Transformers |OT| Transform and Roll Out!

Neo0mj · Nov 8, 2018

Mitchman said:
3rd Party or official masterpiece? Cause Dragon Megatron was always my favorite from Best Wars, it was my Dream Transformer to own as a kid. Will sell a kidney or two accordingly to obtain one.!

Third party. I'm not sure if Hasbro or Takara will ever bother with recreating TM2 Megatron. He's sold out everywhere right now, but it seems another shipment is coming soon.

http://www.robotkingdom.com/pedx09re.html

The same company also did an Optimal Optimus that blows the new official one out of the water(of course, it's also reflected in the price).

Funny though how while they stuck really close to the original design with Optimal Optimus they took some liberties with Megatron. If you want something that sticks closer to the original design another company is taking a shot at it as well. However, they're $35 more expensive.

Weltall Zero · Nov 8, 2018

Cheerilee said:
I haven't read MTMTE (I really should get on that), but as for the context...

Through a series of disconnected memories, we see that Megatron was once a champion gladiator, and he was extremely popular and played to the audience, saying that he gets stronger when the audience cheers for him. Bumblebee hero-worships Megatron.

Flash forward and Megatron is a "former" gladiator, making speeches about how he fights for the people and he does it outside of the ring now, and how he won't stop until life is better for all Cybertronians and no marginalized groups will be left behind. Bumblebee continues to hero-worship Megatron. And Optimus is seen standing behind Megatron in support.

Then we see that Optimus has been the one writing Megatron's speeches for him, while Megatron argues with Optimus that talk isn't working and more extreme measures are needed. Bumblebee still seems to be a Megatron fanboy, and doesn't seem to know who Optimus is.

Then after another cut, Megatron has done something, but it's not clear what he did. Optimus is pissed off by it, and he storms into Megatron's place, with Bumblebee accompanying. It's seen that Megatron has Shockwave conducting Frankenstein experiments. Optimus tells Megatron to cool his jets and return to the path of peace. Megatron tells Optimus that peace won't change things for the better fast enough, and says that temporary war is less costly than prolonged injustice. Optimus says he'll stop Megatron. Megatron says to bring it. Megatron then offers to let Bumblebee join in his crusade, and Bumblebee (formerly a total Megatron fanboy) says "Hell no, I'm with Optimus here. You're fucking crazy."

After another cut, Bumblebee is captured and taken before Megatron. Megatron reveals to Bumblebee his plan to use the AllSpark and Vector Sigma to create a new world full of people who have been engineered to agree with him and follow his orders, and genocide everyone who doesn't, and Bumblebee tells Megatron that Optimus will stop him. Megatron then rips out Bumblebee's voice box so he can't tell Optimus what he's learned.

Except for the very last paragraph and Bumblebee being a fan of Megatron, that's pretty much line by line IDW's backstory of Megatron and Optimus.

And yes, you should 300% read MTMTE!

caliph95 said:
Reposting from Comic era made this before the emotional finale

Well I finished my reread of MTME/LOST LIGHT and yeah MTME is still amazing and expect more funny pages posted for my random thoughts

But lost light really feels that Robert's was told he had this many issues before the end of transformers and had to rush through shit and didn't get time to breath and things that should have been a bigger deal like deaths of Ten and Nightbeat especially since Nautica, ultra Magnus and Swerve were friends of those peoplethat was brushed and the sudden deaths of certain antagonist feels like he realized because he doesn't have time had to resolve thoss antagonist

Also for being THE GREATEST AUTOBOT OF ALL TIME Thunderclash does fuck all and I forget he's part of the crew now which is weird since everyone hype him up

Also to make it up really obvious Roberts didn't have time the end of MTME had Megatron being called by Optimus prime or at least implied in the other universe especially when he had dialogue with Roller about Optimus

And they revealed he died in a throwaway line

Yeah, it's pretty clear Roberts was forced to hit that lightspeed pedal to the metal, and the comic suffered a lot for it; even if that still places it among the best TF fiction of all time.

mrmoose · Nov 8, 2018

I completely forgot they released an Optimal Optimus in PotP. It's the one toy I haven't seen yet at retail, I think.

