Timey2Wimey has posted the latest video promoting the upcoming Transformers, G.I-Joe and Action Force convention here within the UK called Roll Out Roll Call.  The video focuses on the profile of Transformers legend, Simon Furman.  You can watch the video below.

The main guest line up has now been confirmed and announced:

Meet Transformers ReGeneration One Team:
Simon Furman - Transformers ReGeneration One writer
Andrew Wildman - Transformers ReGeneration One artist
John-Paul Bove - Transformers ReGeneration One colourist

Meet The Legendary GI-Joe writer at his first ever UK show:
Larry Hama - GI-Joe writer - 1st ever UK show

Meet the IDW Team that helped create the new look Cobra Commander:

Robert Atkins - IDW GI-Joe artist - 1st ever UK show
Simon Gough - IDW GI-Joe colourist - 1st ever UK show

Bill Forster - Transformers Ark & The AllSpark Almanac Author & Artist
Jim Sorenson - Transformers Ark & The AllSpark Almanac Author
James Eatock - Cereal:Geek Animation of the 80's Magazine Editor

Botcon.com has been updated with two new images of Botcon 2012 Metalhawk.  The figure, based on the Transformers: Super God Masterforce Metalhawk toy, is a recolour of the recent Thunderwing toy that was also recoloured as Sky Shadow (Black Shadow).  You can view the mirrored images below.

IGN has various screen shots from Transformers Fall of Cybertron, the highly anticipated sequal to Transformers War for Cybertron video game.

The images include Optimus Prime, Grimlock, Jazz, Cliffjumper and Shockwave

The Transformers Galaxy Hong Kong Fans Group have manged to get their hands on this year's BotCon exclusive Gigatron (Overlord) from the "Invasion" boxset. You need to be a facebook user to see the images

Auto Assembly is going Twitter crazy this week and letting itself open to all manner of weird and wonderful questions about this year's convention when we are holding a live Q&A Panel on our Twitter page where you'll be able to ask the organisers ANY question you like about this year's convention!

If you want to know more about the events we have planned this year, want to know about our guests or just have any general questions about the convention itself, just pop along and subscribe to our Twitter page for all the latest updates on the convention over at www.twitter.com/auto_assembly and post your question (and don't forget to mention us in your tweet!). One of our team will be monitoring the tweets throughout the day and will reply as soon as possible and we'll be as honest as possible and we promise to reply to EVERYONE!

The Q&A Panel will be taking place on Friday, 20th January 2012 from 9:00 am GMT so pop over to Twitter at any time and join us!

For more information on this year's convention, taking place at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel in Birmingham, England over the weekend of 3rd - 5th August 2012, visit the website at www.autoassembly.org.uk where you can book your tickets now. For all the latest news on Auto Assembly Europe taking place in Sweden later in the year, 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
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

The Transformers facebook page has posted their Tuesday Transformers Prime cast and crew Q&A session. This week we hear from Character Designer Augusto Barranco.

Anja Pejakovic asks: How on earth did you come up with these many designs and were you assisted in this task in any way? Where did you get some of the ideas for the designs: Starscream with high heels, Soundwave having those thin but wide arms?

AUGUSTO BARRANCO:On this show we are lucky to have a team of five very talented character and prop designers. In the process of creating the character package we all pieced in portions of the design, which range from character rough design, clean 3/4 angle design, orthographic plan views, mouth charts, weapon designs, weapon effect design, transformation breakdowns, color flats, color renders and texture reference. Then comes the vehicle with the same process. When it comes to specifics on character designs, the initial concepts are inspired by the personas and specifics created by the writers along with the history of Transformers lore. It's very important to visualize a diverse line-up of characters, so that the characters have a very unique silhouette and feel very different from every other character. The biggest part of character design is to capture the character’s personality in the design. The viewer should have a quick understanding of what kind of character you're looking at on first glance.


Emilie Beaulieu asks: When it come to character design, do you work from the robot form or the alternate mode first?

AUGUSTO BARRANCO:First idea comes from the script. The script will state the kind of vehicle we'll be dealing with along with the kind of character that needs to be designed. From there we'll jump into rough sketches trying to capture the character's personality in bot mode. Since the characters are in bot mode most of the time, this is the most important in terms of aesthetics. It's like choosing the best actors for your TV show. While that's being done, a vehicle will be designed simultaneously. In the overall process there's a lot of back and forth between bot and vehicle to make sure both have a balanced, agreeable design. When it comes down to it, the bot is started first and is also the last one to be completed.


