Pre-Toy Book Launch Special 2013: Lutapalooza

If you remember my blogs from last year, I mentioned the possible Toy Book 6 contents, which includes Siklo, Tambak, Komyutatron, and Kontrolion. Now that it's finally here, let's look at some of what I found.

The Menace of the Streets Arrives Again!

One of the biggest news I found was Komyutatron, the tallest gestalt in the series will be part of this volume. Just recently, I also checked out the picture and saw Tambak on the background, probably an Easter egg for us that Tambak will be in the book as well. I never really completed the set though I still don't have Bunggo, like it happened back then with the Aura-Sans which I missed Kulog. Anyway, this book will be a big help to me, to finally get this complete, like Toy Book 4 had gave me the full set to complete the Bakunawa Dragon.

Give the Fans What They Really Wanted For a Long Time

A lot of the fans have been asking "Will there be Kontrolion and Siklo?" As far as I'm concerned, they could be there too. Sadly, these characters were not in the final lineup, instead, we also got Trosotron, Rangkada, and the Penbots Guhitron and Sulatron. Now, Komyutatron and Kontrolion had their recent comic debuts which ended in their demise, Komyutatron was split in half, while Kontrolion was defeated by Bakunawa. In which gives us a sign that leads us to this point where we are talking about the upcoming Foldabots Toy Book.

Re:Siklo Redux

About Siklo, he has been the least talked about Foldabot, because he IS the last of the original 25 Foldabots that have hand-drawn designs that have never been reissued, ever since the Toy Book series began. One significant sign is that Rampa, a motorcycle Foldabot created by Volvic Reverente, was based on Kislap's Toy Book pattern. Could it be that Siklo will be made from the same pattern as Kislap and Rampa? Probably yes, and since Siklo isn't included, he could come out in next year along with Kontrolion and Pestetron who followed after.

To the Eye of the Storm

Now, Stormicus, one of Malvin Roix Orense's creations will be another first, the first fan-made creation, to be ever released on a Toy Book. A few alterations were done to the finished product, one is the right arm is now blue instead of the original gray, another was changing some of the parts' colors of each Stormicon. One I never expected was the names were kept and not changed, especially Bagsik which I preferred to call him Milenyo because it reminds me of that devastating storm which hit Metro Manila way back few years ago.

Wrapping up...

Now, let's move on to some recap on the Foldabots from the  Official Art Contest 2013. We kicked off summer with Bughaw and Harurot, started the new school year with Machete and Maneho, and finally wrapping up this set with Rampa and the 'totally complicated' Pag-Asa. Finally, there will be three more Foldabots that will be out on the last quarter of 2013, and they're the winning entries at the Summer Komikon 2013. These were Asero the muscle car, Tulos the rhinoceros or a retool of Umbok, and Lakbay which is a vintage car.

Well, that's just about that for my blog, hope you enjoyed every bit of this because this is actually past my blog's first birthday!

Foldabots: Tribe Wars [Final Season]

Foreword

After two great seasons, John Dave Salazar's web series Foldabots: Tribe Wars makes its final season. The season focuses on lots of death scenes but shorter episodes. Although I did my part to be the Pestebots from the last season, I never took part of this season anymore. I'm still very happy about this final episode being the most epic one of all. What's also new was there are subtitles on the episodes, pretty smart for those who don't understand what the characters were saying.

Episode Eleven: Dying Ember (Liyab vs. Tambak)
Released on 8 June 2013
John Dave Salazar as Liyab and Tambak

Liyab finds himself in a conflict with the Lutabot Tambak who was sent by Lu-Sho to destroy our hero. Tambak pulled out Liyab's arm and rams at him, until his fist bursts through Liyab's chest where his Agimat is. Considering this as one of the many fatalities in this season. And take note of the videos are like an old movie.