Yams · Nov 8, 2018

N

mrmoose said:
I completely forgot they released an Optimal Optimus in PotP. It's the one toy I haven't seen yet at retail, I think.

da fuck? When

Heroin Cat · Nov 8, 2018

Weltall Zero said:
Except for the very last paragraph and Bumblebee being a fan of Megatron, that's pretty much line by line IDW's backstory of Megatron and Optimus.

And yes, you should 300% read MTMTE!

Yeah, it's pretty clear Roberts was forced to hit that lightspeed pedal to the metal, and the comic suffered a lot for it; even if that still places it among the best TF fiction of all time.

My take as well. Things got very conveniently wrapped up over the last few months, with the Architect stuff suffering the most. And yet it's still great. Part of that was that MTMTE and LL avoided the Hasbro crap that complicated the rest of the IDWverse - so aside from Dark Cybertron it's almost self-contained.

I teared up at the end of LL #25. What a perfect send off for the comic.

Neo0mj · Nov 8, 2018

Oh, people might be interested in this. BBTS are offering the Titans Return Tryptiocon for 50% off.

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/54487

Not a bad deal for such a massive figure.

Claire Delune · Nov 8, 2018

Finally, a Trypticon as big as I falsely remember the original being!

mrmoose · Nov 8, 2018

It's so big it's unwieldy. If I could guarantee getting one with decent, non breaking legs I'd grab another one.

Neo0mj · Nov 9, 2018

Mike said:
Finally, a Trypticon as big as I falsely remember the original being!

Next thing you'll tell me is that Devastator wasn't a giant, either.

Uzumaki Goku · Nov 9, 2018

So how do you guys think the Unicron comic will end? When does Lost Light take place in conjunction with it?

Rand a. Thor · Nov 9, 2018

Neo0mj said:
Third party. I'm not sure if Hasbro or Takara will ever bother with recreating TM2 Megatron. He's sold out everywhere right now, but it seems another shipment is coming soon.

http://www.robotkingdom.com/pedx09re.html

The same company also did an Optimal Optimus that blows the new official one out of the water(of course, it's also reflected in the price).

Funny though how while they stuck really close to the original design with Optimal Optimus they took some liberties with Megatron. If you want something that sticks closer to the original design another company is taking a shot at it as well. However, they're $35 more expensive.

Nah I love the liberties they took, that is why I asked. It makes it look so much cooler.

Neo0mj · Nov 9, 2018

Mitchman said:
Nah I love the liberties they took, that is why I asked. It makes it look so much cooler.

Yeah, same here. Love how much more mechanical he looks. They did the same with their Not-Leo Convoy and it's much better for it.

Rand a. Thor · Nov 9, 2018

Neo0mj said:
Yeah, same here. Love how much more mechanical he looks. They did the same with their Not-Leo Convoy and it's much better for it.

1. That is a Zoid ass looking Lion Mode after looking it up and I love it.
2. These 3rd Party transformers are far too expensive and I would go broke if I had the cash to buy em cause they are crazy good.
3. Looking this up I ran into the Transformers Legends line, and hoo boy there are some winners in there. Proper old school transformations and not all of em are redecos or old molds.

Neo0mj · Nov 9, 2018

Mitchman said:
1. That is a Zoid ass looking Lion Mode after looking it up and I love it.
2. These 3rd Party transformers are far too expensive and I would go broke if I had the cash to buy em cause they are crazy good.
3. Looking this up I ran into the Transformers Legends line, and hoo boy there are some winners in there. Proper old school transformations and not all of em are redecos or old molds.

Yeah, 3P figures are not cheap. They're basically boutique products, after all. I only have four, and they were bought at the pace of around one a year.
However a lot of sites such as BBTS and Tfsource are offering many for some good discounts. Keep an eye on them the next couple of weeks, they might have something.

Keldroc · Nov 10, 2018

mrmoose said:
It's so big it's unwieldy. If I could guarantee getting one with decent, non breaking legs I'd grab another one.

Only the first shipment had the leg breakage issue. Everything after that was fixed with a running change. Any stock left now is more likely to be a fixed version. Plus, BBTS customer service is extremely good about replacements.

Weltall Zero · Nov 10, 2018

Keldroc said:
Only the first shipment had the leg breakage issue. Everything after that was fixed with a running change. Any stock left now is more likely to be a fixed version. Plus, BBTS customer service is extremely good about replacements.

