Biohazard 2/Resident Evil 2 commercial by George Romero

The time to cancel the apocalypse has come again!

In 2018, I'm getting a birthday present from Legendary Pictures.

TLK DVD

I plan on picking up the DVD soon, but man these Japanese ads make it look so much more important than just a DVD. 

Hope everyone is having fun at TFCON USA

I couldn't make it this year to TFCON USA (and super jealous of all you lucky people that could!), hope everyone there has a super fun time!

Big Hero 6 the series sneak peak

Really excited this is finally about to debut, even though I'm a little iffy on the animation.

Phantasm trailer

Halloween 3 montage

This montage was used in practically every local tv stations Halloween programming advertisement for a good 20 years. 

Halloween 3 trailer

The first 3 Halloweens are some of my favorite movies of all time. When I was a kid, I held a grudge against part 3 because of the lack of Michael Myers, though as I grew up I started liking it as it's own movie. It didn't take long for me to start loving it. It's just a wonderful, weird movie that perfectly captures Halloween in the 80's. It's an Halloween special made into an R rated movie. I cannot watch the Halloween day montage in the third act enough, they used to use it on local television regularly as part of their ad bumpers for Halloween programming. I just love it.

Spooky Spotlight: Virulent Clones

Profile: The Insecticon Virulent Clones were the result of Deathsaurus' resurrection of the latent Insecticon cloning capability. Extracted from the Cybertronian genetic codes of Buzzclaw and Dirge, the Insecticon clones were created to act as a self-replicating source of warriors for the Decepticon army. Each has a very rudimentary intelligence with no personality of its own. This makes them ideal for swarming enemies, with little regard for their own safety. The Clones listen to the Insecticon masters, Buzzclaw and Dirge, and will follow their orders to the letter at all times.

Abilities: The claws and mandibles of each clone secrete acid, which helps them tear into enemy armor. The Clones are capable of comsuming almost any material to convert into energy to sustain their systems. In robot mode, each Clone carries that can absorb energy from an enemy's attack and redirect it back at them. They can use their wrist mounted claws as slashing weapons, and each has a basic level of hand-to-hand combat knowledge based on memory implants from Buzzclaw.

Weakness: The exo-structure of the Clones are not as strong as those of Buzzclaw and Dirge. Thus the Clones are easily destroyed. It is their massive number, which serves as their greatest advantage.

VR: Haunted House with evil spirits The House 2 3D

Get out those VR headsets and plug in those headphones.

Change Robo Monster Bots

There's a wonderful collection of monster robot toys out there that I'd love to get a hold of. So far I've seen a Dracula, Frankenstein, Gorilla (guess they didn't want to risk the Kong name), and Skeleton bots. Not sure if there's anymore, but they just are so awesome. Basically you get a sculpt of the monsters head that changes into a simple robot toy. They look so great in packaging that I'm sure the wife would let me stick these next to the other Halloween decorations on the mantel.

Soda Monster

Coke has been using the Universal Monsters lately on Fanta, which is fun, but not as awesome during the years Pepsi hosted them. I miss cutting the little posters out of the side of 12 packs.

Beast Wars II on VHS

1999 Sumer Toei Anime Fair

Featuring Beast Wars and Microman.

Japanese Beast Wars commercial

Time Bokan is pretty neat

Zoids Field of Rebellion

Wish they'd do another run of Zoids in the US, or at least make an english version of this game.

Shinkalion theme song

Shinkalion 500 Type EVA

I don't watch enough Evangelion to care about EVA editions, yet I always do.

Shinkalion N700A

I've grown a casual interest in this series, really neat stuff. I've always liked train robots.

PAAS Halloween kits were the bomb

I have a legitimate love for Halloween make up kits. I love looking through the tacky sets on store shelves and checking out what's new this year and whats's been repeated. What's cheap and what's expensive (they're usually pretty cheap, but occasionally there's that giant one for $20). The love came from my annual ogling of the PAAS (the folks who make Easter Egg dye kits) display at the local grocery store or pharmacy every year during my childhood. I loved these kits and was always blown away at how amazing the pictures on the boxes made the finished product look (your results may vary). Usually the back of the box (it was literally the same packaging as the Easter Egg kits) would have cut out accessories to accentuate your costume.

In 1986, thanks to my reading of Crestwood House Monsters books in the library and regular showings of Teen Wolf on HBO, I was destined to be a werewolf that year for Halloween. I spent the entire season researching werewolf's and getting my werewolf down. Even told kids in my class I was actually a werewolf and Halloween was the next time I'd change. I had my costume down, a black sweat shirt (I've spent my entire lifetime wearing those fruit of the loom shirts)..ok, jeans and my Nikes (I did say Teen Wolf) and... and...

boom goes the dynamite 

Thanks to PAAS, I was the best werewolf ever. The back of the box had cut out wolf ears and a full moon medallion (I had to source some string). Halloween was on a Friday that year, and it was pretty great. We ordered pizza, my cousins came over, and we hit my neighborhood with our pumpkin pails ready for action. After we got home, we watched Teen Wolf and I don't mind bragging that my werewolf costume was so much better than my cousins crappy bed sheet ghost with cheap white face paint. I even got some extra Double Bubble for my efforts, and not because the old lady across the street was giving more to neighborhood kids she recognized... ok, that was probably it. The next day my Mom took us to the mall and I got a Rio Blast Master of the Universe figure. Would it have been such a great Halloween without my PAAS make up kit?

