These few months have been quite a challenge for me, mentally, physically & emotionally. A significantly increase in workload which leads to overworking, coupled with a lot more problems at work such as unreliable colleagues, & backstabbers, you kinda start to wonder whether it’s all worth it? Even when I come back home at 10pm, I’m still working, even through weekends! It’s like my whole life is being worthlessly overwhelmed with work! Judging by what I am doing now, I consider myself severely underpaid. I may work like a horse, but I’m paid like a donkey. Moreover, engineering was never my heart’s calling in the first place. And when you put all of those into perspective, you kinda wonder what went wrong?

            I had a talk with a friend of mine last week, and we ended up talking about what we were accomplishing in our lives, and about our interest. This friend of mind have been interesting in doing business for a long time, in fact, growing up in a business-oriented family, it has been a calling for him to follow the tradition. Eventually, all of his siblings followed their father’s footsteps and their heart’s calling, and ended up very successful. Each of them is earning 5 figures salary each month, and more importantly, they are satisfied with what they have achieved. They have a sense of fulfillment, being able to do the things that they like, and earning huge income along with it.

            They are among the few out there who are lucky enough to make a career out of doing the things they like. But let’s face the fact, majority of us do not have that luxury of doing so, either due to circumstances or lack of opportunity. If it were up to me, as far as interest goes, I love to be performing on stage, either singing or being involved in stage plays.

            I remembered when I was young I was terrified of the stage. In fact, for the few times that I was on stage storytelling when I was in primary school, I froze and ended up messing up the entire story. My fear of the stage prevented me from doing a lot of things for many years, until I was in Secondary 3. For the first time ever, my school was involved in a statewide English Drama competition and my English teacher at the time, Madam Marina Abu Bakar was charged to form a team. One day during class, she announced to our class and requested volunteers to join the team. All of a sudden, all the fingers were pointed at me. I have to be honest; my blood froze at that instance, but my teacher told me that she had confidence in me, and that she wanted me to write a script as well since she knew I was good at writing stories.

            I thought her confidence was misplaced.

            Anyway, lacking any escape route, I went ahead with it anyway. It took me a day to come out with a script, and it was my first ever play-write called “Life in the Streets”. It was a gloomy story about life in the back alley where drug addicts dwell, and street fights occur. In that play, I played the main villain role and had my first real taste of stage life. Though we didn’t make it to the finals, I was voted the best actor for my school. Since that day onward, I was hooked to the stage. It was where I felt most comfortable.

            The following year, my teacher asked me to join the team again, and I didn’t even think twice. For the first time ever, I played a hero role, and was involved as a stage director. That year we made it to the finals, though we didn’t win, I was voted the best actor for my school for the second year running. I was really hooked by then. I was briefly involved with the now defunct Malacca Theatre Group, but because I had my Secondary Five exams coming, I had to cut my tenure with the group short.

            By the time I was in university, I was determined to reignite my passion for the stage. However, to my disdain, my university, KUiTTHO, didn’t have any drama/ theatre group at the time. But I wasn’t to be discouraged, being elected as the pioneer Director of Rakan Seni Budaya in my first year, I formed my own drama team, and at the same time, I organized an inter-varsity theatre competition involving KUiTTHO, UM, UTM, UUM & UPM. Apart from organizing that event, I also wrote the script, involved in the acting in a minor role and co-directed the play.

            My team won 3^rd place, and I narrowly lost out on the best supporting actor’s award. For the record, it was my first comedic role ever. From that day onwards, I had made my mark in my varsity. By then, I was well known all over campus & well recognized by the varsity’s management. Whenever there were any stage plays that needed to be done throughout campus, I was sought after. My crowning moment was when I wrote, directed and acted a comedic play in front of the German ambassador in conjunction of my university’s Language Week. Seeing the German ambassador actually laugh at my jokes was the ultimate fulfillment.

            However, with it being the ultimate high, it also marked the last time I was involved in any stage play. Ever since I graduated, I have not tasted the stage, apart from the occasional singing performances at weddings and functions. Months after graduation, I sought out the old Malacca Theatre Group, but was informed the group disbanded during the 5 years I was in university. I was thinking that, if the opportunity ever arises, I would love to be reacquainted with the stage once more, or even make a career out of it. But I guess that would be tremendously impossible in Malacca. The MTG was my only hope, and it ended up folded.

            Being on stage gave me comfort and happiness. It gave me fulfillment that was beyond my wildest dream. I had wanted to organize a musical play during my last days in university, but the lack of time prevented it to be realized.

            Sometimes, it gets me to thinking. If I had made the stage as my career instead of engineering, would I be happy now? Maybe one day, my opportunity will come. But until then, I have to be contempt with the present.

            Having said all of that, I am reminded of my friend’s quote: a wise man once said, a man will not die in peace if he or she couldn’t fulfill his or her dreams. That is truly a point to ponder…

Hello fellow Cybertronians!!!

Happy Halloween’s Day!!! When we about Halloween’s Day, we start to think about ghouls, ghosts, monsters & stuff. It is a day where supposedly all hell breaks lose. It’s kinda like the western version of the Chinese’s Hungry Ghost Festival, minus the prayers & the other 29 days, but with lotsa costumes and candies to give away. I’m not so sure about its exact origin, but from what I know about Halloween is that it has religious origins to it. But I ain’t gonna delve a lot into the matters that I don’t exactly know of.

