The Vault.

[inflatable dalek]

Picked this up from Amazon over the weekend, and despite not having heard of it before last week it's turned out to be a lovely little book.

Yes, there's little here most of us won't know already (though I don't think I was aware of the planned G2 Mirage before), and you can find most of the things like tech specs and catalogues online. But there is something wonderful about the tactile nature of being able to pull out and play with these things.

Though the goodies are what's snagged the main focus of the promotion, the text is well done. Nicely researched, bright and breezy and at pains to explain things out for the less hardcore fans who've picked it up as a nice looking book.

There are two main flaws, though niether's lethal. The first is that I found most of the slide out inserts hard to get back in neatly. The second is the text is almost unrelentingly positive. Fair enough, the books a celebration and lengthy fan rants would be out of place. But Dreamwave gets covered without a mention of why the lost the licence, every new gimmick during the original line was an innovation now matter how poorly executed, IDW's output was so well received you have to wonder why they bothered with AHM and, though the 86 films dismal performance at the box office is acknowledged, the fact this ultimately killed the franchises momentum cold dead and pretty much finished the cartoon is ignored (though it now having a two disc DVD is proof of its cult classic status).

Still, overall, a very decent coffee table book. And prototype Blaster with Soundwave's head is awesome.

[Skyquake87]

I have this too, and like it for exactly for the same reasons. I would have liked more toyline pictures, myself, but that's just me. Its nice to have all this info (finally) collected in a book (I've endless scraps of this stuff complied from old issues of Toyfare and Lee's Toy Review and whatnot.

As to its critical faculties, yes it does gloss over why certain lines/ comics failed (anyone reading would seriously question why , if IDWs stuff is so well received, they have to go through two 'soft' reboots...), but those things are at least acknowledged. What I did find interesting was how the book picks up on the long shadow cast by fandom, whom seem unable to accept the one thing the brand embodies: change. That's quite a sad thing to see in print, and very much an indicator of how we seemed to be perceived from the outside. Sometimes it makes you feel that we don't deserve Transformers, we're such a bloody ungrateful lot.

[Denyer]

Just reminded about this by Maz, so seeing as Amazon have it cheap have whacked in an order.

[inflatable dalek]

As to its critical faculties, yes it does gloss over why certain lines/ comics failed (anyone reading would seriously question why , if IDWs stuff is so well received, they have to go through two 'soft' reboots...), but those things are at least acknowledged. What I did find interesting was how the book picks up on the long shadow cast by fandom, whom seem unable to accept the one thing the brand embodies: change. That's quite a sad thing to see in print, and very much an indicator of how we seemed to be perceived from the outside. Sometimes it makes you feel that we don't deserve Transformers, we're such a bloody ungrateful lot.

Mind, by glossing over the genuinely poor decisions (and I'm not really necessarily talking creative here. There is a degree of subjectivity as to the qualities of, say, Dreamwave's comics, but not their business practice) I'd say the book perhaps make fan cynicism overly insane, by reading this book you'd think that everything had been so perfect there's nothing genuine to complain about at all (oh, and considering just about every toyline gets at least a brief mention- even if it's just a couple of lines like with Machine Wars- KISS Players being completely ignored is telling, presumably there was no way to put a positive spin on that one).

That's coming over though as slightly harsh on the book. Certainly as a coffee table tome that's designed for anyone to pick up and browse through for fun it beats the crap out of the Ultimate Guide.

Though if I wanted to be really picky... representing the UK comic with Will Simpson art? Eeeeeck.

[Summerhayes]

Hmm, that book actually looks right up my street. I love that sort of thing to flick through while I watch TV