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I knew 2 people who practiced Vodou in the service, and they told me it predated contact with Christianity. That only later did they except Bondee(not sure if that's spelled right) as being the Christian God.

As for the zombies. I have no real world experience(wow that sounds weird), only what I have read and seen in movies. I know the Haitian kind actually exist/ed the others are fictional, so I'm basing this off of fiction.
I thought bokors actually reanimated the dead while witch doctors enslaved the living. Are the terms interchangeable, bokor and witch doctor that is? If that's the case though aren't the 2 types of zombies different from each other? I mean ones a corpse the other is a living person.

Here's my guess:

Transformers Prime continuity, Pirates vs. Airachnid and her energon vampire insecticons

I think the Botcon twitter post "5 pirate, 6 pirate, 7 pirate more" is derived from the Banana Boat Song. One of the lines from that song is "Hide the deadly black tarantula" which makes me think of Airachnid.

So here's how I see it. Near the end of Transformers Prime Optimus sent out a message telling everyone to come home. A group of pirates hears the call and comes home (led by Cannonball, of course). For whatever reason they land on the moon and have to deal with Airachnid.

I could see the Generations Waspinator and Kickback mold being used for insecticons (maybe mutated somehow). Maybe deluxe or first edition Bulkhead for Cannonball? And it would be nice to have Rodimus Prime show up but I doubt that will happen.

I'll say it before anyone else does, there is a Cybertron Downshift Vs Cannonball set, they'll take my idea of making Downshift out of either TFP Wheeljack mold. Personally, I think the BH version would look awesome in black and green.

njb902 wrote:I knew 2 people who practiced Vodou in the service, and they told me it predated contact with Christianity. That only later did they except Bondee(not sure if that's spelled right) as being the Christian God.

As for the zombies. I have no real world experience(wow that sounds weird), only what I have read and seen in movies. I know the Haitian kind actually exist/ed the others are fictional, so I'm basing this off of fiction.
I thought bokors actually reanimated the dead while witch doctors enslaved the living. Are the terms interchangeable, bokor and witch doctor that is? If that's the case though aren't the 2 types of zombies different from each other? I mean ones a corpse the other is a living person.

Haitian Vodou originated in the French slave colony of Saint-Domingue. It IS based off of earlier African religious practices, but the actual practice of Vodou came about because of forced conversion to Christianity by the Catholic French. In essence, it was a way to practice their traditional tribal religions whilst still adhering to the law. So some practices(such as witch doctors, who in African traditional are literally doctors who care for the exiled witches of a tribe not healers who use magic) are older African practices of the base religion that Vodou, Voodoo, and Hoodoo are all based on, West African Vodun(which IS occasionally spelled Vodou, but is distinct from the Haitian variety).

Bokors and Witch Doctors aren't the same thing, but they practice many of the same herbal remedies/mixtures. Mostly it's about how they're used, with Witch Doctors practicing healing and Bokors often practicing the darker side of the art as well as practicing magic(whether you believe in magic is up to you, of course).

For zombies, both actually use a powder containing puffer fish venom. Many Bokors have an entire ritual based around preparing and turning zombies to make it appear magic, but they still use the powder, or rather powders, as there's a second powder using dissociative drugs that keeps the subject in a detached, death mimicking state. Watching a Witch Doctor make it would be akin to watching an Apothecary preparing medicines and remedies, really. Bokors also profess to being able to have zombi astral, or part of a human soul they take and keep in a bottle to increase their power. The Serpent and the Rainbow(the book, not the movie) and Ethnobiology of the Haitian Zombie are both good reads if you'd like to know more about the powder from a pharmacological perspective.

I'll further expand on that Africa has several other methods of Zombie creation beyond the Western world's view on the subject, such as the South African belief that small children can turn corpse into them and witches killing someone and possessing the body to force it into slave labor. Viral zombies that spread infection and increase their number through no outside aid are a very American creation(especially considering that often times the "virus" is representative of other things, like Communism or other "enemy" political/religious ideologies of the time), but that's really a subject for another, longer topic(indeed, I've seen two Universities with entire courses on the meanings behind zombie cinema).

The official BotCon Twitter account has announced it will be revealing a lot of news in the following month, and they started out by talking about the TCC Magazine 2014 Club Comic. It appears the story will focuson Protoform X and Transmutate, in keeping with the exclusive 2014 figures and will also show some old favourites - who do you think it'll be? Discuss in the Energon Pub!

• The next month is going to have al KINDS of announcemnets regarding the TCC, the Magazine and BotCon… Let's drop some news today.
  
• The writers for the TCC Magazine 2014 Club Comic are @MSipher and @TrentTroop… The story will focus on Protoform X and Transmutate.
  