But what I do know is that Sayne loves Halloween. Sure, he doesn’t go around dressing up as Frankenstein & knocking on every house saying, “Trick or treat?” In fact, most people already thought he is already wearing a mask (HAHA!! No offense, bro).

For me, I don’t actually celebrate Halloween. Sure, it would be kinda fun to be looking at kids (and occasionally grown-ups) dressing up for the occasions, but Malaysian tends to have reservations to go around pretending to be ghost. They kinda consider it to an unhealthy (read unlucky) practice to be doing so.

For me, Halloween’s Day marks the day that I lost someone that was very closed to me. It was exactly 2 years ago on this day that my dad passed away. He battled against rectal cancer for slightly over a year, and eventually lost it. In a way, it’s kinda ironic that he passed away right on Halloween’s Day. You see, my father was a very superstitious man. He doesn’t allow us to whistle at night for fear that we might invite a ghost or a snake in to the house. He would shout at our dog if it were to howl at night for fear that it may attract wandering spirits. He doesn’t like us to be wearing black clothes most of the time. The list was endless… Be that as it may, he likes stories of ghost, monsters, strange creatures, zombies, ghouls, etc. He just loved it. He used to hog on to the TV remote if there was any monster or ghosts movies. These were the only shows on TV that you wouldn’t catch him sleeping on the couch watching. He had a variety of Malay ghost novels & magazines, which I still keep them to this day. I too have the fondness towards the supernatural as he did, but I don’t quite like reading them because I feel that it’s kinda repetitive & lacking in ideas. The storylines and concept are nearly the same, but with different characters, name and locations. Nevertheless, my dad loved it. My mom used to criticize him for buying those books for 2 reasons: 1) it was slowly piling up to a mounted; & 2) it was making him for superstitious. But my dad didn’t care. He loved it, and that was that.

So in other words, Halloween’s Day reminds me of my dad, because of his fondness towards the supernatural, and also that it is the anniversary of his death. It may sound strange, but this is the day and makes me think of him even more.

Dad, on behalf of mom & my little sister, we love you and miss you so much. We have all come to accept your passing, and though we ain’t sad anymore, we still have you in our hearts all the time. So Happy Halloween, dad!

To all, Happy Halloween you all of you too…

            Do all of you agree in this simple statement? Like it or not, this simple statement represents the simple & yet, inalienable truth. We are all nothing more than just slaves, or servant, if you prefer to called that way instead. We are either slaves for money, slaves for your superior, slaves of employment or whatever you like to call it. Either way, one way or another, our lives are bound to something. It doesn’t matter who you work for, or what you work as, at the end of the day, you are still a slave – a slave for money…

            I dare say there are only less than 5% of the people out there, who are nothing more than just a slave for money, including those who claim that they are working as network marketer, where they earn their income from their down line. Be that as it may, they still are dependent on other people to do their work for them. One day, when or if their down line member decides to quit, then their source of income shall be affected as well, depending on situation.

            Everyday, we go to work in the morning, come back home late evening, probably late at night for some of us, either way, we are stuck doing it everyday. Some people say that they enjoy their work, that they love doing it everyday, but who wouldn’t want to just sit back, relax, spend their entire day doing only the things that they really wanna do such as taking a month-long vacation; playing golf; having fun all day long everyday!!! You’d be crazy if you admit that you don’t ever wish for such freedom.

            Even those bosses, and chairmen, and networking marketing fellas, who may not have to directly be involved with their businesses everyday, at one point or the other, they too may get involved. Some bosses may go to ground level to try to secure some jobs. Even some of my network marketing friends (insurance salesmen included), they too spend each day and night trying to secure customers, sometimes being in four Malaysian states in 5 nights!!! So are these guys really free from the grip of money. Yes, for some of these guys, they are more cash to spend and spare compared to most of us, but at the end of the day, even their life is closely associated with money.

            Even so, these guys are even part of the 5 % of people that I told you earlier. Financially-wise, only people such as Bill Gates & Warren Buffet can really consider themselves being on the top tier of that 5 %. To them, work is nothing more than just a hobby, not a necessity. It is not to say that other people will never make it to the top like these two did, but how many people out there can actually reach that height!!!

            Most of us middle-class citizen, work day and night just to survive the month, and the unending chore repeats itself day after day, until one day when we leave this forsaken Earth. Like it or not, that’s the grim reality of it; of the world that we live in right now. Most people in the real world like it or not, are not satisfied with what they are getting from them employers, and these normally will lead to 3 possibilities.

1)      They persevered, trying to think positively that one day, some one will notice their diligence, and give them what is due to them.

2)      And when that doesn’t work, it’s either they keep on hoping and persevering, or they just tell themselves: there’s no point of pushing yourself to the limit everyday, when at the end of the day, you won’t be getting what you deserve.

3)      Or they finally call time on it, and seek greener pastures.

