The Underbase Online

2011-07-20T14:05:00.001-07:00

Playstation 2 Transformers: Retrospective
by Jerry Peterson (Mako Crab)

When it comes to video games, it can really suck to be a Transformers fan. There’s no shortage of Transformers games to choose from, but finding a great one is like trying to find an Autobot hidden in rush hour traffic. The concept of being able to switch between on-foot and in-vehicle segments at will seems like a no-brainer, and has been successfully done in other, non-Transformers games. For whatever reasons though, implementing this basic concept and designing a TF game around it eludes developers more often than not. But back in 2004, Melbourne House did the impossible and delivered the first genuinely excellent Transformers game. This is the game that set the bar by which all other Transformers games must be judged, even the fan-favorite “War for Cybertron.”

Based on Hasbro’s Transformers: Armada toyline of the time, Melbourne House opted not to adapt the cartoon or comic into video game form. Instead they carved out their own little take on Armada. The paper-thin story revolves around rescuing Mini-Cons, tiny Transformers with special abilities, before the Decepticons can capture them and use them for their own evil deeds. Choosing from a team of three Autobots, you can charge into battle using either the slow but powerful Optimus, the speedy but lightly armored Hot Shot, or the balanced Red Alert.

The game makes great use of the Mini-Con gimmick. It’s simple enough; find one of the tiny Mini-Cons hidden somewhere in the vast open-world levels, equip it to one of the PS2's shoulder buttons, and gain access to a huge variety of weaponry, armor, and extra abilities. You can spend hours just playing around and experimenting with all the crazy options (tornado canon!) at your disposal. Even weapons that seem useless at first, such as the tractor beam, turn into guilty pleasures when you get the hang of whipping the tether around and flinging enemies miles off into the distance. And equipping Mini-Cons is absolutely essential if you want to have any hope of completing the game. A power level puts a cap on how much Mini-Con power you can handle, so you can't just load up all the most powerful 'cons and head out. You'll have to think more tactically about your loadout. . . unless you're using the cheat code that takes the cap off.

Prime gets ready to roll out

If you think you’re going to blindly run into a firefight with guns blazing and come out on top, then be prepared to see the continue screen a lot. Unlike their cartoon counterparts, the DeceptiClones can aim! Enemy troops almost always patrol in groups and won’t hesitate to dogpile on you. An Autobot at full health can be reduced to scrap metal in short order if you’re not careful and the boss fights make even the goofy Cyclonus into a badass. Trenner Dios of TFW2005 said, “It was so satisfying to beat because it was so challenging. Even on the easy setting it could be quite tough.”

The boss fights are definitely the highlights of the game, though you’ll only face off against four actual Decepticons (Cyclonus, Starscream, Tidal Wave, and Megatron). It doesn’t matter though! Each fight is a memorable spectacle, a firestorm of awesomeness that will be burnt into your memory forever after. Tidal Wave is bigger than Devastator in “Revenge of the Fallen!” The only downside is that there’s no option to replay any of the boss battles after completing them. If you want to take down the big bads again, you’ll have to either replay the game or plug in a code. It’s a shame, really. It would’ve been a nice bonus to take on the early bosses again with all of the Mini-Cons backing you.

Optimus faces the towering Tidal Wave

The first couple waves of DeceptiClones may give you a thrashing, but you’ll quickly get the hang of the controls. Movement is controlled with the left analog stick while camera/aiming is handled with the right. A quick tap of the triangle button transforms your character back and forth. Driving in vehicle mode is intuitive and you’ll be tearing up the landscape within moments of transforming. Gordon 4 from the TFW boards said, “I actually think from a gameplay perspective, it was better than “War for Cybertron.” The movements felt smother and more natural, the transforming aspect was as smooth as silk and easily integrated into combat. Man I wasted like an hour on the first level using Optimus Prime and trying to replicate the 'Movie-Jump.' Nearly got it too.”

In addition to the Mini-Cons you have mapped to the shoulder buttons, each Autobot is accompanied by their own Mini-Con sidekick that travels with them through each level. Tap square to powerlink with your Mini-Con, and you’ll be sent into a slow motion bullet-time where enemies seem to move through a duotone haze of molasses and your gun unloads plasma blasts at a metal-shredding rate. Use the powerlink at your own risk though. Doing so drains your energy to within an inch of your life. Enemies always drop health, so there’s the payoff if you use this high risk move.

Graphically, Transformers is still a pretty game even now. Radiant sunlight cuts through the dense jungle canopy, every blade of grass and tree leaf is rendered. The immense sandbox locales are some of the most beautiful you’ll see on the PS2. Whether you’re traipsing through the amazon, through the barren arctic, or the islands of the Pacific, you’ll find yourself wanting to stop and check out every detail, and not just to scope for patrolling DeceptiClones. The two Amazon levels in particular seem to have a higher degree of polish. The jungle just goes on forever!

Unlockable content includes postcards. No, really.

Exploration is rewarded in the form of hidden Mini-Cons and Data-Cons, some of which are located in hard-to-reach areas that will require a bit of skill. With the Mini-Con glider, Slipstream, and dash-boosting Fullspeed, I tried flying to the most distant chunks of land on the far horizon of the Pacific. And even though I could never reach it (damn you, invisible wall!) I always felt like I could. The highest point of any area feels just within reach and there’s always more than one way to traverse a level. Whether it’s on land, by glider, or by hijacking DeceptiClone dropships, you can tackle each challenge however best suits your play style.

Or y'know, just drive through them.

Decent voice acting punctuates the experience as your team occasionally calls you up to deliver your next objective. Don’t expect any witty banter during actual gameplay though a la “War for Cybertron.” Grunts, groans, and all other manner of verbal expression are all absent from both the Autobots and the DeceptiClone army. What’s there is good, but it’s not much. Veteran voice actors, David Kaye and Gary Chalk reprise their roles as Megatron and Optimus Prime respectively, and astute listeners will hear Daran Norris (Knockout of Transformers: Prime) make his Transformers debut here as Red Alert. The hardest choice you’ll have to make is whether you want to plow through DeceptiClones as Optimus Prime or have him brief you during a mission when you play as Hot Rod or Red Alert.

Red Alert demands one picture in this article.

What the game lacks in voice work, it delivers with the soundtrack. The ambient tunes perfectly suit each location and ramp up in intensity when you run into a nest of DeceptiClones. Each of the five bosses gets their own theme song which range from hard rocking to epic orchestral. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I gotta’ say Cyclonus’ theme is pretty damn cool.

As good as this game is, it’s hard not to want more. Only three Autobots to choose from? Only four Decepticons in the whole game? The DeceptiClone army serves as decent canon fodder, but they’re borderline generic and not one of them transforms with exception to the Rollarm units. Each level is gigantic and offers endless hours of exploration, but for all their vastness, not one takes place within a city, where the Autobots’ vehicle modes would’ve made the most sense. There are some long stretches of land to cover in vehicle mode, but a lot of it is so densely covered in jungle or rough terrain, that it doesn’t seem as though much effort was put into making transforming relevant. It is, however, a lot of fun to drive through waves of enemies. There’s no sound more satisfying than that of drones exploding in rapid succession. The final battle against Unicron is the epic cherry on top of the sundae, but you’ll only see him in his planet form. Why oh why can’t he transform?! The bonus content, unlocked by finding Data-Cons, is plentiful and will keep die-hard fans scouring the levels for every last one. However, once you’ve found all the Mini and Data-cons, there’s nothing left to do. I hesitate to say it has little replay value, because I’ve replayed it more than any other PS2 game I own. Still, I wish there were more to do.

For all the things that Melbourne House’s Transformers lacks, what it does, it does very well. The cast is small and there’s no meat to the story, but it all feels like a tight little package. And the customization options granted by the Mini-Cons offer for lots of gameplay variety. It took 20 years after the robots in disguise first hit airwaves to get a great Transformers game, and even after this game set the bar, it remained the pinnacle of what a TF game could be, putting all others to shame until “War for Cybertron” came along. It’s challenging but it’s a satisfying challenge. Whenever I play Transformers, I always feel like the developers really loved what they were doing. The cheesy party music during the credits exemplifies it. Yeah, it’s cheesy, but they’re having fun and even Tidal Wave and the DeceptiClones get in on the party after the credits roll. To quote TFW member, Shizuka, “that game had passion coded into the disk.”

WHEEEEE!!!

Thanks to IGN and Moby Games for the pics

The Lost Transformers - Addendum

2010-10-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

A small addition to the Lost Transformers...some Transformers Animated repaints appeared on the card back cross-sells for the recently released Toys 'R Us exclusives, Rodimus Minor and Ironhide. We can assume that these card backs were printed before the line was officially canceled. Here we have (presumably) Photoshopped representations of Fugitive Waspinator (aka Wasp), a repaint of Bumblebee to represent Waspinator's pre-beast form; and three characters who get new name prefixes to go along with their new color schemes;Mercenary Swindle, Vortex Blurr and Toxic Oil Slick.

Also planned were a Thundercracker repaint for the Voyager Starscream mold, and new version of Voyager Bulkhead called Mudbuster Bulkhead.

So, sorry again Animated fans. Maybe Takara-Tomy will pick up on some of these.... so you can pay those exorbitant import prices for them!

The Lost Transformers - Part 5

2010-08-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the final installment of the Lost Transformers.

Titanium

Titanium was a short-lived sub-line of Transformers that were made with die-cast metal parts just like the original line of "Generation 1" Transformers that had been adapted from Diaclone and Microman. The quality of the line was hit or miss but was still popular with collectors due to the variety of characters that were made, especially the toys that were based on the "War Within" comic series.

At the 2007 Botcon, Hasbro displayed several prototypes of canceled Titanium figures. Cosmos was an updated version of the Minibot that transformed into a flying saucer that was much more detailed than the "G1" original. The next addition to the "War Within" series would have been Bumblebee with a planned repaint as Cliffjumper.

