TFormers are first once again with the latest news form BotCon via their live blog. Though the quality of the reports suffer, they are posting them up fast. Here's a summary:

• As mentioned during the Animated panel, both Skywarp and Thundercraker have been confirmed for that line.
• Transformers Animated Perceptor was confirmed as "coming along" though they would not confirm what he transforms into. He will have a bazooka shoulder cannon.
  
• Both Hasbro and TakaraTomy make their own colour guides for the toys. For Transformers Animated, these charts are based on the "Day" and "Night" colour charts that Cartoon Network produce as part of the series bible.
• Hasbro confirmed that Transformers Animated was originally going to be called Transformers Heroes, as per the working title, because they wanted to do a more super hero based show.
• Regarding the deluxe Stryker figure, Takara couldn't make out the head from the image provided by the studio, so Aaron Archer drew it 5 mins before catching a plane out Tokyo and that's how his head for the toy was created.
• Regarding Alternators. Hasbro spoke on how they wanted to have Megatron as a Convertible Cadillac XLR and that they spoke to GM regarding producing an Alternator Hummer. Hasbro said that there were "many reasons for it not going ahead". As we all should know, one of the problems was that HappyWell have the official license for the car, hence the RoadBot figure.

On the Transformers Universe front:

• Hasbro confirmed that there are no plans for either a Transformers Animated or Universe Sixshot. This is due to the complexity in designing the figure.
• Universe Deluxe Acid Storm was originally to be named Rainmaker then Acid Rain and then Acid Storm.
• There are no combiners planned for the Universe line.
• Since he's in Animated, there will be no Ultra Magnus in Universe. Sticking to Hasbro's statement from Botcon 2007.
• Universe Fracture, the recoloured Classics Mirage figure, is supposed to be Crasher from the Go-Bots. Her bio will state that she creates tremors with her feet. Hasbro wanted to call her Crasher and then Catalyst but those names didn't clear.
• The Universe Powergilde recolour Storm Cloud has the marking MM-89 on him. Hasbro confirmed that this stands for MicroMaster 89, which is the year the original StormCloud was made.
• When asked about a Universe Ratchet figure, the answer was that Universe Iron Hide will probably be repainted into him at some stage
• Hasbro are working hard on producing the Universe Cosmos figure
• Galvatron is a smaller toy simply because they are making so many larger scale tanks

Also announced was another 25th Anniversary figure .... Hot Shot. He will be a deluxe size sized toy and will come with a mini-con

Below you will find a round-up of the news from BotCon from last night.

Transformers Website Award Winners (voted my BotCon attendees)

The usual suspects won, with TFWorld2005 picking up 2 awards (design / resource) whilst Seibertron scooped the award for news. For the three years the awards have run, the same two sites have won the awards with Seibertron' tally up to 4 and TFWorld 5.

News

Animated Toys (Transformers.com)

Hasbro have updated Transformers.com with a press release and stock images on the Transformers Animated toys, showing the Black repaint of Bumblebee (the third version of that mold), Sentinel Prime, Ultra Magnus and Swoop.

Universe Toys (Transformers.com)

Hasbro have updated Transformers.com with a press release and stock images of the Transformers Universe toys, including Ironhide, Silverbolt, Sideswipe and Bluestreal. Also shown are more Transformers Robot Heroes.

Hasbro Display Images (Seibertron)

Seibertron have posted a few galleries showing the Transformers toys in the Hasbro display, including Transformers Animated, Transformers Crossovers, Transformers Movie, Transformers Universe, Transformers Robot Heroes.

• Transformers Animated Deluxe & Leader toys
• 25th Anniversary Prime reissue, Universe Deluxe & Ultra, Robot Heroes

TFormers were posting "live" news from the Hasbro panel at BotCon, which you can find below. We've not corrected the grammer, so this is in the original state. You will also find articles from both The Allspark and Seibertron which have more detailed information than the TFormers version. Update 2 Added TFWorld2005 roundup (with even more information).

