When I first saw images of Transformers Prime I was not that impressed. I didn’t like the overall character designs for the Transformer’s movies and so seeing a cartoon about Transformers with characters that had a similar look and feel I was nervous. I was nervous but I would be watching the show the minute it aired. I was so excited to see the show and when I saw these characters in motion I was blown away. The story was fantastic, the characters were awesome and I even liked how they made use of human characters. I’m a G1 fan from back in 1984 and this series is one of the best I’ve ever gotten to watch. The team behind Transformers Prime got it so right.

The five part mini-series introduces all the major players in this series. On the Autobot side we have Optimus Prime, Ratchet, BumbleBee, Bulkhead and Arcee. They are joined by some human characters like Jack, Miko and Raf as well as Agent Fowler. So the Autobots are around and they are in disguise but a few people know that they exist. For the Decepticons they have Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave and a bunch of Vehicons. The series starts out a bit dark and there are some traumatic events that occur but it totally sucks you right in as a fan and it does not let go. I love it and love that this has been released as a movie because it was an epic opening to the series.

I have a press release all about the DVD release on December 6, 2011. For Immediate Release

Prepare to Experience the World of TRANSFORMERS PRIME!

OWN IT ON DVD DECEMBER 6, 2011 FROM SHOUT! FACTORY

“MEGATRON has not been seen nor heard from in sometime, and if his return is imminent, it could be catastrophic,” said OPTIMUS PRIME.

The lure of the TRANSFORMERS saga starts a new chapter as all foes return, legendary heroes rise, and new ones are found in unlikely places. The new CGI animated series TRANSFORMERS PRIME which currently airs on The Hub television network and is a Hasbro Studios production, deepens the epic mythology of both the AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS, while starting fresh for a new generation of fans. Arch rivals the AUTOBOTS and the evil DECEPTICONS, lead by MEGATRON once again face-off in their rivalry for control of Earth in this new show. Celebrate the triumphant return of the AUTOBOTS through cutting-edge CGI animation with TRANSFORMERS PRIME – DARKNESS RISING. In early 2011, loyal TRANSFORMERS fans, as well as families and kids, were introduced to this visually stunning five-part miniseries on The Hub. Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Arcee, AUTOBOT Ratchet, Bulkhead, and many others are back to “roll out” against Megatron’s latest attempt to conquer Earth. And Megatron proves to be more powerful than ever, having acquired a rare element that allows him mastery over life itself. OPTIMUS PRIME and the AUTBOTS may be few against the Decepticon hordes, but they find increased strength through bonds forged with three human teenagers.

On December 6, 2011, Shout! Factory, in collaboration with Hasbro, will release TRANSFORMERS PRIME – DARKNESS RISING DVD, featuring the entire five action-packed episodes edited together in a seamless, riveting movie and special bonus content that includes animatics and a special look at concept designs for characters and backgrounds. Delivering a new level of heavy metal action and family entertainment for all ages, this highly collectible DVD is priced to own with a suggested retail price of $14.97.

TRANSFORMERS PRIME – DARKNESS RISING boasts an all-star voice cast, including Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Steve Blum, Jeffrey Combs, Dwayne Johnson, among other notables. TRANSFORMERS PRIME is produced by Hasbro Studios. Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Jeff Kline are executive producers. Kurtzman and Orci served as writers for the feature films TRANSFORMERS and TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen.

TRANSFORMERS PRIME recently garnered two Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Individual Achievement in animation and six Emmy nominations.

About Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) is a branded play company providing children and families around the world with a wide range of immersive entertainment offerings based on the Company’s world-class brand portfolio. From toys and games, to television programming, motion pictures, video games and a comprehensive licensing program, Hasbro strives to delight its customers through the strategic leveraging of well-known and beloved brands such as THE TRANSFORMERS, LITTLEST PET SHOP, NERF, PLAYSKOOL, MY LITTLE PONY, G.I. JOE, MAGIC: THE GATHERING and MONOPOLY. The Hub, Hasbro’s multiplatform joint venture with Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) launched on October 10, 2010. The online home of The Hub is http://www.hubworld.com. The Hub logo and name are trademarks of Hub Television Networks, LLC. All rights reserved.

Come see how we inspire play through our brands at http://www.hasbro.com. © 2010 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

About Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is a diversified entertainment company devoted to producing, uncovering and revitalizing the very best of pop culture. Founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos have spent their careers sharing their music, television and film faves with discerning consumers the world over. Shout! Factory’s DVD offerings serve up classic, contemporary and cult TV series, riveting sports programs, live music, animation and documentaries in lavish packages crammed with extras. The company’s audio catalogue boasts GRAMMY®-nominated boxed sets, new releases from storied artists, lovingly assembled album reissues and indispensable “best of” compilations. These riches are the result of a creative acquisitions mandate that has established the company as a hotbed of cultural preservation and commercial reinvention. Shout! Factory is based in Santa Monica, California. For more on Shout! Factory, visit shoutfactory.com.

