Transformers: The Cybertronian Enquirer 07/08/07

Opening Salvo

Well I have no idea when you will be reading this but hopefully it will be before Mike’s, yes that Mike, Bot-Con review. Well got some news, pictures, and reviews so hurry up; it’s time to Transform!

Toys: What I got, what they got, and some news too

Well on the Transformer side of things I got the Takara Sports label set of Convoy and Megatron. One thing I noticed is that most pictures, including the one in the instructions, show Convoy holding his gun wrong. That second post was designed for Megatron so the gun could peg into his arm like his classic fusion cannon. My string of bad luck when it comes to mail order products continued as I was transforming Convoy and low and behold; he was missing the stock of his gun. BBTS didn’t have a new one in stock so I’m getting a $20 credit from them. First was my 1/48 scale VF-1J coming with two left hands, the whole debacle with MP Starscream, now this. Normally I don’t as my reader for things but if any of you have an extra stock for Sports Label Convoy’s rifle shoot me an email. I would really appreciate it. Well on with the news!

Well it’s official I’ll be skipping the new cartoon line come the fall. Full shots of the Autobots have been released and they look like they came straight out of Teen Titans. The robots look far to smoth and humanoid like. This is America, and the cartoons should look American. Anime, which is supposed to be the style now doesn’t even look this bad. What really sealed the deal is that according to Hasbro the toys will feature 90% cartoon accuracy. That means that you too will be able to hold some of that crap in your hot little hands. By the by, Optimus Prime looks 100% like he did in Cybertron so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them use that same mold.

By now I’m sure you’ve all gone and seen the new movie, and know that it has already grossed over 121 million worldwide. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it do something like 100-150 million this weekend alone in the USA. I am this close to scrapping the CE and changing it to the Mecha Informer. Some good news for the Japanese fans; we got Peter Cullen and they’re getting Tessho Genda the voice of Optimus Prime from their G1 era. Apparently there was enough demand for GM to roll out a movie accurate Top-Kick pickup truck. From what I’ve read you would be able to buy a small home for the same price. I’d like to know who was demanding the vehicle, and how long it will take Mike to get one.

I’m not going to go too deep into Bot Con since I don’t want to tread on Mike’s toes. I thought it was nice that they brought the Optimus Prime cab from the movie but it would’ve been that much cooler if Peter Cullen was behind the wheel. Turns out each hotel had it’s own key and I’m sure Mike has one of each. I couldn’t help but smile when I read that there was a production error with Dirge. Apparently a large number of him came with either two left guns or two right guns. People actually had to trade parts around to get proper sets. Mike didn’t know until I emailed him to check. For the price I’m paying I want 100% accuracy. Hasbro also took the time to announce that the Alternator and 6” Titanium line would be coming to an end. The molds they had in the planning stage might, MIGHT, make an appearance in the new Universe line, which is what Classics, is now called. Yup, that’s right, the little filler line that could will be continuing this fall. On the tour of Hasbro headquarters it was said that between the Alternators line and the 6” Titanium line Hasbro invested roughly 2 million dollars. I feel had the first wave of Alternators not ended up as shelf warmers and that better quality control was used in regard to the 6” Titaniums both lines would have probably sold much better. The long demanded Universe Seacon repaints might be seeing the light of day as collector club exclusives.

The G1 repaints of Jazz and Starscream will be Target exclusives. Not to be outdone Wal-Mart will be getting Masterpiece Starscream in his cartoon accurate colors. I was able to score a few pics from Siebertron.com since Ryan, the site owner, takes pictures of everything. No word yet if he will be coming with the cape and crown. Needless to say I’ll be all over him when he comes out.

The Pros and Cons of Being a Transformer Fan: This is why I’ll never admit being a fan.

