Transformers Club Exclusives

I was at work today and my phone made that great sound that said that I had an email.  Earlier my cousin told me that our case of Reveal the Shield figs were finally in stock so I hoped to see word that my ordered case of Warpath, Thundercracker, and Wheeljack would soon be on its way as well.  Instead I received news that the Official Transformers Club had opened pre-orders up for this years exclusive toys... lets take a look...

ANIMATED/TRANSTECH CHEETOR:  $52.00

First things first... sticker shock... I was blown away by the price for this figure.  I can remember paying about 40 for my previous deluxes, but that still seems a bit steep.  I really like how this figure looks.  Firstly, they had Derrick Wyatt design the head mold, and if you have read the Allspark Almanac, you know how much detail he puts into his designs (but that is for another post... if you don't have the Allspark Almanac I or II, I highly recommend you pick them up!).   The head mold is completely new, and the paint app looks incredibly detailed.  Also its Animated!  The Blurr mold has barely any use, and its awesome to see it resurrected for a new fig, an even giving us a taste of what Transtech would have been.  The price still has be a bit surprised.  I am really trying to figure out if I can rationalize this to myself, and more importantly to my wife for this investment.

GENERATION 2 RAMJET:  $58.00

Hello sticker shock again! If i remember right the Seacons were like $89.00.  Here we have a deluxe figure for 58 when two years ago I got a G1 Gestalt for twenty bucks more... whats the deal.  Well since Cheetor is 52, then Ramjet should have so much remolds and new molds to make it more worth wild right?  I have yet to see any remolding on this figure... so why the high price tag?  Maybe because the seeker mold is a highly desirable mode, Hasbro wouldn't want to part with it.  Hold it a second, remember the Decepticon Games set with not one but three Seekers... that had a price tag of 400 bucks, and it came with 3 seekers, a Bugbite, and a Voyager mold... something has to be up.  And speaking of molds, Master Collector already had the mold changed for that missal too!  I remember when I got my sets in the mail... hopefully Master collector remembers that the missal launchers are two separate molds this time.  When I received my three Decepticon Games sets I was so happy to receive 2 lefts of each missal launcher, and 4 rights... making it great to call them and try to make it right.  All I see of this mold is a way to milk the fans out of money.  I am once again happy that I missed the Gen 2 Redux line because I don't even have to listen to my completest conscience.  The way I see it this is complete waste of money... and Savage is just tying to dig into your wallet. 

I love that the club is enlarging the universe that I love, but as of late I have been let down.  Last year I missed Punch/Counter Punch because of what i consider bad planning, and this year any enthusiasm I have is kind of just eh.  When Savage saved us from Hallet's going under and offered a free second year of membership for taking a first I was incredibly happy.  However since that time I feel that Master Collector has been very little help.  I have received damaged items from them, and I feel that they are just trying to rip off a captured population.  I look at their club store and very seldom see a great deal or an amazing jump start for a collection.  They were supposed to allow us to preorder and get our figs direct, but it seem as of late they are a dollar more expensive and a month behind. 

 This price reveal has just been another brick in the wall.  To add insult to injury from what I found on TFW2005, the cheapest shipping is set at 15 bucks. so if you just get a deluxe G2 Ramjet your looking at a 73 dollar deluxe (12 dollar) figure.  I have no problem paying a premium price for a premium product, but that price is astronomical.  $125 for 2 deluxes shipped... PLEASE, I paid less for my complete G1 Metroplex!

As of last week I was on the fence whether these two would become part of my collection, and today I decided that I will leave Ramjet for another eager collector.  I am still not sure about Cheetor, but I am definitely leaning toward a NO.  I love that my club membership this year has went to my Sideburn and about 10 minutes of reading material, but I guess that's how the cooking crumbles.

Perceptor

A precursory evaluation presents distinct problematic apprehension.  In English...like everyone else it seems like I have been trying to hunt down a Perceptor.  About a month ago I stumbled across my Scourge and Kup, but Perceptor and Wrek-Gar continued (and continue) to elude me.  Luckily I logged onto Hasbro Toy Shop at the right time and finally got a chance to order this guy.  Then after a nice little wait... he finally arrived to me on a rainy Ohio Saturday.

So the number one question... was he worth the wait and the hassle?  Definitely! Perceptor is an amazing re imagining of our favorite Autobot inventor.  He captures his old look perfectly in his robot mode.  I absolutely love the lack of an expression on his face.  Also as you can see... he can grasp his percetor!  Sorry for the same pose (and bad pictures) but I absolutely love this about him.  The alternate mode looks really amazing, but I couldn't allow myself to take Perceptor out of his amazing robot form. 