Episode Twelve: Cat Fight (Kislap vs. Violeta)
Released on 15 June 2013 (*According to the creator, it was released on the same date as with the rest of the first 4 episodes of this season.)
DJDNDK as Kislap and Violeta

After Tambak became successful with his plan. Kislap is out to find Liyab but she was too late. Suddenly, Violeta showed up shooting her Lutant projectile, and told that Liyab was indeed killed by Tambak. At the end, Kislap was struck by this dirty cupid's arrow and died.

Episode Thirteen: A Mysterious Hunter (Bangis vs. Pangil)
Released on 22 June 2013*
Dan Carlo Pidigan as Bangis and Pangil

Bangis was wandering around the forest until he saw this saber-toothed tiger appearing from out of nowhere. Pangil then shoots his icicle onto Bangis and kills the weak and innocent Foldabot. This gives you an idea of how Pangil stole Bangis' 'AnimalSkin' ability. Take note this is also Pidigan's first and only episode he did.

Episode Fourteen: Into the Heat (Ukay vs. Abominator)
Released on 20 July 2013*
John Dave Salazar as Ukay
Jeve Rafael Macabiog as Abominator

Ukay arrives at a volcano (Spoiler: this is not Mt. Taal, this could be Mt. Apo) and finds Abominator inside the volcano heating it up causing to go up and smoke. Abominator in the end, falls himself into the lava, leaving Ukay the victor. You might find that after this scenario, Ukay rejoins with his fellow Element robots to save Neo-Republika from Lutabots attacking the city. In the midst of the war, Elementron was slain by the brainwashed Foldabots turned Lutabots.

Episode Fifteen: The Final Encounter (Buhawi with Bakunawa Dragon vs. Lu-Sho)
Released on 9 August 2013
John Dave Salazar as all the characters in this episode

We have come to the final episode of the series where Buhawi and Bakunawa finally face the big boss himself. Lu-Sho has finally got what he wanted--DOMINATION! With the Dragon down, Buhawi unleashes a powerful AGIMAT FLASH drawn from the spirits of the fallen Foldabots to vanquish the evil Lu-Sho once and for all. It also had flashbacks from the past fourteen episodes where each had shed a tear and cried for victory.

As a bonus, John Dave dressed up as Tambak at the end scene wrapping up the series for good. I thank him for creating a successful series like Foldabots: Tribe Wars. He is back with a review show where he showcases official and unofficial works from the world of Foldabots. And if you got time, be sure to check out his YouTube channel for more of his videos.

And to close this blog, I would like to say a Happy Birthday to The Foldabots Blog and I'll be back soon with a new blog, next week. So stick around!

Foldabots: Tribe Wars [Season Two]

Foreword

After a successful first season, jodasalz1129 (John Dave Salazar) released the second season of Foldabots: Tribe Wars. This season is not like the last one where we witnessed five different stories from the battle between Sundo and Rangkada, to Buhawi fighting against Kongkretron and Pison.

Season Two focuses on the continuation of the random events in the last season. The season primer is about Landas the triple-changer Foldabot and the skateboard Foldabot Astig, in their dare devil battle with Sigwa and Delubyo. The rest is about the tournament between the Mikrobots and the Pestebots. There is one more season coming up and that will be the final season for the fan series.

Episode Six: Aerial Assault (Landas and Astig vs. Sigwa and Delubyo)
Released on 20 April 2013
John Dave Salazar as Sigwa and Delubyo
Guian Tumaneng as Landas
Marc Gabriel Magpili as Astig

The two Foldabots are on a mission to eliminate the hostile Lutabots flying in the sky. However, Astig made his jump, even though he doesn't fly. He somehow knocked out Sigwa and make his leap to Delubyo. Landas then shoots his mini guns at Delubyo. This is the reason why Landas doesn't like babysitting.

