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Member Spotlight:: BURN

Date: Wednesday, October 29th 2008 8:31am CDT
Category: Site Articles
Posted by: Counterpunch | Credit(s): Counterpunch

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Views: 45,778

Some members of our little online community do not need all that much of an introduction...

Without further ado...Seibertron Spotlight presents an interview with Burn.

1. Australian hunh? How’s that working out for you?
Good.

2. How did you get into the hobby of collecting Transformers and for how long have you been involved with them?

Grew up with the original G1. Held onto my figures from my childhood. Then a few years back when E-Bay was still young I found the Transformers section and said to myself "I always wanted a Grimlock and Rodimus Prime". It spiralled from there ...

Spiraled into what? How big of a collection do you have and what is it made up of?

Collection would be around the thousand mark. Haven't really made an effort to count as unfortunately 90% of it is in storage boxes due to lack of space.

As for what it's made up of, well pretty much all lines with the exception of non-transforming junk.

Really only need a few figures from each line for each line to be complete, G1 is probably the most but that's expected as some of the figures are harder to find.

I've got a fair sized Japanese collection. Back in the days when Takara were producing superior products. And they had the coolest of packaging, like the Microns with the Micron emblem molded into the plastic packaging. Thought that was a great touch.

3. What do you do for a living in order to support your hobby (and I suppose to put food on your table too)?

Up until June I worked for an Accountant. Data entry, compiling tax returns, client consultation, practically ran the office. But I changed jobs. Still in an office but i'm being trained up in a supervisory role with the long term plan (provided I stay there) to take over from the Admin boss when he retires in a few years, well at least that was the plan a few months back, they might be thinking different now that they've experienced me!

So you're a corporate suit eh? With this realization, is there any chance your street-cred has been damaged? Failing that, any advice for those seeking employment in this volatile economic period?

Definitely not a corporate suit. Especially when you live in a tropical climate. Plus I have to work with blokes who sell hardware and other blokes who manufacture machinery. It's definitely not a bright and sparkly place ... well actually it is but that's only because it's a brand new building.

As for those seeking employment in times like this, yeah ... good luck with that. You want a job? Become a lawyer, it's a booming business unfortunately. And with people losing money more and more they're going to want someone to help them sue.

4. Gundams are cool. Macross is even cooler. So, why Transformers and not other mecha?

Gundams are good for spare parts for Transformer kitbashes. Yeah, I said it. Gore backs me up, especially with his Gundam hips!
Macross/Robotech - Never had a problem with them. Saturday mornings was always a nice dose of Transformers and Robotech back to back on tv. It just didn't have the toy line like Transformers did/does. And even if it did it wasn't available in the small rural town I live/d in.

5. You’ve been around the Seibertron boards for a long while now. You’re essentially an elder statesman of this place. What are your thoughts on the community? on its evolving nature?

Evolving? I think the more things change the more they stay the same. Though it's interesting to see how the original G1 fans reacted to the younger Beast fans a few years back. Admittedly the Beast fans were like most teenagers, annoying little gits who liked to hide behind their monitors. But a few years down the track and those Beast fans have grown and matured, now we have to put up with even more annoying little gits because of Animated.

And i've always considered the biggest problem is that some people simply cannot let go of the past.

That being said, do you like the direction that Transformers is headed towards?

Given how Animated has turned out, it does worry me that Hasbro may opt for that style of animation more, which in turn gives birth to the more "curvy" look of the toys.

Add to that the dwindling attention span of children and Hasbro will have to integrate more and more "gimmicks" into the toy, and quite frankly, gimmicks have ruined MANY a good figure.

Vector Prime's a great example. He could have had great poseability but he HAD to have the force chip, which only made sounds. All that space wasted for a force chip gimmick and a speaker. ooooo.

Unfortunately however it's those lights and sounds gimmicks that has my 2 and a half year old nephew getting into Transformers.

Don't worry people, i've taught him how to play "Kick the Cane Toad" so he won't grow up to be easily amused by lights and sounds like Fender Bender.

6. What poster or member on the forums has had the most influence or insight for you over time here?
You? nah I don't know. Despite our differences and him always banning me and what not, I did respect Maximus Prime.

Banning gives you plenty of insight. Mostly in ways on how to piss people off in ways that don't get you banned!

7. Give us some insight into the world of Heavy Metal War.

- Create bot
- Deploy bot
- Check results
- Repeat until you have enough xp to upgrade bot
- Troll the forums

You left out your newsletter, the history and influence of factions, and the second coming...let's have it.

None of that is worth discussing I feel.

8. I understand you to be quite the fancy-pants artist type. Why can’t you just leave good enough alone and stop being all “creative” with custom toys and fan-fiction stories?

I definitely wouldn't call myself an artist as I think I do pretty shitty work, but like most, i'm my own biggest critic.

As far as fan-fics go, rarely write them these days. I can't be arsed to sit in front of the computer and type.

Kitbashing is getting the same way, I don't have the patience, the time, or in some cases, the skills to pull off the ideas I have.