Hasbro Panel Roundup (TFormers Report)

Panel includes: Greg Lombardo, Aaron Archer and Forest Lee

ANIMATED

• $700 million box office on "Transformers" movie.
• #1 action figure toy brand NPD Data.
• Movie Deluxe action toy of the year at Toy Fair.
• "Transformers" movie DVD #1 in the usa in 2007.
• Toy Launch June 22 for Animated toys.
• Full licensing program will launch in August when stores reset their toy displays.
• Deluxe Sentinel Prime coming in September 2008.
• Deluxe Swoop coming in September 2008. He looks really sweet and has a mace weapon.
• Deluxe Elite Guard Bumblebee coming in September 2008.
  
• Leader Ultra Magnus coming in September 2008. Pics show a very cool looking figure as discribed in Animated panel. The Hammer does not light up but he does have a transformation feature.

• Universe is not a storyline unto itself. It is a compliation of stories.
• Universe Deluxe Ironhide coming October 2008. License plate says Oregon. Mid level transformers difficulty. Looks like vehicle is a modern SUV/van.
• Universe Deluxe Sideswipe coming October 2008. Same mold as Sunstreaker, new hands. they have the wrong head in the photo and the chest I thing turns around. (mold news was released last year)
  
• Universe Ultra Silverbolt coming August 2008. Will have sounds in robot and jet including the transformation sound. Gun sounds and Jet sounds too.
• Universe Ultra Storm Cloud coming in September 2008. Redeco of the Powerglide figure.
• Univsere Legends coming August 2008.
• G2 Megatron and Jazz coming August 2008.
• Robot Heroes: Kick back/Ironhide, Thrust/Blaster, Megatron/Silverbolt, in Oct 08.

Fall 2008 exclusives

• San Diego Comic Con Hasbro toy shop - Nemesis Prime with blue windows. There is a Japan exclusive that will have red windows.
• Comic Cons Hasbro Toy Shop Titanium 6" War Within Skywarp.
• Wal-mart off-screen Deluxes Sept 08 Breakway, Fracture, Crankcase.
• Target Universe comic packs nov 08: Dirge, Road buster, Pringer, Ratbat. These sets are Deluxe figure with a voyager figure and a comic.
• KMart 12 pack in September 2008.
• TRU 6" Titaniums in September 2008 - War Within Prowl, War Within Grimlock.

25 Years Sneek Peek - 1984-2009

• 25th anniversary culminates with movie 2.
• Animated will continue.
• Thanksgiving release to kick off G1 re-issue of original Optimus Prime US version also include reprint of issue 1 comic from marvel and more then meets the eye 3 episode digital re-master DVD and a sound box with Cullen quotes. 5 panel window package. Silver foil 25th anniversary logo with classic type package.
• They will be celebrating all eras of TFs not just G1.
• Universe Deluxe Hound w/ Ravage. The clips on the back of Hound fit Ravage. Shoulder cannon on Hound comes off.
• Universe Deluxe Cyclonus w./ Nigtstick Targetmaster. Nightsitck can be held by Cyclonus. Almost looks black. Very nice.
• Universe Deluxe Beast Wars Cheetor.

The Allspark Version (More details then above)

• Animated toys wave 1 due 6/22, same as the ones hitting Cincinnati now.
• Animated will be a full TF line with retailers planning a fall reset.
• Swoop has a mace on a chain.
• Sentinel Prime is "awesome."
• Elite guard Bumblebee repaint: mostly dark dark gray, a dark tan, and mustard yellow
• Ultra Magnus: "awesome" (Galenraff does not have a thesaurus with him). Hammer does not light up.
• All the other Animated toys are "already leaked."

• UNIVERSE IRONHIDE will be a Deluxe size red SUV with Oregon plates.
• Ultra Silverbolt, which we've seen already online, will have sounds in both modes, including a transforming sound.
• Deluxe Sideswipe with a new head from the Sunstreaker mold (already known).
• "Stormcloud" Powerglide redeco....black, purple, with some green.
• Universe will have new mold Legends: tank Megatron, Jazz, Brawn, Beachcomber.
• Universe Deluxe Hound WITH tape Ravage, who will fit in Soundwave. Ravage looks "amazing."
• Deluxe Cyclonus with Nightstick, "Awesome!" (Galenraff still does not have a thesaurus.)
• Universe Deluxe Cheetor, new mold!
• Cheetor: switch changes eye color from green to red and mouth opens

And there's more! Click below for Robot Heroes, some anticipation-worthy redecoes, a couple of guys whose names start with War Within, and the Q&A!

