Youtube user kbigstonehas posted some rare footage that was recorded at the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show. This event is very important in the history of the Transformers line as it was at this show that representatives from Hasbro Inc spotted Takara's exhibit of both their Diaclone and Micro Change toy lines which started the process that lead to the creation of the Transformers.  Whilst the quality of the footage is not great in places, it does feature both of these Takara lines being displayed.

in a new interview with Hasbro Studios' Stephen Davies, posted on WorldScreen.com, some early details regarding the next Transformers TV series (a reboot) have been given out.  Everything was pretty much as expected, that the series will be made with a lighter tone, aimed at a younger audience and taking queues from Rescue Bots.

TV KIDS: What new shows do you have coming up?

DAVIES: We have this great new show, which is kind of the entry point forTransformers for littler boys called Transformers Rescue Bots. Although interestingly, when we reimagined Transformers for a younger generation, typically big brother doesn’t want to watch what little brother is watching, but because the Transformers brand resonates across so many generations and it’s so relevant and relatable, we’re actually finding that while we conceived Rescue Bots principally for 4- to 5-year-olds, the older brother, who is 7 or 8 years old, is also watching with little brother.

We just talked about co-viewing and children wanting to watch with their parents, well, now we have this show where little brother wants to watch with older brother and big brother also wants to watch with little brother, which is a phenomenal opportunity because, again, there are not a lot of shows where you have that kind of multigenerational appeal at all levels. In fact, Rescue Botsinspired us for our new chapter of Transformers, because Rescue Bots is a much simpler show to understand, the transformations are much simpler, and it’s a lighter, brighter, more humorous approach. So a lot of what we learned fromRescue Bots we are now applying to our new Transformers series.
 
It starts with Transformers; we’ve had several very successful seasons ofTransformers Prime. Excitedly, Finn Arnesen, who runs international distribution for us, is introducing our new Transformers series, which is a lot of fun because it really harkens back to the old Transformers: Generation 1 days. It’s a lighter, brighter more comedic show. It’s still full of all the wonderful characters that our fans love, but it’s really a complete reimagination of our Transformers series, which we will be rolling out next year.

TagHobby.com have leaked out the first official image of the grey prototype for MP-20 Wheeljack who is due for a release on the 23rd August in Japan

TF Yuki has posted a size comparison of Transformers Go Optimus Prime against Gogekino (ゴウゲキンウ).

ハンターオプティマスプライムの新たなる姿か!?　「Ｇ26　オプティマスエクスプライム」は、今月末発売予定!! http://t.co/FKoY2kDwpB

— TF YUKI (@TFYUKI) January 9, 2014

We tweeted this out last night but thanks to the Weibo user @HarryHuo the world has now gotten to see the designs for the Dinobots in Transformers 4: Age of Extinction.  We have taken the packaging mock-up image and have extract and enlarged the various images to give you a better look at the designs.

These are not your G1 Dinobots as the appear to be a T-Rex, a Raptor (or a modified Deinonychus depending on the scale), a Pteranodon, a Spinosaurus and a Triceratops with the tail of a Stegosaurus.

You can view the images below.

The Walmart website has been updatd with several Transformers 4 product listings of which you can find a full list below:

Transformers Movie 4 Sparkers
Dinobots Sparkers $23
Optimus Prime/Grimlock $13
Bumblebee/Strafe $13
Wolf/Lockdown $13
Slug/Drift $13
Scorn/Crosshairs $13
Slash/Hound

-Transformers Movie 4 Leader Class $45
Leader Class Optimus Prime
Leader Class Grimlock

-Transformers Movie 4 $10
Autobot Drift

-Transformers Movie 4 Titans $10
Optimus Prime
Lockdown
Bumblebee

Transformers Movie 4 One Step $10
Lockdown
Wolf

-Construct Bots
Slug

The Fun Publications team have announced that this years Botcon theme will be Pirates (Thundertron's crew anyone) Vs ..., well they haven't announced the 2nd faction(s) yet as it's better to tease, but you will find the Twitter announcement below.

So. Now the question is... PIRATES VS ???????

— Transformers: BotCon (@BotCon) January 6, 2014

We have updated the Transformers toys instruction sheets section of the website with some new PDF instructon sheets entries.

Of the updates, the following new entries were added into the database:

1. Kre-O Transformers Beast Hunters Beast Blade Optimus Prime Building Set Instructions

You can download copies of the instruction sheets from our Transformers toys instruction sheets section of the website.

The Third Party Transformers Group TF Fourth Party have posted an image on Weibo of a silhoutte of a figure based on Omega Supreme which they will be releasing in 2014.  No information is given on the figure other than the size is planned to be that of TFC Hercules

Andy Wildman has spoken abou this return to the final issue of Transformers Regeneration, issue 100, in which both he and Guido Guidi will co-sketch the book.

I have begun work on the final issue of Transformers Regeneration One. I won’t be pencilling the whole book but it really is a privilege to be asked to come back in for the curtain call. 2014 is a BIG year for Transformers what with it being the 30th Anniversary so watch out for the team at a convention near you.

