[REVIEW] Dave's Book Rant: Cybertronian TRG vol 1
Dave Van Domelen
Cybertronian: the Unofficial Transformers Recognition Guide vol 1
CAPSULE (excerpted verbatim from my comic reviews column):
Cybertronian: The Unofficial Transformers Recognition Guide v1:
Antarctic - Hoo ha! Okay, the price is steep at $25, but it's well worth
it. This is an overall guide to Transformers, mainly focusing on the toys,
but also covering the cartoon and comics. It uses an easy-to-read format for
the toys, with clear photos, pictures of all accessories, techspecs and a bit
of trivia about the toy (such as its original Japanese provenance). While
there's a typo or two in the book, it's very useful, and includes a lot of
information I didn't know (which is saying something). The cartoon and comic
synopses are a bit hard to read, though, for two reasons. One, the type os
very small. Two, it's white on black, which is usually harder to read on
paper because even a tiny bit of bleed will obscure a letter. Mostly the
second, I think, because I had no problem reading the page of URLs at the
end, which is black on white but the same tiny size. As for production
values, the cover is heavy cardstock, the book is squarebound like a TPB, and
the paper used is a heavy newsprint that actually looks better than glossy
stock, IMO. The printing is of high quality, and does not smudge off on my
fingers (like the Wuftlaffe 1946 technical manuals tended to do). This issue
covers the first two years' worth of toys and comics, and the first season of
the cartoon. Strongly recommended, but note the price. $24.95/$39.95Cn
RANT
Okay, I'm going to go through from cover to cover this time. In reviews
of future issues I won't be as thorough, of course.
Front Cover: A nice piece by Fred Perry, a worm's eye view of Megatron
with his fusion cannon charging. Good computer coloring, although the
sometimes there, sometimes not red on Megatron's sides is missing.
Inside Front Cover: Exhaustive and descriptive credits. A nice
dedication to Chris Latta (Starscream's voice actor) and Scatman Crothers
(who voiced Jazz), who passed away some years back.
Page 1: A nice piece by Lee Duhig showing Optimus Prime partially
silhouetted by a flaming background in a widescreen layout. This picture is
repeated on the back cover. The table of contents is a bit hard to read,
being blue on black, but is otherwise well laid out.
Page 2-3: A foreword essay by Doug Dlin on the history of how
Transformers came to be. A good introduction to anyone who thought the toys
just came straight out of Hasbro's offices to the stores.
Page 4: This explains the layout of most of the pages of this book, a
very good file format, IMO. Clear pictures of all modes, a tight head shot,
pictures of all accessories, and a detail picture of some interesting point
on the figure. The official techspec is below the main picture, and
background trivia can be found in the blank spaces of the main picture.
While the large header font used has a few problems (notably the letter D),
it's a good overall format.
Page 5: A sub-ToC for the 1984 Autobots, breaking it down into minicars,
cars and Prime, with techspec art for several characters.
Pages 6-7: These cover Bumblebee and Cliffjumper. Special notice is
paid to the color variations that made it into stores for these two.
Pages 8-9: Four minibots are crammed into these pages, since there's no
accessories to list. The actual car brands are listed, which is nice.
Page 10: The mysterious Bumblejumper gets its own page, with the
techspec block being used to explain how this undocumented minicar got into
the mix.
Pages 10-21: The first year's cars, with many useful comments (such as
why Ironhide and Ratchet didn't have heads, they were meant to be purely
piloted bots, or the speculation that Sideswipe and Sunstreaker got their
techspecs switched).
Pages 22-23: Optimus Prime, with plenty of pictures of all the things
his components can do.
Page 24: 1984 Decepticons table of contents.
Pages 25-26: The cassettes. No mention is made of the Frenzy is
red/blue controversy, unfortunately.
Pages 27-29: The first three jets. Covers the possibility that
Starscream and Skywarp got their techspec numbers swapped.
Pages 30-31: Soundwave gets a page and a half, including pictures of how
his weapons become batteries. Then Buzzsaw takes up the remaining half
page.
Pages 32-33: Megatron's two pages show the undocumented (in the US)
shoulder cannon mode of Megatron's spare pieces, and also point out that not
only did the gun originally shoot, but also the cannon assembled from the
non-robot pieces (as owners of the Japanese reissue know).
Page 34: ToC for the 1985 Autobots.
Pages 35-37: More minibots, plus the Minispies.
Pages 38-44: More cars, again with excellent detail shown and perfect
condition. A great reference for artists looking for character details.
Page 45: The Jumpstarters. You know, the extremely common, simplisticly
transforming toys that invariably show up on eBay as "RARE L00K!" items. }->
Pages 46-47: Roadbuster and Whirl, listing their origins in Dorvack and
the legal reasons they never appeared in the cartoon (Bandai acquired the
company that first made Dorvack stuff). Man, Roadbuster has a lot of
accessories.
Pages 48-52: The Dinobots, complete with the background from Diaclone on
each toy.
Page 53: Perceptor. The third "tank" mode is confirmed as being a
Microman weapon platform.
Pages 54-55: Jetfire, shown both with and without his armor.
Pages 56-57: Omega Supreme, shown assembled and disassembled, with more
history on his origins than I had previously known.
Page 58: Blaster. So THAT'S what the hole in his gun is for...holding
an earbud earphone.
Page 59: 1985 Decepticons ToC.
Pages 60-62: Insecticons. Their original names are listed and
translated.
Pages 63-66: Deluxe Insecticons. Like the Dorvack toys, they were also
bought out by Bandai. Their original names are given, but not translations
(assuming the names are translatable and not gibberish).
Pages 67-71: Constructicons. Each one gets a half page of its own, and
then Devastator has a two page spread, also showing the vehicles in
individual "assault" modes.
Pages 72-73: Astrotrain and Blitzwing. The official vehicle mods of
Blitzwing are given...he's a Foxbat!
Pages 74-76: The second trio of planes. Apparently, each was based on
an early prototype modification of the F-15. Or, at least, that's the
official justification Takara had given for the funky wing configurations.
Page 77: Shockwave. A useful tip is given on how to keep from breaking
your Shockwave, and my "Shackwave" nickname for the Radio Shack alternate
version made it in. }-> I didn't know that Shackwave was supposed to be
smaller than Shockwave, my existing one seems the same size.
Pages 78-82: The Mail Order mob. The Time Warrior watch, the Omnibots
(complete with techspec numbers!) and the Powerdashers.
Page 83: A checklist of all the toys shown in this volume. With no
price list, thankfully!
Pages 84-89: Episode synopses for Episodes 1-29 of the original
cartoon. The lettering is tiny white on black, and kinda hard to read.
Unlike some synposes, these actually describe how each episode ends. I
prefer that to the vague "first half of the ep and then trailing off"
synopses I see so often.
Pages 90-94: Synopses of #1-20 of the G1 comic and #1-4 of GIJoe and the
Transformers.
Page 95: A page of URLs for official sites and fan pages (including
mine, of course }->). Small type, but readable.
Page 96: An afterword by Harold Tietjens, who took all the photographs
in this book.
Inside Back Cover: Preview art of the cover to vol 2, a worm's eye view
of Optimus Prime in repose during a break in the battle.
Back Cover: Same art as the Table of Contents on page 1. A bit more
vibrant in glossy cover stock.
Well, there it is. Cover to cover. $25 is a bit steep for 96 pages,
but they're very useful pages and well put-together. You get what you pay
for, really, and this is a much better job than previous widely-available TF
guides I've seen.
