SDCC 2017 preview and small news bits

[griffin]

SDCC officially starts tomorrow in America, and when it does, the big Transformers news will end up in their own topics here, but first up we have the preview night, which only has old (officially revealed before) items on display.

Generations Titan Returns (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/19/san-diego-comic-con-2017-titans-return-display-images-344539) and here (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/sdcc-2017-preview-night-titans-return-display-with-toys-released-in-2017-hasbrosdcc/38969/) (up to wave 5 on display).

TF5 Movie (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/19/san-diego-comic-con-2017-transformers-last-knight-display-images-344541) and here (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/sdcc-2017-preview-night-transformers-the-last-knight-deluxe-cogman-leader-class-dragonstorm-more-hasbrosdcc/38976/) (includes a really nice diorama, inspired by events in the movie)

Robots in Disguise and Rescue Bots (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/19/san-diego-comic-con-2017-robots-disguise-2015-display-images-344544), plus here (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/sdcc-2017-preview-night-first-look-at-robots-in-disguise-combiner-force-plus-legion-twinferno-hasbrosdcc/38975/) and here (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/sdcc-2017-preview-night-transformers-rescue-bots-display-with-2017-toys-hasbrosdcc/38974/).

And heaps of licensed statues - Flame Toys (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/20/san-diego-comic-con-2017-flame-toys-drift-images-344755), 3A movie statues (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/20/san-diego-comic-con-2017-3a-last-knight-optimus-prime-bumblebee-sqweeks-images-344765), Prime Studios (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/20/san-diego-comic-con-2017-prime-1-studio-beast-wars-megatron-images-344797).

The schedule of Transformers related events at this year's SDCC...
Thursday 10am-11am - IDW's Schick Hydrobot with John Barber (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/san-diego-comic-con-2017-idw-full-schedule-transformers-gi-joe-hasbro-first-strike-sdcc2017-hasbrofirststrike/38904/).
Thursday 11am-noon - Hasbro Transformers (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/06/comic-con-2017-thursday-transformers-panels-343376)
Thursday 2pm-3pm - IDW First Strike (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/06/comic-con-2017-thursday-transformers-panels-343376) (Transformers Vs GIJoe)
Friday noon-1pm - IDW Hasbro Comic Universe (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/san-diego-comic-con-2017-idw-full-schedule-transformers-gi-joe-hasbro-first-strike-sdcc2017-hasbrofirststrike/38904/)
Saturday 10am-11am - How to create a cartoon (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/08/comic-con-2017-saturday-transformers-panel-343513) (includes some TFs cartoon creators)
Saturday 6pm-7pm - repeat of IDW's First Strike panel (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/san-diego-comic-con-2017-idw-full-schedule-transformers-gi-joe-hasbro-first-strike-sdcc2017-hasbrofirststrike/38904/)
Sunday 11.30am-12.45pm - Cartoon voices (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/09/comic-con-2017-sunday-transformers-panel-343572) (includes Neil Kaplan from TFs)
Sunday noon-1pm - IDW's First Strike (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/san-diego-comic-con-2017-idw-full-schedule-transformers-gi-joe-hasbro-first-strike-sdcc2017-hasbrofirststrike/38904/) (probably another repeat)

I'll post up some more links a little later.

(when the really exciting new stuff gets revealed in the next 24 hours, feel free to start up a new news topic)

[Paulbot]

So if my calculations are right we should have news of Power of the Prime's when we wake in the morning? Great!

[Raider]

It's too early in the morning so I am not going to mess up a new thread but damn the Power of the Primes looks like a mixture of headmaster, powermaster, pretender and combiners. Still a little confused honestly but I do love the bots for Dreadwing. Hope we get a shot of the jet in combined mode.

Edit: found some on seibertron (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/gallery-for-sdcc-2017-transformers-power-of-the-primes-reveals-at-hasbro-breakfast-press-event-hasbrosdcc/38985/).

[tinyJazz]

Beachcomber looks great! It's about time haha. Jazz looks not as great, but I like the alt mode. At least the gimmick doesn't appear to interfere with the designs much.

