30 October 2007

Them little monsters - They are Here!

After a two and a half week wait, they are here.

Them little monsters are here.

Strange toys they may be, but I'm liking them more and more. This set is beginning to grow on me, little by little. But wait, look, they have encountered the Dinobots...


Monstructor versus Grimlock, Slag & Snarl

***
Read all 'Them little Monsters' chapters:
Chapter 01: Them little monsters
Chapter 02: A prediction of price increase
Chapter 03: They are here!
Chapter 04: Gunning the monsters

Metalforce Hot Rod - An Introduction

'I hate Hot Rod' I've been saying that since TFTM in 1986.

I hated him because he caused the death of Optimus Prime. Sure Megatron may have been primarily responsible, but if Hot Rod didn't interfere and get used as a shield, Prime would have shot Megatron before the latter could fatally wound him.

'Wow Hot Rod is cool. I like him' was what i found myself saying a few days ago. I was bewildered to hear myself say that after having hated Hot Rod for the better part of 20 years. What is happening to me? What is the reason for my change in heart?

The reason? Metalforce Hot Rod.

Here he is... boom






























This baby is so hot that I can't take my eyes off him.

I am incredibly impressed with Hirofumi Ichikawa's design and Yujo Koike's sculpt of Hot Rod. So much so that I've decided to do a series in 4 Chapters to fully pay tribute to such an awesome figure.

Next: The Origin of Metalverse Hot Rod

***
Read all chapters in the Metalverse Hot Rod series
Chapter 01: Metalverse Hot Rod- An Introduction
Chapter 02: Metalverse Hot Rod- The Origin
Chapter 03: Metalverse Hot Rod- My reasons
Chapter 04: Metalverse Hot Rod- The Photos

Forum discussions
OZ Formers forum
Seibertron forum

29 October 2007

Upgrade 1.0 - heroicdecepticon domain secured

'You should secure the heroic decepticon domain' AR said a few hours after last week's site launch.

I agreed. So I should. So I did.

So here comes the first site upgrade after a week on the world wide web.

This little site can now be accessed with the following simple URL-
http://heroicdecepticon.com

I've also gotten an email with the domain and can now be contacted here or at-
secrets@heroicdecepticon.com

'till all are one!

-HD-

28 October 2007

The Dragon and the Ape part 3: Reflections

Previous Chapter- The Dragon & the Ape Part 2: Apeface

Now I've got them both. The Dragon and Ape.



I got to thinking that they ought to be Scorponok's lieutenants just like Buster and Hydra were to Overlord; just like Cyclonus and Scourge were to Galvatron; and just like Skywarp and Thundercracker were to Starscream.

I know they were not exactly written in the comics or cartoons to be such but the profiles do say a lot. I'll illustrate my thoughts by comparing them with Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge

From a design point of view, Snapdragon and Apeface have complimentary colour schemes just like Cyclonus and Scourge have.

Now, a look at their Marvel Universe bios...

Scorponok: Scorponok, as Headmaster Leader and arguably the leader of the Decepticons after Galvatron, approximates to Galvatron as Decepticon Leader.

Apeface: Apeface's function is listed as 'Saboteur' while Cyclonus' function is also listed 'Saboteur'. Apeface and Cyclonus undoubtedly serve their respective leaders in the same capacity.

Snapdragon: Snapdragon's function is listed as 'Interceptor'. An interceptor is a type of aircraft which 'intercepts enemy aircraft and destroys them'. Scourge's function is 'Sweeps Leader' but the sweeps function collectively as 'Hunter-Trackers' that 'hunts down and eliminates' targets. Snapdragon 'intercepts enemy aircraft and destroys them'; Scourge 'hunts down and eradicate[s]' targets, - 'intercept' is similar to 'hunts down' because to intercept, one has to find the target first, one has to hunt the target down; 'destroy' is similar to 'eradicates'. It thus follows that Snapdragon and Scourge serve their respective leaders in a similar capacity.