Misc:

• New Robot Heroes:
• G1 Kickback v Ironhide
• G1 Thrust v. Blaster
• BW TM Megatron vs. Fuzor Silverbolt
• BM Cheetor vs. Tankor
• RID Prime vs. Megatron
• More Robot Heroes will be shown tomorrow, but that's all the new products for the panel.
• Looks like SDCC Prime will be the first version we saw, with blue windows and Decepticon logos.
• Another SDCC exclusive: Titanium Skywarp, from the Thundercracker mold!
• There will be more Wal-Mart exclusives labelled "Offscreen deluxes."
• Breakaway - Cybertron Hot Shot in white red blue
• Fracture - CRASHER DECO ON CLASSICS MIRAGE
• Crankcase - dark (green maybe?) Cybertron Red Alert
• Target will also get some exclusives: Universe "comic packs."
• Dirge - Voyager Cybertron Starscream in blue
• Roadbuster - Cybertron Defense Hot Shot
• Springer - Evac in green
• Ratbat - Cybertron Sideways in purple
• Toys'R'Us will have Titanium War Within Prowl and Grimlock in September!
• 25th Anniversary culminates with TF2... "save your money" for 2009.
• Thanksgiving G1 prime reissue includes:
• short stacks
• Marvel issue 1 reprint
• DVD remaster of More Than Meets The Eye
• Logo soundbox w/ Peter Cullen voice quotes
• Official statement on G1 knockoffs in a nutshell: they're illegal, not condoned, hasbro is pursuing legal action. They urge people not to buy even from dealers upstairs.

Q&A:

• Masterpiece Thundercracker: no guarantees, but it's on the short list of things they want made as an exclusive.
• Attacktix is dead.
• No plans for more Titaniums, since they're out of new tooling.
• Hasbro "strongly hinted" a G1-style Arcee is being worked on.
• Not many off screen characters for animated. Oil Slick was a exception to the rule.
• Any chance of a Sari toy? They want to find a way to bring human characters to market, but its not in the cards right now.
• Someone asked about making new molds from old toys like the knock-offers do: no plans, they don't know what Takara may do, but it's difficult & expensive. So, no plans to "do it right."
• No change in Alternator status. Still no plans to continue the line.
• We'll see some larger Robot Heroes in the future.
• The Aveo Swerve toy was done by GM and Hasbro as a promo deal rather than a license deal and was never created for sale. Hasbro has no rights to produce it, and while they may pursue it in the future, Galenraff tells us the "tone of voice was not promising" so at least for now it doesn't sound like something they'll be doing.
• The 25th Anniversary toys other than G1 Prime (Thanksgiving) will arrive at the end of this year and beginning of next. The figures they showed will be wave 3 or 4 of Universe.
• Some combiners may be worked into the 25th Anniversary plans.
• Still no plans for reissuing the G1 Dinobots.
• Also no plans for GI Joe crossover toys.

Seibertron Report (more details on Universe Hound and Ravage)

TRANSFORMERS MOVIE
Over $700 million box office worldwide
#1 DVD in the USA in 2007

TRANSFORMERS TOY LINE
#1 action figure toy brand (npd data)
Movie Deluxe - action toy of the year
#1 fans

TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED
2008 Product Update
Toy Launch - June 22nd
Deluxe Sentinel Prime - Sept 08 street date
Deluxe Swoop
Deluxe Elite Guard Bumblebee - Sept 08 street date (going to be doing more themed repaints due to the equity that they have in some of the main characters)
Leader Class Ultra Magnus - Sept 08 (HUGE round of applause)


TRANSFORMERS UNIVERSE
Deluxe Ironhide (turns into a red SUV) looks so much better than Botcon version) has a license plate that says Oregon on it)
Deluxe Sideswipe (had wrong head in photo which was a black Sunstreaker head) - August 2008
Ultra Class Silverbolt - everyone laughed that they had his name wrong as "Sliverbolt", 1/2 was through transformation has transformation sound, other sound effects in robot mode such as gun firing
Ultra Storm Cloud - repaint of Powerglide (Numbers on jet say "MM-88" ... guess what that stands for? Basically an updated color scheme for Micromaster Storm Cloud)
Deluxe Hound with Ravage (new mold ... Hound transforms into a green jeep like vehicle, Ravage transforms into a cassette who will fit in Soundwave and also attaches to Hound, Ravage does not have weapons, hound's cannon will fit on shoulder or in hand)
Deluxe Cyclonus w/ Nightstick Targetmaster (new mold) ... looks frikkin' badass! Attaches to vehicle mode or in his hand, also "plugs" into his hand like the Japanese Headmasters series
Deluxe Cheetor (looks pretty cool, new mold, tail is his weapon, no spots on tail due to the type of plastic, will have two throwing star weapons like animated Prowl, little switch on back of cheetah mode that opens jaw and switches eyes from blue to green)