Episode Seven: Down and Out (Sapotron and Alita vs. Tipaklone and Mothara)
Released on 27 April 2013
Jeve Rafael Macabiog as Sapotron
Salazar's friend Aldea (DJDNDK) as Alita
Me (Erwin Imagin Fourze) as Tipaklone and Mothara

Reliving the tiny tournament in the style of Tekken or any other fighting games, this is considered round 1. The Mikrobots are making their first strike on their foes, but the Pestebots fought back. Being underestimated, the two heroes unleashed their Ultimate Agimat Force to defeat the enemies.

Episode Eight: V for Vengeance (Patibong and Higadrone vs. Pollenator and Bangas)
Released on 4 May 2013
John Dave Salazar as Patibong and Higadrone
Me as Pollenator and Bangas

Round 2, and the Mikrobots immediately pulled out their UAF weapons to win against their opponents. Unexpectedly, the Pestebots have the upper hand because Bangas and Pollenator can fly, while Higadrone and Patibong can't. Thus, leaving the bad guys win this round. I never expected this to happen, but it's still worth the effort.

Episode Nine: Decisive Battle (Alakdan vs. Bugbog)
Released on 12 May 2013
Jeve Rafael Macabiog as Alakdan
Me as Bugbog

The final round gets hotter as the two head honchos of their teams face off in a one-on-one fight to the finish. Releasing his power, Alakdan makes his move. Bugbog might have a sword, but it's not enough to win against his rival.

Episode Ten: Epic Boss Fight (Mikrokosmos vs. Pestetron)
Released on 18 May 2013
John Dave Salazar as Mikrokosmos
Me as Pestetron

The two teams battle it out one last time for victory, as they both combine into Mikrokosmos and Pestetron. Our hero make his final blow using his Ultimate Agimat Archery on his enemy.

Now, recently, Foldabots made its latest TV appearance on the show "Matanglawin" on ABS-CBN last Sunday morning. And also, the trailer for Foldabots: Tribe Wars Season 3 is up.

The next season focuses on Lu-Sho and his team of Element Killers, which will further be discussed in a future blog.

In other news, my video demo of Elementron has reached almost 1800 views alone, in the past year. I couldn't have done it without you all, the Folda-Fans, and the man behind this--Jomike Tejido.

There will also be another blog this weekend, so stick around for that!

A Blast From The Past: The True Origin of Foldabots

In Loving Memory of

Jose Alfonso "Poch" Tejido

April 16, 1953 to May 7, 2013

  This blog is dedicated to all Folda-Fans in all over the seven thousand islands...

...and especially to the man who made this revolution.

"Part taken from Jomike Tejido's Facebook post, on May 11, 2013, 11:38 am" 

"When I was in the 2nd grade, I showed my dad my paper toy, decepticon Ravage, based on the cassette tape that turned into a beast/dog. He said it was his favorite coz he can flatten it and put it in his pocket. I never asked for the real Ravage toy. It was these little moments of appreciation that made me love art and making things, that eventually led to the creation of Foldabots."

Now, below is the actual drawing of his 'Very First Foldabot' and a picture of the actual model.

Original Hand Drawing by Jomike Tejido back in Grade 2. Resembles a cassette tape which turns into a panther-like robot.

This is how the toy is formed

By the looks of the original drawing, the shape of the cassette tape is not exactly the right proportions as if it is wider than a standard cassette, aside from it was drawn by hand. The result was a nice little paper craft idea, that almost looks like the real thing. The toy doesn't need glue or any other stuff to add, you just need to cut out the pattern and fold some of the parts to make it stand out. Because of this, it gave me inspiration to make my version of his toy, using the Graph Paper Grid I mentioned back in another blog. Aside from this, I also made some other designs from the same concept. The difference is you're going to glue the two sides together since one side has the cassette side and the other is the alt. This is just like Uwak, the red crow sidekick of Lupet. You can also make your designs on the white side of the cassettes.

