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Welcome to the latest Seibertron.com Twincast / Podcast Mainframes episode, this time devoted to issues #8 and #9 of IDW's Lost Light. New to Mainframes? Catch up on the last episode where we dissected Till All Are One 5-8. Join host ScottyP along with Counterpunch and Razorclaw0000 as we delve into the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is Troja Major!
Episode #185 "Carnage in Troja Major" is available directly and in our RSS Feed, and should appear on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher Radio within 24 to 48 hours of when you see this news post.
Be aware that this episode is entirely about IDW Transformers comics and will completely spoil many storylines from several books, including many books before Lost Light Issues 8-9, so listening after catching up with the most recent material is recommended if you wish to avoid spoilers.
We dive in and examine Robert's writing and compare and contrast the effort into laying breadcrumbs for future stories while still focusing on the characters in the here and now. We analyze in depth if characters are behaving consistently with established norms and strive to make sense of a few of the revelations, piecing together Furman-era plot points with modern revelations.
Here's the wretched hive of scum and villainy
We spend particular time on the further development of Anode and Lug, with most of the cast finding them to be a further and new degree of unlikable - but is that on purpose? We also discuss other characters, including obscure Marvel UK villain Flame and what his inclusion might mean to the story.
#GetawayWasRight
The main plot of this short Troja Major story gets its due attention as well, with Nautica and Velocity's subquest to save Skids in the spotlight. Is their friendship bound to be shaken by the very nature of friendship itself? We discuss some of the heavier ideas (to some small degree of success) while also analyzing the particulars of the storytelling for this plot and how it was approached. Could a little less dialogue go a long way in letting the visuals tell the story, or is the lack of ambiguity provided by vocalized feelings a welcome sight? Tune in to find out what the Twincast crew thinks, but let us know what you think by replying to this post on the Energon Pub Forums!
Hey look, we don't cause IDW's printing delays, ok?
Finally, we speculate on the direction things are headed (#GetawayWasRight) as we return to the Lost Light (the ship, not the series). How will things be resolved and with level of certainty will that resolution actually occur?
We hope you enjoyed this latest episode of Twincast / Podcast spin-off Mainframes, and stay tuned for future episodes as the ongoing IDW Transformers saga continues to unfold! We'll see you in the discussion thread for this episode which you can join in on by replying to this very news post.
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Welcome to the latest episode of the Seibertron.com Twincast / Podcast! This episode features your host ScottyP with RodimusConvoy13, xRotorstormx, and Megatronus. Listen in as we discuss the latest HASCON reveals, comics, and more.
Episode #184 "The Search for Alpha Trion" is available directly and in our RSS Feed, and should appear on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher Radio within 24 to 48 hours of when you see this news post.
After a brief discussion on the many merits and isolated failings of the first ever HASCON, we jump right into what you want hear: toys. First up, the new Dinobots team, and their combined mode, Volcanicus (yes... that's its name). The spirit of The Beast is alive as generally positive thoughts give way under the weight of a brontosaurus.
Give me combiner limbs, or give me death!
The leader evolution idea is brought to life with the samples Hasbro displayed, and we're gaga over the Orion Pax / Optimus Prime. The only question is, what are we going to do with those other, now obsolete Orion Pax toys? While you listen along, be sure to check out Seibertron's images of the Power of the Primes displays at the event, which also has a second part available here.
The Kup repaint won't make sense, but let's do it.
We spend a good amount of time on Pretenders, and why the heck shouldn't we? They're adorable. What additional Pretender characters do we want in Power of the Primes, and do we foresee a more elaborate execution of this concept? You can check out more detailed images of Cloudburst in particular to see the probable 5 mm peg in our gallery of official product images provided by Hasbro.
Genius!
The HASCON brand panels brought some surprises, and well, not-so-surprises. But there was also a selection of reveals from the Hall of Fame/VIP dinner! What do we make of the two Terrorcons revealed thus far, Moonracer, and the latest evolution leader, Optimus Primal / Optimal Optimus? Our search for Alpha Trion begins here - nevermind that he was in the last Generations line.
Dino arms!!!