TRANSFORMERS UNIVERSE LEGENDS (NEW MOLDS!!!)
Tank Megatron (looks similar to G2 version, realistic dark green)
Jazz
Brawn (looks awesome!)
Beachcomber (looks awesome!)

ROBOT HEROES
Kickback vs. Ironhide
BW Megatron vs BW Silverbolt
Thrust vs Blaster
BM Cheetor vs BM Tankor
RID Optimus Prime vs RID Megatron

2008 EXCLUSIVES
Nemesis Prime (Japanese version will have red windows) (Comic-Con / HTS exclusive)
6" War Within Skywarp (Comic-Con / HTS exclusive)
Breakaway (Cybertron Hot Shot repaint) - Walmart
Fracture (Classics Mirage repaint) - Walmart
Crankcase (Cybertron Red Alert repaint) - Walmart
Mini-Con 12 pack (Kmart)
WW Prowl and WW Grimlock as TRU exclusives (Sept 2008) - have no plans to release Cosmos, Arcee, WW Bumblebee/Cliffjumper or Shockwave. Too expensive to tool up for these molds and they're not profitable enough.


UNIVERSE COMIC 2 PACKS
Target exclusives - include a Voyager and a Deluxe
Deluxe Roadbuster versus Voyager Dirge (Cybertron Hot Shot II repaint / Cybertron Starscream repaint)
Deluxe Ratbat versus Voyager Springer (Cybertron Evac repaint vs Cybertron Sideways repaint)


25 YEARS (1984 - 2009) SNEAK PEEK
Continue with Animated (might show some more stuff tomorrow)
Reissue of Optimus Prime with silver roller (launch November 2008) with reprint of Comic and digitally remastered DVD of More Than Meets The Eye), autobot logo sound box (like GiJoe sound boxes) with some of Peter Cullen's quotes
Flip open packaging looks awesome for 25th Anniversary Optimus Prime
25th Anniversary line will be celebrating all years of Transformers (showed logos for all series from Beast Machines to G2)

