Over the weekend at Hascon, there were more than toys on display! We have a new gallery of all the real Transformers vehicles seen at the show: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee (both old and new), and Barricade, all from the '07 movie; as well as the first car of the Dawson Transformers Racing Team (reported here)! Check out the full gallery here, or by clicking on any of the images below, and let us know what you think in the Energon Pub!
Beautiful vehicles. I miss 2007 so badly; whenever I saw those altmodes, I've always gotten a bright smile on my face. Even the Dawson car reminds me of Cybertron Override!
chuckdawg1999 wrote:FYI the links for the exclusives go to Hasbro.com and not Hasbro Toy Shop. Unless they're hidden away somewhere that I can't find on the site the exclusives aren't up yet on HTS.
As the story says, they will be available from 20 September.
Yes I know, but I want to make sure people know that those links don't go to a placeholder page on HTS that they can pin to their tab bar, and reload only for the buy link to never load so you have to go back to the main page and follow the link there only to get to the page too late and it's sold out. Ya know, like what happened with the SDCC exclusives.
But you can't order it, you can only put it on a 'wish list'. So it was either available, but sold out immediately. Or it was never available in the first place because it isn't being sold till later, and the listing is just a tease. Either way, [eyeroll][/eyeroll]
But you can't order it, you can only put it on a 'wish list'. So it was either available, but sold out immediately. Or it was never available in the first place because it isn't being sold till later, and the listing is just a tease. Either way, [eyeroll][/eyeroll]
Also coming to us from YouTube user YRQRM0, after his review of Titans Return Arcee, is the other HASCON 2017 exclusive, Power Bank Optimus Prime! A converting power bank/battery pack, in the same vein as the Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 Soundwave from last year, this version of the Autobot leader is an actual working power bank (unlike Soundwave's non-functional tablet mode), as shown in the video below. Optimus completionists, is this on your "Must Haves" list? Is anyone else hoping to pick this up? Let us know below!
I just learned that somebody at HasCon asked Hasbro about the fan club that was announced on the HasCon website several months ago, and the response he got from Hasbro was basically "We don't have any plans for a fan club at this time."
Here's a treat from the Hascon weekend: included below is a clip of a number of unreleased figures - such as movieverse Blaster from DOTM Soundwave - and grey prototypes for a number of lines, from Titans Return to Combiner Wars, to movieverse figures like Crosshairs, and a look at a never released set of Transformers: Prime damaged Bumblebee with Scraplets! We've seen images from the show already, but you can now browse the display at your convenience in the video embedded here!
This next story featuring a recording from Hascon should be seen as a follow-up to our first report on the Transformers Brand Panel, as it was taken during the second instance of the talk given on the Sunday - see our Friday report here! Featuring both Hasbro and Takara Tomy designers for several toy lines, such as Sean Isabella Carmina, Lenny Panzica and John Warden and legend Hideaki Yoke-san, the clip specifically focuses on the Q&A section of the talk, which we've transcribed below the video, too.
In addition, we're including all previously posted videos from the weekend that deal with the toys talked about in the clip, all in one convenient viewing spot!
The panel are talking about how the issues that Hideaki had 30 years ago are pretty much still the same
Would you make a combiner out of combiners? Lots of excitement, but no - nothing in the plans.
Power of Primes compatible with Titan Masters? Yes, Prime Masters and Titan Masters are interchangeable. Optimus Prime can wear TR Optimus' head in his chest.
Any plan on Titan Masters/Prime Masters multipack? It's really cool - maybe around holidays (but no solid plan).
When designing, do you start in vehicle or robot? Depends on the designer, some start from the vehicle 'as armour', but vehicle to robot makes life a little easier. Combiners start from the way out, combined mode first. Always carry a sketch book. Yoke-san also starts with vehicle first.
Titans Return line had less paint than Takara, are there going to be similar changes in Power of the Primes? It's all down to value for consumers and price points: more details, more cost. Case by case basis, really.
Came up with a Transformers zodiac - but what are your signs? Warden - Leo, Panzica- Cancer, ISabella-Carmine- Aries, Yoke- Leo.
What type of background would get you a job like this? School, industrial design degrees. Blend of engineering and art, also fashion design with toy specialisation portfolios (Panzica's experience).
Level of discussion between Powermaster Prime and Super Ginrai, there was some, yes.
Importance of spark / allspark - distinctive difference between other mech: Transformers have a 'soul'.
Transformers can scan anything and transform into it. Ejector, Erector, ice-cream Transformers in Japan.
Sharkticons - are there any other designs planned to come out? Sharkticon that turns into jet, maybe?
Packaging: product converts vs transformers transform - not able to comment at this time, but it's way they do, they convert. (question by Seibertron, answer by Warden)
HASCON 2017: Transformers VIP Event TOY and Hall of Fame Reveals
While Hascon might have ended a few days ago, we still have content to report on! Next on the list is a video from the Hascon panel featiring the two voice acting legends Peter Cullen and Frank Welker! The voices of Optimus Prime and Megatron met up in Hascon's main hall, and talked about several topics, including their behind the scenes experience with Transformers, as well as the voice acting industry in General! Check out the full video below, from the point of view of Seibertron himself!
One of the panels part of the Transformers scheduling at Hascon saw fiction creators and toy designers talk about the dark side of the Transformers: its villains! The panel saw the different members of the brand team pitching their favourite villain - including Shockwave, Beast Wars Megatron, Prime Starscream, Devastator, Soundwave and Predaking - against each other. The rules: no gods, no Titans. The players: John Warden, Vinnie D'Alleva, Hasbro's Michael Kelly, IDW Chris Mowry, Hasbro Studios Mikiel Houser, Matt Clarke, and David Erwin. The winner: check out the video and see!
Also included again here, is the reveal of the Unicron teaser image (as visually coordinated by Sara Pitre Durocher), revealed during a panel with Chris Ryall over the weekend, seen in this story here.
We've shown you some images from the plaques and trophies part of the induction ceremony to the Transformers Hall of Fame for Susan Blu - the historic voice of Arcee - right here, but we now also have a full recording of the moment which took place during the VIP attendee meal event!
Introduced by fellow voice actors Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, we're reminded that Susan Blu has contributed to a wide range of cinematic and entertainment outlets (including voice director for Beast Wars, Animated and Transformers: Prime), as well as being a perfomer herself for the first generations of My Little Pony, Jem and GI Joe. Take a look at the clip below for yourselves, and let us know what you think in the Energon Pub!
For more on Frank Welker and Peter Cullen, take a look at our previous clip from their panel here!
In other news from Hascon, and as has been the case for years, we also took some time to look at non-Transformers news from around the event - with some attention given to the My Little Pony franchise, one of Hasbro's biggest sellers after Magic the Gathering and Nerf, and with its Movie line coming up soon and the Equestria Girls line still going strong.
In addition, we were able to attend the big panel for the Marvel side of things (for which Hasbro produces action figures): Stan Lee - co-creator of the Marvel universe himself, and the rumoured Watcher for the cinematic Marvel universe - live on stage! Both videos can be viewed below, of course, and do let us know what you think in the Energon Pub!
D-Maximus_Prime wrote:I never got DotM Soundwave in any capacity, and it sort of bums me out that there were plans for a Blaster too. I would have loved that Blaster
Who knows, maybe someday Soundwave and Blaster will be made and released. As long as the tooling exists...