Collector Club Magazine #48 out

[griffin]

It'll be another month before it shows up down here, but the latest issue has been released, and an image of the cover has been shown (http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/tfcc-issue-48-cover-reveal-featuring-circuit/26277/) off, featuring one of their subscription toys - Circuit (possibly to help promote it to sell off their excess stock or to help out their big customer online stores to sell theirs).

Features this issue are said to include a bit about Beast Hunters and the theme for next year's BotCon. Plus the regular features.

[Sky Shadow]

an image of the cover has been shown[/URL] off, featuring one of their subscription toys - Circuit (possibly to help promote it to sell off their excess stock or to help out their big customer online stores to sell theirs).

Or maybe it's a clue that he's to be the first cab off the rank?

[swoop]

Or maybe it's a clue that he's to be the first cab off the rank?

Thats what I thought to. As a promotional figure to get more people to subscribe circuit just doesn't have the same appeal as ultra mammoth, breakdown and slipstream

[drahsrebu]

Seems like the 2013 theme is going to be Machine Wars.

[Sharky]

Seems like the 2013 theme is going to be Machine Wars.

WHY!

i guess they dont have to worry about too many characters i guess... and can get away with a bunch of duplicates............

BUT WHY!!

[kup]

They should of done more Neo-G2/Euros.

For sure we will be seeing that Cybertron Red Alert mold again as Soundwave. I already have too many of that mold but if it had been an Euro-G1 Stalker, I would have been all over it.

[griffin]

Seems like the 2013 theme is going to be Machine Wars.

Source (http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=90758).

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Seems like the 2013 theme is going to be Machine Wars.


Source (http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=90758).

BWA HA HAHA!

Oh man, I was a little concerned that the Botcon theme might have made me regret my decision to not renew my membership.

Nope, not in the slightest, in fact it has just reinforced it.
HUzzah!

[Paul Agnew]

Seems like the 2013 theme is going to be Machine Wars.

YES! Now, if only I could afford to get there and back.

[griffin]

Contents of this issue, now that it has reached our shores.

Page 1/cover - art of FunPub Circuit at Uncle Bobby B's car-yard.
Page 2 - info and contents. We are told that the first Subscription toys will arrive early February, and the next year of Magazine comic will be Shattered Glass Universe with the Subscription toy characters.
Page 3 - Packaging photos of current toys (Thundertron & Ultra Magnus, FOC Soundwave & Soundblaster, both Minions 2-packs).
Page 4 & 5 - Interview with Hasbro's Global Brand Manager Clint Chapman about Beast Hunters series and Year of the Snake toys. Shows official images of the first four BH Deluxes.
Page 6-11 - Comic, "A Flash Forward" part 6. The introduction of the Gen2 Gobots is complete (including Nightracer) as clones of various Gen1 characters, leading into the Machine Wars theme of BotCon 2013's comic.
Page 12 - Sideswipe Bio (a blending of the Gen1, Gen2 and Gen2 Gobots versions)
Page 13 - Gobots Frenzy Bio
Page 14 & 15 - Prologue comic for the Subscription Figures and 2013 Membership figure (Depthcharge), to be continued in next issue's comic.
Page 16 - Trivia on the Quintessons, and some weird mini-comics.

A better than usual issue, with half of it being comics (over half if you don't count the cover and contents page that don't add anything to the content), and three pages on current/upcoming toy images and info.
This year's comic story (A Flash Forward) was very sporadic in its appeal. The first part was good with it's (re)telling of a deleted scene in the 1986 Movie (Ultra Magnus and Autobots taking down Devastator, and then having Red Alert shot in retreat). But then the next three parts were so drawn out and boring, I had no idea what was going on in the fourth and fifth parts when I got them (forgetting what had happened two months earlier), so I decided to just read the entire story when the sixth part came in. The story as a whole wasn't too bad, but needs so much back-story from the last three years of Collector Club comics and BotCon comics for it to make sense... and even still, it is really just comes off as a padded out introduction to another story (which we will get at BotCon in 2013).
It served its purpose of featuring this year's Membership toy(s) of Runamuck and "Runabout".... but they didn't seem to be as prominent as previous year's Membership figures were in their comics.
The interview with Hasbro's Clint was by Benson Yee (for those who know him), and felt a bit wasted, as it didn't give away anything interesting or new with Beast Hunters. It does give a quick mention that the "Platinum Series" is planned to be a big thing, after the success (and impressive look) of the Year of the Dragon Optimus... so Hasbro US are looking to globalise and make more impressive future "holiday/celebration" figures, which is why there are two big fancy Year of the Snake toys. It will be interesting to see what else they are planning under this new "Platinum" banner they have created for these type of one-off toys.