Today is exactly 2 months after Transformers War For Cybertron was released, and there is already a DLC available for the game. Activision and High Moon wasted no time.

New material from the DLC includes 5 new characters and 4 new maps available for the online multi-player modes. The new characters are Onslaught, Scattershot, Shockwave, Jazz, and Demolishor. I checked PSN last night and this add-on is available to download for $9.99. Not a bad deal considering what you are getting. Check out the trailer below.

I’m glad that this DLC was released so I can have all the new characters. But at the same time, I’m a little peeved that some of these characters were advertised to be store exclusives and now they are available to everyone. I bought the game from Barnes and Noble (who gets it from Gamestop) because I thought that was the only way to get Shockwave. I had a feeling that all the “exclusive” characters were going to be available for download sometime later, but I didn’t think it would be this soon. If I knew the DLC was going to be released less than 2 months into it, I would’ve bought the game elsewhere.

Still, Jazz is one of my all time favorite characters. Onslaught is from my favorite combiner team (the Combaticons). I have a thing for the Technobots, of which Scattershot is the leader. So I will most likely be downloading this. Though I get the nagging feeling that I was nickel-and-dimed over the whole ordeal by Sony and Activision and High Moon and B&N and Gamestop and whoever else got a piece of my hard earned money.

I’ve completed the single player campaigns so its time for multi-player. Transform and Roll Out!

April 24th, 2004. I was browsing Amazon late that night. I don’t remember what I was looking for, but I stumbled upon G1 Transformers re-issues sold by Toys R Us through Amazon. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw them! I loved Transformers when I was a kid, and there were a bunch of figures that I wanted but never had. My allowance was next to nothing, and my parents wouldn’t buy them (money wasn’t the issue, they were just strict). I was not going to pass up the opportunity at owning what I always wanted. So I went ahead and bought Skywarp and Grapple, the two figures that were on sale. That purchase marked the beginning of my TF collecting for the last 6+ years. It might have just started out as G1 re-issues, but then I discovered Binaltechs in the summer at AX2004. From there it went to Alternators and Masterpieces. Then came the classics, the movie toys, and then Animated toys. That one little innocent purchase on 04-24-2004 opened the floodgates to a serious Transformers addiction. It had impacted me in ways that I could not have foreseen.

I started this blog October of last year, and I thought it would be fun to list all my TFs on the TF List page. Last night I updated it and looked at the total. I now have… drum roll please… 300 Transformers. 300! I knew I was coming close to this number, but actually seeing it both amazed and shocked me. That’s a freakin’ boatload of Transformers!

300 Transformers in about 6 years and 4 months. Do the math and rounding up, that translates to roughly 4 figures a month. It doesn’t sound like a lot when you think in those terms. I guess they just add up. Check out my TF list here.

And to commensurate this momentous occasion, I present the following video. G1 Movie trailer cut to the audio of 300. Very cool. This is one of my favorite fan-made TF vids of all time.

Transform and Roll Out!

Sightings of TFs from the Generations line have been reported all over the web. On Seibertron.com, there are 97 sightings of Cybertronian Optimus Prime from WFC as of this writing. Amazon, Hasbrotoyshop, and TRU have been taking orders for them online. I’ve been keeping my eyes open for their availability in stores for some months now. For some odd reason, here in the West Coast they are still very scarce. But I finally located some at my local TRU this past Monday.

At this moment, my TRU is the only place that has them in very limited quantities. They are nowhere to be seen at my Walmarts or Targets. But I’m just glad I was able to get some. I will be opening these very soon and doing reviews. Until then, feast your eyes on these pics of them in the package.

Sharp TransFans will notice that Hasbro tweaked the Transformation Level on the package to more accurately describe the difficulty of the toy. Hasbro used to simply let the size of the toy dictate the Level, which was absurd. For Generations, Hasbro has extended the scale from 0 to 5 instead of the usual 1 to 4. All 4 figures in the above pics are Deluxe size, but their Levels are different. Prime and Bee are rated 4 for Advanced, Drift is 3 for Intermediate, and Thrust is 2 for Easy. I commend Hasbro for going with this approach.

