An auction has appeared on ebay for the upcomign Transformers Universe Bruticus combiner figure.  The auction shows more images of the toy, as well as images of the combined Bruticus figure.

Universe Bruticus is a recolour of the Transformers Super Link / Transformers Energon Bruticus Maximus toy.

An auction has appeared on ebay for the upcoming Transformers Universe Cheetor toy.

The figure is a new sculpt of the popular Beast Wars character, featuring a much thinner Cheetah mode then the original Beast Wars version.  Cheetors inclusion in the Transformers Universe range coincides with the 25th anniversary celbrations for the brand.

Thanks to I-Primus for posting on our message board that Woolworths are bringing back their three for two toy promotion on for this weekend.   The offer is 3-4-2 across a wide range of toys including Transformers.

Thanks to Snakas and TFW2005 for supplying information and images from the latest issues of Dengeki Hobby Magazine (Blitz Hobby). Although there is nothing new in the magazine there are more images of some of the upcoming Japanese Transformers including the red Music Label Convoy and the Micky Mouse Convoy.

Transformers Henkei - An introduction of Hound with Ravage and Cheetas using photographs o the US version.

Transformers Alternity - Details and photographs of both the Red and Silver versions of Convoy. The latest issue of Figure King has a larger image, although Dengeki Hobby includes the red version.

Transformers Disney - The Mickey Mouse Convoy is shown along with a step by step showinng the toys transformation.

Transformers Music Label - The red/orange Exile version of Music Label Convoy is shown. The sales price is said to be 20,000 yen (including tax).

Transformers Encore - Hoist and Trailbreaker are shown. There are no details of any mold changes, and the images are said to be the original versions. Also the e-HOBBY re-releases of Sunstorm and Black Megatron are also shown.

Transformers Masterpieces - The concept art of Transformers Masterpiece Grimlock is also shown in the magazine.

Members of the Japanese image board at 2chan.net have posted some scans from the latest japanese hobby magazines which include a design sketch for the upcoming Masterpiece Grimlock figure as well as the Transformers Disney Label Mickey Mouse toy.  You can view the mirrored images below.

An auction on ebay has appeared for Transformers Universe Generation Two Inferno in packaging.  The auction includes images of both the front and back of the toys box, which has no previously been seen before.

There are also four other auctions for the unreleased Transformers Universe figure on ebay as well.

According to figures released by the British Retail Consortium annual like-for-like sales fell in five of the last six months, the first time that this has happened since 2005.  In the boys toys market, however, the Year-To-Date figures are up 6%, even though sales for July and August were not able to match the sales of Transformers in the same months last year.

Overall this year Transformers sales have remained fairly strong due to the continued success of the Movie Legends figures. Sales of Transformers did drop heavily at the start of the year, though July and the start of August did see the line return to strength, with increased sales and actually regain the joint number 2 slot of movie tie-in toys along side Batman. Since the start of August however, sales have slowly declined though the Movie Legends are still looking like they may hold on to a top 10 spot for the second year running.

Below you will find the NPD charts for August 2008 as well as the Year-To-Date figures
UK August 2008 - £ Sales - Value
1 BEN 10 FIGURES 10CM - BANDAI
2 BEN 10 15CM ACTION FIGURES - BANDAI
3 CARS VEHICLE ASSORTMENT - MATTEL
4 CLONE WARS BASIC FIGURE 3.75" - HASBRO
5 ALL SURFACE SWINGBALL - MOOKIE TOYS
6 FIRST STEPS BABYWALKER - VTECH
7 WALL-E DELUXE ACTION FIGURE - VIVID IMAGINATIONS
8 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT - MATTEL
9 DOCTOR WHO 5" FIGURES - CHARACTER OPTIONS
10 ITNG 12" TALKING PLUSH - HASBRO


UK August 2008 - Unit Sales (Volume)
1 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT - MATTEL
2 BEN 10 FIGURES 10CM - BANDAI
3 CARS VEHICLE ASSORTMENT - MATTEL
4 SUPER TIPS BRIGHT 12 - VIVID
5 12 COLOURED PENCILS - VIVID
6 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LEGENDS - HASBRO
7 CLONE WARS BASIC FIGURES 3.75" - HASBRO
8 BEN 10 15CM ACTION FIGURES - BANDAI
9 ZEEBEEZ - RE:CREATION
10 ITNG MINI PLUSH - HASBRO


UK YEar To Date - £ Sales (Value)
1 BEN 10 FIGURES 10CM - BANDAI
2 CARS VEHICLE ASSORTMENT - MATTEL
3 BEN 10 OMNITRIX FX WATCH - BANDAI
4 ITNG MINI PLUSH - HASBRO
5 ITNG 12" TALKING PLUSH - HASBRO
6 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LEGENDS - HASBRO
7 POWER RANGERS OOD 12.5CM FIGURES - BANDAI
8 BEN 10 15CM ACTION FIGURES - BANDAI
9 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT - MATTEL
10 HSM COUNTRY CLUB FRIENDS - MATTEL


UK Year To Date - Unit Sales (Volume)
1 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT - MATTEL
2 CARS VEHICLE ASSORTMENT - MATTEL
3 BEN 10 FIGURES 10CM - BANDAI
4 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LEGENDS - HASBRO
5 POWER RANGERS OOD 12.5CM FIGURES - BANDAI
6 ITNG MINI PLUSH - HASBRO
7 WWE RUTHLESS AGGRESSION - VIVID
8 BEN 10 15CM ACTION FIGURES - BANDAI
9 DOCTOR WHO 5" FIGURES - CHARACTER OPTIONS
10 SUPER TIPS BRIGHT 12 - VIVID


As an additional feature this month, we're going to take a quick look at the relationship between film-licensed toy sales for this year as well as the potential for some of next years big releases.

