Transformers People News on Seibertron.com

"Weird Al" Yankovic to attend BotCon 2009

Date: Friday, May 1st 2009 12:36pm CDT
Categories: Event News, People News
Posted by: Counterpunch | Credit(s): Counterpunch, www.botcon.com

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Views: 29,325

For all you BotCon fans, now is the time to "Dare to Be Stuipd"! Our next big guest? The one, the only "WEIRD AL" Yankovic! You read that right. "Weird Al" is coming to BotCon on Saturday, May 30th.

WEIRD AL YANKOVIC

Weird Al Yankovic, the undisputed king of pop culture parody, has sold more comedy recordings than any other artist in history. In a career spanning nearly three decades, he has amassed 28 Gold and Platinum albums, 7 Gold and Platinum-certified home videos and 3 Grammy Awards (with 11 nominations).

Transformers audiences also know Weird Al for the contribution of his single Dare to be Stupid to the soundtrack of the 1986 Transformers Animated Movie. The song is well known to fans as it plays during the scene in which Wreck Gar confronts the Autobots on the planet of Junk. With the debut of Transformers Animated, fans got an extra special treat when, Weird Al was cast as the voice of Wreck Gar for the new series.

"Weird Al" will be joining us on Saturday for an autograph session and a Transformers Animated panel with David Kaye. He will also be joining us for the Party at Paramount! Because of the limited time he can spend at the show, autographs will be from 9:00AM-11:00AM on Saturday. Only Primus package holders can get in the autograph line (first come, first served) and it will be cut off when the maximum number is reached. You will be limited to one item and no personal photographs will be allowed during the autograph session. However, "Weird Al" will be joining us at Paramount and photos will be allowed at the party.

FAN FAVORITE: DAVID KAYE

David aka: Optimus Prime, Megatron, Galvatron, Grimlock, Lugnut, etc. etc. and will be joining us on Saturday May 30th for a panel with "Weird Al" and an autograph session! He will also be joining us at the Party at Paramount!

David has been involved with the Transformers franchise in one way or another for about 15 years. First as Megatron in Beast wars and now as Optimus Prime in TF Animated. Two new feature animated films will feature David's voice. "The Hero of Color City" will be released in 2010 and you'll also hear David beginning May 29th, in Pixar's new 3D animated feature, "Up". Based in Burbank, California, Hollywood has been keeping Kaye busy this year. "I want to thank Brian and the crew for asking me to this years BotCon. It's great to see some old and new faces again. Transform, and Roll Out!!"

David will be at BotCon Saturday, May 30th only. He will be available for two autograph sessions and one voice actor panel. He will also be joining us for the Party at Paramount! on Saturday night.

Need a pass to the Party at Paramount!?

All Primus and Minicon package holders are eligible to attend the party. If you have not signed up yet and have decided to attend this unforgettable night at Paramount, you can fax in a new registration form. Mark the box at the top that this is an additional item to be added to an existing order, mark the party selection on the form and fax in with payment ASAP, space is limited!

Still need a Primus or Iacon set?

We have less than 10% of the entire run still available. We do have a waiting list for the Iacon packages, however we have been allocating sets to this list every week and currently we have filled the entire list. We will continue to do this as we get closer to the show date, we just want to ensure that everyone who wants an attending package can get one. To order, use the registration form at BotCon.com.

SEE YOU IN PASADENA!

Brian

Botcon Guest Announced - David Kaye!

Date: Thursday, April 30th 2009 2:36pm CDT
Categories: Event News, People News
Posted by: Delicon | Credit(s): Botcon.com

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Views: 16,535

Botcon.com updated their website today with yet another Special Guest Announcement.

Update 4/30/09 - BotCon announces another fan favorite voice actor and guest - David Kaye! David is aka: Optimus Prime, Megatron, Galvatron, Grimlock, Lugnut, etc. etc. and will be joining us on Saturday May 30th for a panel and autograph session! He will also be joining us at the Party at Paramount! See you there......

For more info, click here

Transtopia Newsletter - April

Date: Thursday, April 16th 2009 11:43am CDT
Categories: Site News, Toy News, Site Articles, People News, Transtopia
Posted by: First Gen | Credit(s): Dead Metal

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Views: 257,439

Hello and welcome to the April edition of the Transtopia Newsletter. Sadly Stormrider who's usually in charge of the Newsletter is not with us for this issue, he is currently moving home from one country to another and has left it in my hands to take over till he comes back.

Remember, to check out the Transtopia forum for the latest action.


How to Showcase Your Work
The newsletter is your opportunity to show off your work and talent. We rely on your articles, artwork, and customs to make it interesting. Entries will be reviewed on a monthly basis. You can submit your work here:
Repaints, Kitbashes, Scratchbuilds
Fan Art
Fan Fiction
Guides


Make a Difference, Join the Newsletter Team!
Want to contribute to help out with the Transtopia newsletter? Join our team. We have a couple roles to fill. Duties require a few hours each month. PM Dead Metal if interested: Dead Metal


Newsletter Credits:
Design - Flix
Formatting - Stormrider
Fan Art/ Guide - Mykltron
Interview - Burn
Editing - Stormrider, Dead Metal, hellkitty



They're the curse of every TF collector's life. I often keep things, just in case I can find a use for them one day, and boy am I glad I do this! Here are three uses I've found so far for these troublesome little blighters:


1) DRY LAUNDRY

My washing line was sagging under the weight of bed linen and trailing on the grass so I took a garden rake that has a hole at the end of the handle. Using a twisty-tie I secured the middle of the washing line to the handle so the line could be held high enough to keep the laundry clean without danger of the line slipping off.


2) HOLD TF PARTS WHILE APPLYING PAINT

If the part has a convenient hole it helps keeps fingers clean and paint finish smooth.


And now the one I'm particularly chuffed with:


3) FULLY ARTICULATED HANDS FOR DELUXE FIGURES





Using a 1/100 gundam hand and twisty-ties I have made a new hand for Universe Sunstreaker. This size is also suitable for Prowl, Cliffjumper, Voyager Megatron and Ultra Powerglide, maybe others too! This is my first attempt and I have an idea that will make it look slightly better and easier to pose.





