TakaraTomy have updated their Japanese Transformers website with the following updates.

A new image and information on the Targetmaster Campaign.  The image shows Recoil and  Fracus.  The figures cost 3000yen each with Recoil going on sale on the 1st Jan 2011 at Toys R Us, with Fracus will be the same price from Bic Camera store and will go on sale on the 28th December 2010.  The third figure, Haywire, is yet to be announced as to when and where he will be on sale.

The Autobot Alliance page has also been updated with the December releases.

Finally the 10th episode of the Japanese version of Cybermissions is now available.

e-Hobby have updated their website with a little bit more information on their upcoming Transformers 2010 e-Hobby Exclusive - Autobots and Decepticons 3 Packs. No new images were shown but the information has announce more about the colour scheme of the figures.

The Autobot 3 set will consist of a clear blue Rodimus, representing the scene where HotRod morphs into Rodimus Prime, a battle damaged Kup, representing the wounds he received when Hot Rod and himself crashed on Quintessa, and Scrap Heap the Junkion remold of Wreckgar (he has a new head).

The Decepticon set will consist of clear purple versions of Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge representing the scene where Unicron gives them their "new bodies"

An auction has been posted on the Chinese auction site Taobao for the upcoming 2011 Japanese Transformers United Straxus figure.  The auction gives us a good look at the toy in packaging which you can view below.

S250 has posted some images, some from bxjg.abang.com,  from the Transformers Generation 2010 book.  The images mainly focus on the pages dedicated to Masterpiece Rodimus, but also include two scans of Transformers Heroes (concept that lead to Transformers Animated) as well as a scan of the Transformers United figures.

You can view his mirrored images here at TFW2005.com

Back in 2004 Simon Furman was writing the comic book adaptation of Transformers Energon for Dreamwave.  Dreamwave went out of business before the final story arch was completed but now thanks Simon, everyone can find out just what he had in store for the characters.

Simon is posting a blog entry a day on Transformers Energon so the first two entries are up.

Yesterdays blog was entitled Energon, Revisited with todays entry called "Doomsday Redux"

Tomy UK have announced that Gatcha, the makers of the popular capsule vending machines primarily found within Japan, have signed a license to sell Transformers items in 2011. The capsule toys will be available throughout UK stores that have Gatcha machines.

No further information or images are available at this time but it is interested to hear that Tomy UK have issued the license and not Hasbro UK

The NPD have released figures that show that the UK toy sales market is currently the strongest its been since 2002 with an 11% growth in the period Jan-Oct.  Things are not all rosy however as sales of Action Figures are actually in decline was consumers have switched to building sets.

More to follow

As you have probably noticed on recent Transformers releases, Hasbro Inc have replaced the wire ties that hold the toys into their boxes with paper based ones.  Well now they have announced that starting at the beginning of 2011 they will eliminate all plastic ties on all of their products.  The move is apart of a larger attempt by the toy manufacturer to move towards using more renewable materials.“Hasbro’s commitment to sustainability has been, and continues to be a high priority in virtually all facets of our operations,” said Brian Goldner, Hasbro’s President and CEO. “The company’s ongoing focus on sustainability is critically important to Hasbro and to the consumers around the world who enjoy our brands and products. Importantly, we will be taking additional steps in the area of sustainability going forward, building upon what we have already accomplished in recent years.” he went on to say.

In addition to the change in plastic ties, Hasbro Inc have set themselves the goal that at least 75% of its paper packaging will consist of recycled material or from sustainable forests for 2011 with this figure rising to 90% by 2015.  They are also looking to recruit a Director of Product and Packaging Sustainability into their operations.

Seibertron.com has been sent an advanced copy of the Transformers Prime episode 1, Darkness Rising, for review purposes.  The show does not air on TV until 3 days time, November 26th, and thus far Seibertron appear to be the only site with the early copy of the episode.

Ryan describes the series as "the darker love child of Beast Wars and Transformers Movie (Live Action) without the humour".

The review containers spoilers - but if you want to read it visit Seibertron.com

Figure King appears to have two images of some upcoming Transformers United and Transformers Power Core Combiners toys.

The Transformers united 3-pack consists of Rodimus, Kup and Scap-Head (a remolded Generations Wreck-Gar featuring a new head sculpt) along with Galavatron, Cyclonus and Scourge,

Meanwhile three of the Transformers Power Core Combiners mini con figures will be repainted Grey and Black and given G1 Targetmaster names of Fracus, Recoil and Haywire

­Thanks to The Great Dsetroyer (Gareth Doe) for pointing me to this amazing Warhammer 40,000 custom Ork Trukk which has been kitbased into Optimus Prime, or Orktimus Prime as the creator calls it, on TableTop Geeks.

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Click for a larger view

The Orktimus Prime is a pretty amazing mod. How did you get the idea for this or what made you want to do it?
Well… the name kinda sounds right doesn’t it? I’m a big transformers fan… so any truck is a potential Optimus. What sealed the idea was that the kit comes with a trailer joint under the flatbed… which will never see the light of day. It was a sign…

How long did it take to put together the whole thing from start to finish?
The building itself didn’t take very long, probably about a month or 2, in between other works. What took a long time however, was getting the courage to sit down and paint it.

What was the hardest part of putting together the Orktimus Prime?
Painting it. I don’t really like painting. And I didn’t want to damage the model with it. But it needed to be completed.

The Orktimus Prime was based on the Ork Trukk, but did you use any additional parts from other models to put this together? If so, what extra pieces did you use?
The only ‘non-GW’ parts are the ball joints, magnets and plastic rod. The joints are from 3rd party Gundam compatible parts (such as Kotobukiya’s M.S.G. Series of parts). The overall conversion scavanged parts from 1.5 ork trukk kits.

Transformers dan Draven has posted news direct from Hasbro's Leader Designer Eric Siebenaler on Facebook that the Transformers Power Core Combiners figure Spastic, from the Stunticons set is to be given a new name due to the backlash from UK media.

Remember the figure is not planned for a UK release.