Dave Van Domelen, not just praising this because his webpage is
mentioned in it. }->
Choda-Bot
>Dave's Book Rant:
>
> Cybertronian: the Unofficial Transformers Recognition Guide vol 1
>
>CAPSULE (excerpted verbatim from my comic reviews column):
>
> Cybertronian: The Unofficial Transformers Recognition Guide v1:
>Antarctic - Hoo ha! Okay, the price is steep at $25, but it's well worth
>it.
Agreed. I was fortunate enough that my comic shop gave me a 15% discount off!
;)
> This is an overall guide to Transformers, mainly focusing on the toys,
>but also covering the cartoon and comics. It uses an easy-to-read format for
>the toys, with clear photos, pictures of all accessories, techspecs and a bit
>of trivia about the toy (such as its original Japanese provenance).
I've only glanced through it for a little bit, but I learned a couple of things
that I didn't know about. Always fun.
> While
>there's a typo or two in the book, it's very useful, and includes a lot of
>information I didn't know (which is saying something). The cartoon and comic
>synopses are a bit hard to read, though, for two reasons. One, the type os
>very small. Two, it's white on black, which is usually harder to read on
>paper because even a tiny bit of bleed will obscure a letter. Mostly the
>second, I think, because I had no problem reading the page of URLs at the
>end, which is black on white but the same tiny size. As for production
>values, the cover is heavy cardstock, the book is squarebound like a TPB, and
>the paper used is a heavy newsprint that actually looks better than glossy
>stock, IMO. The printing is of high quality, and does not smudge off on my
>fingers (like the Wuftlaffe 1946 technical manuals tended to do). This issue
>covers the first two years' worth of toys and comics, and the first season of
>the cartoon. Strongly recommended, but note the price. $24.95/$39.95Cn
Just wanted to give my kudos to those who put this together. An extremely well
put together book. I'm glad I've already ordered Volume 2 through my comic
shop! Can't wait for it! If you haven't gotten this or ordered it yet, I would
definitely try to do so fast!
Jason "Who didn't know that Soundwave's weapons could be stored in his back
like batteries! Hmmm...."
Please wait for sig... downloading artwork...
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Giga...@webtv.net
The fact that the author of this book didn't bother to put price guides
in the book makes it less attractive for me to buy. I don't like the
fact that the comics & cartoon was added in the book. the author could
have put the 1986 toy line in there instead. I like J , E Alvarez 2nd
book better because the guy put so many toys in the book with big
pictures. The J,E Alvarez 2ND international book went from 1984 to
1995.
I think its a wrong move for the author of the "Cybertronian" book to
add the comics & cartoon because he only gave the 2 things about 11
pages. to do things small & half assed just seems like a waste of time
to do & read.
there were about 100 TF comics counting everything & 98 TF cartoon
episodes. The comics deserve there own book & the cartoon deserves it's
own book. As for the small print & blending atmosphere prints, it just
seems to un-professional to me because if you have to strain your eyes
to read the $25 book you wont really enjoy reading it that much.
Please Visit my NEW Ezboard named TRANSMETALS.
( Clkick on this link to enter) http://pub70.ezboard.com/btransmetals
"PLEASE visit my web page, I kitbashed A Machine Wars Starscream.& also
made a Dinosaur Gestalt named "Dinoking." ( Just click on the link below
to enter my web page.).
http://community.webtv.net/GigaStorm/GigaStorms
Duo Maxwell
<Giga...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:15925-3B...@storefull-292.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
> (Dave your reviews are great as usual.
> The fact that the author of this book didn't bother to put price guides
> in the book makes it less attractive for me to buy. I don't like the
> fact that the comics & cartoon was added in the book. the author could
> have put the 1986 toy line in there instead. I like J , E Alvarez 2nd
> book better because the guy put so many toys in the book with big
> pictures. The J,E Alvarez 2ND international book went from 1984 to
> 1995.
Why the FUCK would there be a price guide in the book?
1st off, prices change constantly.
Putting prices in here would seriously damage the book's long term
usefulness,
and waste space.
It is a visual guide to what is out there in TF toy land, much like that
awesome Japanese
Beast Wars Universe book.
THAT is what it is there for. A visual reference guide.
TOY VALUES ARE UNIMPORTANT.
Gawd, I wish I could find your collection of Transformers, and take a sledge
hammer to them,
which would hopefully remove you from this hobby.
Aaron F. Bourque
<snip review>
Dammit!
You make me want to go out and buy one . . .
Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque
--
"If you don't know concentration, which gives you peculiar pleasure, your life
looks like hell."--Hiroyuki Nishigaki
M. Scott Houston
news:9f6kk3$7o2$1-...@nntp.Stanford.EDU...
> Dave's Book Rant:
>
> Cybertronian: the Unofficial Transformers Recognition Guide vol 1
>
> CAPSULE (excerpted verbatim from my comic reviews column):
>
> Cybertronian: The Unofficial Transformers Recognition Guide v1:
> Antarctic - Hoo ha! Okay, the price is steep at $25, but it's well worth
> it.
<snip a very good review>
I have to disagree about it being worth $25. When I ordered it, I was
expecting a lot more than a card stock cover and 96 pages of newsprint. It
has nice pictures and text, but when I look over at the copy of Wizard, that
cost me $6.95, and see that it is thicker and printed on better quality
paper I can't help but feel ripped off. I really think that $25 is just
plain too much to pay. I also get this nagging feeling that Antartic Press
is just milking TransFans for their hard earned dollars. The only reason I
bought it today was because I like my local comic shop and didn't want to
stick them with the cost of the product. If they could have returned it to
the publisher, I would have let them do it. As it is, I don't plan on
buying future issues of it.
--Scott Houston
Tengu
msc...@boone.net says...
> I have to disagree about it being worth $25. When I ordered it, I was
> expecting a lot more than a card stock cover and 96 pages of newsprint. It
> has nice pictures and text, but when I look over at the copy of Wizard, that
> cost me $6.95, and see that it is thicker and printed on better quality
> paper I can't help but feel ripped off. I really think that $25 is just
> plain too much to pay. I also get this nagging feeling that Antartic Press
> is just milking TransFans for their hard earned dollars. The only reason I
> bought it today was because I like my local comic shop and didn't want to
> stick them with the cost of the product. If they could have returned it to
> the publisher, I would have let them do it. As it is, I don't plan on
> buying future issues of it.
> --Scott Houston
I'm not familiar with Cybertronian in a first-hand sense as of
yet, but there are alternatives to the book if your criticisms lie
squarely on the paper quality and such. Transmanual, which actually
debuted at BotCon 2000, is an excellent seventy-some paged Transformers
toy identification guide, printed on thick, high gloss paper and bound
like a heavy magazine. While it doesn't have some of the trivia and
backstory info that Cybertronian seems to feature, it does cover the
first three years of the G1 line, with highly detailed pics of each toy
and its accessories (Spec numbers and mottos are thrown in, too). That,
and it's $24.50 with shipping (unless you purchase it at BotCon, in
which case I imagine it's cheaper) and updates and corrections for the
book are available online (www.galvatron.com). A good part of the
proceeds for each book actually goes to a missionary charity, so that
may also factor into your purchasing decision (one way or the other ;).
I picked up the first copy of Transmanual on a lark at BotCon 2000
(one of those impulse BotCon purchases you make and then actually become
aware of minutes later) and I was pleasantly surprised by what a nice
piece of work it is. Definitely a good reference guide if you're
looking to pick up and/or complete some G1 toys, and it's pretty much
worth the $20.00 price tag. Overall, it's just nice to know that there
are multiple TF guide options out there now, seeing as a year ago the
only thing available was that "ultimate official expert guide" or
somesuch, featuring pictures of Hoist with a gold star on his hood. ;)
Tengu:<>
Sky, Unicron's Advocate
Overall, it's just nice to know that there
> are multiple TF guide options out there now, seeing as a year ago the
> only thing available was that "ultimate official expert guide" or
> somesuch, featuring pictures of Hoist with a gold star on his hood. ;)
Hey! That's his unofficial Hound disguise, I'll have you know:)
Sky Shadow.