After a quick pass over more G2 Megatron/Archforce from Takara, and some lamenting about what wasn't displayed on the HASCON show floor (where's the RID love??), we get our comics-talk on. IDW Unicron speculation starts us out with more teases given during Hascon about next year's Next Big Thing for the IDW Transformers and Hasbro Universe.
One of the first non-Scotty-monologue IDW Unicron discussions on the show ever!
Recent issues of First Strike come under the lens next, with mixed opinions about the effectiveness of the event, but mostly positive vibes come from the team on this crossover. We also spend a little more time with Alpha Trion, given the happenings in Optimus Prime #10, then take a quick but magnificent look at Lost Light #9.
Best. Quip. Ever.
Time for an excellent Listener Question from Seibertron user SIllyMcGilly: "Since it's around that time for a tenth anniversary of Transformers Animated, what figures out of that line do you guys like best?"
Transform, and rise up!
For the second part of the same listener question, which asks about a desire for Animated reissues, the answers take a surprising turn as we end with an immense shout out to occasional Transtopia poster Bad Lamprey's Animated customs, including his "heavily scratch-built" Mixmaster:
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Welcome to the latest episode of the Seibertron.com Twincast / Podcast! This episode features your host Megatronus with Seibertron himself and special guest QBKiller94. Listen in as we discuss the first ever HASCON.
Episode #183 "The Road to HASCON" is available directly and in our RSS Feed, and should appear on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher Radio within 24 to 48 hours of when you see this news post.
HASCON 2017 was a truly momentous event, and Seibertron.com was on the scene at the Providence Convention Center. Check out our official YouTube channel for coverage of all panels and events, as well as Seibertron's extensive galleries of the show floor, new product reveals, and much more!
On the road from HASCON: Megatronus, Seiberton, and QBKiller94 jump right in after leaving the convention. How was the overall experience? Did we enjoy the show, and shift towards a more experience-centric convention? Most importantly, was HASCON worth the price of entry?
Can I HAS huge sign?
Once Seibertron has been safely delivered to the airport, Megatronus and QBKiller94 continue their sojourn. We walk listeners through the larger convention layout and our observations about attendee volume & composition, as well as our pleasant panel experience - no FOMO here.
I have a feeling we're all gonna fit.
We drill into a much more Transformers-specific discussion. Power of the Primes was on full display, including the new Orion Pax / Optimus Prime. Are we down with the Dinobots and their combiner form, Volcanicus? When are we going to hear more about the mighty Predaking?
The whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts.
We get to the Transformers area itself: what was featured, what dynamic displays caught our eye, and what cool experiences was the Transformers brand dishing out throughout the weekend?
Talk about Power of the Primes...
We couldn't end the show without saying a fond farewell to Providence, Rhode Island, a friendly, accessible city that made the convention as welcoming and enjoyable as any Hasbro brand. Bon voyage, and until next time.
Can I get these year-round?
But wait, there's more! The show closes out with an interview featuring Ben Montano and John Warden from Hasbro's Transformers Brand Team. Megatronus and Seibertron ask their burning questions in this special segment, which is also available on the Seibertron.com Youtube channel. Enjoy the interview, and our thanks as always to Hasbro for helping make it happen.
I think we just found a convention!
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Also in our new video content from Hasbro's first Hascon event, we have a recording on our YouTube channel of the reveals that took place during the VIP dinner panels - which include the slew of grey models and artwork for new Transformers Power of the Primes figures: Terrorcons Rippersnapper and Hun-Gurr, plus Mooracer and the evolving Optimus Primal (new chosen Prime from the fan-vote) into cosmic surfing gorilla Optimal Optimus! Check it out below.
We've shown you the plaques and trophies for the Transformers Hall of Fame induction ceremonies for Susan Blu and Lorenzo di Bonaventura (see it here!) which took place at Hascon 2017 last night during the VIP dinner panel with Frank Welker and Peter Cullen - but why not pretend you were there in person, by taking a look at a video recording of the whole thing? Check it out below!
We've heard a fair amount about the new Arcee figure being offered as an early access Transformers exclusive (meaning it will also hit retail eventually) at Hascon, as part of the Titans Return toyline. The set also includes cards with tech specs, an Ultra Magnus diecast Titan Master (sporting the colour scheme of the original white Optimus cab), and the regular Arcee head Titan Master Daniel / Leinad. You can now check it all out in our in-hand gallery here at Seibertron.com!
