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We're a week from Christmas, how about some last minute Transformers savings for gifting or as a present to yourself?
This week Target is doing 30% off ALL Transformers online and in store, no codes or limits!
Walmart has reduced the price of their exclusive Deluxe 2 packs to $20! You may have to get store pickup for some of these.
Studio Series Bumblebee Movie Ratchet and Brawn: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Transformers ... irect=true?wmlspartner=FYAGeMjDX6c&=&affs=p&wid=5b6b4213e4b0bcb699adeb9f&u1=&oid=223073.10006940&sourceid=37141976172661509211&affillinktype=3&veh=aff
Legacy Wild Rider and Knockout: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Transformers ... irect=true?wmlspartner=FYAGeMjDX6c&=&affs=p&wid=5b6b4213e4b0bcb699adeb9f&u1=&oid=223073.10006940&sourceid=37141976172661509211&affillinktype=3&veh=aff
Legacy Tarantulas and Elita-1: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Transformers ... hbdg=L1800?wmlspartner=FYAGeMjDX6c&=&affs=p&wid=5b6b4213e4b0bcb699adeb9f&u1=&oid=223073.10006940&sourceid=37141976172661509211&affillinktype=3&veh=aff
Legacy Arcee and Kickback: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Transformers ... hbdg=L1800?wmlspartner=FYAGeMjDX6c&=&affs=p&wid=5b6b4213e4b0bcb699adeb9f&u1=&oid=223073.10006940&sourceid=37141976172661509211&affillinktype=3&veh=aff
Legacy Pointblank and Crankcase: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Transformers ... hbdg=L1102?wmlspartner=FYAGeMjDX6c&=&affs=p&wid=5b6b4213e4b0bcb699adeb9f&u1=&oid=223073.10006940&sourceid=37141976172661509211&affillinktype=3&veh=aff
Studio Series Bumblebee Movie Arcee and Ironhide: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Transformers ... hbdg=L1800?wmlspartner=FYAGeMjDX6c&=&affs=p&wid=5b6b4213e4b0bcb699adeb9f&u1=&oid=223073.10006940&sourceid=37141976172661509211&affillinktype=3&veh=aff
Studio Series 86 Perceptor and Bumblebee Movie Wheeljack: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Transformers ... hbdg=L1102?wmlspartner=FYAGeMjDX6c&=&affs=p&wid=5b6b4213e4b0bcb699adeb9f&u1=&oid=223073.10006940&sourceid=37141976172661509211&affillinktype=3&veh=aff
Walmart also has some of their Transformers: The Movie Retro reissues on sale for under $10!
If you were waiting for a sale for the Rise of the Beasts transforming masks Walmart has the Optimus Primal mask for only $19: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Transformers ... irect=true?wmlspartner=FYAGeMjDX6c&=&affs=p&wid=5b6b4213e4b0bcb699adeb9f&u1=&oid=223073.10006940&sourceid=37141976172661509211&affillinktype=3&veh=aff
And finally, moving over to Amazon they continue to have good deals on random figures:
The short clip below promoting Transformers Earthspark gives us a lot of info in just a few seconds. We get to see the main cast of bots this season along with their transformations into alt mode. So that shows us alt modes we had not seen yet, like Skullcruncher's, and several new bots like Arcee, Wheeljack and Soundwave. Both Arcee and Soundwave have really nice designs for alt modes which I am sure several fans will hope to see get made as toys.
A week ago, TFNation 2022 was held in the United Kingdom, whereat Transformers uber-fans Jim Sorenson and Chris McFeely held a very special presentation on the Saturday night of August 13, which was followed by an extra panel the next day on Sunday, August 14.
This presentation was, without a doubt, the event of the weekend. Back in June, Chris held a livestream on YouTube in which he momentarily hyped up this event as "one of the most important panels ever held at a Transformers convention." He later made this post on his YouTube community portal, which featured the following promotional art:
To cut to the chase, Jim and Chris held a live presentation of the long lost, original, very first draft script of Transformers: The Movie (1986) written by Ron Friedman!
For about 12 years, this original script was thought to have been lost to time and gone for good. But about two years ago in the summer of 2020, G1 cartoon writer Flint Dille was going through his storage and unearthed this long lost script. Jim Sorenson then flew out to Los Angeles and spent the next week scanning as much of the script as he could. And now, after all these years, Jim and Chris have finally made the contents of this lost piece of Transformers known to the public!
At the presentation, they provided an in-depth summary of the script's events, accompanied by brand new artwork created especially for the occasion. While the artwork is unofficial, it provided visual illustrations of several events described by Friedman's script, each interpreted by the artists who drew them. Said artists included Ed Pirrie, Andy Turnbull, James Marsh, and Kris Carter.
While I, myself, was not present at the event, live updates were provided through both the TFWiki Discord server (most notably from uses Jacob McBaggins, Broadside, and Greeby) and the Twitter of James Bach. It is from these sources that I have compiled the following full report of the presentation.
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By and large, the script is only vaguely resemblant to the final version of the movie. Some broad strokes are similar, but the biggest differences lie in the details. In fact, Flint Dille has previously gone on record calling this script "incoherent". As you will soon begin to see, "incoherent" is the kindest word one could use to describe it, as it honestly feels like Friedman just made up as he went along.
