News? Rumours? We haven't got time for either. We're too busy getting ready for BotCon. That, and nothing really jumped out as interesting this week. More movie rumours, more pictures of Classics. Actually, I like news on the G1-themed Classics. Generally the fans are positive about it.

Nothing new on the official page, as usual. I wonder when they'll finally take it down, since Cybertron is almost over.

Q: Hey Veccy! I got even more questions to bug you with!
1. I've only heard about Transformers Kiss for sometime now but never found any images. What's it like? Was everyone super deformed/chibified?
2. What is Wayward's and Knave's opinion on GaoGaiGar and the brave series? If you look closely at the 2 robots that form ChoRyuJin, they kina look like RiD Prime.
3. Speaking of GaoGaiGar, who wins in a fight? Soundwave or Mike Soundahs XIII?
Oh ... one more thing! I'M STILL MISSING MY FIGURES! If that buckethead Onslaught doesn't stop kicking around Ryouma, Hayato, and Musashi/Benkei, I don't know what I'll do!
A: See this? This missive was three of the top ten reasons I finally gave in and wrote the FAQ. Answers:

1) Basically, it's Binaltech with added little anime girls in various states of undress.

2) Neither has seen either.

3) The coin I flipped says Soundwave. As for Onslaught, he replyed a few questions down.

Q: Dea' Vecta' Prime
Smokey took yer advice too litterally an' tried da "high-grade energon" restraint wi' her patients. We Buildbots were da first ones. As I lie in my bed, sufferin' from a hangova', I'm thinkin' 'bout ways ta maul ya.
Gravedigger, Leader ofthe Buildbots
Addendum by Smokerider: I sincerely apolgize for my comrade's rudeness. Gravedigger is somewhat rough with people. Thank you for patiently answering all of our questions, although the answers have not been very useful. I also have one question to ask you: How come Slog becomes so clumsy when he goes to Japan? ( I have currently reviewed the history archives and discovered that Slog is the Dinoforce member called Kakuryuu in Japanese entries. ) Thank you for your time,
Smokerider, Autobot Medic
A: Because that isn't Slog any more than Skywarp is Starscream. Kakuryu and the rest of the Dinoforce were comedy relief characters, thus ungraceful. However, he was still quite useful - Wayward has a print-out of a half-dozen screencaps of him she uses for Slog's robot-mode reference.

Q: Dear Vector Prime,
It has come to my attention that:
1. My point in reality's Vector Prime is missing his sword.
2. 7th heaven is still on.
3. Safeguard is looking fairly smug.
I would like an explanation/solution for these incidents.
Sincerely
A fan
A: Apparently your local version of Safeguard likes 7th Heaven enough that he will steal his Vector Prime's sword to alter reality to keep the show on.

Q: Dear Vector Prime.
I have a very difficult conundrum, which I would hope you, with your experiences in this matter, can shed some light on.
my squad, whilst mapping the fringe regions, came across a planet teeming with life. we decided it warrented a closer look, and after many years of observation, we have come to the following conclusions.
the dominant species are an interesting mix of cultures, much like earth. like earth, they have developed technology at a rate at which their social evolution has been unable to keep up. they are a very territorial, war-like species, and we have deduced that within a few years they will wind up destroying themselves.
their seemingly only hope for survivial, is to develop space-flight before then, which will cause it's own problems as we percieve that if they were to get into the spacing community they would spread like a plague, dominating many lesser planets and strip-mining them for resources. thus inlies the problem; we feel we have a duty of care here; if they were destroyed and we sat by their blood would be on our hands. letting them out into space with their current views of exploitation and xenophobia is not an option. if we isolate them on their own world they will surely either destroy the planet, or consume all it's resouces.
we can see only one goal; to keep them alive long enough that they mature to the point where they can be reasoned with. naturally if we intervene, and start dictating to them how they should live it wouldn't be well recieved.
can you possibly offer advice?
- Line commander Fireblade, 63rd Autobot expeditionary force.
A: My policy, I'm afraid, unless the fate of the universe hangs in the balance, is to merely observe. If I stepped in to save every civilisation that was in trouble, I'd be doing nothing else, and said civilisations would never learn anything for themselves.