[griffin]

More licensed items on display in the main exhibit hall -Jada (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/20/san-diego-comic-con-2017-jada-transformers-display-images-345102) and Herocross (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/20/san-diego-comic-con-2017-herocross-transformers-display-images-345090).

[griffin]

Hasbro have released Movie toy concept and development images (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/sdcc-2017-transformers-the-last-knight-toy-concepts-and-schematics-hasbrosdcc/39000/) through their Pulse site, noting that it follows on from their SDCC presentation... which didn't feature a lot on the movie line, or reveal anything new.
Just be aware that it is a LOT of images.

We also have the IDW First Strike panel (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/sdcc-2017-idw-publishing-and-hasbro-present-first-strike-plus-visionaries-and-unicron-hasbrosdcc-firststrike/38993/), for those following the comics... or watch the video taped recording of the panel here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN4tAF94VQQ).


John Barber: Why does Optimus Prime deserve a book now?

JB: Leader, a Prime, he hasn't been a leader of Cybertron for a while. Revolution is sparked by forced annexation of Earth to Council of Worlds. Not everybody agrees with what he's doing, and there's a wide cast. Several important members, such as Soundwave and Pyra Magna, but it all revolves around the changes brought by Optimus.

Mairghread Scott: What is happening now in Till All Are One?

MS: Starscream supreme leader of Cybertron, dabbling in politics, mind control, manipulation - and getting as close to a happy ending as has ever happened.

Carlos Guzman: What is Lost Light and why is Rodimus purple?

CG: Continuing story of More Than Meets the Eye, with James Roberts and Jack Lawrence, we're heading back to Getaway and the Lost Light pretty soon (LL #10).

Rom: we're getting to find out more about the Solstar Order and the Dire Wraiths as the story continues.

Micronauts were at the heart of Revolution, and now continuing with Wrath of Karza - why are they such important characters?

Brandon Easton on MASK: looking at the series as lynchpin for First Strike, despite the 'Crown Jewel' status of GI Joe.

Aubrey Sitterson: What makes GI Joe The Crown Jewel of the Hasbro Universe? The energy and force they have brought to the title, to the team, to the IDWverse - Giannis Milogiannis and Lovern have created a whole new aesthetic for big action comics.

The idea of First Strike is one of a jumping-on point for readers, with titles not only crossing over, but making it into an actual event, with lasting consequences. Mairghread Scott discusses the intricacies and complexities of managing what wanting to write versus what the Hasbro Universe might want - "You know what would be cool? Let's put G.I. Joe on Cybertron. Let's get weird." - and the editorial weight of that balance of the likes of David (both the co-writer and the editor (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/idw-editor-david-hedgecock-interview-on-hasbro-universe-first-strike-hasbrofirststrike/38827/), one assumes). She reassures on the organic way in which the stories are being allowed to merge, however (despite the rushed nature of Revolution, ndr) - "We wanted a hard emotional center to all the crazy ninjas."

Rodriguez also praises the help and knowledge of John Barber, from the previous experience as editor for a lot of the Transformers books, and just his knowledge overall of the GI Joe and TF lore and stories.

All writers are asked about the perspective of the various tie-ins within the core story, featuring Micronauts and Rom, MASK and GI Joe, with Transformers still at the centre. With the end of the event, new books will be set off

According to Sitterson: "G.I. Joe: Unmasked is going to get very weird, very quickly. Army ants. Dinosaurs."

The Visionaries series has been confirmed to come out of the event

And the big tease: UNICRON IS COMING

[griffin]

Newsarama website has complete coverage of the IDW panel (https://www.newsarama.com/35487-sdcc-2017-transformers-vs-g-i-joe-first-strike-panel.html), with lots of info.


We're here live with IDW's Transformers Versus G.I. Joe! panel at Comic-Con International.

We're moving on to ROM, by Chris Ryall, Christos Gage and David Messina. The next arc will see ROM going up against monstrous Dire Wraiths, and he will soon learn why the Wraiths have chosen to set up shop on Earth.

Next up Micronauts, by Cullen Bunn, Jimmy Z. Johnston, Andrew Griffith and Max Dunbar. With the Micronauts only being three inches tall, having such a large scale difference will cause a lot of sparks.