Emmy® is the trademark property of the Academy for Television Arts & Sciences/ The National Academy for Television Arts & Sciences. Grammy® is the registered trademark of the national Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

Review: Transformers Prime: Darkness Rising

Photo-A-Day #2430

Today was the Annual Christmas is for Kids Toy Drive sponsored by Achin’s Garage. We’ve been saving a small amount of money each month so that we would have a decent sum with which to buy toys. I also got some great toys from different companies that I could donate as well. Before we went to drop off the toys we set them all up and Eva got to pose with them.

One of the companies that sent me a ton of toys was Squinkies. I have a couple of sets of Squinkies that I display on my desk (Hot Wheels and Marvel Superheroes) and we’ve gotten Eva a bunch of Disney Princess Squinkies, too. I’m a fan of these little toys and think that they look pretty decent. I love shooting photos of them with my macro lens. The Marvel superhero ones look great and are very fun. So, I got a big box of great Squinkies toys and they told me that I was free to donate them if I wanted to do so. I have plenty of them and Eva has a bunch so it made sense to donate them to Christmas is for Kids. I almost kept the Cars 2 Squinkies set though.

For the rest of the toys we went yesterday and bought a bunch of our favorite stuff at Target. We picked up Transformers, LEGO, HEXBUG, KRE-O, Sky Ball, Littlest Pet Shop, My Little Pony, Bizu, Hot Wheels, Tinkerbell, Skylanders and Crayola. Here is the whole haul in one shot.

This year the venue of Christmas is for Kids moved from the Community school to the Achin’s Garage. I personally thought that the Community School location was better because there was parking. Achin’s is located in a very busy area with little parking but it is higher visibility for the garage and I like to see the get more visibility for doing such a good event. I showed up right as they opened so the truck was pretty empty however I heard it was a good day so I think the truck filled up pretty good by day’s end.

I loved getting to go to the Christmas is For Kids event but today was my first day after my first day back to work after Andrew was born. So I came right home and napped for about 2 hours. Then took Eva to Dance and then went to Christmas is for Kids. I got back home, after I stopped at Hess and picked up a Hess Truck for the kids for Christmas. I hung out and stayed awake for a bit because Allison’s brother and his family was coming to visit. I eventually went and napped for a while longer. Woke up and had a quick visit and lunch with them and then back to bed. I hope I got enough sleep and don’t end up face down on my keyboard tonight or tomorrow morning, more likely.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

Christmas is for Kids 2011

Transformers for little hands are nothing new. A few years ago there was a line of Transformers called Transformers Go-Bots. These were Transformers for little kids. The thought was a great one, get younger kids interested in Transformers and make the robots easy to transform and fun to play with. The thing is, something was missing. There was not storyline with that set of toys and there was no supporting television show. I’m glad to see that there are now Transformers Rescue Bots. These are Transformers that are not only easy to transform but have a clear storyline and some recognizable characters in the mix. For example BumbleBee is part of this storyline and he is one of the most well loved and recognizeable Transformers characters ever, second only to Optimus Prime, who also happens to be a part of this storyline.

The story behind this new line is that Optimus Prime has some new recruits that need to learn the ways of the human people. These are younger Autobots who will work side by side with a team of humans to protect, learn from and befriend humanity. Optimus Prime is a part of this storyline and BumbleBee is also a part of the storyline. The Rescue Bots have a couple of special bases and one is the Prime Fire Station. This is the main base of operations and serves as both a Fire Station and a secret base where the humans who work with the Transformers can live and train together. The other base is the BumbleBee Rescue Garage. This is a smaller set that includes a “driveable” BumbleBee, an Axel Fraser figure and a tow hook to rescue other vehicles. The BumbleBee figure in this playset does not transform but rather has a space for a driver so that the human figures can fit inside BumbleBee and drive him around. The BumbleBee vehicle can be stood on end to reveal a robot figure underneath so kids can play as if they are using a robot figure.

The BumbleBee Rescue Garage also allows you to launch the rescue bots in vehicle mode. Push a lever to bring the lift all the way to the top and there is a ramp that the cars can race down and then off on their special missions. This is a nice feature but you have to press the lever in a controlled manner or the cars will not race down as expected. If you push the lever straight down as hard and fast as you can the car will bounce off the platform and not race down the ramp.

The station itself also is in disguise. It isn’t until you lift a car up to the top of the ramp that the sign for BumbleBee’s garage flips down to reveal the face of BumbleBee. The station is a nice addition to the growing Rescue Bots line that already has six transforming robots and ten human figures (some are duplicates as they come with the playsets and there are additional multiple figures with new equipment.) I bought Eva her first Transformers Rescue Bot, Optimus Prime and then picked up Heatwave and BumbleBee plus all the human figures that were out at the time and also the Prime Fire Station. These were her birthday gifts and some figures I’m holding on to until the robot counterparts are in stores. Each robot is paired with a human including the Optimus Prime character.

I liked the BumbleBee set but I would have liked it more had there been a storybook included with it like there was with the Prime Firestation and like there are books included with the Electronic Chase and Electronic Heatwave figures. Eva loves having me read the book to her and that thrills me to no end since I am a Transformers fan from back in 1984. If a storybook was included with the playset I’d be very happy because I believe that having a story around the figures and playsets is what helps to ignite the imaginations of kids. There will be a television show coming in 2012 on The Hub all about Transformers Rescue Bots and I look forward to watching that with Eva and then later on with Andrew. I think that Transformers Rescue Bots is a great jumping on point for kids to get into the Transformers line of toys.