Snapdragon's binary partner, Krunk, served as Lord Zarak's (Scorponok's binary partner) bodyguard before they became Headmasters. It is very possible that Snapdragon would serve in a similar capacity due to Krunk's influence whether conscious or subconscious.

Conjecture or conclusion?: I therefore believe that Snapdragon and Apeface are meant to be Scorponok's 'lieutenants' just as Cyclonus and Scourge are Galvatron's.

The Dragon and the Ape is to the Scorpion what the Hovercraft and Spaceship is to the Space Gun.

To me at least, it makes perfect symmetry and it makes perfect sense.

***

Read the entire The Dragon and the Ape series!
Chapter 1 – The Dragon and the Ape part 1: Snapdragon
Chapter 2 – The Dragon and the Ape part 2: Apeface
Chapter 3 – The Dragon and the Ape part 3: Reflections

25 October 2007

Blastin' with Blaster's box art

Previous Chapter- Blastin' with Blaster's comic persona








Blaster

For the second part of the tribute, I contributed an updated high quality scan of the Blaster box art to Botch's Box Art Archive.

I scanned the box art in from my MIB Blaster, which has his left foot and left ear cut off. With Photoshop, I touched up slight flaws and optimized its colour, contrast and saturation to make the reds and yellows more vibrant. I made his left 'ear' whole. Lastly, I had to re-construct his left foot from scratch by using the previous low resolution box art scan for reference.

The foot is perhaps the most challenging part. Many edits were done on this. I did an edit, which my friend found unsatisfactory. We then sat down together to do another 2 edits over 2 nights before asking for Botch's comment and together coming up with what is on the Box Art Archive now.


Blaster box art editing

So there it is, the current Blaster box art is from me. What an honour! It can be seen here. Botch's tribute post to Blaster can be seen here.

A great big thank you to Botch for giving me this wonderful opportunity to appropriately contribute to the Transformers fandom through such a core G1 character and one that is dear to me.

And that was it, my second tribute to Blaster. I enjoyed Blastin' with Blaster, I hope you did too!

***
Read all Blastin' with Blaster chapters
Chapter 01: Blastin' with Blaster
Chapter 02: Blastin' with Blaster's comic persona
Chapter 03: Blastin' with Blaster's box art


23 October 2007

48 Hours Later

It's been 2 days since launch.

Hits have increased to 408 but where were the readers coming from?

The first ClusterMap has been generated and this is the story it tells. Over the past 48 hours there were hits from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Singapore, Malaysia, Greece, London, Spain, Germany, New York, Michigan, Georgia, Texas, Los Angeles, Kansas, Minnesota, Washington and even from Anchorage in Alaska!

A very big thank you once again!

Tomorrow, I will be releasing Part 3 of my Blaster Tribute - Blastin' with Blaster's Box Art. Hope you will like it!

24 Hours Later

It's been 24 hours.

Thank you for visiting this site. There were approximately 252 hits 12 hours after going live; there were approximately 313 hits 24 hours after going live; and there have been a total of 6 comments posted on the site.

There has been approximately 240 views and 33 replies at the topic I started on OZ Formers here; and there are approximately 154 views and 5 replies on the topic I started on Seibertron here.

All very modest figures, but I am delighted! I am happy to give a little back to the Transformers fandom.

Perhaps the most shocking thing I learnt today is that after 12 hours, a search for Heroic Decepticon on Google returns this site as the #1 result. This is still true after 24 hours.

I hope to keep up the good results with support from all you guys and gals out there!

'ta for now!
HD

***



























Heroic Decepticon #1 result on Google after 24 hours

22 October 2007

Heroic Decepticon goes live!

I have chosen to launch Heroic Decepticon today.

I am an insane, slightly out-of-wack collector who is only interested in G1 Transformers and mythology. I love everything G1- toys, box art, boxes, instructions, tech specs and even the packing bubbles. I can't really say I care too much for the post G1 lines, there is simply no affinity there.

