TAAU have received a short clip from Hasbro AU of an Australian Transformers Cybertron toy commercial. The low res clip can be downloaded from this page.
Transformers-themed pub could be Britain’s Best Home Bar
A Transformers-themed pub is in the running to be crowned Britain’s Best Home Bar, in a competition being run by Liberty Games. The winning bar, chosen… [more]
TFNation 2019 Transformers Convention Review
This last weekend saw yet another Transformers convention take over the Metropole Hilton, in Birmingham. These weekends have become a staple of my summer… [more]
Annual Transformers Forum Meet Tour
Every year, since 2011, the nerds from TheTF.Net forum (now a Facebook group, because running a forum proved too much like hard work) have met for a weekend… [more]
Our 2019 Forum Meet took place this weekend, in Cardiff
This weekend saw our annual forum meet being held in the Welsh capital of Cardiff. Each year we meet in a different town or city in the UK, alternating… [more]
Video Footage from Transforce in 2001
Almost 18 years ago (crikey, has it been that long?) we wrote a review of our visit to Transforce in August 2001. It was a seriously hot day, but a great… [more]
IDW Comic News
At AA2005, Simon Furman gave some updates as to the direction that the new comics would take. To sum up what he said, Simon has posted some points on TFW2005 to clear up the confusion that had been occurring on other sites
Hi everyone– some quick responses and clarifications to the AA-feedback.1) First of all, when I mentioned ‘younger age bracket,’ what I meant was we’re aiming to appeal to an age group under 30! While we definitely want the long-time fans to read and enjoy the book, we also want to make it accessible and resonant with teenagers too.
2) There’ll be a range of ages for the human characters, but the youngest will be maybe fifteen/sixteen. We’re not going ‘junior’ here.
3) Character (alt-mode) updates will be by necessity only. If we can get away with using a ‘classic’ car in the 2005/2006 setting, we will. I have no burning urge to reinvent the wheel here, I just want to make stuff fresh and believable in a modern setting. These guys want to blend in, so they’re hardly going to pick a make of car or whatever from 1984.
4) BUT, and I stress this, we are taking pains to update, not reimagine. All of us (me, EJ, Hasbro, Chris and Dan at IDW) are looking for the most natural fits, those that won’t require major tweaks to the robot modes. We want you to look at any given vehicle on a page and know right off it’s Wheelie (just kidding!).
5) Megatron. Honestly, I always thought the gun was a bad idea. You’ve got the most powerful, feared being in the known galaxy and he turns into a handgun (and mostly he needs someone else to hold and point him!). Gimme a break. No, when Megatron transforms, it should be epic, grandiose. Hardened battle veterans should feel their exhaust ports loosen.
6) And finally, trust me that I won’t take everything you know and love throw it out the window. I won’t. Why? Because I know and love it too. It just don’t want to tell exactly the same story. Again.
Cheers– Simon Furman (honest!)
Auto Assembly 2005 Record Breaker Competition!!
The all-time European attendance record for a TransFormers event was set by Transforce back in 2002 as was a staggering 400 attendees!! We’d love to smash that record this year, and pre-bookings are still going brilliantly and we’re going to be running a fantastic competition in the closing stages before Auto Assembly 2005….
As a special prize, the 401st person to register for Auto Assembly 2005 – whether it is electronically, postally or attending on the day – will received a family ticket for Auto Assembly 2006 (two adults and two children) worth £54!! We are still getting bookings coming in all the time and we are not saying how many we have received to date so the 401st person could book at any time now so if you want t a chance to win this great prize you’ll have to book sooner rather than later or aim to be near the front of the queue for the on the door places!
Takara and Tomy become one
The second and thrid largest Japanese toy companies are merging. Thanks to DragonX76 of TFormers for translating this news article
Thursday May 12, 9 34 AM
Major Japanese toymakers Takara and Tomy are planning to merge in the latest shake-up for an industry struggling to survive amid falling birthrates, reports said.
The two will integrate operations under a single holding company or through a stock swap as early as January 2006, the Nikkei Keizai Shimbun said, without citing sources.
They are expected to decide on the merger plan at board meetings on Thursday, the economic daily said. The Mainichi Shimbun said the merger could come as early as this year.
The companies have judged mutual use of soft contents such as toy characters to be indispensable in a shrinking market of fewer and fewer children, the Mainichi said.
A Takara spokeswoman said she was checking the reports. No immediate comment was available from Tomy. Takara’s long-selling toys include Licca-chan dolls, a Japanese version of Barbie, while Tomy is strong in the market for boys’ toys such as trains and cars. Tomy also scored a hit with Pokemon character toys around 2000.
Their merger would create Japan’s fourth-largest toy-game group with combined annual sales of 180 billion yen (1.7 billion dollars).
The reports came just 10 days after Japan’s top toymaker Bandai, known for its Gundam sci-fi robots, announced a plan to merge with PAC-MAN maker Namco in September.
The Bandai-Namco merger will create Japan’s second-largest toy-game firm after Sega Sammy Holdings
More Movie News
Don Murphy has posted some more info on the movie, backing up some of what Michael Bay said yesterday, on his message boards.
Official Website – June 2005
Pre-Production – September 2005
Principal Photography – December 2005
ILM are doing the special effects.
Simpsons Transform!!
Seibertron have a report and screen captures of the opening of the latest Simpsons episode in America, in which the family enter as vehicles (although very badly drawn for a Simpsons episode) and then transform into Autobots and sit on the couch.
BigBadToyStore Update
Hi – Here is a quick update from http://www.bigbadtoystore.com about an
exciting sale we are having along with a variety of new arrivals and
restocks.
15% OFF ALL ‘IN STOCK’ ITEMS! Here is a great chance to save 15% on orders of $60 or more of non-pre-order items. We wanted to give you a chance to have some fun with your money before the dreaded April 15th Tax Deadline ) Please read the important sales details on this page – http://www.bigbadtoystore.com
TRANSFORMERS #18 Soundblaster has sold out, but we’ve reopened a pre-order for a new shipment coming in around 2 weeks. We’ve also restocked a variety of older items including Superlink Buildtron Exclusive, Mega PVC Starscream, the hard to find RID Cryotek exclusive,
C-29 Longrack, C-8 Tigatron. We still have some MP-02 Ultra Magnus, BT-12, Cobalt Sentry, Black Victory Saber and BT-11 in stock along with tons of other TF’s.
C-29 Longrack, C-8 Tigatron. We still have some MP-02 Ultra Magnus, BT-12, Cobalt Sentry, Black Victory Saber and BT-11 in stock along with tons of other TF’s.
Collector’s Club Exclusive Figure Revealed
The Official Transformers Collector’s Club have unvieled the test shot of their first exclusive figure, a redeco of the Energon Sky Shadow/Terradive mould.
As most will already know, the remaining four components of this exlcusive combiner will be available over the next four years, and while this figure is a straight redeco for the purposes of time, future figures will be remoulded, too. Most fans are hoping that rather than just remould Superion Maximus, various figures from the three separate combiners will be mixed and matched together.