But one thing I do pride myself on is that I come up with original characters. I do enjoy looking at repaints/kitbashes done by others, but I find the majority of them these days are canon characters. Boring. And I think it's a bit egotistical of some to say they can do a better job than Hasbro. Sorry, but creating a character, devising it's paint scheme, how it's going to look, then characterising it shows much more creativity than grabbing a Universe Powerglide and painting him red.


9. Transformers is primarily a US and Japanese merchandising arrangement. For the collector who resides outside those spheres of influence, how does this affect your collecting/enjoyment of the hobby?

Could it be the all-knowing Counterpunch isn't so all-knowing after all? For he should know that Transformers isn't primarily a US/Japan thing.

Contrary to what seems to be a popular belief, Transformers has had it's fair share of popularity in Australia (we did after all, get the 2007 movie before the US. Yeah that's right Fender Bender, I still saw the movie a few hours before you and your BotCon buddies did so ner!). Admittedly as a smaller population the fanbase isn't as large as even say, England's.

The hardest part for me has been my own location. I live in a rural part of Australia and the majority of Australian fans tend to live in Brisbane (3 hours by plane), Sydney (4 hours by plane) or Melbourne (5 hours by plane). So i'm essentially "on my own". But all things considered, I don't mind it. I've had a couple of people play with my Transformers and like all collectors experienced the "BE CAREFUL YOU BLOODY DINGBAT YOU'RE LIABLE TO BREAK IT AND THEN I'LL HAVE TO SIC MY DINGO ONTO YOU" moments. So even if there were other collectors around, I probably wouldn't want them near my collection anyway.

10. Is there such thing as “fairness” or “equality” in collecting? Should Hasbro or Takara be sensitive to this?
I spent over a decade working for an accountant so I can see things from Hasbro/TakaraTomy's perspective. They're out to make a profit, not appease the fans. And in all honesty I think they've done a pretty good job of trying to appease the fans. But at the end of the day they, and the retailers, are out to make a profit. And if they know a certain line won't sell, or a particular region has pretty poor sales figures, then obviously they're not going to not carry stuff just for the convenience of a handful of collectors.

Profits come first, and at the end of the day, Transformers is aimed at children. Hasbro/TakaraTomy have been pretty good to the fans but some fans need to remember that the neither company is geared towards making them happy.

Does any of that have anything to do with the question? Probably not. Blame Counterpunch people! He's the one who wanted to do these interviews through pm's and not over instant messaging programs!

Blame Burn for not making a trip to the good ole' US of A to do the interview in person. Speaking of which, you should come to BotCon next year for some weak beer and L o L s.

I had planned on it, but then I decided I should probably buy a new car (which i've yet to do anyway), and really, there's a few too many people i'd probably want to punch in the face anyway.

11. What is your best Transformers related story of personal experience? (Could be toy, show, comic, convention related, doesn’t matter)

Collection wise, would easily be the day I came across a G1 Optimus Prime under the wrong section on E-Bay. Boxed, (though the box was a bit tatty but still in one piece) little to no chrome wear, perfect insert, and had nearly all of his accessories. Those that were missing I already had. And the best part, a boxed near complete G1 Optimus Prime for $20AU and a few dollars for postage.

The other one would have been after I got back into collecting, I had a bit of catching up to do (one of the most enjoyable bits was getting Beast Wars lots and figuring out what part belonged to who) so i'd snap up all the big lots of Transformers out there. One lot included all four Combaticon limbs, with all their weapons. The day before they arrived via mail another lot of TF's i'd won arrived which included a complete Onslaught, so in the space of a day I had a complete set of the Combaticons.

The other stand out memory comes from last year when I won tickets to the advance screening of Bay's TF movie in Sydney. This was about three weeks before it's actual release date and a few days before it's BotCon preview. Add to that Michael Bay, Rachel Taylor and Megan Fox would all be attending. So I find out i've won these tickets Friday afternoon. Fortunately I was going on two weeks holidays and was contemplating a trip to Sydney to see a friend before she left for the UK. Friday night i'm booking tickets and arranging accommodation for the following Tuesday. It was a very rushed trip with me arriving in Sydney at about 1pm, I barely had time to watch Days of our Lives and have a quick snooze before SharkySparky (from Theyareamongus.com) called to say he'd be picking me up around 3:30 (I won two tickets so I gave him one with the simple request he'd pick me up and drop me back to the hotel). We turned up around 4pm, 3 hours before the movie was to start! Suffice to say it was a long wait, but I met up with a number of other collectors that i'd known from TAAU and OzFormers and then the mad rush was on to get into the either of the two theatres they had running. Bay even got up and said a few words before the movie started. Did I enjoy the movie? Hell yeah! Made even better by the fact that I, some bloke from a small rural town at the other end of the country was in the same theatre for a big fancy movie premiere complete with the Director, a couple of it's stars, and a bunch of other so-called Australian "celebrities" (I use that term loosely because I had no idea who 99% of them were)

You can always hold it over other people's heads that you were in a dark room with Rachel Taylor and Megan Fox...

