The Energon Pub

Just got my copy today, Its a pretty impressive book! the little pull out extras provide a unique touch that I really enjoy.

I have only read the first quarter of the book so far, but have enjoyed what I have read so far. I know alot of what it contains has been printed in other books in the past but nothing is wrong with an updated collection.

Sabrblade wrote:

SJ21 wrote:I didn't order this one, but I am curious about how it is. Anyone get theirs yet?

It's not out yet.

I got mine yesterday.

It's really cool.

Where it beats previous attempts at this is by including interesting things like, animation cells, original (repro) product catalogs, movie tickets, etc.

For $25 ... there are few reasons to pass on it.

Counterpunch wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

SJ21 wrote:I didn't order this one, but I am curious about how it is. Anyone get theirs yet?

It's not out yet.

I got mine yesterday.

It's really cool.

Where it beats previous attempts at this is by including interesting things like, animation cells, original (repro) product catalogs, movie tickets, etc.

For $25 ... there are few reasons to pass on it.

And now it is out.

I've been browsing this book for a few weeks now, and I have to say, I'm both impressed and disappointed.

Generally speaking, I loved the G1 series and animated movie (favorite toys and cartoon from childhood)... didn't like the headmasters, thought the beastmasters animated series was so poorly animated that I couldn't even watch it, and absolutely loathe Michael Bay's movies. But then I found the Transformers Prime animated series and got back into it.

What I like about this book, is the detailed research that was done about the history of the toys, comics and videos. What I don't like about the book, is how painfully obvious it becomes that the author isn't a fan. He's just stating facts and showing pictures. I mean, 1/2 page on Transformers Prime, are you JOKING?! He goes on and on about Beastmasters and Michael Bay's awful movies, though.

I'm curious to hear what you all think.

SeanoptimusPrime wrote:I mean, 1/2 page on Transformers Prime, are you JOKING?!

You do realize that this book came out BEFORE Transformers: Prime did, right?

And what is "Beastmasters"? There's not Transformers series called that.

Sabrblade wrote:

SeanoptimusPrime wrote:I mean, 1/2 page on Transformers Prime, are you JOKING?!

You do realize that this book came out BEFORE Transformers: Prime did, right?

If he did, he probably wouldn't have been so disappointed.

And what is "Beastmasters"? There's not Transformers series called that.

It's safe to say he was talking about Beast Wars, or possibly Beast Machines. He spoke of Headmasters beforehand, so it most likely was a typo. It's not hard to put 2 and 2 together.

The Transformers Grammar Police are out! What's your vehicle mode? A dictionary with wheels? Ha. "Beast Wars." Sorry. The first episode was so bad that I blocked the name out of mind. And for clarification, the edition I have was printed 1 year after the Prime series was released. What I was hoping for... is some conversation about what others (hard core G1 fans) thought about the book. Anyone?

I came across it in a book store for $14.99 and I passed on it.
It wasn't impressive to me at all, and the little pull out gimmicks were annoying.
I already have Simon Furman's The Ultimate Guide to Transformers (even though it doesn't include Prime or the Bayverse sequels because it came out in 2007) and it's adequate for me.

SeanoptimusPrime wrote:And for clarification, the edition I have was printed 1 year after the Prime series was released.

Only one edition of the book was ever printed. Any later run releases would be of the same edition as the earliest ones.

The book is meant to commemorate the brand as it was in the pre-2010 years, with the last chapter serving as a prelude for things to come in the then-newly-released Aligned continuity (i.e. - War for Cybertron, Exodus, TF: Prime, etc.).

Rodimus Prime wrote:I already have Simon Furman's The Ultimate Guide to Transformers (even though it doesn't include Prime or the Bayverse sequels because it came out in 2007) and it's adequate for me.

Even though that book contains plenty of errors and is written with a bias towards the Dreamwave comic material?

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I already have Simon Furman's The Ultimate Guide to Transformers (even though it doesn't include Prime or the Bayverse sequels because it came out in 2007) and it's adequate for me.