Some quick links of, what I think, are potentially interesting to a TF fan:
  • Photos of my collection are here.
  • The Origin Story of my collection, starts here.
  • My view of classic TF controversies can be found here.
  • Search the 'Site Navigation' section (right) for more.
Special thanks goes to Sentient Development, Dirge of OZ Formers (Cliffbee.com), Raymond T. and AQ. [edit] Thanks also to Botch the Crab whose thoughts crept in early this morning, after returning from Boston.

'till all are one,

heroic decepticon
23rd October 2007


PS: These are my all time favourite Transformers. What about you?



Rumble is blue Frenzy is red

Rumble is blue Frenzy is red (RBFR) or Rumble is red Frenzy is blue (RRFB)?

This is one of a number of contentious, often discussed but never resolved G1 Transformer continuity issues. I’m going to put down what I believe to be true.

I write this as a more concise response to Botch's article Rumble is Red, Frenzy is Blue.

















"Hey, am I Rumble or Frenzy?"

As a kid, I thought of Rumble as blue and Frenzy as red- I advocate RBFR.

In the early years, the G1 cartoons made up the majority of my Transformers exposure- they were the only thing I had to go on, at least for the first one and half years. Since MTMTE, Rumble had been coloured blue (or actually purplish-blue) and that was the colour I identified him with.

Add to this the fact that I continuously failed to convince mummy to buy me a Rumble (red toy) & Ravage set and we have a little me that not only believed that Rumble is blue as animated, but a me that wanted Rumble to be blue because I had a Ratbat & Frenzy set and can ‘reassign’ Frenzy as the more popular Rumble.

Rumble has ever been blue for me, even till this day. I am slowly being convinced otherwise because the new wave of TF comics have taken a stand- they are following what the toy package says and not the G1 animated cartoon.

Interestingly, Seibertron.com lists that the Japanese name for Rumble (red toy) is Frenzy and that Frenzy (blue toy) is Rumble here.

So, while I know that Rumble should be red and Frenzy blue, a part of me, perhaps the child part, still yearns to believe that Rumble is blue and Frenzy is red, RBFR. I am, as Botch would say, 'an illusionist' to the end.

Squawktalk & Beastbox mint on sealed card

*this happened around September 2005*

I managed to obtain a MISB (to me that is Mint in Sealed Bubble) combiner casette Beastbox and Squawktalk. Did not belive that I could get it sealed, fresh and untouched at a bargain price, well not on eBay at least. Beautiful box art on the card as well. Check it out...


21 October 2007

Tom

My cat's name is Tom.

I read him A Dream of a Thousand Cats [Dream Country: The Sandman #18] a while back. Ever since, something strange came over him. In the day, he's a cute and adorable ball of fur; at night he starts kicking an incomprehesible amount of ass left right and center as a stealth panther... Ravage!









More shots of Tom can be found here.

20 October 2007

The Grand daddy of Transformers - going to HK

Previous chapter- The Beginning

*These events happened in August 2005.*









Grand Maximus

Off I was to HK the next day. Little did DV know that I am very familiar with HK. There are only a handful of shops that stock vintage TF gems and they are not hard to locate. Sure enough, I found a shop that had a Grand Max cleverly hidden away on the second day of my trip.

I walked in and asked to see the piece but was promptly told that it was ‘not for sale’. Something’s starting to sound familiar here, in a good way. I convinced them to let me at least look inside the box. I gingerly handled the toy, picking up each part with the softest of touch, all the while maintaining an awestruck expression. My gf (at that time) rushed into the little shop when I pulled out the Grand Max unused and still sealed sticker sheet.

‘Wow! That is so nice’, she was ecstatic. ‘Buy this toy, buy this toy!’

The shop-owner, maybe taking pity on me, agreed to sell it- for the equivalent of S$1500 (coincidentally the same amount DV mentioned). I walked out to think about it because that was a large sum of money. My at that time gf, mad about the sticker sheet (I don’t know why), kept pestering me to buy it.

I went in, negotiated the price down to S$1300 and bought it. I bought Grand Maximus, the Masterforce Solar System Commander, the grand daddy of Transformers!