Most of us in the middle tier are trapped in this endless cycle. Whether we like it or not that’s the way it is. Any company that you work in strives for one thing only – profits. All they care about is how much money they are making!!! They are only a few companies out there which actually takes the initiative to ensure that they workers are happy working for them, which in turn increases their productivity and eventually leads to better profits. But most others do not even bother to care about it. The most important thing is that the company makes money, whether it’s on the expense of their subordinates, it doesn’t matter. If any of the employees are not happy, they can just move on, companies will still survive with or without them, or so they say… At the end of the day, we, the slaves, have not much say in the matter. We are stuck, and we are constantly under pressure.

I feel funny sometimes, when some government sector workers come to me and say, their salary is not as good as the private sectors, and they demand more and more benefits from the government to give them at least two-month bonuses, similar to private sectors. MTUC & CUEPECS have been trying to persuade the government to do just that, by claiming that the civil servants deserved it because their productivity have increased much over the past few years or so.

To them I’d say, bullcrap!!!

Civil servants nowadays are earning better salaries & even better benefits compared to those in private sectors! They wanna talk about work pressures, I’d say come and try working in the private sectors once in a while, and get to know what real pressure feels like. Oh, I’ve been to a lot of governmental offices before. I’ve dealt with them ever so often back in my university years, and continued to do so even now, and I can’t say that I’m impressed with their performance. Their performances & pressures pales in comparison to what we are going through in the private sector. They are nothing more than just spoilt brats, having been pampered by their generous employers. Believe I ain’t just saying it. Ever so often when I dealt with government offices trying to meet someone, these people may be out for two to three hours lunch breaks! Some officers are even better. They tell people that they are busy, but as you peeked through their window offices, and you’d see them reading newspapers and sipping coffee in the pantry, after having lunch just half and hour ago. You wanna talk about equal pay as the private sectors?!?! I’d say you fellas are already over-paid as it is.

Yeah, yeah, you may blab about your basic salary isn’t as high, and I’ll admit that at least that much is true, but you neglect to mention about the numerous allowance that most of you are getting, that puts you either on par, or in most cases, exceeds everybody else!!! So until you guys can buckle up and perform on par with the likes of us in the private sector, then shut your trap and do your work like you should have.

As for those employers in the private sectors, you might as well take a leaf or two from the government sector. Try to make your workers feel happier. Try to give them what they deserve. As to the rest, just think about it. Those who ever so often don’t work as much earns more; while those who works like hell everyday doesn’t. Is it fair?!

It ain’t a fair world. Life itself ain’t fair. We are all servants to the mighty & powerful. We are all servants to materialistic ideals.

We are all slaves.

I’ve said what I wanna say, and trust me, there will be more to come from me. As this is my first article ever, and as you can see from it, I do not hold anything back, and I will say what I need to say out loud, whether you like it or not, and that’s that. I ain’t taking no prisoners, now or ever, and don’t expect that I will take it easy with anyone of you. The Big J, Hyppo or Prime may not go and say as far as this, but you ain’t dealing with them this time around. You’re dealing with Sayne here, and I don’t take no prisoners.

Only the truth,

Sayne

            Well it seems like The Big Man, J.W. has been hogging the limelight for so long at Planet Cybertron, so I guess it’s time for The Prime to take center stage.

            Have you ever wondered what exactly life is all about? What it means to live, and how much do you mattered in the greater scheme of things. This book delves into that exact topic. Some of us may wonder, one day when we finally call time on our existence on Earth and kick it, will people remember us? How does your life affect the life of others around you? Just admit it; most of us tend to feel that we have not achieved anything significant. Some of us may think of ourselves as mere shades of our idols. We tend to forget the simple concept: it’s not the height that you achieved that mattered, it’s for which depth that you managed to climb up from that mattered.

            Look around you, your mere existence on Earth may have a significant effect on those around: from the crazy homeless stranger who goes around talking to an invisible stranger, to the hot chick working next door who barely even realizes that you existed!!! A quote by the Blue Man perfectly describes this: strangers are just family you have yet to come to know. The Blue Man, for example is nothing more than just a mere stranger to Eddie, who works as a Maintenance chief at Ruby Pier’s theme park. Little did Eddie knew, The Blue Man’s fate had a lot to do with Eddie himself.

Eddie, 83 at the time of his death, was a retired war veteran, who thought little of himself; who feels that he had left nothing on Earth. To him, his existence was nothing more than just a drop of water in a vast ocean. But after his encounter with the Blue Man and the other four, he realized that his life is worth more than that. Each of the four people that he met have lessons to taught, and with each lessons learnt, he began to realize how meaningful his life was to others, and most importantly, to himself.

I wouldn’t want to spoil the whole thing for you by telling you who exactly that he met, but only that those that he met had been least expected.

By the time you reach to the end of the book, you’d probably would a whole new view on your entire life, and you would probably wonder if you were in Eddie’s shoes, who exactly are the 5 persons that you would meet in heaven; or even better, whose 5 persons would you be?

You see, our lives are full of what ifs – there are so many possibilities & probabilities out there. Each actions that we take, each decision that we make, and for every single person or thing that you may or may not come across with, has some sort of a repercussion to everything and everyone around you, with or without you knowing about.

            This has been my first encounter with Mitch Albom’s work, and really, I am very impressed with it. There’s no wonder why this particular book has been on the New York Times’ bestseller list for such a long time. Now, I’ll be looking forward to his other highly acclaim works such as Tuesdays with Morrie & For One More Day.

