Shortpacked! by David Willis
Toys are serious business.
Convention appearances:
Calgary Expo Calgary, AB: April 26-28
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Multiplex
Sorcery 101
Templar, AZ
The Transformers Wiki
Hail to the Slash
80 page GIANT
Axe Cop
The Book of Biff
Butt-Taco
Comics Curmudgeon
College Roomies from Hell!!!
Diesel Sweeties
Dinosaur Comics
Dr. McNinja
Dresden Codak
Fans!
Fleen
Gastrophobia
Girl Genius
Girls with Slingshots
Goats
Hark, a vagrant
Hijinks Ensue
Intrepid Girlbot
Legend of Bill
Medium Large
Not Invented Here
Octopus Pie
Overcompensating
Penny Arcade
PhDcomics
Power Nap
Questionable Content
Real Life
Rob and Elliot
Bad Machinery
Schlock Mercenary
Sheldon
So Far Apart
Something Positive
Two Lumps
Wapsi Square
Wonderella
Wondermark
Frumph.NET
Sorcery 101
Templar, AZ
The Transformers Wiki
Hail to the Slash
80 page GIANT
Axe Cop
The Book of Biff
Butt-Taco
Comics Curmudgeon
College Roomies from Hell!!!
Diesel Sweeties
Dinosaur Comics
Dr. McNinja
Dresden Codak
Fans!
Fleen
Gastrophobia
Girl Genius
Girls with Slingshots
Goats
Hark, a vagrant
Hijinks Ensue
Intrepid Girlbot
Legend of Bill
Medium Large
Not Invented Here
Octopus Pie
Overcompensating
Penny Arcade
PhDcomics
Power Nap
Questionable Content
Real Life
Rob and Elliot
Bad Machinery
Schlock Mercenary
Sheldon
So Far Apart
Something Positive
Two Lumps
Wapsi Square
Wonderella
Wondermark
Frumph.NET
Tags
amber
animated
batman
botcon
conquest
conventions
dark of the moon
david willis
dinobot
drew
duncan
ethan
faz
galasso
generations
gijoe
guest strip
hamsters
homosexuality
jacob
jesus
joe
justice league
ken
leslie
malaya
megatron
merch
mike
ninja rick
nipple
optimus prime
politics
religion
robin desanto
ronald reagan
roz
sdcc
sg ravage
shattered glass
star wars
tni strips
transformers
transformers prime
ultra car
©2005-2013 David Willis | Powered by WordPress with ComicPress | Subscribe: RSS | Back to Top ↑
Grey?
yes. Despite the fact that I have been reading this strip continually for the last two years, checking on every new comic when it is posted, I must ask. IS ETHAN GOING GREY?
I noticed that recently. I think it’s to convince us Ethan might be wasting his life, because there were quite a few people on his side in the break up with his boyfriend. I’m not sure that was expected
Or it could just be that Ethan is going grey. Full stop.
It happens.
I think it’s to show how Ethan has grown through ending his unhealthy relationship with Drew, because quite a few people are still on Drew’s side in the breakup.
I think it’s to show Ethan is… getting older…?
Like literally. With years and stuff. And not necessarily having anything to do with him breaking up with Catman.
awfully quickly though. I don’t think his age came up before that
His hair isn’t even all that gray, though. I mean, it’s lighter, but it’s not reaching that silvery stage.
He may just be one of those people that grays early.
Men in my family start to turn grey towards their mid-thirties. And if I remember correctly, Ethan is somewhere around or at least nearing that himself.
I fail to see how the same people that see Drew’s and Ethan’s relationship as unhealthy are also the ones that think Amber and Mike are perfect together.
uh… because mike’s not psychologically abusive? he’s rude and passive aggressive, yes, but he knows that amber’s got endurance for that sort of thing and tries not to go too far without a plan.
(and no, i’m not on Ethan’s side.)
Now, now, Ethan.
At least us Hercules evangelists are keeping our talk largely to the ever-growing monstrosity that is the TFW Hercules thread.
Hercules as in the Kevin Sorbo Hercules?
So, Dylan Hunt?
lolol Kevin Sorbo joke.
Hmm.
Dylan = Optimus
Tyr = Grimlock
Beka = Slipstream-as-an-Autobot?
Harper = cross between Bumblebee & Wheeljack
Rev = BM Optimus Primal
Trance = One of the 13
Rommie = T-Ai
…Whoa.
As in the third-party Devastator Hercules.
The grey’s been happening for a while. Entropy always wins, alas.
