I just got the book. It is very cool. It basically begins where the Japanese
Transformers Collection book left off 2 years ago (for reference
http://cgi.ebay.com/Transformers-Collection-2007-Action-Toy-Guide-Art-Book_W0QQitemZ280311048310QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item280311048310&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A3%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318) . It is similar in style and quality as the former. Lots of detailed pictures showing numerous angles and gimmicks for each bot printed on high quality paper.
There are 100 pages. Each robot gets 1-4 pages. The book covers all of the Henkei figures and nicely includes a frame for each Hasbro version for comparison. The only Henkei not included were Red Alert, Smokescreen, and the Minibots (they'll probably be in volume 2).
For Binaltechs & Masterpiece it has: Arcee, Blue Streak, Argent Meister, Convoy, MP US Edition Starscream, MP Thundercracker, and Grimlock. The details of Grimlock are very cool and include the transformation process. Sorry...can't give away secrets.
For Encore, the book covers from Ironhide through Hoist. (Optimus, Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave were covered in the
Transformers Collection). The cassettes and Bruticus were not included, but will probably be in the next volume.
For the miscellenious figures you'll see - Mickey Mouse, Music Label Soundblaster & Exile Label Convoy, along with all the exclusives for the past two years.
Now for the fun part. The reason why this book is called "generations" is because it spans all 25 years ("Generations" is also the campaign name used on Takara Transformers website). Volume 1 gives us an in depth view of all the G1 Optimus Primes ever made (legitimately). Eight pages of Takara & Hasbro Primes showing all the large and small variations between each. There must be 20 Primes shown. I would imagine that the next volume will do something similar, perhaps with a different figure.
The other cool feature of this book is the concept art. Some very interesting, old, and outlandish artwork has been pulled from some dusty archive hidden below Takara's HQ. There are drawings of Powered Convoy (Ultra Magnus). But the armor shown is more similar to the Go-Bot power suits than to the G1 figure. For example, motorcycles are used for the arms and legs. Some other cool drawings include Prime's trailer transforming into a combat vehicle, and Prime himself had a different transformation and head (very Victory looking).
I highly recommend this book if you are into concept art and like referencing Japanese figures from numerous angles.
