Transformer Cybertron Con 2012 Day 1

The entrance!

So I really didn't know what to expect despite having a schedule of all 4 days (11th to 14th) of the Con.

Would it really be more like an exhibition and less like a convention?  If so, would there be deals to be had on Transformers toys?  Would there be a greater focus on the movie versions of Transformers rather than other forms to attract the kids?

We thought this was the 22-foot tall Optimus Prime.

Well as it happened, it's never really what you think it is.  And I was glad tat I was presently surprised.

He's happy with the Con as long as the pass tastes good.

Resorts World Sentosa turned out to be a great place to hold Cybertron Con with people of all sorts attending--collectors, families, couples, even tourists.  So we made a family day out of it and with the wife and kid went forth expecting nothing other than a good time out.  Here's a pictorial journey of what went down! (with commentary from yours truly, of course. :P):

Cybertron Con 2012 Exclusive Swag!

Sorry folks, no review here, just an update on the toy-ly ongoings of our tiny island nation.

On the bright side, it's less than 4 days to go to Cybertron Con right here in Singapore and they've revealed a couple of nifty exclusives for the event!

First up, there's the movie Optimus Prime:

I can't quite be sure but it looks like it'll be a Voyager Class figure with a decent sized trailer.  That's a great thing because I think the smaller-sized Primes usually don't have trailers made for them--this one does and has some awesome Con exclusive designs all over it.

Also, Prime comes with this commemorative coin if you're into that sort of thing.

Secondly, some t-shirts for the event have been revealed:

I can't quite articulate how nice it is to see some G1 Transformers, even if they only exist as designs on T-shirts.  :,(

There's a whole bunch of other stuff that'll be on sale, form luggage to masks and all of the toys you've seen on the shelves in stores.

But I hope they give us some G1 TF toy love at the Con.  'Else I'll be nursing a Coke Zero in a dark corner somewhere shedding a tear or five.  Lol.

Transformers Kre-O: Exclusive Optimus Prime Review

**State of the Toy Union: My display room's a mess!  It's made me really not want to open up any of my recent purchases until I get it cleaned up.  I'm making progress with the packing/tidying up though.  So in the meantime, I'm very sorry for the long pause between reviews.  Enjoy this one though--he couldn't wait! ;)**

Call him an SDCC, a Botcon or a (insert your preferred)Con Exclusive, but for us here in Singapore, he's our Transformers Con 2012 Exclusive Kre-On! (That's what they call a Kre-O figure btw).

Messy room--enter at own peril!

That's right, in a month's time from March 11th to 14th, the bi-annual event is hitting our tiny island nation.  So the awesome people in charge sent over this little fella just to whet my appetite!

Now the idea of building a Transformer out of Legos or any other building blocks is hardly a new one because anyone who's ever laid hands on such toys will have at one point or another tried to do it.  But never has there been an official toy company who's gone out a produced a whole range of them--until now.

And while I have to admit that I was pleasantly when I saw Kre-Os on the shelves in stores, I was less than impressed by the sets.  First up, the robot modes aren't all that accurate to the G1 TF forms they were trying to mimic (and neither are their vehicles modes for that matter).  Second, they came with Kre-On (minifig) versions of themselves.  And that doesn't really make sense, if you catch my drift.  Third: the price. At US$30 a pop for the bigger sets, it was kinda hard to go out on a limb and trust the quality of a new building lock brand.

Still, those Kre-Ons looked pretty darn cute.  And they do have a whole range of them out right now--Optimus, Bumblebee, Mirage, Sideswipe, Megatron, Shockwave, and Prowl, just to name a few off the top of my head.  I had even told the Rangerlord what many have expressed online--if they sold the Kre-Ons separately, I'd grab 'em.  He agreed too.

So you can imagine my delight when the organizers of Transformers Con 2012 sent me this little package.  Now I can't wait for the Con to come.   So I guess I'll just have to settle for filling the time with a review of Kre-On Optimus Prime! ;)

Transformers Reveal the Shield: Legends Class G1 Optimus Prime

You'd think a Legend class would be HUGE, bigger than a Voyager and a Deluxe for sure, and beating out the Supreme Class for size.  But in actual fact, a Legends class figure is smaller! How much smaller?  Try the whole way!

Yes, that was one of the things that really appealed to me when I spotted this single Optimus Prime in a sea of Legend Class Megatrons.  He's so tiny, he just had to be full of surprises!  The other thing was that I'd never seen this class of Prime (nor knew that they produced this G1 version) and I'm an Optimus addict--I just gotta catch 'em all! (That phrase is eerily familiar...;P)

But from the get go, this figure turned out to be full of surprises, the biggest one of which wasn't at all good.  Hit it to find out more!