The Classic line is currently my favorite line of TFs. Generations toys are a direct extension of this, so I couldn’t be more thrilled. There are many more toys planned for this line already, including Red Alert, Dirge, Cybertronian Soundwave, Blurr, Cybertronian Megatron, and many more that I’m forgetting. I eagerly look forward to all of them. Transform and Roll Out!

In my last post I went into some TF pre-orders I made recently. This week I added another one.

G1 Blaster by Hasbro, SDCC and HasbroToyShop Exclusive

There are always exclusive figures released for the SDCC. And this year is no exception. Hasbro has certainly embraced this trend and in recent years they have been releasing TF figures where they first become available at the SDCC. Sometimes they don’t sell out and you can find them later on HasbroToyShop.com, online vendors, or other conventions. But sometimes they are quite rare and buying them later comes with a significant markup. I haven’t been to a single SDCC but I have many of its exclusive TFs, including Alternator Nemesis Prime, Titanium Menasor, Alternator Rodimus, and Classic 2.0 Soundwave with 4 Mini-Cassettes. Nemesis Prime I got at AX 07, Menasor came from HasbroToyShop, and Rodimus was acquired for me by a friend that went to SDCC 2007. As for Soundwave, he was also available from HasbroToyShop right after SDCC 2009, but he sold out very quickly so I missed my chance. Fortunately for me I won an ebay auction sometime later for about the same price. But I was not about to make the same mistake with Blaster, this year’s SDCC exclusive TF. SDCC ended last Sunday and Hasbro put him up for sale on HasbroToyShop this week. As soon as I found out, I pre-ordered one. He also comes with 4 Mini-Cassettes like 2009 Soundwave. But as far as I know, there has never been a re-issue for Blaster or any of his cassettes in the United States. This is indeed special. My purchase was absolutely required. I’ve played with the toy when I was a kid. He’s not bad. Blaster is much bigger than Soundwave. As of this writing, he is still available from HasbroToyShop. Miss out and you’d be feelin’ the Blaster Blues.
 

That’s it for now… Transform and Roll Out!

There appears to be a drought of TFs released by Hasbro over the last few months, at least for me on the West Coast. I think the only figures offered by Hasbro at this moment are the Generations figures and the “Hunt for the Decepticons” sub-line of ROTF figures. I haven’t seen the Generations figures anywhere, despite the fact their sightings are reported all over the internet now and many online retailers have them in stock. I’ve only seen the Hunt for the Decepticons figures at one Toys R Us in my area and they’re supposed to be everywhere too. Oh, btw, I picked up the leader class Starscream recently released in this line. He’s a great figure. I may do a review on him in the near future.

To illustrate my point about the drought, I looked thru my records of TF purchases and since March I have only acquired 3 newly released figures: Animated Arcee, ROTF Mindwipe, and the aforementioned leader class ROTF Starscream. I’ve reviewed Arcee, and both Mindwipe and Starscream are recommended figures. For me, buying only 3 new TFs over a period of 5 months is like Kobe Bryant taking only 3 shots in a game.

However this is not to say I only bought 3 figures for this entire period. I did buy more TFs, but they are either old figures that I never got, old figures that I decided to get more of, or non-Hasbro Transformers (such as FansProject products). And I pre-ordered some TFs recently, which is the topic today.

I’m really not a fan of pre-orders. I only do them when it appears that pre-ordering is the only way I’ll be able to get something. If possible, I prefer to just go down to the store and buy my TFs (or any other collectibles for that matter), or wait until after the whole pre-ordering period and buy them from any number of sources. I realize that retailers like this system b/c they can use it as a way to gauge demand. And sure, pre-ordering gives the impression that if you pre-order, you will have “secured” the item and thus you will be guaranteed a copy when it’s released. But this system really doesn’t solve anything for the consumer. For extremely limited items, all it does is move up the point in time at which potential buyers compete to place the order. At the time of pre-order, there are usually no real reviews of the item from other people, so if the item turn out to suck, you’re stuck with it. Pre-orders usually can’t be canceled, and the item often can’t be returned or replaced. Some retailers even require part or whole payment up front. Sometimes the retailer don’t get enough stock from their distributors, so even if you pre-order you’re still not guaranteed one. And sometimes the retailer gets way too many that after the pre-order period, they can’t get rid of them fast enough so the item becomes way cheaper than what you paid for it. And more often than not, pre-orders don’t get released at their stated release dates, so budgeting can be an issue for the hardcore collector. The whole system just sucks.

