Linkfest - Happy New Year Edition

The end of 2013 is here with final toy linkfest of the year. Its been a good year in toys with Generations line, Takara's new additions to the Masterpiece line and most of the 3rd party makers knocking out some outstanding Transformers that often put Hasbro's and Takara's offerings to shame. As the the galleries show, 2014 is going to be the same, especially as Hasbro shifts to the Transformers 4 toyline. In 3rd party news we have a look at not Galvatron, not Menasor, not Ratch, and not IDW Fortress Maximus. Hasbro abd Takara are doing another repaint of MP Prime, more Generations coming, and few other official products. Other topics include Botcon 2014 has a location and time, Gingerbread Prime, new The Touch video, and movie statues. Per usual also have a bunch of new video reviews including look at latest Masterpiece Prowl, not Motormaster, not Brainstorm, new not Throttlebot, not Swoop and more.

3rd Party Galleries
Unique Toys Mania King - This 3rd party figure recreates the original G1 Galvatron but with a whole lot more detail and color scheme while keeping his Cybertronian alt mode. No estimated release date or price.
FansProject not Menasor - After a bit of a delay, the final piece of Fansproject's Intimidator combiner is coming next month. Diesel (aka not Motormaster) is set for release by the end of January for $150. Hit the link for the look at their final combiner and head below for a preview review of Diesel and Intimidator. Another gallery is here.
iGear not Ratchet - Hit the link for a re-release of iGear's not Ratchet release from early last year. This version is about $30 cheaper as they eliminated most of the unnecessary accessories that came with the figure. I got the first version and do recommend getting as it is a faithful re-creation of the G1 Ratchet robot and vehicle modes that fits with the Masterpiece line. Out now for $100.

Linkfest - Not Transformers The Movie

Transformers 4 movie news remains light but the toys keeps coming be it official or otherwise. In this edition we have a look at Transformers: The Movie concept art and inspired 3rd party toys, look at upcoming 3rd party Masterpiece no Dinobot Slag, more headmasters, new waves of official Hasbro toys and lots of reviews. Also of interest is a fan made transforming papercraft cigarette box, an $1000 Optimus Prime, new DVD set, and official Nikes.

Transformers: The Movie Concept Art - Hit the link for a look at some of the concept art created by animation supervisor Floro Dery for the G1 cartoon and the 1986 movie. It has lots of details that did and did not eventually get used such as am early Junkion spacecraft, Cybertron's robot mode and more. It is really beautiful and detailed art that shows that a lot of thought and care went into designing the world of Transformers. Maybe Botcon should consider him for entry into the TF Hall of Fame.

Linkfest - New Masterpieces, Album, Comic and More

With Transformers: Age of Extinction filming news going mostly quiet as production heads to Chian, time for another link fest. In this addition we get an update on the fantastic masterpiece line (sadly all being repaints), news of a new Transformers comic, album, commercial spook and homage video. Of course this also means lots of links to video reviews of the latest Transformers including 3rd party releases of not Blackarachnia, not Brainstorm, not Uranos along with a look at the latest Masterpiece figure with MP-17 Prowl.

Masterpiece
MP-12G G2 Sideswipe - Another repaint of the MP-12 figure, but in the G2 style in new head mold and accessories. Release date is February, 2014 with average import price of $80.
MP-13B Soundblaster with Ratbat - Look at the Masterpiece Soundwave repaint with new MP version of Ratbat. While Hasbro has released MP Soundwave stateside, even though finding it in Toys R Us has been difficult, it doesn't come with Ratbat. The foy is set for release in March 2014, average import price is around $160.
MP-18 Bluestreak and MP-19 Smokescreen - Repaints of MP-17 Prowl (out now and review below), these two additions to the line will becoming out in the next two months for average price of $80 each. As a G1 fan and abiding love of the MP line, despite being repaints, definitely going to get both.