(Left to Right) Beast-type, Bird-type, Humanoid-type

The cassette design is just a clip art I found in the internet. By the way, there is another set I'll try to make, but this time it's a combiner type. It's a challenge for me to make this inspiration to grow into this great product. So, until then... SEE YOU AGAIN ON THE NEXT BLOG! Don't forget to comment if you have any reactions on my blogs!

AURA-SAN SERIES [COMPLETE]

WHO ARE THE AURA-SANS?

These are Foldabots that are made from watches. There were actually real digital watches that were released back in 2009, it comes in three colors to represent the three units: white, blue, and red. There was a green one though, but it was claimed the unused color... until now.

A BRIEF HISTORY

The Aura-Sans was released back in 2009. The first of the trio was Dakotron, and was published on K-Zone's Summer issue, which also had the special episode of the Foldabots comics where Dakotron is further introduced. Next is Kulog from the June 2009 issue, and then Lobo from the July 2009 issue. They were republished in 2011 for Foldabots Toy Book Vol.4, along with a redesigned Blup figurine.

PATTERN ALTERATIONS FROM ONE TO ANOTHER

As the first of the series, Aura-San 1 is simply a white watch used by Caloy in both the original story and in Foldabots MegaMix. Its alt form is a 'guardian mech' equipped with two robotic pincers for hands, biped concept, and it's the first Foldabot of its kind back then. Aura-San 2 is the first alteration of the previous unit. The most noticeable alteration is the wings are folded out from the two bars. It also has a bill and a tail like most birds. In addition, there is a port where you place a standee piece of Blup and place it on top. Aura-San 3 reuses the leg parts from the first unit and uses it as hind legs. Its wolf design became a standard pattern to some future designs like the Saurobots and the Yelobots. Also, they added this gimmick where you combine these three to form a dragon which was indicated on their original bio pages.

MY TAKE ON A JOMIKE TEJIDO ORIGINAL DESIGN

Now, due to my obsession over the Aura-Sans and trying to make up a good fan fiction, I thought of making something to break this limit--creating new Aura-Sans. I created two new ones at first, one is called Aura-San 4 Tigre, and another Aura-San 5 Pagpag. They were based off both AS2 and AS3. When I thought of combining these with the existing set, which I recreated with the use of graphing paper, I suddenly made a really good super combiner which reminds you of Voltron (the robot made up of five separate lion ships forming in this fashion.) Well, the first designs were almost original though, but there was something wrong about them. After a few trials and errors, I decided to render them for the very first time. It was still a failure. When I got Toy Book 4, I noticed how Kulog really looks like, that was the only error I made before I opened that book. Before that, I made seven more variations, (actually eight, due to the fact I made two six-changer Aura-Sans) which includes several original designs, and a full alteration to the Bakunawa Dragon. Although this idea might be weird, but hey, it turned out very incredible.

AURA-SANS IN FOLDABOTS MEGAMIX

Now, in writing this story, it took me 14 months to finish it, and edited them several times, due to the fact it was for mature audiences. It was my big mistake to have a work that is inappropriate for younger readers. Aside from this, I came up with a few original characters for this story. The first two were Caloy, Miko, and Raya's new friends Boy and Lia. I decided to add in some teenagers in the story for a little twist. The teenagers are based on real people, which were some of my favorite Filipino teenage celebrities. All of the characters' names are also puns I made up.

PATTERNS

I used PowerPoint to make simple Foldabots Toy Patterns like these ones. Now, most of these will come out bigger than the original designs. I also include straps in these patterns if you want them to look like watches. Badly, in my video series, I didn't include the watch straps because they don't do much in the transformation. Anyway, here are the finalized patterns I made.