This script draft was first written in August 1984, before the first episode of the G1 cartoon had even aired. Literally right after the final episode of Season 1, "Heavy Metal War", had been written. Season 2 hadn't even been conceptualized yet. No date is given for when it takes place. Not 2005, not the 1980s, nothing.
The story begins with the Battle of Autobot City. Except, it's not Autobot City, but just a steel mill. The Constructicons steal some steel ore from carts around the plant to build siege towers to attack the place. The Autobots who defend the steel mill are (from left to right):
Hot Rod – Depicted here using the earliest known design by Floro Dery.
Tanker – Grizzled old Autobot who's missing an eye, transforms into a Sherman tank.
Magnus – Not "Ultra" Magnus. Drawn here in Floro Dery's early design that was later used for Orion Pax before the Diaclone Powered Convoy toy was decided to represent him.
Arcee – Field medic, shown here in an early Floro Dery design.
Wheeljack – Very sexist and misogynistic toward Arcee throughout the entire script, which is played for "comedy".
As the Decepticons continue their attack on the steel mill, three of them combine into a cannon that begins to shoot "fire snow" at the Autobots. What is fire snow? Napalm. Yes, the Decepticons attack the Autobots... with napalm.
Tanker gets his arm burnt off and, in the heat of the moment, acts rather sexist toward Arcee. Magnus grabs an industrial bucket and, in a very cartoony moment, simply catches the balls of fire snow napalm in the bucket and tosses it back at the Decepticons. He saves Hot Rod in the process. The Decepticons dive for cover but get blown up by their own napalm tossed back at them, and are clobbered by the steel bucket.
Reinforcements for the Autobots arrive aboard an old locomotive train carrying rocket fuel in flatbed cars.
The train is manned by human allies General Blaze and Colonel Rusty Steel, the latter of whom is described by the script as an "Indiana Jones" type. Hasbro's feedback on the character basically says that his personality would later be applied to Springer.
General Blaze
Colonel Rusty Steele
The train carrying the rocket fuel is meant to distract the Decepticons from their attack on the steel mill, making them think the train is just a simple fuel delivery and an easy target, from which the Autobots can ambush Megatron.
Starscream attacks the train and ties it in a pretzel knot. The train then begins to transform from an old locomotive into a bullet train, a process called "Transformation Alpha". Starscream is then run over. (It is at this point that Jim pointed out that Starscream will have a lot to do in this story, only to clarify that he gets his butt kicked a lot.) The train is now revealed to be an Autobot Triple Changer named Rails, who commences "Transformation Beta" into his robot mode... A GIANT SNAKE ROBOT MODE!!
Hot Rod soon runs out of ammo... in a laser gun. A Decepticon charges at him with a laser chainsaw, but Tanker steps in and trips up the Decepticon, who then falls on his own laser chainsaw and is bisected in half by it.
Then the Optimus and Megatron fight happens... basically the same as it does in the final movie, verbatim even. As the Decepticons retreat from the battle following Megatron's defeat (no Astrotrain here, they all just fly out into space on their own power), Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Arcee perform triage on Prime and determine that the damage is fatal. Rusty Steele objects, stating that they can't make that call in the field. Half the Autobots go with Ratchet to take the dying Optimus back to the Autobots' volcano base, while the other half go with Wheeljack to build ships to chase after Megatron. Gears is here as well, and is an insensitive jerk about the whole thing.
Basically, Friedman was mandated to kill off Optimus, but no other 1984 Autobots die either. The idea behind all this was to make the movie start out like a typical G1 cartoon episode until it wasn't. Hot Rod is very broken up over Optimus's current state ("I don't know how I'll stand it if Prime dies because of me"), but Tanker basically just tells him to suck it up and not be such a wimp. Jerk.
Meanwhile, the Decepticons make it back to Cybertron by just flying all the way there. In the final version of the movie, the place at which Starscream's coronation is held is referred to by its script as the Decepticon Hall of Heroes. In this script, the Hall of Heroes is basically described as a sci-fi version of Adolf Hitler's Nuremburg Rally Hall, in the Third Reich. According to Jim and Chris, the script is practically dripping with full-on Nazi references all over the place.
Megatron is there with them and dies unceremoniously while everyone argues over who gets to be the new leader. A fight soon breaks out. As Starscream and Skywarp fight, they inadvertently blow up the urn that was meant to house Megatron's "life spark". Without it, Megatron's ghost flies out of his body. As he pathetically begs and pleads for the other Decepticons to preserve his essence, they take no notice and continue their fight. Megatron's purple "life spark" ghost helplessly flies off into space.
Back on Earth, the entire volcano that houses the Autobots' base now opens up like Tracy Island from Thunderbirds. It's now a whole base for both Autobots and humans. Two such humans are Dr. Ellen Prentiss and her young son Daniel. Yep, that Daniel. In this script, he is not Spike's son. In fact, Spike isn't even in this story at all. Here, Daniel looks up to and idolizes Colonel Rusty, who in turn calls the boy "Dan-o".
Springer is also one the Autobots there, whom the script describes as "a huge, Arnold Schwarzenegger type". He is also described by the script as turning into something like either a jet-powered missile launcher, or a jet-powered steam roller. He also barely does anything in the whole story.
