The Transformers Thunderous Thirty #2 - Bumblebee

Within months of my first post on this blog back in 2005, when I made what was perhaps my first attempt to do meaningful Transformers-related content, it seemed a natural choice to feature Bumblebee. At that time, neither Hasbro nor Takara had made much of a serious attempt to revive the Generation One characters, with the possible exception of the Alternators line, and since the trademark to the name "Bumblebee" had apparently been lost, it didn't seem likely that we'd see too much more of the once-prominent character.

A lot has changed since 2005.

Perhaps the most important reason for this change was the coming of the live-action Transformers movie in 2007. While I've made no secret of the fact that I'm not a fan of Michael Bay's take on the Transformers concept, there's little point in denying that the movies have injected a lot of money and energy into the franchise, and that at least one of the benefits has been the resurgence of interest in Generation One characters and concepts. Since the movie was going to feature a character named Bumblebee (who, besides being yellow and being the Transformer most readily identified with the main human character, bears little resemblance to the original), Hasbro was able to recapture the trademark to the name (first used on the "Classics" figure of 2006), and whereas once it seemed like we'd never see a Bumblebee on the shelves again, stores are now so flush with them that it sometimes seems like they won't carry any other character!

Theoretically, Bumblebee is an Autobot spy, able to use his diminutive stature to sneak into enemy establishments to locate valuable information undetected. But that's not really what anyone remembers him as. Bumblebee was the guy everyone could relate to. He was the one who spent the most time with the human characters. If we could just "hang out" with a Transformer character and shoot the breeze, the odds are that character would be Bumblebee.

I'm going to step out on a limb and say that I don't think that the 2010 War for Cybertron version of Bumblebee pictured here is anyone's favorite version of the character. In fact, given the fact that the War for Cybertron video game is generally accepted as being in continuity with Transformers: Prime (which is decidedly not in the Generation One continuity family), it may even seem to be a wholly inappropriate toy to use to demonstrate the Bumblebee character. The fact is that I've already shown nearly every other Bumblebee toy I own (if not a feature article on each one) on this blog, and I want to show something new as often as possible. Besides, since the current run of comics produced by IDW (which is more-or-less in the Generation One family) has recently featured Bumblebee in this form, I figure it counts as a "repurposed" Generation One form. And, let's face it, War for Cybertron (and its sequel, Fall of Cybertron) really is based off of Generation One in a pretty meaningful way. If the snarl of conflicting continuities has gotten confusing, feel free to blame Hasbro.

Not all of them...

The Transformers Thunderous Thirty #1 - Hound

As long-time readers are already aware, 2014 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Transformers franchise. To celebrate this milestone, Hasbro is releasing a set of figures with a "Thrilling 30" logo (this seems to include a list of 30 specific anniversary figures — each numbered as "X of 30" — as well as a whole host of other figures not a part of that list). The first of these figures have already reached stores all over the country. In that vein, it seemed a good idea to give this blog a much-needed shot in the arm by producing its own set of Transformers-anniversary-based posts. But what to call them? Rather than simply steal "Thrilling 30" outright, I decided to look for another appropriate adjective. Thus, the "Thunderous Thirty" is about to become a reality!

For the next thirty weeks, expect to find a new feature every week, each one related to one character from the first series of Transformers figures to come out in 1984 (and this will be done without simply reposting any features on specific toys I've already covered sometime within the last eight years!). Actually, that only gets me 28 characters, so there will be two weeks where I highlight characters from some other point of the franchise, just to make it an even thirty. Who will those special characters be? Well, you'll just have to wait and see....

In the meantime, let's get started with character number one: Hound

A line in Hound's original Tech Specs bio says that he "secretly desires to be human." I'm not entirely sure the desire is all that secret. He's always expressing awe over the wonders of Earth, especially its natural terrain and features, so entirely different from the metallic terrain of Cybertron. This fits in with his role as the Autobot scout just fine. He gets to go on missions that enable him to explore the planet he is so enamoured with, all while helping the Autobot cause.

Like most of the original Transformers characters, Hound's alternate mode has changed a bit as new toys have come out for him, but even with these changes, Hound has pretty much always been a Jeep, or at least something undeniably Jeep-like (at least, so long as we're only counting toys that actually did manage to get released). Perfect for exploring all that rugged earthen terrain!

