Botcon 2012 will be held in…

… Dallas, Texas, in the Hyatt Regency Dallas. The dates are April 26 – 29, 2012.

TFCC Sideburn figures finally on the way

I got an e-mail from Brian at the Transformers Collector’s Club regarding the free membership figure for this year, the repaint of Classics Rodimus into RID Side Burn:

This is going out to all members. 

Provided that your membership was in good standing on March 16th (which makes you eligible to receive this year’s free figure) the domestic figures are now in the mail.  If you joined after that date, you will receive next year’s figure.

Your Sideburn will arrive via standard rate mail so this can take as much as 3-4 weeks.  If you do not receive your figure by Sept 1, please let us know.  Please do not contact us before that date. 

For those not in the US:

The foreign mail pieces will depart by next Tuesday.  They go via DHL Worldmail.  DHL forwards them to your county’s mail system and then your postal carrier will deliver your piece.  These should be in your country’s mail system by the end of next week.

Thanks for your patience with the delivery on these figures!

Brian

Did You Know…?

I learned at Comic-Con that the head of Hasbro’s Star Wars figure sculpting department, Dave Vennemeyer, handles the Transformers Human Alliance humans, as well as the Star Wars Transformers heads? It’s true! He even had the original sculpts on hand alongside his Star Wars head sculpts on display at the Hasbro booth as he was showing off sculpting and discussing the art with con-goers. The detailing on the Sam Witwicky, Captain Lennox, and Agent Simmons original sculpts was outrageously accurate, done in one-to-one scale no less, before they got turned into molds and given production paint. Dave and his team also do the generic Human Alliance figures that are helmeted, many of which are found in the basic HA line, and said any scale issues are unintended. Dave doesn’t personally do all the figures, for example, I asked him about the Sgt Epps figure and he knew that one only based on its flaws, not its name.

Transformers Kre-O Pre-Sale Begins Today!

This just in from Hasbro…

“Hello TRANSFORMERS Fans!

Hasbro’s new KRE-O TRANSFORMERS construction sets are now available for pre-sell beginning today.  (…more)

Hasbro’s Masterpiece Rodimus Prime

Toycollectors.com.au revealed today Hasbro’s version of Masterpiece Rodimus Prime in it’s box. The image confirms Rodimus will come with a Targetmaster partner: Offshoot, rather than having a trailer as the Japanese counterpart did. The image also shows MP Rodimus will be a Toys R Us exclusive release.

Hasbro’s 16 Weeks of Cyber Sweeps Giveaways

Hasbro has teamed up with Nickelodeon to bring you TransformersCyberSweeps.com, 16 weeks of online giveaways leading up to the new movie’s release in July. The site incorporates the chroma-shifted 3D from the DOTM Optimus Prime preview figure (there’s an off/on button for the effect, for those who don’t like donning red/blue glasses), and this week’s giveaway is a $200 HasbroToyShop gift card to 5 lucky winners. (…more)

Final Round of Hall of Fame 2011 Voting Starts Now

Now that the fan sites’ votes have been tallied, the final round of voting goes to Transformers fans everywhere to decide which of the 5 top choices will go on to become a Transformers Hall of Fame inductee for 2011. Fans get to decide between Grimlock, Shockwave, Waspinator, Jazz, and Erector, by voting on Transformers.com, one vote per day, until April 22nd.  The winning robot will be revealed at the Transformers Hall of Fame induction ceremony at BotCon in Pasadena, CA, on Saturday, June 4. You can vote by visiting Hasbro’s official voting page.

Transformers: Prime toys revealed

Various websites today have unveiled exclusive previews of several Transformers: Prime toys, giving fans their first looks at figures from the new series toy line. USAWeekend has our first look at Arcee, Ugo takes a look at Starscream, and IGN shows us Bumblebee.

Hasbro’s Supercharge Your Giftcard Program Ends This Month

As a reminder, with “Supercharge Your Gift Card and Cash Too,” Hasbro is rewarding consumers who spend $20 or more in gift cards (or cash) on select Hasbro toys and games with one of more than twenty FREE Hasbro toys and games valued at $10 or more.  The promotion began on 12/25/10 and runs through 1/31/11.  No matter what your kids are into, they’re sure to love receiving a little something extra from one of your favorite Hasbro brands, including TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOE, MARVEL and STAR WARS! Check out the details at Hasbro.com.

TFviews’ 2010 Year in Review Discussion

Happy New Year! For the past 3 weeks, we’ve been reviewing 2010 in Transformers, and it’s still an ongoing discussion. So come on in and share your opinions with us. Who are your favorite figures from this year and why? Click here to check out TFV’s 2010 Year in Review.