Monday, April 9, 2001
Spittor, Gushar, War Toad, Slapper-- just what is going on?
This new picture just popped up today, thanks to thendrill of the Botcon Beyond board. Take careful note that it is exactly like the previous Wrecker group shot, except now Spittor's colors have been altered to match those of the coloring of the character Gushar from Car Robots, also known as Slapper in Robots In Disguise.
So is this another Botcon red herring? A simple mistake? The plot thickens....
-Zac

Monday, April 9, 2001
NEW Transformer Comics?
Garry Bodsworth again lends us some info on forthcoming Transformers comics. Only this time, its not just a reprint. It would appear that Dreamwave Productions is actively seeking the Transformers license from Hasbro. They even have a new message board with a forum for the Transformers comic!
So will this be Generation One? Beast Wars? Robots In Disguise? No way to tell just yet, but these are the same folks who put this picture in Wizard Press a few months ago, so they're obviously fans from way back.
Go to Dreamwave's main page to get desktop friendly version of the art and send email to encourage this license!
-Zac

Saturday, April 7, 2001
More Limited Edition Re-Releases From Japan
BigBadToyStore has released information regarding more G1 re-releases from Takara. Sets of Sideswipe and Red Alert, Ironhide and Ratchet, and Thundercracker and Skywarp will be made available at certain toy shows in Japan in June. Each set will be limited to 1,000 pieces. BBTS will be receiving several sets thanks to an insider inside Takara, and have them up for pre-order around $180 each. The items can be pre-ordered here
-Tim

Saturday, April 7, 2001
Saban in Charge of Robots in Disguise?
A poster by the name of "Ron" reported the following at the alt.toys.transformers newsgroup:

Saban has a MIP-TV ad in Variety this week. Is has a picture of Transformers, Robots in Disquise and lists it as having 36 eps. Thirty Six. So it looks like the eps will be condensed and edited somehow. I wonder where it's being voiced.

If this is indeed true, it appears Saban and/or Fox Kids have decided to remove the three recap episodes from the lineup.
-Tim

Saturday, April 7, 2001
Hasbro Collector's Stock Lives On
Hasbro has shipped their remaining stock from now defunct Hasbro Collector web store to Entertainment Earth. There is no special two-For-one deal, but at least they are still available.
-Tim

Addendum: Although there is no two-for-one deal, EE is currently having its 5th Anniversary Sale. You can save on everything, as long as you buy a certain amount.

Saturday, April 7, 2001
The Beast Wars continue --in Quake 3!
A team of fans are working on a mod to bring our favorite characters and settings into the world of Quake 3 Arena.
Some of the work is still really early, but seems to be coming along very well. They are looking for help, so anyone with experience in Quake mods should contact them!
-Zac

Friday, April 6, 2001
Rumored Re-release News
RUMOR - Minibot of the AllSpark cites 2 unnamed sources who indicates that Starscream will be available this July, followed by Soundwave or Reflector. ("Or"?) Also, Ironhide, Sideswipe, and Red Alert will be available in one big gift set. He mentions that his friends saw this at a Japanese toy fair and a Japanese magazine. Any further information available on this would be much appreciated!
-Dru

Thursday, April 5, 2001
The Top Ten Worst Transformers EVER
X-Entertainment celebrates its first birthday with, what else, a rant about Transformers! Enjoy... I know I will.
-Jim

Thursday, April 5, 2001
Unofficial TF Minicon in Ann Arbor, Michigan
UltraMagnusLRLL of the AllSpark is sponsoring a Transformers event in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which will be called The Big Broadcast of 2001. It will be taking place on Saturday, April 14, 2001, and it appears that it will be free!
He's advertising raffles, contests, and prizes, and the site also notes that there will be a FREE Screening of Transformers Episodes and Movies, a fan toy show, and video games. Further information can found by clicking on the link and visiting the site.
-Dru

