Auto Assembly 2012 Sets New European Attendance Record!

With over four weeks to go Auto Assembly 2012 is set to be a huge success once again. Since 2005 we have proudly held the attendance record for a European Transformers convention and today we have broken our previous record that we set in 2010! This sets a new landmark for us at the convention as we have only previously set new records or attendance figure milestones at the convention itself.

Bookings are still coming in at a fantastic rate as we are now in our traditional rush period and we have still yet to announce some of the late surprises that we have in store for you. We have some great competitions lined up, another guest to announce, some great announcements for those of you who have been with us for several years, an update on this year's convention exclusive litho and our other exclusives, more artwork from our comic, and much more besides!

Auto Assembly 2012 IS Europe's largest EVER Transformers convention and is taking place over the weekend of 3rd - 5th August 2012 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel. To book your tickets or find out information about booking dealers tables, to sponsor the event or to enquire about advertising with us, visit the website at http://www.autoassembly.org.uk

Hope to see you there!

The Auto Assembly Team

Web: http://www.autoassembly.org.uk / http://www.transformersvideogames.co.uk / http://www.ct-alpha.com
Auto Assembly Europe: http://www.autoassemblyeurope.eu
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/autoassembly
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/auto_assembly
Forum: http://www.autoassembly.org.uk/forum
Email: contact@autoassembly.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)7860 948296

Auto Assembly is sponsored by

Calloway Custom Designs - http://www.shapeways.com/shops/callowaycustomdesigns
Big Ds Toy Chest - http://www.bigdstoychest.co.uk
Toyz And Gamez - http://www.toyzandgamez.co.uk
Kapow Toys - http://www.kapowtoys.co.uk
TF Source - http://www.tfsource.com
Robot Kingdom - http://www.robotkingdom.com
Transformers @ The Moon - http://www.transformertoys.co.uk
TransformersAnimated.com - http://www.transformersanimated.com
TheTransformers.net - http://www.thetransformers.net
Titan Books - http://www.titanbooks.com
3 Darths Comics - http://www.3darthscomics.co.uk
Science Fiction Collectables - http://www.sf-collectables.co.uk
Big Bad Toy Store - http://www.bbts.com
Xyber Toys - http://www.xybertoys.com

Just six days now until Transformers: Regeneration One #81 hits comic book stores and download outlets (Wednesday, July 11^th, to be exact), and Simon Furman's pre-release teaser-fest continues with Regeneration One #80.5 — DECONSTRUCTED, pt 3.

Page 8, panels 1-2: Nova Point. A distinct doff of the hat to the first ‘continuation/expansion’ of the Marvel G1 saga that appeared in a 1992 UK Annual as ‘Another Time and Place’, an illustrated text story. In that story, Nova Point is described as being ‘hewn from a mountain of metal’, and I kind of took that description and turned it into ‘a towering, almost monastic retreat perched on a mountain of melted and reformed metal slag overlooking the city.’ As if it’s been made of old bits of war-torn Cybertron, the future and the past again, twisted into one. Pretty much just a throwaway line, but Kup’s flippant mention of a ‘tactical upgrade’ opens a door to some character refinements, should we wish to implement any. And here he is — Ultra Magnus, making his US continuity debut. He was a regular feature of the UK stories, and I’m now not sure why I never crossed him over into the US comic. I kind of took that UK incarnation (‘Cybertron’s greatest warrior’ – a description that actually gets a dialog nod in #81) and the more recent IDW ‘galactic lawgiver’ model and mushed them into one. I thought would be interesting to see what a character like Ultra Magnus becomes in peacetime. Frustrated, mostly, but we’ll get to that in a few issues time.

