Stormrider: Good evening and welcome to the show. I hope you found my secret location alright. So, how does it feel to be in the passenger seat for a change? Ready to go for a spin? Counterpunch: I’m a terrible passenger. I sleep the entire trip given the opportunity.
Stormrider: Let’s get the most obvious question out of the way - How do you categorize yourself? - Transformers Connoisseur, Advisor, or Vigilante?Counterpunch: I am the Rush Limbaugh of Transformers fans.
Stormrider: Remember; say “no” to OxyContin, kids…Counterpunch: I’ve actually never done ANY drugs…
Stormrider: Do folks still come to you for advice?Counterpunch: Yes and I never, ever thought I’d be in that position. I did very little opinionated posting in maybe the first year or more that I was on this site. I read a lot though. I bought a lot of toys and I stuck around. I still read a lot of stuff and I still listen to what others are saying. I’m still open minded when it comes to the hobby particularly about fiction. The only thing I think I really stick to my guns on is in regards to what toys are worth, rarity, and knowing why a given toy turned out the way it did. But yes, when it comes to toys and the hobby of collecting, I do get a lot of questions.
Stormrider: Any tips you want to pass on now?Counterpunch: Wait 3 minutes before hitting the ‘submit’ post button. Heh, nah, but I do think there is a tendency to say what is on our mind before our mind has had a shot at the editorial process…
Stormrider: So hypothetically – a new member comes to you with a dilemma. His girlfriend is putting her foot down with his collection? What should he do?Counterpunch: I hate this question a lot. It’s a double edged sword. For one, grow a backbone. No one should be dictating life to you. Your decisions are your own. The other side is that we have to be rational. We have to actually interact with people and the world. No matter how you slice it, collecting toys is NOT the norm. Comparing it to other hobbies, sports, drinking, spending money etc…well, none of that works. It’s not always about ‘you’, so you have to be sensitive to the others around you. Once the toys isolate you or separate you from other people, then those voices of discontent about your toys are no longer being ‘jerks’, they’re reaching out to help you.
Stormrider: Were you ever a noob?Counterpunch: Yea…Here is my fantastic story of Great Justice!(TM)… I bought the G-1 Reissue Ultra Magnus from TRU after he had been out in the store for some time. I think he was like, $70 or something absurd. At any rate, I got him on clearance for $40. I had not bought a Transformer in years and there was this immediate desire to “get a few more”. After a trip to a local toy store and purchasing a $20 re-deco of Sideswipe (from RiD), I went to eBay and found a wonderfully “mismarked” G1 Constructicon Giftset for twelve friggen dollars… I’m sure no one needs any hints as to how that worked out.
Stormrider: When did you first start collecting Transformers?Counterpunch: When I was 4 years old. Then again when I was 20.
Stormrider: What got you into them?Counterpunch: Jealousy.
Stormrider: It gets us every time. So tell us – what particular toy did your friend have that ate you up?Counterpunch: Optimus Prime. His fists stored in his chest! His weapons stored in his truck. It was a miracle of modern engineering.
Stormrider: What was your first toy? Counterpunch: G1 Optimus Prime
Stormrider: Were you collecting other toys at the time?Counterpunch: When I was 4? I dunno…He-Man? As I got older the only other thing at the time was the ReSaurus line of Street Fighter figures.
Stormrider: Speaking of toys, what was the biggest toy let down?Counterpunch: Heh, Energon Jetfire. I don’t know why but I thought that toy would rock my socks off. Instead, it Captains the USS FailsInEveryWay. Tiny head, bubble-hands, horrendous combined modes…arg.
Stormrider: How many Transformers do you have? Counterpunch: I have around 100 G1 figures. In terms of Armada, Energon, Cybertron, and Classics…It’s easier to list the figures I do not have: BotCon06 Megatron & Waspinator, DVD Noisemaze, and about 25 or so Mini-Cons. I have a spreadsheet actually.
Stormrider: Have your collecting habits ever waned? Why?Counterpunch: As a kid, Ninja Turtles stole the show away from Transformers. As an adult? Not so much. I’ve been dedicated since I found my first re-issue. Now what the future holds…is Street Fighter 4. I bought a PS3 and a HDTV in preparation alone for this. SF4 will steal my heart, my attention, and my time. I think TFs and SF can co-exist though.
Stormrider: You went through a little security problem earlier this year. How’s that working for you now? Counterpunch: I have a LOT of insurance.
