Robotkingdom has posted listings of new Takara's Transformers Prime Arms Micron toys. AM-19 is revealed as (????????) Gaia Unicron and AM-20 is revealed as (???????) Ironhide.

Planet Iacon have published an image gallery of the second Bathing Ape (BAPE) exclsive Convoy figure.  This fgure is a recolour of the re-issue of Optimus Prime / Convoy but painted in an urban camouflage colour scheme. You can view the image gallery by following the link at the start of this article.

The Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Facebook page has been updated with robot and dinosaur mode images of Transformers Fall of Cybertron Sludge

The Auto Assembly team have issued the following press release

AUTO ASSEMBLY 2012 IMPORTANT GOODIE BAG UPDATE

It is with great sadness that we are forced to announce a change to the advertised Auto Assembly 2012 attendee goodie bags. This change will affect every attendee who is eligible to receive a goodie bag, so it would be most appreciated if we could please have your attention for just a moment.

It had been our intention to include a free IDW Transformers comic within every goodie bag this year. This comic was to be an exclusive variant cover of  Regeneration One Issue 81.  The comic was going to be limited to a print run of just 1,000 copies and only made available at Auto Assembly and Auto Assembly Europe. (Long term fans will remember that we also had exclusive IDW comics in 2009 and 2010).

The cover was going to use 1980's style artwork, drawn by marvel Transformers artist Jeff Anderson, with colours by Kris Carter and was intended to be a tribute to the Marvel UK run featuring a special "corner box" with art by Nick Roche. As an homage to the Marvel UK series, which culminated in issue 332, our plan was to use dual numbers on the front of the comic, meaning it would have been both issue 81 and issue 333. A true exclusive for our attendees.

Martin Fisher from the Auto Assembly team worked very hard to make the comic a reality, as did IDW; we therefore wish to extend our sincere thanks both to Martin and to IDW editor John Barber, who took time out of his busy schedule to try and make the exclusive comic a success for our attendees. John's work is massively appreciated and it should be noted that he and IDW did everything in their power to bring issue 333 to life. We are truly grateful for their support.

Sadly, the comic was not to be. At the 11th hour, with our artists poised to start work on the new cover, the issue was vetoed, seemingly without any explanation by the license holders, Hasbro US.

Obviously this has come as a great disappointment to ourselves and no doubt, will be to our attendees as well. We would like to explain why the decision was taken but sadly, no explanation has been given to us other than that Hasbro US do not at this time wish for IDW to produce another Auto Assembly comic. Sadly, it is our understanding that IDW themselves have not been presented with a firm reason either.

On behalf of the entire Auto Assembly committee, we are truly sorry that we are not able to provide you, our attendees, with the exclusive IDW comic which you had been promised. However, we are sure our attendees will appreciate that sadly, this issue is completely beyond the control of both Auto Assembly and IDW, who worked together in good faith before the plans were stopped. We are sure there is probably a very simple reason for the decision made by Hasbro US and if we receive further explanation from them we will of course share it with you.

So, the question now is, were does this leave your goodie bags?  Well, as sad as we are, we absolutely refuse to leave our attendees disappointed - we promised you a comic and we are still going to deliver on that promise!

Obviously we are not able to produce an official comic for the reasons outlined above, but that gives us a great deal of flexibility. So rather than simply giving you an exclusive cover, we are going to give you a completely new full colour comic! This will be included in all eligible goodie bags, free of charge.

Jeff Anderson will still be providing the cover artwork for this new comic and Kris Carter too is adamant that attendees should receive a first class product and so, as well as providing cover colours, Kris has begun writing an exclusive 6 page comic script for us. But that's not all you will receive in this issue. Our current plan, ambitious as it may be so close to our print deadline, is to give you an issue which includes at least three different comic stories, created by collaborations between professional comic creative talent and fans alike. The response we have had from our artists is both fantastic and humbling; they are truly lighting our darkest hour by putting the "Assembly" into Auto Assembly!

In addition to this comic, goodie bags will also include a copy of our full colour convention exclusive fanzine, The Cybertronian Times (which in previous years had been an additional £7 purchase). And of course, you will still receive the usual array of convention exclusive merchandise, including Auto Assembly postcards which might just have some artwork you could have signed by our guests of honour!

