National Heroes Day Special: Road to Toy Book 8 Ep.1 of 3

#ToyBook8 #foldabots #TheFoldabotsBlog

Remember this? We definitely want this one in TB8, but he's not our topic today.

Episode 1: 4 Good Reasons Why We Want A Foldabot Gestalt in TB8

1: Lutabots>Foldabots

The Likasbots

Yelotron, Komyutatron, Kontrolion, Pestetron, Sporticus, Diadrones, Magmatron, Stormicus, Trosonator, Zootron, even the new gestalt Toxicus. How many more does our heroes match over their enemies, where the Lutabots have more gestalts than the Foldabots? The Foldabots only had Higantechron (Before Nu-Sho arrived), Elementron, Aquatikron, Gubatron, Mikrokosmos, Bakunawa, Saurotron, the other Diadrones, and more recently, Likastron. 11>8, it's too unfair, unless you compare this with Transformers Generation 1 where the Decepticons had 6 where the Autobots had 3, unless you add Raiden from the Japanese continuity, which still is unfair. 2016 will have the last of Toxicus and probably is the best time to bring in new Foldabot gestalts next year. After all, it's going to be Foldabots' 10th anniversary then. However, if we include the Minis from 2009, would it still match? No, it wouldn't because, first, it's just a promo, second, it's not a part of the main series. The one thing we wanted is for our heroes to have a new gestalt made by a fan, and not a Lutabot again.

2: More Individual Foldabots than Gestalts
 

The evil storm maker, Illustration by Malvin Roix Orense

2013 was a worse year due to the fact, we didn't get any gestalts in the twelve months. However, Toy Book 6, we got the first-ever fan-made combiner Stormicus, though he's a Lutabot. The following volume did have Nu-Sho, but no fan-made creation this time. The Lutabots may have more gestalts although they don't have much individual members. Sigwa, Delubyo, Tambak, Trosotron, to name a few. In fact, The Foldabots win over Lutabots, in terms of individual members, thanks to our fellow Folda-Fans for supporting.

3: Should be All-Vehicle This Time

Too bad, he was destroyed by Komyutatron...

Elementron and the Foldabot Diadrones are the only all-vehicle gestalt of the Foldabots so far. Whereas they have more beast-type (and one hybrid-type which was Higantechron) gestalts to count. Aside from which, Bakunawa is the only gadget-type gestalt and not made from vehicles. Comparing this with the Lutabots, the Lutabots would still win over them even though the individual vehicle Foldabots DON'T have the capability to combine into one. Another thing, the Foldabots Mini series did have gestalts, but they don't have official combiner names nor heads to distinguish it, not until series 2, where we only had 10 to collect and 2 gestalts involving the bandage brand, and still, no combiner heads. Like I mentioned earlier, the Minis are just a part of a promo, and not part of the main canon.

4: Can Be All-Female or Not

My old illustration of Celtron, which I used too much Fanservice to make them look cute.

We all heard of Transformers: Combiner Wars, right? The fan-made combiner in the series is named Victorion (click on the link which will lead you to illustrations of the characters known as the Torchbearers.) None of us had ever thought of this idea... EVER! Not if you're me, who actually made not one but two all-female gestalts which you can find them on this link. It's also good we also want to do the same for Foldabots, which for the record don't have an all-female combiner yet, neither Foldabot, nor Lutabot. There is also a downside to most fans, it's very hard to make female characters, especially if it's Foldabots we're talking about, and rendering them is almost impossible, unless you find a way to replicate the design into the pattern. Doing this so, could lead to Feminism in Foldabots.

Conclusion

With the first part of Toxicus, Butas on the September issue, it gave me the idea to make this post. In the next few months, Toy Books 5, 6, and 7 will returning to the selves once more for fans who've missed them. Also, check out the next episode next month, as we look further into what's up for Toy Book 8. And a bit of updates regarding the upcoming blogs, which I've announced before, will still be on hiatus until then. That's all for now, and this has been The Foldabots Blog, we'll see you next time!

My Thoughts on Zootron...

#foldabots #Zootron #TheFoldabotsBlog

Today is the death anniversary of 'You-Know-Who'... I'm not going to mention his name, but you'll get the idea anyway.