Linkfest - Review Catch-Up

With all the Transformers 4 news, got a bit behind on the toy links. Now that we seem to be in a bit of a mini-TF4 news drought (at least until TF4 hits Chicago on Friday), it seems like a good time to play catch-up. Most of the upcoming toys were revealed at cons over the summer but there a lot of cool stuff being planned like a 3rd party version of Nova Prime, not Bruticus and more. Also have a ton of reviews for already released or about to be released toys from Hasbro, Takara and others. Also news from comics, Hasbro and more.

Lego
Nintendo 64 Transformers - Very cool Lego creations that uses Nintendo 64 and is peripherals as alt modes that transform into robots and other objects.
Lego Ratchet and Ironhide - Hit link for fan made Lego creations that actually transform and look remarkably like their Generation One inspired source.

Linkfest - Catching Up (Updated)

With all the Transformers 4 movie news, I allowed the toy related links to stack up so this is my attempt to clear them out. Also trying out a new format to see if it is easier to read and use. Let me know what you think. As for what the links cover, we have the usual 3rd party lineup that includes lots of combiners, a look at Beast Hunters Abominus, more Generations toys with more images of IDW wave, Metroplex and possible re-release of Grimlock that never seemed to make it to toy shelves in the states. A new and expensive book is coming at the end of the year that might actually explain the 13 Primes was mentioned in Revenge of the Fallen and teased for the comic books before going nowhere.  The Masterpiece line continues with a look at the Hasbro Soundwave and upcoming new figures.  Last week the Tokyo Toy Show was held and it showed off most of the various toys covered in these links including the Super GT line (Alternity repaints), teased the Transformers Go (Takara name for Beast Hunters line) cartoon DVD that focuses on their Samurai combiner team. And last but not least is reviews including not The Fallen, not Sixshot and many Beast Hunters and Generations figures. Update: Added a video review of Generations Titan class Metroplex at the bottom of the post.

Linkfest - Lots of Reviews

This round of links on the latest in Transformers toys both official and not is just full of reviews. We reviews of Beast Hunters toys, latest MP release, and 3rd party upcoming releases like Tetra Squadron, not STunticons, and more. Also have reviews of past releases like a 30 year old Gobot gestault and God Ginrai. Not reviews include a look at the lastest addition to the Super GT line, encore Fortress Maximus, a new Megatron statue and Transformers Go comparisons.

Super GT Galleries - GTR Maximus | GTR Megatron
Takara has released a few more official images of their successors to the Binal-Tech line for Super GT racing. Four molds now are planned with Optimus Prime (GTR-01), Saber (GTR-02), Megatron (GTR-03) and now Maximus (GTR-04). I think its the same mold but with color differences and different heads molds for each character but not 100% on that. The average price of each is around $120 each with the first two coming out in the next month or so.

Linkfest - More Beast Hunters

More Transformers are coming, official or otherwise. For 3rd party makers, combiners seems to be the main theme while Takara has truly embraced the Masterpiece line and Hasbro is moving ahead with a full Beast Hunters line despite the short final season of Transformers Prime.  Hasbro finally revealed what Masterpiece Acid Storm looks like while Takara shows off blurry images of MP Prowl and Bluestreak.  Add to that lots of reviews of upcoming Beast Hunters toys, two members of TFC Toys Uranos combiner, next Throttlebot combiner member, and more.

Masterpiece Update - Hasbro MP Acid Storm | Hasbro MP Soundwave | Takara Prowl and Bluestreak
This year is just chock full of Masterpiece releases once include by the Takara and Hasbro plans. Already this year has seen the release of Takara's Soundwave toy with two of his cassettes (review below). On top of that have MP-10B Nemesis Prime 2.0 cab (March), MP-12T Tigertrack (July), MP-16 Frenzy and Rumble (April), and now a look at MP-17 Prowl (August), MP-18 Bluestreak (October) and later MP-19 Smokescreen (September). On top of that can add Hasbro's official images Masterpiece Acid Storm which is a repaint of Starscream 2.0 in a military green and black look while Soundwave is identical to the Takara release only it will come with all five cassettes instead of separate two pack releases.