Anyway, sorry about the rant. This wasn’t the purpose of the post. I guess when I started to think about pre-orders, how much I hate the system just flooded over me. Most of the pre-order horrors that I experienced had to do with anime PVCs (which for the most part I no longer collect). Fortunately, I usually don’t pre-order TFs. But it does happen from time to time and stuff I pre-ordered recently appears below.
 

Crossfire 02 Munitioner and Explorer by FansProject
I touched on these already. Look at this post for the full details. However I just pre-ordered on these last weekend from TF Source. I got the combo deal so I saved myself $7.99, though that’s really not a whole lot considering how much they are to begin with. Supposedly their release is pushed back to late August, but some fans appears to already have them in hand! I don’t know what the deal is, but FansProject is obviously done. I can’t wait to get mine.
 

G1 Seacons by Hasbro, exclusively from BBTS

At Botcon this year, news came around of a re-issue of the complete Seacons set in their G1 colors. Supposedly the Seacons have never been re-issued since G1. I’m not sure if this was meant to be a Botcon exclusive at the time. This is an official Hasbro product, but it is released exclusively thru BBTS, and it might have first been available at Botcon. So yeah, not sure what is the exact nature of this threesome, but BBTS is making this available to everyone on their website. There is a July release that retails for $74.99, and a later August release that is slightly cheaper at $59.99. I’m on a mission to buy all the G1 combiners so buying this was a no brainer. But I’m not in a hurry to get this so I went for the August release. Check BBTS for complete details. I have two Seacons from G1, Seawing and Overbite. Seawing is complete and in great shape. I think I got him at a Osco Drug. Overbite is in good shape too, but I don’t have any of his accessories. Actually, I don’t even remember buying him. But regardless, I’m glad at the chance to own the whole set.
 

Faith Leader by iGear

The Masterpiece G1 Optimus Prime figure has been around for quite some time now. It is hands down the greatest Optimus Prime figure ever made. Size-wise, this figure was made to scale with other MP figures (up to a certain point) and figures from the Binaltech/Alternator line. While that’s great, Hasbro has been scaling down the figures in recent years. For example, MP Grimlock is only about the size of the MP Seekers, and Alternity figures are way smaller than Binaltechs/Alternators. This creates a problem for MP Prime as he is now way too big in relation to these newer figures. And so enter iGear. Like FansProject, they are in no way related to Hasbro. Their PP01“Faith Leader” is supposed to be every bit identical to MP Prime, with the exception that it’s smaller so it will scale better with classic figures and MP Grimlock. Faith Leader in truck mode is almost the exact same size as Classics Optimus Prime in truck mode, but in robot mode Faith Leader is much bigger. I’m told the first batch of PP01 sold out real fast. So when the 2nd PP01 went up for sale, I pre-ordered with a quickness. Faith Leader is about $100 with around $18 ship to the United States. It is available only thru the iGear website and they require payment upfront. These policies definitely made it a turn-off and normally I would not even consider playing by these rules. But this is something I really want and I’ve heard good things about the figure so I pre-ordered one. I normally don’t keep track of the statuses of my pre-orders, but I already paid for this in full so I’m watching it with more diligence than usual. Still, my decision to pre-order Faith Leader is somewhat questionable. It’s expensive, there’s no diecast like the MP, you gotta pay in advance, and technically it’s a smaller knock-off of a Hasbro product. This is not a feel-good purchase for me, and I put the blame partially on iGear and partially on myself. Maybe after I get Faith Leader I will have something more positive to say. Peaugh’s video review of the figure appears below.

These are all the outstanding TF pre-orders I have at this time. I’m hoping they will all get to me by the end of August, but with pre-orders you never know. I intend to do reviews of all these figures.

Stay cool my fellow TransFans, and until next time… Transform and Roll Out!

I’ve mentioned repeatedly on this blog that I went to BotCon 2009 and had a blast. In 2009 it was in Pasadena, in Southern California where I grew up. I currently reside in Northern California. Going back to SoCal is only a short drive of 5 to 6 hours. I missed BotCon 2010 because it was all the way out in Florida and I was just way too busy to be planning a trip cross country.

