Transformers: The Covenant of Primus Hardcover Announced

adding this to the top of my wish list

That wall piece.... must have it!

Liege Maximo is using design elements of Loki from the Thor/Avengers films. Clever!

Also like how Vector Prime continues to use his Cybertron-inspired design.

Unicron's new design is straight up sweet.

Not sure about the other Primes. I want to say the last one is Prima, but I'm not too sure.

I think I'll have to get this, this not only looks awesome but sounds really interesting.
The price is a little steep but, I think I'll be able to manage it.

Love the Loki design elements on Liege Maximo, the Aligned continuity stuff is sweet and actually the first time a book like this makes sense.

very tempting. what continuity does this fit into?

sabrigami wrote:very tempting. what continuity does this fit into?

Aligned, aka Prime, Rescue-bots, War for/ Fall of Cybertron, the crappy novels, the two Universe online games, and probably something I forgot now.

This looks like the book I've been waiting for for a long time.

So there's some new names here Always nice...
Prima - The First, Light and goodness etc
Vector Prime - Time and that kinda stuff
Onyx Prime - The First Beast mode guy? This one's new I think
Alpha Trion - Archivist, Scribe, Gandalf
Micronus Prime - First Mini-Con? (Also new name I believe)
Alchemist Prime - Um, an Alchemist i'm guessing
Solus Prime - The Forger, and fembot
Nexus Prime - Guardian of lots of swords and other items
Amalgamous Prime - The Trickster (I thought it was him who had the Loki horns in Prime?)
Quintus Prime - No idea at all, only that his/her name means 5... a quintuple changer?
Liege Maximo - The manipulator... I've always wondered if he was a Prime
Megatronus - The Fallen, I think we all know about him
The Thirteenth Prime - Bit lazy Hasbro The Last Autobot perhaps?

I hope they do a cheaper version without the crazy giant Autobot sigil. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but i'd be happy to sacrifice it if it would knock £30 off or something. Also, an aside to that, if anyone is buying this mainly for the bot logo, i'd be happy to take the book off your hands

EDIT: I think Quintus Prime is a reference to the Quintessons, as an homage to their transformers making origins in G1 season 3 (Thanks ArmadaPrime for the idea)

Dead Metal wrote:

sabrigami wrote:very tempting. what continuity does this fit into?

Aligned, aka Prime, Rescue-bots, War for/ Fall of Cybertron, the crappy novels, the two Universe online games, and probably something I forgot now.

I see. I'm not a big fan of the aligned continuity so it makes the price hard for me to swallow. The pictures are amazing though. That may be enough to get me to bite

This thing just looks amazing.
I'm a sucker for this type of collectible, as I already managed to acquire the (Star Wars) Jedi Path Vault and Sith Code Holocron, plus the Journal of Master Gnost Dural (probably misspelling all of it, but can't check right now).

This is definitely on the wishlist for Christmas.

By Unicron's moustache! The pics look fantastic. Promise that if I buy the book we'll definitely get mass releases of these bots in plastic and I'll throw down the 3million dollars for a wall-case-thingy that I don't want!


Seriously though, it's well expensive for something that I really would quite like. Would be nice if there was a version of the book sans over-priced box.

Even more seriously: now that they've announced the original 13, I do want toys of them. Premium quality figures. They don't all have to Transform even, but I want some plastic representations of these dudes.

Huh, I expected the Loki-looking bot to be Amalgamous Prime, and the weird ribbon-tentacle-cloak bot to be Liege Maximo.

I do wonder what --if any-- connection Quintus Prime has to the Quintessons. Since I'm looking for one I'm finding all sorts of them: "Quint" in the name, unusual robot design, tentacles in place of legs, creating life; almost sounds like the evil Quints are a complete perversion of the Prime (which sheds the first word describing him, "innocent", in an interesting light).
... but it can totally just be me looking too far into it.
D'oh, the post in the link directly mentions Quintus Prime makes the Quintessons.


Interesting how the 13th Prime is referred only to as "Thirteen". Megatronus has his name said despite becoming The Fallen and even forgetting his own original name and whatnot. Hmm...



Heh, they finally shed some light on the 13 business and it only raises more questions.

"every answer only leads to a bigger question"

I'm thinking Thirteen might be a guy we've seen before, so they're keeping his or her name a secret for now. Furmanus Prime?

edit: or it's Taz that used to be in ECW and WWF

Definitely pick this up if I can. My only problem with this is the naming of Alpha Trion as a member of the Thirteen. He's a corny cliché that should have been l long forgotten. Not liking the beard on vector prime either. TF's with facial hair just look silly to me.

