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Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty

Phy posted:

Counterpoint: You don't have to buy toys if you don't want to, Sodomy. I'm a big nerdlinger and I do, but the comics are also pretty darn good. I'd recommend checking out Robots In Disguise as well; it would probably be in the running for Best TF Comic Ever if the Roberts books didn't have that sewn up.

Well obviously man, my post was slightly tongue-in-cheek. But only slightly. :v:

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Veg
Oct 13, 2008

:smug::smug::xd:

Spiderdrake posted:

You don't really seem like the ban worthy type. How are you earning their ire?

Are they only of the strictest geewun?

Well one of our countries biggest heroes was Sir Edmond Hillary and he said "knocked the bastard off" when he conquered Mt Everest. When he died I posted "bastard got knocked off."

Any attempt to register since has been met with the banhammer.

:shrug:

In other news I got Springer and he loving owns. Really clever use of panels to transform.

GET IN THE ROBOT
Nov 28, 2007

JUST GET IN THE FUCKING ROBOT SHINJI

Iced Cocoa posted:

I just bookmarked this thread because I kind of got interested in Transformers after having a glimpse of the Prime series and loving the animation on it. I don't know that much about what toys are hot or not, but apparently someone made a decent writeup on the selection in my country. I would want to know if this is "great" or "meh" or somewhere in between. And my mom told me that there might be some transformers toys up in the attic of the house, running the dates I have a reason to believe those are G1 toys though I'm not that interested in any treasure hunt to go check.

I've actually read that article, and that's what kind of led me to believe that Transformers is basically an English-speaking thing, except for Asia, French Canada, and uh... I dunno. As an English speaker, my exposure is limited to those who speak my language.

The selection and prices in Iceland are absurd. Australians often have to pay double what Americans do, whereas folks from Iceland have to pay the equivalent of $110 for a $30 toy.

A lot of European countries didn't get Transformers until a few years later, and had their assortments all hosed up and different per country. Many didn't get the cartoon. Russia didn't get any Transformers shows until after the Cold War, and when it did, the first one it got was bizarrely Masterforce!

Iced Cocoa
Jul 14, 2011

Gammatron 64 posted:

The selection and prices in Iceland are absurd. Australians often have to pay double what Americans do, whereas folks from Iceland have to pay the equivalent of $110 for a $30 toy.

Good thing I'm more into comics or TV series than toys. Good grief I never would have had any idea that we were overpaying by that much compared to the US. I was at that store showcased in that article and special ordered MTMTE books. Well, I think so since I came in there without having done any research and that the man at the counter was not that informative of the comic stock.

And to let you know, Iceland is not a English-speaking country.

The_Doctor
Mar 29, 2007

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."
Well, now DOMA's been canned, I can go marry my boo, and buy TFs as was intended. From an American Target.

GET IN THE ROBOT
Nov 28, 2007

JUST GET IN THE FUCKING ROBOT SHINJI

The_Doctor posted:

Well, now DOMA's been canned, I can go marry my boo, and buy TFs as was intended. From an American Target.

Awesome, congrats! :toot:

I'm always so confused as to where you're from. Half the time I think you live in Britain, the other half the time I think you're from Oregon.

Iced Cocoa posted:

And to let you know, Iceland is not a English-speaking country.

I'm aware. I can be a little short bus on occasion, but I'm not that dumb, dude.

I just know a few people from non-English countries (namely a dude from Brazil) but not a lot. I'm not saying they don't exist elsewhere, it's just that they don't seem to be big elsewhere.

The_Doctor
Mar 29, 2007

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

Gammatron 64 posted:

Awesome, congrats! :toot:

I'm always so confused as to where you're from. Half the time I think you live in Britain, the other half the time I think you're from Oregon.

Thanks! I'm from London, and I live here now, but I did live in the US for five years, in Baton Rouge, LA for college (Geaux Tigers!). The Oregon thing, I have no clue, other than I was in Seattle for a week last October? :confused:

Iced Cocoa
Jul 14, 2011

Gammatron 64 posted:

I'm aware. I can be a little short bus on occasion, but I'm not that dumb, dude.

I just know a few people from non-English countries (namely a dude from Brazil) but not a lot. I'm not saying they don't exist elsewhere, it's just that they don't seem to be big elsewhere.

Sorry, I've actually met people who have thought this before.

As of Transformers collectors, given that I had to special order the first binding of MTMTE, I'm inclined to believe that article about how there's less than dozen TF collectors in my country. And I'm not going to join the toy collection thing any time soon, even though the article indicates we get better stock than some stores in the UK.

Endless Mike
Aug 13, 2003



The_Doctor posted:

Well, now DOMA's been canned, I can go marry my boo, and buy TFs as was intended. From an American Target.
I was going to say you're wrong, but I realized that, no, you're correct, since DOMA would prevent you from using being married as a way to enter the country. (I think a lot of people are confused and think lifting DOMA means gay marriage is legal nationwide which is, sadly, not the case at all.)

