Transformers Robots in Disguise & Robot Masters Stealth Bombers

Today's feature is about a pair of Transformers that may quite possibly have crossed over more different incarnations of Transformers than any other molds. Starting in Generation 2 the stealth bomber was released as Dreadwing, along with his compatriot who at that time didn't even get a name. Before returning to US shores, the planes in question moved to Japan in Takara's Beast Wars Neo toyline. While being a garish purple color scheme in G2 these guys were given a far more realistic predominately black color scheme in Japan, they would also return in the Takara licensed Sonokong Transformers line in Korea (in the same color scheme). Dubbed BB and Starscrem, I believe both bots had screen time in the cel animated Beast Wars Neo cartoon. In 2002 they returned as a Target exclusive in the Robots in Disguise toyline in the color scheme seen above. I think the greens really give the guys that military feeling. At this time they were named Dreadwing and Smokejumper. We aren't done yet, the final release to date would come in Takara's Robot Masters line. This time they were dubbed Gigant Bomb and Smokesniper. Packaged examples are seen below.

More MOSC fun from Transformers Generation 2

Since I have a couple posts going up today regarding Transformers, I figured I'd start with the most vintage of the toys. But first some lessons in toy collecting jargon. MOSC in collector's circles stands for "Mint on sealed Card" which is often mistaken for MOMC "Mint on Mint Card". MOMC refers to a carded example of a product with an impeccably factory new AKA "mint" package. MOSC merely indicates the items are still sealed on the original card with no indication as to the condition of the package other than the original glue is holding the toy to the cardback. MOSC is sometimes referred to simply as MOC, or "Mint on Card".

As you are well aware by this point I have a Transformers collection focus, namely "spychangers" which is sometimes retroactively applied as the name for the same toys as they appeared in Generation 2, although technically the term "spychanger" was not coined until either Takara's Car Robots 2000 or Hasbro's Robots in Disguise toyline (RID for short circa 2001). In generation 2 the cars were called "Go-bots" as Hasbro had acquired the name "Go-bots" from Tonka when it was absorbed into the Big H. These cars were clearly Hot Wheels sized and touted as having high speed racing axles. Although I have never botherd to try, I believe the cars actually fit onto Hot Wheels Tracks.

I managed to sweep up some great auctions a few months ago, and I got some toys from Generation 2, Machine Wars, and Takara's Robot Masters. For your purusal today is the two MOSC examples I purchased: Ironhide and Sideswipe. Both names came from Generation One, and I think were intended to help existing fans relate to these diminutive Transformers. I really don't have much more to say about these characters today, I mainly felt like showing off. Although in conclusion, it is neat that Sideswipe and Optimus Prime share molds and one is red while the other is blue, the complimentary colors of old 3D glasses.

Abbey & Toralei sold out lightning quick, see ya later girls.

I hope to get more of these gals in stock before the holiday. Want to stay up to the minute on Monster High dolls, then visit Monsterhighdolls.com

Why so serious, about action figures?

This picture doesn't do the Heath Ledger likeness on this figure justice, but rest assured it is fantastic. If Mattel can keep up the level of quality we see on this figure in future releases then I think I'm hooked. The Dark Knight figures are a far cry from the Kenner/Hasbro figures we saw for the other movies throughout the 1990's. Pose-ability and sculpt are the two things I look for in action figures and I think this character is on the high end of the scale for likeness, with a fair amount of non distracting articulation to boot. We plan to carry more stellar DC action figures in the coming months.

Honey I shrunk Generation One

This week I was able to get ahold of the Transformers Reveal the Shield legends class Generation One wave. Even though I have an affinity for the matchbox sized spychangers, I haven't paid the similar scaled legends class much mind, until now. The set of six diminutive Transformers are a fun lot with Megatron finally returning to his gun form in a safe pint sized edition. The set also includes Optimus Prime in original snub nosed cab form, Starscream, Prowl, Gold Bumblebee AKA Goldbug, & Trailcutter AKA Trailbreaker. The toys also include an update of the original thermal rub insignias from our youth. This is a definite tip of the hat from Hasbro to long time Transformers enthusiasts. The whole wave is considered "tail-enders" as they were on the end of the 2nd movies merchandise run and did not see wide distribution. Check them out if you get a chance.

