Transformers Linkfest

Time for another list of links to various galleries of new Revenge of the Fallen toys (mostly repaints) and the like.

Bumblebee vs. Soundwave
From Entertainment Earth, a box set of the two deluxe size toys in NEST packaging that is apparently part of an "Exclusive Figure Offer". The set will be released in around January. Bumblebee is the cannon version and Soundwave is another repaint with red highlights.

2010 Wave One Gallery
Official images of the next wave of Revenge of the Fallen toys that will be coming out next year, much of which is repaints.

Masterpiece Skywarp Review
From Seibertron.com, a review of the Wal-Mart exclusive toy that is a repaint of Masterpiece Starscream released years ago in the states. This is essentially the same MP Skywarp released a little over a year ago in Japan but there have been a few touch-ups such as yellow eyes, painted nametag (rather than a sticker), chromed Decepticon logo and other tweaks. It’s a good read for anyone debating buying the rather expensive figure, especially if already has the Japan (Takara) version. Personally I think the Masterpiece line as a whole has produced some of the best Transformers ever so worth considering if you have never bought any versions of G1 Masterpiece Seeker made over the years.

Nebular Starscream
K-Mart is joining the Transformers exclusive bandwagon with a pretty good looking repaint of Voyager Starscream in a black and green color scheme. No idea when it will be released. Another look can be seen here and better look at the packaging here.

RPM Jetfire
The RPM line, mostly limited to cars, is adding Jetfire to the line. The RPM line is the one where it’s essentially matchbox cars with the robot mode painted on the underside of the vehicle.

RPM Megatron
Another RPM figure, this time Battle Charger Megatron. This one has a little upper body figure of Megatron pop out of the turret section.

The AllSpark Experiment Transformers 3 Secret Video

The rumors are true; there is a secret video with the Blu-ray edition of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. With the right combination vehicles in the Blu-ray exclusive extra feature "The AllSpark Experiment" the video will unlock with Michael Bay discussing some of ideas he has for Transformers 3.

In the video, Bay suggests he is going to try to go "sideways" rather than bigger with more research into Transformers lore (and image of animated Unicron is shown). His desire is for something that isn't just action but something darker and more emotional. The video was likely recorded before he committed to getting TF3 out for summer 2011 and really its way to early to draw any definitive conclusions from the video as likely the film is still in the spitballing phase to see what sticks.

The video is below or click here which also has the solution to unlock the video.

Interview With G1 Artist Jeff Mangiat

TFormers.com has posted an interview with Transformers (Generation One) box artist Jeff Mangiat, who is the one selling some of his art on eBay. While the name may but be familiar, if you are a long time Transformers fan you are likely very familiar with his art such as the Optimus Prime to the left that graced the front of every box back in the mid-eighties and still pops up on shirts and the like today. Below are snippets, the full interview can be found here.

TFormers: How did you get involved with doing art for the Transformers packaging?
Jeff: My next step was to join Mendola ltd.; the premier artist representatives founded by Joe Mendola, a pioneer in the field of Illustration. Early on I did covers for Newsweek magazine (many done overnight). One of my favorites was a painting of a robot with a monitor for a head and torso. On the torso screen was the superman logo. Supercomputer! My work quickly expanded to other fields, toys being one of them. I started working for Hasbro doing game boards. With my automotive background, the transformers were a natural fit, and the rest is history.

TFormers: Did you work on just the Transformers Generation 1 murals? How many of these paintings did you do?
Jeff: I did a good number of robots for the front panel. I couldn’t tell you how many. My favorite was the original Optimus Prime (how could it not be!) I remember doing the Porsche, F1 car and some of the jets. I did the 2nd and 3rd back of box paintings. The first being the Dinobots battling in space above an earth ravaged by war. How nice! And, of course, the battle moon one. I worked on them till they switched production back to Asia and the animation houses. A sad day.

Transformers 2 Sells 7.5M Copies

The first week of sales for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on DVD and Blu-ray was a smashing success with 7.5 million copies sold in the first week of release according to the Hollywood Reporter. Two million was sold on the first day of release. The movie was also the highest selling Blu-ray movie of the year with 1.2 million units sold (500,000 of that on the first day).

