Earlier today, the Hasbro Transformers brand team held a Google Hangout session with various fans and fan sites to talk about the Transformers The Last Knight toyline and the figures that were revealed today (here and here). They touched on the fate of the Transformers The Last Knight toy line past these recently revealed waves, their thought process for the Premier Editions, Tiny Turbos and even Valvotron, whether or not the exclusives will see international release, and more! Read on to check out what they had to say and then discuss on the 2005 Boards!
Of note, the audio was intermittent at different times for many of us in the chat, so I did miss some of the presentation specifics on the toys revealed today. As our fellow fan sites update with their coverage, we will link in if we missed anything.
Key Points:
Hot Rod – Officially licensed, deluxe, additional scales later on
Mission to Cybertron figures – each has a card, and backs of each form a bigger poster.
Items shown today are intended for late August, but there is no street date. As they arrive in stock, can go out.
MPM Bumblebee and Optimus Prime were shown at the end, very excited, if they sell well they will continue with the line. No mention of any others.
Questions from fans, including TFW2005. Questions and Answers paraphrased.
Valvotron – not intended to be part of lore, just a fun cross promotion.
Tiny Turbos – Movie based for now, well received, Ono San of G1 fame helped design them.
Premier Editions – more new mold items are coming, wanted to re-introduce key figures and characters to new fans. Also allowed movie accurate decos and enhanced decos on previous figures.
Cybertron (Primus) – wanted to capture the fact it was a planet. When you open him up, the bright orange represents the core of the planet, while the outside stays blue. Sounds, Omega Lock and other features stay the same as original.
Tiny Turbos design process, challenges – As referenced earlier – they brought on Ono San to capture the simple yet “Tranformer-y” essence. Was started before TLK work began.
How has the design process changed since 2007 – Using assets from Paramount, using what they have ready, increasing articulation, increasing deco complexity, being more film accurate, designing specifically for different segments (fans, kids, etc)
(TFW2005) Is there anything planned past what we’ve seen today for The Last Knight line – What we’ve seen today is the end of the The Last Knight line proper, but Movieverse figures will not end there. There is another movie coming next year, so they will be fading into other movie focused lines after this.
Drift… Started from the old figure, remixed along with Takara to rework the transformation and get it representing Mercedes.
(TFW2005) Will store exclusives see release in non-US markets – Yes, all are available to global markets. They have been or will be offered to retailers in each market, where each are going is not final at the moment, stay tuned for announcements.
Nitro – jet mode of Hasbro’s design. Warden was excited to do it because of his time with G.I. Joe.
We want to thank the Transformers Brand Team and Hasbro’s PR squad for hanging out and showing us all their cool toys :). Transformers The Last Knight toys are on shelves now and will continue to trickle out new items through the summer!
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