The Energon Pub

[Robogeek1973]

A possible Computron huh?


Cool.


I'd LOVE to see every freaking combiner made, even though I know it'll never happen.

Cool yes! I would love to see that as well.

I won't be completely satisfied until I have an updated Lio Kaiser in Devastator's new scale.

Yes to Liokaiser, meh to the scale. I'd be perfectly happy if we just get what is considered standard for Combiner Wars. Heck, if we get Bruticus and Computron, I'll just make my own Liokaiser!

To be honest, I'd be fine with a standard size CW Lio Kaiser as well, but the thought of a Titan sized one with 6 Voyagers just makes me soooooo happy.

Soooo, what y'all are saying is you want that breast(force)

Sure do. I would motorboat a Generations Liokaiser all day, every day.

Indeed.

[Moosey]

Sure do. I would motorboat a Generations Liokaiser all day, every day.

BAD TOUCH!! BAD TOUCH!! (JonTron, anyone?)

[Rated X]

To clarify the post I made last night, I added the following text to the news post.

Just to be 100% clear, if Hasbro does not allow photos of these products at this event, then we kindly ask that you abide by their request. We are not asking people to break rules and that was not our intention with our request. We don't want anyone risking their job or their access to Toy Fair plus we want to stay on Hasbro's good side too! If nothing else, this just adds to the excitement and continued discussion about one of the most anticipated Transformers toys ever.

Offering a fee for exclusive use of someone's photos is not unprofessional nor is it shady as some have implied or stated. Peaugh made an excellent point about whether or not this sets an example for how images are obtained going forward. It is something I considered. However, in this instance, I wanted to try something different by upping the ante so to speak.

Perhaps I should have used the word "fee" or "commission" instead of "bounty". Visions of Death's Head were running through my head and I thought the term "bounty" would be more entertaining to read and not sound as boring on a Transformers website as "fee" or "commission" does.

Offering financial incentives or payments for photographs for news stories is a practice widely used outside of Transformers fansites (particularly with mainstream/traditional newspapers and magazines). I wanted to try something new to shake things up and to see if someone could come up with something for us to use exclusively. At the very least, it could give us some additional advertising if people decided to use the watermarked images.

To those of you who are frustrated with this request, feel that it is a bad precedent, or just want to take shots at myself or Seibertron.com, I'm sorry that you feel that way. It was not my intention to upset anyone nor do I want anyone to do something they're not supposed to do in order to provide us with pictures (hence the clarification). Hopefully, in the end, this just adds another element to the excitement we are all feeling for this highly anticipated Transformers toy.

I do have a few potential leads out of this. Hopefully we'll have pictures of Devastator within the next few days.

Boy people are sensitive! I say there is a bounty on Devy's head. Thank You for creating and maintaining an excellent site.

I second that! An excellent site, and while I understand the need to CYA when it comes to Hasbro, I'm sure that most people took the term 'bounty' in the spirit it was intended.

I actually think those leaked images were the right thing to do. At the end of the day it's the FANS who are going to end up buying the figures at retail price, not the snobby investors who get invited to these toy fairs. Probably the fat guy was the one "guarding" against pictures. The minute he turned his back they caught him slipping. I think the leak benefited us because now Hasbro has to go into damage control mode. The leaked pics made the reveal look like crap. (especially the upside down peg leg) Now Hasbro has the opportunity to serve up some good pics quick. And hopefully they learned a thing or two about all this silly secrecy. How many times has Funpub gotten screwed with the Botcon reveals for being all super secret? When will they learn the best marketing strategy is to just put it out there and say "Hey look what we got coming, buy it".

[Moosey]

To clarify the post I made last night, I added the following text to the news post.

Just to be 100% clear, if Hasbro does not allow photos of these products at this event, then we kindly ask that you abide by their request. We are not asking people to break rules and that was not our intention with our request. We don't want anyone risking their job or their access to Toy Fair plus we want to stay on Hasbro's good side too! If nothing else, this just adds to the excitement and continued discussion about one of the most anticipated Transformers toys ever.

Offering a fee for exclusive use of someone's photos is not unprofessional nor is it shady as some have implied or stated. Peaugh made an excellent point about whether or not this sets an example for how images are obtained going forward. It is something I considered. However, in this instance, I wanted to try something different by upping the ante so to speak.

Perhaps I should have used the word "fee" or "commission" instead of "bounty". Visions of Death's Head were running through my head and I thought the term "bounty" would be more entertaining to read and not sound as boring on a Transformers website as "fee" or "commission" does.