Keiper's Comics, Games, & More 34 W Main Street Down, Madison, OH 44057

I'm sure anyone following my blog may be wondering what I have been up to these past couple of months. Well here's the official announcement, I have been working on a collaboration with my friend Alex on the opening of a hobby store. This opportunity has been a long time in the making. As an avid collector of many things, namely action figures, comics, & the like, a store just seemed like the natural evolution of the hobby. I had been in the planning stages of a store several times in the past, but it never came together. I am thankful for the time and energy other parties like Dave Z. and Cameron put previously into the attempts to start up a store. Now I am directly involved with Keiper's Comics, Games, and More located in Madison, Ohio at 34 West Main Street Down. I really appreciate all the support from friends and family alike on this endeavor. Along with the store I continue to do auctions on Ebay and on Crave.com I look forward to continuing my lifelong obsession with collectables through this hobby shop venue. I am more than happy to shoot the shit on all topics of nerddom with anyone who cares to drop by.

G.I. Joe 2011 30th Anniversary 7-Packs Revealed! Slaughter’s Marauders & The Dreadnoks!

G.I. Joe 2011 30th Anniversary 7-Packs Revealed! Slaughter’s Marauders & The Dreadnoks!

Here's some excellent news from the NYCC!

Star Wars Aurra Sing (Repacks and Repaints) for Sale on Crave

Star Wars Aurra Sing (Repacks and Repaints) for Sale on Crave

Strange things are afoot in my life.

Not that anyone truly cares, but just to let you know, I have not abandoned this blog. I have been in the process of emptying my storage locker, going through all that stuff from there, and also moving out of my apartment. It has been hectic, and I should have some goodies to show for my "delving into my past" soon. I am going through like the last 15-20 years worth of stuff, so bear with me. Here's a teaser:

Star Wars Aurra Sing (Repacks and Repaints) for Sale on Crave

Star Wars Aurra Sing (Repacks and Repaints) for Sale on Crave

Star Wars R4-M6 - Mace Windu's Astromech Droid (Repacks and Repaints) for Sale on Crave

Star Wars R4-M6 - Mace Windu's Astromech Droid (Repacks and Repaints) for Sale on Crave

Scored a nice pair

The annual San Diego Con Convention was the other week, and there were a boatload of exclusives. Hasbro put there exclusives on hasbrotoyshop.com the tuesday following the convention. Unfortunately for me, they sold out of Zartan's sister Zaranna in classic deco, and the "Cold Slither" variant scheme almost instantly. Cold Slither was an episode of the classic cartoon where the Dreadnoks disguised themselves as a band called Cold Slither, and attempt to broadcast mind-controlling subliminal messages through their music.

Another great Hasbro exclusive was the new as of yet unreleased Skystriker jet colored like the Transformers character Starscream with Cobra Commander as the pilot weilding Megatron in his gun form. These, amongst other items sold out so fast that it wasn't even worth trying to get them. Some people report having the items in their carts, but when proceeding to checkout the items disappeared and became sold out.

I did have luck with an exclusive that I didn't think would be offered online, Mattel's Monster High Ghoulia Yelps cosplaying as her in universe comic book hero Dead Fast. I heard the good news that 1000 were made available on mattycollector.com through fans at the Monster High fansite: monsterhighdolls.com

The Ghoulia SDCC exclusive was $20 and shipping was going to be $10.55, I thought I might get a better price on two, and sure enough the shipping for 2 was only $11.75, making the average price per doll: $25.88, instead of the price one doll as $30.55 with the shipping.

(This picture is property of Mattel and is used for informational purposes only)

So a cool pair of Ghoulia's is on there way to me. This is downright amazing as in collector's circles mattycollector is known to be virtually impossible to get exclusives from before they sell out.

