The Energon Pub

Every G1 fan's dream come true! To some up my feelings....OMFG!
Since I'm in it not for the "pistachio" Ratchet, let me give a brief description of the book.

Cover (wrap a round glossy cover with another wrap around sash(that's how I describe it anyway)) depicting the TF2010 TFs (Destrons on the left and Cybertrons on the right), the inner part is the afforementioned coupon for "pistachio" Ratchet.

Book cover: Black and white sketch of Bruticus, Menasor and Devastator doing muscle men poses.

Page 1(Black and white Andrew Wildman style artwork(all are still done by a japanese artist))

Page 2 to 3(color pics of the box battle scenes plus backgrounds on the various studios that made the scenes.

Page 4 to 41 (Studio Ox madness.................. )

Page 42 to 61 (japanese artwork on various eras from 1984 to Battle Stars and Operation Combination)

Page 62 to 72 (More Andrew Wildman style art composed of colored and black and white poses plus Super deformed family shots on both factions which were very cute)

Page 73 to 74 (Gaijin style artwork on Biocards for Red Alert, Deepcover or Clampdown, THS-02 E-hobby and "Orion Pax")

Page 75 to 78 ( G2 comic scenes of Missile Carrier Convoy and Convoy of Justice)

Page 79 (Versus shot of Convoys vs Megatrons including KISS Convoy)

Page 80 Tai and another girl (from Beastwars neo I think)singing Karaoke

Page 81 to 116 Studio Ox black and white sketches (among them scenes from pages 4 to 41) there is a sketch of Arcee having long flowing hair(I kid you not)

Page 117 to 121 Animation sketches from Headmasters and Battlestars:Return of Convoy

Page 122 a manga scene with blank speech ballons

Page 123 to 127 more articles on the artists (I think)

Oh, and an insert solicitation of super armor or"diaclone colors" Ironhide.

This book truly squeezes the franchise but who's complaining? I'm still contemplating getting the latest japanese mook that included the Kiss Players and movie bots and hopefully get the special edition Transformers Generations.

For those who haven't ordered this, get it now? Before you live forever in deep regret!

fenrir72 wrote:For those who haven't ordered this, get it now? Before you live forever in deep regret!

And regret was how I felt for a long time.
Of all of the Million Publishing/ Hero-X books, this was the worst one to miss and the hardest one to buy at a "normal" price.

Well, you may ask, why raise a necro thread to give info regarding a book that went out of print a while back?
Because I was tired of seeing listing after listing going into the triple digits for copies of this book and now I have found a deal worth listing that hopefully help others in my situation.

So now, almost 10 years later (11/16) after its publishing date, a Chinese reprint of the book has surfaced.
Published by Tarkus via the Zhejiang Gongshang University Press, this looks to be a fully accredited reprint of the book.

At first I was expecting a KO reprint, like the Transformers Generations Chinese reprint, that was available a few years ago for those of us who couldn't afford the original or the deluxe versions.
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers_Generations

However, after perusing the credits page, the original Million Publishing book is credited as well as being full of Hasbro TM and copywriting info.
The page count matches exactly, so no info has been lost in this copy.
By all accounts, this is as legit as its going to get any time soon.

The best part though is this.
The book is well under the 3 digit price tag it has held since the end of its first publishing run.
I got mine for 25 plus shipping via AliExpress via seller "Uncle Billy"; now it is appearing on eBay as well.
Here are a few links to aid those in deciding if this is a book they want:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/TF-VisualWorks-Book-In-stock/32787194258.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.1.37dG6Q&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_5_10065_10068_10501_10503_10000032_119_10000025_10000029_430_10000028_10060_10062_10056_10055_10054_10059_10099_10000022_9915_10000012_10103_10102_10000015_10096_10000018_10000019_10052_10053_10107_10050_10106_10051_10000007_10084_10118_10083_10080_10082_10081_10110_10111_10112_10113_10114_10115_10000041_10000044_10078_10079_10000038_429_10073_10000035_10121-10503_10501_9915,searchweb201603_3,afswitch_2,single_sort_1_default&btsid=a8d1b923-c61d-4db0-999b-9f4b18307c76

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=transformers+visualworks&_sop=15

I hope this helps those collectors who always wanted a copy but weren't willing to shell out for the high resale money that eBay and other collectors were selling their copies for.
Good luck to all!!!

