The Nottingham Robot Company Has a Facebook

Hi there loyal readers. My apologies for the general lack of updates. This is of course due to my new business venture, and a family matter, both of which demanding more time than I ever expect. Things probably aren't going to get better on these fronts any time soon, but I'm going to try to knock out an opinion piece or two by the end of the month.


In the meantime, The Nottingham Robot Company has a facebook page, please take a look if this interests you.

Thanks.

It Been A Bad Week For News

I don't really have anything useful to add to the discussion, so here's Adam Hill.

NEWS: Introducing My New Project: The Nottingham Robot Company

Right, lets talk about this side project I was talking about. Its taken a while, as I slowly crawl to my objective, but the first step has been made. I now sell toys on the internet. My hobby is now an attempt at a profession.

Now, lets answer some questions.

What do you sell?

Transformers. As you might expect. Maybe other stuff by the time you read this. Or less.

Where do you sell these toys?

On eBay, see here.

You don't seem to have much, do you?

First off, thanks for looking. Second: hey, baby steps. Baby steps. Got a lot on order.

Are you going beyond being an eBay trader?

That's the plan. Just now, I'm doing what I can between shifts, so its taking time.

What does this mean for this blog?

In the short term? A hiatus. I started this blog to fill free time, and despite my early optimism, I have less of that. This is on top of the family matter, too.

So, after the hiatus?

If I sell Transformers, I feel I can't really review Transformers any more. The potential for bias, or accusations thereof, is not something I want. So, I'm going to rework the blog away from such things into more general discussions.

What happens to the existing reviews?

The internet forgets nothing, so as they are up, they stay up. I stand by my previous work though.

When will you post here again?

I'm not doing a regular schedule, but maybe in a month, all being well.

Thanks to all my readers, hope to see you all back with a new format soon.

Updates Suspended

Due to a family matter, I'm putting updates on hold for now. My apologies to my regular readers, I hope to be back soon.

Blog Watch: Month 4, and crimbo plan

Alright then folks, here we are, another month in? Where do we stand? Well, viewing figures are levelling off now, a little lower than last month, but within the margin of error. Maybe this is the new norm, although my old blogging platform shuts down on the 15th, so maybe traffic will move here. In case you are wondering, yes, old blog gets a lot more traffic, but then it was live since 2011. Much more :)

Source: The Meta Picture

In related news, I must regretfully announce a slow service during December. I work in a supermarket, and so this is my busy time, even before we get into family matters. What intend to do is run weekly updates from now until January 4th, skipping Christmas week.  These will happen on the Sunday, although if we get anything especially interesting like a new film trailer, I'll post those on the day as extras.


On the 1st of January however, I something special planned. And by "special", I mean something really obvious. My top ten transformers type things of the year.

See ya soon.

Titans Return Fan Poll Goes Live Today #TeamTrypticon

Just a quick reminder folks, that fan poll I was talking about on Sunday goes up today, at about 18:00 UK time. Pop along to the Transformers Facebook page, and vote. And, in blatant attempt to direct your vote.....

by Danar Rizqi Aditya

Transformers News And Belated Cute Post

My apologies for missing last night folks. While I run ahead on the Tuesday/Thursday articles, Saturday/Sunday articles get done on the day. Or not, in this case. I double-booked, sorry. So here's a a little something to make up for it, with a promise of better stuff next week.

Source: Ahon Sarkar

Now, on to want I want to talk about. Hasbro dropped a few bombshells this week regarding Titans Return, next year's toy line. As I have previously indicated, people are rather excited about that line, and now they are more so. Presenting: Exhibit A

My inner 7-year-old got rather vocal about this. That's a modernised version of Powermaster OptimusPrime, the first Optimus I ever owned, and the version of the character I associated with the Marvel comic series. Basically, Optimus died and came back to life, this not being as much of a cliché at the time, and eventually was rebuilt with a new body, a bigger trailer, and a lot of guns. The toy was awesome, but it was also a brick, so I'm glad to see them take another swing at it. I am also pleased to see my suspicions about Ultra Magnus were correct. I am less keen about the hollow forearms though, that's looking to a line-wide flaw. Then they finally confirmed this dude, having teased him in slides.

Fortress Maximus was of course the holder of the “World's Biggest Transformer” title, and something I have coveted in the past. He lost that title to Generations Metroplex, whom is now being retooled into Fortress Maximus. At least, in so far as we can tell from this art and leaked images. I may need to write a bit more about this phenomenon, but at least his signature gimmick is there. 

The other big thing is going to a vote, via facebook post, to select a toy to made in 2017. The options are Skorponok, rival to Max above, Trypticon, rival to Metroplex above, and Omega Supreme, rivalry with the Constructicons. In full Titan scale, too. So, gigantic. This is kinda awesome, but given the investment of time and money a Transformer actually needs, I find myself honestly surprised. Makes me wonder if the moulds are all ready to go, or if there's a lot of shared parts going on. Still cool. Go vote on Tuesday.

Toy artwork and images Copyright Hasbro. Source: BWTF and Hasbro Pulse.

The following is a political statement, in relation to events in Paris

With the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, it doesn't feel appropriate to post something silly about cats today.  Or anything really, but the following:

My deepest sympathy to the people of Paris, and those affected by the bloodshed.

We need a lot less shit like this.

1000 Page Views!

On the 9th of August 2015, I posted the first article to this blog. The purpose was to reinvent the stalled blog I have elsewhere, as the host is closing down. Also, to give me some small creative outlet, to express myself in a manner I can't elsewhere. Today, we hit the 1000 pageviews milestone. Just now.

Thank you new readers, regular followers, bots, and people whom came here by accident.

Blog Watch: Month Two

Image: originally Hasbro/IDW. Modifier unknown.

Well, here we are in October, and where does the blog stand? On a gradual, if erratic, up swing. Views continue to move upwards, and will hopefully hit the 1000 milestone this month. I am managing to maintain a surplus of reviews, although Sunday articles remain something of sticking point.  Production of them is dependant on how well I do with other stuff during the week, and I'm trying not to force things. I don't want to this to become a job just yet, I want this to be enjoyable.

Here's a few hints what to expect in the coming weeks.

Next week: A little something to do with Mad Max.

The week after: Something vaguely G1.

Halloween: Something hugely evil.

Oh, and check back tomorrow for an early review.

Sunday Post: Umm, been socialising.....

Sorry folks, I've had a busy week. Then I met friends and did stuff like this:

And this:

Anyway.....


Okay, on a more serious note, I am still working on actual really real posts. Should have a Mad Max meets Transformers review up in the near future, and I've got something special planned for Halloween.  I've also got two weeks of Transformers posts stockpiled, so hopefully, I'll have something more meaningful for you next Sunday.

See ya soon.

Blog Watch: Week 1

Well, its a week in, where do we stand? Going by the analytics, the new blog is off by a reasonable start. The old blog is still has much higher traffic, but things on on the upswing here. I need to build things up again, but baby steps. What now? The plan is to do two reviews a week, perhaps with substitute/additional articles as the mood strikes. The subject matter is similarly subject to my whims; there's a number toys I never reviewed, but also some I feel would benefit from the concise format, or I reviewed so long ago a revisit won't hurt. I also intend to do a few long-form reviews if the subject requires it, but I'm sticking to 500 words for the default, due to time constraints. In any case, I'm attending Auto Assembly, so material should be plentiful. 

Here's an outline of what to expect in coming weeks.

Next Week: the rest of the Combiner Wars Protectobots.

The Week After: Two fairly anonymous Decepticons.

September: Some bigger toys.

Hope to see you all back soon.