In any case, congrats!

Ka0
Sep 16, 2002

:siren: :siren: :siren:
AS A PROUD GAMERGATER THE ONLY THING I HATE MORE THAN WOMEN ARE GAYS AND TRANS PEOPLE
:siren: :siren: :siren:

Iced Cocoa posted:

And to let you know, Iceland is not a English-speaking country.

Well, about that thing...

The_Doctor
Mar 29, 2007

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

Endless Mike posted:

I was going to say you're wrong, but I realized that, no, you're correct, since DOMA would prevent you from using being married as a way to enter the country. (I think a lot of people are confused and think lifting DOMA means gay marriage is legal nationwide which is, sadly, not the case at all.)

In any case, congrats!

Yeah, already today alone, one couple's deportation case has been quashed by a judge. It's exciting times!

http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2013/06/26/2220411/doma-immigration-judge-stops-deportation/

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Sodomy Non Sapiens posted:

You know, I saw the new thread and took a look just out of idle curiosity. And then didn't do much of anything.

Then on the weekend I watched Transformers: The Movie after not having seen any Transformers (aside from the first of the recent movie trilogy) since I was about 5.

Then I bought and read Autocracy.

Then I bought and read Last Stand of the Wreckers.

Today I caught myself checking out the Masterpiece figures on display at one of my local game/DVD/toy shop.

I just bought the first MTMTE trade.

What... what have you guys done to me? :psyduck:
ONE OF US
ONE OF US
ONE OF US

Knormal
Nov 11, 2001

So if any of the rest of you got the subscription figure, make sure you look under the packing foam. Turns out there's an instruction sheet and a bio card under there that I almost threw away,

PriNcessofDarXness
Jun 16, 2009
And if anyone decides they don't want Slipstream, kindly PM your terms for purchase.

GrimGypsy
Mar 27, 2007

I guess the Botcon freebie exclusive this year will be a repaint of Terradive into Starscream. I guess it showed up on TFW somewhere.

Keldroc
Apr 19, 2004

Marketing materials and speculation are not spoilers. Jesus Christ.
All I can say is that with next year being the 30th anniversary, the BotCon exclusives better be mindblowing.

The Goon
Sep 11, 2001

Keldroc posted:

All I can say is that with next year being the 30th anniversary, the BotCon exclusives better be mindblowing.

Oh you!

The_Doctor
Mar 29, 2007

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

Keldroc posted:

All I can say is that with next year being the 30th anniversary, the BotCon exclusives better be mindblowing.

Childlike optimism is such a wonderful thing. :allears:

Spiderdrake
May 12, 2001



Keldroc posted:

All I can say is that with next year being the 30th anniversary, the BotCon exclusives better be mindblowing.
Don't misconstrue. This is not optimism. This is the sound of Keldroc sharpening his knives.

GrimGypsy
Mar 27, 2007

I think the 20th Anniversary was when they did the CHUG Seekers with those repaints of Jetfire and Bumblebee, then gave a translucent Mirage as the freebie. My guess would be next year will be Prime molds, but God knows who or what they'll be remodeled into.


On a different topic - when does the next Wave of Kreons start showing up? I suppose it would count as Wave 3.

SpikeMcclane
Sep 11, 2005

You want the story?
I'll spin it for you quick...
Nah, that was 2007. 2004, Botcon wasn't an offical, hasbro backed event. The exclusive was an unlicensed KO of an actionmaster. It was also the first funpub botcon.

Supposedly this is the back cover of the program book this year:

Good job with that adspace, Robot Kingdom.

LightsGameraAction
Sep 4, 2006

SpikeMcclane posted:

Nah, that was 2007. 2004, Botcon wasn't an offical, hasbro backed event. The exclusive was an unlicensed KO of an actionmaster. It was also the first funpub botcon.

Supposedly this is the back cover of the program book this year:

Good job with that adspace, Robot Kingdom.

What about the 25th anniversary?

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



GrimGypsy posted:

I think the 20th Anniversary was when they did the CHUG Seekers with those repaints of Jetfire and Bumblebee, then gave a translucent Mirage as the freebie. My guess would be next year will be Prime molds, but God knows who or what they'll be remodeled into.


On a different topic - when does the next Wave of Kreons start showing up? I suppose it would count as Wave 3.
I saw a bunch of new Kreon blind-packs I didn't recognize at Target the other day.

Captain Magic
Apr 4, 2005

Yes, we have feathers--but the muscles of men.
Yeah the new Kreons are out. I've gotten two Grooves and a Vehicon so far.

