Awwww-bots and cute-a-cons. And ongoing projects.

If you're not aware, Hasbro licensed the Transformers to a company called Kre-o, or rather that's the brand name of the Lego rip off company. I don't know if Transformers were too small a property for Lego to license themselves. "Transformers? Their last movie made a billion bucks? Nah, small tomatoes. Move on, please." I don't know the story. I do know that building a toy robot from scratch, and then breaking it down and building a car from the same materials, minus the actual "transforming," might defeat the very purpose of licensing an already gimmicky concept to a Lego style line.

HOWEVER:

Lil Formers.

Cute.

Mini Spies

I stopped by another used/collectible toy store on the way home today, a place called Ka-Pow on Belmont. Beyond thrift stores, few storefronts in the country specialize in just selling vintage (USED!) action figures. So there's TWO in my biking range, hooray hooray for me.

TRANS-MOBOTS! And the ADVENTURES OF LOTUS-EATER!

Your mom crossed off "Skeez" on the back, in an effort to keep track
of purchased Trans-Mobots, which meant that she would be looking
for the other Trans-Mobots, which means you'd be expecting more
Go-Bot knockoffs for Christmas or a good report card. And that's when
you purposely decided to flunk that math test.

I went to Quake Collectibles in Chicago today and Dave (the owner) showed me some of the figures he had gotten recently. A lot of boxed Transformers, some with the styrfoam, others loose in the box, and many minibots with their backing card.

That's a pretty good haul. I dig the box art but the cost is prohibitive, especially for something that is just going to sit on a shelf and I have another that ALSO sits on the shelf until I choose to pull them out for filming (Gears) purposes. If I can find the tech specs, that would be enough. I wouldn't mind the box art for some figures, but it's just way too much.

Anyway, The Transformer's mortal enemy was the Go-Bots. Yup, I'm pretty sure that's who they were fighting against. The Go-Bots were released in America first. I remember my 8 year old self arguing with a friend over which was better, and they reminded me that the Go-Bots were more original since they were first. I had a few. I'm not sure where they ended up in the battle between good & evil, Autobot & Decepticon, but I bet their popularity with their fellow TRANSFORMING robots went down quickly and I'm sure there were adventures where Autobots & Decepticons put their differences aside and kicked some Go-Bot ass, for no reason.

I ended up including the Go-Bots with the GI Joe vehicles I traded to Quake for some G1 Transformers I never had, which was part of my initial all-in Transformer plan without spending actual money. I'm not sure which ones I had, but I'm looking at Transformerland's site for a list of names and I recognize the following as ones I probably owned: Buggy Man, Geeper Creeper, Rest-Q, Road Ranger, Spay-C, Spoiler, and maybe Turbo (unless I'm confusing him with Spoiler). Spay-C's head revealed by rotating the cone around always creeped me out. I have no idea why. However, I think there's a good reason that I couldn't remember these names off the top of my head beyond not thinking about this toyline for decades. These names SUCK. I mean, jeez louise, Spay-C? REST-Q? Really? BUGGY MAN?!?!

Anyway, like Transformers, Go-Bots were just a toyline lifted (well, licensed) from another company in another country. And like Transformers, they too would have imitators and knock offs. So, today at Quake, looking at the coffee can holding these newly acquired Go-Bot figures, I noticed that some were of a different color than what I remembered; and upon seeing the card, I realized that duh, a few of these were knock offs.

TRANS-MOBOTS! I did you all a disservice in taking a pic of only 4/5ths of the back card with my phone, as what I cut off stated that these toys were distributed by Zayre. The defunct department store? Was this their brand of knockoffs? I wonder how that works; does someone call them up, "Hey, I got thousands of off-color and slightly funny smelling plastic versions of that Go-Bot line by Tonka! They can be exclusive to YOU, Zayre, if you just print on the back of the blister pack that you're distributing them!"

And then they agreed? And they came up with TRANS-MOBOTS? And I'm guessing one of them was your grandfather, about to retire from the retail marketing biz, and that was the best name he could think of, because "Mobots" is the term that Red Skelton might have used for robots? I don't know, I'm just speculating, and unfairly so. And none of you know who Red Skelton is.

