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An Update on John Warden's Latest Mecha Endeavours at Hasbro

Date: Friday, December 31st 2021 8:41pm CST
Categories: People News, Company News, Editorials
Posted by: william-james88

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Views: 150,272

2021 was a big year for Hasbro's mecha toylines. The ever growing Transformers toylines gave us a lot of product (Kingdom, Studio Series, Cyberverse, MP, MPM, Shaterred Glass, Netflix, Buzzworthy Bumblebee, Rescue Bots, Generations Selects, Crossover) and Hasbro finally released the first Power Rangers zords developed under John Warden, the man who got the Transformers brand where it is now. For those curious as to how Hasbro's other transforming/combining robot themed toyline went, we have an update.

For a quick recap of the Power Ranges toyline, when it first got to North American shores, the toys were based on the same toys previously sold in Japan and as time went on, there were more and more differences between the Japanese version of toys (done by Bandai) and the American version (done by Bandai of America). It wasn't like with Transformers where the Takara version would have a slightly different deco, it was far more extensive. For the past 10 years at least, the toys in Japan for the same mecha were bigger and had electronics. To sell at a lower price point, Bandai of America would literally make a new mold, usually smaller and with less parts. There was even one time in Power Rangers Samurai, where the Japanese version of the 5 animal combiner had 3 modes (limb mode, animal mode, and geometric shape mode) and the American version scrapped the shape mode for 4/5 animals, which made it look ridiculous (Japanese on the left, American on the right).

Now when Hasbro bought the brand, they would do the same, remake new molds for their Power Ranger toyline and hired John Warden as the head of the design team to make these new molds. The first toyline fully developed under John Warden was Dino Fury and fans finally got to experience the zords in the later half of 2021.

And it turns out that for the first time in the history of the brand, the American versions are on par with the Japanese version, or even preferred by fans. While still a toyline for kids, Hasbro went for a more collector oriented mindset in what they favoured. It did not have electronics, and the zords are slightly smaller, but they have more articulation than their Japanese counterparts and the main zord has better proportions, a more detailed sculpt and greater show accuracy. Yes, the American version of the toy is more show accurate. It is also more dynamic and works well as a mecha action figure rather than being a brick (which all Power Ranger/Super Sentai mecha were in the past). So congrats to John Warden and his team on that, it is no small feat (Hasbro on the left, Bandai on the right).

Of course, it does help that Hasbro's mecha came out well after the original series aired in Japan, so they could replicate any show detail the original Japanese toys didn't have. Also, Hasbro's combining system for the zords is not as kid friendly as the Japanese version since it requires more force to connect and disconnect. The original Japanese toys had ports similar to lego bricks with similar ease of building but that also means connections on the Hasbro versions are tighter and less likely to undo while posing the figure (something the Japanese toys never had to worry about). So far, 5 zords have been released with more on the way in 2022, and all can combine together in various ways. Below is an example of combining 4 of them together along with using an extra head that comes with the villain action figure.

What does have to do with both is Hasbro upcoming collector oriented Megazord line. This is the stuff of dreams. It's basically Hasbro creating a Masterpiece Megazord line (something similar to Soul of Chogokin) in the west. The price is along those MP level prices of course, being $165 USD for the original Dino Megazord.

This has a lot of fans excited, not just for this release but for what they will do next. Although the fan enthusiasm for the black repaint was not great, since that purchase was behind an NFT wall.

And now you are all caught up.

Video Interview and Transcript with Hasbro Transformers Brand Team at #SDCC2018 #HasbroSDCC

Date: Thursday, July 26th 2018 7:54am CDT
Categories: Movie Related News, Toy News, Event News, People News, Interviews
Posted by: Va'al

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Views: 97,853

Another of Seibertron.com's big interview videos from last weekend's San Diego Comic Con 2018 event features the Hasbro Transformers brand team, with the awesome/gruesome twosome of Ben Montano and John 'Hasbro' Warden answering questions as much as they're allowed to on the War for Cybertron: Siege toyline for the first half, our thoughts about the reveals and the future events in which more product will be shown (worldwide), then moving on to some Masterpiece line questions and US distribution of those figures (they're all coming over!), their hopes for the Bumblebee Movie and what's next in fiction.

The full video is posted below for your viewing pleasure, and we've provided an almost verbatim transcript beneath that for ease of parsing and understanding the points made in the interview. Check it all out, and let us know what you think in the Energon Pub discussion boards!

Ryan Yzquierdo (Seibertron) - Seibertron.com
Alex Valente (Va'al) - Seibertron.com
John Warden – Hasbro Design Manager
Ben Montano – Hasbro Marketing Manager

Va'al: "We saw today the reveals for the War for Cybertron Siege stuff, and you've said it's a very one sided war with only the Autobots revealed for now – when are we to expect more stuff (Decepticons in particular, ndr)?"

Ben: "Later this fall, there are some really cool conventions coming up around the world and we have a global tour coming up on our plan and we'll have a lot more to share. I can't say right now exactly when but stay tuned. Best non-answer answer I can give you."

John: "But I can say that if there were enemies they would be very cool and defy all expectations."

Va'al: "We've seen the different size classes for the line (Battle Master, Micro Master, Deluxe, Voyager, Leader, Weaponizer). IS Weaponizer only for the deluxe class, or will we see it across the line?"

John: "The Weaponizer classs robot is a deluxe class character, there will be other in the line than Cog, it makes sense from [?] - take Cog, he transformed into a bunch of weapons and vehicle, so it makes sense for that size to work with other characters to hold. So right now, deluxe."

Ryan: "One of the comments on our YouTube videos asked if Cog can also turn into the invidual robots that made up the character originally, can he still do that?"

John (with Ben) – No, he's not a Duocon. We'll put the actual vehicle and robot mode in the case soon, we need to move things around. He has a dedicated vehicle mode that can split into two, and he does have a third mode in being able to be all the weapons – that's the Weaponizer."

Va'al: "Combiner Wars had Devastator, Titans Return had Trypticon, Power of the Primes Predaking. Are there any plans to have something that size or with that idea in the line, at any point in the trilogy?"

Ben (with John) – Yes, that's our intention. Somebody fitting of the battleground. Fans have responded really strongly to it, so we'd like to continue with it."

Va'al: "So you'd like to continue the Titan class."

John: "Definitely. I mean, this is really taking a page from the 1984 pilot episode, and it's what happens on Cybertron in the last hour, and there's definitely room for a big character for sure"

Ben: "There's a lot of good guesses out there, online right now."

John: "It's exciting to see what people are saying, because we get an idea of what they want."

Ryan: "A question about Micro Masters, for the Unicron Trilogy fans: was there any talk of giving the Minicon ports? Are they compatible with previous figures?"