Page 8, panels 3-5: Again, lots of scene to set in this issue, and of paramount importance to me was establishing Optimus Prime’s current state of mind. So already Kup and Ultra Magnus’s dialog has alluded to Prime having rather cut himself off, in almost self-imposed exile, and Hot Rod reemphasises it a moment later. There’s a lot to come in terms of development for Hot Rod. We all know that in the animated movie he becomes the next Prime. And I wanted to feed off that and have Optimus Prime (who — in his own mind, at least — is more in the twilight phase of his time at the top) actively involved in kind of nurturing (or mentoring) his successor. But again, things aren’t necessarily going to play out according to TFTM or any other established storyline. It really is going to be tough ‘being the chosen one’. Hot Rod, though, is quite a pivotal character in RG1 (arguably the most pivotal), but his path is going to be rougher and more convoluted than any previous counterpart version. We finally get to Optimus, who’s standing, well, much as he is at the opening of ‘Another Time and Place’, staring out at Iacon from a raised observation platform. From here, it all goes in a very different direction from that Annual story, but it deserves acknowledgment.

Page 9, panels 1-4: And right from the get-go we understand that Optimus is not in a good place. In modern parlance, he has issues. Terse, brusque — it’s not the Prime we know and love. But I wondered what it would feel like to be dead, and then wrenched back into the land of the living, without so much as a by your leave. Would you be happy or kind of resentful? Something as traumatic as that must leaves deep, deep mental scars, and this reluctance to listen to the likes of Kup is what will drive the entirety of RG1′s first arc, and end in catastrophe. Oh, and death. #85 isn’t pretty. You have been warned. From Magnus’s speech we get the idea that there have been ‘incidents’ already. Clearly Soundwave and Co. haven’t been idle. And now Kup wants to send in the Wreckers. Yes, the Wreckers! Another UK mainstay (collectively) making the crossover into the US continuity. The intervening 21 years have kind of melded Kup with the Wreckers in my mind, so while he’s probably not ‘a Wrecker’ as such, he is very closely linked to the group. We’ll meet them all in #81. And one of the members (or is that two?) has a distinctly UK flavour.

Page 9, panels 5-7: As mentioned, Optimus’s reluctance to risk any kind of re-opening of hostilities (a kind of head in the sand attitude for sure) is going to have consequences. Even as quickly as the end of this issue. The Megatron’s ‘glorious second coming’ line kind of reiterates what I was talking about earlier, and how Soundwave is just holding the fort until his return. Probably using it to keep the faith. And Prime finally name-checks Soundwave’s mob as neo-Decepticons. As if the original Decepticons have just kind of conveniently vanished. It says a lot about Prime’s attitude and the attitude of the Autobots as a whole, if the whole concept of Decepticons can just be erased. Made into a footnote in Cybertron’s history. As if.

Pages 10-11: Our third flashback spread. And a chance to reprise two of my favourite scenes from the early stages of the US comic: Shockwave’s victory and the Autobots hanging from the rafters like sides of meat, and the Dinobots (and Ratchet) taking on Megatron (and winning by default). Or is that foot fault? Then I press fast forward, condensing some 40 issues into three panels, hitting the main note I wanted which was the evolution of the conflict and the Transformers themselves. Very important evolution is to the whole RG1 vibe. Among those ‘evolutions’ is one group who’ll make a big impact on RG1, especially in the second arc, ‘Natural Selection.’ And we wrap this spread with Starscream decimating the ranks of the Autobots and Decepticons alike (from #50). We know what happened to the Autobots who bit the dust in the Underbase storyline, they got pumped full of Nucleon and revived. But what about the Decepticons??

The final 5 pages soon, keep watching…

Full Metal Hero have a picture of some up coming Transformers Kre-O toys

Seibertron.com are reporting that Transformers Prime RID Voyager Skyquake, Ultra Magnus and Thundertron are set for UK release

Thank you for your email:

Our Marketing Department have just informed us that an update has been received regarding your enquiry and we are actually planning to bring in RID Voyager Skyquake, Ultra Magnus and Thundertron later in the year. (I'm guessing they are voyager wave 4)

Kind regards

Hasbro UK

Having grown up with them I am sad to part with my collection but it must be done as I have a 7 month old boy and we're downsizing so we can move someplace warmer.

Please see my shop on eBay.
Grab yourself a bargain - Good Luck!

Shop:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/catrisit/m.html

Planet Iacon has posted7 images of the Meister Wing Transformers Animated Optimus Prime trailer add-on

You can see the images in this public gallery here.

Auto Assembly 2012 Convention Exclusive Lithograph Unveiled
 
For most of you attending Auto Assembly 2012 this August - or if you have ordered our Non-Attendee Package - you know that we are giving away a selection of gifts as part of our traditional goodie bag. As well as our regular exclusive postcards, convention magazine, and our comic we are producing an A2 lithograph this year and we are now proud to unveil the artwork for the first time...
 
Illustrated by Marvel UK artist Jeff Anderson and coloured by Kris Carter, the artwork has been inspired by some of the old comic covers featured on the British Marvel Transformers comics and features Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge. The litho is limited to a print run of just 1,000 copies and is ONLY going to be made available at Auto Assembly 2012 so unless you attend the convention or order a Non-Attendee Pack, you won't be able to get this fantastic piece of artwork.
 
We were so impressed with this art that it is also featuring as the cover image for this year's convention exclusive comic, Iacon Independent, and we are also producing a postcard based on the original lineart from the card so we think that it's adding up to a fantastic package of gifts.
 
For all you dealers and businesses out there reading this, we want to give YOU the chance to be a part of this as we have the opportunity for one lucky company to be associated with this lithograph and to sponsor it! You'll get the chance to not only have your company's logo and details featured on the litho, but on the associated postcard as well! We have several package deals on offer linking in with the lithograph which can also tie in with our convention magazine and exclusive comic so YOUR company could be heavily linked with this artwork so what are you waiting for? This is a one-off opportunity to get your company onto a product that will be on display on the walls of fans all over the world! Email us for more details!
 
Auto Assembly 2012 is Europe's largest Transformers convention and is taking place over the weekend of 3rd - 5th August 2012 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel. To book your tickets or find out information about booking dealers tables, to sponsor the event or to enquire about advertising with us, visit the website at www.autoassembly.org.uk
 
Hope to see you there!
 
The Auto Assembly Team
 

Web: www.autoassembly.org.uk / www.transformersvideogames.co.uk / www.ct-alpha.com
Auto Assembly Europe: www.autoassemblyeurope.eu
Youtube: www.youtube.com/autoassembly
Twitter: www.twitter.com/auto_assembly
Forum: http://www.autoassembly.org.uk/forum
Email: contact@autoassembly.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)7860 948296
 
Auto Assembly is sponsored by
 
Calloway Custom Designs - www.shapeways.com/shops/callowaycustomdesigns
Toyz And Gamez - www.toyzandgamez.co.uk
Kapow Toys - www.kapowtoys.co.uk
TF Source - www.tfsource.com
Robot Kingdom - www.robotkingdom.com
Transformers @ The Moon - www.transformertoys.co.uk
TransformersAnimated.com - www.transformersanimated.com
TheTransformers.net - www.thetransformers.net
Titan Books - www.titanbooks.com
3 Darths Comics - www.3darthscomics.co.uk
Science Fiction Collectables - www.sf-collectables.co.uk
Big Bad Toy Store - www.bbts.com
Xyber Toys - www.xybertoys.com

3rd Party upgrade manufacturer, Meister Wing, who have already announced plans for upgrades for both Transformers Animated and Transformers Classics Optimus Prime have decided to go back one line from TF Animated and will be releasing an upgrade kit for Galaxy Force Convoy (Transformers Cybertron Optimus Prime).  It's not known exactly what will be in the kit, entitled GFC-01, as only the two images below have been released thus far.

3rd party toy manufacture, Toy World, have teamed up with 3rdpartystore.com on their next project a non-official Headmaster HardHead.  You can view the first three preview images of the toy below.

We want to remind all of you that there are now only five weeks to go until Auto Assembly 2012! If you haven’t already booked your tickets for this year’s event then we’d recommend that you book your tickets as soon as possible. Please don’t leave it until the last minute folks – not only does it leave us with more work processing bookings and producing passes, often doing it at the hotel itself, but last year we had a staggering 40% of our total ticket sales in the last 5 weeks and almost a third of those were in the final week!

