Has it ever been explained why the books aren't released in the volume order?

That said, I will admit to kind of liking the randomness. Having read pretty much all of Marvel, Dreamwave and IDW, I think if I knew what was coming every fortnight, I might lose interest.

It is nice getting the background material and collecting each series in Hardback.

 

My (cynical) guess is to try to hook more just-interested-in-G1/Marvel bods like me to subscribe. I ain't worked on me though!

 

Likewise. If everything was easy to predict you'd risk people collecting until the end of G1, dropping off, and then coming back with Phase 2 of IDW. That's a lot of missing income. This way around, people like me are spending money revisiting monstrosities like Heart of Darkness.

 

See Also: Putting some of the Recoloured Marvel UK Exclusive strips in (at least one of?) the Regeneration 1 volumes. That may eventually work on me but hasn't yet.

 

Partworks never release in volume order, and yes that's because they want you to buy the whole thing. Which is reasonable considering they're a profit making company.

Anyways, my guess is that this will run until the end of the current continuity.

 

Actually, they're not doing that  
The wiki page mentions that the remaining recoloured UK issues (223 - 239) will be in the Matrix Quest volume (issue 40/ volume 17) coming out on June 14:
Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection - Wikipedia

 

Actually, they already have done that. Actually. You've been out-"Actually"-ed, mate.  

 

"Peace" was recoloured? I'm unfamiliar with the Annual stuff...

 

Peace isn't a recoloured strip.

I'm glad they are releasing the volumes randomly. I'd get bored if it were just Marvel US for two years then just DW for a year etc.

Still no response from the publishers about my latest (6th) volume 71 or why it is so difficult for them to send me volume 60.

 

And Non-Furman. Think I can indeed live without that.

 

Volumes 2 and 3 arrived today.

 

Ordered volume 2 new order on 21st last month, still waiting! 3 emails and 2 Facebook messages unanswered.

i had this problem before also, when I ordered volume 20. Never arrived and no response from them. Ended up having to open a dispute in paypal, then they contacted me straight away with apologies.

Shocking customer service.

I don't want to do this again, I may end up blacklisted or something!

I think they are pissed because I cancelled my subscription early on to cherry pick the stuff I actually want from their site.

Don't need IDW stuff, I already have their lovely phase 1 and 2 hard backs.

Don't get me wrong it's a great publication, if I didn't have the hard backs I'd be all over it still.

 

Just got vol 3 dinobot hunt through the post as I finished writing.

Ordered 2 copies (great story) but only received one!

And! The stories are in the wrong order.

How can a company be so bad in so many ways.

 

@chirtman A nice reminder to both not worry so much about the Volume #2 & #3 order I made a week ago and yet to also keep an eye on it.
Whilst I'm waiting on 'em, could you tell us how exactly are the stories out of synch, please?

EDIT:
Well, well, well, speak of the devil...

 

I'm not a subscriber, so I order each issue as they are released. New order was up for sale on 21st march, dinobot hunt 2 weeks later. I got dinobot hunt today like most people, but new order is at least a week overdue.

Subscribers are a couple weeks behind because they get 2 issues at the same time.

I guess by now you have seen the mess up in continuity. Totally ridiculous.
Apparently it was by design too! Crazy people.

 

Yup, I am indeed!
What on Earth possessed them to put the US#11 - #12 conclusion of the Shockwave arc at the end when Crisis in Command & the Hunt itself are set explicitly after it?
I know the continuity's baggy & a bit loose at the seams anyway but Jeez!

 

Supposedly they put the strips in that order to keep the highlight on the UK content in a UK-centric issue. Or some such nonsense. From what they were also saying on Facebook, it's so people picking up the occasional issue don't get confused by the US content. Seems insulting to me that they would rather pander to the fairweather customers than to the people loyally committed to collecting the whole run.

Here's a link to their 'reasoning' (in the replies to comments):
Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection

I would contact them again and not mention volume 71 at all. Nothing to put that number in their minds. Then in the message I would mention volume 60 at least five times to cement it in their heads. Can't hurt to try at this stage.

 

B-but won't a fairweather customer pretty much know they're gonna be getting something in media res? Isn't discovering the narrative so blatantly out of synch within the same volume while reading it equally if not more confusing to the fairweather buyer who picks this up?

I don't know, I really don't. I guess I'll just have to let it go, Hachette's "Logic" gives me the ol' Star Trek Supercomputer Self-Destructing headache!

 

That's why their explanation still isn't flying with many people. I could almost see them maybe redoing the volume to quell the complaints. Some people have already made a few subtle jabs in other topics there about things being 'out of order', so it could become a 'thing' people regularly bring up now alongside the jabs about regular print errors.

 

The order of stories within volumes has been questionable for many of the Marvel volumes - the recoloured Earthforce stories are all over the place, Cold Comfort & Joy and Man in the Machine are in the wrong volumes, and it looks like they're going to put Time Wars after the Underbase. It's a shame, because this was a perfect opportunity to interweave the UK and US material as it was intended.