--
And what rough beast, it's hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Cybertron to be born?
Hydra Darkwings
>proceeds for each book actually goes to a missionary charity, so that
>may also factor into your purchasing decision (one way or the other ;).
>
would have thought twice about buying the 20 copies of Trans Manual I did,
because frankly, missionaries bother me. If other people feel differently,
they're entitled to of course, because I don't want to start a big flame thing.
I'll just say that my last trip to Japan was slightly marred by this van with a
loudspeaker chanting such things in Japanese as "Christ will save you!"
constantly. It almost seemed it was following us, so Dave interpreted thier
message as "Do not stand near the guy with purple hair, he is gay!" But
seriously, how many Buddhist or Shinto priests do you see going around with
loudspeakers? How many in America, for that matter?
-Hydra Darkwings: Eccentric Wandering Collector of Transformer Rarities!
Currently training for BotCon '01 trivia contest!
Check out the Darkwings' Shrine to Devil Z:
http://members.nbci.com/hantaakiraa/pt
Rapido
That's SHERIFF Hoist to you, mister!
>=)
Jose Negron
Dave Van Domelen
1. It's NOT a fan guide. It's unofficial, yes. But it's a professional
work. What does this mean? Well, fan efforts are often willing to lose
money on production, because the work is a gift to the fan community. So
long as they don't lose too much money, everything's fine. But while the
people at Antarctic working on Cybertronian are fans, Antarctic can't afford
to publish anything at a loss intentionally. And if something loses money
anyway, it gets cancelled. Therefore, Cybertronian is going to be more
expensive than an equivalent fan guide.
2. Antarctic has to go through the distribution chain, which
approximately doubles the cost to the consumer (Doug would better know the
exact bite taken by distributor and retailer, though). A guide that is
self-distributed can be a lot cheaper...but it's likely to only sell a very
small number of copies and be very hard to find unless you go to BotCon. The
extra price paid to the distribution chain means that Cybertronian can
actually reach its audience, rather than requiring the audience go get it.
And if you're wondering why Antarctic doesn't just self-distribute this one
thing to cut costs...well, Diamond is not unique among distributors in
disliking it when a supplier tries to undercut them. Antarctic could find it
very hard to get anything listed if they start making an end run around
Diamond.
3. No ads, no filler. Someone brought up the example of Wizard magazine
as being about the same size but a quarter the cost. Thing is, if you cut
out all the ads and all the material Wizard gets for free from companies
wanting to promote their stuff (like a preview art, press releases, etc),
Wizard would be a fraction of the size and cost significantly more. Ads do a
lot to cut the expense of a book, and a news magazine like Wizard doesn't
have to generate all its own content.
4. Economies of scale. This goes back to the making a profit point. I
don't know what the print run on Cybertronian is, but I know that if
Antarctic knew it would be guaranteed sales like Wizard's, they could cut the
profit margin per copy down to the bone and sell Cybertronian for less.
Plus, with Wizard-level sales they could probably negotiate a better
distributor bite, plus better printer costs (there's a fixed cost to even
start printing, that has to be spread out over however many copies are
printed), further lowering the cost.
5. Professional creation. Not just the fact that this is a for-profit
operation as noted in point 1, but the fact that the people involved in
making the thing were pros. A professional photographer was hired. A
skilled layout artist was employed. Mint toys were used (unlike the
sometimes biffed or incomplete toys seen in other guides). And so forth.
Getting all these things together costs more than an amateur effort.
Could Cybertronian have been offered for less? Sure, but not without
sacrifices.
Dave Van Domelen, annoyed that his nice sunny day just turned into a
deluge....
Giga...@webtv.net
myself to your level.
FIRST OFF: It is common courtesy to give price guides when you are
illustrating 15 year old toys. SECOND OFF: Not everyone rips open
there toys, some collect for profit & some play with the toys.
I am A little bit of both. I only open toys that can be sealed back
without damage to the box or inner card board. I think it's a shame for
some Trans fans to buy a mint in box G-1 toy & rip the inner card board
frame holding the toy inside.
Pyre[Rock]
>
> I think it's a shame for
> some Trans fans to buy a mint in box G-1 toy & rip the inner card board
> frame holding the toy inside.
>
Yeah, shame on those who want to enjoy the toy in the fashion that it was
intended.
--
Pyre[Rock] - the...@rica.net
http://home.rica.net/dcarson/therock/
"You can't feel my anger. You can't feel my pain.
You can't feel my torment driving me insane."
Sky, Unicron's Advocate
> FIRST OFF: It is common courtesy to give price guides when you are
> illustrating 15 year old toys.
Price guides are subjective and date quickly. Also, you keep calling
Transformers "works of art". I wouldn't expect a price guide in a book on
Van Gogh, so you should just appreciate the pictures of the artworks as they
are, without mercenary prices.
SECOND OFF: Not everyone rips open
> there toys, some collect for profit & some play with the toys.
> I am A little bit of both. I only open toys that can be sealed back
> without damage to the box or inner card board
<snip (keep reading past Deathy's sig.)>
> Please Visit my NEW Ezboard named TRANSMETALS.
> ( Clkick on this link to enter) http://pub70.ezboard.com/btransmetals
> "PLEASE visit my web page, I kitbashed A Machine Wars Starscream.& also
> made a Dinosaur Gestalt named "Dinoking." ( Just click on the link below
> to enter my web page.).
> http://community.webtv.net/GigaStorm/GigaStorms
How did you get the TM2 Dinobots and the US Triceratops for Dinoking? They
can't be removed from their packaging without irrevocably damaging it. You
have heaps of Transformers that are in that (or a similar) situation.
I'm really not sure you're being consistent, GigaStorm.
Sky Shadow.
--
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Duo Maxwell
<Giga...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:22465-3B...@storefull-297.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
> ( DUO Maxwell ) you have insulted me before & I didnt bother to lower
> myself to your level.
I will continue to insult you when you say something stupid that annoys me.
Which is usually once or twice a month.
If I just insulted you for being stupid, I would be flaming you every other
day.
> FIRST OFF: It is common courtesy to give price guides when you are
> illustrating 15 year old toys.
Ummm, no?
Other than the toy price guides I have never seen any article or review of
15 year old
toys that had a price guide in them.
The guide is there to show you what toys are there, and what they come with.
THAT IS ALL.
>SECOND OFF: Not everyone rips open
> there toys, some collect for profit & some play with the toys.
> I am A little bit of both.
If you have ever paid attention to ANYTHING I have written on ATT, you
should know I have nothing but hatred and disgust for people into TF
collecting
for money.
This has not changed in the last year and a half.
This guide is for FANS, not for people to make money off the damn things.
> I only open toys that can be sealed back
> without damage to the box or inner card board. I think it's a shame for
> some Trans fans to buy a mint in box G-1 toy & rip the inner card board
> frame holding the toy inside.
What is the point of dropping serious coin on a TRANSFORMING toy if you
are going to leave it in 1 mode in the sealed box? The whole point of
buying it
mint is to recapture one's youth of opening a minty fresh toy and playing
with it.
Giga...@webtv.net
beastmachines.
I often rip one open & keep the other one mint in package.