• Prologue is being written by Jesse Wittenrich (@RID_NightViper) and Pete Sinclair.
  
• Prologue will feature the very first fictional appearance of some Neo-Classic characters i.e. Beast Era as well as some OLD favorites.
  
• The timeline the story takes place in is one that has been teased thru other stories, but has never gotten a real good look at, until now.

The writers for the TCC Magazine 2014 Club Comic are @MSipher and @TrentTroop…

The story will focus on Protoform X and Transmutate.

Hmmm... that's interesting. The setting of last year's was SG Prehistoric Earth, yet these two might be from Depth Charge's universe.

Prologue will feature the very first fictional appearance of some Neo-Classic characters i.e. Beast Era as well as some OLD favorites.

I wonder if this is or isn't pertaining to the SG Maximals and SG Predacons we saw at the last issue, which featured:
SG BW Megatron - Beast Wars 10th Anniversary/Cybertron Jungle Planet T-Rex Megatron in 1996 Optimus Primal colors
SG Terrorsaur - Beast Wars Lazorbeak colors
SG Tarantulas - Beast Wars Fox Kids Transmetal Taratulas body and colors
SG Scorponok - BotCon 1999 Beast Wars Sandstorm colors
SG Dinobot - Hasbro Universe 2008 Dinobot colors
SG Waspinator - Generations Thrilling 30 Waspinator in Beast Wars Fox Kids Transmetal Waspinator colors (NOT Buzz Saw colors, despite popular belief)

The timeline the story takes place in is one that has been teased thru other stories, but has never gotten a real good look at, until now.

OHH! Primax 209.0 Gamma!!!

More news from the TCC Twitter - https://twitter.com/The_TF_Club

Well, we tweeted TCC news from @BotCon

But now you all know. And knowing IS half the battle!

In response to a question about where one will be able to read the old prose stories when they get put back up:

All will be going up on the new forums (WHEN we get them up).

Which spurred them to say this:

FYI… We WILL resolve the Shattered Glass Prose stories. We have one last one to tell.

When we post it we will post all the previous Prose fiction as well.

They also confirm what the previously teased timeline is:

Primax 209.0 Gamma

The theme for Botcon 2014 has been announced at http://www.transformersclub.com

Pirates vs. Knights

Fellow Seibertron.com user ScottyP has spotted the Transformers Collectors' Club latest news, in which they confirmed this year's BotCon theme. Ready? It's.. Pirates vs Knights! Check out the information below, head here for more, and discuss your thoughts and opinions in the Energon Pub!

01/29/2014 - TCC Issue 55: BotCon 2014 Convention Set FIRST LOOK - PIRATES VS KNIGHTS!

TCC Issue #55!The BotCon 2014 reveals begin this issue! Pirates vs Knights is the theme, and a selection of amazing characters and molds are what fans will get at this years 30th anniversary celebration! Issue 55 will give fans there first look at Cannonball, Captain of the Star Seekers! Stay tuned to BotCon.com for more details!

In addition to the BotCon reveals, we kick off our “Thrilling 30” coverage with two great pieces, an article by Jim Sorenson and an interview with Flint Dille. We also have the Prologue to the 2014 Club story “Alone Together”. The story will focus on Rampage and Transmutate in a whole new way, in a VERY different universe. We think you will all enjoy this brand new take on these classic characters.

Issue 55 will be arriving next month and if you are not yet a member, don’t miss out any more. Go ahead and Join Today!

I can't wait for the combination of rage and excitement if these "Knights" are the Knights of Cybertron led by a MTMTE-inspired Dai Atlas.

Knights are NOT the natural enemy of the pirate, ninja are.

ScottyP wrote:I can't wait for the combination of rage and excitement if these "Knights" are the Knights of Cybertron led by a MTMTE-inspired Dai Atlas.

That would be interesting! what mold will Dai Atlas use? also who else was on his team of knights? can't remember..

That's outta left field. I'm very interested to see the toy reveals.

Bumblebee was "knighted" in Predacons Rising. There's still hope for BH decoes, right?

Right?

I don't care what theme is about lets see what toys look like impatiently waiting what knights look like pirates not so much

I'm sensing thiiiis moooold in the future...!



(because he has a hook for a hand. Like a pirate?)

I am now very interested. I cannot wait to see what figure are used.

Sounds pretty stupid to me. Almost as stupid as Shattered Glass. Maybe if the characters are G1 inspired I might buy the set. But alot of money has been saved by not going to Botcon.

knights could be exciting. if the designs are done half as nicely as that logo.

rpetras wrote:Knights are NOT the natural enemy of the pirate, ninja are.

Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis? Didn't you ever make your Fisher Price Piratesvseige your Fisher Price Castle?

It's not so much of a theme as a guideline.









