HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The image above is the full image of the (annual) New Years Eve night sky on Planet Beast (#BeastformersNightSkyNYE). It was also partially or in parts shared via the Official Social Media channels of the Beastformers Blog (Instagram: @Beastformers / Twitter: @Beastformers) wishing all friends within the Battle Beasts Community, collectors and everyone who´s interested in this amazing toy line from the 80´s a; Happy New Year!
As you can see The White Rabbit had a blast enjoying the Imaginary Fireworks, also this year the responsibility of the skilled Pugnacious Penguin Army (PPA), together with some of its Series 1 Beast friends. New on NYE was the presence of some Laser Beasts who provided a laser show projecting some shapes and texts into the dark sky. In comparison to the little Cold Feet pyrotechnicians the clearly lack some experience but all together it´s a nice scenery and a good start of 2023!
With 2023 being the Year of the (Water) Rabbit (officially it´ll start on January 22, 2023) it´ll be interesting to see what this year has in store. Some things like plans for the Blog will be shared later on in this post but let´s hope it´s also full of positive surprises and great finds.
But before we look ahead into this New Year let´s first, as usual during this first post of the year on the Beastformers Blog, look back at 2022 a final time.
REVIEW 2022
For followers and regular visitors of the Beastformers Blog it probably was a rather slow maybe even disappointing year because there´s a serious lack of new post and updates. Let´s not forget that the ¨power/value¨ of this Blog is found in the general information and checklists concerning our beloved toy line and that´s information that´s always present. The extra stories and projects simply demand a lot of research and or take time and that simply isn´t always available. On top of that those who know The White Rabbit a bit also know that its perfectionism isn´t always helping either… Because this, apart from the lack of time, has been one of the main reasons why the Beastformers Checklist STILL hasn´t been finished. The uncertainties surrounding the Walrus, causing all this, has actually resulted in ZERO additions to the Checklist in 2022. All of this together with the unrealistic growth during the pandemic years (2020/2021) also shows in the numbers because for the first time since the start of the Beastformers Blog (2013) there has been a decline instead of a decrease in most of the visitor numbers. The world wide coverage is still quite good though with visitors coming from over 80(!) different countries all over the world.
In 2022 the Beastformers Blog
was visited/consulted by more than 5800 visitors
from 80* different countries all over the world.
Total amount of views for 2021 was a little over 41,500.
* With more and more people using a VPN it´s likely that the actual number of unique different countries is lower.
Although all numbers where lower, compared to the most successful year of the Beastformers Blog so far (2021), is did better visitor wise than 2020 which was also a pandemic influenced year. Let´s hope this year will be more normal and get the Blog back on track to set a new record with valuable and informative posts and updates.
As the view numbers show the biggest group of Battle Beasts collectors can be found in the US but it is great to see that the interest is coming from almost all continents. The Beastformers Blog is no longer ranked #1 in the Google search results for Beastformers (obviously) most likely due to the reduced number of activity (new posts) or others who do rank higher simply pay for that position. Eventually quality should always succeed and outweigh algorithms and those who know and are seriously into this line will probably find the Beastformers Blog one way or anther. So keep on spreading the word and help fellow collectors to find the Beastformers Blog!
Before wrapping up 2022 completely we end it with the tradition of showing the best/top nine posts of the Official Instagram account @Beastformers
Best 9 on Instagram
The White Rabbit refuses to look solely at the likes so it has selected the best, most liked or most appealing 9 images which also represent the year in a nutshell;
Starting from Top Left to Bottom Right (random order of importance);
- That Cutthroat Cuttlefish and Octillion Octopus are fan favorites shows this post because it´s one of the most liked posts with just over 400 likes.
- A layout of a full Series 1 Battle Beasts set because that´s where it all began and to the wider public the Series 1 Beasts are the most recognizable.
- The ¨Soy Sauce¨ Clear Striped Carp a true Premium Beast which is becoming more and more elusive with the years passing.
- Only twice, in 2022, did the @BeastformerShop Pop-Up but those who had the luck to visit and purchase something from it were able to add some really nice pieces to their collections one of which was a Stone Cobra. Buying something from the Instagram Exlusive* Beastformer Shop is an experience because you never know when and what might show up during a Pop-Up. Also for 2023 goes; Follow the signs of the Grotesque and Start Following!
- BATTLE BEASTS… what else 😉
- In 2022 a custom project that was started in 2021 with the legendary Black & White artist Jon-Paul Kaiser (@Jonpaulkaiser on Instagram) resulted in TWO(!) awesome Surreal Beasts. One of which was a very special version of the number one Beast White Leo. The other one, and more pictures of the White Leo, will be revealed shortly here on the Beastformers Blog and via Instagram. Definitely something to look out for!
