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Greetings Seibertronians! Fellow Seibertron user, Sabrblade has written up an informative review of the recently released Beast Wars Beast Generation Mook! A mook is a cross between a magazine and a book, and is a popular publishing choice in Japan. The Mook was released earlier this month.
Check out his words below!
Sabrblade wrote:My copy arrived in the mail from HLJ last Friday, December 11, and only now have I had the chance to talk about it.
Before I get into the book itself, I gotta say that the preview pages seen earlier in this thread must have been very early production pages since none of them are in this book. The book's pages aren't even red, they're white. Some of the toys seen in those pages aren't even in the book either. Namely, of all those Blackarachnia toys, the Animated, Legends, Universe, and Binaltech ones are not in the book. In fact, that collection of Blackarachnia toys itself isn't present either. The ones from that group that are in the book are found in their respective sections instead of grouped together like that. Basically, none of the pages in this book look anything like those sample pages.
And now, onto the book.
The cover is as shown below, but printed in black-and-white. The colored version is included, but as a dust jacket over the book's actual cover.
On the back is a list of all the series covered by this book: Beast Wars, Beast Wars II, Beast Wars Neo, Beast Wars Metals, Animorphs, Beast Machines "Transformers: Carrobot", Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Beast Wars Returns, "And… The Aftermath".
At the bottom is a row of eleven symbols, the same eleven seen on the front cover: Maximal, Predacon, Blentron, Animorph, Mutant, Technorganic Maximal, Vehicon, Dinobot, Autobot, Decepticon, and Combatron.
Like the front cover, the back is colorless in light gray while the back dust jacket is in green with a Beast Wars green eye surrounded by red scales.
The inside flaps of the dust jacket feature old advertisement text from the original Beast Wars toyline. On the front flap is the Japanese catalog text that translates as follows:
From beyond the end of the universe, in search of mysterious Power Energy, the super robot lifeform "Transformers" have arrived! The evil "Destron" Transformers who attempt to conquer the universe by abusing Power Energy, and the righteous "Cybertron" Transformers who fight to stop them. With special abilities, each transforms into a different creature! At last, a new battle has begun. Will it be the heroic Cybertrons or the evil Destrons that will win this battle!?
On the back flap is the classic English text from the 1996 Beast Wars packaging:
BIO-GENETIC ENGINEERING HAS ALLOWED THE TRANSFORMERS TO CREATE A PERFECT CYBERNETIC FUSION BETWEEN FEROCIOUS ANIMALS AND MECHANICAL TRANSFORMERS TECHNOLOGY. THE RESULT: HEROIC MAXIMALS VS. EVIL PREDACONS! ROBOT WARRIORS DISGUISED AS WILD ANIMALS IN AN EXPLOSIVE FIGHT TO THE FINISH! THE BEAST WARS HAVE BEGUN ...COLLECT THEM ALL!
The front flap also has a photo of all six deco releases of Transmetal Rattrap: Takara, Hasbro, Fox Kids, Walmart, 10th Anniversary, and the Japanese jigsaw puzzle one. Likewise, the back flap has a photo of seven versions of the Cheetor toy: Fox Kids, 10th Anniversary, Telemocha Series, Hasbro blue eyes, Hasbro red eyes, Hasbro green eyes, and Takara's second-run version with the green cheetah eyes and orange robot eyes.
Inside the front cover is a large photo of RID Air Attack Optimus Primal (not the Japanese Encore version, the Hasbro Toys'R'Us version). Behind this is an Introduction page written almost entirely in Japanese (as is every page in this book, which I'm saying now to avoid having to repeat it throughout). It appears to cover a brief overview of the Transformers brand's history, and contains a short timeline of events from 1984 to 2021, skipping over many years unrelated to the Beast Era.
The Table of Contents shows that the book is divided into three main parts:
Part 1: Chronicle (pages 4 to 98)
Part 2: Backstage (pages 99 to 129)
Part 3: Documents (pages 130 to 143)
Part 1: Chronicle is the largest part of the book, containing a near-complete coverage of almost every single Beast Era toy ever produced (I say "near-complete" and "almost every" for reasons to be given later). Toys that had variants get coverage for most of those as well. For instance, the original Cheetor toy gets coverage for its original green-eyed version, its blue-eyed version, its red-eyed version, and the Japanese rerelease with green cheetah eyes and orange robot eyes. But in cases like Transmetal Rhinox having had dark teal and pale teal Hasbro variants, only Rhinox's darker Hasbro variant is shown alongside his pale gold Takara version.
This section begins with the year 1997, the year Beast Wars came out in Japan. All of the toys covered in this year are those released in Japan, which were first released in the West in 1996, as well as the overseas releases that Japan didn't get. 1998 covers the toys of Beast Wars II, the non-show Fuzors, and the Video Pack redecos of Airazor, Razorclaw, Claw Jaw, and Spittor. 1999 covers Beast Wars Neo's released toys, the unreleased Unicron prototype, the Beast Wars Metals toys, the non-show Transmetals 2 toys, and the entire Animorphs toyline.
