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Tales of the Trev

Househusband Tales #8 – Star Charts

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Kids.  Can’t live with’em, can’t hook them up to a car battery and yell ‘FOR THE THOUSANTH TIME, CLEAN YOUR ROOM!’

Yep, as much as we love our kids they can frustrate us, especially when they show the same behaviours every day no matter what we say or what we try to teach them.

Having a 5 and 3 year old at home, dinner times could be very stressful in our household.  You spend an hour in the kitchen preparing a meal that is both nutritious and tastes great, only for one of your kids to sit there with a look of pure revulsion on their face and go ‘Yuck!  I hate this!’ before they have even tasted it!  Meanwhile your other child has stripped off to just their underwear and is running laps around the table trying to catch the cat!  It can drive you barmy!

We got tired of nagging our kids about some of their behaviours, and realised that everything we were doing was negative and reactive.  So we decided to change tack and go proactive and my word it has made a world of difference!

 

How have we done this?  Something very simple – The Star Chart System.

The concept is very simple.  We assign each of our children 3 goals – one for the daytime, one for dinnertime and one for bedtime. These are printed out and stuck on the wall.  Whenever one of our kids achieves one of these goals they get a star sticker that they put up on their chart.  When they have gotten 7 stars for that particular goal then they get a prize!

His & Hers Prize bags

Now I know that sounds somewhat like bribery and perhaps at a basic level it is.  But it is more about changing your child’s mindset.  Instead of it being about the negatives associated with doing the wrong thing, its focusing on the positive’s associated with doing the right thing.

Stickers!

As for prizes, it needn’t be anything lavish, especially if you are giving them out reasonably often.  For kids it can be mainly about the excitement of getting the prize rather than having it.  Each of our kids has a prize bag full of stuff and none of it cost more than $2 or $3.  A quick trip down the toy and stationary isles of discount stores like The Reject Shop and you will find plenty of pencils packs, sticker sheets, fairy wings, army men, bubble wands and other assorted tat that will keep your kids occupied for an hour or two before they break it or lose interest.

The beauty of The Star Chart System is that you can adjust it to the every changing needs of your child.  For instance with our 3 year old daughter we found that achieving 7 stars meant that she would lose interest as it was too long a timescale between tangible rewards.  So we shortened her chart to she only needed to achieve 5.  By doing so she was getting more prizes and thus became far more interested in the whole process.  Admittedly she still struggles with her bedtime goal so we have reduced that to she only needs to get 1 star for a prize in the vain hope we can get a decent nights sleep.  And of course, when they achieve their goal you put a line through all the existing stars and begin all over again until the desired behaviour becomes ingrained.

The kids charts after a couple of months

We also found that by having special stickers for the final square on their charts, they worked harder towards getting that last one done so that they could put up a frog or bear sticker instead of a star.  Tweak the system as needed.

When it came to dinnertime, after only a month both our kids were achieving their goal on a daily basis, the chart working where months of nagging had not.  But again, the beauty is you can change the chart.  So instead of our son having to ‘Try all the food on my plate’ and our daughter ‘Stay in my seat and use my fork‘ we changed both to ‘I will eat all the food on my plate’.  And I’m pleased to say that most nights both our kids are now achieving this!  It has made perhaps the most stressful part of our evening as parents into something so much more positive and relaxed for the whole family.

 

So if you are sick of nagging your kids, and your kids are sick of getting nagged, give The Star Chart System a whirl – you will be glad you did!

Got any comments about the above?  Would love to read it in the comments section below!

 

Related Articles:

Househusband Tales #3 – The Library Playgroup

 

Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – Cyberverse: Grimlock & Shockwave

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With RID disappearing into the sunset, leaving most fans with a ‘yeah, it was alright I guess’ taste in their mouths, many have been anticipating the new Cyberverse cartoon and toyline.  However if what one reads online is to be believed, fans are already being put off with what they perceive to be overly simplistic figures.

On Father’s Day I received two from the new line, and both characters I obsessively collect.  So without further ado let’s take a look at Cyberverse: Warrior-Class Shockwave and Ultra-Class Grimlock.

 

Shockwave

Robot Mode

Though small in stature, Shockwave comes in a really vibrant purple with pink highlights via circuitry lines on the arms and the hexagon on his chest.  He has shoulder, elbow and knee articulation though his head is immovable.  His proportions are quite good and he has his signature blaster on his left arm.

Logical my ass – I’m pissed off!

I really like the head on this Shockwave.  I think because you only see the bottom half of his eye so it makes him look far more angry than usual.

His ‘Wave Cannon’ weapon sits behind his right shoulder.  Moving it up onto the shoulder makes the pink laser fire automatically pop out.  Personally I prefer to leave it behind his shoulder but it adds a lot of play value for the kids.

 

Cybertronian Spider-Tank Mode

Really, this is the first alt-mode of this kind we have seen in a Transformers toy.  There was Thunderhead from DOTM which had treads so perhaps this is the first walking spider-tank in the Transformers line *.  That novelty value alone made me want to grab Shockwave.  It looks odd but fairly good overall.  Really they needed to find a way to shorten Shockwaves thighs so that the two back legs were the same length as the front, and have a bit more detail and variety in colour so it’s not one big block of purple.  It’s nice to see that they have kept with the theme of Shockwave not having an Earth mode, and this makes a nice variation on the Cybertronian Tank form he has been rocking for the last few years (such as in Energon, Animated, Prime and DOTM).  Since all 4 legs are able to be positioned in different ways, both on the horizontal and vertical axis, it means this toy is great to set up on battlescapes with uneven terrain.