Still the book should be interesting anyway.

Liege Maximo?! There's someone I never imagined would be considered a Prime. Cue nostalgic reading of G2!

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Liege Maximo?! There's someone I never imagined would be considered a Prime. Cue nostalgic reading of G2!

Yeah, he's been one of the original Thirteen.

Still can't get over how cool they used elements from Loki.

Now THAT'S how Unicron should have looked in Transfromers: Prime.

I need a toy of that ASAP.

Do we have a price point on this book? Hell, what do I care, I'm buying it anyway.

Too expensive.
The excerpts are quite engaging though.

megatronus wrote:Do we have a price point on this book? Hell, what do I care, I'm buying it anyway.

Taken from this very article:

The book comes in at 176 pages and is priced at $99.00

Trikeboy wrote:

megatronus wrote:Do we have a price point on this book? Hell, what do I care, I'm buying it anyway.

Taken from this very article:

The book comes in at 176 pages and is priced at $99.00

Snideness aside, yes, I acknowledge that reading would have been helpful.

I would love to see epic statues of the 13 Primes. Sadly I don't think that'll ever happen

Now that I can FINALLY sit down and read the article (been at work all afternoon/evening), here are my comments:

The Covenant of Primus is a gift to the humans from Alpha Trion, one of the ancient Thirteen Primes - the first Transformers. The book contains insights into Optimus Prime and Megatron and covers the full history of the Transformers, from new information about their origins, to the Golden Age of exploration, to the great civil war between Autobots and Decepticons.

Definitely Aligned Continuity-based, as those details come straight out of Exodus.

The hardcover book will be housed in a custom case shaped like the Autobot shield, with reflective foil for eyes and a wall-mounting hole on the back.

Wall-mounting = AWESOME!

Three classic mechanical Transformers sounds are triggered when the reader pulls open the three interlocking segments of the case.

That... could go either way. On one hand, that's awesome. On the other hand, it could get old really fast like most sound effect electronics in many of the toys.

MSRP $99

Oh dear, I better start saving.

- Contains never-before-seen illustrations of Quintus Prime, creator of the Quintessons; Leige Maximmo; Megatronus; and Thirteen, the unnamed Prime who was created last and who brought all the Primes together.

Really Hasbro? You gave the Quints their own 13er? Not sure how necessary that was.

Also, "Thirteen" being kept a secret... eh, guess he'll be revealed in due time.

*Excerpt of Chapter 1*

So, Alpha Trion was the third one created. Interesting. I hope Prima was the first, but I wonder who the second was. Guess I'll keep reading.

Solus Prime came fourth.

"Thirteen" is literally referred to as such, suggesting his name is intently being censored out.

Oh, wait. "Thirteen" is "the last Prime"... I really hope this isn't some forced attempt to secretly shoehorn Optimus Prime (or an obvious expy of him) into the group.

Seems the origin story of Primus and Unicron described in this book is more akin to the origin story created during the era of the Dreamwave comics and Unicron Trilogy media than it is like the original versions created in the Marvel comics.

Alpha Trion's title is "Memory of the Primes".

Though the Covenant has then-currently assumed the form of a book, it can take on many forms based its function as any point in space and time.

Amalgamous Prime's personal artifacts were a Scythe and the original Transformation Cog.

Quintus Prime possessing something called the "Emberstone".

Liege Maximo's artifact was the Liegian Darts.

Megatronus's name lacks his "Prime" suffix, either alluding to his eventual departure from the group or implying that he never had one to begin with (like Alpha Trion seems).

Other Primes revealed in this passage are Micronus Prime and Onyx Prime

Like Exiles said, Megatronus's personal artifact was the mighty Requiem Blaster, crafted by Solus Prime herself

"Thirteen" kinda sounds a little like a "Mr. Perfect", being well-liked among the group, having no special weapon or object of his own, and acting as both a mediator and visionary for the group. The glue that held them together, essentially. These types of characters can be very tricky to write, as it could end up in them being either everyone's favorite character or the most despise cliche of a character for being too flawless. Even Megatronus seems to like him.

Contains a never-before-seen illustration of Vector Prime and a new illustration of Unicron that was commissioned just for this book.

That's one funky looking Unicron, complete with what look like Dark Energon spikes for extra flavor.

*Excerpt of Chapter 2*

About that "I don't think so!" line of Micronus's shooting down the idea of Unicron making his own "Dark Primes", I read it in the voice of Michael Benyaer as Bob from ReBoot.

For Megatronus, since he's yet to "Fall", I imagine his sounding like Tony Todd's Prime Dreadwing voice, with the voice he used for the character in the ROTF movie being his "Fallen" voice.