Optimus Prime: Revenge of the Fallen

Lots of kids who'll be in their 20s about 10-15 years from now are going to look back and say, "Yeah! I loved Transformers, especially Optimus Prime!" And the scary thing is for those of us who grew up in the 80s, it won't be G1 Prime.

It'll be this guy:


Now before we go around screaming blasphemy and condemning these new age fans as heathens, would it really be that bad if this guy was the OPtimus Prime that new fans remember instead of the G1 version?

Well no, if this Leader Class ROTF Leader class toy is anything to go by.


I wasn't going to buy any of the movie line toys but this one just had to fall into my lap. And all thanks to my thoughtful Mel. Seriously guys, if your girlfriend thinks of entering a longshot contest where the chances of winning are just about as close to Bumblebee's chances in a fight against Unicron, and she wins it for you, MARRY HER. Only then should you get back to playing with your toys. :P

ROTF Optimus Prime doesn't come cheap--he retails for about S$110 (US$ 60) here in Singapore. While it's a little expensive for my taste, it's not so for many kids/their parents/collectors. Go to any store, and there'll be rows upon rows of Megatrons left on the shelf but no Prime. This bot sells like hot cakes.

And after opening him up and posing/playing around with him, it's easy to see why:













First, a seamless alt mode--you wouldn't be able to tell this Prime was anything other than an ordinary toy truck. If you didn't already know he was a Transformer. ;)











But then check out his robot mode!




















Impressive, no?

All Transformers can and should transform, but those that pose well are just simply brilliant.

In terms of articulation, this Prime's got:

Head: swivel, can rotate 360 degrees but for his 2 chest plates.

Shoulders: Double-Ratcheted. Can rotate 360 deg and move up and down. Another hinge joint toward the side of his chest allows the arms to also swing forward so he can slouch/hunch/do the Hulk Hogan pec squeeze pose.

Elbows: Ratcheted but arm kibble and folded blades get in the way of full range of motion. Arm rotates 360 deg at the top of the elbow too. :)

Hands: 360 deg rotation, has slots so he'll be able to hold weapons from other bots that fit.

No waist articulation, but has double ratcheted thighs, that have a full range of motion forward, back, and out to the sides. Has thigh cut joints as well bu these rotate only slightly and are probably just to facilitate his truck mode better.

Knees: Ratcheted, bend 90 degrees.

Ankles: Ball-jointed, can rotate 360 deg and also point straight (part of his transformation). This area, coupled with his big ol' feet, allow him to stand in almost any stance you can put him in. And this is the key feature that makes this toy so poseable. ;)

Oh, and his eyes and chest light up when you press down on the foldable lever in his chest!


And as his chest plates move up with his head, he'll say "I am Optimus Prime," at the same time.

He'll also make the transformation sound when you unhinge his legs from his torso for truck mode. And in vehicle mode he'll make truck engine sounds when you hit a small button on his back.

I can't say enough good things about ROTF Leader Prime. Check out the detailing of his head:


And here's a whole bunch of other cool poses Prime can pull off:


Here's how I rate him:

Movie Accuracy: 9.7 - If not for the plastic grey colour that they chose for him (that's meant to be metal/silver), he would have gotten full marks here. They even went ahead to do the blades gimmick--fold them in and flip em out at the flick of a switch (on the inside of his forearm). Neat.

Poseability: 9.7 - For such a large toy and for being a Transformer, he scores high for being able to do the things he does. And if you've gotten this far in the review without looking at the pictures, shame on you! ;P

Aesthetic: 9.7 - The attention to detail for his flame paint job is already awesome. Give him intricate detailing for his head, face, gears in his chest, and a damn good-looking alt mode and he's near perfect. Except for the greyish plastic that's supposed to be metallic on Prime. Even then, those parts have little bits of circuitry and alien-like details molded into them. Gotta give 'em points for all that.

Overall: 9.8 - Yes! A whole 0.1 bonus points just for the fun factor when playing with ROTF Leader Prime. He's fast becoming my not just my fave Transformer or even Optimus Prime, but my favourite toy overall! ;)

Someone Up There Must Like Me....

Because I got Revenge of the Fallen Optimus Prime for free!!!



But that's not all. In addition to Prime, I also got...An RoTF Soundbug!













Well, I'm not sure what exactly it is yet, or what it does. But it's supposed to be some sort of speaker. And it has this giant sunction cup at the back that sticks it to any smooth surface. Neat!

