The new Animorphs #1-3 (Lenticular Editions) are now available to pre-order in United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany through Amazon!
UK and Japan have #1-3 available, while Germany only has #1 & 2 at the moment. All of them are released with the same release dates as Canada & U.S (#1 & 2 in May 2011, and #3 in July 2011). Here are the pricing and pre-order links:
Animorphs #1: The Invasion (Lenticular Edition)
£4.49 from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom)
￥ 611 from Amazon.co.jp (Japan)
EUR 5,99 from Amazon.de (Germany)
Animorphs #2: The Visitor (Lenticular Edition)
£4.49 from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom)
￥ 618 from Amazon.co.jp (Japan)
EUR 5,99 from Amazon.de (Germany)
Animorphs #3: The Encounter (Lenticular Edition)
£4.42 from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom)
￥ 739 from Amazon.co.jp (Japan)
As for international covers, they look exactly the same as the ones that are being released in Canada and U.S. Also, it does not look like these are translated copies, but the same English ones that are being made available in North America. I also did not see any pre-orders available for France, China, or Italy (yet).
In the mean while, I’ve gone ahead and updated these links in our Pre-Order page (see right side). If anyone has information regarding other countries/translations/international covers, then please do let me know so that I can forward it to the rest of the fans.
Until next time!
posted by Hirac Delest at 8:15 pm
Thanks to Ian Hiatt, the new Animorphs #3 (Lenticular Edition) is now available to pre-order on Amazon for both Canada and U.S! The cover has yet to be revealed, however it is priced just the same as the first 2 books: $6.99 US ($7.99 CAN), and is set to be released July 1st, 2011. Here is the full info:
(Spoiler warning, new readers!)
Animorphs #3: The Encounter (Lenticular Edition)
When Tobias and his friends were given the power to morph, they were also given an important warning: Never stay in a morph for more than two hours. But Tobias broke the time limit, and now he’s trapped in the body of a hawk — forever. When he discovers an important Yeerk secret, Tobias knows he has to do everything in his power to destroy it. But to do so, he’ll have to contend with a part of himself that’s wrestling for control. A part that isn’t human.
Pre-order from Amazon.com
(U.S.)
Pre-order from Amazon.ca
(Canada)
Release Date: July 1st, 2011
I’ve gone ahead and added this in our Pre-Order Page (right side), and have also updated Animorphs #1 & 2 with the new altered covers that we posted from a while back.
That’s all for now!
posted by Hirac Delest at 1:15 pm
For those of you looking for something creative to do over the holidays: The Animorphs LiveJournal Community is hosting a contest for both fan art and fan fiction. The submissions are due by January 5th, which is roughly 3 and a half weeks (a little less than a month) from now.
This contest is being held by blue rampion, so all submissions must go directly to her. For full info regarding the specifics of the contest’s theme, prizes, and rules, go to: community.livejournal.com/animorphs
**Please note that while the date on there says December 19th, it was pushed to January 5th in a recent post to give everyone time for exams and allow them to work on it over the holidays.
Good luck! 🙂
posted by Hirac Delest at 2:33 am
Thanks to a speedy response from Elaine, Dameg, and Nguyen to our post yesterday, we now have a copy of the morphing animation from Animorphs #1’s lenticular cover!
Elaine was kind enough to give me a GIF of the animation (posted below), while Dameg and Nguyen gave me the original SWF (which I’ll be placing in the video/book database later). I also went ahead and stripped the animation file of its frames, so that we can see the entire morphing process from start to finish (in the form of the older books). Here it is:
(Click here to see the animation in action!)
As you can see, this Jake model is a different Jake from the first lenticular cover that was released. We have no idea why they did this, but there is a definite difference of age between the two models, and the lizard seems to have been changed as well.
That’s it for now! Thanks again to Elaine, Dameg, and Nguyen for sending those files in! We’ll keep you posted on any more updates and changes.
posted by Hirac Delest at 12:21 pm
In case you missed our earlier post today, Scholastic published a press release about the relaunch of the Animorphs series, and also gave us a look at the morphing animation for Animorphs #1’s lenticular cover. To read the full news regarding that, go here: http://www.hiracdelest.com/blog/?p=1328
In the mean while, it looks like Scholastic is going ahead with one of its marketing plans and updating the Official Animorphs Website (The last update was back in 2001, when #54 and the Anibase were released).
Right now they only have a new banner (which is strangely featuring the old covers, when we have already confirmed the new ones), but I’m guessing that this is just a temporary sign to go up with the press release as they get a new design ready. Here are some pictures for the before and after:
OLD DESIGN (Last Updated 2001)
NEW UPDATE (December 9th, 2010)
We’ll keep you informed on any further changes and updates made towards the Animorphs relaunch.
posted by Hirac Delest at 4:13 pm
About an hour ago, Scholastic made an official press release for the Animorphs relaunch, and at the same time revealed the morphing animation for Animorphs #1’s Lenticular Cover! You can see the animation here: http://bit.ly/fSdVQp. (The animation is in flash, so if anyone is able to save a copy of it, either as a gif or avi, please email me!)
