Strange Adventures in a Digital World

$25 single character sketch commissions to be exact.

Only real stipulation is no NSFW.

I’m open to most series and OCs, but my specialty is stuff like Pokemon, Digimon, Transformers, Heathers, Sonic, that sort of thing. If you have an OC, please provide some reference material.

I accept PayPal, DM me for info and your PP so I can send invoices, and slots are always open.

Here are some examples of my sketches!

Surprise Ultra Magnus reveal.

A rather large leap from his past selves, this Magnus turns into a space jet similar to Energon Wing Saber.

His Robot Mode meanwhile seems to borrow as lot from TFP Magnus.

No word on if he’s actually a tiny green dude in a mech suit, tho given the surprise mnemonosurgey return in CyberWorld through Airachnid, a throwaway line in show could imply this Magnus used to be Minimus before undergoing the Magnus upgrade similar to Skybound’s Arcee Magnus.

Considering CyberWorld’s own take on repaints as recent as Pirate Optimus, I wonder who else we might get in this body.

In sales news, I’m sure there’s a better site to keep track of this sorta thing, but going by how many loud fandom complain about certain toys clogging shelves there must not be, BUT the good news?

CyberWorld is selling.

While it appears to struggle in brick & mortar stores like Walmart, so much so that inspire of a current Walmart collaboration, a lot of Walmarts my way largely don’t carry it as of typing, the series is doing great on Amazon.

Grimlock is a best seller, which is interesting since he’s something of a Walmart shelfwarmer like his giant Cyberverse counterpart was my way for a few years.

Scorponok does pretty decently too on Amazon, and reviews of him are pretty positive from collectors and parents getting him for their kids.

The notable dud is, funnily enough, Elita. After the main TFONE line largely abandoned her, and other past attempts didn’t appear to sell, it seems Elita’s resurgence as a main character doesn’t translate into toy sales.

Now before anyone grouses about girl bots not selling: the updated Energon Surge Airachnid sold out on Amazon.

The toy line just came out today, that’s what makes it scarily impressive.

The series is doing something right, and sells great on Amazon, so perhaps more than ever we might have to turn to Amazon as a means to see if something is selling.

I don’t think many of us really take online stores into account, so whether Cyberverse and EarthSpark did better in their eras on Amazon I don’t think we’ll properly know, but there’s probably some data left to indicate that.

So if Elita wants to sell, Msybe they need to give her an upgrade for Energon Surge. Into what I dunno. Part of the fun is the unexpected forms they throw at us, like Ultra Magnus as a space plane and Shockwave as a Spinosaurus, so anything other than a boat might help.

As for the show, a Q&A was posted with the series creator that suggests what we can expect.

The stand out observations:

OpLita is canon (which is funny because of the ga ga eyes Elita had at Jackie and the elder brother/middle sister vibe Prime & Elita have in show, but it’s a refreshing change after Elita is too much of a bi…g meanie who don’t need no man in some recent media).

They remark they have roughly five seasons of material (this doesn’t mean it’s going to run that long, but how much longer they can keep things going when some have pointed out the story structure can’t really support its current form before people start to abandon the show for not going anywhere.)

Masterforce is brought up in a positive manner. (How a human led series fits in a series devoid of humans works I’m not sure, though they could make a GOD FIRE GUTS reference somewhere with Optimus I suppose. The more plausible option, if Masterforce is to be taken as an inspiration, is the final antagonist is a third party creature that’s not a Transformer, but takes on the body of one ala Devil Z controlling BlackZarak (Scorponok). So ergo, a living computer virus like Devil Z? CyberWorld is a Digital World of sorts, and Cybertronians ARE robots, so a computer virus trying to take out the Transformers makes sense.)

The second season may not include all characters in the toy line, but may cameo or are referenced in some capacity.

So this one stood out.

It’s rare for a Transformers cartoon to include every single toy in the main like for one reason or another. The anime series released in the west are a unique case of including extra toys to meet demand in Hasbro markets that weren’t part of the original Japanese line. So RiD01 sticks out by including additional Autobots, Decepticons and Predacons in the Hasbro line from left over Beast Machines and Beast Wars. Armada did something similar, but funny enough Rhinox did cameo in the final episode, so ergo circling back to what CyberWorld might try.

The question then becomes who will appear in show next.

Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Hound, Jazz, Spinosaur Shockwave, Squid Soundwave, Ratchet, Lockdown, Ultra Magnus, Scourge, Boat Mirage, Pirate Optimus, Drill Megatron are who we know is coming to the toy line so far.

Optimus Primal was confirmed in the season finale, complete with OG Maximal symbol instead of that awful Autobot hybrid logo they keep trying to push. People claim to have seen Shockwave in a flashback, and the Q&A seemed to both confirm Ratchet will be in and will be female. Soundwave was shown prominently in early Surge marketing. The series has been pretty good at including the toys, but the only toy not included is so far the G2 Megatron retool of Bayformers Hound.

So thus far what we have left is Magnus, Lockdown, Hound, Cheetor, Jazz & Rescan figures, and in show, the ice level was unlocked so Jazz and Hound both have a shot at appearing to represent it.

The rescans are trickier because only Optimus and Bumblebee took advantage of this. That does mean pirate Optimus might appear, but they’ve also been weird about showing a devoted water level. Soundwave’s squid mode implies they might finally do so, but whether Scourge appears is another matter. He works for Soundwave maybe, or if he’s a third part like the Beast Wars II Seacons, maybe his pirate crew consists of Sky-Byte with a renewed purpose, Chop Shop (who did survive getting squished accidentally but is constantly sea sick as a running gag), Mirage (who might be there against his will or is only around to get treasure, this allows him to have his boat mode, perhaps as another gag where Scourge wanted a certain uniformity in his crew that he let slide for Chop Shop) & Msybe Lockdown. We still don’t know, as of typing, what Lockdown’s situation is, but if you’re going to shake up the status quo, making Lockdown a pirate makes just as much sense. He even has his own hook hand!

… He’s gonna be a retool of Sky-Byte, isn’t he. It’s honestly not a bad fit, doubly so if he’s retooled into a hammerhead shark.

-looks up-

Oh I forgot about these.

I feel like these probably exist in some fashion in the Energon AU, mirroring Sally having a little Optimus doll. Tidal Wave probably has a plush of Armada Galvatron in this chubby style.

A rough concept model for how things would work with the Void Rivals portion since @dynared and I haven’t directly addressed that yet.

While Skybound might officially do their own twist that Jimmy was in space later, (I have no real proof other than it being a hunch), I tinkered with my own thoughts.

Cosmos, Goldbug and Sandstorm were who I had in mind in particular, though the Headmaster character is a concept character based on a GI Joe Star Brigade vehicle. Admittedly debating on using it, since it didn't really turn out how I wanted.

Alternatively tho, I might just do this instead. A rule of thumb I had was most of the major Autobot/Autonaut and Decepticon teams would have one or two Combiners: Optimus has Superion and potentially Volcanicus, Shockwave has Menasor, Elita Prime has Defensor, Megatron has Devastator, Starscream has Bruticus, so ergo, Jimmy and Goldbug are friends with one: Raiden, the Trainbot Combiner.

Jimmy was ultimately saved by Cosmos and Goldbug passing by, but his crew mates William Convoy and Wendy Fairchild didn’t make it. Convoy and Fairchild were the original ideas for the Autobot human allies in the first draft of the series that included FireCycle the Proto Elita I repurposed for the Unicron Trilogy.

Wendy’s surviving family is her kid brother Eddie who is friends with Spike, Carly, Chip, and Scott Trakker. Yea I’m thinking ahead a bit now that MASK is part of the Energon Universe. T-Bob, Scott’s robot buddy from the cartoon, will probably be a modified RiD15 slightly more neurotic Fixit body type.

I might do another take on Rodimus Trion, since I was trying to smush Rodimus with Alpha Trion together to evoke Zerta Trion, but I didn't have a clear Vehicle Mode in mind. I realized, after researching other robot series like Zabungle, Zabungle's Vehicle Mode actually fits a bit more with what I think Rodimus Trion would turn into.