But the best is that Go-Bot "Slicks" is named "Lotus Eater." Go-Bot names never seemed that...clever. Transformers fired the great Dennis O'Neil because the best he could do was name Optimus Prime. Can someone find out who is responsible on the Go-Bot end? I mean, the motorcycle bad guy is "Cy-Kill," but the Lockheed Martin SR-71 from this same toyline is "Scoop." What, you couldn't name it "Blackbird?" "Darkhawk" wasn't taken by Marvel Comics yet. Was the SR-71's function 'Go-Bot reporter?'

Knock-off "Gas Can" here seems more clever than "Geeper Creeper." But I'm amused greatly by "Lotus Eater." Is there a literary reference here that couldn't be fully explored because Zayre wasn't able to foot the bill for the Trans-Mobot cartoon? Unlike Transformers, Go-Bots did not have bios mentioning their respective robot's personality. Instead, they had pictures of other robot from line, and Trans-Mobots were no different. (And yes, someone's mom crossed off the acquired figure for future shopping purposes.) So what makes this race car "Lotus Eater?" What match am I supposed to make between formula-1 racing and ancient mariners hoping to fall into a drugged out state to avoid their harsh reality? Your grandfather needs to call Denny O'Neil and get this ball rolling, because I might actually watch this show.

Discuss the possible pilot. See you next time!

Based on real live...cars...well, real cars. You get the idea.

Here's a link re: more cars, beyond their make/model, that inspired the designs on many of the G1 figures, courtesy of my friend SuperSquad on the TF2005 boards, who btw moderates all the custom submissions for Transformers fans who like to improve/ruin their toys. Thanks Allen! Click around there for more interesting stuff.

The Holy Grail(s) - and a random recent acquisition.

I'll start with the lightweight stuff: I picked up Classics Smokescreen this weekend.

I avoided him the first time around because...because why? Like the G1 Prowl, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen, Classics Prowl, Silverstreak, and Smokescreen share the same mold. When I was a kid, I wanted something different. Or maybe my parents decided against getting me three of the same figure, which is why I had Thundercracker but never Starscream or Skywarp. So I never got the G1 versions of this common Autobot. This might be the only regular figure mold that was used for three characters back then (Minicars Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, and Hubcap [and Bumper] all shared similar molds...but their differences are far more drastic than those between Prowl, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen).

I wanted to really get into slot car racing.
The track I had, which was not of the
Tyco brand, sparked and actually shot
out a flame. My dad was a fireman, so I
had to get rid of the track. I kept this guy.

I always dug Smokescreen's paint job. I even still have a slot car with a somewhat similar color scheme. His was one of the first Alternators I got (which is a little more subdued) and my wife found me this tiny Legends size Smokescreen from some TF movie related two pack I can't recall (I think a tiny movie Starscream came with it). All of these have a better look than Classics Smokescreen. By this time I was committed to getting all the Classics/Universe figures related to G1 as they came out. I had a friend track down Universe Sideswipe, which I avoided initially because the idea was to just get the Classics figures to fill out the G1 figures I never had, thus not jumping deep into an unending abyss of needless Transformers collecting.

I want to add that I have NO IDEA how I got G1 Smokescreen. (His hood and hatchback leg pieces are broken off and missing). No idea. Did I trade some GI Joes for him? That might be it. No idea. But I like him.

Jeez Louise I'm boring, but you're sticking out like a
sore...turbo..fo...oh forget it.

Anyway, I thought Classics Smokescreen didn't look that good, and I still think that. However, I'm getting more requests for Gears episodes, mainly from the Gears voice actors, so I figure I better round out the collection with more posable figures. I found this at Quake. I would best describe this paint job as "garish" unless I'm feeling nice and will only use the term "hard to look at." The red, white, and blue seem out of proportion from each other at every level. It's tough to describe, but look at the original: a thin white line separates the red and blue. Very casual, classy. Here, somehow, my eyes burn. Maybe it's the Ariel Black "38" font (you can correct me) swimming in its boxed off section from the door. That just looks plain terrible, and if ReproLabels still has their Smokescreen mod I might have to make my first purchase with them so I don't go blind.

Smokescreen's original paintjob is based on a real car. (As is his Alternator.)

That's the most recent purchase. Some of the previous ones barely covered on the old Livejournal (or not covered at all) are pretty special, and two were gifts from the Mrs.