Question:
Ethan’s hair: Is he actually going grey, or something, or is that just a coloring technique to signify light eminating from a lower angle?
It is, in fact, greying. I think we need a news post on the front page about it.
Yeah, ’cause that always helps.
“Is Ethan grey in this universe?!”
Nicely done.
Bravo, Doctor, bravo.
Yeah, Doctor. Ethan’s hair has been time locked, there’s no way to get to it.
He went ridiculously grey suddenly after breaking up with Drew (seriously, should have started with the temples. Whole lower half looks like he’s going for effect)
Yea, I’ve only seen one person go grey anywhere near that fast and..well…he went through worse.
Oh god, he’s gonna go white around his temples like Hal Jordan! Watch out, Ethan is possessed by Parallax!
Yes, because in a web comic with alien abductee’s with super powers, ultra car, and the Drama Tag, the rate at which Ethan’s hair is going grey is what seems unrealistic.
Exactly. So glad to see you understand.
Hey… It starts happening after you turn 30. (Trust me, I know.)
And if you’re unlucky, it happens before you turn 30.
Or if you’re lucky, as the case may be.
I’m pretty darned pleased with all the gray in my boyfriend’s hair. He was going gray before he and I met, and we met when he was 17. He’s 21 now. Lots of silvery strands.
Rather attractive, in my opinion.
Maybe a stray hair or two, but Ethan looks like half his hair has gone out of color.
i had copious amounts of grey hair at 25. one or two roughly 10 years before that.
I’m 34, and haven’t spotted even one. Maybe I’m just lucky then.
Or like it’s really been gray for ages now, but he just recently decided to stop coloring to cover it up.
Actually, that wouldn’t surprise me.
I don’t have any grey on my head, but parts of my beard actually consist of translucent hairs.
I’m 21.
I’m startin’ to think I should just post -
“Yes Ethan’s hair is greying – Mr. Willis already said so – it’s not just lighting effect!
Doesn’t he just look so much hotter with the greying hair! My lust for him has grown since it first appeared!
[insert meme twisted into being about Ethan's greying hair here - the deader the better]”
- even when it has nothing to do with the anything going on!
Just to be safe…
Because Ethan looks really good with greying hair!
Here’s hopin’ he gets himself into another relationship again soon – because a man that fine shouldn’t have to [insert obvious masturbation pun here].
I feel dirty…
7 bucks a minute? Eff off.
That costs $20 a minute.
Well done!
25 a minute if she has to pretend to be a man.
What IS your take on third parties Willis? Keeping the fans happy or rip-off merchants (both money and intellectual property)?
“What is a false dichotomy, Alex?”
Actually, as far as rip-offs go, most 3rd-party stuff is mild. Small production runs cost a lot more to make, per unit. Hasbro has said they don’t mind fan groups using character likenesses as long as it stays out of mainstream retail and doesn’t use trademarked names. Stuff like iGear’s “Bee” seem risky though.
I’m curious to hear Willis’ take on it too. Being annoyed at seeing more posts about 3rd parties than official merch doesn’t have to mean he dissaproves of it outright, although it might.
IIRC Davis is on-record as disapproving of the IP infringement.
It’s not really infringement if Hasbro is knowingly allowing it. I suppose there’s Takara Tomy to consider, but fan productions of this sort are even more widely accepted in Japan. If these were straight-up knock-offs of official toys, that would be completely different.
Willis is still entitled to his opinion, of course, but Hasbro’s is the one that carries real weight.
With caveats, since he buys accessory type items, like the replacement Kup heads & UM armor. Items that require a Hasbro purchase are at least more palatable to him.
And from what I’ve seen said, it’s more disapproval, than outright hatred.
Personally, I have no problem with the fan-made add-ons and accessories, like the City Commander set, since you have to own an actual real Transformer to use them. In fact, the City Commander set is what got me to go out and find a Classics Ultra Magnus.
The third party Transformers on the other hand… that just seems off-side to me.
I mostly agree, except where it’s something that would probably never have been done officially. HasTak making a neo-G1 Devastator that combines from six deluxe sized transformable robots? No way. Even the iGear Bee, which I dislike for aping heavily from Legends Bumblebee, uses the forbidden VW alt-mode which we know HasTak can’t do even though they want to. Full sets of the movie Quintessons? G1 Nightbird? I’m okay with those.
Elder Ethan scares me. =(
“In my day we had to walk hundreds of miles to get to Botcon! Through the Amazon! And Mexico!”
Uphill both ways, no less!
In a blizzard!
Without a coat!
With Mike.
So, definitely without a paddle.
You guys forgot the six broken toes and a heart murmur.
