The newest issue of the TFCC magazine arrived today in my mailbox. While there aren't any "big" news items, there's a few new/interesting tidbits that I felt you guys might want to know about:

Cover: Stock photos of some of the Power Core Combiners that we've already seen.

Page 2: Usual intro stuff. The Botcon registration system is being developed with "EventMan.com", so it looks like it's not entirely TFCC-based. MCAX.com was held back a bit so this could be finished, so it looks indeed like unless something goes majorly wrong, we'll have online reg this year.

Page 3: Interview with Derrick Wyatt. Another all-but-confirmation we'll see unused Season 4 stuff in the Allspark Almanac Volume 2. (He really wanted to introduce more Dinobots and Constructicons.)

Page 4-5: Hasbro Interview about Power Core Combiners. Apparently in Fall of 2010 we'll get 9 different 2-packs and 6 different 5 packs, so there's still some coming out this year that we don't know about. They said that "just counting the combos by switching out the commander figure", you'll be able to make 90 different combos in total. They are incorporating PCCs into "future fiction" and "developing a significant amount of product for this new segment". A in-universe background story is also given about the PCCs-- basically they allow TFs to become gestalts without sacrificing their minds in the process, allowing for smarter, better gestalts.

Page 6-7: Profiles for High Council member Magnum (in some ways a combination of both Powered Commander, Ultra Magnus, and Animated Ultra Magnus). Also a profile for Over-Run, based on the Energon Bulkhead toy that we've already seen in the club comic preview for this issue.

Page 8: Transformers: 2010 Part 2-- a look at incredibly detailed artwork for Trypticon.

Page 9: A look back at previous Botcon exclusives.

Page 10-15: Comic. *SPOILERS*

Lots of background cameos. However, fans might be most excited to know "Sentinel Major"-- a more realisticaly-proportioned Animated Sentinel Prime-- is now a character in this. Also, it looks like here the Combaticons are originally elite guard members.
*END SPOILERS*

Page 16:Around Cybertron, Fan Art of Aureus by Rodimus Zero, bio for Snowblind (Japanese-exclusive Armada Runway redeco).

 

Yep, mine arrived moments ago as well.

I went to check out eventman.com and the page isn't operational. Hopefully not a sign of things to come.  

 

Put a hyphen in there.

The site itself is in PHP, which means hopefully at least it won't be in coldfusion. However, all the applications they show off on their site itself seem to be in Access...that's never a good sign.

 

Nice to have a bit of back story for the PCC

 

I want to see that Trypticon art, too bad I don't get the mag.  

 

Damn, I don't want any PCC stuff in future fictions. I'm so sick of stupid ass gimmicks being placed into fiction just to sell toys

 

 

Good call on FP's part - going to an external vendor rather than trying to build something in-house.

 

I'm glad the PCC will get some fiction. I was worried they'd be a whole line of toy-only characters.

 

There's a way to fix that! Transformers Club Online Catalog

It must be really frustrating for you to be a TF fan, then. Or heck, a fan of any toyline.

 

If there are 9 power core combiner basics.
And 6 five packs (core + four drones).

Then that means 15 core scouts, and 6 combination drone teams .

Tempted to display all the core scouts connected to different drone teams.

My wallet just fainted. But I am psyched for these sets.

Kind of brings that super powered gimmick flavor of later year g1 into the modern day:
double targetmasters, Jr headmasters, and mega pretenders. etc.

The new fiction for these sounds pretty strong. I think bombshock had a good bio, but at least they do explain that the drones make for smarter combiners at some point.

 

Still sounds like they're keeping the PCC concept free from any particular continuity as they can insert it like minicons in multiple universes.

That's actually a pretty clever backstory for the PCCs they've got. Think of the G1 gestalts and their main weaknesses were pretty much always their fragmented and flawed minds. By using specially designed drones in the place of the smaller limb-members you eliminate the conflict of disperate minds.

The counterpoint to this is the gestalt is smaller and not quite as physically impossing as the traditional type. But the skilled, intelligent and fully functional mind is a fair trade off.

And the fact that they apparenty hand choose who gets a gestalt drone set and limit it to the best of the best sounds like it will make the PCCs a formidable force. I'd love to see a PCC gestalt show his intelligence by taking down a larger G1 style combiner in battle.

 

Is Snowblind based on Change Micron Jetter? or some other deco?

Jetter (2003) - Micron - www.tfu.info

Also, anyone appear in Around Cybertron besides Bishop?

 

I doubt they'll be repaints this early in the game. That'd mean in Wave 3 we'd have repaints of Wave 1 stuff-- for a relatively limited line like this, that almost never happens. Probably Wave 4 is when we'll start seeing redecoes.

No, not Jetter. It's a very transparent blue, "icy" deco. I know I've seen it before-- the three Minicons form some sort of "ice saber"-- but I have no idea what any of them are called.

Repugnus and one of the 2005 Insecticon drones.

 

Is it Micron Booster Beacon?

Beacon (2004) - Micron - www.tfu.info

 

Yup, that's it.

 

Sounds like a pretty good idea for the Power Core fiction. Gives it some logic so it could used in other Transformers lines while at the same not killing the idea of more traditional gestalts if they wanted to use them later on.

Between what is being released and all the gestalts a fan could make by switching around drones that's going to be a lot of different possible gestalts to display. I was thinking with them being smaller I wouldn't need all that much shelf space but sounds like I'm going to need a lot more space.