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One of the great perks of living in Japan is being able to get Japanese Transformers and products as soon as they are released. And if you haven’t guessed already – I live in Japan; so last week I picked up the new Transformers Collection 2007, by Dengeki Hobby Books.

I have added this article to this forum because of all the Transformers toy pictures that it contains.

The book, itself, is 95 pages long and includes Transformers from Takara from 2004 – 2007. The book is divided into five sections:
Part 1 - Movie 2007
Part 2 - KISS Players
Part 3 - Technical Transformers
Part 4 - Various Transformers
Part 5 - Transformers Extras

Not much is known about this book (partly because it is written in Japanese); but don’t let that stop you from picking it up. Large, clear, and colorful pictures fill the entire book and are printed on fine quality paper. The figures are laid out according to their toy number. Each character has a stats listing and description. The photos show the figures in robot mode, alt mode, close-up head shots, gimmicks, and automorph features. There is also lots of concept art, which add hours of interest even for non-Japanese readers.


Part 1 – Movie 2007
The Movie 2007 includes figures all the way up to MA-15 Long Arm & MD-17 Payload. Limited movie figures are also included such as Re-entry Protoform Optimus Prime & Starscream, Lawson Metallic Gold Bumblebee, and FAB Frenzy.



Part 2 – KISS Players
This section has great photos of figures, accessories, concept art, and of course the three girls that get little respect from the fans. Two additional pages feature a KISS comic and story board.


KISS Gallery Artwork and Story




Part 3 – Technical Transformers
This section covers all of the Binaltechs as well as the Masterpieces. You’ll find lots of detailed pictures as well as side by side comparisons. In addition this section contains some very interesting concept art.


Binaltech sample photos




Prowl in both modes




Concept art of Prowl with a different modeled head



Black Convoy & Mirage




Concept art of Mirage with a different modeled head



Concept art of Ai from Binaltech Astericks




Concept art of Ford Mustang convertible




Concept art of Megatron using the Ford Mustang mold




Sample photos of MP Convoy




Concept art of MP Megatron – Note: opening chest, the Heart of Cybertron and Spark, Key to Vector Sigma, Gun and Hilt store in leg compartments




Part 4 – Various Transformers
This area is jam packed with all the other Transformers that didn’t fit in the other sections: Beast Wars, Sports Label, Music Label, Encore, Hybrid, and Revoltech. If you have been having a tough time keeping up with all of the merchandise spawned from Transformers movie then you’ll love this section because it contains all of the limited figures such as the Microns, RPG toys, statues, Titaniums, and more.


Beast Wars – Note TM-SP DXConvoy & DXMegatron at the bottom. These are the first pictures of them to be seen.




Sports Label Transformers – Lots of concept art!




Concept art - plan B and C




Limited Transformers




Part 5 – Transformers Extras
This chapter contains an interview with Masahiko Yamazaki, who discusses Takara’s involvement in the Transformers movie. A Transformers check list can be found on the very last two pages.

Ballin'!

Awesome read and great pics. Found out some things that I did not know about. This being the key one which blew me away:

Note: opening chest, the Heart of Cybertron and Spark, the Key to Vector Sigma, and the gun and dagger hilt store in the leg compartments

Great book, I wish it was translated and released here (which I Know it won't *sigh*), I love that concept art for the Binaltechs and Masterpieces.
Although, those KISS players girls still freak me out.

EDIT: Wait, on the final product, MP Megatron's chest doesn't open, does it?

Cyber-Kun wrote:Although, those KISS players girls still freak me out.

QFT. Some things are cross-cultural.

Zeds wrote:Awesome read and great pics. Found out some things that I did not know about. This being the key one which blew me away:

Note: opening chest, the Heart of Cybertron and Spark, the Key to Vector Sigma, and the gun and dagger hilt store in the leg compartments

Is that actually a feature? My MP05 is packed away because I am moving, but can someone confirm that the chest does open and all these items are present inside?
I dont remember seeing any way to open his chest compartment.

Or are these just concepts that never came to be?

