Even Robots Evolve

My first photo request. A friend of mine needed convincing to purchase the Transformers Classics series. As the vehicle modes can be seen in packaging, I've decided to just shoot the robot modes. Here we go:

AUTOBOTS:

Optimus Prime








Jetfire










Rodimus








Bumblebee







DECEPTICONS:

Megatron








Starscream & Skywarp









Group Photos:









Hope these are convincing enough, bro!

Dynamic Duo

I've always loved the Spidey movies & wanted to get a cool movie Spider-Man statue to add to my collection. When Sideshow announced they will be releasing products from Spider-Man 3, my prayers were answered... or so I thought. Pictures of the Venom statue were released first, I find the sculpt to be quite good, especially with the grid texture faithfully intact. Price & pose were a little turn off for me though. But when the Spider-Man statues (red/blue & black) were revealed, I knew these will not be part of my collection for sure. The scale of the Spideys were smaller than Venom, thus can't be displayed nicely together. They didn't retain the excellent grid texture of Venom as well, probably because they were done by another sculptor. There's a versus diorama as well, but I really wasn't digging that. Just as I thought I could save my money for other stuff, I caught sight of these busts. 4 factors instantly drew me into ordering them: 1. Totally awesome sculpt by Martin Canale (who also did the Venom Statue); 2. Grid texture, check!; 3. Affordable prices for their size. They are bigger than regular Bowen busts, but cheaper; 4. The black-suited Spider-Man bust will be a SDCC exclusive. Even though I don't really collect busts anymore, I just couldn't pass these up. I thought they will look kick-ass displayed with my Spider-Man 3 RAH figures! Enough talk, here's the photos:

Spider-Man












The best part about this bust is how the silver webbings catches the light. The effect is very similar to the movie.




Venom












I simply love the translucent parts at the side of Venom's mouth!
















These 2 are definitely worth the wait! I also got some cool edition numbers for my busts, 899 for Spidey & 799 for Venom. Sweeeet!

More Than Meets The Eye

It finally arrived! Here's my latest Transformers purchase, & it's not a toy. It's the Transformers: Generation 1 Complete Collection Region 4 (Australian) DVD boxset by Madman. What's so special about this boxset?






The outer box design is a replica of early Transformers toy boxes! No better choice for a TF DVD boxset. How truly fitting!









Replicated accurately, right down to the technical specifications section of the box






Other than the vintage box art of Optimus Prime & Megatron on the front, there's 4 more on the interior box flaps.






Interior Tin Case packaging:





A few characters from the cartoon are printed on the back of the tin case, within a sort of size comparison chart






Opening the tin case gave me a feeling of Optimus Prime opening his chest compartment. This is due to the printed cardboard "cover" inside, based on the interior of Optimus Prime's torso with a glowing matrix. Very Nice!



The 2 DVD cases in the tin case:








There's also a exclusive comic included in the package. Written by Simon Furman & art by Nick Roche, the comic fills in the gap between end of Season 2 & the animated Transformers Movie.








DVD case interior & discs










There's a spare slot in the first DVD case, I guess it's for the Movie DVD to "complete" the set. Madman even printed the Movie into the episode list on the back cover. However, the Special Edition Movie DVD set that was released together with this box set contains 2 DVDs, so I guess peeps who got both will have to decide which disc to put in. The one in my picture is Madman's first DVD release of the TF Movie.








Madman vs. Rhino (first 3 boxsets)






Finally, here's a size comparison of the DVD boxset with actual Transformers toy boxes






As for the video quality, I made a comparison with my US R1 Rhino versions. The picture on the Madman version is somewhat cleaner. Not only that, Madman's didn't have the notorious restoration animation errors of Rhino.

Only thing missing from this DVD boxset is a tech spec decoder. lol