Generation 1

We have received a Press Release from Hasbro regarding the publishing they will release to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of one of the greatest franchises in existence; Transformers.

"With both TRANSFORMERS and MY LITTLE PONY gearing up celebrations for their 30th Anniversaries, it is the perfect time to celebrate the magic and excitement of both brands with the publication of very special books that will appeal to fans of all ages, whether they've been with us for 30 years or 30 minutes," said Michael Kelly, Director of Global Publishing at Hasbro. "We are working with the very best publishers in the business to bring these unique books to life, and readers will marvel over never before published artwork, compelling original stories, and detailed information sure to satisfy the most avid fan and collector."

Hasbro-branded collectible books in-the-works include:

TRANSFORMERS 30th Anniversary Comic Collection by IDW Publishing
Collecting 30 influential comics from across 30 years of TRANSFORMERS history, this handsome hardcover volume draws from multiple timelines and continuities, including classic Generation One, the live action movies, TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED, and more.

TRANSFORMERS: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe by Little, Brown and Company
New York Times Bestseller Matthew Reinhart brings fans the quintessential TRANSFORMERS Pop-Up experience. Celebrate the history, heroes, and villains of the TRANSFORMERS universe in this ultimate 3-D masterpiece. Chock full of TRANSFORMERS facts and showcasing 35 TRANSFORMERS, including a towering OMEGA SUPREME that is Reinhart's tallest pop ever.

TRANSFORMERS Covenant of Primus by 47North & becker&mayer
The Covenant of Primus includes a full history of the TRANSFORMERS with previously unrevealed information about their origins — from before the Golden Age of Exploration to the great civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons and beyond. The book also includes newly created illustrations and never-before-seen art from the Hasbro archives. Housed in a customized AUTOBOT shield, the stylish book can be mounted on the wall and features three classic mechanical TRANSFORMERS sounds when opening the case.

You can find the full Press Release, after the jump.

Did you know that during the Transformers Generation 1 Commemorative Series of the mid 2000s, Hasbro tried to get the original Generation 1 Megatron back on to Toys R Us shelves? It's true! However, such a reissue carried with it a huge cost - namely a shockingly bright, un-Megatron deco that none the less somehow manages to be strangely appealing.

By way of The Spacebridge on Facebook, we can share a look at this aborted Megatron reissue. What you see here is the only way Hasbro could have even attempted to get Megatron back on store shelves at Toys R Us, with an orange and metallic blue deco (It is worth saying that in spite of this, the toy still got rejected for a release because it looked too much like a gun).

Check out these images and see what might have been. Also be sure to check out The Spacebridge's Facebook album of unreleased Transformers toys for more rare looks at unreleased stuff, including Takara's original Generation 1 Metroplex prototype, a mockup of what would eventually become Diaclone Tracks, early Trypticon and Predaking prototypes and lots more!

The Spacebridge has shared some incredibly awesome stuff on his Facebook. At the end of Transformers Generation 2, there was a whole bunch of toys that were never released, famously among those were the Generation 2 redecos of the Protectobots. It's not every day we get a look at them, so check out The Spacebridge's Facebook gallery which shows some nice, clear pictures of all four Protectobots and their bios.

Also showcased is a rare look at the bio for the Laser Cycle Jazz toy. A motorcycle version of Autobot Jazz, this toy like the Protectobots was never released outside of a very limited run to a test market, making it one of the rarest Transformers collectibles. Be sure to check it out!

Kids Logic have announced on their Facebook that one of their upcoming licensed products will be a super-deformed (SD for short, meaning large head, smaller body) style Generation 1 Optimus Prime. This fully licensed product will stand 18cm tall and does not appear to be transformable - but as ever, things may not always be as they seem as there is certainly some sort of chest mechanism.

Watch this space for future updates.

Loyal Subjects continue their urban line with the release of new Transformers themed skate decks. There are 5 available for order, all with a vintage G1 theme. Check out all the pics inside!

TFW2005.COM Member Monzo dropped by tonight to take us back to the oldschool with a bit of Transformers Generation One history - a scan of rare artwork and an interview of Marvel Productions editors Bryce Malek and Dick Robbins. Monzo had this to say about the interview:

The January 1985 issue of Comics Feature ran a story on Marvel Productions, the company that produced the original Transformers cartoon. As part of this story, Comics Feature briefly interviewed Transformers story editors Bryce Malek and Dick Robbins, and included a piece of rare pre-production Transformers artwork. After learning of this story, I bought a copy of the magazine and made a high-resolution scan of the art, which is included in this post. This is not the first appearance of this particular piece of artwork, as it came into the hands of collector Alex Bickmore some years ago; you can see it here, where the corner isn't covered up by part of a Pandamonium promotional painting.

You can check out both a mirrored scan of the artwork as well as the transcription of the interview after the jump. Thanks again to Monzo for sharing this with us here!

What a blast from the past! Lmb3.net has obtained a 1986 Transformers The Movie Ziploc Promotion Salesman's Sample Kit. As kids, most of us probably never saw this back in the day. So it's interesting to see just what exactly was in this kit.

The kit itself came in a backpack. These kits came with promo sheets, copies of coupons to be used, a thermos, Powerdasher, iron-ons and amongst other items, sheets containing some revealing information. Just how well was the Transformers brand doing back in the 1980's? Here's the answer to that question:

The third sheet in the packet actually has some really interesting information on it (or at least, interesting to me. It talks about the Transformers brand expecting to make $300 million in 1986. It also states that Transformers made $100 million in 1984, the most for any first year series ever at that time. I’m sure that record has probably been broken, but I’d love to know how that stacks up all time.