Iguanus hanging out at Cobra-La also felt fitting, as his love of reptiles and his "affinity" mentioned in his old bio might as well be used somewhere! While not pictured here, I considered another Witwicky relative of Spike and Jimmy also living in Cobra-La, and works with Iguanus. Why a Witwicky wound up in Cobra-La I haven't figured out, but I saw her based loosely on Buster somewhat, Spike's kid brother from the Marvel Comics. The generic Swapticons based on Seekers and Terrorsaur/Skullcruncher was an idea I had about Iguanas trying to make techno-organic Transformers, blended with Cobra-La's organic technology. Did Globulous approve of this? Probably not, but considering how Cobra Commander's old lab equipment is left alone and still being worked on, Globulous must see some value in regular technology despite it all.

Commish for @92ndletter on dA~!

Continuing a series about their version of Beast Wars Wolfang who goes on misadventures and has about the same luck as Waspinator in keeping himself together in certain situations.

This idea was actually picked by me, doing a Dark Designs version where Wolfang gets threatened like Terrorsaur was.

This also slides somewhat into an IDW Beast Wars AU I tinker with, where besides Razorbeast, other additions like Iguanus, Terrorgator, Wolfang, & Retrax join the cast. The usual suspects also become Transmetals here.

Commish for @dynared poking fun at merchandising ideas for the Energon Universe. In my notes for who makes up the Autonauts in this AU, I had forgotten I included Pipes in a past comic, and came up with something for him to do here. A different spin on his old G1 profile, he’s a bit of a weeb and has taken an interest in Earth’s toys. He likes what’s considered retro toys, but Pipes does find sexy anime statues interesting for the sculpting (since he doesn’t get the same “enjoyment” humans would from them, nyuk nyuk).

Besides this more modernized take on his old profile, Pipes is still a nuts and bolts guy like in the cartoon, and uses chemicals in his pipe arms to solve particular problems of the day from cleaning, creating smokescreens, or “bug spray” when dealing with Cobra-La beasts.

Because this takes place after this page,

A two pack of Optimus & Mirage who in context are Re-Scans (or is that Reskins considering game world) for the aquatic level.

Optimus is a retool of Scourge.

And assuming he had the same general accessories, instead of a cutlass he has an axe. The one toy to give him an axe and it’s a two pack that’s probably going to be impossible to find in certain areas, go figure.

Mirage is more curious as he’s a retooled Elita, but with a head that’s based more directly on IDW Riptide. I’ve seen TFW2K5 happy about a technical Riptide toy, but I have NEVER seen anyone actually like Riptide either So it might be another overestimating popularity thing again.

It also works as a double reference, calling back to Energon Mirage, which is even funnier considering the new Energon Surge branding.

This does answer a potential question about how the main cast might navigate the cyber seas, but it might also just be a toy only oddity like the G2 Megatron.

It also begs the question how the others would navigate the seas if they don’t have aquatic modes in toy form. I think Bumblebee’s new toy is meant to be semi aquatic so that might help to ferry some guys if necessary.

I feel like some people kvetching about CyberWorld’s toys can’t appreciate the simplicity of the weapon customization and just not being very imaginative.

There’s a fair bit you can so with these guys alone.

I call the Gerwalk Bee one the Hive Cannon with Chop Shop.

Sky-Byte now has the Ultimate Anchor Arm.

Commish for @thebigboy71 featuring Etemon's past careers before sliding into evil.

In the Zone version of events, while Etemon does resurface as a reoccurring antagonist once again in the Network, having now Digivolved to KingEtemon, during Adventure, he's treated as more of a 9-5 villain who is actually pretty chill and more of a doting eccentric uncle. This is based on fandom observations that suggest they saw him as more of an ally that was simply on the wrong side for how goofy he was compared to the other villains, ... despite the fact Etemon is a more traditional cartoon villain who just enjoys being bad, but I do see the logic, hence my using of it here. Plus, besides Adventure: doing something similar, Etemon in other ancillary media tends to be more friendly, so even Bandai/Toei seems to have recognized this also.

This bit is also partly inspired by a joke in the old fan fic "Ticketed Items Only", an alternate telling of the Adventure story after they defeated Myotismon. While the fic did have a serious story in mind (one plot beat involved Matt discovering an extinct race of Digital Humans similar to Gennai and the DigiDestined having to fight a new villain with the power to mutate other Digimon into more destructive Digimon), it was largely forth wall breaking and jovial, having custom Digivolutions like "SonicBirdramon" and a reoccurring AOSTH Wes Weaselly type Digimon called Retailmon that assisted the DigiDestined with their current situation.