"It's certainly an encouraging sign for the business," said veteran industry analyst Tom Adams. He added that the strong Blu-ray Disc sales count is particularly good news "because if the business is going to turn around it's going to be because Blu-ray starts performing, and this is certainly an indicator that Blu-ray is starting to play its role and help stabilize the business."

"Transformers" easily debuted at No. 1 on all three charts: the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart, Home Media Magazine's rental chart, and the Nielsen VideoScan Blu-ray Disc sales chart.

XBox 360 Elite Transformers Bundle Announced

According to Videogamer.com, a new XBox 360 bundles are being prepared for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

The Transformers bundle includes an Xbox 360 Elite plus Transformers 2 the movie on a Bumblebee-styled USB stick, a copy of Transformers 2 The Game and an additional black Wireless Controller.

There's no indication of pricing or if the Xbox 360 Elite features the standard 120GB hard drive or the larger 250GB variety.

As the images indicate, the bundle will be in Transformers specific packaging. Also, besides price, it is also unknown what regions the bundle will be released for or when. (via TFormers)

How ROTF Should Have Ended And Music Video

Two videos for your entertainment, both influenced by Transformers. The first is an amusing animated video that shows how Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen should have ended with jibes at some of the plot holes of the film and an ending that Generation One fans would have loved to have seen.



The second is the music video for "I Can Transform Ya" from Chris Brown that clearly influenced by Transformers, as if the line "I can transform you like Optimus Prime" wasn't a hint.

Original Transformers G1 Artwork Auction

If you have at least $7,500USD you could own a piece of Transformers Art that was used on packaging for the later waves of Generation 1 Transformers back in the mid-eighties via an eBay auction. The item description:

TRANSFORMERS ORIGINAL ART PAINTING 1980S HASBRO RARE This auction is for an ORIGINAL work of art featuring THE TRANSFORMERS! This one-of-a-kind PAINTING appeared on the back of HASBRO TOY packages in 1980S. This is an ORIGINAL Gouache on cold press Illustration board artwork painted by world renowned illustrator, JEFFREY MANGIAT! Mr. Mangiat also produced many of the first generation Transformers artwork for numerous package designs. His paintings are known worldwide for their incredible use of detail and intense color palette. This fabulous painting measures 26” X 24” and is in superb condition. There is a minor crease in the lower right corner that does not affect the majesty of this rare original. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to obtain a piece of Transformers toy history directly from the artist who created this artwork! The winning bidder may choose to have the piece signed and personalized if they choose. If you are a dedicated fan or collector of THE TRANSFORMERS or high quality artwork, this rare ORIGINAL PAINTING is for you! Payment may be made by Paypal in US funds and MUST be received within 10 days from end of auction. STRICTLY ENFORCED! (FREE SHIPPING- priority mail domestic USA delivery confirmation & insured!)

The item depicts two transforming cities, the Autobot Metroplex vs. Decepticon Trypticon along with multiple characters introduced in Transformers: The Movie and season 3 of the cartoon series. The auction is scheduled to end on November 2nd. (via TFormers)

MP Grimlock Stateside, Device Label And More

Device Label Cats
A new gallery shows off Tigatron and Ravage and their packaging for the upcoming Transformers Device Label line that is being released in Japan only. In this case the alt mode is a working 2GB USB thumb drive. Other figures in the line will include a laptop and mouse. It appears the toys are around scout sized but don't have a scout sized price of around $50USD.

Masterpiece Grimlock Stateside
In a quick interview with Hasbro's Transformers team, they said "We are pleased to announce that the next Masterpiece item that we will be releasing will be Grimlock in 2010. We are excited to be able to offer this item within the U.S. and will certainly share more details as we get closer to releasing him." Up until now the toy was a $100USD plus toy released in Japan. Since the last three Masterpieces (Optimus Prime, Starscream, and Skywarp) have all been exclusive to Wal-Mart, it’s not a reach to assume the same will happen again.

Official Legends Gallery
New gallery that shows off upcoming Legends class figures including Arcee, Jolt, and Soundwave.

Official 2010 ROTF Toys and Mighty Muggs Gallery
Click the link to view a bunch of new pictures of the next wave of Revenge of the Fallen toys including Shadow Command Megatron, Defender Optimus Prime, Midewipe, Lockdown, Brawn, and more.

