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Transformers Animated

Transformers Animated news from Japan and for the Hasbro run. Check out images for the Japanese Animated exclusive toys, show details and character info.

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Transformers Animated never got a proper ending, but TFNation joined with Transformers historian Chris McFeely and AllSpark Almanac author Jim Sorenson to bring a 60-page fan-fiction of the highest order: The Transformers Animated: Trial And Error Graphic Novel. It also featured incredible art by Ed Pirrie, Herzs Palter and Gavin Spence with luscious lettering by Andrew Turnbull with an amazing cover and character design by Josh Perez. This great fan effort was available only as a limited print run for lucky TFNation 2017 attendees.

With just a few hours left for Christmas to end, TFNation is giving all Transformers Animated fans a great final Christmas gift. Check out TFNation blog for a free download of this comic in two formats: A low-res web friendly pdf file or a high-res printable pdf.

Merry Christmas one and all! We are sure many fans would be more than happy to access to this material. Once you download and read your comic, don’t forget to share your impressions on the 2005 Boards!

under Animated, Conventions

At his panel on Sunday 18 August 2019, Marty Isenberg shared some additional details on Transformers Animated, including a few more things we might have seen in a possible Season 4.

Some key points included how Hasbro wanted to do some toys (Powermaster Optimus Prime and Marauder Megatron) and how this would have influenced the show. There was also reference to how Optimus Prime would have got his Movie flames (another toyline influence, intended to sell a redecoed Optimus). Spare a thought also for Beachcomber – the team wanted to have him killed off in Season 3, in a cut scene. He’d have died in Season 4 instead, and if that got cut, he’d have died in Season 5.

Lastly, they never fully figured out Sari’s story. But Sari’s true purpose would have figured into the series finale.

Read on for all the details from the panel.

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under Animated, Conventions

We’re at TFNation 2019 and the presentation of Transformers Animated Season 4 has just concluded.

To recap, in lieu of a script reading at this year’s TFNation, Marty Isenberg took to the stage with the outline for what would have been the premier of Transformers Animated Season 4: The Trial of Megatron. This was presented by the entire original voice cast reading their parts of the outline.

The highlights of this three-part story that wasn’t are:

  • The Protoforms are handed over to the Cyber Ninjas and their new sensei, Dai Atlas.
  • Sari is not one of the protoforms. She’s something else.
  • A wake is held for Prowl.
  • Ultra Magnus dies and names Optimus Prime as his sucessor.
  • Sentinel Prime bribes Bumblebee with a spot on the Elite Guard to endorse him as Ultra Magnus’ successor. This drives a wedge between him and the rest of the team. He later reconciles by refusing to follow along with Sentinel’s bribery.
  • Ratchet and the other science bots build Sentinel Prime a “Powermaster” armor suit.
  • Ironhide and Jazz become members of Team Prime.
  • Omega Supreme has a hard time fitting in on Cybertron as people view him as a weapon of mass destruction. Omega decides to dedicate himself to saving lives.
  • The Decepticons attack the Energon farm Bulkhead came from. Obsidian leads the attack. A later raid sees Team Prime sans Bumblebee fight Strika’s Team Charr.
  • Sentinel gets played by Megatron, first leading the Elite Guard on a wild goose chase then distracting everyone with a public trial.
  • Rattrap (here named Rattletrap) is Megatron’s defence attorny. He gets Megatron off all charges.
  • Megatron launches Trypticon Prison into space.
  • Optimus (using the Powermaster armour) leads his team on Omega Supreme in pursuit. Bulkhead stays behind on Cybertron to fix the damage Trypticon launching caused.
  • Omega VS Trypticon leads to Omega being damaged and remaining in ship mode.
  • Optimus and crew (minus Ratchet) break into Trypticon prison and knock the rocket city’s power offline by overloading the power grid.
  • Megatron throws his soldiers into the city’s reactor in a desperate bid to keep the prison powered (Lugnut jumps in willingly)
  • After a showdown with Optimus Prime, Trypticon prison crashes to Earth – landing on top of Dinobot Island.

A huge thanks to the TFNation crew for organising this event, Marty Isenberg for sharing this with those in attendance and the entire Transformers Animated voice cast for reuniting to reprise their roles.

The performance was presented in aid of Mary’s Meals. You can donate to this good cause at www.marysmeals.org.uk/donate

under Animated, Generations / Classics, Transformers Movie Toys & Products

Design Decode had the pleasure of interviewing Alexander Kubalsky, an Australian toy designer who worked with Takara Tomy to bring us many memorable Transformers toys.

As we edge closer to the release of Transformers: Bumblebee live action movie, we should not forget to thank Mr. Alex Kubalsky; for he is not only the main engineer of the Classics Bumblebee but also the co-engineer of Movie Bumblebee (2007) as well as Animated Bumblebee.

…I eventually realised that the transformation itself can have an art or meaning to it. It does have to just be a functional process to get it from form A to form B; it can also be about the journey. I call this Signature Transformation.

In this concept the transformation movement should either relate somehow to the character or creature that it becomes. For example, I once designed a Bumblebee Transformer that did the helicopter breakdance movement with his legs as he transformed so the end user gets to experience a sense of drama or character as they transform the toy. When I was at TakaraTomy in Japan I wrote a piece explaining this titled “We are not engineers, we are dance choreographers”

*****

I like how when you look at a Transformer in its initial state, its surface is riddled with cut lines, recessed sections for the clearance of moving parts, and recessed holes with exposed screws – the necessary sacrifice to the otherwise smooth surface of its form if it didn’t need to transform.