            Final verdict: 9.5/ 10. A very good book and it will make you feel real good by the end of it. Highly recommended.

            Ps.: this book is also recommended to those who want to (re)start a habit of reading. It has a very interesting story to tell, but not pointlessly long. I actually finished the entire book in two 2-hrs-long night sessions.

Hello y’all Cybertronians,

Some of you may have noticed the changes that Planet Cybertron has gone through recently, but believe me, the changes won’t only be evidently visually, but in it contents as well. Since the inception of Planet Cybertron on the blogosphere, all entries has only been dominated by 1 individual, that is me, The Big Man. However, from hereon in, other Planet Cybertron’s Editors shall be contributing their own articles directly to the blog.

The editors, who have for long remainded behind the scenes, shall now have a bigger roll to play. The editors, namely Maximus Prime aka Max Prime or The Prime,  Hip Hop Hyppo or simply Hyppo, & Sayne shall be covering a lot more topics ranging from politics, movies, books, musics, general issues & more. It is hopeful that with this revamp activities, it will add more colors to Planet Cybertron. However, this is not to say that The Big Man himself won’t be contributing anything at all. He’ll still be reviewing topics such as the “ever-so-popular” Transformers Review & some other general topics as well.

So hopefully, the new & improved editorial revamp may add more colors & spices to Planet Cybertron…

Regards,

Chief Editor

The Big Man

Intro:

             Hello everybody, welcome to another edition of TF review, and today we will be reviewing one of the most popular characters from the G1 era – Masterpiece Grimlock. Thus far, I have managed to collect all molds used in the entire Masterpiece line. The first was of course my 20^th Anniversary Optimus Prime DVD edition, whose mold is identical to that of Masterpiece Convoy (MP-1 & 4) & Masterpiece Ultra Magnus. The second was that of Hasbro’s Masterpiece Starscream, whose mold is identical to Takara-Tomy’s Masterpiece Starscream, Thundercracker & Skywarp. So when they announced that they were going to produce a Masterpiece version of Grimlock, there was never a doubt in my mind that I was gonna get him.

            Throughout the G1 years, Grimlock has been one of the most well-received characters and has been a constant present in the entire G1 continuity. When he first appeared, he was depicted as one of the strongest Transformers, whose strengths far exceed even those of Optimus Prime & Megatron. His fellow Dinobots were loyal only to him, and would go even to oblivion for their captain. His character, from a gigantic mighty warrior, was regretfully relegated to comic relief right on the aftermath of the 1986 Transformer’s movie. It was sad to see such a great character, only to function as a waiter with an apron and a bowtie. However, despite his demotion and humiliation, Grimlock would still remain as a huge fan favorite.

            When Takara-Tomy announced that Grimlock was to be release, I had put quite high hopes on him. I had anticipated it to be very big, at least to the size of Optimus or Megatron, if not bigger, as depicted in the animated series. But after I saw what they did to Starscream, I was beginning to doubt the worst.

Robot Mode:

Grimlock

            Just as Starscream, Grimlock comes packed in robot mode. The box is as huge as Optimus and Megatron’s. But Transformers are after all – More Than Meets the Eyes – and the box was nothing more than a deception. Grimlock was more in scale with the Classic line rather than the Masterpiece. He looked rather diminutive when compared to Prime & Megatron.

            However, size comparisons aside, the overall articulations are amazing. The head swivels on ball joints; articulated shoulders which are also on ball joints; the elbow has two points of articulation, and are able to turn around; wrist articulation; the waist turns; 2 points of hips articulation; 1 point knee articulation; and then the ankle articulation. Grimlock is also unique for the fact that his hands’ articulations are unique for both left and right. His right hand doesn’t have any articulations at all while the left only has a thumb articulation and the fingers move in and out simultaneously.

            Grimlock is again predominantly grey with more gold & black appearing. The head, hands and upper legs are black, his chest and predominantly gold and the hips are red.

            In this mode, he is perfect, and though as I’ve mentioned before he is small, he is definitely show accurate, and probably has one of the most best looking robot mode in recent history.

Alternate Mode:

T-Rex Mode

            For a figure that cost 500 big ones, which currently reigns as the most expensive piece in my entire collection, his transformation is disappointingly simple. I would’ve thought that if it wouldn’t be as complicated and intricate as Megatron’s, at least he would’ve been at least as complicated as Starscream’s. However, that was never the case. Still, I guess it was unnecessary for them to come out with a complicated Transformation since, even the original G1 figure was already very show-accurate, and the main objective of the entire Masterpiece line was to produce show-accurate robot and alternate-modes, without considering the transformation sequence. In that respect, Grimlock achieves just that – he is very show-accurate.

            In his T-Rex mode, Grimlock only stands at a meager 9-inch tall – quite diminutive for a supposedly huge guy. In this mode, he is predominantly grey, with silver on arm, teeth and tail; and gold on his toes and lower belly.

            Articulations are amazing, with points on the jaws, shoulders (which are on ball joints), elbow, individual finger movements, hips, lower waist, tip of tail, 2 points knee articulation, twisting feet joint just above the knees, and individual movements for all of his 3 toes on each of his feet.