As can be seen, this hand can make a pretty good fist:







It still fits inside his car mode:





Of course, it can still hold a gun but I forgot to take a photo of that.


So, anyone got any other ideas of how to use those horrible twisty-ties?

Do you have modeling or art tips to share with other members? Why not write a guide? Feature tips from - repainting, kitbashing, drawing, sculpting, and even computer graphics: Send an email to Transtopia.Guide@gmx.de for details.



This months repaints section brings us some more great work from resident Transtopian omega666. Here he treats us with his versions of Classics 2.0 Shockwave and Soundwave:



omega666's version of Soundwave holds a very sweet third alt mode G1 enthusiasts will definately get a kick out of:



Our next Transtopian repainter flix brings us a custom Movie Soundwave:









Flix also gives us a good look at his take on Movie Swindle too:













What would custom work be without Kitbashes?! This month features some amazing work by Transtopian L_K, the same kitbasher that brought us the custom Unicron of Lightfigure. Here he gives us his take on Arcee of the Transformer Movie, both of them that is:









Newsletter contributor Mykltron also added to the mix with a more movie accurate version of Barricade:











Even Frenzy got the treatment:







Sitting down with us and breaking his interview virginity is zero-kaiser, who, for the record, volunteered willingly for this and I didn't have to stalk or harass him for it. (In fact he was so enthusiastic he was bordering on harassing me!)

Burn - So tell us a bit about yourself.

zero-kaiser - Well, as of the 15th of February I'm 24 years old. Originally I'm from the south of England but I've lived in the northwest since I was about 4... yet I've somehow managed to keep the 'posh' southern accent--make of that what you will.

When I'm not wandering around Seibertron.com or looking for a job, I can usually be found playing either my Wii or DS lite; reading; painting either Warhammer 40K models or Transformers; shooting TF video reviews for my YouTube channel; or spending time with my wonderful fiancee

...good to keep yourself busy right?

B - I'm finding myself too busy to work on my own kitbashes, unfortunately! Now tell us how you got into Transformers and a little about your own collection.

z-k - Like most fans I had some of the older toys when I was a child and foolishly gave them away.

Back when I was in college I stumbled across BWTF.com and saw photos for some of the Robots In Disguise toys. The designs and detail on the Autobot Brothers alone are probably the main reason I got (back) into Transformers. That summer I picked up the Super (blue) repaint of Prowl and I was hooked. It took some time for my collecting to really take off though, mostly due to only working part time whilst I was at college.

As it stands my collection stands at just over 100 TF's ranging from RiD right through to the current Universe and Animated lines.

(Photos of my collection are here if you're interested)

I can honestly say there isnt really one single character I go for above all others…it depends on the mold and the line. Classics 2.0/Universe/Henkei is really impressing me at the moment; there’s very few characters from that line that I wouldn’t pick up. That said there’s a couple of TF's from past lines that I wouldn’t mind hunting down someday...mostly from the Cybertron range and a handful from RiD.

B - So give me at least five toys and characters you like the most.

z-k - In no particular order what so ever....

Toys:

1• TF Cybertron Leader Class Optimus Prime
2• Primus
3• Henkei Convoy
4• Movie Leader Class Optimus Prime
5• Masterpiece Optimus Prime

Characters

1• If it wasn’t obvious from the above list: Optimus/Convoy. Which continuity? Probably Cybertron, I'd say.
2• Galaxy Force Starscream: his Japanese voice is brilliant and he goes toe-to-toe with Primus—if that isn’t cool I don’t know what is!!
3• Kup: I had a newfound love for that character after reading his IDW Spotlight.
4• Grimlock: him king, got it?
5• IDW Galvatron: it’s as if that’s the way he should have been all along—a brooding badass .

B - What would you consider to be "holy grail" for you to obtain for your collection? Aside from Fortress Maximus, because everybody wants a Fortress Maximus.

z-k - Ha! Besides Fort Max? If I had to pick just one...RiD Omega Prime. That thing is awesome beyond words.

Besides him? RiD Rail Racer and the Classics Devastator Giftset. I'd be pretty chuffed if I could find any of those without killing my wallet

B - Moving onto your creative side, when did you first start churning out your creations and where did you learn to do what you do?

z-k - I suppose it was about 12 years ago now. When I started high school I made friends with someone who got me into the Games Workshop Warhammer 40,000 range. It took me a long time to get any good at painting but one thing I did a lot were conversions—think of them as kitbashes for 40K. Twelve years later and I still have a lot of the miniatures I have made from various bits and pieces I had lying around.

As for where I learnt to do the things I do? Trial, error, practise and patience. Even if I did something 'wrong' or it didn’t come out the way I wanted it to, I learnt from the experience. I like to think that something is only a mistake if you don’t learn from it.

Band-Aids/Plasters have proven invaluable over the years, too, but that’s just me occasionally being a bit ham-fisted.

B - You mention band-aids/plasters: tell me more about your injuries you've sustained kitbashing over the years! I have a lovely bump on one of my fingers where I kinda missed the plastic and found finger instead….

z-k - Well…there’s a nice deep scar on the tip of my left index finger. I got that from trying to cut a Space Marine arm in half. The blade snapped and plunged straight into the side of my finger. I didn’t realise how deep it was until I ran it under a tap to wash it and saw the bone…yeah, that needed stitches. Still don’t have all the feeling back in it either.

On another occasion I managed to saw the skin on the knuckle of my thumb off…which was pretty stupid of me.

Most of my other injuries are minor cuts or burns where I've tried to pull freshly dremeled plastic off, forgetting that it’s red hot.

I guess you could say I suffer for my art.

B - With the amount of TF-related artists there are out there, who has influenced/inspired you the most?

z-k - I guess my inspirations come from a lot of places really. E.J Su is amazing. I picked up Infiltration issue 0 a while back and was fascinated by the interview in the back, especially the technical drawings he had done.