*I have subsequently been reminded by Laine from Melbourne that in fact ‘Scrapmetal’ from the Cybertron series can be considered the first ‘walking spider-tank’.  Thanks Laine!  I actually own this toy so I feel particularly silly for forgetting this figure 😉 

The laser turret on top of the tank can once again activate his ‘Wave Cannon’ for pink laser fire but only one pops out.  There is an Ultra-Class version of this character coming out in subsequent waves where the laser turret resembles his Prime incarnation more.

 

Grimlock

Robot Mode

My wrist-bling is massive!

It is a big bulky and solid looking Grimlock.  Despite being depicted in the shots of the cartoon as having a mouth (like in RID) they have given Grimlock back his faceplate and overall a much more G1 head than the ‘teddy-bear’ look he was rocking in Robots in Disguise, which I was not a fan of.  He is well proportioned and has a very G1/Evergreen colour scheme.  This figure has minimal articulation, his shoulders and elbows both have a small amount of movement but he has no knee or head articulation whatsoever.  The front half of his Dino-mode folds down the back of him and goes all the way down to his knees; the figure could have benefitted from this folding in half so that it formed a backpack, but I guess that was not possible due to the figure having to accommodate the ‘Rocket Roar’ feature that the robot mode doesn’t use.  I quite like Grimlock having missile pods on each shoulder, it’s something new for the character and makes up to a small extent him not having any other weapon such as his signature Energon-Sword.

Cybertronian T-Rex Mode

Look at my raised eyes, scientists must have put frog DNA in me

It’s an interesting look, very distinctive with the raised eye sockets and the way it leans forward is quite indicative of the Animated version.  The spikes on his back, forehead and tail are quite interesting too.  A black tail instead of the usual gold but it still sorta works.

By pressing down on one of his back nodules (the foot from his robot mode) you activate the ‘Rocket Roar’ feature which not only shoots ‘fire’ out his mouth but also causes it to flare up from his back.  It looks pretty cool and it will be interesting to see if this happens in the upcoming cartoon as I think it would look quite boss for his back to be spouting fire as he breathes it at Cons.  My only gripe is you have to lean Grimlock even further forward in order to get the nub that activates the switch to be in the right position, meaning Grimlock has to be virtually horizontal for this to work.

 

Transformations

Both this figures are very easy to Transform, in particular Shockwave whom my 5-year old can do with his eyes closed.  Didn’t take too long for him to figure out Grimlock either.  Not much challenge for the adult collector but then that’s not who these toys are aimed at.

 

Overall

Fire fire fire fire!

Look, I have to put my hand up to say that I’ve been feeling fairly negative about this new line from all the images I’ve been seeing online.  But now having two in my hands I gotta say they are a lot of fun!  I received these two for Father’s Day and I think my son played with them more than me and he had an absolute blast!  I think given the relative simplicity of these figures that their price tags are a tad steep and feel that set at about 2/3rds their current cost would be more appropriate.  However that said, if you are a fan of these two characters or you have kids that are really into Transformers they are both worth picking up.

Got anything to say about these toys?  Would love to read it in the comments section below!

 

Related Articles

Toy Review: Masterpiece Shockwave

Toy Review: POTP Dinobots – Wave 1

 

 

Meaty Goodness!

Meat Recipe #10 – Duck Egg & Venison Chorizo Omelette

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Like many great recipies, this one came about by accident.  I had forgotten to defrost a brisket and there were no other obvious meals in the house so I gathered up what I could find in order to feed the family.  The result was surprisingly good!

So without further ado, here is now to make a family sized Duck Egg & Venison Chorizo Omelette.

 

Ingredients:

*7 Large Duck Eggs

*300gm Venison Chorizo

*Handful of Mushrooms

*Handful of grated Tasty Cheese

*Handful of fresh Coriander

*1 Red Capsicum

*2 Shallots

*Some freshly picked Rosemary

*Salt & Pepper

*3 Teaspoons of olive oil

 

Preparation

*Chop the mushrooms, capsicum, shallots and chorizo and place into a bowl

*Chop the coriander

*Beat the eggs and mix in some salt and pepper

*Preheat the oven to 250

*Heat the oil to a high temperature in a frypan

 

Method

*Fry the mushrooms, capsicum, shallots and chorizo in the pan until the juices from the chorizo run.  Set aside.

*Throw in the rosemary until it sizzles and starts to curl.

*Lower the heat, then put in the eggs.  Immediately add all the other ingredients. Briefly mix.

*Remove from the stovetop just as the eggs thicken and pour the mixture into a shallow baking dish.  Place in the oven for 10 minutes or until it starts to brown.

*Remove from oven. Serve.

 

 

And that’s it!  An unlikely combination of ingredients which nonetheless adds up to a delicious meal that all your family will enjoy!

 

Related Articles:

Meat Recipe #6 – Chimichangas

Meat Recipe #7 – Tunnbrödsrulle

Fan Interviews & Art, Transformatorium

Transformer Fan Interview – Brendan

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In our latest interview we talk to Transformer fan and collector Brendan.  Do not cross this guy!  Not only does he have the titanium-manifold to jump out of a plane 4km up in the air, but he know how to swing a mean broadsword as well!

QUESTIONS ABOUT YOU
State you live in? Of perpetual bliss. Or NSW for short

Your occupation? Errrr bum. In reality, Train Guard for Sydney Trains, not as glamorous as it sounds

Your dream job? Space Fighter Pilot

Your age? Ripe at 33
*I’ve sniffed him – I can guarantee he is definitely ripe!

Single/married/kids? Married no kids

What other (non-toy) interests do you have? I have my medieval combat reenactment, run around hitting my friends with metal swords

What type of music/movies/TV/books do you enjoy? Heavy Metal music. Movies and tv, varies a lot. Sci fi, horror, action, cartoon, comedies. Just not crap ones. Books are the same, if it takes my interest.