Even though that book contains plenty of errors and is written with a bias towards the Dreamwave comic material?

Even so. Care to tell me the errors you know of? You probably know of more than I do.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I already have Simon Furman's The Ultimate Guide to Transformers (even though it doesn't include Prime or the Bayverse sequels because it came out in 2007) and it's adequate for me.

Even though that book contains plenty of errors and is written with a bias towards the Dreamwave comic material?

Even so. Care to tell me the errors you know of? You probably know of more than I do.

• The book shows its preference of the Marvel Comics origin of the Dinobots by flat out dismissing the cartoon's origin as being a mere rumor.
• The book describes the Quintessons' history of being the creators of the TFs in the cartoon as being entirely conjectural, when it was made pretty clear in the cartoon that they were.
• Several names are misspelled, such as "Teletran-1", "Carlee", "Eleta-1", and "Sean Burger".
• Several summaries of cartoon episodes are faulty, mixing up facts with innaccuracies.
• Same with several comic book issue summaries.
• Many of the toy images are mistransformed or have missing/wrong accessories.
• Optimus's Japanese G1 toy is identified as "01 Convoy" as though the "01" were part of its name rather than an ID number.
• None of the toys in the Generation 2 toy section are from Generation 2 (save for Megatron), as they're all European late-G1 toys that (aside from two of them) were not rereleased under the G2 banner.
• None of the episode guides are as complete as they claim to be, being more of a selection of "best of" episodes.
• Robots in Disguise is missing any and all traces of its cartoon.
• The Robots in Disguise section contains info that mixes up info from Car Robots with the English version (such as labeling Koji as "Yuki").
• The Armada Super Base Optimus seen in the book sports the wrong deco, bearing paint apps never seen anywhere else.
• Armada Laserbeak sports its prototype colors.
• All the pages in the Generation 1, Armada, and Energon sections that pertain to historical topics are written with the Dreamwave comics in mind and ignore any factual info from the cartoons that wasn't in the Dreamwave materials.

In a way, I guess you could nickname that book "The Gospel According to Furman (At The Time)"

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I already have Simon Furman's The Ultimate Guide to Transformers (even though it doesn't include Prime or the Bayverse sequels because it came out in 2007) and it's adequate for me.

Even though that book contains plenty of errors and is written with a bias towards the Dreamwave comic material?

Even so. Care to tell me the errors you know of? You probably know of more than I do.

• The book shows its preference of the Marvel Comics origin of the Dinobots by flat out dismissing the cartoon's origin as being a mere rumor.
• The book describes the Quintessons' history of being the creators of the TFs in the cartoon as being entirely conjectural, when it was made pretty clear in the cartoon that they were.
• Several names are misspelled, such as "Teletran-1", "Carlee", "Eleta-1", and "Sean Burger".
• Several summaries of cartoon episodes are faulty, mixing up facts with innaccuracies.
• Same with several comic book issue summaries.
• Many of the toy images are mistransformed or have missing/wrong accessories.
• Optimus's Japanese G1 toy is identified as "01 Convoy" as though the "01" were part of its name rather than an ID number.
• None of the toys in the Generation 2 toy section are from Generation 2 (save for Megatron), as they're all European late-G1 toys that (aside from two of them) were not rereleased under the G2 banner.
• None of the episode guides are as complete as they claim to be, being more of a selection of "best of" episodes.
• Robots in Disguise is missing any and all traces of its cartoon.
• The Robots in Disguise section contains info that mixes up info from Car Robots with the English version (such as labeling Koji as "Yuki").
• The Armada Super Base Optimus seen in the book sports the wrong deco, bearing paint apps never seen anywhere else.
• Armada Laserbeak sports its prototype colors.
• All the pages in the Generation 1, Armada, and Energon sections that pertain to historical topics are written with the Dreamwave comics in mind and ignore any factual info from the cartoons that wasn't in the Dreamwave materials.

In a way, I guess you could nickname that book "The Gospel According to Furman (At The Time)"

Vector Sigma has spoken.