The Private Universe was in attendance at UK Toy Fair 2010, and brings us the 1st images of the new Transformers at the event! Here’s is how they described the scene:
Movie stuff on display including leader Starscream and Bludgon. Game tie in figues from War on Cybertron where on the stand – present where Prime and Bumblebee, dulxue size only is the only price point for this range. Both where in cybertron vehicle mode.Picture above shows power core combiners. She described them as 5 legend sized figures that combine. They look great.
Battle Ops bumblebee on show price between leader and supreme points – £60ish – Looked cool.
RPMs where a surprise, the hot wheel sized cars. New higher price point called Stealth Force. The cars transformed into a battlemode with gun etc, poping out. The Prime was moterized with sound effects. I was told Bay liked this and is planning on using the idea.
Click on the thumbnail to the left to see the 1st images of Seaspray, Bruticus from the PowerCore Combiners 5 packs, and the new deluxe Ironhide!



RedAlert Rescue
At this point excluding the Animated toys (and one possible as yet to be released Universe Branded Store Exclusive Hasbro might make – MP Grimlock maybe ?)
I think all the red packed and yellow packed items are Movie toys including Powercore Combiners.
And the only toys that are not movie toys are the Animated Exclusives any left over 2009 Store exclusives sold as Universe and The 'Generations Deluxe Assortment'.
The listing for the 2010 Voyager figures was a little imprecise – but since we've seen Bumblebee in a Yellow packet and Seaspray in a yellow packet – and there was talk of a new packaging style coming into play in a few months I'd guess that was what was being refered to.
Initially I thought Hasbro was talking about the Transition from ROTF boxes to NEST boxes – but it looks like only a few toys will have NEST packaging and they are going to change the packets again…. since we only have a sample of Deluxes in red boxes (san ROTF mention) it's the Deluxe boxes i'm curious about – will the 'Generations toys' also be packed in red – but feature a line specific tag line on the box (with a design like the sample we saw for Sideswipe) or will they be an as yet unsee design to Generations Deluxes?.
But for the time being I'm finding the whole red / yellow packaging thing a bit confusing.
Ravenxl7
It hasn't been confirmed, yet. Though the way we first heard about the four WfC themed figures and a Deluxe Drift figure (the thread that was taken down), the way it was said suggested that there would be a separate line called Generations. Could easily just be another sub-category to the Transformers 2010 line, which is basically a catch-all instead of having several separate lines out at the same time (movie, universe, pcc's, rpm's, etc…). As for Seaspray, there's definitely movie influence, but I personally wouldn't count him as a movie figure.
All-in-all this year is going to be a little confusing. Especially when trying to categorize figures into different lines. Personally, I'm going to get the figures I like, and then put them into the parts of my collection that I think they match the best. Take Seaspray for example. There's definitely some movie influence, but I'm still going to put him on my Classics shelf, along with any PCC's I get. I'll most likely just put the WfC figures in the Universe part of my collection, depending on how many get made.
Deadend
Can someone direct me to where we were confirmed on generations as a name?
Cause previously when mentioned that universe was over, and I stippulated that they could just start a new name like generations or what not, I was just giving examples, and have yet to hear any confirmation on whether or not this is indeed happening.
I'd just like to make sure i'm on the same page for info as you guys, and not getting hyped up for a line that doesn't exist.
Because so far, the only rumors I had heard for a 'universe 3.0' was sea spray and drift, one of which has been shown to be a movie like line, and the other only RPM so far, with what I hope is the deluxe for it coming… (but chances are it's the deluxe throttlebot in PCC).
The only thing we know officially is it's called "Transformers" now with subline titles.
Universe was finished after the last of the repaints and exclusives as stated hasbro, so universe 3.0 does not exist. This is the new packaging that'll probably carry over to any repaint releases like those.
I do hope generations is real though, we do need a line as an outlet for Animated (Kupp and springer please!) G1, IDW, BW-BM, Movie, etc.