Joona I Palaste
on alt.toys.transformers:
> <<No mention is made of the Frenzy is
> red/blue controversy, unfortunately.>>
> unfortunately? I think it's pretty good they didn't waste time with
> such minor things, I mean it's more than obivous where the mix up
> comes from, but the problem is with the stubborn people who can't just
> go with reason. There's only one place where the names are mixed up,
> and that is Marvel productions, not Hasbro or Takara who made the toys
> and BOTH list Frenzy as the blue robot, and Rumble as the red, heck
> the Japanese where even smart enough to name the blue bot Frenzy in
> their cartoon.
Aga... aga...
Will "Cybertronian: volume 2" be including a note that the correct
spelling has always been, is, and will always be "Hun-Gurrr"?
--
/-- Joona Palaste (pal...@cc.helsinki.fi) ---------------------------\
| Kingpriest of "The Flying Lemon Tree" G++ FR FW+ M- #108 D+ ADA N+++|
| http://www.helsinki.fi/~palaste W++ B OP+ |
\----------------------------------------- Finland rules! ------------/
"Normal is what everyone else is, and you're not."
- Dr. Tolian Soran
Giga...@webtv.net
are one of the ATT assholes who just go around mocking people.
If your like sucks so muck duo seek professional help or admit yourself
into belvue.
I have studied your posting & reply style on ATT & the results shown are
are follows: (1) you can't control your emotions & burst into anger for
no reason. ( 2) you take pleasure into getting into fights because of
your mocking & teasing nature. ( 3) You are not a contributer on ATT at
all,you are more like a shameful poster who turns good posters off &
onto other TF boards. I don't care what you think of me. You are
beyond flawed & not my boss. My post & replies on ATT dont have to meet
your standards or anyone else's.
If you like to ripp open your new $200 mint toy that's fine. You need to
understand that everone is different & some like to keep there toys in
mint condition. Why do you get so pissed when people keep there toys
mint.
what people do is none of your business.
If everyone ripped open there toys like you then there would be no mint
in box toys sold at toy conventions & botcon. Why don't you buy your
toys loose & not mint in box. you obviously don't understand the value
or appreciate the nature of a mint in box toy. You seem like the kinda
guy who takes baths with his toys & takes them to church & so on.
Douglas W. Dlin
> Will "Cybertronian: volume 2" be including a note that the correct
> spelling has always been, is, and will always be "Hun-Gurrr"?
We'll make mention that even Hasbro couldn't make up its mind and used
different spellings on different parts of the packaging, at least. :-)
Doug Dlin
ap...@hotmail.com
Douglas W. Dlin
As DVD's pointed out, though, WIZARD defrays the cost of its assembly
and printing by 1) selling lots of ads and 2) having a much higher print
run. They also have enough sales to go to newsstand distribution,
something we can't risk just yet, since it involves having to make a
much higher print run in anticipation of X sales, but risks having a
good percentage of those copies returned for not selling w/i X days or weeks.
I'm not sure how you get the idea A.P. is "milking TransFans," at least
any more than, say, Mark Kimmel, Jose Alvarez, Stephen Herman (just
found out about his guide by doing an Amazon search this minute),
Robobase, Robozone, BBTS or any other purveyor of TF-related goods is
doing so.
We put out the first of a series that we want to make as close as
possible to a one-stop info source on TFs. We'd also like to make
enough money on each issue that 1) we can continue to put out more
issues and 2) we can make ourselves a decent profit in the process.
That's business, after all.
To elaborate on DVD's point, we get 35% of retail price on those books.
Diamond sells its distributed product to the retailers for anywhere from
50-65% of retail price, I believe, depending on what the product is.
However, you'll be happy to know that the newsprint, while the best of
that paper type that our printer had to offer, was actually used as the
result of a miscommunication. Future issues (and, if feasible, any
reprinting of the first issue) will be on gloss. That should also cure
any fuzzing of the smaller type.
Doug Dlin
ap...@hotmail.com
Douglas W. Dlin
>
> ( DUO Maxwell ) you have insulted me before & I didnt bother to lower
> myself to your level.
No, you save that for later, though it's a bit awkwardly done...
> FIRST OFF: It is common courtesy to give price guides when you are
> illustrating 15 year old toys.
Nnno, it isn't. It's an OPTION. It's not a requirement in any sense,
either by common courtesy or otherwise. It's an option we chose not to
exercise. We're not about to declare ourselves authorities on what old
TF toys should cost. Even if we did and you accepted our estimates, the
prices would change practically by the time you got your copy of that
issue. I'm sorry you were disappointed by the lack of a price guide,
but we honestly felt the book was far better off without one. Most
responses to date would seem to indicate we were right.
Doug Dlin
ap...@hotmail.com
Duo Maxwell
Even though I might not have a total love for Antarctic Press, I felt the
need to
flame Giggie for his ineptitude.
You guys did this project out of love.
I mean, it can't be to make big bucks, because this has as much appeal as
the
WW2 type comics you guys put out.
(If you were doing a project for pure profit, it would be a nudie or
swimsuit
pinup collection. More than a few AP artists draw rather endowed young
women,
and have experimented with having them in the buff, if only in a dojinshi
styled project..)
Its a limited appeal, but it is obviously something y'all did because you
wanted
to share it with the fans.
It ticked me off that Giggie pissed on a labor of love.
Duo Maxwell
<Giga...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:24304-3B1...@storefull-294.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
> (DUO Maxwell) If you hate me so much then put me in your killfile. You
> are one of the ATT assholes who just go around mocking people.
> If your like sucks so muck duo seek professional help or admit yourself
> into belvue.
I dont put people in my killfile unless they are megatrolls.
And pointing out your stupidity gives me a reason to post something
every couple of days.
> I have studied your posting & reply style on ATT & the results shown are
> are follows: (1) you can't control your emotions & burst into anger for
> no reason.
I have plenty of reasons.
If things annoy me, I tend to mention it.
Stupidity is a BIG annoyance of mine.
>( 2) you take pleasure into getting into fights because of
> your mocking & teasing nature.
I do sometimes.
I have an attitude problem.
Letting my normally restrained rudeness come out on boneheads and
assholes is a way to not be an ass where it counts.
>( 3) You are not a contributer on ATT at
> all,you are more like a shameful poster who turns good posters off &
> onto other TF boards.
Yes, that's why I get flamed all the time, right?
In this thread I don't think A SINGLE PERSON agreed with your post about
the book.
NOBODY LEAPT TO YOUR DEFENSE.
YOU WERE THE IDIOT, AND WE POINTED OUT WHY.
And as far as being a contributor to this NG?
Lessee: I have done a number of decent quality reviews of Transformer toys,
a digital comic strip, the mostly ignored BM Sequel Creation Contest, and I
came up with a set of miniatures battle rules to use one's TF toy collection
in.
That's not a level of contribution?
And I give credit where credit is due.
I have fully given praise to Dprime2 for his Macromasters project, to Hooper
X
for his Point the Blame RFC segments, EVEN WHEN I WAS MADE FUN OF IN ONE!!
And that's off the top of my head.
And I manage to use relatively proper grammar and spelling that people can
figure out
what the hell I am saying.
And I have apologized when I said something stupid before.
> I don't care what you think of me. You are
> beyond flawed & not my boss. My post & replies on ATT dont have to meet
> your standards or anyone else's.
That's why you post stuff that gets made fun of by the majority of ATT huh?
> If you like to ripp open your new $200 mint toy that's fine. You need to
> understand that everone is different & some like to keep there toys in
> mint condition. Why do you get so pissed when people keep there toys
> mint.
Im not STUPID enough to buy a 200 dollar action figure.
I realize I am buying CHILDREN'S TOYS, and adjust the amount of money
I am willing to spend, and my display of them as such.
While I do think it is dumb to buy a 200 dollar toy, it is even more
braindead to
be spending that money on what is effectively an old box with a hunk of
plastic
in it. www.unicron.com is there if one just wants to see pretty boxes.