John: "We did talk about that actually, early on. We didn't want them to become too cluttered with stuff, and in order to pay homage to the original late 80s Micromaster line we wanted to really keep the conversion from vehicle to robot, but also make sure fit in the new ecosystem which is weaponizing. So they do convert and form weapons and munitions thing, so they do have that screwport, but so did the original Micromasters anyway."

Va'al: "In terms of the where this is now going, Siege being the first chapter and two more after that. Do you already know what the next two will be, or are you waiting to see how this one goes before moving onto the next part?"

Ben: "We already know where it's going. The Trilogy is mapped out, we're waiting to see some of the response and reaction, and some elements can change but the story is pretty much outlined in our heads, which is great and why – I think John would agree – the product is sharp, because we are focused, we have a plan, and we're able to provide a real play experience in Siege."

John: "Part of it is putting a stake in the ground with our design philosophy early on, we've been working of Siege for almost two years now, and trying to understand the constants. Scale is going to be a constant. The level of articulation mostly, and trying to make the characters the best version of that character they can be. Ultra Magnus is kind of a testament to that. The front cab turns into the white Ultra Magnus, the trailer turns into his armor, that's part of what he is. The plan is to keep that philosophy, so that people can go for a ride for three years. If this year they didn't get this one guy, they might get it next year."

Ben: "Assuming that fans love all we're doing is not fair to anybody."

John: "But coming to events like this and talking to you guys, finding out what you want is really exciting. Hearing what you have to say really does influence what we're doing."

Ben: "We had some people say 'I didn't vote for Impactor or Mirage' and the votings were close, so the more we hear from you guys, from your fans, it feeds the roster, it gives us depth through the line. There are certain things that will be standards, but there's flexibility in what micro collections can be fulfilled. Someone asked about Powermasters – there's a lot of subsets within the continuity that we can bring into the storyline if we see there's enough interest in it."

Va'al: "You mentioned the Armada retro-compatibility with the Minicon ports (that are not there), you have RID elements in Ultra Magnus, are there any other references or ideas from previous iterations that are not G1 or not RID that are present in the line?"

John: "There is Chromia, who is sort of IDW but really is an homage to that episode where she appears, briefly for a second. But there is definitely room to put things in that make sense in War for Cybertron: Siege and the Trilogy in general. There's a misconception that this is a G1 brand, and in a certain sense it is: there's the original Ark crew, things like that, but we also have characters like Ultra Magnus, he's got the RID vehicle mode. As we think about this toyline, it's more about who makes sense, if people want an authentic G1 experience, they can buy a Masterpiece toy – this is Generations, so what is best in the context of this new story."

Va'al: "So the story first approach is still continuing for this line."

John: "It's definitely a toy story, if you think of the ecosystem at play. I don't know about you guys, but my most favourite toy experiences as a kid were coming up with my own stories, pulling down Encyclopedia off the shelf and building a Cybertronian base and using sugar cubes as Energon."

Ben: "You took off a week from not designing toys and made this diorama. John did this for a week, or a month. 'John aren't you supposed to be checking emails?' 'No, I'm busy making this diorama.'"

John: "I was just moonlighting, much to my wife's chagrin. I jut worked day and night, I worked twice as hard. But when you get an opportunity to build a diorama… Ben's right, you get a chance to channel those exciting things that made you fall in love with being a toy designer in the first place, and I think this new line is not just about collecting characters, it's about creating that universe of story on the shelf, that's why those fireblast effects are in there. That's why we're adding levels of customisation to the characters, and more articulation than we've done in years. It's about how does your Transformers universe come to life. What does it mean for you to be a collector."

Va'al: "To that point, what is your target point for this particular age bracket? Are you looking at both the old collector and the new collector?"

Ben: "We've found that a huge set of the audience is kids, 7-8-12 years old getting into the Generations line. A lot of it has to do with parents getting their kids into the line, whether this is the touch point or the animation. But a large percentage of the fanbase is not the 30+ collector. It's just appreciation for really cool toys. John and I talk a lot, and you've asked if we have a long view for this trilogy, and we definitely do. And there's definitely a misconception in the universe that we may prefer one era of Transformers over another, say G1 over Beast Wars, but we grew up in different eras, half of our writers on Cyberverse grew up in the 90s, early 2000s, our design team is the same, we have designers who are in their mid 20s, so we're introducing G1 to them too – so what you'll see in this is an extended universe continuity introduced within Siege. So to a lot of people saying 'you don't like Beast Wars' 'you don't like the Unicron trilogy' I am fairly confident that we will debunk that over the course of the next couple of years. We respect the entirety of this brand. This is our first step, a starting point which will be epic, and I'm confident that everyone will be excited to go on this journey with us."

John: "Ultimately, the reason I hope this line will be popular with kids – just like Power of the Primes is – is that Transformers is fun to play with. It's fun to change a vehicle into a robot, you take time out on a rainy day to do so. And I think it's time to break that perception that there's Beast Wars fans or G1 fans – we're Transformers fans, we're a big family, we may have big fights online about stuff but we still love robots that convert into cool stuff."

Va'al: "So what you're saying is we'll complain no matter what you do anyway. [Laughter]"

John: "I didn't say that."

Va'al: "No, that's what I said. It's what I heard."

Ben: "Transformers fans unite. That's the vision we have, the entire team has, there's no reason there should be animosity within the fandom. Everyone has their own preferences, got it, we respect that, we don't want people to lose that, their passion, their 'G1' - but everyone has their own G1. We hope that this trilogy will be the opportunity to bring all of those things together, same with the Bumblebee movie, I really feel like that movie is going to unite fandoms. That's really a vision we have."

Ryan: "I hear you talking about Siege, your plans for the next stuff, I see IDW is coming to an end with the Unicron storyline – can about the fiction behind this? It's ripe with stories, any plans on that front?"

Ben: "Nothing yet. Nothing yet. But the fact that your head is already going there is great, this says 'tell me about it'. So we'll have a lot more to share in the future."

Ryan: "I'm really excited about this, I think it has a lot potential. If we switch gears real quick, I wanted to ask about Bumblebee – it looks like a different style to what we've been used to, there's a lot of love going into it, you seem to be having a lot of fun, can you speak to that?"

Ben: "The toys or the movie?"

Ryan: "The toys, that's where you guys are at."

Ben: "Yeah, so we've shown two characters so far with the Studio Series, Dropkick in a really cool new mode, that no one had seen yet. But also to have a VW mode for Bumblebee is really fun, it tugged at a lot of strings that we had as we got into this brand a long time ago. But even a lot of the other stuff, DJ Bumblebee, Energon Igniters, there's a place for them. Here at SDCC, seeing the kids' surprise and excitement around Bumblebee, having 3-4 year old kids running into here screaming 'Bumblebee' that's a whole new universe, a whole new group of fans that want to have fun with this brand. They're not looking for war, they're looking for their favourite hero, the playfulness of it, converting their figure, and we're having a lot of fun creating toys that do that."

