The Autobot Spy

It's the turn of Episode One: The Phantom Menace to be on TV today; however as I critically re-appraised that for myself the other week, I have no inclination to watch it again. Instead, let's try a little Jazz, hmm?

This is the Reveal the Shield Special Ops Jazz, released by Hasbro in 2010. It's the most recent of my Transformers purchases, and goes some way to healing the wound opened by this same character some decades before...

Light-piping in Action

Back in the late 80's/early 90's, my family tended to go shopping in Milton Keynes as much as Northampton. The highlight of these trips to the new city for me was always John Lewis. The huge department store was in the centre of the MK shopping centre, and provided a toy perusing experience like no other. I remember the excitement of taking the escalator to the first floor, and seeing the boxes and boxes of Transformers piled up. Sure, there was other stuff like Lego, Dino Riders, Zoids and whatever else was popular with us kids then, but the Transformers were it for me.

Yeah, Prowl was alright. But this guy!

I was at a point where more than anything, I wanted an Autobot car. I had a Grimlock, many hand me downs and a few newer robots for Christmas and birthday presents, but it was one of the iconic Autobot-mobiles I wanted more than anything. I saved up my £6 a month pocket money, which would have seemed like an eternity back then, and eventually, one glorious day, went back to John Lewis with my parents and bought the G1 Autobot Spy.

Exhibit A

Now, sad to say, the original Transformers weren't always the most sturdy of toys. And I wasn't the least clumsy of kids in my family. Or street. Or most likely town, actually, so you can probably guess where this is going. Within about two hours of being home, I'd already lost the missiles for his shoulder cannon, but then, whilst trying to transform him, I broke the arm off. I remember my feeling of shocked disbelief, and going to my brother to see if he could fix it. He couldn't, and I ended up getting a scolding for breaking my new toy. Jazz ended up in the bin, and the whole experience was like a terrible, terrible dream.

And... Relax.

So, finally having gotten a newer, sturdier version of the Autobot that caused so much trauma before, am I over it? Am I a happier, more well-adjusted person? Owning this guy definitely makes me happy, but all the same - I still exhibit insane amounts of caution when transforming him...

As always, thanks for reading. Any similar nightmare toy stories out there?

Detention Block Escape!

And so, the Paint.net experimentation continues apace. Or, perhaps that should read continued. It's been another prolific month here at Mos Espa, but it's drawing to a close, as is the amount of free time I'm going to have with College starting back up. I'm already starting pre-production on two different films, and then I'm sure there'll be re-writes of the feature film script I've been hired to work on as well, so it's going to be busy. 

Updates here will likely be less frequent, but don't worry; when the stresses of words and deadlines get too much, there's nothing better to do than crack out the toys for a shoot. In the meantime, if there's anything you'd really like to see, let me know in the comments. Otherwise, as always: thank you for reading!

The Streets of Mos Eisley: Re-made!

Following the incident at the Cantina, the Droids aren't the only ones wanted by the Empire...

I'm working on a new display piece for my many Tatooine figures. The moisture vaporator is a key prop, although the 30th Anniversary Luke Skywalker it came with isn't as good as the one in the picture, which comes from the Blu Ray Commemorative A New Hope set (same as Obi Wan Kenobi, in fact). That's what I love about coming a bit later to the Star Wars party; at this point I can pick and choose the best versions of each character...

Ain't no-one taking Palpatine's moisture... *shudder*

The moisture vaporator is the one diorama piece that instantly makes a set indisputably Tatooine, and you could argue that it's not even convincingly Mos Eisley (or Anchorhead, or even Mos Espa) without it. Of course, a few more Sandtroopers, Droids, Aliens and Landspeeders wouldn't go amiss either, but everyone has a budget, which I've certainly blown for a few months with my latest haul (not the vaporator - exciting news to follow, pending shipping :D)! This set is still very much a work in progress; but I have plenty of photos for a making-of when it's finally done. Just a shame I still can't decide for sure between set-building for photography, and diorama creation for display...

Vintage Wednesdays: An Autobot Shall Rise from the Ranks

88 posts per blog. That can only mean we're time travelling for the return of... Vintage Wednesdays!

Ba-Weet Gra-Na Weet Ninnybomb!

So, Hot Rod. Since you're on this site I can assume you probably know who this guy is, but the capsule version goes something like this... Hot Rod, a young, fast tempered Autobot, fought in the 2005 battle of Autobot City. At the defeat of Unicron, Hot Rod reclaimed the Autobot Matrix of Leadership and became Rodimus Prime; however the weight of leadership proved a difficult burden to bear. Following the resurrection of Optimus Prime, Rodimus gladly relinquished the Matrix, and returned to the ranks of the Autobot warriors.

Yesterday's Car... Today!

Due to the success of the Transformers line, by 1986 Takara and Hasbro no longer needed to rely on toys from various Japanese lines, and Hot Rod was one of the first to be modelled after his animated design. As the film was set nearly two decades into the future, he was given a sleek, futuristic-car alt-mode. Needless to say, we don't really have cars like this today. But then, we don't have huge, militarised cities built and populated by robotic alien lifeforms either, so he gets a pass!

I loved this toy as a kid. Alongside Kup, Springer and Ultra Magnus I had a full on post-movie Autobot strike force (which was good, since Galvatron was freakin' huge in comparison!). Unfortunately, in an incident which shall not be named, I lost all my Transformers in one fell swoop. Much like the Ghostbusters this isn't my original version of Hot Rod, but instead a re-issued one that a friend gave me for my birthday almost ten years ago. I'd like to say that I've kept him in good condition, but see for yourself - we've got a peeling decal sticker on the leg from too much transforming, and neither of his two blasters. Sigh. I am a bad Autobot owner :(

In a straight fight, with this articulation - I would be concerned about Hot Rod's chances...

Anyway, he still takes pride in my collection, and is the only Transformer I have who has ever wielded the Matrix - this is good when you consider I have a toy shelf that includes both Galvatron and Megatron...

Well, that's this Wednesday sufficiently vintaged. Till all are one!

Escaping Utapau

I watched Episode One on Friday night, for the first time in years and in the right frame of mind to enjoy it thoroughly. Jar Jar Binks wasn't as bad as the hyperbole, and at the end I was left thinking that it was a decent Star Wars film in need of some serious editing - just trimming scenes and shots and terrible dialogue here and there, nothing too drastic. Anyway, that's kept me in a Prequel mood. I'm reluctant to watch Attack of the Clones (for obvious reasons), but feel that I probably should watch them in order to get back around to Revenge of the Sith. Yeah, it's flawed, but it's the first time in any of the Prequel series that it feels like anybody involved in making it is actually having fun...

I tried a lot of different ways of editing this shot, but in the end went back to how it was (almost) originally. Still not thrilled with it from a composition angle, but it's passable. And considering how much I've been trying to force shots this weekend when there's been nothing doing, I'll take that.