Do you collect anything besides Transformers? Not much in the way of “collecting”, but I do have random pieces from various places. Specific pop vinyls of movies or shows I like but only have maybe 15

How would you rate yourself on a C scale? With C1 being ‘Junker not worth it even for parts’ to C10 being ‘Perfection’. I’m way off the scale. Which way off, you decide heh

How would you rate how sexually attracted you are to Trev? With 1 being ‘Immeasurably’ to 10 being ‘I’d even jump out of a plane at 14,000 feet just to watch the g-forces ripple that magnificent arse of his on the way down’. I’d follow him anywhere, even plummeting to the Earth. Just next time, he needs to jump first haha
*Wanna bet!

 

TRANSFORMER QUESTIONS
Transformers Allegiance, if you had one? Cons of course

Your Techspec motto if you had one? Always look on the bright side of life

What existing, official Transformers character best describes you? That’s a toughie, maybe Soundwave (not just because he is my favourite character) but your cries and screams are music to my ears fits me well. I sometimes suffer from schadenfreude

Which special ability of any Transformers character would you want to have for yourself? Flight for sure

Fan/Collector since (year)? Probably when the G2 reboot came out was when I discovered the show, then about 2002 I started collecting again when I went to my first Parramatta Collectors fair,though was bigger into Robotech then.

What drew you to Transformers, making you become a fan/collector? Cool robots, they transform.

Do you think you will collect Transformers until you die? As long as there’s ones I want that get released, I’m sure I will

Were your family/parents supportive of collecting toys or did you have to hide your passion from them and friends? For the most part yea they were all ok with it. Don’t particularly care what people think of me either.

Have you attended any fan-meets, Fairs, Conventions? Plenty of fairs over the years. And the Oz Con that was done back in 2006.

Any creative endeavours with Transformers (drawing, writing, customising, etc)? Attempted some customising, tried to turn a Classics Starscream into Thundercracker before we ended up with a cheaper Hasbro version to the Takara one. He’s still in parts soemwhere. Did try to create my own Robot Heroes out of clay for ones that were never done. Was doing Roadbuster, and he’s in parts somewhere too. I did paint up a G1 Prime to have cartoon colours, he was mostly finished, just needs his fists. Alot of unfinished products, lacking time to do them in this adult life.

Favourite series/era/year, and why? G1 still holds the best for me, probably post movie seasons moreso. And Beast Wars too, had some great episodes.

Least favourite series/era/year, and why? Animated, just couldn’t watch it, disliked the animation style.

Collect any comics (which ones)? Some of the IDW collections, not a lot though.

Favourite Comic issue/story, and why? Probably Wreckers or All Hail Megatron. Dark stories, and brutal.
*The first half of AHM was awesome, great to see humanity handed their arses without Autobot interference!

Favourite Cartoon episode/story, and why? Either a Beast Wars episode with Inferno, Transmutate, or Code Of Hero. Inferno is great comedy, Transmutate and Code Of Hero are just touching episodes

Favourite Video/Board game and why? The Armada game for PS2, or the WFC FOC games. The Armada game was fun because it gave us the ability to play as Transformers, and the Tidal Wave boss fight was fun for its epic scale. And what can I say about the WFC FOC games that people don’t know of? They were a lot of fun.

Favourite Character, and why? Soundwave, he was a cold machine.

Sexiest Transformers (robot) Character? Of course this question is in here haha. Arcee would be the one haha

Which Transformers character would you want to exist for real? I couldn’t think of one, probably best that they don’t.

Approx TFs toy collection count (or give a range like 200s, 300s, etc)? Been a long while since I have done a count. I’d say a rough estimate over 300

Sealed collector or out-of-packaging collector? What crazy person keeps them sealed? Nah nothing against people keeping them sealed, I prefer to play with them.

How much do you think you’ve spent on your collecting habit? Too insane to contemplate.

Any rare/expensive figures in your collection? None really rare, but the Botcon stuff does cost a pretty penny these days. And WST Soundwave.

What interesting Licensed Merchandise items do you have? Probably 2007 Vector Sigma and Key. Looks nice on my shelves.

First Transformers toy? My earliest one’s I remember was a G1 Optimus in a gold box classic, G1 Soundwave, G1 Hot Rod, and G1 Scourge. Cannot remember who came first, but they were all the earliest ones I can remember.

One toy you most want? I have most of the ones I want that have come out, but maybe an MP Sleep Convoy would be a grail.

The centrepiece/favourite toy in your collection at the moment (and why)? Love my Soundwave collection shelves. Don’t really have a favourite.

Favourite toy in your early years of collecting (if it was more than 10 years ago)? Can’t say I had one back the either aside from Soundwave.

Worst toy(s) ever in your opinion? I would have to go with something from Beast Machines, those figures just didn’t do anything for me.

Toy(s) that were most disappointing when you got them? I’ve been pretty happy with all my purchases, always looked for the good in figures.

Thoughts on gimmick and non-convertable Transformers toys? Always loved my Actionmasters, so the concept of it I do like if they are done right.

Thoughts on unlicensed fan-project figures/accessories? Filling in the gaps in my collection I do like. And to enhance an official toy I do like too. I ended up getting Universe/Energon Superion and Bruticus because of the upgrades that came out.

Thoughts on Crossover Transformer toys (Star Wars, Street Fighter etc)? If people enjoy them, who am I to judge. And if kids love them too, all the better. But not my thing.

Thoughts on the Transformers Brand over the last five years? Love it. Hasbro releasing toys that I am keen on getting. Most stuff is knocking it outta the park.

Which single TFs toy should every fan own? G1 Soundwave, though kids these days would never know what the hell it transforms into.