Linkfest - G1 Recreations

Toy Fair showed us a great upcoming line up of toys coming out months from now but time to focus on the more immediate future with lots of new Beast Hunters and 3rd part offering in the pipeline along with a few interesting tie in products. More Beast Hunters products are starting to hit shelves so lots of reviews to look at for them. On the third party front we have a look at a not Stunticons line-up, review of not Shockwave, not Jumpstarters, not Fall of Cybertron Omega Supreme and more. Masterpiece Soundwave is out so a review for him. New not toy products include a expensive coin set from New Zealand and a Optimus Hockey Jersey. Basically as the links and reviews show, the next year is going to be a wallet buster.

Causality not Stunticons - T-Bone
From Fansproject, their next series is the not Stunticons of CA-09 Car Crash, CA-10 T-Bone, CA-11 Down Force and CA-12 Last Chance. Apparently they are designed to merge into not Menasor but have not seen that gestalt form or what these four look like in appendage mode. Even if don't merge, each looks like be great additions to a collection. The average prices is $60 with Car Crash out in February, T-Bone in March and no dates on the rest.

Linkfest - Beast Hunters

The new year is now here and that means more new Transformers. The first wave of deluxe toys for Transformers Prime Beast Hunters have hit Toys R Us with links to their reviews below. Their are also links to around a dozen different Beast Hunters toys in various classes. Takara has a few exclusives that are about to come out so get a peak at those while third party vendor have their own slate of toys. Basically if you are a die hard collector, its going to be another expensive year.

Beast Hunter's Galleries - deluxe Wave 1 | deluxe Wave 2 | wave 1 Legion | deluxe Bulkhead | Voyager Optimus Prime | Voyager Predaking | deluxe Smokescreen |
It seems the floodgates have opened as a bunch of new images have popped up for the first few waves of legion, deluxe, and voyager class toys. The toys should be coming out over the next few months as get closer to the premiere of Transformers Prime Season Three which is not Feb. 15 as previously reported, actually date unknown.

Linkfest - Merry Christmas

Finally got around to playing catch-up on the latest in Transformers toy news. Upcoming toys include Capbots (transforming plastic ball caps), tease of the Beast Hunters line, look at Kre-O combiners, discount info on TF Prime toys, new 3rd party toy, and TF video game info. Also have video reviews Fall of Cybertron Grimlock & Starscream, MP Sideswipe & Red Alert, and more. This will be the last link fest of 2012 but next year is looking great with lots of great Hasbro toys in the pipeline including Transformers Prime Beast Hunters, more Fall of Cybertron and Generations toys. Third party makers have hinted at around 3 separate combiners (not Aerielbots, Dinobot combiner, and Throttlebot combiner) along with a bunch of more G1 homages. Takara has MP Soundwave coming and who knows what other creative twists they have in store of us. Over all next year is looking very good for Transformers and that is not even counting Transformer 4 that should start filming in late Spring.

Capbots Gallery
Yep plastic baseball caps that turn into Captimus Prime and Capticon. Still annoyed missed out the the Nike Shoeformers (plastic shoes that transformed) so went ahead and ordered without waiting on review like normally do. They are available now for around $26.

Linkfest - Cassettes

Been a few weeks since the last linkfest of toys news. Upcoming releases include Masterpiece Soundwave and his cassettes, Takara has a great slate coming for Japan, the third party manufactureres have more gestaults in the works, and lots of reviews including Masterpiece Prime, MP Sideswipe, Screecher and more.

