The Cybertronian Enquirer 4.1.07

And the topic of the day is…

Hello Mike Kaye!

Brian

Yep, I faxed mine over already. The number was busy and the chicky behind the counter says “just send it again…” So I sent it like 4 times before it actually went. Then it would shoot back out the “busy/non reception” paper if it didn’t go. I waited a couple minutes, but I just hope the Kinko’s girl destroys all the copies shot back out. Otherwise it looks like I’ll need a new credit card

From Botcon.com:

The Games of Deception! set will be the perfect compliment to your Classics
collection. Everything is packed in foam in a large illustrated deluxe box with
art by Transformers artist extraordinaire, Don Figueroa! Don’t wait to place your
order as this set is limited.* Watch www.botcon.com for photographs of these
amazing figures as soon as they become available.

From across the galaxy, a mysterious Decepticon makes his way towards Earth.
With him is a crew of Decepticons who seem to follow their new commander
with a loyalty that in years past would only be shown towards the strongest of
Decepticons. Who is this mysterious figure? And why are some of the most
feared of the Decepticon elite following him? This summer, all the questions are
answered as BotCon 2007 presents Games of Deception!

The box set has been confirmed as Thundercracker, Dirge, Thrust, Dreadwind, and Bugbite. Well, we figured it would be the seekers, but I honestly thought those would be an attendee only side set. Wondering who the hell Bugbite is? I just briefly had a side memory of him, but Seibertron.com has a bio up on him. The toy was an eHobby exclusive. They repainted the G1 mini-car box set into “Gobots.” So, it looks like we have two repaints of Ramjet, 1 repaint of Screamer, 1 repaint of Bumblebee, and one repaint of Jetfire. That’s just speculation at the moment, but it’s a pretty good guess. The only one I may be wrong on is Dreadwind. Now, of all the great ideas we came up with (in the classic Mike/Chuck issue), we get some random ass choices. Bugbite? Dreadwind? I reeeeeeaaaaallllllyyyyy hope we get some great attendee only packages. The seekers are great, but seem like they should have been a side item or maybe just a mass market release. I may just be disappointed because they scrapped the Predacon idea…or did they…?

They made it official: We’re going to see the movie. I have to say that rocks…hard. You know damn well you’re going to mark out regardless if you’re a cynical bastard. They are charging $25 a pop to go, but it all goes to local charities. I’ll give it to Brian there. No matter if it’s “Casino Night” or seeing the TF movie, Brian always finds a way to fit in the charities. My Lambda Chi Alpha roots come out when it comes to service. Hey, it was one of our four pillars.

I’m officially flying up to Botcon this year. Jen and I were thinking about doing a road trip, but I’ve got too much going on right now. We leave here on Wednesday and come back Tuesday. I’m spending an extra day there to chill with my bud Albie. I did make it into the Weston and have a rental car for a few days. Ah, the joys of Botcon. All we need is a nearby mall and alcohol. It’s amazing how much we…and the Botconers…drink while there.

So I am official signed up for two:

The Primus Package ($279 for club members or
$329 for non-members) consists of the following:
• Games of Deception Convention Set: A fivefigure
boxed set which includes Decepticon
Seekers Dirge, Thrust, Thundercracker,
Dreadwind and the newest Decepticon,
Bugbite, all presented in an illustrated display
box. Also included with the set is a certificate
of authenticity, tech specs and figure weapons.
• Convention name badge and convention pin.
• Convention program with comic.
• Admittance to the sales room including the
Private Sales Room Experience on Friday and Early Bird privileges on Saturday.
• Admittance to the Awards Dinner.
• Admittance to all convention panels/seminars (tours additional).
• BONUS FIGURE: Primus Package attendees will receive an extra surprise
convention piece not available with the non-attending package. This extra piece
will not be sold and is our gift to you for making the trip. (You must pick up
your convention package in person.*)
• Limited Target gift set which includes a Target Transformers comic book, folder
and a Target “Transformers Gift Card In Disguise”!
• One entry (per person, not per package) in the free trip give-aways drawing on
Sunday at 3 pm.*†
• You will receive your convention items at your assigned registration pick-up time.
•The pre-convention sight-seeing tours and Transformers Movie

And two…:

In addition, 200 pieces of the five-figure convention set (in poly bags, no box,
no certificate, etc) will be available for $179. Only Transformers Collectors
Club Member Primus or Iacon Package holders can take advantage of this offer
and sets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

Plus (hopefully) two…:

The first 100 Primus or Iacon Package registrations will receive a special
Transformers cloisonné lapel pin.