Out in space, Megatron's ghost is summoned to the planet Unicron. In this version, Unicron is the name of the planet and its leader is a mysterious intelligence simply known as "the Entity". Planet Unicron has tree trunks that resemble a big hand, and trees that are like hair. (Attendee reaction to this described it as "horrid".) The Entity agrees to recreate Megatron into Galvatron in exchange for Megatron/Galvatron going back to Cybertron, bringing all of its Decepticon inhabitants under the Entity's will, and then taking all of the Decepticons to Earth for a more important plan.
Galvatron is apparently described in the script as both looking like a bigger Megatron covered in metal scales, and looking like he's wearing a black military uniform. For the accompanying fanmade artwork, however, he is instead depicted in his early Floro Dery design with toy-accurate colors. He also receives a unique insignia on his chest (looks like the artists chose to base their interpretation of it on the Beast Wars Neo Blentron insignia).
And now comes Optimus's death scene. In this version, instead of the Matrix of Leadership, a little green baby version of Optimus in energy form emerges from his chest. It is referred to as Optimus's "Matrix", long before the Creation Matrix was a thing in the Marvel Comics. It's basically Optimus's "life spark", like what came out of Megatron earlier when he died. The Baby Optimus goes into Magnus's body, making him "Ultra" Magnus.
On Cybertron, Galvatron arrives and Starscream recognizes him as Megatron. Starscream gets to live in this version and all of the Decepticons get new upgraded forms by the power of Planet Unicron. For the Seekers, the artists chose to base their interpretation of these upgraded forms off of Starscream's coronation gear from the final movie. In the script, the idea was to just make them bigger.
Cybertron is then destroyed in a beam of light and NOBODY cares. All except for Galvatron for about 30 seconds. The Decepticons then head for Earth. End of Act 1.
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Act 2 begins with the Autobots building giant metal shields to protect Earth's cities so that they can take their new fleet of ships Wheeljack is building and go after the Decepticons without worry. The shields are said to be made out of metals with ridiculous names like "titano-rubidium steel" and "durabyl-metal". The script apparently takes two or three whole pages to describe the shields.
Colonel Rusty Steele seems to be taking point in this operation, while a bunch of "comedy" bits are going on around him. Namely, Wheeljack has a running "gag" where Arcee will do something really competent behind his back while he is oblivious to this and makes several sexist remarks about "she-bots". And he does this all throughout the script.
When the Decepticons arrive, Teletraan I cannot even compute their newly-acquired power. The Entity fires a green energy blast from space that strikes Galvatron, goes through him into the other Decepticons, and powers them all up enough for them to blast through all the shields the Autobots just built, destroying them in an instant despite multiple script pages setting up the shields.
Oh, and Prowl is here and doesn't die. And Starscream gets beaten up a second time, suffering endless slapstick. Even so, the Autobot base is overrun and they have to retreat.
A time-skip occurs. The Decepticons have a "Sweep Party" of black "Gestapo-like" bots searching for the Autobots, who have since set up a guerilla camp. This is from where the idea of the Sweeps originated.
The Decepticons have apparently taken over and are building an "energy drain cage" around the Earth, in order to siphon its energy and send it all to Planet Unicron.
Daniel gets the camp found by the Sweep Gestapo by accidently setting off Teletraan I, who mistakes him for an intruder.
Now engaged in a guerilla war, Tanker and Hot Rod go off to recruit a crack squad of the best of the best to help everyone get to the one remaining Autobot ship, so they can go find the source of the Decepticons' new powers.
First is Chemico, "the walking laboratory". He literally just pops up to make a smokescreen and never appears again.
Magnus also transforms... into either a truck or a combine harvester. The idea behind what his altmode should be was "What's the coolest vehicle to run someone over with?"
The Autobots knock away the Decepticons with baseball bats and escape via a river raft. Yes, really.
Springer is also here. As is Starscream. You know what that means? It's clobbering time, Screamer! Springer uses his jumping power, which Jim compares to bouncing like Tigger. Springer grabs Starscream and a generic Decepticon and bonks their heads together, which also results in the two 'Cons impaling each other with their limbs. Starscream is furious and threatens to boil the Autobots in their own pee (yes, really!), and demands "UNKNOT MEEEEE!!" (Chris McFeely did his best and most throat-hurting Chris Latta impression for this line).
Other Autobot recruits include Blurr (who in this version talks reeeeeeeaallly slow, like Jimmy Stewart), Grimlock, Swoop, Sludge (but no other Dinobots) and Mentlar (a "Carl Sagan" type whose role as the "smart guy" is later taken by Perceptor).
Don't confuse his name with "Metlar", who is one of the Inhumanoids. He's "Mentlar", because of his great "mental" capacity. He turns into a radar truck.
Mentlar presses a button that activates a giant energy grid that he uses like a big flyswatter to disable the Insecticons and strip them of their Unicron upgrades, allowing the Dinobots to defeat them. Afterward, this grid is never used or brought up again.
The Autobots reach the last ship they still have, which is hidden inside an ice cave.
As Rusty, Daniel, and Ellen board the ship, Rusty gives Daniel his lucky silver dollar as a promise that they'll get through this. As the ship takes off, Hot Rod, Tanker, and the Dinobots are still fighting on the ground and just fly up alongside the ship, flying through space outside the vessel. Bumblebee shows up here just to get blasted off-screen by a cluster bomb. Wheeljack and Arcee remain on Earth to keep fighting the Decepticons and Wheeljack has more misogynist moments with Arcee.
