Here be the archive of old news items, grouped by topic.
Season 4 | Mainframe | Broadcasters | Toys & Games | Online
Season 4 Progress
On 9/28/01 Gavin Blair posted that the first four eps are done and in the can and they're working on different versions of the titles equence, and updated us on the recording session status for the second set of 4 movies.On 8/29/01 Gavin Blair posted that the voices for last of the eight episodes have been recorded (almost), and that Cartoon Network will be showing the new shows.
On 08/03/01, Gavin Blair posted about the sound mix for "Daemon Rising."
On 7/26/01, Gavin Blair posted the titles of the four episodes that will make up the "Daemon Rising" movie!
On 7/20/01 Gavin Blair posted a little teaser regarding the progress of the voice recording, and the nature of the second movie. Note: this might be considered a spoiler!
Hearing Voices
Just posted by Gavin Blair:"With the exception of Daemon's lines, 'Daemon Rising' is now recorded!"Voice Actors - According to a post by Gavin Blair on April 24, recording has already started on "Daemon Rising"! Yes, the movies are in production! When asked by a certain intrepid fan if he could tell us who we could see in the credits, he gave us a little hint... which he modified on April 26.
Megabyte Returns? Maybe! According to Mairi Welman, she has contacted Tony Jay, who is excited about the TV movies, and who may be helping with the website. Does this mean Big Blue will be back?
Season 4: Movies or Full Season?
According to a short newsgroup post from Mairi on April 24, 2001, the plan is for the movies to go to DVD some time after being broadcast. Good news for those for whom broadcast quality and screen bugs just aren't good enough!We thought it was going to be a full season of 13 episodes, based on a newsgroup post from Mairi Welman back in November 2000. However, that may not be the case, as we see in another post by Mairi from February 12, 2001; it may depend on the ratings the movies get whether the order is expanded any further.
DaemoN Rising Posters
Joe Smith has posted two official bits of art from Mainframe Entertainment for ReBoot v4.0, including a "DaemoN Rising" poster.
(04/26/2002) Mainframe Working on Lots of New Projects
Betty Boop. Dot's Bots (no relation!). Spider-man. Other things .Mainframe does more than ReBoot, Beast Wars, and War Planets. Check out their website for more info than I have here!
(10/18/2002) Where are they now?
Mairi Welman posts to tell us where some of the former Mainframers went.
(08/28/2002) Goodbye to another Mainframer...
Gavin Blair says goodbye to Mainframe. We'll miss you, Gavin. :(
Mainframe Entertainment Names Lou Novak Chief Executive Officer
Press release, 06/05/2001 - Mainframe Entertainment, Inc. (Toronto: MFE) Board of Directors announced today the appointment of Lou Novak to the position of Chief Executive Officer. Ian Pearson, Mainframe's former C.E.O. will assume the newly created position of Chief Creative Officer.
Mainframe has been rated British Columbia's Fastest Growing Company
09/05/01 Our favorite little house of CGI has been rated B.C.'s Fastest Growing Company, with a revernue growth of 56,961% from 1996 to 2000. Read Mainframe's Press Release and see that I did not misplace a decimal point!
A Kind of Goodbye
July 9, 2001 - In a sad bit of news, Mairi Welman announced that as of July 10 she will no longer be working at Mainframe. We ReBoot fans owe her a heck of a lot for keeping us up to date and giving us the facts for these years, and I hope she finds a new position that she likes!
(02/18/2003) Cartoon Network? Hello?
Will ReBoot ever return to the air? It's not on Cartoon Network's schedule.
Cartoon Network Dumps ReBoot... Again.
11/12/01 As of December 28, 2001, ReBoot is off Cartoon Network's schedule completely.
ReBoot is coming back to Cartoon Network!
10/08/01 ReBoot has its own section on toonami.com! Newly rendered images of our favorite characters! A picture of Daemon! Go there!09/19/01 Yes indeed! As of October 1 ReBoot will be back on Cartoon Network, but not on Toonami. And look at the "mystery episodes"...
ReBoot's Ratings on Cartoon Network
On 08/02/01, Joe Smith, owner of just about the oldest and best ReBoot site on the Web, posted about how well ReBoot did on Cartoon Network, according to Mainframe.
ReBoot coming back on the air in Canada - not the US.
7/16/01 - ReBoot lost the Toonami vote to Outlaw Star. Yes, Cartoon Network will be showing Outlaw Star twice a day, and ReBoot is probably buried under a pile of Scooby Snacks. Irked? Me?On the other hand, Canada will be getting ReBoot back, according to YTV:
ReBoot is coming back to our schedule! Starting August 7th at 7:30pm E/P we will start with episode #1 of the first season and we'll air the episodes from Saeson One to Three in order from Monday to Thursday each week at 7:30pm E/P. The week of September 10th we will continue to air the episodes, but only twice a week and then the ReBoot Movie is scheduled for some time in November. Please note that all schedules are subject to change without noticeand we advise that you visit our YTV Guide at www.ytv.com close to these dates to verify!