Of note about these years is some selective coverage between certain toys that were unchanged between the Hasbro and Takara releases. For instance, B'Boom, Snarl, Claw Jaw, and Powerpinch are omitted from the book because of Apache, Tasmania Kid, Scuba, and Scissor Boy having identical toys, and yet, both Video Pack Razorclaw and Injector are individually covered in addition to the identical Rockbuster and Latolata. Also of note are the facts that the Japanese names of Razorbeast, Transquito, and Scarem are given in this part as レイザーバック ("Razorback"), トランスキュート ("Transcute"), and スクリーム ("Scream"), respectively. Iguanus is even given two Japanese names written as イグナー／イグアナス ("Igunar / Iguanus").
2000 covers Mutant Beast Wars, a number of the Lucky Draw figures for Beast Wars II, Neo and Metals, and the entire line of Car Robots (including Lucky Draw Black Super Fire Convoy and the complete version of Brave Maximus). The book then jumps ahead a few years to 2004 to cover the Japanese Beast Machines line, Beast Wars Returns. It then jumps backward to 1999-2000 to cover the Fox Kids Beast Wars redecos released in those years. It then progresses forward again to 2000 proper to cover the Hasbro Beast Machines and Dinobots lines. 2001 covers the Battle for the Spark subline of Beast Machines toys, and 2002 covers the Air Attack Optimus Primal and Megatron Megabolt toys from Robots in Disguise. A separate "2001-2003" section then covers the entire Robots in Disguise toyline from Hasbro, and I do mean the entire line: All of the same molds released in Car Robots plus all of the Hasbro-exclusive non-beast toys and redecos.
Following this is what the book refers to as "The Aftermath", Beast Era toys released after the era's end. Beast Wars Reborn, Beast Wars 10th Anniversary, Beast Wars Telemocha Series (including the super rare Mini-Con Dragoyell), the Beast Wars Masterpieces from MP-32 Convoy (Beast Wars) to MP-50 Tigatron (Beast Wars), and the five Wave 1 Beast Wars toys from the (as of this typing) forthcoming Kingdom line (though, sadly, Megatron uses the TakaraTomy stock photography with the orange face and other wrong colors).
Also in this Aftermath part are some things labeled as "Extra", which are additional Beast Era-related toys released in other lines. These include:
RobotMasters Beast Convoy Black Version
Universe (2003) Optimus Primal
Microverse Orcanoch and Arachnid
Titanium Series 6" Optimal Optimus, RID Optimus Prime, and BM Cheetor
There is also a short essay column about the Transmetal toys pictured with a purple-blue variant of Optimus Primal.
Now, of all of the toys covered in this part of the book, there are a few missing. In particular, none of the following are in this book:
Any toys from BotCon or the Collectors Club; not even the BotCon Japan Grizzly-1 and Double Punch
Any of the 2003 Universe toys (aside from the aforementioned Optimus Primal)
RobotMasters Burning Beast Convoy and Beast Megatron Black Version (the normal RobotMasters Beast Convoy and Beast Magtron are included with their Telemocha Series redecos, but these two are not)
RobotMasters Lio Convoy (either version), Bound Rogue, and Psycho-Orb
Legend Commander Collection Convoy (Beast Wars) and Lio Convoy
Any of the Lucky Draws from Beast Wars season 1
About half of the Lucky Draws from Beast Wars II, Neo, and Metals
Any of the Car Robots Lucky Draws (except for Black Super Fire Convoy and the complete version of Brave Maximus)
Any of the 2009 Universe, 2014 Generations Thrilling 30, or 2014-2019 Legends toys of Beast Era characters
Power of the Primes Optimal Optimus and Throne of the Primes
Encore God Fire Convoy, Returns Convoy, and the two Big Convoys
Masterpiece Burning Convoy and Shadow Panther
And, as mentioned above, any secondary Hasbro variants of the Transmetal toys (aside from the aforementioned purplish Primal that's given its own essay column).
And yet, despite all of these omissions, this section does feature a ton of obscure Japanese merchandise, such as:
Collection Figure and Metal Monument Convoy and Megatron
Cybertron Buster role play gun
Cybertron Mobile Base playset
Laser Light Yo-Yo
Lots and lots of mini-figure series for Beast Wars season 1 and Beast Wars II
Matrix Cannon role play gun
Spy Shot & Claw Gun (or Crow Gun) role play gun
PVC figurines for Beast Wars Neo
The Spark driver figures that were originally going to be included in the cockpits of Optimal Optimus, Tigerhawk, and Dragon Megatron
A Japanese cover for the first Animorphs novel "The Invasion"
Part 2: Backstage contains concept sketches for toys both released and unreleased, as well as interviews with seven people involved with the Japanese Beast Era.