AURA-SAN 1 [DAKOTRON]

AURA-SAN 2 [KULOG]

AURA-SAN 3 [LOBO]

AURA-SAN 4 [TIGRE]

AURA-SAN 5 [PAGPAG]

AURA-SAN VI [ANIM-OH]

AURA-SAN VII [HIMIG]

AURA-SAN VIII [PAWIKON]

AURA-SAN IX [DAHONIKRON]

AURA-SAN X [DRILL MECH]

AURA-SAN X1 [JET EAGLE]

AURA-SAN X2 [TANK BEAR]

OTHER STRAPS

Now, to wrap up this blog, I'll leave you with this playlist, which contains the whole series which I uploaded for a whole month. I worked hard to made this compilation for everyone to know how I made this idea.



If you have questions to ask, please comment below. Don't forget to share this blog to all your Folda-Friends out there! Next Month, I'll be making another contest for those aspiring Folda-Fans to see their works on this blog and it's going to be called "FOLDABOTS IDOL"!

Foldabots 7th Anniversary Special SURPRISE!

It's that time of year again where we celebrate this occasion--Jomike Tejido's Foldabots turns 7 this year. Aside from Harurot, our Foldabot of the month of May, it is also elections again. To those who are heading to the polls this May 13, please, the future of the Philippines lies in your hands, it is our choice. If those crook politics get their positions in the Senate, who else to blame but us?

Now, as I promised, this will be a surprise for all Folda-Fans, 'cause this is where I'll showcase Foldabot patterns taken from K-Zone Philippines.

I decided to scan two patterns in one image so I can save time scanning these. The other patterns I scanned this Summer are Foldabots Toy Book Volumes 3, 4, and 5. I didn't include the Dark Ages board game pieces from TB3 since I don't want to include them. I also exclude the Saurobots and the Yelobots from TB5, because it's the same patterns ripped from the magazines. Aside from these, I didn't scan Sagip's pattern also from that book, probably I'm a bit lazy to bring him along. Now, I also have many more K-Zone rips at home, but they still have missing parts needed to find. That is why I only have two full combiner sets complete at this point. (Note: I added some patterns awhile ago, and now I decided to remove them in favor.)

Update as of 17 April, 2015: I decided to re-upload them since they're going to be the same in Toy Books 7 and the upcoming 8, which the Sporticons will be included there.

One of which, is the dragon gestalt of the Lutabots--KONTROLION.
Now, Kontrolion is composed of brain-washed Foldabots (except for Gaseratron if you check out his bio from the June 2011 K-Zone issue.) who can form into this abomination. Talking about mismatch over Bakunawa Dragon, Kontrolion has four units who go under the sub-group name "Supremobots", while Bakunawa only has three. I prefer Higantechron to be his enemy since it also has four units as well.
Gaseratron and Kuryenticon are almost made with the same pattern, Gaseratron is an gas tanker hauler truck, while Kuryenticon is a service truck with a ladder. Amihanator is a passenger aircraft without those boosters under the wings. Tigastron's pattern is based on Riles from the Komyutabots.

Gaseratron and Kuryenticon

Amihanator and Tigastron

We move on with the Sporticons. If you want to see the blog I made before, CLICK HERE.
As you can see, they are made with the same gimmick but with different alterations, from hood shapes, door pieces, canopy styles, and tire designs. I didn't add Buhatron because he came out in TB4. (Note: Same as above, I also removed the patterns.)

Rojotron and Verdetron

Violeta and Azurenator

I'm wrapping this blog up with some more updates. In the comic strip, Buhawi uses the Bakunawa Spirit Power to purify the Sporticons, making them turn into Foldabots because of their odd behavior. Meanwhile there will be no Foldabots Tribe Wars for the next two weeks, so then episode 4 will be around on the third or last week of May. OK, that's it for now, and next time I'll be uploading all my CUSTOM AURA-SANS made for Foldabots MegaMix, after I upload all my Aura-San videos on YouTube.

Short Blog: Another Way I Can Make Foldabots

I decided to write this short blog because I suddenly found a clever way to make draft Foldabot patterns in the computer.