So it is with great enthusiasm that I report the following: BotCon 2011 will be back in Pasadena! I am totally thrilled that this will be back on the West Coast where it’s easily accessible for me. Usually the BotCon organizers do not announce the location of the next BotCon until it’s fairly close to the date of the event. So it is very unusual that this was announced right after BotCon 2010 ended. It is also unusual that Pasadena is getting it again 2 years later considering the same location usually does not get it again til 5 or 6 years later (if ever). I’m not sure what bucked the trend this time. Maybe because 2009 was such as success, or maybe they just want to coincide the release of the 3rd Transformers movie at a location near Hollywood. Whatever the reason, I’m glad it will be back in Pasadena. Me and Gemini will be there for sure! You can count on it!

The Pasadena Convention Center is a nice place too. The surrounding area is nice, and there are plenty of nice restaurants right across from the convention center. Right now Botcon is not so big that you can’t even find a place to eat without a long wait around meal times. I should have took pics of the outside venue in 2009, but I will do it in 2011. Part of the reason I stopped going to Anime Expo is the venue. I hate the Los Angeles Convention Center. It is in the heart of downtown LA where it’s pure ghetto. Sure it’s next to the Staples Center (where the Lakers play, and everyone knows me knows that I am a Laker die-hard, and congrats to them on their latest championship), but the whole area surrounding the place just feels trashy. AX is also over-populated IMO. Way too big and way too many attendees where doing anything becomes more of a chore than having fun. But yeah, I’m getting off topic. BotCon in Pasadena is just the right size and venue.

There is a story about 2009 I want to mention. The lines to get inside were pretty long (I don’t even think the BotCon people expected this), and it went around the convention building into this one area. Total wait to get in was about 90 min to 2 hours, not too bad by convention standards. Anyway, the line went under this tree that had a pretty big beehive in it! Obviously the bees were disturbed and they started to fly out and attack people to defend their nest. It was a crazy scene for a while. Some people were stung, including kids. So we heard a lot of crying. Yeah, I need to mention that BotCon has a lot more kids than your typical anime conventions. But the BotCon people quickly re-routed the line so we wouldn’t be under the tree. Still, if I had been stung, I would’ve quickly called up a lawyer friend of mine. I’m gonna need to put his number into my speed dial before I go in 2011. I wondered what kind of bees they were and asked it out loud. Gemini replied, “Bumblebee.” LOL!

And for those of you that missed my BotCon 2009 pics, here they are: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

TransFans, Roll for BotCon! Transform and Roll Out!

Today is the final part of my 2009 BotCon pics. Part 2 appears here.

Cosplayers

Warpath
 

Sideswipe
 

Now that is one sexy Cobra Agent. I let her terrorize me any day.
 

Contest Entries

I’m not sure what the contest was for exactly, but there were plenty of impressive entries.

I’m not sure what this was so I’m just gonna lump this in here. Looks like some kind of Photoshop tutorial for TFs.
 

Last but certainly not least…

Tyrese! Yes ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Tyrese Gibson! Chief Master Sergeant Epps made a surprise appearance on the last day of BotCon, and the crowd just went wild! The fans stormed around him to get a chance to shake his hand and get his picture taken in the dealer’s room. I don’t know if Hasbro planned this or not, but the whole thing really felt like a surprise b/c it was not advertised at all. The lucky fans who were close enough during the surprise lined up for a chance at his autograph, but he only stayed for like 20 min and they ran out of stuff to sign real quick. I only managed to snap this pic of him from a distance, but it was still cool. Good to know that Tyrese cares about his fans.
 

Well, there you have it, my experience at BotCon 2009. It was unforgettable to say the least and I’m disappointed that I won’t be going this year. It is definitely on my radar for next year. But before I sign off this post, I should mention the stuff I bought at BotCon 2009. No trip to any anime/toy/comic convention is complete without acquiring some loot, and so with that, I proudly present a list of my BotCon 2009 Haul:

Henkei Thundercracker
Alternator Prowl (used)
Alternator Hound (used, and missing gun)
Alternator Skids
Sound Label Soundwave (spark blue)
Revoltech GR-2 (no. 021)
a Decepticon pillow
… and probably some other stuff that I can’t remember now.