The released toys whose concept sketches are featured are:
Bat Optimus Primal
Alligator Megatron
Razorbeast
Iguanus
Terrorsaur
Dinobot
Waspinator
Tarantulas
Gorilla Optimus Primal
Rhinox
Airazor
T-Rex Megatron (with an actual left hand inside his tail weapon)
Scorponok
Transmetal Optimus Primal
Transmetal Rattrap
Transmetal Cheetor
Transmetal Megatron
Transmetal Tarantulas
Transmetal Ravage
Animorphs Jake/Tiger
Mutant Soundwave (originally meant to be Animorphs Marco)
Mutant Icebird (originally meant to be Animorphs Jake)
Mutant Poison Bite (originally meant to be Animorphs Rachel)
Beast Machines Supreme class Cheetor
Beast Machines Megatron
Microverse Orcanoch, Arachnid, and their mini-figures
Among the unreleased concepts included are:
Early designs of Cheetor as a cougar (often mistaken for a wolf) and a lion
Several early designs for Depth Charge that look drastically different from the final version, some of which are even completely organic, non-Transmetal versions
A triple-changer Optimus Primal that changes into a gorilla and an eagle
A triple-changer Cheetor that changes into either a cheetah and a shark
A triple-changer Dinobot that changes into either a raptor and a cobra; all three of these were proposed "power up" forms for the three
An early design for Lio Convoy that more greatly resembles Optimus Primal, has a big axe weapon, and a small bat companion
An early concept for the Animorphs toyline that involved not transforming toys but instead articulated endoskeleton figures that could be covered with human and animal skins to change them between each form
Early concepts for Animorphs Tri-Rex that, while functionally similar to the final version, somehow look even more freakishly disturbing than the final version
"Mutant Beast Wars"-style Animorphs animal-to-animal concepts for a "Bee Frog" (either Ax or Visser Three) a "Piranha Condor" (one of the boys), and a "Ram Dragon" (a Komodo dragon, that is, also one of the boys)
There are also concepts for some gimmicks that never happened.
Bat Optimus Primal with flapping wings
Insecticon with a pullback motor in beast mode
Tarantulas with a spring-loaded autotransformation that bounces up with the push of a button
Gator Megatron with a button-activated chomping gator mouth
T-Rex Megatron with a projectile-launching T-Rex head that fires like a missile from its neck with a pull of its beast mode tail
Gorilla Optimus Primal with two flails and a set of two spiked clubs that he holds and spins around in beast mode
Scorponok's Cyberbee drone originally being a little scorpion drone
T-Rex Megatron with an extending T-Rex head much like the extending tail arm that his final toy had
A sort of "Pretender"/Super Mode" version of T-Rex Megatron where a small kibble-less robot figure compacts into a torso mode while a large T-Rex toy turns into a humanoid suit of armor for the torso figure to slot into, and armed with a large trident weapon; think Powermaster Optimus Prime or Star Saber for this gimmick
A G1 Optimus Prime figure that turns into an Army truck and combines with an organic lion figure that forms armor for Optimus to wear
One of Depth Charge's early concepts has little shark minions that shoot out of his beast mode mouth and transform into their own robot modes, making Depth Charge a sort of Beast Wars version of Soundwave/Blaster. One of these concepts even has the little shark minion as a dolphin instead
A triple-changer "Buffalo Crab" Fuzor with two beast modes: a water buffalo and a fiddler crab
A triple-changer "Shark Mantis" Fuzor with two beast modes:a hammerhead shark and praying mantis
A Fuzor combiner formed by an eagle and an ostrich fusing to make a "Bigbird" (kind of a large bird with arms; funnily enough, this is the same descriptor for G1 Deathsaurus's altmode)
A Fuzor combiner formed by a frilled lizard and a rhinoceros fusing to make a Triceratops
A Fuzor combiner formed by a spider and an ant fusing to make a scorpion
Early concepts for triple-changer "Beast Machines" that have an organic beast mode and a mechanical vehicle mode: One that turns into a helicopter and a dragonfly, one that turns into a racecar and a crab, and one (that looks a lot like Optimus Primal) that turns into a four-legged cannon tank and a gorilla
A "Battle for the Spark" bird with a wind-up wing-flapping gimmick in its Spark
A "Battle for the Spark" figure of Obsidian with a wind-up propeller-spinning gimmick in its Spark
Wind-up Spark boxes that could be inserted into Vehicon figures to unlock pop-out weapon gimmicks (sort of like what Mini-Cons and Cyber Keys would later do in Armada and Cybertron) or inserted into Cheetor for a beast mode head-turning gimmick
Spark Crystals that resemble little Matrix cores and could be pushed to activate either a pop-out weapon on an early Optimus Primal design or a spinning rotor and lights and sounds cannon on an early Vehicon design
A removal Matrix core-looking Spark Crystal that could be inserted into the hips of a very early Maximal design that would later become Cheetor, with the Spark Crystal activating pop-out cannons on its thighs
A removal Matrix LED battery that could be inserted into an early Vehicon design's chest or arm to activate lights and deploy an arm blade
The rest of this section contains lengthy Q&A interviews with the following people:
Hideaki Yoke (餘家英昭) – toy development
Kozo Itagaki (板垣 耕三) – toy marketing / producer
Takio Ejima (江島多規男) – toy development
Hisashi Yuki (幸 日佐志) – toy development
Kōjin Ōno (大野 光仁) – toy development
Ryōka Yuzuki (柚木 涼香) – Voice actor for Blackwidow (Blackarachnia)
Yoshikazu Iwanami (岩浪美和 ) – Japanese version director / story editor
Part 3: Documents features the Beast Wars Data Box with lists of all the toys, episodes and movies. In particular, the specific Japanese toys that were sold in the U.S. through HasbroCollectors.com and Target are given their names written in English: Lio Convoy, Galvatron, Shadow Panther/Tripredacus Agent (both names, yes), Magmatron, Stampy, Saberback, Longrack, Archadis, Mach Kick, and… Colada! Yep, "Colada" finally has an official source for his name spelled as such, rather than the longstanding Engrishy "Cohrada" spelling.