So this is the second SDCC item I have ever owned, the first was the "Pearl White" Marc from Battle of the Planets which I got for $20 I think it was back in 2003. I am pleased I didn't have to spend the money to fly to the convention, wade through tens of 1000's of con-goers, pay for convention admission, or hotel or overpriced food and still got a rare exclusive item. The only event that has happened at a SDCC so far that I wish I could have experienced was the Flynn's Arcade/End of line Club live action experience for Tron Legacy at last year's con.... man I want those tokens and the EoL club drink coaster SO BAD.

Oh well, all in all I am thrilled. See you all in my next post.

DS is dead, Jim

Well I guess I'm finished with my adventure to resurrect a dead DS handheld. When I first ordered parts and a dead system, the dead system would only blink on for a second then go off. I figured this was a "totally dead" system, with only maybe parts for salvage. I managed to earn some free Ebay bucks by signing up for a free netflix trial, so I used these bonus bucks to buy a new battery and a second "mostly" dead system. This second system did turn on but the top screen was cracked and no good. My brother agreed to help me Frankenstein a system from the parts I ordered. Unfortunately a new screen was not on the list of parts I had ordered. Instead I suggested taking a screen from that first "dead/blink" system and trying it out in the second system. Unfotunately this had the unwanted side effect of giving the second system the "blink". Basically I killed a second system that was half working. In all this endeavor to create a working system from dead ones cost me $30 (plus $15 in free EBay bucks). On the bright side, I know that in the future I should only add new parts to a partially functional system, instead of hodge-podging together parts from dead systems. I also do have the parts I ordered in new condition still: a battery, a system shell, a couple of tools, an AC adapter, a cable to connect the top and bottom screens, and a pair of hinges. Also I suppose I have the intact shell from the second system I ordered, as the first system had a cracked in half shell. So from this experience I figure in the future if I want a working system I should order one in that condition. (Likewise, if I become inclined to waste more money in the future I could always try rebuilding one again.)

The Scourge of the Forest Moon better scurry away in fear

I got two great additions to my Imperial Forces this month. I started the month off with the BA AT-AT (Big Ass All Terrain Armored Transport). I really can't put into words just how frickin' huge this thing is. Being the cheap ass that I am I held out on this toy for quite a while, besides there's things like food and rent to consider. When I saw the sticker price at Mentor Walmart at $49 I almost bought it on the spot. After a couple days of debate I broke down and bought it for this price which is half the original sticker price of $99.99. This thing is like owning a large dog, without the maintenance (thank god).

If this wasn't a good enough score, I was out at the Mayfield Toys R Us to see what I could get on clearance with an additional 25% off and low and behold, the exclusive Biker Scout Trooper and Speederbike was somehow on the shelf, actually two of them. I haven't seen this thing in probably over a year, they must have dug them out from under a shelf or something, the tape was all yellowed. I had debated then about buying one (or more) the last couple times I had seen it, until eventually it was too late & it sold out. As luck would have it a pair of Speeders presented themselves to me last week, and this time I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to add to my Imperial Ranks of Endor.

With the recent addition of the Ewok medicine man, Logray, to the Ewok Terrori.. oops... I mean to the "Scourge of the Forest Moon", my Ewok army is nearing completion. (Unless of course you count the other 30 odd Ewoks that appear in the Return of the Jedi and are unlikely to ever see the light of day) I guess now that the Imperial forces have the firepower to start massacring the brave native freedom fighters of the Endor Moon, I best start work on the custom Ewoks I've been putting off for over a year. Then of course I'll have to end up making a giant custom diorama (sure that will happen).

Transformers Dark of the Moon Toys R Us Scan Series 1

I've always been a fan of transparent toys, much more so than say, gold painted toys. This has been this way for a while, but the first toy I can think of that this really worked for was the mail-away Predator from Kenner's Aliens & Predators line. In that case it made a lot of sense, seeing as the Predator can cloak himself. With these two new Autobots, I think it's very cool that they represent the "scanning" and reformatting to earth vehicles, as seen in the first film. This series also is a fitting tribute to the reformatting sequence in the original Animated Movie. I am a big fan of the scene where Unicron re-formats the Decepticons and they change to a grid-like silhouette then take on there new forms. I think it would be awesome if Hasbro ever decided to make toys based on that scene using the technique used on this new Scan Series of figures.