The main toy tie-in movies this year, according to retailers, were going to be The Dark Night and Clone Wars. Due to the success of The Dark Night at the box office, it was expected that toy sales for this line would be extremely high. Clone Wars, on the other hand, had a terrible time at the Box Office and so sales of the tie-in toys were expected to be poor. Neither of these predictions came true. According to figures in the October issue of Toy News Magazine, store managers rated Star Wars as the number one product with Transformers and The Dark Knight both in second position. Sales of Batman toys rose sharply when the Movie was released but they declined equally as quickly. Star Wars and Transformers, however, both continued to perform strongly even after their respective movies had finished. Looking at the charts which the magazine produce, Transformers was the top selling toy from late May 2007 until early October 2007, at which point Spiderman 3 toys re-took the number one spot. As 2007 ended, Transformrs dropped out of the chart which compares sales of Spiderman 3, Transformers, Star Wars, Iron Man, Hulk, Indiana Jones and Batman from April 2007 until August 2008. Transformers re-entered the chart in early June, peaking in July as the joint 2nd best line with Batman behine Starwars which out sold both lines by 3 times. Since then Batman sales have dropped back by two thirds, sales of Transformers have halved, whilst sales of Star Wars toys have almost quadrupled.

Looking towards 2009, both Transformers 2 and G.I-Joe are expected to shift some seriou figures within the UK with G.I Joe expected to be the suprise package. "G I Joe could be a surprise. It is a brand with a lot of staying power, similar to the Transformers leading up to the movie. I ran the Blog metrics against Bakugan of Spin Master – an action figure which, similar to G I Joe, has never had a movie and which nevertheless is selling at the rate of $100 million at retail" writes Lutz Muller. Lutz gones on to say "This graph (Edtitor: which shows G.I-Joe blog posts as between 3 and 7 times that of Bakugan) demonstrates very clearly the strong underlying consumer interest in the GI Joe brand – which I expect will result in above-expectation box office and toy sales results.". Looking further ahead, 2010 looks like another strong year for Hasbro with both Ironman 2 and Spider-man 4 due for release, though the close timing of the release of both films is expected to cause problems with conflicting toy sales. Here is a short list of some of the upcoming movie tie-in lines that have the most potential to be big sellers (according to Lutz Muller). All potential figures are marked out of 10.

Star Trek - 8 - Released May 2009
Terminator: Salvation - 8 - May 2009
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - 9 - June 2009
Ice Age 3 - 8 - July 2009
Harry Potter: Half BLood Prince - 10 - July 2009
He-man - 8 - August 2009
G.I-Joe - 9 - August 2009
Toy Story 3 - 9 - Jan 2010
Teengage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 8 - March 2010
Iron Man 2 - 8 - April 2010
Spiderman 4 - 10 - May 2010
Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows - 10 - November 2010

About Lutz Muller is a Swiss who has lived on five continents. In the US, he was the CEO for four manufacturing companies, including two in the toy industry. Since 2002, he has provided competitive intelligence on the toy and video games market to manufacturers and financial institutions coast-to-coast

Hasbro have issued the following press release regarding upcoming exclusives.

New Exclusives
SAMS Club
Recreate the epic battles of the TRANSFORMERS UNIVERSE with this Autobot vs. Decepticon battle pack. OPTIMUS PRIME, with exclusive blue and red deco, joins with LONGRACK and BLURR to face off against RUNAMCK and BUZZSAW. Each figure converts from robot mode to vehicle mode - and back again - and comes with a key accessory that activates features. Use your imagination to stage exciting battles – AUTOBOTS vs. DECEPTICONS – in a fight for the finish! Get this battle pack only at Sam’s Club for $40.88 SRP

COSTCO
Just in time for the holidays, get this exclusive battle pack with large-scale TRANSFORMERS action figures—only at CostCo. This pack features Leader Class Optimus Prime and Ultra Class CRUMPLEZONE, ready for a battle. Available in November for PRICE $36.99.

yizhi521 of TF08.net has posted some more images of the Transformers Universe Special Edition Overkill figure.  You can view the mirrored images below as well as a copy of the profile from the box. Its only a matter of time until one of these toys turn up on eBay.

"Formerly bound to Soundwave as a partner and slave, Overkill was often overlooked by enemy and ally alike. Recently, however, he has overcome his diminutive size, reinstalling his cerebro-circuitry in a larger, more dangerous body. Now, he is free to indulge his destructive whims, stomping cars flat, snapping tractors trailers in half with his jaws, and being generally terrifying."

TFClub have posted the first images of the upcoming Transformers Universe Combaticon toys, a set of recoloured Energon Bruticus figures.

Thanks to I-Primus for posting information of Woolworths latest 3-for-2 offer on our Transformers Forum.

Woolworths have a Toy promotion on for this weekend. It's a 3 4 2 offer across a wide range of Toys. It does seem to cover Transformers as a quick search on the website shows the Mini-con 12 pack with the 342 tag on it. Haven't been to a store yet to confirm.

The website have only four TFs listed but I have seen Animated in store previously.

Argos promos, Tesco 1/2 prices & now woolies. Tis the season it seems already.

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TFClub has been updated with a nice high resolution image gallery of the upcoming Transformers Universe Generation Two Inferno toy.