The Transformers Collectors Club have announced their exclusive figure for 2015 subscribers.  The toy uses the Transformers Generations Orion Pax mold, has a new head sculpt and is coloured to represent Lio Convoy in a pre-beast form.

They also placed what they say is a fake image of Rodimus Prime, though its actually a pretty nice mockup

TakaraTomy have published  some images of their Transformers Expo exclusive G1 themed "Lost Age" Dinobots Grimlock and Swag (Slag).

You can find out more information by visiting the following links:

1. http://www.ntv.co.jp/TFE/ticket/index2.html
2. https://twitter.com/TF_pr/status/488920521522688002/photo/1
3. http://tf.takaratomy.co.jp/toy/event/2014/04/loppi.html

This coming Sunday, June 29th, Simon Furman will be appearing at the London Comic Mart at the Royal National hotel in Russell Square. Signing copies of Transformers: Regeneration One TPB 4 (and 1, 2, & 3).  Entry is free. For more details, go here.

Then, one week later, over the weekend of July 5th/6th, Furman will be at the Glasgow Comic Con. or more details, go here or here.

Then, one week after that, over the weekend of July 12th/13th, Furman will be at the London Film and Comicon at Earl’s Court 2, along with fellow RG1-ers Andrew Wildman and Stephen Baskerville. For more details go here.

So BotCon had several panels yesteday, so here's a round up

Hasbro Panel

This presentation showed off some of the toys for the Fan Subscription service 3, as well as talking about production problems with Scorponok from this years BotCon set.

Rescue Bots

1. Rescan Dinobot Optimus Prime
2. Rescan Dinobot Bumblebee
3. Rescan Dinobot Blades
4. Dinobot Chase
5. Dinobot Boulder
6. Optimus Primal

Hero Mashers

1. Soundwave
2. Slug (as dinosaur)
3. Electronic Optimus Prime
4. Electronic Grimlock
5. 2-Pack with Bumblebee and Strafe

Kre-o

1. Custom Kreons Strafe, Slug, Grimlock and Scorn
2. Grimlock Unleashed set (out at retail currently)
3. Free TRU promo item Father/Son Building Event June 28th with Optimus and Grimlock
4. Universal Evac 4-Pack with Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Evac, and Megatron (Fall 2014)

Age of Extinction

Power Battlers Wave 3.0

1. Grimlock
2. Galvatron
3. Slug
4. Snarl (not in movie)
5. Lockdown

Power Battlers Wave 4.0

1. Vehicon (not in movie, based on the black car from the movie sets)
2. High Octane Bumblebee
3. Junkheap (Waste Management truck)
4. Helicopter Drift

1-Step Changers

1. Galvatron
2. Slug
3. Decepticon Steeljaw (wolf character from movie)
4. High Octane Bumblebee 

1-Step Changers Wave 4.0

1. Strafe
2. Chevy Rally Car "Rollbar" (not in movie)
3. G1 Prowl
4. ROTF Megatron

Age of Extinction Generations

1. Lockdown (with gun face)

Wave 3.0

1. Deluxe Bumblebee
2. Snarl (not in movie), fins separate and combine with his tail)
3. Hot Shot from the Crosshairs mold (designed to look liek Tracks)

Leader 2-Pack

1. Grimlock with Optimus
2. Prime with different deco (fall 2014)
3. Autobots United 5-Pack with Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Crosshairs, Hound and Drift
4. Breakout Scene 3-Pack: white Optimus Prime (Farmageddon), Rollbar, and Deluxe Crankcase

SDCC Exclusives

1. G1 Dinobots set with Strafe, Grimlock, Slug, and Snarl (Hasbro working on Sludge and Snarl in G1 colours)
2. Matthew Reinhart designed the pop-up set. Unfolds in 1 move.
3. Till All Are One Tour Pack: War was started by break-up of this band. 
4. Tour posters, back stage pass, stickers, and more!