.....

...

..

.

‘DV, I found the Grand Max you mentioned. I bought it for S$1300’ I said smiling and radiating with joy.

‘Arghhhh, you bastard!’

***


Beautiful box art

Apparently, C-311 is so rare that many of the biggest sites on the internet at that time didn't yet have pictures of him. I took some pictures, which quality I'm quite ashamed of, and contributed them to TFU.info. These can be seen here.

Scans of the box art were contributed to Botch's Box Art Archive here.

***


MISB Grand Maximus opened


Parts, unapplied sticker sheet and paperwork


Solar System Commander: Grand Maximus

18 October 2007

Them little monsters - a prediction of price increase

Continued from: Them little monsters

I have a theory about the price of them little monsters, which is the main reason I acquired them back here.

Here's the theory: there is every likelihood that Monstructor prices will rise even more over the next 3 to 4 months.

I'm comparing this situation with what I like to call the 'Sunstorm Surprise' in 2003/2004. Sunstorm was a 'wtf is this character' when released? But a few months later his price skyrocketed due to the first story arc in Dreamwave's TF G1 vol 3.

*warning, possible spoilers if you have not read Transformers Spotlight: Optimus Prime and/or Dreamwave TF G1 vol. 3 #4*
  • Sunstorm was released in limited numbers (eHobby exclusive); Monstructor could even be more limited. The vintage and fragility factor further lowers its supply. Add to that the fact that Japan never got a Jap box Monstructor equivalent (they got Dinoking) and it follows that supply is even more limited than most would suspect.
  • Sunstorm played a pivotal role in Dreamwave's TF G1 vol 3; Monstructor is going to play a very pivotal role in IDW's TF continuity. (i) Monstructor is the first even gestalt, not Devastator (they are incidentally composed of 6 robots like Devastator, thereby making good sense); (ii) the first ever TF gestalt was created by the Autobots, not Decepticons; (iii) Prime didn't kill them but is going to study them ensuring that they will at least play a part in the upcoming Devastation arc, and will be literally the father of every gestalt that comes after, in the IDW-verse.
  • Fans were impressed when Sunstorm fought Omega Supreme to a standstill (winning after cheating); Monstructor took Omega to the cleaners, what will fans think? (see comparison below)
  • All these pivotal events were penciled by Don Figueroa, widely regarded as the best TF artist now.
  • All the above will have an effect because the IDW comics are the only source of new G1 material to shape fans' imaginations and fuel demand.
That's my prediction. Spotlight Optimus was published in Aug 2007, so I think a hike in price may start to occur in Dec or early Jan next year, but only time will tell.



Monstructor vs Omega Supreme (left); Sunstorm vs Omega Supreme (right)

***
Read all 'Them little Monsters' chapters:
Chapter 01: Them little monsters
Chapter 02: A prediction of price increase
Chapter 03: They are here!
Chapter 04: Gunning the monsters

***
Thread on OZ Formers Board here.
See what Botch the Crab has to say here.


14 October 2007

Operation Combiner

Over the past 2 months or so, I was a little combiner mad.

It started with Computron and Abominus and just ended, hopefully, with Monstructor. My rules for buying combiners are that they (1) must be 100% complete; (2) must have instructions; (3) must have all tech specs and preferably the leader’s box; and (4) must be at least C9 and above in condition.

Summary of cost (inclusive shipping):
  • 27 Jul 2007: Computron, S$196.41
  • 27 Jul 2007: Abominus, S$196.41
  • 02 Aug 2007: Piranacon, S$323.31
  • 09 Sep 2007: Bruticus, S$205.55
  • 08 Oct 2007: Monstructor, S$408.00










Operation Combiner... still waiting on Monstructor

Computron and Abominus, I am happy with. The bonus is that they come with partial backing cards as well.


Computron eBay auction


Abominus eBay auction

Piranacon is a tad high but in great condition as well.