Yeah, I heard you got stuck in a dark room with a couple of other blokes from this place!

I win!

12. What is your favorite Transformer? Favorite Series? Why are these special for you?
I'd call myself a fan of Ultra Magnus, well the G1 version at least. He was a truck, who combined with his frickin' trailer! How bloody cool was that!
Series ... you know, I grew up with G1 so it'll always have a special place for me, as dodgy as the cartoon/extended tv commercial was. Beast Wars was well written, and despite how it ended, Beast Machines was a good, different story. I will confess to having never watched all of Robots in Disguise, seen a few eps though.

13. Controversy! Give us the ‘Truth According to Burn’ on the following topics. Do not hold back at all… G1, Animated, 2007 Movie, BotCon, and Toy Exclusives

G1 - The classic stuff. Though it's time to let go and move forward.
Animated - ugh ... dear god. I despise the animation style. Story wise it's not so bad (but quite frankly i'd rather watch Armada, Energon or Cybertron). Toy wise ... well, with each figure I get the more I dislike them, and I really hope this isn't the future look of Transformers. I like my bricks!

2007 Movie - Enjoyed it! It wasn't perfect, but no movie is.

BotCon - meh, if anything, getting a little over-rated.

Toy Exclusives - I liked when the BotCon toys were new characters. I think that's all that needs to be said unless you WANT me to discuss the Thundercracker/Dirge/Thrust issue.

No, I actually agree with you that BotCon should return to the creation of all new characters etc.

It would certaintly cut down on the "Oh i'm a big fan of that character but I can't afford an exclusive! **** you Hasbro!" whines.

14. You seem like a savvy inter-web-guy… What are your thoughts on Internet Culture? Are you absorbed in the depths of /b/? Or do you abstain from less reputable circles? What does the phenomenom of internet culture mean for our hobby and collecting in general?

Like life, I tend to not get too involved in groups. I love my lolcats with Cheezburgers. I don't download that much in the way of music, I do however download a lot of tv shows because I have no faith in Australian networks. Oh and I download porn on Sundays.

15. What 3 people on Seibs would you most want to drink with? If you don’t drink, what 3 people would you most be willing to be the designated driver for?

Well first and foremost, i'd have to say Whisper and War Hammer. Whisper will no doubt be serving the drinks to War Hammer so when he's eventually passed out that'll leave time for Whisper and myself to take incriminating photos of War Hammer and beer bottles. More incriminating than anything Sharpwing could come up with!

Third person? Dunno. I think most people suck really. But i'll go with steve2275 for the simple fact I want to know if he really is capable of conversation in the "real world" or if his one word posts really do reflect the man himself.

Hell, there's probably people reading this who have never frequented the HMW forums and going "who the hell is steve2275?" Don't worry, you're not missing much!
(It's always good to get in a jab at stephanie)

Burn's work:

Transformers Mosaic: "If it's a Thursday"

Date: Thursday, June 26th 2008 12:32am CDT
Categories: Site News, Comic Book News, Site Articles
Posted by: i_amtrunks | Credit(s): Richter

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 11,324

The Universe of the Transformers is vast, and populated by many characters. Their universe is a large tapestry, made up of the stories and points of view of countless experiences that serve the larger whole.

These are some of those stories. This is:


[size=90">It should be noted that while this project has been recognized by IDW Publishing and Hasbro, none of the works presented have been commissioned or solicited by either company. The stories are not official canon, except where noted.
These stories are the result of Transformers enthusiasts taking the time out of their busy days to contribute to a universe they love.
No one has been paid for the production of these stories.

“If it’s Thursday, it must be Gaia.” Story: Franco “Me Grimlock” Villa | Art, Colors & Letters: Gianluca Gamba

Fixes for Transformers Animated Figures!

Date: Thursday, June 12th 2008 1:35am CDT
Categories: Toy News, Site Articles
Posted by: Hotrod | Credit(s): Jin Saotome

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Views: 61,841

Wow, I just saw 14 pages of problems with the Animated figures! Now I agree that they should come without problems right out of the box but sometimes there's things that need to be worked out with a new series.

First, if you have a complaint, contact Hasbro with this form: http://hasbro.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/hasb ... BfcGFnZT0x

I get a response from them every time and have talked to them about subjects from loose joints to unpaintable plastic on their figures. This is how they get feedback from us, we have to do out part in telling them what's wrong. The form is easy to fill out and will only take you a few minutes.

But since you've already bought your figures it's time to fix the ones you have. Some pictures are supplied below the fixes for you as well. These are the fixes that worked with my figures.


Loose Ball Joints
These are easy to fix. First, pop the offending limb off. In the case of Grimlock, Prime, megatron, they all have balljointed sections. Now take your superglue and drip just a little but on the ball-post, not inside the cup. Spread it around a bit and do NOT put it back in. Let the superglue cure, let it sit there or hit it with a hairdryer until it forms a nice shiny, hard shell. Reattach it. This fixed my Grimlock, 2-pack Prime and Megatron's hips, and Prowl's shoulders.