Likewise, Razorbeast, Transquito, Iguanus and Scarem have their name written in Japanese as レイザーバック ("Razorback"), トランスキュート ("Transcute"), イグアナス (イグナー) ("Iguanus (Igunar)"), and スクリーム ("Scream"), just like in Part 1. Though, of further note is that Wolfang's name is spelled correctly in English, when in Part 1 his English name was misspelled as "Wolfgang". A similar typo appears in Part 3's list of the Beast Machines toys where the word "Heroic" in "Heroic Maximals" misspelled as "Hiroic". Other small typos like this appear throughout the book, but nothing too major and only noticeable if one is actively looking for them.
Finally, the episode guides for each series/movie arrange them in accordance to their Japanese airdates, so they are given in the following order:
Beast Wars season 1
Beast Wars II
Beast Wars Special
Beast Wars Neo
Beast Wars Metals: Convoy's Great Transformation (the Japanese theatrical release of "Cutting Edge")
Beast Wars Metals/Beast Wars seasons 2 & 3
Car Robots/Robots in Disguise
Beast Wars Returns/Beast Machines
All in all, the most interesting stuff in this book for me is all of the unreleased concepts for figures and gimmicks, but as a fan of the entire Beast Era, this book is a fine overview for much of the era's toy history.
Have you recieved this publication? Are you interested in learning more about the unreleased designs? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!
Thanks to a Facebook post by Transformers author Jim Sorenson, we have some interesting news to bring to you. It seems that a potential redeco of the Seeker mold, which went as far as having box art created, has had a name all along. Fembots and gentlebots, say hello to....
....G2 Blackout! The name of a G1 Micromaster, several Minicons in the Unicron Trilogy, and a Decepticon in Animated, the name has probably most notably been applied to a Decepticon who was the first Transformer to appear in the live-action movie continuity.
G2 Blackout got as far as having packaging art made, and even having an assortment number, as this photo shows. Whether or not this packaging art was meant to represent the toy referred to as "Black Death Starscream" is unknown, but feel free to speculate away below!
If anyone is interested in this book for you to peruse during those long hours of quarantine, it's available at Amazon in paperback and Kindle versions. Click this link to order it in whichever version you choose.
Greetings Seibertronians! It's not just HasLabs Unicron that'sbeen feeling the love from the Transformers Generations 2020 book (recently published in Japan), as there's also an interview with three Takara Designers (Mitsuhito Ohno, Hisashi Yuki and Daisuke Onohara) and one of the things they discuss is the recently announced MP Raiden project!
Caption next to small picture of Raiden apparently reads:
New information on the Raiden project is now available at the Special Exhibition Tenku no Railroad Story at the Mori Arts Center Gallery & Sky Gallery in Roppongi Hills Mori Tower.
The main details are that the toy will indeed be part of the Masterpiece line, making this the first Combiner to feature in all the years the Masterpiece line has been running. It has been said that the designers want the alt mode to satisfy even "train" people, meaning railway enthusiastics. This will probably be along the lines of realistic alt modes.
The translation below has been machine translated for the most with some tweaks done to aid grammar. Have a read and let us know what you think.
Beyond the 35th Anniversary, Toward 2020
Mitsuhito Ohno, Hisashi Yuki and Daisuke Onohara
-Let's open with thoughts on 2019 as we look back.
Ohno: After all, “Bumblebee” was big. The movie itself was very appealing to the G1 design, fans of the past were happy and I think the general public enjoyed that it looked like this (different from previous movies). I also enjoyed it personally.
Onohara: For marketing purposes, it was very good that the movie had all-ages content that could be enjoyed by children and family.
Yuki: It was a good movie that allowed you to use your characters carefully. Thanks to “Bumblebee”, I think that there will be a chance to create new types of video works in the future.
Ohno: The possibilities have expanded, and expectations for the next movie are increasing as soon as possible. Another thing that impressed me personally was that Unicron was established, and I can't tell you the exact date, but in 2021, it will reach my Japanese lol. I'm most impressed by how [much space will be needed] to place it at home, so be prepared now (laughs)
-Ohno, you can order a large number of items in Japan, thank you so much. How about the new anime “Cyberverse”?
Onohara: It was a new challenge, but I recently exhibited at the Tokyo Motor Show [and observed] there are quite a lot of children who come close to Cyberverse.
Ohno: It’s an advantage that you can watch it many times.
Onohara: This is an anime that asks Miwa Iwano for sound this time, so that various people can enjoy various ways to enjoy it. The number of viewers is also increasing because of the increased activity of major characters in Season 2.
Ohno: Toys are also good products. It ’s very interesting. First of all, it is a toy that is interesting to play with. Since it has a toy-like gimmick, I'd like you to play with it as a toy.
Yuki: In conjunction with Hasbro's “Generations Selects” in the United States, we started out in the form of trying to select characters that would not be featured in their lineup or regular “Generations”. With Legends, I was able to put it up to Dai Atlas, and I thought it would be Star Convoy the next time. I want to [make challenging] Japanese characters in the future. A large item called King Poseidon also appeared. Fortunately, the idea of the development was that I thought it was a little ... that the combiner would define it, and that the [sixth] last scrambled unit would not come out. I want [to satisfy] the fans that have collected so far, so I wanted to meet that honest hope and commercialized it.
-As a high target item, how was the Masterpiece brand in 2019?
Ohno: I am also a member, but now Masterpiece is a development system with project members. Yuuki Oshima, who draws design sketches and gives ideas to TF fans, is one of the important members.