Which Transformers toy/product would you give as a wedding present? Any Soundwave haha

 

Fellow Fan Questions

Big Angry Trev
We both credit each other with building up the gumption to finally go skydiving. What other extreme activities have you done over the course of your life? 

It was you who got me to jump lol. Was a spur of the moment lapse in judgment that when you mentioned that you had a coupon, that I should grow a pair to get us both to do it haha. As for other extreme activities, love rollercoasters and did do canyoning once while I was in scouts. Actually, many crazy things I did back then, one time a few of us went to abseil down Mt Keira, we didn’t think it through too well, and our leader found us and told us to go down a different way, which was still pretty perilous. We tied rope to one another in a long chain, couple of times a few of us slipped and the guy above us had to hold their weight. Thinking back on it, was kinda stupid. And canyoning, abseiling down a course in Macquarie Pass, much safer. Though I did nearly drown in a waterfall…

Michael
Transformers LARPing – yay or nay? Who would you LARP as? (If you’ve already mentioned a favourite TF character, pick another to answer this question). 
LARPing is a bit of fun, and if I was to do so as a character (that isn’t Soundwave lol) I would go with Shockwave

Just Chillin’
What is the perfect blend of transformers & heavy metal music? 
Transformers: The Movie Soundtrack haha. But to choose individual bands, Fear Factory or Meshuggah have a mechanical sound to them that works well. Or Cybertronic Spree, they look the part too lol

Dallas
We know you are heavily into Medieval stuff. I’m guessing you wouldn’t mind seeing some medieval themed transformers, much like the Transformers Evolutions: Hearts of Steel where the ‘alternate timeline’ story of the transformers existed during the industrial revolution.
Who do you think would fit a good story of the Transformers Evolutions: Medieval steel.?
Some autobots/decepticons and their alt modes. you are welcome to completely ignore anything that happened in a recent movie. I think a trebuchet would be quite awesome, imagine a transformer launching a giant boulder over large distances. I can’t think of many medieval themed alt modes that you could go with

Jason
What is Larping?

Live Action Roleplaying. People running around hitting each other with foam weapons and is fantasy based. I do reenactment where we use metal weapons and is historically based. 


You have sold off quite a chunk of your collection over the last year or so. What was the hardest bot to part with and do you regret selling it? After having reduced your collection, do you feel better or worse for it?
Probably maybe 3 that I felt were the hardest to let go, Overlord, Shockwave, and Victory Sabre. Such cool toys, but had to do so. Felt better afterwards yea, made space in the collection room for a computer desk and room for more of what I wanted. There was a point where I looked at what was most important in life, and selling helped.

Got any follow up questions for Brendan?  Pop them in the comments section below! 

Ask Trev!

Ask Trev: Fun & Romantic Treasure Hunt

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Today we have another question from Lucille, all the way in South Africa!

Big Angry Trev, how do you plan a romantic fun treasure hunt for your other half’s bday?

 

Well Lucille, a fun treasure hunt usually involves items hidden all over town.

A romantic treasure hunt usually involves items hidden all over your body.

So how to combine the two?

Easy!  Don’t use your body.

The face of romance

If one follows scavenging animals for long enough, one will usually come across a corpse.  Could be a homeless bum who froze to death, could be a junkie that shot up one time too many.  Heck, could even be someone who saw how much a damn coffee costs these days and had a heart attack!  The point is, search and ye shall find.

Now when you hide items all over town they can be pretty much any size.  When you hide items on your body, they usually need to be tiny in order to hide under the fall of a breast, cleft of a buttock or behind the meaty curtain of your average scrotum.  By following the method outlined below, you should be able to meld these two concepts into something both romantic and fun!

 

Items Required:

*Treasure Hunt items (none bigger than say a fish bowl)

*Several corpses located in different parts of town

*A scalpel

*Needle and twine

*Hand sanitizer

*A treasure map

 

Step 1: Load up your sack full of the different items you want your other half to find.

Step 2: Wander around town until you find your first corpse.  Mark on your map where it is located.

Step 3: Using your scalpel, cut an incision in the corpse.  Where you do this will depend on what you are planting there.  If jewellery, just behind the spleen or even the lung cavity are perfect spots.  If something larger like a new teapot or a DVD Box Set, then I suggest the gut.  If the person is fat enough, you can even hollow out a buttock cavity and pop a toaster in there.

So many fun places to hide a fancy bottle of wine!

Step 4: Sew the corpse back up.

Step 5: Continue to do this with every corpse you find, making sure to mark them on your map.

Step 6: When defiling your last corpse (I suggest at least half a dozen), the most special gift should go in there.  Usually plane tickets for a romantic trip are the most appropriate, as well as getting you out of town for a while in case the police take interest in your activities.

 

Then on the day you give your significant other their surprise (in Summer I suggest as soon as possible, in Winter you have a while before the dead begin to really smell) meet them at their house dressed in your loveliest clothes.  Present them with the map, the scalpel, the hand santizer (otherwise the whole exercise would just be yucky), the sack and tell them to get searching!

Follow along and watch the surprise and delight your romantic fun treasure hunt gives your loved one as they rummage through intestines and bladders to find their special gifts!  Then wing your way to take a well-deserved holiday, all while the police search in vain for whoever has been committing these foul deeds.

 

I hope this works for you Lucille.  Given it’s my 10-year wedding anniversary in a few months, I might just be doing the same for my lovely bride!

Good Luck!

 

Related Articles:

Big Angry Trev’s Valentines Day advice!

Ask Trev: “What am I thinking?”

 

Fan Interviews & Art, Transformatorium

Hard Times for Aussie Collectors

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A few years ago we had a golden age for Australian collectors of… er… collectibles.