John: "And what's exciting is knowing that that kid, who might go see the Bumblebee movie, maybe his first toys is the Power Surge one, but guess what – this world [Siege] is here, if he or she feels like they need another level of complexity, Transformers is great like that. There's room to grow into something. Once that kid is done with doing War for Cybertron, maybe they start collecting Masterpiece. There's ways of graduating into it."

Ryan: "Speaking of Masterpiece, Takara Tomy is releasing Beast Wars Megatron – is that coming from you guys or not?"

Ben: "It's a partnership we have with Takara now, so Hasbro are now importing the Takara Masterpiece items stateside. You will see a box that will go around the Takara Tomy original packaging, like a slip sleeve sort of thing, that will bring our brands together. It will be the exact release you would've expected in Japan, at the same time you would've gotten it in Japan."

Ryan: "Is it a product you worked on together?"

Ben: "There's definitely more collaboration going on, not to the level of Movie Masterpiece, but in general you see the unification of our brands, product lines, the Masterpiece line that Takara is creating is our next step in working together."

Thanks and END.

IDW Transformers and More Signing Schedule and Panels for #SDCC2018

Date: Saturday, July 14th 2018 4:11am CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, Event News, Press Releases, People News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): IDW

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We already had a general look at the San Diego Comic Con 2018 panels and events regarding Transformers, but we just received the official press release from IDW Publishing about their presence at the show, with signings and panels specific to their output - and we've highlighted the Transformers specific ones for your convenience, with the likes of Unicron talk, and signings with John Barber, Brendan Cahill, Fico Ossio, Mairghread Scott, Magdalene Visaggio and more!

IDW Announces Signing Schedule and Panels for San Diego Comic-Con International 2018

Booth #2743 Hosts the Superstars of Comics and Entertainment Every Day at SDCC!

SAN DIEGO, CA (July 13, 2018) — Once again making a splash at Comic-Con, IDW Publishing today announces the company’s action-packed signing schedule, featuring exclusive appearances with such fan-favorite talent as Berkeley Breathed, Kevin Eastman, Mike Mignola, Bobby Moynihan, Lynn Johnston, Nate Powell, the full cast of Wynonna Earp, and so many, many more! Check out our complete list below!

Wednesday July 18th Preview Night

6:00 – 7:00 Transformers: Unicron – John Barber
(*Convention exclusive available!)
6:00 – 8:00 Bloom County – Berkeley Breathed
(*Convention exclusive hardcover available!)
7:00 – 8:00 Euthanauts – Tini Howard
(*Book debut!)
8:00 – 9:00 Star Wars Adventures – Derek Charm, Shaun Manning, Mauricet,
Cavan Scott, Landry Q. Walker
(*Convention exclusives available!)
8:00 – 9:00 Marvel Masterpieces – Joe Jusko
(*Convention exclusive hardcover available!)

Thursday July 19th

10:00 – 11:00 Locke & Key, Sword of Ages – Gabriel Rodriguez
(*Convention exclusives available!)
10:00 – 11:00 The Three Rooms in Valerie’s Head – Dan Berry
10:00 – 11:00 Gumballs – Erin Nations
10:00 – 11:00 The Jekyll Island Chronicles – Ed Crowell, Jack Lowe,
Steve Nedvidek
10:00 – 11:00 Limbo Lounge – Dave Calver
11:00 – 11:30 Marvel Masterpieces – Joe Jusko
(*Convention exclusive hardcover available!)
11:00 – 12:00 Coin-Op Comics – Maria Hoey, Peter Hoey
11:00 – 12:00 Walled City – Aya Morton, Anne Optowsky
12:00 – 1:00 Bloom County – Berkeley Breathed
(*Convention exclusive hardcover available!)
12:00 – 1:00 Transformers – John Barber, Fico Ossio, Mairghread Scott
(*Convention exclusive available!)
12:00 – 1:00 Goosebumps – Jen Vaughn
1:00 – 2:00 For Better or For Worse – Lynn Johnston
(*San Diego Comic Con Special Guest!)
(*Book debut!)
1:00 – 3:00 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz,
Mateus Santolouco, Bobby Curnow
(*Convention exclusives available!)
(*Ticketed signing, see employee for details)
2:00 – 3:00 Bram Stoker’s Dracula – Mike Mignola
(*Book debut!)
3:00 – 4:00 Star Wars Adventures – Derek Charm, Delilah Dawson,
Shannon Eric Denton, Shaun Manning, Mauricet, Cavan Scott,
Landry Q. Walker
(*Convention exclusives available!)
3:00 – 4:00 Marvel Masterpieces – Joe Jusko
(*Convention exclusive hardcover available!)
4:00 – 5:00 Bloom County – Berkeley Breathed
(*Convention exclusive hardcover available!)
4:00 – 5:00 Sonic The Hedgehog – Takashi Iizuka, Evan Stanley, Caleb Goellner
(*Convention exclusives available!)
(*Limited edition print available as gift with purchase!)
5:00 – 6:00 V-Wars – Jonathan Maberry, Ryan Brown
5:00 – 6:00 Locke & Key, Sword of Ages – Gabriel Rodriguez
(*Convention exclusives available!)
5:00 – 6:00 The Scooter Chronicles – Shahriar Fouladi
6:00 – 7:00 Wynonna Earp – Melanie Scrofano, Tim Rozon, Emily Andras,
Beau Smith, Lora Innes
(*Convention exclusives available!)
(*Ticketed signing, see employee for details)
6:00 – 7:00 Assassinistas – Tini Howard, Gilbert Hernandez
(*Book debut!)

