Thanks to Genzhao for pointing out that we have become somewhat lazy and have not updated all of the galleries and news story on both Transformers At The Moon and Lucky Draw Transformers which are related to chrome figures to clearly state which are official items and which are fake.  We are sorry for this, any of you that spoke to us at Auto Assembly last year regarding the figures that we had on display would have learnt about some of the fakes as well as how to spot them.  We have posted various comments on a few message boards around the globe over the last year on fake chrome items as well as making some references to them in news stories on our own websites.  We are going to try to run through all of our own news stories and galleries to try to ensure that it is much easier for you to tell whether the items are genuine or not.

We originally planned to have three dedicated toy gallery section on the last revamp of www.luckydrwatransformers.com one to official items, a second for known fakes and a third for unconfirmed items.  Unfortunately due to time this did not happen, but it is something we will look into introducing in the future.

For quick reference there are known fake lucky draws of the following figures:

Gold Henkei Convoy (the most common).  There are at least three variants of the fakes including the one that we own.

Gold Henkei Galvatron (loose variant) - The loose toy with the orange parts is assumed to be a fake.  you can compare it to our carded version within that gallery

Gold Beast Convoy - We do not own this toy but at least two fakes are known to have been produced and sold last year.  They had no weapons, were chromed in the same darker chrome as the fake Henkei figures (a much darker chrome than the chrome Takara were using in the 90s when the Beast Wars Lucky Draws were released).  The toy is a chromed over reissued and not the original Primal / Beast Convoy figure.

Gold Encore and 25th Anniversary Convoy - There are boxed and un-boxed, long and short smokestack variations of this toy.  It was produced in 2008 / 2009 by HeerosToyMaker / TinTinHappy.  The toy is a custom chrome figure.  Again much like the above toys, the chrome is the darker "orange" and distributed by the same sellers.

Silver Henkei Convoy - Again made by Heero.  You can see through the silver to the base figure.

Silver Protoform Optimus Prime - Also made by Heero, this toy is one of the better fakes

Silver G1 Convoy - We purchased this toy back in 2004/2005, showing it off to the public for the first time in 2006 and then later on this website.  Its a fake.

Silver Binaltech Smokescreen - We do not own this toy but found the pictures online.  It is another custom

Silver Chrome Soundwave - From the same source as all of these figures.  This tyo was produced back in the early 2000s and is believed to be fake.

Silver G1 Starscream - Though the source of this toy is unknown and there was talk about official chrome figure during one of the BotCon rarities panel, we believe this figure is a fake.  What is for sure is that it is not a Lucky Draw item

­­

TransformersClub.com has been updated with the bios and new images for their next two exclusives, Shattered Glass Cyclonus and Punch / Counterpunch.

Shattered Glass Cyclonus
Cyclonus has always found loyalty to be merely a means to an end. However, the war has changed and Cyclonus may have changed as well. With the help of his new Targetmaster, Krunix, Cyclonus seeks to leave his old ways behind so that he can once again be deemed a worthy soldier in the Decepticon ranks.

Punch/Counterpunch
Many in the espionage world put on a second name to hide who they truly are from their enemy. Punch takes it a step further, not only donning a new name, but a new face and body as well! This second persona lets him get close to his enemy, accomplishing his missions without the Decepticons being any the wiser.

­­
­­ ­

Well the new Argos catalogue is out and the only new items are Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Legends Devastator - £21.99 (388/1147) and the Transformers Revenge of the Fallen N.E.S.T double pack of Bumblebee and Soundwave - £19.99 (388/2081).  Credit to  gojira72 for letting us know.

- Fall 2010 will bring the launch of the new packaging look.
- NEST National Redemption Program will run in the Spring with a Hunt for the Decepticons Promotion in the fall.
- 3 TV commercials focusing on A) Core B) Combiners C) Battle Ops Bumblebee
- New Hasbro network programming will begin
- Video game from Activision War on Cybertron
- 6 New Webisodes plus flash comics
- Core Play: 10 assortments, 4 of which are new - focus is on boys 5-9 and collectors using popular movie characters
- Young Kid Action: 2 assortments, 1 of which is new
- Role Play: 3 assortments, all 3 are new
- Deluxe Movie Figures: Melee Bumblebee, Ironhide, Ratchet and Sideswipe
- Deluxe Generation Figures from Activison 2010 game: Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Megatron and Soundwave plus Autobot Drift
- Voyager Figures: Ratchet, Optimus Prime and Sea Spray
- Leader Class: Starscream with light up eyes and chest
- Battle Ops Bumblebee: Guardian duty and battle mode - lights, sounds and speech
- Power Core Combiners: Scout Robot, Mini-Con and Scout Vehicles interact
- Power Core Combiner 5-Pack combined in robot mode
- Activators: Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream and Ironhide
- Role Play Masks: Bumblebee and Optimus Prime
- Role Play Weapon: Optimus Prime's Energon Sword with lights balttle and conversion sounds and phrases from Prime
- Role Play Costume: Characters like Optimus Prime in small and medium for kids

