Warfare of Cybertron

I'm no stranger to mobile games or apps featuring unlicensed famous characters. They're usually cheap click bait fodder aiming to make a few bucks off ads. However, hidden in the Google Play store is a charming little series of platformers that are made with 100% love.

Robot Warfare is a free game series made by a fan who has managed to make fun mobile gaming experiences with our favorite robots from Cybertron. Gameplay centers around working your way through a stage full of platforms and Decepticons. Impressively enough, each game offers a variety of characters to play including G2 Laser Optimus Prime (DUDE!).

The games look great on my 7 inch Galaxy, so I can only imagine they'd look great on a phone. Bright colors and a variety of on-screen characters add to the challenging (but not cuss and fling your tablet across the house hard) gameplay.

Considering the price (free), you have nothing to loose trying these out. So trust me, they're great and have more heart than some official offerings. There's even a GI JOE game!

I'd make a joke about these tablet games have the touch, but I'd like readers to come back.

Groove is in the disheart

So last years May Mayhem event was pretty much a breeze. The launch day came, at midnight several online stores sold out fast, I waited until morning and bought the toys at Targets site for less than anywhere else.

Needless to say, I got cocky.

We hear news of this years May Mayhem toy will be deluxe Combiner Wars Groove and he'll go on sale in May. Then no news followed. Rumors of a May 24th release came and ...

It was just preorders. Target didn't stock them on their website this year.

CRAP.

I looked around at sites with no clear info other than Amazon shipped a few out before the toy went into preorder status again.

For once, the fandom that knows everything was clueless.

So after giving up and accepting the truth, I preordered Groove. Luckily, I got mine at Entertainment Earth, the one place that wasn't charging astronomical prices for the figure. Just a dollar over regular deluxe retail price. Pretty much exactly what I paid at Targets site last year.

Of course this year it's a preorder and I won't actually pay until he ships IN OCTOBER. Which really isn't a problem, but it sure would have been nice to know ahead of time.

So what's next?

Robots in Disguise season two just wrapped up and with season three coming in fall, I thought I'd take time time to talk about what I'd like to see.

There's probably a chance I'll spoil a thing or two, so consider this your warning.

Mini-Cons have really taken over this show. From just a few to a freaking ton. In season three I'd like to see a bigger storyline with the little guys.

Maybe there can be a Mini-Con big bad guy. Or maybe a big event for the little guys. Wouldn't it be awesome if the new big baddie was a Mini-Con?

Yes it would, duh.

Speaking of new big baddie, all the Decepticons have been taken back home. Some new threat has to take over for Steeljaw. I hope whatever new crew of baddies come, that they still have those creative designs that the last ones had.

Seeing how Optimus left with Wingblade and Ratchet, I'd like to see Jazz make a return. Perhaps even some new characters could visit or even join the group. I'd also love to see adventures in space or on other planets. That'd be fun. Or even a time jump, a little extra sci if never hurt anything.

I'm really looking forward to season three and hope it continues to be as great as the past two seasons have been. This show is a million pounds of great and I'm glad to see it chugging along.

Space Knights

Yesterday, the new logo and title for the new Transformers live action movie was released on various social media with a short video clip. 

Personally, I like it.

This new logo is very retro space age looking. It looks like Rom, it looks like Micronauts, it looks like a space opera, it looks fun. The movie logos tend to reflect the TF logo on all products for years after, and this is a logo I wouldn't mind seeing for years.

The sub title, is also missing the 'of' every TF sequel has had. Which I'm happy about, because everything within the last few years has been 'something of something'. It's nice to see a fresher approach. Not to mention, 'The Last Knight' sounds very fantastic. Just look at that logo with that title. This screams space opera battle. 

I was a fan of the knight theming that was given to the robots in TF4, so to see it continuing is a good thing. I like the silly notion of space knight robots that turn into sedans. Unfortunately the last movie was an incoherent mess, so I really hope the theming is more worked out. It's not hard to imagine as to why I'd want this to be a better movie. That last movie was really hard to sit through and I want to have the fun I had with TF3 all over again. 

I have a theory, that given the track record, odd numbered Transformers movies are the better movies. So hopefully my theory is right and the odds work out in TF5's favor. I mean, just look at that freaking logo. How can anything not super fun come from that logo?

Score one

I'm a Cheetor fan.

