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Wordsmith Simon Furman has updated his blog with the usual Script (W)Rap for this week's issue of ReGeneration One! Do you have what it takes to be teased a little further until tomorrow's release of the title? See what he has to say below, and check out his blog here.
Can it be? Is that the final countdown I hear, as Regeneration One ticks towards its 100th — and final — anniversary issue? Oh yes, issue #97 (and part 2 of the final story arc of the series that kick-started everything TRANSFORMERS is today) hits the stands this week (Wednesday December 18th). The War to End All Wars continues, as the mysterious (and long-absent) Senator Jhiaxus makes his presence felt. And how! If you’d prefer to have no more tantalising teasers (and the odd spoiler) thrown your way, then cease and desist now. If you’d like your appetite whetted even further, read on. Okay, so we all know Rodimus Prime has a bunch of stuff he needs to fix (as revealed in our revelatory issue #0), and chief among them is a certain Cybertronian senator who not only deleted himself from Cybertronian history & everyone’s memory but also stole vital secrets (of life and death no less) from the Underbase mainframe. Phew, and now he’s back. But does he come as friend or foe? How does Rodimus Prime deal with a force committed to the grounding Cybertronian principle of Universal Order? Is there other stuff going on too? Of course… and, as usual, Grimlock and the Dinobots are in the thick of things. Since they rose from the underground depths of Cybertron, no one’s quite known what to do with the planet’s primordial ancestors. Well, the new Cybertronians of Jhiaxus’s second generation empire do. And the only thing standing between them and a total purge of these ancestors are the Dinobots! Oh yes, and there’ s the return of a certain… well, why spoil everything? Go see for yourself. You’ll be happy you did. Full preview for the issue can had here.
As we reported a short while back, Stan Bush is planning the release of his next album The Ultimate, and would be posting a new mix of his classic 'The Touch' track this weekend - the Power Mix. Wait no more, for here it is, in its new Fall of Cybertron clothes! Check it out below.
Some economic discussion had already started in the past few days, but it seems we are not alone: William Bias, of The Motley Fool has written a relatively short piece on Daily Finance, discussing some options that Hasbro could consider to increase its revenue. His suggestions? Bring back G1 and prepare a live-action series. Read more about it below!
Hasbro experienced great success with its live action Transformers movies over the past six years driving an increase in revenue following their releases in 2007, 2009, and 2011. However, its revenue then suffers in subsequent years as the euphoria from the previous movie slowly wears off (chart below). So far in 2013 Hasbro's revenue remains roughly even with the same time last year. However, Hasbro can do two important things to help boost revenue during the down years between blockbuster movies.
Create live action TV shows
Hasbro along with The Hub, its media outlet jointly owned by Discovery Communications , needs to follow in the footsteps of Walt Disney and Time Warner in creating adult targeted live action television series. Walt Disney's Agents of SHIELD serves the purpose of raising brand awareness for the Marvel based brands despite the ratings slump. Fellow Fool Leo Sun cites the show's construction on "faulty 1990s logic" or a monster of the week scenario for the show's waning popularity. Joss Whedon's creative team behind this show certainly possesses the talent to turn Agents of SHIELD around if necessary, as evidenced by later Buffy: The Vampire Slayer seasons where the audience saw more depth in its characters due to choices made under difficult and unusual circumstances. Time Warner and 21st Century Fox's contributions to the bandwagon include a Batman Prequel called Gotham, Arrow, and its spinoff Flash.
Along those lines, a live action Transformers or G.I. Joe television show would go a long way in boosting toy revenue in between movie years. While well written animated series such as Transformers Prime are great, they generally are viewed by children limiting the scope of popularity. It's difficult to write an intelligent series geared toward that audience. A live action Transformers television series would probably be expensive ; however, the studios could produce short seasons in a Game of Thrones fashion. G.I. Joe would certainly prove feasible for Hasbro's studio partners.