Ebay was growing exponentially, the Aussie Dollar was worth more than the US one, and not only were all the physical stores stocking a plethora of toys, but fledgling Aussie Toy Importers were opening businesses on the net, making it even easier to get those rare collectible toys from places such as Japan and America.

 Sadly it’s all now changed.

In the last couple of years many of the Aussie online toy importers have shut down or are under investigation.  The introduction of GST on all overseas purchases under a thousand dollars has made importing many toys too expensive – especially since you have to pay an extra 10% on the postage as well.   Any overseas companies such as the US branch of Amazon who don’t comply with the new GST laws are simply refusing to ship to Australia from this point on.  And now the biggest toy stores to find in this land – Toys’R’Us – are shutting their doors forever.

So whether it be in real life or online, avenue after avenue that was once available to your Aussie toy collector are disappearing.  The Golden Age is Over.

 To see how this is affecting your average collectibles buff, we talk to three toy collectors and find out their take on the current situation – Dallas, Darryl and Jason.

 

Question 1: What effect do you believe the application of GST by the Australian Government to all overseas purchases will have on your collecting?

Dallas

A lot of what I buy overseas is not readily available here. There are one or two importers who sometimes stock it but otherwise I will continue to buy from overseas. the only difference may be that I buy less stuff, but it will probably just mean I spend 10% more than I used to.

The secondary effect of this being places like Amazon.com no longer being available to me. I will be surprised if the exclusive items or super deals I used to occasionally find on there will be available through the Amazon Australia site.

To be ‘real’ my international purchasing really slowed down when the dollar dropped from 1.05US to 0.75 US. that’s a 30% price increase, another 10% hurts but it’s not the end of the world for something that I possibly can’t find anywhere else.

Darryl

Aside from having to pay a little more, I doubt it will deter me much.  I find myself having to import later waves of a line due to distribution rarely making it up my way so if I want a figure, I just have to lump it.

Jason

The only impact that the application of GST is going to have will be to increase the cost for obtaining any of the Transformers that I am currently collecting. Most of my spending on current collecting is purchased through Australian retailers so I am already paying GST and that cost is factored into my collecting. It is the items that do not receive an Australian release that are going to cost more.

Given that sites such as Amazon.com are no longer allowing sales to Australia for such items, it is going to cost a lot more to source these harder to find items from other overseas stores or pay significant amounts on postage to freight forwarding companies as well as the GST on top.

I understand that the point of the GST is to charge end users a flat tax across the board and that the purpose of applying it to low value goods is to create equality in trade between Australian retailers and overseas retailers, however the issue is that the Government has created for itself is a situation where they have reduced the possible supply/variety of goods into the country whilst relying wholly upon foreign entities to voluntarily remit GST. The compliance costs will be astounding and it will be interesting to see if any actual profit is generated for the economy from this or if there is simply more funds moving offshore.

 

Question 2: What effect (if any) has the behaviour and subsequent closure  of Australian-based online collecting stores such as PC Collectibles, TFI Downunder and MaynStream Merch had on the availability of collectible figures on a local level for you?

Dallas

I have a lot of money tied up with PC. They used to be great, I have received a lot of excellently priced product from them, until they fell off the wagon, it must be nearly 2 years ago now. I hope to get my money back, but that’s up to the judge I guess. I never shopped at the other two stores. I never minded waiting for my stuff a bit longer as I often pre-order in batches and I nearly always collect faster than I open toys so I never ‘suffered’ the indignity of not having anything new to open because PC was taking longer than everyone else.

Lately I have been making  lot of purchases at TLTC and TBI. Both are reliable and both have excellent prices on different product. I’ve actually been buying a lot of stuff from these two stores that I used to import, long before the GST was introduced. I guess it’s a sign of a good competitive business that has moved with the times.

Darryl

I was fortunate in that while I had issues with PC, I didn’t lose any money to them (nor did I get the stuff I ordered).  That being said, it left a bad taste in my mouth and I’m reluctant to deal with any Australian based online retailers unless they are a well established business.

Jason

I was a huge fan of PC when I stumbled across the online store in mid-2015. There was a solid 1 ½ years where I was a very happy customer and I moved a lot of my purchases from overseas retailers to PC. However, it all started to unravel in 2017 and it has left myself, and a lot of others, out of pocket.

PC’s demise and the way in which PC conducted itself no doubt put a dampening on my collecting enthusiasm. All of a sudden, I went from using my spare time to research what Transformers I was wanting to buy to using my time to attempt to correspond with PC, reading forums such as Ozformers for guidance on dealing with PC/Banks and corresponding with the Banks and attempting to do chargebacks.

My hobby went from something enjoyable to something more akin to my job. However, there have also been some other stores pop up recently (or that have just come to my attention) such as Toybot Importz and The Little Toy Company and I am willing to give them a chance. Neither have disappointed me so far and I hope that neither will. Both have shown exceptional communication and competitive pricing. Whilst the range (and pricing, but we now know why PC’s pricing was so good) may not be the same as PC, I am able to source most of the Transformers that I want from these two online stores.

 

Question 3: What effect will the closure of various brick’n’mortar toy stores (such as TRU) have on your collecting?  Especially since so many online avenues have been closed off?

Dallas

The closure of TRU is a bit sad. I have purchased a lot of exclusive items from them over the years and I’ve often made use of their 20% off sales or price matching policy. It’s likely that I’ll have to resort to more expensive avenues to find those special items that they would have otherwise stocked. Even TRU US supplied me with the recent Titans return Grotusque and Arcee. I would like to think Hasbro Australia will find another avenue for this product but only time will tell and I imagine if prices through alternate channels are too high I may end up skipping a lot of stuff.

