August 2005 Archives

Hello. My name is I smoke crack.

$72??? While one of my favorite TFs of all time he's only a $30 at max. $50 for the Sam's Club Recolor.

I just don't get some people.

More than meets the Attic.

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So I've been working on the Attic since I got home. Got some shelves reset and have been redoing everything. Nothing major. The Attic just looks more "lived in" with my toys up and fuck potential buyers if they can't deal with my geek-on.

The Attic of Love - Almost there...

I've added so much over the course of the summer. I had to move Armada all the way back (above) and I brought all my Cybertron stuff and merged it with my Galaxy Force figures.

The Attic of Love - For Sale To Good Home

The above image shows what I'm calling the "sell pile". It would be really nice to sell this stuff off before attempting to move. We didn't have much luck with Giga's ebay auctions but maybe I'll have time this week to get photos taken and get some of these on ebay. Unfortunately, some of this is still on retail shelves. Hell, WeBeToys on Morse has tons of Energon stuff.

And as promised, Frowny gets a RID Megatron.

The Attic of Love - RID Megatron for Mr. McBeard

Most of my plastic crack has been packed up since late May and I haven't been around them at all.

After pulling out all of my Transformers Armada and Energon figures I realized something that is extremely important.

In this instance, time does not make the heart fonder.

As I'm putting them on the shelves I realized how I really dislike the Armada design aesthetic. Sure, the smaller Optimus Prime (and even the larger one) is ok for what it is. Even some of the mini-cons are acceptable. But I really never realized how utterly boring the Starscream mold (and all other repaints/retools of it) are. It does nothing and is barely more than a statue.

I like Armada Jetfire too but he's so completely and utterly designed along a different aesthetic and vibe it baffles me. He doesn't share much at all with the rest of the line.

Energon fares a little better but there are some turds in the line.

All 3 combiners totally suck ass as combiners. I dissassembled the arms and legs to get them to fit into their bags and I cannot get a one back together to actually stand. Posability is nil. And Superion Maximus? Was the main component designed so poorly to cause kids to break the damn little plastic nib that serves as a waist? Grrr...

Roadblock is actually a really nice figure. I had opened him and put him on the shelf but never gave a real look at it. This mold should have been repainted as a G1 Grapple (or even Hauler) homage and included in the Master Collector "You stupid collector got suckered into buying this shit" exclusive set.

And the now happily gone Powerlinx gimmick? Ugh! The only figures that look half-ways decent are the Checkpoint and Prowl SWAT repaints of Rodimus and Prowl. And that's because they've been repainted in a like color scheme. All the other figures are up and down the color wheel here to actually make a decent combined figure. And man, they got worse "pieces" hanging off them than some Beast Wars figures. Give me "head on one shoulder, ass on the other" any day compared to this design style.

Ok. 9:30. Past my bedtime. Feet hurt. Calves hurt. Tired.

Gym-time at 5am comes really early.

Sleepies now.

And thus there came more plast crack...

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So while going over my idea to use "molding" to hide various flaws around the vanity Giger wanted to go slightly different route so he's off to Lowes to check on slightly different wood.

But upon opening the front door to leave there was a package for me and in this package was... Beast Machines Blast Punch Optimus Primal.

Beast Machines Blast Punch Optimus Primal

At least he looks sort of like Primal did in the show. That other thing Hasbro released and called "Optimus Primal" is just so awful. Alas, Hasbro did a lot of bad design things with the Beast Machines toys. I can forgive a lot though (the poor design, totally out of scale, non-show colors, etc.) because they did release Air Attack Optimus Primal which pretty much nails the character from the show. (Of course, they released him under the RID brand name several years after Beast Machines was gone.)

This new bot is the 1361st Transformer that has been in my possession.

Robowang came over tonight and picked up some of Giga's Go-bots that he wanted to get rid of. I gotta say it is always nice to know that the plastic crack will find a good home with another crack addict.

Then we went to eat and my Korean lust was satiated.

Mr. E. You go girl!

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08-21-05-evesmall.jpg

Why look it that! Mr. E. getting on the A-List of plastic crack addicts listed there for all the world to see on a TFW2005 post.