Gimmicks:

Waiter Mode

            There are a few interesting gimmicks available in both modes, and we shall begin with the T-Rex mode.

            It this mode, its lower jaw has 2-level opening. 1^st level opening doesn’t reveal anything, but 2^nd reveals a small nozzle which in his numerous TV appearances, shoots fire. Also, in whichever opening of the mouth, there is a button on the left side of the face, which when you push it, will immediately snaps the jaws shut.

Gimmick - Blaster

            The tails can wag, and when you do so, in will cause Grimlock’s head to shake his left to right and vice versa. Grimlock also has 2 sets of eyes – blue or red, depending which you prefer, whether you want them to be show-accurate or original figure-accurate.

Gimmick - Sword

            In this mode as well, you have a few accessories attachment at your disposal. First are the apron, bowtie & tray set. Obviously for it’s quite silly for me, as it is a testament of how low the character have fallen, and a later stage of his character development, although some other fans may argue this. Second is the intelligence transfer helmet, which Grimlock used to transfer his intelligence to his newly created Computron.

            In robot mode, similar to his T-Rex mode, Grimlock too has 2 sets of eyes – blue & red. The right hand has a concealed LED gimmick. When you insert in his double-barrel blaster or his flame sword into the hand slot, at a press of a button at the back of his right shoulder would activate the LED in his hand, and thus light up the weapons internally up to the their tips. Very unique, and to me, this is the first time I’ve seen a gimmick was designed as such.

High points for that.

Overall:

            Grimlock is really up to your preferences. As far as I know, Masterpiece Grimlock is one of the most highly sought after action figure in Malaysia, and he is very difficult to come by. And I have been lucky enough to manage to persuade my supplier to hand in their last stock to me. But Grimlock really doesn’t come cheap – which is the major let-down of this figure. At RM500, he is the most overpriced Transformers figure to date, and the designs definitely don’t justify that price tag. He is way smaller than his cheaper cousins MP-1 Optimus & MP-5 Megatron; plus with absolutely no die-cast part; not-so-spectacular gimmicks and accessories definitely cannot justify the high price tag. Honestly speaking, at most this figure should fall at a price-bracket of RM250 or so, and even that is seemed pushing the border.

            The figure itself though is great, but not brilliant – good articulations and very show-accurate designs are major plus points here. Kids would probably enjoy the figure along with the accessories, if their parents could afford such expensive toy (geez, I hate using that term for Transformers).

            Overall, all things considered, I do recommend it to professional collectors such as myself, if you have the cash to spare. Parents may need to avoid buying it for their children as this guy is a bit too expensive to risk being destroyed. For those collectors who would look for figures to buy, and to sell after certain amounts of years, Grimlock may be able to fetch quite a hefty sum in the future… So, buying Grimlock is really up to your own professional discretion. And that is all I’m gonna say about that.

Overall, I give Grimlock 8/10.

Intro:

Jetfire vs Optimus

            Greetings to all you Cybertronians out there, today The Big Man is back with a new review after a few months in the wilderness. Today’s review is rather unique, in the sense that I will be reviewing 2 figures at the same time, despite the fact that they are each sold separately. As I’ve mentioned sometime ago when ROTF was released, there were a few figures that I really targeted, and it would be quite a shame if I couldn’t get all of ‘em. Surprisingly though, Optimus & Jetfire weren’t in that original list. 2 reasons why: 1) I already have an Optimus Prime figure from the earlier movie, and I thought that it would offer nothing more than just a retool of the original figure, I might as well skip it and opt for a Leader Class Megatron figure instead, since I didn’t wanna buy the 1^st movie’s version of it; 2) I would’ve settled for a Voyager Jetfire (if there were ever plans for it), cuz I thought it wouldn’t offer anything else that was unique.

            I was proven wrong in both accounts, eventually.

Jetfire vs Optimus Bot Mode

            After watching the movie twice in the cinema, there was no doubt in my mind that I was gonna purchase both of these figures, by hook or by crook. But of course, I placed my priority in the Jetfire figure 1^st, because if I could get him, then there would be no point for me to get yet another Optimus figure. And now, I’m glad that I do have both of them in my possession now, and what amazing figures both of them are. At least, action figure-wise, these two can go toe-to-toe with my Supreme Devastator.

            So without further ado, let’s get on with the review. But before that, I wanna make a shout-out to TeenCom for reserving Jetfire for me, especially when I could find Jetfire anywhere else…  To all you Cybertronians out there, who happens to be toys/ action figures/ anime collectors, trust me, you can find a lotta things at TeenCom. Just drop by their store at Gajah Berang, Malacca, or visit their website at www.teencom.com.my.

