Linkfest - Christmas Time Is Here

Hopefully just in time for Christmas wish lists and gift giving (to fellow TF fans or yourself), here is a ton of reveals on Hasbro's Combiner Wars figures, Takara Masterpiece figures and a bunch of 3rd party figures with the year long emphasis on combiners. The 3rd party output remains painfully high for wallets with the combiners contining unabated (and most looking amazing) but now there is a more heathly mix of other, often Masterpiece scaled, figures. In addition to the reviews there are galleries to upcoming 3rd party toys, licensed statues, and action figures. To start though is some fan-art including a custom paint job, transforming Lego, and more. On a side note for Transformers: Robots in Disguise fans it has been confirmed the second season is also the final season with only 16 episodes and will end with a "movie" that is equal to 3 episodes. Exactly when it will start airing has not been revealed. On to the info dump.

Fan Art
Custom IDW Optimus Prime and Shockwave - Sadly this version of Optimus Prime and Shockwave isn't available. This custom paint job from LEK Custom Toys was inspired by the artwook from Transformers: Devastation IDW comic book from a few years ago that added a shiny sheen to all the TFs as a kind of hybrid of metal and cartoon look. The result is pretty fantastic looking. Even more images can be found at their Facebook page.

Botcon 2015

Botcon 2015 completed its annual TF love fest this weekend in Chicago, Illinois. Since it is a non-movie year the focus was mostly on Combiner Wars and Robots in Disguise with Hasbro on hand to present some of their late 2015 to early 2016 plans which to no surprise includes more Combiners and a whole lot of repaints for both lines. On the Transformers: Hall of Fame front, Frank Welker (voice of Megatron), Prowl, Predaking, and Vince DiCola (composer for Transformers: The Movie) were inducted. No movie news or anything major to report. Since Botcon bans 3rd Party toys (per Hasbro directive), nothing to report there either. Hit the links below for summaries of all the various panels and galleries to upcoming Transformers releases.

Linkfest - Combiner Wars Continue

The Combiner Wars continue for Hasbro with an upcoming release of the Protectobots and for most of the 3rd party companies who have released either completed around four or five combiners this year with another 5 or so set to finish by year end. It is an embarassment of riches for fans but also quite wallet draining if trying to keep up, especially if trying to get all the combiners. That is before you include the 6 or so Dinobot lines that also in works from these companies.

Much like how combiners wars are a nod to the past so too are some of the links below with a look at potential Action Master designs using combiners as action figures, some behind the scenes info from Transformers: The Movie and 35+ year old commercials from Japan that feature many of your favorite G1 Transformers before they became Transformers. There are also links to galleries to the first 3rd party Grimlock, Prime 1 Studios Age of Extinction statue line, and a stop motion video.

As for reviews, the links include Hasbro's Combiner releases of Cyclonus, the Protectobots, Stunticons, along with Robots in Disguise Jazz & Drift, Playstation Optimus Prime and Masterpiece Star Saber. For third party releases there are a ton of reviews to go with their now overkill output. Iron Factory and 3DX has three releases of their legend scale lines. ToyWorld completes their not Throttlebot combiner after over a year of nothing on that front while also releasing a solid take on not Astrotrain. The number of not Dinobots in the works has reached at least six lines that I can think of including two of them being combiners. Probably need to develop a cheat sheet to keep up at this point. Warbotron has completed their not Bruticus combiner that looks spectacular while Unique Toys reaches the halfway point on their not Terrocons. Those are just some of the many reviews linked below.

Linkfest - Dinobots and Combiners Oh My

It has been a months since did my last linkfest and its shows with an epic ton of video reviews for upcoming figures from Hasbro's Combiner Wars line and all the third party figures. Below are a bunch of reviews for the first wave for the Combiner Wars with an occasional look at an incomplete combiner as Hasbro chose to swap a Stunticon with an Arialbot for each wave to emphasize their ability to swap to create "new" combined robots. Also a look at the first wave of Robots in Disguise toys along with Masterpiece Ultra Magnus and Bumblebee.