It should work for almost any figure unless the ball post is made of the dreaded unpaintable plastic! Then you do what do is drip the superglue on the ball post and put it in the cup while it's still wet! Since the ball post is made of the special plastic, the superglue won't adhere to it, but just the cup inside, making a tighter fit. Just gently move the limb loose after it cures. But be careful, make sure the ball-post is made of the unpaintable plastic, not clear like Megatron's. Black Arachnia's mandibles are a good example of what unpaintable plastic is, also the kind that's used for the inner disc of a Marvel Legends shoulder or hip joint. Kinda waxy and tough plastic.




Loose swivel/cut-joints
These can be a little more difficult. Starscream has them in his thighs, so does Voyager megatron. They like to pop out because the ratchet system (not the character, the clicking noise, heh) is stronger than the cut joint-plug. The fix can be done two ways, sometimes one works and other times the next works. Fix 1 is to do the superglue trick as described in the tightening ball-joints. Take the cut joint apart and apply a thin layer of superglue to the end of the peg where the ridge is. Usually this is towards the top of the peg, sometimes the center. Let the superglue cure then pop it back into place. This usually tightens the joint up enough so it doesn’t pop out.

If this doesn’t work or the sections are made of UP, then you’ll have to do the Burning-Blade technique. Sounds dangerous eh? It can be, what you want to do is heat up the end of your x-acto knife with a lighter or use a soldering Iron and touch the end of the peg, melting it slightly and making it wider. Some people cut an ‘X’ into the top with the heated blade, this flaring it out some that way. I had to do this with Starscream’s right leg because it kept falling off.

The last-ditch effort is to drill a hole in both ends, then drive a screw into one end. Clip the head of the screw off and then ‘screw on’ the opposite part until they become one piece. Unless you turn the part more than 360 deg, it will stay together that way.



Crappy Paint
Ah, you’ll have to touch up your figures by hand to combat this problem. I recommend Testors Model Master Acrylics. I use the Fantasy line and their regular Acrylic line. Head to their site and click on the Model Masters banner to be taken to this page: http://testors.com/brand_category.asp?brandNbr=4 There you can view the Color Charts and see what shades you need to match. Depending on your monitor colors you may need to adjust the shade of paint when you get it, so I buy some white, black, gray, and a few other colors to mix with my paints to obtain different shades. Like for Grimlock’s gray I had to use Gunship Gray mixed with some Bear Brown to get that shade. His red needed Dragon Red lightened slightly with some white, or Rust mixed with some Bloode Red.

Loose hinge Joints
This requires a bit more finesse. Most of the voyager figures have clicky hinge joints in their knees, elbows, shoulders, etc. But then there’s the case of just a regular hinge without the clicky. Sometimes those are loose and you’ll need a superglue trick to fix them. It’s easy, drip some superglue in the hinge and wait 5 seconds, then move it. Wait a little longer, move it slightly again. Keep messing with it so it doesn’t completely set up but slowly starts getting tighter. After about 2-3 minutes the joint will be much tighter. Repeat as needed.

Grimlock’s slide-in arm fix
Welcome to the advanced class! This takes a few more steps. First, pop off Grimmys leg and unscrew all three screws. You’ll have to pop the thigh apart with a tad bit of effort because there’s still a peg or two holding it together.

Once you have the leg apart, look at the end of the black arm section. There’s two spinny sections. Those sections slide in the groove. Take your hobby knife and carefully shave the back of it into a slant, leaving the front to remain flat so it will stop the arm from coming out.

Next take your Dremel tool or something you can scrape plastic out with and shave inside the groove that’s in the thigh. Remember how his thigh bulged out when you pressed the leg in? We’re shaving the inner sides to give that black piece of plastic more room. I suspect you could skip this and just shave the black spinner sections lower but I didn’t want to risk the arm being pulled out because that got too thin.

Now test fit it together. Grimlock’s arm now moves all the way in!




Ok, hope that helped with a lot of the fixes. Remember this is just a guide and your results may vary depending on your tools and skill level. These worked for my figures and now everything stays tight and together on my figures. More fixes to come as I figure them out. Know of a problem that wasn’t listed? Email me at jinsaotome@hotmail.com, I’ll pick up the figure and post a fix when I have time. Thanks for reading!

Here’s the fixes for the range of motion on Prowl’s knees, Lockdown’s hands, and Bumblebee’s stingers. Props to the people who came up with any of these fixes first! I believe Prowl’s knee fix was posted somewhere here so I’m basically just adding pictures.