(Hey. I never bust anybody's balls so today I've decided to bust me some Mr. E. balls!)

A plastic crack podcast?

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I was thinking about starting a silly stupid 15-20 minute weekly podcast about Plastic Crack and stuff.

I'd get Mr.E. to stop by and we'd shoot the shit about stuff. Giga could stop by every now and then and who knows, maybe guest appearances by the ghost of Number Six Point Seven, Max Power, and others.

Or maybe I'll just borrow Mr. E.'s video camera or The Pickett's digital recorder and cover Botcon with a special podcast.

That's be an incredible waste of my time and something I'd lose interest in in about 3 weeks but it may happen.

Grrrrr!!!

In my recent rebuild I think I may have lost my entire Outlook address book. I so hate the way fucking Microsoft spreads out preferences all over the fucking place. Insane and useless this is!

At least I have the email addresses in the .pst archives. But man oh man... and those phone numbers and real world addresses. I sure hope I can recover them.

In other news, Giga found me Wave 1 of the smaller Legends of Cybertron PVCs. They are most definitely an upgrade over the Heroes of Cybertron non-transforming PVCs but hey... ya can't beat the G1 characters.

Ack! While the state-side Botcon toys may suck the balls, I gotta say that the new stuff being shown at the Characters Hobby Expo 2005 in Japan has got me excited.

The Binaltech Red Alert (with something they are calling AI) is sweet and I'm thrilled they didn't use the Sideswipe or Prowl molds for this. The Red Alert color palette makes him look like a totally different character anyway.

Binaltech Sunstreaker finally debuts. This is what the mold released as Dead End was supposed to be. It was annoying to see Sunstreaker's head on a bot called Dead End. But this is one cool release and I'm so looking forward to this.

And it looks like there will be another Dengeki Hobby Magazine Exclusive figure in the form of a black Robotmasters Lio Convoy. Yay! At least the packaging is consistent with most of the RM exclusives. Still kind of miffed that the Star Saber exclusive and Thundercracker/Skywarp 2-Pack deviate so much from the original packaging design. Just will stick out like a sore thumb on the Robot Masters Shelf of Love.

Reissue G1 Galvatron, regardless of the minor retooling and new paint scheme, still looks like a turd. Ugly designs will inherently always be ugly.

The chick's outfit does rock.

Ok. I was upset at spending the money on the Botcon exclusives sight unseen.

I've ranted and beat up on myself weeks over this.

And after today's final "reveal" of the remaining two I can definitely say that "I've taken it fully up the ass by Master Collector!!!" and it is entirely my fault!!!

Chromia is a damn repaint of Energon Arcee (still sitting on toy store shelves as I type).

And the last one...Dirge A different mold? Something fantastic?

Hell no! It is the same fucking Beast Wars basic mold used as Buzzclaw, the first previewed figure! A figure that I have two of already that sit in a bag because I can't stand the non-show Beast Wars toys!!!

Man I totally fucked myself with these. I can't believe it.

Mr. E.'s email moments ago sums it up...

Five f***ing basics and a deluxe. And two are the same damn mold.

We took it up the @ss.

Oh did we take it up the ass! And it was a 19" plastic crack dildo too!!!

I am definitely going to cancel my extra loose set of these wastes of plastic.

Well... 5 out of 7 are wastes in my opinion. The Deathsaurus one is tolerable for what it is and Ironhide is the only real figure that is worth it.

No doubt the Ratchet figure... geez... a repaint from the same Towline figure that Ironhide is... will probably be the 8th "show attendee" figure.

So I'm gonna call and cancel.

Hell. I may as well just demote my entire registration and save a helluva lot of money at the same time.

Psst...

Master Collector and Hasbro...

Here's the kind of exclusive retool that plastic crack afficianados will moisten their painties over.

And this custom was created by a fan!!!

This is a very important lesson.

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As expected, the larger Deszaurus Botcon exclusive is indeed a remolding/repaint of Car Robots Gigatron (or Robots In Disguise Megatron). The new head is ok but I already have 5 of this mold too (though one of them is for Frowny).