Legends Wave 4.0

1. Nemesis Prime with Spinister
2. Cliffjumper (with new head) with Suppressor

Deluxe Wave 5.0

1. Chromia (new bike mold)
2. Arcee as G1 car

1. Voyager Brainstorm (Headmaster)

2015 Preview

1. All-New Packaging Style specifically for Generations
2. Legends Voyager and Leader itesms include character specific collector cards, deluxe items include full color comic

Legends Wave 1.0

1. Powerglide
2. Thundercracker
3. Windcharger from the Tailgate mold
4. Bombshell

1. Voyager Optimus Prime (not based off an actual truck)

Leader 1.0

1. Megatron Tank looks like his G1 self, G1 cartoon torso, has working rubber treads, sticker sheet, can make Autobot Megatron
2. Armada Megatron (looks like remold from Megatron)

Planning to make more Generations Leader Class

Masterpiece

1. Sideswipe
2. Bluestreak (in Takara colors from original Masterpiece release)

Deluxe not shown ... 16 coming
4 Legends shown, 7 coming

Generations 2015

Theme- Combiners, a silhouette of Superion was shown

So BotCon had several panels yesteday, so here's a round up

Fun Pubs - Transformers Collectors Club Round Table

This presentation showed off some of the toys for the Fan Subscription service 3, as well as talking about production problems with Scorponok from this years BotCon set.

* Generation One Krok from Generations IDW Megatron (sports a new head and comes with Gatoraider, a redeco of the crocodile Arms Micron)

* Generation 2 Starscream from Classics Starscream

* Nacelle from the Classics Seeker mold, this toy has the Starscream head but with Thursts wings and is painted like the original concept toy (red, white, blue)

* Serpent O.R. from Takara's Generations Ratbat (who is G.I. Joe Serpentor homage and an homage to Devils Due Comics' GI Joe vs. the Transformers crossover series)

* Zap with G.B. Blackrock from Generations Bumblebee mold and is an homage to a canceled Block Town toy line that Takara was going to come out with in 1995. Blackrock is a Kreon companion for Zap.

* Tarantulas from the Junkion mold, and will be accompanied by Prime Airachnid's Arms Microns

A seventh mystery figure to be shipped with the sixth and final figure.

Sadly we could not make it over to Botcon again this year, we will be at both Auto Assembly and Roll Out Roll Call here within the UK though, so as we will not be bringing you live coverage ourselves here is a round-up of some articles / image galleries covering the events thus far.

Autobase Aichi - http://snakas.blog95.fc2.com/blog-entry-3844.html

TFW2005 Exclusives Figure Display - http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/conventions-15/botcon-2014-exclusive-figure-display-photos-180427/

Seibertron: Exclusives Image Gallery - http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/botcon-2014-pirates-vs-knights-souvenir-exclusive-gallery/30594/

Seibertron: Club Store Image Gallery - http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/botcon-2014-coverage-club-store-gallery/30593/

Hasbro have revealed another one of their SDCC 2014 exclusives as being a Generation One coloured Transformers Age of Extinction Dinobot set complete with Teletran-1 playset!  The set will cost $159.99 and  will sell out quickly though some sets will be made available through the HasbroToyShop.com.

Expect the figures to be recoloured slightly and released as Asian exclusives minus the playset later in the year

TakaraTomy have unveiled the prototype for the upcoming Masterpiece Star Saber figure at the 2014 Tokyo Toy Show. The figure, which of course won the Fan's Choice Poll, will be available later in the year andhas so far only been photographed in robot mode.

The Tokyo Toy Show is on in Japan and TakaraTomy are showing off their 2014 releases including the Transformers: Lost Age figures, Transformers Cloud, Transformers Legends as well as the Masterpiece line.  PHotographs from the event are hitting the internet and so we have mirrored some which can be viewed by clicking on the headline.

The show highlights include Masterpieces Ultra Magnus and Evangelion Convoy as well as Transformers Cloud Rodimus and Shockwave.

The UK based Transformers and G.I-Joe Collectors event known as Roll Out Roll Call have announced their dates for this years show as the 11th and 12th October.  The announcement, which came in the form of the flyer you can see below, has also announced that Nick Roche will be a special guest and has teased at some sort of Transformers Collectors Club / G.I-Joe Collectors club tie-in for the event. What could it be? Time will tell.

Fun Pub have announced, via email, that the non-attendees pack for Botcon 2014 are now sold out.  Below you will find a copy of their announcement

"Non-Attending registrations now sold out. If there are any leftover attending sets we will turn them into non-attending sets (closer to the event) as we must keep those in stock for fans that want to travel to the event.

So, if you don't get a non-attending set now, we will let you know in the future when (if any) additional sets become available."