Can confirm. I once got an Animated Wreck-Gar with two left feet (making correct transformation impossible), and they sent me an entire new one without even asking for the original one back. And, mind you, I live in Spain, so they had to ship it out of their own pocket too.

caliph95 · Nov 10, 2018

Deleted member 29660 · Nov 14, 2018

And that's the end.

Shockwave is betrayed by Bludgeon and Rhinox. Prowl takes in Shockwave and tells him to have faith in Optimus. Skywarp and Thundercracker rebond despite their past issues. Starscream sacrifices himself much to everyones shock. The Dinobots go out fighting on a symbol ship. Said Symbol ship crahes into the White House. Soundwave in an act of absolution uses the engima to to combine all the hope and faith of those who died together which helps Optimus overcome his own fears which enables him to reach Unicrons creator who as others have said in a JRPG kind of way forgives instead of hate and Unicron is destroyed. Earth gets a new mini black hole, lots are alive and even Arcee gets some lovin. whew, so much to unpack.

Yams · Nov 14, 2018

But does the adventure continue?

Dongs Macabre · Nov 16, 2018

Unicron had some great character arc conclusions. Defeating Unicron by throwing away hate was great. I also appreciated how Prowl's line about how he and Soundwave have opposed viewpoints about faith but are both committed to believing in and doing good. Slide's fate is a great turn that I didn't see coming, but made total sense. The only resolution that felt a bit abrupt was Starscream's sacrifice, especially for such a major character. Even the other characters didn't have much time to react to it.

TarpitCarnivore · Nov 17, 2018

I found the end of Unicron very satisfying, despite not knowing any lead up into the series.

If I wanted to read the run that leads to this what am I looking for?

Weltall Zero · Nov 17, 2018

TarpitCarnivore said:
I found the end of Unicron very satisfying, despite not knowing any lead up into the series.

If I wanted to read the run that leads to this what am I looking for?

Personally, I think Tizoc's topic and reading order on the old place is still the best guide for it:
https://www./threads/transformers-m...e-of-the-best-comics-you-havent-read.1294055/
Let this also serve as a gentle poke for him to update and repost it here on Era. :D

Neo0mj · Nov 17, 2018

This new Star Saber is so good.

TarpitCarnivore · Nov 17, 2018

Weltall Zero said:
Personally, I think Tizoc's topic and reading order on the old place is still the best guide for it:
https://www./threads/transformers-m...e-of-the-best-comics-you-havent-read.1294055/
Let this also serve as a gentle poke for him to update and repost it here on Era. :D

I keep forgetting about that thread haha. I planned to do lost light after MTMTE

The worst part of this is it's rekindled love for the toys. I have no room for them and my wife definitely be eye rolling.

Tizoc · Nov 17, 2018

Weltall Zero said:
Personally, I think Tizoc's topic and reading order on the old place is still the best guide for it:
https://www./threads/transformers-m...e-of-the-best-comics-you-havent-read.1294055/
Let this also serve as a gentle poke for him to update and repost it here on Era. :D

I keep meaning to get my lazy ass bum to write a more condensed and easier guide for the entire Roberts run, so let's see when I can get the motivation @o@

mrmoose · Nov 17, 2018

Neo0mj said:
This new Star Saber is so good.

This is the flame toys non transforming one right? Did the price get revealed yet? I'm assuming 400 to 500 and I shudder to think how much it would cost with victory Leo.

Neo0mj · Nov 17, 2018

mrmoose said:
This is the flame toys non transforming one right? Did the price get revealed yet? I'm assuming 400 to 500 and I shudder to think how much it would cost with victory Leo.

No price has been confirmed yet. I think solo he'll be cheaper than/same as Tarn (which was a painful $400) but adding Victory Leo will probably make him at least $600. Still, their stuff looks amazing.

Deleted member 29660 · Nov 17, 2018

Those look crazy good.

If only money grew on tree's eh.

Yams · Nov 17, 2018

Why can't I get those in a affordable and transformable toy? My son would love them...

Yeah my son would love to play with them

Keldroc · Nov 17, 2018

I still think a remold of the Titans Return Overlord mold into Star Saber is not entirely impossible.

Weltall Zero · Nov 17, 2018

Yams said:
Why can't I get those in a affordable and transformable toy? My son would love them...