Besides being one of a handful of Autobots known for loving things related to the planet Earth (we'll get to some of the others before this series is done), Hound is most remembered for his ability to cast convincing holograms using a "hologram gun" that came with the original toy. Nothing like this weapon is included with the 2008 Universe toy seen here, nor is the ability even mentioned on the brief bio on that toy's package. Even so, it's hard to imagine Hound being without his signature ability, so I just assume it got transferred to the rocket launcher Hound still carries in both modes.

A final note related to how this "Thunderous Thirty" series is going to work. Fans familiar with this toy know that it came with a certain accessory, which itself is another character from the first year of the Transformers franchise. Traditionally, Transformers features on this blog have focused on the toy, and anything packaged together gets featured all at once. For the "Thunderous Thirty" series, I'm going to try to focus more on the character, using a toy not already depicted on the blog (if possible) to show that character off a bit. I'll get around to other characters potentially packaged with depicted toys in their due course.

More on the Bluestreak 3-D Jigsaw Puzzle

A few weeks back, I mentioned a 3-D Puzzle as one of the few (if not, indeed, the only) officially-produced items to actually depict the Generation One Bluestreak character, in his original body, but in blue, as the original package art and photos had it. I mentioned at the time that I may need to go back and pick the box up on my way to BotCon. Thanks in part to a comment from box art-guru "Botch the Crab," I did indeed do so, returning to Orange County on my way south to San Diego, and although I had to wait until after BotCon to properly put everything together, I can now comment further on this piece of 80s nostalgia.

There were indeed some signs of the puzzle showing its age (more on this later), but all of the pieces were indeed present. The first thing I did upon opening up the box (and finding sufficient room on the floor to work) was complete the more standard 2-D puzzle, featuring a piece of Generation One art that I hadn't realized existed before seeing the front of the box at that antique shop a few weeks ago. The only significant difference between the finished image and the smaller one on the package is the caption at the bottom, which is merely descriptive of the action.

Although all the puzzle pieces themselves were present, the original instructions were not, and thus I found myself glad to have assembled the 2-D Puzzle — almost certainly the easiest of the three forms this puzzle can take — first. When the 2-D Puzzle is completed, the reverse shows this array of semi-completed robot- and auto-mode parts, thus making at least the first part of the assembly of those modes that much easier.

Given that these puzzle pieces are nearly 30 years old, they've held up pretty well, but there has been some warping of some of the pieces. This wasn't too much of an issue when putting together the 2-D Puzzle, but it made putting together the 3-D assemblies a bit more difficult. However, once it's all done, you get a robot mode that's quite impressive. To get a sense of its size, here is the robot alongside my Action Master custom figure (my other "blue Bluestreak") and the non-blue Bluestreak reissue (actually called "Silverstreak" more for trademark reasons than because of it's color, although the color did dictate what the alternative name was to be).

Besides the warping, some pieces are considerably more fragile than they presumably were 30 years ago, and I inevitably damaged some of the "finish" of the pieces while assembling the car mode (you'll notice some white patches that weren't apparent when the pieces were still on the 2-D layout). Also, given the lack of instructions, I can't help but wonder if there's a stabilizing support structure that was meant to go along the bottom of this car mode to keep it from sagging in the middle, but I couldn't figure out where those pieces would come from, so this mode is what it is. Even so, the fact that Puzzle Bluestreak is practically the correct scale such that the Action Master version of himself could be his own driver is more than a little amusing!

Definitely-Not-Transformer Finds

One of the things I like to do when I have some spare time is drive to various parts of Southern California and check out the discount shops and thrift stores. Every now and then, I see some rather interesting Transformer-related items on the shelves. Neither of these toys I'm sharing today are technically Transformers, of course, but I figure they're still relevant....

The first oddity I thought worth writing about is this "Racing Force" set of two out-and-out knock-offs of Generation Two-era jets in packaging clearly meant to emulate the Transformers: Animated logo. I'm not entirely sure how those colors can be said to be the "latest fashion style" with a straight face, but there you go.

The other item is this transforming robot. When I realized what it was, I was reminded of an item that people had wished was real back when the 2007 live-action Transformers movie had first come out. In an important scene from that movie, an artifact from Cybertron called the "Allspark," which had fallen to Earth ages ago, was used to grant life to a number of regular mechanical objects. One of the items to be granted life in this manner was a Mountain Dew vending machine, and fans were known to be clamoring for an actual transforming toy of it for months afterward. While this little hunk of plastic doesn't turn into a soda vending machine, it does transform into a soda can (and, if the name on the package is any indication, a green one, although the robot sure looks blue to me)! I make no promises of liquid refreshment inside, and if there is any such liquid to be had, I really don't recommend drinking it!