Brent William Taylor asks: Were you given any specific guidelines as to which previous character versions/styles you were to incorporate?

AUGUSTO BARRANCO:When dealing with the Transformers franchise, everyone has a wish list. When new characters come down the pipeline, it comes with a specific kind of personality (i.e. sneaky, bully, arrogant), which influences design. From the script, the character comes with a certain kind of vehicle and weapon, and from Hasbro we receive a page of designs highlighting iconic items the character is known for having.


Cassidy Klassen asks: Every character in TFP has a very unique eye design: no two are alike. Can you speak to that at all?

AUGUSTO BARRANCO:Cassidy,A lot of the acting happens in the face and within the eyes. We enjoyed making each character very unique. As an artist, we hate getting bored with doing the same thing over and over.


Belinda Nieminen asks: Who is your favorite character and why? What has been the most exciting experience when you've designed Transformers characters? How did you end up to design Transformers Prime's characters and how long you've been fan of Transformers? Are you doing more Transformers designs in future?- Love from Finland

AUGUSTO BARRANCO:My favorite character would have to be Breakdown. He's one character that I handled 100% solo, which also makes him my least favorite. As an artist you always want to improve your work and when it's all done by you, there's a LOT of things you'd like to change and perfect. The most exciting part for me was the day when animation came back after lighting was done. That's when you know for sure you've made the right decisions with color, texture and design. I got started on "Transformers Prime" two years after my involvement with the movie franchise, and with that experience the art director felt like I might have some insight into the process of Transformers, along with some of my other film and animation experience. Being friends with the art director doesn't hurt either. In terms of my future with the Transformers world I'm not sure—only the head Primes know that one.

Augusto Barranco is a Conceptual illustrator and designer in the Los Angeles area. He has been working in the entertainment industry for 6 years since graduating from Art Center College of Design, where he worked closely with many directors to produce short films and commercials as a production designer. After graduating college with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, he jumped into the film industry as a conceptual artist for many studios including Sony, Dreamworks, ILM, Paramount, NBC, Warner Bros, Imagi, Rhythm and Hues, Titmouse Animation, Obsidian Entertainment and now finally Hasbro Studios.

Robotkingdom has posted new in-package images of the last figure in the set, Mad Blender, who they state will start shipping tomorrow, 18th of January.

Mad Blender is the sixth and final piece of the TFC Hercules not-Devastator toy.

Full Metal Hero's Stripe (or Minon to Transformers At The Moon members) has gotten his hands on the BotCon exclusive Hunt for the Decepticons Voyager Sea Spray repaint of Shattered Glass Otcopunch, and posted a pictorial review. Click here to view the rest of Stripe's images and read his review of the figure

Early warning for the review - Octopunch is my favourite Transformer and has been since I got my paws on him as a child, so expect some biased love for this toy.
I've wait 20+ years for a new Octopunch toy and whilst i'll openly admit that I wasn't blown away by this interpretation at first, having the toy in hand is perhaps the most excited i've been for a Transformer in years.

This is the third time we've seen this mold, and if you don't love it by now then you've likely already made up your mind about this figure. If you took the lunge on Seaspray and Deep Dive then you'll know what to expect and it really comes down to character and colour choice.

The colours on the toy are much better than early images suggested, and whilst the green of the hovercraft ring isn't what I would call 'Octopunch green', the use of blue, yellow and purple is really nice. Paint apps are decent, with only a few little missed bits here and there. One half of the crotch plate is missing the blue though. If you take the view that Shattered Glass figures can ignore traditional colours schemes, then the one chosen for Ock is perfectly acceptable and very cool in its own right.

I've grown especially fond of the head, and whilst I completely understand the calls for a new one, the blue breathing aparatus (like on the G1 pretender's chest) over the purple helmet really does have that Octopunch feel to it.

Transformation is smooth and easy (and yes I know I mistransformed the shoulder plates in some photos - I was too excited to have my Ock figure), and joints are reasonably tight. Overall the quality of the toy from a construction point of view is easily comparable to Seaspray and Deep Dive, and the firing missile launchers work fine.
My only real gripe is that the peg for the missile launcher is a bit too tight for him to hold them in his hand, although they fit on the forearm pegs just fine. The back plate where the deck of the hovercraft folds up is also a little finnicky at the bottom hinge and takes some effort to lock in correctly.

