The Transformers Collectors Club have sent out an email announcing the release of their exclusive Seacons box set and Nightbeat figure.

"The pre-orders are online now.  Please try to place your order on the web as to minimize phone calls.

Products are expected to arrive to us by the end of Sept.  I'll let you know when they get on the boat!

Thanks for your patience. We wanted to get the new credit card system running before we started taking orders as it will help our international friends.

transformersclub.com/shop  select the pre-order check box and search to find both items.

Thanks for your support!

Brian"

The TakaraTomy Coffee Boxx figures are now out in Japan and the three chase figures, gold Convoy, Megatron and Starscream, have already appeared on ebay.

The figures are plastic models with moving arms and were originally only available via convenience store Japan that carries the Boss coffee brand.

Thanks to an Oddsey for sending us images of the new Transformers Movie repaints in their alternative mode.  This comes only days after we posted on TF08.net's forums asking for alt mode images.

Close up of head:

Following on from yesterdays update of Hyber Hobby Magazine scans, you can now find another 26 Japanese Magazine Galleries, this time featuring the magazine TV-Boy. The galleries date back form 2004 and contain between 2 and 12 images a piece, depending on their Transformers related content.

• TV Boy October 2004
• TV Boy November 2004
• TV Boy January 2005
• TV Boy February 2005
• TV Boy April 2005
• TV Boy May 2005
• TV Boy June 2005
• TV Boy July 2005
• TV Boy August 2005
• TV Boy September 2005
• TV Boy October 2005
• TV Boy November 2005
• TV Boy December 2005
• TV Boy January 2006
• TV Boy February 2006
• TV Boy March 2006
• TV Boy April 2006
• TV Boy May 2006
• TV Boy June 2006
• TV Boy July 2006
• TV Boy August 2006
• TV Boy September 2006
• TV Boy October 2006
• TV Boy November 2006
• TV Boy December 2006
• TV Boy Janurary 2007

Snakas has published his round up of the latest issue of Dengeki Hobby Magazine which you can read here in Japanese. The issue contains pretty much the same contents as the latest issue of Figure King including Transformers Encore Metroplex, Suntory Limited coffee boss campaign, Transformers Henkei, Transformers Alternity and the Transformers Marvel Crossovers.

The Henkei article confirmed that Streak is slightly recoloured from the Western release, and that Galvatron and Ironhide will be released in November in Japan.

The Alternity GT-R figure is listed as going on sale in January 2009 for 4,725 yen which is the latest source saying that the figure has slipped from a November 2008 release, back to 2009. Once again, the profile and character name were not published.

Finally, more information and images were published on the Chara-Hobby 2008 exclusive Transformers Henkei Wildrider.

Following up from his auction for the Clear Collectors Edition Mini-bots and the Chrome Soundwave, Yahoo Japan Auctions seller Sharbicc has now listed some more of these "Lunchtime special" toys for sale. The latest auctions are for clear versions of Smokescreen, Megaplex and Sideswipe. The figures have somewhat yellowed from their original clear colour, probably due to the conditions in which they have been kept.

If you want to see more images of these, as well as other clear Collectors Edition figures then you can find lots of them within the prototype Transformers area of the website. The seller will probably have more clears for sale over the coming weeks, so you may be interested in knowing who they could be. Here is a list of the known clear toys many of which you cna find galleries within the prototype Transformers area. Optimus Prime, Megatron, Soundwave, Starscream, Sunstorm, Smokescreen, Prowl, Jazz, Sideswipe, Inferno, Grapple, Tracks, Skids, Astrotrain, Hotrod, Hound, Stepper, The Minibots, Aramda STD Prime, Armada Sideswipe.

Some readers may not have heard of the term "Lunchtime specials" before so we will give you a brief history. The term Lunchtime Special was coined by the Autocon group during the Transformers Collectors Edition period of releases and was used to attach to any figure that the group did not know about and believed was fake. Most of these figures were clear,some where chrome, and others have been proved as Lucky Draw campaign prize toys. The story they used was that the figures were being put together at the Takara factories by workers during their lunch breaks and after hours. These figures, they went on to claim, were then being sold to local stores and direct to oversea collectors via auction sites such as Ebay. One of the best known sellers of these toys went by the eBay username of TinTinHappy.

There are, however, at least three other explanations that have been given for the existence of these toys which have come from fans/collectors who have later gone on to be connected to Hasbro, the Transformers Collectors Club and other Transformers Conventions.

The second story is that the items are simply testshot which have been produced in clear or chrome plastic, in varying colours, in order to highlight any flaws within the mould. It has been suggested that every toy, or recent toy, goes through this process.

The third story suggest that the items are produced as "Staff Items" by Takara and given to their employees as rewards. The items are never intended for the general public.

The final story is that the toys are produced as samples by Takara / Hasbro and offered to stores / magazines as potential exclusives / prizes. The figures are said to be produced in clear and chrome and if true, would explain the origin of the Lucky Draw Transformers.

The one thing that hasn't helped is the production of higher quality fake Transformers in clear and alternative colour schemes. One of the most well known of these was the clear Optimus Prime that was producd in 2007. You can find a gallery of that figure, along with comparison images to the "Lunchtime" clear Optimus Prime on this website.

Box and loose versions of many of the toys have been seen, along with variations on the amount of clear plastic that was used.

Which of these stories, if any, is the genuine origin of these toys no body can say for sure. Until Hasbro or Takara come forward and make an official statement regarding these figures you simply have to make up your own mind.