Regarding the Hooded Cloak's Foldabots Review Show, it is still on hiatus until now, after we've already passed Tindig and Bisig. I also saw him took that DeviantArtist Questionaire (it's DeviantArt's 15th anniversary at that time, BTW...) two weeks ago, the only thing I don't know is when will he come back doing the reviews again.

Now, I decided to make Zootron myself after seven long months of collecting the parts, which lead me to completing the gestalt. I will post the images someday, once it's done.

NARANJA - The design of this Lutabot is remarkable, especially his animal mode. The robot mode, there was a flaw in it, where he has two left arms than having the other arm mirrored to make it better. (Reason why they were rushing this pattern.) Unlike the Saurobots or the Yelobots, the tiger legs are more useless than in Tulos where he had the hind legs used as robot legs. I strongly recommend gluing the right arm the other way around so Naranja will not suffer from its design flaw.

GADYA - Out of all the Zoobots, Gadya is overall my favorite. Unlike Naranja, Gadya utilizes his elephant limbs for robot mode. However, when forming him as the torso of Zootron, I find the picture to be a little incorrect, where I also found out that flipping his arms would do the trick just fine. Still, Gadya is perhaps the most perfect Zoobot in the pack.

LEONATOR - Based on Naranja's pattern, this king of the jungle is perfect when it comes to design in both lion and robot modes, whereas Naranja only suffered from having two left arms. Likewise, Leonator also suffers from the same case where the limbs are useless. Both of them can be swapped when in leg mode whereas the arms are locked in their positions. I also omitted the slits on Leonator to make him more reinforced.

KOMANDO - Probably the easiest one to build, I too was curious of what's the black connector for and how will I form Zootron's arm with this. Simplicity, this is what I found with Komando's design in Komodo Dragon mode, but in his robot mode, he becomes complex due to his robot mode design. I also found out that some parts were not made from stock parts and designs.

BALUTI - You may think he stands alone in the gestalt, I would think he can attach to Zootron even in his ball form. His armadillo mode may look odd, but his robot mode stands out more. Most of us Folda-Fans would like to curl him into a rough ball shape, which I personally dislike. What I do is to fold the armadillo limbs and the tail sleeve, so it's hidden when curled. Then I tuck the head onto the tail sleeve in the opposite direction, until I got a more compact and more round ball mode. In addition Zootron can also hold him by inserting Komando's robot head onto Baluti's tail sleeve, whereas the hand just sits there like holding that ball.

TINDIG - Based on Komando's pattern, he has given long Batikron legs and a huge sword which doesn't store inside Tindig very well. I do like both of his giraffe and robot modes in general, but the sword causes the weight problem, unless you find a way to make him stand with it. Also, the giraffe neck can help balance Tindig by forming a very long spire on his back.

ZOOTRON - Combined, the gestalt looks a little off, especially if you followed the instructions. But if you follow my configuration, it will have twice as much awesome points than before. To do this, you must have built all six Zoobots leaving the gestalt parts uncut. First, do all the steps except for step 4, where instead of gluing the right hand on the back of Tindig's head, we're supposed to glue this in the opposite side. There, you can utilize the hand as a cover so that you can hide the robot head easier and less awkward. For Gadya, you can clip his arms to widen Zootron's chest, at the same time, it loses the steps in attaching Tindig and Komando using Gadya's paperclips. However, I also found out, that Tindig and Komando's black flaps insert firmly onto Gadya, and it stay on well (You can also add two more paperclips if you want the arms more reinforced.) For Leonator and Naranja, leaving their front cat legs as is from their animal modes, can act as heels, which gives him extra support. You may also use the fireball effect piece on other characters like Magmatron with extra firepower, place Kidlat (with the blue flame stickers) on top of the flame so you can have him burning hot.

September is just around the corner, and we still don't have updates regarding Toy Book 8. Probably, we'll get a glimpse of the first fan-made Foldabot (Not Lutabot since Stormicus holds that title) gestalt, aside from reissuing the Sporticons and the L-Diads. I'll be back soon with the September issue, more speculations on TB8, and hoping for a Foldabot gestalt once more. Until then, this has been The Foldabots Blog, we'll see you next time!

Make Your Own Foldabot!