Stormrider: Any advice for fellow members?Counterpunch: Get insurance.
Stormrider: Are you New School or Old School?Counterpunch: Drop Out.
Stormrider: What is your favorite series?Counterpunch: Toy or show?
Stormrider: Worst character? Counterpunch: Beast Machines Tankor. What a hack job they did on making him turn out to be Rhinox! I think that’s the one fan issue that genuinely makes me angry. Rhinox deserved more. It is hard to write up a genuinely good good-guy these days. Everyone wants edgy anti-hero Wolverine clones. Rhinox was the man. Bad writing stole that and relegated future stories of Rhinox to sorting the whole bloody mess out.
Stormrider: Worst series ever?Counterpunch: Energon’s tv show was the worst series ever. The premise is “Hey, let’s bring Unicron back to…”…hold on. Bring Unicron back? Check please.
Worst toy series ever, Action Masters. I refuse to apologize for this nor will I try to find some way to ‘fit’ them in to continuity. If retarded drew a line, Action Masters jumped over it. Non-transforming Transformers…
Stormrider: Your top 5 most treasured figures?Counterpunch: You said ‘treasured’ which to me is different than favorite.
MP Convoy – gift from the fiancé which was pretty much her acceptance of the hobby
Unicron – It was like Transformers had ‘arrived’ again. Finding and buying him when he was new and hard to find was comparable to getting Fort Max as a kid.
Victory Leo – First purchase I made which was genuinely expensive. Buying that was like recognition that work and school paid off.
DW Reissue Megatron – Reminder of hard times…I pawned some stuff and returned birthday presents to get him
BotCon toys – not for the toys or seekers, but as a reminder of the events and places.
Stormrider: Energon – How should it be consumed? Counterpunch: Moderation is for other people…
Stormrider: Wheelie or Daniel? Who’s more annoying?Counterpunch: That trite BotCon comic that kills them (literally and figuratively) with bad writing is worse than anything those two ever did. Wheelie shot Galvatron in the face. I respect that.
Stormrider: Audio chips and gimmicks. Counterpunch: I could do without them personally. It is a cost I pay and really have no interest in other than making sure it is not broken. I understand that it helps kids to identify with a toy, so, whatever really. For every miserable one (Armada Galvatron’s “Thepowerismine!”) you get an awesomely insane one (Armada Red Alert’s “Whooo oooo ooo RED ALERT!!!”).
Stormrider: Primus or Quintessons? Who created the Transformers? Please solve this age-old question.Counterpunch: Primus. I kind of see Transformers as the universe’s maintenance men. They can go anywhere, adapt, and fix problems that either other races or Unicron has created. Of course with free-will and all they have kind of fallen off their job description.
Stormrider: What are your feelings about exclusives? Are they too frequent? Not enough? Too many?Counterpunch: Store exclusives are the ‘everyman’ BotCon toys. They’re affordable. Plentiful enough for most people to find them and they give us decos that would otherwise never have seen release. I really enjoy store exclusives (but there are too many this year).
Stormrider: Are they driving completists insane or adding spice to collections?Counterpunch: A real completist is unshakable. Price, scarcity, deco…real completists are too driven to care. If store exclusives drove them insane, they’d be locked up from the start. Exclusives add spice to the Non-completist collection.
Stormrider: Would you call yourself a completist? Counterpunch: Yes, but only in regards to the AEC trilogy and Classics. I don’t act this way out of any kind of villainy or such, but in my own mind I am creating a “complete” cast of characters. G1 did this remarkably well. Now with better toys today, I am enjoying making a new cast of Transformers that still recognizes the old.
Stormrider: Let’s chat about the exclusive Skywarp & Thundercracker Classics/Henkei. What’s your feeling about the issue?Counterpunch: It’s complicated, well, my opinion on the matter is. Basically, if BotCon says exclusive, I expect exclusive. If they are forthright and say, “Look. This is exclusive to this market and due to the arrangement with Takara & Hasbro, it may see a foreign release elsewhere in limited numbers.”; then I’m ok with that. Basically, I’m good with whatever, so long as the rules of the game do not change.
Stormrider: Was this a debacle on Botcon’s part?Counterpunch: No. BotCon and FunPub were heroic in ensuring that the toys were available at all.
Stormrider: Or, were folks being unreasonable?Counterpunch: Unreasonable in wanting the toys? No. Unreasonable in acting like they’re entitled to the toys? Absolutely.