TFWorld2005 roundup

HASBRO preview panel

• Slides/presentation:
• Thanks for a great 2007, working on product line for movie and laying groundwork for future projects
• Movie stats: 700M box office
• #1 DVD in USA
• Movie toy stats: #1 action figure brand (npd data)
• Movie deluxe-action toy of the year
• #1 fans!
• Animated 2008 product update:
• Animated toy launch June 22 nationally, leaders and others in august
• Season 1 on DVD in august
• Deluxe Sentinel Prime Sept 08 little darker blue than on show
• Deluxe Swoop Sept 08, metallic dark gray, big mace
• Deluxe Elite Guard Bumblebee Sept 08, black and gold 2-tone car, silver lights
• Leader Ultra Magnus Sept 08, hammer, spot on show colors
• Universe 2008 product update
• Deluxe Ironhide Oct 08 SUV, large backpack, clear windshield, Autobot symbol thru glass
• Deluxe Sideswipe Oct 08, wrong head in photo
• Ultra Silverbolt Aug 08, large wings, TF, blaster and jet sounds
• Ultra Storm Cloud Sept 08, Powerglide in purple deco w/gold mask
• Legends green tank Megatron, Jazz
• Robot Heroes Kickback/Ironhide
• RH BW TM Megatron/ Fuzor Silverbolt
• RH G1 Thrust/Blaster
• Exclusives:
• SDCC july 08 Classic nemesis prime
• SDCC july 08 Titanium 6” Skywarp
• Walmart sept 08 Breakaway redeco cybertron Hot Shot
• Walmart Fracture classic mirage redeco
• Walmart Crankcase cybertron red alert
• Target Dirge cyb starscream/Roadbuster CD Hot Shot
• Target Springer cybertron evac/ Ratbat cybertron sideways
• Kmart legends cybertron 12-pack seen in booth
• TRU titanium 6” WW Prowl
• TRU titanium 6” WW Grimlock
• 25th anniversary 2009:
• Thanksgiving 08: G1 Optimus Prime reissue w/TF comic #1 and MTMTE 3-part DVD
• celebrating all eras of TF:
• Universe deluxe Hound w/Ravage, MTMTE tribute, Ravage hooks to back of Hound, he will fit in Soundwave
• Universe deluxe Cyclonus w/Nightstick, gun can mount to hand and hand retracts
• Universe deluxe BW Season one Cheetor, very cheetah, cat mode head move and mouth feature w/eye color change from Green to Red
• Legends Brawn very cartoon accurate
• Legends Beachcomber
• RH BM Cheetor/Tankor
• RH RID Prime/Megatron
• Paraphrase of Hasbro statement on KOs counterfeit g1:
• They are aware
• Do not condone
• Reiterate they are not made by Hasbro
• No assurances of quality
• Pursuing the matter w/legal dept
• Q&A:
• Movie 2: going well, consistent with first film, wait and see on product
• MP Thundercracker? 25th anniversary, on the radar
• Animated movie characters in the line? No
• Attacktix? Not at the moment
• Titanium 6” Bumblebee/Cliffjumper/Cosmos/Shockwave? No
• Sari toy? Looking at it
• Commercial reinforcing branding to raise KO awareness like in 80s? The movie and show reinforce authenticity and push genuine characters
• Universe Arcee? Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it’s not being worked on
• Robot Heroes playsets/gestalts? There is push for broadening, variations and expansions on the way
• Gestalts/gift packs? Difficult and time consuming to do them right, potentially 25th Anniversary trying to work in
• Hound/Cyclonus when? Wave � of Universe, end of 08, beginning of 09
• Universe Swerve, how did come about? GM initiated idea of promotion exclusive for European outlets, Aveo chosen because of wide European distribution, created to be given away, may look at doing in future but that wasn’t ever planned to be sold
• How long will Universe go on? Idea is a place to cover all eras, hope is to keep over many years, wide open opportunity to celebrate brand, hope to see it expand and contract depending on other lines and timeframe
• TF/GI Joe toyline? Doesn’t make sense to blend them quite yet, won’t benefit either brand now
• Oil Slick a non-show character
• Universe Wheeljack, Trailbreaker, Sunstorm, Headmasters? Looking at them all
• Cartoons on Blu-Ray? Don’t know of any current plans
• Movie Megatron in sequel? He has risen many times…
• Legends assortment dist improvement? The price point is more likely at drug stores vs. large retailers (Archer had to buy MP Starscream on eBay because of the dist, they hear you!)
• Acid Storm origin? Based on G1 rainmaker, indeed
• Music Label Soundwave, gut and make Classic Soundwave? Tooling all Takara, their chip format not used in the west
• Where is Animated breakfast cereal? That would top the Prime piñata!
• Henkei planning Skywarp and Thundercracker as exclusives? Don’t know the exact plan but they respect each other’s exclusives, can’t speak to it, deco would be different from the Botcon and Target versions
• New Scrapmetal mold for Universe? Never considered them for 25th Anniversary, not realistic
• Signal Lancer? Dispensor? No
• Accessory weapon packs? No
• Why do you kill my wallet? Repaints, exclusive packs, extending the movie line, more accurate decoes? We make a range to look for what all types of fans want, wanted to prove ourselves with first movie, extended the line with Premiums, redecos of key characters, wanted to refresh for kids who didn’t see movie until DVD release and want them last winter/spring
• Energon DVD? No plans, Paramount focusing on Animated and Cybertron
• Movie larger Bonecrusher in sequel? Any guys on movie one are on table, if opportunitity arises
• Movie sequel reusing molds of returning characters? Trying to bring as much newness as possible, redo in better scales, better features
• Classics Sunstorm? Always an option, depends, seeker mold on top of list for exclusive re-use
• Animated Prime trailer? He’s using trailers in Animated, looking at it
• Mirage repaint, looking at go-bot characters? Probably not
• City-formers? Trying to figure out how to bring them back, on short list
• Animated characters showing up in Universe? Still not the plan
• Transformers.com, thanks for design notes! Thanks, the PR team initiated that and has plans to expand fan site discussion from Star Wars to TF
• Why repaint some molds but not others? Kind of depends on the re-use, the success of the alt mode, preference on realism in Universe based on warm response of movie’s realistic alt modes and continuing momentum
• Why does mass market get toys a lot sooner than Diamond/comic shops? Don’t know
• Any Diamond exclusives? Minimum order quantity restricts them to the big retailers
• Alternators making a return? Not at the moment. There’s a strong, vocal fan base, but a small fan base, Licensed cars kind of used by movie lines now
• Ever thought of expanding into model kits? Concepts have been considered but it would need to fit into product line