I was equally blown away after reading Stormbringer and seeing Don Figueroa's amazing artwork. Same goes for Alex Milne and Nick Roche; I love their styles and can spend hours looking over their work.

Yoji Shinkawa is name that definitely springs to mind, too. He did the concept artwork and designs for the Metal Gear Solid series of games, as well as Zone of the Enders. With the exception of Metal Gear Rex, his blending of organic and mechanical is really quite awesome.

One other thing I will mention when it comes to inspirations, is my fellow Seibertronians who submit their work to the Transtopia section. If I named names I would be here all day, but suffice to say there are some extremely talented people out there and the caliber of their work is something I kind of aspire to.

B - When looking at the creations of others, do you prefer to see their takes on a canon character or a fan-made character?

z-k - I'd honestly say it’s half and half. Seeing people’s takes on a well-established character is always fun and can sometimes take more planning and thought than some might think! On the other hand I have a lot of respect for people who create their own characters. With such a diverse and rich roster of existing characters, it’s hard not to come up with something that’s not similar to an existing TF.

B - You draw, but you seem more inclined to kitbash a figure. If you could do this sort of thing for a job, what genre (kitbashing, drawing, scratch-building) would you prefer?

z-k - Man, that’s a tough one to answer, Burn. To be honest I love creating things in many mediums, but given the choice of the three I would probably say scratch-building. Over the years I've had so many ideas that so far I've only been able to commit to paper. Some day I'll hopefully have the skills, funds, and parts to give them form.

A job where I spent all day in a workshop building things? That would be awesome! (More so if it was building TF's!!)

B - And what would be your dream design if you could pull it off?

z-k - Thats easy: a scratchbuilt combiner. I love combiner teams and I don’t so much as have a problem with Hasbro's efforts, but I have always wanted to try my hand at it. Truth be told I've been wanting to get my hands on the ROTF Constructicons that have individual robot modes so I can see if there’s a way of getting them to combine.

Failing that I wouldn’t mind trying my hand at making a Headmaster from scratch. I drew up some designs a couple of years ago that I might revise and have a go at.

B - So the one question that everyone is dying to have you answer: how did you stumble across Seibertron.com?

z-k - Believe it or not, kitbashes and repaints. Doing a Google image search for them one afternoon kept leading me back here. After that, I came to the site to look at what is now the Transtopia section on a regular basis. Eventually I registered and started posting. Almost two years have fallen off the calender and here we are.

B - So out of all your creations, which one would you consider your favourite?

z-k - I would have to say one of my recent pieces, a Rodimus Major custom...

He's been a headache to work on in places -coughlegscough- but as soon as the whole thing was together and working I felt very very proud of myself

His rifle looks wicked, too. lol..

B - So let's wrap this up with a couple of games, first up: Word Association!

B - Machine Men/GoBots - z-k - That annoying scooter thing.
B - Starscream Fangirls - z-k - caution.
B - Unicron - z-k - "Hunger" - Spectre General
B - Machine Wars - z-k - Tiny Megatron..
B - Action Masters - z-k - 'They're alive ALIVE ALIVE!!'
B - Michael Bay - z-k - Lolsplosions!!!
B - Simon Furman - z-k - ..likes ending things with -tion.
B - Stalker - z-k - Loud.

B - And now for something a little different: VERSUS!

B - Megatron -vs- Optimus Prime - z-k - Optimus.
B - Starscream Fangirls -vs- Jazz Fangirls - z-k - Ack!! Damnit, Burn. Er,…Jazz Fangirls? (Hell my mum’s one after the first movie.)
B - Mini-Cons -vs- Micromasters - z-k - Mini-Cons.
B - Animated -vs- Generation 1 -vs- Beast Wars - z-k - Man, that’s a tough one.. I'd probably have to say Beast Wars..

B - Well, I just have to say a big thank you to zero-kaiser for a great interview. I hope you all enjoyed it. For those of you who haven't seen z-k's work, here's a sampling!

Animated Galvatron
Classics Nightbeat (WIP)
War Within Ironhide (WIP)
Scourge/Nemesis Prime Fan Art
Un-named Female Cyborg (WIP - non-tf)

And if YOU are interested in being interviewed, just drop me a pm, otherwise, I'll just have to start stalking people!

Transtopia Newsletter - March

Date: Wednesday, March 18th 2009 4:17am CDT
Categories: Toy News, Reviews, Site Articles, People News, Interviews
Posted by: Stormrider | Credit(s): Seibertron

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Views: 237,946

Welcome to the March edition of the Transtopia newsletter. This month features Repaints, Customs, Scratchbuilds, Featured Art, and an Artist Interview. Shattered Glass characters are very popular this edition. Remember, to check out the Transtopia forum for the latest action.


How to Showcase Your Work
The newsletter is your opportunity to show off your work and talent. We rely on your articles, artwork, and customs to make it interesting. Entries will be reviewed on a monthly basis. You can submit your work here:
Repaints, Kitbashes, Scratchbuilds
Fan Art
Fan Fiction
Guides


Make a Difference, Join the Newsletter Team!
Want to contribute to help out with the Transtopia newsletter? Join our team. We have a couple roles to fill. Duties require a few hours each month. PM Dead Metal if interested.


Newsletter Credits:
Design - Flix
Formatting - Stormrider
Fan Art - Mykltron
Editing - Stormrider




Click on the links to see more:

TFA G1 Prowl grimlockprime108



Universe Cyclonus Omega666



Shattered Glass Wheeljack Trikeboy



Shattered Glass Trailbreaker Trikeboy



Crystal Widow Grimlockprime108



Evilyn Omega666



Universe Starscream Omega666



TFA Kup Brychanus



Scorponoks Mylktron



War Within Ironhide Zero-Kaiser



Movie Megatron – Flix



Blackout Flix



Brawl Leobreaker1977






Classics G1 Waspinator grimlockprime108



Shattered Glass Kup - Trikeboy






Kneximus Prime glitched9700



TFA Optimus Prime Trailer Brychanus



Headmaster Horibull and Kreb bellboy



Supreme Saber Prime Transtopias Rodimus Prime






Do you have modeling or art tips to share with other members? Why not write a guide? Feature tips from - repainting, kitbashing, drawing, sculpting, and even computer graphics: Send an email to Transtopia.Guide@gmx.de for details.