Piranacon eBay auction

Bruticus is perhaps my favourite acquisition among the lot so far. It is not 100% complete, but I bought this lot more for the cardbacks which still have their bubbles attached! The Onslaught box and cardbacks are absolutely beautiful, clean pristine and sleek. If I wanted to, I could reseal all the Combaticons into the cardbacks quite convincingly. Happy with this.


Bruticus eBay auction


Beautiful Combaticon cardbacks

Monstructor is the most excessive of the lot- costing a whopping US$277 inclusive shipping. It is so insane that I immediately wrote the story of its acquisition here, and also posted it onto the OZ Formers site here. I received mixed reactions, some violent, the most common being ‘you paid way too much for this crappy/lousy set’. Admittedly, I did. I paid US$50-70 more than I should have. I am still waiting on this set’s arrival, waiting to see how well it either satisfies or disappoints me.


Monstructor eBay auction


10 October 2007

Blastin' with Blaster's comic persona

Previous Chapter- Blastin' with Blaster








Blaster

To me, the comics Blaster is significant because (i) he stands for freedom against tyranny, challenging Grimlock's untenable position as Autobot leader; (ii) he is an extremely skilled fighter and tactician; and (iii) his Electro-Scrambler is a weapon that is as unforgettable as Prime's Laser Rifle and Megatron's Fusion Cannon.

On (i): When Grimlock became Autobot leader and started totally disregarding human life, Blaster chose to be branded a 'traitor' rather than submit to tyranny. He held the firm belief in the right of all sentient beings to be free. This culminated in a sort of coup where Blaster with the support of the majority of Autobots, challenged Grimlock to a duel for leadership. [Events recorded in Transformers #41 (Marvel) or Transformers #174 & 175 (Marvel UK)]


Blaster vs Grimlock - Transformers #175 (Marvel UK)

On (ii): Blaster is an extremely skilled tactician and fighter. I would usually interpret the Tech Specs 'skill' score in relation to a Transformers' function; therefore, Blaster's 'skill 9' should normally be intepreted as him being a very skilled Communications Officer just as Perceptor's 'skill 10' means he is an excellent scientist. In Blaster's case, I think his 'skill 9' score together with his 'strength 8' and 'courage 9' can be extrapolated to mean his physical powress in battle as well.

I look to the below scenes as evidence of my conclusion.

Blaster battling all 3 Decepticon Triple-Changers on his lonesome in Transformers #29 (Marvel US):
















Blaster trying to fight off Vortex while also trying to protect human life and the safely of the Throttlebots:














Agility on display while saving human lives:


























Blaster's 'intelligence 8' may be extrapolated to mean his tactical and planning ability. Among others, here is an example where he tricked a much stronger Transformer than him, Bruticus, to lower his guard and then surreptitiously defeating him. (well, maybe not such a good example because Bruticus is stupid...)





















On (iii): Who could forget that Blaster wields an Electro-Scrambler? In 1999, after almost one and a half decades away from Transformers the only weapons I remember were Optimus Prime's Laser Rifle, Cliffjumper's Glass Gas Gun, Megatron's Fusion Cannon, Starscream's Null Ray... and Blaster's Electro-Scrambler. Not only is Blaster's gun mentioned with such consistency, but it is one of the few instances where a Transformer weapon actually does what it is supposed to do rather than just firing generic laser rounds (see comic extracts above).

So, that is tribute 'part one' above.

Next: Blaster Tribute part 2- Blastin' with Blaster's box art

***
Read all Blastin' with Blaster chapters
Chapter 01: Blastin' with Blaster
Chapter 02: Blastin' with Blaster's comic persona
Chapter 03: Blastin' with Blaster's box art


09 October 2007

My reasons for who became Cyclonus

Previous chapter: Which Decepticon reformatted into Cyclonus & Scourge?

As previously mentioned, I believe that Skywarp is undoubtedly the Decepticon who was reformatted into Cyclonus.

