Following a turbulent year during which thousands of employees lost their jobs due to Toys R Us ceasing operations in the U.K. and Australia while moving through bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S., word comes today that Geoffrey is being given new troops to command at Tru Kids Brands.

Looking forward, the company’s No. 1 priority will be to “solidify the U.S. retail strategy for Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us,” says  [president and CEO of Tru Kids Brands and former global chief merchandising officer at Toys ‘R’ Us Richard] Barry. “While I can’t say today what that exact strategy is, we do know that we will have an omnichannel approach that is tech immersive and experiential with a smaller footprint.”

Will this entity be able to capture business from companies like Hasbro that are still feeling the sting of Toys R Us’ decline? We might learn more about that possibility as this news will surely spread during Toy Fair New York week, so stay tuned to TFW2005. Read the full press release here, then sound off on the 2005 boards!

Flame Toys updated their Twitter with some images of their upcoming model kit Furai Model 05 Thunder Cracker. This is a repaint of their Starscream model they did not too long ago. He’s priced at $36 and will come out in May.

Hasbro’s newest and most unique addition to their product lineup, Botbots, have entered the world of apparel! Yes, like the Prime Wars trilogy and the Bumblebee movie, Hasbro has created some officially licensed shirts, long-sleeve shirts, and hoodies sporting some amusing artwork and taglines featuring some of the popular faces from the Botbots line.

Want a pizza these threads? Check out the listings on Amazon here and be sure to share your thoughts and excitement in the discussion below!

Flame Toys has posted up the box artwork for their Furai Model Kit Optimus Prime on their Facebook page.

The artwork features Optimus in a dynamic pose during a battle and ready to fire. The design comes inspired by his appearance in the IDW comics. According to the information shared with the picture, the final product is coming soon and it will be delivered by the end of January or the beginning of February. 

Check out the artwork attached to this post after the jump.

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Hasbro Toy Shop’s FAQ reveals new information about upcoming website changes, to update our earlier coverage.

Can I still place an order on Hasbro Toy Shop?

Yes, you can still place orders on Hasbro Toy Shop through January 17, 2019, 11:59pm ET. No new purchases can be made on Hasbro Toy Shop after this time. We’ll be making changes beginning January 18, 2019.

Will you be relaunching an e-commerce site?

Yes; we are excited to launch our new e-commerce site in February 2019.

What brands/products will the new site include?

We are excited to share more details in February 2019 about the curated selections of brands & products that will be featured on the new site.

Do you have expectations for the new “curated” site? Will the Amazon Hasbro Hub and Hasbro Toy Shop presence on Walmart continue? Chat away on the 2005 boards!

Thanks to 2005 Boards member JomasterII for givings us the heads up of some new Transformers Evergreen Plush Toys Spotted In Australia.

These cute plush toys come in six designs: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Megatron in both robot and vehicle modes. Curiously, they were spotted not at retail stores but in a claw machine inside Victoria Gardens shopping center in Richmond, Australia. 

We hope to see these plush toys at local stores soon. Check out the image on this news post after the jump and then sound off on the 2005 Boards!

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TFW2005 member Axos shares sad news for our fellow Transformers fans in Scandinavia, noting the impending closure of Top-Toy which operates a regional chain of 295 BR Toys and Toys R Us stores employing over 2100 full time employees. This caps a year in which thousands of other employees lost their jobs as multiple business associated with Toys R Us continue to deal with the ripple effects of its revamped scale in the U.S. and ceased operations in the U.K. and Australia.

In March, Top-Toy initially took the stance of being able to ride out the impending storm:

“TOP-TOY independently operates TOYS”R”US in the Nordics under a long-term license and TOP-TOY and Toys”R”Us Inc. have no common ownership. TOP-TOY is of course monitoring the situation in the US and UK closely; but cannot speculate in the future of the Toys”R”Us brand. TOP-TOY can however assure that TOP-TOY’s stores will continue to sell toys to the children in the Nordic countries, regardless of what should happen to Toys”R”Us Inc.”

However, disappointing Christmas sales, increased digitisation, a higher number of competitors and changing play habits among children proved to be an insurmountable combination of factors that first resulted in a Danish court approved restructuring plan intended to close unprofitable stores and finally bankruptcy. A number of stores will remain open until tomorrow.

“We will today initiate discussions with the creditors on how to handle the bankruptcy estate. We can, however, advise that some stores will remain open for customers to be able to exchange their purchases to other products in these stores until end December,” says attorney Søren Aamann Jensen from Kromann Reumert, who has been appointed trustee together with attorney John Sommer Schmidt from Gorissen Federspiel.

Read the customer FAQ and recent press releases here, then share your thoughts on the 2005 boards!

Courtesy of 2005 Boards member prime roller we can share for you some great images of the recent Transformers Promotional And Sales Event In Taipei.

The event is happening at the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi (新光三越) in Xinyi (信義區), building A8, level B1 at the bottom of the big spiral slide. As we can see from the pictures, this a very nice and family-friendly event, starting with a cool Bumblebee statue at the entrance, several Bumblebee movie areas, games and spaced for kids to play with the toys. You can even win toys from a Bumblebee grab machine!

But there’s more. Big cabinets with toys for display were a great attraction too. We can spot Movie Masterpiece toys, Bumblebee Movie Energon Igniters and other related merchandising, War For Cybertron: Siege first waves, Botbots, and Studio Series toys including the newest releases like DOTM Megatron, Jetfire, Bonecrusher, WWII Bumblebee among others.

To top it all, shelves were full of ready-to-buy toys for the assistants. You could buy Power Of The Prime figures, Masterpiece Movie, Cyberverse, Energon Igniters and even items like the G-Shock X Transformers Master Optimus Prime Resonant, SS-20 Retro Pop Highway pack, and some G1 reissues like Hot Rod and the recently revealed G1 Optimus Prime (without trailer). Optimus’ box seems almost the same size as Hot Rod’s.

Check out all the mirrored images attached to this news post and then join to the ongoing discussion on the 2005 Boards!