Derrick J Wyatt has posted a very cool response to one of the latest questions posed to him on Formspring.  When asked "Who's in charge of financial matters on Animated Cybertron? According to the old STARS Tech Spec Manual, the Autobots were traders at one point, and I'd think a planet not at war would have commerce." Derrick replied with a post that introduces the Transformer Universe to a new character ..... Decimus Quadrillon.

"There is commerce on Cybertron. For a great deal of time before Megatron reappeared, the post Great War has been a time where the Autobots have created many ways to entertain themselves. There are refuelery restaurants, energon bars, shopping arcades with every upgrade you could ever think of, as well as various forms of theater, music, and other entertainment.

There is a commerce guild that is in charge of the credit and energon banks.The head of this guild is Decimus Quadrillon, who is the richest mech on Cybertron. Rumor has it that Decimus' cube shaped headquarters is actually a giant bin containing over 30,000 square standard Cybertronian units of raw energon. There are even some wild and unlikely rumors that he dives into and swims through the energon. An act which would be very damaging on a Cybertronian's inner workings.

The Autobots have a distrust of other alien races (organics and non-organics), and do not engage in much, if any, off world trade in modern times. Cybertron has been invaded, conquered, and nearly conquered at different points throughout its vast history, leaving the Autobots with little care to act with outside civilizations." replies Derrick.

Now I'm not sure about you, but I would love to to see how Derrick pictures Decimus now.

Don't forget that if you are in the UK you can meet Derrick first hand by attending Auto Assembly 2010 which takes place next month.

Dengeki Online has posted an image from Tokyo Toy Show 2010 showing the new Transformers Movie Masterpiece MP-M01 Starscream toy.Meanwhile Amazon.jp has also updated it's listing of the toy with more images.

The Japanese version of the Leaderclass Movie Starscream figure does not feature the CyberGlyphs on Starscream, making him a more realistic jet fighter.

The latest reissue set of the Seacons appears to have already been released in Hong Kong, due to a report on HK-TF.com.

The set features the Seacons in their original colours.

­Chud.com have posted what they claim is details on the opening scene for Transformers 3.  This report should be taken with a pinch of salt, but you can read it be highlighting the space below.

There's a disturbance on the Moon. A robot shaped disturbance. Scientists on Earth see this and the information gets passed up the chain of command. In the White House men in black suits are breathlessly running through the halls, and they burst into the Oval Office. The president is behind the desk, back turned to the door, looking out the window. One of the men tells the president, 'Sir, something's happened on the Moon!' The president turns around.­

It's John F. Kennedy.

After almost 12 months of delay the reason why the Device Label Broadcast (Blaster) has finally been revealed.  According to GetNews.jp the Toshiba licensed Transformers Device Label figure had to be redesigned after a design flaw was found that when you transformed the toy from the USB hub mode into his robot form, that the data cable became damaged around the groin area of the toy.  This means that continued Transformations would result in the device failing.  So he had to go back into development to fix the problem.

In related news, at the Japanese Toy Award 2010 show, the Device Label line came third in the awards under the Toy Character division.

The CyberGundamBlog have posted some photographs which they took at the Tokyo Toy Show which show the new Transformers Animated line-up, 2010 re-issue Predaking, Masterpiece Movie Starscream, Alternity Thundercracker and Animated Hydrodive Bumblebee­.­  Click the link for the images.

If that is not enough, Amiami Blog has also posted lots of photo from the event which doesn't just include Transformers items

TFW2005 board­ member gaokaiser has posted some images and information from a recent TakaraTomy ordering catalogue.  The figures that are shown are:

TA-41 Optimus Prime Light&Sound(Roll Out Command Optimus Prime with a Japanese voice chip)
TA-42 Oil Slick
TA-43 Ironhide Light&Sound (Leader Bulkhead+Japanese voice)
TA-44 Armorhide (Ironhide in US)
TA-45 Shockwave Original ver.(purple color)
TF Animated Super Collection VOL.1(four Activators in one pack)
TF Animated Super Collection VOL.2(four Activators in one pack)
TA-46 Blazing Lockdown
TA-47 Soundwave Electrostatic
AA-05 Seaspray
AA-06 Sidearm Sidswipe
AA-07 Groundshaker(Breacher in US)
AA-08 Elita One(can combine with Arcee and Chromia)
AA-09 Hubcap
AA-10 Brimstone
EZ Collection VOL.5(two new molds+six recolors)
Masterpiece Movie Starscream ­
Alternity Thundercracker­

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Hasbro's PR company­ has sent out samples of the San Diego Comic-con exclusive Mighty Muggs Prowl to some of the US Transformers websites including the webmaster of TFW2005.com and  a member of The All Spark.

You can see the TFW2005.com­ and ­Allspark.com galleries by following the links (so I guess it's not so exclusive to the show after all).  It remains to be seen if the other US Transformers sites will receive a copy, and if not what backlash may come of it.

We are proud to be able to bring you a full image gallery of our latest Transformers figure, the incredibly long titled Toy Hobby Market exclusive Welcome to Transformers 2010 Masterpiece Convoy Sleep Mode (phew, what a mouthful).

This toy is the first offering in the Welcome to Transformers 2010 commemorative line that will also include a new Unicron figure and Masterpiece Rodimus.  The figure were limited to a maximum of 2 per postal address and were only available to Japanese residents.  We managed to order four (don't ask) and will have two for sale at Auto Assembly 2010 for ­£250 each. They will go on sale at somepoint over the weekend on a first come, first served basis. We also have some Unicron's on order that will be coming directly from Toy Hobby Market later in the year, so stay with us for more on those.

