According to ComingSoon.net DreamWorks President of Production Adam Goodman recently spoke to the The Hollywood Reporter about a couple of upcoming projects, one of which was TF4. When asked about the involvement of the previous trilogy's Shia LaBeouf he had this to say:

Ehren Kruger is writing it for us, and we're starting to engage, but I can't say anything more.

Kruger wrote Transformers: Dark of the Moon and collaborated with Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

So here's the round up of the news from BotCon so far.

 The comic reveales the bagged toys will be

1. Shattered Glass Octopunch and Spinister
2. Shattered Glass Optimus and Kick-Off
3. Shattered Glass Junkions

The attendee exclusive figure is

1. Shattered Glass Darkmount (Staxus)

More images of the Customisation Class Shattered Glass Longarm / Shockwave are up on Seibertron.com

BOTCON 2012 Custom Class Exclusive: Shattered Glass Longarm w/ super secret special bonus. http://bit.ly/IRFXtz

A massive article titled Transforming Grimlock: How High Moon saved the Dinobots has been posted by theverge.com's Russ Pitts. In this extensive article you get to hear from game director Matt Tieger what it takes to create Dinobot's in the current game story arc. There a lot of great new pictures of Grimlock Slag, Snarl and Swoop.

Also included in this article is the origins of the Dinobots in Fall of Cybertron.

Matt Tieger has decided that what he wants in his next game is a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex from outer space who fights with a sword and a shield and breaths fire. And is a robot.

What he wants, in other words, is Grimlock, the Dinobot. All that stands in his way is the company who owns the Transformers, Hasbro, and they've decided that Grimlock (and the rest of the Dinobots) are being retired.

According to Hasbro, the Dinobots will not be in any Transformers movies. They will not be in any Transformers games. They will not be in any Transformers anything. They are finished.

The people at Hasbro, in other words, tell Tieger that Grimlock will be done away with.

This is the story of how he tried to change their mind.

Matt Tieger wanted to be a paleontologist when he grew up. And a marine biologist. And an artist. But mainly: Paleontologist. He loved dinosaurs. Knew all of their names. He wanted to dig their bones out of the Earth and tell their stories.

By the time he went to college, he'd changed his mind. He wanted to be a marine biologist again. He studied marine biology. Then, just shy of a Ph.D from Rutgers, he changed his mind yet again and left to make videogames.

Now Tieger works as Game Director for High Moon Studios, the company behind 2010's Transformers: War for Cybertron. For Matt, it is the best job in the world. Particularly because he is now in charge.

His new game is the sequel to War for Cybertron, Fall of Cybertron, and what Tieger wants more than anything is to let players be the leader of the Dinobots.

"As a fan of Transformers," Tieger told Polygon, by phone. "Grimlock is, if not my favorite, in my top three favorite Transformers of all time.

Another quote

As Tieger explains it, it goes like this: "It's all about loyalty in the Decepticon.

"Megatron is obviously in charge of the Decepticons, [and has] three lieutenants: Shockwave, Soundwave and Starscream (which by the way is very confusing to people who are not big Transformers fans because they're all Ss), but it's all about loyalty.

"Soundwave is loyal to Megatron above all things.

"Starscream is loyal to Starscream above all things.

"Shockwave is loyal to Cybertron above all things.

"So Shockwave's plan is:

"'We're not going to leave Cybertron. I'm going to save it. I'm going to search the cosmos, find a world that is teeming with what I can covert into Energon (the Transformers energy source). And I'm going to suck that planet dry and ... use it to reboot my home.'"

TFW2005 member Ricochet lets us know about the upcoming Shadow Arms Microns Giveaway Campaign. Figure names are "Shadow Ciel", "Shadow Arue", "Shadow Gora", "Shadow Baro", all in clear black plastic. The molds used are from current AM partners Cliffjumper, Ratchet, Megatron and Skywarp.

Transformers Prime Voyager Wave 2 has been released at US retail! You can now look forward to being able to add the Voyager class versions of Starscream and Bulkhead to your Transformers Prime collections! This pair was sighted at a Target in Lodi, CA by 2005 Boards member Rubicon

Thanks to Robot Kingdom for posting up the following image of Transformers Prime Arms Gaia Unicron, showing an interesting image of what appear to be Unicron combined with Optimus Prime - or it could just be some odd scale drawing

Livio Ramondelli To Attend Auto Assembly 2012

With Auto Assembly 2012 just over 100 days away, we're proud to bring you news of the SEVENTEENTH guest to be joining us for this year's convention...

