I know, I know. Hasbro did a bad/weird/strange/horrid/evil/universe-ending thing—they printed twelve different collector cards for every legend-class-and-up release in the TRANSFORMERS: POWER OF THE PRIMES toyline and then had the sheer AUDACITY to put only ONE card in each package. Those bastards, et cetera, et cetera.

Wouldn’t it set your mind at ease and warm your cold little heart a bit—just a bit!—knowing that someone saw the challenge of acquiring every damned one of those cards, completing that collection, having it all in one place…and said…well…

But who do you know that’s brave enough to accomplish such an undertaking? Who’s got that sort of determination?

Geez, who is that slagging NUTS?

Hi. My name is Defensis Prime, and I’m a frickin’ lunatic.

And like any Prime, I can use your help.

But I’m not just going to ask or beg you to send your POWER OF THE PRIMES cards to me—nope, that’s an inertia issue I’d never overcome. I also don’t wanna merely throw money at the problem—if I’d wanted to go that route, I’d’ve cleaned out every retailer in my vicinity that carried wave one and onward, torqued off a fair number of the local collectors, and filled a VERY large space in my house in short order…or worse, were I one of those bad Primes—the ones you read about in the funny books that IDW puts on shelves–I’d do a lot of very unethical and incomplete returns. No thanks, say I, to that latter idea—besides being wrong, it’d just be embarrassing to be caught, and I’m no fan of feeling like a scrapheap.

Nah, I had what I hope you, dear reader-and-collector, will agree is a better idea. Or at least a bit more fun.

I thought I’d commission a good friend of mine to do some customs and have some prize drawings.

Ah, hang on—I see you turning away. Maybe the name of the friend will pique your interest.

Shawn Tessmann, late of the customization classes at BotCon from 2006 all the way to the final show, and most recently a supplier of some of the concept pieces that were on display and given away at Pete’s RoboCon in 2017, has graciously agreed to do me some solids for this little project. I, of course, am supplying funds and materials or otherwise assisting as necessary in exchange. Happy to do it.

The procedure is simple enough. I will have a chart on this site showing the cards I have or do not have. If you have a POTP collector card or cards that I do not have and you’re willing to part with them for shots at any of the customs Shawn creates, use the entry form to send your name, address, and the identities of the cards you intend to send, and I will respond as quickly as possible with instructions, and provisionally mark the spot/s on the chart as pending. When I receive the cards in good condition, BOOM, you have that many entries.

Further details are up in the FAQ, but that’s the gist of it. When the POWER OF THE PRIMES card set is complete, or a bit of time after the toyline is no longer readily found at retail and I have to come to the stark realization that I’ll have to hunt the remainders down…by myself…alone…(sniff)…the drawings will be held and winners announced; soon after that, the winners will get to brag a little about ‘sticking it to Hasbro’* AND getting a sweet custom outta the deal.

*Small victories. Very small. We all DID still buy the toys, after all.

So. Interested? Love this plan? Excited to be a part of it? Then let’s do it!

*****

Oh. “What customs are we trying to win?“ Yeah, that seems like an important question—too important to bury in the FAQ. WHICH YOU REALLY SHOULD READ. FOR REASONS. TAKE A HINT.

Well, here’s the thing. I wanted this to be a LITTLE more interactive, when all is said and done, than a mere drawing. Don’t get me wrong—as of this moment, I have three planned and committed. If interest seems to demand it, I intend to add more, so long as Shawn has the time (man’s gotta work, y’know). I also didn’t want to commit to anything which may be decent-to-strong possibilities for release from Hasbro or TakaraTomy as special editions or exclusives, the apparent low likelihood of such releases notwithstanding. (I really want G2 Dinobots…) When those possibilities seem to diminish as the toyline winds down, they could certainly be revisited. But for the moment—and here is where the ‘interactive’ bit becomes clear–the three to which I’ve committed are:

• SHATTERED GLASS OPTIMUS PRIME, using POWER OF THE PRIMES OPTIMUS PRIME as its base
• PICK A SEEKER, using POWER OF THE PRIMES STARSCREAM as its base
• DESIGN A SEEKER, also using POWER OF THE PRIMES STARSCREAM as its base

I have an idea for a fourth item put forward, but ‘doing it right’ may involve something that Shawn hasn’t done before, so we’re gonna hash out its feasibility before I really commit to it. But as you can see, SG OP is an immediate go, whereas YOU, the lucky winners of the Seeker prizes, will work with Shawn Tessmann on either choosing a pre-existing Seeker color design or an entirely new design based on the back-and-forth communication the two of you will have…though, really, if the both of you winners want Thundercracker, we’re probably not gonna say no, but I really do hope the DESIGN A SEEKER winner will take the opportunity to get crazy wacko bananas and assist in creating something very much one-of-a-kind. There were some very excellent and amazing ‘off-plan’ jobs done in the BotCon customization classes over the years, and if nothing else, I’d very much enjoy seeing a similar work created for you.

Please bear in mind, however, that there are limitations to what Shawn will be willing and able to do, especially when it comes to things like nylon parts, which will not take paint well. We want to do our best to put a still-transformable toy in your hands, and nobody wants to see things like paint flaking off a part because it wouldn’t stick. Shawn will talk you through it and work to make something with which both of you are likely to be happy.

(Maybe don’t play with them outside, though. I mean, I wouldn’t, but you do you, I guess.)

Shawn will also be providing some progress pictures, which I’ll post to this site, just to keep your interest and show that this is NOT A HOAX, NOT A DREAM–but cold, hard reality.