This month I would like to draw your attention (pun not intended) to sketch by HOWEE74 of TFA Prowl flying TFA Prowl Transforming through the air as he transforms from bike to bot.





This picture impressed me as soon as I saw it due to the skill involved in drawing it so accurately and the effectiveness of the shading. Originally it was drawn in pencil then overdrawn with a fine pen before being darkened in Photoshop. If you look closely you'll see that some parts (like the windshield) have been edited using Illustrator to create a smooth and shiny effect. You may also notice that the beginning and end pictures are darker than the mid-stages of the transformation.

He seems to have caught these stages beautifully and really conveys a sense of motion. Although each image is so clear and lacking motion, blurring it suggests a slow-motion scene.

It probably took many hours of fiddling and experimenting to find the right poses for each individual picture so please leave him your comments and praise here, I am sure h will appreciate it. Also take some time to look at his other works on his Deviant Art page, there are other great thingsthere.


A round of applause goes out to all of our other art entries from February.


Movie Shockwave


Siren Prime's Femme Fancharacter


TFA Style Alpha Trion


TFA/Movie X-Over Prime


Send us your artwork!
Art entries are reviewed on a monthly basis for the newsletter. Send your entries here.





Do you often think up Transformers stories in your head? It is time you put it to paper and submit it to the Fan Fiction page. Entries will be reviewed monthly.

Remember we have a theme for the month - "Transformers Go To The Movies." What does that mean? Whatever you want. Transformers starring in films, TFs watching films, TFs covered in a pile of DVDs, whatever that topic suggests to you is what I want to see. Funny, serious, romantic, tragic, anything. If that topic immediately makes you think "Oh, that would be a story about..." start writing it down.

A quick recap of the rules (don't worry, there's not many):
1) 10,000 word limit. Rough guideline to start with, I won't be automatically disqualifying anything that comes in over.
2) Decent spelling, grammar and punctuation. Run a spell check over your story, and maybe get a friend to read it before submitting.
3) Be specific as to where/when the story is set. So what continuity is it in (G1 comic, G1 cartoon, Armada comic, etc) and where is it set? Before the events of the show/comic, after, during? If during, where does it fit?
4) Fan characters are fine, but please avoid making them those annoying "I am more powerful than any other Transformer!!!" types. Also, consider if there's an under-used existing TF who'd fit the needs of the story just as well as someone new. Existing characters are almost always more interesting to everyone else.

Send your entries here.




This month's Artist Interview comes from our friends at TF.SG, who recently interviewed the Transformers artist, Altitron. Many of you know Altitron because he is an active member in Transtopia. Altitron has won several Transformers art contests in the past, including some on Seibertron. One of his current projects has been the box art for Hearts of Steel Optimus Prime, which was presented last month, here.

1. Ok dude, tell us more about yourself like which country are you from, your age and occupation, and maybe attached a photo of you too! Give us more info, the more the merrier!

Well, lets start off with a proper introduction. My name is Brett Wolff, I am 25 years of age, married to one beautiful woman, Lisa, and we are expecting our first child in April, Blake.
I am an American, but do not claim any state in particular as I was a Navy brat, and moved around quite a bit. I myself have been in the Navy going on eight years now, and currently serve my country on a military installation in the prefecture of Kanagawa, on the mainland of Japan.


2. We all know about your fan art and how you have the uncanny ability to mesmerize us. Care to share you how did you get started?
I started drawing when I was about three years old, with crayons and any surface I could get my hands on, be it paper, walls, tables, whatever.

The thing is, my parents never punished me for what I was attempting to do, they just wanted me to keep it on the paper. Once they got that message across (with maybe a spanking or two), they never did anything but help to promote my imagination and desire to create something.

They always encouraged my artwork from the very beginning, even when it was only artwork to them. Twenty years later, and here we are today.


3. So which are your favourite works?

My favorite work of all time is The Coronation of Napoleon and Josephine, by Jacques-Louis David, seen below:



I have been fortunate enough to have seen this masterpiece in person, at the Louvre in Paris. It is a massive painting, spanning 30 feet high and 50 feet long. It is a truly awe-inspiring work that leaves you breathless.

I am also a fan of anything painted or sculpted by Michaelangelo, and Raphael School of Athens is another of my favorites.
Some of my more modern favorites are the works of the legendary Frank Frazetta. He is best known for Death Dealer, a Black Knight-esque character whose depictions have been used by many bands for their album covers. Frazetta also did many illustrations of Tarzan, from Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. He is the father of modern day pop-sci/fantasy artwork, and I have always drawn inspiration from him.

On the other side of the world, Sesshu Toyo is a favorite Japanese master of mine. His suibokuga, or ink paintings, are beautiful. 6 of his works are regarded as national treasures in Japan.

Growing up with comic books, I always imitated Joe Kubert, Chris Bacchalo, Joe Madureira, and more recently, Adam Hughes.

My first taste of Japanese art came when Chrono Trigger landed on American shores, and I fell in love with Akira Toriyamas character designs. My interest grew in the art I could not find at my local comic shop, and when I was old enough to afford my own comics, I started importing the masters of Japanese manga.

My favorite work from Japan is the 6-tome Akira masterpiece by Katsuhiro Otomo. I am also a huge fan of anything done by Masamune Shirow, like Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed. Kaneda, the Major, and Briareos are some of my favorite characters.

I will also admit that I am a huge fan of the Dinotopia books by James Gurney. The first things that I drew that someone else could identify when I was young were dinosaurs, so when these books came out back when I was 12 or so, they were the greatest things I had ever seen. I still read and flip through them today, and they still bring out that child-like wonder.


4. Any works in progress from your side? If you allow us a little sneak preview that is!

Well, by now I am sure you have all seen the Hearts of Steel Optimus Prime box art that I am working on for Griffiths custom-made resin kit. And if you have not, here it is



I plan to have that finished shortly, so you can expect to see color teasers rolling out very soon.