You saw the coverage of the Transformers brand panel at Hascon, now you can check in for yourselves with more artwork, more comments, more points raised by the speakers and audience in the recording of the whole thing on on the Seibertron.com YouTube channel! Check out the clip embedded below, featuring Dinobots (including Slash and the combined Volcanicus), Allspark Tech, a new Optimus Prime and insight from both Takara and Hasbro designers.
Today we bring you some more gallery-tastic content on Seibertron.com, and we move over to Beast Wars II for a look at the Predacon Duke of Destruction, brother of Galvatron, and his later upgrade - Megastorm and Gigastorm, with Gigascouter! Part of the Ultra class of the line, Megastorm is a redeco of the G2 Megatron tank toy, the version here being the one from Showdown of Artillery: Apache vs Megastorm box set; the upgraded Arch-Duke of Destruction featuring the Full Tilt redeco into Gigascouter, on the other hand, is the Cyborg Beast Supreme class Trypticon repurposing, with new added nose horn.
Check out the galleries by clicking on any of the images below, and stay tuned for more Trypticon related content coming soon!
We have another treat for you all, Seibertronians, as site owner Seibertron has taken out some Platinum Edition toys to show off. This time? Decepticon purple space t-rex Trypticon! Along with Full Tilt and Brunt, the ship/base/muncher wanders into the Platinum line, with a tweaked deco, a new box, comparison shots with original G1 version - stay tuned for more on that too...
With the current Titans Return iteration of the same character at retail - whose gallery you can find here - this is the best time for a dive into recent nostalgia, before the main event. Check out the sample images below, and click on any of them to access the full gallery!
A few months ago, I did something I hadn't done in a while.
I picked up a G1 figure. E-Bay, or Facebook, or forums, I can't remember how I did it, I can't even remember which figure it was, but it stirred something inside of me. The excitement for collecting.
"Didn't you already have that though?"
I thought I did, but without realising, while I had been collecting modern figures, I was simply going through the motions.
There was no thrill of the hunt, because it has simply become easier for me to order them online, more often than not, the Takara Tomy versions, which means waiting for HobbyLinkJapan pre-orders to go up. So with a few clicks of the mouse, the order is placed and I have to wait.
And then the figures would arrive, I'd open them up, transform them a couple of times, and then there'd go on display. The only figure I truly got excited over was Titans Return Triggerhappy, because lets face it, that figure is just awesome.
"But Burn, we've gotten a lot of fantastic figures in recent years!"
This is true, I will not argue this fact. I feel the designers of late have really innovated, and I've enjoyed the engineering aspect of new figures. New figures are great, but, they lack nostalgia. Yes, nostalgia.
"Oh no, he's going to go Geewunner on us. I'm out!"
Hear me out here. I got back into collecting Transformers 15 or so years ago, because of some problems I was having mentally. They reminded me of a time in my life when things were simpler, and I was happier, and collecting Transformers helped me get through a very rough patch in my life.
It was also a time when Beast Wars/Machines had just recently finished their runs and one of aspect of collecting back then was discovering all these new figures and characters, and thanks to ball joints, putting them back together! Many lots were discovered on E-Bay and much fun was had working out what parts belonged to who.
But that was then, this is now.
And not much has changed. When I got that G1 figure all those months ago I was reminded of that aspect of collecting that was a lot of fun. Restoring the figures, bringing them back to life.
And it's this that has helped reinvigorate my collecting. Finding older figures (preferably with all their accessories) and restoring them. That may involve simply replacing their stickers (Toyhax.com is the place for them if you're curious!) or completely disassembling them and cleaning them before putting them back together.
Or in some cases, repairs may be necessary.
Did you know that Titans Return Trypticon was in fact not the first Transformer to have a problem caused by springs? While I can't say for certain he was the first, but I did discover that G1 Pointblank had spring issues.
I picked up a G1 Pointblank in a G1 lot last year, he had a busted door, but other than that he seemed to be in good condition, and he had his little Targetmaster buddy. In July I came across a seller on Facebook who had a few figures I wanted, including a G1 Pointblank. He emphasised that Pointblank had a problem with his left leg.