For third party reviews the theme is the Dinobots with four lines coming this year. Two of them are Masterpiece scaled figures from Fanstoys while Planet X's are based on War for Cyberton, and one is regular scaled release (from Fansproject) while last is a combiner (from Toyworld). Hopefully the reviews below will help in deciding which of the four to commit to. The 3rd party pattern remains combiners. Other than the Dinobots there are currently takes on the Terrorcons, Combaticons, Technobots and Protectobots. Before the reviews here are links to some upcoming releases, two 80s Transformers videos, and an update on Transformers: Robots in Disguise cartoon series.

Update: Added this reveal of Combiner Wars Devastator. No real deal details except that he may follow the G1 version with six characters merging and come complete as a collection rather than sold individually. Hopefully more will be revealed at the New York Toy Fair that starts Feb 2.

Linkfest - Combiner Wars

The news on the Transformers 5 front remains dead and probably will for a while but that doesn't mean the toys stop coming. In a few cons Hasbro and 3rd party vendors teased about the next six months or so of releases. For Hasbro that means Angry Birds, Combiner Wars and Robots in Disguise toys.

For third party companies, the theme remains combiners with upcoming releases of combiners but it seems the theme for 2015 is Dinbots with at least three separate sets coming one of which will be an actual combiner. Other galleries include a look at Optimus Prime turning into a Playstation 1 console, a look at Ultimetel Prime, and more. On the video review front we have looks at the next wave of Generations Deluxe and Voyager toys, look at two versions of Swoop, reviews of the not Technobots, more Masterpiece figures including Wheeljack, and bunch more.

Linkfest - Dinobots and More

If last few years seemed like 3rd parties focused heavily on combiners, it seems this year has become about the Dinobots as at least three or so companies are prepping their own Dinobot homages. In that realm we have galleries for not Computron, not Swindle, not Sky-Byte, and early look at the not Throttlebots combiner. On the official products front, Takara is working on their take of the Sega Genesis Transformer and a new paint job for Evasion Mode Prime. Hasbro has released images of some of their Angry Birds Transformers line and a look at some TF4 exclusives. In the licensed products realm, Hot Toys is releasing their take on Optimus Prime while Prime 1 Studio has movie inspired busts in the works along with a large and expensive Starscream statue, and Kubrick is releasing their own Bearbrick Transformers. In addition have a look at apartments that kind of transform through creative use of space. On the review front, a look at 28+ toys that have been released or about too. A few favorites include a look at Generations Jetfire, iGears new design of the Seekers, not Skullcruncher, Guardian, not Sludge and a Dinobot combiner.

Botcon 2014

Botcon 2014 was held this weekend in Pasadena, California. Like previous one, it was a chance to get a look at some of Hasbro's plans for the Transformers line for the next year. No major news was revealed but Hasbro is continuing the lines along the same paths as this year. For Age of Extinction they showed off a bunch of upcoming one-step changers and multi-packs that use existing molds. The most interesting toy news was on the Generations front with plans for a G1 inspired designs for Megatron and Optimus Prime, official return of the headmasters with Brainstorm. Part of that is two firsts - after nearly 30 years getting a true G1 Transformers: The Movie inspired version of Arcee along with for the first time to my knowledge having a Chromia figure that isn't simply a repaint of Arcee but an actually new mold (Cybertronian motorcycle). IDW revealed a few of their upcoming mini-series plans involving Windblade and Drift. Below are highlights from each of the panels. After that are links to a ton of official photos along with galleries from the floor. Last but not least is a video of Hasbro's toy display. Basically the news looked good but I also get the impression that Hasbro was holding back for San Diego Comic-Con.