I have been working on a series of Transformers pinups that I have titled Civil War.

This is a collection of works depicting desperate battles between some of the brands most notorious rivals. The first of these planned pieces was Shockwave VS Grimlock, which I believe I have shared on the forums, and is included in my artwork collection on the sites photo gallery. I am currently working on Soundwave VS Blaster, so expect to see a teaser of that on the boards pretty soon.


5. We all know you as a TF fan-artist, any plans to cross over to say, fan fiction or customs?

I have been doing customs work for quite some time now. My website has a small section dedicated to it. I got into customizing by way of wanting to repair some of my old and busted G1-era figures. The first of these were Shockwave and Sky Lynx. They were bought in a non-functioning status, and I did what I had to do to get all the electronics and sounds working as they were intended. It only got worse from there.

I've done a Dawn of Future Past Terrorsaur, made from a Beast Machines Obsidian, and I am currently working on what I call Predaking 2.0. I believe that monster has his own thread in the customs forums. I do what I can, off and on in between work, the wife, my addiction to Warcrack, and commissioned artwork, so it is much more slow going than anything else that I get to work on.
I do have the rest of the Decepticon combiners planned for my 2.0 series. I just got my hands on the Classics Special Edition Dragstrip, so I can finally begin my Menasor project. Look out for it!

As for fan fiction, I never really wrote any myself, outside of MU roleplaying back in the day, but if I were to read something that really inspired me, I would not hesitate to bring it to visual life (I am looking at you, TwilightStorm).


6. So do you see yourself as a fan or a collector?

How can you not be both? I love Transformers. I collect Transformers. Everyone in my family knows it. They look out for me. I have toys sprawled all over my room, from G1 to movie,
I am into about anything and everything Transformers-related. My in-laws have been buying our baby silly little Transformers items, so they have not only accepted the madness, they are contributing to it.


7. Having interacted with the folks of TF.SG in the forum section, in your opinion, are there any differences between us and other members in the international TF community?

Everyone seems extremely nice and well-intentioned. I have yet to read through a single thread that devolved into a mud-slinging argument, or any post that contained less than complimentary remarks. There are arguments, but they have always been kept civil and respectable. That is something that is extremely rare these days.

Things sometimes get out of hand on the OTFCCs boards, and I have to pay to post there.

The folks at TF.SG are extremely friendly, and it is very refreshing. Everyone seems much more tight-knit and familiar, as well. I suppose that comes from the majority of the members being able to meet one another in Singapore. Maybe one of these days I will drop by.


8. Oh, by the way, do you have a blog or a website? Care to tell us how they come about?

I have no blog, but I do have a website. Well, two - sort of.
My personal, professional website can be found at the following address: [url">http://www.thepimpsled.com/

I also run a gallery through Deviant Art, simply because it is just so easy to update and keep that way. It is often more up to date than my own website, which takes a bit of time and effort to maintain the polished, business look.

You can check it out by following this link: [url">http://altitron.deviantart.com/


9. Have you won any awards or accolades for your masterpieces?

I won a sweet polo shirt from TF.SG for one of the contest!

I won a monthly art contest at Seibertron.com with my Shockwave VS Grimlock piece.

I won Most Outstanding Student¢ in my 7th grade art class. And at BotCon, I won a Participant ribbon!

In high school, I won a design contest for my towns annual founders Day Parade, a weekend celebration they hold every year to celebrate the towns founding. I got my picture in the paper, alongside my art teacher and the sponsor of the event. I think that is when my parents first realized that my artwork may actually be worth a damn.

A few years later in high school, when I was a Junior, I entered a few of my watercolor paintings that I had done as a Freshman into a very large competition in central Texas. There were something like 250+ schools represented, and over 3,000 works were entered from all over the state. The gallery only had room for about 500 works, so just to have your art shown was an accomplishment in itself.
Of the three that I entered, all three were shown. One of my works won Honorable Mention honors in a small field of 25 or so, and another placed in the top 6. So I feel I did fairly well in such a large field of competing artists, and with works that were at that time two years old. It was something to be proud of, to say the least.


10. What do you wish to see most eagerly in ROTF?

Transformer dialogue! After the euphoria and wonder of seeing a new Transformers movie in the theatre wore off, I was very disappointed in the first movies lack of character development and screen time for the guys the movie was named after.

All collected, the Transformers had about 5 lines of meaningful dialogue, and 90% of it came from Prime. I really want to see the movie focused on the Transformers. They have eons of history, and each of them has no doubt lived for centuries. I would like the movie to get down and show you who these guys really are.


11. Yes, we know it a cliched type of question, but we would like to know who is your favourite TF character of all time!

Shockwave! I just love the guy, his personality (or lack thereof).
I am a very rational person myself, as my wife would attest. I do not do anything without there being an explicit reason for it. I do not enjoy being wasteful, and I am very prudent in what I do. I see a lot of myself in Shockwave, although I have to admit that I am not /that/ dedicated.


12. What is your favourite TF series by the way? Do you have any favourite toy?

My favorite series to watch would be Beast Wars. G1, while I adore the toys more than any other, had a very kiddy, campy show. Now that I am 25, I laugh at what I see.

Beast Wars, while degrading to slapstick humor at times, still manages to be very gritty towards the later seasons. It gets SERIUS Beast Wars Megatron is probably the best-written villain of any Transformers series we have had. I mean, the guy conquered Cybertron. Who else has done that? Nuff said.

My favorite toy (thus far) is Masterpiece Megatron. I've broken him in two spots (inner lower leg red hinge clip on the first day I owned him, and about a year or so later I cracked some small black piece attached to the die cast 'spine' trying to remember how to transform him, LOL), but I'm still awe-struck today when I look at him.

The only thing wrong with him is that not everything really sits flush and perfect as it is depicted in images on the box and instructions in gun mode.

