Hasbro have sent out details for the upcoming Cybertron Con 2016 set to take place in China at Shanghaimart Expo from July 29th to 31st. The convention will be the biggest Transformers fan celebration ever held in China. Check some key highlights below, and read the full press release after the break!
·Toy Exhibit – Cybertron Con 2016 will treat visitors to a unique toy exhibit which will include hundreds of the most iconic Transformers toys from each point in franchise history
·Peter Cullen Appearances – The original Voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen, will be in Shanghai to hold fan meeting panels and limited autograph sessions on each day of the convention
·Other Notable Appearances – Cybertron Con will include panel discussions and autograph opportunities with many of the most notable names in the Transformers franchise, including: Transformers Prime concept artist Walter Gatus, Hasbro Development director of Hasbro’s TV and film division Josh Feldman, Takara Tomy designers Shogo Hasui and Yuki Hisashi and veteran writers from the Transformers IDW comic series Sara Pitre-Durocher, James Raiz and Alex Milne
·Larger than Life Bots – The event will feature a five-meter high Optimus Prime statue, as well as a number of other costumed Autobot and Decepticon characters roaming the expo floor
·Limited Edition Collectibles – Attendees will have the chance to purchase many limited edition Transformers merchandise, including San Diego Comic-Con special edition products
·TF Tmall – Cybertron Con will include the launch of the TF Tmall flagship store, which will host a series of promotions and other surprises throughout the convention
·Fan Art Competition – Fans can share their Transformers-related works of illustration, coating and modeling and have them rated by special guests. Winners will receive huge prizes and the potential opportunity to work on official Transformers production
·Family Zone – A special area for the tiniest Transformers fans, the Family Zone will allow kids and parents to create their own Transformers characters at the 3D Brush Workshop, partake in a coloring game and much more
Cybertron Con Landing in Shanghai this Summer
Hasbro Brings Authentic Transformers Global Celebration to Chinese Fans
July 12, 2016, Shanghai – Today Hasbro Inc. officially announced that the 2016 TRANSFORMERS Cybertron Con will be presented to Chinese fans at the Shanghaimart Expo in Shanghai from July 29th to 31st. The convention will be the largest Transformers fan celebration ever held in China, offering attendees the chance to engage with the brand, experience some of the latest toys and consumer products, view exclusive previews of Transformers content and meet some of the most notable names associated with the franchise, including concept designers, illustrators, writers and voice actors.
From the earliest toy series launched by Takara, to Hasbro’s popular G1 TV series, through comics, video games and feature films, the Transformers brand has become deeply rooted in the hearts of fans around the world. The original animated series debuted on TV in the 1980s in China and has become a shared childhood memory for a generation. TRANSFORMERS Cybertron Con will take fans on a journey through the history of the Transformers franchise, exhibiting hundreds of the most iconic toys released between the brand’s launch in the early 1980s through some of the best-selling items available today.
The convention will also offer fans the chance to interact with a five-meter high Optimus Prime Statue and costumed characters of other notable Autobots and Decepticons which are customized for Shanghai Cybertron Con.
One of the biggest VIP guests at Cybertron Con will be Peter Cullen, the voice actor behind Optimus Prime. Peter has worked on the Transformers franchise for more than 30 years and has provided his talents to each of the blockbuster feature films inspired by the brand. He will host fan meeting panels on both days of the convention, with a limited 150 autograph opportunities each day for fans to buy.
Other notable attendees will include Walter Gatus (concept artist of Transformers: Prime), Josh Feldman (Development director of Hasbro’s TV and film division) and Takara Tomy designers Shogo Hasui and Yuki Hisashi from Takara Tomy, who are responsible for numerous well-known Transformers characters. The two designers will attend the autograph session for three days and attend the Q&A session at main stage on Saturday and Sunday.
TRANSFORMERS Cybertron Con will also feature appearances from Sara Pitre-Durocher,James Raiz and Alex Milne, who have each written for IDW’s Transformers comic series.
Fans in attendance can also take part in a fan works contest, in which Transformers-related works of illustration, coating and modeling are to be rated by special guests. Amateur competitors from China can bring extraordinary works with them. If you have some talent to offer, join the Fan Art Competition before July 15, 2016, and showcase your passion and imagination with the best of your works. This Fan Art Competition are endorsed by Hasbro and IDW. Winners will be rewarded with abundant of prizes, as well as potential opportunities to work on official Transformers production. This is truly a dream come true for the fans.
Devoted players will turn the trial play area of the Game Zone into a battlefront. For collectors, Hasbro will bring San Diego Comic Con special edition products to 2016 Cybertron Con. Additionally, over 20 Hasbro authorized dealers will be on hand selling various products, including hundreds of types of authorized toys. Their booths will occupy much of the 8500 square meter exhibition hall.
Fans are also welcomed to bring their children to the family zone at TRANSFORMERS Cybertron Con, which is orchestrated for parent-child interaction. Kids can create their own Transformers’ characters at 3D Brush Workshop, enjoy the unique Transformers coloring game, and send postcards with exclusive stamp on it to their beloved superheroes at Transformers-themed post-office. There are also various interesting games waiting for the new generation of fans to have a try.
Additionally, TF Tmall flagship store will be launched officially on the same day of TRANSFORMERS Cybertron con opening, in which, there will be a series of promotions and some surprises brought from the Cybertron Con. Please visit our Tmall or Cybertron Con Website for more information. Stay tuned!