TransFans unite… and heed this call… Transform and Roll Out!

Part 2 of my BotCon 2009 pics continues today. In case you missed it, Part 1 is here.

“Unreleased and Upcoming” Toys

hehe… I put that in quotes cause at the time all these were not released, and planned for the rest of 2009 and part of 2010 (I think all have been released as of this writing). As such, they were all behind glass display cases, standing prominently for the eager TF fan to drool over.
 

The toys in the middle and bottom rows are 2009’s BotCon Exclusives, the “Wings of Honor” set of 5 figures. Don’t remember who they are, but all repaints. I think it was about $200 for the whole set. Not sure who are the guys in the top row.
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Deluxe and Scout class figures. I still don’t have any of these 🙁
 

ROTF Leader class Prime, Meg, Jetfire. I have Prime.
 

Same toys, different angle.
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Voyager class figures. Again, I don’t have any of these 🙁
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Voyager class figures out of the box.
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Deluxe class figures. I have Sideways, Sideswipe, and Breakaway.
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Deluxe class figures out of the box.
 

ROTF Devastator!
 

Human Alliance Bumblebee. I really wanted these at the time, but I’m not feeling the robot mode.
 

Human Alliance Bumblebee and Sideswipe.
 

25th Anniversary Soundwave re-issue! He comes with 4 cassettes, one of them (Ratbat) never re-released in the US since the 80s. Being the G1 purist that I am, I knew I had to have this set, despite the fact I already have two other Soundwave re-issues. He ended up being a SDCC Exclusive, but that would not stop me. I ended up getting him thru ebay. I paid $64 shipped, but he’s worth every penny.
 

G1 and ROTF Soundwave and Ravage, side by side. Cool.
 

Fast Action Battlers. I don’t care for these at all.
 

Here we have various store exclusives. Titanium Thrust and Prime were Target Exclusives and they appear on the bottom shelf to the left. I have Titanium Thrust. Next to them are Ultra Class Powerglide, Hardhead, and Skyfall, Walmart Exclusives. MP Skywarp on the top shelf is another Walmart Exclusive. Next to him is the TRU Exclusive Whirl and Roadbuster 2-Pack. Not sure if Ultimate Bumblebee was an exclusive, I know I’ve seen him around and I think at a bunch of places.
 

25th Anniversary Insecticons and Perceptor, and a ROTF Fallen figure.
 

As I look at these now in June of 2010, I’m amazed at how many of them I actually managed to find and buy. Nothing stops me when I want my TFs.

Stay tuned for Part 3… Transform and Roll Out!

BotCon 2010 is coming up in about a week. To celebrate this upcoming event, I thought I post pics of BotCon 2009.

Last year I attended my first BotCon. It was in Pasadena, in Southern California, not too far from where I grew up. Now I live in Northern California so in a way it was kinda like a homecoming, but of course I’m there for the robots.

BotCon 2009 was awesome! To be surrounded by people as passionate about Transformers as I am, the feeling was just overwhelming. I would love to go again this year in Florida, which also gives me a chance to check out Walt Disney World. However, going cross country would require some planning ahead of time, which I never really got around to. Maybe next year.

I did not have a blog in the summer of 2009, so this is as good a time as any to post the pics. Enjoy!

Convention Displays

“Revenge is Coming!” At the front entrance.
 

From a different angle.
 

That little girl snuck in there when I was taking this pic :).
 

Real life movie Optimus Prime in alt mode!
 

How did they get this truck in there?
 

Close up of the Autobot insignia. Now that’s bling.
 

Movie Bee!
 

Bee’s about to pee on that guy. I call it Bee Pee.
 

Dealers

This was one of the first dealer’s booths near the door. I think this was the official Hasbro booth where they sold toys (they had another bigger booth for events). At the time the TF figures you see here were all either unreleased, or just barely released.
 

Same dealer but to to left. I was feasting my eyes on these deluxe figures for the first time.
 

This is the “Gears of War” set, all accessories to make Classic figures more G1. I really wanted a set, but at $45 it was kinda hard to justify. Also a preliminary figure of Optimus in his Hearts of Steel incarnation, later released as Knight Morpher.
 

