SDCC announcements! an update before I disappear for a little bit.

Eric & I recorded a long ROBOTS IN CAHOOTS podcast but due to some computer issues it will be a little while before I can edit and share it. I don't think there's anything that was discussed that isn't of timely importance, other than what was on his blog about Botcon. That's pretty much what we talked about, Botcon, but it's HIS trip to write about, so you can read his blog and get a better report; the podcast will be mostly about what it's like in general to go to one of these things, since I haven't gone.

Eric mentioned that there'd be a Generations Voyager-sized Whirl and recently at San Diego Comic Con (I am not there) (sad face) this very thing was showcased, along with a few other figures from the Generations line.

I think the most exciting of these is Legends-sized TAILGATE. Also note in that linked article, there's a Shrapnel with a tiny Reflector. But in keeping with the More Than Meets The Eye theme, robots based on the somewhat cartoonish and frantic looking designs of Alex Milne, Tailgate like the upcoming Swerve looks to be a home run.

Whirl, on the other hand? Meh.

Maybe I'll feel differently when I see him. After all, I was stoked about Blitzwing and pretty disappointed other than happy to have a poseable Blitzwing. Whirl is pretty close to a G1 tribute as one can get. His G1 figure was not produced by Takara/Tomy (one of the many reasons why he was never featured in the cartoon) and thus compared to his Diaclone pals his robot form was actually pretty poseable at the time, with moving arms AND legs. The only difference his Generations figure has is elbows and knees. Though the other MTMTE tribute figures (how I'll refer to them from now on, though maybe "IDW influenced" would be more accurate) have Earth vehicle modes instead of cybertronian, I was hoping that Whirl's copter mode from MTMTE would hold true here, like the Voyager Sandstorm figure.

I'm sure he's a solid figure but I'm actually pretty happy with my Headrobots upgrade for Tomahawk.

There's a few more Deluxe figures from the Generations line but I'm not going to get too excited about them, as Skywarp (and Thundercracker) are just repaints of FOC Starscream, and compared to the regular CHUG Seekers, the FOC modes aren't that interesting. Maybe I'll get the Targetmaster. I'm more excited about Tailgate than any of these. However, there's the created-by-fan-vote character, Windblade. Female Autobot 'geisha' paint job? ("Geisha" is the word TFW used, I don't know if that's correct...or even right, you know?) I don't recall the fan vote being THAT specific. Though more ladybots are always encouraged (Um, for the robot singles mingle we have here every other Friday, why do you ask?), eeeeyeah, I'll wait until I see the actual toy...BUT, there might be an ulterior motive to getting such a toy (drumroll):

This might be the figure needed for FOC Slipstream custom.

BOOM.

Okay, I'm going to be away from the computer this weekend, then next weekend I'm moving. So I don't know when I'll have ROBOTS IN CAHOOTS up nor the latest collection of ROBOTS WITH COFFEE. After I get settled. Sorry for the delay. Eric and I had a great talk about Botcon and I can't wait to share it.

Thanks for reading, hit me up on twitter.

Custom DEVCON and the paints I'm switching to...

I am finally getting around to this: I purchased the custom Devcon head from Shapeways along with that little chainsaw guy, but had a problem with the paints I was using at the time.

Before you start posting about my options or ask why I don't do this or that, please keep this in mind: I'm not just of limited talent when it comes to customizing, I'm also bound by a few rules within living in an apartment and by the sensitivity of my wife to certain smells and fumes the solid looking enamels produce. "You just get one of those sprayers-" No, no I don't.

This is, of course, for fun. I am not looking to impress anyone; I'd rather provide a few laughs with things like my Joker Bot and Paul Stanley Prime. I'm proud of my custom Downshift and Road Rage. Some bots look better than others. I have sold ONE custom, my Dark Of The Moon Sideswipe I painted into a G1 theme.

It's not that I've NOT gotten good advice from the customizin' pros, I just don't have the available space and resources to do the appropriate work. I bought a set of Testor's enamel and though the results were a lot smoother, I got a few complaints about the smells produced, and spent a lot of time airing out the apartment afterward, just to turn G1 Bumblebee into Herbie The Love Bug. The wife lives here too.

