Two online stores have listed pre-orders for a JP United Artfire, but don't have too much else in terms of details (what it looks like, or when it is being released).
They've listed a product code (UN-32), but could TakaraTomy really be planning to release a regular edition Artfire toy at about the same time as the Million Book exclusive edition is released (scheduled for December)?

I can understand Hasbro or TakaraTomy releasing a version of an exclusive released in the other company's market, but "competing" or devaluing the limited edition figure they are producing themselves, seems a very strange.

It's hard to rule anything out when it comes to Transformers toys, but this is certainly one thing that will need to be watched, as fans would probably love to have a more affordable version of United/Classicverse Artfire, after how expensive Stepper ended up being.