Bring back Gen 1 Transformers
Walt Disney and Hasbro appeal to the nostalgic collector by releasing toy lines such as the Star Wars: The Black Series and reissuing old Star Wars toys. Moreover, Hasbro occasionally releases a Transformers Generation 1 reissue geared toward people who enjoyed Transformer's original line in their childhood. Hasbro could take this a step further and produce an animated (not computer generated) series that picks up where it left off during the second season in 1986 bridging the gap between that time period and the animated classic Transformers: The Movie. An hour long show with a shortened season could conserve on costs. A good working title: Transformers 1980s. Hasbro could also do a spinoff series that centers on post Transformers: The Movie characters such as Headmasters .
The Foolish takeaway
Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the first Transformers line and the release of Transformers: Age of Extinction, the fourth live action Transformers movie. A direct-to DVD Transformers Prime animated movie and a new animated series is also rumored to be in production for release later next year. Hasbro and Hub need to think past next year and put forth some larger revenue generating initiatives like the ones highlighted above or its revenue will likely suffer in 2015.
Sebertron.com member Cyberpath shared with us a link containing new images of the upcoming Masterpiece Smokescreen and designer Shogo Hasui's thoughts and comments on the figure.
Here's what Cyberpath shared:
Cyberpath wrote:
Shogo Hasui: "This is the back of the robot mode MP-19 Smokescreen. Movement of the waist will be limited to some extent, but those who lowered down the roof as shown in the photograph is close to the design of some anime." (Google Translate)
Referring to Smokes' back in the cartoon, which was different than Prowl & Bluestreak's. It always reminded me of a t-shirt tied around a waist.
"Various logos drawn on the body of the MP smoke screen, selected based on the words derived from the character of his and, resembling the silhouette logo was drawn to the car that was the foundation of the design. SLOT FEVER is personal favorite." (Google Translate)
"It is a comparison between robot mode of the old toy and MP-19 Smokescreen to be released tomorrow at last. In MP, such as hand-held gun or relocate the tire shoulder and Canon head, shoulder, has become a form of closer to the shape of the anime more." (Google Translate)
Retired TakaraTomy designer Alex Kubalsky stopped by to send us this letter:
Hello Seibertron team,
This is former transformer designer Alex Kubalsky. I'm back in my home country of Australia for the holidays and decided to clear out my storage space and sell some things to generate funds for a film project I'm planning for next year. Just wanted to let you know that I will be listing a few rare transformers and related items on ebay over the next few weeks that may be of interest to some people viewing the site, if only for the curiosity of some of the pieces. Here is the first listing.
His first listing is a rather rare piece, which is shown and it's auction linked to, below. Considering Mr. Kubalsky was once a designer, it's safe to assume that he has quite a few rarities and perhaps even items we've yet to see. This list of auctions looks to the one to watch.
His first listing? A gold lucky draw Henkei Optimus MISB. Which states the following:
This is Alexander Kubalsky, former transformer designer at TakaraTomy Japan.
I will be listing several rare pieces from my personal collection over the next few day as I look to generate funds for a film project in the new year.
First up is this mint condition Henkei Lucky Dip Gold Convoy. This was given to me by my design team as a farewell gift when I left TakarTomy in 2008. Only five of these were ever officially released. I believe this to be of several produced for Takaratomy in house designers involved in it's design. I designed the smoke stack weapon.
Keep your optics tuned to Seibertron.com for the latest in news and updates, plus the best galleries around!
Video website M1905 has posted four more videos relating to the upcoming Transformers: Age of Extinction movie. They feature interviews with producer Lorenzo DiBonaventura, director Michael Bay and cast member Mark Wahlbergand Jack Reynor and Li Bingbing. The videos contain several spoilers about the plot, so we've picked out some of the highlights in the spoiler banners below.
You've been warned!
