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.

Impossible Toys - Allicon | Seekers
Another 3rd party toy, this one is from Impossible Toys whose niche is creating Generation One toys that have never had a toy version before. Allicon is from Transformers: The Movie, the Sharkicon-ish guard in the Quintesson scene with Hot Rod, Kup and the pit of Sharkicons. The other is the Seekers but with the Cybertronian diamond shape alt mode that was seen in the very first Transformers cartoon - More Than Meets the Eye Part 1.

TFCon Third Party Panel - Summary | Slides
The 3rd party Transformers invasion at TFCon included their very own panel where many companies showed off their potential plans. While some had toys available to show off, many are still in the design phase. BTS Toys plans on releasing their version of not Overlord. Mech Ideas has not Twin Twist and not Topspin in the works along with iPhone cases. iGear is working on a Cliffjumper toy (repaint of their Bumblebee toy). Headrobots is creating Big Road (not Trailbreaker) and Iguana. Mastermind Creations spoke about above toys and provided a silhouette images of their version of not Predaking built from five Predacons. FansProject showed off the silhouette their not Menasor, a tease of their Function X line (aka not Headmasters based on characters Chromedome, Weirdwolf, Minerva and others.

Rage of Hercules Gallery
If you bought all six figures of TFC Toys Hercules (not Devastator) toy then you might want to check out the link above as it shows off an upgrade kit for the figure. The kit includes a new head sculpt with LED eyes, rage face add-on, new weapons, and improved arm joints. The kit is out know and costs around $45.

FansProject Gallery
At the link is images of FansProject's upcoming plans that include prototypes of two Stunticons out of five to form Menasor, their Insecticon with vehicle modes rather than insect alt modes, and next two Warbot (not Wreckers) toys.

Kreon Micro-Changer Decoder and Preview
The first wave of Kreons first seen at SDCC seems to have been released to at least Wal-Mart based on a few reports here and there. The blind packages will contain one of six Kreons - Crankstart, Waspinator, Galvatron, Sunstorm, Scorponox and Spinster which you can see at the link above. However, as the image shows the packaging has been decoded so you can make sure you get what you want without duplicates.

Linkin Park G1 Soundwave Official Images
Hit the link for Hasbro's images of the gold painted version of G1 Soundwave that will have a production run of only 2000 figures. It is supposed to be out by Christmas to various online stores, no idea on price.

MakeToys Mobain Gallery
Hit the link for a few images of "Mobain" which is "The Fallen" as a Powercore Combiner type toy only with some improvements built in. Not entirely clear on the details, sure more will come out once get close to its potential unknown release date.

TFC Toys DLSR (not Reflector) Videos, Gallery
Speaking of Reflector, TFC Toys used TFCon to show off their version of the classic Transformer. DLSR (Dynamic Link Scout Robots) is three robots that combine into a SLR camera with an LED light and other details. Hit the link for gallery and two short videos that show off the robot mode. The price is set at $125 with an October release. The camera alt mode can be seen here.

Mail-Away G1 Transformers - Part 1 | Part 2
Hit the links above for two part article from TFSource that explores that mail away Transformers that Hasbro use to have back in the G1 days. The mail away program was cheap, usually required few points and provided Transformers not sold in stores like Reflector and the Omnibots. Looking back, it was a heck of a deal and wish I could go back and pop my child-self for not taking advantage. Part 1 focuses on the states, part 2 on the Japanese market.

MakeToys Green Giant Video Review
Below is Peaugh's review of MakeToys green Giant (not Devastator) combiner that will be released in the next month or so as a box set (for around $360). The first third is a review of "Set C" of the set when it was released as three sets of two not Constructicons. The remaining 20 minutes or so focuses on the combiner. It is because of Giant and Hercules that you are seeing more combiners coming out of 3rd party makers as it proved that the collector's market can support these more expensive releases.


FansProject Warbot 02 Steel Core Video Review
Below is another Peaugh review of the latest FansProject 3rd party Transformer based on The Wreckers. This is an early review as the toy was sold at TFCon a few weeks ago but isn't yet available for online sales. If history is a guide, I assume the price will be in the $110 range whenever it is released.


Kabaya Candy Kit Fortress Maximus
The Kabaya Candy kit is something in Japan via a Takara license. It boxes of tiny Transformers based on the Generation One line that comes in blind packed boxes. With a mini G1 Transformer comes parts to a mini-Fortress Maximus that when complete is about Voyager sized. The original Fortress Maximus toy remains the largest Transformers toy ever officially created that stands around 1.5 feet tall. Below is Peaugh's review of the combined toy. A gallery of mini-Max can be found here.


More Video Reviews - Generations Wheelie | Weaponizer Bumblebee | Weaponizer Optimus Prime | Breakdown
Above or links to upcoming Hasbro and Takara toys. Wheelie is a repaint of Generations Jazz. Weaponizer Bumblebee and Optimus Prime are leader size versions of the Transformers: Prime characters. As has been the norm for the TF Prime line, bigger is not better as it seems these as just as consistently crappy as the Voyager size line has been. Voyager Breakdown is currently a Takara only release of the TF Prime character. If remember right, think Hasbro said that they felt the cost and fan interest was not enough to bring him stateside. As the review (and my comment on voyager class) indicates, we are probably not missing anything.