Darryl

Probably won’t affect me much.  My nearest TRU is over an hour away so I didn’t get there very often, in fact, with my local K-Mart as the only close source for TF’s (Target, Big W are also an hour away) I’ve accepted that I’m going to have to go online more to get the figures I want.  As much as I want to support local stores (even if they aren’t owned locally) they haven’t been very supportive of me.  So sadly, it looks like any money I will be spending on my collection will be heading off-shore.

Jason

I don’t think that so many online avenues have been closed. There are now quite a few Australian online retailers and a lot of the overseas retailers still appear to be selling to Australia.

I was never really one for buying Transformers for my collection from brick’n’mortar stores. The convenience of online shopping and having the items delivered straight to me is to irresistible to pass up. Not to mention, I often found the prices online (even from Australian online retailers) were far more competitive than in store prices.

Whilst it will not impact upon my collecting, it may impact a little on my younger son. He is really getting into Transformers at the moment and we enjoy going to stores like TRU together and picking ones out for his collection. Whilst we have a great time doing this, it seems as though stores such as Big W now have such a large selection of toys that they have effectively replaced the need for speciality toy stores such as TRU.

 

Many thanks to these three fine lads for sharing their thoughts with us.  How have all the recent changes effected you?  Let us know in the comments section below.

Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – Street Fighter Transformers

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I’ll put my hand up to not being a massive Transformers Crossover toy fan.  Oh I’ve got a few token ones – a couple from Star Wars, a couple from Marvel, heck – even one from My Little Kitty.  So I was kind of bemused when I saw they were making to celebrate it’s 30 year anniversary Street Fighter II Transformer figures.

But then I saw some pics and knew I had to have some!

Nerd Nirvana!

The Bison/Ryu set didn’t hold much appeal.  I thought the reuse of an Optimus mold as Ryu to be particularly poor (I mean really, Ryu has a faceplate now?) but the Chun-Li/Ken set looked great!  The only way it could have appealed to me more was for it to have Vega instead of Ken so I could recreate that awesome fight seen between him and Chunners from the great animated movie from the 90’s.

The whole gang

So today I received the figures.  Now, unlike other reviews I write, I’ll be going from a purely aesthetic viewpoint as I intend to keep these figures relatively MIB.  That means no transforming and minimal removal from packaging.  I’ll be including a marketing pic at the very end from Google Search but otherwise all the pics are mine.  And I invite anyone who has opened and transformed their figures to pop in a review in the comments section – if good enough I might even add it to the review and credit you!

I… I just cant bring myself to play with toys these, though by Primus I want to!

To be honest, I think this is a set you would want to keep MISB, especially given the price tag for what is a couple of Deluxe figures. Chances are you already have these molds as other characters anyway.  Ken is redone from Rodimus and Chun-Li is redone from Arcee.  I’ve got a couple of each mold (including the fantastic Legends Nightbird) so am able to restrain myself, though I am sorely tempted to see how Chun-Li looks in vehicle mode.

Just so friggin well done!

The paintjobs are fantastic, though Ken’s eyebrows look even more ridiculous than in the video game which is no mean feat.  Chun-Li is most definitely the stand-out of the two, all the little details and changes in colour work surprisingly well on many levels – just superb!

The box-art is very good, showing the SFII origins of these two.  It also shows how each character can be put into one of their special moves, and indeed they are packaged with Ken throwing a Dragon Punch and Chun-Li performing a Spinning Bird Kick, a testament to how artciulated the Arcee mold is.

Do you need these toys?  No.  But will you want these toys?  If you are of my age, you may remember just what a huge deal SFII was, it was a revolutionary game and many of us bought a SNES just so we could play it!  I’ve been a rabid SF fan for most of my life, though kinda lost track after Street Fighter Alpha.  This set will sit with pride within my display case for years to come.

 

Got something to add, or actually bit the bullet and played with these toys yourself?  Would love to read about it in the comments section below! 

 

 

Above image courtesy of Google
Ask Trev!

Ask Trev: Whats Trev’s Nuclear Armageddon survival plan?

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Once again, we have a question from a long time reader – Madds in Melbourne.

When the polar ice caps melt, and release an apocalyptic gas cloud from the arctic tundra / or when Trumples and Kimbo wage nuclear Armageddon what is your post apocalyptic action plan?

I didn’t do it!

 

Well, much as when Matt asked me about my plan for when we have a Zombie Apocalypse, this is already a subject I have given much thought to and yours truly is well prepared.

Like when planning against the Zombie Apocalypse, I live on a remote farm (not the same one) that is well inland hours away from the ocean.  Even with the ice caps melting the seas will not rise enough to cross the Blue Mountains to reach our local and since we are now much further north, the apocalyptic gas cloud should only affect the more southern part of this continent, thereby rendering us relatively safe from this eventuality.

However when Trumples and Kimbo wage Nuclear Armageddon is another matter.

‘Radiation Burns? Na na, it’s just an STD I swear!’

They’ve been having recent chats but  I am not hopeful.  Kimbo is likely to turn around and launch a missile on a whim and, given how rude he was recently to the Queen of England, Trumples is antagonistic enough that if he doesn’t start a Nuclear War with North Korea, he is going to eventually start a war with someone.

So what is my action plan then?

Well as I said we are well situated.  About half way between Sydney and Canberra we lie outside any blast zones or radiation fallout areas.  Whilst millions in the region will die, we will be fine.

We will look to our sustainability first off.  We have rainwater tanks as well as our own creek with a water purification system, so will maintain a reserve of clean water well after others have run out.  We have a solar panels and a diesel generator, so as long as the sun shines and we can scavenge fuel for a while we will have power.  We have goats, chooks and ducks so we will have access to eggs and meat on top of having fruit & nut trees and vegetable & herb gardens for sustenance.  We will be OK.  Worst comes to worst there are enough Kangaroos on our land to eat heartily for decades!