So that means up for grabs is:

1 Box set
1 Loose set
1 Pin

Currently, I have two bids on the box set:
Bidder 1: $220
Bidder 2: $250

Plus Chuck, who wants something…

As always, if you’re interested just shoot me an email. I normally keep one set of the convention only exclusives open and one set sealed. I don’t know if I’ll have any extra of those, but I’ll try and grab extras if possible.

That’s the majority of news this week…and it all happened about two hours before I wrote this. However, you know there’s always more…

Kollector’s Korner

Oh…my…God…

I own TFTM07 Voyager Optimus Prime! Yes, that would be me marking out. It doesn’t happen much when it comes to TFs anymore, but this is a nice find. Will you have him in a couple months at half the price? Yep, but I’ll have him next week and he’s a prototype. I know that’s hard to prove. However, I always have you, my loyal Primates, to back me up. Anyway, this figure broke on Friday in an auction on eBay. That one went for $220 shipped. I was just kind of checking out pics of him and wondered if a new one was online. I find this bad boy for $110 shipped to my doorstep. That…That’s cool. I should have pics of him for my third anniversary edition.

Wait, did I say third anniversary edition? Yep, it’s been three long years since Elohim said he was tired of doing this. I proposed an idea to Chuck. We should do a point/counterpoint on the TF movie. He’s anti-movie (Negative Nancy) and I’m pro-movie (naive accepting dolt). I believe that will be my “special anniversary edition” this year. I should have my MP Megatron by then (Track it with me!), so let’s plan on a few nice pics of that bad ass. I may even have the orange tip and regular version by that point…

I just got the tracking number for Voyager Prime. Ha! They have a number to call the Honk Kong postal service. I smell a prank call…

But wait, There’s more!!!! What cheesy movie is that from? Anyway, I also will delivery on my promise: TFTM07 Megatron!

Brrrrrrrr

I lost my metal penis helmet. Can you help me find it?

You stick left hand in…

You stick your left hand out…

Well, a photon/fusion cannon it’s not…

All I want is bang, bang, bang!

Flex the lats

Foot down, springs ready for…

TAKE OFF! The front foot can fold down too

Feel the wrath of my soft plastic spike!

My spring loaded shoulders that serve no purpose…

Whoa…contrast much?

I…I’m in love. Well, maybe not that good, but this thing is pretty damn cool. First off, there is no way in the flame filled vagina pits that this guy is a Fast Action Battler. If he is, then so are Blackout, Ironhide, and “Voyager” Prime. I know that has been somewhat established on the TF sites, but just wanted to make a point of that. So, the good? The look is just great. My RiD love is coming back in full swing for these guys. I like how they did his thighs, They’re very details, but keep the “ice ice baby” look kicking. The feet have a spring feature allowing it to look like he “takes off.” The retract down when “flying” and flatten back down when you stand him up. I’m not sure if that’s intentional or not, but it looks cool. The clear/blue plastic makes for an interesting look that I’m not sure has been used before. I don’t think we’ve ever seen it in the TF lines. His head sculpt doesn’t look quite as extreme as the original designs. The bad? His hands are dog shit stained fugly. They were looking for something different and accomplished just that. The G1 fans get their wish of the gun on his arm. However, it’s only because of his fugly hands he had to have a weapon he didn’t need to hold. Now, the gun is interesting. It’s good and bad at the same time. It’s good because it is a G1 throw back (even if it is on the wrong arm…I’m such a dork). It’s bad because it’s awkward as all hell. The join placement make the weapon seem too far off of Meg’s arm. It has two joints (needed for transformation), which puts it about a half inch away from the arm. It does rotate though. The ugly? What the hell is it he transforms into? All I can think of is if Vanilla Ice had an ‘80’s cartoon and needed an “Icey Baby” ship. I’m not sure if it’s the ice on it or if it’s the lack of…making it look like a ship. I’m just not a fan. It does have a cool “pincher” feature very similar to Transquito.