Q: Vector Prime,
I'm sure that you have seen these in your all-knowing-ness but what do you think of the leaked images of the robot modes for Optimus, Megatron and Bumblebee, and how do they expect us to transform the toys ... er ... I mean little alien lifeforms.
A: I expect the toy designs will be modified and somewhat simplified - the leaked pictures of Blackout certainly seemed to bear that up. Which is ironic, given that in G1, the cartoon and comic designs were modified and simplified from the toys. We seem to have come full circle.

Q: Will some dire fate befall the universe when Wayward and/or Starscream gather all the Minicons?
A: Possibly, but since there were a lot of expensive Japanese exclusives that they'll never see, the universe is safe. Unless one of them wins the lottery or someone has a Sonic Assault Team they'll let go cheap.

Q: If Transformers don't really have genders, then why does Silverbolt act so strange around Blackarachnia?
A: I said we don't have gender, not that we can't find one another attractive.

Q: To Vector Prime.
'Mega-Octane'. I suppose it could've been worse, but somehow it doesn't inspire the same amount of terror that Onslaught does. Onslaught suggests 'slaughter'. Mega-Octane suggests 'fill'er up'. Ah, well.
On to my questions. I'm told that we Combaticons are likely the most repainted/remolded/rereleased of all the Transformer figures ( excluding, of course, Optimus Prime and Megatron. ) Is this true, and if so, why? We are flattered, but sometimes I wonder if Swindle's been selling our likenesses and pocketing the profits.
Oh, and the last time I saw the Getters, they were flying off with a ragtag group of other robots. Said something about heading to the end of the galaxy.
Combaticon Commander Onslaught
A: At least part of the reason for your continual repaintings is that combiners make money - it's hard to buy just one limb - and your moulds haven't degraded yet. As for Swindle, I would suggest holding him up by his ankles and shaking him to see what falls out. Of course, I think that Swindle should be held upside-down and shook on general principles.

Q: Hail, Vector Prime. I've a rather important question for you. I understand you've had experience with Chosen Ones, so you're the best to ask.
I recently encountered a young boy who I strongly suspect to be the Chosen One of our prophecy. He is to bring balance. Unfortunately, I'm no longer in any condition to guide him and his recent actions worry me. My question: have any of these Chosen One prophecies ever been in favour of evil?
I just realised that while we the forces of light number in the thousands, our Dark Side counterparts are practically extinct. I am quite worried about it.
Qui-Gon Jinn
A: Hm, yes, balance is important. When Unicron was destroyed, we ended up with a galaxy-swallowing black hole. It might be best to hang on to a Sith or two, if only to keep them in a box somewhere.

While there are countless prophecies concerning evil beings, I cannot think of any that involve evil Chosen Ones. Possibly they are simply never written down, as most literature involves following the forces of good. Possibly villains are of a more practical mindset and use their prophecies to track and destroy their Chosen Ones so to hold on to their own power.

Q: I gotta complain. When Blaster got himself slagged fighting Soundwave, he got rebuilt with a brand new paintjob. Magnus got blown to smithereens and got glued together good as new. I got shot in the shoulder, and I'm toasted? Slag it, I took shots from Megatron head-on and still kicked his tailpipe before! What the slag happened? And why didn't the other Autobots bring us back too?
Brawn
A: You'll notice that everyone who died in the shuttle were chaacters from the first season. Your toys weren't selling any more, so the Powers That Be declared you expendable. Blaster and Ultra Magnus, having arrived later, were still on the shelves.

Q: Why do you Autobots keep siding with humans? Aren't they already a big enough threat with all their so-called Super Robots? My entire race was wiped out within minutes by that monster they created! Where is the justice? We were only trying to reclaim the world that was ours! What gave Mazinkaiser the right to slaughter my armies?
The Great General of Darkness
A: Marketing. The Powers That Be believe ( sometimes rightly ) that a human viewer can't identify with giant robots and thus need human characters to ground the series.

Q: I've heard of a planet where the fastest rule. Give us directions, so my boys and I can show those slaggers who the real rulers of the roads are!
Motormaster
A: The space-bridge to Velocitron is that way. I rather think they'll like you.