Next up is M.A.S.K., with Brandon Easton, Tony Vargas and Juan Samu. Easton joked that he's still figuring out why "Kommando" is spelled with a "K." He said he had to look at the '80s cartoon and refine it down to tone down some of the cheesiness, and to lean into a more Fast and Furious tone.

M.A.S.K.'s tech is reverse-engineered Cybertronian tech, thanks to IDW's current Revolution landscape.

Next up is G.I. Joe, from Aubrey Sitterson and Giannis Milonogiannis. Sitterson praised Milonogiannis and colorist Lovern Kindzierski: "This book would have been the crown jewel even if I wasn't involved on it," he said.

There will be a Revolution toyset from Hasbro, inspired by IDW and Hasbro's shared universe.

"I didn't even know these were being made," Easton said. "Having this made into a toy is a dream I didn't even know I had."

IDW's next event, First Strike, featuring the Transformers, G.I. Joe and more, will ship every two seeks starting in August. It's designed to be a jumping-on point to get lapsed readers, showing off IDW's various properties interacting with one another.

"I really want First Strike to be a complete story, and to be a trade you wanted to pick up," Mairghread Scott said. Earth has been annexed into more of a cosmic state. "What if we did like Brexit?" she said. Certain figures are looking to separate the Hasbroverse in a particularly violent way — destroying Cybertron.

Scott said that this story is about Scarlett reconciling the founder of the G.I. Joes, Joe Colton, meaning so much to her... but also spearheading robotic genocide with the destruction of Cybertron.

John Barber, who has written Joe Colton's backup stories, has been critical to making sure that the story has gotten continuity correct.

With First Strike, IDW will do one-shots featuring Micronauts and ROM one-shots by Christos Gage and Chris Panda. Their role will be a bit secondary to the main Transformers vs. G.I. Joe factions, but this will have the Micronauts discovering the Dire Wraiths trying to make themselves a virus.

There is also G.I. Joe and MASK one-shots, by Aubrey Sitterson and Ilias Kyriazis. Sitterson promises museum heists, kung-fu fights, and giant robots with explosions and lasers in these two issues.

With Scarlett gone, Shipwreck will have to take over the team, as Venom, a new faction of COBRA, will attack.

Finally, there will be First Strike one-shots featuring Optimus Prime and Transformers, by John Barber and Guido Guidi. These will take place on Cybertron. Barber said that the story will deal with the Transformers having to react to the war with Earth without Optimus Prime.

There will also be a book in December called G.I. Joe Unmasked, which has MASK's Matt Trakker joining G.I. Joe join the fight against Cobra, by Aubrey Sitterson and Nelson Daniel. Sitterson said that with the characters already established, they can go up against a wild assortment of foes, like Hasbro's Army Ants.

There will also be a ROM and the Micronauts comic in December 2017 by Christos Gage and Paolo Villanelli, where the Micronauts help ROM right a Dire Wraight god.

There will be a double-sized Transformers: Till All Are One annual in December, by Mairghread Scott and Sara Pitre-Durocher. The question of the series, Scott said, is who should rule Cybertron: Windblade, Starscream, or Elita? So there will be an election, filled with plenty of "dirty tricks."

Also in December will be Visionaries by Maggs Visaggio and Fico Ossio, which will have more news coming up in the future.

[reillyd]

Interview with Hasbro lead designer/ (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/sdcc2017-plans-until-2021-only-slugslinger-in-wave-6-hidden-gimmicks-and-more-discovered-in-interview-with-hasbro-hasbrosdcc/39023/) reveals Starscream is a combiner, plans to revisit Titan Master and Combiner Wars gimmicks in the future, Scorponok and Omega Supreme show strong fan interest, and other juicy tidbits

[griffin]

Interview with Hasbro lead designer/ (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/sdcc2017-plans-until-2021-only-slugslinger-in-wave-6-hidden-gimmicks-and-more-discovered-in-interview-with-hasbro-hasbrosdcc/39023/) reveals Starscream is a combiner, plans to revisit Titan Master and Combiner Wars gimmicks in the future, Scorponok and Omega Supreme show strong fan interest, and other juicy tidbits

A copy of the interview with Head Transformers Designer John Warden.