It isn't bad. It isn't exciting. It just is. But he really just looks like Gigatron to me. Much like I knew it would be since this was the only logical figure I thought they'd remold based off the price point.

So we'll end up with a probably 4 $6 figures, 2 $10 figures, and 1 $20 figure as the 7 $265 exclusive set with the 8th show attendee-only figure probably being another basic.

I have learned my lesson.

Always wait until the figures are unveiled before purchasing. This is a very important lesson.

There's not a whole lotta crack I want.

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Man oh man I've lost all the plastic crack auctions I've been trying to get.

The Botcon 2003 Hotel Exclusive Sunstreaker ended up going for $77 which is about $40 more than I want to pay (for a repaint, no matter how rare it is). The Micromaster bases are going for more than I am willing to pay so I've lost all of those.

I should have raided Mr. E.'s PVCs for the ones I needed since I haven't had any luck winning an Alpha Trion, Devestator, or the other 2 conehead seekers I'm missing.

I've decided the September Botcon trip will be about completing my Takara PVCs, getting the Beast Machines show appearing characters, and maybe other miscellaneous things since there's not much I need. Perhaps I should just buy some of the E-Hobby exclusives too. I want a few of them.

Anyway, that's like 5 weeks away.

I've got to get more concerned about finishing the house and finalizing the entree menu for the potluck. I wanted something better than burgers and dogs.

08-13-05-fggg.jpgWow. I didn't even remember bidding on it but I won an Takara fairly rare chase Fire Guts God Ginrai PVC for only $5. I needed it and with it being a chase figure I'm shocked it went so low. Sure it is a gold repaint but hey... I'm a completist.

I only need 23 pieces to have all G1 PVCs and unfortunately most of these are the rare chase/bonus figures that are often a pain in the ass to find at a decent price.

But completing these are one of my goals for Botcon.

Yes. I'm going to have a good expensive time and have learned to say "fuck it". I'll try to recoup some of the costs later by reselling the exclusives I don't want (even if it means breaking up the set) and hopefully the 8th show-attending only figure will suck such balls that I can sell it to someone who is a completist.

I figure it that toy is good and special and not some shitty basic then the fans that can't attend will definitely want one of those and I'll be more than willing to part with it.

I think I'll need to get this.

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Man oh man all I gotta say is I hate when I get my panties moist because of box art. And the new Takara G1 Perceptor reissue has some might pretty art.

But while he's a straight reissue from what I can tell by photos I wish they'd have remolded his "faceplate" to have a mouth like his animated version.

Perceptor without a mouth is just silly given the character's tendency to ramble techno-incoherently.

Still... nobody reissues like Takara reissues.

And this picture of Binaltech Shockwave posed like he is on the cover to Marvel Comics' Transformers #5 is great.

Another basic. How quaint.

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Oh. I won't bore you (and upset myself more) over the fact that the 3rd Botcon exclusive is yet another simple basic repaint of a G2 Cyberjet (already repainted many times before) and the 4th exclusive is a repaint of Energon Tow-Line as an homage to G1 Ironhide.

At least this one I feel is substantial in the realm of my +$250 spent for the exclusives and this is the first one that I've no complaints about. When Tow-Line appeared I said to Giga in the truck "This would make a good Ironhide or Ratchet" and lo and behold that has happened.

I have no doubts that the Ratchet is also going to be released as an exlusive in the set since that means they even had to do less work.

I'm still totally upset at myself for buying these toys.

I will be for the rest of my life until that day, on my death bed, I make Mr. E. bend over and I whisper into his ear that "I still feel ripped off by the Botcon 2005 Exclusives".

It'll happen. You just wait and read.

Now if the 8th "show only" figure is a repaint of Victory Saber I'll quit my bitching.

FYI: Cybertron Overdrive (aka Galaxy Force Nitro Convoy) is a nice speed car-ish Transformer but man oh man does she/he have a totally shitty looking bot mode. The chest/torso/waste just doesn't work at all.

I haven't gotten Red Alert transformed yet but he's better than he was in Armada. That much I can definitely tell you.