LightsGameraAction
Sep 4, 2006
I've still barely seen the second wave of Kreons. I saw them in one Toys R Us once. Everywhere else I know is still carrying the first wave.

Terry van Feleday
Jun 6, 2010

Free Your Mind
Animated episodes 10-16

Professor Princess is the worst thing in the world. No, wait, Blackarachnia is still worse. You know, I'm trying not to look at this series from a feminist perspective because TF is consistently woeful in that regard (note: haven't seen Prime yet) and I doubt this thread wants to hear about the robot patriarchy, but this series makes this pretty hard for me. It's strange because Sari herself is actually a pretty good character in that sense - in a show very much aimed at young boys, they chose to add a character for young girls to identify with and saddle her with a very explicit message of "even if society doesn't consider you / doesn't give you the means to be strong or badass, you're still heroic and admirable in your own way". (Whether that's better or worse than just making one of the robots female is probably another discussion.) But then the series goes out of its way to demonise or victimise (usually both!) every single other feminine thing that shows up, here going on a totally random tangent about how "boy" toys like BATTLE ROBOTS and FAST CARS are always better than dumb and irritating "girly" toys so Sari starts feeling less like an inclusive outreach and more like that alienating idea of "one of the good ones". Again, I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but it's actively hampering my enjoyment of the show.

Honestly, it wouldn't be as big a deal if there was more positive stuff to focus on so far. Eps 10-14 were largely just bland, and made me really wish they'd stop using human villains. There's no reason for them to be so much less interesting than robotic enemies, but oh boy let's make this guy's dialogue consist entirely of a dated sterotype of leetspeak! Brilliant!! It's clear he's just supposed to be a vector in making an (actually rather good) episode of character development for Bulkhead, but he's laid on so thick that it just makes the good parts rather hard to enjoy.

Thankfully, the 15-16 two-parter is a return to the things that actually make me watch this series. Lugnut is a lot of fun, Megatron is still brilliant, and I liked Optimus keying him in the chest because it reminded me of Gurren Lagann (shame we didn't get a scene of him standing ominously with a giant hole in his chest talking about the moon and monkeys). I feel the series is at its best when it just lets the robots freely interact with each other, probably my favourite bit is the strange quasi-three-way-battle between Megatron, Starscream and Bumblebee where they're all trying to follow their own agenda in a somewhat confused situation. If Beast Wars is all this kind of stuff, then I get why people love it so much (still can't actually bear to watch it myself, though).

Really this made me realise that TF is consistently at its best when the focus is unconditionally on the characters rather than the plots or conflicts or w/e. The latter tend to be fairly simplistic cartoon fare, but I think there's something inherent about Transformers that makes them really expressive and effective as characters. Sort of like how the author of Lackadaisy cast cats in its roles because their ears and tails and such add more vectors of expression, TF media has settled on a very particular balance between them being mechanical and humanlike that gives them some unique dimensions - think little things like Chromedome being able to recognise a guy and tell their mood by the sound of their Transformation in MTMTE or Optimus Prime curling up into his vehicle form when he's annoyed in Dark Side Moon. In Animated's case, it's mainly the animation itself that carries this stuff, but oftentimes all it does is make me wish the writing would receive the same kind of effort and attention.

Onto season 2!

Blackheart
Mar 22, 2013

Now is when it really starts getting good. You're also up to a surprise or two now, but no spoilers.

Hemingway To Go!
Nov 10, 2008

im stupider then dog shit, i dont give a shit, and i dont give a fuck, and i will never shut the fuck up, and i'll always Respect my enemys.
- ernest hemingway
The thing is they used the human villains because they wanted to make Decepticons an actual threat when they appeared.

They gave up on this because the human villains they made up sucked.

There's infinite possible ideas for human villains. Bob Budiansky even made a few that worked well. Circuit Breaker with her revenge plot and electricity powers made her a good antagonist for transformers. Then there was the guy who stole ratchet's tools, somehow useable by a human, but hey that gives him both a decent powerset and motive for transformer antagonism. Hell, even the Robot Master and Cosmic Carnival worked better as human/organic antagonists for Transformers.

So why did they make such stupid jokes like "angry archer" or "professor princess" as antagonists? Not only were the human villains stupidly silly, they did not really work as characters that could interact with the Transformers.

Then again, I feel like a lot of Animated feels like it was made by an idea guy. Lots of ideas thrown in without a lot of thought about how they contribute to the narrative.

I mean, you have Lugnut, who is an awesome take on the loyal muscle. He literally worships Megatron. Now, he needs a partner and that partner should be able to play off of him. Maybe a skeptic con who Lugnut is trying to convert or something?

No, instead we have Blitzwing who is just crazy and doesn't have any real motive for... anything he does really. He doesn't work with anyone. He's just based on an idea from the designers (Wouldn't it be cool if a triple changer had three personalities?) and from the voice acter (Bumper R. had the idea of making Blitzwing a Nazi parody).

