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.

Possible Chinese Actors for Transformers 4

It seems that the main actors for the Chinese portion of Transformers 4 is starting to come together as Asian Pop News is reporting that actors Huang Xiaoming, Chen Kun and Tong Dawei. It also says that Huang has hired an English tutor so it seems their roles will be for more then just a Chinese cut of the film with their scenes. As usually time will tell exactly how China is being incorporated into the TF4 story. (via TFormers)

Transformers 4 Heading to Texas; Bay Scouts Chicago

You can add Austin, Texas area to the list of locations that Transformers 4 will be shooting this summer. According to Dallas News (via Seibertron), sometime in June the production will be in the small towns of Lockhart, Taylor, Elgin and Pfugnerville. In Taylor the plan is to close downtown and a railroad overpass with a car explosion set for Robinson Park. For Lockhart, the Caldwell County Courthouse will be used. The cities are part of a chase between the Autobots and Decepticons through Central Texas. Filming is expected to start in June (location unknown) with production hitting Detroit, Chicago, Hong Kong, and other unknown locations in China.

Speaking of Chicago, Bay was spotted scouting locations in the city on April 25th. Locations he and his crew checked out include LaSalle Street near Randolph Street up to the Board of Trade Building. Not sure what can gleam from that story wise but mostly reinforces that TF4 is coming soon to the area. Thanks to Wynton R. for the links.

Bay: Redesigning Every Transformer for TF4

In an interview with MovieFone to promote Pain & Gain, Michael Bay spoke about Transformers 4. To talked about why he started doing the franchise and changing his mind on moving on to do TF4. Main piece of information is he said "I'm literally redesigning every character, top to bottom. There's a [story] reason why their redesigned..." It will be interesting to see what those redesigns look like. The Transformers comments are below, the full interview is at MovieFone.

Well it’s more about how you approach these films, like for example, on “Transformers,” you already have the built in audience.
See, I was not a fan of Transformers [at first]. Hasbro was talking about giving me a whole Transformers story, and I’m like, “If I can do this really real. If I can make them believable, I think I could have something here.” I’m not a Hollywood guy. My friends are normal guys. I’ve got this guy from Texas. He’s like, “Mike, that “Transformers” [movie] seems like a dumb idea.” And I’m like, “Yeah, I know, but just give it a second.” And then I showed him the shot of the Scorponoks jumping out of the sand with Tyrese [Gibson] running. He saw that image and he went, “I see what you’re doing.” You’ll always have haters, but the last movie? One-hundred-twenty million people saw that movie. There’s still a lot of fans of that franchise. And I’m a huge Transformers fan now, and I protect that brand.

The Rock Almost Cast in Transformers 4

It turns out that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, was offered the lead role in Transformers 4 before Mark Wahlberg. This was confirmed via a tweet during a online Q&A.

Michael Bay offered me Transformers, but I was unavailable due to Hercules. Then Wahlberg was offered the role. #RockTalk @nadydi
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) April 26, 2013

It seems that Bay really like working with both actors on Pain & Gain to offer one, then the other a role. Makes you wonder if The Rock had set yes, would Bay have figured out a different role for Wahlberg. Thanks to Wynton R. for the link.

Why Transformers Are So Complicated?

In two previous articles Gizmodo provided a few details on how Transformers are made. While there they took the opportunity to ask why Transformers have been so complicated to transform for the last few years. The answer, of course, is because of the Michael Bay movies.

"The reference style is so phenomenal in the movie tie-ins, we got more complicated than we had to," Lamb says. "Right now, there's a big effort to get back to simple; and more than simple, intuitive."

What was the issue, exactly? "Bay and ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) work it pretty well," Lamb says, "But they also do some magic." In the movie, a car's parts could fold into infinitely small sections. Tiny pieces of interlocking plastic? Not so much.

Transformers 4 Heading to Hong Kong in September

Twitch.tv has posted an (unconfirmed) overview of the shooting schedule for Transformers 4. It seems the movie will have an almost five month shooting schedule from June to October. The production will be in Chicago and Michigan for June, July and August plans not specified, then in September head to Hong Kong, and then mainland China in October as part of the co-production agreement between Paramount and the country. The site said that Michael Bay is interested in shooting in Sham Shui Po district west of North West Kowloon which is described as "one of the oldest and most densely populated areas of Hong Kong." Thanks to Wynton R. for the link.

Transformers 4 Extras Casting Call Found

A casting call for Transformers 4 has been posted on Explore Talent that is seeking 35 extras total for the film.  The ad marks the location as "nationwide" so no specifics on when or were. Nor does it specify what the roles are for but it reads like typical background extras with no lines.  The info ("details" is too strong a word to describe the lack of info) can be found here.