And to really show you just how much we appreciate your understanding and support, we are planning to include one or two surprise goodie bag items; of course, we're not going to give everything away just yet, so you'll just have to check your goodie bags for those!

Furthermore, whilst the issue with the IDW comic is sadly out of our hands, we cannot simply stand by and watch our attendees being short changed.  We do very much believe that the goodie bag on offer is great value for money, but Auto Assembly only comes by once a year and we want our attendees to be able to take home with them something extra special to remind them of the show.

Therefore, after much consideration we have decided to increase production of our convention exclusive lithograph.  Previously only available to attendees who had booked rooms in the Hilton at our convention rate, we are instead going to provide a copy of the lithograph – free of charge – to each and every attendee who should have received the exclusive comic in their goodie bags.  This is going to be a large scale, full colour print, produced by a professional artist, which will be available exclusively at Auto Assembly events this year.

Finally, as a special treat for everybody who has taken the time to read this statement, we thought we'd give you a heads up that a major comic guest is going to cross the ocean to attend Auto Assembly 2012 - and we will be announcing that person sometime in the next 14 days! And we will also be announcing the artist for our lithograph as well so keep your eyes peeled!

Sadness and disappointment aside, we are determined to provide you with the best ever Auto Assembly goodie bag this year. We wish to thank you for your continued support of the convention and, once again, we wish to offer our sincere thanks to IDW. Now let's make Auto Assembly 2012 the best convention ever!

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 www.autoassembly.org.uk and for all the latest news on Auto Assembly Europe, visit www.autoassemblyeurope.eu

The Auto Assembly Team

Web: www.autoassembly.org.uk / www.transformersvideogames.co.uk / www.ct-alpha.com
Auto Assembly Europe: www.autoassemblyeurope.eu
Youtube: www.youtube.com/autoassembly
Twitter: 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 - www.toyzandgamez.co.uk
TF Source - www.tfsource.com
Robot Kingdom - www.robotkingdom.com
Transformers @ The Moon - www.transformertoys.co.uk
TransformersAnimated.com - www.transformersanimated.com
TheTransformers.net - www.thetransformers.net
Titan Books - www.titanbooks.com
3 Darths Comics - www.3darthscomics.co.uk
Science Fiction Collectables - www.sf-collectables.co.uk
Big Bad Toy Store - www.bbts.com
Xyber Toys - www.xybertoys.com

Snakas Blog is reporting some fantasic news for us, Beast Wars Neo has been confirmed for a DVD release in Japan, set for September 26th 2012

We purchased the very expensive, 100% Japanese, Beast Wars II Series (from which we have been producing image galleries from the episodes), so finally getting hold of more than 9 episodes of Beast Wars Neo is fantastic.

To celebrate I promise to get more Beast Wars II Galleries online this week - we've just been tied up with moving.

A new Kabaya model kit for Fortress Maximus has been revealed on Rakuten. It seems to be three sets with additional toys in each one.

Thanks to Full Metal Hero for the spot

Mitch Santona has posted a video review of Transformers Prime Arms Micron Skywarp.

YouTuber, djinnmage, has posted the preview video for Transformers Prime episode 35, Grill, onto the video sharing website.  You can watch the video using the embedded link below.

Botcon have issued the following announcement confirm that they, and Hasbro, have reversed their "no fan art" stance for Botcon 2012

"We're pleased to announce, per Hasbro, that artist tables will be allowed at BotCon 2012 as we have allowed it in the past, and will be permissible as part of the show. Hasbro sympathizes and understands fans' discouragement with the previous statements concerning fan art, and while remaining steadfast in the right to protect its IP in regards to unlicensed merchandise, wants to ensure fans can continue to enjoy the BotCon experience which they know is made so great in large part by the fan community."

Hasbro have issued the following press release regarding a multi-year deal they have signed with Netflix

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hasbro Studios, the Los Angeles-based television production and distribution division of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS), today announced a multi-year deal with Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX). Ten highly popular franchises, including new and catalog seasons of famed Hasbro content, will be available to instantly watch on Netflix.