Onohara: We were able to release Convoy Version 3 and Bumble Version 2 for the 35th anniversary. Fortunately, Masterpiece started at the 20th anniversary, so when the series reaches its 40th anniversary in 5 years, then Masterpiece will reach its 20th anniversary. Then there will have been Masterpiece for half of the Transformers' history. Because it has progressed with a good feeling for such a long time, it seems that it has a product specification that can withstand such upgrades.
Ohno: Even if you have the same character, it's all right, so I would like to put out an evolution by changing the specifications. Minibots are almost untouched, and there are many things that can be done.
-You collaborated vigorously.
Onohara: I think the most important purpose of collaboration is to create opportunities that people who once knew the Transformers brand and those who knew it were able to feel “what is interesting”.
Yuki: Thanks to movies and so on for the past few years, it seems that collaboration has become more eager.
Ohno: You may be able to say that you can now truly collaborate.
Onohara: There was also a second G-SHOCK and an amazing collaboration with BUMP OF CHICKEN was also realized rapidly.
Ohno: A woman at a live venue wears a t-shirt with Bumblebee. I saw it and it was tremendous.
- Finally, please tell us about 2020.
Onohara: First of all, it's not the end of the 35th anniversary, but in February we will carry out the “Transformers Examination”. Especially for the intermediate level, it will be a good test of your skill, so I would like you to challenge it. After that, Netflix's new animation will be distributed in Japan. Fortunately, there’s no movie, so it feels like it ’s normal (laughs). We are also preparing new works for “Generations Selects”, so please be patient.
- What was the recently announced “Raiden Project”?
Onohara: Isn't everyone thinking "No way !?" This time, we decided to officially produce Raiden for Masterpiece. I don't know the release date yet.
Ohno: I want to use vehicle mode that will satisfy even the “Train” people.
Yuki: We are very much looking forward to Mr. Ohno joining the project. Masterpieces were handled by young people so far, so there weren't many patterns to make together with your own toys.
Ohno: That's right, you're going to recreate the Raiden that you did with yourself. I have to do my best.
Yuki: You can do many things that you couldn't do at that time (laughs).
Onohara: In this way, veterans make wonderful items, so I would like to deliver them firmly to everyone.
PROFILE
Mitsuhito Ohno joined Takara in 1980. Involved in development from the beginning of "Transformers" through "Microman" and "Diaclone". In 2010, he was selected for the Hall of Fame. Currently participating in the Masterpiece Project as a fellow.
Hisashi Yuki joined Takara in 1992. Participated in the Transformers team since “Beast Wars II”. In addition to developing products for domestic and overseas, he is responsible for the localization of “Cyberverse” [as well as the] planning and development of the Japanese version of “Generations Select”.
Daisuke Onohara joined Takara Tomy in 2006. Transformers Marketing, collaboration and events planning. In Transformers Cyberverse, he is one of the producers.
What do you think of this? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!
Thanks to our very own ScottyP, we have a very interesting bit of artwork to share with you. ScottyP was perusing the Transformers Generations 2020 book this evening, which for the unaware, is an annual book released that contains information on upcoming toys. It also includes some interesting concept art by Emiliano Santalucia. This particular bit shows that the upcoming 2021 War for Cybertron Unicron figure, which was fully crowdfunded in October, had originally been planned to have a third mode, that of a city, which would have made him a triple changer. Also of note, as can be seen in the back of the photo, is the group of TV screens shown in the original animated movie.
As always, what do you think? Why was this third mode not included in the upcoming toy? Feel free to speculate below, and stay tuned for the latest news about everyone's favorite transforming figures!
Thanks to a heads up from Seibertronian Cobotron, we've been directed to the Twitter account of Japanese company HeroX, which publishes the Transformers Generations books each year. These books give fans an in depth look at current and upcoming figures in the Generations line, and always include some amazing cover art. The fiber for the 2020 edition of this book has just been revealed, and it's another knock out! The main feature of the cover is the Chaos Bringer himself, Unicron! While his toy technically won't be released until 2021, he features along with Optimus Prime, Shockwave, Omega Supreme, and Jetfire. Preorders should start soon, and with good reason- this is scheduled to be released in December 10th, just a few short weeks away! Feast your optics on the image below, and let us know what you think!
Hero-X has dumped a ton of new information on their Twitter regarding how they plan to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Transformers!
Up first, they have announced they are re-releasing the Transformers Generations Deluxe book, now titled Transformers Generations Deluxe The Rebirth 35th Anniversary Version. This book was last released about 5 years ago, and is an item that is highly sought after by many collectors. The book was originally released in 2001 and features a large collection of both images and information regarding toys from Generation 1, Generation 2, Machine Wars, Japanese exclusives, and European exclusives. There is also a bunch of bonus content related to prototypes, illustrations, and unused concepts. This book will be available in mid-March, and will be 2800 yen plus tax, though no order links are yet active.
Up next, we have a re-release of the Japanese version of Transformers Classics Volume 1, which has been renamed "Encounter" after a Publisher change. This book will be available at the same time as the Generations Deluxe book in mid-March for 2560 yen plus tax. It collects Transformers #1-4.