A little warning for those thinking of applying, think of casting call ads as the equivalent of a craigslist ad...assume its a scam until proven otherwise so on guard, be safe, don't provide money, and don't go anywhere alone. If your gut says something isn't right, then listen to it. (via Seibertron)

Jack Raynor On Being Cast Transformers 4

Back in January, actor Jack Reynor was announced as the other lead actor with Mark Wahlberg in Transformers 4. In one of the first interviews with the actor as he promotes "What Richard Did" at the Tribeca Film Festival, he talked a little bit about joining TF4 with The Hollywood Reporter. Thanks to Wynton R. for the link

In New York to film the Vince Vaughn-led comedy Delivery Man, Reynor returned to LA when Hurricane Sandy hit the city and temporarily shut down the film's production. "That just lent me enough time to get into the Transformers race," he says.

"All I knew was basically, Michael was going to make Transformers 4 and we were going to chat about me being in it," he says of the meeting. "We didn’t chat about making a fourth or any of the motives behind it. But personally, I think there’s a lot more to be done with it. There’s a whole new direction to take it in, and a lot more to explore in that universe, and I think we’re going to make a definitive step away from the previous movies, and this is going to be a lot of fun and I’m incredibly excited."

"The reason I got into acting is, it’s just about character, there’s a love of creating characters," Reynor professed. "I love portraying them on screen. Fame never was a feature in it, I don’t really care about making a whole lot of money, just I’d like to be comfortable, and that’s all I care about."

How Transformers Are Made Part 2

Gizmodo has published the second part that looks into how Transformers and other Hasbro toys are created. The first part focused on the design phase while the 2nd part looks into the machinery and people that build and paint the prototypes that become the mass produced toys sold everywhere. Below are highlights, the full article is here.

Highlights
- Most prototype parts created 3D printers that essentially "grow" the needed part from CAD designs.
- Perfactory, normally used by jewelers, is used to create the parts and accessories that require a lot of detail like etchings in swords and the like.
- Custom built for Hasbro, the Z-Corp Spectrum is used to create designs from a powered resin type material and capable of producing articulated parts based on inputted designs.

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #16 Preview

Issue #16 of More Than Meets the Eye hits stores Wednesday. In the last issue Overlord went on a rampage, killing several Autobots (but not as many as would have thought). This issue picks up after those events as the Lost Light passengers deal with the dead, their own feelings over the fight and what to do next. A preview of the issue can be found here.

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #16
James Roberts (w) • Alex Milne (a) • Milne, Nick Roche (c)
AFTERMATH! The battle for the Lost Light is over. As the survivors bury the dead, one Autobot begins a secret journey that will change everything. This special issue marks the beginning of “Remain in Light”—the game-changing finale to the first More Than Meets The Eye mega-story arc!
2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio • FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bay Comments on Shooting Locations for TF4

In two separate articles, Michael Bay discussed Transformers 4. Nothing was revealed about the story but he mentioned that he starts filming in Detroit in late May/early June, that GM cars will continued to be part of the franchise, and that there are plans to film in Hong Kong.

Also here is the last version of the TF4 Autobot logo created by Pixel Rally's Jeffrey Marshall. Just like the previous two, these are not official logos from Hasbro or Paramount but maybe they should consider how good they look. All three of them can be found here in various sizes. Make sure to give him and his site credit if use them elsewhere.

Detroit Free Press:

“I’ll be there in a month and a half,” says the director of his plans to shoot a big chunk of the fourth “Transformers” movie in metro Detroit.

“We’re going to be shooting at stages, we’re going to be shooting around the city, we’re going to be shooting at GM a bit,” says Bay, who knows the city well and credits it with having a lot of good locations.

Hasbro's Built a Bot Poll, Vote Now

As part of the 30th anniversary of Transformers, Hasbro has posted a build a bot poll that fans can vote on. After the characteristics of the character have been voted on by fans, Hasbro will continue to update the site with designs as the fan chosen bot is created. To vote, click here. The poll closes on May 5 with results revealed at the San Diego Comic-Con.

Hasbro, Inc. is kicking off the Thrilling 30 with the Fan Built Bot Poll! For the 1st time ever, a fan vote will decide an all new Transformers character. Vote daily here at Transformers.com to have a hand in the bot building!

Once the votes have been tallied, come back to Transformers.com to see the designers at work. Sketches, images and more will be revealed as the new bot character comes to life.

Add the bot to your collection! The new Transformers character will be revealed, named and forever added to the Transformers world including an appearance in the "Thrilling 30" product line, an IDW storyline and more!

New Transformers Prime Starts on May 17th

For the next four weeks, The Hub is airing encores of the first four episodes of Transformers Prime Beast Hunters. After that a new episode (and I assume more) will start airing beginning May 17th with "Project Predacon" which Zap2It describes as "The Decepticons launch a new scheme to clone an army of beasts." Basically this is the episode where the rest of the Predacon toys...mean characters will start entering the show's final season.