Galvatron is mentally tortured by the Entity, who calls him an imbecile and tells him to destroy the fleeing Autobot ship. He give Galvatron a ship of his own, which resembles an aircraft carrier (this was the prototype version of Galvatron's ship from the final movie). Rusty and Daniel man the Autobot ship's guns like Han and Luke in Star Wars: A New Hope. And then a random space hurricane interrupts the battle, destroying Galvatron's ship and hurling Hot Rod, Tanker, and the Dinobots off into space. Galvatron emerges from the wreckage of his ship, sees no Autobots, and thinks he's won. End of Act 2.
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Act 3 begins with the Autobots' ship crash-landing on Planet Unicron's moon, drawn there by a tractor beam brainwave.
Back on Earth, Arcee twirls Starscream around like a wrestler and tosses him at a freeway overpass, collapsing it on top of other Decepticons. Despite this, Wheeljack is still sexist to her. This is also Starscream's last scene.
Hot Rod, Tanker, and the Dinobots end up on a planet that would later become Quintessa in the final movie. Sharkticons proceed to eat Swoop, but only nibble on him rather than consume him entirely.
The script keeps cutting back and forth between the moon with Magnus's team, the planet with Hot Rod's team, and Earth with Wheeljack and Arcee, the latter of whom ends up kissing Wheeljack on the cheek at one point.
Galvatron is told by the Entity to go into space and kill the Autobots stranded on the moon. His army flies off from Earth in space cruisers they just suddenly have now. As they approach Unicron's moon, the Autobots there trick the Decepticons with cardboard cutouts as decoys.
Hot Rod, Tanker, and the Dinobots witness the arena-style execution of a rock-based alien named Granix. Yep, before he was Kranix, he was Granix, his name based on "granite". And the Sharkticon pit was a battle arena rather than a shark tank.
Here, the Sharkticons have sensors that direct them to eat whatever they bump into, likely explaining what those antennae they have are supposed to be.
When Hot Rod's group stands trial, they are found "Innocent of trespassing but guilty of insolence". Hot Rod blinds the Sharkticons, but the Quintesson uses its mental powers to just make more Sharkticons from scrap. Hot Rod subdues the Quint and orders it to use its mind powers to find the other Autobots. It ends up finding Planet Unicron.
On Unicron's moon, the Decepticons have found the Autobots' three human allies, who all wear exo-suits implied to work by telekinesis. Rumble forces Daniel to watch Dirge try to crush Ellen to death, but Daniel saves his mother by crushing Dirge's torso inward and tossing him onto Rumble.
Then the Junkions show up, the leader of which is literally described by the script as wearing a Nazi helmet. The artists chose instead to draw him wearing a WWI German helmet because there's just so much Nazi stuff in this script!!!
Elsewhere on Unicron's moon, Galvatron just straight up murders Magnus, Mentlar, and Blurr. Like, he just kills them. Dead. No repairs, no rebuilding them. Just dead. And Hasbro was furious.
Galvatron steals the glowing baby Optimus from Magnus and puts it in a jar around his neck.
What comes next are a couple of big reveals: The Junkions built Unicron! It was originally built to be a protector, but something went wrong. The Junkions then reveal a flaw in Unicron that serves as its weakness. And that weakness is... MISSING from the script! Yep, unfortunately, the script that Flint Dille found in storage was missing three whole pages that detail this very important part of the story. One of these pages also presumably sees Hot Rod, Tanker, and the Dinobots reuniting with the others on the moon, with Tanker freeing the Autobots from the Junkions with the Universal Greeting.
As Planet Unicron absorbs the siphoned energy from Earth, the Entity is powered up enough to transform the planet into a humanoid robot form. It heads towards Earth, munching other planets along the way. And at this point, Wheeljack FINALLY apologizes to Arcee for being such a sexist misogynist.
A Junkion named Scrapo befriends the Dinobots, whose role was presumably later taken by Wheelie in the final movie.
In a surprise twist that shocks absolutely no one, the Entity and Unicron are revealed to be one and the same. In order to defeat him, the Autobots must fight their way into Unicron's core. Once there, Daniel is the only one small enough to fit into the area they need to get into to destroy Unicron. But then, they suddenly remember that they also need the Baby Optimus that Galvatron still has. So they go all the way back out to go get it. Hot Rod and Rusty corner Galvatron, who tries to fuse the Baby Optimus with himself into nothingness. But he is defeated by Dr. Ellen.
The Autobots and humans go all the way back into Unicron's core, where Daniel takes the Baby Optimus and puts it into the core, blowing by Unicron. Galvatron gets blasted off on one of Unicron's severed fingers.
In the aftermath, Earth just gets all better after being shriveled up from its massive energy drain. A parade is held and Hot Rod holds Daniel up on his shoulders. The End.
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The day after this presentation was given, Chris and Jim held a follow-up panel with more information and artwork.