Offering financial incentives or payments for photographs for news stories is a practice widely used outside of Transformers fansites (particularly with mainstream/traditional newspapers and magazines). I wanted to try something new to shake things up and to see if someone could come up with something for us to use exclusively. At the very least, it could give us some additional advertising if people decided to use the watermarked images.

To those of you who are frustrated with this request, feel that it is a bad precedent, or just want to take shots at myself or Seibertron.com, I'm sorry that you feel that way. It was not my intention to upset anyone nor do I want anyone to do something they're not supposed to do in order to provide us with pictures (hence the clarification). Hopefully, in the end, this just adds another element to the excitement we are all feeling for this highly anticipated Transformers toy.

I do have a few potential leads out of this. Hopefully we'll have pictures of Devastator within the next few days.

Boy people are sensitive! I say there is a bounty on Devy's head. Thank You for creating and maintaining an excellent site.

I second that! An excellent site, and while I understand the need to CYA when it comes to Hasbro, I'm sure that most people took the term 'bounty' in the spirit it was intended.

I actually think those leaked images were the right thing to do. At the end of the day it's the FANS who are going to end up buying the figures at retail price, not the snobby investors who get invited to these toy fairs. Probably the fat guy was the one "guarding" against pictures. The minute he turned his back they caught him slipping. I think the leak benefited us because now Hasbro has to go into damage control mode. The leaked pics made the reveal look like crap. (especially the upside down peg leg) Now Hasbro has the opportunity to serve up some good pics quick. And hopefully they learned a thing or two about all this silly secrecy. How many times has Funpub gotten screwed with the Botcon reveals for being all super secret? When will they learn the best marketing strategy is to just put it out there and say "Hey look what we got coming, buy it".

In a way, I do kind of agree with this. Like X said, it's us, the fans, buying the toys, so we deserve pictures, but the pictures were technically against the rules to be taken, so I'm a bit conflicted on whether I support these kinds of things or not, though I do always enjoy these little teasers.

[william-james88]

Liokaiser was the best-built up and best-portrayed G1 combiner anyway, so I'd be down for one as well.

So long as it's Liokaiser-looking enough instead of some haphazard Superion redeco.

Just in case we dont even get that, I am currently giving my fan combiner torso superion with 2 plane arms and will ask for lio kaiser colors in the next round.

[Tsutsukakushi]

Whatever happened to that Canadian Toyfair that Hasbro attends?

[Peridot]

To clarify the post I made last night, I added the following text to the news post.

Just to be 100% clear, if Hasbro does not allow photos of these products at this event, then we kindly ask that you abide by their request. We are not asking people to break rules and that was not our intention with our request. We don't want anyone risking their job or their access to Toy Fair plus we want to stay on Hasbro's good side too! If nothing else, this just adds to the excitement and continued discussion about one of the most anticipated Transformers toys ever.

Offering a fee for exclusive use of someone's photos is not unprofessional nor is it shady as some have implied or stated. Peaugh made an excellent point about whether or not this sets an example for how images are obtained going forward. It is something I considered. However, in this instance, I wanted to try something different by upping the ante so to speak.

Perhaps I should have used the word "fee" or "commission" instead of "bounty". Visions of Death's Head were running through my head and I thought the term "bounty" would be more entertaining to read and not sound as boring on a Transformers website as "fee" or "commission" does.

Offering financial incentives or payments for photographs for news stories is a practice widely used outside of Transformers fansites (particularly with mainstream/traditional newspapers and magazines). I wanted to try something new to shake things up and to see if someone could come up with something for us to use exclusively. At the very least, it could give us some additional advertising if people decided to use the watermarked images.

To those of you who are frustrated with this request, feel that it is a bad precedent, or just want to take shots at myself or Seibertron.com, I'm sorry that you feel that way. It was not my intention to upset anyone nor do I want anyone to do something they're not supposed to do in order to provide us with pictures (hence the clarification). Hopefully, in the end, this just adds another element to the excitement we are all feeling for this highly anticipated Transformers toy.

I do have a few potential leads out of this. Hopefully we'll have pictures of Devastator within the next few days.

Boy people are sensitive! I say there is a bounty on Devy's head. Thank You for creating and maintaining an excellent site.

I second that! An excellent site, and while I understand the need to CYA when it comes to Hasbro, I'm sure that most people took the term 'bounty' in the spirit it was intended.