As for Scholastic’s press release, it highlights a new quote by K.A. Applegate:
“I am thrilled at the re-launch of Animorphs,” said K.A. Applegate. “Animorphs had far more impact on readers than I ever expected. Animorphs fan sites and works of fan fiction number in the thousands even today. Every library I visit has the old tattered copies, some now barely held together with glue and tape. So I’m very excited at the chance to retire those dog-eared old books, to ratify the enduring faith of the die-hard fans, and most of all, to reach a whole new generation of readers. The invasion is on, the Yeerks are everywhere, and the only ones who can stop them are the small band of kids with the power to become any living creature: the Animorphs are back.”
You can see the entire press release at: mediaroom.scholastic.com.
Most of the details in there are things we already know from the 2011 Library Webcast, however it now gives us an updated release date for Animorphs #4 and #5, which are now released in September and December 2011. So the new official release schedule (along with the ISBN) is as follows:
May 2011
Animorphs #1: The Invasion (ISBN: 978-0-545-29151-4)
Animorphs #2: The Visitor (ISBN: 978-0-545-29152-1)
July 2011
Animorphs #3: The Encounter (ISBN: 978-0-545-29153-8)
September 2011
Animorphs #4: The Message (ISBN: 978-0-545-29156-9)
December 2011
Animorphs #5: The Predator
That’s all for now, but be on the lookout for more news as Scholastic moves ahead with its marketing plans for next year. And be sure to let us know if you stumble across anything interesting!
Until next time!
UPDATE: I just found out that this is our 100th Blog Post on Hirac Delest! How awesome is that?! Makes this news post even better!
posted by Hirac Delest at 1:37 pm
Amazon recently updated their product pages by posting covers for the new Animorphs books that are coming out May 2011. These covers have some slight new updates and alterations from what we have seen in the past, and I have gone ahead and posted the previous versions with these news ones in side to side comparisons. Go ahead and click them for a larger view:
From what I see so far: In #1, the border around the morphing box is gone to match the ‘glow’ that you see in #2. Also, both the cover model and the animal now seem to have a different pose. Whether this is still the same cover model from the previous version, still remains to be seen.
For #2, the most notable change is with the background. This is a good improvement, in my opinion, as everything blends a bit better with the DNA fingerprint/fur combo.
I have no idea which one is currently the final version of either book, and we likely won’t know this until we start seeing more advertisements from Scholastic promoting these books. The books are still 6 months away, so there is still plenty of wiggle room left if Scholastic wants to make any more future alterations. We’ll keep you posted if we find any more.
UPDATE: A quick look at the Scholastic Librarian Catalog for Animorphs #1 now proves that the Amazon cover was indeed the correct version. These new covers are definitely replacements for the previous versions we have seen.
posted by Hirac Delest at 4:48 pm
Remember when we posted the new lenticular cover for Animorphs #1 a few weeks ago? Well, I went back to the Ute Körner Literary Agent (our original source) to perform a little google-fu on there server, and I ended up with a nice little surprise! I found a file which led me to the rights section on Scholastic, which then led me to a PDF, giving us an exclusive look at the lenticular cover for Animorphs #2! It was posted along in combination with the cover for Animorphs #1. And as you can see from the pictures below, I went ahead and cropped it out of that for you guys as well.
Based on what we’re seeing here, it looks like Animorphs #2 is following the same style as the first cover. Currently we are only seeing Rachel in mid-morph, but as previously mentioned with #1, you won’t see the full effects of these lenticular covers until you actually hold one in your hand. The animation is supposed to provide a transition from human to animal when you tilt them from side to side.
Also, it looks like the animal/tech skin layout is staying. Based on the covers for #1 & #2, it will likely change to whatever skin/fur/scales the featured animal on the cover has. This will hopefully be good news for those that weren’t fans of the first cover. It also looks like the animal choices for the covers are being taken directly from the first print of the series (ie. #1: Lizard, #2: Cat, etc, etc). So expect the same from the rest of the future reprints, with the exception of Megamorphs and Chronicles.
Animorphs #1 & #2 are set to be out together next year on May 1st, 2011, and the schedule for the following books are already planned for the next 2 years. Here they are:
Animorphs #03: The Encounter – July 2011
Animorphs #04: The Message – October 2011
Animorphs #05: The Predator – January 2012
Animorphs #06: The Capture – April 2012
Anyway, that’s all for now. The new cover has been updated in the pre-order page as well (on your right). Be sure to follow us on Facebook & Twitter to stay updated for future posts. We’ll let you know if anything else comes up. Until next time!
posted by Hirac Delest at 7:15 pm
Looks like the staff over at Scholastic are just as excited as us for the upcoming reprint of the series. A number of staff members created a group costume that mimicked the step-by-step morphing process for the new cover!
I really love this! Great group effort! You can see the original Scholastic Halloween Blog Post for more pictures. If any fans have Animorphs Halloween pics for this year too, then feel free to to pass them along to us as well! (You can see the ones from last year here and here.)
posted by Hirac Delest at 2:27 pm
Thanks to an impressive effort by Eva, we now have fan-made English translations for the entire Animorphs #1 German audio book! This ‘book’ is actually done in a manner of a radio play, supporting a full cast, with sound effects and music.
I was really lucky to have been able to get a hold of this rare copy many years ago, and I’m so happy that I can finally understand it, and now (more importantly) share it with the rest of you!
To start listening, simply go here (or, for future reference, Database > Merchandise > Audiobooks). Simply click on one of the chapters to begin streaming and follow along with these awesome fan-made translations.
Again, a major thanks to Eva for putting in such an impressive amount of time and effort into this! We seriously appreciate it!
posted by Hirac Delest at 12:49 pm
