Date: Tuesday, September 25th 2007 6:42pm CDT
Categories: Toy News,
Digital Media News,
Editorials
Posted by: i_amtrunks |
Credit(s): Burn, Tiby
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Views: 47,599
For those who may have missed all the news a few months ago when Masterpiece Megatron was released, a number of Australian collectors found their MP Megatron's seized by Australian Customs.
They had decided that MP Megatron was to be classified as a "replica firearm" and could only be imported if you had appropriate licenses and what not.
Not all Megatron's were seized and some made it through, but a number of them were which spurred Australian Collector Tiby (a practicing Lawyer) into action to help his fellow collectors get their hands on Megatron without too much hassle.
The result hasn't been highly overwhelming but the Government and Customs have made regulations for collectors to import and own Megatron legally.
The full story
| Tiby : |
Announcement on 25 September 2007 by Police Minister David Campbell. Click here
I am setting up a collector's club which will be open for collectors to join, and thereby fulfil one of the requirements for owning Masterpiece Megatron. To quote the Minister, the requirements are as follows:
· Undergoing a criminal and probity check;
· Providing a genuine reason for ownership of the toy;
· Providing proof of membership to a collector’s club; and
· Abiding by safe storage, surrender and disposal requirements.
The criminal and probity check is a Firearms Registry requirement, and usually done by local police.
A genuine reason for ownership of the toy is that a person is a collector of Transformers.
Proof of membership of a collector's club will be part of what I will provide in the club.
Safe storage includes a locked cabinet. I recommend the following:
Display and Rack Systems
I will update this site as the club progresses with more details on how to join.
Thanks for your support! |
The collector's club he's setting will no doubt be Australian only, however if you're Australian and already a member of the international club that should cover you.
Either way, plenty of hoops to jump through just to own a toy.
Date: Sunday, September 2nd 2007 8:25am CDT
Categories: Toy News,
Site Articles,
Collectables,
Editorials
Posted by: Tigertrack |
Credit(s): An_de (video), wikipedia, youtube.com
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Views: 81,747
The purpose of this news blurb is to make awareness that locking brick Transformers is a popular idea, and a missed opportunity for the Transformers property.
There is a plethora of high quality fan made LEGO Transformers out there. The most recent version was shown yesterday (
Movie Blackout), and today with this video of a transforming
Movie Concept Camaro LEGO Bumblebee and others.
I believe that a large part of the collectible, and toy market is being missed because apparently there is no love for the merging of what seems like a match made in heaven...Transformers and LEGO blocks.
As a child I loved my LEGO sets almost as much as my GI Joes, Transformers, Star Wars, etc. Not true, I think I loved them more. They were a huge part of my childhood play. I used them in conjunction with and separately from all my other beloved toys. They are as much a part of my memory as those other beloved properties.
Fast forward to today, where we see a gap in the Transformers armor. Sure the movie has spawned so much TF merchandise, one would wonder just how there are any gaps at all. After all, there are bed sheets, lunchboxes, wrapping paper, toy lap tops, and so many versions of the characters in toy form that there should be no wanting for anything by any Transformers collector at all right? Wrong.
Why has the locking building blocks market been forsaken? Why are they skipping this style of play that was and is popular with children of many ages? I wish I knew. After all, you can see that many of the most popular movie franchises of late have made sure that they have their foot in that market: Spider-man and Marvel, Star Wars, and Harry Potter.
Perhaps because they are not sure how to go about doing it, especially with their first U.S. venture a few years back, Built To Rule Transformers. I can remember threads in the toy forum where all we did was come up with negative names that either rhymed with, or used the acronym, to create whatever negatives we could (many were quite vulgar). Doomed from the start some might say, because it was representing robots from the "as well loved" ARMADA television show, and not doing a very good job of it.
These
Built To Rule configurations seemed like a great idea to try to get into the locking blocks market. Instead, they failed miserably. However, it was not the idea of tranforming block made robots that was bad, it was the design and execution of these robots that made people say, "Uggg..." The robots were flat, lacking in articulation, fairly fragile. And oh yeah, you had to take them apart to turn them into the more superior alternate modes. Oh and the blocks were not able to be used with LEGO bricks, so one could not modify the robots, and improve on them, unless they used another BTR set, which there were not many of at the time.