Back to Convoy Sleep Mode, one of the first things you will notice is that the toy comes in a rather special packing box that contains not only the Welcome to Transformers 2010 logo on the outside but a special message when you first open the box up. You'll have to take a look at the images to find out what it says, but we suggest that anyone picking up the figure should try to get and keep these boxes as they may well become collectible in the future. The toy itself contains a profile card which tells you which piece number (the figure is limited to 2010 pieces) you own, which is a nice addition.­

For those who thought that the toy was just grey you were mistaken.  He is actually a very dark red/brown on the chest with a very dark blue head and legs. The gallery contains comparison with the e-Hobby exclusive Convoy Black version, the original Japanese Masterpiece Convoy, MP Ultra Magnus and the Western release 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime figure.

We have recieved the latest published NPD charts for UK toy sales, this time covering April 2010

UK APRIL 2010 (UNIT SALES - VOLUME)
1 ZHU ZHU HAMSTER PACKS ASSORTMENT CHARACTER
2 KIDZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA VTECH
3 STAR WARS REBEL TROOPER & SNOW TROOPER BATTLEPACK LEGO
4 SMART TRIKE PLUS GIRLS MOOKIE
5 BEN 10 ALIEN FORCE 10CM FIGURES BANDAI
6 BEN 10 ALIEN FORCE 15CM DNA FIGURES BANDAI
7 SMART TRIKE PLUS PRIMARY COLOUR MOOKIE
8 FIRST STEPS BABYWALKER VTECH
9 LITTLE TIKES COZY COUPE 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION MGA
10 COSMIC LIGHT SCOOTER ASSORTMENT H GROSSMAN

UK APRIL 2010 (£ SALES - VALUE)
1 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT MATTEL
2 MATCH ATTAX ENGLAND CARDS TOPPS
3 MATCH ATTAX CARDS TOPPS
4 MATCH ATTAX EXTRA 20 TOPPS
5 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LEGENDS ASSORTMENT HASBRO
6 GOGO’S III EXPLORER PACK MAGIC BOX
7 BEN 10 ALIEN FORCE 10CM FIGURES BANDAI
8 ZHU ZHU HAMSTER PACKS ASSORTMENT CHARACTER
9 PLAY DOH SINGLE TUB ASSORTMENT HASBRO
10 CARS CHARACTER ASSORTMENT MATTEL

UK YEAR TO DATE (£ SALES - VALUE)
1 ZHU ZHU HAMSTER PACKS ASSORTMENT CHARACTER
2 KIDZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA VTECH
3 STAR WARS REBEL TROOPER & SNOW TROOPER BATTLEPACK LEGO
4 BEN 10 ALIEN FORCE 10CM FIGURES BANDAI
5 BEN 10 ALIEN FORCE 15CM DNA FIGURES BANDAI
6 BAKUGAN STARTER PACK SPIN MASTER
7 STAR WARS LUKE’S LANDSPEEDER LEGO
8 BIONICLE STARS 2010 LEGO
9 FIRST STEPS BABYWALKER VTECH
10 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE DELUXE FIGURES HASBRO

UK YEAR TO DATE (UNIT SALES - VOLUME)
1 MATCH ATTAX CARDS TOPPS
2 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT MATTEL
3 BEN 10 ALIEN FORCE 10CM FIGURES BANDAI
4 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LEGENDS ASSORTMENT HASBRO
5 GOGO S III EXPLORER PACK MAGIC BOX
6 PLAY DOH SINGLE TUB ASSORTMENT HASBRO
7 ZHU ZHU HAMSTER PACKS ASSORTMENT CHARACTER
8 CARS CHARACTER ASSORTMENT MATTEL
9 PLASTICINE 8 PACK FLAIR
10 BAKUGAN BOOSTER PACK SPIN MASTER

Transformers Toys also make it into the top 10 toys sold in The Entertainer for the month

The Entertainer
1 Disney Club Penguin Puffle Series 4 Purple Jakks
2 Sylvanian Families Lakeside Lodge Flair
3 Transformers Leader Optimus Prime Hasbro
4 Hello Kitty Scooter HTI
5 Sleeping Bag Set – girls RMS Intl
6 Sleeping Bag Set – boys RMS Intl
7 Quadpod TP Toys
8 Nebulus TX Scooter – blue Grossman
9 Air Blasters Double Shot Blaster Buzzbee
10 FlyTech R/C Dragonfly – green 40MHz Character

 The publication, Toy News, also pioints out that Rubies has the licence for Transformers costumes.

Titan Comics have issued the following release regarding issue 15 of the UK Transformers Comic

­­Transformers Comic 2.15 - On Sale 15th July!

Check out the latest issue of Transformers Comic for action-packed features, games, puzzles, competitions and lots more! Issue 2.15 also includes "Making Waves", a fantastic comic story written by Robin Etherington and featuring art from Jon Davis-Hunt. Find out more on the story from the synopsis below and check out the sneak peeks attached!

Making Waves
SOUNDWAVE has been under orders from Megatron to cause as much mayhem as possible without being caught by roving NEST forces.  Striking from the upper atmosphere, Soundwave uses his spread of sonic cannons to sink ships in the Atlantic Ocean. But, NEST troops that have been monitoring the pattern of his attacks.

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