I actually think those leaked images were the right thing to do. At the end of the day it's the FANS who are going to end up buying the figures at retail price, not the snobby investors who get invited to these toy fairs. Probably the fat guy was the one "guarding" against pictures. The minute he turned his back they caught him slipping. I think the leak benefited us because now Hasbro has to go into damage control mode. The leaked pics made the reveal look like crap. (especially the upside down peg leg) Now Hasbro has the opportunity to serve up some good pics quick. And hopefully they learned a thing or two about all this silly secrecy. How many times has Funpub gotten screwed with the Botcon reveals for being all super secret? When will they learn the best marketing strategy is to just put it out there and say "Hey look what we got coming, buy it".

Quit being so obnoxiously entitled. I hope that was clear enough. We will see this, officially, in like two weeks.
The guy in front was very likely setting up the display. Notice the Devy box lying on the floor and the lanyard he's wearing, marking him as a Hasbro employee.
Also, this was a corporate event for retailers looking for new product to sell. Those "snobby investors" are the people who are going to be selling these toys. Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us; they all send representatives. That's why the most we normally see from these types of things are cheap licensed products designed to fill shelves. It is definitely not a public convention and we aren't supposed to see this.

[SkyWarpt]

To clarify the post I made last night, I added the following text to the news post.

Just to be 100% clear, if Hasbro does not allow photos of these products at this event, then we kindly ask that you abide by their request. We are not asking people to break rules and that was not our intention with our request. We don't want anyone risking their job or their access to Toy Fair plus we want to stay on Hasbro's good side too! If nothing else, this just adds to the excitement and continued discussion about one of the most anticipated Transformers toys ever.

Offering a fee for exclusive use of someone's photos is not unprofessional nor is it shady as some have implied or stated. Peaugh made an excellent point about whether or not this sets an example for how images are obtained going forward. It is something I considered. However, in this instance, I wanted to try something different by upping the ante so to speak.

Perhaps I should have used the word "fee" or "commission" instead of "bounty". Visions of Death's Head were running through my head and I thought the term "bounty" would be more entertaining to read and not sound as boring on a Transformers website as "fee" or "commission" does.

Offering financial incentives or payments for photographs for news stories is a practice widely used outside of Transformers fansites (particularly with mainstream/traditional newspapers and magazines). I wanted to try something new to shake things up and to see if someone could come up with something for us to use exclusively. At the very least, it could give us some additional advertising if people decided to use the watermarked images.

To those of you who are frustrated with this request, feel that it is a bad precedent, or just want to take shots at myself or Seibertron.com, I'm sorry that you feel that way. It was not my intention to upset anyone nor do I want anyone to do something they're not supposed to do in order to provide us with pictures (hence the clarification). Hopefully, in the end, this just adds another element to the excitement we are all feeling for this highly anticipated Transformers toy.

I do have a few potential leads out of this. Hopefully we'll have pictures of Devastator within the next few days.

Boy people are sensitive! I say there is a bounty on Devy's head. Thank You for creating and maintaining an excellent site.

I second that! An excellent site, and while I understand the need to CYA when it comes to Hasbro, I'm sure that most people took the term 'bounty' in the spirit it was intended.

I actually think those leaked images were the right thing to do. At the end of the day it's the FANS who are going to end up buying the figures at retail price, not the snobby investors who get invited to these toy fairs. Probably the fat guy was the one "guarding" against pictures. The minute he turned his back they caught him slipping. I think the leak benefited us because now Hasbro has to go into damage control mode. The leaked pics made the reveal look like crap. (especially the upside down peg leg) Now Hasbro has the opportunity to serve up some good pics quick. And hopefully they learned a thing or two about all this silly secrecy. How many times has Funpub gotten screwed with the Botcon reveals for being all super secret? When will they learn the best marketing strategy is to just put it out there and say "Hey look what we got coming, buy it".

Quit being so obnoxiously entitled. I hope that was clear enough. We will see this, officially, in like two weeks.
The guy in front was very likely setting up the display. Notice the Devy box lying on the floor and the lanyard he's wearing, marking him as a Hasbro employee.
Also, this was a corporate event for retailers looking for new product to sell. Those "snobby investors" are the people who are going to be selling these toys. Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us; they all send representatives. That's why the most we normally see from these types of things are cheap licensed products designed to fill shelves. It is definitely not a public convention and we aren't supposed to see this.

I take it you've never heard of purposely leaked video game/movie footage?

[Peridot]

To clarify the post I made last night, I added the following text to the news post.

Just to be 100% clear, if Hasbro does not allow photos of these products at this event, then we kindly ask that you abide by their request. We are not asking people to break rules and that was not our intention with our request. We don't want anyone risking their job or their access to Toy Fair plus we want to stay on Hasbro's good side too! If nothing else, this just adds to the excitement and continued discussion about one of the most anticipated Transformers toys ever.