Using acrylic paints found at a Michael's or Joanne's Fabrics...I got results I liked, especially after putting on a solidifying gloss. But it was a LOT more painting work than when I used the Testor's. And though the other benefit was that I had more color choices when painting (different shades of red and blue) and it was way cheaper, some of the paints needed, like silver, wouldn't stick. My bottle of "silver" acrylic wouldn't even make my effort look remotely gray. Like there was a minor bit of silver rust in the water forming on the figure that I was hopelessly trying to add some chrome to.

Whatever was I to do? We were sensitive to the vapors of Testors, and yet I was spoiled by their results. WELL, hooray hooray. Golden Fluid Acrylics. Lots of options, great results. Drawback? Over $4 a bottle at Blick's.

That sums it up. Devcon here is a mixture of Testor's enamel and Golden Acrylics. The silver acrylic was what I was shooting for, and I like the results.

I was a bit lazy with Devcon (Generations Scourge body, custom head), but I wanted to try it out. I didn't want to paint the whole thing white, which is what I'd normally do. I painted a few parts white, like those shoulder/jet intake parts and his feet. The Shapeways Devcon head was just his face, and the gun on the top. REALLY, if I just removed Scourge's goatee somehow, that would've made the face. Even though the part was of a white material, I should have still painted it. My hands were a little shaky and so there's bleed on the helmet and the eyes. Sorry about that. I didn't paint his chest white with enamel and, still using enamel, you can see the Decepticon logo bleed through.

He's not crying. I just have shaky hands.

You can do a better paint job than me. Please. Devcon is an obscure character who made one G1 appearance (from an episode I still find bizarre: Smokescreen gambling away his friends?). I think you paint his legs completely blue and just leave his feet red, you've got an improved Devcon.

It was just a test and I really like the results. I have some major life changes coming up (moving from my place of 6 years) so I won't have time to do another dopey Paul custom for a month or so, but these will be the paints I'll be using from now on.

OTHER NEWS

It's the silver acrylic that did it for me. I will probably
revisit previous customs for any chrome bits.

Expect a two-parter ROBOTS IN CAHOOTS podcast from me & Eric of Til All Are Mine, where we talk about his trip to Botcon. I should stress that it's HIS trip, so whatever full report on Botcon as far as his haul, contests, costumes, and his detailed interactions and purchases will be on his blog. We found other stuff to talk about his trip hopefully without taking away from what were his scoop on the Transformers Robot World. I'll have the first part up in a couple days.

My friend Rick found the Wave 2 Kreons I was looking for: Hoist, Scourge, Arcee, Powerglide, Lugnut, Acid Storm, Perceptor, and Vehicon. More later on the Kreos.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye continues to be my favorite comic book. Not just a comic book based on my favorite action figure property, but just a wild comic book that was once free of devotion to the current toy line, to the point where, as seen in my last post, the upcoming figures owe a lot to these books. Maybe the marketing has fooled me into believing that, but I still say "good show."

OTHER STUFF

I have been watching Bored To Death, a show that ran for three seasons on HBO. It's about a writer who has a bit of writer's block and decides to pretend to be a private detective. I was hoping there'd be more mystery and less day to day Seinfeld-like neurosis, but I'm halfway through the series and am still very much enjoying it.

I'm moving next month. Sigh. I am going to miss this apartment.

I can get behind another Generations (legends) Swerve. And SKIDS.

So I'm watching the Botcon news and pics trickle in.

After the GDO Generations Swerve (a slight retool of Kup), Hasbro is releasing a Legends figure that comes with...some tiny robot, I don't care. It looks like his More Than Meets The Eye comic counterpart, and though I tried my own hand at producing a similar figure, this looks really good, even for a Legends. And hopefully there's some smirk detail in that face. I will probably relinquish my GDO Swerve as a result. (Among the pictured is a similar sized Cosmos; I have a scout or legends sized figure from a Universe series many years ago, and that's adorable on its own.) I am glad I did not order the iGear Swerve; they dropped the ball by not molding his head after the MTMTE design.

The other item of interest are the Generation Deluxes, including (drumroll) Skids! Pictured are blah blah blah blah, I just care about Skids. You can click on that link and see Goldbug or whatever they're calling him, and Waspinator, which will be treated like a big deal. Skids also looks a lot like his MTMTE characterization. This will save me massive trouble of making my own Skids, based off a really great Radicon I saw, which used RTS Jazz, Generations Perceptor, and Revenge Of The Fallen Skids or Mudflap, which are three separate toys, which would be an expensive custom.