After debating about it for a couple of weeks, I broke down and bought my first two Transformers Dark of the Moon figures. Since Toys R Us had a sale for buy 1 get 1 half off, I decided this was the week to add some 'bots to my collection. I passed on these guys the first time they were on sale. Then I checked these out online and there is supposed to be a second wave, which helped me want the first wave even more. Then I glanced at them a few times over the last couple of weeks. I figured that since I kept looking at these guys I must want them, so with the sale that started this week I figured I best get them before they are gone.

Star Wars Rebel Pilot Legacy II (Evolutions) for Sale on Crave

Star Wars Rebel Pilot Legacy II (Evolutions) for Sale on Crave

Transformers Shockwave (Animated) for Sale on Crave

Transformers Shockwave (Animated) for Sale on Crave

Transformers Wreck-Gar (Animated) for Sale on Crave

Transformers Wreck-Gar (Animated) for Sale on Crave

Transformers Starscream (Animated) for Sale on Crave

Transformers Starscream (Animated) for Sale on Crave

We can rebuild the DS, we can make it stronger, better, faster

Around the time the Nintendo DSi was released I sold off my DS original game system. My thinking was, "I can get a good price for this system now, and since the new system is out I can rebuy an original DS for less in the future." Well I was wrong, although I got a decent price when I sold off my system, the price of a used original DS system did not come down. So I checked the price of an original DS system the other week when LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean came out. It was $70 used, but refurbished, at Gamestop. This was higher than when I had originally bought a used replacement for my 2003 DS. So I was checking out DS systems on Ebay this week when the manager of my local Denny's enlisted my help to help sell off her DSi and DS Lite. She managed to sell the DSi off to my friend Ken, but was unable to get a credit for the DS Lite because the hinge on the shell casing was cracked. Gamestop, Best Buy, and the local new & used outlet Buy Backs didn't want it b/c it was cracked. So I did a little more digging around on Ebay and saw that there was alot of replacement parts for DS systems of any generation for fairly cheap out of China. My one brother is a bit of a technical wizard with computers so I asked him if he could oversee me if I wanted to rebuild a system. He agreed. So tonight I bid on and won a broken original DS system for $12.50 with free shipping. Then I used Buy It Now to get the replacement hinges, system shell, screen connector cable, & an AC wall charger all out of a few overseas vendors. All the parts should arrive by the second week of July. The parts I didn't buy were replacement screens, touch screen, or battery. So In a few weeks I'll let you know how my project works out and if I can manage to Frankenstein a system together. BTW I decided to get a white shell so it would look a little more modern like the DSi.

Rolling Acres Mall Akron, Ohio

Rolling Acres June 2011

On Monday June 13th 2011, I captured these images of the former Rolling Acres Mall in Akron, Ohio (click on photo above to view the album). Less than a decade ago I had shopped at this mall. Granted it was on a steady decline at that point, but the Target anchor was a pleasant and welcomed surprise. As we circled the parking lot I spotted the back of the former Target. When we came around the corner my jaw dropped. I knew the mall had been buttoned up for a number of years now, but to actually see these retail juggernauts' brick and mortar corpses was nearly too much to handle. I think I've made it clear by now that my collecting heydays were basically the better part of the 90's. To actually see a full blown dead mall was shocking. Especially one I visited at least semi annually if not quarterly.

This is however the sign of the times. Northeast Ohio had aggressively expanded, placing malls nearly on top of each other throughout the 60's,70's and 80's. To survive through the most recent decade as a brick and mortar mall is no small miracle. It's really no surprise that as e-tailers became more common and competitive along with the whole economy tightening up, that malls would be wounded or abandoned all together.