Offering a fee for exclusive use of someone's photos is not unprofessional nor is it shady as some have implied or stated. Peaugh made an excellent point about whether or not this sets an example for how images are obtained going forward. It is something I considered. However, in this instance, I wanted to try something different by upping the ante so to speak.

Perhaps I should have used the word "fee" or "commission" instead of "bounty". Visions of Death's Head were running through my head and I thought the term "bounty" would be more entertaining to read and not sound as boring on a Transformers website as "fee" or "commission" does.

Offering financial incentives or payments for photographs for news stories is a practice widely used outside of Transformers fansites (particularly with mainstream/traditional newspapers and magazines). I wanted to try something new to shake things up and to see if someone could come up with something for us to use exclusively. At the very least, it could give us some additional advertising if people decided to use the watermarked images.

To those of you who are frustrated with this request, feel that it is a bad precedent, or just want to take shots at myself or Seibertron.com, I'm sorry that you feel that way. It was not my intention to upset anyone nor do I want anyone to do something they're not supposed to do in order to provide us with pictures (hence the clarification). Hopefully, in the end, this just adds another element to the excitement we are all feeling for this highly anticipated Transformers toy.

I do have a few potential leads out of this. Hopefully we'll have pictures of Devastator within the next few days.

Boy people are sensitive! I say there is a bounty on Devy's head. Thank You for creating and maintaining an excellent site.

I second that! An excellent site, and while I understand the need to CYA when it comes to Hasbro, I'm sure that most people took the term 'bounty' in the spirit it was intended.

I actually think those leaked images were the right thing to do. At the end of the day it's the FANS who are going to end up buying the figures at retail price, not the snobby investors who get invited to these toy fairs. Probably the fat guy was the one "guarding" against pictures. The minute he turned his back they caught him slipping. I think the leak benefited us because now Hasbro has to go into damage control mode. The leaked pics made the reveal look like crap. (especially the upside down peg leg) Now Hasbro has the opportunity to serve up some good pics quick. And hopefully they learned a thing or two about all this silly secrecy. How many times has Funpub gotten screwed with the Botcon reveals for being all super secret? When will they learn the best marketing strategy is to just put it out there and say "Hey look what we got coming, buy it".

Quit being so obnoxiously entitled. I hope that was clear enough. We will see this, officially, in like two weeks.
The guy in front was very likely setting up the display. Notice the Devy box lying on the floor and the lanyard he's wearing, marking him as a Hasbro employee.
Also, this was a corporate event for retailers looking for new product to sell. Those "snobby investors" are the people who are going to be selling these toys. Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us; they all send representatives. That's why the most we normally see from these types of things are cheap licensed products designed to fill shelves. It is definitely not a public convention and we aren't supposed to see this.

I take it you've never heard of purposely leaked video game/movie footage?

I have, but I find it very unlikely that this was intentional.

[Emerje]

Man, if you step away from the topic for just a few hours you end up behind by a bunch of pages. Catch up time.

An upside down Mixmaster sounds like a cost cutting decision to me, use the back of the truck as a foot and no need to have the cab section flip up. It baffles me that something so clearly designed to be G1 then goes and stuffs it at the last hurdle and could cause those that REALLY like their G1 to be bang on G1 to think twice.

I would think that in a modern version of Mixmaster getting the same effect as the upturned truck cab from the G1 figure would be just a matter of him bending at the knees. It wouldn't require any sort of special joint to do that. I wonder if the entire figure has been made upside down? I hope it really was just a matter of a confused rep gluing him on upside down, but it still looks like the back end "foot" is on a pivot...

Using CW Silverbolt as a heavily retooled Scattershot. Using CW Brawl as a retooled CW nosecone. Using a CW Aerialbot as a retooled Strafe. Using a CW Stunticon as a retooled CW Lightspeed. Using CW Groove as a retooled CW Afterburner.

I'm with you on most of that, but if the Protectobots really are somewhat futuristic in their looks then Lightspeed would perhaps use the new Streetwise mold. I doubt Afterburner will have to be a Legends class like Groove just because he has two wheels. I think he'll be a lot like Chromia, a sort of 2-wheeled car, but obviously using a different mold.

From the info were getting from TFW. Looks like CW Defensor has at least Four confirmed new molds so far. Hotspot, First Aid, Streetwise and legends class Groove. Lets not forget some CW combiners are Six man teams not Five.

Don't think anyone might care if CW Blades is a recolor of CW Alpha Bravo. As many suspect this mold was initially meant for blades from the start. So depending on perspective, some might consider this a new mold for Defensor.