Same dealer, just slightly panned up in angle to show their nice statue of G1 Optimus. Looks like this was the RobotKingdom booth. I do not buy from them online b/c their shipping is simply ridiculous.
 

Stay tuned for Part 2… Transform and Roll Out!

2010 is looking to be a banner year for FansProject. Their next offering are two figures called Explorer and Munitioner. Hardcore G1 purists should instantly recognize them as Blastoff and Swindle, respectively.

Late in 2009, Hasbro released a Target exclusive Bruticus Maximus set under the ROTF line. This is a set of 5 Combaticon figures that will combine and form Bruticus Maximus. The toys are essentially a repaint of Energon Bruticus Maximus. Target retailed the set at $29.99. Some stores even sold them at clearance prices over the Holidays, I’ve seen with my own eyes the price dropped to either $24.99 or $19.99. Apparently they weren’t flying off the shelves if Target felt clearance was necessary. I did think about buying the set during that stretch, considering that the Combaticons are my favorite combiner group, something that I’ve mentioned repeated on this blog. However, being the G1 purist that I am, I decided against buying it because I felt the figure did not at all resemble the G1 Combaticons. And to make matters worse, not all molds in the set are distinct. Onslaught, the leader figure that forms the body, is a unique mold. However, Brawl and Blastoff are both tanks with identical molds, and Vortex and Swindle are of the same helicopter mold. This was a complete turnoff. There is also a similar set released under the Universe line (in slightly different colors). I’m not sure when it was released and if it was a store exclusive.

I should have known by now that whenever I complain about a certain aspect in TF figures, the people behind FansProject would have the same complaint. So right after Target sold out of the Bruticus Maximus set, FansProject announced the figures “Explorer” and “Munitioner”. Explorer is a space shuttle while Munitioner is a jeep. FansProject is not affiliated with Hasbro so it’s not like they can outright advertise what these figures are meant to be. But G1-ers immediately recognized them as Blastoff and Swindle, and the fact that only these 2 are produced is to properly give the ROTF Combaticons the right molds for these 2 characters. But yeah, right as I learned of this new development, I started to kick myself for not buying the ROTF Bruticus Maximus set.

FansProject have recently released more finalized pics of Explorer and Munitioner. The figures themselves look great and are obviously G1 inspired. But it also looks like the figures will come with accessories that will make Bruticus look more G1 as well. Words can’t even start to describe how kick-ass this set looks with the FansProject add-on. I’m posting a few select pics below. For all the pics check out this blog entry on the FansProject site.

You can bet your boron compressor that I will be buying Munitioner and Explorer when they are released. I would’ve done that anyway, but after I saw these pics, I knew I had to go track down the ROTF Bruticus Maximus set. Of course all dealers from every website I can think of would mark these up. Getting it at the clearance prices, or even at MSRP, was now extremely unlikely. And so last month I bit the bullet and bought the set from an ebay seller for about $50. This price was actually quite reasonable. I see many dealers ask for much more. I picked up the set at my local PO last weekend and below are some pics.

I won’t be opening this set until Explorer and Muntioner are released. Then I will give them all the proper review it deserves.

And since we’re on the subject of Combaticons, I want to take this opportunity to show off my G1 Combaticons. I still have them all to this day. Onslaught is getting loose in some of his joints, and there are obvious sticker wear to all 5 figures. But other than that they are all complete and in pretty good shape.

Sharp G1 observers will have noticed that Onslaught appears without his blue chest shield. I have the piece, I just forgot to put it on him when I took the pic.

I also have some repainted Combaticons from Robots in Disguise. Technically they’re not called Combaticons in RiD. They are called Commandos, and the names of all the characters have been changed. This is the Urban Camo set (I believe there is also a Desert Camo and a Snow Camo set). The combat trailer is Mega-Octane, the tank is Armorhide, the space shuttle is Movor, the jeep is Rollbar, the helicopter is Ro-Tor, and the combined form is Ruination. Pics appear below.

Let’s face it, all the combiners post G1 have been lame. Hasbro just doesn’t want to properly do one for some strange reason. So once again it’s FansProject to the rescue. I can’t wait for Explorer and Munitioner.

Combaticons… Transform and Roll Out!