Yeah my son would love to play with them

"It's for my son" is the Transformers equivalent of "asking for a friend", isn't it? :)

In all seriousness, I still get weird looks when I buy a few TFs and say "no, thanks" when they offer to gift-wrap them. :D

Neo0mj · Nov 18, 2018

Yams said:
Why can't I get those in a affordable and transformable toy? My son would love them...

Yeah my son would love to play with them

lol. If you want a cheaper (though at $90 and $110 still expensive) alternative MMC made transforming versions. If you want I'll keep an eye on online stores in case they have discounts on them the coming days.

Keldroc · Nov 18, 2018

35 years ago today, Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter handed over the Transformers materials to Bob Budiansky late in the afternoon and told him to work all weekend to have a full cast and story ready for Monday the 21st to pitch to Hasbro in time for Thanksgiving. Over those two days, Budiansky created pretty much the entire Transformers brand as we know it.

Deleted member 29660 · Nov 18, 2018

He created it all after every one else didn't want it too, Shooter was going around from person to person with a box of the toys and no one would take it, in a way we're kind of lucky things worked out the way they did.

Nothing was written in stone, the good guys, bad guys, names. Everything. Netflex has a great The Toys that Made Us episode about it all. If you haven't seen it your missing out.

Get to see the place they were even first produced and what some of the Japanese folk thought of the franchise as it became to come together.

Keldroc · Nov 18, 2018

Oh, I've seen it. Some of my own toys are in that episode, in fact. Omega Supreme, Cheetor, Blaster, and a couple others.

Yams · Nov 18, 2018

That episode inspired my kid to learn how to draw so he can design toys lol

Weltall Zero · Nov 18, 2018

Keldroc said:
35 years ago today, Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter handed over the Transformers materials to Bob Budiansky late in the afternoon and told him to work all weekend to have a full cast and story ready for Monday the 21st to pitch to Hasbro in time for Thanksgiving. Over those two days, Budiansky created pretty much the entire Transformers brand as we know it.

This is a pretty great anniversary indeed! It's amazing how he came up with so many memorable names in such a short time.

Deleted member 29660 · Nov 18, 2018

Once of the nice things from the episode was the old man who was given a Perceptor as a nice monument for his time there due to his fondness of the character.

Maligna · Nov 21, 2018

I need a new Rodimus Prime masterpiece figure in the worst way. Missed out originally, and not even sure if I'd want it now considering all the problems I've heard it has.

I want Takara to take another crack at it.

Neo0mj · Nov 21, 2018

Maligna said:
I need a new Rodimus Prime masterpiece figure in the worst way. Missed out originally, and not even sure if I'd want it now considering all the problems I've heard it has.

I want Takara to take another crack at it.

If you're really desperate for one and have money to spare, there's a third party option, DX9 Carry. Not exactly MP styled but as close as it can get.

Maligna · Nov 21, 2018

Neo0mj said:
If you're really desperate for one and have money to spare, there's a third party option, DX9 Carry. Not exactly MP styled but as close as it can get.

Yeah I looked into him, but he doesn't look quite right to me. It's mostly the spoiler.

I'm hoping Fantoys does one at some point.

Their upcoming Motormaster looks amazing.

TarpitCarnivore · Nov 21, 2018

Maligna said:
Yeah I looked into him, but he doesn't look quite right to me. It's mostly the spoiler.

I'm hoping Fantoys does one at some point.

Their upcoming Motormaster looks amazing.

Hot damn that looks good! I have an original Motormaster and it's so embarrassing to look at now.

Deleted member 29660 · Nov 21, 2018

Neo0mj said:
If you're really desperate for one and have money to spare, there's a third party option, DX9 Carry. Not exactly MP styled but as close as it can get.

Damn that looks good and I'm not even a fan of the character.

The first issue of Go-Bots came out today, anyone give it a shot?

Maligna · Nov 21, 2018

Can anyone explain to me how it's legal for third party companies to replicate a character down to every exact detail, but they only aren't allowed to use the Autobot and Decepticon insignias?

Neo0mj · Nov 22, 2018

Maligna said:
Can anyone explain to me how it's legal for third party companies to replicate a character down to every exact detail, but they only aren't allowed to use the Autobot and Decepticon insignias?

