“NO… HUMANS… IN… STORMBRINGER…”

So says writer Simon Furman.  The Dream Team that brough us “War Within” “Worlds Collide” and now “Beast Wars” will check out what the heck is happening on Cybertron while “Infiltration” is progressing on Earth.

Newsarama has 5 pages of the book,  which sees Jetfire and the Technobots returning to Cybertron after it apparently was abandoned a long, long time ago.  Furman also confirms Thunderwing (pictured) is in fact the ‘big bad’ for this story, and that he’s been slightly re-imagined so his Pretender origins aren’t so hokey.  Frankly, I was amazed Simon Furman made a lot of the hokier G1, Armada, and Energon concepts so interesting with his writing, so if he’s going to re-write the rules here, I’ll trust him.

The latest info to just hit the net: No Soundwave?
Nevermore, a man who collects rumors in larger numbers than toys, has posted a massive update from a dozen sources about producer Don Murphy’s panel at TransformersCon in Toronto. He spoke of General Motors being involved, a battle between Scorponok and the US military in the desert, and confirmation on the use of both the classic transforming sound and the some form of the original theme.
Last week, we got first word on casting from IGN. In addition to Shia “LaBeouf”; Jon Voight, Bernie Mac, and John Tuturro are supposedly cast or close to being cast. Michael Clarke Duncan is also mentioned as US Army Warrant Officer Figueroa, a definite nod to the fan-favorite Transformers comic artist.
Last but not least, Quint from Aint-it-Cool spent some time with Michael Bay talking Transformers, and they speak of some concept art, a few plot points, and further enforce that the US Military is heavily involved and we can count on real tanks and planes being used.

ActionHQ has up for preorder the Classics Prime and Megatron. Included in the pre-orders are pictures of the two figures, albeit a bit obscured. They are listed to be available September 2006.

The listings are for:
Transformers Classics Voyager Megatron
Transformers Classics Voyager Optimus Prime

 

Schwiggie of our very own boards, has brought it to our attention that BigBadToyStore has posted a pre-order page for Revoltech Optimus Prime.

For those not on cutting edge of toy news, Revoltech is supposed to feature a new ratcheted joint that is actually a combination of 3 different smaller joints that give greater poseability and are more easily hidden. The line kicks off with Neon Genesis Evangelion’s EVA Unit 01 in the coming months.

BigBadToyStore.com has posted a picture of an upcoming ‘wall statue’ of Soundwave. It also has Lazerbeak, Rumble, and Ravage. All four characters are jumping out of the space bridge.

This statue is just really, really cool, a nonlinear contribution, a weird spiral design incorporating a handful of the Decepticon Gen 1 essentials. Soundwave: One of the most memorable Decepticons ever, overtly servile, emotionless, logic-driven but with underlying avarice and ambition. He monitors and records everything, even to the extent that he interprets brain waves, which makes him unpopular among his Decepticon cohorts. Despite his loyalty to Megatron, in Transformers: The Movie, once Megatron was out of the picture, Soundwave promptly volunteered to shoulder the burden of new leadership.

The rest of the description just describes the cassette characters, but you get the idea.

The Transformers collectors club has announced their first club exclusive figure, Astrotrain. Astrotrain will be the redeco of Armada Jetfire that surfaced in images online but never came to retail. He will feature an all new head sculpt designed by Dan Khanna.

From the TCC site:

04/26/06 – The Hasbro Transformers Collectors’ Club is proud to present their first Club Exclusive figure: Astrotrain!

From the far reaches of space comes a deadly new foe on the side of evil. Loyal to no one but himself, this insidious bounty hunter has joined the Decepticons to further his own power. Armed with a vast array of weaponry including his powerful Ionic Pulse Blaster, he and his loyal following tear through space as he transports Decepticons and Mini-Cons on their galactic hunt for the mythical Cyber Planet Keys. As a force to be reckoned with, no Autobot is safe as long as this Decepticon warrior is loose!

Featuring a stunning new head sculpt from original designs by Dan Khanna, Hasbro’s Transformers Collectors’ Club is proud to present the first club exclusive figure reborn from a Hasbro design that never came to fruition. This fall, make Astrotrain part of your Decepticon army, only from the Hasbro Transformers Collectors’ Club!

Pictured here is Hasbro’s original design concept along with sketches of the new head. Watch transformersclub.com for updates this summer on the new deco and ordering information. Pricing has not been determined at this time.

Also, club members, we want your input on part of the deco for this character. Login to the member’s only forum and look in the General Discussion topic area.

 

Remy of Remys World has given us a glimpse of even more design art for MP03 Starscream.

   

Adding fuel to the debate of whether Rumble is red like the toys or blue like in the G1 show, an image has been found off of the Wal-mart site of Alternators Rumble in robot. He features his large pistons as arms, however, it is unclear if he also has regulars arms as well. It is also of note, the chest is a clear tribute to Rumble’s original transformation as one of Soundwave’s cassettes.

I will be eagerly awaiting the blue repaint and the further debates over which should be called Rumble and which should be called Frenzy.

RIBFIR!