ROTF Ramjet and Skywarp Sale
Wal-Mart is offering an online sale for Starscream repaints Ramjet and Skywarp with $10USD Wal-Mart eGift card for $34.00USD. Click the link if interested in the purchase.

Revenge Sells 2 Million On First Day

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen sold 2 million discs on its first day of release. This total does seem to include both DVD and Blu-ray sales. This is half the estimated 4 million reported the other day but still considered good news.

..the real talk of the town was Paramount/DreamWorks' "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," which arrived in stores Oct. 20 and within 24 hours had sold 2 million discs, according to industry sources -- giving the sell-through business, down 13.9% for the year, a badly needed shot in the arm.

Shoclwave Cameo Plus Imax Edition Review

Earlier this week Star War's R2D2 was found in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and now another appearance has been found. Site reader Jason reported that Shockwave could be found in the movie and now thanks to David here is the photographic proof. The image was part of a worth reading review at High Def Disc News of the Wal-Mart's Big Screen Blu-ray Edition of the movie that breaks down all the features and might help in deciding what edition to buy.

The image is from the Devastator sequence when he is trying to suck the Twins up as they hang onto a pipe. Shockwave is on the front page photo below the headline "-ERIOUS ROBOT SPOTTED". Most Transfans would prefer he have more than a cameo appearance (always TF3) but still this nod to Generation One by the folks at ILM (as I pretty confident that is a CGI newspaper not a set prop) is appreciated.

I wonder what other goodies ILM have hidden in this movie.

Transformers Writers Talk Twins, Not Doing TF3

In a new interview from IGN, Transformers: ROTF writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman talk aobut their long writing careers that began back in the Xena and Hercules days all the way to their curent projects such as Fringe and the sequel to Star Trek. Below are the Transformers relevant portions, click here to read the entire interview.

IGN: ...during the panel you talked about warning others involved in the movie about the way Mudflap and Skids were portrayed in Transformers 2 and how it was going to be received. When you lose a battle like that, do you try and stop from going on every message board to defend yourself? The projects you work on are group efforts, but obviously a lot of people online don't always realize that when they see your name as writers.
Orci: Yeah, you've got to take responsibility for everything. We're all in it together and it's a harmony. It's a joint venture. And a lot of things will be expressed that way.

IGN: Why did you decide not to do Transformers 3?
Kurtzman: I think it was largely a matter of the fact that we have a couple other movies on their feet and some television things happening now, and didn't feel we could responsibly do it and give it what it needed. Cowboys & Aliens is a very full time job right now and we should be focusing on that, because it took awhile to get it on its feet.
Orci: And the second one we didn't think we could responsibly do, and that's why we were so happy to team up with Ehren Kruger, who was amazing. This time, I think even teaming up with him, we wouldn't be able to give him what would be fair. And it's really a matter of time, but again, the best idea should win, and they need an idea now. We don't have one right now, so…

IGN: Mudflap and Skids became such a controversial focal point of the second movie. Have you resigned yourself to the fact that people are going to ask you about them for a long time to come?
Orci: Yeah. I think… Michael [Bay]'s spoken about this. His intentions certainly weren't to insult anybody or anything like that. When you get in with comedians and you're doing voiceovers and you're improvising and you're mixing and matching lines, you don't always see how it's going to turn out. So certainly there was no bad intention I think on anybody's part.

Recon Ironhide Video Review

Peaugh is back with a video review of Voyager Recon (aka Jungle Attack) Ironhide that is a repaint of the Revenge of the Fallen figure. The main differences with this version is a new head sculpt, a lot more weapon accessories, and smaller arm cannons.

ROTF Sells 4 Million?

According to Nelson, the admin for MichaelBay.com, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has sold four million copies on its first day of release.

Nelson here...

I've been getting emails from LA, Chicago, NYC, and Houston of people going to their local retailers to only being told that they ran out of TF2 DVDs and Blu-rays. It's insane!!

I've also received unconfirmed reports that about 4 million copies of TF2 were sold today.

I will keep you posted!

