Hi everyone,
we've completed shipping all the media kit and also the kits that were ordered in November 2009. We will be shipping those ordered in December 2009, sometime this week.
All the kits from MC is sold out!!.
We would want to thank all our supporters in various forums - Seibertron, TFW2005, Radicons, Sabrina etc. We hope to release more news within the next couple weeks again.
In the meantime we wish everyone a Great Year 2010. May your passion for customizations, collecting never fade!!!
Cheers
D.K
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
WJ Conversion kit by Sabrina
Hi all
We've just got word that the preproduction kit that we had passed to Sabrina has finally been completed. Her work really puts our earlier pictures to shame :)
For those interested in the pictures by Sabrina, check out this link at radicons
As mentioned, we're shipping the kits in batches so as not to overwhelm the postal which has long queues during the festive season, based on the purchase date. Those who had purchased in November have already been shipped. We will be shipping those who have purchased their kit during the Dec 2009 period probably in 1st week January 2010.
In the meantime, have a wonderful and blessed festive season. Enjoy your friendships, renew old ones and stay cool.
Sincerely
J.C and the Mastercollectables team
We've just got word that the preproduction kit that we had passed to Sabrina has finally been completed. Her work really puts our earlier pictures to shame :)
For those interested in the pictures by Sabrina, check out this link at radicons
As mentioned, we're shipping the kits in batches so as not to overwhelm the postal which has long queues during the festive season, based on the purchase date. Those who had purchased in November have already been shipped. We will be shipping those who have purchased their kit during the Dec 2009 period probably in 1st week January 2010.
In the meantime, have a wonderful and blessed festive season. Enjoy your friendships, renew old ones and stay cool.
Sincerely
J.C and the Mastercollectables team
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
WJ Conversion kits are being shipped
Hi all
the WJ Conversion kits are being shipped right now. Some might get them earlier, some later as we're shipping them in batches (during this festive season) and also are passing the last batch to our ebay parners Retrozone. Just a few left so get them while they're available. Do note that those of later batches might not get the same "container" as the earlier batches should reviews come up. We're good in engineering but just need some work with packaging partners. If you know of one who can supply packaging stuff like full clamshells, half clamshells or friends who sell these do give us a quick email.
On another note, we've listed via our partner a second Nova Commander engineering prototype. Some minor changes in the joint mechanism, and cosmetic changes. Do check out the auction here As mentioned in another blog, the reason of listing a few prototypes is to cover some of our investment costs of the Nova Commander. We do not expect the engineering models to totally cover our investment costs but we hope those who did win the first one which is in transit, and also this piece would appreciate the engineering and design behind the model.
Cheers
D.K
the WJ Conversion kits are being shipped right now. Some might get them earlier, some later as we're shipping them in batches (during this festive season) and also are passing the last batch to our ebay parners Retrozone. Just a few left so get them while they're available. Do note that those of later batches might not get the same "container" as the earlier batches should reviews come up. We're good in engineering but just need some work with packaging partners. If you know of one who can supply packaging stuff like full clamshells, half clamshells or friends who sell these do give us a quick email.
On another note, we've listed via our partner a second Nova Commander engineering prototype. Some minor changes in the joint mechanism, and cosmetic changes. Do check out the auction here As mentioned in another blog, the reason of listing a few prototypes is to cover some of our investment costs of the Nova Commander. We do not expect the engineering models to totally cover our investment costs but we hope those who did win the first one which is in transit, and also this piece would appreciate the engineering and design behind the model.
Cheers
D.K
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Started a poll
Hi fellow friends,
we have just opened up a poll to find out which is your favourite female-bot. It's on the right panel. Do vote accordingly.
We're in a brainstorming mode right now for female-bots. So do vote what you feel should become an actual figure!!
Note : Slight delay in artwork. Printing for WJ Conversion kit to be ready this week for shipping.
Moving forward, to our fellow visitors. Our skills in design and engineering are available as services to those who require us to design, engineer up till the prototype stage. Just drop us a mail at administrator at mastercollectables.com
Cheers
J.C
we have just opened up a poll to find out which is your favourite female-bot. It's on the right panel. Do vote accordingly.
We're in a brainstorming mode right now for female-bots. So do vote what you feel should become an actual figure!!
Note : Slight delay in artwork. Printing for WJ Conversion kit to be ready this week for shipping.
Moving forward, to our fellow visitors. Our skills in design and engineering are available as services to those who require us to design, engineer up till the prototype stage. Just drop us a mail at administrator at mastercollectables.com
Cheers
J.C
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
WJ Conversion kit updates
Hi everyone,
The conversion kits should be ready by next week. Right now we're finalizing the manual and also the artwork. Packaging at this moment is simplistic reason being if a customizer converts the Transformers Sunstreaker, sideswipe or red alert, probably they'd dispose of the packaging.
In anycase, the first 50 who had purchased, we'd include something different in the packaging. From last count, we expect this kit to be sold out before year end, so get yours while you can.
Our ebay partner retrozone will also get their kits slightly later for shipment, so safetly I think those who had ordered should receive their kits around first to second week January 2010.
On a similar note, as per an earlier blog, we had promised to pass a couple of kits to some Toy sites, well one of them Sabrina's site has receive their One kit, so watch out for a superbly done version.
Also what we'd do along the way when the kits are sent out is maybe come up with One blog showing how some of the parts can be removed. We did receive a few emails on this so we felt it better to provide some advice and pictures for those whom this might be their first kit.
In the meantime, season's greeting, Wishing all a wonderful Winter!, Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. Also wishing all our friends out there a better year 2010 - better health, prosperity and great relationships.