OPTIMUS PRIME

Alternate Mode:

2007 Prime vs ROTF Prime Truck

As with the tradition of any Optimus Prime figures, he is designed to be the best of the entire series. Whereas the 1^st movie’s version was arguably the best of the 2007’s movie, the ROTF Optimus Prime has kept the trend going. There had been numerous complaints from other fellow collectors regarding the inaccuracies of the 1^st Leader Class figure; this time around, Optimus Prime is almost entirely accurate. This new truck mode is less angular/ blocky compared to the 1^st version, and I have to say, he looks smoother & slicker than before, which ultimately in my humble opinion, at the expense of its toughness appearance. I would say the original version look a bit more aggressive than this one. Just as in the 1^st movie, this version too has its own little sound gimmick. This time around, when you push on the button, which is located towards the lower left corner below the battery compartment, you’ll get the sound of something which I presumed to the sound of rumbling engine. There is also a panel at back of the truck, where presumably you could attach a cargo trailer, if there ever was one. The smokes stacks are also longer and harder, in comparison to the original. As far as the wheels goes, they actually went a step back. Where they used to have rubber wheels on the first version, this time around, they only use some cheap-looking plastic PVC. Another complaint is with the windshield. I would’ve preferred if they darken them a bit so that it wouldn’t reveal the internal gears & stuffs in truck mode. It looks kinda horrible and out of place. In this respect, the Voyager version accomplished what this Leader Class couldn’t, by having a miniature human driver within the cockpit.

Though it seems that I have a lotta of complaints for the truck mode, I still think it’s worth a purchase, as it still represents the best of what ROTF line could offer this time around. But if you’re like me, you just don’t buy him for that reason,, you would go to the end of the world to get him because of his “main gimmick”.   

Robot Mode:

            As far as the robot mode goes, I have to say it is way better than the original 2007 movie version. The designs it seems are more movie accurate with all the small panels & gears. Size comparison-wise, ROTF Prime easily dwarfs the 2007 Prime. He looks slicker & well equipped for battle. The two huge blades on his arms contain a spring mechanism that will flip out the blades as soon as you push the button of his arms backward. However, the sheer size of the blades may hinder articulation when unreleased. The main problem here would be the shoulder armor (which also the truck’s doors). It would’ve been better if the panels were put on ball joints – it would’ve given an extra room for articulation, especially later on during combo-mode.            Gimmick-wise, when the chest button is pressed, Optimus Prime will utter “I am Optimus Prime”, along with glowing eyes & chest.

            Articulation-wise, he has almost the same exact articulation points as the 2007 version, minus the hands. It’s a big letdown actually to have Optimus Prime totally devoid of any fingers articulation. But other than that, the robot mode is good.            

JETFIRE

Alternate Mode:

Jetfire

            Despite the fact that Jetfire is supposed to be an old guy, I’m quite surprised that he turns into a SR-71 Blackbird (Trivial: On the record, if some of you thought that this jet looks familiar, that’s because the X-Men uses the same aircraft in their operations). To me, the choice of a Blackbird as an alternate mode may be a bit awkward, or at least it doesn’t make sense to me. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t a SR-71 Blackbird supposed to be one of those state-of-the-arts, stealth jet aircraft? How can a robot that old, turn in to a high tech contraption like that?!

            Logics aside, having an SR-71 Blackbird as an alternate mode is soooo cool. Jetfire looks simply amazing, not to mention that he is so huge that he literally dwarfs Optimus Prime in truck mode! It’s worth to note that even though he labeled as an Autobot, he doesn’t have any Autobot insignia on him, except for 2 huge Decepticon insignia on the both wings. He also has the number 17972 etched on his wings and also the name Lt Col Brawley, whoever the guy is. Also, all of the supposedly sharp edges of the aircraft are made from soft rubber, so there are no worries about people getting hurt while transforming them.

            Gimmick-wise, as you press on the button and the tail end of the jet, you’ll get a flyby sound of a jet, which is neat.

            Overall, it’s a nice alternate mode, but depending on from which angle you look at him, he may or may not score high marks. Viewing from the top or the sides is okay, but when it comes to from the bottom, he looks nothing more than just a folded up robot underneath. But I guess that was well expected from most Jet-based transformers.

Robot Mode:

As far as I’m concerned, Jetfire has one of the best robot modes in the entire ROTF line, if not the best. Forget Optimus Prime, forget Megatron, Jetfire is THE MAN!!! This time around, Jetfire is portrayed as a grouchy old robot in the movie, who can’t even stand up straight. I think the transition from movie to figure has been done brilliantly. Despite being an old dawg, he still packs quite a punch. He has a blaster which can be attached onto his left arm, and also has two missile-like protrusion on his shoulder (use your imagination). It may not be an actual missile launcher, but with a little bit of imagination, it may as well be. He also has what appears to be moustache on his face (which I wished they were longer) and whiskers on the side of the face. As with other Decepticons (& ex-Decepticon), he has chicken-legs that can never be straighten up. He is also predominantly black with a little of blue here & there.

Gimmick-wise, when you push down the button on his chest, Jetfire will say “Jetfire’s my name” in Scottish accent, and his eyes & an LED on his left chest would light up. I don’t know why they chose to only put an LED on his left chest alone, because obviously it would’ve made more sense to put it on both sides of the chest.  

Articulation-wise, he’s quite good: head shakes left & right; 2 points at the shoulder (rolls around & moves up & down); 1 point above elbow; 1 point at elbow; 1 at wrist & thumb each & the 4 other fingers moves together; 2 points at hip; 2 points at knee; 1 point at lower knee; & 1 at ankle. Overall, I love Jetfire. He is easily the best looking robot in the entire series in my opinion.