Here's the link: http://www.garrettbartley.com/graphpaper.html

It's just a simple interactive graph grid that you can draw your draft design with different colored lines to choose from. You can also adjust the line width, the grid's scale, and the graph rule. Downside is it will not work on IE, but it will still work on other browsers. Oh, you can save them as a PNG image, so it's not a hassle saving the file.

I will try to make a pattern in this one for the first time, hope I could post some samples soon.

And here's some of my ideas:
-XMRT Mark II: New train combiner resembling Singapore's MRT train (the classic ones, I guess), just like one of my old designs (I might include this on a future blog) but this time it will have color schemes resembling the five MRT lines in Singapore, the North South, East West, North East, Circle, and the upcoming Downtown and Thomson lines.
-Marvel-themed set. I think I'll make a Multi-Combine set just like the Foldabots Mini. Using mainly heroes from The Avengers fame, the X-Men, and others. It's gonna be tough for this one...
-Another all-female combiner team, probably Lutabots this time. And they're cellphones again only they're 1990's models.

Since this is a short blog, I guess I'll have to end it in here. See you next blog!

Bataan Day Special: Stormicons by Malvin Roix Orense

This just in! The storm has finally made landfall and it's about to hit The Foldabots Blog right about now!

Today is the day I present another combiner created by the kid behind Rojotron and the Magmabots--Malvin Roix Orense. This is the Stormicons.

BAGSIK(MILENYO)

To start, let's look at Bagsik.

Bagsik's Original Artwork

Now, Bagsik is one of the figther jets in this set. He forms the right leg of Stormicus. I prefer calling him Milenyo because it reminded me of the devastating storm back in 2006. As a matter of fact, the original name is the only one not named after a typhoon that struck our country.

 

Unlike Magmatron who is fire-themed, this one is basically water/air/storm-themed. Also, Malvin made a standard pattern size for his combiners.

PEDRING

The second member of the Stormicons is the first of the four members that are named after typhoons (if you don't count Milenyo) and for the record, they're Lutabots this time. And he's also a fighter jet.

Pedring's Original Artwork

Pedring forms the left leg of Stormicus. There are actually additional parts that can be found on another sheet which will come in handy when building these guys.

Now, these also follow a certain color scheme just like the Magmabots with them having flame colors, while the Stormicons are sky colors or what seems to be blue and gray.

SENDONG

Our third Stormicon is Sendong. Like Pedring, Sendong is also named after a typhoon. He is a cabin cruiser not like the Elementrobots Alon and Agos.

Sendong's Original Artwork

Sendong forms the right arm. And notice that his design is based off the Sporticons' design, most likely from Rojotron.

Technically, there's another gimmick when you swap one of his arms with the next Stormicon, you can get another version the two.

RUPING

We move on to our fourth Stormicon, Ruping. Ruping this time is a battleship, this is also the first time we have two kinds of water vehicles in one combiner rather than just one.

Ruping's Original Artwork

Ruping forms the left arm of Stormicus.

Did you know that Malvin Roix Orense is working on a new combine which describes as the ground team and they're more like a deforestation team.

ONDOY

And now, we have the head honcho of the Stormicons--Ondoy. In 2009, Tropical Storm Ondoy brought massive floods not only in the NCR, but also in its neighbors.

Ondoy's Original Artwork

Ondoy completes the whole set as the torso of Stormicus. I started writing this blog in April 9, but it seems to me that this blog will be more of a 'Post-Event.'

Well, he is actually a large aircraft in this set, and that means air is the more dominant element in this one.

STORMICUS

When these Stormicons combine, they make the cold blue marauder--Stormicus!

Stormicus' Original Artwork

Technically, the color scheme is nice, and just like Magmatron, he also has odd-colored limb and that's his right leg which is blue.

That's about it for this blog, and thanks again to Malvin Roix Orense for these images and hope I can make another blog about the next combiner of Orense. There will be more blogs about your favorite Foldabots both fan-made and not. See you on the next blog!