Which puts us in a position of power!

Like in the old world, in the new world order power will be paramount.  But now as a permacultralist who has fresh food, water and also electricity, we will have the power!  We will lord it over all the bankers, lawyers and politicians who currently earn 20 times more than I do.  And they will come begging.

Eating hearty while they all die of radiation poisoning – not that I’m smug about it or anything

I will strengthen the fences of our farm and patrol our lands.  Anyone looking for fresh food and water need to be able to negotiate for entry.  Either with resources of their own in tow, or useful skills such as medicine or mechanical repairs will be required to join us.  As our numbers grow, we will attract more people with a wider diversity of skills.  Carpenters, midwives, butchers, bakers, candlestick makers – all will wish to  join my our community and soon a working village will establish itself, with folks able to support each other with goods and services, even after all resources able to be scavenged from beyond our borders have been depleted.

 

But what of those that wish to undermine the new order?

Tracking the spoor of an intruder

Easily fixed.  All newcomers to our community, once properly vetted, will be branded with a hot iron on the back of their left shoulder blade with a mark resembling my benevolent visage and a hand giving the thumbs up underneath.  Any pretending to be part of our community who are not will be fed to the pigs – human flesh being of considerable dietary benefit to the porkers.  This ensures security and loyalty amongst my flock.

But what of raiders?

Whereas with the Zombie Apocalpse, where zombies will be the biggest worry regarding transgressors, it will be Mad Max-like bands of marauders roaming the land that will be of major concern.  These groups will have regressed back to the ‘might-makes-right’ mindset, with the biggest, burliest and nastiest forming gangs around themselves.  Though a mixture of violence and fear they will control their followers and scour the land, refusing to create but rather steal the toil of others.  Their main goals beyond destruction?  Obtaining fuel, food and women.

Luckily we also will be prepared for this.  Even man in my new order will be trained in marksmanship with a scoped rifle, able to knock the gnat off a rabbits dick from 500 yards.  All womenfolk will be trained extensively in hand-to-hand combat, as well as the proficient use handheld weapons – particularly knives.

Not only does this empower women within my new world order community to know that on a one-to-one basis they can beat the living crap out of or even kill any man who tries to get overly fresh with them, it will surprise the hell out of raiders!

Imagine a scavenging road gang, having breached our gates, coming into the main compound ready for combat.  Now any man they would see they would immediately kill on the spot.  Not women.  Women is what they are after.  They see a few dozen apparently unguarded ladies with smiling and somewhat lascivious smiles on the faces.  These raiders will think they have reached the promised land!

Leading by example, I will of course also offer myself as irresistible bait

Of course, as they dismount from their motorcycles and dune buggies and approach these fair maidens, hidden snipers from every conceivable angle will take them out.  Any left standing will be sliced from scrotum to sternum by the women of our clan, relishing the feeling of spilling the guts of their would-be aggressors onto the soil below.  These pricks wont stand  a chance!

 

As the years progress, I will retire slowly from the community, becoming more of a holy figure amongst the people as my offspring continue to command the rabble and expand our territory, annexing new towns and hamlets by the score.  By the time some of the radiation from the capital cities has receded, I will be lying on my death bed, surrounded by my loved ones with the palace-like-homestead I inhabit beset by thousands of worshipers crying in lament, me content in the knowledge that I have set humanity upon a path to redemption and that statues in my likeness proclaiming me as the true messiah will stand for generations to come, my will controlling the fate of the human race long after my passing.

‘The Church of Trev’ – as long as ya worship me ya can sin as much as ya friggin like!

Of course, humanity one day will recover enough to bring back the sciences of the past and improve upon them.  It is with a satisfied certainty I know that when, in about a thousand years when humanity gets close to destroying itself for a second time, these technologies will be used to revive me to the land of the living to save civilization once again, and thus take my rightful place as overlord of the new age of man, extending my influence to the stars and beyond.  I will through inspiration, charisma and my natural musky scent, lead us all to conquer the heavens above and I will live forever as Big Angry Trev the 1st – Grand Space Emperor Supreme!  All will love me and despair – or I’ll have their balls chopped off!

 

Well, that’s my plan anyway.

Hope this answers your question Madds.

 

 

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Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – POTP Optimal & Unicronus

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The Power of the Primes toyline continues at a good pace, and just in time for some midyear toy sales, the next two leader class figures – both sporting the evolve gimmick – have hit the shelves.  The first of these is a brand new mould and likely to excite those who are Beast Wars fans – Optimal Optimus! The second is a recolour (albiet a very cool one!) of a previous figure and a brand new (sorta) character – Rodimus Unicronus!

 

Optimus Primal

Robot Mode

‘I aint no stinkin ape!’

Optimus Primal looks quite good here, reasonably faithful to how he looked on the cartoon, though minus the hair, and very well proportioned.  He comes with two guns instead of his signature swords, and though that is unfortunate it is forgivable.  His backpack is fairly visible, personally I fold the cockpit up when looking at him head on to minimize this.  The red on the body, along with the Maximal sticker, give the figure that little bit of contrast in his colours which makes him pop more.

 

Hoverboard-Spaceship thing

An Uber driver for Silver Surfer

Primal’s alt-mode, instead of being a gorilla, is the flying surfboard that was used by his second incarnation back in the Beast Wars cartoon.  While personally I think this is a good way to incorporate all of the forms he had back in the day, purists will be annoyed at the lack of Beast Mode.  Optimal Optimus can affix to the top fairly well without falling off.