And this way they can do the same as star wars does. With all styles under one main header making distribution easier and variety more abundant.
And again, Movie-Verse devastator doesn't mean anything on Gestalts. We were told from the start that movie devastator was going to be multi-vehicles into one bot, even the story suggests that alts were because they were on decepticon file, and the clones using the same alts suggests that too. Movie Devz is just one bot multi-vehicles. The toys vary in this regard, but for accuracy the supreme toy is right. As even a part of devs DIED in the beginning of the film. So we know devastator is a different scenario of just one bot divided into several pieces.
Hasbro won't be doing that again, as generally even their drones have bot modes. (Energon, etc) The thing is, movie-verse had to deal with the issue of spark conflicts. Even Jetfire had to remove his spark for prime to use his parts.
PCC is entirely different in this regard, and reflects more towards barricade and blackout with their partners, or like ICT, or proposed originally combining of Arcee or if you will, Armada/Energon done right. This time without having to adhere to an anime. (Yes armada sold well, but imagine how much better it could have sold with a good toon, and even more indepth figures and articulation like PCC have. Not to mention better designs and interactivity across the line that's completely universal.)
closetrat
Personally anxious about a DLX Ironhide mold…
Never grabbed the Voyager Mold & I now might really be happy I waited…
RedAlert Rescue
The Seacons lived in a Swamp.. and some Transformers bio's talk about them being dirty and smelly… so I think it's perfectly reasonable for Cybertron to have some decay… you'd look a bit frayed at the edges if something had bitten a lump out out you and you festered for several Millenia.
shroobmaster
Because the on-game models look like they got ran over by a fucking MOUNTAIN on wheels?
They're dirty, gritty, wheatered and all other 20000 effects that american game design likes to overuse nowadays.
Plus, why you talk like you know the whole biology of a cartoon alien planet? As ar as you know, Cybertron ain't no medical lab.
NothingHead
Well, moving machinery generates its own dirt and debris. So a whole planet of moving, metal parts would get pretty grimey.
Valkysas
why would you expect cybertron-bound TFs to have dirt on them?
shroobmaster
The plastic coloring makes TFA look like black and white, you'd think that with how every VG toy nowadays is covered in grit and dirt paint they'd atleast TRY something.
This ain't no collector item, they're just making 'em as kid-friendly yet desirable for us as every other toy at the market in the same time, I don't see anything different in development when compared to other Deluxe figures, in fact one could argue that we've had much more collector-wank figures in the past.
RedAlert Rescue
I don't see them that way at all, Happy Meal toys don't have more than 20 points of articulation and ball joints though do they.
It's cross-branding marketing aimed at any purchaser of the Videogame – regardless if that's a youngster, a teen videogame fan or a adult transformers fan – it's a general audience line – but I'd say the quality and look is certainly a collector friendly one.
If it was more kid focused I might have though they might have made more enthesis on the mix and match weaponry idea.
shroobmaster
If WFC is a collector's only line why do they all except Bee looks like happy meal toys?
RedAlert Rescue
I think the hype for the War for Cybertron toys will piggy back on the Videogame – Most kids know what Halo or Gears of War is yes ?
If they were just War within figures – I'd say they were intended to be a fan friendly thing but as they are related to a Game I think they should do OK -since they are the main characters of the game and not just guests in one like Breakaway is.
———-
If Smoulder/Huffer/Searchlight can function as team leaders to a bunch of drone limbs then that is not really a role I even envisioned for a Throttle-bot and a Mini-bot character…
I have a horrible thought do Hasbro see Devastator as Scavenger or Mixmaster taking a bunch of NON-Transformer random vehicle and allsparking them up on the spot into limbs… are the other Constructicons even Decepticons at all – or are ones like Hightower and Scrapmetal things they just reformated from earth vehicles into armor they made on the spot in front of the viewer ?
If that is the case and they never had robot modes then perhaps this new combiner concept is the same the Legends class (more or less) limbs are just armor that any Power 'core' body can wear.