Friday July 20th

10:00 – 11:00 The Jekyll Island Chronicles – Steve Nedvidek, Jack Lowe, Ed Crowell
10:00 – 11:00 Surfside Girls – Kim Dwinell
10:00 – 11:00 I Am A Number – Rian Hughes
10:00 – 11:00 For Better or For Worse – Lynn Johnston
(*San Diego Comic Con Special Guest!)
11:00 – 12:00 Marvel Masterpieces – Joe Jusko
(*Convention exclusive hardcover available!)
11:00 – 12:00 My Little Pony – Agnes Garbowska, Tony Fleecs, Jeremy Whitley,
Thom Zahler
(*Convention exclusive available!)
11:00 – 12:00 Limbo Lounge – Dave Calver
12:00 – 1:00 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Tom Waltz, Mateus Santolouco,
Bobby Curnow, Caleb Goellner
12:00 – 1:00 Locke & Key, Sword of Ages – Gabriel Rodriguez
(*Convention exclusives available!)
12:00 – 1:00 Judge Dredd – Mark Russell
(*Convention exclusive available!)
1:00 – 2:30 Wynonna Earp – Melanie Scrofano, Tim Rozon, Shamier Anderson,
Dominique Provost-Chalkley, Katherine Barrell, Varun Saranga, Chantel Riley, Emily Andras, Beau Smith
(*Convention exclusives available!)
(*Ticketed signing, see employee for details)
3:00 – 4:00 Liz Wrightson
3:00 – 4:00 Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Andy Suriano, Ant Ward
(Co-executive producers of the new animated series!)
(*Convention exclusive available!)
4:00 – 5:00 Full Bleed Vol. 2 Launch Party – Dirk Wood, Gideon Kendall, Erin Nations,
Jen Vaughn, Jarrett Melendez, Sara Richard, Mark Russell,
Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Rob Salkowitz
(*Book debut!)
4:00 – 5:00 Ward’s Valley – Bobby Curnow
4:00 – 5:00 Surfside Girls – Kim Dwinell
5:00 – 6:00 Star Trek – Mike Johnson, David Tipton, Scott Tipton, J.K. Woodward
(*Convention exclusives available!)
5:00 – 6:00 Ghostbusters – Erik Burnham
5:00 – 6:00 Come Again – Nate Powell
(*Book debut!)
5:00 – 6:00 The Three Rooms in Valerie’s Head – Dan Berry
5:00 – 6:00 Gumballs – Erin Nations
6:00 – 7:00 The X-Files – Delilah Dawson, J.J. Lendl, Jonathan Maberry,
Mister Sam Shearon, Denton Tipton
6:00 – 7:00 From Hell, The Goat Getters – Eddie Campbell
(*Get a free preview of the upcoming release!)

Saturday July 21st

10:00 – 11:00 DuckTales – Bobby Moynihan, Matt Youngberg, Frank Angones,
Sean Jimenez
(*Voice Actor, Executive Producers, and Art Director of the hit series!)
(*Convention exclusives available!)
(*Ticketed signing, see employee for details)
10:00 – 11:00 Goosebumps – Jeremy Lambert
11:00 – 12:00 Star Wars Adventures – Derek Charm, Elsa Charretier, Pierrick Colinet,
Shaun Manning, Mauricet, Cavan Scott
(*Convention exclusives available!)
11:00 – 12:00 Stretch Armstrong – Kevin Burke, Doc Wyatt
12:00 – 1:00 Star Trek – Mike Johnson, David Tipton, Scott Tipton, J.K. Woodward
(*Convention exclusives available!)
12:00 – 1:00 My Little Pony – Tony Fleecs, Jeremy Whitley, Thom Zahler
1:00 – 2:00 Sh*t My President Says – Shannon Wheeler
1:00 – 2:00 God is Disappointed in You – Mark Russell
1:00 – 2:00 Come Again – Nate Powell
(*Book debut!)
1:00 – 2:00 I Am A Number – Rian Hughes
1:00 – 2:00 Ward’s Valley – Bobby Curnow
1:00 – 2:00 Coin-Op Comics – Maria Hoey, Peter Hoey
2:00 – 3:00 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Tom Waltz, Freddie E. Williams,
Mateus Santolouco
(*Convention exclusives available!)
2:00 – 3:00 Locke & Key, Sword of Ages – Gabriel Rodriguez
(*Convention exclusives available!)
2:00 – 3:00 Transformers: Unicron – John Barber
(*Convention exclusive available!)
2:00 – 3:00 Assassinistas – Gilbert Hernandez
(*Book debut!)
2:00 – 3:00 Goosebumps – Jen Vaughn
3:00 – 4:00 Transformers – John Barber, Brendan Cahill, Fico Ossio,
Mairghread Scott, Magdalene Visaggio
3:00 – 4:00 Marvel Masterpieces – Joe Jusko
(*Convention exclusive hardcover available!)
4:00 – 5:30 Wynonna Earp – Shamier Anderson, Tim Rozon, Dominique Provost-Chalkley, Katherine Barrell, Varun Saranga, Chantel Riley, Emily Andras, Beau Smith
(*Convention exclusives available!)
(*Ticketed signing, see employee for details)
6:00 – 7:00 SECRET PROJECT TO BE ANNOUNCED AT SDCC – Fico Ossio
6:00 – 7:00 Locke & Key, Sword of Ages – Gabriel Rodriguez
(*Convention exclusives available!)
6:00 – 7:00 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Tom Waltz, Mateus Santolouco

Sunday July 22nd

10:00 – 11:00 My Little Pony – Tony Fleecs, Sara Richard
10:00 – 11:00 The Jekyll Island Chronicles – Steve Nedvidek, Jack Lowe, Ed Crowell
11:00 – 12:00 Marvel Masterpieces – Joe Jusko
(*Convention exclusive hardcover available!)
11:00 – 12:00 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Tom Waltz, Mateus Santolouco,
Freddie E. Williams, Caleb Goellner
12:00 – 1:00 Ghostbusters – Erik Burnham
12:00 – 1:00 Star Wars Adventures – Cavan Scott, Shaun Manning
1:00 – 2:00 Goosebumps – Jeremy Lambert
1:00 – 2:00 Essex County, The Underwater Welder – Jeff Lemire
1:00 – 2:00 Come Again – Nate Powell
(*Book debut!)
1:00 – 2:00 Ward’s Valley – Bobby Curnow
1:00 – 2:00 The Three Rooms in Valerie’s Head – Dan Berry
2:00 – 3:00 For Better or For Worse – Lynn Johnston
(*San Diego Comic Con Special Guest!)
(*Book debut!)
2:00 – 3:00 Love is Love – Marc Andreyko, Cecil Castellucci, Nyambi Nyambi
3:00 – 4:00 The Jekyll Island Chronicles – Steve Nedvidek, Jack Lowe, Ed Crowell
3:00 – 4:00 Marvel Masterpieces – Joe Jusko
(*Convention exclusive hardcover available!)

The Top Shelf section of the booth will be filled all weekend with more great creators, too!

Don’t miss IDW’s panels, either!

Transformers: Unicron and Beyond
Thursday , 7/19, 10:00a.m. – 11:00a.m., Room: 29AB
The planet-eater Unicron has arrived, and nothing will be spared! Come join IDW Editor-in-Chief John Barber, associate publisher David Hedgecock, editor David Mariotte, Hasbro's Director of Global Publishing Michael Kelly and creators behind the blockbuster event of the summer to find out what's in store for the Autobots and a hint at what comes next!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles For All!
Thursday , 7/19, 11:00a.m. – 12:00p.m., Room: 28DE
Three eras of the Ninja Turtles collide in one room! Co-creator Kevin Eastman is joined by the current comic book creative team of Tom Waltz, Bobby Curnow, along with other special guests as they talk about the past, present, and future of the heroes in a half shell! Turtle power! There will also be a special Turtle Trivia with prizes for the ultimate TMNT fan!