One of the big things that keeps Sci-Fi on the fringe is the fanaticism of its fans. We’ve all heard the stories of Trekies speaking Vulcan only or Star Wars fans getting married in costume. While that brings a smile to the face of most fans it brings ridicule and scorn from outsiders thus pushing more “Adjusted” fans like myself into the background, not wanting to be associated with these kind of people. I’m sure you guys all know about my fondness for Star Wars but most of my real life friends don’t and I want to keep it that way. Being a Transformers fan has been somewhat grief free, or as grief free as collecting a toy line can be, but it does have its’ crazies and well, I’m about to introduce you to one know.
Last week Jason Michael Burrows legally changed his middle name to Megatron. That’s right. He went into a Seattle courtroom and admitted in front of a Judge that he doesn’t wish to ever have to function or be responsible in a normal society. Sad thing is this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. A gentleman named Scott Nall in 2001 legally changed his name to Optimus Prime; now Mr. Nall is deserving of praise since he has also proudly served our country in Iraq defending freedom like his namesake. He is also someone who I feel should not be trusted with any type of weapon since in my opinion, as a taxpayer, he has not shown a proper level of maturity to handle the responsibility required of weapons usage.
Now I’m sure both men are honest, hardworking men who love their familes and country. Trying to find more on these gentlemen led me to Wikipedia where Mr. Nall is listed as a civilian fire fighter in Iraq and mentions a son but doesn’t mention a wife. I should mention that his Wikipedia page is under review and could be deleted. I don’t know what Mr. Burrows does for a living but one can imagine he has to utter the phrase “You want fries with that?” As I mentioned above Mr. Nall has served his country and should be given a hearty applause but that doesn’t excuse the fact that both men have opened the fan base up to a level of embarrassment and humiliation never before seen due to the increased media attention brought on by the movie. Managers of auto dealerships who make six figures a year don’t answer to Mr. Tracks. The paychecks of restaurant managers who need to put across a service first attitude aren’t made out to a Mr. Jetfire. My point being is that you will not be taken seriously by employers or future employers or anyone in general if you give off what can best be described as an “Immature” image. Now someone like Jim Helwig, better known as the Ultimate Warrior or now as just Warrior, legally changed his name long after his money had been made and to protect the copyright on his name and likeness.
If you thought things couldn’t get any worse they are; Mr. Prime has called Jason Megatron out. Apparently changing your middle name isn’t enough for Mr. Prime, he feels that Jason needs to go all out and change his whole name to Megatron then taking the grossly unnecessary step of challenging him to battle. Fans, yes these men have fans, have already started rumors that this “Battle” might take place at next years Bot-Con. That’s a great idea, lets scrap “Battle of the Boards” in favor of two men testing their Transformer prowess, if they’re lucky they’ll use the same questions from this year, which were the same ones from last year. I was really thinking about going to Bot-Con 2008 now, I’m thinking of changing my name, to Never Going to Go.

Surfing The Space Bridges

What do you guys think were some of the mistakes made with both Alternators and the 6” Titanium line not doing well?

The World Around Transformers

Well I got my R2-D2 this week. He looks like he is going to be a TON of fun once I get batteries for him. The VF-0A looks awesome especially with the Ghost Booster attachment. Expect photos somewhere down the line. Speaking of down the line I was able to read a review of the first draft of the Voltron movie script here. If the minimum of changes are made to the script then this movie will blow Transformers away in terms of being close to the source.

For this weeks gallery I thought I would dip a little into my Macross collection to show off my 1/48 scale VF-1S Focker edition. The VF-1S is probably better known as G1 Jetfire who was based off the version used for Hikaru Ichijo in the movie “Do You Remember Love.” This was Yamatos’ first attempt at a larger scale Valkyries and really hit a home run. Enjoy.

They did make a few changes to the mold later on, first they added tabs to the inside of the nose cone so it would hold on better, then they made the tabs on the wing flaps a little stronger since they had a tendency to break. These changes can be seen in the new VF-1A Max type that was released a year ago.

Sixty-Second Review

Transformers: Sports Label
Megatron/Convoy
MSRP: $39.95 each but as always more on Ebay
OUT NOW

When Takara announced that they would be taking the time between series to experiment with new Transformer lines many thought that this was their way of launching a new reissue series. Few fans were surprised when the first test shots were released and it featured Convoy, what they were surprised by was his new alternate form, that of a Nike Free sneaker. Soon pictures of Megatron surfaced decked out the same way. Whatever you may think of them Takara’s Sports Label line is one of the most original ideas in Transformers history.

Takara really pulled out all the stops when it came to the first two figures in the line. Both Megatron and Convoy come packaged in replica boxes of real Nike Free sneakers, at least I think so. I wear New Balance so I’ve never seen the business end of a Nike up close. The figures are stored in a plastic tray in a cardboard frame with a stock photo of the figure on the inside lid. Even though the box is marked half scale I was still surprised at how small the figures actually were.

Both figures are shell formers; that mean that actual transformation work is minimal and only involves splitting the shoe in half. Unfortunately these guys suffer from the usual problems most shell formers do, once in robot mode the shell parts can’t move freely, thus limiting the movement of the robot limbs. I was able to get some classic posses out of the two though. One thing I really like is when a robot is all inclusive; meaning there are no parts left over or not stored from one mode to another so I was happy when I saw that the stock and barrel of their guns were stored in the heel of the sneaker. As I mentioned above Megatrons’ rifle can be pegged into his arm like his classic fusion cannon. If you can grab these do so since these are really unique figures that I don’t think we’ll ever see this side of the Atlantic. On Elohims’ Energon cube ranking scale I give Sports Label Megatron and Convoy eight out of 10 cubes.

Parting Shots

Well that’s about all for this week. Before I go I would like to leave you with a little something. The past two weeks have not been the easiest of times for wrestling fans. The tragedies of two weeks ago still weigh heavily on my mind, as I’m sure most of you. While I do plan on writing something more in depth I just can’t do it now because I’m still just so, so angry, hurt, and ashamed. The only words of comfort I can offer at this point in time is something Jim Ross wrote on his blog; Lean on God, he can take it. Until next time;

The King of the Fanboys,

Charles