Also displayed was Arcee, designed after her original appearance in "Transformers the Movie" and season 3 of the "G1" cartoon. Although Hasbro has released several transformable Arcee figures over the past several years, there has yet to be an official toy of her "G1" incarnation. Titanium Shockwave was based on his original toy right down to the rubber-covered wire connected to his arm. Would it have dried and cracked over time as badly as the original is known to do? We'll never know.

Transtech

Most Transformers lines have had lost figures, but Transtech represents an entire lost line. Planned as a sequel to "Beast Machines", the Transtech series would have featured characters from both the Beast Era as well as Generation 1 including Cheetor, Silverbolt, Shockwave, Starscream, Depth Charge, and, of course, Optimus and Megatron. There was also a mysterious new character called Immorticon. The Transtech designs were first revealed as concept sketches by Draxhall Jump. The concepts were unlike anything seen in Transformers up to that time although some of the Transtech aesthetic would later show up in the live-action films. Transtech was ultimately abandoned as Hasbro decided to release takara's "Car Robots" line as "Robots in Disguise" while they worked toward the start of what would become known as "The Unicron Trilogy". Based on the look of these sketches, if this line had been released there's no doubt it would have been as divisive to the fan base as "Beast Machines" was.

Some time later, a couple of prototypes would turn up on the forums of Behind the Toys showing what Transtech Cheetor and Starscream would have looked like. Both figures would have been Deluxe class. These would make great additions to the current "Generations" line, but considering these hard copies were made 10 years ago, I don't hold out much hope.

That's all, folks! Hope you enjoyed it.

The Lost Transformers - Part 4

2010-08-07T20:36:00.000-07:00

Did I say "next week"? Sorry, I meant "3 months". Actually life (plus a computer crash which cost me all my research) intervened. But we're back on track now. Here we go!

Botcon/OTFCC

We all commonly refer to the annual Transformers convention as "Botcon", but for a few years, due to legal reasons, it was called the Official Transformers Collectors Convention, or OTFCC for short. OTFCC had many grand designs when it came to exclusives, but financial difficulties resulted in the organizers losing the official Transformers license. That in turn resulted in many planned exclusives being left on the drawing board.

Hot Spot/Defensor was the most ambitious of these which actually made it to prototype stage. The figure was a repaint and retool of "Robots in Disguise" Optimus Prime (known in Japan as "Car Robots" Fire Convoy). Repainted to look like the G1 Protectobot leader, the smaller robot would have been Hot Spot with the super Optimus Prime combined form being called Defensor. Hasbro later released a similar toy in their 6" Titanium line but it was not as impressive as this exclusive would have been.

The rest of the planned OTFCC exclusives never made it to prototype stage, but concept drawings have surfaced. Devcon, the G1 cartoon bounty hunter, would have been created using the "Energon" Slugslinger mold, while the Wreckers' Roadbuster would have been reborn using the "Energon" Strongarm mold.

A second use of the "Energon" Strongarm figure would have been a new version of G1 Brawn. Lastly, there was a new version of "Beast Wars" dragon Megatron using the "Robots in Disguise" Megatron 6-changer mold. The RiD Megatron would later be used as the convention exclusive Deathsaurus figure after the official convention was again reborn as Botcon.

Also of note is the Wreckers catalog that was created for the 2001 Botcon. A variety of main line and convention exclusive toys made up the roster of the resurrected Wreckers team, but there were also a few figures that appeared only as hand-painted samples. 3H, the proprietors of Botcon at the time, had no plans to release these figures which included Transmetal Fractyl, Devcon and Alpha Trion.

The entire Wreckers catalog can still be seen here.

Beast Wars

Not many unproduced "Beast Wars" prototypes have turned up, but there was an interesting set of concept drawings that surfaced. Among these are Transmetal versions of characters that did not get Transmetal (I) figures...Scorponok, Tigatron and Blackarachnia. There are also a couple of unproduced Fuzor characters, one of which looks like Optimus Primal as a griffin! These look like they would have been great additions to the Beast Wars.

Transformers Animated

One of the most recent Transformers lines, "Transformers Animated", has a tremendous fan following and there was much disappointment when it came to an end in the US. While most of the planned figures have made it to retail, this triple-changer Megatron prototype that recently surfaced is not planned for release. "Animated" fans hold out hope that Takara-Tomy will see fit to produce it as the "Transformers Animated" toys and series have just made their way to Japan.

Thanks to The Allspark, TFW 2005, and Transformers Wiki for the pics and info. Back soon with more!

The Lost Transformers - Part 3

2010-05-16T18:59:00.001-07:00

Transformers Universe

In 2003, Hasbro launched a line of toys under the name "Transformers Universe". This was a line made up entirely of repainted figures from older lines and was hoped to see the return of some sought after older figures. Instead, Universe saw the re-release of mostly newer figures, many of which were presented in color choices that ranged from uninspired to "wtf were they thinking"? As always, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, your mileage may vary.

Many of the unreleased Universe items were to be store exclusives. Thanks to TFW2005 for the following information.

Two different "Battle-in-a-Box" sets were released for Universe, and a third planned for a Target exclusive. "Smokescreen vs. Drench" would have been a repainted Armada Hot Shot and Wheeljack as G1 Smokescreen and the G2 color changer Deluge. Fear not, Smokescreen fans, there have been several Smokescreen figures since this set was canceled, and a figure very similar to Drench was released as Shattered Glass Sideswipe, a Borcon 2008 exclusive, so you Drench/Deluge fans can get him for a highly inflated eBay price.

Another set of "VS." 2-packs were proposed for Wal-Mart under the name "Halloween Horrorcons". Releasing figures to coincide with a particular holiday would have been pretty unique, and the return of the Horrorcon sub-group from G1 would have been fun, but the deal fell through when Wal-Mart became uninterested.

Blackarachnia vs. Leatherhide would have seen the "Beast Wars" Tarantulas/Blackarachnia mold paired with the "Beast Wars" Mutant Soundwave. Weren't the Mutants the most reviled Beast era toys? Pretty sure they were.

Nightprowler vs. Waspinator was the original "Beast Wars" Cheetor with the "Beast Wars" Transmetal Waspinator. Nightprowler is actually kinda cool looking. The purple Waspy, not so much. Maybe because I have such bad memories of Universe Silverbolt.

Menasor...presumably named such because Hasbro couldn't get the rights to Motormaster....was a repaint of the "Machine Wars" Optimus Prime mold, which was in turn a repaint of the European toy Thunderclash. The other large "Machine Wars" toys all saw a release in Universe, but this one never made it. They did get so far as to commission the package art, though.

Another "Prime" mold that fell by the wayside was the uproariously garish Toxitron. Ole' Toxi here would have been a repaint of Laser Optimus Prime, aka Robots in Disguise Scourge, that would have most likely offended even hardcore G2 collectors. Toxitron would have made a great conversation piece for anyone's Optimus Prime shelf.

Not all canceled Universe toys wound up in limbo. Spacewarp, which was Armada Jetfire repainted as G1 Astrotrain, was to be a Toys 'R Us exclusive. The Piranhacons, aka the G1 Seacons, were planned for Wal-Mart. Both became Transformers Collectors Club toys, albeit at more than twice the price they would have been at retail. There were other Universe figures that appeared in product listings, yet no prototypes have surfaced. These include Sonar, Optimus Minor, Thrustor and a set of Stunticon Spychangers. We can only speculate as to what these would have looked like.

(Let's be honest, they'd probably be ugly.)

I've got more to come next week including Botcon, Titanium and.... Transtech!

The Lost Transformers - Part 2

2010-05-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

Generation 2

Some years after the end of Generation 1, Hasbro attempted to recapture the glory of the Transformers with a new line dubbed "Generation 2", known as G2 to fans. G2 consisted of a variety of recolors of some original toys and, later in the line, some all-new molds. There were quite a few toys planned for G2 that were never released.

The most infamous of the G2 unreleased repaints are the Protectobots and Stunticons. Only a few pieces of each team are known to exist and they have become a Holy Grail among Transformer collectors. Both teams received an.... interesting.... set of colors, as did much of the G2 line. Only Stunticon Breakdown saw an eventual release as the 1994 Botcon exclusive toy, limited to 300 pieces. Was it a bad thing that these never saw the light of day? Take a look at the colors and make your own judgment.

Decepticon jets Starscream and Ramjet saw an initial re-release in G2, but recolors of both were planned. Dubbed "Jungle Camo Starscream" and "Desert Camo Ramjet", only samples of these have been seen at auction. The Classics line figure Acid Storm looks much like the jungle camo version of Starscream.

Hasbro apparently planned to expand the G2 line further by repainting a variety of molds, a strategy they continue to use to this day quite vigorously. Here's a selection of proposed repaints. First, the Laser Cycles, which would have been called Jazz and Soundwave...

...the Autorollers Roadblock and Dirtbag as "General" Optimus Prime and "Sgt." Hound....

....and the "Hero" molds for both Optimus Prime and Megatron.

Repaints of all these molds would appear eventually in various lines including "Beast Wars 2", "Robots in Disguise" and "Robot Masters".

Some new molds were created, then canceled. Two new Autorollers were to join Roadblack and Dirtbag, a jet and a tank. These molds were used by Takara several years later in the "Beast Wars 2" series.

Go-Bots were simple Transformer cars the size of Matchbox vehicles. Many were released at the tail end of G2, but there were even more new figures planned and never released. Some finally made it into production during the "Robots in Disguise" line, but two others, a Mercedes-Benz SL500 sport coupé and a 4-wheel drive vehicle, have never been released. We can only speculate on the dozens of repaints that would have sprung from these lost molds.

The Go-Bots line was to be expanded further with a "racing rig" playset that would have worked the same as traditional Matchbox or Hot Wheels stunt sets. New recolors of the Go-Bots in rally car style were planned for the playset. Of course the question arises...why would a robot that transforms into a car need to drive a tractor-trailer rig? Let's not dwell on it.

One of the most unusual items to be proposed during the G2 era was this Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover vehicle. This transforming APC would have been packaged with an exclusive Joe figure. There have been many Transformer/Joe crossovers in the comics, yet, despite there being a line of Transformer toys crossing over with Star Wars and Marvel, no actual Transformer/Joe figures have been produced. Seems like a perfect match that would have kids and fans alike excited at the possibilities.