Spotlight on Lynn Johnston
Thursday, 7/19, 11:00am - 12:00am, Room 32AB
Comic-Con special guest Lynn Johnston is the Canadian creator of For Better or For Worse. This family-based comic strip has been syndicated since 1979 and was named Best Syndicated Comic Strip in 1992. At its peak, For Better or For Worse appeared in more than 2,000 newspapers in 23 countries and was translated into 8 languages for a devoted readership of more than 220 million. Expect to learn more about Johnston's career in comics and what she's been up to lately!

Joe Jusko Spotlight
Thursday, 7/19, 12:00p.m. - 1:00p.m., Room: 9
Joe Jusko is one of the premier and most in-demand painters of comic book and trading-card art working today. In an award-winning career spanning more than 40 years, he has produced extraordinary illustrations for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., and many more. Join this acclaimed artist as he talks with IDW editor Scott Dunbier about his long and storied (and believe us, there are stories!) career.

Sonic the Hedgehog’s Way Past Cool Panel
Thursday, 7/19, 2:00p.m. - 3:00p.m., Room: 9
Sonic The Hedgehog has raced back into comics, bringing old enemies and new friends along for the ride! Join IDW editors Joe Hughes and David Mariotte, artist Evan Stanley, Sega Licensing Specialist Michael Cisneros, Director of Product Development Austin Keys, and special guest Takashi Iizuka, the Head of Sonic Team for a fun discussion on comics and upcoming games, surprise announcements, and more!

Spotlight on Shannon Wheeler
Thursday July 19, 2018 6:30pm - 7:30pm, Room 26AB
Comic-Con special guest Shannon Wheeler (New Yorker cartoonist and Too Much Coffee Man creator) presents a special slide show and free gifts. Secrets will be revealed! Shannon shot 5,000 comics with a gun (self-proclaimed stupidest gimmick ever). Learn the history of the Japanese Bootleg shirt. Was Huey Newton (Black Panther leader) Shannon's landlord? Did Shannon's mom take them to hear cult leader Jim Jones speak? Did Shannon smuggle cigars out of Cuba? All true. Those stories will be told, plus selections from his new book, Memoirs of a Very Stable Genius, including "Camp Micro-Penis," "Getting Trapped in the Paris Subway," and "How To Sell a Sex Doll." There might be some dirty words.

IDW: PDX presents Full Bleed
Friday, 7/20, 12:00p.m. - 1:00p.m., Room: 32AB
Ted Adams, CEO & co-founder of IDW and Dirk Wood, Creative Director of IDW:PDX present FULL BLEED: A sneak-peek into the world’s only 200 page, hardcover, print only comics & culture “magazine!” Prizes, announcements, Q&A, and a roundtable discussion on comics, journalism and more! Featuring Art Director Robbie Robbins, and contributors Jen Vaughn, Jarrett Melendez, Kim Dwinell, Gideon Kendall, Christina “Steenz” Stewart, and more! Got a pitch for Full Bleed? Bring it to the panel!

The Human Condition: Connecting Humanity With Graphic Novels
Friday, 7/20, 1:00p.m. - 2:00p.m., Room: 23ABC
Featuring vibrant stories that bring tales of strength, courage, and determination to audiences of all ages. As the graphic novel space gains popularity and general interest, it presents a powerful medium for sharing complex stories or characterizations across the nuanced tableau of our multi-cultural world. From books featuring real-life frontierswoman Calamity Jane, to the brutal Spanish Revolution, and even the personal demons that cast doubt within our lives — this panel will show the strength of sequential graphic story telling in the 21st Century.

The One, The Only, Artist’s Edition!
Friday, 7/20, 4:00p.m. – 5:00p.m., Room: 4
Since their inception nearly a decade ago, Artist’s Editions have become one of the most acclaimed (and imitated) formats in comics. IDW has won five prestigious Eisner-awards for their line of massive art books… so far! Join IDW Director of Special Projects Scott Dunbier as he fills you in on upcoming projects—some not yet announced—and presents a slide show featuring an amazing sampling of art. We’ll talk about Artist’s Editions, Artist Select Series, and Art in general! There will be a special guest or two, and trivia questions to test your knowledge of comic art (AE related, naturally)—the winner will get an AE prize as well as bragging rights… a fun time for all!

Wynonna Earp Season 3 Premiere!
Friday, 7/20, 5:00p.m. - 6:30p.m., Horton Grand Theatre
Join the cast and creators of the breakout SYFY hit series Wynonna Earp as they celebrate the beginning of season three! Come see Melanie Scrofano, Shamier Anderson, Tim Rozon, Domonique Provost-Chalkley, Katherine Barrell, Varun Saranga, and Chantel Riley along with show runner Emily Andras, and comic creator Beau Smith and watch an exclusive screening of the first episode of the new season, Blood Red and Going Down.

Saturday Morning Cartoon Jam with IDW
Saturday, 7/21, 10:00a.m. - 11:00a.m., Room: 23ABC
From Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to My Little Pony, Star Wars Adventures, Sonic the Hedgehog, and more, IDW publishes some of the hottest properties in children's comics on the market today. Come meet the people who make it happen and learn the comic-making process so you can make a comic of your own! There will be interactive activities, great announcements, and a special gift for everyone who attends!

Jack Kirby’s Artwork Extravaganza Encore!
Saturday, 7/21, 11:30a.m. – 12:30p.m., Room 24ABC
Back by popular demand, the smash-hit panel returns to San Diego! A larger-than life celebration of the King of Comics features an unprecedented multi-media presentation of over 1,300 pieces of Jack Kirby artwork. IDW President and Publisher Greg Goldstein, is joined by esteemed artist Joe Jusko and some surprise guests to discuss the unrivaled work of the legendary talent, Jack Kirby. Everyone in attendance will take home a limited-edition print with them!

IDW’s Big News Panel!
Saturday, 7/21, 1:00p.m. - 2:00p.m., Room: 25ABC
Be among the first to hear about IDW’s big announcements at SDCC! New titles! New creators! All the news that’s fit to print in one place. Plus, don’t miss out on an exclusive give away that you can ONLY get here!