Masterpiece Soundwave - Gallery | MP Cassettes & MP-10B
MP-13 Soundwave with Laserbeak was expected to be released mid-December but now that has been bumped back to January 26th, 2013. Encore 23 Fortress Maximus was already delayed with a March 30th release date. Not if that means that MP-15 Frenzy & Buzzsaw and MP-16 Rumble & Ravage are getting pushed from their February 23rd and March 23rd release dates. In the meantime hit the links to view these upcoming figures. Again no info if Hasbro is considering a stateside release (but don't see why they wouldn't at some point). MP-10B is Takara exclusive repaint of Masterpiece Prime (see video below) in the Nemesis Prime colors but without a trailer. Doubt this repaint will get a stateside release.

NYCC 2012: Next Year's Hasbro Transformers

Thursday Hasbro teased their next sub-line of Transformers Prime called Beast Hunters that brings the Beast Wars design aesthetic back into the main TF line. Hasbro also held a panel where they provided their plans and images of the first wave or so of toys that will start hitting shelves in spring 2013. Below are links to the galleries and info that was revealed. Also links to a recording of the actual panel and below that is a summary of what was revealed.

Links: Hasbro Panel | 3rd Party Gallery | Blue 'Bee Kreon Review | Non TF Displays | TF Universe MMO Trailer
Panel YouTube Video: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Linkfest - Upcoming

The theme of this linkfest edition seems to be “upcoming” as there are a slew of new official and unofficial (but expensive) toys that are coming out in the next few months. All of them drool worthy, especially for G1 fans. The links includes galleries to Takara next wave of Masterpiece toys, Kreon Wallpaper, new TFC Toys, iGears and Mastermind Creations toys along with a review for a Hercules add-on.

Upcoming Takara MP Releases - MP-12 Lambor/Sideswipe | Red Alert, Soundwave | Video
Hit the link to look at the next new Masterpiece molds from Takara. Sideswipe and Red Alert is the smallest MP toy they have made yet as designed to be to scale to MP Prime and fit inside his trailer. The toys have been officially licensed by Lamborghini to give it that extra authentic look. The figures will be out by end of the year for around $90 each. Shockwave is getting the MP upgrade, retaining his classic boom box look with Laserbeak cassette but with a whole lot more detail and articulation. I would be very surprised if Hasbro didn't bring one or all of these molds stateside sometime next year. You can also hit the video link for a look at the figure but no subtitles to understand what the engineer is saying.

Kreon Wallpaper
Hasbro has released wallpaper for many of their upcoming Kreon figures. CGI images include Ironhide, Megatron, Prime, Wheeljack and more.

Linkfest - TFCon

At the end of July TFCon was held in Canada. While Hasbro bowed out of the convention due to the con refusing to ban third party Transformers, those same companies used it as an opportunity to sell and show off some of their upcoming projects. Almost all of them engage in homages to Generation One toys but usually with a level of detail and articulation that Hasbro toys don't have and with characters and alt modes that Hasbro will never bother to attempt due to lack of mass market appeal and cost. With all that in mind, below are galleries to various 3rd party toys shown off at TFCon, galleries to official Hasbro products, article about G1 mail away TFs and a whole bunch of video reviews.

Mastermind Collectibles Gallery
Hit the link for MC's upcoming toys. Hextron is their take on G1's Sixshot with six transformer modes but with greater detail and articulation then the 80s version (which is getting a re-release from Takara). The final version will be about Masterpiece Grimlock in size so probably will not be cheap when it is released sometime in 2013. Their other toys include a repaint of Knight Morpher Cyclops based on the gray scale paint scheme of Radioshack version of G1 Shockwave and Knight Morpher Seekers that are repaints of not Starscream.

Linkfest - Prime Masterpieces

This week’s linkfest is about little odds and ends to play catch up on after last week’s SDCC. To start, we have a cool fan creation that mixes Optimus with Warhammer, news that Hasbro’s mini-war with 3rd party toys continues, another 3rd party toy gallery, a new G1 reissue, new TF Prime themes, Masterpiece Prime US vs Takara comparison, and video reviews of Wave 1 Fall of Cybertron toys, SDCC Exclusive toys, and more. If interested in the SDCC panels, click here for links to videos of more then 100 panels that where held that week.