“TRANSFORMERS Cybertron Con in Shanghai is an important event for Hasbro and the Transformers franchise as a whole,” said Michael Zhang, Country Head, Hasbro China. “The Chinese public has been extremely receptive to the Transformers brand, and it’s exciting to bring such a marquee event to them directly. Hasbro strives to offer fans new and immersive brand experiences, and this convention will deliver on that with rich content, engaging exhibits and live interactions.”
Vicky Au, the Managing Director from FM Group, organiser of 2016 TRANSFORMERS Cybertron Con, said to the reporters: “I’m sure the TRANSFORMERS Cybertron Con in Shanghai will be an unprecedented celebration. FM Event will try its best to ensure that fans and audience at the Con have a wonderful time. There is even one more good news: ‘Transformers Challenge’, the large indoor sport challenge event licensed by Hasbro, will be launched on August in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Every challenger will wear a RFID bracelet which records the score of each challenge to redeem souvenir. Come together with your friends and families in summer!”
To find out more about Cybertron Con, please click www.cybertroncon.cn
G1 Evac
My family and I really enjoyed Cybertron Con last year.
Wish there will be one again this year in China! If not, I really hope they will bring Hascon to China next year, I am sure my wife and kid will have a blast while I go absolutely mad with joy!
Novamus prime 3
.
On the side if the box
Nevermore
No. Where do you see it?
Novamus prime 3
Anyone else see the deception symbol on optimus\'s box?
Lord Dcast
I still wish they'd make a Dinobot out of Generations Springer. They had a prototype that went nowhere.
T-Hybrid
Cheetor isn't single use. They can reuse the entire mold save for his bot and cheetah head. That's plenty enough to go on. And they have a ready made black repaint in Shadow Panther/Ravage.
I wouldn't get your hopes up for a true BW Dinobot update unless you're okay with something like a Titans Return Grimlock retooling/repaint.
BladeStorm
I've finally had time to upload Peter Cullen's second panel from Cybertroncon for those interested.
Once again I apologise for the shakiness due to our unpreparedness at our first con. We are a lot closer to Peter in this one so the sound should be a bit better.
Verno
Considered, for sure. Especially Grimlock. The Dinobot mold was the stronger of the two beasts we got, but like Cheetor, was brought down by an unnecessary gimmick — namely the launcher in the tail.
I'm confident Dinobot will get a Generations update in the not too distant future, and a Voyager sized figure at that.
G1Prowl
And the interesting thing to me is that Cheetor was originally the mold that Tigatron was redecoed from. I honestly think that the only reason there wasn't a repaint/remold of Universe Cheetor OR Dinobot for that matter is because of their location near the end of the Universe 2.0 line. I'm not going to go into how many Cheetors and Dinobots were pegwarming in every store in my area because 1. I don't have photographic proof and 2. someone will come in to say how they couldn't keep those two on the shelf while Rachets were everywhere, so it is irrelevant. However, since several A/E/C molds were planned for the line and moved to the Movie line, as well as Fracture apparently being intended for Uni 2.0 (source TFWiki), I have absolute faith that a Tigatron and possibly a BW Grimlock were at least considered.
SPLIT LIP
That should have been the show's tagline.
Lord Dcast
We're more likely to get Zodiac-themed TFs instead of Beast Wars.
(That was a Q joke BTW)
Fallout
well, the statue does have anatomically accurate genitalia, and i'm pretty sure tigatron's sack was hanging around all the time in the show. you sure you're a true fan?
oh wait, they probably censored it in the canadian version. no testies in Beasties, huh?
Verno
That's the interesting thing. Cheetor is the single-use mold. You can't do a straight redeco of a cheetah into any of the other big cats.
Tigatron, on the other hand, as a larger white tiger, has much more potential.
There's Shadow Panther/Tripredacus Agent/Ravage:
As well as doing a normal tiger deco, as Tigatron's toy was originally planned to be:
MP Beast Wars figures in the future (as well as BW figures in the Generations line) are in an interesting position. Hasbro and TT like to get as many uses out of a mold as possible, but most of the BW characters will need one-off molds.
Essentially, Hasbro and TT will rely on wave-mates of these figures selling well to account for the lack of redeco/retool potential of the BW figures.
But from the reaction within the fandom, I think TT's faith will be rewarded by strong sales of both MP Primal and Cheetor.
G1Prowl
Verno, I root for you and your love for BW. But dude, it'd take an act of Primus to get Takara and Hasbro to decide to crank out a single mold use of a new Tigatron engineered from the ground up. I know you hate hearing it, but unless they can squeeze at least one repaint/remold from it, I wouldn't hold my breath.
Dinobot Nuva
Possibly. Conventions like this in the past sometimes source fan or employee collections for displays like these. The extra tiger statue may have been someone's stand-in for Snowstalker.
Verno
Could be for Generations? He did have the role of a reconnaissance scout, sent in first to infiltrate and investigate…
But I'm probably just jumping to conclusions.
SPLIT LIP
Only problem with that Tigatron statue is the fact that it's not CGI-accurate like Primal was.
Verno
Part of me thinks it could end up being a completely new mold. The same layout and transformation, but there's a fair bit of bulk that needs to be added.
G1Prowl
I wonder how much remolding it would take to get Tigatron out of Cheetor, with the MP coming out. And for that matter, I'm wondering why we didn't get a remold if not a repaint of Universe Cheetor as Tigatron.
PredaconElder
Cheap tourist souvenir. You can even see the base that comes with the statue. I think they still sell these in China.