Season 2 and 3 are fresher in my memory and I will save my whining/scant praise for then.

Ka0
Sep 16, 2002

:siren: :siren: :siren:
AS A PROUD GAMERGATER THE ONLY THING I HATE MORE THAN WOMEN ARE GAYS AND TRANS PEOPLE
:siren: :siren: :siren:
Are the new combiner kreons out yet? I cannot wait to have tiny Abominus.

GET IN THE ROBOT
Nov 28, 2007

JUST GET IN THE FUCKING ROBOT SHINJI
Seasons 2 and 3 are a big improvement.

If Blackarachnia and Professor Princess bother you, then hoo boy, never read Spotlight Arcee. Although part of me kind of wants to hear your take on it. Robots don't have gender, robot is turned into a girl robot by mad science to see what happens if they are given a gender, said girl robot goes nuts and becomes a psycho and wants revenge for being turned into a girl robot. I find IDW Arcee kinda offensive and I'm not even a woman or transgender!

Honestly, Simon Furman does have quite a misogynist streak.

Spiderdrake
May 12, 2001



There's no reason to ever read Spotlight: Arcee*, but he is going to run into that show's version and it wasn't all that great either.

I still really like Arcee in prime, though I feel like they blew out the potential when she didn't start tutoring Smokescreen on being sweet. But I mean TFP's actual tagline is MISSED POTENTIAL so whatever.

* Seriously I'm trying to think of how any of it is relevant at all in the present IDW. All the threads are resolved and it actually confuses the portrayal of several cast members later in better books.

Iced Cocoa
Jul 14, 2011

Well, I had the chance to check the attic at home to see if there were any transformers toys as my mom said. However I didn't find anything, but then my mom said they had been tiny, while I had been looking for the regular sized toys I the same size that's being sold now.

Would there have been any "smaller than a smartphone" transformers been sold circa 1989-1992 or so?

Iced Cocoa fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Jun 27, 2013

AzraelNewtype
Nov 9, 2004

「ブレストバーン!!」

Iced Cocoa posted:

Well, I had the chance to check the attic at home to see if there were any transformers toys as my mom said. However I didn't say anything, but then my mom said they had been tiny, while I had been looking for the regular sized toys I the same size that's being sold now.

Would there have been any "smaller than a smartphone" transformers been sold circa 1989-1992 or so?

That's the era when Micromasters were a thing, yeah.

GET IN THE ROBOT
Nov 28, 2007

JUST GET IN THE FUCKING ROBOT SHINJI

Iced Cocoa posted:

Well, I had the chance to check the attic at home to see if there were any transformers toys as my mom said. However I didn't say anything, but then my mom said they had been tiny, while I had been looking for the regular sized toys I the same size that's being sold now.

Would there have been any "smaller than a smartphone" transformers been sold circa 1989-1992 or so?

That's sort of a loaded question because what with Micromasters and G2 there were a fuckton.

Iced Cocoa
Jul 14, 2011

Well, I just showed the Micromasters to my mom and she's convinced that the toys my brother included Detour and Roadhugger. Thanks for the info!

The_Doctor
Mar 29, 2007

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."
Is there one specific page I can look at that has all the upcoming toy releases in one place? What's coming out in what line, and roughly at what time?

Keldroc
Apr 19, 2004

Marketing materials and speculation are not spoilers. Jesus Christ.

The_Doctor posted:

Is there one specific page I can look at that has all the upcoming toy releases in one place? What's coming out in what line, and roughly at what time?

We all wish. The closest would be the preorder pages at BBTS or TFSource, but often those release dates are just month-wide windows, and tend to be guesses half the time. Most commonly the fandom finds out a particular figure is out because someone finds it in a store and sends a photo to TFW or Seibertron, and other toy lines seem to be similar, at least from Hasbro.

Gravitas Shortfall
Jul 17, 2007

Utility is seven-eighths Proximity.


Terry van Feleday posted:

If Beast Wars is all this kind of stuff, then I get why people love it so much (still can't actually bear to watch it myself, though).

Why, by the way? Your writeups are great, I'd love to read some on BW.

Hemingway To Go!
Nov 10, 2008

im stupider then dog shit, i dont give a shit, and i dont give a fuck, and i will never shut the fuck up, and i'll always Respect my enemys.
- ernest hemingway
90's cgi probably.
That and a long, slow, episodic, and silly first season.

Really, I would just recommend watching The Trigger, Before the Storm, and Other Voices out of season 1 and then watching season's 2 and 3.
Those are the most relevant episodes to the ongoing plot of the latter seasons.
And the latter seasons have the intrigue and plotting that made the series something to remember.

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Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
But how can you do without all the Rattrap and Dinobot hijinks???

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