The big four US Transformers sites are all at BotCon (that The Allspark, Seibertron, TFormers and TFWorld2005), and have all updated their sites with the latest news from the event. TFWorld2005 is suffering from too many connections, and therefore users are receiving Database errors.

You can keep up-to-date with the latest from BotCon, as well as from around the world, in our exclusive Transformers In The News page.

Transformers Universe (Classics) (From TFWorld)

The images have begun to flow in from BotCon! Up in displays are some upcoming Universe Classics figures which feature:

• Repaint of Classics Starscream named Acid Storm.
• Repaint of Cybertron Evac named Blades.
• Repaint of Cybertron Defense Scattorshot named Drop Shot.
• Rpaint of Cybertron Quickmix named Heavy Load.
• Repaint five pack of Legends figures from the Classics line. Appears to feature Hot Spot, Silverbolt, Razorclaw, Hun-Grrr, and Scattershot

Transfomers Animated / Hasbro Display information (From TFWorld)

• First-hand images of Animated Jazz, Soundwave, and Snarl
• First mention and look at the Animated Activators Patrol Bumblebee repaint
• Card-back images including shots of bios for upcoming Animated characters (including the mysterious Oil Slick)
• More pictures of the new Universe figures and repaints
• First look at the upcoming KMart exclusive Mini-Con 12-pack
• First look at the upcoming Target exclusive Aerial Rivals Legends 5-Pack
• Transformers Animated's first Recoloured Toy will be a Patrol Bumblebee (White repaint with Yellow parts).

IDW Panel (From TFormers)

REVELATIONS

• The Revelations Spotlights in June will tie up everything relatively well. That is the batch of Spotlights with Cyclonus and some others we've seen.
• The IDW slide presentation reveals that all 4 of the Revelations Spotlight covers connect.
• Simon Furman says they are kind of tampering with peoples conceptions of characters in the IDW comics, specifically referencing Arcee.
• Galvatron is an "undead" Transformer in the IDW universe and a lot of these will be showing up in Spotlight: Cyclonus
• Arcee is so focused, nothing else matters and we will see how much nothing else matters in Revelations.

EVOLUTIONS

• There will be no more Evolutions series after Hearts of Steel.
• The Club Comics will not be released in a TBP.

BEAST WARS

• They are discussing plans for more Beast Wars comics.

TRANSFORMERS UK

• Transformers UK comic will continue to tell a story, "Twilight's Last Gleaming," depicting a different ending of the movie where the Decepticons win and the Autobots are fighting a last stand.

FUTURE PROJECTS

• A Dinobots project from Furman is coming to IDW. The project will have Scoponok, Sunstreaker, and Sun Hunter. Spotlight: Grimlock sets the story for this unannounced project.
• Star Saber in the IDW comics? Furman says don't rule it out! Star Saber is in the Ark 2, there will be 4 pages with him and Victory Saber. [AWESUM! - ed.]
• A Doubledealer spotlight is currently in the planning stages.

TRANSFORMERS: ANIMATED

• A 5-issue mini-series for Transformers: Animated series written by Marty Isenberg is coming starting in August. While the series will be all new stories and not just re-telling the cartoon, it is in continuity with TV. The first issue will be a retelling of the movie pilot with lots of different points of view and stuff you didn't see on screen. The 4 issues after that will be new stories.
• Dario Brizuela, who has worked on Johnny DC label comics, is doing the art for the Animated comic series.