It is speculated that Rails was replaced with the Anibots (Autobot versions of the Predacons before those toys were decided to be Decepticons) in later script drafts, and then ultimately replaced by just the Dinobots defending Autobot City in the final movie. (The concept of Rails as a large, multi-changing transport Autobot with a bestial robot mode may have possibly even evolved into Sky Lynx.)
"Life Spark" came from a memo note from Sunbow to refer to the leadership aspect of "the Matrix", which had yet to be a thing at the time. "'Til all Matrixes are One" evolved into "'Til all Life Sparks are one", which after a game of telephone became just "'Til all are One".
As everyone could probably tell by now, the concept of Tanker would eventually evolve into Kup. Jim reasoned that Tanker changed into Kup because Hasbro, at the time, was looking at the next generation of Autobots and Decepticons being cars and jets, not tanks.
At some point in the script, Grimlock sees Arcee and thinks she's so cool that he want there to be female Dinobots.
A few more pieces of the fanmade artwork:
Granix
Quintesson (the name "Quintesson" originally came from a restaurant)
This Quintesson is based on Floro Dery's early Quintesson design.
Sweep Gestapo-bot
Junkion (who's meant to look like something out of the Road Warrior)
Q&A
The suspected intended runtime for this script is two hours.
Unicron's backstory as having originally been created as a protector is removed from later script iterations, and is ultimate made as vague and undisclosed as it is in the final movie.
Galvatron's original altmode in this script is basically a cannon covered in guns all over.
Hot Rod has no Autobot symbol in these art pieces because the design notes in the script simply don't mention it. The second design iteration does put it on, though.
Now that we know where the Sweeps came from, what about Cyclonus's armada from the later script drafts? They would have been just a bunch of Cyclonus duplicates.
Colonel Rusty Steele was never Daniel's father. Daniel just had hero worship for him.
And most importantly of all, the script itself WILL eventually be uploaded online for all eyes to see. We don't know when, but it is definitely planned to be released at some point later on.
SDCC may have wrapped up but it looks like there's still a lot left to talk about when it comes to the future of Legacy! HUGE thanks to our own Seibertronian Nemesis Primal for combing through Q&As and interviews to find many key bits of information about the future of Legacy. His post to our Energon Pub Forums is as follows:
Nemesis Primal wrote:So I've been doing a bit of reading, and between what little Q & A escaped the panel, a video interview done by Shartimus Prime, and the big interview TFW just posted, I have compiled the following list of Legacy-relevant confirmations/hints given at SDCC outside of just the figures we actually saw. Notes so far (*inhales*):
-Legacy Wave 4/Breakdown will be shown at Pulsecon
-Legacy Wave 4/Breakdown are scheduled to come out next year
-Evan mentioned that Menasor's lack of Scramble City compatibility/limbs being dedicated to just Menasor has been well-received and they are keeping that in mind for future potential combiners
-No continuity is off the table for Legacy, Cyberverse is an option
-Animated was given a flat-out confirmation by Evan, Animated characters/designs WILL be in Legacy, the theory of those characters/designs being held up by Cartoon Network rights is incorrect
-Evan cited Animated Lockdown, Ratchet, and Prime as characters/designs he specifically would like to work on
-Legacy Animated figures WILL be G1-ified, HOWEVER the team has also heard the feedback on Arcee/Bulkhead/Knock Out and are working to find a better G1-ification balance
-Titans and Selects are both still planned to continue release, called out the theory of Selects ending specifically as incorrect
-Hasbro is considering 2022 and 2023 both to be the Armada anniversary due to the show's release date in Japan (which probably also explains "RiD 2000 Universe")
-Armada Prime "may happen" for the anniversary, unlikely to be the unreleased Takara-initiated one shown years back but may borrow from it if happening
-Cyber Planet Keys and Cheetor's gut gun both being thought about in terms of potential weapon/accessory packs
-They KNOW people want Tidal Wave
-Minicons are something they're intending to figure out "once they move more fully into Armada"
-Wider release/more allotments of Velocitron Cosmos and his in-store availability are up to Walmart, Pulse cannot restock (sounds familiar)
-Next Haslab is being worked on but has no associated dates yet
-No version of Optimus Prime will EVER be a Haslab (when asked about Armada Prime)
-When asked about a new Cybertron OP & Wing Saber: "it would be totally doable to make a new Wing Saber connect to Siege GUOP" (implying Wing Saber is on the table but Optimus is considered done)
-More Titans from Cybertron are possible albeit daunting due to number (Starscream, Primus, Quickmix, & Menasor all mentioned)
-Evan wants to incorporate Powerlinx into Armada/Energon updates
-Mark and Evan talk about making figures of the 13 Primes "all the time", mentioned The Fallen's tank mode
-As far as Evan knows, Legacy is planned to go for 3 years and is a trilogy (?)
-More non-G1 updates can be expected even if/when Legacy ends
-Evan wants to make Beast Machines Vehicons
-Most obscure characters Evan wants to do in Legacy: Velocity, Javelin, Mistress of Flame, Camiens
-Interest in bringing Fan Votes back
-Expansion into non-G1 was due to designer interest, characters needing updates, and people being sick of the same characters
-Positive reaction to being asked about Omnibots, vague "anything is possible" response given
-More Minibots "will make it in eventually"
-Mention of potential Coneheads rerelease in Legacy
-Evan mentioned "having a few more beasts to get through"
...and on top of all that semi-official stuff, JTPrime has said as of yesterday that Breakdown and Twincast's EAN numbers have been replaced with new ones that change what we thought the next few waves would be, indicating that Wave 4 will now include Needlenose, "Junkion 1", Hot Shot, Tarn, & Leo Prime (at least, don't think we know Leaders-per-specific-wave yet for 2023) in addition to Breakdown, while Twincast has been pushed back to the wave containing Metalhawk and the Wheeljack & Cheetor repacks have been possibly scrapped.