Info and images have come from Super Toy Archive, Transformers Wiki, Seibertron, TFW2005, Transformers @ the Moon and TF-1.com.

See you for the next installment as we travel into the "Transformers Universe". Lots more to come!

The Lost Transformers - Part 1

2010-05-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to the Underbase!

Whenever a new Transformers series is started, Hasbro, Takara-Tomy and all their designers start thinking long term but, inevitably, every line must end. Items that were planned sometimes get scrapped due to cost, lack of retail support, a new direction for the brand, or a dozen other reasons. Over the next few weeks, I'll be looking at all the Transformers toys that were left on the drawing board. Where to start? How about at the beginning.....

Generation 1

Two of the most infamous unreleased Transformers came from "Transformers the Movie. A toy was proposed for everyone's favorite femmebot, Arcee. Some may say it was fortunate that the first Arcee toy was never produced as it hardly did her justice. A second Arcee figure made it to the drawing board some time later, a repaint of Headmaster Chromedome, but it never left the initial design stage.

The absolute grand-daddy of all Transformers prototypes has to be the chaos-bringer himself, Unicron. A massive prototype was made that has been shown at Botcon. Cost probably led to the toy not being released to the general public. Takara also made a sample that went one step further and added an electronic moon that would rotate around Unicron's planet mode. Takara would tease Transfans one more time when another version of Unicron turned up as a prototype during the Beast Wars Neo line until the first actual Unicron figure was released during the Armada line in 2003.

As G1 was winding down several new concepts were tried to keep the line fresh. Unproduced samples of these sub-groups have surfaced over the years.

A new concept for the Pretenders were the Double Pretenders which would have seen two robots in the Pretender shells. Samples have been seen of a gorilla warrior and a spider-like creature.

The Micromasters almost got their own command center which would have transformed into a carrying case. Something similar was released by Tonka for their Go-Bots line, but this Transformer version never made it into production.

Action Masters, the sub-group everyone loves to hate ("Transformers that don't transform? That's stupid!") also had more figures planned. Here's an example of a vehicle that would have turned into armor for an Action Master figure, as well as another proposed transforming vehicle.

One of the most bizarre Transformers concepts were the Generators. These figures would have a blob-like organic center surrounded by a transforming shell. Looks like these may have been inspired by both the concept of the Trans-Organics from the G1 cartoon as well as Krang from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I don't know how well they would have gone over with fans, but I'm guessing they would have been one of the most reviled Transformers concepts ever.

Much of the facts and images from this post come from Super Toy Archive, a great site to read about the history of modern action figures.

That's it for now, see you in a few!

TRANSFORMERS - THE VEILED THREAT

2009-04-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

SPOILER WARNING - THIS POST CONTAINS SEVERAL SPOILERS FOR THE IDW ALLIANCE AND DEFIANCE COMICS AS WELL AS THE VEILED THREAT NOVEL AND POSSIBLY REVENGE OF THE FALLEN ITSELF. PROCEED ONLY IF YOU DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE SPOILED.

Just released is the Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen prequel novel THE VEILED THREAT by Alan Dean Foster. clocking in at 281 pages for $7.99 US, it promises to bridge the gap between the first and second movies.

But before we get into the novel, just to catch everybody up on where we are, I’ll summarize the relevant portions of the IDW prequel comics stating with Defiance and then on to Alliance.

In the distant past the Allspark created a race of interdimensional beings on the planet that would become Cyberton. After beginning to cyberform their planet, they learned that the Allspark needed to be periodically renewed, and that the only way to do this was through the energies of an exploding star, so, being unable to search themselves, the Allspark provided by creating the Transformers. Seekers like Jetfire were sent to find suitable stars and constructors like the Constructicons were then sent to build harvesters to reap exploding stars’ energy to channel into the Allspark. A harvester was built on Earth, but before the sun was destroyed, one of the interdimensional beings, The Fallen, betrayed his brethren and destroyed their sarcophagi, which apparently house their essences, but before he could seize all the power for himself, his fellows managed to entomb him within his own sarcophagus artifact. The Harvester failed to activate and had an Egyptian pyramid built around it by the natives.

So, fast-forward to Optimus Prime and his archeological team finding The Fallen’s sarcophagus on Cybertron. The Fallen begins talking to Megatron and orders him to begin a war of conquest and a search for the Harvester. Decepticon/Autobot war ensues and the Nemesis is built to aid in the search. The Fallen’s sarcophagus leaves onboard with Soundwave and most of the other Decepticons as the war rages. When the Allspark is launched into space, Megatron follows but stops to answer a distress call from the Nemesis, which appears to have crashed landed on an ice world and been abandoned, except for The Fallen’s artifact. He orders Megatron to continue his search for the Allspark, which ultimately leads him to Earth.

The events of the older prequel comics and the movie take place, as well as the Reign of Starscream miniseries before going right into Alliance.

The Autobots clean-up the remaining Allspark-created mechs from the Mission City battle and then begin making preparations to dispose of the remains of the deceased Decepticons. Barricade is revealed to be alive and Starscream returns from his adventures on Cybertron to fight a resurrected Wreckage. In the course of the fight, he loses Frenzy’s head and destroys Bumblebee’s just-repaired vocal circuits. Starscream flees after the battle and Frenzy’s head is swiped by Simmons before Sector Seven is officially disbanded. Meanwhile, Soundwave arrives on Mars and heads for Earth. Several other retail-exclusive repaint Decepticons arrive and begin wreaking havoc. Jazz is buried at sea inside Optimus Prime’s trailer, and the defeated Decepticons are dumped in the ocean. A shard of the Allspark, which revived Wreckage, is given to the Autobots for safekeeping at their new base on Diego Garcia, where they have teamed up with Epps, Lennox, and the remains of Sector Seven to form NEST, an anti-Decepticon strike force. NEST then proceeds to defeat or capture all of the newcomer Decepticons and misses out on getting Barricade several times. Bumblebee is sent to look after Sam Witwicky, and new Autobots arrive from space, Sideswipe, Arcee, Chromia, a third motorcycle sister, and an ice cream truck. The story ends with NEST preparing to confront the Constructicon Demolisher in Shanghai.

The events of the novel seem to take place within the middle of the Alliance series, although exactly where seems a little abstract.

The novel opens with Megatron, dead, at the bottom of the sea, and this is where he stays throughout the book, no miraculous resurrections here. Cut to the Gulf of Aden where pirates attack a freighter which just so happens to be ferrying Epps, Lennox, Ironhide, Ratchet, and other NEST members to their base on Diego Garcia. Ironhide soon transforms to robot mode and scares the pirates off. Arriving at DG, the boys meet up with cybernetics expert Kaminari Ishihara, who has been swimming in the lagoon with the newly arrived Autobot veteran Longarm serving as lifeguard. Everyone enters a briefing where a sighting of Starscream in Zambia is discussed and a plan is hatched with Optimus Prime to confront him.

Meanwhile, we find that Agent Simmons is now, with the disbanding of Sector Seven, working in his mother’s deli in New York. He’s also tinkering with Frenzy’s disembodied head in his basement.

In Africa, we lean that Starscream is not only in the area, he’s gaining control over local rebel groups by using his internal synthesizers to create gold coins. He is also accompanied by three other Decepticons, Dropkick, Macerator, and Payload. They soon attack a local dam construction site, making short work of the security forces, and proceed to steal mass quantities of explosives.

The NEST team soon arrives in Africa with Prime, Ironhide, and Ratchet as well as new arrivals Salvage and Beachbreak, who transforms into a commando jetski. The Autobots soon engage Dropkick, Macerator, and Payload in battle in the Zambezi River. This is all part of Starscream’s brilliant plan, however, as the Autobots soon discover that the current is pushing them towards Victoria Falls. Everyone but Prime and Macerator gets out in time, the dueling pair going over the side. Starscream swoops in to save Macerator while Prime dangles helplessly. Eventually the NEST team manages to haul Prime up using Beachbreak’s tow-cable, but the celebration is short lived as Starscream swoops in and knocks the diminutive Beachbreak off the falls and to his death.

The Autobots and their human allies soon realize that Starscream may try and destroy a series of dams along the Zambezi and head off after the fleeing Decepticons. At one of the dams, the ground-based Decepticons attack. Payload heads to the valley floor to try and crack the dam with repeated blasts while Dropkick and Macerator fend off the arriving Autobots.

After a short scuffle, Prime manages to knock Macerator over the side of the dam before dispatching his dangling foe with his built-in sword. Ratchet takes repeated hits from Payload while trying to melt the fissures in the cracking dam back together. Both Ratchet and the dam are ultimately saved when the humans enter the dam and open the flood gates, knocking Payload downriver and out of the book. A damaged Dropkick escapes and everyone returns to Deigo Garcia.

Again, we cut back to Simmons in his basement, experimenting on Frenzy and brooding that that punk kid Sam Witwicky has a hot girlfriend and is going to Princeton. Frenzy tries to subvert the building’s electrical system, and after a little chaos, Simmons decides he needs to move the Decepticon head to a space beneath his mother’s deli.

Back at NEST headquarters, two more Decepticon presences are detected and a pair of teams are readied to head out and take care of them. Epps and Russian scientist Petr Andronov accompany Longarm and impetuous young motorcycle Knockout to Peru to find Decepticons that have been detected in the deep jungles. On a steep mountain pass, the party is attacked by Decepticons Ruination and Blademaster. Despite inexperienced and risky behavior by Knockout, Both are severely damaged and driven off.

Simultaneously, Lennox, Ishihara, Prime, Ironhide, and Salvage arrive in the Western Australian Outback and begin searching for Decepticons. Lennox soon realizes that the ‘Cons are attacking sites with energy reserves, oil and coal in Peru and uranium in Australia. The team decides that there is a second group of Decepticons not under Starscream’s command, harvesting massive amounts of energy in an attempt to revive Megatron.