If you’d like your own Transformers Rescue Bots BumbleBee’s Garage then enter to win below.

Please use the rafflecopter widget and follow all of the directions. The first direction is to leave a comment on this post (scroll to bottom to the comment section) after you’ve visted the Transformers Rescue Bots website and tell me the names of some of the Rescue Bots. Then click the “I did this” button on the rafflecopter widget. You can gain more entries by doing other tasks after that. But you must do the first steps to enter.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this toy to review and blog about as well as give away as part of the SwagsGiving Event. Opinions about the toy are 100% my own.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

SwagsGiving 2 Giveaway: Playskool Heroes Transformers Rescue Bots

Transformers is my all time favorite line of toys, comic books and cartoons. I also liked the movies but let’s not push it. The one thing that we can thank the movie for is the resurgence in interest in the Transformers franchise and that means more Cartoons, comics and toys, so in that vein I certainly appreciate those movies. That and they were fun to watch. Out of the movies comes a new line of Transformers toys called Transformers KRE-O. KRE-O is a link of brick based building toys that are used to create Transformers like Optimus Prime, Megatron, SideSwipe and BumbleBee. Some of the sets have characters with G1 (Generation 1 from the 80′s) like styles and others are from the movie. I received an Optimus Prime set and it was awesome to build.

Each larger KRE-O set comes with little characters called Kreons. The Kreons do look like G1 versions of the Transformers and there are also human figures as well. The Optimus Prime set came with three Transformers and two humans. The three Transformers are Optimus Prime, BlueStreak and SkyWarp. The humans are motorcycle stunt drivers because in this set Optimus has a couple of motorcycles that he hauls around in his trailer.

The style of this Optimus Prime is a cross between the G1 and the movie Optimus Prime. The cab of the truck is more like the movie but the coloring is more like the G1 cartoon but in robot mode Prime looks much more like the movie version of Prime. I do like that the Kreons are G1 though because G1 is my favorite series and that is because I started my collection in 1984 when the Transformers were released in the USA.

Putting together the set was a good experience. I poured out all the bricks and tried to organize them but didn’t and Eva was with me when I built this. She pretended that the Kreons were building Prime and so I’d add a few bricks and then put the piece down so the Kreons would work on Prime too. Prime also came with a set of Kreon sized tools like a drill, wrench, hammer and more. The one thing that I wish was included in the set would be some sort of tool organizing spot inside the trailer. There is no place to put the tools so I had to improvise. I also liked that almost every piece was used when I built the Truck and trailer.

I also took the whole truck and trailer apart and created the Robot. I was impressed with how I was able to use most of the pieces to complete the robot and a N.E.S.T. base of operations. There were a lot of pieces left over but I used them to enhance the base.

The Robot was decent. It stayed together well and was poseable. I’m pretty impressed with the whole KRE-O experience and would love to build more sets.

If you’d like your own Optimus Prime KRE-O Set then enter to win below.

Please use the rafflecopter widget and follow all of the directions. The first direction is to leave a comment on this post (scroll to bottom to the comment section) after you’ve visted the Transformers KRE-O website and tell me what KRE-O set you’d love to make. Then click the “I did this” button on the rafflecopter widget. You can gain more entries by doing other tasks after that. But you must do the first steps to enter.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this toy to review and blog about as well as give away as part of the SwagsGiving Event. Opinions about the toy are 100% my own.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

SwagsGiving 2 Giveaway: Transformers KRE-O Set

Photo-A-Day #2395

It is wet and rainy and gross here. I’ll be shoveling before Halloween too. That is not right. I got home from work and spent pretty much the entire day sleeping. It was a perfect day to do it too. Rain all day long, wet and dreary, a day when you really want to pull the covers up over your head and sleep. I at least, have an excuse to do that all day long.

I did get a tiny bit of time to spend with Allison and Eva before I konked out. Eva has been playing with her new set of My Little Ponies and the Rarity Carousel Boutique. These are toys that we are reviewing together to give away during SwagsGiving 2. They are actually the first toys that will be given away. I’m involving Eva in a big way in these reviews especially because she enjoys playing with the toys so much. She’s been telling Allison all about the ones from our video yesterday. The kid cracks me up. she’s going to be all excited when we get the KRE-O set. I’m not sure which character we’ll get but it will have a KREON like Skywarp there.

We ended up with a Nor’ Easter here complete with loss of power at my place of work. Around 11:30 the power went out in our building and we were plunged into darkness for a moment. Then the emergency power came on for a little bit of lighting. The power was still not on so we had to head over to another building to finish out the night. Glad I bought a new shovel and some ice melt this morning because I am going to need it when I get home. I debated between leaving it in the garage or on the mud room porch. I left it on the mud room porch which was the wrong choice because when I get home tomorrow morning the shovel will be at the porch and not close to the car. Logistics.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

Why So Surly, Skywarp?