For $7 a minute, the last thing I want Roz to be doing with her mouth is talk.
They see me scrollin’
they hatin’
Scrollin’ Scrollin’ Scrollin’
Keep them trollies scrollin’
Rawhide!
Scrolling on down at the speed of sound, got places to go, gotta follow my Hasbro!
Not exactly the first place I was expecting a SA2 reference
This made my day.
Is info about 3rd party products really a problem on TF message boards?
It does feel like there is a truckload of third party news lately, or maybe I just started noticing… I can’t afford to, nor do I want to, get those premium third party G1 toys everybody and their chinese uncle doing so it gets a bit annoying and I’m only one one Transformers thread, not a full forum!
Hehe. “Truck load.” That’s funny because Optimus is a truck.
Also because you said “load.”
Screw that movie noise! In my book Optimus should be a flying fire truck!
Or a monkey. Possibly flying.
Not some stupid trailer puller. Give that job to Pipes or somethin’!
GARAKUSI CONBOI: SUPAAAAAAAAA MOOOOOODO!!!
Respect the Cyber Key Power!
Two days ago 1/3 to 1/2 of the articles on tformers.com’s front page were about Third Party toy announcements, teasers, reviews, photo galleries etc.
It’s fucking annoying, I even ended up commenting on this to a friend.
To be fair, it’s a bit of a slow period as far as official Hasbro news is concerned.
Still, it annoys me when I check the “International News” section of cybertron.ca hoping for information on the next few waves of Prime toys only to be greeted with thread after thread about some ridiculously overpriced Devastator knock-off.
I think I would care more if they was more variety and not ten different variations on Optimus and Devastator.
News about official toys is usually ten different versions of Optimus anyway though.
No, it really isn’t. It isn’t even about ten different versions of Optimus and Bumblebee. At worst, it’s about one new version each of Optimus and Bumblebee, and the three new guys who are in the same case, including the one who’s shortpacked and everyone says there should have been more of him instead of one of the Optimuses and Bumblebees.
Well yes, that was hyperbole. So was the remark I was responding to. In reality there usually aren’t ten different Primes announced at once in either category.
The DOTM line had a Bumblebee in almost every friggin’ price point. I think it only needed a human alliance basic and a Cyberverse legion or something -.-
The Allspark had to make a subforum to put it all in. Make of that what you will.
Doesn’t Roz know Ethan won’t interested, he’s grey!!
Harrrrrr…..dee harr har.
How much of a man can Roz become for $7 a minute?
Although Ethan is gay, he’s never been concerned with gender when it comes to bitching.
He’s bibitchual.
Ethan’s bi?
No Ethan’s gay – I’m bi – and we’ll be married and live in a nice house by the sea with a big window that overlooks the ocean! I’ll become and award winning author/writer and Ethan will become successful [enter dreamy man job here] and a successful stand up comedian on the side.
There will be lots of room for his collecting and raising a family and we’ll adopt three kids well also using surrogates to have two more (one for each of us – to carry on our genetic traits to the future of humanity) giving us a total of five kids not counting the possibility of twins (joy)!
Did I forget to mention mind-blowing-ly awesome sex? Yes there is that too! Except for some days when we’re tired and don’t partake in carnal pleasure and a few cases where one of us underperforms do to the stress of the day-to-day grind – and that one unnerving case where the second to youngest walks in on us – but I digress-
Then we will grow old together and all the children move on to successful jobs and families.
Then our seaside house is destroyed in a flood and I die…
The end…
There’s a Stephanie Meyer on the phone for you…
Tell her I’m busy. I have a “We hate Twilight” meeting to attend to.
Mommy – Wow!
I can write books now!
Actually, to me that sounds like a Nicholas Sparks novel.
Except, no one has a terminal illness.
GODDAMNIT THIRD PARTIES! IF YOU HAVE TO MANUFACTURE COPYRIGHT-INFRINGING 3rd PARTY TOYS WHY CAN’T WE GET SOME FUCKING BEAST WARS?!
Instead of, you know, characters Hasbro is already making toys of.
What part of Beast Wars needs to be redone that could be done adequately by fans but hasn’t already been redone officially? Most of the possible fan kits I used to wish for were taken case of during Classics/Henkei or the 20th anniversary.
One word: Botanica.
That is Beast machines, not Beast Wars.
protohumans?
I doubt there’s much demand.
The Beast Era in general is woefully unacknowledged, so it still counts.
Even if Beast Machines counts as “Beast Wars,” I don’t think the fans can pull that one off effectively. Most of these kits also originate from an area where Beast Wars Returns was not widely available, so BM stuff probably wouldn’t even come to mind like BW might.