Sincerely
D.K
Mastercollectables.com
Monday, December 14, 2009
Background History on the work on Nova Commander
Hi everyone,
We would like to thank all of the fellow community who supported us in spreading the news on Nova Commander. It was great to see interest in the Mecha all over the Internet community.
We've been reading posts in various forums and there are some members who felt that we've stolen ideas literally and made Nova Commander. Thus we felt that as a group of designers, it's not within our ethos to "steal" ideas and reverse engineer them. As we had mentioned earlier, our focus is to look at design engineering concepts to test how they can be used in our products.
For Nova as per our earlier blog, as comic readers we were very intrigued by Nova the character, and also his mecha design. This was one of our brainstorming ideas, so we set out to scour the internet on available information on Nova besides the pictures from the IDW comic. We found pictures of Dak's custom, which was impressive. This would have been a start of a labourous process in seeing Nova come to life.
Our main obstacles were definately threefold. Engineering/ Mechanics as in visualizing how parts would fit or fold like a origami using a 3D application like Autocad. Design as in making sure esthetically Nova looked good. Production as in how to break up the parts such that the parts can be casted in resin. There was one more aspect which was cost. The issue with resin is that the mold can only take so many casts and if the mold is done badly due to poorly designed parts, then it's back to the drawing board.
One aspect which is also a difficulty is the engineering of joints. Resin is a type of plastic, however it is not applied with pressure unlike ABS. It can cure quickly or slowly but for the purpose of production casting, to have resin to take 2 hours to cure would be ineffective. Thus we had to apply trade-offs for strength, flexibility in our resin mix which we also had to test on the Nova joints especially those which would carry the bulk of the weight such as hip joints.
For nova we also incorporated some rubber supported joints which provided alot of friction and also to allow for some clicking within the joints.
So back to the initial steps, we came up with 3D schematics of the parts required for Nova to work, so the parts were rendered in 3D and combined to test fit in the computer. We've added two pictures here.
Then it was engineering prototyping with an actual model to test to see if in "real life" whether our 3D designs work. Our first ebay auction was an completed engineering model. There are still a few improvements to be made especially in the area of joints based on the first model. Then in all designs we'd see possible ways to make it more cost effectively by reducing parts, reducing production wastage and the number of mold required to produce a single Nova piece.
In this whole project, not everyone was in agreement on every aspect but trade-offs were part and parcel of our teamwork because ultimately we wanted to come up with a mecha that the mecha community would appreciate.
In short, designing a "toy" is not just mix and matching parts together. There is much much more work in conceptualizing, engineering, design and production before an actual product happens. We took at least 4 months of effort from the whole team juggling with our real-life work, and we hope that you'd enjoy the fruits of our labour.
Hope you enjoyed reading this.
J.C and the Mastercollectables team.
We would like to thank all of the fellow community who supported us in spreading the news on Nova Commander. It was great to see interest in the Mecha all over the Internet community.
We've been reading posts in various forums and there are some members who felt that we've stolen ideas literally and made Nova Commander. Thus we felt that as a group of designers, it's not within our ethos to "steal" ideas and reverse engineer them. As we had mentioned earlier, our focus is to look at design engineering concepts to test how they can be used in our products.
For Nova as per our earlier blog, as comic readers we were very intrigued by Nova the character, and also his mecha design. This was one of our brainstorming ideas, so we set out to scour the internet on available information on Nova besides the pictures from the IDW comic. We found pictures of Dak's custom, which was impressive. This would have been a start of a labourous process in seeing Nova come to life.
Our main obstacles were definately threefold. Engineering/ Mechanics as in visualizing how parts would fit or fold like a origami using a 3D application like Autocad. Design as in making sure esthetically Nova looked good. Production as in how to break up the parts such that the parts can be casted in resin. There was one more aspect which was cost. The issue with resin is that the mold can only take so many casts and if the mold is done badly due to poorly designed parts, then it's back to the drawing board.
One aspect which is also a difficulty is the engineering of joints. Resin is a type of plastic, however it is not applied with pressure unlike ABS. It can cure quickly or slowly but for the purpose of production casting, to have resin to take 2 hours to cure would be ineffective. Thus we had to apply trade-offs for strength, flexibility in our resin mix which we also had to test on the Nova joints especially those which would carry the bulk of the weight such as hip joints.
For nova we also incorporated some rubber supported joints which provided alot of friction and also to allow for some clicking within the joints.
So back to the initial steps, we came up with 3D schematics of the parts required for Nova to work, so the parts were rendered in 3D and combined to test fit in the computer. We've added two pictures here.
Then it was engineering prototyping with an actual model to test to see if in "real life" whether our 3D designs work. Our first ebay auction was an completed engineering model. There are still a few improvements to be made especially in the area of joints based on the first model. Then in all designs we'd see possible ways to make it more cost effectively by reducing parts, reducing production wastage and the number of mold required to produce a single Nova piece.
In this whole project, not everyone was in agreement on every aspect but trade-offs were part and parcel of our teamwork because ultimately we wanted to come up with a mecha that the mecha community would appreciate.
In short, designing a "toy" is not just mix and matching parts together. There is much much more work in conceptualizing, engineering, design and production before an actual product happens. We took at least 4 months of effort from the whole team juggling with our real-life work, and we hope that you'd enjoy the fruits of our labour.
Hope you enjoyed reading this.
J.C and the Mastercollectables team.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Some thoughts
Hi everyone,
thank you for your support on Nova Commander. There has been alot of discussions in various forums about Nova Commander. We would like to clarify from the perspective of the our designers.
