Doing Things Differently...

...Maybe.

So here's the thing: when I started this blog, I was using Photobucket to host my images, and grabbing sets of thumbnail links from its built-in option to do so. Things became even easier when I started using Flock as a browser because, for a while, it featured its own blog editor and Photobucket uploader which, to a certain extent, bypassed The Bucket's automatic downsizing of images. Then Photobucket (and Blogspot) made changes that meant I couldn't log in, upload or post from Flock anymore. Flock fixed things, then they got changed all over again. Flock upgraded, losing most of its cool features and becoming just another browser. Flock got cancelled, but Photobucket still did what I wanted/needed by way of keeping track of my images and linking them - thumbnail-style - into this blog.

TransFormers Prime Ultra Magnus

Hasbro and Takara have been bucking quite a few trends with the TF Prime toyline, which makes it a real shame that the excellent TV series doesn't have a great deal of exposure, and that the distribution has been diabolical for the few toys they release with each wave. For the most part, the toys are well-designed and interestingly complex, utilising some very new techniques to fold fairly large, detailed robots out of vehicles that are roughly equivalent to G1 toys in size.

Then you get Ultra Magnus... One of those rare cases where he's not a repaint of Optimus Prime - which can only be a good thing - yet one of the least complicated toys for his size. Indeed, there's very little difference in transformation between this Voyager and the Cyberverse version... But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Not a Haitus...

...Just a long delay, partly due to having been rather busy with work over these last few month, and partly because I haven't felt particularly motivated to churn through the mountain of drafts this blog has accrued. I might decide to put a hold on them and focus on getting newer stuff up, with a view to getting some of the older stuff done afterward, or in between.

I've picked up loads more TransFormers: Prime stuff recently, including two First Editions - Bulkhead and Arcee - which are about all I'm interested in for the time being. For those who are curious, the full list of Prime toys in my possession is:

On Distribution

Sorry, another opinion piece! That said, I have picked up a fair few TF:Prime figures lately and have a write-up of Voyager Starscream in progress. With any luck, there will be more interesting stuff up here soon.

And, as it happens, it's TF:Prime toys that I wish to write about... broadly speaking. All of six months ago, I picked up the whole of Wave 1 of Hasbro UK's TF:Prime toys. They were pretty cool, so I was looking forward to more. I was a little disappointed that the UK wasn't getting First Edition (largely because of Deluxe Starscream and Voyager Bulkhead), but the main line toys were not half as bad as I'd expected, based on reports from the American fan sites.

The problem has been the distribution.

Rubbish 'Update'

Yep, after another long break, I'm back with another text-only update.

The good news is that the quiet time coincides with intermittent employment, so I've actually had some income recently. The bad news is that while I've been working, I've been even less inclined to update any of my blogs.

This post is a bit of an opinion piece, for those who may be interested, and it's come about because of a similar post on a blog I read. Specifically, it's about the Official TransFormers Collectors' Club and their new 'Figure Subscription Service'.

TransFormers Collectors' Club 2005-2009 Members Incentive Gestalt (Timelines) Nexus Prime/Maximus

(Members Incentive Monday #8)

It's impossible to discuss this, the completed gestalt result of Fun Publications' first five years of running the TransFormers Collectors' Club, without briefly touching on the controversy of its name. After much to-ing and fro-ing between Fun Publications and Hasbro, the name 'Nexus Maximus' was agreed upon but, by sheer coincidence, this name was already taken by... a certain other 'adult toy'. When this was revealed to the Club and Hasbro, they hurriedly changed the name to 'Nexus Prime', and told the world they had done a 'safe search' on the original name, by way of an explanation for the slip-up. It's a wholly believable story, but ever so slightly sloppy.
For the first four years, the club gave away the equivalent of a Scout-class figure, each a recolouring of one of the 'limbs' from the Energon/Superlink Bruticus Maximus and Superion Maximus gestalts. 2009 brought the torso part, Heatwave, and the remolded gestalt head (built up from certain aspects of the components' heads). Each part was molded using a good deal of translucent plastic, so the end result is quite striking, moreso when lit up.