In a follow-up to the news we broke last weekend regarding the new Spring / Summer Argos Catalogue, I thought I'd let you know what a trip to our local Argos store found out about the figures currently in stock.

The 25th Anniversary Deluxe toys come up as Universe deluxe, with one in stock.  That one was Ironhide.

The Voayger figures come up as four in stock, but when I asked for a viewing I was told they only have one figure in the back.  That was Decepticon Dropshot.

Leader class Megatron is not in stock yet so it is the Shadow Blade version of the toy.

The Animated deluxe toys only came up as one available and that was Oil slick.

Obviously things may vary amoungst Argos stores, but it will give you an idea of what is currently in.

Thanks to DaveTheRave for pointing us in the direction of his ebay auction for the S.T.A.R.S Battlepack playset.  If you do not know what S.T.A.R.S playset was, it was a cardboard base for the Autobots which was produced during the early years of the Transformers and sold via the S.T.A.R.S collectors club, the first official Transformers club which sold mail-away toys such as the Omibots and Refelctor.  DaveTheRaves' auction also included other 80s Transformers merchandise but the S.T.A.R.S base, especially in the condition that this appears to be, is what will be of most interest collectors.

ACToys has had a few images posted on it of what is said to be one of the Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Constructicons.  The Constructicons are said to be released in two sizes, one of the combined form and the other of individual robots.  This figure appears to be one of the larger combiner pieces, and appears incredibly large compaired to the deluxe toy - although rather disaointing at the same time.

Click here to see the three images.

Yizhi has posted some images over on TF08.net of the upcoming Transformers Henkei Ratchet and Transformers Henkei Hotshot figures, both in vehicle modes.  You can view the images in the original thread here or by using the thmbnails below.

TFCToys has placed some ebay auctions for the upcoming Transformers Revenge of the Fallen scout toys of Blurr (the boat) and Ransack (bi-plane).  The auctions contain some new images of the toys.

Thanks to Phantomfish for the news

Following on from our three "BotCon toy sample" galleries, we've released the fourth new gallery to the site today.  This time it's TV Magazine Lucky Draw Gold Convoy who gets the spotlight.

The figure is limited to 5 prizes, in the TV Magazine draw (which ran in December), although three additional testshots have appeared (and been sold) to collectors.  The gallery highlights the three differences found on the toys, as we ponder the question of what the final released prize campign toy will look like.  Usually it takes between 3 and 4 months for the prize toys to make it onto the collectors market.

Stay tuned to Lucky Draw Transformers and Transformers At The Moon for more Lucky Draw Transformers galleries later this month.

The official Transformers Revenge of the Fallen movie website has now been updated to include the teaser poster for the movie due out later this year.

It will be interesting to see when Paramount start the onlien media campaign and if there will be more sites like the Sector 7 website from the last film, to help with promotion and act as a viral marketing campaign.

The website for this year's Dutch Transformers convention is now live.  The convention has changed it's name once again (from Transformations in 2007, through to B.O.T.S (2008) and now to TF ConVersions).

The event is due to take place in June 2009, around the time of the second live action Transformers Movie (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen).

The website www.TF-ConVersions.com promises that more updates and features will be added to the site in the coming months leading towards the event.

TFW2005 have published a list of Target CPCI numbers which include entries for the Transformers Revenge of the Fallen figures as well as Transformers Animated.

087-06-0111 TF MV2 Deluxe Figures
087-06-0115 TF MV2 Scout Figures
087-06-0119 Transformers MV2 Optimus Prime Helmet
087-06-0120 TF MV2 Voyager
087-06-0122 TF MV2 Leader
087-06-0125 TF MV2 Gravity Bots
087-06-0127 Transbattler MV2 FAB
087-06-0128 TF MV2 Robot Replicas
087-06-0131 TF MV2 Robot Hero Scene
087-06-0139 Tran Weapon MV2 Robot Weapons
087-06-0141 Trans Helmet MV2 Helmet Roleplay
087-06-0146 TF MV2 Combiners
087-06-0162 TF MV2 Ultimate Bumblebee
087-06-0163 TF MV2 Power bots
087-06-0164 TF MV2 Mega Power bots
087-06-0171 TF MV2 Legends
087-06-0294 TRA Combiner TF MV2 

The Optimus Prime voice changer helmet was also mentioned within this months Toy News Magazine.

