Thuderous Iron Moose 3000! of the Allspark has shared some scanned in artwork with the community on the Allspark boards. The artwork is designs for Masterpiece Starscream.

 

Once in a great while a cool thing goes up for auction you can’t ignore. Take this Custom LEGO Predaking on eBay for instance. Not only does it look great, it can even seperate into the component Predacons.
The talented builder also has a full gallery of his creation.
Thanks Ernie!

TFW2005 has posted what they think might be the first case assortment to the upcoming Generation 1 redeux line.

Transformers Classics Voyager asst / Optimus Prime
Transformers Classics Voyager asst / Megatron
1 case = 4 pcs (2pcs optimus + 2pcs Megatron)

Transformers Classics Deluxe Asst Bumblebee
Transformers Classics Deluxe Asst Astrotrain (3 in 1)
Transformers Classics Deluxe Asst Starscream
Transformers Classics Deluxe Asst Hot Rod
1 case = 8pcs ( each 2pcs )

This isn’t really a news item, but just something I noticed that I thought I would share with everyone else.

I have many items in my shopping cart on Amazon.com, mostly just waiting to be bought or there to keep an eye on. When I sign into Amazon.com, the interface notifies me of any price changes. When I logged in yesterday, I received the following message:

Important Message
Please note that the price of Transformers, Vol. 12: Matrix Quest has increased from $11.02 to $16.95 since you placed it in your Shopping Cart. Items in your cart will always reflect the most recent price displayed on their product detail pages.

For those not aware, Transformers: Matrix Quest is one of many trade paperbacks that reprint parts of the original Marvel Transformers Comic book run of 80 issues (plus headmaster mini-series). In this series a Decepticon named Thunderwing attained the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. In Transformers canon, that is pretty much all this character is known for. Consider that his 15 minutes of fame. Recently, a new series was announced by IDW that will most likely make its debut sometime in the summer. Stormbringer, it seems, will feature a return of Thunderwing to the front of Transformers comics. I think it is because of this that Matrix Quest has risen in price most likely because of the additional demand from people looking for background on the character.

The kicker, though, is that the same day I received an email in my inbox from Amazon.com with a recommendation for me. It was for Matrix Quest on the same day the price rose.

The conspiracy theorist in me arises again.

As at least one person commented, the first issue felt like a toy commercial. #2 & #3 solved that problem.
Spoilers follow.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

Fresh in my inbox to you is another update from Brian Savage of MasterCollector with regard to a new shipping option, particularly international members.

We have found another way to ship some product to our non-US customers at a lower cost and it has been implemented into the store. It is called Global Priority Mail. This service does have some limitations. The shipment must fit into a box that is no more than 36 inches by adding length girth height. Also, the order cannot be over 4 lbs.

For example a 1 lb package to the United Kingdom via surface mail is $24.25 and takes 4-6 weeks.

The same package via airmail is $16.75 and takes 7-10 days.

The same package via Global Priority is $10.50 and takes 4-6 days.

I know, it doesn’t seem to make much sense but that’s the USPS rates and delivry standards.

We hope that this lowers some of the foreign shipments costs. It won’t work for all orders as the items are tool large or the order will be 100 heavy. We think it will work for the bulk of your orders.

Make sure you check the store each week at transformersclub.com/shop to see what the new items in stock an the weekly specials!

Thanks for your support,

Brian
=======================================

[UPDATE:

Plesae note that in my last email I had a typo. The dimensions that limite this type of foreign mail is length + width (not girth) + height. This must be 36 inches or less. About 70-80 per cent of the products will fit into this area, but not all of them.

Its kinda funny how this email was a correction for a typo in the last email, yet the first word of this one has a typo in it too.
-CRAZY]

I saw Michael McConnohie is scheduled to appear at TransformersCon in Toronto next month, and I suddenly remembered when I saw him back in 2004 at the Official Transformers Convention voice actor panel. As you can see, he was really excited to be there and quite an entertainer.

EDIT: Ok, this is getting pretty popular and some folks asked for some other versions of the file. All these links are via rapidshare, which is a page that offers reasonably fast downloads and hosting with tons of ads. Just click the link, scroll down and find the button that says “FREE” and click it. it’ll probably make you wait 45-60 seconds before your file starts, but just leave the page open and the download should begin automatically.
big .mov version(should be ipod friendly 7.6MB)
really big .mov version (TV resolution, little compression 9.5 MB)
audio only .mp3 (1.4 MB)

In what could only be described as a strange alignment of timing in auctions for rare items, some auctions have gone up or are going up soon for some incredibly rare Transformers figures.

First up is an auction for two rare Japanese release only Cassettes that transform into dinosaurs, Dial and Zaur. They can combine to form RegOut (which wouldn’t be too far a stretch to be called LegOut in the japanese and actually make more sense.) I’ll be honest. I like to think I’m highly knowledgable when it comes to Transformers, but before this past week, I didn’t even know these existed. I was only aware of the similar cassette pair, Gurafi and Noizu, that form Decibel. I have personally seen these at a previous Botcon and watched them be sold for over $300 as a pair (which in hindsight was clearly a great deal since this auction is over 800 already with 2 days left.)

Next up is the supremely rare G2 Protectobot, First-Aid. The Protectobots and the Stunticons never made it to release for Generation 2, but samples were made and are regarded highly in the collecting community. This piece is from the Hartmans’ personal collection. The Hartman’s (Jon and Karl) have been a pillar in the Transformer fan community having a pivotal role in Botcon’s inception and are still active to this day working on the convention and collectors’ club. They have a set of both the G2 Protectobots and G2 Stunticons and will be putting eight of the ten figures up for auction (Silverbolt and Motormaster excluded). According to the auction, this First Aid is one of six known to be in existance. That puts its rarity on par with the likes of Lucky Draw Six Shot and his Lucky brethren, whom I have seen on sale at Botcon for over $6,000. The Stunticons and Protectobots will be put up for bidding one at a time. So watch Jon Hartman’s ebay id, Elrich, for more to come.

Instructions for Gurafi and Noizu were from tfracetrack.com.