OPTIMUS PRIME & JETFIRE COMBO

Optimus & Jetfire Combo

            I don’t know about you guys, but truth be told, this is the reason why I wanted to buy both of these guys. The idea of having Optimus & Jetfire combine isn’t exactly new. The 1^st time both of this guys combined was during Transformers: Armada. To go even further, the idea of Optimus Prime (or other Autobots leader) combining with other robots to become stronger stretches back to the time Star Saber combining with Victory Leo (Victory); God Ginrai combining with God Bomber (Masterforce);  Fire Convoy & Ultra Magnus (Car Robots); Optimus & Omega Supreme (Energon) & probably many more!!! Anyhow, the result of the combination is nothing short from amazing. Although the combination itself would reduce the articulation ability of the entire figure (totally no leg articulation), the Jetfire-Prime combo is so huge, and is almost as tall as Supreme Devastator.

            Gimmick-wise, by pressing Jetfire’s button would activate the sound of robotic movement, and nothing more.

Overall:

            Like I said before, the main reason that I bought both of these figures was because of the combination mode. Jetfire has become one of the most difficult-to-get figures in Malaysia, due to the lack of shipment from both Hasbro & Takara-Tomy and also due to the sheer popularity of the character in the movie itself. I may have a few complaints on the Optimus Prime figure, but the Jetfire figure itself is simply awesome.

            At the end of the day, the combination mode is even better!!! I’m not exactly sure how accurate is the designs in comparison to the movie, but as far as I could tell from memory, he looks 90% accurate to me.

            My advice to other collectors out there, you have to get Jetfire, he is simply the best in the line, period. You may afford to skip Optimus, but do not let go of the opportunity to get Jetfire. However, once you have Jetfire in you possession, you’ll definitely be tempted to grab Optimus Prime as well due to the awesome combination mode.  

            Final verdict:

(Optimus Prime) 7.5/10.

(Jetfire) 9/10

(Optimus & Jetfire combo) 9.5/10

Hey y’all,

Just wanna share with all of u, one of the best tribute to the legendary King of Pop… Awesome performance, awesome choreography… The King must be very pleased with the dance move… Kudos to the dance group — The Hype… do visit the youtube page for more awesome dance moves…

Hey y’all Cybertronians, it’s been way toooooo long since The Big Man posted anything worth reading here. So on behalf of the Planet Cybertron team of Hyppo, Maximus Prime & Sayne, we would like to apologize for the undue silence… Anyways, like I said, we’ve been dormant for way too long, and so we figured, at least a little bit of “hello” entry is in due… As far as The Big Man goes, everything is just sooo f*&^$# up. I ain’t saying that life’s ain’t good, it’s just that it could be better. I feel like that I’m nothing more than just a slave for work. It’s as if my life only revolves on work!!! Sometimes I just feel downright exhausted… Some of my friends told me that I have to learn to let loose. But sometimes, it’s just not easy to let loose. Not when you are constantly under pressure, in which each delay or mistake could easily cost your company thousands of bucks. Having said that, my friends have other theories instead. One particular fella, whom I will call CYY, told me that the reason that I’m burdening myself with work is because I want to forget things — to preoccupy my mind with other things such as work. It’s more of a psychological thingy… Another friend, CBK agreed to that theory… Frankly speaking, after giving it a thought, there may be a grain of truth in their theories… Maybe it’s all just a facade, just a camouflage… Heck… I’m not too sure myself… Maybe a little bit of soul searching is in due. A time-off would be good…

Intro:

            Hello Cybertronian, welcome back to Planet Cybertron. It has been quite some time since I last reviewed any Transformers, or even posting anything on. I just been very busy lately with work and it’s kinda difficult for me to find time to wrtie anything. Anyways, I’ve managed to squeeze it sometime, and today, I’ll do a review on one of my favorite figures in “The Family”. Read on…

          Ask around who are some of the most memorable and iconic characters from he G1 cartoon, only a few names who will make the mark, namely Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream and last but never the least, Soundwave. Soundwave was popular because of several factors: 1) because he was one of the most prominent, trustworthy and reliable member of the Decepticon – a rare quality amongst their rank; 2) because of his synthesized voiced that sets him apart from the rest of the casts – which made him very cool; and 3) he is literally a leader of his own subgroup – the cassette-bots consisting of Rumble, Frenzy, Laserbeak, Ratbat, Buzzsaw, Ravage & several other comics-only characters. Also, the fact that he could transform into a life-sized mini cassette recorder made him truly a robot-in-disguise, disregarding the size-shrinking factor.

            Back in those days, we were wondering, what if the-powers-that-be could come out with a real functioning Soundwave – a real working cassette-recorder? Unfortunately, that thing never came too fast. Now, as we arrive in an era where almost nothing is impossible, and having a fully functioning Soundwave cassette recorder is actually a real possibility, the cassette recorder has literally become obsolete.

            So to keep up with the currents, they decided to turn Soundwave into an MP3 player instead. Now to actually to have a real functioning Soundwave figure is truly a dream come true for many fans out there, regardless of whatever Soundwave may turn in to. When I first heard about, I know that I was gonna get him, especially when I never had a G1 Soundwave figure before. The only possible problem was whether or not Soundwave would actually come into Malacca’s market.

