Don Murphy posted the following on his message board yesterday.

Hey Stooges-

Remember when we would do Sunday Postings EVERY Sunday? I wouldn’t say those were the “good ol’ days” because we had people like Reggie and Bowspearer here stirring up jive. Nowadays though we’re lucky if we get a Sunday Posting every 4 months. But I am proud of what we have built here, a community of maniacs who love movies and love the movie making process. DM.net is one part Wikipedia army, one part Transformers collectors extraordinaires, one part friends I have made and twelve parts lunatics arguing about film piracy and Polanski’s butt piracy. And I would not have it any way! Love and thanks to each and every one of you.

? SPLICE has opened in the US to some of the best reviews of the season. It is a pretty hugged up movie. The box office totals could have been higher, but this seems to be the summer of no movie going. Oh well. Fact is, the other three movies that opened against us are on track to lose money, and Splice, made for only $27m with a lot of tax rebates on top has already made money. The reason Susan and Guillermo and I got involved in Splice in the first place was the vision of Vincenzo Natali. He is a major talent and THE nicest person who ever walked the earth. His CUBE rocks the house. We wanted to bring him “back” and help get his career back on track. SPLICE does that and more. In addition, we got to work with Joel Silver, Andrew Rona and the amazing Warners marketing team. They were amazing, hard working, talented and a joy to watch. The whole SPLICE story has been a Cinderella story we are all extremely proud of. Check it out when you can!

? TRANSFORMERS 3 is starting its third week of shooting. As you guys know, everything on this movie is super top secret., but it is going very well and I think you will all be stoked to see old favorites and new characters coming at ya. You know I liked the second film a lot- that said the new screenplay brings back the sense of awe and wonder that made the first film so exciting and special. It’s a shame that Megan didn’t work out but with what Michael has planned you won’t miss her. There is still a hell of a lot of shooting to go and you don’t need me the way you guys dig up clues and jive- suffice it to say NEXT Fourth of July you guys will be excited again. I personally can’t wait.

? REAL STEEL- Boxing Robots. The great Hugh Jackman. Evangeline “Lost” Lilly. A great little cute kid. The talented director behind the Nights at the Museum. Steven Spielber presents. Short story by Richard Matheson from the Twilight Zone. Susan and Don producing. ColdasIce working on the staff. What more do you want? A Thanksgiving 2011 release? Done. Robots fighting to the death? Done. Toys and videogames? jive yeah. The VFX team from AVATAR? Oh yes! I hear you- when does this start shooting? NEXT WEEK!

? Upcoming news… so much to tell y’all, but not ready yet. Guillermo back in LA and ready to work… Susan and Don marching to conquer TV and doing four deals in two months (Huzzah!)… a big 80s Franchise that will make you smile… a Sci fi classic redone with modern FX…

Life is Good. Be kind to one another, be rough to our enemies and enjoy films. Remember- It isn’t true till you see it on the screen!

Don Murphy
Under Dust
June 6, 2010 A.D.

S250 has posted an update regarding the large scorpion figure he Tweeted about the other month which we suggested could turn out to be Airachnia.  Well that's looking even less likely as its turned out that the figure we bve a recolour of the Energon Scorponok toy.

Derrick Wyatt has now answered 933 questions over on formspring.me which covers the Transformers Animated series, the universe in general and just about anything.

Derrick will be over in the UK in August as one of the guest of honour for Auto Assembly 2010. and event at which you will be able to meet the man himself, ask him your own questions and generally thank him for his work on Transformers Animated.

This year be present again Michael and Kerstin of "Inside-Outside Bodyart". On the C.O.N.S. 2010 Michael with his exclusive pieces of jewellery in Transformers style completely in front. Since he has specially sketched for us rings, on that the C.O.N.S. Sign is to be read. Kerstin has sharpened her needles and does exclusive on the C.O.N.S. Transformers motives under the skin as Tattoos. 
Here we already have a small foretaste on the jewellery which will be present and also a look on the new creation!

The C.O.N.S. Rings are limited for the normal sale in different sizes! But everyone can pre-order a Ring in his size, so everyone can get it on the C.O.N.S.

For pre-order contact: cons@ntf-archive.de

Snakas is reporting that Rakuten Ichiba Santa toy store has two new Transformers Animateditems listed.

The first is for a Transformers gum card 20 card set which includes chewing gum and a card and is priced at 105 yen with a July release.

The 2nd is for a painted PVC figure that go on sale in August priced at 315 yen.  The figures are of Optimus Prime, Megatron and Bumblebee.

You can view images of both sets below.
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We are pleased to announced that we have managed to order a limited number of the Toy Hobby Market exclusive Masterpiece Sleep Mode Convoy as well as the Generation One coloured Unicron figure.

For those considering ordering the figures direct, Toy Hobby Market limit the number of Sleep Mode Convoy figures to two items per customer, so if you are after more you will need to have a few people place orders.  The figure is limited to a total production run of 2010 pieces.

We do not have the final price for the figures, or a final quantity as we are trying to order more as I post this, and will most likely not publish a final price until they are in hand but you can rest assured that will be try our best to keep the costs down to as minimum as possible.

Auto Assembly 2010 Announces Exclusive IDW Comic!

Things may have been quiet for a couple of weeks for Auto Assembly apart from a few small announcements through our website. We have been busy behind the scenes continuing to work on processing bookings, preparing for the launch of our Non-Attendee Package and working on the first of this year's convention exclusives which we are now proud to announce...