Orktimus Prime
Hit the link with a gallery of images for Orkitums Prime and interview with its creator madscuzzy. This version of Prime is based on Ork Truckk used for Warhammer game products only with that Transformers touch. It took two months to create using 3rd party Gundum parts and 1.5 ork trukk kits. The paint job proved to be especially difficult but as the images show, the final result was pretty darn cool.

Hasbro Bails on TFCon
Hasbro has announced that they have cancelled their New Product Preview and Q&A panels at TFcon this coming weekend because of the allowed sale of 3rd party TF toys at the Con. The Canada's Annual Transformers Convention is being held from July 27th to 29th in Mississauga, Ontario. They will still have a product display. The 3rd party market is not violating any law or copyright which is why Hasbro is applying pressure in ways like this (they also tried to get online stores to ban the products). If legal is an issue I am sure Lego would love to have words about the Kre-O line. Hasbro has chosen to ignore the collector's market as not having enough mass market appeal to reach the profit margins they desire (see Breakdown below as example). Takara has attempted to meet the need with their Masterpiece line (and BinalTech in the past). The 3rd party market (and Hasbro's SDCC exclusives) has clearly demonstrated that collectors are willing to pay a premium for new and unique products. Transformers' Collectors Club of repaints does not count as a meaningful effort to fill that niche. Nothing wrong with Hasbro's choice, from a business perspective I get it. I just can't agree with Hasbro's attempt to punish fans and conventions when others decide to fill a market area they chose to ignore using the same tactics Hasbro uses to their own benefit (see Kre-O). I applaud any convention (like TFCon) that refuses to bend to their unreasonable demands. Note: Botcon, being officially attached to Hasbro, as no choice but to comply.

Linkfest - Fall of Cybertron

It turns out this week’s unintended theme for the link fest is Fall of Cybertron as collected multiple links on the subject including video reviews of Jazz & Shockwave, Achievements, Bruticus release month, and Metroplex screenshots. In addition, another look at the next three Masterpiece toys from Takara-Tomy, Scott Barga gets Academy invite, violin remix of Transformers I Arrival to Earth score and video reviews of upcoming TF Prime toys.

Next Three Masterpiece Transformers Images -
All Three | Hi-Re Gallery
A few weeks ago we got a look at the non-colored prototype of Masterpiece Sideswipe (MP-12) that Takara is releasing in a few months. Now we can get a leak at him in his fully painted glory along with a look at the Soundwave with Laserbeak (MP-13) and Red Alert (MP-14) prototypes that will clearly stick as close as possible to look of the Generation One characters. Of note is it seems Takara isn't going to try to come up with a modern alt mode for Soundwave, choosing to stick with the classic cassette boom box.

Transformers' Scott Benza Joins the Academy
Transformers trilogy animation supervisor Scott Benza was recently invited to join the Academy of Arts and Sciences. Members of the organization are those that vote for the Oscar winners each year and considered a huge honor in Hollywood. 176 members total were given invites this year, most of them either past winners or nominees including Benza who received multiple nominations for the effects work on the Transformers’ films. Congrats to him for the honor.

Linkfest - TF Exclusives

Below are more links and info on upcoming Transformers toys and news from the last week or so. This editoin has info Takara's Masterpiece line, Maketoys shows off completed not Devastator, Masterpiece seekers are coming stateside, Beast Wars on Netflix, new galleries and video reviews of Perfect Effect's not Arcee and Transformers: The Ride Evac.