“This deal allows us to offer even more great kids’ programming to our members, both adults and kids alike, including new seasons of My Little Pony, Transformers Prime, and Pound Puppies after the season finale airs on The Hub.”
.
Transformers Prime, My Little Pony, Pound Puppies, G.I. Joe: Renegades and The Adventures of Chuck & Friends are now available to instantly watch on Netflix. JEM & The Holograms, Transformers: Generation 1, G.I. Joe: Real American Heroes, Transformers: Beast Wars and Transformers: Rescue Bots will follow later in 2012.

The Hasbro content will be available on Netflix and included in the Netflix “Just For Kids” section. Netflix “Just For Kids” is a collection of TV shows and movies that is specifically selected for children 12 and under, making it easier and more fun for kids and families to browse and instantly watch a large selection of kid-friendly TV shows and movies within Netflix.

"We are very excited to be working with Hasbro Studios," said Cindy Holland, Vice President of Content Acquisition at Netflix. "This deal allows us to offer even more great kids’ programming to our members, both adults and kids alike, including new seasons of My Little Pony, Transformers Prime, and Pound Puppies after the season finale airs on The Hub."

“We are pleased that consumers will now be able to watch our award-winning programming on Netflix, the leading internet subscription service,” Hasbro Studios President Stephen Davis said. “We are making our content easy to access, anytime, anywhere and on all platforms where audiences are consuming content and this is a big step forward with our all screen strategy.”

About Netflix

With more than 23 million streaming members in the United States, Canada, Latin America, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Netflix, Inc. [NASDAQ: NFLX] is the world's leading internet subscription service for enjoying movies and TV programs. For about US$7.99 a month, Netflix members can instantly watch unlimited movies and TV programs streamed over the internet to PCs, Macs and TVs. Among the large and expanding base of devices streaming from Netflix are the Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and Sony PS3 consoles; an array of Blu-ray disc players, internet-connected TVs, home theatre systems, digital video recorders and internet video players; Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, as well as Apple TV and Google TV. In all, more than 700 devices that stream from Netflix are available. For additional information, visit http://www.netflix.com. Follow Netflix on Facebook and Twitter.

About Hasbro Studios

Hasbro Studios is the Los Angeles-based television production division of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS). The studio develops and produces shows based on Hasbro’s world class brands, including TRANSFORMERS, MY LITTLE PONY, LITTLEST PET SHOP and SCRABBLE. Many of these shows air on The Hub, a television network for kids and their families. Studio programming can also be seen in more than 160 countries globally. The Hub is a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK).

HAS-S




Contacts


Hasbro, Inc.
News Media
Julie Duffy, 401-727-5931
or
Investors
Debbie Hancock, 401-727-5456
or
Netflix Inc.
Nada Antoun, 408-348-1239

CM's Corporation have updated their blog with three images of their upcoming Summer Wonderfest exclusive Minerva Nightbeat figure.  The toy is a recolour of their officially licensed Minelba figure but it is the other images which are causing the most amount of discussion around the fan community because it is an alternatve head for their Ginrai figure that turns him into Hi-Q!  Yes the Powermaster figure from the Western release of Powermaster Optimus Prime. The blog post points out that, at the Summer Wonderfest, all you will get is the head of Hi-Q with the Minerva Nightbeat type figure, Ginrai's body is sold separately.

Chinese fansite TFND.net has revealed an image containing three of the upcoming Transformers Prime Voyager class figures.  The line-up includes the highly anticipated Dreadwing figure.  You can view a mirrored copy of the image below.

The Transformers Prime which is to air on the 28th April has been announced as "Flying Mind".  The short summary of the episode is:"The Decepticon Warship threatens humanity and Raf, Jack and Miko are the only ones who can stop it.".

This means that April's line up of episodes stands as:

7th April - Nemesis Prime
14th April - Grill
21st April - Armada
28th April - Flying Mind

As you must have noticed the lack of updates to the website over the last 8 months has continued to increase.  This is because I am currently completing moving house into a place I bought at the end of Jan.  Due to this I have limited access to the internet outside of work and during this same period I have been promoted which has bought with it increased responsibilities and working hours.  Sadly something had to give and it has been my free time and hobbies that have taken the brunt.  I am hoping to re-address this once I complete the house move and have a working internet connection, but for now I just wanted to say please bare with me, I've not forgotten about this place, I'm just super-snowed with work and moving but ultimate both will be worth it.

Steve AKA Quartz