IDW Entertainment & SYFY Present: Wynonna Earp
Saturday, 7/21, 6:45p.m. – 7:45p.m., Room 6DE
Join the cast and creators of the breakout SYFY hit series Wynonna Earp! Come see Melanie Scrofano, Shamier Anderson, Tim Rozon, Domonique Provost-Chalkley, Katherine Barrell, Varun Saranga, and Chantel Riley along with show runner Emily Andras, and comic creator Beau Smith as they reveal behind-the-scenes antics, show off exclusive footage, and answer your biggest questions about season 3!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles On the Tabletop
Sunday, 7/22, 2:00p.m. - 3:00p.m., Room: 4
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has an exciting year on the way for board games. With a successful Kickstarter just finishing up for Munchkin and a new tabletop miniatures game on the way. This panel will look at how the Ninja Turtles are doing on the tabletop, a discussion with the game designers, an early look at the miniatures and then a special/exclusive announcement for the next game!

Plus, don’t miss the CBLDF auction, benefitting the non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the First Amendment rights of the comics medium on Saturday night at the Hilton Bayfront, Sapphire Room AB at 8PM. Featuring a Keynote speech by Top Shelf writer/artist Nate Powell (Come Again, artist on March trilogy), and live-sketching from veteran artist David Lloyd (V for Vendetta)!

Toy Designer Aaron Archer to Attend TFNation 2018

Date: Friday, May 4th 2018 1:42pm CDT
Categories: Event News, People News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): TFNation

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The next guest to join the TFNation line-up hails from the artistic and creative realms of the toy world, and has been behind the majority of the Transformers brand all the way up to 2013, and has been known to the fandom under a number of names - but today, we welcome him as Aaron Archer!

For more than 20 years at Kenner and Hasbro, Archer has built worlds, storylines, and characters for iconic properties including Transformers, G.I.Joe, Star Wars, Batman, Jurassic Park and Alien. You will be able to hear from him directly, as a toy professional, in the 2018 Netflix documentary series The Toys That Made Us - with the Transformers episode due to debut in May 2018 – and of course at TFNation 2018.

During his 13 years on the Transformers team, Archer collaborated on the design on hundreds of toys, and served as the Creative Lead for all Transformers partnerships, shaping stories, character development, and world-building over four live-action feature films, four video games, five animated series, theme park rides, and countless publishing projects.

His favorite personal design work includes the Unicron Trilogy, Alternators, Mini-cons, the Transformers Masterpiece line and much more. He continues to create monsters and robots mostly in his personal publishing efforts. He has also offered his services as an illustrator and toy designer, to the likes of Star Wars: Episode I; G.I. Joe RAH; Kenner Batman: The Animated Series; Legends of the Dark Knight; Total Justice, Alien: Resurrection, Jurassic Park 3.

Aaron Archer will be present at TFNation 2018 all weekend, talking toys, possibly sketching, weaving stories and chatting backgrounds with all attendees!

If you want to ensure all communications are intercepted, join our mailing list at https://tfnation.com
Further transmissions to follow.
TFNation
Where All Are One
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Scans of Figure King #241 Optimus Prime / Convoy Feature with Interview

Date: Tuesday, February 27th 2018 3:39am CST
Categories: Toy News, People News, Interviews
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): Loopaza

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Courtesy as has now become customary of Loopaza Mega Store on Facebook, we have the full scans of the latest issue of Japanese hobby magazine Figure King #241, featuring a lengthy, 24-page article on the evolution of Autobot / Cybertron leader Optimus Prime - from which we also got the Masterpiece 3.0 rumoured teaser covered here - and an interview with the Takara Tomy design team.

Hi-Res Scan Figure King No. 241 Transformers

This month's Figure King's cover a whole story Convoy history.

From the very beginning of 1st G1 Convoy/Optimus Prime to the Power of The Primes series.

Also there's line up of Japanese Studio Series and the interview regarding the new Convoy Project. Will it be the MP Convoy 3.0?

Let's see.

The full interview has been translated by a team of fans over on fellow fansite TFW2005, and we've mirrored highlights from the text below. We copiously thank Deruji, Sam. and Timesynch for their invaluable work - you can read it as you run through the images of Optimus Prime / Convoy figures through the years, including the likes of Binaltech, Beast Era, Unicron Trilogy, movie verse and more (maybe even comparing to our own 247 galleries of him!), and then let us know what you think in the Energon Pub!

Greeting next years 35th anniversary by taking a look at the various Convoys from Transformers’ history.
For the planned conclusion at the end of the special, we will hear from the founder, Takara Tomy, according to volunteers from the Transformers Team Development Staff.

Kunihiro Takashi: Joined the company in 1984. He is the only senior member that was involved in the product development since the series’ early days.

Hasui Shōgo: Joined the company in 1999. He is mainly responsible for projects with Hasbro. During the start of the movies he proposed concepts.

Kobayashi Hironori: Joined the company in 1999. He joined the series from “Car Robots” onwards. He has been involved in Masterpiece and Binaltech.

Memories of Convoy.

–First everyone, let’s hear about your impression from the time you came in contact with the first Convoy.
Kunihiro: I was a student at that time. He wasn’t a “Transformer” yet, just Battle Convoy from “Diaclone”. I looked at him feeling: “This looks like such a good product~”. But then he went to America and the name changed to “Transformers”. Then afterwards he returned to Japan. In Japan he was also sold as a “Transformer”, which was surprising.

Hasui: That was also my first impression of “Diaclone”. Because Battle Convoy appeared in that way as a “Transformer”, it was at first something that was a little hard to accept. Although he was a favourite character from “Diaclone”…(laugh). Actually, my attention turned towards “Transformers” when there were new products that weren’t from the “Diaclone”-era… Such as Scramble [City] combiners from that point on with those kind of new products. I think what I understood about Convoy at that time was, “Didn’t he used to be Battle Convoy?”

Kobayashi: I was also a child that grew up with “Diaclone” and “Microman”. Because of that, when I also suddenly saw Convoy, who had returned as a “Transformer”, my first impression was, “Heh, don’t I know this guy?” (laugh).

Kunihiro: Around what time was that?

Kobayashi: Around the upper grades of elementary school. It was the time when I was slowly growing too old for toys… but, “Transformers” had a story and setting that were totally cool. Therefore, because of that reunion, my feelings turned back to the world of toys. I remember getting the impression that “Diaclone” and “Microman” had returned customised for us.

Hasui: That’s right. Convoy, for being the main character or chosen as the key character, had amazing conviction. He felt sufficiently able to stand up to being the presence that gathers the car robots together. The product’s gimmick and design matched this as well.

[...]

Let’s Make The Ultimate Convoy.

–When the first Masterpiece was released, it made an impact.
Kobayashi: Because it’s “Commander Convoy”, the symbol of the Transformers, the idea that we wanted to make a monumental item was born. It was a challenge to attempt to make something that completely fixated on a transformation mechanism, because the Masterpiece was an independent project without restrictions, and a chance to use a design that followed the anime more closely.

