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.

3rd Party
FansToys Not-Slag - FansToys has decided to followup their excellent Masterpiece like Shockwave with their version of Dinobot Slag that is scaled to Masterpiece Grimlock. At the link shows an early version of the figure that looks pretty darn good. No release date or price yet.
Toyworld not Chase - Next edition of their not Throttlebot combiner that is slowly but surely coming out. TW-T03 Trace is set for release around end of the year for average price in the $70. Starting to think I missed the boat on not getting these and hoping ToyWorld is planning a box set release down the line.
Fansproject not Brainstorm - Function X-3 Smart Robin from Fansproject is their take on the G1 Brainstorm headmaster. Theirs strikes me as a much more compact and detailed take on the ToyWorld version. Out now for around $70.

Hasbro and Takara
Go! Optimus Prime - A first, Optimus Prime as triple-changer with robot, bullet train, and dragon modes. Japan only, so far no news that Hasbro plans on import Takara's Transformers Go! line.
Deluxe Generations Wave 4 - Gallery for IDW inspired Starscream (new Armada based look), Skywarp, Scoop and Minicon combiner.
Masterpiece MP-19 Smokescreen - Next addition to the line, repaint with modified head sculpt and weapons. Love the line so an automatic buy for me.

Misc
Fan Made Transforming Candy Box - Based on Anime Golden Warrior Gold Lightan, Dori Asuka made his papercraft creation that actually transform. Hit the link to see how he designed and created this pretty cool item and remember, its all paper-based objects, not plastic.

Masterpiece Fan's Choice Winner - Takara has announced that Star Saber has won the Fan's Choice contest to join the Masterpiece line sometime next year. No design details yet but thankfully he beat all the various Prime that were part of the contest even though I wouldn't have minded seeing Dai Atlas win. Nothing against Prime but he has already had multiple releases in the line so new is better.

Ultimetal Optimus Prime - For the "low" price of around $1000, you can own this creation from Action Toys and Takara Tomy. The non-transforming 17" figure has removable armor to expose inner workings, lots of articulation, and plenty of metal parts (hence the name). The figure also remote controlled lights and sounds with moving mouth plate. He looks fantastic but wow its hard to get past that price point. I just recommend dropping around $300 for the awesome Masterpiece MP-10 Prime.

Transformers: Armada The Complete Series - Shout Factory has announced that Armada will get the Complete Series release (joining the others) on March 11, 2014. The 8-DVD set will contain all 52 episodes of the series that ran on Cartoon Network from 2002-2003. No mention of any special features. Amazon has the set available for pre-order for $31.49.

Official Nike Megatron Sneakers - In a tribute to Megatron (complete with "Show no mercy" quote on the forefoot strap), is to Nike pairs in Decepticon purple with some Autobot red along with a unique Allspark like box. Not entirely clear if the Generations Megatron wiht new paint apps comes with the shoe or not.

Video Reviews
Deluxe Generations - Skids | Dreadwing (repaint) | Goldfire (repaint) | Waspinator
Voyager Generations - Rhinox | Doubledealer (repaint)
Not Predacons - Mastermind Creations Leo Dux | Unique Toys Savage Bull
Two different implementations of the G1 Predacons. So far Mastermind Creations is the superior version but decided to pass on them until can get the full set at once. Still not sure if would get one or both.
Masterpiece Toys R Us Soundwave - While hard to find, if you can snag him for around his $100 price point, I highly recommend getting him as great G1 homage.

Masterpiece MP-18 Bluestreak - Review of the latest MP creation that came out a few weeks ago. A repaint of Prowl and another solid addition. Unless a collector, debatable if worth getting all three of the "Datsun" bros. since they are essentially identical except for paint scheme.

ToyWorld not Orion Pax - ToyWorld has created a companion to their not Megatron with a homage to the IDW Orion Pax design. Much more detailed then the Generations release but with the 3rd party price point of $100. Out now. Review below, gallery here.

Unique Toys not Sharkticons - Review of the upcoming 3-pack of Sharkies that is Unique Toys take on Transformers: The Movie (1986) Sharkticons. Over all they are not bad and probably a must have for any fan of the movie. I am inclined to agree with reviewer below that I would rather have just one at $30 then 3 at $90. Should be released in a few weeks. Review below, gallery here.

ToyWorld not Brainstorm - TW-H02 Brainwave is ToyWorld's take on G1 Brainstorm. Out now for $100 the result is pretty solid but can't decide if worth the price tag, especially with the Fansproject version coming soon.