The Rolling Acres Mall did have one anchor in operation still, as a JCPenney's Outlet.

I also visited the two closest malls that day, both seemingly thriving, the Summit Mall in Fairlawn, Ohio and Chapel Hill Mall in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. They must have been in at least some small way strengthened by the abandonment of the old rival, Rolling Acres.

Ashtabula Towne Square

Well my first mall photo portfolio is ready. The subject is Ashtabula Towne Square in Ashtabula, Ohio. We were okayed for the photo shoot by the Mall Manager and the Zamias Property Manager. Zamias is the last family operated mall property group left according to the Manager. He said renovation was in store for the mall and leasing is available for new tenants. The mall is nice and new looking, with sweet overhead lighting. A young mall, Ashtabula Towne Square was opened as Ashtabula Mall in 1992. Three anchors are in operation: Sears, Super K-Mart, & JCPenney’s with room for three more. There is a Gamestop, and Buy Sell & Trade store. A Jo-ann Fabrics, Radio Shack and about dozen and a half other stores are open inside the mall, with several stores operating in the outlots like Applebee’s and Office Max. Click on the photo to see the rest of the album. My apologies for the dark photos, I was having some problems with the flash. This is the uncut group of images. I’m not sure what the next mall is going to be, but I will keep you posted.

Ashtabula Towne Square

The chase for the Mtn Dew Begins

Well looks like Mtn Dew has resurrected some dead flavors for two contests: FanDewMonium (for diet flavors) and Back by popular DewMand. As I have always been a sucker for limited edition food items, these contests are a god-send. My favorite: Pitch Black is back, and I am thrilled. I'm also down with Typhoon and Supernova. Here's my checklist of the combinations of 12 pack cans and two liters, although I'm not sure if all these variations exist:

Regular Flavor Cans:
White Out (check)
Pitch Black (check)
Supernova (check)
Voltage
Typhoon

Diet Flavor Cans:
White Out
Pitch Black
Supernova (check)
Voltage (check)
Typhoon

Regular Flavor 2 liter:
White Out (check)
Pitch Black
Super Nova
Voltage (check)
Typhoon (check)

Diet Flavors:
White Out
Pitch Black
Supernova
Voltage
Typhoon

Generation 2 Spychanger Series 1 Cardback for Firecracker

Well I've shown off quite a bit of the go-bots/spychangers since I started the blog. Today we take a peek as to what's on the back of the card. You get to see all 6 of the series 1 cars, Firecracker's Bio, Transformation instructions, Robot Point, and UPC. Not all that exciting but now cataloged to help broaden your go-bots/spychanger knowledge even further. Sorry this will not be the last of the spychanger blogs, if you checked out the image dump from the other day there's about a dozen or two more variations to list, just from this latest haul. You can look forward to more info soon.

Transformers haul from storage

All this Transformers nonsense with starting to transfer my old 2001 geocities site and posting all these variations spychanger/go-bots, got me itching to buy up some Transformers. I curbed my urge to spend by digging up as many of my Transformers from storage as I could find. Here's a link to the album. I should break it down into more posts later. Meanwhile, enjoy!

Transformers Generation 2 Go-bots recap

After digging up my G2 go-bots and photographing them I noticed I have images of all the 14 first incarnations in package. So although I've gone over this before, collected here are the pictures of all the go-bots from G2 in package.

Great Lakes Mall celebrates 50 years by remodeling

My hometown mall, Great Lakes Mall, here in Mentor, OH is getting a much needed face-lift. With plans for the renovation announced earlier this year in the local paper, it's nice to see the renovation work has begun. The photo from their facebook page today made me do a double take. It looked ominously like the gutted dead malls I've seen on the internet. Luckily this is just the North end with the old tile ripped up, and the columns ripped away from the support girders, making preparations for the "new look". Part of the redesign calls for a minimalist approach as far as the columns go, so they will now be steel girders instead of well, whatever they were before. The article in the paper stated they were hoping to source the new floor tiles from within Ohio. The previous tiles from the last renovation 15-20 years ago (?) were said to be imported from Italy. Well, kudos to Simon for giving "the mall" some much-needed loving.