My reasoning goes this way:

[1] Profile: I expect the Unicron reformatted beings to behave very much like their pre-reformatted selves because Unicron obviously didn’t tinker with their personalities much. Skywarp was blindly loyal to Megatron (see esp MTMTE); Bombshell is far from loyal (see the Insecticon Syndrome). As seen from Webworld especially, Cyclonus is blindly loyal to Galvatron as well. Also Cyclonus is quite a blockhead just like Skywarp is dull, whereas Bombshell is pretty smart. It follows that Skywarp’s profile is a closer match to Cyclonus than Bombshell’s.

[2] Mass: Cyclonus is a large Decepticon, roughly the same size as Scourge and a little smaller than Galvatron. By extrapolation, that would mean that Cyclonus is roughly the same size as Thundercracker who became Scourge. Bombshell, on the other hand is much smaller than either of the seekers. In terms of mass, size and height, Skywarp is a more probable Cyclonus candidate than Bombshell is.

[3] Function: Cyclonus is a saboteur while Skywarp is a warrior and Bombshell does psychological warfare. A saboteur is arguably a warrior with the superadded skill of sabotage- like chocolate topping on vanilla ice-cream; in any case the physicality of the function means that it is closer to a plain vanilla warrior than a psychological warfare specialist is. It is more probable for Skywarp than Bombshell to be Cyclonus because they have similar functions.

[4] Alternate mode: This point needs no elaboration- Cyclonus is a spaceship while Skywarp is an F-15 fighter plane and Bombshell is a beetle.

[5] Colour: I know I am getting a little pedantic here, but this is a point nonetheless. Cyclonus’ colour scheme consists of purple and grey/silver while Skywarp’s consists of purple, black and grey/silver and Bombshell’s consists of purple, black, grey/silver and yellow. Cyclonus has no yellow parts and so is closer in colour to Skywarp than Bombshell.

It follows from all the above that I strongly believe that the dominant Cyclonus, the one in all post movie episodes, is more likely than not the reformatted Skywarp.

08 October 2007

Them little monsters

I just did a mad thing today.

It was not something I started out the day thinking I would do. I started out thinking about it, about the possibility, but did not commit anything to my mind. I thought I could bid if it were a good deal.

40 minutes before the auction was slated to end was the time I found out there was no good deal to be had, or was there? Bidding for the complete Pretender Monsters set (a la Monstructor) was at US$255.00, a large amount when measured in either Australian or Singapore dollars.

I looked around eBay and found the asking prices for Monstructor sets of similar content were around US$208, US$285 to US$600. Pretty mad. I thought that maybe US$255 was not all that mad and that US$255 to US$280 would be a sort of mid-range median price for this rare set. After all, Botch the Crab pegged it at US$250 thereabouts.

So against my better judgment, I put in my highest bid at US$288 and 5 seconds later entered US$302. It was crazy but it is a crazy day and I’m on a combiner high (After having bought Abominus, Computron, Piranacon and Bruticus consecutively; see also Operation Combiner).

I was fully prepared to lose this auction.

I was.

I won, in the end.








I was quite surprised to have won it at US$260 flat. I expect this to be an amazing set with the exception of the missing Tech Spec and Slog’s broken but super glued back legs.

I am hoping to find a Slog loose online and that would make this set quite perfect.

On another note, I think it is time to make good my ‘promise’ to stop mad, insane buying at least for this year. I’m targeting 23rd October (the day this site goes live) as a final cut off date.

***

- Evening Update -

I did a search for 'Slog' when I got back from work and there was a Buy it Now listing for Slog, robot & pretender shell, from an Austrlian seller! The BIN price is a mere AU$14.99. I bought it (together with Icepick and Bristleback) in a spilt second. I now have a good unbroken Slog to replace the one that is broken!

Nice! I can't really believe it myself.

Slog AU buy it now listing:







Next: Them little monsters - a prediction of price increase

***
Read all 'Them little Monsters' chapters:
Chapter 01: Them little monsters
Chapter 02: A prediction of price increase
Chapter 03: They are here!
Chapter 04: Gunning the monsters

***
Thread on OZ Formers Board here.
See what Botch the Crab has to say here.


07 October 2007

Which Decepticon reformatted into Cyclonus & Scourge?