A Skids deluxe would pretty much complete the 1984/1985 standard set of Autobot cars and Decepticon jets, not counting minibots. Personally, that's awesome, because I had to make a choice with space issues and I chose the Classics line. I'll have a few G1 keepers (Constructicons, Insecticons, Soundwave & tapes, Dinobots, Grapple and Inferno, minibots) but it looks like I'll have a complete collection of G1 homages... is it strange I'd rather have the new versions of the classic G1 characters?

There's plenty other announcements but these are the two from Hasbro I'll be looking out for. I see a repaint of Blitzwing as DoubleDealer but...meh. You can visit TFW2005 or Seibertron for their up to the minute Botcon announcements. I'm not really one to parrot every rumor in the rumormill because there will be an official announcement, and all I'd be doing is trying to get excited about things someone could manufacture at any time for me to BUY. I will not be entrapped by this consumerist nightmare! And I will use "parrot" as a verb!

Some Wave 2 Kreons on the way. For now, more Robots With Coffee!

I'm expecting some of the Wave 2 Kreons. Woo. I still owe you some blatherings about the new paint I got, and show you my Devcon and my painted Little Chainsaw Guy. After the comic More Than Meets The Eye #17, I think I know what to do with the extra Shapeways pieces from that first attempt the company made. I thought, huh, wouldn't it be great to make an Army Of Darkness style figure? Well, thanks MTMTE.

Eric from Til All Are MINE is going to Botcon. When he comes back, we will record another Robots In Cahoots.

In the meantime, click on the below image for the latest in ROBOTS WITH COFFEE! And like it on Facebook. Yes, I made a Facebook page, because someone asked me to.

Another entry in the ROBOTS WITH COFFEE journal.

Robots With A Complete Breakfast? Click on the image to see the 3rd in a series of ROBOTS WITH COFFEE.

UPDATE! "LIKE" THE ROBOTS WITH COFFEE FACEBOOK PAGE! No seriously, I made one.

BLITZWING! I found Generations Blitzwing!

Yes! Voyager-sized Blitzwing!

Slightly bigger than Voyager Generations Lugnut!
'Bout the same size as Fall Of Cybertron Voyager Soundwave!

A modern update that is an actual triple-changer!

Blitzwing was probably the last G1 Decepticon figure I ever got. As a kid, I had (in order) Soundwave (and Buzzsaw), Thundercracker, Devastator, Shrapnel, and Blitzwing. And I loved Blitzwing. I thought his tank mode was the coolest, his plane mode pretty cool, and his robot mode...difficult to stand after his steel toes became loose after too many transformations.

When Blitzwing was announced to be released with Springer, everyone became super-excited for...Springer! I mean, he's only the THIRD Springer in recent years (not counting the excellent robot mode of Warbot Defender), but this would be the first Triple Changer Springer (not counting the kinda not-awesome vehicle modes of Warbot Defender). Aaaaand...I just heard cricket noises for Blitzwing. If you can't guess what figure I was excited for, well...it's Blitzwing.

So how does a fully articulated, actually triple-changing, Voyager sized Classics Blitzwing hold up? Photos after the JUMP! Jump!

Happy Friday! Here's a Robot with Coffee.

Hola, Amigos. I'm still on the hunt for the elusive Gen. Blitzwing. I'm not so interested in Springer as I have the one from the Springer/Ratbat 2pack from a few years ago, and the recent GDO. Even if this one is a genuine triple changer and he looks like a bad ass hefty warrior for the Autobots, I just don't have that much interest for the movie/post movie characters. There's some exceptions (Overkill/Slugfest). Anyway, I still owe y'all a post about the new paints (for ruining toys, aka my customs) that I got a few weeks ago. I'm also on the hunt for the Wave 2 Kreons, but I won't be able to search much this coming weekend.

I took down my figures and cleaned my shelves; when I put them back up, I saw my G1 Omega Supreme in shambles (I took him apart). What a messy, messy figure. If only I could trade him off and get the Year Of The Snake/FOC version. Hmmmm. Something to consider.