If you actually read to the end, I appreciate you
And there you have it. It looks like the design team isn't leaving much off the table which may well make this the most exciting era of the Transformers franchise. It's a lot to unload but feel free to leave your thoughts in the Energon Pub Forums!
Hasbro has quietly rereleased Transformers Cyberverse Deluxe Arcee, Bumblebee and Starscream in the current Dinobots Unite packaging. Like the previous wave these will likely not include the parts to build Maccadam despite what the stock photos show but you'll still get the other weapons and effect parts, just be sure to inspect those open air boxes to make sure the parts didn't slip out! And hey, you can go to Target right now and buy these if you're lucky to have a local store that's reasonably well stocked (or even not well stocked as you can see from my photo below). Or you can go over to Target.com where they're currently in stock, click on the photos to be taken to the figure.
Now hopefully Prowl will be next to get reissued along side some new molds. If any of these are helping you fill gaps in your Cyberverse collection let us know in the Energon Pub Forums!
The second Transformers Cyberverse TV film concluding what Hasbro has labelled as "season 4" is now available in Canada. It appeared on Teletoon and is now available on streaming with whichever package includes teletoon, like Stack TV. I just watched it and here is the review: if you liked the Volcanicus episode, then you will surely like this.
I'll go more into depth of course, but that is the crux of it. It is a fun short movie for kids that never feels overly long and is a great mix of G1 and other continuities combined into a new modern day Transformer saga. And like last time, if you are a soundwave fan, this is a must watch. Both he and Hot Rod, another amazing character from the series, shine here.
I personally really love what Cyberverse has become. We get fun stories with great references for the most die hard fans, definitely feels like the perfect show for fans to watch with their kids. There are some wonderful deep cuts with Onyx Prime lore and Skybyte's love of Haikus. For anyone who wanted a deeper dive into the current leadership roles within the Decepticon ranks than what was hinted at in the previous episode, well it's given. And of course, this is the episode that brings fan favourite Tarn to the mainstream. While you'd think it is jarring to have the leader of the DJD be a main character in a movie for kids, the Cyberverse team makes it work. They give him a new origin and anyone who has not watched the final episodes of season 3 should really watch that first since it ties into that. Other members of the DJD do not make an appearance (Tarn is not a member of the DJD here, this is a different interpretation) and we never see his alt mode. While that last part is disappointing, there is an in story reason for it, Tarn is missing some of his parts (at least, we see he's missing parts, so that's what I inferred).
While it is a different interpretation, it is still one I quite liked, and Tarn becoming a legacy character gives greater chances to us getting a toy of him on day from Hasbro. Speaking of toys, while the Volcanicus episode definitely felt like a commercial for all the new Dinobot themed toys in the Cyberverse lines (and even for toys that don't exist, like an actual combiner), there was none of that here. This episode is purely about telling a story, and having loads of action. We get some really awesome moments here, like Arcee riding into battle atop Chromia (get your mind out of the gutter), Repugnas coming to the rescue with his voracious appetite, and Cosmos showing how you shouldn't underestimate a cute little UFO mode. As you can tell, the cast of characters is great and they all have their little moments. It just reminds me of how great a sandbox the Cyberverse show is for creators who love the Transformers lore.
That's all I will say for now aside from saying I hope that this is not the end of Cyberverse. This film will be dropping on youtube soon (no specific date given) and both films will be available on Netflix November 22.
Thanks go to Hasbro (and fellow Seibertronian Aronjlove) for letting us know that the final trailer for the quickly approaching War for Cybertron: Siege series is available to view!
Netflix and Hasbro, Inc., in partnership with Rooster Teeth, today released the final main trailer for Chapter One of the highly anticipated TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY, premiering on Netflix July 30, 2020. The Series raises the stakes of the Autobot and Decepticon war with Chapter One having six, twenty-two minute episodes, complete with a new animation look and style that presents the TRANSFORMERS bots like you’ve never seen them before. The TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY plunges us deep into events that live at the heart of this legendary franchise, with SIEGE shining a spotlight on a critical timeframe in TRANSFORMERS history on Cybertron.
TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY: SIEGE begins in the final hours of the devastating civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons. The war that has torn apart their home planet of Cybertron is at a tipping point. Two leaders, Optimus Prime and Megatron, both want to save their world and unify their people, but only on their own terms. In an attempt to end the conflict, Megatron is forced to consider using the Allspark, the source of all life and power on Cybertron, to “reformat” the Autobots, thus “unifying” Cybertron. Outnumbered, outgunned, and under SIEGE, the battle-weary Autobots orchestrate a desperate series of counterstrikes on a mission that, if everything somehow goes right, will end with an unthinkable choice: kill their planet in order to save it.
