I spoke with a Hasbro dude today and told him of the ongoing frustration of not being able to find new toys in local stores, how some people have just given up and ordered online from overseas etc. - which he fully sympathised with. I showed him my TFPRiD Ratchet and told him about how frustrated I've been searching for this toy for SO DAMN LONG -- and I still haven't found Vehicon and Knock Out yet! However he explained to me that Hasbro Australia actually orders virtually every Transformer that Hasbro USA releases, with the exception of limited exclusives (e.g. TFCC, BotCon etc.), but the problem is that retailers aren't ordering the new stock from them!

For example, Hasbro Australia actually did receive First Edition toys which they pitched to retailers, but none of the retailers submitted an order of sufficient size (apparently one retailer only wanted to order 500 for their stores, which is too small an order to make it worthwhile for Hasbro AU to import and distribute), so the FE toys just ended up sitting at Hasbro AU (not sure if they've kept them or sent them back).

He said that he feels frustrated because retailers think that the new stuff won't sell when they're trying to convince them that it will. He did admit that part of the problem is that Hasbro USA has overproduced Bumblebees which continue to clog shelves/pegs, which discourages retailers from ordering more stock.

So yeah... gotta start bugging your local retailers to order more stock from Hasbro AU -- because they have the toys... they're just waiting for retailers to order them in! This is quite different from the usual response I get from retail staff who always claim that they have no idea what Hasbro's gonna send them and when. :/

Oh... I've also heard something about possible upcoming TF DVDs/BRs... but erm, I'm not at liberty to disclose details. But watch this space (I'll divulge more if I'm allowed to ).