CW Groove is a legends class Sixth member. Which I find odd. Wonder where it will go on the combiner. Targetmaster, Chest plate, Knee cap or?

Wondering what the Fifth member will look like. could be a repurposed CW mold or new mold. if it's a new mold, Thinking it's a automatic repurpose figure meant for another CW Combiner.

I think Alpha Bravo was intended to be Vortex since he basically has his head and has missiles which would be pointless on a rescue helicopter.

I'm thinking Groove is a "Targetmaster" (I know that's a popular thing to call it, but I don't like using it for just any robot that turns into a gun) since the comic version (if it's any real indication of what to expect) has a G1 chest instead of a robot turned into a chest plate.

If the leaked bio is accurate then it lists Rook (the new guy) as an armored truck (not an armored car, that's something else) so most likely a repaint/remold of Offroad.

Emerje

[Rated X]

To clarify the post I made last night, I added the following text to the news post.

Just to be 100% clear, if Hasbro does not allow photos of these products at this event, then we kindly ask that you abide by their request. We are not asking people to break rules and that was not our intention with our request. We don't want anyone risking their job or their access to Toy Fair plus we want to stay on Hasbro's good side too! If nothing else, this just adds to the excitement and continued discussion about one of the most anticipated Transformers toys ever.

Offering a fee for exclusive use of someone's photos is not unprofessional nor is it shady as some have implied or stated. Peaugh made an excellent point about whether or not this sets an example for how images are obtained going forward. It is something I considered. However, in this instance, I wanted to try something different by upping the ante so to speak.

Perhaps I should have used the word "fee" or "commission" instead of "bounty". Visions of Death's Head were running through my head and I thought the term "bounty" would be more entertaining to read and not sound as boring on a Transformers website as "fee" or "commission" does.

Offering financial incentives or payments for photographs for news stories is a practice widely used outside of Transformers fansites (particularly with mainstream/traditional newspapers and magazines). I wanted to try something new to shake things up and to see if someone could come up with something for us to use exclusively. At the very least, it could give us some additional advertising if people decided to use the watermarked images.

To those of you who are frustrated with this request, feel that it is a bad precedent, or just want to take shots at myself or Seibertron.com, I'm sorry that you feel that way. It was not my intention to upset anyone nor do I want anyone to do something they're not supposed to do in order to provide us with pictures (hence the clarification). Hopefully, in the end, this just adds another element to the excitement we are all feeling for this highly anticipated Transformers toy.

I do have a few potential leads out of this. Hopefully we'll have pictures of Devastator within the next few days.

Boy people are sensitive! I say there is a bounty on Devy's head. Thank You for creating and maintaining an excellent site.

I second that! An excellent site, and while I understand the need to CYA when it comes to Hasbro, I'm sure that most people took the term 'bounty' in the spirit it was intended.

I actually think those leaked images were the right thing to do. At the end of the day it's the FANS who are going to end up buying the figures at retail price, not the snobby investors who get invited to these toy fairs. Probably the fat guy was the one "guarding" against pictures. The minute he turned his back they caught him slipping. I think the leak benefited us because now Hasbro has to go into damage control mode. The leaked pics made the reveal look like crap. (especially the upside down peg leg) Now Hasbro has the opportunity to serve up some good pics quick. And hopefully they learned a thing or two about all this silly secrecy. How many times has Funpub gotten screwed with the Botcon reveals for being all super secret? When will they learn the best marketing strategy is to just put it out there and say "Hey look what we got coming, buy it".

Quit being so obnoxiously entitled. I hope that was clear enough. We will see this, officially, in like two weeks.
The guy in front was very likely setting up the display. Notice the Devy box lying on the floor and the lanyard he's wearing, marking him as a Hasbro employee.
Also, this was a corporate event for retailers looking for new product to sell. Those "snobby investors" are the people who are going to be selling these toys. Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us; they all send representatives. That's why the most we normally see from these types of things are cheap licensed products designed to fill shelves. It is definitely not a public convention and we aren't supposed to see this.

I'm not a corporate suck up. I got the cash, so show me the product. You don't see this kind of BS in auto shows displaying next years newest models. They display them proudly for photographers to share with the world. Toys are not more important than cars that they need to be kept a big secret. If they Hasbro wanted to keep a secret that bad, they shouldn't be uploading product names into TRU computers where they know TF fans work. Furthermore, if it's already listed in TRU computers, that means they have already made their decision to sell it. There's no need to send a TRU rep to Germany to examine a floppy prototype.