Can you tell us about the other two Titans Return box sets which we have not seen yet?

Sure, as fans have noticed, the sets are centered around the four different powers/tech specs and only two of those powers are getting the boxset treatment. We will not be releasing the other remaining powers as box sets of the same kinds but there will be unique offerings that will allow fans to have a representation of the two remaining powers. It will be exciting news shared later so stay tuned (Editor's note: this is probably what the recent Arcee (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/new-image-revealed-for-transformers-titans-return-arcee/39002/) and Ultra Magnus (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/leaked-artwork-of-titan-master-ultra-magnus-from-transformers-titans-return/39012/) leaks are about and would explain why they are a different format than what we have previously seen since the remaining powers would not be done in the same way as the boxsets)


Will there be other toys in the Slugslinger wave?

Yes but they will all be repackaged characters. I do not remember which characters are repackaged however Slugslinger is the only new character in that wave and the final new toy from the Titans Return line (Editor’s note: this might be a response to the frequent practice of retailers not ordering/stocking the final waves of figures as was the case with Combiner Wars)


While the Combiner Wars show got a lot of hits and downloads, the fan community still felt there was much to be desired. Can you tell us if there will be an improvement with the Titans Return show?

We are very excited to be working with a partner like Machinima. The Combiners Wars show turned out great. Machinima has some exciting news that they shared at the panel we just had like all the new voice actor talent. They're very excited to say that Peter Cullin is back and so is Judd Nelson and Will Wheaton will be the voice of perceptor which is great. They will also be lengthening the episodes which is really really cool.

Okay well I'm looking forward to it. Now speaking of supporting fiction, what is the plan for supporting fiction in Prime Wars and Power of the Primes? Will these core ideas of the toy line be supported in the IDW fiction?

Um, well I mean that's a very good question. We do have a great partnership with IDW and we share with them all our plans. They're able to bring to life those characters in very interesting ways so I think that yeah I don't know specifics but yeah the plan would be to work with IDW as much as possible.


Why release the 12 Primes as avatars instead of making toys of the Primes themselves?

Also a really good question. So the primes really in some cases are more like spirits, you know, it would be hard to imagine some of them in toy form aside for some like Vector Prime. Also, they are lesser known to casual fans. The Prime Wars line really seems to be paying off like doing A-list characters and also mixing in some more obscure characters like the Targetmaster Decepticons that only had the G1 toy before. With the Primes, that's a lot more difficult especially when scale is a factor since some would be really big it would be a challenge to make a big version of a great Prime. So to bring them to life in an ecosystem it's better to look at it in a small and unified collectible way and introduce them that way. That's how we came up with the decoy suits, it gives a chance for younger fans to have a collectible and it helps to bring these lesser known characters into a toyline.


Why not wait for this Prime evolution gimmick to release Power Master Prime?

That's an excellent question. The idea we have in Power of the Primes line is that they evolve up so he would have been a good fit. But in the year Titans Return we wanted to make sure we had a big version of Optimus Prime and there's only so many big cool versions of the character so as we were looking at the Titans Return ecosystem we weren't even thinking of that evolution system yet which only came to real form a year ago and by that time Power Master Prime was already finished.


Quick question on that on (Power of the Primes) Jazz, is he a fully new mold?

Yes he is all new.


Any plans for God bomber in the US?

God Bomber, there are no plans for God Bomber to come to the US at this time. All that is planned is that Magnus Prime in the Seige of Cybertron set.

It appears that there are combiner ports on the Power of the Prime deluxe figures and on Starscream. What can you tell us about Combiners in Power of the Primes?

I will answer that with a very vague answer right now. So story-wise the Prime Masters had the powers of the gods and they can unlock certain powers. Now we wanted it so that these powers are not just up to kid's imaginations, the Prime Masters can literally unlock some gimmicks that are hidden in these toys as well. That is as much as we can say for now but we will reveal more at a later date for sure, fans just need to stay tuned.


I'm assuming that Hascon is a place where this will be further revealed?