Lockdown’s Hands
Poor Lockdown has funky wrists, his hands don’t fold out all the way. Snag your Dremel tool or Hobby Knife and cut a square out of the bottom portion of his hand as shown in the pic. If you just have a hobby knife you’ll need to score at it over and over until you can dig it out. I used the tip of a mini-screwdriver to help. Do it right and his hand will gain full-fold-out range





Bumblebee’s Stingers
They don’t fold in all the way and look funny sticking out when he’s in robot mode. Fix this by folding the Stingers out and using your Dremel tool or hobby knife to remove the two square bits of plastic behind the post that the stingers hinge on. With those out of the way his Stingers fold all the way in when his hands are folded out.





Prowl’s knee range of motion
This is an easy fix, all you have to do is trim the bottom of the hip-pad at an angle. This allows the sides of his knees to clear the pad and get a good 90 degree angle.

Transformers Mosaic: "Five Faces of Darkness"

Date: Wednesday, May 28th 2008 1:14am CDT
Categories: Site News, Comic Book News, Site Articles
Posted by: i_amtrunks | Credit(s): WhiteRabbit

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 13,324

The Universe of the Transformers is vast, and populated by many characters. Their universe is a large tapestry, made up of the stories and points of view of countless experiences that serve the larger whole.

These are some of those stories. This is:


[size=75">It should be noted that while this project has been recognized by IDW Publishing and Hasbro, none of the works presented have been commissioned or solicited by either company. The stories are not official canon, except where noted.
These stories are the result of Transformers enthusiasts taking the time out of their busy days to contribute to a universe they love.
No one has been paid for the production of these stories.

"Five Faces Of Darkness" | Story & Letters: Franco "Me Grimlock" Villa | Art & Colors: Peter "I Sithlord" Istyle | Lettering Assist: Gianluca Tosca

Transformers Mosaic: "Eyes"

Date: Friday, May 23rd 2008 5:05pm CDT
Categories: Site News, Comic Book News, Site Articles
Posted by: i_amtrunks | Credit(s): WhiteRabbit

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 13,635

The Universe of the Transformers is vast, and populated by many characters. Their universe is a large tapestry, made up of the stories and points of view of countless experiences that serve the larger whole.

These are some of those stories. This is:


It should be noted that while this project has been recognized by IDW Publishing and Hasbro, none of the works presented have been commissioned or solicited by either company. The stories are not official canon, except where noted.
These stories are the result of Transformers enthusiasts taking the time out of their busy days to contribute to a universe they love.
No one has been paid for the production of these stories.

"Eyes" | Story & Letters: Franco "Me Grimlock" Villa | Art & Colors: Iohannes Vinci

Accurate G1 KO's: How to identify them, and the list!

Date: Sunday, May 4th 2008 10:34pm CDT
Categories: Toy News, Site Articles
Posted by: Hotrod | Credit(s): tigertracks 24

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 58,228

The Knockoffs: Who wants one anyway ("I do I do," some say.) The very tempting toys...
I know that the thought of a KO 'transformer' making it in to someone's collection would turn them ill. Others buy them to have as part of their collection to kitbash, fill a void until an
original can be found, or (insert reason here).

I have to say, I am guilty of buying some of the newest G1 accurate KO's (sorry HASBRO, I promise never to do it again). I did this because I knew there would never be a NEMESIS MIRAGE made, and also because I knew getting my hands on the red version of the G1 Mirage mold was as likely to happen as me winning the lottery to be able to afford it. So I justified the purchases to myself. However you justify buying or not buying them though, the fact is these are out there, and they are taking the money of loyal TF brand buyers and in some cases deceiving them into believing they are buying an officially licensed re-issue (Deceptive seller title to avoid the HASBRO hammer of truth). Or in some other cases, buying a vintage piece (outrageous seller claim!). HASBRO has taken notice, and seem to be slowly but surely attempting to take action, but based on their blanket statement made at Botcon it seems they are more concerned with warning their purchasing public, and less worried about stopping this (and the lunchtime specials).

KO Transformers have been out forever. As long as there have been toys, there have been cheaply made KO's sold and bought (just ask ol' Spidey), and since Transformers are very popular, well, cash called and asked if you wanted to make some...but none have been this accurate, this spot on, which is what makes them so tempting.

Spotting A G1 'Vintage' Re-issue KO:
Yes, I know the title seems obvious, but some people may not know that sellers often replace 'Knock Off' with 'Re-Issue' because well, they are smart and want to sell product. Which sounds like a nicer, friendlier name to you, KNOCK OFF, or RE-ISSUE?

#1) So be leery when you see the name 'Re-issue!' in an auction title. You may be purchasing a product that you are not intending.

#2) [size=150">Price-- It seems obvious to collectors that have been around the block that getting a MINT IN SEALED BOX VINTAGE G1 Optimus Prime for $80.00 is outrageously cheap, and will never happen these days. But to the naive grandmother shopping for her grandson/daughter that may seem about right--even too much. Poor HASBRO, you lost another, and worse, you may have lost a potential money maker because this mistake was made. Poor quality in the KO, it breaks, "I'm not buying any more of those for my grandchildren" and BAM! a customer may be lost to the market or brand. I know this is extreme, and I also know seniors are not the only naive buyers out there, it was simply to make a point. The poor quality will win out, and may cause some to change their favorites because there was no reliability in a supposedly quality product (Mattel is feeling this wrath right now). HASBRO gets screwed but really had nothing to do with it. Let's not forget also that Prime is also tripley caution worthy because he has been re-issued a few times, and his ENCORE version is worth about $80 in some places.