Um, awesome! Grabbed one of the ebay copies

ScottyP wrote:Um, awesome! Grabbed one of the ebay copies

Word man, glad some body else got in on it.
Damn good value considering the alternative.

A while back, fellow Seibertronian triKlops brought to our attention a curious listing via eBay and AliExpress of something like the Transformers Visualworks from 2007, though in a Chinese reprint. The initial book was a Japanese exclusive collection of artwork from Generation 1 and 2 including Studio Ox, Ban Magami, Hidetsugu Yoshioka and more, and covering the likes of The Headmasters, Super-God Masterforce, and Victory. Via confirmation on staff, it looks like this new version of the book is indeed fully licensed, and still available via online marketplaces (such as eBay) for a much lower price than the original. Find out more below!

triKlops wrote:So now, almost 10 years later (11/16) after its publishing date, a Chinese reprint of the book has surfaced.
Published by Tarkus via the Zhejiang Gongshang University Press, this looks to be a fully accredited reprint of the book.

At first I was expecting a KO reprint, like the Transformers Generations Chinese reprint, that was available a few years ago for those of us who couldn't afford the original or the deluxe versions.

However, after perusing the credits page, the original Million Publishing book is credited as well as being full of Hasbro TM and copywriting info.
The page count matches exactly, so no info has been lost in this copy.
By all accounts, this is as legit as its going to get any time soon.

Man, might look at picking this up. Transformers really gets some excellent art!

Congrats triklops!

10 years............It's been that long. feel so old

Speaking of which, THS-02 aka Year of the Rooster Optimus....that fig is that old now? A decade?@ And Hb still hasn't released Penny racer/mini bot anime accurate Bumble bee yet?

Big Grim wrote:Man, might look at picking this up. Transformers really gets some excellent art!

If the contents are the same then get it!

fenrir72 wrote:Congrats triklops!

Thanks!
I can't tell you guys how happy i was that i found this.
It was one of the last few Million Publishing/ HeroX books i was missing; I was NOT paying the 100 plus most people were asking for a copy.
The page count and photos are the same so nothing lost in this addition.
Hopefully my fellow Seibertronians will take advantage and put this copy in their collection.

fenrir72 wrote:

Big Grim wrote:Man, might look at picking this up. Transformers really gets some excellent art!

If the contents are the same then get it!

Same contents. Completely worth it if you have been eyeballing the original copy but unwilling to shell out into the triple digits.
Great copy to add to the shelves guys!

Is there a specific place worth ordering this from?

Big Grim wrote:Is there a specific place worth ordering this from?

As the story says: eBay!

Va'al wrote:As the story says: eBay!

Ah HAH! I'm gettin' old. Eye ain't what they were! :p

I got mine in yesterday after Triklops' I initial post. Very pretty book, and has enough Studio Ox to trigger Counterpunch into the looney bin

Yikes. eBay is still showing most at between £160 and £200!

Big Grim wrote:Yikes. eBay is still showing most at between £160 and £200!

Try AliExpress; i have had good luck with them.
Here's a link:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/TF-VisualWorks-Book-In-stock/32787194258.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.1.fQHw1K&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_2_10065_10000073_10068_10501_10000074_10503_10000032_119_10000030_10000026_10000023_431_10000069_10000068_10060_10062_10056_10055_10000062_10054_10000063_10059_10099_10000020_9915_10000013_10103_10102_10000016_10096_10000056_10000059_10052_10053_10107_10050_10106_10051_10000097_10000094_10000053_10000007_10000050_10084_10083_10000100_10080_10000047_10082_10081_10110_10111_10112_10113_10114_10115_10000041_10000044_10078_10079_10000038_10073_10000035_10122_10123_10121_10124-10503_10501_9915,searchweb201603_2,afswitch_1,ppcSwitch_4,single_sort_1_default&btsid=5498549a-9499-4179-85c2-29c4e1f979d6

triKlops wrote:Try AliExpress; i have had good luck with them.

Ah, amazing! Thank you!

Big Grim wrote:

triKlops wrote:Try AliExpress; i have had good luck with them.

Ah, amazing! Thank you!