This is the live-ish updates for the Hasbro Transformers Panel at New York Comic-Con 2015. Please read on and refresh as we will be updating as quickly as we can, as well as adding pics if signal is strong enough.
Hasbro Panel Updates
- Panel begins at 8:00 PM EST
- Introductions are going on now
- Breaking down the 3 tiers
- Rescue Bots, RID (201X), and Generations
- Each line aimed at different ages
- Transformers: Prime Wars Trilogy
- Video Trailer being shown
- Just a mash up of comic art and game footage in trailer format
- Prime Wars Trilogy = Combiner Wars, Titans Return, and a 3rd chapter after that in continuity
- One long term arc across toys comics games and other formats
- Showing trailer for newly released Transformers: Devastation video game
- They are talking about how the team working on the toys and stories love the characters
- Transformers: Devastation is meant to be part of Combiner Wars story
- Transformers on Machinima is being talked about
- Writer/producer is talking about the series
- Everyone sounds very excited to be working on this
- Didn’t catch name
- Worked at MTV on Aeon Flux. also worked on Afro Samuari and Ninja Scroll
- Likes stories and animation in that tone, bringing that to the Machinima Series.
- Stakes and consequences. Life and death.
- They are working on the series now with Clone Wars and Megas XLR contributor, and F.J. DeSanto (talking now)
- Windblade is one of his favorite characters, who will be involved heavily
- He sat with team at Hasbro and was brought up to speed with toys and concept art and John Barber lessons.
- Talking now about why they love characters, personal background, etc.
- Using a lot of core ideas from the comics in this new cartoon
- Pursuing Japanese production model
- No “kids gloves”
- Team is used to adult animation and will be focusing on that audience
- There is only 1 rule – Combiners HAVE to fight each other
- They are trying to ensure Windblade is pure badass, though that’s hard to translate to Japanese team
- She will be though, he promises
- Comics Talk
- John Barber is talking
- Titans Return!
- There will be an event between Combiner Wars and Titans Return
- John Barber, Roberrts and Maegred Scott, all working together. (sorry for spelling)
- Titans Return will have a key piece of MTMTE mythos running thru it
- Windblade will be affected greatly by all this.
- More tomorrow in IDW panel
- Titans Return 1st issue Summer 2016
- Coordinating comics and toon and toys now for a launch down the road next year
- Hype talk about how it will be great
- Onto the toys!
- New toy ecosystem discussed
- All types of “Masters” from G1 are now Titan Masters. Simplified name, easy to follow.
- All heads work on all other bodies. Interchangeable to keep fun of original toys
- Showing the official photos we posted last night
- Heads, mini vehicles. Into weapons.
- Skullcruncher and Hardhead have slots for titan masters to drive.
- 2 more deluxes coming. Not shown. Shadows are hint
- Galvatron, voyager, g1 Megatron head titan mastrr
- Sentinel Prime – Voyager
- War tank
- Tech specs back, shows core fig specs, and titan master + stats
- Leader Class now
- Blaster – Titan Master is named Twincast (nice)
- Showing how all the scales interact with each other.
- One more leader teased. Not named. Seen in the Blaster pics.
- Onto Q & A now
- Someone mentions they grew up with original 2001 RID (Yay!)
- Asked if watching the cartoon will required IDW comic knowledge. They said no, newcomers will be able to jump right in.
- Headmaster necks will be balljointed like Brainstorm (in reference to Sentinel)
- The Matrix of Leadership will play a role upcoming stories
- Optimus Prime will reconcile it being more than just a thing as others look at it as an important artifact etc
- Young child asked about Unicron. No plans at this time, but always a possibility for him to pop up somewhere down the line
- Fan asks about more Masterpieces. Hasbro team says we hear the fans loud and clear
- But they have no updated plans for Masterpiece line at this time
- The End
Johntimus Prime
>Take character
>Reverse or swap color palette on existing toy
>It prints money!!!!
Autobot Burnout
I think the TFCC stuff is an exception simply because it's collector oriented stuff that has nothing to do with the ongoing narrative tied to the mass retail lines, while at the same time the whole appeal is the cross-dimensional character pool they draw the con exclusives from.
The whole bit about "clusters going dark" seems more like foreshadowing of the story events that's going to happen in the 2016 Botcon plot, given we're slowly getting the reveals of the box set during this period as well. And I'd be shocked if FP didn't somehow slip in yet another Shattered Glass character or two as part of the secondary exclusives – they've been doing that shit since 2008 and they're not gonna drop SG money-maker repaints anytime soon.
Scaleface
So I hear that Hasbro is consolidating the fiction and toy lines tighter together. I also noticed the current story coming from the TFCC on their Facebook pages set in Axiom Nexus is that different universal clusters are going dark. Is this confirmation that Hasbro is limiting the stories the TFCC can make to ones that tie into the current fiction? From not on we can only expect TFCC fiction that supports the world of the Combiners Wars and Titan Returns toy line?
dCon
Not big on the Hasbro toy but the character is ok. It all depends how they handle her ya know
wearelegion69
This is the most reveals we have ever gotten in the history of toy events in terms of toys coming out in at least 8 months from now. So I dont get the dissapointment. And while Fort Max will probably get a full reveal at the Toy Show early next year (like Devastator did), they did at least reveal/confirm that we would be getting him. That is incredible news.
That's darkLiger for you, standing Defiant before the haters.
I am also curious about the price point. We have had both triple changers and headmasters as voyager class TFs in the generations line before but never on the same toy. So I highly doubt these will be standard voyager class prices. I am expecting a pretty rough price hike where these will be at least 30$ each.
MonaLazaBeak
That's called doing smart marketing. You drive interest and hold people's attention for longer by doing it this way. Frustrates the consumers, but they know and we know we'll still be waiting with bated breath.
AnonymousDwell
I suspect they're holding off on announcing another Titan class set yet because Devy is still selling (and they have to be cognizant some will import the Takara version later this year as well, though I'm not sure how much that consideration factors in, if at all.)
If I had to guess, I'd say we'd learn about PMOP before FortMax or whatever the Titan ends up being.
Smitty.1981
So I found the Astrotrain concept sketch from "Stormbringer" I believe it was in the TPB .
Murasame
I thought this early preview meant that they would at least show something more this weekend. Maybe at least one cool figure each of the last two nights. Don't think they will do something on sunday night, will they?
SouthtownKid
It probably also makes sense that two of the things people are most excited about from Titans Return– Fort Max and Powermaster Optimus — are the things they are holding back. Biggest for last.
Murasame
so, nothing new this weekend anymore?
Fanatic97
I'm not seeing anything akin to an RID panel :/
Johntimus Prime
I understand that they don't want to reveal everything planned for the year just yet, but the little taste they gave us just makes me want more.
Dachande
If the 'early reveals' were it, I'm kind of disappointed. I thought we'd at least see an actual titan for Titans Wars.
Johntimus Prime
Yeah, I thought there was another thing this weekend.
Murasame
Is there a panel this night again?
Fanatic97
Wasn't there supposed to be stuff on RID?
Rodimus Prime
I never cared for Bludgeon (or pretenders in general), dunno who Yoketron is, and didn't pay attention to Animated outside of getting Rodimus. I have, however, always been more of a comic fan.
doomtron
Thank you I always thought there was something familiar about her
Johntimus Prime
Maybe it's just me, but Windblade's face makes me think of Nijika:
Which also seems to be influenced by kabuki.