Decepticon Jets, Past and Future:

More flashback TF stuff from 2001 Decepticon Jets, Past and Future:

Today I am addressing the issue of the future of the Decepticon Jets. As discussed on previous subpages I am more than a little concerned that in Robots in Diguise (RID) the enemy is still Predacons and not Decepticons. Well it does little good to just complain about a situation without a solution to the problem. This page focuses on a solution to the lack of decepticons in RID. Before we can get to the future of the Decepticons we have to look at the past.      In Generation 1 (G1) the Decepticons had 6 main seeker jets in their armada during the first two years. These jets were Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Dirge, Thrust, and Ramjet. With these early jets you got a toy design that isn't likely to be seen again, plenty of die-cast metal for the fuselage of the jets. (I heard that just recently Starscream and Skywarp were reissued in Japan, hopefully they included the original die cast parts). In recent years, with the exception of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, It seems that toy companies have shyed away from using die cast metal in toys. Some of the reasons for this are pretty obvious: Cost to produce, Cost to ship heavier toys, and possible lawsuits that might arise from making toys that kids could hurt each other with if used as projectiles or bludgens.       So if it's next to impossbile for Hasbro to go as far back as to rerelease the original die cast metal seeker jets where are Decepticon jets going to come from? Let's look back to Generation2 (G2) and Machine Wars. Between these two toy lines there are at least 5 different cost effective plastic jet molds. In 1995 G2 released 3 jet molds that were used to create 6 total jets, three for the Autobots and three for the Decepticons. Machine Wars used two different molds to create four decepticon jets. It had never been uncommon for Hasbro to reuse a mold to make multiple toys. Ex: Dinobot and Grimlock from Beast Wars, Ratchet and Ironhide from G1, REV and Crosswise from RID. (Editor's note, correction: REV is the same mold as G2 Sideswipe, G2 Optimus Prime & G2 Firecracker; Crosswise is the same mold as G2 Highbeam, & G2 Bumblebee. 8/29/01)        So here we have 5 jet molds used in the last 6 years to produce Transformers toys. The jet designs include F-117A Stealth Fighter, F-15, X-30, YF-22, and YF-23. Working from the idea  that Hasbro uses the same mold at least twice per toy line we are looking at the possibility of 10 jets. This leaves room to make all 6 original G1 jets but in new body designs. I think Hasbro could easily repaint these molds to reflect the color schemes of the G1 jets. This is the future I hope to see for the enemy of RID's Autobots. Easy to produce Decepticon jets using recent molds but painted to resemble the original 6 G1 seeker jets. The four remaining jets could be any of a number of G1 Decepticons, offhand I'd like to see them called Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Blitzwing, and Ratbat.  Then Soundwave could be made as an aircraft carrier instead of a tape deck.        We can look forward to seeing at least the two Machine Wars jet molds in the upcoming releases from the Robots in Disguise line. They are scheduled to be released in two packs with Autobot molds from Machine Wars (Hoist & Mirage MW). These two Autobots were named Wrecker Hook and Indy Heat in the Japanese Car Robots 2000 toy line. I am sure to be putting up another subpage about these four toys when they get released in the US this Fall.         Well that about wraps it up for today's post about Decepticon Jets Past and Future. Again I'd like to say that anyone who has Machine Wars Jets or Decepticon Cyberjets from G2 up for trade please contact me via email. I would like to beat Hasbro to the punch and have a Decepticon armada to face off against my RID Autobots. Thanks for reading.         Editor's Update 8/29/01: The two Machine Wars jets that are due out shortly may in fact  be pre-existing Transformers. It seems that during Beast Wars Neo in Japan (a revamp of the US Beast Wars line) the maximals fought the decepticons. (Well in Japan the heroes have always been called Cybertrons while the villians are Destrons; I use maximals here to indicate animal heroes, and decepticons to refer to vehicle enemies) Several pre-exisitng molds were used to round out the decepticon forces, amongst which were the two Machine Wars jet molds. From these two molds Dirge and Thrust were made for the Beast Wars Neo cartoon. It is very likely that these paintjobs and possibly the same names will be used for the RID2001 release. Look for further update shortly.           END OF LINE