Hasui: Wanting to release another Convoy with MP-10 was a plan that started through chance, made by the release of Rodimus Convoy. A story came up that when Rodimus Convoy was lined up with MP-1 that there was an uneasy feeling due to the size.

Kobayashi: From the start, the Masterpiece itself was a planned project that was to end after one figure. Afterwards, when I realised that it wouldn’t be continued, MP-1 was a little on the large side. It had the image of a 12 inch figure.

Hasui: If we were to make it new anyway, not just Rodimus, but also the following car robots needed to be thought about while being developed. That is why after that item all are unified to a sense of scale. The appeal of Transformers, I think, is that when you line up Convoy and his subordinates together, they look better.

Kunihiro: Anyway, it was the trend to try and give them the responsibility, because the two that joined the company said they liked Transformers.

–In that regard, does the newest “Power of the Primes” version Optimus have the impression of following MP-10’s design?
Kunihiro: In the preceding year we had Power Master, and because this was to be another leader class Convoy it was necessary to use a completely different approach. That’s why, although we did not have the concept of Orion Pax combining back then, we thought about the challenge of “Can an ‘Ultimate Convoy’ be made?” Therefore, after thinking whether MP-10 was the most Convoy-like Convoy, we realised he was. With the successful appropriation of the digital data, the head with MP-10 serving as the base, was refined. Because the transformation is different we were able to balance the windows of the chest more skilfully than the MP. We had the strong realisation that… it didn’t seem very Power Master-y; on the contrary, didn’t it seem to settle into a shape that looked more like a stoic Convoy?

Transformers Rescue Bots DC Douglas to Attend TFNation 2018

Date: Monday, December 25th 2017 10:10am CST
Categories: Cartoon News, Event News, People News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): TFnation

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We have a gift to us all from the TFNation HQ - the biggest UK fan convention for Transformers, taking place in Birmingham once more this August 2018 - in the form of their first guest at the event: Transformers Rescue Bots voice actor (and major source of news about the show) DC Douglas!

Better known in Transformers for his work on Chase, he's covered many many roles in his career; take a look below at the announcement, and let us know if you'll be joining this summer!

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The first reveal of this new season of TFNation comes from the voice acting world, for fans of all ages: introducing, D.C. Douglas!

Famous in the Transformers franchise for his role as Chase the Police Bot in Rescue Bots, Douglas has been a regular go-to resource for updates about the show itself and is also well known beyond the transforming robot world.

If you're a videogame aficionado, you will recognise him as Legion in the Mass Effect series - a gestalt artificial intelligence unit. Both Chase and Legion were similarly influenced by Leonard Nimoy's approach to Spock, in their respective ways.

He has also appeared in seven Resident Evil games as Albert Wesker, as Kamoshida in Persona 5, Pod 042in Nier: Automata, Azrael in Blazeblue, Zero in Zero Time Dilemma 3, Raven in Tekken 6, and foxy grandpa Gunter in Fire Emblem: Fates.

If cartoons and anime are more your thing, you will have heard him voicing X Drake in One Piece, The Professor in Cyborg 009, Jasley in Mobile Suit Gundam: IBO, Genji Kamogawa in Hajime no ippo, Shori Shibuya in God, Save Our King!, and Colonel Rawls on Regular Show, Superman on Family Guy.

His on camera roles include the seminal cinematographic masterpiece Sharknado 2 (Bud), plus Zepht in Star Trek: Enterprise, Pa Kettle in Z Nation, and Aiden Wexler in SyFy’s Isle of the Dead.

D.C. Douglas will be joining TFNation for the entire duration of the convention, offering autographs, photo opportunities where possible and joining panels over the weekend.

Launch tickets, bedrooms details, further guests and activities will be announced in the coming months. Keep monitoring this frequency.

If you want to ensure all communications are intercepted, join our mailing list at https://tfnation.com

Further transmissions to follow.

TFNation
Where All Are One
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More Images of Takara Tomy Transformers Encore God Fire Convoy (RID Omega Prime)

Date: Wednesday, October 25th 2017 9:44am CDT
Categories: Toy News, People News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): Loopaza Megastore

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Courtesy of the Loopaza Mega Store Facebook page, we have scans of the latest issue of Figure King Magazine, featuring a nice look at the recently surfaced Takara Tomy Transformers Encore God Fire Convoy! The Car Robots / Robots in Disguise combiner - of God Magnus and Fire Convoy - can be seen in multiple modes below, along with some Legends images, RC Sqweeks from The Last Knight, and an announcement for next month's issue centering on Masterpiece Dinobot. Check it out, including an piece (in Japanese) on voice actors Takashi Matsuyama (God Magnus) and Satoshi Hashimoto (Fire Convoy and God Fire Convoy)!

Figure King No. 237 Transformers

This month's Figure King of Transformers covering the Car Robot Encore God Fire Convoy featuring new sound effect and paint job.

Transformers Designer Aaron Archer to Attend TFcon USA 2017

Date: Saturday, August 26th 2017 10:27am CDT
Categories: Event News, People News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): TFcon USA

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Another guest update for TFcon USA comes in the form of an old legend in the Transformers toy world - designer and illustrator Aaron Archer! Currently still working for toy sections but not robots, Archer will also be leading a workshop at the event; find out more below!

TFcon is happy to welcome Toy designer, Illustrator, Story world builder, and creative lecturer Aaron Archer to TFcon DC 2017.
His TRANSFORMERS contribution as creative leader and partner touched all aspects of the brand for over 13 years. (including: Feature films, toy, video game, publishing, the ride, and animation projects). Toy Highlights include, BW Dragon Megatron, Unicron Trilogy, Alternators, Mini-cons, TF Masterpiece, GI JOE Resolute, and Star Wars Jar- Jar toys.
During his career at Hasbro/Kenner, Aaron designed action figures for a variety of brands including Beast Wars, Star Wars Ep1, GI JOE, Batman Animated series, Legends of the Dark Knight, Total Justice, Alien Resurrection, Jurassic Park 3, and many other classic toy-lines.
Aaron develops personal art projects and is active in the toy and entertainment industry. Aaron shares his creative experiences and creation methods through speaking engagements and will seen in the 2018 Netflix Toy focused documentary The Toys that made us.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
The building elements of a Franchise
Join Aaron Archer (Former Hasbro Design VP) for this 2-hour workshop, as he shares his thoughts about the pros and cons of world building and franchise planning. This workshop will help you look deeper into the forces that can shape franchises destiny.
Aaron will guide the workshop through various approaches and why some of your favorite franchises succeed or fail and by whose terms? Attendees will participate in an interactive group brainstorm to workout their creative thought process. We will discuss the real world issues that come up during development and how that impacts the final product. Anyone with an interest in the creative process behind world building (artist, writers) will find this an informative and entertaining workshop.