Stormrider: How about Takara’s plan to release them? Fair game or unfair?Counterpunch: If they are playing by the rules that they established at the beginning, it’s all good.
Stormrider: Do you have a set pre-ordered?
Counterpunch: I had a set pre-ordered. I recently canceled it. I just got to thinking…’This is really dumb. I already have these…’
Stormrider: What’s your trust like now for future Botcon exclusives?Counterpunch: It’s like, whatever. Really. I think they learned their lesson. I doubt any ‘A’ list characters will show up again.
Stormrider: Let’s talk G1. Did you watch the show? Any speculation of what happened to Chip? Counterpunch: I did watch the show when possible. As a kid, it just did not air very frequently where I lived.
Chip hooked his wheelchair up to the mechanism that launches Roller in Prime’s trailer. Everyone had a good laugh.
Stormrider: Did you cry when Optimus Prime died?Counterpunch: I really liked Rodimus…
Stormrider: Transformers 25th Anniversary is coming soon. Are you giddy like a school girl?Counterpunch: I am really looking forward to BotCon. It’s just going to be insane. I think there will be some pleasant surprises next year too.
Stormrider: Any guesses what will be in store?Counterpunch: I expect both Frank Welker and Peter Cullen to be at the event. I expect the BoxSet to be a wild selection of molds ala Universe or Transtech (somehow).
Stormrider: Do you have anything on your wish list? Do you even have a wish list?Counterpunch: Nah, not anymore. I finished up tracking down all of my ‘highly desired’ items this year. Now it’s just about keeping up with the Joneses.
Stormrider: There are tales that you are quite the minicon collector. How many do you own? Counterpunch: I don’t keep count. (Honestly)
Stormrider: Is your set complete?Counterpunch: No. I mean, I have a great many of them. “ALL” is definitely within reach and there are a few very kind people who are looking out for me to make sure I can achieve that. Mini-Con collectors really do stick together. There are about 25 or so official releases I still need. All in good time.
Stormrider: Transformers Movie time! What are your premonitions for the upcoming TF2?Counterpunch: None really. At heart, I am a toy collector. I try to leave the media stuff (movies, comics, cartoons) to the side and just enjoy them for what they are. There is too much critique of the shows and the movie in my opinion. I mean, Masterforce from a “critical” point of view is garbage, but it’s fun as hell to watch…
Stormrider: What do you think of Shia? Counterpunch: He’s got a great agent. I think he’s a good actor who had done a really good job of marketing his career this early on.
Stormrider: Are you holding out for any special characters?Counterpunch: Not really. Well, I take that back…I want to see Sunstreaker in all his sociopathic glory. He and Sideswipe could possibly be show stealers.
Stormrider: What did you think of Transformers Movie 2007?Counterpunch: I was overwhelmed. Believe me; I know how popular it is to go critical on any and everything these days, especially movies, especially on the internet. I watched that movie and had a friggen great time. My fiancé watched it with me and had an even better time. We as a fan base have it so good…
Stormrider: Okay, we’re going finish this up with one of your favorite games – Word Association. I’m going to say a word or phrase and you need to respond with a word or phrase.
Starscream? Counterpunch: Poorly written.
Stormrider: Soundwave?Counterpunch: NEW Soundwave!
Stormrider: Shockwave?Counterpunch: Douchebag.
Stormrider: G1?Counterpunch: Bozo the Clown (They did NOT air G1 in my area for a time and it was the ONLY way to watch the show…)
Stormrider: G2?Counterpunch: Say ‘No’ to Drugs
Stormrider: Japanese Transformers?Counterpunch: Head On!
Stormrider: Chinese KO’s?Counterpunch: F’ that noise…
Stormrider: Minicons?Counterpunch: Thepowerismine!
Stormrider: Transformers creation?Counterpunch: Not Robo-sex.
Stormrider: Michael Bay?Counterpunch: Heroic.
Stormrider: Female Autobots?Counterpunch: All the time.
Stormrider: PunchCounterpunch: and pie.
Stormrider: Well, that pretty much wraps things up. You’ve been a wonderful guest. Thank you for playing. I would love to give you some parting prizes, but they’ve all been stolen. So let’s see that collection…
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Stay tuned to find out who Counterpunch ensnares for his next interview.
I spent all my allowance and lots of holiday money on that game up until ToV.
We promote the hell out of that game.