Another page from my geocities TF:RID site

More ramblings from 2001:

Robots in Disguise. An Evolution in Transformers:

   Here we are in the year 2001, and Transformers has undergone yet another evolution. First released in the early eighties as Transformers More than meets the Eye, we saw the heroic Autobots whose transformed modes were mostly cars fighting the evil Decepticons whose armada was built from jets. This is Transformers as it is in my heart, the story of two warring factions from the far off planet of Cybertron, cars vs. jets.
     Shortly after the end of this line, allowing only a few years for the original line to cool off, was Transformers Generation 2 released in the early 1990's. I must say that I for one was not impressed. After playing with GIJoe  action figures for the remaining years of the 1980's I suppose I was spoiled by the articulation that action figures presented. So I didn't buy anything from Generation 2 even though I was an avid toy collector and Transformers still held a place in my heart.
      In 1995 Transfomers underwent their third evolution: Beast Wars. Now I was torn. I purchased the early two-pack of Optimus Primal (bat) vs. Megatron (crocodile). I have tons of praise for the articulation presented in these toys. For goodness sake both of them could sit Indian style. I fell in love with the ball and socket joints that were present at the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. This is the sort of articulation I am dying to see incorporated into any action figure line. Unfotunately the line was a battle between animals that transformed into robots. Featuring the heroic Maximals against the evil Predacons.
       My main beef with this match up is the fact that all the animals were out of scale with each other. You basically had something like a gorilla or shark be sized up against  a frog or dragonfly. I'm sure it makes sense somewhere in the universe but that place doesn't include my mind. With the exception of a few off scale Decepticons like Megatron or Soundwave that turned into items that were scaled with the real world, most of the rest of the original Transformers were in a decent scale with each other. The reason for this stems from the pre-Transformers origin of  the toy molds. The items like Megatron and Soundwave that were scaled to real world came from a Japanese toy line known as Microman. The cars and jets were scaled to fit pilots about the size of Micro Machine Action Fleet and they came from a Japanese toy line known as Diaclone.
      If you're lucky enough you might own a Diaclone pilot that can drive Optimus Prime or pilot Starscream (a few Diaclone vehicles that weren't turned into transformers popped up in the States in the 1980's to compete directly with the popularity of Transformers, Robotech, and Voltron.) I happened to own one of these toys and I thought it was cool that the pilots fit into the Transformers. The roots of Transformers only recently came into light for me. Basically from my understanding the cars and jets were on one side opposed by giant mechanical monsters on the other, namely the Dinobots and  Insecticons. It you ever bothered to wonder what those hatches were for on your Dinobots and Insecticons the answer is they are cockpits for Diaclone pilots.
       During the course of the Beast Wars I saw glimmers of hope that Hasbro may return to the original roots of Transformers. The introduction of Transmetals was of keen interest to me because at least now the animal forms had a more robotic feel to them like the Original Dinobots and Insecticons. Unfortunately the toys continued to be grossly out of scale with each others.
       2000, Beast Machines posed the final path towards the days gone by. Here we see  the heroic Maximals return to Cybertron to face off against Vehicons. The Vehicons were close to Decepticons. I was very happy to see them get introduced into the toy line but slightly disappointed that they weren't called Decepticons. In this same year I found out about a Toy line in Japan known as Car Robots 2000. This line featured the Heroic Autobots facing off against the evil Predacons. (well actually in Japan it was the Cybertrons versus the Destrons) I managed to get my hands on the Build King set for Christmas of 2000. My girlfriend at the time had visited her family in Japan and was kind enough to get me this set. 
        Early in 2001 I heard great news from the New York Toy Fair: Hasbro was importing the Car Robots line to the US for late Summer/early Fall release. So here we stand on the threshold of the Classic days of Transformers. With only 1 season of the cartoon existing it's possible that rather than the Autobots waging battle against the Predacons we may soon see Autobots versus Decepticons. Actually later this year we will see some Decepticons: the Combaticons that form Bruticus, Black Battle Convoy, and two Machine Wars jets.
        Personally I am avoiding the Predacon threepack, and Sky Byte. I hope to aquire the Decepticon cyberjets from Generation 2, and the other Machine Wars jets so that I will have the RID Autobots pitting battle against the Decepticons. Editor's note 8/29/01: I have aquired the Machine wars jets except Megaplex and I have aquired all three G2 cyberjets. My thanks to Joel for such a great deal. Anyone with a Megaplex at a decent price feel free to email me at sandmanloganfive@yahoo.com . I am also still looking for the following G2 Go-Bots: Firecracker, Highbeam, Megatron, Optimus Prime, & Doubleclutch.