(04/26/2002) Action Figures and Where To Get Them
Kay-Bee Toys has been getting the 1995 first wave ReBoot toys and selling them cheap. I got a few for $2.99 each. Some stores have gotten the new 9" figures in, and I was told that the price on those was $5. Alas, the store I went to had none. When I asked the sales dude about the reappearance about the reappearance of the old figures, he said that the manufacturer was probably clearing out its warehouse; that's usually the case when they get old toys so cheaply and in such quantities. (Such quantities? They must have made mountains of the things in 1995!)eMerchandise has new, snazzy ReBoot T-shirts! They come in three flavors: Enzo, AndrAIa, and Bob.
09/05/01 ReBoot toys are available for pre-order online in the US! I have a list of who sells what, updated as of September 5.
(Yeah, this is old and the list is certainly out of date, but if you are looking for the figures online, you'll still be able to find some here.)
The Action Figures Have Appeared!
11/12/01 I went shopping on my holiday today, and here is what I found re the availability of ReBoot action figures. All stores are in Atlanta, GA, US.Suncoast Video - has 'em.
Kay-Bee Toys - doesn't have 'em.
Toys R Us - Duh, what's a reboot? (same as usual.)
Electronics Boutique - has 'em.
Tower Records - doesn't have 'em.
FAO Schwartz - doesn't have 'em.11/01/01 Gavin Blair has given us the straight up on what is happening with the ReBoot toys in the US.
10/31/01 Irwin Toy has not canceled the action figures, contrary to current Usenet rumor. Several people (including your truly) have called them, and their customer service reps said that the new toys are coming out. You can now get the first line of action figures in the US at places like Suncoast Video (where I got mine). No word on when they'll be in Toys R Us. Some online toy stores, for example Entertainment Earth, also carry the figures.
A Minor Glitch has found ReBoot toys on sale in the US! Let her tell you about them.
09/20/01 An article at Figures.com has updates on the toys. Some have been canceled, others put on hold - and there are surprises among the pictures of the new figures!
09/05/01 ReBoot toys are available for pre-order online in the US! I have a list of who sells what, updated as of September 5.
08/23/01 Some of the new action figures are already appearing in stores in Canada!
If you see these toys in stores near you, please drop me a line and tell me where and what the store's chain (for example, Toys R Us, Atlanta, Georgia, US) so I can post a list here!
Upcoming Action Figures
Update 7/16/01 According to a post from The Science Fiction Continuum, the ReBoot action figures and toys have been delayed for six weeks to a month, and some have been canceled. Order 'Em Now!
Looking for the new ReBoot action figures and toys? Entertainment Earth is taking orders for the 9" collectors' figures, the voice distortion figures, the first three waves of new action figures, the new exoskeleton, and the die cast vehicles. Just click on the button over there for a full listing of their ReBoot toys, and be prepared to drool.
Coverage by actionfigures.miningco.com of the ReBoot figures by Irwin that were displaued at the 2001 American International Toy Fair in February. This is the best article I've found, featuring plenty of good photos and release dates. I personally can't wait to get the Ray and ouse figures. But... a white Hexadecial? What's up with that? Wait... that figure isn't due out until November... after the new episodes/the movies (whichever happens) appear... maybe this is foreshadowing?
icomefromthe.net also boasts coverage of the Irwin toy line. More nice photos, plus a list of upcoming toys and some links.
Finally, The Science Fiction Continuum is already offering many of the new toys for pre-order. However, I don't recommend them, as their prices have always been high, and there's no guarantee that all of the toy prototypes shown at the Toy Fair will actually make it into production.
Joe Smith has some new prototype photos of the upcoming ReBoot toys on his site. Apparently a few people known as Gavin Blair, Ian Pearson, and Phil Mitchell were very pleased with them. And no wonder - these are light years beyond the old toy lines!
New ReBoot video games!
Mainframe Entertainment, Inc. has licensed ReBoot to Infogrames, Inc., for development on various interactive game platforms. Sez Paul Rinde, senior vice president and general manager of WizardWorks, a division of Infogrames: "Our first priority in migrating REBOOT from the television screen to interactive game platforms is to respect the integrity of the series and the passion of its fans and viewers around the world." Read the entire article at the Animation World Network site.
Mainframe's web site recently got a big facelife. Gone is the heavily-Bootish interface. Sigh... I know, it couldn't last forever, and that they have do do what is best for business. Since Season 4 did not fly as high as hoped for (thank you, Cartoon Network!) it was a better idea to show their other projects more prominently. At first the link to the old "official fansite" (an oxymoron if ever I heard one!) was nonfunctional, but now it's working again. Whew, I'd been afraid they'd torn it down for good.
Toonami.com held a poll for the next show to enter their lineup. Four shows were eligible, and ReBoot was one of them. Did ReBoot won? We don't know yet. We'll find out in about a week - the new series enters the lineup on July 2001.(Note: I'm not at all convinced that their scheduling department takes its cues from an online poll. I think that they had already decided on the series they're going to air, and the poll was just a marketing ploy to get people on their site. But even if President Scooby's cronies rigged this election too, hopefully our votes showed them that ReBoot has a strong fan base!)
Mairi Welman posted that Mainframe is looking for fun activity ideas for the ReBoot TV Movie web this summer. You could win prizes and see your idea used on the Mainframe website! But hurry up - entries are due by April 1, 2001.On April 6, 2001 Mairi announced the winners of the website contest.
(Post Script - None of the ideas were ever used. Sigh.)