This is one of a number of contentious, often discussed but never resolved G1 Transformer continuity issues. I’m going to put down what I believe to be true.

Every 80s kid and his mother knows that Cyclonus and Scourge were reformatted from dying Decepticons by Unicron. The question is: who became Cyclonus and who became Scourge?

Thundercracker became the ‘main’ Scourge, leader of the Sweeps; this much is clear from Transformers: The Movie (1986). There is not much controversy here.

Bombshell and Skywarp were both shown to be reformatted as Cyclonus in TFTM (1986). However, right after that and for every cartoon episode after the movie, there was only ever one Cyclonus. Thus begging the question of who exactly became this Cyclonus, seeing that one of them obviously disappeared.


Reformatting of Cyclonus [pictures from Unicron.com]
Picture 2 shows Bombshell in the foreground and Skywarp in the background

The theory that Bombshell (foreground) became Cyclonus and Skywarp (in the background) became a being called ‘Armada’ is largely disregarded by the TF community as having no merit.

Marvel Comic adaptation [1986]
Shows just one Scourge and one Cyclonus with some unidentified silhouettes in the background. Does not address the issue.


TFTM script [1986]
“ON CYCLONUS (NEW DECEPTICON WITH PLANE TRANSFORM ABILITY).
CYCLONUS is CREATED and then his "armada" of similar, but smaller and similarly colored and clad creatures are formed.
UNICRON: Cyclonus, the warrior...and his armada.....”

That is all the script tells us. Absolutely nothing about who becomes who.


Transformers: The Animated Movie (2007) by IDW publishing [2007]
Bob Budiansky, the father of most G1 Transformer names, character profiles and Tech Specs, wrote all four issues. If there is one person that could authoritatively conclude this issue one way or another, it is Bob, one of the key creative talents behind the original Transformer profiles and stories. This is the perfect opportunity to set the Cyclonus record straight but sadly no move was made to clarify Cyclonus’ reformatting. Don Figueroa drew the reformatting scene as an almost exact reproduction of TFTM (1986), that is with Bombshell and Skywarp being reformatted into 2 Cyclonus’.

I draw 2 conclusions: (1) Bob and Don wanted to leave well enough alone and not tackle the issue; or (2) Bob did decide that Bombshell should become Cyclonus though this is arguable because if he had consciously wanted to establish that fact, he would have instructed Don to leave Skywarp becoming Cyclonus out of the background.


General TF community thoughts
Based on information deduced from fan forums, I feel the TF community is divided on this issue, with both sides of the fence being quite evenly populated.


I, myself, believe that Skywarp is undoubtedly the Decepticon who was reformatted into Cyclonus.

Next: My reasons for who became Cyclonus

06 October 2007

The Grand daddy of Transformers - the beginning

*These events happened in August 2005.*









Grand Maximus

‘Hey DV, I’m going to HK. Any Transformers news?’

‘I just returned from HK. Bought lots of Transformers. Wanted to buy more but couldn’t lug them all back. I let a Grand Maximus slip’ DV, the owner of a Singapore based toy shop, lamented.

‘Hmmm… really? What happened?’ I was sceptical, after all even if a rare gem such as Grand Maximus can be found; it really wouldn’t be very cheap anyway.

‘My HK friend brought me to this shop and showed me a MISB Grand Max that he initially said is not for sale. I asked to open it to check the contents. Man, it was the real thing, damn nice. The shop-owner asked for (an equivalent of) S$1500 but said that he would give it to me at (the equivalent of) S$1300’ DV swallowed, then looked at me with expectant eyes.

‘And?’ I was prepared to dance to his tune to know more.

‘I was pretty broke since that was my last day there, and I already had too many things to carry so I decided to try my luck. I told him that I would buy it for (the equivalent of) S$1000’

‘He said no I suppose.’