We can now confirm that IDW artist Livio Ramondelli will be making his Auto Assembly debut this year! Livio is the artist of the superb new digital comic Transformers: Autocracy for IDW Publishing. In addition, his credits include Chaos, The Best of Optimus Prime / Best of Megatron trade paperback covers, as well as covers for IDW's Infestation II event series. He previously worked for WildStorm Productions, doing design work for the DC Universe Online game... and he also really loves movies!

Livio will be joining our other comic artists and writers in our extensive guest area signing autographs and sketching for fans throughout the weekend and he will be taking to the stage on Sunday afternoon alongside Nick Roche and James Roberts for a dedicated IDW Panel.

We'd like to thank everyone at the Underbase Podcast for their support in making this possible and putting us in touch with Livio. We're sure everyone will make Livio welcome at the convention.

For more details on Auto Assembly 2012 which is taking place over the weekend of 3rd - 5th August 2012 in Birmingham, England or to book your tickets or find out information about booking dealers tables, visit the website at http://www.autoassembly.org.uk and for all the latest news on Auto Assembly Europe, visit http://www.autoassemblyeurope.eu

Livio's website can be found at http://www.livioramondelli.com

The Auto Assembly Team

Web: http://www.autoassembly.org.uk / http://www.transformersvideogames.co.uk / http://www.ct-alpha.com
Auto Assembly Europe: http://www.autoassemblyeurope.eu
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/autoassembly
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/auto_assembly
Forum: http://www.autoassembly.org.uk/forum
Email: contact@autoassembly.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)7860 948296

Auto Assembly is sponsored by

Toyz And Gamez - http://www.toyzandgamez.co.uk
TF Source - http://www.tfsource.com
Robot Kingdom - http://www.robotkingdom.com
Transformers @ The Moon - http://www.transformertoys.co.uk
TransformersAnimated.com - http://www.transformersanimated.com
TheTransformers.net - http://www.thetransformers.net
Titan Books - http://www.titanbooks.com
3 Darths Comics - http://www.3darthscomics.co.uk
Science Fiction Collectables - http://www.sf-collectables.co.uk
Big Bad Toy Store - http://www.bbts.com
Xyber Toys - http://www.xybertoys.com

After recently moving, and having no internet line - both of which have drammatically affected our work on the site (2 months of work on Steve's house) we should finally be getting the Internet back in around 2 to 3 weeks time.

The good news is that with the extra space we've got easier access to the toys, so hopefully we can get back to filling up the blanks in our toy gallery section.

Guido Guidi has stopped by the Allspark forums to comment on the upcoming "Beast Saga" line of Battle Beast-like figures from Takara Tomy:

Since they has been finally revealed, I can now say I did some work for this line, mostly on the sea creatures assortment.

So far I recognize Pirazon (the piranha) and Coelence (the coelacanthus) - other may have been re-drawn or revised (like with the swordfish guy, they changed the design quite a bit, but kept my weapons designs).

Great to see the toyline coming to (plastic) life! 

CyberGundam Blog has shared a scan of this month's Figure Oh! Magazine. It shows capsuel Arms Microns, Artfire, and a concept image of MP-12 Lambor (Sideswipe).

Wednesday, April 25, 2012
9 AM-5 PM Transformers Customizing Class Shawnee Trail
8:30 PM Golden Ticket Package Pick-Up Reunion Ballroom
9:30-10:30 Tour and Class Package Pick-Up Reunion Ballroom

Thursday, April 26, 2012
9 AM-5 PM Transformers Customizing Class Shawnee Trail
4:00 PM Golden Ticket Pick-up Reunion Ballroom
5:00 Golden Ticket Store Opens Marsalis Hall
6:00 Registration Pick-up Store Opens Reunion Ballroom
6:00 Store Opens Marsalis Hall
8:00-9:30 Exhibitor Unload and Drop Off Marsalis Hall

