ExVee

It's the new summer tradition - Getting large swaths of upcoming toyline leaked and ruining a great many surprises carefully plotted out for the upcoming year. As it was almost exactly one year ago when the entire standard retail Power of The Primes lineup was intentionally leaked to the internet, this year we have a ton more listings coming probably accidentally from Amazon Australia giving us not just a look at what's likely coming our way in War For Cybertron: Siege, but probably Studio Series and a little bit of Cyberverse, too! Keep reading to find out more!

Via Gameinformer, we're getting our very first look today at the next iteration of Transformers generations, the War For Cybertron: Siege line. Gameinformer has gotten exclusive early looks at three figures: a Voyager Optimus Prime whose silhouette was teased on Wednesday, a new Deluxe Sideswipe, and Firedrive, a representative of the Hasbro release of the Targetmaster molds takaraTomy developed for several Legends Series figures, which will be taking over the Titan Master/Prime Master price point. Read more...

The Australian arm of Amazon has added multiple new product pages - of course all without pictures - which are presenting us with a bit of a head-scratching moment trying to work out what we're looking at. Some things are fairly generic, and might be easy to tag as perhaps Cyberverse product or somesuch, but the others are raising some better questions. And oddly, although this is Amazon Australia, the products are all marked as shipping from Amazon US, though no sellers are actually offering to the US currently. Let's go over what we have...

We've learned today that MP-43 Megatron is to receive an official release in the United States through specialty retail channels. This marks the second such instance, after the Animation Colors Masterpiece Prowl which we learned would be made available via Diamond to comic shops and other similar outlets, in addition to some of our familiar online stores. Read more...

This morning, Nerdist was given first reveal of Power Charge Bumblebee, our first official look at a transforming toy based on Bumblebee's appearance as a classic VW Beetle from the Bumblebee Movie coming later this year. This figure will apparently be part of the product debuts happening next week at San Diego Comic Con, opening the door to potentially seeing other character toys from the movie revealed during the event. This particular Bumblebee is not super accurate to the movie look, probably owing to the "Power Core" in the torso that activates various electronic features in both modes when spun, but it does achieve a full transformation to the VW alt mode at least! Keep reading to see the mirrored images.

The Transformers Facebook page has posted a curious new image, as encouragement to follow Hasbro Pulse for Transformers SDCC updates. The image depicts the outline of what's clearly something in the Optimus Prime family, but with certain details, like what appear to be extra panels hanging from the back, which don't immediately align to any one existing toy. Is this a tease for one of the reveals that we'll see during the Transformers brand panel on the 19th? Read more...

TRANSFORMERS UNICRON #1 (W) James Roberts (A/CA) Alex Milne The end is nigh! The Darkest Hour has come. Optimus Prime stages a desperate gamble as the world-eater, Unicron, approaches Windblade's homeworld-but that's just the appetizer. The main course is Cybertron (with a side of Earth)... and it's starting to look like no force in the galaxy can stop the end from coming. Read the comic preview here

OPTIMUS PRIME #20 (W) John Barber (A/CA) Kei Zama "The Falling," Part 5. Optimus Prime has faced defeat before and come back... but he's never seen anything like this. Beyond life, beyond death-only the wisdom of an old friend can save him. Meanwhile, Victorion battles Devastator... and only one will survive. The return of Bumblebee! One shall rise, one shall fall, but who will destroy them all? Read the comic preview here

TRANSFORMERS LOST LIGHT #20 (W) James Roberts (A) Casey Coller (CA) Jack Lawrence Rodimus vs. Getaway! Finally! Read the preview here

The end of the IDW Transformers universe is at hand with the Unicron miniseries hitting shops this week. But we're starting at the beginning, with an unfortunately overdue look at the Free Comic Book Day issue that kicked off the whole event! Click here to read our review of Unicron Issue #0.

Dengeki Hobby has announced a new campaign from TakaraTomy tying together their three current robot brands: Transformers, Shinkalion, and Hyper Rescue Drive Head. Shinkalion is TakaraTomy's series focused on transforming train mecha, and Drive Head is the latest iteration of the Tomica line featuring rescue vehicles integrating with various kinds of mecha. Customers who purchase 3000 Yen worth of products from one of these lines at participating retailers will receive a sword in one of three colors, blue, red, or green. The sword itself appears to be based on the sword that came with The Last Knight First Edition Optimus Prime. Read more...

Via Autobase Aichi, we have some high res stock photos originally released through Amazon Japan - though seemingly a bit too early as the respective product pages seem to have all since been pulled back down. But fortunately these copies were preserved, so we can get some good looks at the likes of POTP Wreck-Gar, coming in the US exclusively from Walgreens, Nemesis Prime which is already reaching the hands of some buyers in the US right now, and of course Masterpiece Beast Wars Megatron. Read more...

The uncertainty is over! As usual, the early leaked vendor listings for December's TakaraTomy Transformers offerings were proved correct, and the Encore Unicron coming at the end of the year will be in green deco representing the appearance of the Mini-Con-formed Unicron duplicate from the late part of Transformers Armada. Images appeared on an Amazon Japan listing overnight, and while the listing has since been pulled, Autobase Aichi was able to preserve the photos, which we now have mirrored. Read more...