Update:It appears the TFW2005 didn't want to share this information with the public as the thread that it was originally published in has since been removed.  But do not fear, this news article will remain

An anonymous source of S250's has provided him, and thus TFW2005.com,  two images of an new Transformers PowerCore Combiner figure. The name of the main toy has not been revealed, but from the images you can tell that the figure is a Decepticon who turns into a fire truck and comes with a Mini-Con called Chopster.  According to the packaging the toy has "4 minicon modes", a "vehicle weapon", a "robot weapon" and "Power-Up Armour".­

The profile is not fully included in the image but the text that you can make out reads as

".... holds a grude like ...er, He plots elaborate ...ge aginst his hundreds .... enemies, and thanks to his ...combination with CHOPSTER, ...'s got the power to see ... oth of them through."

­

Don't forget to check our latest sister website Transformers PowerCore Combiners.com which we have created as a site dedicated to this new ­line

The Official Transformers Collectors Club website has been updated with an image of the partner that for their exclusive Dion figure .... Cop-Tur

All members who have an active membership as of March 16th 2010 will receive this years FREE membership figure Dion. This great figure also comes with the two Henkei missile launchers as well as his mini-con partner, Cop-Tur!

For a look at Cop-Tur, be sure to click the thumbnail to the left for a look at his tech spec art. Cop-tur's full bio will be available in issue 31 of the Club Magazine. And for another look at Dion be sure to Click Here:http://www.transformersclub.com/dion10.cfm

Also, the December Hasbro Q&A has been posted on the club boards. Go to the Club News and Updates section to read the answers from the Transformers team!

TakaraTomy have issued a PDF press release called the Guide of Takara Tomy Group's "Transformers" content business expansion which you can read here (although it is in Japanese).  The document talks about the Japanese release of Transformers Animated, how they are developing products to aim at the 3-8 year old category, the Blu-Ray release of Revenge of the Fallen in the autumn amongst other things

Credit goes to snakas for the original Japanese report.

First up TV Aichi has updated it's website confirming that Transformers Animated will be shown in Japan on 3rd April 20:10 at 08:00.  They have also launched a mini site for the series.

Secondly new images of the Japanese Transformers Animated toys have surfaced showing off the metallic paint schemes.  You can find these images within the Transformers Animated galleries for each of the toys.

As the only new character name is for Bulkhead, now called Ironhide in Japan to fit it closer with the Transformers movies, we have just decided to add the images to the existing galleries rather than create new ones.

The Yahoo! Japan blog "Cyber Gundam" have published the specific Japanese release dates for some Transformers items between April and June.  The items are basically the new pre-orders that Big Bad Toy Store listed recently, but this time Japanese retail prices are available.

24th April 2010 - Transformers EZ Collection Vol. 3 - TBC yen
24th April 2010 - Transformers RA-31 Mudflap and Agent Simmons - 5,000 yen
29th May 2010 - Transformers Alternity A-04 Okamora Orochi / Starscream (white) - 4,500 yen
29th May 2010 - Transformers Alternity A-04 Okamora Orochi / Skywarp (purple) - 4,500 yen
29th May 2010 - Transformers Device Label Transformers USB Flash Memory (2GB) Cheetor - 3,800 yen
26th June 2010 - Transformers Disney Label Buzz Lighyear Spaceship - 3,800 yen
26th June 2010 - Transformers Movie MR-01 Jet Power Optimus Prime - 6,800 yen
26th June 2010 - Transformers Movie MR-02 Megatron - 4,200 yen

Seibertron.com has posted a copy of an advert from Toshiba in the US showing off the Device Label toys.

Although the figures are already out in Japan, these are the first official US images of the toys.

There will be a nice crescendo ending,” Bay said. “It gets much more into the robot character. The last time you kind of met a few of the robots; this time you’re gonna get a much cooler landscape.

That's the most noticeable thing in a recent interview the LA Times did with Michael Bay.