Also, Arrrrrgh!!!

Nemesis Maximo wrote:

rpetras wrote:Knights are NOT the natural enemy of the pirate, ninja are.

Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis? Didn't you ever make your Fisher Price Piratesvseige your Fisher Price Castle?

I remember those Fisher Price sets! I didn't have them but it did get me thinking about Pirate vs. Knight battles.

I think they also made some Cowboy figures too. I would think the Cowboy is the natural enemy of the Ninja.

So these are Wings Universe Star Seekers. Wasn't expecting that.

Was actually expecting the Maraudicons instead.

Though, it should be pointed out that these are DIFFERENT Star Seekers from those led by Thundertron.

RiddlerJ wrote:

Nemesis Maximo wrote:

rpetras wrote:Knights are NOT the natural enemy of the pirate, ninja are.

Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis? Didn't you ever make your Fisher Price Piratesvseige your Fisher Price Castle?

I remember those Fisher Price sets! I didn't have them but it did get me thinking about Pirate vs. Knight battles.

I think they also made some Cowboy figures too. I would think the Cowboy is the natural enemy of the Ninja.

"Great Adventures"! That was the Fisher Price toyline ya'll are speaking of, and it was awesome.

But then it evolved into/got replaced by Imaginext.

Sabrblade wrote:

RiddlerJ wrote:

Nemesis Maximo wrote:

rpetras wrote:Knights are NOT the natural enemy of the pirate, ninja are.

Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis? Didn't you ever make your Fisher Price Piratesvseige your Fisher Price Castle?

I remember those Fisher Price sets! I didn't have them but it did get me thinking about Pirate vs. Knight battles.

I think they also made some Cowboy figures too. I would think the Cowboy is the natural enemy of the Ninja.

"Great Adventures"! That was the Fisher Price toyline ya'll are speaking of, and it was awesome.

But then it evolved into/got replaced by Imaginext.

Which could create the same themed battles, though they're not producing much pirate stuff right now, what with all the licenses they've acquired. Even their Dino-Riders are getting scaled back.

You could also do that with what Playmobil's selling, though their pirates were all ghosts or zombies for a while. And Lego had both, starting in the mid-'90s; only that line has also produced an abundance of blocky ninjas, though Imaginext might be starting to catch up.

Say, am I the only one here who contemplates the TF Kreo displays, but always buys Cityville instead? Lego townsfolk vs. zombies could've compelled me to collect whole cities back when I was 8.

But back on topic, given how easily TFs can resemble armored humans, "Knights" seems so open-ended that I can't narrow down in my head what molds are most likely. Melee weapons mandatory? Maybe it's just that I watched the Blind Dead Quadrilogy, but I can't get the image of Blackbeard's crew fighting revenant Templars out of my head.

Or, if FunPub's habit of dusting off JBW molds spills over into Botcon, maybe the knights ride around on the Thoroughbred Corps? I mean, this could be way to honor the Year of the Horse outside of Platinum editions, and they'd make as much sense any other troop-builder.

Let's see, sword-wielding figures from 2007 to today (minus molds the Club can't use) include:

Deluxe Animated Sentinel Prime
Deluxe Animated Samurai Prowl
Voyager Animated Grimlock
Leader Animated Megatron
Deluxe Animated Arcee
Deluxe Universe Dinobot
Voyager ROTF Bludgeon
Voyager ROTF Mindwipe
Deluxe Reveal the Shield (Laser) Optimus Prime
Deluxe Generations Cybertronian Bumblebee
Deluxe Generations Autobot Drift
Deluxe Generations Fall of Cybertron Ultra Magnus
Deluxe Generations Fall of Cybertron Air Raid
Voyager Generations Fall of Cybertron Grimlock
Voyager Generations Thrilling 30 Autobot Springer
Voyager Generations Thrilling 30 Blitzwing
Deluxe Generations GDO Autobot Springer
Voyager Prime First Edition Optimus Prime
Deluxe Prime Robots in Disguise Wheeljack
Deluxe Prime Robots in Disguise Ratchet
Voyager Prime Robots in Disguise Dreadwing
Voyager Prime Robots in Disguise Thundertron
Voyager Prime Beast Hunters Optimus Prime
Voyager Prime Beast Hunters Predaking
Voyager Prime Beast Hunters Sharkticon Megatron
Ultimate Prime Beast Hunters Beast Fire Predaking
Go! G01 Kenzan
Go! G02 Jinbu
Anyone armed with a sword-based Arms Micron


Speaking of which, sword-based and sword-like Arms Microns include:

R.A.
Gabu + Baru + Dai = Dark Matter Calibur
Wuji
Giza
L.P.
Bumblebee Sword
Arcee Blade
Wheeljack Kunai