TFcon – America’s largest Transformers convention will take place in DC the weekend of September 29th to October 1st, 2017. TFcon USA will take place at the Hyatt Regency Reston in Reston, Virginia with special guests JACK ANGEL the voices of Astrotrain, Breakdown, Cyclonus, Omega Supreme, Ramjet, Smokescreen and Ultra Magnus in Generation 1, DAVID KAYE the voice of Megatron in Beast Wars, Beast Machines, Armada, Energon and Cybertron, as well as Optimus Prime in Transformers Animated, NEIL ROSS the voices of Bonecrusher, Hook, Sixshot, Slag and Springer in Transformers Generation 1, Transformers writer JAMES ROBERTS, Transformers comic book artist ALEX MILNE, SARA PITRE-DUROCHER, CASEY COLLER and JOSH PEREZ with more TBA. Online booking for the TFcon DC 2017 hotel block is still available. Advance TFcon DC 2017 Tickets are still on sale.

Transformers News: Transformers Designer Aron Archer to Attend TFcon USA 2017

Transformers Movie Masterpiece Bumblebee: Interview With Designer Yuya Onishi

Date: Tuesday, June 27th 2017 9:26am CDT
Categories: Movie Related News, Toy News, People News, Interviews
Posted by: Sigma Magnus | Credit(s): Chevrolet Japan

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Straight from Chevrolet Japan's company newsletter, we have an interview with Yuya Onishi, a member of the Takara Transformers product team and the lead designer behind MPM Bumblebee! The original text can be found here, and a mechanical translation courtesy of Google Translate is transcripted below, so check it out and let us know what you think in the Energon Pub!

Before the release of "Transformers / Last Knight King" on August 4th, as for Camaro likes the place where Bumblebee's career is anxious. And better news before the new release. Transformers masterpiece "MPM - 3 Bumblebee" commemorating the 10th anniversary of the movie will be released from TakaraTomy on July 15th.

This MPM - 3, the world 's topic with the amazingness of making it. As I witnessed the appearance of the standing Bumblebee, I do not think that this is assembled with the parts built into the Camaro scale model.

"This January, when real items were announced in Hong Kong in the world premiere, it was a pleasure from the fans around the world that I was happy." Transformers designer Hiroya Onishi . In the United States, Hasbro Inc., a toy maker based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, holds a license for Transformers. In that connection, Mr. Onishi has visited Hasbro headquarters in the US East Coast several times. When entering the United States, passport control declared "Transformers designer" about occupation, and was also deeply impressed by the officer. It is not uncommon to be asked for a sign when participating in an event held in the United States. Even in Hong Kong, again. Transformers designers are very popular worldwide.

"To faithfully reproduce the image in the play is a mast, it is a masterpiece movie that requires a high degree of completeness as a transformer toy, so I bothered as much as I could breath, and the overseas fans got a weight There was a strong desire to be sensitive to marketing and to have a strong sense of weight.It was severe in terms of cost but this time we adopt die cast parts everywhere to give weight And I made the deformation difficulty degree a setting of 8 years old up.When I touched the transformer toy for the first time, I designed it so that you can enjoy the deformation easily by getting used. "... It will fit properly in the Camaro form It is terrible because it is. If you ask Mr. Onishi, he sometimes aimed for a car designer. "Actually, our company President Toyama was riding in Camaro's Transformers specification limited car released in 2010, and I have also tried it.It is very prominent in Bumblebee color, but also unique to the cockpit There is a view of the world, driving is fun "

The MPM-3, manufacturer's recommended retail price setting is 10,000 yen (tax excluded). It is a one-make product to be released under the TAKARATOMY brand logo as a universal specification, but although it had significant cost constraints, from the quality it can be said that it is reasonable. Bumblebee is a dream function carried by Camaro. That dream was very realistically reproduced and molded. It is wonderful that Mr. Onishi who likes cars designed it by driving Camaro. Whenever a new work of a movie transformer is made public, "Bamblebee is Speaking of Camaro", it is no longer promised. Mr. Onishi keeps his promise as a designer.

Also, at the dealer caravan event "Chevrolet Camaro Preview Tour 2017", the Transformers Specification (5th generation) Camaro owned by Takara Tomy and the Bumblebee statue exceeding 2 m in height are also on display. The future will be Chevrolet North Osaka (Minoh City, Osaka Prefecture) on June 24 and 25, Chevrolet Kasugai (Aichi Prefecture Kasugai City) on July 8th and 9th, Chevrolet Tokyo on August 19th and 20th (Tokyo Metropolitan Port Ward) and a caravan. Please check the power and precision of Bumblebee, and the profound charm of Chevrolet Camaro on this occasion.

Yuya Onishi (Oyunshi Yuya) Born in Higashi Osaka city in 1984, "City of Manufacturing". He is in charge of research and development of next-generation devices at the Panasonic Group. Joined Takara Tomy in 2011. In charge of planning and development of transformers overseas with mechanical engineering, car design / product design as backbone. Coauthored book "Monodzukuri 2.0 Makers' Movement in Japan" (Kadokawa Shoten).

On the right side of the photo, the vehicle mode of "TLK-01 Bumblebee" (2,800 yen / tax not included) with the motif of "Bumblebee of Transformers Last Knight" published on August 4. The left is "Vehicle mode of" MPM - 3 Bumblebee "(released on July 15, ¥ 10,000 / tax). Furthermore, the left is "MPM - 3 Bumblebee" robot mode, and "TLK - 01 Bumblebee" robot mode. Package is "MPM - 3 Bumblebee". On the left side, Mr. Onishi changed the vehicle mode from robot mode to robot mode in an instant while answering the interview that day Takara Tomi customer consultation room tel. 0570-041031 (Weekday excluding weekends and holidays 10: 00 - 17: 00)

Concept Art for Transformers Generations Combiner Wars by Emiliano Santalucia

Date: Monday, May 29th 2017 3:57pm CDT
Categories: Toy News, People News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): Emiliano Santalucia

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Back in 2013, artist Emiliano Santalucia was working on concept art for the then yet to be announced Transformers: Generations Combiner Wars line. The piece he shared today on his Facebook page is one of those, featuring some very interesting takes not only on the figures we then got, such as Menasor, Superion, Alpha Trion, Ultra Magnus and more, but also on Transformers lore in general! Check out the image below, showing multiple faction symbols from multiple generations of Transformers fiction, along with Quintessons, Masterpiece Shockwave and Sideswipe and more!