From an inspiration point of view it was from the pictures done by Don Figueroa. His pictures especially in the book by IDW- Best of Don Figueroa gave us the vehicle, robot pictures to work on. (Don if you're reading this email please email us)
With the base pictures, it is more complex then just taking the pictures and converting into a workable mecha with the transformation. One of the more difficult things to do is to get things to slide, and fit properly from robot to vehicle mode while still maintaining a semblance of articulation and proportion. It's like a huge jigsaw puzzle, one which has to be translated from the mind into the computer then into a physical model.
We had a look at Dak's pictures, which was the winner for one TFCON08 competition, but still we had to spend most time (90%) in 3D design of the interlocking parts and figuring out very important detailed parameters and ultimately prototyping.
On a personal note: if a designer takes inspiration from various sources to come out with an improved version, we think that the whole community does benefit, which has been the case for all the kitbashes and customs that we see being done by various members in the community. So let us not argue on this aspect as it leads us no where as a community.
So the issue of Intellectual property is this. Pictures are one thing, translating it into a working, engineering design is another thing, and based on our study and discussion about IP, Nova Commander is a unique engineering model that is part of our works - as per what had happened to Hal's ARC - Arcee model - which i believe Hasbro did see his works and certified it as unique design owned by Hal.
Lastly on mass production. We would gladly like to get this figure mass produced by big companies like Takara or IDW or Hasbro. Our first option is to get their endorsement even if it's like what happens in Japan's Wonderfest (limited endorsement for resin kits etc). However if it ends up as a long drawn PR by the big boys as to them feasibility and commercialism comes first, and we use our limited time to discuss with a zero end game, then we'd just continue as-is or have to see alternatives.
Thats all for now, as we reply to various mails we've been receiving.
We're contactable via email administrator at mastercollectables.com
Cheers
D.K
thank you for your support on Nova Commander. There has been alot of discussions in various forums about Nova Commander. We would like to clarify from the perspective of the our designers.
From an inspiration point of view it was from the pictures done by Don Figueroa. His pictures especially in the book by IDW- Best of Don Figueroa gave us the vehicle, robot pictures to work on. (Don if you're reading this email please email us)
With the base pictures, it is more complex then just taking the pictures and converting into a workable mecha with the transformation. One of the more difficult things to do is to get things to slide, and fit properly from robot to vehicle mode while still maintaining a semblance of articulation and proportion. It's like a huge jigsaw puzzle, one which has to be translated from the mind into the computer then into a physical model.
We had a look at Dak's pictures, which was the winner for one TFCON08 competition, but still we had to spend most time (90%) in 3D design of the interlocking parts and figuring out very important detailed parameters and ultimately prototyping.
On a personal note: if a designer takes inspiration from various sources to come out with an improved version, we think that the whole community does benefit, which has been the case for all the kitbashes and customs that we see being done by various members in the community. So let us not argue on this aspect as it leads us no where as a community.
So the issue of Intellectual property is this. Pictures are one thing, translating it into a working, engineering design is another thing, and based on our study and discussion about IP, Nova Commander is a unique engineering model that is part of our works - as per what had happened to Hal's ARC - Arcee model - which i believe Hasbro did see his works and certified it as unique design owned by Hal.
Lastly on mass production. We would gladly like to get this figure mass produced by big companies like Takara or IDW or Hasbro. Our first option is to get their endorsement even if it's like what happens in Japan's Wonderfest (limited endorsement for resin kits etc). However if it ends up as a long drawn PR by the big boys as to them feasibility and commercialism comes first, and we use our limited time to discuss with a zero end game, then we'd just continue as-is or have to see alternatives.
Thats all for now, as we reply to various mails we've been receiving.
We're contactable via email administrator at mastercollectables.com
Cheers
D.K
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Answers to Nova Commander queries
Hi everyone,
this single day we received 3,000 plus unique hits from the internet, and at the same time the response was overwhelming via email. Lots of questions were tabled to our Administrator, so we felt it important to just clear the air in this blog update. Easier for us to answer the questions here then to reply each and every email, as much as we would love to.
1. Is Nova Commander going to be mass produced?
The short answer is No. The reasons are the following.
a. Mastercollectables was started by a few Mecha collectors. We just have the same passion and we met up over coffee and just brainstormed. As usual we had ideas and concepts on paper so each of us decided to put our abilities into the partnership. We consider ourself a designer startup. Minimal external funding for our projects. We enjoy what we're doing for the fans. Thus to mass produce Nova Commander frankly is beyond our current financial capabilities. We have our day jobs and just pour in our extra time and some pooled funds to get some of our small projects going.
b. The Nova Commander pictures that you see was designed for the purpose of testing certain engineering designs for joints especially for larger mecha. We do envy the designing skills of Studio Half Eye. Their engineering is fantastic and even themselves after producing so many fantastic resin engineering designer toys have decided to focus on - designing and kits. To just do complete resin toys was time consuming and costly. For e.g a Perfect Transformation Getter-1 is like 500USD when it first came out..and we consider SHE to be close to the best and this was from an established company.
c. Mastercollectables is a very small team with limited resources. We do not have the resources to mass produce this. To mass produce this would mean metal tooling which would cost in the area of 150-200K or more depending on complexity.
d. Why is Nova Commander so difficult and costly to produce?
1. It's large.
2. Lots of parts - Close to 200 parts. The more parts for a resin toy..the more expensive to cast,mold, reproduce and build.
e. So any ETA if it's even produced?
At this moment we're still in the contemplation mode, doing testing and using Nova as a engineering test sample so we can safely say No ETA.
f. Then why sell the prototype testshot on ebay?