That's right, Hascon, and Hascon fans will be the ones that will see more of the gimmicks hidden in the Power of the Primes line.


There were some Headmaster characters that were missing in the Titans Return line so will the Titan Master gimmick have a resurgence in the power of the Prime line where Headmaster Juniors could have toys of their own?

Not in Power of the Primes line I can say that flat out but in the future, not only were we thinking ahead when we did the Prime Wars trilogy but as we start to think about the future we actually have our course mapped all the way to 2021 which is very exciting. So when you look at Generations, the roadmap for the future is very bright and gimmicks like a Titan Master are fully engineered and there's no reason why we would not revisit that later and these are all characters we could eventually cover.


When you guys started Combiner Wars, was the road map to Power of the Pines there or not?

We started with Combiner Wars and we knew we wanted some sort of a sequel to it since we knew that Combiner Wars would one day end. When I started planning, I came to the table with all these characters we had not done yet. Headmasters, Fortress Maximus, Trypticon, so we decided it would just so much stuff that the higher ups decided to make it a Trilogy. And that made sense to us so it happened organically. So the idea of doing Power of the Primes was there in essence and we put a flag in the ground a long time ago knowing it would eventually lead to the Primes and the Power of the Prime (literally) since it's the most epic part of Transformers history.

Anything with Omega Supreme or Scorponok which were also into fan vote since you know we like those guys?

Well the fan polls are really awesome for us because they let us engage with the fans and see what they're excited about. When we look to 2021 and all the possibilities we now have with the technology, absolutely. Characters like Omega Supreme and Scorponok are some of the most memorable characters in The Transformers universe and in the spirit of imagining things that are cool and giving them a new light they are totally on the table.


Now what about the fan favourite Dinobots, is there any possibility of G1 reissues or in the Generations line, other than Grimlock?

One thing great about San Diego Comic-Con is speaking to people not just die hard fans like you, but also any casual fan that could be walking by. We hear loud and clear last year that Rodimus Prime was the character people really wanted to see and now we have him. We also heard loud and could people really wanted those Dinobots so nothing to reveal yet but I can say that we always listen to fans.

Has Hasbro unveiled anything in terms of exclusives for Hascon?

Nothing yet but stay tuned, there is definitely something. It's a very very cool something.


Is there anything else you might want to share with us any random thought let us know?

I don't know, I think it's just really exciting to be at an event like this because not only do you have a chance to meet fans but when you look at characters like the movie Masterpiece Optimus Prime, there was 20 year old kid and I saw a sparkle in this guy's eyes and he was thinking "that's a toy of a character I loves seeing as a kid" (when he would have been 10) and it's energizing to see the torch being passed, I think that's really what makes our franchise so cool. It's not just G1, it's not just Beast Wars, it's not just the movies, it's everything and we're all together it's one big Transformers family. It's very exciting.

[griffin]

Some more licensed Transformers items found at SDCC (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/sdcc-2017-update-to-gallery-of-licensed-products-with-super-7-shirts-and-bait-toys-hasbrosdcc/39024/), and 3A statues (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/sdcc-2017-hasbro-3a-transformers-generation-1-ultra-magnus-nemesis-prime/39017/).

[FatalityPitt]

I hope one of the three Wave 6 deluxes in Titans Return is Brainstorm.

[Other]

I hope one of the three Wave 6 deluxes in Titans Return is Brainstorm.

nope, the case assortment has been available since last month
TRANSFORMERS GEN TITANS RETURN DLX AF ASST 201705
(NOTE: Asst contains 8 units; Hardhead, Hot Rod(2), Kup(2), & Slugslinger(3).)

Brainstorm was an exclusive anyway, he was never going to get a wide release once they made that decision

[FatalityPitt]

nope, the case assortment has been available since last month
TRANSFORMERS GEN TITANS RETURN DLX AF ASST 201705
(NOTE: Asst contains 8 units; Hardhead, Hot Rod(2), Kup(2), & Slugslinger(3).)

Brainstorm was an exclusive anyway, he was never going to get a wide release once they made that decision

Damn.