Lastly, we have a prototype shirt that Hero X will be releasing for the 35th Anniversary! This shirt features an awesome shot of Unicron's head, done up by Japanese artist Yuki Ohshima. While we have no link or price for this shirt yet, it appears to also be a limited release to certain Japanese stores.
Check out the images of the books and shirts below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!
Courtesy of Seibertron.com member Mkall, we have some more information on the Covenant of Primus, including some photos! As reported earlier, the item is on its way for most who pre-ordered, so look out for deliveries soon. Check out what Mkall has to say and show below, including a 'mysterious last page'!
Author: Justina Robson
Artists: Ken Christiansen, Emiliano Santalucia, Livio Ramondelli, Casey Coller
There is a switch on the underside to control volume of the sound: High, Low, and None.
I love the artwork of the 13 Primes, there's a couple full-page spreads but not as many as I would've liked to have seen. As far as I can tell, it's all new to this book; nothing reused from other sources. Some of it seems very IDW-inspired, but I suspect that's because some of the artists have worked on both projects.
Table of contents:
1.The Thirteen Primes
2.The Expulsion of Unicron
3.The War of the Primes
4.The Age of Evolution
5.The Age of Origins
6.The Age of Wrath
7.The Golden Age
8.The Age of Rust
9.The Great War
10.Exodus
11.Earthfall
With the end of the IDW Transformers: Prime - Beast Hunters comic series upon us, Seibertron.com has decided to sit down and talk to one of its creative team members, and in some ways, the face of it all: read on below for a full exclusive interview with cover, storyboard, videogame and concept artist Ken Christiansen!
Va'al - Ken, thanks for agreeing to do this. We've featured some of your work before on Seibertron.com, it's about time we got to meet the mind and man behind the artwork! Before we get into the nitty-gritty of your work with Transformers though, I need to ask: where did it all begin for you? How did you first encounter our favourite transforming robots?
KC - Well, thanks for having me! I really appreciate it when you guys post anything about my work, I've been a follower of the site for years.
The show was everything. It was the first episode which sucked me right in - I don't even remember the first figure I had, but I know it was the show that put me all in. I was 10 years old at the time of the launch, and I had slowed down on Star Wars, and was really into GI Joe toys and comics, with He-Man in the mix as well. But Transformers really took over, and knocked even the mighty Joes back a step.
Va'al - Ah, you're one of those! I admit, I like knowing that the current creators all started as fans, brings a lot more to the experience. I was going to ask which figure was your first, but you pre-empted me - so how about this: which was your favourite character or episode from the animated series?
KC - G1 Soundwave, is...and always will be...my favorite character. And he is an early toy I do remember getting, on a Christmas morning. Of course I loved his voice, and how he was Megatron's dependable commander, but the fact he had Transformers INSIDE of him really captured my imagination. And I really liked that, unlike a lot of the figures, he matched up pretty well to the box art, and animation model. I was a stickler for that kind of thing, even back then. Also, I always thought it was cool how he used Laserbeak and Ravage on the show, so they've become synonymous with any vision of Soundwave I have, I always want to try to figure out a way to include them in a figure pose, or a drawing/design I'm working on. (I figure Rumble and Frenzy can take care of themselves!)
Va'al - I think a lot of fans have a soft spot for Soundwave; he is terribly charismatic after all. You've mentioned your gateway, the toys and what it was that drew you in - but what about the artistic side? Did you read the comics as a kid, or did you start drawing based on box art and cartoons?
KC - I'll admit that I didn't really enjoy the comics, even though I still have the first 60 or so issues to this day - but yes, I did really enjoy the artwork. I loved the show and the toys, but I was always just lukewarm on the comics. That being said, I did probably draw most artistic inspiration from the comics, I remember drawing that cover corner Marvel Optimus Prime a lot. A lot. Another favorite image from those books was the reveal of Predaking, standing in a jungle. I drew that one a lot as well.
The box art images were another inspiration; I didn't have a massive collection by any means, but I did collect the trading cards, so even if I didn't have the toy and/or filecard, I did have nearly every character image from the cards. We had a project in the 4th or 5th Grade, where we wrote a story, and bound it into a book. Mine, of course, was about Autobots fighting Decepticons, carried into battle by the rocket of Omega Supreme. I designed characters back then too, usually military type vehicles, or cars that friends and family drove. I still have that little book, but I'm sure all those other drawings are long gone.
Va'al - That's some great, early KC art there. Must be worth a fortune by now! So if the comics didn't get to you as much back then, what brought you to their world later on? But I suppose, before we get to that, my question is: How did you start working for the franchise in general?
KC - I had been working freelance for about a year after leaving Disney Interactive, and I had just wrapped a series of projects for Activision in late 2005. One of the producers I had been working with asked "Hey, are you into Transformers at all?" I had heard, as did many other fans, that it was being shopped around as a movie, but I didn't know was finally happening, and Activision wanted to go after the franchise. The projects I had just finished were to lock down the Dreamworks games license for the next five or so movies, showing game play, etc. and this was going to be the same thing. Lots of storyboards and game play examples. But it just kept going and going, and it turned into character designs, and in-game production art - I was around for a lot of it, from the very beginning to helping out with marketing images.
The Transformers were a huge part of my childhood, and though I hadn't really followed the franchise overall since then, I did already have the 20th Anniversary MP Optimus Prime, and the Alternator Grimlock Mustang proudly displayed in my studio. Getting the chance to work on the franchise as a professional, really kind of blew my mind. And midway through the production, Hasbro said they were going to make some figures out of my designs... I kind of freaked out.