It's our way to "fund" this difficult project as we go along in "refining it" for future projects. We hope our fans would like our products and support it their way.
Thanks again for all the support
J.C and the team@ mastercollectables.com
this single day we received 3,000 plus unique hits from the internet, and at the same time the response was overwhelming via email. Lots of questions were tabled to our Administrator, so we felt it important to just clear the air in this blog update. Easier for us to answer the questions here then to reply each and every email, as much as we would love to.
1. Is Nova Commander going to be mass produced?
The short answer is No. The reasons are the following.
a. Mastercollectables was started by a few Mecha collectors. We just have the same passion and we met up over coffee and just brainstormed. As usual we had ideas and concepts on paper so each of us decided to put our abilities into the partnership. We consider ourself a designer startup. Minimal external funding for our projects. We enjoy what we're doing for the fans. Thus to mass produce Nova Commander frankly is beyond our current financial capabilities. We have our day jobs and just pour in our extra time and some pooled funds to get some of our small projects going.
b. The Nova Commander pictures that you see was designed for the purpose of testing certain engineering designs for joints especially for larger mecha. We do envy the designing skills of Studio Half Eye. Their engineering is fantastic and even themselves after producing so many fantastic resin engineering designer toys have decided to focus on - designing and kits. To just do complete resin toys was time consuming and costly. For e.g a Perfect Transformation Getter-1 is like 500USD when it first came out..and we consider SHE to be close to the best and this was from an established company.
c. Mastercollectables is a very small team with limited resources. We do not have the resources to mass produce this. To mass produce this would mean metal tooling which would cost in the area of 150-200K or more depending on complexity.
d. Why is Nova Commander so difficult and costly to produce?
1. It's large.
2. Lots of parts - Close to 200 parts. The more parts for a resin toy..the more expensive to cast,mold, reproduce and build.
e. So any ETA if it's even produced?
At this moment we're still in the contemplation mode, doing testing and using Nova as a engineering test sample so we can safely say No ETA.
f. Then why sell the prototype testshot on ebay?
It's our way to "fund" this difficult project as we go along in "refining it" for future projects. We hope our fans would like our products and support it their way.
Thanks again for all the support
J.C and the team@ mastercollectables.com
Nova Commander Super Mode Part 3
Hi all
I guess this is all you've been waiting for. Nova Commander super-mode!!..Nova Commander's Robot Mode combines with trailer to form the Super Mode!. Ultra badass figure..with BFG weapons from his trailer and comes up to 8 inches in Super mode. Enuf said...As mentioned earlier in the Part 1, the auction is for this prototype figure which we used for comparison and picture taking, so the winner of the auction gets this figure!!
Any comments on the prototype feel free to ask so that we can if possible improve on it.
Cheers
J.C
I guess this is all you've been waiting for. Nova Commander super-mode!!..Nova Commander's Robot Mode combines with trailer to form the Super Mode!. Ultra badass figure..with BFG weapons from his trailer and comes up to 8 inches in Super mode. Enuf said...As mentioned earlier in the Part 1, the auction is for this prototype figure which we used for comparison and picture taking, so the winner of the auction gets this figure!!
Any comments on the prototype feel free to ask so that we can if possible improve on it.
Cheers
J.C
Nova Commander Part 2
Hi folks
we're now updating Nova Commander part 2. Part 1 was pictures of the Cab portion. Part 2 are pictures of the Trailer.
Trailer is highly detailed. Took us quite a bit of time especially in design and test fitting because of the all important Combine Mode!!.
Trailer,has the following features.
1. Rubberized wheels
2. Gear mechanism in mini-wings.
3. Highly detailed design
4. There is a Battle station mode (not shown in pictures)
we're now updating Nova Commander part 2. Part 1 was pictures of the Cab portion. Part 2 are pictures of the Trailer.
Trailer is highly detailed. Took us quite a bit of time especially in design and test fitting because of the all important Combine Mode!!.
Trailer,has the following features.
1. Rubberized wheels
2. Gear mechanism in mini-wings.
3. Highly detailed design
4. There is a Battle station mode (not shown in pictures)
Friday, December 11, 2009
Pictures of upcoming limited production Nova Commander PART ONE
Hi all
upcoming pictures of transforming Nova Commander. This is part one. Note that this is a testshot prototype that is being listed as part of a bonus by our ebay marketing partners Retrozone as part of this AUCTION
Some pictures. More pictures below
Important to NOTE. There will BE only ONE of these Testshot released for the purpose of the auction. So one very lucky winner will get this test shot!!!!.
Nova Commander took us about 1 month of design and planning (We did look at the pictures from Dak's custom so credit is due to him and also Don Figueroa- the original pictures of Nova Commander were based on his pictures), then there was prototyping, fitting, and getting it into 3d before coming out with this test shot which took another 3 months work. This testshot is in grey before we go into a limited production run. It is highly articulated, comes with the matrix in the chest, has all kinds of joints and is as close to a toy as you'd get from resin production.
Other interesting features.
- Includes Matrix of Leadership
- Includes ball jointed (at the wrist) with pin articulation at fingers, and poseable thumb to hold matrix
- Includes rubberized wheels
- In scale with Henkei and Classic Figures.
- Figure stands 6.5" tall after transforming Cab to Robot Mode.
- Highly articulated as per a Voyager Size toy (but with additional articulation)
- Core joints also have rubberize parts to ensure they are tight
As per the auction details, winner of the WJ kit in the auction will GET this Nova Commander test shot PART 1 and also PART 2.
Enjoy!!