If you MUST waste alot of money on a toy, you could at least respect the toy
by PLAYING WITH THE TOY.
Heck I just got a G2 Sideswipe from Fred's Workshop. For the amount I paid
for it,
which was 20 bucks or so, it was well worth it. For more than that,
regardless of
what kind of box or card it is in, it would be a rip off. It will look nice
in my mecha collection,
and adds another type of Transformer to it.
(I am attempting to get 1 TF of every major type of TF. All I need now is a
Micromaster team
to have all the major bases covered to the best of my knowledge.)
> what people do is none of your business.
Then why post what you do with them to a public forum if you arent willing
to deal with the
possibility that people might not agree with you.
> If everyone ripped open there toys like you then there would be no mint
> in box toys sold at toy conventions & botcon.
And this would be a bad thing because?
It would mean every Transformer was played with and loved by a child.
That's why my Targetmaster Hot Rod means more to me than any other toy
I own right now. It was a toy I fought hard and long to get as a kid, and
the only
one I kept for over 15 years. (I got rid of my toys when I was 12 or 13.. I
turn 27 in a
couple of weeks.)
This toy means FAR more to me than a MISB Case Fresh Victory Sabre giftset
EVER will.
> Why don't you buy your
> toys loose & not mint in box.
I generally do.
At least old ones.
>you obviously don't understand the value
> or appreciate the nature of a mint in box toy.
I do. You don't.
>You seem like the kinda
> guy who takes baths with his toys & takes them to church & so on.
>
When I was a child, you BET I took my toys into the dread bubble swamp where
their lives were in constant danger from the Giant Rubber Great White Shark
of Doom!!
I took my Star Wars Snowspeeder through the snow.
My GI Joe Submarine went through the water.
My Transformers got shot at by rubber missles, and got buried under Legos
and other
toy building stuff when Megtron hatched his newest evil plot to destroy the
Autobots
forever!
I played with my toys as a child.
THAT'S why I collect toys as an adult.
To capture just a little of the magic I had before I grew up and had to deal
with just
how crappy and messed up the world really is.
An MISB G1 is a failure of a toy.
It was never loved by a child.
And that's the reason I only buy 1 of a toy I like as an adult.
I want to make sure some wide eyed kid gets to take home a Rattrap
or a Thrust and gets to play with it.
Unlike you and your hoarding of multiple Tripredacus Agents.
You are an enemy of what is good and right about toys.
Polaris
Giga...@webtv.net wrote:
>
> If everyone ripped open there toys like you then there would be no mint
> in box toys sold at toy conventions & botcon. Why don't you buy your
> toys loose & not mint in box. you obviously don't understand the value
> or appreciate the nature of a mint in box toy. You seem like the kinda
> guy who takes baths with his toys & takes them to church & so on.
...it's a TOY. A child's PLAYTHING.
--
Polaris
--
Legend says only virgins can see unicorns. You pretend you can't see it.
Rapido
Giga...@webtv.net wrote:
> The fact that the author of this book didn't bother to put price guides
> in the book makes it less attractive for me to buy.
I'm GLAD there are no price guides in Cybertronian. What'd be the point?
Just as what's the point to having a price guide in the Alvarez books?
> I don't like the
> fact that the comics & cartoon was added in the book. the author could
> have put the 1986 toy line in there instead.
Actually I look forward to having a guide that covers TF's overall in
some depth, especially since it appears to cover the toon eps and comic
issues from the same time period as the toys.
> I like J , E Alvarez 2nd
> book better because the guy put so many toys in the book with big
> pictures.
Yeah, I like big pictures too.
> As for the small print & blending atmosphere prints, it just
> seems to un-professional to me because if you have to strain your eyes
> to read the $25 book you wont really enjoy reading it that much.
Aww crap, there go my eyes >=)
But it's TF's so why not?
Jose Negron
Rapido
> illustrating 15 year old toys.
Common courtesy? Not quite...
> SECOND OFF: Not everyone rips open
> there toys, some collect for profit & some play with the toys.
> I am A little bit of both. I only open toys that can be sealed back
> without damage to the box or inner card board. I think it's a shame for
> some Trans fans to buy a mint in box G-1 toy & rip the inner card board
> frame holding the toy inside.
Well, this is something that's up to the individual. Obviously, if I pay
thru the nose for a particular TF, I'll be somewhat careful with it. But
for the most part I enjoy opening new toys (especially new OLD toys),
handling them and displaying them proudly.
Big Powered - opened and labels applied, baby!
Overlord - - opened and labels applied, baby!
Turbomasters and Predators (both boxed and carded - opened (or will
open) and labels applied (or will apply), baby!
God Ginrai - UP NEXT!
>=)
Jose Negron
Hooper X
>
>It was never loved by a child.
...
Duo.
I take back 99.95% of everything bad I ever said about you. (Note that I can't
take it all back, because, hey, no regrets.)
Seriously, tho. You just hit the nail right between the fucking eyes, man.
-HX, that was a beautiful fucking post.
"I must kill you, because God told me to." -Tigatron(?)
"Vooral die smeerlap van een Hooper X !! QWe hate yopu !!!!!!!!!" -Drunken
Dutchmen
www.sexsexworld.com <-PLEASE KILL MY LONELY.
To contact me, take off that stupid looking hat you wear.
Giga...@webtv.net
all the time.
A lot of people have aids & other deadly diseases. I dont see the lure
in buying a beat up toy in a opened box. Loose toys are not worth buying
because there generally gone through the mill. That's why so many buy
the Takara re-issue because they want a GERM FREE toy. I opened all of
my Takara re-issues because they can be put back in the box as mint. I
like the FOAM inserts some TF G-1 toys had because its hard to tell if
the toy was open. That's why most blister card toys are worth more.
the blister card inside a box is worth more.
Duo Maxwell
"Hooper X" <emar...@aol.comsillyhat> wrote in message
news:20010605133502...@ng-ct1.aol.com...
> >An MISB G1 is a failure of a toy.
> >
> >It was never loved by a child.
>
> ...
>
> Duo.
>
> I take back 99.95% of everything bad I ever said about you. (Note that I
can't
> take it all back, because, hey, no regrets.)
>
> Seriously, tho. You just hit the nail right between the fucking eyes,
man.
>
> -HX, that was a beautiful fucking post.
> "I must kill you, because God told me to." -Tigatron(?)
I hope I explained myself fully.
Thanks for the salute though.
Hooper X
>Kids get sick
>all the time.
>A lot of people have aids & other deadly diseases. I dont see the lure
>in buying a beat up toy in a opened box.
...
You're trying to say that you can catch AIDS from a TRANSFORMER?
Christ. Not unless someone came all over it, then slit their wrist on it, and
then cut you open and shoved the mess in you. AIDS isn't noted for its
longevity outside the human body...
I think this may be the single most absurd thing I've ever read on this
newsgroup.
> That's why so many buy
>the Takara re-issue because they want a GERM FREE toy.
...
No. I *will* not answer this.
No.
-HX
"I must kill you, because God told me to." -Tigatron(?)
"Vooral die smeerlap van een Hooper X !! QWe hate yopu !!!!!!!!!" -Drunken
Walkerton
> >the Takara re-issue because they want a GERM FREE toy.
.......
Hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hehehheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheh..........
--David
www.itswalky.com
Recharge
and grunted:
>You're trying to say that you can catch AIDS from a TRANSFORMER?
>
>Christ. Not unless someone came all over it, then slit their wrist on it, and
>then cut you open and shoved the mess in you. AIDS isn't noted for its
>longevity outside the human body...
