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Remember how I said I was back on track with the Transformers of the Day? I lied. Yes, I got some of the work caught up and then completely fell behind again. I am trying to imagine a solution now, and should have some help in the form of a proper Photoshop package from familiar friends in Rhodes Island (waves!) I can either retroactively establish the characters for December, or write them off altogether and make January the new December. Thoughts?

Also, because Mr. Willis’ laments about Hawkgirl today dovetailed nicely into my thoughts on DCUC (DC Universe Collection) versus MOTUC (Masters of the Universe Classics), I thought maybe I’d write a few words about the two lines here.

Let’s start with DCUC. While I don’t want to discount the phenomenal success of DC Direct at filling out the collection of comic collectors everywhere with common and uncommon figures, DCUC is satisfying in that it (mostly) appears at retail and has a similar scale and poseability ratio across the line. Who knew that the humble beginnings of the line, with Batman, Penguin and Orion, that we would move to our current status quo, a range approaching 100 figures that is simply the natural successor to the late, great Super Powers collection of the mid 1980s. I am mostly loving this line and the figures that come with it.

However, even with these positives, I can’t help but wish it was as great as the MOTUC.

I was never a He-Man fan. Other than a few figures (Battle Damage anything, Hordak, Mekaneck), I never really ooowed and awwwed over the line until NECA turned its attention to producing the Four Horseman-sculpted figures that rounded out the He-Man collection of the early part of the 2000nds. But serious, ignoring the complications of the line being a direct-to-market release, Mattel has got it going on with MOTUC. The figures are gorgeous, and the attention to detail is stunning, and it makes you want to be a fan. Heck, I couldn’t even resist the allure of He-Ro and Hordak, and am certainly going to fall victim to the Battle Damaged figures (even if they don’t have the swivel functions), Battle Cat and Adora.

And here is where the comparison comes in. Put He-Man and Superman together and you can notice the difference in terms of the scale of the figure and how it looks. It’s even more striking when you compare a Teela with a DCUC female like Hawkgirl (who is certainly my vote for DCUC figure with the most shortcomings already given the waist articulation issues and the absence of a belt loop to stow her third weapon). Though I’ve not held one out of the box, she looks like she can hold her weapons well and has more… er… meat on her plastic bones than the DCUC woman.

She also looks like she can properly stand up. Always a plus as a action figure.

So I am happy for both lines. But kind of wishing the DCUC was more He-Man than He-Man, if you know what I mean.

Back on December 6, I vaguely referenced “technical difficulties” that were keeping me from regular updates to the ongoing Transformer of the Day challenge. Actually, what has happened is the changeover to the new computer has left me without access to a Windows 7 compatible version of Photoshop. My unfamiliarity with Gimp and the limits posed by Paint has meant I’ve not been able to provide the great pictures to showcase these characters. And without the pictures, I’ve kind of backed away from the project.

But no longer! Given that I will surely get Photoshop sometime soon, I figured the least I could do is put up the characters and text in the meantime, and come back to finish out the details at some later point. So this is what I will endevour to do in the coming days. Catch up. As we enter the home stretch…

We’re having some software difficulties, preventing the upload of new information.

As soon as we can get the proper software fix, we’ll be back. Keep watching.

Transformer of the Day for November 25, 2009

NEEDLENOSE

-Faction: Decepticon (Targetmaster)
-Era: Generation One (1984-1992)
-Function: Aerial Warrior
-Motto: “Get Hip or Get Hit”
-Notable Toy: Deluxe (Hasbro, 1988)

Notes: As I talked about for Spinister, Needlenose was part of his year’s triad of villains. He didn’t get the airtime he might have warranted due to the absence of a North American cartoon, but that didn’t mean he didn’t make his presence known. Which, as you can see, frequently consisted of him getting beat on or running away, frequently in the company of Spinister. Maybe they shouldn’t hang out after all…

(Apologies and thanks to bbts.com and shmax.com for the toy image.)

Part four is a response to 21st century technology.

There was a nice little post all ready to go on the new computer, but it got lost in the reworking of a bunch of other posts (which happens sometimes when the website overwrites one post with another). Anyway, I’ve already talked about the new computer over at the other blog, and here it is, all shiny and out of box.

It’s fast and the screen is beautiful, but I am still migrating files from the portable drive onto the new harddrive, and I have yet to install a version of Photoshop because I don’t have one that is Windows 7 compliant. Which is causing grief for the TF of the Day work, but I hope to correct that soon.

Anyway, behold the box, set up on November 15th.

I know I literally just got done saying that we were back on track, but then work and insufficient daylight hours got in the way of keeping to that pledge. Characters went up with unformatted pictures (like Megatron, Predatron and Crosswise) or missing pictures entirely (like Bumblebee and Rav). And then the posts just stopped for the weekend, leaving Onslaught, Cheetor, Brushguard and Heatwave stranded.

When it rains, it pours.

However, I’m happy to report we are back on track with pictures ready to go for future entries until the end of the month. Now I just have to make sure to write them all. But as a bonus, I had the chance to fix some previous posts. Like replacing the picture of Dirge in February, Tigatron from April, and Grimlock in September.

Transformer of the Day for October 29, 2009

SILVERBOLT

-Faction: Autobot -Era: Beast Wars (1996-1998)
-Function: Tracker
-Motto: “Even in the Face of the Darkest Nights, Justice will Ultimately Prevail”
-Notable Toy: Deluxe (Takara, 1998)

Notes: I always like the concept of blended animals that came out of the Fuzor line and was happy that at least two of them appeared on the show. And what a loveable character Silverbolt was, making his evolution in Beast Machines (first as Jetstorm and then his brooding return to the Maximal fold) that much striking. I really wanted to showcase the Beast Machines toy, but even with the colour corrected Takara release, the sizing issues alone (a basic toy when Nightscream and Jetstorm both warrant ultras?) prevent me. So “classic” Silverbolt it is.

Transformer of the Day for October 28, 2009

SIXSHOT

-Faction: Decepticon
-Era: Generation One (1984-1992)
-Function: Solo Transformer Assault Group
-Motto: “Life is Worth Living Only as Long as There Are Enemies Worth Destroying”
-Notable Toy: Reissue (Takara, 2002)

Notes: Given that ToysRUs has begun to issue reissued transformers again, in the form of Perceptor and the Insecticons, wouldn’t it be nice if Hasbro used the opportunity to once again bring the six changing Sixshot back to North American shores for an encore run? Yes, the price point would be large but if there is a classic less-articulated transformer that kids might really go for, it’s Sixshot.

Transformer of the Day for October 25, 2009

DOUBLEHEADER

-Faction: Autobot
-Era: Generation One (1984-1992)
-Function: Surveillance
-Motto: “Burn, Baby, Burn“
-Notable Toy: Deluxe (Hasbro, 1989)

Notes: When Hasbro shrunk its “deluxe” pretenders in 1989, it also sought to make the Autobot pretenders more alien. Although Pincher could have been done in scale with his 1988 or Classic Pretender brethren, Longtooth could be a sympathetic addition to the Decepticon forces. Doubleheader on the other hand is a merger of the two - still humanoid but, inexplicably, here is a single-headed robot (presumably with a single mind) with two heads. What a backstory he must / should have.

(Apologies and thanks to bbts.com and shmax.com for the toy image.)