Those numbers seem high but its nearly identical the numbers that Transformers posted back in 2007 (when released on DVD and HD-DVD) with a first day total of 4.5 million copies and first week sales of 8.3 million units. To compare the top selling movie for the year (through 10/11) is Twilight with 9,188,197 sold and it was released back in March. If that early report holds, then Revenge of the Fallen will reside in fourth place for the year behind only Twilight, Madagascar 2 (7.0 million), and Bolt (4.6 million) and those movies have out about 10 months. Since Harry Potter 6 isn't coming out until December, Transformers 2 is probably going to be the undisputed king of the home video market for the year inside of two weeks.

G4's Transformers : ROTF DVD Review

On G4's Attack of the Show for DVDuesday, Chris Gore reviews Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and the Transformers Generation One Box Set. Over all he didn't like the movie but did like the special features and thought the Generation One set was good but likely will destroy your childhood memories of the show (as its not as good as your decades long memory makes it seem).

Video Games - E3 2009 - Attack of the Show

More Transformers Galleries

Once again, another link fest of various Transformers toy news.

Leader Starscream Back Package
Above is the single image of the back of the box for Leader class Starscream. Based on the pictures which show a better designed chest plate and more authentic look to the movie than the Voyager class toy.

Fast Action Battler Spark Blast Jolt
Click the link for gallery of official images for the upcoming repaint of Jolt. Yep, another repaint. At the rate Hasbro is going there will not be a single mold from the ROTF toy line that doesn't have at least 1-2 repaints. For completists news like this must cause nightmare.

Recon Ironhide New Head Sculpt
Click the link for images of Ironhide's new head design to go along with the new paint job along with a few images that compares this toy with the 1st Ironhide from the Revenge of the Fallen line.

Scout Scattershot
More official images, this of Scattershot that is part of the upcoming NEST sub line of Revenge toys and is one of the few new molds that is part of the line as it is a homage to the Cybertron character (the G1 version was a jet and trigger master figure if I remember correctly).

Skids and Screech Images
Exclusive to Transformers Generation 2009 magazine, these new toys are painted to remind you of the movie Twins.

Disney Donald Duck Monochrome
Even though the toy isn't even out yet, the Japan only figure is getting the repaint treatment in black and white (I guess a nod to his B&W cartoon origins). Bigbadtoystore.com already has the figure up for pre-order for $50USD if you’re interested.

Legends Wave 5 in Packaging
Click to view images of Legends class Autobot Wheelie, Bluesteel Sideswipe, Power Armor Optimus Prime and Soundwave in their packaging.

Prime Wants You To Buy ROTF

For those that might have missed it, here is the most recent commercial for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on DVD and Blu-ray with Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) offering an important message of buying "an object of tremendous value to all". Kind of hokey but I think it.

R2-D2 Spotted In Transformers 2

Way back in June, it was leaked that R2-D2 makes a little unknown cameo appearance in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and now here is the proof of his very brief appearance as part of the debris field during the desert fight.

Transformers 2 Wins Three Scream Awards

Saturday Night, the Spike TV Scream Awards ceremony was held at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, CA and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen took home three awards - Best Sci-Fi Actress for Megan Fox, Best Special Effects and Best Breakthrough Performance for Isabel Lucas.

Probably the highlight of the night for Transformers fans was Megan Fox accepting her award and using the moment to set the record straight about her not being killed off in the third film and her feelings about the franchise.

"I would like to take this moment to actually say something genuine. There have been a lot of false reports concerning how I feel about this movie and I just want to be very clear that I've always felt that I am a very ordinary part of an extraordinary film. These movies took me out of obscurity and they gave me a career and I am completely grateful to everyone involved with this franchise."

The full list of winners can be found here. The telecast of the award ceremony will air on Spike TV on Tuesday, October 27th from 10:00pm to midnight ET/PT.

Get A Call From A Transformers

The official website for the Transformers movies has added a new feature as part of the promotion for the upcoming release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to home video.

The most recent update is the ability to send a (pre-recorded) call from Optimus Prime or Starscream to a friend. According to TFormers, the Optimus message is a warning about a Decepticon invasion and contact from Starscream. The image to the left shows what information you will be asked to provide.

Transformers Invade Cleveland

A Transfan takes his love of Transformers and the movie a step further with two statues of Bumblebee and Optimus Prime built for Halloween that is pretty sweet looking. The video below is a slideshow that shows the construction of the two robots and promises Barricade and Megatron next year.