Masterpiece Sideswipe Prototype
To the right is the prototype to the next new addition to Takara's Masterpiece line. MP-12 Lambor (Sideswipe) will have the alt mode of a Lamborghini just as he was in the G1 days. Even better it seems Volkswagen has signed off on the alt mode which means the details will hopefully represent a real world vehicle. Something that is oddly rare outside of the movie toys. Indications are the figure will be in scale to Masterpiece Prime 2.0 to about Prime's chest. This move to create a scaled line for the first time is pretty awesome. Now if only the new MP toys came out at a faster pace. The figure is around $90 and will be released in late October. I assume it will eventually make its way stateside as an exclusive but no telling how long that will take. Red Alert (white repaint) will likely follow a few months later. The next Masterpiece figure (MP-13) will be Soundwave and MP-14 will be announced at the International Tokyo Toy Show next weekend.

Maketoys Yellow Giant Gallery
The not Devastator combiner from Maketoys will finally be completed once the final C set is released later this summer. At the link is a gallery of the final product. The yellow edition is a nod to the Generation 2 re-release of the Constructions with a green repaint box set coming up by the fall.

Linkfest - Generations

Time for another linkfest summarizing the latest in new regarding Transformers. This edition has a look at the concept art for Ironhide, video and galleries of next wave of toys including Transformers: Generations, another Fall of Cybertron Bruticus box set, Cobra Commander crossed with Soundwave, four TF: Prime toy reviews, a stunt award of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, a real life transformers, and more.

Transformers: Prime Ironhide Concept Art
TF Prime artist Ken Christiansen has posted his concept art for Ironhide. At the post he writes about his approach to the character. The result is a pretty "bad ass Ironhide" that seems to combine the classic G1 touches with the physical impressive look of the movie version. While the character has yet to be confirmed as appearing in the TV series, Hasbro has made a Commander class figure that will be coming out soon. A deluxe version is in the works but Kup gets first crack at the mold in release order. (via Seibertron)

Botcon 2012 Display Videos
Hit the link for 10 videos that show off all the products that Hasbro had on display at Botcon a few weeks ago. Most are scheduled for release this year with Generations coming out next Spring.

Linkfest - Botcon Regeneration

Another week, another linkfest. This week's edition is a mixed bag with pics on Maketoys Green Giant, a look back at the origins of Transformers, gallery of TF Prime Starscream, comic stuff, Botcon news, WST Sixshot, DVD releases, and more.

MakeToys not Devastator in Green
Hit the link for Set "B" of Giant which is their 3rd party version of Devastator. Up to now the company has been releasing yellow homages to Generation 2 repaints but later this year they plan on releasing a gift set of all six figures in the more classic green paint scheme. The price is around $350 and expected to be released in June.

History of Transformers Translation
Hit the link for TFW2005's translation with two of the architects of Transformers. Hideaki Yoke and Koujin Oono talk about the origins of Transformers from more than 25 years ago as they discuss the various design and story aspects that helped create the Transformers franchise we all love today.

Linkfest - Unicron

More links of Transformers things to enjoy. This set includes two custom figures, a look at upcoming waves of Transformers: Prime toys, Masterpiece toys & interview, more 3rd party toys, Hasbro art ban, and new toy reviews.

Custom Generation One Unicron
Hit the link for a gallery of images for a custom re-creation of the Unicron prototype that Hasbro created as a potential release for Transformers: The Movie toy line. As the images show, Hasbro probably made a wise decision to not go past the prototype phase but I am sure there are many collectors who still wouldn't mind having a G1 Unicron of their own.

Upcoming Transformers Prime - Deluxe | Legion | Wave 3 | Play sets
A new gallery shows off of upcoming wave of Transformers: Prime deluxe toys. They will include Airachnid, Deadend (repaint of Wheeljack), and Ultra Magnus in the deluxe class. For Legion there will be a repaint of Bumblebee, Mirage, Flamewar (repaint of Arcee), and others. Evac is thrown in with the lot but he is really release for Transformers: The Ride. The wave 3 toys are Knock Out, Hot Shot and Vehicon. No info on release dates.