I know he isn't everyone's cup of tea, but he certainly is mine. I've always enjoyed his particular journey from youngster to seasoned warrior over the course of Beast Wars to Beast Machines.

I don't have all of his toys, but I sure do have a ton. I spent so much time playing him in the N64 BW game that his catch phrase "score one for this cool cat", is part of my vocabulary. I try not to let it slip out, but it sometimes does.

The look on a random persons face when I say that is a mixture of confusion and hate.

So the news of the upcoming Masterpiece Cheetor toy came to my attention, you could probably guess the mental pre order that went on in my mind.

Rev up and roll out!

I really like the current Transformers cartoon (Robots in Disguise). It's a fun show, that doesn't force seriousness, it lets it happen naturally. The premise of the show has Bumblebee leading a group of Autobots on Earth hunting down Decepticons who've escaped a crashed prison ship. At first the team is just Bumblebee and a few rookies, until he is joined by other Autobots and eventually Optimus Prime (who insists Bumblebee continues to lead his crew).

The Decepticons are very unique in that most have an animal based robot mode. The main group of Decepticons is a team called the Pack, lead by Steeljaw. Recently the Pack's numbers have been bolstered by a newly discovered larger group of Decepticons of whom Steeljaw has managed to work himself into a leadership role.

The show takes a 'monster of the week' format, with the overall story framing each season. It's funny, it's light hearted, and it's fun. But don't let that fool you, there's a solid ongoing plot that drives the show. Bumblebee and his crew goes through struggles with self confidence, self awareness, and learning the value of teamwork. None of the heroes are perfect (not even Optimus Prime) and they face crazy obstacles together.

The show is intended for elementary school aged children, but myself and other fans my age have been finding the show just as good for us old folks. It airs weekly on Cartoon Network, can be viewed in demand on the Cartoon Network website and through most cable providers as well as Netflix. I'd suggest it not only to Transformers fans, but also fans of cartoons in general.

Wild boy returns

Ever since Wheelie was in 'Wild boy of Quintessa', I've been a fan. He's had a few toys and I pretty much thought the GDO deluxe was going to be the best toy of him ever.

That was until Titans Return that is. This awesome Legend figure has the character nailed. Not to mention a Titanmaster can ride in the car mode! All he needs is that Sharkticon tooth necklace and he'd be perfect.

Looking forward to Universal

I've always wanted to go to Universal Studios. I've been to Disney World a few times and other neat theme parks, but never Universal Studios. I distinctly remember the 'coming soon' ads for Universal Studios Florida on vhs tapes we rented when I was a kid. It's always seemed just out of the reach of possibilities.

So, when the future Mrs Rob and I decided to take our honeymoon there this fall, you can imagine how excited I got.

Ironically, it's worked out in a funny way. I usually travel to a Transformers convention once a year. I've always entertained the idea of taking a year off convention travel and go to Universal Studios and ride the Transformers movie ride and shop at the attached store. This year, I was taking off traveling to a convention for my wedding. Somehow both ideas came together wonderfully, and it was her idea!

So adding to my excitement for my honeymoon, my excitement for Universal Studios, let's add in my excitement to really take in the Transformers ride. Despite the negativity in the fandom towards the movies, I've always had a lot of fun with each movies release. The ride and all its included fun has been very interesting to me. I've watched the ride through videos, and seen the pictures of the general attraction. It looks like a lot of fun to take in.

I already have the exclusive Evac figure (he's the ride vehicle!) thanks to a friend picking one up for me. But there is also a plethora of neat licensed exclusive items as well as some other movie figures in exclusive packaging to check out. Not to mention the recent news.

Recently news of the Cyber Battalion figure line, which was prior sold in such countries as China and Brazil will be sold in the US as a Universal Studios exclusive broke out. I've been wanting these simple, yet neat looking toys for a while now. Instead of ordering them, my plan has been to pick them up at a convention (either local or one I travel to). I figured that would be a fun thing to look out for. So needless to say, picking them up on this fateful trip will just be really neat.

So far the two of us have been giddy over all the fun we're going to have. She's looking forward to shopping in the Harry Potter area, I'm looking forward to the Transformers area, and we're both looking forward to all the fun the park offers. Sometimes it's kind of neat having a story that goes with a toy. These Cyber Battalion guys are going to be forever mentally tied to what's going to be an awesome time of my life.

There's something great about that.