The popularity of Transformers at the time was also very low. The T.V. show was bouncing around time slots, the aisles were clogged with toys, which were actually pretty decent, but that lacked in comparison to previous lines due to the new gimmick, minicons. The BTR line was quickly cancelled after a handful of releases, although a small portion of the next round based on some Energon designs did make it into a very small number of retail stores, creating an interesting collector rarity. It could not compete in a market where LEGO was creating Star Wars based sets, highly popular, and able to fit with many other brick sets for modification, and increased play value.
One could argue that there is no better time than now for the HASBRO Transformers creative team to try this again. I don't have to tell you how hot Transformers Movie toys are, and just how popular the brand is at this time. Dia Block, a block company in Japan, released a "G1 Transforming Convoy" that met with mixed results here. Not because it was poorly designed, on the contrary it is very cool, very large, very detailed, and has the "perfect" transformation (for you Macross folks), meaning you do not have to disassemble any pieces to get it into an alternate mode. The box is G1 in design, making it a great collector's toy. The main problem, it was way too expensive for most to import. The money could easily be justified to be spent elsewhere, thus many folks do not own a very cool toy that should be available here, if marketing were thinking.
The japanese have seen the importance of locking building blocks since all the way back in Generation One when they included some smaller Transformers with environments created from locking blocks.
So why forsake this creative niche? Are the powers that be assuming that another such venture would fail miserably? Do they feel that the transforming gimmick alone is going to sell toys (Armada, Energon, and Cybertron are proof that they obviously do not)? Have they tested the market recently and found that children would rather play video games, and have other creative outlets, and that this line of toys would tank as badly as BTR Armada?
I can't argue with what I don't know. All I do know is that there are a lot of creative children and adults out there that feel that Transformers should delve back into this medium. Take time to generate 'good' quality, representative, and detailed designs. Make sure they have the "perfect" transformation, and don't be afraid to share some profits with LEGO, so that customization and creativity can occur.
Just some thoughts based on a fan's desire. Comments welcome.
Date: Friday, July 27th 2007 7:04am CDT
Category: Editorials
Posted by: Air Commander Starscream |
Credit(s): Kern, Louise Barnett of the Mirror
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Views: 24,082
Louise Barnett of the
Mirror has posted a editorial on the outrage some have felt over Burger King UK putting toys in their kids meals, when the movie is rated 12A.
To view the editorial please click
here.
Date: Sunday, July 1st 2007 7:38am CDT
Categories: Movie Related News,
Editorials
Posted by: Stormrider |
Credit(s): Associated Press
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Views: 30,266
Sandy Cohen from the
Associated Press, describes how the
Transformers Movie brings back memories from the 1980's.
Their mythology is about good versus evil on a very basic level,' Lorenzo di Bonaventura said, adding that in that regard 2007 is the perfect time to retell the Transformers story.
In the `80s, 'the world didn't seem quite as threatening a place, but from a creative point of view, it ... was a decade when people seemed to want to explore larger-than-life characters and take them to a place they had previously not been doing,' he said. 'It was a time period that was searching for its own identity, much as we are now.
Click
here to read the entire story.
Date: Sunday, July 1st 2007 2:39am CDT
Categories: Movie Related News,
Editorials
Posted by: Air Commander Starscream |
Credit(s): Bob Strauss, dailybulletin.com
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Views: 40,743
Bob Strauss has written a article for
Daily Bulletin about the making of the
Transformers Movie. He has some pretty cool information on what went on in the very early stages.
The "Transformers" movie was actually Spielberg's idea, not Bay's.
To read the full article please click
here.
Date: Thursday, April 26th 2007 9:16pm CDT
Categories: Movie Related News,
Editorials
Posted by: Air Commander Starscream |
Credit(s): MSNBC.com
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Views: 31,719
A
MSNBC contributor named
Stuart Levine has posted his thoguths of 10 upcoming summer blockbusters and how he thinks they are going to do. For the
Transformers Movie he has a few questions about the movie and its producer Michael Bay.
"It’s got a lot of buzz among the fanboys but it’s still tough to predict if it play beyond that core group. One thing’s for sure, if this one’s no good, Bay won’t be working anytime soon."
Stuart predeicts the Transformers Movie to bring in around $235 million which puts it at #6 on his list. To read the rest of his take on the Transformers Movie and 9 others, please click
here.
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