THE HOLY GRAIL(s)

So, my interest in G1 figures stops at Season 2, or really up through 1985, before the Aerialbots and Protectobots are introduced. Shockwave was introduced right away in the cartoon, but how soon before his toy was available? Well, I never got him, and figured I wouldn't due to high prices and the scarcity of figures in decent, and even in working, shape. He's battery powered, makes noises, lights up, and has a frail rubber hose that breaks off just by you looking at it and a battery cover that was last seen on Unsolved Mysteries. I haven't even seen it since I started this hobby! Well, I found one on eBay and they claimed it had working parts. It was a buy it now. It was pretty cheap. I bought it NOW. A few days later and it came as described: perfect working order, broken battery case that still stays on, hose that is a little brittle but still there, and legs that don't always hold up his giant hefty battery powered body.

Who is the little guy to his left? That's BUMPER. Aka BUMBLEJUMPER. He's a little yellow figure that was released in parts of South America under a different name than Transformers (and he was painted white). North Americans however would get this little guy in Cliffjumper packages. But he kinda looked like Bumblebee. He's easily confused with Bumbleebee (not helping is that also packaged in their respective blister packs were red Bumblebees and yellow Cliffjumpers) and he might also get confused with the orange face of Hubcap, But, in the end he's just a figure that wasn't part of any Transformers story, nor was his figure ever promoted by Hasbro, not even packaged later on with an official name in subsequent waves of the toyline. There are theories, such as the lowly Hasbro employees, upon getting the final list of toys to release in and seeing that the BUMPER (named by the fans) figure was not pictured with the rest of them and had no bio or artwork, just threw him into Cliffjumper cards and that was that. I guess that's plausible but I wasn't there and Hasbro doesn't send me free samples or ask to hang out with me on weekends. I'll move on: the wife and I were at C2E2 walking the floor, and we found a toy dealer and as I started complaining re: no one having anything special in the vintage TF department, I saw a loose Bumblejumper and my jaw dropped. How much? A lot. Enough for when people ask me about it and I tell them, they start quizzing me like I'm an insane person to spend that much. I should be ashamed, I guess. The wife got it for me and I will never ask for anything again.

The year before for our anniversary she bought me Reflector. All three robots, with the lens and the flash, but no projectiles or guns.

Literally 50% larger in this photo.

There's a few 3rd party figures that are more posable but price wise they are comparable if not more expensive, and I was happy to find one that had all three robots and with two of the hardest parts to find along with it. The whole thing is hard to find: he was available via mail order only in 1986 or 87 (well after the movie), and by then I think the toyline was in decline, not as popular, and many probably didn't mail away for him. Had I still been getting the figures, I totally would have (the last ones i got were Wheelie and Pipes, minicars from the movie era). Reflector was basically the anonymous generic henchrobot/footsoldier of the Decepticon army, probably because he didn't have a figure. He was just these three similar looking robots that formed a camera and had no stories (or even explored/expressed personality) of their own. The viewing lens works. Maybe someone clever will install some working digital camera hardware to make this the coolest, blurriest picture taking camera ever.

The toyline went on for a few more years. I'm sure there are figures rarer and more valuable (mainly the larger ones that started off with a higher price point). These are pretty cool but they're not going to replace my favorites (some of which are the most common). What is/are your Holy Grail(s) in the Transformers world?

CY-KILL?!?!?

Fall Of Cybertron - Jazz / Shockwave

I haven't gotten anything lately because I haven't really been interested in the Prime line. I picked up Prime Arcee (both First Edition and the regular), Wheeljack, and Soundwave. FE Arcee and Wheeljack are the best designed of the bunch, though the Prime Wheeljack is not as cool as the Generations, but that's my opinion. The regular Arcee might be good for a kitbash of the Slipstream project I might do in a bit. I'm not impressed with the Soundwave. He's too pointy and he looks like he'll break at any moment. I'm not digging the ultra thin arms. The pointy winged thing is a stretch as "Laserbeak." "No, really, that looks like a random bunch of wings glued together, Mr. Soundwave." I guess for Soundwave I'd just want him to look as much like the G1 Soundwave as they can get away with. Big, blocky, cool head, and not poking my eye out. If they're going to go through the trouble of giving Wheeljack's G1 color scheme a nod with this toy even with the Generations figure, why not do the same with Soundwave? (He transforms into a drone.)