But we need more Optimus Prime toys?
One word: RHINOX.
I didn’t say that… even though I’m going to keep buying as many as they’ll put out -_-
I thought the anniversary release of Rhinox was nearly perfect, once you take his battle mask off. A fan-made weapon might be nice though.
I want a Hall of Fame-style Beast Wars Erector.
Rhinox. He needs a proper Chaingun of Doom and not a motorized flail and a piece of bacon for his weapons.
A Blackarachnia that actually looks like a Black Widow in beast mode.
A Cheetor that actually looks like a cheetah and also has a decent robot mode.
A larger Terrorsaur with the shoulder-mounted rocket launchers.
The chaingun would be great, but wouldn’t require an entire third-party figure.
I’m not convinced a fan company could do much better than the Classics/Henkei Cheetor.
I’m even more skeptical they could not only make a decent likeness of BA in both modes, but could also keep the resulting product from being remarkably fragile. If they can, I’d like to see it.
Terrorsaur might be the easiest, but I wonder about the demand.
…I’d just like to see some Beasts, show or not.
Wow, I had noticed but just thought it was just me.
Now I know I am not the only person annoyed by this recent trend!
And then Ethan decides to cut out the middle-man in his quest for passive aggressive venting and just make a web comic.
And that webcomic will be called It’s Salvy!, and star a boy named Elliot Salvador who joins a secret government agency hunting down Decepticon copyright infringers.
Exactly how I feel and worst of all, many of those third-party toys and upgrades are pointless. A new head for a RTS G2 Prime upgrade? G1 style overpriced Huffer and Seaspray? Two different way-too-expensive Devastator rip-off? Enough is enough.
If they’re worthless and unneeded, they won’t sell enough to encourage more. If you’re right, then the issue will resolve itself.
If that was true, there would never have been an iPad or an iPhone, because the iPod would have solved itself and we’d all be listening to our music on reasonably-priced MP3 players.
Nah, you’re just making the wrong assumption about what functions those serve. “Status-affirming bauble” is accomplished very well by these devices.
Word.
Unlike Ethan I have given up even bothering to look anymore.
Anyone notice that out of all the strips Willis comments on, he never seems to show up on ones with the “greying debate?”
That is because people keep bringing it up long after he said officially that it was happening.
Ugh, Ethan, I know what you mean.
And guys, Ethan’s been gong grey for a while now. Catch up.
Oh, hey, Roz is still around! I… totally forgot about her!
How many third-party Transformers are there, anyway?
Peanuts, Lucy, Psychiatric Help 5 cents…
I see Ethan posts on some of the same boards as mignash.
So odd.
Just to troll a bit…I ignore official releases and only read about the 3rd party stuff because I find it far more interesting. I gave up on HasTak when they gave up on Classics.
So… you gave up on them… at some unspecified point in the future? Or did Generations and United both get canned while I wasn’t looking?
A troll that announces impending trolling is an unsuccessful troll, indeed.
Hey, did you stop posting updates via livejournal? (Well, it seems that you did) – is it intentional?
I changed nothing. Perhaps my paid membership finally expired.
Is seven dollars a minute the going rate for camwhoring or writing legit Transformers threads? Either way, that’s serious bank.
Well considering that it’s more interesting what Hasbro is failing to get out there than what they are (seriously, I’ve been wanting to buy a DotM Soundwave since the movie came out and it’s still impossible without importing), one can hardly blame the “3rd parties” for simply being the better part of the news that is relevant to collectors.
Why doesn’t he just read Shortpacked?
Ethan’s been possessed by Parallax!
Now he’ll destroy Shortpacked in the quest to make it ‘better’ (which really isn’t happening until Walky teams up with Eric Schwartz to have a Sabrina Online cameo!) , and his power of passive-agressive bitching will go to some new guy who’s not given the respect he deserves ’cause ‘Ethan was the best EVAR and no one is good enough to replace him’ . The new guy will finally be sent to the fringes when Ethan ‘is redeemed’ and comes back not-grey and everyone will (mostly) be happy.
Until the zombies show up….
When I saw this cartoon I just thought of you.
http://www.gocomics.com/brevity/2011/11/21
Hope you like it.
Lawl. And so very true. *sad days for Transformers fans*
I wholeheartedly agree with Ethan. I know a lot of people like third party, but I honestly don’t care. It’s expensive as all hell. I could buy almost every Prime toy that’s out and ever WILL come out for the price of a Hercules or Giant.