I have Masterpiece Megatron right in front of me right now and can categorically say that the chest does not open. If anything the chest is hollow when you look up through the space and gives no indication of there being anything in there even remotely resembling the images above.

That got my hopes up for a second lol.

Sid Burn wrote:

Zeds wrote:Awesome read and great pics. Found out some things that I did not know about. This being the key one which blew me away:

Note: opening chest, the Heart of Cybertron and Spark, the Key to Vector Sigma, and the gun and dagger hilt store in the leg compartments

Is that actually a feature? My MP05 is packed away because I am moving, but can someone confirm that the chest does open and all these items are present inside?
I dont remember seeing any way to open his chest compartment.

Or are these just concepts that never came to be?

Sadly they are only concepts and were never put into effect.

For some reason, Megatron's head looks better in the drawings than on the finished product.

i wish mp megs really looked like that.

Thanks for sharing. I want a Mustang convertible Megs!!!!

Dig some of those crazy designs for the shoes!

Thanks for this. The opening chest, Spark and Heart of Cybertron would have been too sweet. Imagine if you posed TM Megatron infront of this guy and opened his chest. Such an iconic scene recreated to scale (ish).

I love seeing concept art and production models, getting an insight of what could have been and how they reached the final product.

Great review! I was going to give a pseudo-review of the book once I got it. I found it fairly priced on Ebay from a USA seller here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=002

Now I'm more excited than ever to "read" it!

Brilliant concepts! I wish Meg's chest could open up, but I guess that'd be stretching an already stretched mold.

Hook a brotha up, I love that sort of thing.

I got this book too. Its a very nice book, but wish its more extensive. I was hoping it would have covered some old G1 stuff, as well as others, sort of like a brief histroy of TF toys, but no. Just whatever that is current, and the BT, Alt, and MP, with the Movie toys being the center stage. But I do enjoy it a lot still.

Do you have a copy of
Transformers: Identification and Price Guide by Mark Bellomo ?

That is another excellent book covering almost all the G1 toys released in the USA. And it's in English.

mpchi wrote:I got this book too. Its a very nice book, but wish its more extensive. I was hoping it would have covered some old G1 stuff, as well as others, sort of like a brief histroy of TF toys, but no. Just whatever that is current, and the BT, Alt, and MP, with the Movie toys being the center stage. But I do enjoy it a lot still.

Vegitron wrote:Do you have a copy of
Transformers: Identification and Price Guide by Mark Bellomo ?

That is another excellent book covering almost all the G1 toys released in the USA. And it's in English.

No I don't have that. But might have seen it before at bookstore. I can actually read some Japanese, and I always like their book layout and nicer pictures. But if I come across that book you mentioned, I might take a look if its worth getting. Thanks.

I would have preferred the opening chest and spark instead of the pistol and dagger. I wonder if the chest was conceived to also hold the matrix.

It is also interesting to see that Megatron's cannon is smaller in the picture than the actual one.

I would love an English copy! And your right, Japan does get alot of cool stuff!!!!!

Man I wish some of those guys would be made into real toys. They look great, easy to transform and more durable, unlike the movie toys

We own a few and for actual (careful) RPG play they just stink compared to Classics. "Okay, I need to transform (Leader Class Prime) Ultra Magnus this turn. *5 minutes later* Where were we?"

Classics? No problem.

Stormrider wrote:I would have preferred the opening chest and spark instead of the pistol and dagger. I wonder if the chest was conceived to also hold the matrix.

It is also interesting to see that Megatron's cannon is smaller in the picture than the actual one.

Yeah, but all that would have made sense

Thanks for the Pics Stormrider, looks like a nice little book to have for future reference!

Did I not say waaaaaay before Megs was even in development that he needed a spark & Key to Vector Sigma would've been bitchin features for a MP Megatron!?! Well, I did. The Heart of Cybertron wasn't that big of a deal.....but this would've been awesome. *sigh* Oh well. This just means more for major kitbasher to do.....hehe

Thanks for the review! I passed one this when I saw it because it was polybagged and didn't want to gamble 3,000 en. Now I'm reconsidering.