Arriving at a uranium mining site, the NEST team discovers a trio of construction vehicles which, naturally, turn out to be Decepticons. The leader, Kickback, takes Prime on and is quickly run through with the Autobot leader’s sword. The other two, Tread and Trample, are quickly killed through the combined efforts of the rest of the team.

Back at DG, a small crab Decepticon infiltrates the base and hacks into the NEST computers before sneaking back into the sea and an unknown accomplice. Despite the break-in, the NEST team continues their usual business, discussing different ways the Decepticons could draw massive quantities of power to revive Megatron.

In Italy, Starscream enters into a deal with an Italian criminal named Bruno Carrera to help destroy Optimus Prime in exchange for dominion over Europe when the Decepticons triumph. A plan is hatched and Swindle and Deadend begin ripping through the streets of Rome causing general chaos and trying to draw the Autobots out. After an extended chase where Knockout proves he has what it takes and more, Starscream challenges Prime to single combat inside the Coliseum.

Prime and the Autobots enter the ancient structure, and Prime promptly falls through a trap door to a subway tunnel extension and into a strong set of restraints arranged by Carrera. Starscream then proceeds to attack the remaining Autobots while a helpless Prime is confronted by a vengeful Barricade. Before the Decepticon can dispatch Prime, the humans attack Barricade and Prime manages to work himself free. He easily hands Barricade his skidplate and returns to the surface where Starscream has fled.

On his way to whatever scheme he has cooked up next, Starscream takes the time to visit Carrera at this villa, where he pays him back for his “failure”.

Finally, Epps and Lennox are relaxing on the beach back at DG when Knockout approached and informs them that something significant is happening, mentioning how he is unfamiliar with the term “shanghaied”.

...

Overall, the book isn’t bad. The Transformer fights are pretty well written and exciting, and the characterization of the robots is as complete as that of any of the humans. The story is fast-paced and there is very little filler. That being said, the story is more pointless than the last Movie prequel novel. The first 250 pages of the book seem to be about Starscream consolidating power while a second cabal of Decepticons works to undermine him and revive Megatron, but in the last 30 pages the story takes a hard left turn into the Rome battle and never returns. There’s no resolution to anything really. The asides with Simmons are especially meaningless and only serve to set up what I assume will be a story thread in the movie. The last quarter of the book begins to feel like the old 80’s cartoon, with the Decepticons searching for energy sources and Starscream allying with the crime boss. It’s not bad per se, but it breaks with the tone that had been established for the Movieverse already.

Events in the book mesh pretty well with what has been established in the two IDW prequel series. Some plot points and character appearances are a little cumbersome when you try to reconcile the novel with the comics, but nothing directly contradicts anything else.

Some items of note:

The battle in Mission City and, the presence of the Transformers themselves, are a target of a huge cover-up and misinformation campaign by the governments of the world. How many people are buying into it is uncertain.

The acronym NEST is never explained in the book. I know I've seen what it stands for online somewhere, but it escapes me at the moment.

At the base at Diego Garcia, Ironhide is stockpiling Energon, which is described as a Transformer energy source. Energon is manufactured from existing energy sources and does exist naturally in the universe in a more unstable form. There is evidence that it exists naturally on Earth, but the Autobots don’t have the time or resources to search for it. Energon doesn’t figure in to the story at any point, and the mention seems more like a nod to G1 and Beast Wars.

At one point when Epps and Ironhide are talking shop, it’s revealed that each Transformer has a specialty, and according to their specialty, they create ammo, supplies, etc through nannoengineering, quantum alteration of volatile compounds, and subatomic metaflux metallurgy. Essentially, eating scrap and creating stuff internally.

Quite a few words are spent describing how extremely hot Kaminari Ishihara is. This, coupled with her being super-smart and a skilled martial artist, serves to turn her into nothing more than some sort of fantasy figure for dudes instead of a viable character.

As for the Transformers…

Optimus Prime - Prime is Prime. This Prime, however, is a little more direct and brutal than usual, impaling two Decepticons with his sword with no hesitation.

Ironhide - Ironhide’s direct approach and habit of wanting to solve every problem by blasting or crushing it is still amusing. He does seem to have warmed up to humans a bit since the Movie.

Ratchet - Ratchet again proves that he’s the most action-oriented, battle-tested Ratchet yet.

Longarm - The obligatory grizzled veteran, Longarm does seem to genuinely enjoy being on Earth and interacting with the planet’s fascinating organics, even to the extent of playing with feral cats using his Tow-truck mode’s headlights.

Don't make Longarm slap you!

Salvage – A new arrival to Earth, Salvage has no real personality to speak of. Sharing the name and pickup truck mode of his toy version even if he wasn’t created by the Allspark like the toy bio says.

Knockout - Another new arrival, Knockout is the Movieverse’s version of Cheetor/Hot Shot/Animated Bumblebee. A young, impetuous motorcycle with a desire to prove himself, he endangers the team on the Chile mission and Longarm has to smack him across the face to straighten him out. A scene where Epps helps him alter his holographic rider from 50’s era Marlon Brando to something less conspicuous is pretty entertaining.

Bumblebee is too seasoned and competent, so make way for Knockout!

Beachbreak – The little commando jetski that could. His completely original name betrays him as cannon-fodder at the outset.

Starscream - Starscream is the devious, power-hungry schemer we’ve come to expect. A lot closer to his G1 version here than in any previous movie material, a quick mention is made of his recent time on Cybertron in the Reign of Starscream comic miniseries.

Barricade - Not dead.

Frenzy - Not dead either, just an angry little head.

Dropkick - Another pickup truck, Dropkick is pretty much you basic Decepticon. He exhibits none of the manic-depressive traits his toy bio points towards.

Macerator - Macerator is a garbage truck with a massive shredding mechanism mounted to him. He’s a mean little brawler who likes to tangle with Prime, and get his skidplate kicked for it.

Payload – Unlike the armored car toy version, this Payload is an anti-aircraft tank that spends most of his time using his weapons systems to the utmost.

Ruination – A V-22 Ospery with a bad attitude. No mention is made of the established Osprey Decepticon Incinerator.

Blademaster – An undetermined type of helicopter, Blademaster isn’t around long enough to matter.

Kickback – Kickbak is the seeming leader of the small band of “constructicons” intent on reviving Megatron. He’s brash and confident, in no way hesitant when attacking Optimus prime. He uses his Bulldozer blade in robot mode as a shield, and his other hand is a huge warhammer which can emit a devastating sonic blast.

Tread and Trample – A identical pair of excavators who are an example of Transformer twins. The sometimes speak in perfect unison and are very aware of each other’s actions and situation. Sort of like the Crimson Twins for GI Joe, but without finishing each other’s sentences.

Swindle - A mean Decepticon street-racer, only slightly beyond his drone origins.

Deadend - Not really all that different from Swindle.

Deadend - Fast and Furious?

Decepticon Crab Infiltrator – An unnamed tiny spybot. He doesn’t speak and seems to be a mech not unlike Scorponok or Frenzy.

Overall, the book is a light and mostly entertaining read. The Transformer battles are the high points, and make up for the lack of any substantive narrative. It’s great beach, airplane, or lunch break reading. It’s probably by no means essential to a greater enjoyment of the Movieverse, but I do feel comfortable recommending it to any Transfan with a few hours to kill.

But that’s just my take, if you’ve read it, let me know what you think!

Electiontron '08

2008-11-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

With the election just around the corner, the Cybertronian people are turning out for what may be the biggest election in eons. To let you know the fair and balanced truth of our Prime candidates, here’s Slamdance and Rook:

SLAMDANCE: Hello, Cybertron and with the election nearing, many Cybertronians are wondering just who should be the lucky candidate for Prime? For the Generation Ones, we have Grimlock. For the Generation Twos, we have Rodimus. Grimlock supports a strong military to protect the citizens of Cybertron from Decepticon insurgents as well as mining for more Energon as well as looking into alternative fuel sources, such as Nucleon. Rodimus supports socialism.

ROOK: That’s a hardly fair. Rodimus supports many issues that resonates with the population. He’s not only for alternative fuel sources but his main concern is to bolster our economy, as we teeter on a recession. We were so close to entering a new Golden Age but the current Optimus administration totally bungled our fuel sources along with our economy with his meaningless war.

SLAMDANCE: The war was not the fault of the Optimus Administration, but that of the Sentinel Administration.

ROOK: Oh, you First Gens like to believe that.

SLAMDANCE: It’s true, had Sentinel Prime been strong to actually stand up to these Decepticons when they were a lesser threat, we could have avoided a long drawn out war. Optimus didn’t start the war. They did. He just finished it.

ROOK: But he didn’t finish it. The Decepticons are still around, and now there’s a multitude of smaller factions rising up in the vacuum of the Decepticons. Sweep uprising, Quintesson terrorism, and let’s not forget that there’s the Predacons right over there, that while we’re running around chasing fictional boogey bots who might want to drop a Hate Plague on us, their economy is booming an we’re heading toward the largest transfer of power in Cybertronian history. That’s why Rodimus is the right choice for change. Grimlock is just another Optimus Prime. We just cannot afford another four million more years.

SLAMDANCE: Grimlock is nothing like Optimus Prime. They’ve opposed each other on several key accords.

ROOK: But he still sided with Optimus, 90% of the time.

SLAMDANCE: Because he was working toward a same goal, a safer and more secure Cybertron. While he disagreed with many of Optimus’ policies, that is one goal that they both shared. A desire for a safe ad peaceful planet. Something I’m not too sure Rodimus feels the same about. Rodimus may one day be a great leader, but right now, he’s too young and inexperienced. He doesn’t have the credentials that Grimlock has.