‘Yeah. He said no and told me to get lost. To get out of his shop. He said I was trying to insult him’ he said with anguish in his voice.

Next: Going to HK

05 October 2007

My Collecting Principles

‘You’re too fussy’- lots of people have said.

It’s true. I admit it. In fact, my fussiness carries from life and work into collecting and into Transformers. I collect Transformers, but am extremely fussy about which series and which ‘bots to collect.

The main principle is this:
I strictly collect G1 Transformers and series’ or individual toys that are directly relevant to G1. Exceptions may be occasioned for exceptionally brilliant new series' or the one off nice figure.

G1 reissues are considered G1 for the purposes of the principle. Examples of directly relevant lines include Takara’s SCF line, Mega SCF line, Metalforce line, Hasbro’s Classics line, Hard Hero busts, Diamond select sculpts and etc. An example of brilliant new series’ is without a doubt the Binaltech and the Masterpiece series.

I personally do not see TF lines that come later than G1 as Transformers. Yes, what I am saying is that I disregard almost all 'Transformers' lines after G1. I don't care for them, there is no affinity. And because I don’t consider them Transformers, I’m not even interested in having them in my collection, unless excepted as stated above.

I collect these Transformer series’:
  • Generation One
  • Robot Masters
  • Takara SCF, Mega-SCF/ Hasbro Heroes of Cybertron
  • WST
  • Binaltechs
  • KISS Players
  • Alternators [borderline except for Rumble & Ravage, Mirage and Rodimus if only because there are no Binaltech equivalents]
  • Masterpiece Series
  • Transformers Classics
  • Robot Heroes
  • Transformers Movie [very borderline case]
  • Encore

I avoid these like the plague:
  • G2
  • Beast Wars
  • Machine Wars
  • Beast Wars II
  • Beast Wars Neo
  • Beast Machines
  • TF: Robots in Disguise [Brave Max reissue exception]
  • Superlink/ Armada
  • Galaxy Force/ Universe [Starscream & Vector Prime exception]
  • Energon
  • Cybertron [Primus exception]
  • Titanium [War Within Prime & Megatron exception but very borderline]
When I buy figures in lots, I sometimes get more than just G1 figures. I will treat any toy that falls into the second list with contempt- in fact, I have this uncontrollable urge to throw them away most of the time. The thought of them breathing the same air as my G1 Transformers is distasteful at best but revolting at worse.

It follows that I am not interested in building a big 'Transformers' collection by biting hook, line and sinker into the, what is often, trash that Hasbro tosses my way.

I define what is worthy of being a Transformer and the quality of figures that enter my collection. For this reason, fortunately or unfortunately, I will never have as big a collection as so-called completists who buy any and everything that carries the Transformers label...

... for afterall, I am who I am.

01 October 2007

SDCC exclusive Alternators Rodimus

I missed out the first time round.

In fact, I missed out on Alternators Mirage and KISS Player Hot Rodimus- the only Alternator/ Binaltech toy molds that I do not have. Seeing that I love the series and have every one ever released, it is quite unfathomable why I missed these 2 (I did manage to claw my way to a BT-18 clear Mirage though).

When I heard the the SDCC (San Diego Comic Convention) exclusive Alternator Rodimus is making its rounds, exclusively, in Toyworlds here in Australia, I was determined to get it.

The only problem is this- the nearest Toyworld for a Sydney resident is about an hour drive away, on a good day. For some reason, all the Toyworlds in NSW are at the outskirts. I considered driving to all of them but settled for going to the Blue Mountains to have a bushwalk and go by any Toyworld on the way instead.

Well, none of the Toyworlds I stopped at had the elusive SDCC Rodimus. Fortunately, Griffin from the OZ Formers boards did the fandom a great service and sourced Alt Rodimus' from the Brisbane side. He obtained 5 on 1st October and offered me one!

It made my day. I am finally going to get me an Alt Rodimus. Thank you Griffin!

With your gracious help, I am no longer missing out!

***

Update 10th October 2007

It arrived! Thanks Griffin!


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