Well, at least it's nice to know it wasn't a totally bad decision on my part to import LG39.

I have Hardhead and Hot Rod, but wasn't going to get Kup. So it's also nice to know Kup will be available later in case I change my mind.

[reillyd]

Interview with Josh Warden shows new Leader class gimmick (removable matrix, and Prime Master merges with matrix

(https://youtu.be/ak60AfMSh-Q)

[hYpNoS]

Great, I po'd the legends hotrod (to match my legends kup) but now I'm having second thoughts thanks to rodimus prime, but he isn't going to have the battlestation gimmick like the g1/mp did is he?

[Jellico]

Rodimus and his matrix gimmick has me thinking of the Power of the Primes group. Does that mean that they are all due Leaders? With trailers 😉

[OptimusNerd]

If it hasn't all been leaked before then, we'll get the full formal spiel at HasCon.

Very curious as to what exclusive they're going to peddle.

[reillyd]

Well we do know that there is an Arcee "to be released in another form" that isn't a box set, so maybe an individual figure release at the con (attendee figure)

[Sinnertwin]

Woot woot!
Another Blurr repaint!
And I thought combiner wars were taking the mickey :rolleyes:

[griffin]

Not to be outdone by Seibertron's exclusive interview with Hasbro designers (in post #8 & #9), TFW2005 have had their own exclusive interview as well (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/25/tfw2005-interview-john-warden-lenny-panzica-sdcc-2017-345259), with some more questions about the short-lived Movie line, Titans Return and the Power of the Primes toyline (before the big leak).


TFW2005 met up with Hasbro Designers John Warden and Lenny Panzica for a short interview about what was just revealed, the future of the Generations line, the current movie line, and Robots in Disguise as a whole, and a few specific queries regarding design choices!


Tony B: Here we got Starscream, and the two that are Combiner Wars remolds, or reuses.


John Warden: That’s right.


TB: And then we got Starscream and everybody thinking that that’s going to be a combiner. Is there any kind of stealth thing going on?

JW: Ah, very interesting speculation! [laughter] And it begins! So I can just say this, you know I’m sure if you grab Ashley here today, she’ll be able to tell you sort of the similar song, but the Power Of The Primes is really about unlocking forces within the Transformers and although there’s a lot of awesome things that happen with the Prime Masters in terms of what the powers can be, from a toy design standpoint we’ve hidden all kinds of secret easter eggs in there. We’re going to unveil them slowly over the next few months, lots of awesome news actually coming at Hascon, big debuts there and a lot of secrets will be revealed. So we have plans on reviewing all of these hidden toy features. One of the toy features we’re actually able to talk about today is the fact that Dreadwing and Blackwing combine together to form a pineapple apple pen. [laughter] Just kidding! Dreadwing!

TB: Alright. Is Titans Return kinda like done – the line?

JW: That’s correct.

LP: Well, we’re moving on.

JW: Well we’ve got some exciting reveals this year for Titans Return, but yeah just like Combiner Wars, Titans Return is coming to a close, that chapter of the Prime Wars Trilogy is coming to a close. But, we’ve got Slugslinger which is really cool, he’s just been revealed over there [gesturing to display case], and so I guess we’ve got some really exciting things, fans should not be heartbroken.

TB: Okay.

JW: There’s some really cool stuff on the horizon, like literally we come to events like this to kinda listen to fans, we heard over and over again what fans want. One of those things is Rodimus Prime, alright, so we go back to the office, talked it over with Lenny and the designers, we’re like “We gotta bring Rodimus Prime, we gotta do it.” We’re always on message boards and Facebook posts, things like that.

LP: Closing this chapter just means we can open up a new chapter, and another maybe trilogy, another maybe another story that we wanna tell, but a whole new way to play with Transformers in the Generations line.

TB: Yeah yeah.

LP: There’ll be more, new, cool insightful things that we’re looking forward to in the future.

TB: Cool.

JW: And just because this is the third installment of the trilogy, also we have more plans for things in the future; in fact Ashley said yesterday we had plans going all the way up to 2021, we’ve already plotted that far out.

TB: That’s cool!