The List of Vintage G1 Knock Offs that 'Look' and 'Feel' just like 1984-1989:

Yes, it's true they do, and they do. My Mirages feel and look just like my original--minus the dirtiness (of course, my new ones have the variant colors...).

How can one avoid them? The best way, be armed with knowledge, and ask questions. To help with the knowledge part, I am attempting to create a list of these accurate phonies with their respective repaints in hopes that it will help someone along the way make an informed choice whether to buy or not. I don't care either way, but you need to know what you are getting, or what you are not getting. There are a lot of good people on this site that can give you their thoughts about the item, thus, there is no reason for you to get taken out of your hard earned money, use it on what you intend to, not on something that was a mistake!

This is the list of Transformers marketed as possible re-issues that are not licensed re-issues that have boxart, box, specs, bubble, weapons--everything accurate to the original--even the quality [size=150">SOMETIMES.


Beachcomber
Bombshell
Brawn
Bumblebee
Buzzsaw/Lazerbeak (Normal, clear, clear orange, clear blue, white, and black)
Cliffjumper
Constructicon Boxed Set
Cosmos
Frenzy/Rumble (Normal, clear, clear orange, clear blue, white, black)
Gnaw (Sharkticon)
Grimlock (Normal, Clear)
Hubcap
Kickback
Lazerbeak/Buzzsaw (Normal, clear, clear orange, clear blue, white, and black)
Metroplex (Normal, Metrotitan variant colors)
Mirage (Normal, Black, Clear, Red)
Optimus Prime (Normal, Normal/gold chrome**, Black***, Clear, Tan)
Outback
Powerglide*
Ratbat
Ravage
Rumble/Frenzy (Normal, clear, clear orange, clear blue, white, and black)
Seaspray
Shrapnel
Slag (Normal, Clear)
Sludge (Normal, Clear)
Snarl
Sunstreaker
Swoop
Warpath
Windcharger

*



I hope someone finds this useful and makes an informed decision because of it. If there are missing TF's on the KO list let me know and I will add them. If there are more ways/tricks to spotting them, I will be glad to add them in.

Remember, be forewarned, and go shopping with knowledge!


*nope not mine, but a cool picture, nonetheless

**

***

The saying goes "If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it must be a duck!" does not apply to Transformers. Transformers is a brand name that applies to a product owned by HASBRO and TAKARA/TOMY. If it has the name TRANSFORMERS it is an approved product--until now, at least--. But just because it is a transforming toy, does not put it in the category of being the official TRANSFORMERS that HASBRO and TAKARA/TOMY intend and approve to put on the market. Be careful in your shopping, be cautious, be wise, and know what you are buying.

The CounterPunch Articles: Why I like Transformers: Energon

Date: Monday, March 17th 2008 6:25pm CDT
Categories: Toy News, Reviews, Site Articles, Collectables, Editorials
Posted by: i_amtrunks | Credit(s): Counterpunch

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Views: 53,770

Seibertron's own Counterpunch has started a series of articles on how we, Transformers fans "have it good".

This series of articles will focus on what was good about certain toy lines of figures, focusing on the positive, rather than the negative.

In his third article, Counterpunch discusses all that was good and right with the Superlink/Energon series.

Let me take you back to 2004 briefly to the day I saw the first pictures of Transformers Energon Toys. “Those look terrible. I’m not buying that crap with its stupid clear weapons.”

Then I went to Wal-Mart and saw them putting out the display pallet for Energon. Ten minutes later I had picked out all the best paint app figures and was on my way into nearly two years of bitter frustration. I loved every minute of it.

Before talking about the toys, I want everyone to understand something about the Energon line, especially you new ‘movie’ people…This was, by far, the most difficult, evil set of TF toys to find in retail, ever. Concept Bumblebee you say? F’ your Bumblebee. Find me an Energon Grimlock and Swoop.

To read the rest of Counterpunch's article, please click here.
Please feel free to add your comments and thoughts on the topic in Counterpunch's original thread. Please remember that we are trying to keep these discussions positive, in relation to the articles.

Transformers Mosaic 2 pack: "Marathon" & "No Release"

Date: Friday, February 29th 2008 3:03pm CST
Categories: Site News, Comic Book News, Site Articles
Posted by: i_amtrunks | Credit(s): WhiteRabbit

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Views: 27,364

The Universe of the Transformers is vast, and populated by many characters. Their universe is a large tapestry, made up of the stories and points of view of countless experiences that serve the larger whole.