So, along with his other obvious severe mental problems, Deathy has one of those
Germ fetishes like in As Good As It Gets? Uses a hanky to open the door at his
favorite Anime shop and shit? No wonder he doesn't go to BC. GERMS!
Recharge
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A heavy dose of reality...with a shot of piss and vinegar
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
recha...@hotmail.com
Bobbi Carothers
> GigaDeathaMegaStormaSauras wrote:
>
> > That's why so many buy
> >the Takara re-issue because they want a GERM FREE toy.
>
> ...
>
> No. I *will* not answer this.
Hee hee... this made me laugh so hard I bashed my knee on the corner of my
desk. A.T.T. has bruised me!!
-Bobbi... heh heh he-owch...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.
- Michael Prichard
Rapido
>
> (DuoMaxwell) Does the words DISEASE mean anything to you. Kids get sick
> all the time.
> A lot of people have aids & other deadly diseases. I dont see the lure
> in buying a beat up toy in a opened box. Loose toys are not worth buying
> because there generally gone through the mill. That's why so many buy
> the Takara re-issue because they want a GERM FREE toy.
* blinks *
Um....
Heh...
Ha...
Muhaha...
Muhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
* composes himself *
> (DuoMaxwell) Does the words DISEASE mean anything to you. Kids get sick
> all the time.
Um...yes they do...
> A lot of people have aids & other deadly diseases.
Um...yes I'm aware of this...
> Loose toys are not worth buying
> because there generally gone through the mill.
Sometimes that's the case....depends on the actual condition.
> That's why so many buy
> the Takara re-issue because they want a GERM FREE toy.
Um...
* blinks *
Um....
Heh...
Ha...
Muhaha...
Muhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
Jose Negron
Rapido
Got-damn!
Jose Negron
Pyre[Rock]
>
> That's why so many buy
> the Takara re-issue because they want a GERM FREE toy.
No, Mr Dipity-do-head. I've bought them because it's cheaper than an
original version. The only reason I prefer buying sealed toys is because
I prefer to open the toy myself, apply the stickers myself, and be the
first to "play" with it, plus I know that I'm getting everything that
comes with it. If I was so worried about germs, I'd live in a plastic
bubble and never leave my house.
michael nicolai
GERM-FREE toy!, but...
I saw Cybertonian today. It looked sweet. I'm on the fence about the
paper stock. I personally prefer the way newsprint looks, it gives the
color just the right amount of bleed (especially with comics, where the
over use of digital seperation tends to make blending look artificial).
Although glossy stock would make thee book a little more durable. I know
my copy is going to get a lot of mileage, and I shudered to think of
what it would look like in two weeks.
So I hesitated. I'd get it "later".
And I thought about the damn thing ALL DAY LONG.
And of course, when I went back, it was gone.
'Figgers. I was asked if I'd like to reserve a copy, as they'd have more
in a week or so. I told them only if it was left behind the counter
where no one could touch it. 'cuz, y'know, I don't want to get AIDS from
it!
Michael Nicolai
(corne...@webtv.net)
..the secret to life...
Up, up, down, down, left,
right, left, right, B, A, start.
Duo Maxwell
<Giga...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:8089-3B...@storefull-291.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
> (DuoMaxwell) Does the words DISEASE mean anything to you. Kids get sick
> all the time.
> A lot of people have aids & other deadly diseases. I dont see the lure
> in buying a beat up toy in a opened box. Loose toys are not worth buying
> because there generally gone through the mill. That's why so many buy
> the Takara re-issue because they want a GERM FREE toy. I opened all of
> my Takara re-issues because they can be put back in the box as mint. I
> like the FOAM inserts some TF G-1 toys had because its hard to tell if
> the toy was open. That's why most blister card toys are worth more.
> the blister card inside a box is worth more.
>
Dude, you are a fucking idiot.
Im sorry.
And I apologize to the newsgroup for ever even attempting to be the
slightest
bit nice to you.
Sky, Unicron's Advocate
> I saw Cybertonian today. It looked sweet. I'm on the fence about the
> paper stock. I personally prefer the way newsprint looks, it gives the
> color just the right amount of bleed
I won't buy any paper with bleed. I could get AIDS from
it:)
I told them only if it was left behind the counter
> where no one could touch it. 'cuz, y'know, I don't want to get AIDS from
> it!
Exactly:)
Sky Shadow.
--
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Cybertron to be born?
Sky, Unicron's Advocate
I dont see the lure
> in buying a beat up toy in a opened box. Loose toys are not worth buying
> because there generally gone through the mill. That's why so many buy
> the Takara re-issue because they want a GERM FREE toy. I opened all of
> my Takara re-issues because they can be put back in the box as mint.
Doesn't that mean that when people ultimately buy the reissues from you (and
you make a huge profit), they'll get your germs as well?
Paul Segal
> GigaDeathaMegaStormaSauras wrote:
>
> >Kids get sick
> >all the time.
> >A lot of people have aids & other deadly diseases. I dont see the lure
> >in buying a beat up toy in a opened box.
>
> ...
>
> You're trying to say that you can catch AIDS from a TRANSFORMER?
>
> Christ. Not unless someone came all over it, then slit their wrist on it, and
> then cut you open and shoved the mess in you. AIDS isn't noted for its
> longevity outside the human body...
>
> I think this may be the single most absurd thing I've ever read on this
> newsgroup.
>
Gigs is reminding me of the part in American Psycho where Price was
saying something to the effect of "If you can get AIDS from sex, who
knows what else you can get? What if you can get dyslexia from sex?"
and Patrick Bateman just smugly replies "Price, I don't think dyslexia
is a virus."
It's just so over-the-top, like that. Getting AIDS from playing with
toys? Sometimes I wonder if Deathy's even serious.
SILVERBOLT - Mr. Vertigo Himself
> Giga...@webtv.net wrote:
>
> > I dont see the lure in buying a beat up toy in a opened box. Loose toys
> > are not worth buying because there generally gone through the mill.
> > That's why so many buy the Takara re-issue because they want a GERM
> > FREE toy. I opened all of my Takara re-issues because they can be put
> > back in the box as mint.
>
> Doesn't that mean that when people ultimately buy the reissues from you
> (and you make a huge profit), they'll get your germs as well?
You make a good point, Sky, and I'm not singling you out in any way, but
am I the only one noticing the glaring incongruity between the nature of
this discussion at this point and the title of this thread?
--
Rikard Bakke
silve...@os.enitel.no
The Cybertron Chronicle
http://members.nbci.com/cybertronchronicle/
Transformers Fan Code
G++ FR FW+ #74 D+ AA+ N++ W++ B++ OQP BC98++ BC99++ BC2000++ BC2001++ CN+++ OM+
Duo Maxwell
> >
> > > I dont see the lure in buying a beat up toy in a opened box. Loose
toys
> > > are not worth buying because there generally gone through the mill.
> > > That's why so many buy the Takara re-issue because they want a GERM
> > > FREE toy. I opened all of my Takara re-issues because they can be put
> > > back in the box as mint.
> >
> > Doesn't that mean that when people ultimately buy the reissues from you
> > (and you make a huge profit), they'll get your germs as well?
>
> You make a good point, Sky, and I'm not singling you out in any way, but
> am I the only one noticing the glaring incongruity between the nature of
> this discussion at this point and the title of this thread?
See, this came about because Tigermegydeathy said the Cybertronian book
was bad not for price nor quality of contents nor paper used in it.
He got mad because there wasn't a price guide in it.
I insulted him on his stupidity, and he got all pissed off and said his
piece.
Then I did a long and heartfelt post about why I collect Transformers that
even touched the cold, cold heartstrings of Hooper X.
Tigermegydeathy's response to this was that you can get diseases from loose
Transformer toys, proving he is either a troll, mentally disabled, or just
very, very
stupid.