It seems like TakaraTomy's reveal of their version 3 Masterpiece Convoy was very well timed, as we've now had a couple of unlicensed efforts along the same line turn up after in short order. Joining the ranks of groups probably forced in to a reveal ahead of schedule is the brand new Transform Element, who today have debuted their early prototype for TE-01, another animation-inspired Masterpiece-ish Optimus Prime-alike. Read more...

From Blacklai's Toybase, we have a nice gallery of the Throne of The Primes exclusive, coming in just a couple of weeks to SDCC, as well as select other events like Hong Kong's ACG-Con. Blacklai's photos include a nice set up of the complete array of Prime Masters aligned with their positions on the mini-poster that came with Predaking, plus some additional angles on the cardboard throne and nice side by side comparisons with retail Optimal Optimus. Blacklai also got some clear images of the instruction sheet, part of which includes a summary of the Primes, giving names, emblems, and their powers. Read more...

A new Instagram story posted today on the official Transformers account features John Warden promoting the Hasbro presence at San Diego Comic Con in just under two weeks, promising lots of Transformers content. The panel info already told us much of what to expect, including the first look at the War For Cybertron lineup hinted during Toy Fair this year. But there "just so happened" to be a poster partly visible on the wall behind John that we might tease some more details out of...

Coming to us through another new listing on Robot Kingdom, we have our first sign of when the Special Edition Generations Repugnus may be available. Robot Kingdom has listed a preorder for the third Monsterbot - sadly with only a placeholder image for now - declaring they'll have it ready to start shipping as of August 1st. Read more...

Thanks to new listings on Robot Kingdom, we've learned tonight that Hot Rod is but the first of a series of reissued G1 toys on the way to Walmart stores in the near-ish future! Following up that release will be Starscream, priced at $41.90 and due for availability at Robot Kingdom in July. This release of Starscream is pictured as having the Megatron gun introduced with the 2003 Takara reissue of the mold, which the Commemorative Series Starscream did not include. Two apparent giftset releases will come shortly after Starscream. Read more...

Coming very soon after its official reveal, right behind an overseas leak, we've got a video review from Kevin Liu of the SDCC exclusive Throne of The Primes set. The redecoed Optimal Optimus with exclusive Prime Masters, accessories and the cardboard throne diorama can all be seen in detail in this video, along with side by side comparisons to the regular retail Optimal Optimus - though of course the differences are fairly obvious for the most part, with just the basic Optimus Primal form having enough subtlety to really call for detailed comparison; as it turns out it isn't quite identical to the retail counterpart! Read more...

Hasbro's official site for Transformers Cyberverse is now online, and with it comes profile images featuring character art for numerous cast members on both the Autobot and Decepticon sides. Some of the design choices for characters not yet seen as toys are ...interesting, if seemingly a bit divisive among fans at the moment. On the site, you can also click on the profile images to see a quick writeup by Bumblebee describing each ally and enemy currently revealed. Read more...

Via Loopaza on Facebook, we have our by now customary early look at advanced product solicitations from TakaraTomy, and it's a big one this time. From the slightly more mundane end, we have confirmation through this that Power of The Primes Wreck-Gar will be available in Japan for the price of 2800 Yen as PP-41, alongside the TakaraTomy release of Nemesis Prime as PP-42. But everything turns sideways from there. Also in December is Encore Unicron - but it seems not the kind you'd be expecting. Plus there's Masterpiece news, all of which we'll go over in full detail!

While we're still waiting for word of how - and when - those of us not in southeast Asia will be able to get Blast Off, it looks like Amazon's global exclusive Nemesis Prime may end up beating it to the global market. We have indications now that Nemesis Prime will be launched to coincide with Amazon's Prime Day event. A lucky few people who were able to secure presales early with Amazon saw an estimated in-stock date of July 12th, with delivery expected as early as the 17th. So, what does being a Prime Day launch mean for this toy? Read more...

Here's one from a Baidu message board that we weren't expecting. "Throne of The Primes" appears to be Power of The Primes Optimal Optimus in a black and white color scheme based on Optimus Primal's original colors, packaged seated on a cardboard "throne" and featuring a new scepter accessory and what very much looks like a crown. Less obvious is what might be part of a ring of golden Prime Masters behind the throne, lending to the "Throne of The Primes" title. Read more...

Thanks to archieboy we have the first clear image of the side panel from Special Edition Combiner Wars Blast Off's packaging, featuring character art of Blast Off, as you might expect. But aside from a couple of Blast Off's teammates floating in the background, a bit of the foreground has proven interesting. Bits of another red robot are superimposed on top of Blast Off which definitely don't belong to a Combaticon! The visible claw seems a dead giveaway that it's part of Repugnus, and we can see just enough besides to be pretty certain what the mold in question will be now! Read more...

Thanks to @ROGUE03_DPT on Twitter, we have some handy side by side images showing Blast off in both the original Unite Warriors release, and the brand new Hasbro Combiner Wars Special Edition version. As we'd seen from earlier images, Hasbro's Blast Off hews a bit more to the toy side of things, most notably with sticker-detail elements added to the torso. However, it may have been harder to appreciate just how overall different the Hasbro release is - or maybe we just preferred to forget about TakaraTomy's extremely caramel Blast Off. In any case, this Special Edition version is looking more and more like it might be an appealing option even to Unite Warriors Bruticus owners - see for yourself right here!