Next up: Blackout

Grrr….feel the evil force of my mini plastic scorpion!

He was so ugly that my Sony Cybershot broke

Boy…they put some effort into that. It reminds me of a candy machine toy. They should have had Burger King make the drones

Skorpinok in the womb

Definitely a Steve Madden product

He should have been bigger. I picture this guy as movie Megatron’s Devastator.

He he…I heard you were bigger.

…Is that an innuendo?

We get the size of a deluxe instead of being a giant badass. That aside, he’s incredibly detailed. The feet are made to look like his copter blades for a cool effect. The head is fairly small, which causes some clutter to the face. I wish we could see a larger version of it. The copter tail is detachable and cab be used as a weapon. However, it’s huge and awkward for a character that already doesn’t stand well. His helicopter mode feature the same gimmick as most TF helicopters: push in the button and the blades spin. Scorponok (I think the movie has it spelled Skorpinok) is goofy. It’s a little tiny white clump of plastic that they dipped in black ink and let dry. I’m glad they actually went with the idea of making a real figure for it. Blackout does have a cool little trap door that Scorponok fits in and can be dropped from. I guess I’m being so critical of this guy because I had such high expectations. He was honestly my fav toy so far and he turns out to be a bit of a let down. I am happy that he’s the only one labeled as a sample. The label says “Sample No. A1”

Yes! Proof I own a Sample!

I’m not a big proto/test shot person. Does anyone know if there’s another way to prove it’s a prototype? Let me know…

Plus, I can’t get his nose to stay down:

If I lock in the side panels then the legs pop down. If I push up the legs, his nose pops up. If you have this toy then hit me back if I’m doing something wrong. Otherwise, I think I got one of the janky samples.

Walmart “Constructicon Devastator” showed up this week too. You can get him online at Walmart.com. Oops, looks like he’s out of stock. Anyway, This is the figure we all remember from Energon. I’ll tell you, the only good part about redecos is that I get to play with an old toy again. It’s kind of like Reprolabels and my G1s. I forgot what a great design the new gestalts are. They fit together well, are solid as a brick shit house (compared to some G1 gestalts), and…well, they are a homage to G1. Of course, they still sell you two redecos in the same box. That still pisses me off.

I miss Mixmaster

I forgot to mention a couple weeks ago that I almost bought this:

That would be Santa Prime. He was slated to be a Target exclusive and never saw the light of day. My dumb ass forgot to snipe…uh I mean bid on it. There goes that once in a life time chance to own that one. However, I never thought I’d get the G2 Stunticons either…

PK also got me the press package for the TF movie. PK and I aren’t exceptional close, but I told him I’d have his babies. Kudos also goes to Chuck because it was offered to him first, but he told PK I’d appreciate it more. I just have to add in Chuck’s cheesy joke too…

Oh by the way the press kit does transform; the pages turn from sheets of paper into planes! HA! I made funny.

I have to admit…it made me giggle like a school girl

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.

Protoform Prime and Screamer are up at Hasbrotoyshop.com. They were in stock last I checked, but that won’t last.

Did you know the Transformers were on MySpace? Yep, the Autobots AND Decepticons are now my friends. Plus, I added someone, but I can’t take credit for it. Chuck found Stan Bush’s MySpace account! This is the dude who sings “The Touch” from the original G1 cartoon. I was rolling when I saw that shit. Now, the good news is I now have “The Touch” as my MySpace music. The bad news is Stan didn’t think enough of me to approve me as a friend…

Alternators Rumble and Ravage are officially Walmart exclusives. I went to two Walmarts this weekend and found nadda. Boo… Another toy I may have to buy off the net.