ROOK: Grimlock is a dinosaur. He’s too old and out of touch with today’s Cybertronian. Right now, the average blue chassied Cybertronian worker is feeling the Energon crunch. Grimlock, like Optimus, wants to give Energon breaks to the larger Gestalts and Citybots, leaving your average Joe Six-Cylinder out in the cold, struggling just to get new tires on their wheels. Rodimus wants to distribute the Energon evenly, allowing everyone to have an opportunity for greatness, as opposed to the select few. And as far as his lack of experience goes, you certainly can’t say that about Rodimus’ running mate, Ultra Magnus. He was even appointed by Prime for a while to be his replacement. That’s a lot more of a credential than Grimlock has, much less his running mate Moonracer. I mean, I speak for the rest of Cybertron when I say “Who?”

SLAMDANCE: Moonracer has been around a lot longer than Rodimus, and has much more experience. She was part of the resistance movement against Shockwave during the Great War and served under Elita-1. She’s served as a strong leader and role model and said no to the Space Bridge to nowhere. And at the very lease, she sees eye to eye with Grimlock on the issues. Ultra Magnus is the exact opposite of Rodimus’ claims. He’s been preaching “change” since he started his campaign, but Magnus, who’s been around since before we both came online is the exact OPPOSITE of change! He’s the living contradiction for his entire campaign. He’s had the opportunity to step up to plate and swing for leadership multiple times, and he’s always bunted the ball. How is this supposed to be any different?

ROOK: Well with Magnus, Rodimus has a spokesman that can speak to the people. Together they czn make true change for Cybertron and make it quickly.

SLAMDANCE: Just because Rodimus is faster, doesn’t make him better.

ROOK: Why is it whenever you First Gens always bring up the race issue? Yes, Rodimus turns into a race car and he’s not a slow lumbering lizard or semi truck. That doesn’t mean he’s incapable of the job.

SLAMDANCE: I never said-

ROOK: You First Gens always want to remain stuck in the past and never move forward, but you have to. We’re not immovable die cast bricks anymore. Embrace the change.

SLAMDANCE: Is that your answer for every time you Second Gens start to lose an argument? To play the racing card? Fine, we’ll go that route. Rodimus has had a few too many questionable acquaintances over the years. Pacifistic Anti-Cybertronians, like the Paradrons. Friendships with unrepentant Decepticons like Blitzwing. And let us not forget how a keen-eyed future leader like Rodimus can be mentored by Kup for so long and supposedly miss all that he said? His “record breaking funding’ for his campaign seems to have questionable sources, like Nebulon and the Matrix Templars. And I won’t even bring up his religious beliefs, where he claims to be the chosen one.

ROOK: Shall we go into Grimlock’s associations with the Dynobot 5? The simple fact is that we need change for Cybertron and Grimlock wants to put us back in the past as opposed to moving us toward the future where we need to be, which is what Rodimus wants to do.

SLAMDANCE: That’s most certainly debatable, but we are out of time. Thank you for joining us tonight. Join us again next time as we talk with Former Optimus Aide, Prowl and his thoughts on Grimlock.

ROOK: Good night folks. Vote early and vote often!

Halloween on Cybertron

2008-10-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. Soon, goblins, ghouls and ghosts of all shapes and sizes will be haunting the streets and demanding treats. Over the years, the world of the Transformers has seen it's share of monsters unleashed and creatures on the loose. Here's a look at some of my favorites...

ZOMBIES!

Yes, the dead of Cybertron have risen many times. The reanimated form of Optimus Prime returned in the creepiest G1 episode, "Dark Awakening". Starscream and Wreckers leader Impactor shambled about in the UK comics. While not technically a zombie, the fused form of Ratchet and Megatron from Marvel's Transformers #70 was certainly one of the most disturbing images from that series.

IT'S A GHOST!

Starscream. Who ever thought that the most back-stabbing and weasely Transformer of all time would have an immortal spark? After his death in "Transformers the Movie", Starscream returned to haunt the world of the living in the G1 episode "Starscream's Ghost" and his immortality would be carried on through to Beast Wars, Energon and Transformers Animated.

CREEPY CRAWLERS

Everyone hates spiders, especially giant, maniacal, mechanical spiders. Tarantulas was especially creepy as a force to be reckoned with during the Beast Wars.

Blackarachnia started out as a female copy of Tarantulas, but quickly emerged from his shadow to become one of the most popular Transformers of the modern era. Blackarachnia has always walked the line between good and evil and continues to do so in Transformers Animated.

IT'S ALIVE!

The Frankenstein-like Autobot X was created from spare parts by Sparkplug Witwicky. When Sparkplug's son, Spike, is critically injured, mad scientist Wheeljack tranfers Spike's mind into the hulking monstrosity, and the fun begins! Autobot X's first and only appearance was in the "classic" G1 episode "Autobot Spike". Autobot X even watched the movie "Frankenstein" during the episode. I guess the writers wanted to make sure the kiddies who were watching understood the analogy.

I VANT TO SUCK YOUR ENERGON!

In the G1 episode "The Dweller in the Depths" we got to meet the Quintessons' early experiments, the Trans-Organics. The most powerful of these creatures was the Dweller, an energy leech who created "energy vampires" out of his victims. There certainly were quite a few horror movie type episodes in that crazy third season.

MOONLIGHT MADNESS!

The character(s) Savage/Noble was a pretty unique addition to Beast Machines series. The werewolf-like Noble, who would transform into the dragon called Savage, was actually Megatron. Megatron's attempt to rid himself of his organic side (from Beast Wars) resulted in this strange creature. After Megatron's spark was freed from this form, the Noble creature still somehow lived, but was later killed while fighting Megatron.

DRAGON TALES

Some of my favorite G1 toys were the Terrorcons...Hun-Gurrr, Rippersnapper, Cutthroat, Sinnertwin and Blot...who could combine into the monstrous Abominus. I think the Terrorcons can be considered dragons, although Blot's creature form defies explanation.

Of course the most famous Transformer dragon would have to be Transmetal 2 Megatron. After merging with the spark of his G1 namesake, and then taking a bath in hot lava, this new and improved Beast Wars Megatron eventually went on to conquer Cybertron.

MONSTER MASH!

Who can forget the Pretenders? (Yes, I know some of you want to.) The Decepticon Pretenders did have some pretty good monster shells, though. The first three were Skullgrin, a bone-faced minotaur; Bomb-Burst, a giant vampire bat creature; and Submarauder, an undersea gillman. Although they never appeared in the US cartoons, all three played a major role in the Japanese Masterforce series as Dauros, Blood and Gilmer respectively.

Another Decepticon Pretender of note is Bludgeon, master of Metallikato, a Cybertronian martial art. After a fine showing in the Marvel G1 comic, the skeleton-faced Bludgeon became a fan favorite.

RUN FOR THE SHELTERS!

Although my colleague Deinonychus recently covered the best Transformers dinosaurs, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the big daddy of them all, Trypticon. Able to give Godzilla himself a run for his money, Trypticon can not only crush a city, but transform into one as well.

That's the end! Remember, always trick-or-treat with a buddy, wear reflective clothing at night, and only eat wrapped candy. Oh, and if you're being chased by monsters, never, ever run into that old, abandoned house at the end of the street. That never works.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

For the love of Legends

2008-10-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, I had a lot of Transformers. About 1100 to be exact, almost every toy from Generation 1 through Energon, Universe, Alternators and a good chunk of Cybertron. Then some "real life" stuff happened and I came to the conclusion that I was running out of room, disposable income, and a love of all things Transformers. So I sold them all. Made a pretty penny on the older stuff, but after a while....I missed them. Not so much the toys that I had sold, but just the presence of Transformers on my shelves.

A cross section of the Legends Class

Hasbro created a new size class during the Cybertron run. The Legends class were down-sized versions of larger toys, about the same size as the old G1 Minibots. I had a few and thought they were cool, but I never expected Hasbro to invest in the Legends size class in the long run. I was wrong.

Movie Legend Scorponok vs. Universe Legend Jazz

Some Cybertron Legends were cleverly repainted into G1 characters as the Classics series was released. When the Transformers movie toys hit, almost every movie character was released in a Legends size class. I started buying more and more, and now I'm a Legends completist. Though most of the toys lack the articulation of their bigger cousins, they're actually pretty neat little toys. Plus, the price is right in this ever increasing poor economy with Legends costing anywhere between $3 and $5. As with any other size class, Hasbro is utilizing repaints to fill out the line, but so far they've been well done.

Legends Classics Jetfire, Cybertron Thundercracker and Universe Starscream

Now into Universe/Classics 2.0 we're getting a plethora of both repaints and brand new molds in the Legends class. Hasbro seems to be on track to release all the major G1 Minibots as Legends with Brawn, Bumblebee, Beachcomber, Cosmos, Wheelie and Warpath all scheduled for new mold releases. Transformers Animated fans can look forward to Optimus Prime, Starscream, Bumblebee and Prowl. Articulation is also being stepped up as the new molds for G1 Jazz and Hound and G2 Megatron have a lot of poseability for such small toys.

Upcoming Universe Legends figures

Repaints aren't done yet, either. Two boxed sets are going to hit soon as Target stores exclusives. Both the "Aerial Rivals" set and the "Team Leaders" set repaint Cybertron Legends molds into even more G1 characters.

Target exclusive Team Leaders set

If you're a Transformer fan who lacks a lot of display room and is on a budget, take a look at Legends. A variety of characters and styles across several generations and an easy to handle price point make this size class very attractive. I currently have 47 Legends toys, a far cry from the thousands I used to own, but a collection that's very satisfying in its' own right.

Universe, Cybertron and Movie Megatrons

A LITTLE ABSURDITY

2008-10-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

Just something for you Transfans wrapped up in the current US political process.

IT'S A DECEPTICON!

2008-10-12T21:47:00.000-07:00

Just about every aspect of Generation 1 has been dissected, reused, and scrutinized to the point that there seem to be very few obscure corners left in the venerable old toyline. But some aspects seem to slip through the cracks, falling victim to the flashier and more nostalgic parts. One of these shadowed corners of G1 has to be the Mini-Spies.