D.K
Mastercollectables
upcoming pictures of transforming Nova Commander. This is part one. Note that this is a testshot prototype that is being listed as part of a bonus by our ebay marketing partners Retrozone as part of this AUCTION
Some pictures. More pictures below
Important to NOTE. There will BE only ONE of these Testshot released for the purpose of the auction. So one very lucky winner will get this test shot!!!!.
Nova Commander took us about 1 month of design and planning (We did look at the pictures from Dak's custom so credit is due to him and also Don Figueroa- the original pictures of Nova Commander were based on his pictures), then there was prototyping, fitting, and getting it into 3d before coming out with this test shot which took another 3 months work. This testshot is in grey before we go into a limited production run. It is highly articulated, comes with the matrix in the chest, has all kinds of joints and is as close to a toy as you'd get from resin production.
Other interesting features.
- Includes Matrix of Leadership
- Includes ball jointed (at the wrist) with pin articulation at fingers, and poseable thumb to hold matrix
- Includes rubberized wheels
- In scale with Henkei and Classic Figures.
- Figure stands 6.5" tall after transforming Cab to Robot Mode.
- Highly articulated as per a Voyager Size toy (but with additional articulation)
- Core joints also have rubberize parts to ensure they are tight
As per the auction details, winner of the WJ kit in the auction will GET this Nova Commander test shot PART 1 and also PART 2.
Enjoy!!
D.K
Mastercollectables
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Update on an existing project
Just a quick update on an existing project. This was another long time planning because of the difficulty involved. It is actually more difficult compared to WJ, because our motto when doing any modifications to an existing toy is.
a. Must be easy to customize
b. Add On is better
c. Cutting / Dremel -ZERO
d. Must use replacement add-ons
e. Must have a good semblance of the figure.
So as usual using a Classic Prowl/ Silverstreak to do Jazz is a challenge. It's easy if we'd doing a once off figure, because then to make it available to some collectors without the pain of hacking/ cutting/ etc would be impossible. We have seen quite a few customizations from Prowl or Silverstreak to Jazz. Some were better, and we're trying to do a good one, that would benefit many more collectors. Cross the fingers and hope all goes well.
Brief description - It's the Mudgut of the WIP Jazz. Could look better, much more sanding,sculpting later. With such a big mudgut -T J would definately need bigger wheels!! :)
Anyway just one picture for now. More about TJ later.
Enjoy. If you have comments or ideas let us know.
Cheers
D.K
a. Must be easy to customize
b. Add On is better
c. Cutting / Dremel -ZERO
d. Must use replacement add-ons
e. Must have a good semblance of the figure.
So as usual using a Classic Prowl/ Silverstreak to do Jazz is a challenge. It's easy if we'd doing a once off figure, because then to make it available to some collectors without the pain of hacking/ cutting/ etc would be impossible. We have seen quite a few customizations from Prowl or Silverstreak to Jazz. Some were better, and we're trying to do a good one, that would benefit many more collectors. Cross the fingers and hope all goes well.
Brief description - It's the Mudgut of the WIP Jazz. Could look better, much more sanding,sculpting later. With such a big mudgut -T J would definately need bigger wheels!! :)
Anyway just one picture for now. More about TJ later.
Enjoy. If you have comments or ideas let us know.
Cheers
D.K
Thursday, December 3, 2009
WJ Upgrade kit Robot mode pixs
Finally mugshots of the WJ-Upgrade kit in full glory Robot Mode!. We used the initial test kits, who's resin was not the exact color of the final kit. Thus the gun, the back fins were slightly grey. Left the gun without any paint works, but the final resin should be close to black color for the gun, missle launcher. We ended up painting the head and missle launcher a bit too much glossy black because the resin was not "black" enough. Me bad!! :). And by the way..the main screens are still the quick and dirty stickers so pardon the quality of screens.
You'd notice the back fin is not painted. We decided for this test kit to just use a silver marker to excentuate the design. Final kit should be spray painted silver for the fins. Back pixs, for those who have queried whether this is a "part-former", well rest assured it's not, unless you consider the fins / connector as part of the vehicle,which we could not include without altering the spirit of what Wheeljack ought to look like.
Seeking some Decepticons to gun down!
"And What are you lookin at friend?"
We still have a couple more pictures which we'd show later. Now to move on to the next Upgrade kit....more about it later.
J.C
Mastercollectables.
You'd notice the back fin is not painted. We decided for this test kit to just use a silver marker to excentuate the design. Final kit should be spray painted silver for the fins. Back pixs, for those who have queried whether this is a "part-former", well rest assured it's not, unless you consider the fins / connector as part of the vehicle,which we could not include without altering the spirit of what Wheeljack ought to look like.
Seeking some Decepticons to gun down!
"And What are you lookin at friend?"
We still have a couple more pictures which we'd show later. Now to move on to the next Upgrade kit....more about it later.
J.C
Mastercollectables.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Freebie
Just some minor updates. Good news is that the kits production is completed, so we'd doing some cleaning on the kits. Bad news is that the molds have been used to the limit, and so its like 110-112 kits (some of which will not pass our quality test) to be part of the 100 kits. We do have the prototype parts, but we have decided to keep it at 100 sets for WJ Upgrade kit.
So that is the bad news.