But it is still a marvelous piece of engineering. Although I do wish that he was packaged with the extended scope and stock as found in the add-on set from... TFSource? Not sure, but I wish he came with that stuff anyway. Mine's got a bit of cosmic rust on the feet, but I actually like it. Gives him some shit-stompin' character, in my opinion. I just think he's the best looking figure in my entire collection. G1 had a great alternate mode - the pistol fit in your hand perfectly - but the robot mode looked nothing like the cartoon.

The Masterpiece version... especially when stood next to Prime... it's like /finally/, everything you imagined as a kid, and in the flesh - or plastic and die cast, as it were. :> I could have stopped collecting Transformers entirely after purchasing MP-05, and I would still be happy today.


13. Given a choice of a massive project which is rather ambitious, what would you chose to do? Any person or people whom you want to work with in particular?

I have a few graphic novels that I would like to write and illustrate in the future, when I finally get around to putting all of my ideas on paper. I sketch characters and locations from time to time, but nothing more than what I would call R&D work for the moment.

I also want to make a full conversion mod for Warcraft 3, turning it into a Transformers RTS. I do not have any experience with 3D modeling at present, but that will change when I get my collegiate schooling nailed down.

As for my most ambitious goal, I have wanted to do a retelling of Dantes Divine Comedy as a series of graphic novels for quite sometime now. I even went so far as to call Penguin Publishing in New York and ask them about rights licensing. Someday, I will get it done.

Gregg Berger to attend Auto Assembly 2009

Date: Friday, February 13th 2009 8:46pm CST
Categories: Event News, People News
Posted by: First Gen | Credit(s): Simon Plumbe

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Views: 26,100

The gentlemen over at Auto Assembly have sent out another press release about the upcoming Transformers convention to be held in the UK. G1 fans rejoice! Gregg Berger has just been announced as an attending guest for the event. Here's the info:

Gregg Berger To Attend Auto Assembly 2009!!


After weeks of speculation, Europe's largest Transformers convention Auto Assembly 2009, is proud to announce it's second voice actor for it's convention taking place over the weekend of 15th-16th August 2009...



Joining our first voice actor, Ian James Corlett (the voice of Cheetor from Beast Wars and Beast Machines) will ne none other than Gregg Berger, the voice of Grimlock and Skyfire and a host of other characters from G1!! Fans have been asking us for several years to bring Gregg over to the UK to appear at an Auto Assembly convention and we are excited to be able to make this a reality in the 25th Anniversary year of Transformers!



Gregg will be actively involved with the convention all weekend and for those of you who aren't sure about whether to book for the weekend or wait until we release single day tickets, when you find out what Gregg will be doing, you won't want to miss out on the full weekend! As well as signing autographs for fans all weekend, Gregg will be taking to the stage for a talk/Q&A session on one of the days (the exact day to be confirmed), he will be joining Ian James Corlett and comic artist Simon Williams on stage on Saturday evening for the live script reading which is being written by Simon Furman (and the evening programme is exclusive for weekend attendees), and he will be involved in another part of the main programme item during the weekend which will be on the DIFFERENT day to his talk/Q&A session so to see everything Gregg will be doing, you need to be there all weekend!



As is the standard policy for Auto Assembly, Gregg will NOT be charging for autographs but he will be bringing along a selection of items for sale including photos, CDs and DVDs which you can get signed but please feel free to have any of your own items autographed freely... including the Auto Assembly 2009 convention exclusive Grimlock postcard being illustrated by Andrew Wildman!



With a staggering 13 guests, there have never been a better time for you to attend Auto Assembly if you have never been before! Auto Assembly will be a packed weekend running from around 10:00 am until about 6:00 pm each day with a bonus programme on Saturday evening until 1:00 am and a small bonus programme on Friday evening, both for weekend attendees only.



In terms of activities, this will be the biggest and best Auto Assembly yet with dealers tables, guest talks (13 guests so far with at least two different panels each day, splitting our guest talks so no guest will talk more than once over the weekend), live script reading featuring Ian James Corlett and Gregg Berger, autograph sessions, artist sketches, artist workshops, comic colourist workshops, toy displays, art displays, charity auction, charity raffle, fan displays, quiz, video screenings, art, fiction and costume competitions, games area, a party and disco running until 1:00 am on Sunday, a possible cinema screening of Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen and much more besides...



The convention will be taking place right in the heart of Birmingham city centre in England at the Holiday Inn Birmingham City Centre, Smallbrook Queensway, Birmingham. There is fantastic public transport access from every part of the UK and for those of you travelling from outside of the UK, Birmingham International Airport is just 10 minutes away by train!



For full details and online booking, visit the website NOW at http://www.autoassembly.org.uk

Anyway, we hope to see many of you there for what we hope will be Europe's biggest ever Transformers convention!



Simon and Sven
Auto Assembly

http://www.autoassembly.org.uk

Transtopia Newsletter - January Edition

Date: Sunday, January 11th 2009 2:19am CST
Categories: Site Articles, People News, Interviews, Transtopia
Posted by: Stormrider | Credit(s): Stormrider

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Views: 129,953

It might be cold outside but the activity at Transtopia has been hot. This edition features the creative work from December. Check out the latest customs, artwork, painting guide, and contest. We also have exciting news in the wings - two new sections will roll out next month: Fan Fiction & Artist Interviews. Make sure to read about the details below so you can part take in the action and possibly get featured. And in March, get your cameras ready for another creative section. Remember, to visit Transtopia periodically for the latest work.

-Stormrider



How to Showcase Your Work
The newsletter is your opportunity to show off your work and talent. We rely on your articles, artwork, and customs to make it interesting. Entries will be reviewed on a monthly basis. You can submit your work here:
Repaints, Kitbashes, Scratchbuilds
Fan Art, Fan Fiction, Guides


Make a Difference, Join the Newsletter Team!
Want to contribute to the Seibertron community? Why not join the newsletter team? We need a few more volunteers for our crew. Duties require a few hours each month, consistently. Roles include layout & design, overseeing sections, and formatting. If you are interested send me a PM: Stormrider.