We're please to be able to once again bring you the latest batch of NPD sales figures for the UK toy industry.  As always all four charts are included from the November Sales and Year-To-Date

UK November 2008 - £ Sales
1. Kidizoom Camara - VTech
2. Fur Real Biscuit My Lovin Pup - Hasbro
3. Baby Annabell Doll - ZAPF Creation
4. V Smile TV Learning System - Vtech
5. Kid Tough Digital Camea - Mattel
6. Ben 10 Deluxe Omnitrix - Bandai
7. ITNG 12" Talking Plush - Hasbro
8. Ben 10 Figures 10cm - Bandai
9. Ben 10 Figures 15cm - Bandai
10. BG Bounce N Spin Zebra - Mattel


UK November 2008 - Unit Sales
1. Match Attax Cards 08/09 - Topps
2. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - MAttel
3. Ben 10 Figures 10cm - Bandai
4. Cars Vehicle ASsortment - Mattel
5. Ben 10 Figures 15cm - Bandai
6. ITNG Mini Plush - Hasbro
7. ITNG Basic Plush - Hasbro
8. HSM Singalong Micrphone - Vivid Imaginations
9. 20Q - Mattel
10. Ben 10 DEluxe Omnitrix - Bandai


UK Year to date £ Sales
1. Ben 10 FIgures 10cm - Bandai
2. Cars Vehicle Assortment - Mattel
3. INTG 12" Talking Plush - Hasbro
4. Ben 10 Figures 15CM - Bandai
5. Kidizoom Camera - Vtech
6. ITNG Mini Plush - Hasbro
7. Ben 10 Omnitrix FX Watch - Bandai
8. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - Mattel
9. Power Rangers - Operation Overdrive Figures - Bandai
10. First Steps Babywalker - Vtech


UK Year To Date Unit Sales
1. Hot Wheels Basic Car ASsortment - Mattel
2. Cars Vehicle Assortment - Mattel
3. Ben 10 Figures 10cm - Bandai
4. Match Attax Cards 07/08 - Topps
5. Transformers Movie Legends - Hasbro
6. ITNG Mini Plush - Hasbro
7. Power Rangers Operation Overdrive Figures - Bandai
8. Ben 10 Figures 15cm - Bandai
9. MAtch Attax Cards 08/09 - Topps
10. WWE Ruthless Aggression - Vivid

The latest edition of the UK toy trade magazine "Toy News" features Transformers Revenge of the Fallen on the cover (See below).  In an interview with the Hasbro UK marketing director its quoted that Hasbro UK expect sales of Transformers to be up 25% in 2009 on the back of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen when compared to sales in 2007 despite the economic downturn.

We'll have more on the contents when we finish reading through our copy the magazine.

You've probably seen the term AFA graded when looking into buying Transformers online, or even just browsing through the various Transformers forums and websites on the internet.  Some of you may not know what AFA actually stands for (Action Figure Authority) and others may already own some AFA graded Transformers (or other toys).  A few of you may be collectors of these highly priced, usually vintage, and extremely well kept toys.

Well if you're an AFA novice or an avid AFA figure collector then you may be interested to knwo that AFATransformers.com has now officially be launched.

AFA Transformers is a website completely dedicate to these highly collectable items.  Created with the slogan "Condition Counts", AFA Transformers comprises of a huge database of official AFA information obtained directly from the Action Figure Authoriry, and presented to you directly - with no need to create an account or sign up.

So what can you find on AFA Transformers? 

1. Well for one you can find a complete listing of AFA Graded Transformers (1250 to date) which the authority has on record.
2. AFA Graded information - you can easily search for a toy and retreive all the information on the figure - from it's highest graded version, to how many of those toys have been graded
3. Price Guide - probably one of the most important areas, and ambishious projects of the site.  This price guide is linked into eBay for AFA related Transformers auctions.  As soon as an auction ends it's final price is update to the site, ensuring you have the most up-to-date and accurate information to hand.
4. Handy auction links - links direct to ebay to give you a quick-link to the hottest AFA Transformers items for sale.
   

The site's look is designed with speed in mind.  It doesn't look pretty but enables you to easily access the information you are after as quickly as possible.  The graphical layout of the site will be improved over time, but we feel the key to our websites are in the contents not the design.

AFA Transformers was quiet a project for us, and seemed to be a natural progression after Lucky Draw Transformers.  The information on the site is  focused in a way that collectors of these prized pieces finally have somewhere to go to easily keep track of the trends of sales, and find information on items.  If you're thinking about getting items AFA Graded then it's a great place to go to find if the items have been graded before.  The site also contains information on the Action Figure Authourity although is no way connected to them.

The disucssion area for AFA Transformers is currently not open, but we'll be looking to finalise that later this month.  Bookmark the site now.