Thus here we are.
SILVERBOLT - Mr. Vertigo Himself
> I wrote:
>
> > Sky, Unicron's Advocate wrote:
> >
> > > Doesn't that mean that when people ultimately buy the reissues from you
> > > (and you make a huge profit), they'll get your germs as well?
> >
> > You make a good point, Sky, and I'm not singling you out in any way, but
> > am I the only one noticing the glaring incongruity between the nature of
> > this discussion at this point and the title of this thread?
>
> See, this came about because Tigermegydeathy said the Cybertronian book
> was bad not for price nor quality of contents nor paper used in it.
>
> He got mad because there wasn't a price guide in it.
>
> I insulted him on his stupidity, and he got all pissed off and said his piece.
>
> Then I did a long and heartfelt post about why I collect Transformers that
> even touched the cold, cold heartstrings of Hooper X.
>
> Tigermegydeathy's response to this was that you can get diseases from
> loose Transformer toys, proving he is either a troll, mentally disabled, or
> just very, very stupid.
>
> Thus here we are.
I know, Duo. I'm just not really as interested in how we got here as how to
end it or bring the proceedings back to a less headshake-inducing exercize.
RICHIE
Talk To You Soon,
Richie
ArceePrime
the deadline for the issue of Previews it was solicited in), so I
begged, begged, BEGGED the owner of the comic shop I go to to see if
he could get me one. Fortunately he did, and I could be happier! :)
Sure, the paper stock could be a little better (I was expecting glossy
stock, especially since AP uses glossy on thier regular comics; I'll
be looking forward to seeing the glossy in the future volumes). Also
there are a few minor errors, like Buzzsaw being listed as Buzzwave in
the table of contents. But who am I to nitpick... finally a >good< TF
book I can put on my shelf next to my manga collection!
Say, does anyone know how many volumes of this are planned? Any plans
to cover the Beast toys, or the japanese or european toys?
ArceePrime -- Trying gracefully to stay out of the "germ" discussion,
as the newbie around here... :)
corne...@webtv.net (michael nicolai) wrote in message news:<17336-3B...@storefull-266.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
Gustavo Wombat
>
> An MISB G1 is a failure of a toy.
>
> It was never loved by a child.
I agree almost 99%, except why should the children have all the fun?
If it's loved by an adult, isn't that just as good?
> And that's the reason I only buy 1 of a toy I like as an adult.
Sometimes I get several. TM Megatron's arms looked like they might
break, so I have a spare MIB, and sure enough one of the robot arms
was broken when it was being transformed by a kid. If the glue doesn't
hold, I have a replacement. A few of my favorite Transmetals have
replacements waiting if something should happen to them (bad chrome
chipping, etc).
Some transformers (BM Scavenger, etc) I like to display in all their
modes. I have six or so Scavengers in various modes at home and at
work. He's really fun to play with.
And the Vehicons just look right in pairs.
> I want to make sure some wide eyed kid gets to take home a Rattrap
> or a Thrust and gets to play with it.
Generally, if a new toy sells out, Hasbro will make more. As the BM
line ends, I'd be a wee bit more concerned, but in the majority of
cases, it's not a problem.
With these two in particular: Thrust returned to the distribution, and
there are huge mounds of Rattraps piled up everywhere.
If someone wants to buy 20 Rattraps, it just means I get my Mega
Primal sooner.
> Unlike you [Deathy/Gigastorm] and your hoarding of multiple Tripredacus
> Agents.
I can't possibly defend Deathy in this case. There's only a limited
number of those out there. I couldn't be bothered to get one (live in
NYC, no Wal*Marts in the city, and I donated my car to charity...),
but other people might really want one.
Hoarding scarce resources is morally wrong. Hoarding scarce toys is
just kind of unpleasant.
> You [Deathy/Gigastorm] are an enemy of what is good and right about toys.
Do you think you might be just a touch extreme on this point? Oh wait,
nevermind, you're entirely right.
Gustavo (who can't imagine toys as an investment, but they'd probably
do better than the tech sector these days)
Douglas W. Dlin
>
> Can someone tell me where I can order this book on line?
Our webmaster was trying to get the book included in our web site's
online store section earlier this week, but was delayed because the
server hosting the site was down for maintenance or repairs, so he
couldn't access it. The site's back up now, so with any luck, it should
be available for order there by week's end. That'd be at www.antarctic-press.com.
Alternately, other online stores, such as nextplanetover.com, may
already have copies through Diamond that they're offering for sale
online. I'm also told copies are currently for auction on eBay, but I
wouldn't recommend going that route. :-S
Doug Dlin
ap...@hotmail.com
Brian Kilby
"Douglas W. Dlin" <ap...@texas.net> wrote in message
news:3B1FCF82...@texas.net...
> The site's back up now, so with any luck, it should
> be available for order there by week's end. That'd be at
www.antarctic-press.com.
Neat. They take Paypal. It literally took me five seconds to order. That
rules.
Brian Kilby,
saddened that it took me this long to order the book. Too bad I missed it at
the comic shop. *Sob*
michael nicolai
*paging Doug Dlin, Mr. Doug Dlin to the front desk*. I guess they'll
keep making them as long as people keep buying them. If they don't get
as far as beast-bots, I pray they get far enough to cover the Japanse
lines.
If they plan on ever covering the Japanese lines. I mean, covering the
Japanese lines may prove difficult, you have to have all the toys in
good condition, and find fller about the cartoons and such, but in the
end you would have a book about the Japanese lines, and that would be
swell. (No, I am not Masterfoce using sublimanal Victory messages!)
Michael Headmaster
(Corne...@Ginrai.net)
..The Minelba to life...
Up, Up, Zone, Zone, left,
Metalhawk, left, Metalhawk, B, A, Deszaras
Giga...@webtv.net
Your appology to the news group is therefore void.
Douglas W. Dlin
>
> It's supposed to be quarterly. I don't know how many issues are planned.
> *paging Doug Dlin, Mr. Doug Dlin to the front desk*. I guess they'll
> keep making them as long as people keep buying them. If they don't get
> as far as beast-bots, I pray they get far enough to cover the Japanse
> lines.
We actually plan to cover American stuff all the way to the present,
whatever the "present" might be when we catch up. That'll take us at
least through the end of 2002, I think. Then we'll start on the
Japanese and Euro stuff. By the time we're done with that, with any
luck, there'll be more American stuff to cover! :-) At the very least,
this series should run a good 7-8 issues on U.S. stuff alone, plus at
least another 4-5 on Japanese stuff (ballpark estimates; don't take
these as even close to accurate right now...). At a quarterly pace,
that'll keep us going for a few years yet. :-)
Doug Dlin
ap...@hotmail.com
Growl1
>Your appology to the news group is therefore void.
No, no! I accept it!
Roar, not that there is really anything to be sorry for...
RICHIE
Thanks for the help.
TJMD
> However, you'll be happy to know that the newsprint, while the best of
> that paper type that our printer had to offer, was actually used as the
> result of a miscommunication. Future issues (and, if feasible, any
> reprinting of the first issue) will be on gloss. That should also cure
> any fuzzing of the smaller type.
Oooooooh, a possible 2nd Printing on Volume One with glossy paper. I
will buy that one too. Keep rolling these babies out and I'm buying.
Thank you for the wonderful pictures now they willl help me more into
identifying how to repair and what to find for my TFs.
TJMD
Who really likes this Guide. Yessssssss.
M. Scott Houston
----- Original Message -----
From: Douglas W. Dlin <ap...@texas.net>
Newsgroups: rec.toys.transformers.moderated,alt.toys.transformers
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 7:11 PM
Subject: Re: [REVIEW] Dave's Book Rant: Cybertronian TRG vol 1
> Sorry you feel that, way, Scott.