Newsletter Credits:
Newsletter Editor - Stormrider
Guides Editor - Dead Metal
Interviewer & Columnist - Burn
Fan Fiction Editor - Sledge
Customs Formatter - Mattyc1007





(Click on the links to see more)

Prowl by Sentinal Supreme

alt

Movie Starscream by Omega666

alt

Thredbolt by Sentinal Supreme

alt

Classics Armada Wheeljack by Grimlockprime108


TF Legends Wasp by Grimlockprime108


Movie Accurate Ratchet by Sabsabby85


Movie Beachcomber by Leobreaker1977


Movie Trailbreaker by Leobreaker1977


Movie Sunstorm by Downshift7


Longarm by Flix


Stockade by Flix


Movie Megatron by Mykltron


Movie Breakdown by Sentinal Prime


Breach & Tick by Sentinal Prime





(Click on the links to see more)

Sliver & Headmaster Matey by Technically Weird






Chuck Close is a famous and very talented painter from Monroe, Washington, United States of America. He was part of the Photorealism art-movement from the US in the 1960's in which the artists based their paintings on photographs. He was one of the greatest of this art-style; but after he was paralyzed from the neck down he really rose to fame. He managed to still paint but being unable to move his arms properly he created a completely new technique of painting to achieve photorealism. He achieved this by painting in grids similar to pixels so when looked at from afar it is indistinguishable from a real photograph.
He paints to this day in this art-style.

As the first Transtopia "How to .." painting guide fellow Transtopian, The Freezer, shows us how you can paint your favorite Transformer in the style of Chuck Close.

Painting Guide (Chuck Close Style)

I had a spare day at college a while back and did this.

1. Find a picture of your desired Transformer and then grid it.



2. Get a canvas or a peice of paper masking taped to some board.

3. Grid said paper or canvas. There MUST be the same amount of squares as on the original gridded picture.

4. Paint the squares in block colour using a mix of the colours in the square on the original picture. For example- original pic- red and black your painting- very dark red.
The end result should be like a pixelated image.



5. Now we add the detail, this is done by painting small shapes in the coloured squares to look like the corresponding square on the original pic. Close up its jibberish but back away and you should see it.





6. Fill in the back ground squares with more funny shapes.

7. Stand back and appriciate your work.




High resolution.

Do you want to contribute to the Transtopian guides? Then send us an e-mail: Transtopia.Guide@gmx.de You can find the guidelines by clicking here.



Featured Artwork
Cyber-Kun is this month's featured artist. Cyber-Kun gives us his rendition of Animated Jhiaxus. It is interesting to see how the color scheme, vehicle mode, and transformation were carefully considered during the execution of this piece. You can post your comments about this featured artwork here.


High Resolution

Honorable mentions goes to Zero-Kaiser for his Scourge/Nemesis Prime. To all of you modest artists out there, make sure to submit your artwork for the next newsletter here by January 31st. Submissions are open for all Transformers artwork (new & old pieces).



Fan Fiction
Okay Transformers Mythos Writers here's your chance to be featured in the next newsletter! Starting in February, the Transtopia Newsletter will feature a Fan Fiction story written by one of you. Seibertron member, Sledge, will be directing this new ongoing column and select one story each month.

Entries will be reviewed monthly. Make sure to conform to the guidelines below. Submissions are open for new and old stories. There is no limit to the number of stories that you can submit, but please do not resubmit the same story twice. Post your entries here.

Guidelines:
1) 10,000 word limit. Rough guideline to start with, I won't be automatically disqualifying anything that comes in over.
2) Decent spelling, grammar and punctuation. People need to at least run a spell-check over the thing before submitting it. This isn't me being a grammar Nazi, it's just difficult to get absorbed in a story if you're constantly being jolted out of it by bad spelling.
3) Be specific as to where/when the story is set. So what continuity is it in (G1 comic, G1 cartoon, Armada comic, etc) and where is it set? Before the events of the show or comic, after, during? If during, where does it fit?
4) Fan characters are fine, but I'd prefer people avoid making them those annoying "I am more powerful than any other Transformer!!!" types. Also, consider if there's an under-used existing TF who'd fit the needs of the story just as well as someone new. Existing characters are almost always more interesting to everyone else.
-Sledge



Artist Interiews with Burn
G'day folks, Stormrider's asked me to throw a blurb together to introduce myself and to also introduce another new part to the monthly Transtopia Newsletter.

My name, obviously, is Burn, and I've been handed the duties of having a chat with one (or more, depending on interest and time) of our many artists that frequent Seibertron.com and Transtopia.

The aim of the monthly chat is to get to know a little more about our creative geniuses, more than just their finished pieces of art. I'm sure many of you have looked at a kitbash or a repaint, or a photoshop piece or even read a fanfic and wondered who the person is behind that.

So that's where this little feature intends to come in. We'll get to know the people behind the art.

Some of you may be wondering, "Why you Burn?" Well Stormrider and First Gen were busy doing other stuff, plus I have done my fair share of creating things.

Some of you may remember a few of my characters from Seibertron.com's Heavy Metal War game. I'm the guy responsible for creating such characters as Gore, CATalyst, Slice, Dice, Dead Reckoning, Cannon Fodder Lemming, and the midget clone every body loved to hate, Mini-Maximus Prime, together they were better known as "The Freaks". I've written a number of back stories for some of these characters, and kitbashed nearly all of them (along with a number of other characters, including Autobots, plus a couple of characters created by Whisper and War Hammer).

So where did it all begin for me? Looking back it really began a bit over two decades ago around the age of 10. Al Gore had yet to really invent the internet, porn was still predominantly distributed on VHS, and Optimus Prime was a truck and Megatron was a gun.

I had never even heard of the term "kitbashing" and my skills up to that point in my life had been basically assembling model aeroplanes, which also often resulted in my fingers being glued together more than the planes themselves.

I also, it seems, had a fascination with the colour "black".

I'd take junker toys, including some busted TF's, and just cobble parts together. If anything these "creations" were the original "Freaks", because that's what they were, freaky looking things, I was a young Dr Frankenstein to plastic toys.

Who liked to paint things black?

I should also point out that at that age too, kids really shouldn't play with sharp knives.