COMMENTS

• Furman says there are no plans for Punch, Counterpunch. He continues that other than the Headmasters, no other Masters will appear, other than the Doubledealer Spotlight currently in the works.
• Any more stories with Cybertron's past? Furman says not to rule it out but the main thrust is to propel forward.
• IDW says they will continue to do limited series instead of ongoing ones so people don't feel they have missed stories if they skip an issue. They also try and keep each series fairly self-contained.
• IDW has been discussing doing poster versions of favorite scenes and such from the comics.
• A second hardcover book will be coming.

Cartoon Network Panel (From TFormers)

UPCOMING

• A lot more Decepticon action is coming in the series.
• Season 2 features more Decepticons.
• The cast is always expanding, so we will continue to see new additions like Jazz.
• Other possible characters we might see are Swindle, Ratbat, and Galvaton.
• They are excited about flushing out Cybertron as well as back stories of the characters in upcoming episodes.
• The leader class Ultra Magnus toy is amazing, according to the art director . He looks just like the animation model and more tricked out then in the show.
• Ratings for first season in the key demo 6-11 year olds have been good.
• Nanosec will return. Bumblebee did not kill him.
• Someone is NOT a girl. We will find out more about it as the series goes on.

FUTURE

• The show's creators like like the name the fans came up for Lugnut's punch, "The Punch of Kill Everything," so much, they might work it into the show.
• Things are looking good for Season 3, but nothing confirmed.
• The art designer has been working with Hasbro on toys that are slated to show up in season 3 and are also looking forward to season 4.
• Oil slick is a toy-only character but he is part of the lore and may show up down the road in the cartoon.
• Full DVD sets are possible or maybe 3-episode DVD's. Nothing is confirmed as of yet other than the pilot, though.
• They are hoping if they go to season 3 and 4, they want to work Rodimus in. The thought is there are other units with robots of Prime rank out there.
• There are no plans for additional Dinobots at this point.
• Arcee might show up again in the future, but not in season 2.
• They cannot confirm nor deny Omega Supreme making an appearance in the series.
• While they have talked about combiner teams, there are no plans as of yet.
• No Unicron appearances in the series.
• Frenzy might make an appearance again.
• BIG plans for Soundwave for season 3.
• While they have talked about the possibly of Optimus Primal coming around again, there are no plans to seem him again. If they did bring in Primal, he would be a new character and not a continuation from Beast Wars.

COMMENTS

• All 3 panelists have been huge TF fans since they were kids. Derrik though, was in college when Generation 1 came out. His first experience was Beast Machines, where he was a story editor.
• Bumper Robinson plays the voice of Blitzwing, who also happens to voice Bumblebee.
• Wreck Gar came first and then they tried to get Eric Idol; however, he was busy so they got Weird Al to voice him.
• Derrik worked on "Legion of Superheros" and "Teen Titans" and that is kind of how he draws. This is the main reasoning behind why the art style across all three of these shows are similar.
• Fred Willard will be voicing a unnamed character.
• The show is animated in widescreen HD files, but since Cartoon Network isn't a HD network and most of the US isn't used to watching stuff in widescreen, it's shown the way it is. The panelists noted that at some point, they would love to release it in its original format.
• When asked whether or not the voice actors do a ad libs, the panelists said that the end of episode 29 has a lot of ad lib in it.
• The panelists made a joke about a special musical episode with Sky-Byte (Robots In Disguise) making a appearance.
• If they were to put Waspinator in the series, they would try and get Scott McNeil to voice the part
• When asked whose decision it was to make Sentinel Prime the biggest dick in the TF Universe, the reply was that it was the head writer's decision. Originally, they thought about making it Rodimus but they didn't want to make an established character tarnished.
• When asked if there were anything off-limits, standards and practices had the team edit a scene in the Constructicon episode where the character said, "what the fork is that?"
• Sometimes rights issues come up for names. Hasbro has been great to work with though.
• Why is Soundwave a van? Because he looks the most like a cassette player.