It says that there would be $20 million spent on advertising, and an additional $3 million spent promoting the movie. Maybe I’m thinking about it by today’s standards, but $3 million to promote a movie doesn’t seem like a lot, even in 1986.

As we near the 30th anniversary of the Transformers brand, it's quite a revelation to know just how successful it was almost 30 years ago!

The author at lmb3.net was missing the Powerdasher figure and thermos from the kit. However his article has scans of several articles contained within the kit, including the iron-ons, promo sheets, and much more! Head on over to it to get a glimpse into the glory days of Transformers Generation 1!

Riptapparel.com is now featuring a new Generation 1 t-shirt of the Soundwave Cassettes! Sounds of the 80's is currently up for sale with just a little over 12 hours left to purchase.

Check out the new G1 Cassettes Shirt after the jump.

Sad news reaches us this evening via voice actor Jack Angel and Facebook. Unfortunately, Philip L. Clarke has passed away. You may remember Philip as the voices of Generation 1 Dead End, Tantrum, Auggie Cahnay and the Supreme Military Commander, President-for-Life, and King of Kings of the Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya, Abdul Fakkadi.

May he rest in peace.

Hisashi Yuki has tweeted some more images of the Encore Fortress Maximus on his Twitter account. These new images show how the eye stickers are now factory applied, as well as the newly altered sticker sheet and foam tray. Encore Fortress Maximus is drawing closer to release - have you preordered yours yet? Or more importantly - have you worked out a suitable display spot for the largest vintage Transformer ever made?

Hisashi Yuki has tweeted out some images of the Encore 23 Fortress Maximus in box. For those unaware of just how massive the box on this toy is, these new images will give you an idea - along with a look at the box itself, which is a faithful reproduction of the Generation 1 Fortress Maximus box as it was on its original Japanese release.

And now for something a bit old-school, thanks to The Spacebridge Facebook page, who has taken the storyboards used in the production of the 1986 Transformers movie and created animated storyboard videos from them, showing off two deleted/rewritten scenes.

Video 1: Devastator falls- "I have included a section of the film either side so you can see where it would have fit in. I believe this scene was animated as it exists in very late production notes & music was written to accompany it. It was cut as Nelson Shin felt it ruined the flow of Primes attack leading up to his battle with Megatron. Ultra Magnus, Tracks, Sideswipe & Red Alert were picked to attack Devastator as they all have rocket launchers. It also explains what Megatron was looking at when Prime found him."

Video 2: Ultra Magnus's original death- "In the storyboards Ultra Magnus had a much more barbaric death at the hands of the Sweeps. As you can see in the video, he is literally pulled apart. This scene was animated but removed due to concerns over the violence. There are many clues in the film that this scene should still be there. The audio matches this version exactly, Magnus sounds like he is being pulled apart. You see the Sweeps fire out 4 solid beams towards Magnus. Finally Galvatron catches the Matrix when it falls perfectly into his hands from above."

Big thanks to The Spacebridge for sharing these videos with us!

The cube is back, baby! Well... not just that one. The CyberNet Space Cube is back as well, thanks to Hasbro's Television Channel The Hub which is now airing episodes of Transformers: Generation Two.

What is Transformers: Generation Two? To those who don't know, during the early 1990s select episodes of Generation One cartoon was reaired on TV with a new opening and usage of the aforementioned CyberNet Space Cube for transitions and commercial breaks.

Transformers: Generation Two (while not exactly a full-on cartoon) joins the likes of Transformers: Generation One, Beast Wars: Transformers, Transformers: Rescue Bots, and Transformers: Prime (and soon Beast Hunters!) on The Hub.

One of the mysteries that the most-dedicated of Transformers fans such as Monzo have been trying to solve for some time was a mysterious mini-comic issued in Europe during the Generation 1 era of Transformers toys. This mini-comic, published by Milton-Bradley who handled some of the toy distribution in the early days, featured Jetfire as the leader of the Autobots!

After an appeal for information by the TFWiki, a fan in Spain ("Un tal Iván" - @Ivanspeedy on Twitter) sent a copy of the comic to the TFWiki Twitter account, and now thanks to Spark (for translating) and ItsWalky (for re-lettering) the comic is available for fans worldwide to enjoy. It's another piece of Transformers history preserved friends - a bizarre retelling of events from Marvel's Transformers #1 and #4 featuring not only Jetfire filling in for Optimus Prime but Soundwave taking the role of Shockwave and fighting the four Dinobots (Swoop is absent, possibly because his toy was not readily available in Europe, even though the comic features Roadbuster and Whirl alongside a Diaclone colors Blitzwing)

This comic, a store promo giveaway, also featured an early toy catalog which features some early toys such as the Deluxe Insecticons in their Beetras colors with Ransack in a different deco to any previously seen, and an appearance by the so-called "bearded Warpath" minibot.

All in all, it's a fun and obscure bit of Transformers history that I personally am very delighted can now be shared with the fandom at large. Read on and check it out, and a big thanks to all involved for making it available.

Here is something cool for the "high rollers" among us collectors - for the price of $232.91 US plus shipping, you can own a set of special Transformers edition silver coins from the New Zealand mint. The special NZ $2 coins are 1oz Silver each, and feature Optimus Prime and Megatron on the tails side, and HM Queen Elizabeth II on the heads side. They're legal tender in New Zealand, but why would you want to spend these special pieces?

The page with the order details is here. According to the page, the coins have a limited edition mintage of 5,000 sets.