High Resolution

Over the years though I drifted away from Transformers, blame High School. It was only a few years ago that I got back into TF's and in my quest to acquire many missing figures for my collection, I gathered up a nice pile of junker TF's.

This was the early days for kitbashing I might add, Transtopia didn't exist, and many of the major TF forums dedicated very little space to kitbashing. But I had all these junkers and influenced by the few artists that were around, I decided to try my hand.

In no way do I consider myself to be a great kitbasher, (and even less of a writer) but I do have a number of figures I am proud of, and then there are those I just don't even want to talk about!

If I was to say the one thing that is important to me when it comes to kitbashing and even writing, it's to create an original character. Canon characters just aren't my thing, I like creating a character from scratch, defining its personality, and making that personality match the figure.

I also rarely do a straight repaint. I always feel the need to modify a figure in some way to set it apart from the original mould. Whether it's something minor like a weapon change to something extensive like articulating a brick, anything to make it just that little bit different and unique.

So that's me, I'm sure Stormrider was hoping for some shorter, but I had to do SOMETHING while Dexter downloaded!

So this is where I turn it over to you guys, if you've showcased any form of artistic piece here on Seibertron.com recently, be it a repaint, a kitbash, a piece of fanfic, a photoshopped pic, or anything else that you've posted, and you're interested in being interviewed just drop me a pm and we'll get the ball rolling: ucp.php?i=pm&mode=compose&u=4677

-Burn



Banner Contest:
Hey all you savvy digital artist. Do you enjoy whipping up signatures and showing them off on the Internet? Well, here's your chance to put your skills to the test. Create a banner for the Transtopia Newsletter and become the ultimate show off.

Additional banners are needed for the newsletter. Create one or several banners and enter for your chance at fame and glory. The deadline is January 31st. There is no limit to the number of entries you may submit. The winner(s) will have their banners proudly displayed in the newsletters and receive credits and bragging rights.

Create one or all four: (Banner titles)
"Artist Interview"
"Featured Artwork"
"Fan Fiction"
"Photo Blitz"


Requirements:
1. The banner should be 500 pixels wide x 165 pixels high.
2. You can only use pictures or artwork that you have received permission for. You are welcome to use the images from the Seibertron galleries for this contest.
3. Each banner should have the title in the bottom center.
4. Submit your entries in jpeg format.


Example:



Submit your entries here.

CBR Talks MAX Dinobots with Simon Furman

Date: Wednesday, December 10th 2008 11:04pm CST
Categories: Comic Book News, People News, Interviews
Posted by: First Gen | Credit(s): Comic Book Resources

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Views: 34,669

So much anticipation and waiting has gone into this long awaited story arc, it's no surprise that everyone wants to know what's going to happen.

Comic Book Resources got a chance to talk with Transformers writing master, Simon Furman, and poked to get more good spoilers out of the author from the upcoming MAXIMUM Dinobots comic series. Remaining true to his tease but don't spoil modus operandi, Mr. Furman gave some info that doesn't kill the story, but may make alot of readers happy.

“You really can just pick up issue #1 and jump right in,” Furman confirmed. “Everything you need to know is right there in the five-issue series. Honest.”

This comment comes from the question of where this story arc ties into. Yes the ground work was laid in various Spotlights such as Shockwave and Grimlock, but this series can stand on its own for those of us who didn't get into all those prior arcs.

If you didn't already know, MAX Dinobots hit comic store shelves today.

Read the rest of what Mr. Furman had to say by clicking here.

Gregg Berger to answer questions via Chat Session

Date: Tuesday, October 21st 2008 4:20pm CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, Press Releases, People News, Interviews
Posted by: First Gen | Credit(s): Voice Fans

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Views: 28,628

Allspark.com member Voice Fans is going to be hosting a live chat session with Transformers Voice Actor Gregg Berger via his Myspace page on October 26th, 2008.

You may remember Mr. Berger as the beloved Grimlock from the G1 series, along with voicing such characters as Skyfire, Long Haul and Outback, just to name a few.

The event is open to everyone. For full details on the chat session click here, and to check out Mr. Bergers own Myspace page, click here.

IDW Blog Updates- Denton Tipton, and Chris Ryall

Date: Thursday, July 31st 2008 6:47pm CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, People News
Posted by: Tigertrack | Credit(s): Denton Tipton, Chris Ryall

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Views: 25,190

For those sad that they did not get to see the IDW presentation at SDCC over the weekend, Denton Tipton, Transformers Editor at IDW, shares a YouTube video of the slide presentation at his Blog "From the Tip", reviewing basically all the goodies we've been sharing with you over the past few days.


Denton also shares IDW's current schedule of release for Transformers books...

:

Transformers Releases Estimated in-store dates: August 6 Movie Sequel: Saga of the Allspark #2 August 13 Reign of Starscream #4 Animated: The Arrival #1 Best of U.K.: Time Wars #1 August 20 All Hail Megatron #2 Spotlight: Doubledealer August 27 Reign of Starscream #5 Animated Series Vol. 4 September 3 Saga of the Allspark #3 Best of U.K.: Time Wars #2

And finally, we have one last IDW update, Marcelo Matere, busy gut that he is shared his Oil Slick Animated Comic Cover, earlier in the week, and now Chris Ryall informs us at "RyallTime" that another cover of Marcelo's will be used for the next collection of Transformers Spotlights. The shattering Grimlock through the cover was a favorite of fans, but not used when the TF Spotlight Grimlock printing came about. (Click the link to see the cover)

They found a place for it as the cover for this collection set to come out in mid-September.

All Hail...Grimlock: Maximum Dinobot Cover Art

Date: Monday, July 28th 2008 7:52pm CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, People News
Posted by: First Gen | Credit(s): Josh Perez

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Views: 23,635

IDW Publishing's resident colorist Josh Perez has posted some new cover art for the upcoming Maximum Dinobots #1 comic book. The first of the two images was presented at the San Diego Comic Convention by Editor in Chief, Chris Ryall and Max Writer, Simon Furman. The second image is a new cover showing Grimlock how many TF fans view him.





To view Josh Perez's original entries, along with comments on the covers, click here.