This is not the most enlightening or informative blog entry. Actually, it's the LEAST enlightening/informative blog entry. But it's a BLOG and I'm allowed to type my random thoughts. Please enjoy the accompanying picture of Shockwave contemplating his cold calculated destruction of the Autobots, takeover of the Decepticons, and reminder to clean out his cat Mr. Fluffykins' litterbox.

I have a day off today! Whee!

Day off today. Hope you are enjoying the podcasts and the pictures of Robots With Coffee.


-paul

Robots In Cahoots #4! (the podcast thing)

AAAAAND double post!

ROBOTS IN CAHOOTS #4 starring me and Eric from 'Til All Are Mine!

This is actually part two of our previous podcast (we promised to keep these podcasts short). So, no intro. We, well really me, talk about C2E2. I got to meet Brian Shearer who inks a lot of the IDW Robots In Disguise comics. I brag about my comic art collection, and how little I paid for it. Meanwhile, people lost their homes in Oklahoma. I am a materialistic jerk. Help some people out, please.

I mention Robot Envy, and here's the site. Pretty cool, right?

My opinions (gripes) about the convention (like, paying too much for stuff) should be ignored.

Anyway, the next podcast (#5) will actually be PART 3 of this recording, and it will be off topic. Hence why I divided this stuff up.

-paul

Coffee With Robots. I mean, Robots With Coffee. 2nd page added.

Amigos,

Please enjoy the 2nd round of ROBOTS WITH COFFEE. Click on the jacked up Perceptor to see the most recent batch of caffinated robots.

Coming soon (I haven't posted in a while)

Haven't posted in a while. Here's what's coming soon.

-2nd page of Robots With Coffee.
-Robots In Cahoots #4, podcast where Eric & I talk about my trip to C2E2.
-My work in progress Devcon (minor repaint of classics Scourge) with my new paints!

I had expressed reservation in previous posts about Trailbreaker (and Hoist), in that the transformation and robot mode looked somewhat similar to FOC Sideswipe (which I think is a bust, and cheap looking, but that's my opinion). Judging by the in-hand/promo photos of the actual thing, gotta say that they look pretty good. Or at least not crappy, like FOC Sideswipe. So I'm going to lighten up about them.

Anyway, check back after this extended weekend, and you should see a few posts.

-paul

(Some silliness for your day.)

ROBOTS...IN CAHOOTS!

THE PODCAST: we renamed it (or officially named it) ROBOTS IN CAHOOTS.

Click here for episode #3. We promise to keep episodes of ROBOTS IN CAHOOTS relatively short. The recording ran over an hour, so we decided to break it up into a few parts. This episode, we talk about FORT MAX (Encore edition!), other awkward TF behemoths, closure on my Shapeways adventure, upcoming Generations products, and a new acrylic paint I'll be using from now on. I can tell you're fascinated. Hey, it's only like 25 minutes, so...

Robots In Cahoots stars myself and Eric from 'Til All Are Mine, by the way.

Little camera guy: UPDATE! IDENTIFIED!

I'm kind of fascinated by KOs, other brands, and imitators, though I don't go out of my way to acquire them due to budget and...well, really, do I want THAT THING in my house? You know?

I was visiting Quake Collectibles a few weeks ago and the owner showed me this little guy. He was pretty pricey. I thought he was Go-Bot sized, except he wasn't a car. The brand is "Mark" or "Marc" Japan, and unfortunately I only had my cell phone camera to capture him on digital film, so you probably won't be able to make out the logo.

So, take a look, and let me know if you know who he is. I was probably not using the right search terms on the googles.

UPDATE: Thank you Optimal Omega. As he posted in the comments section, looks like his name is Focus from Convertor Spies. Explore that page and you'll see a bot that looks a lot like Whirl. HOLY OWL POOP, I HAD HOOT at some point.

Update on the podcast, some other random thoughts.

We might not have a podcast in the next few days, maybe not until next week, but Eric from Til All Are Mine and myself appreciate the feedback and listening. I'm also working on finding a 'host' that will allow us to have it uploaded on iTunes. This should be an easy thing for everyone else but what is keeping me is that we're coming up with an actual title for the podcast. I love "Til All Are Gassy" as it combines our blog names, but at the same time I don't want some semi-tribute to farting to keep people from checking it out. So while we delay our every-other-week recording session, we're gonna come up with a name before committing it to a hosted server distro thingy whatever. So when we have episode #3 up, we should hopefully have it somewhere easily streamable/downloadable other than having to come here and right click on the link. I'm sure it will be a doozy because we'll have a lot to talk about, including some of the stuff mentioned below.

