 | The Non-Tuesday Toys continue, Today it's a look at The Hades Pheydan as he explores some deep dark areas... His head glows in the dark. He wins. -Gruffy |
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 It's Monday again, join Tricky and Stu as they sift through this weeks Transformer news.
Sift with them, After The JUMP! 
Gruffy, Rob and Stu finish up the lookback in the way back machine with Zone. Originally recorded in 2011. Which was 4 years ago.
Four. Years. Join us in feeling old after the JUMP  Continuing the look back at the Takara Trilogy that will never involve the Headmasters series, Gruff, Rob n' Stu cast a glance at Transformers Victory.
Enjoy the show after the JUMP! “No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away...” ― Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man How does someone encapsulate a man’s life in text. How can any person write a farewell to a person that you’ve never met? More so, how is it possible to do so with a man such as Sir Terry Pratchett. I had hoped that the day I would attempt to do so was much further away. Today, the news broke that Sir Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series, the Truckers Trilogy and many more, died at home aged 66. For the last decade, He had suffered from Alzheimer’s (his “embuggerance” as he had named it in typical Pratchett style) and publicly shown his enormous strength of character in facing it. Pratchett is survived by his daughter Rhiana and his wife Lyn. I have never met the man, yet he may well be one of the most important figures in my life. His work helped through bad times, and after coming to it at the age of 12, gave me new ways to think about the world around me in my formative years. He focused the impotent rage we all share at the world around him and channeled into great fiction that both challenged the reader with its inventiveness and knowledge of real world events and history, skewed and mirrored as it was. I learnt from these books, and learnt of the events that shaped them. Pratchett taught me more of the world than any school ever could, and he did so with a twinkle and a smile. Neil Gaiman recently said “Beneath any jollity there is a foundation of fury. Terry Pratchett is not one to go gentle into any night, good or otherwise”. Gaiman spoke about how Pratchett’s fury fueled him, and how the engine that created the Discworld was powered by anger at the world around him. Beneath the humour of his work, that heart still beats, and we can learn from that. Take that feeling, and create. Don’t spend the day complaining at the injustice and stupidity of the world, use it and make something. Anything. At least, that’s what I’ve always taken away, and it is a lesson I shall remember for many years yet. And even now, on this sad day, I am lifted somewhat by the knowledge that there are people yet to open their first Discworld book, yet to look at the world a different way, and that is the true legacy of Terry Pratchett We lost one of the greatest minds of our time today, but we should celebrate the life he led, and we should remember the work he left, and honor both in the same dignity that the man himself held through his twilight years. Goodbye Tezza. You will be missed, and I hope the desert gives you the peace you richly deserve, though it is much too soon.  SIR TERRY PRATCHETT 1948 - 2015  It is with utmost sadness that we must report today the passing of Discworld author Sir Terry Pratchett.
Sir Terry passed away at home today, surrounded by his family, with his cat sleeping on his bed. The author was diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy back in 2007, and in recent years had done a great deal to promote discussion of this and other forms of dementia. In a press release from his publishers, Transworld, MD Larry Finlay paid tribute to Sir Terry as follows: "I was deeply saddened to learn that Sir Terry Pratchett has died. The world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds. In over 70 books, Terry enriched the planet like few before him. As all who read him know, Discworld was his vehicle to satirise this world: he did so brilliantly, with great skill, enormous humour and constant invention. Terry faced his Alzheimer's disease (an 'embuggerance', as he called it) publicly and bravely. Over the last few years, it was his writing that sustained him. His legacy will endure for decades to come. My sympathies go out to Terry's wife Lyn, their daughter Rhianna, to his close friend Rob Wilkins, and to all closest to him." The countless SF and fantasy fans who were entertained by Sir Terry’s books over the course of decades may like to know that a Just Giving page for the Research Institute to the Care of Older People has been set up in his memory. .His death was announced on his Twitter account, on Thursday afternoon. The first tweet was composed in capital letters - which was how the author portrayed the character of Death in his novels. "AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER," it stated. "Terry took Death's arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night." "The End". 
From way back when, Gruffy, Stu and Rob cast an eye over that most un-transformers of transormers series, Masterforce!
Check it out AFTER THE JUMP  BigBurty from the October Toys forums wrote up a little article explaining how he got into the Glyos System, and the reasoning for his love of Onell Design's Armorvor. Enjoy! A quick backstory... I started re-collecting in the early part of 2012, after finding a giant bag of Monster In My Pocket (MIMP) figures from my childhood, hidden away at my parents' house. I'd intended to sell them or give them away (as my mom had done with most of my other vintage toys), but I found myself struggling to do so due to the memories that were attached to them. A quick Internet search led me to a mini figure forum called LittleRubberGuys.com, where, after joining up, I found myself buying more MIMP (and other vintage figures like M.U.S.C.L.E) rather than selling anything!
Roll forward to November 2012, where thanks to a new interest in buying more modern mini figures as well as vintage ones, I was directed towards another toy forum - OctoberToys.com - which was more Indi figure orientated. They had a section called 'Onell Design/Glyos' and browsing that thread ended up leading me to the Onell Design blog, where I caught my first Glimpse of the Armorvor! The blog announced that there was an upcoming 'drop' and that three new Armorvors were coming. I knew I wanted them, but as Onell Design is an America-based business and I'm in England, it threw a couple of problems my way. Not only did I have to set my alarm to wake me up at 3am for the drop, but I also had to enlist an American friend (thanks Eric S) to take the Armorvors in for me and then ship them on at cost, as (understandably) the standard cost of tracked shipping from Onell Design to England would cost me more than the three Armorvor figures combined. Needless to say, all the hassle and waiting was well worth it, as it was obvious as soon as I ripped open the package that the Armorvors were awesome and I knew I wanted more.  The three heads that you get with the Armorvor, showing off its modular builds As I got more and more interested in Armorvors, I realised I'd missed two drops prior to the drop I'd joined in with. Hunting down those particular Armorvors wasn't easy (or cheap), but the feeling once I had them in hand was great! It was at that point I decided to continue my collection and attempt to own one of each production Armorvor that was produced - something that as of writing this I'm still managing to do. Furthermore, through chatting to other collectors and custom figure painters (thanks again Eric S) I ended up starting to custom paint a variety of figures, including Armorvors, featuring a range of custom animal heads cast by TheGodBeast. This Armorovor 'obsession' also lead me to purchasing the most prized piece in my collection - a metallic blue prototype Armorvor, a one of a kind figure in that particular colour scheme, from the original prototype batch. It's a great feeling to know that you own a figure that no one else anywhere has! I then decided to share my Armorvor obsession with others by setting up 'The Armorvor Archive' Facebook page, featuring picture galleries, facts and information on all things Vor.  Armorvor art by Nathan Newell So why Armorvors? I'd never really collected Battle Beasts, and Armorvors look similar to Battle Beasts, but with one major difference - the Glyos system! Not only are the Armorvors articulated, but thanks to the Glyos system of building, you can swap around their parts and combine them with other Glyos compatible figures. When it comes to my collection, I keep the Armorvors in a standard pose, but my customs show how they can be adapted to any style or combination you can imagine. If you've never owned an Armovor then head over to Onell Design and check them out, and hopefully you'll start to see why I think they're one of the best modern figures out there!
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