The Auto Assembly team have sent out the following important press release regarding the news that the official hotel is about to sell out of rooms.

Dear friends,

We are sorry to inform you that the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel, home of Auto Assembly, is on the cusp of reaching a complete accommodation sell out with it's accommodation over this year's convention weekend. As such, please kindly spare a minute to read this message so we can advise you how best to enjoy the convention.

The Present Situation

At the time of writing this message, rooms at the Hilton for Saturday 9th August 2014 have completely sold out. However there is still some availability on the following dates;

* Wednesday 6th
* Thursday 7th
* Friday 8th
* Sunday 10th
* Monday 11th

Room availability on these dates is now exceptionally limited and we anticipate a total sell out in the following days.

Please note no further rooms shall be allocated to Auto Assembly, or any other event. The only way in which rooms may become available is if the hotel receives cancellations but should this happen, the newly freed rooms will go on general sale, as it would be unfair for any one event to be given priority.

Potentially there may be limited rooms on sale on third party websites but these cannot be recalled by the Hilton for convention use, as the Hilton must meet and pre-existing contractual requirements it may have with its affiliates which is understandable.

Wider Hotel Room Shortage Issues

In addition to the Hilton selling out under the weight of Auto Assembly and the Festival of Quilts, our chosen overspill hotel has limited availability, as do others in the nearby area.

This is not all because of Transformers and Quilt fans - this is due to a major touring event which is scheduled to take place in the LG arena, (just across the lake from the Hilton). That event was not announced until approximately 6 months after AA2014 was booked, so we sadly could not have taken it into consideration. To top things off, there is also now a major fashion trade show taking place at the NEC as Auto Assembly comes to a close, meaning we are suddenly faced with a very popular weekend around the Hilton.

Naturally, we hope you will all appreciate that this is an unprecedented event and that we are doing our best to make sure nobody misses out on finding a room so they can join us for this year's convention.

What to do next (yes, we have back up plans!)

If you don’t have anywhere to stay yet (or haven't booked for the convention and are worried about not being able to find a room) then please don’t worry – Team Auto Assembly has your back! This is what you need to do.

1. If you only require a room for any of the dates showing availability which we have listed above, then you should try to book with the Hilton first as you may still get in. Do this using the AA discount code found within your confirmation emails and on the ticket purchase confirmation page of our website that you will have been taken to when you originally booked.

2. For those who are unable to book a room at all at the Hilton, the Auto Assembly Committee have produced a list of nearby alternatives which are within walking distance. We have already spoken with these hotels and several of them still have availability. Some of them are very cheap too (especialoom at all at the Hilton, the Auto Assembly Committee have produced a list of nearby alternatives which are within walking distance. We have already spoken with these hotels and several of them still have availability. Some of them are very cheap too (especialy if you are coming in a group) so you will have extra money to spend over the weekend. Details of nearby hotels and hotel information generally can be found elsewhere on our website at http://www.autoassembly.org.uk/auto-assembly-2014-hotel-accommodation/

3. If you cannot find a room within walking distance, again there is information on the above page about further options which are slightly further afield, but still within a very short train or taxi ride.

Both Birmingham City Centre and Coventry are under 10 minutes away by train, with return tickets costing as little as £3.00. These options are especially great for people on a tight budget as there are some very cheap deals to be had in exchange for the short journey and we have managed to identify ample rooms in the immediate vicinity of the City Centre to cater for all your needs should you wish to choose there for your stay in August so we are certain that you will have no difficulty in finding anywhere to stay.

Helping hand

Please rest assured that we have no intention of leaving people out. Whilst we cannot book your rooms for you, we will help as much as we can should anybody require extra assistance; particularly our international attendees who may not be familiar with the local area.

You can contact us at roombookings@autoassembly.org.uk and we will always get back to you as soon as possible.

We are actively looking into other ways to try and help you including, but not limited to, taxi share advice, public transport routes, coaches and bag stores. Whilst we can’t confirm any of these things right now, we thought it was important to let you know that we are continuing to work hard for you.