Hasbro applied for trademarks on Slag and Elita-1. I could see a movie repaint of the Arcee figure as Elita. Maybe they’ll throw those two into the Classics line?

Random thought: We’re going to be getting mainly movie toys over the next few years. Think about it…Cullen said he signed on for three movies. That obviously means if this one doesn’t bomb, but you see where I’m going. So this coming year is basically all TF movie stuff. Ok, so let’s say they start working on TFTM08 (part 2). So they’ll probably force feed us a few redecos of the TF movie figures…then what? My hope would be that the Classic line will be used as filler for a while. I think this would appease the people who don’t like the movie (Damn Nancys) and also make sure we don’t get constant redecos. That’s me just being a mark though. This could coincide with the new “Heroes” cartoon too. We all know that cartoons are only thirty minute long commercials, so it has to be pushing some toy line. Regardless, we could mainly be seeing movie line figures for the foreseeable Transformers future with a few dashes of randomness. After getting Blackout, Ironhide, Megatron, and soon Prime…I’m cool with that.

By the way, Hugo Weaving is going to voice movie Megatron. I have to say that’s not bad. No, it’s not Welker, but that was more a pipe dream than reality. I’m just thinking of the look of the character and thinking what type of voice it should have. I don’t think the original Megatron voice is fitting. I see more of a David Kaye type demeanor. If I remember right, Hugo has a thick accent (Australian?). I wonder if he’ll use closer to his Matrix voice or something different. He showed us in Matrix that he can be cold and calculating, but can also draw on raw rage. That will be a perfect mix if he can showcase it in the movie.

Keith David is going to voice Barricade. I was originally thinking that he was voicing Brawl (I got the characters mixed up), which I thought was perfect. Keith has a very distinct voice that’ll work, but I guess I wasn’t expecting it for a police car.

There’s also a rumor that Will Smith will play Jazz. I shrieked at first, but think about it…it’s perfect. Ok, Will Smith was a joke to me in his Fresh Prince days. However, the guy has really shown his star power. He’s got the cool factor a digits (‘00s…digits…we made it up in High School when no one knew what to call the first ten years) Jazz. Plus, he’s shown he has the bad ass factor to be a fighting robot. Look at Independence Day, Robots, Ali, etc.

There’s going to be a new UK comic. Hotrod from Seibertron.com had a chance to sit down with Steve White and talk about it. No huge highlights other than he says they may be “hamstrung” by the movie franchise.

How bad is the orange tip on MP-5 Megatron? TFW2005 has the answer! I think the title says it all: It’s not as bad as everyone was fearing. In fact it’s NOTHING at all!

Go take a look. It makes me think twice about ordering it. Kudos on whoever was able to finalize the “orange tip modification.” It’s a butt plug in disguise. (Get it…like a robot is disguise…ha)

Ok, so Yahoo has a challenge:

Transformers

Become a Fanaticon Here:
http://promotions.yahoo.com/transformers

You know damn well someone’s Kollection will be sent in…with a little help from my lovely web designing, Mac-fluent girly.

eHobby is going to make a clear Binaltech Mirage. I can dig that

The Legends of Cybertron figures are being re-released on Classic cards. Do I get them or do I not? Damn variants…

Tformers.com has up a strange non-transforming Megatron from the TF movie. Could this be a “Titanium” like figure?

One time my cousin Walter got this cat stuck in his ass. True story.

So you want to know about the Avengers/TF crossover?

From IGN.com:

The series will be a crossover between the “Original New Avengers” and an “Ultimate-esque” version of the Transformers currently being used by publisher IDW. The book will consist of four issues, each with a different cover artist. The first cover, presented below, will be handled by Jim Cheung. Jason Pearson, Ed McGuiness and Tom Raney, in that order, will round out the remaining three books (although we wouldn’t be surprised to see variants).