As if that weren't enough, I also got a USB port hub--also in Revenge of the Fallen packaging!


And to top it all off, this nifty silver case contains a RoTF Umbrella! Wow!!!


I can only thank my wonderful wife-to-be, Melissa, who secretly entered a newspaper sms contest with the intention of surprising me if she won, and she did! Even she admitted not knowing what the eventual prizes would be.

So thanks, Dear! And thank God for making me a Transformers fan.

I'm doing a little dance of joy everytime I think of the Prime toy and Prime in the movie as well. Woohoo! :)

Transformers Fun Time: Anguish of the Fallen

Well, I saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, loved it, and would go watch it a second time.

Yup, it was that good. But just a few things you need to note if you haven't been to see it and are on the fence. I recommend it, for sure. :)

Here's what you need to know:

1. It's not Oscar material stuff, so leave your brain at the door and enjoy the ride. :)

2. When you're waching, don't go: "What? That wasn't in the original cartoon! It's all crap they made up!" Well, I can tell you for sure that there was a lot in the original Transformers mythology and history that was never in the 80s cartoon. It would've been too complicated for kids. It's all in the movie and all true, though. A visit to TFwiki.net will set you straight. It did for me. ;)

3. Enjoy the action, but listen to the dialogue! There's a lot to see in the movie but don't let that distract you from the witty one-liners and the excellent voice acting. I know it's tough to discern who's saying what when one robot is bashing/tearing/blowing apart another. But if you can do this, you'll find the movie makes good sense.

And finally, for those who've already seen Revenge of the Fallen, here's a little of what happens when Sideswipe is telling Henkei (G1) Optimus Prime about his part in the movie, and a shortchanged and disgruntled Sideways overhears them. So SPOILERS ahead. Enjoy!

A Free Con

No, I don't mean con as in swindle, but rather convention! Or as in Spore Con in Singapore this past weekend.

And yes, it was free. Yes, it was at a Community Centre. An HELL YES there was gaming!

Check out the action:


I tell ya what, people. This wasn't a Con of any significant size compared to any of the major Cons in the States, but it's the largest one we've got here in Singapore!

I think attendance was at 600 or so last year for a day-long event and this year seemed to be a little less lively (prob due to the credit crunch etc), but I do feel that at least the same amount have people have shown up at Choa Chu Kang Community Centre. It's just that they came over 2 days this time ;)

Yes, the Con has expanded to 2 days in it's second year. And here's hoping it'll grow larger to include not just gaming, but also have an exhibition/sales hall where all us nerds/geeks/dorks can get some trade/commerce going.

But the highlight of this year's event had to be our guest of honour, Mr. Eric Lang!

Who's that, you say? Well he's the creator/game designer of many a favourite, well...board/card game including A Game of Thrones LCG & CCG, Call of Cthulu LCG & CCG, and the World of Warcraft the board game, among many others. He works for Fantasy Flight Games. Just check on that FFG game you own! His name could be right there!

Here he is (in blue) playing/schooling everyone else in his very own Cosmic Encounter.

Right there he's telling the rest: "Yeah, you could do that." But in his mind he's going: "You ain't gonna beat me no matter what you do--I designed the friggin' game for heaven's sake. (smirk) Just take your turn already."

Just kidding Eric. ;) But I'll tell you what--Mr. Lang's a real solid guy. As far as gamers/game designers go, he's the most patient and nicest fella you could have teaching you how to play.

Oh and if you ever, ever, want to beat him at a game, don't pick one he designed. I learned that the hard way at GenCon Indy 2003 when he schooled me in A Game of Thrones CCG and then signed my promo card, "Sorry I had to kick your (arrow pointing to cad art of butt)."

Yep. Real nice fella... :P

Well it wasn't a big venue for a Con like I mentioned before, just one hall, but there was some nice CCG and Miniature Wargaming action going on, as well as some nice models/minis:

That's Warhammer 40k, a miniature war game.

And what Con is complete without the good ol' get along game of Dungeons and Dragons? :) Check out the size of the gargantuan pe...er...red dragon. :P

Here's an X-Wing built from WH 40k model parts. Neat.

And here's one for all you Transformers fans:




































It's Orktimus Prime! (And I hear he's fully transformable too. :])

And of course, no Con is complete without free swag, even it's a couple of dice! (Hey, the Con was FREE! :P)


I have to say, despite limited resources and plenty of spacial and commercial constraints, Damian, Donkye and gang from Paradigm Infinitum did a wonderful job of organizing Spore. I might have missed out last year, and I almost missed out this year, but I'm sure gonna be there next year. :)