Oh, Wheeljack has swords. Why? I don't know.

So the first batch of the Generations line for this year made their way to northern Chicago on Friday. They had been showing up in the burbs and usually that meant in a few weeks or even a month I should check the TRU on Western. And usually I get beat out by the other TF seekers and vultures and just wait until a friend can make it out the burbs or until they show up at the nearby Target. Well, for some reason I thought to stop by there on the way to work and what do you know, next to dozens of unsold Prime Bumblebees and under the row of the previous Generations wave was Optimus Prime, Jazz, and...SHOCKWAVE!

Because Shockwave was one I didn't get as a kid and hard to find at a good price as a collector, I bought his Animated figure as a stand in with the G1s. I think it was my first Animated purchase, as I was attempting to just "fill in the blanks" of my G1s and not go overboard on all the Classics. (That didn't work.) Later I got an Alternator Shockwave (Shockblast?) from Quake and a working G1 from eBay, missing only the battery case. Everything else about it was in working order (lights, sound) though the legs were a little wobbly.

This Generations figure is a deluxe size representation of his Fall Of Cybertron character from the video games. He's a playable design in the online melee game but not part of the story. Not sure if he'll fit in the story of the new game. His alt mode is not a large gun. Instead it's a flying ship that resembles some kind of low ceiling roadster. He looks incredibly tiny (and is shorter than both the WFC Generations Soundwave and Megatron by almost a head). Maybe a Voyager size figure would have been more impressive. His gun also doesn't fit when you bend his elbow; what I mean is that if he's holding his gun, it blocks his elbow from bending at a 90 degree angle. You have to cradle it under his armpit (which strangely looks molded to hold the gun in such a way!). Outside of these complaints, this is a really good figure.

Jazz will be a playable figure in the FOC game. Like Shockwave, he was a playable design in the online game (note: you have to buy downloadable content for both, they don't come with the game).
His figure is...pretty weak. He might be as tall as the FOC Shockwave but his shape looks like that of a Legend or Scout class figure. He just looks cheap. He folds into a car, and for some reason his feet have round wheel shapes at his ankles, yet are not actual wheels. You fold the doors holding his arms (containing actual back wheels) over his front wheels, and thus when he's a robot, it looks like his front wheels would come from the ones on his arms and the back from the fake ones on his feet. This is pretty dumb. His face resembles Robocop for some reason, or maybe it's just me. It also seems to have an elongated jaw with two cheekbones. (I know, robots don't need cheekbones.) The Reveal The Shield Jazz is a much better figure. I know this is supposed to be a design representing his Cybertronian mode but instead it looks like a cheap knockoff with really skinny legs...and fake wheels.

What really stinks is that FOC Sideswipe, the one other character I want from the video game part of Generations, is based on this mold. I think that's most disappointing, but I will still check it out. Hopefully the head sculpt will be good as I plan to swap it with Sideswipe's Classics figure.

The video game related figures seem designed and almost feel different than the other G1 based Generations/RTS figures. Is it the plastic? Am I nuts? Why am I constantly touching things? As a result, I cancelled my pre-order the Amazon "G2" Bruticus figures from this line, which is disappointing because I wanted to see how they handle combiners, though I never was a fan of the G1 "Scramble City" combiners (the ones that were released after Devastator), they always looked really weird to me once combined, and this is no different. Jazz' quality just confirms that I can skip it.

I didn't get Optimus Prime from this line because I got the figure from the last video game and I thought it was pretty cheap lookin'. So, same thing, and am just skippin' figures that look as bad or worse than how I feel about this particular Jazz figure.

Okay, that's it for now.

Current status.

I used to have a Livejournal and it went from my day to day or what I was thinking or how I was doing or what I was drawing and working on.

Then I stopped drawing as much. And I also stopped talking about what was going on my head, for the most part.

But I was writing about things I purchased more than these other declining subjects, and around Transformer toys: movie figures, classics, and 'vintage' G1 etc.

I stopped using the Livejournal completely for blogspot so I could have a spot for my comics and my writing and whathaveyou, but decided to stop writing about the toys I was buying.

I kind of miss rambling about the action figures. So, what the hey: I'll post about them here.

Okay?

FOR STARTERS:

Commemorative Series VIII reissue of Sideswipe, in its box.

Not much else to add.

-paul