Some good news. We'd be giving away THREE sets of kits to the FIRST THREE websites (Toy or Transformers related) that sends to us the request for a review KIT. So just some nitty gritty details. Submission must be from a legit website domain name - gmail, yahoo, hotmail, private mail does not count. So it must be say adminstrator from TFW2005.com or name@IDW.com or name@radicons.com
What we just require for the site is a frank review of the WJ Upgrade Kit on their website, painted, fixed up with whichever variant for the base - Henkei Redalert, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker etc. We think importantly, the review should contain information on how the custom was done so as to help other customizers etc and lots of nice high resolution pictures. It will also help us improve on our future products
We'd cover the cost of shipping of the item airmail registered. So it's first come first serve :P
EMAIL US to administrator at mastercollectables.com. First 3 requests from LEGIT sites gets 1 kit each when they're ready.
Thank again for all the fellow customizers and their support.
Sincerely
Mastercollectables alchemist bloke - J.C
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
FINALLY WJ in FULL technicolors
First picture of the WJ upgrade kit with stickers applied front view. The test stickers arrived today. We had to do some minor changes to the stickers but they work fine. The only problem we had were the windscreen stickers again!. So it was back to the drawing board. As we were getting the stickers printed on High quality adhesive paper using professional printing, you'd notice the windshield are of a different print grade because these were printed on our trusty Hewlett Packard Inkjet. The final stickers would be semi gloss. We'd probably give some allowance for collectors to cut it slightly more for more personal fitting on the windscreen.
Second picture is the rear of the WJ painted vehicle with the stickers applied.
Third picture is a close up of the rear. We did put in a license plate YES it's ARIZONA - WHEELJACK. No brownie points on why it's ARIZONA cause in G1 -Transformers started in Arizona when the ARK crashed on the mountain St Helena. You'd notice some paint smearing. It was a rather rush job, the masking we used was not applied properly. It definately can be done better!!!! :) The Gap on the slide in spoiler is not a kit error because it probably moved when we took the pictures. Decided not to retake and just pass the note to fellow customizers who've ordered the kit.
Last picture is the front / Top view. Yes Wheeljack is FINALLY with his autobot stickers.
In short. We'd be getting the robot pixs up when we've gotten the other stuff ready. Isn't this exciting!!!
Monday, November 30, 2009
WJ Update
Hi all
We spend the a few hours during the weekend painting a Transformers Classics Sideswipe to white. As mentioned in the earlier post. It was challenging because it's more difficult to cover red pigmented ABS with white paint. But the challenge was good so that at least we can recommend to fellow customizers what to do.
What we used. Stuff that a Non-customizer might use. Standard aerosol can (Mr Color) and Tamiya. This is our list of stuff
a. Mr Color White (semi gloss) - we applied 2 coats of paint cause one coat still showed the red.
b. Tamiya Primer (white)
Minimal sanding of the resin parts. Do note that the kit was made to "snap" on. No glue is actually required, but it's optional. The front grills snap on and the back spoiler slide in.
Here is a first take pix of the WHITE washed sideswipe. Do pardon our photography skills, which needs to be improved :). Now we're waiting for our stickers. The windscreen is white because well, we're including black windscreen stickers, which was save some pain painting the windscreens black, but that is really up to the customizer.
Cheers
Mastercollectables
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Weekend blurp
Hi everyone,
hope black friday was good..We know the sales were fantastic. Back to WJ. We had just spend the weekend painting a Classic Sideswipe from RED to white. We can tell you from experience, if you plan to do this, GET a sunstreaker. It's easier to use the dull yellow plastic and paint it white, (after priming the plastic). We'd see how the sideswipe holds up, else we'd do up a sunstreaker also.
If you've noticed, the website www.mastercollectables.com also reroutes to mastercollectors.blogspot.com. That would be our main domain name. We use the blogspot essentially because it was a quick way to get the website running and at the same time allow us to communicate quickly to our fellow collectors and fans. Maybe in the future we'd do up a proper site, but for now our focus is custom toys.
Have a great weekend!!.
Mastercollectables.
hope black friday was good..We know the sales were fantastic. Back to WJ. We had just spend the weekend painting a Classic Sideswipe from RED to white. We can tell you from experience, if you plan to do this, GET a sunstreaker. It's easier to use the dull yellow plastic and paint it white, (after priming the plastic). We'd see how the sideswipe holds up, else we'd do up a sunstreaker also.
If you've noticed, the website www.mastercollectables.com also reroutes to mastercollectors.blogspot.com. That would be our main domain name. We use the blogspot essentially because it was a quick way to get the website running and at the same time allow us to communicate quickly to our fellow collectors and fans. Maybe in the future we'd do up a proper site, but for now our focus is custom toys.
Have a great weekend!!.
Mastercollectables.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Update on the WJ-Upgrade kit
Just some quick updates.
1. There would be some amendments on the stickers, with additional feedback from our printers. The windscreen, eyes, license plate would be printed on opaque adhesive paper. While the rest would be on clear adhesive plastic.
2. We've just received the first "kits". Tested the fittings and they're good. We'd be getting this painted and hopefully the initial stickers would be available for us to apply and share with the internet how our rendition of WJ should look like.
3. Packaging has been decided, and we've asked our art-designer to design the WJ art for the packaging.
All seems to be going as planned.
Stay cool!!
Mastercollectables
1. There would be some amendments on the stickers, with additional feedback from our printers. The windscreen, eyes, license plate would be printed on opaque adhesive paper. While the rest would be on clear adhesive plastic.
2. We've just received the first "kits". Tested the fittings and they're good. We'd be getting this painted and hopefully the initial stickers would be available for us to apply and share with the internet how our rendition of WJ should look like.
3. Packaging has been decided, and we've asked our art-designer to design the WJ art for the packaging.
All seems to be going as planned.
Stay cool!!
Mastercollectables
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
WJ-Upgrade Kit update
Hi friends,
Just a quick update on the stickers. After some testing on the design and feedback from the internal team and collectors, we've come up with this design. It includes the black windscreen so saves alot of time for customizers to paint their screen black. These would be precut so it should also help.