As a kid, the only thing better than getting a brand-new Transformers toy was getting two at the same time. A stroke of brilliance on Hasbro's part, these little pull-back motored suckers were packed in as a free bonus with the Autobot Minicars in 1985. They were the first Transformers to feature the heat-sensitive rubsigns, and these were the only way to determine whether the toy was an Autobot or a Decepticon. They came in four different styles (A Mazda, Porsche, Jeep, and Dune Buggy) and three colors. When you add the differences in style, color, and faction all together, you come up with twenty-four possible figures, making them extremely collectible.

Originally sold in Japan as Mecha-Warriors, the toys that became the Mini-spies were either blue or red and were molded in the same four styles, resulting in eight different toys. This is just another great illustration of how Hasbro took Takara toylines and built them into a cohesive universe over here in the States.

Outside of the original commercial, the Mini-spies never appeared in the cartoon or the comics. They had absolutely no background or acknowledgment until 2003 when they were included in a two-page spread in issue number four of the Dreamwave More Than Meets The Eye profile books. Here the Mini-spies were described as almost Cybertronian civilians, filing non-combat and support roles due to their decreased durability, but from time to time serving as spies and infiltrators.

In recent years, "free" packs-ins have returned to Transformers with Classics Minicons and Activators on larger boxed figures, but cheap, small toys added to the smaller carded toys at the lower price-points seem to be a thing of the past. I know I personally would love to see something along the lines of the Mini-spies return. You'd think the collectability aspect would have been seized upon several yeas ago when Pokemon and other things of its ilk were at their popularity heights, but the Armada Minicons seemed to be what Hasbro picked to take advantage of that stage in the toy market.

And who knows, with the success IDW has had with the Transformers comic license, there could be a good possibility of seeing the Mini-spies in a cameo or supporting role sometime in the future. Or, dare I wish it...a Spotlight issue?

Spotlight On... TFU Wave 3

2008-10-04T09:58:00.001-07:00

Names: Ironhide, Silverstreak, and Sideswipe
Series: Transformers Universe / Classics 2.0
Released: Now!
Notes: Silverstreak is a repaint/remold of TFU Prowl, Sideswipe is a repaint/remold of Sunstreaker using an alternate conversion method, Ironhide is a brand-new mold to be repainted later as Ratchet.

LZ's Notes: Yes, I actually opened a second SIlverstreak. Blue Streak was one of my earliest Transformers back in the G1 days, and I decided he was worthy of opening. The alt mode is really nice, but in transforming him the first time, I found that his doors and sholders tend to seperate a lot in the process. I'm not all that particularlly fond of his "turtleneck" look either. But those are minor complaints when seeing this classic toy updated for the modern era. One of these days, though, I want someone to step up and finally give me my damn "blue" Blue Streak. I'm looking at you Takara!

DEINO'S TEN BEST DINOSAUR TRANSFORMER MOLDS

2008-10-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

BEST DINOSAUR TRANSFORMER MOLDS

When Hasbro used Takara’s Dinosaur Robo molds to give life to the Dinobots back in Generation 1, they set the precedent for dinosaur Transformers for years to come. Since then, several saurian Cybertronians have stomped across our carpets and stalked our display shelves. I’m personally a huge dinosaur fan (Duh), and by extension, a huge dinosaur Transformer fan. So here’s my picks for the ten best Transformer dinosaur molds.

GENERATION 1 GRIMLOCK

Generation 1 Grimlock on display at the Natural History Museum in London

The most popular Dinobot and the most popular dinosaur combine to make G1 Grimlock an enduring mold that holds up as a great toy even to this day. He’s robust and has a great, well rendered design in both modes. The robot mode is a handsome figure, even if he suffers from the lack of articulation that was the norm back in G1. One of the advantages of the toy is its ability to lean forward into a more scientifically accurate horizontal posture, giving the toy display longevity that most fixed-stance dinosaur toys from the 80’s lack. Complete with the always fun articulated jaws that can chomp down on any Decepticon, this classic Autobot is a must-have for any dino-former collector.

SLUGFEST

Overkill with Slugfest

Packaged with his Ceratosaur partner-in-crime Overkill, Stegosaur Slugfest is the stand-out mold of this duo due to his clean and simple design. As a Mini-Cassette, he’s rather thin, but gains quite a bit of imposing bulk from his solar-powered side guns. The pop-up back plates are a neat little transforming gimmick, and he collapses easily into cassette mode, suffering very little physical wear because of this.

DINOBOT / GRIMLOCK / THRUSTOR / HARDHEAD / DINOTRON

The various Beast Wars brought on a slew of new dinosaur molds. The most prolific has to be Dinobot. This Deinonychus antirrhopus toy seems a bit squat and wide at first, but the quality of the overall toy soon overshadows the concessions made to the beast mode to accommodate the robot mode, which is a well articulated, well proportioned, and well balanced figure with a great pair of completely stowable weapons. This mold was repainted five times (three more Dinobots and two Grimlocks) and remolded three times, with Beast Wars II’s Thrustor and his cybernetic parts being the stand-out. The Pachycephalosaur remolds of Hardhead and Dinotron weren’t all that great from a dinosaur standpoint, but still retained more than decent robot modes.

TRANSMETALS MEGATRON / PREDACON

If this was a top ten list, Transmetals Megatron would be vying for the number one slot. He seems to have it all, a great robot mode with plenty of articulation, a kitschy “flight mode” with in-line skates and VTOL fans, and a superb dinosaur mode that captures the essence and the lines of a Tyrannosaurus rex almost perfectly. Sculpting on the T-rex head alone is praiseworthy. The only disappointing thing about this mold is that the torso arm mountings have a tendency to snap off over time, leaving many of us with armless Megatrons and the rest of us scared to death to transform him anymore. Thankfully, his Armada repaint as Predacon had a few remoldings that help in the overall stability of the figure’s construction, not to mention the pair of Powerlinx points added to the VTOL fans to accommodate Minicons. So now the only real tragedy is that Hasbro hasn’t yet used this mold again for a snazzy repaint, or for a reissue.

TRANSMETALS 2 DINOBOT / RAPTICON

Rapticon repaint of Transmetals 2 Dinobot

The second Dinobot toy for Beast Wars could possibly be better than the first. A skeletal, mechanical monstrosity, the Dinobot 2 mold is all sharp edges and primal fury. It has a great bone-white molding job splashed with shiny vac-metal detailing. The Beast Machines Rapticon repaint, with its sinister dark hues may be even better yet. The robot mode is pretty average however, with its large shoulders and weirdly articulated arms and hands. Still, this is an all-around cool figure.

GUILEDART / KILLERPUNCH / TRICERADON

Part of the Beast Wars Neo line, Guiledart is not only a great Triceratops toy, but he has a fun gimmick as well. As a “trap” he can look like a dead and ripped apart carcass by flipping down panels on his sides that expose bony ribs, pulling his tail out, and tilting his nasal horn back, making his tongue loll out and his eyes roll back into his head. It’s weird, but in a good way. The robot mode does suffer from “animal head as my hand” syndrome, but overall he’s a satisfying toy, even if he can be a little difficult to snap cleanly into beast mode. Hasbro/Takara must like him too, because he’s been issued as a repaint three other times. The remold into the Styracosaurus albertensis Killerpunch is, in my opinion, an even better toy. The launching head weapon takes the place of the head-hand somewhat, and the purple color scheme works surprisingly well for the creature.

SABERBACK / STRIKER / SNARL

Also coming out of Beast Wars Neo is Saberback, a Stegosaur mold that really represents the genus well. Not only is he a great looking dinosaur, but he transforms into a Cybertronian Indian chief! Something is utterly goofy, and yet extremely endearing about that. He’s come in four different colors over his toy-life, but for my money you can’t beat the gray with purple and teal stripes of his original incarnation.

DINOSHOUT / UNDERMINE / REPUGNUS

The best thing to come out of the movie Jurassic Park III was that it brought the modern visualizations of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus into the consciousness of the general public, and it didn’t take long for the crocodile-snouted update to appear in Transformer form. Galaxy Force’s Dinoshout, and his slightly differently hued Cybertron counterpart Undermine are a nice little pair of dinosaurs with better than average articulation, attractive lines, and plenty of fun play value. Its sort of a shame that this mold’s robot mode is so bizarre and abstract, but it works in some weird way. Depending on your tastes, the Autobot repaint into Repugnas might even look better with his menacing black coupled with bold red, yellow and gold. But no matter how you paint him up, this mold is a definite winner and worth having in one form or another.

BEAST WARS 10^th ANNIVERSERY MEGATRON / JUNGLE PLANET MEGATRON

Another outstanding Tyrannosaurus rex mold, the Beast Wars 10^th Anniversery Megatron toy is interesting in that he slightly edges out the original Beast Wars Megatron figure in coolness. Although possessed of more mechanical detailing than its inspiration, it’s a well articulated and fun mold for the size. This Megatron also possesses the most disturbing Cyber Key placement imaginable, with the key being slammed right into his cloaca to activate a tail weapon. I think if I had a plastic key shoved into my rear, my tail would split in half and fire a missile as well. Repainted and released almost immediately as Cybertron’s Jungle Planet Megatron, you can be excused for thinking that particular toy is supposed to be a new version of Armada’s Predacon because of the suspiciously similar color schemes.

TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED SNARL

Man, don’t you just hate it when Hasbro loses name trademarks. We all KNOW that this is really Slag, and for this list he narrowly edged out the Generation 1 version of Slag. G1 Slag is a great toy, but his robot mode suffers form some bad proportions and his dinosaur mode can look a little clunky and patched-together at times. Animated Snarl, on the other claw, has a dinosaur mode that is compact and cleanly designed. The robot mode is quite the little fireplug and is a bit thick in the chest due to the configuration of the dino head, but overall he’s a good looking figure…even if his weapon seems to be a giant Cheeto.

So you might be asking yourself why Swoop or Terrorsaur or Brimstone isn’t on the list. Well, technically Pterosaurs aren’t dinosaurs, so my nitpicky tail left them off. But rest-assured they aren’t forgotten, and may turn up in another feature down the road.

These are just my personal favorites, so I’m interested in hearing about which dinosaur molds that didn’t make the list should have in your estimation. There are still a lot of good ones out there, and all of them deserve some measure of spotlight.