And of course, with all the house drama, trying to get it on the market by the end of the month, and overall mental anquish over the cost of Botcon, I still have to deal with Wave 3.5 of Cybertron which includes Buzzsaw, Runamuck, Longrack, Blurr, Sideways, and Snarl. The first 4 are merely retools of 4 Armada molds so I don't know what I'm going to do about those. They look better now than they did but I don't know if I want to be a total whore and own them all or not.

And of course I still need to lose 20 more lbs by September 22.

Grrr...

To say that I'm feeling overwhelmed by the amount of money I've spent/am spending to attend Botcon in late September is putting it mildly.

At the core of my being I really do feel that it was a mistake to go to this year's con and last year's show should have been my first and last show.

Yes. I collect Transformers.

Yes. I have 1553+ of them.

But at the root of my collecting gene is the collecting itself and not really much of the peripheral "fandom" that most geek things have.

Hell. I barely read the geek message boards anymore because on any given day the same thing is being said that was said last year and the year before and the year before that. (The panels at these cons are pretty much the exact same thing year after year too with the same lame questions asked and the same stock answers given.)

It is all pretty much the same no matter what your "geek" thing is.

I knew I should have waited to see the actual exclusive toys before filling out the registration form. I failed in this. I failed in this royally and the "collector" retard in me ordered two sets. So that's $405 out the door.

Airfare ended up being $220 or therebouts.

It'll cost $50 to get from the airport to the hotel and then back on return day.

And the hotel will be $129.

I've already spent $804 and I haven't bought a single toy at the con or eaten a meal.

Where the FUCK has my internal sense of value gone?!?!?!

When it comes to this messed up addiction of mine I am usually extremely controlled by a sense of value and I will often compare and constrast every decision based on the implied value I see in something.

And buying these godforsaken exclusives sight-unseen was against every single personal rule I have for my collecting.

Hell... even on Ebay you most often have at least 1 photo of the item in question and a whole decription of it!

With these I didn't even have that to go on and I bought two sets of what is turning out to be figures I have absolutely no care in the world for that aren't worth a damn anything to me.

And while the rumor mill and leaked photos abound my gut feeling is that all these so-called rumors are actually true and I've paid this money for things that I have absolutely no real need or want for.

I AM SO FUCKING RETARDED IT ISN'T EVEN FUNNY ANYMORE!!! (And then it was only funny part of the time anyway!)

Perhaps I will get shit-faced drunk at the con. Why the hell not!

My god I am such a lame fool.

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Ugh!

It is going to cost Mr. E. and I $100 ($50/each) to take the damn Super Shuttle to and from the Airport at Botcon. 50 fucking dollars!!!

Methinks we should explore car rentals for that weekend. If it costs less than $100 it'd be cheaper than paying Super Shuttle.

I'm definitely thinking this will be my last Transformers convention.

This is way too expensive.

Way too FUCKING expensive.

And yes, I'm a fucking RETARD for going.

All messed up and that's a fact!

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08-07-05-gf.jpgSo according to a post over at the TFW2005 boards somehow the original Convoy (Optimus Prime), Rodimus Convoy (Rodimus Prime), Ultra Magnus, and Jazz (for some reason) will make an appearance in a forthcoming episode of Galaxy Force and they are referred to as "ancient Transformers".

I certainly hope the characters from the 80s are not directly tied to the current series. It just wouldn't feel right. (And of course once Voicebox dubs this into Cybertron it'll be blemished forever.)

If indeed they do appear then I am proposing that Super God Fire Convoy (from Car Robots) breaks through the space-time continuum from a parallel universe and with the power of the Master Sword kicks every body's ass from G1 to Energon, all while Sky-Byte is making haikus of the battle.

Then again, that's just me.

Someday. You will be mine.

Oh yes.

And you too but they already know that.

And there will be much rejoicing.

But there will not be much rejoicing regarding Mr. E.'s Fort Max. I've been outbid but it is good for Mr. E. since the winner is paying more than he did for this Max.

08-06-05-megalo1.JPGOk. I've got to post about this because even though Mr. E. did, his language isn't as filthy as mine is since he's all decent and stuff and a dad and all. Me? I have no such responsibilities.