Following the success last year of our convention exclusive comic, we are once again working with IDW Publishing and we will have another convention exclusive variant cover of a forthcoming Transformers book from IDW. This year, we are working with Transformers dealer Toyz And Gamez (www.toysandgamez.com) who are helping to make the comic a reality. The book is going to be Issue 9 of IDW's ongoing Transformers comic and our convention edition will feature a new cover with artwork from Nick Roche and colours by Liam Shalloo, both of whom will be in attendance at Auto Assembly 2010, as will the comic's main artist Guido Guidi!

The comic will be on sale all weekend from the Toyz And Gamez table and will also be part of the Non-Attendee Package which will be on sale shortly. If copies remain after the event, the comic will also be sold online afterwards.

Visit the Auto Assembly website now at www.autoassembly.org.uk to see a preview of the cover or to book your tickets for the convention or learn more about the event which is already shaping up to be the biggest Transformers convention that Europe has ever seen!

Spanning the weekend of Friday 13th - Sunday 15th August 2010 at the The Holiday Inn Birmingham City Centre, Birmingham, England, the convention is playing host to a staggering 11 guests including three guests of honour (Garry Chalk, Scott McNeill and Derrick J Wyatt), and will feature toy and art displays, dealers, comic guests, free autograph sessions, a video games area, free workshops run by many of our guests, dedicated childrens programming, video screenings and so much more to be announced! There will also be Friday and Saturday evening programmes, exclusive for weekend attendees and the Saturday evening will play host to a party, a concert by rock band Next Of Kin (including a Transformers themed set with music from the 1986 animated movie!), costume competition, our voice actors will take to the stage to perform a BRAND NEW script written by Simon Furman and we still have a few more surprises in store...!

For more details on the convention, to see a full list of all the guests and activities taking place over the weekend, or to book your tickets, visit the website at www.autoassembly.org.uk

We hope to see you all in August 2010.

The Auto Assembly 2010 Team

Web: www.autoassembly.org.uk
Youtube: www.youtube.com/autoassembly
Twitter: www.twitter.com/auto_assembly
Forum: http://autoassembly.proboards.com
Email: autoassembly@aol.com
Tel: +44 (0)7860 948296

Auto Assembly 2010 is sponsored by www.transformertoys.co.uk and www.transformersanimated.com whose generosity have made Derrick J Wyatt's appearance at the convention possible.

Auto Assembly 2010 is also sponsored by:-
Science Fiction Collectables - www.sf-collectables.co.uk
Toyz And Games - www.toyzandgamez.com/

Activision have started a competition to find the UKs biggest Transformers fan to celebrate the upcoming release of Transformers War For Cybertron within the UK.

The Search for the Biggest Transformers Fan Rolls Out Across the UK

Do you know your Megatron from your Optimus Prime? Your Bumblebee from your Cybertron? If so, to celebrate the launch of the new video game Transformers: War for Cybertron, we are on the look out to find the UK’s most enthusiastic Transformers aficionado.

For the nationwide search, which begins on the 25th May, a select panel of judges will be looking for the ultimate fan. So if you have every Transformer toy ever made, your home has more in common with a wreckage on Cybertron than a semi-detached house or if you simply love dressing up as your favourite character, let us know as the winner of the ultimate fan competition will win a life-sized drawing of themselves as a Transformer, specially designed by Transformer artist extraordinaire Jon Davis Hunt, a fantastic prize for any Transformer fan.

How to enter:

If you think you fit the bill then submit your entry to activisionpr@frankpr.it You’ll need to include an image illustrating your claim to be biggest fan and, in no more than 100 words, a description as to why you think you should win.

The competition is now open and closes 13th June

Good luck and roll out!

Transformers: War for Cybertron, launches 25th June 2010, is a gripping, 3rd person action shooter set on the Transformers’ war-ravaged homeland. Complete with several multiplayer modes, the game allows gamers to play through story missions with their friends in co-op, as well as create their own Transformers character for competitive head-to-head multiplayer modes, choosing among four distinct character classes and selecting from a huge variety of weapons, skills and abilities. To find out more about the new video game Transformers: War for Cybertron please visit www.transformersgame.com

Credit to  TFW2005.com for the original post.

ACToys.net member terry_wen has posted an image of Botcon 2010 exclusives Breakdown and Rapido togther in robot mode.  The image shows off Rapido's new head mold and can be found below.

Credit to Snakas for the news.

ACToys.net member ??has posted a series of images of the Seacons in Generation One colour schemes though Snap Trap is missing and Jawbreaker / Overbite is somewhat off coloured.  Some of the toys have a "not for sale" stamp as well as "made in China" markings suggesting that though they also have an 1­987 copyright marking, that these figures have been made in recent years.  Its unlikely that these were test-shots for the Collectors Club figure, as white samples have already been seen of those and its more likely that these figures could be seeing a re-release perhaps as a SDCC exclusive or a Japanese release.  Expect more on this as the story develops.

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TFW2005 board member RAvenXL7 has posted some scans from the latest Previews Catalogue which is sent out by Diamond Distribution.  The scans include some new images of various upcoming Transformers figures including:

Generations
War For Cybertron Bumblebee
War For Cybertron Optimus Prime
War For Cybertron Megatron
Darkmount (originally to be called Straxus)

Power Core Combiners
Sledge with Throttler
Leadfoot with Pinpoint
Icepick with Chainclaw
Double Clutch with Rallybots
Mudslinger with Constructicons

Movie
Hubcap
Brimstone
Insecticon
Breacher
Crankstart
Oil Pan
Elita-1
Tuner Skids
Hailstorm
Sidearm Sideswipe
Banzai-tron
Night Attack Ratchet
Battles Blades Optimus Prime

The-Arker.com have posted two in-packaging images­ of Human Alliance Jazz with Lennox which you can see mirrored below.

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