Linkfest - Masterpiece Kre-O

Botcon is this weekend so figured better push this out as has been a while. As usual 3rd party releases dominate as they are constantly announcing something including two different versions of not Computron, a take on G1 Jetfire, Metroplex, repaints, and more. Takara has revealed their repaint of Evasion Mode Prime, a look at Masterpiece Bumblebee, Wheeljack, MP Ultra Magnus and yet another repaint of MP-10 Optimus Prime. Hasbro also is planning to release their own official take of Jetfire for the Generations line. On the cartoon front, no news on the new series but Shout Factory is planning something for Botcon along with the release of Transformers Animated and Beast Machines box sets. As usual, lots of video reviews including generations toys, not Cy-Kill, not Blaster, a $2000 statue and more. To start though is this cool Kre-O take on the classic Generations One line.

Linkfest - not Everything

Just realized allowed the toy side of news to stack up. Guess was distracted by the Age of Extinction reviews. Still while AoE has been a bit underwhelming, that doesn't mean upcoming 3rd Party plans have slacked in their awesomeness with versions of not Metroplex, not Cy-Kill (yep the GoBot) and not Ultra Magnus. This isn't to say that Takara and Hasbro are not up to some none Extinction plans. Takara has revealed their 30th Anniversary plans that includes a new truck alt mode for Optimus, a look at Masterpiece Wheeljack, and agreements for a slew of products including statues, play sets and ties. In the not quite toy news department we have a look at G1 cartoon concept art and news that the entire "Unicron trilogy" is getting a DVD release. Of course no link fest is complete without a ton of reviews. The highlights include the wave 1 Generation deluxes, Masterpiece Ratbat, not Sharkticons, not Ultra Magnus, not Masterpiece Slag, first figure of a not Bruticus combiner, not Blaster and more. Basically a series of budget busting awesome. As always hit the links for more details and pictures.

Linkfest - Introducing the Transformers

Time to play catch-up on Transformers non-movie news. A few treats this month with the main one being a great video that from the 1983 Tokyo Toy Fair that introduces to the world what would become the Transformers. On the upcoming third party front, the theme this year is once again combiners with various companies doing their own take on the Protectobots, Combaticons, and another Predaking. Hasbro and Takara have their own non-TF4 news with MP Wheeljack tease, MP Prowl coming stateside, and new Rescue Bots inspired Transformers cartoon coming. In G1 news there is an interview with the guy that killed Optimus Prime, toy design art, official release of Transformers: The Movie score and a new TF book. Finally on the review front lots of great new toys with Warden (IDW Fortrest Maximus), Year of the Horse Prime, Mania King (Galvatron), Bii and Intimidator being on my to buy list. Hit the links and vids to learn more.

1983 Tokyo Toy Fair Video - A substantial piece of Transformers history is now available on YouTube with an old video that shows off the Generation One Transformers for the very first time. Taken at the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show, this was when Hasbro saw the concept and introduced it in 1984 to US audiences. So basically this show and a simple booth launched multi-billion dollar franchise.

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.

Botcon 2013

Last weekend Botcon 2013 was held in Austin, Texas. On the whole no major news. Hasbro was on hand to hint at their toy line-up for the next few months and used the panels to to tease future plans like Generations 2014 and 30th Anniversary collection. IDW spoke about their already solicited comics but no major revelations. Hasbro bans 3rd party makers from the convention but that didn't stop a few from showing off their wares. Transformers 4 wasn't covered at all so nothing new to report on the toy front. Hasbro did show off their Beast Hunters line up but as the links below indicate, "repaint" is the norm rather than exception but the Generations line is looking awesome. Below are summaries of info and links to lots of galleries put together by other Transformers sites that were able to attend the convention.

Update: Some TF4 toy news thanks to an interview with Hasbro's Joshua Lamb (starting at 24:05 point) from TF reviewer Vangulus indicates that discussions with Michael Bay on toy design indicates a goal of trying to simplify for faster transformations to try and mimic the movies (and cartoons) where characters transform and "engage to the action fast." The scaling of legion class Beast Hunters to deluxe size is an experiment towards simplification but TF4 toys deluxe are being designed from scratch. The interviews with two Hasbro managers discussing the toys and Hasbro's future approach can be found here.

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.