But then, I only ever drink the real excessively-caffeinated Mountain Dew when I'm pulling an all-night paper-writing session (something I haven't had occasion to do for years now), so what do I know?

The Legend of Blue Bluestreak

There is perhaps no Transformers myth more legendary than the purported existence of "blue Bluestreak." Basically, what seems to have happened is that, somewhere along the process of taking toys from the old Diaclone line and repurposing them for the Transformers line in 1984, a Datsun Fairlady Z toy was sold in a grey-and-red coloration and given the name "Bluestreak," even though the original toy catalog, the instruction booklet, and even the package art on the front of the box itself, all used a blue coloration, a common color variation (among several) of the original Diaclone toy. Although many long-standing Transformers fans claim to remember seeing a "blue Bluestreak" in Transformers packaging back when they were kids, no evidence has ever surfaced to indicate that "blue Bluestreak" was ever officially released as a Transformer.

Perhaps even more odd is the fact that this remains true, even to this day, despite a myriad of special Diaclone-based color schemes having been used for various other reissues over the years, especially as e-HOBBY exclusives. Nor does any other official Transformers merchandise depicting this character in this form — only blue — seem to exist.

With one possible exception....

One of the more unusual bits of merchandise released back in the 1980's was this 3-D Puzzle set featuring, you guessed it, a "blue Bluestreak." Basically, the idea was that you could assemble the pieces to form Bluestreak in robot mode, then take the puzzle back apart and reassemble the pieces in vehicle mode.

When I found this box for sale at an antique shop recently, I was surprised to learn that there was yet another way to assemble the pieces, such that you could get a traditional flat puzzle with this piece of Transformers art on it. This scene is certainly compatible with other Transformers art of this era, such as that found of the back of the toy packaging, but I can't say I recall seeing this particular work before.

I didn't pick this box up when I was at the antique shop, but I was sorely tempted, especially for that art! I may find myself heading back there on my way south for BotCon next week!

The Guy Who Did the '84 Transformers Back of the Box Art

Perhaps one of the most iconic images to come out of the original era of Transformers, the image you see here graced the back of the packaging for most of the first year's worth of Transformers toys back in 1984. I still get a nostalgic twinge whenever I see it.

Apparently, this art was created by an artist named David Schleinkofer, and the alt.toys.transformers mainstay who currently goes by the name "Steve L.K. Macrocranios" (although long-time readers may remember a guy I referred to as "Crazy Steve." It's the same guy) has been in contact with him. Steve reports that he's working on an e-mail interview with Schleinkofer. Although I sadly missed Steve's deadline for sending questions over the weekend, you can still go to this link to see the discussion on alt.toys.transformers, and can see more of Schleinkofer's work at his flickr account, where Steve says you can send your own questions anytime!

UPDATE - 6/18/13 - The interview has been posted here.

Loot Crate Highlight of the Month - May 2013

So, this was the third and final month of my initial Loot Crate membership, and thus the last month I'll be featuring a highlight from the box set. In the interest of protecting the surprise for those who care about such things, the reveal will come in the next paragraph (after the "Read More" link on the main page and RSS feed)...

The theme this month was "Equip," and what better way to equip your galaxy-trotting hitchhiker than with this towel? The timing coincides nicely with "Towel Day," which is just three days away at the time of this writing.

Besides being an obvious reference to Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy books, the message on the Loot Crate towel nicely references another meme that's been going around this past few years. Perhaps you've seen the various messages all over the internet working off of this "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster. What you might not know is that this meme originates back to the earliest days of World War II. "Keep Calm and Carry On" was one of three posters commissioned in 1939 by a publicity and propaganda wing of the government in the United Kingdom, designed to strengthen morale in the face of the attacks to come. Oddly enough, this particular poster was never used publicly (the other two apparently were), and most of the posters that were produced were lost after the war ended. Fast-forward to the year 2000, when one of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters surfaced in an English book store, where prints of it were made and became extremely popular.

As I indicated earlier, parodies and pastiches of "Keep Calm and Carry On" have become common in the past few years. I've even done this one myself, which I posted on Facebook some time back. You can make your own at this link. If you'd like to see what other Loot Crate goodies came out this month, do a search for "Loot Crate Equip" on YouTube and you'll get a bunch of options. Then, come back and click this link to subscribe to Loot Crate for yourself!