[chuckdawg1999]

I thought it was a cool and ballsie move made by a man trying to keep things fun and exciting for his patrons and peers. You know, upping the game.
Granted, I know first hand you don't want to go messing with toy company's NDAs. They go nutzoid over that stuff.
Way to cover your tracks Seibertron, and thanks for keeping it fun for everyone.

Seibertron.com is #1!

I agree 100% paying for leaked pics is no different than paying for express EMS shipping to get the new batch of "Must Have" toys to review; even if they were taken off the assembly line. I also agree with the few people who've said this is a TOY show, I don't get the whole NDA thing, it's not like Mattel is going to see this and rush out to shelves their 6 robot combining toy Destructor. We know things can change and get canceled, it's the way of life. No need for pat down searches at a toy show.

Wouldn't it be funny if that Streetwise was the BH Prowl repaint done for that Asian market set as a stand in?

Computron makes sense since I felt that there just weren't enough figures being released to cover a whole year. Good to know the CW will continue on too.

[Tsutsukakushi]

Hasbro has the right to limit exposure of there products at toyfair. Toyfair is not for the fans, it's for the companies and the press.

Fans have the conventions that Hasbro sometimes shows up at and shows off newer products.

Please lets not turn this thread into a nasty free for all. With replies trying to fight the big corporation.

Hasbro probably has reasons why they limit fans from taking pictures and sharing info at the European toy fairs. those reasons could be as such.

1. Not to give competitors like Bandai, mattel and others more info than is needed.

2. Perhaps Hasbro gave exclusive pics and info rights to a magazine, paper, press, network, site or?

3. Hasbro might want to release all the info and pics publicly at a bigger event like the New York Toyfair.

4. The KO and 3rd party problem they have. Where Hasbro needs to reveal newer products as late as possible. So KO and 3rd party companies don't copy it and release it before HasTak does.

Please lets show some patience. The New York Toyfair is only Two weeks away.

Even if we don't see any reveals. It's not the end of the world. There are other things more important in life than lifeless plastic toys.

[RhA]

There are other things more important in life than lifeless plastic toys.

Name one.

[leakin' lubricant]

To clarify the post I made last night, I added the following text to the news post.

Just to be 100% clear, if Hasbro does not allow photos of these products at this event, then we kindly ask that you abide by their request. We are not asking people to break rules and that was not our intention with our request. We don't want anyone risking their job or their access to Toy Fair plus we want to stay on Hasbro's good side too! If nothing else, this just adds to the excitement and continued discussion about one of the most anticipated Transformers toys ever.

Offering a fee for exclusive use of someone's photos is not unprofessional nor is it shady as some have implied or stated. Peaugh made an excellent point about whether or not this sets an example for how images are obtained going forward. It is something I considered. However, in this instance, I wanted to try something different by upping the ante so to speak.

Perhaps I should have used the word "fee" or "commission" instead of "bounty". Visions of Death's Head were running through my head and I thought the term "bounty" would be more entertaining to read and not sound as boring on a Transformers website as "fee" or "commission" does.

Offering financial incentives or payments for photographs for news stories is a practice widely used outside of Transformers fansites (particularly with mainstream/traditional newspapers and magazines). I wanted to try something new to shake things up and to see if someone could come up with something for us to use exclusively. At the very least, it could give us some additional advertising if people decided to use the watermarked images.

To those of you who are frustrated with this request, feel that it is a bad precedent, or just want to take shots at myself or Seibertron.com, I'm sorry that you feel that way. It was not my intention to upset anyone nor do I want anyone to do something they're not supposed to do in order to provide us with pictures (hence the clarification). Hopefully, in the end, this just adds another element to the excitement we are all feeling for this highly anticipated Transformers toy.

I do have a few potential leads out of this. Hopefully we'll have pictures of Devastator within the next few days.

Boy people are sensitive! I say there is a bounty on Devy's head. Thank You for creating and maintaining an excellent site.

I second that! An excellent site, and while I understand the need to CYA when it comes to Hasbro, I'm sure that most people took the term 'bounty' in the spirit it was intended.

I actually think those leaked images were the right thing to do. At the end of the day it's the FANS who are going to end up buying the figures at retail price, not the snobby investors who get invited to these toy fairs. Probably the fat guy was the one "guarding" against pictures. The minute he turned his back they caught him slipping. I think the leak benefited us because now Hasbro has to go into damage control mode. The leaked pics made the reveal look like crap. (especially the upside down peg leg) Now Hasbro has the opportunity to serve up some good pics quick. And hopefully they learned a thing or two about all this silly secrecy. How many times has Funpub gotten screwed with the Botcon reveals for being all super secret? When will they learn the best marketing strategy is to just put it out there and say "Hey look what we got coming, buy it".