For those of you who are currently planning on travelling to Auto Assembly 2014 alone, we have set up a dedicated area on the Auto Assembly Forum for those of you who may be interested in considering room sharing as an option as well. This may make finding accommodation even easier, more affordable and could help you find new friends for your latest trip to the convention or even for some of you, your first year with us at Auto Assembly and you can find this here:- http://www.autoassembly.org.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=22

Thank you

We do want to take a moment to thank all of our attendees. Your patience and understanding in this unprecedented time is most appreciated and your continued enthusiasm for YOUR convention is the force that drives us keep making it happen. We promise to carry on doing everything we can to support you, as you are supporting us.

We also wish to say thanks to the no-nonsense volunteers at roombookings@autoassembly.org.uk who, in their first year of operation, have successfully helped many families and attendees to make and modify their reservations at the Hilton.

Finally, we wish to place on record our sincere thanks to the staff of the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel, especially our liaison Helen Lees, who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to accommodate as many Auto Assembly attendees as possible.

When our initial block of rooms sold out within 2 hours of going live, the Hilton released another to us the very next day. And then another and another... We have been provided with literally hundreds of rooms over and above our quota even though there is another event taking place at the hotel. For this, we cannot thank the Hilton enough.

More updates and information will follow in due course. Please please please try to book your accommodation as soon as possible to avoid disappointment – we don’t want any of you missing out to people attending other shows. They don’t even have robots!

Finally, we know that some of you may not have had the chance to read it yet but we have attached a copy of the latest edition of the Auto Assembly 2014 Attendee Information Pack which contains a summary of the hotel arrangements, travel details for the convention, all the information you need about attending Auto Assembly, the convention rules and plenty of hints and tips to help you get the most out of this year's event so please try to spare a little time to read this before the convention.

Til all are One

The Auto Assembly Committee

Auto Assembly 2014 - 8th - 10th August 2014
The Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel, Birmingham, England

web - www.autoassembly.org.uk
forum - http://www.autoassembly.org.uk/forum
Youtube - www.youtube.com/autoassembly
Twitter - www.twitter.com/auto_assembly
Tumblr - http://autoassembly.tumblr.com/

Auto Assembly is sponsored by:

TF Source - www.tfsource.com
Robot Kingdom - www.robotkingdom.com
Transformers At The Moon - www.transformertoys.co.uk
Big Bad Toy Store - www.bbts.com
Benscollectables - www.youtube.com/Transformermegazord
Geek-station - www.geek-station.co.uk
Comic Toys - www.comictoys.nl

Auto Assembly have announced their latest guest for the August 2014 show as Jim Sorenson. It will be Jim's 3rd Auto Assembly and his latest book with Bill Forster, Transformers Legacy: The Art of Transformers Packaging, is due out in May of this year so be sure to bring it along and Ask Jim and questions you may have regarding this ands his other work.

We are thrilled to announce that in 2014, Auto Assembly will once again be graced by renowned Transformers Author, Jim Sorenson! Jim has worked with IDW since 2006 and has been the pen behind many pieces of great Transformers literature such as, The Ark (1 and 2), The AllSpark Almanac (1 and 2), The Art of Transformers Prime and The Transformers 30th Anniversary Collection. He has also leant his talents to several projects outside of the Transformers Universe (debatably!) such as the much lauded GI:Joe Field Manuals. Jim’s latest offering, Transformers Legacy: The Art of Transformers Packaging (compiled with longtime co-creator, Bill Forster) is scheduled for a May 2014 release. Be sure to pre-order a copy and bring it with you to Auto Assembly to be signed by the man himself! We have attached the link below.

The Japanese model festival known as SuperFest is taking place with weekend had has included displays of the Fewture Models product lines as well as the Unimetal Optimus Prime.  The products, which have been seen before, including the large Unicron head, though this time in full colour, the PVC G1 Grimlock, Optimus Prime and Alpha Trion figures as well as some super-deformed Convoy and Rodimus figures.

TemptingToys have posted some images from the event which you can view below with more images available over on TFW2005.com

Thanks to the AmiAmi Facebook page we can bring you a selection of images from the Miyazawa Mokei Spring Exhibition. Whilst Transformers related products were limited a there were some that are worth while looking at.  First up, Kotobukiya were showing off their licensed Transformers silicone ice trays.  Artstorm showed of their G1 Alpha Trion figure whilst Prime 1 Studios displayed their expensive high-end Dark of the Moon Optimus Prime.  Finally, TakaraTomy were showing off their "TakaraArts" Mega Drive Megatron prototype figure.