Q: Sir Vector Prime. Thanks for your help in stopping the Grand Black Hole. But I've a question. People have given me and some of my friends a hard time about our alternate modes. For example, I'm a traffic light and some of them are telephone boxes. Are they really so bad?
Signal Lancer
A: I think the one that had it worst was the fellow in Canada. What was he - a newspaper box? In any case, there is a ... well, not a wide tradition, but a long one of non-mobile alternate modes. Soundwave's time as a lamp post is the one most cited. There was also a fellow who turned into a piano in the comics. People may give you a hard time, but because of novelty value, they won't forget you.

Q: Dear Vector Prime,
A few questions concerning the Legascions,
1. Why do almost all the Legascion names I've heard end in "O"? Liege Maximo, Liege Centuro, Liege Stupendo, Liege Magnifico, Liege Fabulo, what is it purpose behind this naming convention?
2. What is this "spawning" I've heard of? Is it anything like budding?
3. Not really a Legascion question, since I've mentioned him and all, what exactly does Liege Maximo transform into? I've seen the guy, and quite frankly I'm not sure if can really be considered a Transformer anymore ...
A: 1) The original purpose behind the naming convention is that of the two titles we hear in G2 ( Liege Maximo and Liege Centuro ) both end in 'o' and it went from there. After that, it involved Wayward and the Koi Lungfish spending a happy afternoon trying to one-up each other on silly names, though the worst ones were discarded. It's bad enough that they kept 'Liege Fabulo' ( which is an Eddie Izzard joke - Emperor Fabulous ) but at least they never used 'Liege Jello' or 'Liege Spaghetti-O'.

2) Spawning is just another word for sparking. Budding involves the creation of a complete body from a parent, in spawning/sparking, only the spark is split off, to be then put in a new body.

3) He never was a Transformer. The Liege Maximo can turn into whatever he wants. The Firstforged are technorganic shapechangers rather than true robots. However, his preferred alt-mode seems to be a tank.

Q: Dear Vector Prime,
Is the Planet of Open Minded Supermodels populated by mechanoid supermodels only, or is there more variety? Not that I care either way mind you ...
A: The Planet of Open-Minded Supermodels is inhabited by supermodels of all kinds.

Q: Shrapnel,
It's me again, ya worthless pile of scrap. I demand a rematch, and this time It's gonna be mano y roboto, capiche? This time, I'm ready for you, and I've taken precautions to make sure your pals don't save your shiny metal patootie! This time, your mine! And you just try to pull that duplication crap on me again ... I'll fry you, and your clones!
Hate and bruises,
Electro (Of Earth 616)
A: Shrapnel would reply, but after reading your letter he seems to be doing a dance that involves turbo mooning. I suppose that's an answer.

Q: Venerable Firstforged,
One little line ... how could one little line condemn me to be the subject of scorn and derision for over two decades!?
- Ultra Magnus
A: Because fans like to latch on to one little thing and run it into the ground. Haven't I answered this already? That and Hot Rod and/or Rodimus Prime asking why people think he's a whiner. Maybe you should mix it up a bit.

Q: Emmm ... If my memory is still working properly, you extremely dislike when someone messes with time or interdimensional traveling. Even if it is a disembodied spirit with semi-godlike powers like Sauron, right? So, why haven't you sent the poor Nazgul back to Arda? I think he will be more than thankful, especially after his little run-in with Predacons ...
Stormwind,
Chaotic Neutral Decepticon
PS - About hyperdrive problem I wrote you - there is that little detail that it is part of me, not of my ship. Please ask Safeguard contact Shockwave of my timeline and explain him how to stabilize my engine.
PPS - WOOHOO I'VE MADE IT INTO VECTOR PRIMES FAQ!!
I'll go draw myself a new userbar=)
A: For reasons that are complete plot contrivance and will never be explained, I can't send people back where they came from. If I could, the cast would be a lot smaller. It's proably the Vok's fault. As it is, the Ringwraith isn't hurting anything - much as he'd prefer otherwise - and if he's stuck here he's not helping Sauron return to power.

PS: All right. You had better hope that Shockwave speaks Minicon and isn't too taken aback by salty language.

PPS: All the questions in there are generic versions of ones I've received multiple times. Or it just feels like I get those questions often. If you made it into the FAQ, it means you annoyed me at some point. It might also mean you smell of cabbage.