Quit being so obnoxiously entitled. I hope that was clear enough. We will see this, officially, in like two weeks.
The guy in front was very likely setting up the display. Notice the Devy box lying on the floor and the lanyard he's wearing, marking him as a Hasbro employee.
Also, this was a corporate event for retailers looking for new product to sell. Those "snobby investors" are the people who are going to be selling these toys. Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us; they all send representatives. That's why the most we normally see from these types of things are cheap licensed products designed to fill shelves. It is definitely not a public convention and we aren't supposed to see this.

The point is why are we not allowed to see it? We know it's being made, we know it's being sold in stores. There is no need for the secrecy, this is the first official G1 themed Devy since its original release it is gonna fly off the shelves, Hasbro have no reason to create a shed load of mystery about its release.

[Emerje]

You don't see this kind of BS in auto shows displaying next years newest models. They display them proudly for photographers to share with the world. Toys are not more important than cars that they need to be kept a big secret. If they Hasbro wanted to keep a secret that bad, they shouldn't be uploading product names into TRU computers where they know TF fans work. Furthermore, if it's already listed in TRU computers, that means they have already made their decision to sell it. There's no need to send a TRU rep to Germany to examine a floppy prototype.

Yeah, no. An auto show is like the equivalent of Comic Con. Toy Fairs aren't Comic Con, they're trade shows for the industry and press. The automotive industry, the electronics industry, the game industry, the animation industry, you name it they all do the exact same thing. Closed door events designed to give insiders a look into the future. You aren't told about these things because, to be honest, you don't need to know about them, not at this stage. You might have the money, but they don't have the product so what difference does it make to either of you?

Let me let you in on something from the inside: Hasbro doesn't handle their own PR, they use a PR firm and they aren't exactly forthcoming with information. I'm in contact with a lot of reps that work for their toy company and their great to talk with, but PR firms are tough to deal with, they don't like to share. It would be so much easier on us industry writers if we could just talk to a rep at the company and get answers, but PR agents don't have answers beyond what's on their own press release.

Emerje

[Roadbuster]

We're not allowed to see it because it's probably not done yet. Keep in mind that the thing probably hasn't been put through the drop tests or anything like that. When it's done, hasbro will show us what we are getting.

We've gotten a glimpse. Least we can confirm it is more towards the classic Devastator than IDW, so that speculation can be put to rest. As said, Toyfair is not in the plans. It will be Botcon where this guy will be unveiled. Be patient!

Personally, I'd like to know it it's going to have a retractable visor so fans can have their two-optics or visor Devastator.

[peaces]

all's fair in love and war. this is all part of the game. the chase. when people stop talking about you, that's when you should worry.

[RhA]

I don't see the immediate need for full-blown pictures. I like the sense of anticipation.

[ZeroWolf]

Well the perfect timed release of snaps is a great advertising strategy. It works as well especially if the item is something as universally desired as devestator. Hasbro will make a lot of money this year.

For anyone that can remember, did the armada Unicron bring such excitement?

[Roadbuster]

It did, once we heard he was coming. I still remember when the first images leaked and were promptly taken down shortly after. I seem to remember the fandom exploding in joy.

[padfoo]

To clarify the post I made last night, I added the following text to the news post.

Just to be 100% clear, if Hasbro does not allow photos of these products at this event, then we kindly ask that you abide by their request. We are not asking people to break rules and that was not our intention with our request. We don't want anyone risking their job or their access to Toy Fair plus we want to stay on Hasbro's good side too! If nothing else, this just adds to the excitement and continued discussion about one of the most anticipated Transformers toys ever.

Offering a fee for exclusive use of someone's photos is not unprofessional nor is it shady as some have implied or stated. Peaugh made an excellent point about whether or not this sets an example for how images are obtained going forward. It is something I considered. However, in this instance, I wanted to try something different by upping the ante so to speak.

Perhaps I should have used the word "fee" or "commission" instead of "bounty". Visions of Death's Head were running through my head and I thought the term "bounty" would be more entertaining to read and not sound as boring on a Transformers website as "fee" or "commission" does.

Offering financial incentives or payments for photographs for news stories is a practice widely used outside of Transformers fansites (particularly with mainstream/traditional newspapers and magazines). I wanted to try something new to shake things up and to see if someone could come up with something for us to use exclusively. At the very least, it could give us some additional advertising if people decided to use the watermarked images.

To those of you who are frustrated with this request, feel that it is a bad precedent, or just want to take shots at myself or Seibertron.com, I'm sorry that you feel that way. It was not my intention to upset anyone nor do I want anyone to do something they're not supposed to do in order to provide us with pictures (hence the clarification). Hopefully, in the end, this just adds another element to the excitement we are all feeling for this highly anticipated Transformers toy.