Rooster Teeth (RWBY, gen:LOCK) is producing the original series for Netflix, and Polygon Pictures (Godzilla, Knights of Sidonia) is serving as the animation studio. TRANSFORMERS veteran F.J. DeSanto (Transformers: Titans Return, Transformers: Power of the Primes) is serving as showrunner on the series with several contributing writers, including George Krstic (Megas XLR), Gavin Hignight (Transformers: Cyberverse), and Brandon Easton (Agent Carter, Transformers: Rescue Bots).
The Series voice talent cast includes Jake Foushee (Optimus Prime), Jason Marnocha (Megatron), Linsay Rousseau (Elita-1), Joe Zieja (Bumblebee), Frank Todaro (Starscream), Rafael Goldstein (Ratchet), Keith Silverstein (Jetfire), Todd Haberkorn (Shockwave, Red Alert), Edward Bosco (Ultra Magnus, Soundwave), Bill Rogers (Wheeljack), Sophia Isabella (Arcee), Brook Chalmers (Impactor), Shawn Hawkins (Mirage), Kaiser Johnson (Ironhide), Miles Luna (Teletraan I, Cliffjumper) and Mark Whitten (Sideswipe, Skywarp).
Not only that, but the communication from Hasbro included this final line
More details regarding Chapter Two, TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY: EARTHRISE and Chapter Three coming soon.
This confirms that we're not only getting an Earthrise cartoon, but we may learn the title of the final chapter in the War for Cybertron Trilogy sooner than we think!
July 30th can't come soon enough! What do you think, fellow Seibertronians? Let us know in the comments below!
We have images from the Hasbro Brand panel that was held at Toy Fair earlier today. After those images you can also see what was being discussed during the Transformers panel.
But before that, we also have some extra nuggets from Toy Fair. Below is an image of the upcoming retro handhelds from Hasbro as well as the trading cards on site. You can see more images of such here.
While not directly Transformers related, Hasbro is bringing GI Joe back. There will be some new 6 inch figures coming out soon with Roadblock, Scarlet, Duke and Snake Eyes.
Now Transformers!
The panel is introduced by Gregg Berger as Grimlock (and as himself).
Netflix Series
We see a sneak peek at the Netflix War for Cybertron trilogy from Rooster Teeth.
It is three parts and Siege takes place in the final hours of the Cybertronian civil war. This will be a military story, with incredible stakes and the bonds that form on the battlefield.
We see stills from the show where we can see Elita One and Bumblebee.
The character designs are taken from the CAD data of the toys, including their transformation.
The trailer is shown. We see Ultra Magnus, Optimus, basically everyone from the Siege line. They look the same as the Siege toys, as told. The animation does not seem as slow as the previous web series but still not smooth either.
We see the Siege rereleases in new decos that we saw earlier today. All will be sold at Walmart.
The Mirage we saw is a Deception disguise
Each figure comes with a piece of Teletran One and you have to collect all 10 figures to build it.
IDW
The new series will get to number 25 and Orion will finally be called Optimus Prime
Earthrise
This is about the journey to earth. A "story" never told before.
Most of the toys we saw in the leaks of the past 2 days are shown now.
Runumuk is shown first and Runabout will be revealed later this year.
Snapderagon and Double Dealer are part of the mercenaries fraction.
We do see Snapgradon's Kaiju mode. Doubledealer turns into a modular base as well.
3 Quintessons revealed.
The Judge which can switch faces with a switch in the back. Comes with a throne which becomes a battle station. The whole figure becomes a playset. A micromaster can go inside the little cage.
Alicon is there and we see Slither Fang who is a cobra that turns into a shield and modular ramp.
Sky Lynx is shown. Has all his 4 modes plus a 5th mode as a bade and the NASA logo is on the shuttle mode. The shuttle is called "the magnificence"
Scorponok is shown, he will be in scale with Fort Max. Great poseability and double headmaster. G1 base will connect to Omega Supreme and all the other modulars from Earthrise.
Generations Selects
This niche ecomm line was a success. There is a 4 pack cassette pack which will complete your cassettes and also give you Doubledealer's aprtners. Warden confirms the blue cassette is Frenzy.
Hasbro sent us the trailer for the upcoming Netflix Transformers War for Cybertron series.
You can see it below
Please let us know what you think of the voice work, the animation (brought to you by the same people who did RID 15 and Prime). Is this a step up from the Machinima web series? But most of all, what's up with Magnus wearing a cloak?!
Here is the accompanying information:
LOS ANGELES, CA – Feb. 22, 2020 – Netflix and Hasbro, Inc., in partnership with Rooster Teeth, today released the first teaser trailer for Chapter One of the highly anticipated TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY, premiering on Netflix. The Series raises the stakes of the Autobot and Decepticon war with Chapter One having six, twenty-two minute episodes, complete with a new animation look and style that presents the TRANSFORMERS bots like you’ve never seen them before. The TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY plunges us deep into events that live at the heart of this legendary franchise, with SIEGE shining a spotlight on a critical timeframe in TRANSFORMERS history on Cybertron.
TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY: SIEGE begins in the final hours of the devastating civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons. The war that has torn apart their home planet of Cybertron is at a tipping point. Two leaders, Optimus Prime and Megatron, both want to save their world and unify their people, but only on their own terms. In an attempt to end the conflict, Megatron is forced to consider using the Allspark, the source of all life and power on Cybertron, to “reformat” the Autobots, thus “unifying” Cybertron. Outnumbered, outgunned, and under SIEGE, the battle-weary Autobots orchestrate a desperate series of counterstrikes on a mission that, if everything somehow goes right, will end with an unthinkable choice: kill their planet in order to save it.
Rooster Teeth (RWBY, gen:LOCK) is producing the original series for Netflix, and Polygon Pictures (Godzilla, Knights of Sidonia) is serving as the animation studio. TRANSFORMERS veteran F.J. DeSanto (Transformers: Titans Return, Transformers: Power of the Primes) is serving as showrunner on the series with several contributing writers, including George Krstic (Megas XLR), Gavin Hignight (Transformers: Cyberverse), and Brandon Easton (Agent Carter, Transformers: Rescue Bots).
“We’re thrilled to be working with Rooster Teeth, Netflix and Hasbro to bring this fan-oriented MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE story to life,” said Shuzo John Shiota, Polygon Pictures Inc. (PPI) President and CEO. “The TRANSFORMERS universe has so many rich characters and engaging stories. Getting the opportunity to be part of the team bringing the robots in disguise to life in this new trilogy is unbelievable.”
“The TRANSFORMERS brand is a global phenomenon with toys, consumer products, films, television shows, and literature, resonating with millions of passionate fans around the world," said Tom Warner, Senior Vice President for the TRANSFORMERS franchise for Hasbro. “This brand new Netflix series will add to the incredible slate of TRANSFORMERS offerings with a truly unique story that will delight both existing fans and those being introduced to the wonder of robots in disguise.”
"TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY marks the inaugural production for our Rooster Teeth Studios division and we’re proud to be partnering with and entrusted by Hasbro and Netflix," said Matt Hullum, Rooster Teeth co-founder and Chief Content Officer. "As fans of these characters, it's been a joy bringing our storytelling and animation expertise to this project. This teaser trailer is just a taste of what’s to come in this series, and we can’t wait to see what the fans think, especially our Rooster Teeth community!"
The Series voice talent cast includes Jake Foushee (Optimus Prime), Jason Marnocha (Megatron), Linsay Rousseau (Elita-1), Joe Zieja (Bumblebee), Frank Todaro (Starscream), Rafael Goldstein (Ratchet), Keith Silverstein (Jetfire), Todd Haberkorn (Shockwave, Red Alert), Edward Bosco (Ultra Magnus, Soundwave), Bill Rogers (Wheeljack), Sophia Isabella (Arcee), Brook Chalmers (Impactor), Shawn Hawkins (Mirage), Kaiser Johnson (Ironhide), Miles Luna (Teletraan I, Cliffjumper) and Mark Whitten (Sideswipe, Skywarp).
More details regarding Chapter Two, TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY: EARTHRISE and Chapter Three coming soon.
About Hasbro
Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) is a global play and entertainment company committed to Creating the World's Best Play and Entertainment Experiences. From toys, games and consumer products to television, movies, digital gaming, live action, music, and virtual reality experiences, Hasbro connects to global audiences by bringing to life great innovations, stories and brands across established and inventive platforms. Hasbro’s iconic brands include NERF, MAGIC THE GATHERING, MY LITTLE PONY, TRANSFORMERS, PLAY-DOH, MONOPOLY, BABY ALIVE, POWER RANGERS, PEPPA PIG and PJ MASKS as well as premier partner brands. Through its global entertainment studio eOne, as well as its entertainment labels, Allspark Pictures and Allspark Animation, Hasbro is building its brands globally through great storytelling and content on all screens. Hasbro is committed to making the world a better place for children and their families through corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. Hasbro ranked No. 13 on the 2019 100 Best Corporate Citizens list by CR Magazine, and has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere Institute for the past eight years. Learn more at www.hasbro.com, and follow us on Twitter (@Hasbro) and Instagram (@Hasbro).
About Netflix
Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with over 167 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.
About Rooster Teeth
Rooster Teeth is a pioneering media and entertainment company responsible for some of the biggest online series in history, such as the award-winning and longest-running web series, Red vs. Blue. They also produce the globally acclaimed animated series RWBY, the first western anime series to be distributed in Japan; the award-winning Rooster Teeth Podcast; and Immersion, a reality format that brings video game theory to the real world. Rooster Teeth has a massive global footprint of more than 45 million subscribers to its YouTube Network, 5 million unique monthly visitors to its RoosterTeeth.com hub and 3 million registered community members. The company was founded in 2003, and is a subsidiary of Otter Media, a WarnerMedia company. Discover more at RoosterTeeth.com.
Thanks to our own Sabrblade we have the first image of Transformers Cyberverse Build-a-Figure Deluxe Arcee! The image comes from the Walmart Mobile App. Some fans who've been critical of the 'partsforming' taking place with War For Cybertron: Earthrise Arcee will likely be pleased to find a concurrently released Arcee that appears to have a complete and intact transformation. What are your thoughts? 2020 is now the battle of the Arcees; make sure to chime in with your thoughts on your favorite in the forum. More reveals sure to come on this ToyFair weekend so be sure to stay tuned to Seibertron for the ultimate in Transformers news!
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