- Probably one of the most unique finds of last year was this set of Greek BB weapons that´s still on the so called production spree (one was loose). Not only because it just an awesome pieces but also because it tells us more about the history of the line and and how the BB weapons were produced.
- In 2022 there´s also a belated update to the Beastformers 2.0 Project introducing 2 ¨new¨ Beasts the Cobra and the normal Rabbit. At the moment there are no others in the making but with the correct heads who knows what the future might bring.
- Just a cool shot of the Beast Saga Manta Ray Clear Version (BS40) but also a realization that the first Beast Saga release had been 10 years ago already (2012)!! Time flies…
** Exlusive: Merging of Exclusive and Elusive
Despite all this it´s clear that for the Beastformers Blog 2022 it was quite a lousy year, reason enough to leave it behind and start looking at 2023 the Year of the Rabbit AND the year in which the Beastformers Blog will celebrate its 10th birthday!
PREVIEW 2023
The Year of the Rabbit sounds promising but that´s not a reason to sit back and hope for the best so The White Rabbit and the rest of the Beastformers Team will be working on various things this year to make the Beastformers Blog even better.
BEASTFORMERS CHECKLIST
It was a priority last year to have it completed but it failed. This year it is the goal to finish the Checklist for all 76 COMMON Battle Beasts and those of the Beastformers Archaeology Team who´ve been involved in this before have started up the communication about it just before the end of 2022. As before it´s the plan to add 1 Beast to the Checklist every Sunday Instagram: @Beastformers ) starting from February. Unless more serious hiccups, like the Walrus occur, this should result in a complete Checklist before the end of 2023. Also for the 10th anniversary of the Beastformers Blog this would be a nice and welcome update!
#BEASTFORMERSBATTLE
With the return of the Checklist posts on Sunday via Instagram it also means that the famous Beastformers Battle will have to make room. It is not clear yet whether it´ll disappear or whether it might be moved to another day. There will probably be a poll about this later this month for the BB Community to decide via Instagram what to do with it. So keep an eye out and share your vote.
Any (new) plans for 2023?
Again the top priority is the focus on the Beastformers Checklist but apart from that it´s also the Year of the Rabbit and the 10th Anniversary of the Beastformers Blog so this might not go unnoticed. But there are no solid plans yet. When it comes to new stories and information a lot of it comes down to puzzle pieces that can be added to the subjects and topics that are already on the table and under investigation sometimes all it takes is just one new find or discovery to get things going again so keep an ye out everyone and let´s hope for some good finds in 2023!
BeastformerShop Pop-Up in 2023?
Who knows… It´s clar that the concept of the Beastformer Shop took a little time to sink in but the 2 Pop-Ups of 2022 have proven that the concept works and that those who´ve been buying something really enjoyed it! So that´s not the problem, the problem is finding the right items that also match the high standard that´s required for an item to make it into the Beastformer Shop. And since the items available there aren´t the most common Beasts it´s needles to say that´s a challenge and it´s also not supposed to exhaust the Beastformers collection to much because the collection is much needed to consult or refer to when it comes to the ongoing research so from that perspective doubles or triples simply are needed. One thing is for sure the Elusive character of the Beastformer Shop remains.
As always…
The ever present but still unused Donation Button remains present. If a Battle Beasts fan or collector decides to show some appreciation by supporting the Beastformers Blog with a little donation please use that button. No worries also without donations the Beastformers Blog will stay freely accessible for everyone but if you wish to support this platform with a few Dollars, Euros, Yen or whatever currency it´d be much appreciated. For more information check; Why the Donation Button?
Our Official Social Media channel @Beastformers (Instagram and Twitter ONLY) will remain the same and stay active during 2023 as well to update you with news and pictures regarding the Blog and Battle Beasts in general. You can always consult/contact The White Rabbit via those channels if you have Battle Beasts related questions or use the contact option on the Beastformers Blog. Keep in mind that there are NO Official accounts related to the Beastformers Blog on Facebook!
And similar to last year, a note:
Please use the Search option
Even though most of the main subjects on the Beastformers Blog are organized and added to the menu in the bar above some of the quick posts are not added or subdivided within the menu. This is done on purpose to prevent extremely long pop out menu´s showing up but the downside of that is that these posts might get out of sight while they are still there. So if there´s something you can´t find via the menu please try to fill in some catchwords or search terms via the Search box on the right to see if there might be any results in most cases you´ll probably get one or more hits and if you don´t feel free to ask. You can use the contact options mentioned in the menu or reach out to The White Rabbit via social media.
It´s 2023 the Year of the Rabbit!
The White Rabbit is ready for it, let´s go and…
Enjoy the Beasts!
The Beastformers Team
Beastformers Blog 