Solus's voice, though, I haven;t yet found a match for, Alpha Trion all this time has been (appropriately enough) George Takei, in my head.

That's it! That's the art of Alpha Trion from the Binder that was shown at BotCon 2010 and 2011! Yay!

Ahh, so that's the story behind the Cyber Caliber! It's Nexus Prime's personal weapon and can separate into five shorter blade weapons.

Micronus is totally the first Mini-Con.

Aw, nuts! The except cuts off mid-sentence.

Transformers: The Covenant of Primus is due out December 3, 2013. This appears to be another Amazon exclusive. We'll give you a heads up when the pre-order goes live!

Amazon exclusive? Well, at least we know where to find it.

Also, this would make a swell Christmas present, so anyone who wants this better start dropping hints to your friends and family members.




-------------------

Also, can someone merge this other topic with this one? Or lock/delete that one? I had not seen this topic at the time it was posted, so its separated existence is kind of moot.

HOW MUCH!?!? Can't I get it without the admittedly awesome tin?

Oh well, better start saving. Will this be a widely available item or exclusive does anyone know?

blame the price n that lame transforming slip case cover.

Sabrblade wrote:Also, this would make a swell Christmas present, so anyone who wants this better start dropping hints to your friends and family members.

That may or may not have been my immediate reaction. It's how I got the other collectibles I mentioned earlier, too.

Sodan-1 wrote:HOW MUCH!?!? Can't I get it without the admittedly awesome tin?

Oh well, better start saving. Will this be a widely available item or exclusive does anyone know?

The article says it looks like it'll be an Amazon exclusive.

I'd be interested in reading the stories, but I would not pay that much for it.

Definitely looking forward to this. I'm a big fan of the Aligned continuity, but I think I'd be looking forward to this either way. I'll be getting this as soon as it goes up for preorder, but I do hope it's on Amazon at their typical preorder discount (like $60 or so).

Do we know if it's an Amazon US exclusive, or will the rest of the world be able to get it too?

Amazon has listed their pre-order the Transformers: The Covenant of Primus. This deluxe edition hardback offers a look into the early history and mythos of the Transformers, features never seen before and newly commissioned art, and comes in an interlocking Autobot symbol case with transforming sound effects. The retail price is listed at $99.99, but is currently listed for pre-order at $48.82 with free shipping. The book is scheduled to release on December 10th.

Transformers: The Covenant of Primus [Deluxe Edition] [Hardcover]

We also have video teaser for the book, take a look below:

Book Description
Release date: December 10, 2013

The Covenant of Primus delves into the depths of Transformers mythology to reveal the backstory that’s previously only been hinted at.

Encased in an interlocking Autobot emblem that when pulled open emits Transformer sounds, this tome is a gift to humans from Alpha Trion, one of the ancient Thirteen Primes—the first of the Transformers. Little is known about Alpha Trion, and the rest of the Thirteen Primes have been shrouded in mystery—until now. The Covenant of Primus reveals the stories of these ancient heroes for the first time. It chronicles the saga of Optimus Prime and Megatron and covers the full history of the Transformers. Never-before-seen illustrations depict battles, portraits of the Thirteen Primes, and detailed scenes of the Transformers’ world. Offering insight into their origins, the Golden Age of exploration, the great civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons, and much more, this book is the definitive in-world history of the Transformers.

Product Features:

• Autobot shield case with three-part interlocking manual opening system and three classic Transformers audio effects
  
• Hardcover book with newly commissioned cover art, 20 newly commissioned illustrations, and many never-before-seen images from the Hasbro archive

About the Author

Justina Robson was born in Yorkshire, England in 1968 and grew up watching the original Transformers TV series. After completing school, she dropped out of Art College, then studied philosophy and linguistics at York University. She sold her first novel in 1999. Since then she has won the 2000 Amazon UK Writers’ Bursary Award. She has also been a student (1992) and a teacher (2002, 2006) at the Arvon Foundation in the UK, a center for the development and promotion of all kinds of creative writing. She was a student at Clarion West, the US boot camp for science fiction and fantasy writers, in 1996. Her books have been variously shortlisted for the British Science Fiction Best Novel Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Philip K. Dick Award and the John W. Campbell Award. An anthology of her short fiction, “Heliotrope,” was published in 2012. In 2004, Justina was a judge for the Arthur C. Clarke Award on behalf of the Science Fiction Foundation. Her novels and stories range widely over science fiction and fantasy, often in combination and often featuring AIs and machines who aren’t exactly what they seem. She still lives in t’North of England with her partner and three children and a cat.

