Swords and Spaceships

I've scored a lot of new swag this week. Firstly, I found the Classics Jetfire at my local Wal-Mart. It was on the top shelf among several Primes and Megatrons and another Jetfire, and I had to ask one of the people working there to get one down. They left the other one up there, clueless that the other one could sell in minutes if they put it with the other Voyager-sized Classics. But, to everyone else, TFs are all the same. I brought him home, and he's the best in the line. I say that even though I don't own Grimlock and Mirage yet. There's just no way they can live up to this dude's awesomeness. And, he's much cheaper and prettier than the G1 Jetfire. All good to me. Then my order from BBTS came in. I ordered the first wave of the rereleased Heroes of Cybertron PVCs. I love these things, and apparently, I'm the only one who does. Some see it as "morally wrong" to own Transformers that don't transform, but really, these guys have a charm all

Clicky. I want to think that this is Tomy/Takara's work, and that the Dinobots are finally going to be reissued. But then, if it was official, Grimlock would likely be the first one out of the gate. Or it could be a prototype for the World's Smallest TFs line. But I'm thinking it's one of those high-quality bootlegs that have been coming out of China for the last few years. These boots look exactly like the official product, and the releases have been eclectic, to say the least. They've (whoever the are)offered Optimus Prime, of course, but then they've done Soundwave's cassettes and Seaspray, and others that I'm forgetting. Swoop is the hardest Dinobot to acquire either boxed or loose, so I'd expect this one to be difficult to obtain if it is a bootleg.

Go buy this. Now. Even if you have the Rhino version. Sony has given the treatment that the Transformers always deserved on DVD but never got with this set. I picked it up this week, and loved it. The colors are much brighter and richer this time around, owing to Sony's painstaking restoration. On the first disc, you'll see a side-by-side comparison with the Rhino version, and it's like night and day. My favorite special feature has to be the old toy commercials. Most of them a re from Japan, but they're so deliciously strange to American audiences, so they have to be seen to be believed. There weren't very many American ones, but I assume that those are being saved for Sony's rerelease of the G1 TV series next year. Hopefully that will have as much time and effort put into its restoration as well as some color-correcting. This package is on two discs- the first disc is a widescreen presentation of the film, while the second is fullscreen. I like my movies to be

I am so buying that little Punisher fella. Only in America can a gun-toting maniac with a kill count equal to Genghis Khan get his visage on something meant for preschoolers. Yep, that'll be the newest "it" thing for hipsters who love irony to own next year.

Linky. Looks like Hasbro's is using the Soundblaster mold after all. Makes me glad I spent the cash for an original G1 Soundwave now. It's still a good purchase, though. I won't worry about getting the TFC Soundblaster now, plus I get a Ravage and Laserbeak in this package, which are about $30 each on ebay. Now if he'd just show up here. I'm glad Hasbro is offering this reissue. He needed to be in a line like Classics, but if he's anything other than a tape player, people complain. Since they wanted to keep close to G1 with this line (Megatron being a gun, Prime being a recognizable semi) this was their only option- a G1 reissue.

I guess he's being reissued after all. I'm asking for one for Christmas. I got my original on Chrsitmas Day 21 years ago, so it would be great to get this then. I'm not sure if it's using the Soundblaster mold as many have figured Hasbro would use for it, but I'm beginning to hope that they didn't. There's no pics on ebay yet that confirm it either way.

A keen article from the Boston Globe about the Transformers- read it before it disappears. It's nice to see the Transformers getting some mainstream press attention. I can't wait to buy a TIME magazine with Optimus Prime on it now.