Also Hasbro was nice enough to include a flip down chest plate... just like his microscope precursor. 
I have to say that this is again one of my favorite figures for this line.  He is definately worth the wait.  my only grip is that he didn't come with a sniper rifle (Sorry I love All Hail Megatron).  I thought that he was supposed to come with one from earlier images, but I believe that my mind is playing tricks on me.   I may remedy this by picking up another Blurr, and giving Percepts the rifle, maybe Blurr can find his way over the the toybox at James' crib...

Name:  Perceptor
Faction:  Autobots
Accessories:  NONE (What a Gyp!)
Line:  Generations (Reveal the Shield)
Price Point:  Deluxe ($9.00-$12.00)
Grade:  A+

Chris Latta

Most Transfand know that Chris Latta is the voice of our beloved Starscream... and Cobra Commander (WASSSSSSSSSSSSS a MAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN), sorry I digress.  But recently I found that he did standup as well thanks to my Transformers Collector Club Newsletters.  I did a quick YouTube research and wanted to share it with all.  Here is Chris Latta (billed as Chris Collins) for your viewing pleasure. 
I was excited to finally place a face with the voice... and quite surprised... after doing a little research I found that Chris was in most of my favoite shows from yester-year... including one of Al Bundy's bunch in NO MAAM. 
This just makes me a little bit sad to know that I never had a chance to meet him, nor get his John Hancock...
RIP Chris... I know you're cracking up the Man Upstairs.

Collecting Warehouse

OK, so this isn't primarily a Transformers update, but still I felt that it could be a great resource for everybody.  I recently stumbled across a company called Collecting Warehouse.  The are an amazing resource for any collector, no matter what the media.  They have anything you would need as an action figure collector, including ziplock bags for TF accessories, or even bag your loose collection.  Additionally they provide high quality stands, and cases to keep everything dust free.  Also for the loose display they have awesome acrylic risers so that the guys in the back don't get lost! 
I am a Transformers collector, but I have also gotten into some Marvel Universe, Star Wars and G.I. Joe, and they have awesome stands for all the figures that I have amassed over the years, with a nice selection so you can choose your own flavor.  They also carry a full line of Star Cases for MIP Wars and Joe figures (the ONLY way to display your Pimp Daddy Destro!)
The best part is that they are a collectors resource for collectors and are run by collectors, so they treat you like you would like to be treated.  I am lucky enough to have them in my home town for a quick friendly order pickup, but I highly recommend that you head on over to http://www.collectingwarehouse.com/ and check them out!  They will definitely have whatever you need to help organize and display all of your Formers

HEAD ON!!!

Recently there has been an announcement that for the fist time we are going to receive a stateside release of the Japanese Headmasters series.   Personally I am a bit excited, not just because for the first time in my life I can buy a movie called Headmasters off of Amazon and bring it into the house during the daytime, but because I have always wanted a good quality version of this series.  The first time that I got a chance to watch the series was off a set of VHS tapes (anyone remember those magical "video cartridges?") that my cousin let me borrow and of course make my own, more degraded copy.  I then later scored a copy of Headmasters with the rest of the Japanese series on VCD which had a bit better quality, but I am still excited for a stateside NTSC DVD copy.
Headmasters takes place following Season 3 for the Japanese story line.  It completely replaces the story line laid out in the Rebirth series.  The story takes a  completely different route than Rebirth did as well, but I would expect since stateside we had 3 episodes, while Headmasters had a full season.  The season does have some fairly large events that occur... like the complete destruction of C... Seibertron.  Also they tend to let Fort Max build slowly, instead of showing everything all at once.  They also have amazing character development for Sixshot.  He is one of my favorite TF characters, and in Rebirth all I get to see is what a "one man army can do."  That was it, where in Headmasters, he is a main stay player, and a key player at that...
Headmasters does have some slow points, but all things considered it is an amazing storyline, and I am excited about this set.  If for no other reason, I would recommend purchasing it just so we can get Masterforce and Victory stateside.  I would love to have good quality versions of these great series on my TF DVD shelf. 

TF News for End of March

TF CON
I just read on TFW2005 that TF Con is hosting Pat Lee.  I just found it funny that he will be attending since the bankruptcy of DreamWave (that left ooo soo many artists and writers unpaid for their hard work).  The reason that it made me chuckle is that he will be signing and sketching for fans... I am almost tempted to go just so I can have a sketch by Pat, signed by Pat.... that PAT ACTUALLY DID!  It would be nice to have one of the few actually pieces of Pat art... instead of a ghost artist with pat's name on it.


Sentinel Prime
I am also very excited to parrot that Leonard Nimoy is once again gracing a TF film for the first time since voicing ("What he say his name was?) GALVATRON!   Nimoy has however traded in his Decep Cred, and is voicing to role of Sentinel Prime.