Hasbro UK Toyshop's competition to win a one-of-a-kind handmade sample of Roll-out Optimus Prime, Deluxe Megatron and Leader Class Bulkhead each in a unique collectors case, started this morning.

The competition runs from the 25th August 2008 until the 14th September 2008. To enter the competition you simply need to purchase a Transformer through the Hasbro Toy Shop. you will then be entered into a draw, with the the winners being pulled at random. Yes, technically you could call this the first UK Lucky Draw competition. You can find out more, as well as entering by clicking on the banner below.

Recently ten gold Transformers Leader Class Optimus Prime figures were given away at the Hong Kong Animation and Comic Show 2008 to the first ten people to spend HK$3000 or more. Since then four have been sold internationally from the same seller for varying prices with two more appearing on auction sites within the last few hours. eToysJapan has listed his fifth one on ebay at the moment with a starting price of $3000, with a 6th figure appearing on Yahoo! Auctions Hong Kong via seller ieolawse with a starting price of $1,639, the lowest price of this figure so far by $900.

So far numbers 85,86 and 24 have been confirmed. The Yahoo auction one appears to be 69, though it is hard to read. The one on Ebay at the moment is not known which number it is, but it should be number 24. If you own one of these figures, could you please get in touch with us and let us know which number you have.

This means that there should only be only four others left that were given away at the convention.

Earlier this year we started what we called our "Lucky Draw Research Project". This mini-project involved us trying to track down any and all hard evidence relating to the Takara Japanese Exclusive campaign prize draw Transformers figures known as Lucky Draw toys.

The project, which we had technically started several years ago with online research, involved us spending quiet a bit of time and an awful lot of money to buy back issues of various Japanese toy , TV and collectors magazines. There were a few issues to get over with the research.

• Language barrier - though our Japanese is far better than it used to be thanks to some lessons a few years ago
• Lack of online information, other than on the Lucky Draw Transformers website
• Age - the magazines we were after date back to 1997, with some issues required from 1987/1988.
  
• Range of magazines - the magazines, which are released monthly included TV Boy, TV Magazine, Hyper Hobby Magazine and Comic BonBon (that's over 10 years worth of 4 magazines, at 12 magazines a year), which works out at 480 magazines.

Anyway we bought over 150 magazines over a month and had them shipped into the UK (which was a whole new story) where we had to sort through them, document the information and then scan each of the magazines for evidence. We decided to scan any and every page which featured Transformers on them, as well as a few other series which we liked such as Microman.

Anyway the first batch of updates are now available on Transformers At The Moon in our In The Media section. The new galleries include Lucky Draw Transformers toys, Transformers protype and testshot toys, a Beast Wars II manga and much more. The Issues also include the Hyper Hobby magazine which featured the Black Rodimus Convoy toy currently on eBay:-

• Comic Bon-Bon July 1997
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 20
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 21
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 22
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 23
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 24
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 25
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 26
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 28
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 29
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 30
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 31
  
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 32
  
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 33
  
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 34
  
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 35
  
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 36
  
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 37
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 38
• Hyper Hobby Magazine Issue 39
  

Ministry of Toys has listed their testshot of the black Rodimus Convoy Transformers Collectors Edition figure which originally planned as a Lucky Draw for Hyper Hobby Magazine in 2003.

The figure a starting price of $2,999, double the price that it failed to sell for, the last time the toy was listed a few years ago.

MOT have listed the figure at least three time in the past, reducing the price from $5000 dollars to $1500. Each time it was listed, the figure failed to sell.

Thanks to an Oddsey for letting us know that the Argos "August Bank Holiday 7 Day Deals" includes 25% of all Transformers Animated items! The offer is also available online, so if you can not get to a store, just visit the Argos website and order the figures direct.

Activators are £3.74, Deluxes £7.49, Voyagers £15.99, Leader Class £29.99 and Supreme is £37.49

The 127th issue of Figure King magazine was released today in Japan and includes article on Transformers Encore Metroplex, the Suntory Limited coffee boss campaign figures, Transformers Henkei Prowl, Sunstreaker and Galvatron, the heavily delayed Binaltech Convoy, Alternity Convoy, Transformers Crossovers and an article on the TransformArt exhibitions.

The article on Encore Metroplex covers the history of the character including pictures from Scramble City and the G1 cartoon, as well as highlighting the mould difference on the tank turrent (Slammer). The article also confirms, once again, that the toy will be the chromed legged rubber wheeled version.

The Suntory Limited coffee boss campaign figures, which we first reported on the 18th August, are highly cartoon accurate non-transforming figures, think back to the SCF toys, and like those have chase figures, the chrome toys, of which the parts will be spread over a few cans.

Images are published in the issue of the Transformers Henkei Prowl and Sunstreaker figures. The images are of the Japanese versions and not the US figures. The toys are due out in October, and the magazine announces that Galvatron will be the next Transformers Henkei toy released after these toys, with a picture of his head being published.

This issue of Figure King states that the much delayed Binaltech Convoy figure will finally be released in Japan on the 2nd October 2008. Previously the figure had been reported as being released at the end of September via he TakaraTomy Generation One website.

The article on the Alternity GT-R figure publishes the prototype image which was recently seen on the internet. It also states that the automatic transformation system has been dubbed "Synchronized Tec" in a similar way to the "Automorph Technology" Hasbro use on the Transformers Movie toys. No information was published concerning the name of the character, the retail price or the release date.

Credit goes to Snakas for the original report.

Three previously unseen Transformers Universe recolours appeared recently on eBay. The auctions have now ended but the listings can still be seen. The auctions were for Universe Whirl, Universe Sandstorm and Optimus Prime.