Octopunch is far from a must have for most fans, and anyone who already owns this mold has probably had their fix from it, but there is still something really special about him. Sure he's missing the tentacles, harpoon gun, crab chap and the pretender-ness of the G1 toy, but recent reimaginings over the past few years of Bludgeon, Skullgrin and Thunderwing have redecuated us in our expectations anyway. The little touches such as the tentacle decals on the chest, blue breathing mask and general coolness really sell the figure.

Dare I say - roll on a voyager sized Stranglehold?

San Diego, CA (January 16, 2012)—IDW Publishing will be attending our first-ever UK comic convention when the inaugural London Super Comic Convention, kicks off the weekend of February 25th. In addition to having a booth on the show floor, IDW’s Chief Creative Offier/Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall will be in attendance participating in an IDW panel, doing portfolio reviews, and promising an exclusive announcement or two as well. The show is billing itself as “the U.K.’s Biggest American Creator-Driven Comic Convention.”

“I’m very happy to be present at the debut London Super Comic show and meeting the fans,” said Chris Ryall. “In fact, I feel like I owe it to our loyal UK fans to make a good first impression at one of their cons, so I’ll be announcing at least one gigantic new series, if not more.”

In addition to portfolio reviews, fans will have chance to pick up a con-exclusive cover for Infestation 2: Transformers, and get books signed by Ryall and creators such as Tony Lee, J.K. Woodward, Phil Jimenez, and others. A full signing and panel schedule will be announced as soon as it is finalized.


Visit IDWPublishing.com to learn more about the company and its top-selling books.

Visit http://www.londonsupercomicconvention.com for more information on the show. Or check out http://www.facebook.com/LondonSuperComicConvention and http://twitter.com/#!/LSComicCon


About IDW Publishing
IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro’s The TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE, Paramount’s Star Trek; HBO’s True Blood; the BBC’s DOCTOR WHO; Toho’s Godzilla; and comics and trade collections based on novels by worldwide bestselling author, James Patterson. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints; Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studio.

IDW’s original horror series, 30 Days of Night, was launched as a major motion picture in October 2007 by Sony Pictures and was the #1 film in its first week of release. More information about the company can be found at IDWPublishing.com.

The World Hobby Fair 2012 recently took place in Japan which showed of some upcoming Transformers Prime figures as well as some new campaign Microns. The Optimus Prime figure that was shown appears to be a slightly recoloured version of the First Edition toy and is showned "powered-up" with the new Microns. which can be held by the figure or attached to points on his body.  The first Micron to be named is Firebolt "Clear Version", who is a re-release of Pinpointer from the Power Core Combiners line, and was given away at the event.  You can view the images from the show below.

RobotKingdom have posted a pre-order listing for a new third party add-on.  The product, called "Battle Cannons and Arm Blades", is being produced by the group "Fans Want It" and is numbered FWI-2.  The product will be released in February 2012 priced at $19.90.  It is an upgrade set for the leader class Transformers: Dark of the Moon Ironhide figure.  You can view the images below.

RobotKingdom have posted some in-packaging images of the just released TFC Toys Neck Breaker figure aka Not-Hook.  The images, which can be seen below, show the toys box from the front and the back as well as removed from the box.

eBay seller RifleScopeShop has posted an auction for the 3rd party release of Legend Heroes Q's Judge. The figures are basically legends sized Quintesson figures based on the Generation One series

You can find some mirrored images below and can view the auction by clicking on the link here.

Credit to FullMetalHero.com for the news

TFW2005 member bigspenders76 has shared some in-hand images of upcoming Transformers Prime toys in package. These toys include Deluxe Wheeljack, Cyberverse Commander Bulkhead, and Cyberverse Legion Bumblebee and Vehicon. These packages show that the European multilingual packaging will include bios on the packaging.

Perfect Effect have updated their website with new Prototype images of their Not-Arcee Motorbot PE-DX01 toy.  We've added the nine new images to our Perfect Effects Motorbot image collection available below these news story (if you aren't viewing on te home page. If you are viewing this on the home page then click the story link).

The new images include height comparisons to Wreck-Gar and Kup.

Also including are new manga images and a hit towards a blue recolour (baed on Transformers Prime Arcee).