OTHER STUFF:

-painted the little chainsaw guy. Orange & black. Pics later.

-C2E2 was great in that I got some original IDW Transformers pages (Well, the inks to these pages). Pages I really liked from both RID and MTMTE.

-I got the Kreon (mini) Devastator set. Adorable.

-I'm on the lookout for Voyager Generations Blitzwing & Springer, but more Blitzwing than Springer. I'm really not interested in Springer because I have the one from the Springer/Ratbat set, and the GDO deluxe version, but I'm getting rave reviews about him from friends. I'm getting mixed reviews about Blitzwing, but that's the figure I'd want to get. I'm hoping for a complete Classics representation of the G1 figures (pre-Scramble City/Movie) someday. So, Hasbro: Skids. C'mon.

-I'm in no hurry in my hunt because I had to pay for damage to Gears, my car, from being Sideswiped several weeks ago by a hit & run driver. BOOOO.

Shapeways presents: a Targetmaster CHAINSAW!

FINALLY! I get to show off one of the more...amazing? spectacular? web of?..."3rd party" figures, my Targetmaster Chainsaw!

This was produced by the 3D printing company Shapeways, based on a design by Redshift. I spent the extra $1 for the "polished" material. He's a little robot that TURNS INTO A CHAINSAW!

(no really, click to read more. You'll love it.)

Another attempt at fixing the text of that comic page.

I'll have some scans from some MORE pages I bought from IDW TF artists this weekend at C2E2, as well as the LONG-AWAITED review of my 3D printed targetmaster, THE LUMBERJACK!, or whatever I plan on calling it.

In the meantime, I give filling in the dialogue another try:

C2E2 - I bought a page.

Not a full report just yet, but I went to C2E2 (a comic convention) and had some fun.

And...I bought a page! A comic book page!

From Transformers: Robots in Disguise, issue 15! Brian Shearer, who inked the issue, sold it to me from his table in artist alley. (Artist Alley is always the best place to hang out at a comic convention.)

It featured Arcee and Sideswipe, two of my favorite TFs, though not because of this particular comic. They were both on the page. Actually, it's pretty action packed, and features Blitzwing, Starscream, Astrotrain, Dirge, Bumblebee, and Metalhawk. That's some Transformer star-power!

And, uh, Dirge!

And at a reasonable price!

I scanned the page! There is no color or text, so I filled in, from my memory, what I think was the dialogue.

Let me know what you think!

Til All Are Gassy #2 - where did Carly get her change of clothes?

Hey, here's 'Til All Are Gassy #2, starring Eric from Til All Are Mine and...me!

Click on the image to stream or download the MP3!

Topics include: Prime Shockwave, my Shapeways adventure, Devcon from that episode of G1 TF where Smokescreen gambles away his friends, how big are Carly's lips, what to name my KO seekers, and much more!

Oh, I can't forget how much it bothered me that, in Dark Of The Moon, Carly was able to change her clothes after being kidnapped. Eric and I discuss that at great length. We promised to make these short. This one is under an hour. We will try to keep it short next time...

Headmasters! Brainstorm!

First, thanks again to Eric from Til All Are Mine for testing out our podcast waters. If you haven't heard it yet, click on that link.

Now for something less important. Or very important. While sittin' behind the counter at Quake a few weekends ago, I noticed G1 Brainstorm. It was in pretty good shape but at $100...sorry. I'm already over budget. But I took some pics anyway.

By the time the Headmasters and Targetmasters rolled around, I had lost interest in the Transformers. I had heard about Prime's death in the cartoon movie (which I didn't see until ten years after it came out) and these new robots seemed weird to me, so (as a kid) I stopped getting them. I think the last figures I ever got were G1 Skids, Wheelie, and Pipes. I also had only seen "Webworld" from Season 3, and though that episode is actually enjoyed by many people, I thought it was weird and weird looking and didn't see any more episodes.

I knew of the Headmasters and Targetmasters from commercials and some comic books, but didn't pay attention. I thought that was even WEIRDER. The comic book of the TF ripping his head off...what is up with THAT?