Wednesday, April 4, 2001
BotCon Beyond Puts Color Wreckers Picture Up!
The title says it all - BotCon Beyond has put up the color version of the Wreckers group pic, which gives some very interesting clues about this year's BotCon.
It's also groovy art.
-Jim

Wednesday, April 4, 2001
Apelinq's Journal updated again!
They seem to be coming with more and more frequency now. Apelinq has identified the threat at hand as a virus, but what can he do?
-Zac

Wednesday, April 4, 2001
The Mystery of SPQQKY's Ravage
The Ravage toy that SPQQKY auctioned off a few weeks ago my not have been a test shot.
Jhiaxus 511 of the Allspark found in the new issue of Tomarts Action Figure magazine there is a color picture of the infamous Wreckers group shot and the Ravage in that photo looks exactly like the mysterious white Ravage. Or if you prefer, Transmetal Tigatron! All speculation for now, but he may be one of the Botcon2001 exclusive toys!
Further, all the characters in the picture are recolored in some fashion, except for the deployers and Primal Prime. A scan has not yet been made available, but we hope to have one soon.
Related link: The pictures of White Ravage, courtey Zabgoth and Shadow Panther of ICOM (he did the favor of saving the pictures before SPQQKY dumped them!)
Have fun tossing this rumor around,
-Zac

Wednesday, April 4, 2001
Mach Alert in A.I.
The official website promoting the new film by Steven Speilberg (from a concept by the late Stanley Kubrick) features some robot imagery, one of which is Mach Alert from Car Robots (Known as Prowl in the forthcoming Robots In Disguise)
Enter the site, go past the trailer and go to the Robots section. Tell the Chatbot your name, and Mach Alert will appear on the first screen to your left.
Sorry for not posting a direct link, but you have to navigate the site itself to get to it because of flash and pop-ups. Thanks to Quasar of the Allspark for this info.
-Zac

PS- "I see robots..."

Wednesday, April 4, 2001
All Fall Down Cover art
Exclusive to the UK in August!
Thanks again to Andrew for the scoop.
-Zac

Wednesday, April 4, 2001
TF Graphic Novels confirmed!
Garry Bodsworth posted the full press release that the issues are indeed going to be collected, with another volume following it!
I am hoping to get a scan of the release itself and the cover art for the book within the next day. Stay Tuned!
-Zac

Wednesday, April 4, 2001
G1 DVDs
Amazon.com has the G1 DVDs Heroes and Villains both available for preorder. Both DVDs are priced at an affordable $13.96. "Heroes" contains The Rebirth three-parter while "Villains" contains The Ultimate Doom three-parter. These DVDs will be released May 8th.
-Tim

Wednesday, April 4, 2001
Starscream Re-Issue Confirmed
The following is an excerpt from an e-mail I just received from Joel of BigBadToyStore:

We just receieved confirmation from Japan the Takara will indeed release a Re-Issue of G1 Starscream. Tenative release date is May, but this could change. We are offering the figure for Pre-Order for $39.99 The Pre-Order us on the site and ready - www.bigbadtoystore.com. Starscream will most likely be packaged in retro Jepanese packaging as the other re-issues were.

Although several sites already have pre-orders for the re-issue up, don't wait too long. This popular character is sure to sell out quickly. On a side note, BBTS is sold out of Spy Streaks, but still have several Motorcycle Drones left in stock.
-Tim

Tuesday, April 3, 2001
Superdeformed Transformers comic
Not to be confused with Matt Nelson's "Super Deformers" strip, this one is done by a Japanese fan. He offers translated versions of all the strips, and if you can get past the grammar and English, its pretty funny!
-Zac

Tuesday, April 3, 2001
Collins contributes art to UK Trading cards
Transforce leads with a story today that Transformers artist Mike Collins is donating artwork featuring 1984 characters for a series of trading cards, exclusive to the UK Comics 2001 Festival.
-Zac