How Transformers Are Made Part 1

Gizmodo has posted their first part that looks into how Hasbro and Takara design and manufacture Transformers. Today's part looks into the design and initial mold creation phase with Transformers Senior Design Director Josh Lamb and Product Designer LEnny Panzica at Hasbro's Providence, RI headquarters. Tomorrow's article will into detail on creating the master mold and manufacturing of the toys for wide scale distribution. Below is highlights from the article but worth reading the whole thing here. I keep hoping that every time a new Transformers movie is released on home video they would do a extra feature on how the toys are made. Maybe interest in articles like this will encourage them as the disciplines required to create a single toy is pretty substantial.

Highlights:
- Hasbro already designing toys, including Transformers, for 2015 (so guessing the TF4 toys are already through or at least near end of mold creation).
- To generate design ideas for Beast Hunter toys, previous TF toys and Zoids parts where painted grey (so can focus on shape, not color) and "frankensteined" together to see how new configurations might work and look like.
- The ideas are then sketched out to conceive a potential final product including robot and alt mode, features and more while being aware of the engineering that will be required for the transformation

China Getting Transformers 4 Casting Reality Show

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Paramount Pictures is going to use a reality show to help cast some of the Chinese characters of the film. This seems to be part of the co-producing agreement that the studio signed with the Chinese government. The title of the show is "Transformers 4 Chinese Actor Talent Search" were the pool of contestants will be whittled down until the winners are two professional actors and two non-pros. The reality program is for the Chinese market only and set to start in June 2013 with the judges being Sid Ganis (former head of Oscars), TF4 producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, casting director Denise Chamian, and Paramount exec Megan Colligan. Exactly what these roles are, how much screen time they will be or how China will used in the film remains unknown (and probably will for a while). Thanks to Wynton R. for the link.

Michael Bay Profile in the NYT

As part of the promotional swing for Pain & Gain, Michael Bay spoike with the New York Times about his career up to this point. There are a few mentions of Transformers as a whole but nothing all that informative about TF4. Below are the Transformers specific portions of the article but to read the entire profile, click here.

As Mr. Bay watched ILM’s preliminary animation for his latest “Transformers” movie, blocky images of giant robots trading blows in the middle of a city, his visceral reactions, often with variations on the word “cool” — “That’s pretty cool”; “We can do something cooler”; “Maybe you could get a nice slice through his face” — seemed to signal approval.

On the first “Transformers,” Mr. Bay said, he was chided by Steven Spielberg for allowing actors to improvise too much.

“Steven said to me, ‘Michael, I would like you to shoot something that’s in the script,’ ” he recalled. “And I was like, ‘Steven, this is how I work.’ ” Even if 80 percent of what he shot was terrible, Mr. Bay said, “You’re going to get 20 percent that’s gold.”

Since then, Mr. Bay said, Mr. Spielberg has come to see things his way. “Steven’s like: ‘You’ve got to have the funny. That’s part of the brand of ‘Transformers.’”

“I want to chill out for a little bit,” after the next “Transformers,” he said hesitantly. “I think. Smell the flowers a little bit.”

Transformers 4 Prep Has Started in Michigan

Transformers 4 is getting ever close to the start of principal photography sometime in late May as the Michigan Motion Picture Studios has begun to build sets for the film. The 535,000 square foot facility in Pontiac, MI is just one of many locations that Transformers 4 will be filming at. Thanks to Wynton R. for the link.

As for this very cool Autobot logo with a touch of color, it was created by Pixel Rally's Jeffrey Marshall. It is not an official logo from Paramount or Hasbro. If use it for something, make sure to him and his site credit. A few his alternate designs can be found here.

"They are in the process of pre-production right now," Wenson told MLive Detroit, when asked if Bay's film crew is in town. "They are filming in several other states, too. The majority of their shooting, I believe, will be done in the state of Michigan.

"In addition to working on our stages, they’ll also be working throughout the state at different locations. We’re really excited that they’re here. We’re looking forward to the opportunity to service another film.”

Everything Wrong with Transformers In 7 Minutes or Less

A new edition in CinemaSin's "Everything Wrong..." series turns its snarky but funny eye on the first Transformers film. Can't help but notice how many of its observations are spot on.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #16 Preview

Tomorrow Transformers: Robots in Disguise #16 brings an end to the first major story arc of RID as its Autobots vs Decepticons once again for the fate of Cybertron as Megatron leads his forces against Bumblebee and his weakened forces. Fortunately Ironhide and the Dinobots have arrived to turn the tide, assuming they can get past Devastator. A preview of the issue can be found here.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #16
John Barber (w) • Andrew Griffith (a) • Griffith, Casey Coller (c)
FINAL BATTLE! The leadership of Cybertron will be decided once and for all! It’s all-out war against the forces of MEGATRON! Will the Autobots wrest control from their attackers—or will the DECEPTICON flag fly over Cybertron forever? Heroes will fall, and nothing will stay the same.
2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio • FC • 32 pages • $3.99