Product Details
Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: 47North (December 10, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1477805990
ISBN-13: 978-1477805992

Done and preordered!

Preordered! I'm very excited for this book. I can't wait to read up on all the tales of TF yore.

now if there was a decepticon version id be all over it but theres not so ill pass for now. as cool as that case is i have no room for it nor do i have $50 to spend on a book.

Wow, i really dig this this seems like those Star Wars Essential guides, and those are the kinds of things i'm really into. Bring me this book!!

YAY!!! Managed to place a pre-order for delivery to the UK. Stupid Amazon UK not having it listed. They'd probably charge £130 for it anyway.

I can't wait.

Pre-ordered! Estimated $16 shipping to the Wonderful World of OZ, lets hope that doesn't change...

Observing my first brain surgery today , watched the Metroplex review, and now pre-ordered this awesome collector piece. It is a glorious day to let my inner geek flag fly! Love it!

That is a definite preorder.

As TF fans, I feel like we are generally deprived of the omnibus-type guides other, more mainstream fandoms get. Star Wars, Marvel, DC, etc. Art of FOC was the closest thing we had, and that was more about the design, not the substantive mythos. This is a welcome, welcome tome.

Just watched the video preview.

WOOOOOHOOOOOO! It uses footage from both the WFC/FOC games and the Prime cartoon together! Homogenizing continuity FTW!

Definitely will be preordering this soon

Bummed I couldn't snag it at the $49, but I still managed to pre-order it at $60. A bit pricey, I think, considering it's not even 200 pages long, but ah well. The electronic case is probably a hefty part of the price tag.

And now it's $60.

jimclancy wrote:And now it's $60.

Weird. It was still 50% off earlier this morning.

Sabrblade wrote:

jimclancy wrote:And now it's $60.

Weird. It was still 50% off earlier this morning.

That's how Amazon works. Once a product's preorders spike, they lower the discount/hike the price. They closely watch that activity.

Their wholesale cost is only between 50-55% off retail for most publishers, so the early discount allows them to get some customer data and make sure the book appears in their automation/personalization engine (recommendations: "people who bought X also bought Y").

It's a dastardly machine. Just glad I got my preorder in this morning.

well...even for $60 it's still tempting. much better than the MSRP of $100. Wonder how the shipping will be from US to UK, on something so stupidly large?

Well crap. Saw it was $48 this morning and was elated that I would actually be able to afford this since I had written it off wehn they announced the $100 price. I started to pre-order this morning, but was running behind and figured I would get to it after work as I was still debating whether I could fit it in my budget right now. Now its gone from $48 to $60, so now its back burnered for me. May try to work it in the budget later if it doesn't continue to climb in price.

KnightStrike wrote:Well crap. Saw it was $48 this morning and was elated that I would actually be able to afford this since I had written it off wehn they announced the $100 price. I started to pre-order this morning, but was running behind and figured I would get to it after work as I was still debating whether I could fit it in my budget right now. Now its gone from $48 to $60, so now its back burnered for me. May try to work it in the budget later if it doesn't continue to climb in price.

Thing is, they don't charge you for preorders until the actual release date. So had you preordered it right away, you wouldn't have been charged for it until December, ample time to save up for it.

Sabrblade wrote:

KnightStrike wrote:Well crap. Saw it was $48 this morning and was elated that I would actually be able to afford this since I had written it off wehn they announced the $100 price. I started to pre-order this morning, but was running behind and figured I would get to it after work as I was still debating whether I could fit it in my budget right now. Now its gone from $48 to $60, so now its back burnered for me. May try to work it in the budget later if it doesn't continue to climb in price.

Thing is, they don't charge you for preorders until the actual release date. So had you preordered it right away, you wouldn't have been charged for it until December, ample time to save up for it.

True, but I use a debit card and like to have the money on hand when pre-ordering things so I stay in the black on my budget, especially with Metroplex, the Hasbro MP Soundwave, and all the 3rd party items coming down the pike in the near future My wallet is developing cash reflux disease! The Covenant is still a much better deal at $60 than $100, I just figured the price would stay where it was longer.

I just watched the trailer again. Drooling.



Also, is it just me, or is there a snippet from the Star Trek (2009) main theme at 00:34?

Va'al wrote:I just watched the trailer again. Drooling.

Also, is it just me, or is there a snippet from the Star Trek (2009) main theme at 00:34?

It is kinda hard to not drool while watching that!

Didn't notice anything at 00:34, though I am usually very distracted at that point

Covenant Trailer:
http://youtu.be/M9syJ-c-L0c?t=33s

vs

Star Trek Theme (Michael Giacchino):
http://youtu.be/EMu5jP2-c5U?t=37s