These are some of those stories. This is:


It should be noted that while this project has been recognized by IDW Publishing and Hasbro, none of the works presented have been commissioned or solicited by either company. The stories are not official canon, except where noted.
These stories are the result of Transformers enthusiasts taking the time out of their busy days to contribute to a universe they love.
No one has been paid for the production of these stories.

"Marathon." Story by Mike "Thunderwing" Priest, Art and Letters by Jennifer "AJ Remix" Delk, Colors by Tony "Chainclaw" Jackson.

---

"No Release." Story by Laurence J. Sinclair, Art, Colors and Letters by Dusan "Grimlock Dinobot" M.



As always please post your questions, thoughts theories and critiques in the original Mosaic thread of the Mosaic Staff may not see them. To post in the original thread for "Marathon" please click here, and to post in the original thread for "No Release" please click here.

Transformers Mosaic: "Me Grimlock"

Date: Tuesday, January 15th 2008 4:31pm CST
Categories: Site News, Comic Book News, Site Articles
Posted by: i_amtrunks | Credit(s): WhiteRabbit

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Views: 32,010

These are some of those stories. This is:


It should be noted that while this project has been recognized by IDW Publishing and Hasbro, none of the works presented have been commissioned or solicited by either company. The stories are not official canon, except where noted.
These stories are the result of Transformers enthusiasts taking the time out of their busy days to contribute to a universe they love.
No one has been paid for the production of these stories.

This piece "Me Grimlock"! Story by Jason (Lanowar) Armstrong, Art by Miles (Shadow Prime) Arquip, Letters by Bernie (Blee) Lee.


Please post all thoughts, comments and ponderings in this thread.

On the (Dutch) Red Carpet Transformers Premiere

Date: Saturday, July 7th 2007 9:36am CDT
Categories: Movie Related News, Event News, Site Articles
Posted by: Raymond T.

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Views: 54,245

The following is my, Raymond T.'s, account of June 25th, when I was invited to attend the dutch red carpet premiere of the Transformers Movie.

June 25th I was invited to the Dutch red carpet premiere to the Transformers movie. This is my account of that day. I will try my best not to give away any spoilers.

I was not alone for the premiere of the movie I had waited the longest time for. Me and a couple of my friends were there by invitation of Hasbro themselves. Earlier this month, on June 10th, me and four of my buddies put together a Transformers convention in IJsselstein, The Netherlands called Transformations. We worked closely together with Hasbro, to try and make this the best convention to date. I am proud to say that we did just that. Our target was set at 80 people, and predicted that there would be about 130 to 150 people attending. Not counting ourselves, the crew or people we had as our guests, we had 216 visitors! And beyond expectation most of the people decided to stay until the end.

As thank you for making this Transformers convention (for Dutch standards) a huge hit, the Transformations Team (consisting of Jasper, Hans, Godert (www.trypticon.nl), Rein and myself) was invited to be part of the official glamour premiere of Michael Bay's Transformers movie. The movie which we had fully tried to promote at our convention, where we had posters, flyers, standees and the trailer showing. In addition to the invite, Jasper was asked to be part of a small item about the Transformers movie for a Dutch TV news program called '4 in het land', where he showed his collection and was filmed to walk over the, rather short, red carpet, with Godert.

The day which I had been waiting for since the first teaser one year ago. The day that I had been waiting for since first reporting the rumor and later confirming the report of the production of the movie, right here on www.Seibertron.com/news. And waiting for the day, since first joining the Don Murphy board (and being one of the first to register on the now popular message board) back in June of 2003. The day I had been dreaming of ever since I first saw Optimus Prime plummet towards Earth in the final part of the pilot three-parter back in the mid 80's. The Day was finally here, on June 25th 2007, in my hometown of Amsterdam.

But there seemed to be a little snag for me. I only got the invite two days in advance, and I was told to be there at 19:00, but I work until 20:00! Since I couldn't contact my boss, I would have to ask permission from the people I work with on the day. And wouldn't you know it. Of any day that things could go wrong, this was the day that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. But after a short discussion, I was allowed to leave work earlier. The ATM at the library refused to make contact and completely broke down not much later. Internet failed. Paperwork seemed to stack up. And of course every Jack and Jill blew up that they couldn't use the facilities. One would try to pick fights, while the other would get upset with you because you can not be bribed. (If the internet is out, it will stay out no matter how much dough you want to put down.). But as hectic the day seemed to be and how violent some people seem to react, I was all smiles! I think I've never looked as much on my watch as during my work hours that day.

FINALLY! After seeing the minutes pass for the last couple of hours, it was finally time to get rid of Raymond the surveillance officer (yes at the library), and hello Raymond T. Transformers TransFanatic! Gone was my ponytail and bland blue shirt, and down came my hair and illuminous Decepticon T-shirt. Heart pumping, thoughts racing, the last countdown was about to start. As fast as the train could take my to my waiting friends, I tried my hardest to stay calm and not bug everyone in the cart with me with the glowing Decepticon logo on my chest.