I do have a few potential leads out of this. Hopefully we'll have pictures of Devastator within the next few days.

Boy people are sensitive! I say there is a bounty on Devy's head. Thank You for creating and maintaining an excellent site.

I second that! An excellent site, and while I understand the need to CYA when it comes to Hasbro, I'm sure that most people took the term 'bounty' in the spirit it was intended.

I actually think those leaked images were the right thing to do. At the end of the day it's the FANS who are going to end up buying the figures at retail price, not the snobby investors who get invited to these toy fairs. Probably the fat guy was the one "guarding" against pictures. The minute he turned his back they caught him slipping. I think the leak benefited us because now Hasbro has to go into damage control mode. The leaked pics made the reveal look like crap. (especially the upside down peg leg) Now Hasbro has the opportunity to serve up some good pics quick. And hopefully they learned a thing or two about all this silly secrecy. How many times has Funpub gotten screwed with the Botcon reveals for being all super secret? When will they learn the best marketing strategy is to just put it out there and say "Hey look what we got coming, buy it".

Quit being so obnoxiously entitled. I hope that was clear enough. We will see this, officially, in like two weeks.
The guy in front was very likely setting up the display. Notice the Devy box lying on the floor and the lanyard he's wearing, marking him as a Hasbro employee.
Also, this was a corporate event for retailers looking for new product to sell. Those "snobby investors" are the people who are going to be selling these toys. Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us; they all send representatives. That's why the most we normally see from these types of things are cheap licensed products designed to fill shelves. It is definitely not a public convention and we aren't supposed to see this.

I'm not a corporate suck up. I got the cash, so show me the product. You don't see this kind of BS in auto shows displaying next years newest models. They display them proudly for photographers to share with the world. Toys are not more important than cars that they need to be kept a big secret. If they Hasbro wanted to keep a secret that bad, they shouldn't be uploading product names into TRU computers where they know TF fans work. Furthermore, if it's already listed in TRU computers, that means they have already made their decision to sell it. There's no need to send a TRU rep to Germany to examine a floppy prototype.

Auto makers do have similar events, and people do crazy things to get spy shots. Auto makers also disguise the heck out of there test mules (ever see those blurry Zebra taped car photos, there everywhere ). All the cars that got revealed at the last auto show
had these nasty grainy photos and rumor/speculation floating around around for years.
As for Toyrus, they are a toy store so they are vested in variety and exclusivity, for differentiation sake. Stores like Target need to be sold on the idea of carrying this expensive toy that limited appeal. They might carry a few online but not in there thousands of brick and mortar locations because of the financial loss.

[Desslok2201]

Hasbro has the right to limit exposure of there products at toyfair. Toyfair is not for the fans, it's for the companies and the press.

Fans have the conventions that Hasbro sometimes shows up at and shows off newer products.

Please lets not turn this thread into a nasty free for all. With replies trying to fight the big corporation.

Hasbro probably has reasons why they limit fans from taking pictures and sharing info at the European toy fairs. those reasons could be as such.

1. Not to give competitors like Bandai, mattel and others more info than is needed.

2. Perhaps Hasbro gave exclusive pics and info rights to a magazine, paper, press, network, site or?

3. Hasbro might want to release all the info and pics publicly at a bigger event like the New York Toyfair.

4. The KO and 3rd party problem they have. Where Hasbro needs to reveal newer products as late as possible. So KO and 3rd party companies don't copy it and release it before HasTak does.

Please lets show some patience. The New York Toyfair is only Two weeks away.

Even if we don't see any reveals. It's not the end of the world. There are other things more important in life than lifeless plastic toys.

Numbers 1&4: Bingo.

[ZeroWolf]

It did, once we heard he was coming. I still remember when the first images leaked and were promptly taken down shortly after. I seem to remember the fandom exploding in joy.

Ah thanks so yeah I'm moving towards the motion that hasbro know what they're doing and are feeding the hype train even more. The downside is of course is if they deliver a product that woefully falls short of the hype,then they got to deal with the fan backlash. Kids getting bought it though won't care so hasbro's true market will still eat it up. As long as they market it to the kids right.

In that aspect they really could of done with putting devastator in the new cartoon.

[Desslok2201]

At this point, I'm not really concerned about whether or not that leak was intentional, and more about the Computron 'leak'. In the original post, it sure sounded like an offhand remark, almost wishful thinking.
Kind of like if I say, "oh, and Liokaiser IS happening"