Di Bonaventura mentions the connection between the military officials and government members in Beijing to the attack taking place in Hong Kong, as well as the presence of a factory in mainland China that will play a major role. He also confirmed that most of the film is set in both mainland China and Hong Kong, making it easier to work with the Chinese actors during shooting.
Bay and Wahlberg talk about the appeal of the Asian setting and reveals that Li Bingbing's character is the owner of the special factory and the addition of a scene to make the most of her fighting skills. There is also an Autobot character who speaks only in Mandarin. They also mention how Wahlberg's character Cade Yaeger and Optimus Prime really connect, as they both have to rise to an occasion bigger than themselves. Cade must make a choice to save his and his daughter's lives, similar to a scenario Optimus finds himself in.
Reynor mentions the relation between his character Shane, an Irish racecar driver (who does a lot of his own stunts), Nicola Peltz's character Tessa and Mark Wahlberg's character Cade: they are secretely dating, as Cade's wife has died and a 'no dating rule' exists in the Yaeger house - which Tessa disagrees with. He saves both characters' lives very early on in the movie, and the dynamics change throughout the film.
Australian comic book writer Shane McCarthy, creator of the character Drift and author of the All Hail Megatron storyline, has tweeted something potentially interesting to the Transformers comics readership a while back. Will he be returning to an ongoing series, maybe once Dark Cybertron is over and ReGeneration One ends? Or is he writing something else? Check out the tweet below, and speculate away in the Energon Pub!
Just realised I spent the afternoon writing Transformers while wearing my Optimus Prime t-shirt #hardcore #nerdlife
You know I now realise I probably shouldn't have tweeted that haha.
Stan Bush who is a good friend of Seibertron.com, sent us an email to let us know that his hit "The Touch" will be on tonight's new episode of "The Goldbergs" on ABC at 9 PM EST . If you have never watched "The Goldbergs", it is set in the late '80's and follows the Goldberg family.
Also, Stan Bush will be releasing "The Touch - Power Mix" video this coming Sunday December 15. This is from the Fall of Cybertron video game and the video will contain game footage. You can see the new video on the Official Stan Bush Youtube Channel in anticipation of his forthcoming studio album The Ultimate. Be sure to check out both.
Jayson Napolitano of Scarlet Moon Productions sent us a message to inform us of Vince DiCola's newest work. Mr. DiCola is well known in the Transformers fandom due to his quite excellent soundtrack for the 1986 Transformers: The Movie. A deluxe edition with extended and unreleased tracks debuted as a BotCon exclusive in 1997, titled "Til All Are One".
His newest work is called "Christmas Adventure", for the Saturday Morning RPG video game available on Steam and mobile devices.
Here's what Mr. Napolitano had to say
Hello!
Thought you might be interested to hear composer Vince DiCola has just released a Christmas medley that's featured in his soundtrack for Saturday Morning RPG, which will be released in its entirety next month.
Vince has long been a supporter of the Transformer community, and even though this news doesn't pertain to Transformers itself, I think it's relevant to his fans, and he'd love your help spreading the word!
I'd love for you guys to cover it and maybe even talk to Vince about it (there's plenty of Transformers-esque themes in the game, and even some Transformer-esque robots!).
It's true, Vince, much like Stan Bush (who has been covered many times here), has been a supporter of Transformers for quite some time.
Saturday Morning RPG is an episodic role-playing game set in world heavily inspired by 1980s Saturday morning cartoons. Players take the role of Martin “Marty” Michael Hall, an average high-school student who has just been granted an incredible power. This power leads him to attract the ire of the world’s most notorious villain, Commander Hood.
Artist Nick Roche, currently appearing on five pages of MTMTE 24 and in February on Marvel's Death's Head II has just announced he will be having a massive sale of his three most recent prints, with old stock added in with each order! Each print, shown below and coloured by Josh Burcham, costs 10€ (~$13) plus shipping and can be bought by contacting him directly at nickrocheartATgmailDOTcom. Get your orders in by next Sunday to get in before the holidays!
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