Va'al - That must be quite the phonecall/email! I've spotted some of the designs that made it into figures on your website - do you have any particular favourites? Which part of working with the new, movieverse, Transformers aesthetics did you enjoy the most?
KC - I was pretty honored that Hasbro/Paramount used the red car drone (AKA Swindle) in the press kits for the film. Of the drones, I think Payload (Armored Truck) and Long Arm (Tow Truck) are my favorites. Long Arm was originally to be an homage to Hoist, colored green and yellow, but was later changed to be the tow truck paint job from the film. I was glad to see the mold reused as a Hoist figure. All of those designs were done based on rough concepts I had seen at the production offices in early 2006. Not until late summer, a bit after I had wrapped on the drone characters, did I start to see marketing images and final movie models start showing up, and that's when I was tasked to do the Shockwave designs. So, that's why he's a little more in line with the film aesthetic - he's not a generic, energon created drone, he was meant to be a Cybertronian, and look more like the movie bots.
While I agreed with the design philosophy from the first movie, I thought that the bots should have shown a little more alt mode elements, so you can really see the connection between forms. With Shockwave I tried to bring it back a little bit to that, with clear iconic character details, and visible alt mode elements. And that's the design philosophy I took into my next Transformers project, the Revenge of the Fallen game.
Va'al - Those are good designs! And that Shockwave looks intriguing, but it looks like DotM Skyhammer took his mode later down the line. How did you find working with videogames, compared to the work you're currently doing on comic covers? And how did that transition happen?
KC - Maybe. To me, the transformation logic is totally different., around the canopy and fuselage. But I did work a bit on the alt mode of the Skyhammer toy, and was given direction to use a Russian Hind for inspiration, but I didn't work on the robot mode. I did three copter drawings, and when the toy came out, it looked like the designers used elements of all three.
I'm not a gamer, but when I'm into a game I like, I kind of get obsessed with it. I thought Luxoflux did a fantastic job with the gameplay of the Revenge game - especially given the short production time, notorious with movie tie-in games - and was really excited to see how they would build on the engine. Sadly, none of that was meant to be. It was the first time I felt that someone captured the essence of a Transformer, being both things at once. I know some people had issues with holding down the trigger, but I much preferred that, to the 'sit and wait to transform' style of other games. My entire career to that point was in the game industry. But after doing the games for so long, I was looking to expand out a little, I wanted to see if I could work directly with IDW and Hasbro.
I took the designs of Megatron, Optimus, and Starscream, from the DLC content of the Revenge game, and did full illustrations of them in comic cover format. I included Bumblebee, Jazz, and Soundwave designs, and pitched myself to Andy Schmidt at IDW, and for a meet up with Aaron Archer at BotCon 2009.
For IDW, Andy had me do the cover to the much-loved, revered, and indisputably go-to source of information, the Transformers: Continuum. Yikes, that one was a bit of a mess, I guess. I never kept up on the IDW relationship, maybe both sides needed that sting to heal a little. And I just got too busy following that meeting with Aaron to come back to the books. Years later, I met John Barber at BotCon 2012, and that's how I got involved with the Rage of the Dinobots and Beast Hunters covers.
Va'al - Ah, the IDW Aligned comics! As an artist who had worked on the movieverse and videogame aesthetics - though WfC and FoC are also part of the new continuity - how did you find adjusting to the sleeker, more rounded style of the two series? And how much were you involved in the series themselves?
KC - Well, doing a wide range of shape styles for what was then called 'tv show' was that first assignment I had from Archer at Hasbro, in 2009, as they were putting the studio together, and hiring the actual production team. I would call myself a concept artist before anything else, so something like coming up with new character designs/versions is what I like to do best. And then about a year later, I worked on some product ideas for the Prime line. At that point, I was working with final character design models from the production's art department. And, every once and awhile I would do some product development, or I was asked to do some character ideas for HasLabs to use as conversation starters for meetings with the show runners. So before the comics, I had a lot of experience working with the shows' aesthetic. I never was a part of the production of the actual show, with Hasbro Studios, but through Hasbro, Inc., I got to play in that universe a bit.
The Cybertron games, on the other hand, I had no experience with the art style. So that was the learning curve for me. I was asked to 'update' the FoC dinobots into a Prime style, with a heavy lean on the FoC style...visually meaning they didn't 'evolve' as much as Team Prime, for example. So I just eliminated some minor details from the FoC versions, and did a 'wrap metal' pass, in the Prime style, at the main form elements of the bots. John Barber OK'd the sketch of Grimlock I did as an example, and I was off and running.
I had nothing to do with what was inside the books; in most cases, I don't think any of the scripts were even completely written at the time I needed to have the cover done, about three months in advance. I'm sure an overview and series arc were long completed though. Barber, then Carlos Guzman, would give me their idea on what was going on in the book, and what they'd like to see on the cover. I'd do some sketches and we'd go from there. I met Mairghread Scott for the first time at BotCon 2013, and we chatted about what was coming up in #7, we pulled Carlos into the conversation, and I did a sketch of it right there at my table. For number 8, Carlos and I chatted at SDCC, and he told me what he was looking for, and Mike Johnson, through email, pretty much said what he'd like to see on the cover. I did those last sketches for Carlos to approve, and that wrapped the series when I turned in the final.