JW: And we actually- we’re looking into ways to cross into the rich movieverse. So we’re really looking at all sorts of ways to address the needs of fans of all ages, and fans of all different universes of Transformers.

TB: In the Google Hangout, you kinda mentioned that The Last Knight ends kinda short, like it’s done, it’s ending after the Nitro wave. Is there any other movie figures coming after that?

LP: That’s after wave 2.

TB: Right. And then Transformers Tribute, we’re just trying to figure out as fans, is there like an ongoing “Movie Generations”? Like in between movies? Is this Tribute that? Is there something else? Like where are we at with the ongoing movie stuff?

JW: Sure, so as you guys know, 2017 isn’t just a year that marks the time of another Transformers feature film, Transformers: The Last Knight.

TB: Sure.

JW: It also marks the 10th anniversary of the original 2007 Transformers Movie. In celebration of that, we’ve got the Movie Masterpiece, which is starting to take a look at that original movie, and as we’ve heard from fans today at Comic Con and yesterday, they’re- people are so excited about those. There’s a segment that’s continued to energize that. The other thing we’re hearing loud and clear is that, there are a lot of movieverse characters we just haven’t touched on, and unfortunately right now it’s a little too early to get any kind of specific details about what’s in store for the future-

LP: He’s not talking about the-

JW: No no, the Tribute is truthfully- it’s an opportunity to bring fans the 2007 Optimus Prime that they might’ve remembered when they were kids, so Tribute in general is ways that we can y’know, go back to the vault and look at taking tools that might have awesome nostalgic value or really great play value, and bringing them to fans again.

TB: So it’s a quick subline?

LP: In a way. It’s like taking an old mold and really diving into it without any extra back pedaling, adding extra deco and getting the deco right, cause now that we have seven years of research on that character, there’s extra details that we may have missed the first time around that we can really embellish upon. It’s something that we whenever we do these anthology lines, it’s actually exciting as a designer that you can get in there and get a quintessential version of that character with that tool that’s actually a beloved tool. I mean you know, and that was when we as a brand had gotten a movie, a movie was born. And we were like “We gotta make these figures.” We were really learning a lot about transformation and how that all worked.

TB: That changed the game-

LP: It changed everything.

TB: -having to figure out how to transform all that Michael Bay stuff into a toy.

LP: Yeah, I would say that influenced a lot of Generations, and a lot of the kids’ stuff too because we looked at transformation in a whole new way. Like we started to realize there’s a more creative way to transform something and thinking about, instead of doing something right-side-up, do it upside-down- like understanding the origami of it essentially. So it was a BIG turning point for us.

TB: Okay, cool cool.

JW: And I guess in response to that, I wanna reiterate, we do have exciting news in store for the movieverse, and fans who wanna understand more about that should sign up for Hascon, cause we actually have some- well no see, it’s a plug, but in reality there are some awesome reveals planned for Hascon, yeah. So there’s reveals here, uh Power of the Primes, but there’s lots more comin at Hascon; and so fans of Power of the Primes AND movieverse should stay tuned cause there’s some cool stuff coming there.

TB: I will be there! So – Robots in Disguise- is that continuing?

JW: We’re excited to bring to life Combiner Force, which is the newest installment of Robots in Disguise, we recognize the fact that there’s a lot of Robots in Disguise out there, and the series is goin nice and strong, and it’s too early to talk about that right now, but yeah Combiner Force is our newest series.

TB: Titan Masters in the Titans Return boxsets, what’s the deal with their names?

JW: Oh the Siege on Cybertron set?

TB: Yeah like the various boxsets.

JW: Sure sure, yeah so those, when those sets were originally envisioned, the idea was to give fans kind of a cross-section of the ecosystem of Titans Return, and we kept back the names and the personalities of those Titan Masters, yes they do have names and personalities, they will be revealed on social media. Not coming today, probably soon. Um, so we wanted to kinda make a special thing out of it just to kind of talk about news and excitement about who those characters are. Fans might be excited and have a good laugh about the names of some of them, cause some of them are kinda digging a little deep in the lore, but yeah those are coming at a later time, yeah.