Finally, I was at Pathe Arena. My personal grieve with the complex I was forced to set aside. The complex is one of two may be three places in Amsterdam you can have a glamour premiere, but this one has always been my least favorite. The building is all glass, its cold in its design,... To me as a movies fan the place really doesn't speak to me. Outside there is a square with a few shops and nothing else. Across from it is a concrete block of a flat building. And half of the surrounding are still under construction. It is big and spacious, but it’s also cold and empty. Not really my choice of locations for what I think could be the event of the year.


But as I enter the building, I am greeted with the familiar posters and other promotional works for the Transformers movie. I'm walking into the building with my Decepticon logo blinking, so needless to say that my friends quickly found me. The PR woman soon comes and greets us to explain what will be happening. The camera crew is already there for Jasper to see him take the big steps towards the screening room where the flickers on the screen will spark our imaginations and will silence the doubts we may have. We are directed to the outside to the very short red carpet. There two young ladies are walking up and down the path with the Optimus Prime voice changer helmets on. Chalk versions...


Jasper and the news crew do their thing, and I see him and Godert walk towards the end of the carpet and past the big poster construction of the movie. The crew flicks off the recording and are done for now. My cue to walk over the red carpet. It can't be more then 8 or 10 meters, so it doesn't really feel real. As a fan of movie (and if possible making movies). Something simple as "walking over the red carpet" means something for me. But it doesn't quite cut it when it’s litterly over in only a few steps. But with no complaints, I walk through the door to the inside of the complex. There we are greeted by two more Optimus Prime ladies, and are asked to follow a representative to the theater.


I quickly becomes clear that for the screening two theaters have been reserved. The big one, and a smaller one. On one hand you are sad to learn that you are not in the big screen room, where all the Dutch celebs will be seated. Having worked for TV shows in the past there were a few celebrities I knew from the past and haven't seen in a while, who I know that know me. So it would have been fun to see the movie with them and maybe catch up a bit. On the other hand, I have been told that people often keep talking during the movie at the screenings of premieres. Most celebs are really there to show their faces for the photographers and show the world that they still live. And often it is these types of things that some ever get to see each other again. So with that in mind I was glad to be at the smaller screening.


After the Optimus Prime ladies introduced the movie and wished us much viewing pleasure, silence was set. The lights dimmed. I could swear I could hear the hearts pounding of my friends next to me. The familiar voice of Optimus Prime booms through the darkened room. Then there it finally is, TRANSFORMERS! No build up to a story. You're swept into it from the very start. The suspense is building with what I know has to be Blackout. As the story starts to play out, I know this is what I have been waiting for after four years of posting on the Don Murphy board and posting all the updates in the news for that same amount of time. The first battle between the humans and this previously unknown Decepticon Transformer starts. And I already know it has been worth the wait, especially after realizing that the movie has not even been playing 15 minutes!


Yes. At points there are moments that the fanboy in me wants to speak up while watching the movie. Since when is Sparkplug named Ron, when we know his first name is William!? Optimus Prime would never say that! "He leaked his Lubricant!" LOL! But I am not just a fan of those robots in disguise. I am a fan of movies too. And for the first time, the two came together in an almost perfect blend. Rather then one long story that drags on and on, movie appears more like it is cut up and then strung together, which does give a nice fast pace to the movie. The story is not as worked out as I had hoped, but the visuals more than make up for that. Although sector seven is as hokey as its internet version, most of the rest of the movie just runs smoothly from beginning to end. There is a good balance between the serious and the less serious. As a fan of movies, I was completely entertained. One of the guys there went into the movie saying. "I am sure this is just a big budget poor man's Go-Bots movie. But I am here with friends, so who cares?" After the movie, the same guy was saying that this movie was definitely in his top 10 list of his all-time favorite movies". I had high hopes for the movie, and those hopes were definitely met.


When the movie ended and the credits rolled, people started to applaud! I've been to many movies, but it is not too often people applaud the screen after it is over! The little group we were discussed the movie as the credits rolled on, until military men dressed like certain scenes in the movie, came to collect us and lead us to the after party that was held across from the complex. There we had the chance to mingle with other people who saw the movie as well as some of the (Dutch) celebrities that had remained. I talked with some of the other fans, and overall everyone seemed to have enjoyed the movie a lot. The party lasted until midnight, and then the reality set in that the day was now really over.


It is still hard to believe that it was three years ago that I was in a heated chat with Don Murphy himself on his board why I think the Dinobots, or at least Grimlock, should have been in this movie. I still have not changed my mind. But I have always been in support for this movie, and the end result of it makes me proud that I was. Yes, we could go on and on about the designs, but for this movie it does work. And that I never doubted. Thank you for the experience to all involved in making this movie, from Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg, Tom DeSanto and Don Murphy, to the writers, to the designers, to the clean up crew... Everyone, for making this happen. Thanks for The Energon Pub on Seibertron.com and the DM Board for keeping the movie alive for the last four years. And thanks to Hasbro for giving a handful of fans the chance to experience something great as being something amazing!


Next stop TRANSFORMERS II: The Call Of Destiny!