Transformers Movie Toys

It must have been ages since I last wrote here. Well, where should I continue? Yes, probably the movie, the Transformers movie of 2007. It came and it sorta gone now. Yea, even the dvd came out a month ago.

Crazy stuff happened since the movie. Everyone who was a fan during the 80s all came back. And the kids also think the movie was cool. The end result - a lot of them are buying the toys. I mean, they swept the shelves clean every time they put the toys up. And don't even mention the scalpers. Arghh, they bought all of them and sell them double the retail price. I ended up buying the toys every time I saw new ones, there is no 'go home, think about it' that sort of thing, because if you come back later, they will already be gone.

Are the toys good? In my opinion, they ARE very good. I am very impressed with the 'automorph' features. Very creative. The aesthetic of the new robot design? It is a new take, really they are refreshing. I have nothing against the old blocky design of the bots, but the new ones are so much more ....'real'? Wish they could make them as complex as the CGI models, haha. In my dream, yes.

SUPER vs MECHA

Alright, hate to go theoretical about relationships all the time, perhaps sometimes there are just no logic in love!

For a thing that is totally logical, however, is how i collect robot toys. I collect only the 'MECHA' and I... despised the 'SUPER' robots! Hey, not a problem if you like them. If you like Getter robots, I won't stop you (Could I even stop you?) 'SUPER' robots are just too illogical for me, and the aesthetic... I couldn't stand it. Nostalgia could help ... but I wasn't growing up watching Getter robots, oh well :-P

For those who read this and have no idea what I'm talking about, here are the basics. 'SUPER' robots are fantasy robots. The design and how they function are not meant to go along with real world logic. In another word, they don't intend to exist in the real world.

The type of robots I like are the 'MECHA' or real robots. They are intended to exist in the real world, though it may not be now but can be in the distance future. Few examples of 'MECHA' I like are Macross Valkyrie fighters, The Transformers, Patlabor, Gundam? (Hate it, the definition of recycle design), the Votoms (cool Scopedogs), the EVA (Well, they are unconventional but real enough) and many more.

'SUPER' and 'MECHA' are terms both by the japanese. For me 'SUPER' is just too illogical, the design aesthetic... feels more like giant caricatures than robot. Bottomline, believable is a must for me.

Love me as who I Am?

Just this week I have been hearing two friends asking what I think of "love covers every flaw and inedequacy of a person" and the similar saying "if you love me you should love me as who I am". For what I think? I think I am all for the "love me unconditionally" thing!


However, through my ups and downs of 30 years of life, I learn taking an ideal to the extreme always ends up in abuse. Unconditional acceptance is all good but human nature are not perfect. Everyone who is given free of something will eventually TAKE THINGS FOR GRANTED. I don't know about everyone, I know in so many cases in my life I have failed to appreciate someones...

Below is actually repost of a blog I wrote year ago, after I had a nice chat with my ex-boss, I wrote this.

Acceptance is a simple concept. When we are in a relationship, it is better that we could accept who the person IS rather than who the person SUPPOSED to be. This I mean without any presumption on that person, accept exactly who he/she is. A presumption would be something like "Eh~he is the insensative type, he would never understood me, and I would never treat him as a good friend". Instead, I should treat him the same as I treat my other friends, I should not be thinking all about his insensative aspect, which ultimately make it harder for me to be truly his friend.

When people are ready to change, they will. When they are not ready, they will not.

How ACCEPTANCE helps? I supposed acceptance is like a willingness to understand someone, and this helps the others really look into themselves. Without acceptance, the others would've felt rejected and most likely to resent any suggestion of change.

Acceptance applies too within Oneself. When I, myself, is not able to accept who I am now, it is impossible for me to change into someone i ought to be. Acceptance is understand of who I am, if I do not understand what I should change, or even, WHY I should ... it is pointless.

So, everyone who is a bit like me, do not be anxious. Try not to do crazy stuff, understand yourself first.

Have a nice day, people.

Obsession of a Mortal

As a collector myself, I am aware that I have an insane obsession of wanting to own things that I desire. In my case, the stuff are mostly toys that I like. Sometimes I couldn't sleep because I am worry that someone would pick up the last toy on the shelf.

From time to time, I stare at my collections and thought, hmmmm, when I died I will have all of them buried with me. That always gives me a giggle. Seriously though, there are people that are not like me, they live life like reading newspaper. What does that mean? That means enjoy life without having to possess that 'something'. Everything is fleeting in this world, beauty don't last, anything organic like us don't live forever. Should I not do things like traveling, eating new food, experience more thrill and all that? Experience are more meaningful than all the things I can collect? Sometimes I do hope I live forever....hehe, crazy.

Owning objects as a sense of security, but is it not an experience too? The difference is that the experience is constantly in our grasp, the 'thing' is in the room! What if they get destroyed or stolen...? Oh nooooooo! But as tragic as it may be, I guess I'll live through it, if it happens.

All in all I keep reminding myself... ultimately it is the experience that counts, it is not whether I will own the objects forever or not, but the joy of having them then and discussing the beauty of the things we collect among the fans.

Robot-Aesthetic

Recently I have read a review from a non-transfan, can't help but feel like wanted to response to the comments. This is taken from Collection DX.

"I never liked Transformers. Not even as a kid. Oh sure, I liked the cartoon and I loved the movie and used to watch it repeatedly. But the toys just never did it for me. Sure, they usually looked great in vehicle mode, but if I wanted toy cars, I would have bought Hot Wheels or Matchbox. I wanted cool looking robots and they just didn't deliver for me. Furthermore, mine always broke on me so for me, it was all GI Joe, Masters of the Universe, etc....



Then as an adult collector, with the Transformers making a big-time comeback, I still decided to focus my attention elsewhere. In an age where high quality collector toys are everywhere..."

Everyone who loves robot has their own sense of robot-aesthetic. I can see his perspective but I can't believe he doesn't see anything that I see. First and foremost, Transformers' charm is not about how pretty their robot form is, or how cool is their vehicle form is, the main attraction is it TRANSFORMS! Sure if this is not his cup of tea, then so be it. Just don't tell everyone the toy is not cool because they are not graceful or incomplete, or they are half-and-half, not car and not robot. Secondly, he broke his Transformers while he was a kid, great, and so now he didn't like it.

Also, I do realise high quality toys are everywhere these days, but with the price of 3 to 5 times more than Transformers? Uh no, Transformer are in good quality if we look at the price tag. And again, Transformers are for people who like puzzle, and if the robot and vehicle mode are well designed, then is a big plus.

Ah... I am bias but I try not to be. :-P

It will all begin here :-)

So this blog will begin today and hope it will last longer than I would expect. I haven't written much of anything in my whole life. I think I will dedicate this blog to write about my passions and experience as ... well, a regular guy in the creative field. Hope in time I can look back as a reference to what make who I am today. Yes, there will be some discussion about aesthetic and the Transformers toy.