Spotlight On... OTFCC Ultra Magnus

2008-09-26T16:50:00.001-07:00

Name: Ultra Magnus

Series: Palisades Generation One Statues

Released: 2004

Notes: OTFCC exclusive repaint of Optimus Prime mini statue, production run limited to 500 pieces, individually numbered

THE CASE FOR F-15 SEEKERS

2008-09-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

Technology is ever marching forward. Everyone always wants the latest and most up-to-date gadgets and machines. So it’s only natural that when Generation 1 is re-imagined or rebooted, Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker receive alternate modes of the hottest jets in the sky. In the Movie and the IDW comics, this has meant that the Seekers have appeared with the airframes of the United States Air Force’s freshest fighter, the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor. But longtime G1 Transfans will always have a soft spot for the classic look of the Seekers, the familiar forms that come from air modes derived from the venerable McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. While the Seekers look great and fit well into their F-22 bodies, there is a case to be made for keeping them, for now at least, as F-15s.

European Generation 2 Fearswoop

One of the main reasons given for updating the Seekers’ look is the most basic…an update. Transformers is all about technology, and therefore, it only follows that the elite of the Decepticon air corps should have the newest and best 21st century airframes available. However, Transformers based on the F-22 are nothing new or revolutionary. The first F-22 prototype (then designated the YF-22) took flight on September 29, 1990, and it wasn’t long before the first Transformer based on that airframe appeared. Fearswoop was a European Generation 2 toy that was bright yellow and boasted an impressively large cannon attachment. Released in 1993, this toy was actually preceded in 1992 by the Decepticon Predator Skydive, who was based on the YF-23. The YF-23 was Northrop’s competing plane that was placed up against the YF-22 in the USAF’s Advanced Tactical Fighter competition for their next generation of fighter. The YF-22 lost out to the eventual Raptor, and has never appeared as a Transformer again since. Later in 1994, the massive Decepticon B-2 Spirit bomber Dreadwing was released, with a little detachable jet named Smokescreen tucked into his aft end. Smokescreen wasn’t an F-22 per se, but some of his lines and design features are borrowed heavily from the jet, if stretched a little out of proportion.

The F-22 Transformer would return three years later in the Machine Wars series with Megatron and Megaplex, a pair of toys originally planned for G2, but ultimately cancelled. This mold would be used again the next year in Japan for Beast Wars II Thrust, back in the US for Robots in Disguise in 2001 as Wind Sheer, and as the Robotmaster Air Hunter in 2004. Also in 2004, Starcream was given a ghostly F-22 body in the Energon series, which later got a G1-style repaint the following year. So, by the time IDW had updated the Seekers and premiered them in the Infiltration #0 comic in 2005, the F-22 Transformer already had a twelve year pedigree.

Unfortunately, over that extended span of time, the actual F-22 had not fared so well. The usual budgeting and development hold-ups seemed to just build and build, resulting in the first production F-22 Raptor finally being delivered in 2003, with the first operational squadron coming online in December of 2005 after the delivery of the twelfth fighter. At this point, the design was nearly two decades old, and it wouldn’t be long before it would be applied once again to Starscream in the upcoming Transformers live-action film. Released in 2007, the movie also boasted the first on-screen appearance of actual operational Raptors, finally showing their stuff after years in development.

So, while considerably newer than the F-15 Eagle, which first flew in 1972, the Raptor is hardly right off of the drawing board. But, as far as Transformers are concerned, what advantages does an F-22 form hold over the F-15 exterior?

Not many that I can see. Firstly, if one of the goals is to remain low-key and hidden, the F-15 is a much better choice for a sneaking Decepticon. While no fighter jet is really that inconspicuous, F-15s are considerably more common, with over 1,600 planes having been produced and being operated by four countries worldwide. By contrast, as of July of this year, only 122 Raptors had been built. With plans to keep the F-15s (most notably the 224 F-15E Strike Eagles) flying well past the year 2025, the Eagle will be prowling the skies in force long after the initially planned full production run of 183 Raptors wraps up.

Fighter performance is barely an issue. While the Raptor has many advantages in the arenas of maneuverability and stealth capability, just about every airframe advantage is negated by Cybertronian technology, and even that varies from individual to individual. The same goes for avionics and weapons. Arguably, a Decepticon with the body of a German World War II era Me-262 fighter jet can be just as capable as a Decepticon with the alternate form of an X-Wing fighter. In the IDW Movie sequel comics, Starscream seems to gain some sort of ambiguous advantage from his Earth F-22 mode, but exactly what that is, and why remains unclear. There could be some direct correlation between alternate mode and ability in the Movie Universe, but it has yet to be explored or expanded upon.

Personally, I’m a huge fan of the F-22 Raptor. It was nearly heartbreaking to watch it languish in budgetary development hell for all those years, and when the United States finally began using them as operational fighters it was great to see these high-tech wonders finally in the skies. But I also have deep and lasting respect for the F-15. A lot of that is due to the Seekers. The original G1 toys were fantastic airplane toys, even if the robots were a little stiff and abstract looking. The F-15 just screams DECEPTICON when seen through a Transfan’s eyes. The jets themselves are pretty awesome on their own. If you’ve ever been on the ramp when one of these warbirds takes to the skies, and you’ve felt the rumble of the engines shaking every cell in your body with over 17,000 pounds of take-off thrust, then you know it’s an almost religious experience. At full military power, they flash through the sky, cutting it with a roar that leaves no doubt as to their might. They truly are great vehicles for Decepticon alternate modes.

By the end of IDW’s Devestation story arc, the Seekers were still F-22 Raptors, but by the beginning of All Hail Megatron, which takes place a year after the end of the previous tale, the trio are back in their 1980’s Generation 1 F-15 forms. How and why this has happened has yet to be explained. But hopefully I’ve illustrated several acceptable reasons for why this would have transpired, and it should be interesting to see exactly how the comic writers explain the change. But then again, Transformers are no strangers to change. The F-15 versions were also chosen to represent the Seekers for the Classics toyline, and fans took to them warmly, even if a full line-up of the trio is difficult to obtain at best.

So, be they F-22 Raptors or F-15 Eagles, or any other of a myriad of aircraft, the Seekers will most probably be with us in the Transformers mythos for a long time to come, and here’s to hoping that the classic F-15 modes continue to endure.

ROBOTS IN DISGUISE?

2008-09-22T05:18:00.000-07:00

Here’s something that’s always sort of bugged me about Transformers.

They’re tagged as “Robots in Disguise”. And, in most of the different continuities, one of the very first thing the Cybertronians do is take on the form of the local vehicles or life forms to blend into the surroundings and prevent being pegged as the giant alien robots that they are. It seems like a reasonable practice, except for the fact that a lot of the time, most notably in Generation 1 and the Movie Universe, the Autobots and Decepticons tend to take on the exterior forms of the flashiest and most attention grabbing vehicles possible.

The Autobots in the Movie Universe are the best and clearest example here. Optimus Prime is not just a tractor trailer cab, but one with a brilliant fiery paint job that’s sure to turn heads on the highway. Bumblebee is a concept Camaro with racing stripes while Ratchet is a visually stunning Hummer ambulance. Ironhide and Jazz are probably the most low-key Autobots, but still, they are a fully tricked out GMC Topkick and a sleek Pontiac Solstice respectively. Any one of these vehicles surely stands out on any roadway. It seems to me, if the goal is to hide in plain sight, it would probably be better if humans weren’t ogling you for any reason.

Maybe nobody will notice.

Generation 1 is just as bad. The examples there are way too numerous to get into, but really all that needs to be seen are the dual Lamborghinis that are Sideswipe and Sunstreaker’s alternative modes. The Alternators line is pretty bad in this respect as well, but with ubiquitous vehicles like the Subaru Impreza, Jeep Wrangler, and Dodge Ram SRT-10, there is some potential for the Cybertronians to be able to drive around unnoticed.

In other continuities, it’s less flagrant. Robots in Disguise, the Unicron Trilogy, and the Animated universe all create a sort of near-future world where vehicles that we would consider bold and exciting are the norm. And all things considered, Beast Wars is pretty decent, if you discount the gigantic insects and rodents. Then again, after season one of the TV show, the whole thing pretty much goes out of the window with Fuzors and Transmetals.

So, you sort of have to look at the Cybertronians as having alternative combat or transportation modes as part of their racial attributes as opposed to a defense mechanism to camouflage themselves into a situation. Now don’t get me wrong, I completely understand why things are the way they are from a real-world and toy aspect…no kid wants a robot that turns into a Nissan Stanza with a missing hubcap and a fading blue paint job with a beige driver-side door. But in-story, the whole incognito thing doesn’t really work all that well. The Transformers might as well just take any alternative mode they take a liking too, and to hell with being inconspicuous.

Case in point.

Spotlight On... Gold Jazz

2008-09-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

Name: Jazz (Meister)
Series: Takara Generation 1 Reissues
Released: 2002

Notes: e-hobby exclusive color scheme, entire toy excluding rubber tires is gold, sold as set with anime accurate Blue Streak, generic packaging

Ramblings of a MISB Collector

2008-09-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

My name is Lord Zarak and I am a MISB collector. For those who do not understand that term, that means I collect toys, but yet do not open them from their packaging. Various price guides list items in that condition as Mint In Sealed Box (MISB) or Mint On Sealed Card (MOSC). Toys still in their packaging will receive a different value than those that have been opened (loose).

After 15 years of collecting, and building a collection of literally thousands of toys, I still receive many comments in regards to the fact that all of my toys remain in their packaging. A common criticism is that toys are meant to be played with, much like comic books are meant to be read. So why do I leave everything sealed, forever keeping the toys from fulfilling their purpose of being played with?

I guess part of the answer goes back to when I was a kid. I'd get a new Transformer, open it up and play with it like anyone else. However, probably unlike most other children, I kept the boxes they came in. I'd use them to build fortresses and such, but I felt that the boxes were part of the toy. Especially when the packaging contained the toy's biography and technical stats.