No, because PAAS Halloween Make Up kits were magical.

Weren't you guys in Mortal Kombat 3?

Halloween 2 (1981) Japanese poster

Jack-O 1995

I appreciated the descent into evil

BotCon 2005's Descent into Evil box set was a largely unpopular set for a variety of subjective reasons that I thought was pretty great. I don't think I disliked anything about it and it gave me my favorite Ironhide and Ratchet toys to date. I really liked Ricochet and the new Insecticons and really enjoyed the comic. I wanted more adventures with the cast of the set, which didn't really happen (though some of the toys and characters get re-purposed for other stories). Just wish the set got as much love from everyone else as it did from me.

Man, I can't even get a shake most of the time

McMechtech

I'll never stop wishing McDonald's made Mechtech weapons based on their menu.

Don't want to get rid of RID

As much as I'm looking forward to the next Transformers cartoon, I'll admit it's going to be a shame to watch Robots in Disguise end. It's been such a fun TF show.

Trans-Organic Orchestra

Halloween 3 Japanese poster

Friday the 13th 3 Japanese poster

So... uh

Not going to lie, this one genuinely confounded me. I guess if you buy a certain edition of The Last Knight on blue ray, it comes with a swiss army knife. So, if you're into camping and stuff, you can watch TF5 and eat a can of beans with your new TF5 swiss army knife.

I kinda want one.

Spooky Spotlight: Shattered Glass Ricochet

Shoot first, why bother with questions.

Ricochet, the twin brother of Autobot Jazz, is the result of Prime's experiment in splitting an Ember in two and joining each with a new body. Though Ricochet and Jazz were activated seconds apart, the two couldn't be more different. Trained by Prime to serve as one of his elite bodyguards, Ricochet is known for his wild attitude, acting first and asking questions later. Many times this leaves the Autobots without a hostage or serves to eliminate anyone who plans to usurp Ricochet and take his position by Prime's side. Ricochet works extra hard to betray others first, believing that those around him are out to sabotage him. Much to his annoyance, his twin brother Jazz has always been Prime's favorite. Though Ricochet only "acts" crazy from time to time, some fear that this knowledge will lead to it no longer being an act.

Innocent

We all float down here Rangers

Can you smell the circus, Billy? There's peanuts... cotton candy... hot dogs... and...

Bandora/Rita Repulsa

Frankenstein, 3 body evolution

Frankenstein/Dora Franke

Mutitus/Zombie Franke

Mutitus (upgraded by Lokar/Dai-Satan)/Satan Franke 

Frankenstein is pretty awesome

Sure, Frankenstein and Mutitus were cool as two separate monsters. But as an evolution of Dora Franke, Zombie Franke is freaking awesome. Satan Franke is just a little more.

If I made official exclusives, it would be Grand

I've said here before some ideas of how I'd run an official Transformers fan club. I never will, but I've often imagined several things I would like to do. With the upcoming Primemasters figures being homages to Pretenders with their decoy shells and similar to TitanMasters with their inner robot Prime mode being basically a Titanmaster head with the face swapped out for a mystic looking plate. So in theory, a Titanmaster would fit inside a decoy shell. If I were somewhat involved in the new fanclub, I'd pitch an exclusive that would be a homage to Grand Maximus.

I'd take a decoy shell that was close enough to Gran Max's Pretender shell (as seen above in that wonderful art), deco it in the colors to really drive home that it's him. His inner robot would be a reuse of the Emissary Titanmaster from Fortress Maximus in appropriate colors. In theory it would either come in a set or by itself as some sort of membership incentive or even a low priced exclusive. Maybe include a neato comic. Now if we were talking a bigger budget exclusive, well I suppose there's the rest of that Fortress Maximus mold that could be used too.

I thought this up in 10 minutes while taking a break from my work just now. I literally do this all the time.

TLK DVD VIP JK

Look, it's just an advertisement for TF5's video release and available toys, but the presentation makes it seem more like some premier event.

Starriors Wastors and Cosmittor commercial

Look what came in the mail today!

No, not one of those 5$ Taco Bell meals

Thanks to Kilby picking me up one at Hascon last weekend, my Titans Return Arcee set came in today. Inside the shipping box was a rolled up poster that I haven't looked at yet, a new RFC staff badge, a Hascon branded can of Play Dough, and of course the Arcee set. Long time Transformers fans know Arcee was made a Headmaster in the Rebirth and we've all heard Don ask for one for over 20 years at BotCon. Titans Return of course being a return to the Headmaster gimmick and well... they actually made the Headmaster Arcee. Arcee is a reuse of the Blurr mold with a new head. The new head is Daniel as a Titanmaster (spelled backwards so they can trademark it) and even resembles his exo suit. Also included with the set is a diecast Titanmaster Ultra Magnus. The box is really neat and not what I expected. I saw images online and just assumed it was a box with the figures inside. If I would have read more, I would have saw it's actually a fancy unfolding contraption that displays the toys, the art, and their collector cards quite nicely when you unfold it. It's a super nice set, and I could happily live with more exclusives packaged in this manner.

