Thanks to Ras and Another or our 2005 Boards, we have confirmation out of the UK that Supercon Optimus Prime, Blurr, the Space Team, the Destruction Team and the Adventure Team are all packaged with Universe CDs while on the original blue Armada cardbacks not the Battles of Unicron cardbacks. Variant collectors keep your eyes peeled. Word!

Thanks to Orson for updating his forum today by answering a ton questions from the fans!
Orson clarified a few things about Japanese exclusives, Transformers Alternators and the 20th Anniversary Prime!
Click the “Read More” to see all the questions he answered!
, King Atlas or “King Atlus”? Just wondering if you could please clear up that spelling issue.

ATLAS

Over the past coming 20 years we've all seen the ark inside and out, along with the nemesis topped with beast wars' axalon and dark side but we've never really seen any kind of toy or anything of them im not saying we need huge scale playsets of them but has the possibility of doing a little line of ships and stuff ever come into the collective mind at hasbro? i mean, i think it would be hella kool to see the Ark, Nemesis, etc done up the same way as your Star Wars “Action Fleet” line.

way ahead of you….O

Hey Orson, I've been reading this board for a while and hadn't seen this asked. I was just curious if when you guys are designing the Transformers, do you do anything on the computer in 3D before physical prototypes are made?

1% of the time

You said that anything plastic was available for Universe and Diecast was for g1. We never got any toys from Beast wars 2 and beast wars neo aside form one of the dinobots in the walmart exclusives. And also some in beast machines. So will we be able to get some of the japanese beast wars toys issued here domestically? The molds seem relatively new and “available” since takara used them.

Most of the animal they did are not what we are looking for (giraffe, rabbit, penquin, horse). Universe isnt just new toys to the US but a reintroduction of cool toys that will drive kid sales as well as collector sales. I am doing my best to walk the middle road. Orson

Looking at the OFTCC photos, it appears that the super-bright red and blue paint actually detracts from all the glorious detail you've endeavoured to pack into the toy, and frankly makes him look less like the $75 masterpiece that he is, and more like another quasi-simplistic child's plaything. Was the OFTCC sample just a fly-by-night one off, or does this protoype represent what we can actually expect in terms of the finished product? While I can't speak for everyone, I personally feel that the toy should be a bit more muted, as to avoid obscuring all the intensive labor that has obviously been poured into this figure. Perhaps slightly duller matte paints, rather than the retina-popping primary color gloss ones we've seen?

We are following a Animation color theme. There will be more metallic in the paint but I do not think it will be muted or dull. O

Will the alternators line have more than one size class of toy? With alternators being a G1 redux line, and two members already revealed to be G1 characters…..will they be recieving updated tech specs? or re-using the old ones?

NO plans for a story or tech specs currently. Since they are out of normal continuity we have not decided on how to handle them. I think of them as a “Ultimate universe” kind of thing. Sorry. Orson

E-hobby has done a wonderful service to Transformers fans by making new characters using old molds. I know I love it… Unfortunately, importing them can be expensive, and the Takara molds, while exactly like the originals, are more fragile than the Hasbro versions. Is there any chance of us getting new characters like Clamp Down, Deep Cover, Sunstorm, etc. here in the US, even as an online exclusive? Or should I just continue to import?

NO, if they are exclusives in Japan we will not do them here. We are working on our own items. MTC O

THANKS to Orson for taking the time out of his day to answer fan questions! Keep up the good work! Word.