Ticket wise, we are way ahead of where were were last year and right now we are at the point now where we were when pre-registrations had CLOSED last year so hurry and get your tickets so you’re not disappointed! We are now very close to beating the attendance figure we reached in 2010 so in the next few days we are also likely to set a new European attendance record for a Transformers convention so if you want to be a part of this, you know what to do!

Japanese retailer Toy Hobby Market has announced two Transformers Alternity exclusives as the Nissan Fairlazy Z Galvatron and Okamora Orochi Banzaitron. Each of the figures are due in September and are priced at 6,825 Yen (~$86 USD).

Games website Exophase has listed what they claim to be the full X-Box achievement list for Transformers Fall of Cybertron.

You can see the listing by following this link

Full Metal Hero have posted a rumour that Transformers Arms Micron Thundercracker and Orion Pax may be on the way.

You can see their rumour here

Kapow Toys has posted news that the Asia Exclusive Sixshot figure is due for release this coming August. It is not part of the Encore line and will come with chrome parts and exclusive premium packaging.

The retail price is expected to be around $150 - $160 each.

Auto Assembly 2012 Convention Comic Preview - Day 4

With Auto Assembly 2012 just over five weeks away, we thought we'd turn our series of previews over to our convention magazine The Cybertronian Times. The magazine has been running since 1998 and this year we're doing something rather special...

This year the magazine is being printed in A4 format as we have done for the last few years but for the first time ever the magazine is being printed in full colour and is being GIVEN AWAY to all our attendees who will be receiving one of the conventions goodie bags. In previous years the magazine has been sold as an optional add-on to the ticket price with 2011's magazine selling with a cover price of £7 so this is a fantastic bonus gift.

The magazine features a selection of articles, features, profiles on all of this years guests, fiction plus two brand new comic strips and it is these that we want to unveil today. The first story, "The Hunter" is set during IDW's series Robots In Disguise and focuses on Sideswipe where he goes it alone in tracking down a rogue Decepticon, but will his reckless nature cause him even more trouble? Written and illustrated by Ed and Ben Pirrie with a supporting team for colours and the strip's cover page.

The magazine is only available at Auto Assembly 2012 so to get your hands on a copy you're going to have to book at ticket for the event or order one of our Non-Attendee Packs. Don't forget, you'll also be able to get hold of our other convention exclusive, the Marlboor Kitbash Upgrade Kit for Generations Wheeljack by attending the convention or ordering a Non-Attendee Pack so there's a double incentive to book if the guests and the convention itself weren't reason enough!

We have very limited advertising space available in the magazine for any interested companies and several pages have already been sold. It will have a print run of 1,000 copies and will be distributed to fans attending the convention from all over the world. If you are interested in promoting your business, website, event or anything else, please get in touch!

Auto Assembly 2012 is Europe's largest Transformers convention and is taking place over the weekend of 3rd - 5th August 2012 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel. To book your tickets or find out information about booking dealers tables, to sponsor the event or to enquire about advertising with us, visit the website at http://www.autoassembly.org.uk

Hope to see you there!

The Auto Assembly Team

Web: http://www.autoassembly.org.uk / http://www.transformersvideogames.co.uk / http://www.ct-alpha.com
Auto Assembly Europe: http://www.autoassemblyeurope.eu
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/autoassembly
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/auto_assembly
Forum: http://www.autoassembly.org.uk/forum
Email: contact@autoassembly.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)7860 948296

Auto Assembly is sponsored by

Calloway Custom Designs - http://www.shapeways.com/shops/callowaycustomdesigns
Toyz And Gamez - http://www.toyzandgamez.co.uk
Kapow Toys - http://www.kapowtoys.co.uk
TF Source - http://www.tfsource.com
Robot Kingdom - http://www.robotkingdom.com
Transformers @ The Moon - http://www.transformertoys.co.uk
TransformersAnimated.com - http://www.transformersanimated.com
TheTransformers.net - http://www.thetransformers.net
Titan Books - http://www.titanbooks.com
3 Darths Comics - http://www.3darthscomics.co.uk
Science Fiction Collectables - http://www.sf-collectables.co.uk
Big Bad Toy Store - http://www.bbts.com
Xyber Toys - http://www.xybertoys.com