Friday, April 27, 2012
7:30AM -2PM Exhibitor Setup Marsalis Hall
8:30-9:30 Club Store opens for Exhibitors Only Marsalis Hall
9:30-11:30 Club Store opens for all Registered Guests Marsalis Hall
9:30 Walk-up Late Registration Marsalis Prefunction
9:00-12:00 Contest Setup Marsalis Hall
9:00-10:50 Panel: MSTF! Reunion Ballroom
11:00-11:50 Panel: Transformers Filmfest Reunion Ballroom
Noon Contest Judging Marsalis Hall
Noon-1:00 Lunch
1:00-1:50 Panel: TCC Comic Panel Reunion Ballroom
2:00 Private Sales Room Experience Marsalis Hall
2:00-3:30 Autographs: David Kaye, Garry Chalk, Simon Furman
3:30-5:00 Autographs: Dan Gilvezan, Buster Jones
5:00 PM Private Sales Room Experience ends
7:00 PM Golden Ticket Reception Reunion Ballroom

Saturday, April 28, 2012
7:30 AM Exhibitor Set-up Marsalis Hall
8:30 Registered Guests Private Preview Marsalis Hall
9:00 Early Bird Entry Marsalis Hall
10:00 General Admission Marsalis Hall
10:00-10:50 Panel: Dan Gilvezan, Buster Jones Reunion Ballroom
10:00-11:30 Autographs: David Kaye, Garry Chalk
11:00-11:50 Panel: Transformers Comics: IDW Reunion Ballroom
Noon-12:50 Panel: Animated Talk with Derrick Wyatt Reunion Ballroom
Noon-1:30 Autographs: Dan Gilvezan, Buster Jones, Simon Furman
1:00-1:50 Panel: David Kaye, Garry Chalk Reunion Ballroom
1:30-3:00 Autographs: Peter Cullen
2:00-2:50 Panel: Transformers Collectors’ Club Roundtable TCC Staff Reunion Ballroom
3:00-3:50 Panel: Hasbro Transformers Brand Team Reunion Ballroom
4:00-4:50 Panel: Peter Cullen Reunion Ballroom
5:00 PM Show Closes
6:30 PM Cocktail Reception Reunion Prefunction
7:00 PM Hall of Fame Party and Casino Night Dinner Reunion Ballroom

Sunday, April 29, 2012
9:00 AM Exhibitor Set-up Reunion Ballroom
9:30 Registered Guests and General Admission Marsalis Hall
10:00-10:50 Panel: Bee in the City 2! David Kaye,
Garry Chalk, Dan Gilvezan, Buster Jones Reunion Ballroom
11:30-1:00 Autographs: David Kaye, Garry Chalk, Simon Furman
11:00-11:50 Panel: Activision: Fall of Cybertron Reunion Ballroom
Noon-12:50 Panel: Simon Furman Reunion Ballroom
1:00-2:30 Autographs: Dan Gilvezan, Buster Jones
1:00-1:50 Panel: JAGEX: Transformers Universe Reunion Ballroom
2:00-2:50 Panel: Transformers Costuming: Design Your
Own Costume! Rosemary Ward Reunion Ballroom
3:15 Draw for Trips to 2013 Convention Marsalis Hall
3:30 PM Show Closes

Million Hero have posted preview images of Trnasformers Geneations Volume 2012 including images of their exclusive Transformers Henkei Artfire figure.

Artfire is a recolour of Transformers Classics Inferno, in the original Artfire colour schemes (one of the very few original G1 Transformers we do not own).

ACToys.net by way of Taobao have posted up the first image of Maketoys Excavator in the original green Devastator colours

Dear *******

Thank you for contacting us regarding our Transformers product line.

I am happy to confirm that we will be offering the Fall of Cybertron line this coming summer and that it will be exclusive to the Argos chain.

In the interim, please check your local retailers for the newest products from the Transformers Prime line, including the recently released Revealers: Ratchet and Knock-Out.

Kind regards,
Tracey

Hasbro UK Customer Service
00800 22 42 72 76

That was the letter received by Seibertron.com member Ultra Magnus when asking Hasbro UK about the possibilities of Transformers Fall of Cybertron toysbeing released in the UK