 

Optimal Optimus

Robot Mode

The big fella!  One of the biggest Beast Wars figures has been very well recreated here.  The guns from the smaller figure can be combined into one large rifle, or else can affix to his chest to represent the weapons that the original had.  Likewise the armour from his forearms can be removed and added to his shoulders to make him appear more like the original.  The face sculpt is very good and, the colour scheme is well done and he has those gigantic orange signature hands.  Overall pretty good.

 

Cyber-Gorilla Mode

“OK, I lied – I am a stink ape”

Really just the robot mode but with shortened legs and a different head.  Works well on the hoverboard but you would be hard pressed to call this a proper transformation.  The hoverboard can transform into a gun-toting backpack for some variety.

 

Cyber-Jet Mode

“I beat Victory Saber in the ‘weirdest spacecraft’ competition”

This is pretty much the robot mode lying down with the hoverboard attached to the back to add a cockpit and guns.  It’s not bad, but certainly not great, I haven’t been less impressed with a Transformers flying mode since RID Twinferno.

 

Nemesis Hot Rod

(Please note: As I have already reviewed POTP Rodimus Prime, I will be giving an abridged review of this figure.  For a more comprehensive review of this toy mould, please check out my review of Rodimus HERE)

Robot Mode

The Hot Rod of nightmares

Geez the colour works well here!  I was that in love with the Unicronus mode that I didn’t think I’d pay much attention to how Hot Rod would look, but one look at that face changed my mind completely – almost makes me wish I had the cash to buy a second so I could have both the robot modes on display!

 

Sports Car Mode

Kit from Knightriders bad-news cousin

Really sexy!  Got that evil-mirrorverse motif down-pat!  Looks exactly like a macabre version of Hot Rod should look!

 

Rodimus Unicronus

Robot Mode

“You can tell I’m the evil twin because I have a beard”

Oh he is just cool!  I’m absolutely loving the beard!  You just see him and Motormaster arm-wrestling while they pound some Energon-brews in some dingy cyber-pub somewhere!  Big, black, bulky – just great!

 

Cybertronian Winnebago Mode

What Hells Angels go touring in when they retire

Probably the least impressive of all the modes for this toy.  It has the faults that Rodimus Prime has, but a lot of the cool little details are hard to see because there is too much black in the paintjob.

 

Overall

I can’t say I’m hugely overwhelmed by Optimal Optimus, however my son, who is vaguely aware of the existence of Beast Wars at best, can’t stop playing with him so that’s a big tick.  And personally I am loving Nemesis Hot Rod/Rodimus Unicronus and plan on picking a second one up if they ever become super cheap.  Both would do well to find a place in your collection.

 

Got anything to add to the above review?  Write it in the comments section below!

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Ask Trev!

Ask Trev: How do I avoid spoilers?

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This question comes from Michael in Melbourne:

How do you avoid spoilers for major movies/comics/stories etc in the age of the internet? What is an appropriate time delay before spoilers are OK in a public forum? What should be done (if anything) to those who spoil things for others?

Ah spoilers, people do tend to forget that the major word within that is ‘spoil’ don’t they eh!  That by giving away the plot and/or ending they are spoiling that potential experience for someone else.

 

So how to avoid spoilers in the age of the internet?

The problem with major movies is that half the time the trailer IS the spoiler – they are that desperate to get you to see their flick instead of the other thousand other competing movies that come out that month, that they put in clips of all the best parts, which usually includes images of the climax of the movie!  It’s a pain in the arse is what it is!  So what hope have you of avoiding spoilers when even the trailers can spoil movies for you?  And comics and stories aren’t much better.

So to avoid spoilers from the internet, I suggest the following:

See no spoilers. Hear no spoilers.

*Step 1: Announce to the world via social media that you will be logging off for the foreseeable future and that A: you are not dead, just uncontactable, and B: You will hurt anyone that tries to break your embargo.

*Step 2: Unplug your computer

*Step 3: Smash your smart phone

*Step 4: Fake an illness and get a month’s leave from work

*Step 5: Erect a barricade made out of old furniture and razor wire on your front lawn, leaving a small hidden Hogan’s Heroes-esque tunnel so that your kids can still go to school and your wife can still bring home food.

*Step 6: Go into the basement

*Step 7: Apply a blindfold and earplugs

*Step 8: Get your wife to feed you and empty your potty until the day of the movie/comic/story release, then get her to lead you, still in a state of sensory deprivation, to the cinema/comic/bookstore.

*Step 9: Wait until you are seated with the book in your hand or the movie is starting (NOT while the trailers for other flicks are still running) then with a prearranged signal from your spouse, remove earplugs and blindfold and enjoy your spoiler-free experience.

And the beauty is, you will probably smell so much by then that most people will want to stay the hell away, which lessens the risk of spoilers in the future.

 

What is an appropriate time delay before spoilers are OK in a public forum?

Six months.  That’s the golden rule – six months.  Unless it’s me and it’s a movie and then it’s a solid two years because that’s how long it takes me to get around to watching a flick (unless it’s Deadpool or Transformers in which case I’m there front row centre!).

 

What should be done (if anything) to those who spoil things for others?

They should be turned from their homes.  They should be stripped naked and paraded through the streets where they can be jeered and pelted with rotted fruit by the populace at large.  They should be marched up the steps of the nearest town hall where, via the medium of a car battery and a wet towel, their genitalia is repeatedly fried again and again so that they can not produce another generation that cant keep their damn traps shut!

 

I wish you luck Michael, in this day and age avoiding spoilers is almost an impossible feat, but with the love (and potty emptying skills) of a good woman I’m sure you will manage it somehow.

 

Got any other advice for Michael?  Add it in the comments section below!

 

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