So just chugging along again.
Cheers
Mastercollectables
Monday, November 23, 2009
Updates
Just a quick update from us.
We're working on a few projects, which we'd reveal in the upcoming weeks or so. One of them is another upgrade kit, while the other one is a rather complex mecha. The kit is still in WIP stages, while the complex mecha which took us about 3 months of study, concept, design and engineering is close to be revealed.
On the side note, the WJ kit is in the process of being casted out, which is a tedious process for those who're familiar with resin casting. Why not do ABS, as some friends have asked? Well, we're not in the mode of mass producing this for huge profits, but just to test our concepts and designs, and at the same time pass the profits for future R&D work.
Running in parallel is the artwork, and also the design of the sticker which will be printed on clear sticker type. There were some suggestions for water decals, well it'd work, but just would be messy for some collectors to use, although our designers "prefer" water decals for the clean look on the finished product.
When the first test pieces come out, we'd paint and label the decals on it, to show to our friends how the final product can look like. In the meantime happy modding.
Cheers
Mastercollectables
We're working on a few projects, which we'd reveal in the upcoming weeks or so. One of them is another upgrade kit, while the other one is a rather complex mecha. The kit is still in WIP stages, while the complex mecha which took us about 3 months of study, concept, design and engineering is close to be revealed.
On the side note, the WJ kit is in the process of being casted out, which is a tedious process for those who're familiar with resin casting. Why not do ABS, as some friends have asked? Well, we're not in the mode of mass producing this for huge profits, but just to test our concepts and designs, and at the same time pass the profits for future R&D work.
Running in parallel is the artwork, and also the design of the sticker which will be printed on clear sticker type. There were some suggestions for water decals, well it'd work, but just would be messy for some collectors to use, although our designers "prefer" water decals for the clean look on the finished product.
When the first test pieces come out, we'd paint and label the decals on it, to show to our friends how the final product can look like. In the meantime happy modding.
Cheers
Mastercollectables
Monday, November 16, 2009
Replies to some questions on WJ upgrade kit
We received some questions either directly to our email address or via our ebay partner so we're going to answer them accordingly.
Q1. Can you remove the A-pillars from the kit (between the side and front windscreen)? This will give it a more G1 feel whit the "wrap around" windscreen.
A1. The A pillars, we had altered them from the original windshield to give the front screen a more curved viewpoint and try to give WJ a more G1 feel. There were some limitations onto the degree of curvature because we didn't want to have to redesign the vehicle front cab portion which was not curved.
Q2: And will we be able to attach the wings from the back on it's rear spoiler (double spoiler)?
A2. Unfortunately we've not designed the Wings to attach to the rear spoilers. It would be an interesting concept, however the design of the add-on rear spoilers with the vertical fins which are esthetically added do prevent any add on for the wings.
Q3: Will the side panels get add ons (it says so on the ebay, but not on the blogspot, or i misread it)?
A3. The side panels will not get any addons. The pictures in our blog show the 95% final prototype product.
Q4.Hi, seeing as you're open to suggestions, any chance of manufacturing the hood so it's more like the 'rounded' version below at all ?
A4. We had actually made it "rounder" compared with the original hood. It required a resculpt of the hoodscreen portion, while still trying to maintain the connector to the front cab. You'd need to compare it with the original cab to compare the difference.
Q5. Hi. I am absolutely loving your work and I fully intend to purchase one of these. Is December still the likely completion/shipping date?
A5. We're targeting for a Mid-End Dec 2009 completion. Right now we're into the production phase, with a parallel packaging design in the pipeline.
Q6. Just been looking at your Wheeljack kit on eBay and the only suggestion I could think of would be to have the wings and weapons store under the car in his alt mode.
A6. Good question. Ebay is currently marketing by our ebay partner as an alternative channel. It can be purchased directly via our paypal buy it now button. Back to design question, We did fiddle with this idea of putting the wings below the body of the vehicle, but there was no space under there to put it. It must be noted that as an add-on kit to the Classic Sunstreaker / Sideswipe, improvements can be made to the parts based on the ability of the customizer. Potentially we see variables in our offering.
a. A person simply paints the base toy and add on the parts and paste the stickers. This is the simplest and quickest option
b. A person does additional changes to the toy to suite his particular taste, with the add-on parts from us making this change quicker. We agree that using sculpy to make round windshield,the front bumper and using styrene sheets is not a quick and easy job for the average collector. But we're confident, if a collector has done model kits, that this WJ add-on should be a half day "walk in the park".
Q7. Where are we getting our stickers?
A8 At this moment, we're waiting for a first batch to be released. Then we would get our graphic file to be test fitted prior to getting them printed on clear sticker sheets. If there are requests for water decals (because they look nicer, we can explore this option)
Q8. How did you guys come up with this idea?
A8. We didn't come up with this idea. This idea was found by many customizers from Radicons etc, and we as fellow collectors also felt that it would be beneficial for it to be more available the the general collector and also fellow customizers to make a ready kit to cut down on time required for customization. One customizer's design that we did review extensively was blacklion29 , so due credit has to be given to this customizer.
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons-customs/249094-classics-wheeljack.html
Lastly remember you can click on the paypal buy it now button in our earlier post to get your piece.
Q1. Can you remove the A-pillars from the kit (between the side and front windscreen)? This will give it a more G1 feel whit the "wrap around" windscreen.
A1. The A pillars, we had altered them from the original windshield to give the front screen a more curved viewpoint and try to give WJ a more G1 feel. There were some limitations onto the degree of curvature because we didn't want to have to redesign the vehicle front cab portion which was not curved.