See those knee joints? They have springs in them. There's two ratchets with teeth on them, one is molded into the outer leg, while the other moves back and forth as you transform the figure. Those springs allow that ratchet to move back and forth.
The problem is, the spring is constantly pushing the ratchet out, throw in years of age and transforming, and the screw that holds it in place eventually comes free.
But hey, that's fine, the G1 Pointblank I was getting had an unbroken door and that's all I needed to fix up mine!
Imagine my shock when I inspected mine and found the exact same problem with the leg.
To be honest, it probably didn't need to be fixed, he transformed fine, but I wanted to fix it anyway. So I set out to fix the problem, which to put simply, was the screw hole had become threaded.
Solution? Drill a larger hole and fill it.
My first attempt failed, but I persisted. Eventually I resorted to removing the spring completely (it's actually NOT really necessary if you intend to display him in robot mode) and using a touch of super glue to hold the screw in place.
G1 Pointblank wasn't the only figure I've worked on recently. I also picked up Sparkabot Guzzle. Great little figure and his sparking figure worked as well. I already had Sizzle, though he wasn't in great condition either, which is where I lucked out and found a seller that had Fizzle AND Sizzle as well. So I could replace my Sizzle and complete my Sparkabots collection!
When they arrived they were a little on the dirty side, so I started with Fizzle. Took him apart, cleaned him in nice warm soapy water, inside and out and reassembled him. Not only was he clean, but his sparking feature worked better than it did when he first arrived.
I then moved onto Sizzle ... and that's where I ran into problems. The heads of the two screws in his legs snapped off, which meant I had to drill them out. Or, I could simply use the legs off my other Sizzle!
Those screws snapped as well, so back to drilling them out. Eventually I got him disassembled, cleaned up and put back together. A set of stickers from Toyhax later and Fizzle, Sizzle and Fo'Shizzle Guzzle and they were ready to rejoin the collection!
Simple restorations really, but I took so much pleasure in taking old battered figures and giving them a new lease in life.
"You could do that with any era, clearly your Geewunner bias is showing"
It's not bias actually. When I returned to collecting, I collected what was current at the time, meaning I have all the figures I want from Beast Wars through to Titans Return.
That being said, and I say this with a disclaimer that I have only really searched locally (Australia), from my searching on E-Bay, and even what I see on Facebook and forums, there's not much out there from later lines like Armada.
And I feel that is because we are live in times where things are more disposable. It's easier to go out and buy something new rather than to fix it. Kids toys missing an arm? Just throw it, we can duck down the shops and get another one.
And to me, that's disappointing, because the generation that grew up on Beast Wars and A/E/C now have disposable incomes and will be looking to get figures they missed out on as kids.
But where are they? Where are the complete figures? The junkers?
Believe me, if I came across some of those figures I'd snap some up for customising purposes, but they just don't seem to be out there.
Of course I do have some G1 bias, it's what I grew up with, it's what helped me through a dark patch in my life, it reminds me of a simpler time, and I have to admit, I'm pretty damn proud of what I've achieved of my G1 collection and would like to get to a point where I can say "I may not have every G1 figure, but I feel my collection is complete to me".
It's that goal, plus the joy of restoring figures, that has helped me rediscover the joy of collecting, and I know I'm not the only one. Take a look at our Transformers Toy Haul thread. Others are collecting G1 figures. We have an entire thread dedicated to the clunky Pretenders!
I've seen interest from the younger generation who are discovering Marvel UK, and all the characterisations some of the lesser known toys received, or even characters that never received a figure until recently. Like the little wheel that could, Scrounge!
And I have to admit, I do enjoy talking to some of the younger collectors who are discovering G1 and suggesting figures to them and helping them find them. Who doesn't enjoy the thrill of hunting down a figure?
So for once, in what has been a long time, I feel the excitement and joy of collecting.
How about you though? Are you an old fart like me enjoying the hunt for old figures, or maybe you enjoy hunting modern figures, or maybe you're a young whipper snapper delving into the history of Transformers and looking to collect across the eras. Let us know on the forums!
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