Well

Stumbled across this screen grab randomly. If I were better at photoshop, I'd remove the Headmasters and have him gazing at the clouds. Ultra Magnus strikes me as a guy who would lay on a hill and just look at the clouds. Figure out what shape each one looks like. Take note of them moving. Uh oh, looks like rain. Oh hey, a plane.

I'm already sold

 

You know, I was going to buy the comic any way, but now that I know Optimus is actually RAM BOT, well I can't say no. I mean, ever try saying no to RAM BOT? He'll ram you. Ever get rammed by a giant robot? Me either and I don't want to ever tell you that I have.

This one actually perplexes me a bit. Is this Matchbox telling WEP that people want the lion Voltron and not the vehicle or gladiator? I mean, numbers don't lie and you've got which Voltron is the most popular... but they were selling the other Voltrons as well.

As cool as Headmasters were, nothing sold the concept to me more than a robot violently ripping it's own head off. I wonder if there was that a space Ichabod Crane? 

Ever have that time where you see an ad and for some strange cosmic reason, that just happened to be on the random time frame that your parents bought Shasta only for  a while?

Spooky Spotlight: Hellscream

This is Starscream's evolved form, created when he was dropped into the Angolmois energy by Gigastorm. His hatred reacted with the evil Angolmois energy. Now he is even more cruel and savage than before, attacking his opponents colorfully with such weapons as his sharkwinders and Terrorstorm. In fact, he is biding his time for a chance to force Gigastorm from power.

Japanese Universal Monsters

I know nothing more about this poster than what can be deduced by looking directly at it. So obviously, I think it's extremely rad.

Splatterhouse PC Engine commercial

Sweet Home (1989 Famicom)

Everyone loves pudding

Legendary Beast Wolfman Against Godzilla

Unreleased unofficial Godzilla film made by Toho directors. Allegedly the project started out s a few short movies until work was done to create a full theatrical length production. About 10 hours of footage exists and was for a bit planned to be released on DVD. I hope to see it released in some way, video clips on YouTube are great and all, but I'd love to see the finished movie.

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla trailer

Look into my eyes, deep into my eyes

You will give me all your candy... and the glow stick your mom made you carry so cars will see you.

New Headmasters commercial 1988

I love how at some point the Decepticons thought monsters were a perfectly good disguise.

Pretenders Commercial 1988

Love that original animation.

I wish I could Hascon

I can't wait to own a million tiny Pretenders.

While I couldn't make it to Hascon, I've been certainly enjoying the coverage (pic from TFW2005) so far and am looking forward to getting my Titanmaster Arcee soon (thanks Kilby!). It's nice living in times where even if you can't go to an event, you can still enjoy the sights and news in real time (assuming the 4G signal is good) and talk about everything with others either not there or maybe are there and taking a minute to check their phone.

I'm hoping to hear some sort of official announcement of the new fan club (I'm so much more into fan clubs than shows) and more about the upcoming cartoon. Oh, and I suppose even more new toys would be great. Really would like to see more Power Of the Primes stuff and more on those new simple transform evergreen figures (gee, think I said something like this would be good before). I hope to get more info on store exclusives. I like store exclusives. Feels like an old BotCon that I didn't have to drive out of state for.

I'm finding myself literally chomping at the bit for Primemasters. They look so wonderful. I can't contain my excitement for them. I already love Titanmasters so very much. I was so worried that whatever replaced them wouldn't be as awesome until I saw they were actually more awesome. I'm going to be ridiculous over Primemasters. I already am. But when I actually get them in hand... I just might explode.

Robots eating robots

We are going to get SO much candy

Dibs on Metroplex.

Scary Prices

Italian Horror

Yesterday's Heroes

Spooky Spotlight: Shattered Glass Ultra Magnus

Everything turns to tedium eventually. Everything save power.

Ultra Magnus shouldn't be happy. He lost his face and freedom due to a failed attempt to replace his brother Optimus Prime as leader of the Autobots. His co-conspirators in the coup betrayed him. His old rival, Treadshot, seeks his death with ceaseless vigor. Magnus shouldn't be happy... and yet he is. Things are finally going to be exciting again. After centuries of quietly manipulating events from his exile on Paradron, everything is falling into place. Now he has everything he needs: an army, the legendary Terminus Blade, a copy of his brother's newly augmented body and the means to make everyone pay.

An unrepentant hedonist and libertine, Magnus eternally seeks greater thrills and excesses from life. Now jaded and bored, he finds his distractions where he can, whether it be in Treadshot's assassination attempts, in the humiliation of his brother, or in simple universal conquest.

Fall winds are blowing in...