He's back.

Unicron, I mean. I haven't made many Transformers: Prime posts, and I've certainly not made one recently. The show, which started almost a year ago, is now in the final 3-parter of its first season (and still not a single toy on shelves until maybe next month...).

Anyhow, the 3-parter (One Shall Rise or whatever) is all about the return of Unicron to the small screen. In this universe, dark energon is the blood of Unicron, and Megatron ended up finding a literal mother load of the stuff on Earth (he thought he'd have to go out into space to get more). This is because, at Earth's core, there's Unicron. He's been taking a dirt nap (ok, he wasn't really dead) for billions of years. After his defeat by the 13 Original Primes/Transformers, he apparently ended up floating off near the Sun's orbit and amassing a bunch of accreted rock and dirt, with the planet Earth eventually forming around him.

Now, since some 47 celestial bodies have aligned in such a way that the gravitational forces will disturb/awake Unicron, he's up and he's pissed. He's trapped and now has about 6 billion little "parasites" running around on his surface, which he's not happy about. Also, the only one who's shown up to help him is Megatron, who's not impressive enough to Unicron to even bother with. Optimus makes an impressive appeal to Unicron's vanity to spare the humans (he tries to make the big guy think that they're his offspring, a la Minicons), but Unicron's not having any of that, and just geopaths a bunch of rocky simulacra of his body (which, by the way, was once small enough to walk on Cybertron's surface) to fight Optimus.

Oh, I failed to mention that he's voiced by John Denethor/Dr. Bishop Noble! Awesome. However, I didn't think it sounded much like him, though I did think it sounded like a good Unicron.

B-day wrap-up

Ok, so I didn't end up getting that much this years. Here's the run down:

What I bought myself:

-DOTM DVD
-DOTM Voy. Sentinel Prime
-DOTM Legion Flak
-Kre-O Bumblebee (large version)

Here's what my parents got me:

-Kre-O Megatron

So...yeah. I'm not as disappointed as last year (kre-O Megatron being awesome doesn't hurt), but I'm pretty disappointed - no, that's not the word - I'm pretty worried that I didn't get MP Rodimus Prime. My mom warned me yesterday not to buy anything else on my birthday list (as she'll be pulling from the remaining stuff for Christmas), but I fear that if I don't track down a Rodimus myself, he'll be gone (if he isn't already). I didn't get to go to any functioning TRUs in Orlando, so I can't yet confirm this for myself. Of course, she could have bought it already (she did get Kreotron at a TRU...), but I'll probably just call her to be sure.

And, yeah - Kre-O Megatron is great. And I haven't even built the truck mode yet. I bought the larger BB at the local Walmart last night, but since I was also getting groceries with both kids and had to also get them fed at home when I got back (all by myself), the farthest I got with BB was opening the box. I figured I'd get him because he wasn't on the list and he's the only one of the car Kre-Os that really looks pretty decent.

Oh son!

So I picked up the DOTM DVD today!

I haven't gotten any physical presents yet, so I also picked up a Voyager Sentinel Prime. I know, he's on my list, but it's like only the second time I've seen him, so I have no idea how much luck my parents would have at finding him. Awesome gun.

B-Day

Ok, here it is. So far all I've gotten is money/checks and a Starbuck's gift certificate from my wife (along with a drink!). Pretty cool. Now, if I only knew what my parents planned to get so I could buy whatever in Orlando this weekend...

B-day list, round 2

Ok, so here's a C&P of the Word file b-day list I've made for my mom:

• Masterpiece Rodimus Prime (Toys R Us exclusive; $60 – this is the one I want most)

• Transformers 3 (Dark of the Moon):

• Human Alliance class (all $30 each)
• Leadfoot (red Target NASCAR; only avail. at Target stores)

• Roadbuster (green Amp NASCAR w/guns sticking out)

• Skids/Elita-1 (black/green compact car w/purple motorcycle robot)

• Voyager class ($20)
• Sentinel Prime (red fire truck)

• Cyberverse ($30)
• Ark (Spaceship/base w/Roller robot – turns into lunar rover)

• Kre-O (Transformer legos)
• Starscream (Red/grey/blue jet, $30)
• Megatron (Grey/red truck, $30)
• Sentinel Prime (red fire truck, $40)
• Optimus Prime (large version: truck with trailer, $60)

Man, that's a lot more spaced out than I expected. Anyway, here's some of the other stuff that'll be out this fall/winter that I want before the year is out:

DOTM:

CV Legion:
- Soundwave

CV Commander:
- ??? Is anything else interesting coming out this year? I guess we'll likely get a Shockwave release.