And on a related note, the most recent Hasbro investors conference call (http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/24/tfw2005-coverage-hasbro-answers-happened-transformers-last-knight-345406) had a few questions about the performance and direction of the Transformers toyline after the less-than-hoped performance of the movie in cinemas. (financial reporting slides from the presentation are at that link as well)


TFW2005 sat down to participate live on another Hasbro Financial Call. What’s so interesting about the call this time is the fact that we are now looking at the outcome of Transformers: The Last Knight, since 2017 Q2 was allocated to the revenue of the movie, toys and licensed merchandise. Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner and Hasbro Vice President Debbie Hancock joined with us today. Despite the fact Hasbro had smooth sailing during the presentation, three journalists, back-to-back had one important question during the Q&A Session: “What Happened To Transformers: The Last Knight?”. We painstakingly transcripted all the info for you to read.


Question 1: There seems to be a narrative that movie properties did not performed to expectations during the quarter which seems to be at odds with your commentary on the Transformers franchise [see after the jump]. Could you address how you see the the company’s position for the second half in terms of inventory level, shelf space and retailers dedicate to your brand?
Brian Goldner: Entertainment continues to drive our business through and if you look at Transformers, we now have entertainment across multiple screens and in fact we are targeting and presenting stories to an infinite number of demographics around the brand. Certainly Transformers: The Last Knight products sold very well and POS was very strong. The brand is up considerably. And then of course we also have the Robots In Disguise products that’s around the television. We also have Universe product [he meant Generations] that’s focused on our fans. That is also selling incredibly well and there is of course preschool product Rescue Bots that is also selling quite well. So we are seeing a great sell-through around the brand, recognize that this is a brand that’s becoming Increasingly Global, Increasingly International. We’re seeing great growth in places like China around the brand and around our international market.


Question 2: Can we go back to Transformers [movie] for a moment Brian because you mentioned the strength of Global POS (Point Of Sales) that is up significantly year-over-year and against 2014 which was your last movie year. I’m just wondering if we could take those comments and translate them into absolute dollars. Would it be fair to assume that The Last Knight could generate revenue higher than the 2014 movie, which you said at the time was kind of in-line with the 2011 movie?
Brian Goldner: Yeah, I think Transformers is in fact it’s emblematic of what we’re doing across the company over the last three years; we have developed digital capabilities for stream content and putting content on a multitude of screens. That capability is really being born out in the Transformers business. So the overall [HUGE emphasis on the word] brand is performing at a much higher level than it was in 2014 in part that’s because the movie product is performing at a higher level than the prior year but also because we are seeing great growth in the Transformers: Generations products per fan-economy. And the Robots In Disguise product that’s been around the television. Television viewership is strong, our streaming on Netflix is very strong and then of course the fan oriented stream product that goes out on content that streams with Machinima. That’s how I look at it; as an expansion of storytelling. The brand did perform quite strongly in ’14 but also performed strongly in ’15 and ’16. This is clearly more in line with the movie year performance being up for the brand.


Follow-up question: To clearly understand: Movie-To-Movie it seems like this movie is better and then you layer on kind of everything you do with your brand blueprint and how you kind of expand brands and then kind of putting it all together. The franchise in general has grown but the movie also seems better?
Brian Goldner: Yeah, it is. The performance is good. Remember that that movie has continued to perform incredibly well globally outside the U. S. In China, we just surpassed 225 million dollars and the movie’s done more than 550 million dollars so far. It’s coming from a number of new areas of our capabilities that we’ve developed over the last three years.
A question was asked by a journalist regarding the delay of royalty revenue (timing is off by at least a quarter) compared to entertainment releases (Franchise Brands such as Transformers). Debbie Hancock replied “For entertainment and licensing… typically when we have consumer product sales, we work with external third party licensees who take that product and make the T-Shirts and Backpacks and all the great things that are sold around our brand. Their revenue at retail for example could be in the second quarter and they wouldn’t report that to us until early in the third quarter so generally what we see with that is it’s about a quarter in arrears from when the sales actually occur at retail. With our entertainment this year with Transformers coming out in June and we have are My Little Pony movie coming in October, we would expect to see some of that revenue in the fourth quarter.“