It's a strange relationship for sure. One of the reasons they don't go after them is that they're considered competitors in a completely different market. Everything they make is 4 times as expensive as a Hasbro alternative, and it's especially bad with those $500 combiners. They also make figures of characters HasTak would rarely bother with. And finally they can actually learn from them a few things. Might change if managmmana changes, though.
Of course, not all companies are as lenient. Bandai chases after 3P makes like they're the spawns of Satan. I recently bought a 3P Omnimon and to avoid Bandai they sold it as two separate figures, each with it's own box. They even made bogus instruction sheets!

Mindwipe · Nov 22, 2018

Maligna said:
Can anyone explain to me how it's legal for third party companies to replicate a character down to every exact detail, but they only aren't allowed to use the Autobot and Decepticon insignias?

Copyright cases are hard to prove, especially if it's "character" rather than literally copying the exact mold. Character rights also aren't protected by copyright nearly as much as exact copies in many territories and international treaties (indeed, they're barely protected at all outside the US).

The Autobot and Decepticon logs are explicitly trademarked as trade dress for toys, so including them is an open and shut case and would normally be sufficient to get the items confiscated pending trial by customs authorities. But you can only trademark things that are logos or words to name or commonly associated with the product really, and applying for trademarks is expensive (whereas you don't really need to register copyright at all, formally, so it's free).

Hasbro probably could persue things a bit more on copyright grounds, but it's very risky, and would risk further exacerbating the Games Workshop vs Chapterhouse Studios court judgement if they didn't clearly win, which is nightmarish for toy companies.

Weltall Zero · Nov 22, 2018

Neo0mj said:
It's a strange relationship for sure. One of the reasons they don't go after them is that they're considered competitors in a completely different market. Everything they make is 4 times as expensive as a Hasbro alternative, and it's especially bad with those $500 combiners. They also make figures of characters HasTak would rarely bother with. And finally they can actually learn from them a few things. Might change if managmmana changes, though.
Of course, not all companies are as lenient. Bandai chases after 3P makes like they're the spawns of Satan. I recently bought a 3P Omnimon and to avoid Bandai they sold it as two separate figures, each with it's own box. They even made bogus instruction sheets!

The fake instructions sheets completely and utterly slayed me. :D

Maligna · Nov 22, 2018

Thanks for the explanation you two!

Makes sense now.

Keldroc · Nov 23, 2018

New Korean Bumblebee spot shows a little more Cybertron action.

https://youtu.be/UH-sut0RWJ0

Maligna said:
Thanks for the explanation you two!

Makes sense now.

Also the use of popular IP for original "homage" work is pretty well accepted in toy/comic/nerd circles. Marvel and DC aren't going around shutting down the artists in Artists' Alley at Comic Con because they're drawing Spider-Man for money. The art isn't stopping people from buying comics and the third party figures aren't impacting Hasbro's own sales so there's no real reason to start trouble over it. Hasbro has even "borrowed" some engineering ideas from third party stuff now and then. Hasbro makes a distinction between third parties that design their own figures and knock off companies that clone the retail molds.

mrmoose · Nov 23, 2018

Keldroc said:
New Korean Bumblebee spot shows a little more Cybertron action.

https://youtu.be/UH-sut0RWJ0

Also the use of popular IP for original "homage" work is pretty well accepted in toy/comic/nerd circles. Marvel and DC aren't going around shutting down the artists in Artists' Alley at Comic Con because they're drawing Spider-Man for money. The art isn't stopping people from buying comics and the third party figures aren't impacting Hasbro's own sales so there's no real reason to start trouble over it. Hasbro has even "borrowed" some engineering ideas from third party stuff now and then. Hasbro makes a distinction between third parties that design their own figures and knock off companies that clone the retail molds.

I think that's a little different, though. If the folks in artist alley were selling works featuring the characters, they would get shut down really quick. Fan stuff is fine. Even prints, I think, would get shut down depending on how many they're selling and what the distribution is like.

If another American company started coming out with things as blatant as most third parties, they'd get shut down too.

The KOs are obviously on another level, where they're copying actual engineering, so they can block them from being sold at BBTS or whatever. I want to say they were cracking down a bit, I think they cracked down on Botcon one year really hard. But it is an uphill battle to prove, in a foreign court and like you said it's a different demographic from the toy market they're going for. But it's a tough case; it's true that a lot of these third party companies do amazing engineering on their own,but it's also true that the IP is the reason they charge an arm and a leg for them, prices would go way down if they went and did their own transforming robots with great engineering but with no connection to Transformers, so you can easily argue that they profit from the IP a lot.

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