>
After looking it over and reading DVD's and your posts I can understand the
cost issue a little more. I also want to make it clear that the problems I
have with the guide are not due to the information contained in it. I have
trouble justifying the price with the physical package. If this was
published a year ago, I probably wouldn't have a problem with the price but,
grad school has really streched my budget, and I can't help but find 25
dollars on the pricey side.
> As DVD's pointed out, though, WIZARD defrays the cost of its assembly
> and printing by 1) selling lots of ads and 2) having a much higher print
> run. They also have enough sales to go to newsstand distribution,
> something we can't risk just yet, since it involves having to make a
> much higher print run in anticipation of X sales, but risks having a
> good percentage of those copies returned for not selling w/i X days or
weeks.
>
> I'm not sure how you get the idea A.P. is "milking TransFans," at least
> any more than, say, Mark Kimmel, Jose Alvarez, Stephen Herman (just
> found out about his guide by doing an Amazon search this minute),
> Robobase, Robozone, BBTS or any other purveyor of TF-related goods is
> doing so.
The "milking TransFans" was me talking out of a part of me a bit lower on my
body than my mouth. I'm sorry about that.
>
> We put out the first of a series that we want to make as close as
> possible to a one-stop info source on TFs. We'd also like to make
> enough money on each issue that 1) we can continue to put out more
> issues and 2) we can make ourselves a decent profit in the process.
> That's business, after all.
>
> To elaborate on DVD's point, we get 35% of retail price on those books.
> Diamond sells its distributed product to the retailers for anywhere from
> 50-65% of retail price, I believe, depending on what the product is.
And as a long time comic collector, I know just what power Diamond has now
that it is the only distributer for comics and such.
>
> However, you'll be happy to know that the newsprint, while the best of
> that paper type that our printer had to offer, was actually used as the
> result of a miscommunication. Future issues (and, if feasible, any
> reprinting of the first issue) will be on gloss. That should also cure
> any fuzzing of the smaller type.
Your right that makes me happy. I think the gloss paper will be mor durable
than the newsprint. I'm sure that many TransFans will be using the guide
alot, and it will get page worn pretty quickly.
>
> Doug Dlin
> ap...@hotmail.com
I should also mention that part of the reason that I was disappointed by the
guide was that I heard about it from secondary sources. I didn't see it
solicated in Previews or any other publication, and it was just a mere
stroke of luck that the owner of the comic shop I frequent asked if I wanted
him to order me one. What I had heard about it was that the guide was giong
to be a hardcover book similar to the D&D Players Handbook (TF's and D&D?
Dear lord, I am a geek!).
--Scott Houston
kari...@gmail.com
> (DuoMaxwell) Does the words DISEASE mean anything to you. Kids get sick
> all the time.
> A lot of people have aids & other deadly diseases. I dont see the lure
> because there generally gone through the mill. That's why so many buy
> the Takara re-issue because they want a GERM FREE toy. I opened all of
> like the FOAM inserts some TF G-1 toys had because its hard to tell if
> the toy was open. That's why most blister card toys are worth more.
> the blister card inside a box is worth more.
>
> ( Clkick on this link to enter) http://pub70.ezboard.com/btransmetals
> "PLEASE visit my web page, I kitbashed A Machine Wars Starscream.& also
> made a Dinosaur Gestalt named "Dinoking." ( Just click on the link below
> to enter my web page.).
> http://community.webtv.net/GigaStorm/GigaStorms
Zobovor
> Why do you think you'll get germs from a toy
With that said, I don't think it's completely preposterous to think that a second-hand toy might harbor germs. Kids are notorious for not washing their hands, after all. Maybe I'm as much of a germophobe as Deathy, but I also dislike handling things that have been touched by a lot of people. This includes money, hand rails on buses, and high chairs at restaurants. I promise you that the microbes are there, in abundance, whether you can see them or not.
My wife and I recently went to the second-hand store looking for some books. She wants to do this thing for our kids where they get 25 books as presents, one for each day of December up until Christmas, so they get to unwrap one on each day. We're not made of money, of course, so we went to Tuesday Morning looking for some cheap books and then hit the Savers next door (where they accept used donations). I felt so dirty after handling all those used kids' books. For the handful that we bought, I actually wiped down the front and back covers with 409. Maybe that makes me crazy. Or maybe I'm taking sensible precautions.
There was a girl that I used to work with in the Jewelry department at Walmart. (Hi, Jen!) She refused to use antibacterial hand sanitizer on the grounds that it interfered with your normal exposure to germs and didn't give your immune system a chance to ever develop a resistance to them. Of course, she eventually got terminated for attendance. Because she was always calling in sick. So, there is that.
ObTFs: You will get more germs from handling a Blot toy than from handling a Windsweeper toy. This is a scientific fact that has been proven by science.
Zob
Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats
> Maybe I'm as much of a germophobe as Deathy, but I also dislike handling things that have been touched by a lot of people. This includes money, hand rails on buses, and high chairs at restaurants. I promise you that the microbes are there, in abundance, whether you can see them or not.
Cappeca
>
> With that said, I don't think it's completely preposterous to think that a second-hand toy might harbor germs. Kids are notorious for not washing their hands, after all.
G.B. Blackrock
>
My two cents,
G.B. Blackrock
Judoon
Judoon
--
Your giggles give baby chicks cancer, stop it.
Judoon
> On Saturday, November 15, 2014 9:09:28 PM UTC-7, kari...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> Why do you think you'll get germs from a toy
>
> No offense, but you do know that you're replying to a post from 13 years
> ago, right? The original poster to whom you're replying doesn't visit here any longer.
>
> With that said, I don't think it's completely preposterous to think that
> a second-hand toy might harbor germs. Kids are notorious for not washing
> their hands, after all. Maybe I'm as much of a germophobe as Deathy, but
> I also dislike handling things that have been touched by a lot of people.
> This includes money, hand rails on buses, and high chairs at
> restaurants. I promise you that the microbes are there, in abundance,
> whether you can see them or not.
>
> My wife and I recently went to the second-hand store looking for some
> books. She wants to do this thing for our kids where they get 25 books
> as presents, one for each day of December up until Christmas, so they get
> to unwrap one on each day. We're not made of money, of course, so we
> went to Tuesday Morning looking for some cheap books and then hit the
> Savers next door (where they accept used donations). I felt so dirty
> after handling all those used kids' books. For the handful that we
> bought, I actually wiped down the front and back covers with 409. Maybe
> that makes me crazy. Or maybe I'm taking sensible precautions.
>
it up as a book-a-day advent calendar. Never met anyone else who did it,
but it really put the love of reading in our daughter, as she goes through
3 or more books a month.
> There was a girl that I used to work with in the Jewelry department at
> Walmart. (Hi, Jen!) She refused to use antibacterial hand sanitizer on
> the grounds that it interfered with your normal exposure to germs and
> didn't give your immune system a chance to ever develop a resistance to
> them. Of course, she eventually got terminated for attendance. Because
> she was always calling in sick. So, there is that.
>
> ObTFs: You will get more germs from handling a Blot toy than from
> handling a Windsweeper toy. This is a scientific fact that has been proven by science.
>
>
> Zob
on them. My wife and I still buy quite a few old books, and I have found
this works wonders. Also if you put a little lavender pouch (or your
favorite sent) in a small cup of water it adds a great fragrance to them,
which is nice when gifting a book of poetry to someone.
Beware of used digital books, they sometimes have viruses too. ;)
Zobovor
> Microwaving old books for a very short time will also kill anything living
> on them.
Zob