            One day, to my luck, the good people at Teencom told me that the stocks were on the way, but with a few things to note. There are 3 versions of Music Label Soundwaves – the all-white IPOD-like version; the predominantly black-colored Soundblaster-esque version; & the classic G1-styles predominantly blue version – the version that I was looking for. Problem is, the blue Soundwaves were limited in numbers, and they couldn’t confirm the exact number of their arrival, or will there ever be a blue version arriving at all? All I could do was to wait for it…

            When the products arrive, there were only 2 blue Soundwaves, and I was one of the few that was privileged enough to grab hold of him, but at a hefty price – the blue-boy cost me a good RM 380, inclusive of the 2 GB memory card. So finally, I have owned my first G1 Soundwave (the other being the Titanium version, which literally sucks).

            So was all the anticipations and insane price tag worth it? Well, you have to read on to find out.

Alternate Mode:

            Soundwave are packaged in MP3 player mode. Appearance-wise he looks just like how they depicted them in the animation series. I can’t really compare it to the original G1 Soundwave, but I reckoned Music Label Soundwave is much lighter than that of G1’s, since the latter is made from die-cast rather than plastic. Unlike the original G1 version where you can store the guns and blaster at the back of the cassette recorder as batteries, the battery compartment behind it is literally for a real battery – 1 AAA-sized battery. The entire surface of MP3 looks smooth and slick, in contrast to its other predecessors, which is cool. If you expect the cassette compartment would eject and release Ravage or Laserbeak, you’ll be half-disappointed. Instead of any cassette minions, you can only insert memory cards into it.

Robot Mode:

            Transformation is rather simple, and it doesn’t differ much from its other predecessors I presume – and I know for a fact that it is almost as similar to Titanium Soundwave. He’s literally a spitting image of its G1 animation counterpart. This is exactly how Soundwave should have looked like. Standing at nearly 6-inch tall, he’s the size of your standard deluxe-class figure. Articulation is fantastic: his head is on a ball joint; the arms rotate 360-degrees and moves up and down; elbow and wrist articulation; also hips & knee articulation. Overall, this is probably the most animation-accurate Soundwave we’ll ever gonna get – barring the lack of his cassette minions.

Gimmicks:

            This is a dead giveaway. As mentioned earlier, he is a Music Label Soundwave – designed to be a transformer with an actual working alternate mode. He is an MP3 player, which includes a pair of normal working earpiece which you would need to attach to the shoulder socket where you would insert the shoulder cannon in robot mode. As far as an MP3 player concern, he is just plain dumb – you could play music with it; fast-forward to the next song or rewind to the previous song; and pause, play & stop function. Those are practically it! There are no random shuffle options, or fast forward/ rewind button, or repeat function or any other basic or advance function that you would normally find in a standard MP3 or iPod player.

            He doesn’t have a built-in memory, which means he’s pretty useless straight out of the box. You would need to purchase a mini SD memory card so that you could download songs into. I don’t read Japanese, but after browsing through the box’s descriptions, it seems that it can only handle a 1GB-sized memory card. However, there are those who say that a 2GB memory card would work as well, based on which I have bought accordingly. This however may not yield the best of result, (or maybe this could only just be my case since I’ve never heard anybody else complaining about it), since certain downloaded song doesn’t play that well – they either keep on stalling or fail to play altogether.

            Soundwave comes with 2 cannons: the shoulder cannon and the wave blaster. The shoulder cannon has the words “Destron Soundwave, electric launcher” inscribed on it, while the blaster has the words “Destron Soundwave, Wave bluster (I’m perfect sure it’s supposed to be BLASTER instead of BLUSTER – typical Japanese English mispronunciation)” inscribed on it.

            Soundwave also comes with extra 2-pairs of hands, which in my honest opinion is absolutely pointless. What do you need the extra hands for? Spare parts?

Overall:

            So does Soundwave worth the hype and money? Well, this could well depends on what you expect Soundwave to deliver. If you expected him to be the super-cool, state-of-the-art, advance iPod or MP3 player, then my answer is NO – you would definitely be disappointed and regret the purchase, and besides, there are waaaaay better options out there.

            If you are looking for just a good looking Soundwave figure which would not cost this much, I think you’d probably be advised to invest on the Classic Soundwave figure instead, which would includes some of his cassette minions (or so I’ve heard).

            However, if you’re like me, which means that you are simply expecting the magic of a fully functional Transformer, which combines an animated-accurate action figure complete with a working alternate mode, then I say “Hell Yeah” Music Label Soundwave is a dream comes true for a die-hard fan like me. Of course, he ain’t a perfect figure. There are plenty other suggestions that I could make to make it a better figure such as to include at least a shuffle/random option; one or two insert-able cassette-bot (Laserbeak and Ravage at least); a built-in memory at least & a pocket/waist clip so that we could bring Soundwave anywhere – but I think this is not what this figure is all about. This figure is all about realizing an old fond dream. Since those days, we were hoping for a Reflector camera that would actually snap pictures, or a Megatron that actually shoots real bullets instead of pellets; or a Blaster boom box that booms – all of which would probably come to be I reckoned. Now, here we have, an actually Soundwave that works – a realization of a childhood dream.

            This is what this Soundwave figure is all about, and for that, I highly recommend him to any of you out there.

            Final verdict, I give Music Label Soundwave 9 / 10. Get him if you can ever find him.