       Well thats enough babbling for now. I hope to refine this site with some toy reviews and more of my opinions of where the line is heading, but for now this is it.

       Thanks for reading. Catch ya on the flipside. SandmanLoganfive signing off.

        END OF LINE

Reliving my old geocities website

The following is copied from my old geocities Transformers Fansite created starting in July 2001:

Transformers:
Robots in Disguise Hello and welcome to my first website. I hope to offer here an array of photos involving the new Transformers Robots in Disguise toy line. The photos will include toys in package, toys displayed, and Japanese versions of the toys. Site is updated on a totally irregular basis please check back for more info. 

Here reborn for 2001 is the Mighty Optimus Prime! In Japan he was released under the name Fire Convoy. The original Optimus Prime was named Convoy in Japan, this new name reflects the fact that he transforms into a Fire Truck. Optimus also has another mode that pays tribute to his earlier incarnation, I hope to have a photo of that up soon. 

 

The new 2001 Autobot line up is seen here: XBrawn (AKA Wildride) the silver SUV, Prowl (AKA Mach Alert) the police Lambourghni , Side Burn (AKA Speedbreaker) the blue Dodge Viper. The spychangers previously Go-bots in Generation 2 from 1995: Hot Shot & R.E.V., Ironhide & Mirage, W.A.R.S. & Crosswise. All nine of these autobots were seen in the Car Robots 2000 line. The six spychangers were in both the CR2000 line and Gen2 1995 line

This is a little action setup featuring the new Robots in Disguise Ultra Magnus. Ultra Magnus' robot form leaves something to be desired but his car carrier form is outstanding. Operating Magnus' main gun port are the spychangers Mirage and Ironhide. Dueling at the back end of the trailer are RID Prowl and Machine Wars Megatron. I used a little creative spirit here by outfitting Prowl with a saber from a Gundam toy. Also I have Prowl transformed into his "Samurai Style" with the doors acting as hip armor and the shoulder guards turned forward to sleek out his overall look. BTW I'm trying to aquire the Deception Machine Wars jet Megaplex, &  Firecracker, Highbeam, Megatron, Optimus Prime,  and Doubleclutch Go-Bots from Gen2 1995. Anyone who has these for trade please email me at: sandmanloganfive@yahoo.com.  

Megatron is shown here in his first US release package. I hope that a newer package version will come out shortly with only English on it. (Editors note, only the five U.S. exclusives came with english only packaging 7/31/02) Megatron was known as Gigatron in the Japanese Car Robots 2000 toy line. In Japan he was the leader of the Destrons, here in the US he continues to lead the Predacons as he did in Beast Wars. 

 

This Page is Maintained by SandmanLoganfive Email me at: sandmanloganfive@yahoo.com "Learn to expect the unexpected and you will adapt better to your surroundings whatever those may be."
-Racewave-

"What your eyes cannot detect is simply hidden in the shadows"
-Stealth-

"Would you believe that just because you cannot see it is there that it no longer exists?"
-Allsparkie-
Disclaimer: This site is a fan tribute site. It is designed to inform and entertain the Public at large. It is not intended to infringe on the copyrights of Hasbro nor Takara.