Instead of viewing these engineering constraints as a compromise to art we should see it as just another tool or medium in the art. I don’t think engineers can benefit too much from art. We need their stoic and objective resolve to pair with the artist, not compete.

*****

When I started at Takaratomy on the Transformers action figures I noticed that they had been designing their robot forms with very straight backs and legs like they were standing to attention. If you were to look directly at the side of one, the neck, shoulder, pelvis, knee, and ankle joints were all in a vertical line top to bottom. I suggested that we move the shoulder line back, make him seem more confident, move the pelvis line forward, make him seem more arrogant etc.

The result was that if you look at a lot of Transformer toys designed between 2005 and 2009 you see this stance start to move. There is a curve through the form. They used to call it the ‘Kubalsky S’. This small addition added more drama in the robot form and I think Takaratomy still use this idea in the Transformer toy line today.

You can check out the full interview at Design Decode. We also mirrored some of the cool engineering sketches and prototypes shared with the article.

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under Animated

Transformers Animated proved to be a very popular series and collection among fans. It’s good to ahve some news or extra information about it after a while. We can share some new Transformers Animated Concept Art by Japanese Designer Watanabe Yoshihiro for your viewing pleasure.

4 concept art images were uploaded via Yokishiro’s T weeter. We can clearly spot an early version of Optimus Prime in a very cartoonish-style. We have other three images for different characters. These images may go back to the early days of “Transformers Heroes”, the first early idea that then became Transformers Animated.

You can check out the mirrored images after the break, and then you can share your impressions on the 2005 Boards!

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under Animated, General Articles, History of Transformers

On 26 December 2007, a new Transformers show, Transformers Animated, made its debut with a three episode pilot which launched a new and different take on the Transformers mythos. Where Optimus Prime was once the supreme commander of the Autobot forces, now he was just a lowly starship captain of a spacebridge repair crew. The Decepticons were powerful and formidable, and the setting was an Earth 50 years into the future, where high technology made robots commonplace and technologically enhanced super villains a part of life.

This was Transformers Animated. We’ve chosen to mark its ten-year anniversary today, on the anniversary of its first non-pilot episode airing, to reflect how Transformers Animated was Transformers in the year 2008, sandwiched between two movie years. We’re also going to dive into how Transformers Animated was a show cut tragically short by a combination of circumstances, and what its lasting legacy has been.

Read the full discussion after the break!

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under Animated

Autobovolt on Twitter has shared an image of a cancelled TFCC Sari Sumdac that is part of the contents of the previously reported Japanese Transformers Animated Anthology book .

Based on the final robotic form of the Autobots’s friend in “Transformers Animated”, it used the Generations Windblade mold with an appropiate new head and colors. Sadly for Transformers Animated fans, this mold was cancelled and there are no news that it will be released in the future.

Update: Fellow 2005 boards user Masabon has also shared information a picture of other of other cancelled figures like:

  • BW Megatron (Body is Animated Grimlock – pictured)
  • BW Optimus Primal (Body is Sentinel Prime – pictured)
  • Wreck-Gar (Body is PRIME Breakdown new head – not pictured)
  • Unknown name (Coloring near Yoketron, Body is Voyager class Brainstorm, New face) – not pictured

You can check the full images and join to the discussion after the jump.

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under Animated

Transformers Animated has reached ten years old! Since its premiere at the end of 2007 this series has held a special place in the hearts of the fans and the show’s creators, and this anthology collects artwork from many of those who love the series. Thanks to TFW2005 member Masabon, we are able to share a selection of the artwork from artists including Naoto Tsushima, Derrick J. Wyatt, Marcelo Matere, Josh Burcham, Alex Milne, Josh Perez, Hayato Sakamoto, Masaru Sakamoto (Kill La Kill), Gentro (@GENgoraw), Jesse Wittenrich, and more! Check out the selection of pieces after the break.

under Animated, Armada, Cybertron, Energon, Generation 1, Rescue Bots, Robots in Disguise 201x, Transformers Prime

Hasbro Studios issued their latest Sales Guide document for the press and interested parties today via their official website.

The Los Angeles production studio highlights new and old Transformers related shows available with them and are offering them to local/international markets.

It’s interesting to note that Hasbro Studios has revised the Episode Count of Transformers: Robots In Disguise, reducing it to 45 from last year’s guide (link below) which highlights it as 78. This official announcement reiterates the details revealed from the brochure at MIP2015 Conference and Asia TV Forum & Market Expo.

Total line up is as follows:

  • Transformers: Robots In Disguise – 45 X 22 minutes
  • Transformers: Rescue Bots – 104 X 22 minutes
  • Transformers: Prime – 65 X 22 minutes
  • Transformers: Prime Predacons Rising – 1 X 66 minutes
  • Transformers: Generation 1 (1984 – 1987)
  • Transformers: Armada (2002 – 2003)
  • Transformers: Energon (2004 – 2005)
  • Transformers: Cybertron (2005 – 2006)
  • Transformers: Animated (2007 – 2009)

Check out the links for both 2014 and 2015 Hasbro Studios Sales Guide documents and screenshots, after the jump.

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under Animated, Conventions

For those who got to attend Botcon 2015 in St Charles this past weekend, one of the show highlights was the script reading, which returned the audience to the universe of Transformers Animated one more time.

For those who did not get to attend, you’re in luck! Courtesy of TFW2005 member Onslaught24, we can share a recording of the script reading. Check it out below: