: Minelba was later renamed Minerva. Where did “Minerva†come from?
Pimp my Mechanical Sentient Being
Ok, so our Archives got smashed in the switch to V.3. However, they still exist with different locations. I’ll start a few each week to savor the history of Inside Pulse
My babies:
Kaye’s Kollection
Kaye’s Kollection 2
InsidePULSE’s Botcon Spectacular
The Inside Pulse on…Transformers Alternators
Inside Pulse On…Transformers Cybertron; Speed Planet.
And in closing arguments…
I’m expecting the announcement tomorrow from the Kollector’s Klub to pertain to the new figure set. Hey, it’s almost that time of year again…early. It could also be the announcement of registration. That wouldn’t shock me either. Timmy, if you read this then email me and let me know if your big Pollack ass is coming.
Regardless, much love and Scooby Snacks until we meet again…
Wishing the next Takara invention was “Blowupdollumus Prime,â€
K