Q2: And will we be able to attach the wings from the back on it's rear spoiler (double spoiler)?
A2. Unfortunately we've not designed the Wings to attach to the rear spoilers. It would be an interesting concept, however the design of the add-on rear spoilers with the vertical fins which are esthetically added do prevent any add on for the wings.
Q3: Will the side panels get add ons (it says so on the ebay, but not on the blogspot, or i misread it)?
A3. The side panels will not get any addons. The pictures in our blog show the 95% final prototype product.
Q4.Hi, seeing as you're open to suggestions, any chance of manufacturing the hood so it's more like the 'rounded' version below at all ?
A4. We had actually made it "rounder" compared with the original hood. It required a resculpt of the hoodscreen portion, while still trying to maintain the connector to the front cab. You'd need to compare it with the original cab to compare the difference.
Q5. Hi. I am absolutely loving your work and I fully intend to purchase one of these. Is December still the likely completion/shipping date?
A5. We're targeting for a Mid-End Dec 2009 completion. Right now we're into the production phase, with a parallel packaging design in the pipeline.
Q6. Just been looking at your Wheeljack kit on eBay and the only suggestion I could think of would be to have the wings and weapons store under the car in his alt mode.
A6. Good question. Ebay is currently marketing by our ebay partner as an alternative channel. It can be purchased directly via our paypal buy it now button. Back to design question, We did fiddle with this idea of putting the wings below the body of the vehicle, but there was no space under there to put it. It must be noted that as an add-on kit to the Classic Sunstreaker / Sideswipe, improvements can be made to the parts based on the ability of the customizer. Potentially we see variables in our offering.
a. A person simply paints the base toy and add on the parts and paste the stickers. This is the simplest and quickest option
b. A person does additional changes to the toy to suite his particular taste, with the add-on parts from us making this change quicker. We agree that using sculpy to make round windshield,the front bumper and using styrene sheets is not a quick and easy job for the average collector. But we're confident, if a collector has done model kits, that this WJ add-on should be a half day "walk in the park".
Q7. Where are we getting our stickers?
A8 At this moment, we're waiting for a first batch to be released. Then we would get our graphic file to be test fitted prior to getting them printed on clear sticker sheets. If there are requests for water decals (because they look nicer, we can explore this option)
Q8. How did you guys come up with this idea?
A8. We didn't come up with this idea. This idea was found by many customizers from Radicons etc, and we as fellow collectors also felt that it would be beneficial for it to be more available the the general collector and also fellow customizers to make a ready kit to cut down on time required for customization. One customizer's design that we did review extensively was blacklion29 , so due credit has to be given to this customizer.
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons-customs/249094-classics-wheeljack.html
Lastly remember you can click on the paypal buy it now button in our earlier post to get your piece.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Updates on WJ kit
Just some updates on the WJ kit. We've still not come up with an official name (if it requires one) ;)
But so far this is what we're planning
a. Stickers would be incorporated into the kit.
b. The missle launcher, gun - should be in black resin
c. The back wings - black, the backpack holding the wings - black.
d. The rest would be white - or some form of whitish resin.
And by the way, you can actually use a sunstreaker instead of sideswipe Classic for this modification, and we found that the following helps
a. Mr Color primer (white)
b. Then applying Mr Color white semi gloss.
When we get the first casts out, we'd do a test shot of a "completed" piece. I believe there are lots of "customizers" out there that can do better paintworks, and would do custom jobs with these parts to make a real classic WJ figure.
In the meantime, stay cool and be well.
Mastercollectables
But so far this is what we're planning
a. Stickers would be incorporated into the kit.
b. The missle launcher, gun - should be in black resin
c. The back wings - black, the backpack holding the wings - black.
d. The rest would be white - or some form of whitish resin.
And by the way, you can actually use a sunstreaker instead of sideswipe Classic for this modification, and we found that the following helps
a. Mr Color primer (white)
b. Then applying Mr Color white semi gloss.
When we get the first casts out, we'd do a test shot of a "completed" piece. I believe there are lots of "customizers" out there that can do better paintworks, and would do custom jobs with these parts to make a real classic WJ figure.
In the meantime, stay cool and be well.
Mastercollectables
Friday, November 13, 2009
Prototype pictures of our first creation
This is our first creation. WJ custom. It took probably a month of planning, looking at existing designs, and seeing what was the best way to execute. Our design was influenced by many other customizers in the web and we took the best of what was possible on an existing Transformers sunstreaker/ sideswipe toy and tried to improve on it. This is pretty much the final rendition before we do a limited mass production. Let us know your comments on this kit. We're also in the process of reviewing the stickers.
On a side note. We understand that our partner on ebay had listed a pre-production picture. Not the best we'd say, so we've asked them to update with newer pictures. Hope you like our latest creation.
At this moment as per our partners pricing. It is 44.98USD per piece, shipping not inclusive. If there are those who want to take up quantity of this limited release, please contact us at administrator@mastercollectables.com
For the total production - at this moment it's 100 although it might end up at 200 sets, dependant on how well the molds hold. Below is the buy it now button. Directly links to paypal.
At this moment price is 44.98+10USD shipping worldwide. If someone buys a couple of them we'd work out the discount for shipping (approx 50% off the second price etc etc) and refund back. ETA December 2009.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Custom Toys on the way
First blog by mastercollectables. This would be our alias, cause the web is full of interesting people. We'd be putting up information on upcoming custom mecha, robots etc for the fellow collectors, customizers, enthustiasts etc.
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