Voice Actors Panel (From TFormers)

• Tom Kinney says hi to everyone, he wished he could be here.
• Asked if any plans to bring BW Megatron. David Kaye says he doesn't think so.
• As can do up to 3 character for show. If they do more they have to be paid more.
• They do group sessions for the Animated show instead of sitting a booth alone. It is more fun to do it that way and working off the energy of other people.
• David Kaye said it was really cool to work with Lance Henriksen.
• Bumper joked he wanted to voice all the characters and Tara joked she wanted to be Optimus Prime.
• Tara said she did want to voice Blackarachnia. When asked did they know who they wanted to voice when they went into the auditions.
• It took david about 4-5 episodes to get comfortable voicing Prime.
• VA do their voices ordering at a fast food restaurant.
• Bumper was in Mr.T's be somebody school. Bumper would have liked to voiced Jazz.
• David does bit where he argues with himself as Optimus and Megatron being on the freeway.

The second bit of news is in from BotCon, thanks to Seiberton, TFWorld2005 and TFormers

TFormers have images of the Club exclusives display, including the upcoming Seacons and Nightbeats figures, along with posters and more posters of the Convention figures

Shattered Glass Litho images are available at TFormers, and agian here.

TFWorld2005 has images of the convention figures.

And Seibertron has their Bios, as well as a set of the toys for sale on eBay.

Seibertron has been given the following warning from Fun Publications.

Hey guys this is just a heads up warning. There have been a few instances of Botcon Sets missing a Cyberkey and missile pack, that should be located under the foam on the bottom of the box. The staff of Botcon is ready to give you a replacement if this has happened, so go ahead and make sure to double check. You should have 3 Cyberkey and missile packs total.

So if you're getting the toys, you'd better check them. This isn't the first time there have been problems with the BotCon toys and their accessories.

Ozformers member Griffin has posted the first images of the full contents Botcon 2008 box set including all the techspec cards over on the Ozformers message board.

Click the link to jump directly to the post with the images

TFW2005 member Sidecutter has texted in that the figure being used for todays Botcon 2008 Customising Class figure is none other than the Transformers Collectors Club Exclusive figure Nightbeat! In the class, the participants will be transforming the figure into an Evil Autobot in keeping with this years main BotCon set.

It looks like Fun Publications are following Hasbro Incs lead and are now starting to take action against eBay auctions for samples of this years Botcon toys. The following was posted on this thread over at talk.transformers

" 寄件人: "Brian Savage" <brian@mastercollector.com>
收件人:
標題: Stolen BotCon items
日期: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:43:20 -0500
This is going out to each Ebay seller who has recently tried to auction
BotCon toys. All of they toys you are selling are stolen. You know
this
when you buy them out of the package.

As you see, I have the power to cancel your auctions and I have each of
your personal information provided by Ebay.

If you do not want us to continue prosecuting you through the police
and
Ebay (who will cancel your account), you need to return the stolen
property to me or to Hasbro in China.

If I don't here back from you that you have shipped our items back in
48
hours, I will press forward with both Ebay and the police. Consider
this your only warning.

You can send the items to me at:

Brian Savage
Fun Publications, Inc.
225 Cattle Baron Parc Dr
Fort Worth Texas 76108

or

Antony Bao
Hasbro
$)AIn[Z;*GH3G6+2?9$R5Gx6~:E3'7?NeB%/ Antony Bao/ 0755-26901222-693

Thanks for your attention in this matter. Even if YOU didn't steal it.

Selling stolen property is a punishable offense.

Do not ever purchase ANY Transformers from Chinese auctions or vendors
as Hasbro is also looking to prosecute.

Regards,

Brian Savage".

The responses have been quiet interesting with some comments talking about the difficult to take legal action against non-US residents, mentioning that the earlier auctions were not stopped and sold for more money, and that, outside of Botcon, there are many other pre-releases being sold on ebay.

Whether this has any affect on the auctions or not we shall see, though we expect the trend will continue

To be honest I'd forgotten that Botcon was only 9 days away, but with that in mind it comes as no suprise that in addition to the box art posted yesterday, Fun Publications have now posted the schedule for the convention .

Click here to see the schedule,

The latest issue of Tomarts Action Figure Digest includes the first images of the packaging from the BotCon Shattered Glass set, as well as more images from Transformers Animated Wave 2 and 3 toys.

TFWorld2005 have scanned parts of the article.

David Kaye will be making a return to BotCon this year, as he has been officially annouced as the first guest for the event.

David is the current voice of Optimus Prime in Transformers Animated, as well as Lugnut and various background characters, and has previously played Megatron since 1996 (less the Transformers Robots in Disguise series), making him the longest running Transformers voice actor.