HA Scouts:
- Icepick

Deluxe:
- Air Raid
- Wheeljack
- Soundwave

Voyager:
-Cannon Force Ironhide

Human Alliance:
- Soundwave

Generations:

Uh, the only 2 guys that are left:
- Sky Shadow
-Junkheap

Prime:

CV Legion:
-Arcee/Chromia
-Wheeljack (likely w/o spaceship)
-Bumblebee

CV Commander:
-Ironhide
-Optimus Prime

Deluxe:
-Starscream
-Bumblebee
-Optimus Prime
-Megatron
-Cliffjumper (probably normal, not Terrorcon)
-Soundwave
-Wheeljack

Voyager:
-Optimus Prime
-Bulkhead
-Starscream

September looms

Ok, so it's getting close to that time of year again. It's one month until my birthday. You may recall my angst-filled wait last year, where I didn't buy much at all for myself before my bday and tried to depend on my family for my TF desires. It kinda worked, but not that well and not without some doubt.

This year, I'm still nailing some TF hopes and dreams on my family, but between streamlining my collecting and just not wanting some current/upcoming stuff, there shouldn't be too much I want this fall to begin with.

So, top of the list is TRU Exclusive Masterpiece Rodimus Prime. I got MP Grimlock from my parents for my last birthday, and this year Hot Rod/imus is available. I'm a bit worried, as the TRUs don't seem to be carrying too many of these and I'm sure that my family probably wouldn't try to find this until late in September, so there's a decent chance this may not happen. If not, I'll be trying to get it on my own, because this is a must-own figure.

Next is (possibly) DOTM Ultimate Optimus Prime. He looks fun enough, but he's more expensive than MP Rodimus and could be clearanced later, and I'm more concerned about getting Rodimus right now. May leave him off.

Next are 3 DOTM HA toys: Skids/Elita-1, Roadbuster, and Target Exclusive Leadfoot. I really only want Skids because he has a sick deco and he comes with Elita-1 (who I want more than ever now that I just read Rising Storm the other day). Both Wreckers, though, look great and very fun for HAs. However, if I don't get them, I may not pursue them, because I'm sure that a HA Topspin will follow, and altogether that'd be $90 for very non-core characters. I will definitely get HA Soundwave down the road, though.

Also possibly on the list is the Cyberverse Ark. This used to be a must-have for me, but now I'm not so sure (I haven't bought any of the smaller CV playsets, and they all interact and so on). I don't have to own Roller, seeing as how he's not really in the movie, and it's not like the Ark turns into Omega Supreme or anything. Still, it looks fun enough, and it plenty interactive. And I do like the idea of playsets in general, so I kind of feel like I need to do my part to convince Hasbro to make more.

And, of course, there're the Kre-O sets. I'm still feeling the itch, but have yet to scratch it. I'd like to at least get Starscream and Megatron, and wouldn't mind the huge Optimus or Sentinel either. Most of the smaller ones I'm not too big on, and the only big one I don't really want is the larger Bumblebee. I may just ask for Starscream, being as how he's my "official" favorite Transformer and I could probably get away with asking for just one of these sets. I may get the other larger ones on my own later, but I'll at least buy some of the Kreons online from eBay (Shockwave, Soundwave, the Seekers, Megatron, Sentinel, etc).

Last, but certainly not least, will be the DVD copy of Dark of the Moon itself! That's right, it's getting a very early release on the day after my Bday, September 30th (a Friday, no less)! Pretty danged awesome. On top of that, my wife and I will be taking that day off work to be in Orlando for her master's degree class that weekend staying at my cousin's, so I should be able to enjoy the movie just fine. Of course, this also means I'll likely have to wait for the end of the weekend to get anything from my parents, but oh well.

Hot Rods

This year's Transformers Collectors' Club free toy was Sideburn. I got mine in the mail yesterday. He's awesome.

Sideburn is a repaint of the 2006 Classics Rodimus (Hot Rod, really) mold. This makes him a continuity transplant - the Sideburn character began life in the 2001 Robots in Disguise show as one of the three Autobot Car Brothers. Along with Prowl and X-Brawn, he was a key character, and in many regards filled the Hot Rod-esque "young good-natured punk" role. This eventuated in a repaint of RiD Sideburn in Hot Rod's red & orange colors. For the new, G1 version of Sideburn, the opposite was done, putting Classics Rodimus in Sideburn's blue & white. As I said, it looks great.

Sideburn inspired me to finally getting around to purchasing one of Walmart's DOTM exclusives - a legends class 3-pack with ROTF Bumblebee repainted in gold & silver (pretty much movie Goldbug), ROTF Soundwave in G1 colors, and Universe Rodimus in orange, brown, and silver.

Yeah, you read right. The Rodimus mold has been released in the US twice before, the first time in his typical red & yellow flame deco, and also in blue & red as Smokescreen. However, the original release was all but impossible to find and commands a much higher-than-reasonable price on ebay. Luckily, this mold is close enough to being Rodimus' G1 colors to satisfy me. Heck, IDW has even provided a good excuse for his brighter-than-normal colors - Hot Rod was shown in Maximum Dinobots to have the ability to pull a Human Torch-style "flame on" and engulf himself in flames. So, I guess this toy will be Flaming Hot Rod to me. Go ahead, get the giggles out.