When I purchased my first action figure as a collectible (Batman Returns Catwoman, 1992), I wanted to keep it in the packaging it was sold in. I wanted to preserve this item over time, and to truly do that, it needed to stay in its cardboard prison, that way it can be forever preserved and seen exactly as it was originally sold, box and all.

One of the popular misconceptions of keeping the toys in their box is that it will make them easier for me to sell for profit. I'll debunk that immediately by stating in over 15 years, I have only sold a handful of toys, and that was mostly when I was buying my first home and needed some extra funds for moving. Also, while it is true that sealed toys are more valuable than their loose counterparts, the majority of toys that I have in my collection probably wouldn't even get their original retail value on eBay. Don't believe me? Search online and see what Star Wars Power of the Force figures are selling for. Fact is, a lot of people collected toys as I did, resulting in very little long term demand for toys. That's part of why I've severely cut back on toy collecting (a story for a later blog).

Now, over the years, there have been plenty of toys that I have bought and opened. Usually, those toys are duplicates allowing me to keep one sealed away. But there are some toys that are too awesome to not play with. Hasbro's 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime immediately comes to mind. Lego sets are a common exception to my MISB collecting. Those just have to be opened to be appreciated.

Currently, I display what toys I can mostly in a spare bedroom in my home. It was constructed to resemble a toy store, complete with fixtures purchased from actual retail stores that went out of business. This allows me to showcase hundreds of toys as they were back when they were first available for sale. And to me, there is something very satisfying about seeing a toy, unavailable to the public anymore, hanging off of a peg in my very own toy store.

CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS

2008-09-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

At this point in time, just about every 80’s toy line has had some sort of modern reemergence. Even properties that haven’t returned in toy form, like Thundercats for example, have DVDs, T-shirts, and other merchandise. But the GoBots are all but forgotten. There are no DVDs or T-shirts. No comics or reissues or collectors busts. The GoBots have seemingly become nothing more than a faded memory, one most Transfans are more than willing to let dissolve into nothingness.

It’s a condition that exists in every fandom; Brand Snobbery. The chosen license is the pinnacle of human achievement, which makes any similar license a pretender to the throne and deserving of contempt. Just bring up GoBots on any Transformers message board and watch the replies pile up.

“I had a bunch of Go-bots, but they weren’t as good as Transformers.”

“Cheap knock-offs.”

“The Gobots cartoon was cheesy and goofy, G1 was much better.”

“OMFG! gehy-butts R teh suXX0rz!!111!!!!1111!!!!!!”

But there is a small group among Transfans that really appreciate the GoBots and wouldn’t mind seeing some sort of revival. This, however, is a tricky prospect.

When Hasbro acquired Tonka in 1991, all the rights to the GoBots reverted to the makers of the Transformers. Hasbro has built incredibly strong branding around the Transformers name, and for any real relaunch of GoBots to move forward, it would have to fit firmly within the Transformers brand. Toys like the Marvel Crossovers and the Star Wars Transformers proudly carry the Transformers branding, but are wildly different from the core lines and don’t really cause any sort of confusion to kids or fans. It’s very clear that they are set off to the side from the continuing adventures of the Cybertronians through appearance alone. While the Go-Bot name was used for a subline of Generation 2 minicars and later the Playskool Transformers, to utilize it as a subline of the existing Transformers brand with classic GoBots designs and characters could cause some on-shelf confusion, especially among older buyers who actually remember GoBots. Reissues of the old toys are practically impossible, as the originals were produced by Tonka through a licensing agreement with Bandai, still a direct competitor to Hasbro/Takara. This also begs the question as to how far Bandai’s rights to the toy designs go. Could Hasbro even attempt to update the old figures with the same recognizable forms using updated articulation and detailing techniques?

Leader-1 by Dave Reynolds

In the realm of Comics, Hasbro would have to, essentially, either cede licensing rights as part of the pre established Transformers package, or create a whole separate license. The Transformers comics license itself is very expensive, so would IDW see any financial gain in acquiring a second license from Hasbro to gamble on a Gobots title? And if not them, what other publisher would take that risk? It just seems easier for whoever is making Transformers comics to have GoBots characters show up as Easter Eggs in the backgrounds of crowd scenes or be have their parts strewn around as casualties of some off-panel action. Or, as was the case in the Megatron: Origin story, quickly dispatched by Megatron in gladiatorial combat.

Apparel and other little knick-knacks seem unlikely as well, in that these items would be in direct competition with Transformers merchandise. As for video games, well, we can barely get a decent Transformers game as it is. A DVD release of the old series is probably a whole other barrel of scorpions. Old cartoons like that always seem to be twisted up in a confusing jumble of rights and ownership. It’s probably best that I don’t even try and speculate on that one.

So where does that leave the GoBots?

Well, thankfully Hasbro has not forgotten them entirely. In fact, in the past several years small nods have been given to the mechs from Gobotron that let us know that they’re still a living part of the 1980s transforming robot nostalgia. First was the naming of Megatron’s Minicon in the Armada series as Leader-1. This showed us that the name of the Guardian commander was far from forgotten. And thanks to the horrible dubbing of the series, we never got a chance to forget it since it seemed every Minicon was erroneously called Leader-1 at one point or another.

Next was Takara’s E-Hobby exclusive Minibot repaint set. Originally intended to be named after the GoBot vehicles they most resembled, Bad Boy, Bugbite, Path Finder, Road Ranger, Small Foot, and Treds never had their names on the official packaging, an attempt by Takara to not raise the ire of Bandai. Minibots are always popular with fans and collectors, and these were no exceptions. A quick look on eBay shows that the last listed set sold for almost $300.

Growing from this, the Official Fan Club repainted Classics Bumblebee as Bugbite for its Games of Deception set of exclusive figures for Botcon 2007. The character was also included in the accompanying comic and has made a few other appearances with his repainted comrades in other Timelines stories since. But perhaps the best homage to the Gobots to date is the Fracture figure currently available as a Transformers: the Movie exclusive repaint for Wal-Mart. Actually intended to be the femme Renegade Crasher, trademark issues prevented Hasbro from being so direct. Nevertheless, Fracture shares a color scheme with her 80’s counterpart and the tech specs reveal that she has also retained her trademarked seismic energy stomp.

So, while the GoBots may not be headed for a big comeback anytime soon, there is still some hope for Transfans who enjoyed more than one transforming toyline in their youths. And who knows, a repaint of Classics Starscream in all gray and bearing the same name as a certain Minicon may not be farfetched.

Obscuricons

2008-09-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

I love Acid Storm. I got this guy the other day, and seriously… He’s a happy purchase for me. It’s like an extending of the Seekers ranks. We had the Original Seekers, the Conehead Seekers, and now with Acid Storm and Sunstorm, the Rainmaker Seekers are almost fleshed out. Yeah, I know a lot of people don’t think that Sunstorm is the yellow Rainmaker seeker… To them I say “Bite me.” It’s all interpretive anyway. We all have out own personal canon. And to me, the yellow seeker was Sunstorm. (Making the last one, in my mind’s eye Wind Storm. :P )

It’s an odd conundrum to say the least. With Transformers, I’ve found myself being more fond of the toys than the shows. Of course a lot of the shows were mostly imported and flawed drivel with a few rare occasional gems that sparkle though. (Beast Wars and Transformers: Animated as prime examples.) Beast Machines, while I’m an enormous fan of it, I’m still the first to admit the show’s drastic shortcomings. (Mainly for me it was too dark for the sake of being dark. A little levity wouldn’t have hurt.) Same with Robots in Disguise, which had the opposite problem. While I also did thoroughly enjoy it… RiD was too light hearted. (Yes, I know it was an imported show from Japan meant for small children younger than our usual demographics here.) But with both of these shows, the toys were exceptional. I was able to look at the toys and I could see a deeper universe to it all. (Especially with the non-show characters.) In Beast Machines, if I didn’t enjoy the adventures of Optimus Primal and the Axalon crew, I could imagine that T-Wrecks and the Dinobots were off having adventures that would be more up my alley. The non-show characters were basically fan fiction inspiration. They’re created exclusively to flesh out a wider and more myriad universe.

It’s always been like that really. Whether it’s people giving stories to obscure background Seekers, or thinking about the Japanese exclusive characters like Lioconvoy and Big Convoy and how they would fit into the continuities we all know and loved. Lord, I’ve lost count of the sheer amounts of names thrown out by the fans for Lioconvoy and Big Convoy. I always preferred Leo Prime and Phalanx Prime. (One man army, you know!) Working the Alternators into a cohesive universe, or trying to follow that nonsensical Binaltech story.

That’s one of the cool things about us Transformers fans. We’ve always been a creative bunch. A lot of times our creativity is somewhat limited, as the sheer amount of “Mary Sue Autobot getting the Matrix and defeating Unicron” but generally, we can see potential in even the smallest of details. (Seriously, how many of us wanted to know the fate of Dispensor from the ‘07 Movie? I know I did!) To us there is a literal universe of stories to be told with just about every single character. There’s a reason there’s so many TF comics out there. And if you don’t like one universe, you can follow another one! You didn’t like the Botcon Classics comics, then follow the IDW comics. Don’t like the IDW comics? Follow the Animated Universe. Don’t like that, wait for the Movie Sequel in ‘09. Still not happy? Well, a lot of the Unicron Trilogy was released on DVD as well as Beast Wars, Beast Machines and Generation One. Don’t like those? Then make up your own story! Don’t want to? Are you sure you sure you wouldn’t be happier with Gundam? I personally believe that the creation of the Transformers: Mosaic series is one of the best concept ever created for this franchise.

I enjoy the characters with no history. It allows for creativity, something that’s sorely lacking in today’s realm of entertainment of linear video games and drawn out stories that lead to nowhere. It’s a wonderful thing for children and adults alike. Is developing an obscure character into your own character a bad thing? Only if you insist to others that yours is the only correct interpretation. Otherwise, it’s perfectly healthy and a wonderful exercise of the imagination. And powerful.

I’m wondering now a little more about the TFU Skyhammer…