So they can be stuck on an Autobot or decepticon core with impunity… that is like making any Energon Autobot or Decepticon be capable of borrowing Energon Optimus Prime's Drones.
Also if the plugs allow connection of core-leader to a core-leader in groups of 5 then you'd end up with potentially (if the plugs allow for it) 5 scouts as the torso and limbs and 4 legends as hands/forarms and as feet and a mini-con as the chest and then a character would be made with a tiny head.
One would need a Mini-con capable of making a universal size Helmet then -essentially a Headmaster Minicon instead of a Targetmaster one !?
So far the individual figures are very much worth it in my view at least in the case of the 2 packs anyway as even if the combination function is limited they still look fun in their own right to me.
They are cube shaped and are seen as an illustration on Huffer's card. I was half wondering if they are the same shape & size as the old Special team plugs too ?
Now that would be interesting if that was the case to add a retrospecitive play value to a 25 year old set of toys would be unprecedented from Hasbro.
If they are smaller I guess someone could make adapter plugs though.
I wonder why they didn't decide to make a Seaspray more based on one of the Hovercraft/ Landing craft that is actually in ROTF – I think they are 4 engined ones?
It's sort of fun that the front of it and some of the colors look a little like The Micromaster Metrosquad Hovercraft.
Power Run (1990) – Autobot Urban Protection – http://www.tfu.info
Strikedown (1990) – Autobot Urban Protection – http://www.tfu.info
BB Shockwave
I'll still never understand how come Hasbro hasn't repainted Cybertron Shortround in Seaspray colors yet. I mean, that guy is an obvious Seaspray hommage, even transforms the same way and has a very similar body shape and head. I know, Universe had no scout class, but still. I'm currently repainting the Movie repaint (Storm Surge) into Classics Seaspray, and will use that toy for his Universe figure.
I did. I only watched the movie once, at home. That was enough as it was.
I do not hate the movie style – for some robots it suits them well, like Ransack, the Doctor, even some Constructicons. But overall the weird alien style and the totally unlikable, buglike faces made me remember most of the Beast Wars toy's faces (another thing I disliked back – look at the monstrous faces of the like of Cybershark or Torca and tell me they are supposed to be good guys).
So I' glad PCC is moving away from the movie style and back to the Universe aesthetics. We will still have tons of Movie stuff (two new leaders, and their obvious repaints to Cliffjumper and other seekers, new Voyagers and Deluxes) but us traditionalists will be finally getting something after Universe. The promised Generations toys are the icing on the cake, just like Titanium was back then – collector-oriented material, IMHO. (How many kids will recognize Drift or the WFC toys anyway?)
doomtron
it looks like we are getting a good mix this year of tf movie universe animated. we should all be happy. should being the operative word
wildfly
.
When the original Cartoon was made, they deliberately altered quite a few of the designs so that the animation models would be easier for people to relate to. On that basis, i can see why people object to the idea of alien robots that look… alien.
RedAlert Rescue
Megatron's left arm is rather like a random photo of an alluminum recycling bin.
shroobmaster
No no no, one is a pile of scrap, no special shape, just scrapped metal pile.
Megatron has a very distinct shape with threaded legs and armored thighs, plated torso, crown-like head with huge cheecks, pointy shoulders and a cannon-arm similar to a crab's.
All in all, a better comparison to Megatron's design would be a knight armor… from HELL.
RedAlert Rescue
What has got me scratching my head is the Packaging Samples are some times Yellow and sometimes red for movie toys.
Ravenxl7
Interesting. Seems as though what we thought was going to be several seperat lines, are going to be merged into one main Transformers line, just with more sub-groups than usual. Sea Spray looks good, Ironhide…not so much. His truck-mode looks fine, but his bot-mode looks like it could be kinda fiddly.
It's nice to get some official word on the PCC gimmick. Huffer and Caliburst look good, and the 5-pack combiner looks interesting. Almost looks like it's Bruticus. It'll be interesting to see what homages we get from this line. Though I don't imagine I'll be buying too many of them.