 Here is the official sales promotion

Transformers Regeneration One #100

Simon Furman (w) • Andrew Wildman & Guido Guidi (a) • Andrew Wildman, Guidi (c)

THE GREATEST ENEMY... the greatest challenge... shall come from within. And there will be an ending. This is it, the battle the TRANSFORMERS must win, and yet dare not. The original and founding TRANSFORMERS comic comes to an epic and giant-sized conclusion, with all-out battle on CYBERTRON. Or should that be “Cybertrons”? Shocks, surprises, guest stars and more. It may be a cliché, but this one really does have it all.

FC • 48 pages • $5.99

Bullet points:

• The soul-shattering conclusion to the 100-issue original TRANSFORMERS EPIC!
• Variant Cover by Herb Trimpe!
• Variant Cover by Geoff Senior!

Amazon Japan, UK and .Com have been updated with a pre-order page of the next Transformers Reference Book by fan-favorite (and personal friends) Bill Forester and Jim Sorenson, Transformers Legacy: A Celebration of Transformers Package Art.

Release Date: 6 May 2014
ISBN-10: 1613779437
ISBN-13: 978-1613779439

The Japanese Listing page shows the book for ￥6914

The UK Listing page shows the book for £37.99

The US Listing page shows the book for $34.22

Englist listing

Remember the thrill of tearing open a gift on Christmas morning, discovering a brand-new Transformer in a shiny new box? While the toys were amazing in their own right, what made the packages stand head-and-shoulders above the myriad competing action figures on shelves was the stunning box art. Transformers: Legacy collects hundreds of beautifully airbrushed paintings from the iconic first decade of The Transformers. Hasbro, Takara, and private collectors opened their archives, yielding an unparalled level of quality. Essays and interviews from the original illustrators give unprecedented insight into the process behind the art. This book is chock-full of extras, including never-before-seen artwork from toys that never were, original design sketches, catalog artwork, and more.

Japanese listing

｢予約商品の価格保証｣では、お客様が対象商品を予約注文した時点から発送手続きに入る時点、または発売日のいずれか早い時点までの期間中のAmazon.co.jp の最低販売価格が、お支払いいただく金額となります。予約商品の価格保証について詳しくはヘルプページをご覧ください。 詳細はこちら (細則もこちらからご覧いただけます)

The Twitter account of Hasui Akira Satoru, one of the developers at Takara Tomy, has been updated with a silhouette image of the upcoming Transformers Masterpiece 20 figure. Officially still not named, the character is clearly Wheeljack and we fully expect will result in a recolour baesd on the G1 European Exclusive Action Master Slicer.

TFCon, the worlds largest fan run Transformers convention, based in Canada, have annouced that not only will the event in Toronto happen in July but they will be crossing the board to the USA to have their first US convention in August located in Chicago.

Save the dates! TFcon – The world’s largest fan-run Transformers convention is travelling to America the weekend of October 24th to 26th, 2014. TFcon USA will take place at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Transformers. Discounted hotel block information will be available shortly. Dealer bookings and registration information will also be available in the near future. We hope you can join us for this historic event.

This is a very interesting development, not only is it a potential challenger to BotCon's US domination of the Transformers calendar but what will the knock-on effect be for the Canadian event, which often has Hasbro Canada's involvement.  Will Big Brother Hasbro USA clamp down on this un-licensed show?

Actor Simon Delaney has spoken to The Herald to talk about how Jack Reynor got his role in not only the upcoming Transformers 4 movie, titled Age of Extiction, but also in  Transformers 5 and Transformers 6

"We all knew when we were shooting Delivery Man that he [Jack] had done a couple of screen tests and auditions for Transformers, every day we would say: 'Any news?' Jack was actually on set one night, Michael Bay [the director of Transformers] called and he stepped off set to take the call," Simon revealed.

"Everyone was looking through a window, like eager fathers awaiting the birth of their new son, and he came back in and said, 'I got it'. There was a little bit of a party that night.

Todd Matthy has held an interview with the writer of the 1986 Transformers: The Movie, Ron Friedman, which he has posted onto his blog.  The interview coverd Friedman's approach to writing the movie script, reveals his reservations about killing off Optimus Prime and more. Click here to read the full article.  Below you will find Todd's introduction to what is a very interesting piece

In the summer of 1986, children were traumatized when Optimus Prime sacrificed himself to stop his archrival, Megatron. But it wasn’t Megatron who pulled the trigger, it was a writer named Ron Friedman.

Ron Friedman wrote Transformers: The Movie. He wrote the five-part miniseries that launched GI Joe. He is close friends with Stan Lee and helped Stan develop The Marvel Action Hour, featuring Iron Man and Fantastic Four. He has written episodes of All in the Family, Happy Days, and Fantasy Island. In addition to his writing credentials, Ron is an architect and a teacher at Chapman University.

In 2014, Ron plans to chronicle his experiences as a writer in the memoir, I Killed Optimus Prime. The book promises a fascinating look behind the scenes of the shows that defined our childhood.

I had the privilege of speaking with Ron about his career, his friendship with Stan Lee, what he thought when he first saw the Transformers, how Orson Welles became Unicron, and why he didn’t want to kill Optimus Prime.

So, to kick off the 30th Anniversary of the Transformers, Ron Friedman, the man who killed Optimus Prime.