So Takara is releasing a figure called Megalo Convoy that is somewhat of a real thin homage to G1 Metroplex, the Autobot that was a city (don't ask).

Now rumor has it that Hasbro is even going to name the damn thing Metroplex which I think is just horribly wrong but I'm not a fan of reuse of the names unless it is for the actual G1 characters. Just the way I am and I also kind of want some new creativity in the lines too so new names would be cool.

Anyway. This ebay auction has some test shots of Megalo Convoy up and from what I've seen of some Galaxy Force model sheets he's a huge figure. No doubt in the $49.99 range like that big ass Starscream that I'm waiting to go on clearance before buying.

08-06-05-megalo2.JPGBut Megalo Convoy's "alt" mode has got to be one of the dumbest simplest transformations ever and in effect, as you can see from the picture, essentially involves him bending over, getting on his knees, and preparing to take it up the ass.

Now perhaps he "merges" with Primus, Starscream, or some other large toy.

But man... it really does look like that to me. The transformation doesn't even remotely hide any aspect of the bot. He's just folded down and on his knees bend over.

And "Tak'n It Up The Pooter" Cybertron Metroplex can be yours for only $50.

I'll get him. But he is definitely staying in bot mode. Always in bot mode.

I just wish he had the sword.

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My god I'm bidding on one of Mr. E.'s plastic crack auctions.

Yes. It is Fortress Maximus. And yes I need one.

But I can't believe that I'm bidding on this toy.

If I win him you know what that means right?

Oh yeah baby... Fortress Maximus with the G1 shelf and Brave Maximus with the Car Robots/RID shelf.

Cha-ching! (That being the sound of Mr. E. taking my money if I win this. And if I do and then find one cheaper at Botcon I can taunt him mercilessly, pant hoot, and throw feces at him for selling me this one!)

Yay! But where are the train bots?

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I'm very happy that Hasbro will be releasing the early 90s Takara Micromaster combiner Sixwing in an homage to G1 Superion but this definitely has confirmed to me that Hasbro has only a core group of names that they are actively maintaining.

Ro-Tor? Storm Jet? These are RID and Beast Machine names. And Decepticon names at that!

Either I'm assuming that they've officially lost Slingshot, Vortex, Blast-Off, Onslaught, Blades, and probably a lot of the Technobot and Terrorcon names since none of them have really seen reuse since the early 90s.

Sucks.

Terrorcons is a great name as is Abominus and so many of the component bots.

But... dare I say it... it may be time to let the names Prowl and Hot Shot take a long nap.

Ok. Now where is Sixtrain's US release?!?!

And I've known Takara was going to re-issue G1 Galvatron for some time and had no excitement over it.

Galvatron is one of the worst designed figures ever and looked nothing like his animation model sheet counterpart.

Well Takara is trying to fix that by making him movie accurate colored and tweaking the mold. Unfortunately, it still doesn't do much for me and suffers from the general poor design of so many Season 3 and beyond figures.

Is it a brick? Or a Transformers?

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Mr. E. has wanted me to get a Grandus for a long time.

I may just bid on it.

It is funny because it sucks.

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The current poll at The All Spark is "I want the next stereotype character accent in Cybertron to be...".

Yes. The powers that be have found it necessary in Transformers Cybertron to use a lot of fake accents for characters. Jetfire is Australian, Red Alert is pseudo-Brit, and Thundercracker is white trash Tennessee.

It really is better to watch the Japanese version (Galaxy Force)even though one can't speak Japanese.

Damn. I'm so looking forward to the new Alternator Skids when he debuts. Wish I could find me some Dragstrip and Prowl goodness.

In other great news, it looks like the HasbroToyShop.com is actually going to release the G1 Devestator homage of the RID Build Team!!!

There was fear that it would go into limbo.

Ok. It is 8:00pm. Time for Nala to crawl into bed and fall asleep to a Beast Machines episode. Yup! I borrowed the VCDs from Mr. E. again. I sooooo love this series.

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This page is an archive of entries from August 2005 listed from newest to oldest.

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