Meh…IDW TFs…Meh

In other news, I got the second TF movie prequel comic. I really dig this comic because it fills in the blanks. This issue saw Megatron’s travel to Earth in search of the Allspark. Basically, The Allspark goes through Earth’s atmosphere and ends up landing in Colorado. Megatron is hot pursuit, but hits a “radiation blind spot.” It causes him to lose contact with the Allspark as his sensors go offline. He puts up emergency shields and drains his energon reserves. That’s important because the dumb ass lands on ice, heats it up, and falls in. He doesn’t have the energy to bust out, which leads us to him being frozen in ice for the movie. That explains a lot. I was wondering how the king of the Decepticons somehow got stuck in freakin’ ice. Anyway, our next scene is Spike’s Granddaddy getting ready to go in and check on the robot. If you read my spoiler column then you know what happens next. It jumps past that to Witwicky in a hospital bed. He’s being questioned by an unknown person. Witwicky apparently had site for three months. He was drawing pictures of strange alien symbols before losing his site. The unknown man leaves meeting up with another unknown man. It can be inferred that these men are the beginning of “Sector Seven.” They plan on discrediting all the men on the expedition with Witwicky and proving he is insane. Jump forward to what will be Sector Seven as they begin to excavate Megatron from the ice. They receive a call from someone associated with the group who has found the Allspark. Now, this will all of course lead to Sector Seven being in possession of both Megatron and the Allspark in the movie.

The comic ends with a flash forward to 2003. Remember the whole teaser trailer on Mars? Yeah, where the robot smashes the probe? It basically talks about how they associate those images with the “Mega-Man” (Megatron). Apparently, the robot that smashed the probe was Prime. Weird…why would Prime destroy it?

I did get the prequel book, but I’m a slow ass reader. I’ll plan on reviewing it for my anniversary column, but I might save it for my EuroTrip. That’s a looooooooooong ass flight.

K’s Konundrum

Q: What did the Gnaw Prototype look like?

A: Toy Archive has up this pic:

From Toy Archive:

This prototype picture comes from Takara’s own museum. It was pictured in the Headmaster Laserdisc set along with a few other toy prototypes from the Movie.
Gnaw at first glance looks not any different. On closer insepction you can see that pictured are two different toys that cannot transform. The transformation looks to be completed, and they knew the mechanics of it’s transformation. The Sharkticon shark mode is a bit more boxish than round, like the production version.

My buddy Alex Bickmore runs the site, so go check it out. It has tons of old protos that were never made.

This Week’s Q: What Decepticon leader was almost made into a video camera?

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

Masterpiece Nemesis

InsidePULSE’s Botcon Spectacular

The Inside Pulse on…Transformers Alternators

Inside Pulse On…Transformers Cybertron; Speed Planet.

Alessandro “Rikkomba” Riccombeni: Cybertron Wingsaber, Cybertron Menasor,
Galaxy Force Soundblaster

And in closing arguments…

Just to clarify, time wise this should be my 3rd anniversary issue. However, I didn’t think of it until after I wrote a ten pager. Plus, Chuck just agreed to do the Point/Counter Point column. My guess would it either my next column or the last column of the month.

I’m doing my annual traveling pretty soon too. May 5th through the 15th I’ll be in Europe with Jen’s fam. I get to go back to my roots and see Hungary. I’m about ¾ Hungarian, so I can see where the “Kazovskis” came from. Cool last name, huh?

I was going to do an April fools joke about me selling the Kollection, but I know my Primates are too smart to believe it. I’ll be buried with my ‘bots

Random note, but my bad to anyone who has emailed me recently. I do probably see it the day you send it, but I don’t get around to answering it for a few days (…a week). I like to sit down and really answer/write back to you guys. Not a “yeah…thanks dude…” email. I will promise to email you back…but it may take a few days.

I’m off like a prom dress. I tried to think of a way to make that dirty in a TF way. It just didn’t happen.

WAIT! I’m off like a waist plate after too many energon cocktails!

…that was bad…

Calculating the entrance fee to the first TF Museum,
K