#foldabots #TheFoldabotsBlog #FoldabotsMini

I recently finished the first wave of blank templates which I promised a while back, and jut like I mentioned on my blog from May, the templates will have parts which you can choose to make your Foldabot or Lutabot unique. I was going to release them later next month, but since I finished just some of the designs, I decided to show them right now.

About the Templates

Each of the templates have minimal design for you to customize, especially on the Foldabot mode where only an Agimat chest is present and if you want to make it into a Lutabot, just draw a Lutant over it, and you're good to go! Choosing which Main Body part and what parts you want to go with it has never been this easy, thanks to a very simple method where you can choose the parts (except for ARMS most of the time) by shading the oval beside the part label. Once drawn the chosen parts, you can now cut out these pieces and build your own Foldabot. These patterns are free to download so you can print these using best quality thin white cardboard paper.

BIO PAGE

Here, you can write down your character's information, its abilities, and its alt mode. However, the specs of your character can be found on the pattern templates. Like I mentioned in that blog, the specs follow the standard Foldabot specification, and to fill that up you must shade the boxes from left to right.

Sorry if this image is not rotated, but you'll get the idea.

TEMPLATE 1: Coupe / Pickup

CANOPY types AA and AB can have as much as 4 possible shapes, and 6 different placements. That's 24 different combinations you can make! Whereas CANOPY type B can have as much as 3 different placements. It's up to you to make his utility item. (Accessories will be released in the future.)

TEMPLATE 2: Delivery Truck / Tanker / Jeepney

To make the Tanker, omit folding the lines on the BOX. Instead, curl and glue to itself by placing one gray end on top of the other, then glue onto the MAIN BODY. The jeepney's visor can also be omitted for variation.

TEMPLATE 3: Bus / Train / Submarine/ Van / Ambulance

For a submarine, use MAIN BODY type B. The siren lights can be omitted.

TEMPLATE 4: Jet / F1 Car

The wing parts can be placed differently depending on your preference.

TEMPLATE 5: Helicopter / Car Carrier Trailer

Nothing special about this picture.

TEMPLATE 6: Truck Cab / Construction Vehicle

The CANOPY for type A can be placed in 4 possible placements.

In addition, if you're planning to make a combiner, don't worry, all of the templates are enough to make at least 6 unique Minis (7 unless you choose both from Template 4.) And also look forward to some nice add-ons for your Foldabots such as utility parts for the pickup and combiner hands and head, which will be on another pattern which will be released soon.

I hope you the Folda-Fans would like and use this for your creations, and don't forget to credit The Foldabots Blog for using these stock patterns. And as always, please leave a comment if you have suggestions, and until then, this has been The Foldabots Blog, we'll see you next time.

Foldabots on DeviantArt, Agree or Disagree?

#foldabots #TheFoldabotsBlog


With the Foldabots community rapidly growing, I think it's the time to expand its reach beyond Facebook. My idea on this plan is to showcase different artworks from well known veteran Folda-Fans on DeviantArt. DA has been around for 15 years, and Foldabots has been in existence for almost 10 years, so why not share anything Foldabots from artworks, commissions, art trades, fan fictions, and updates regarding the main topic. except asking for K-Zone back issues and official Foldabots Patterns to where it's supposed to be. There we can share different ideas, designs, and even stories made by the fans.

Why did I came up with this idea? Well, to be exact, Hooded Cloak is also on DeviantArt where you can check out some of his original works, arts, and custom patterns made by the Hood himself.

I too submitted some of my works there, I even had ancient patterns which dated 2008 where my pattern making skills were inferior back then. One of it is Foldabots NGN where I implemented a system where you can combine one of the same kind, times five to form a gestalt. And an old version of the original Transformers combiner Titanus (which was made by Neilsama which I forgot to thank him for the idea back then.)

This idea might be good to those interested of  making Foldabots of the fans, for the fans, and by the fans, then start spreading the word by sharing this post to anybody on Facebook where most of the Folda-Fans are.

In other news, I also picked up the August issue lately with the Foldabot Bisig which doesn't belong to a new gestalt. Sorry, about that. But don't worry, let's still hope for a big miracle for Toy Book 8 where we'll have a new heroic titan ready to take down the Lutabot Diads, the Sporticons, and Dark Tikbalang. Let's not forget about Astig, because his December '08 special should be reissued soon! And as always, this has been The Foldabots Blog, we'll see you next time.