It was a lot of fun to do those covers. I loved the Fall of Cybertron game, so it was a real treat to get to draw those characters, and get reconnected with IDW.
Va'al - I always enjoy hearing stories of how creators come to join the IDW team, they never seem to be the same! So you were working on the comics covers, but still had quite a bit of involvement in other aspects of the Transformers universe. I've seen some designs for characters that never made it on the show, too. What were you doing between the comics? How were you being kept busy?
KC - Relatively, I'm a newbie to comics, with only 13 IDW covers to date. Concept art is my main source of income, since graduating from art school in 1997. Happily, now at least half my workload comes from Hasbro, covering many different brands. Mainly in that first year, it started off with early re-imaginings of core Transformers characters, mixed with some work on Dark of the Moon ideas, and then going back to work on designs for the 13 Primes, and filling out the brand bible, which had used a lot of that earlier character design work, done by myself and other great artists.
After that, HasLabs expanded into a lot of other brands and concepts, that kept me really busy, MASK, Inhumanoids, Micronauts, to name a few. Some of those ideas were teased in that NYCC giveaway comic, Unit:E, if you remember it. And as other designers move to other brands within Hasbro, I've been able to 'travel' with them, and do lot of work on stuff like Star Wars, etc. Always though, I try to stay connected to the big bots, with doing some Hasbro Inc. commissioned work, movie/tv show stuff or product design for example, or licensed work with IDW, and other publishers.
Va'al - So what you're telling us is.. you're everywhere! And we know that some of your art features in the upcoming Covenant of Primus - the result of all the concept work for the Aligned continuity - due early December. Anything you can tell us about that?
KC - Now everyone finally can see it! After years of working with Hasbro off and on, I've only been able to release a grand total of 8 Transformers images. Including Prima, of the 13, which was published previously in the Transformers: Vault. I'm so excited to see the rest of the designs coming out, along with some new art I was asked to contribute, alongside some other great Transformers artists.
Binder of Revelation - Art by Emiliano Santalucia
After working six or so months with Hasbro, they booked me to do four of the 13 Primes. By then I had a pretty good feel of what Aaron Archer was looking for from me, and I had gotten pretty tight with Eric Siebenaler who acted as my art director on previous projects. I was also then introduced to Rik Alvarez, who had sent me a giant document to work from, that he was putting together. A compiled history from the comics and games, and new stuff he had written - basically the bones of the Aligned Continuity. So, under those guys, I went to work. 4 became 6, then 8, then Eric asked if I wanted to do all 13. Of course! But then Takara chimed in, and they wanted to do some images, and they took over the designs of Micronus and Alpha Trion. So I ended up doing 11...and a second version of one of them.
I had never really heard much about it since then, other than Aaron and Rik teased some images at a couple of BotCons, but I really thought they would remain in the vault, the Brand Bible. Last November, I got an email from Tyler Freidenrich from Becker&Mayer, asking if I could do some illustrations for what would be the Covenant. I jumped at the chance, and got to contribute 7 illustrations, a new character design for Unicron, and the cover. And that's about all I can tell you about it. I know what I did, but I've only seen the same trailer for it as everyone else. I was asked to upload every Hasbro image I did related to the Aligned Continuity, beyond just the Primes, but I don't what, if anything more, was included in the book.
So, I'm just as excited as any other fan to see what's in there!
Va'al - I can assure you, a lot of us are really, really excited for this book. I'm not sure what else could hype it up more.. do you have any ideas?
KC - That's great to hear! Hmm...how about a contest for a free copy of the book? On my Facebook page, the Art of Ken Christiansen, I'll be running a 'Like Drive' contest. Participants enter their names into a drawing by making a comment in the page's Cover Photo comments section, saying they shared the page to at least five people. That Cover Photo, (containing all the contest info) signaling the beginning of the contest, will be posted on Monday, November 25th, at 9 AM PST, and ending Sunday, December 8th at midnight PST.
Monday, December 9th, (the day before the book is released) I'll draw the winning name, and announce it by 9 AM PST. That winner will receive a free copy of the Covenant of Primus... AND, I'll insert a custom black and white rendered portrait, of any character of their choosing.
Va'al - Hear that, readers? Head over to Ken's page for a chance to win what looks to be an amazing piece of Transformers lore. Ken, thanks again for agreeing to do this interview with us, we're looking forward to more of your amazing work soon! Any last words?
KC - Thank you - I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!
I do have a couple more things to add. I also put together a new website, kenchristiansen.com, which replaces to old site, badflip.com. Finally I have galleries collecting all the Transformers (and more!) work that I've done, in one easy to find place, rather than have to search through months and years of blog posts on the old Bad Flip Blog. I will keep that blog online, but it will go inactive. The new site has a blog built in, so that's how I'll continue, along with the Facebook page, to make announcements, and post new artwork. And once it's ready, there will also be a online store, to purchase original art, make commission inquiries, and get leftover convention prints and sketchbooks. It's coming very soon, but right now the only way to get that stuff is through the Art of Ken Christiansen on Facebook, or contact me at ken@badflip.com.
Thanks again!
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There you have it, readers - we hope you enjoyed our voyage into the Christiansen world! Join the competition today, follow Ken's work and keep your eyes tuned for more exclusive content, coming soon, to Seibertron.com.
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