Over the last few months we at Transformers At The Moon have been speaking to the Transformers Brand Manger at Hasbro UK regarding various aspects of Transformers within the UK, so we thought that we would start the week by bringing you some of the information and answers that we have been given since we first started speaking to them in June.We are unable to publish the full list of question and answers at this time, but hopefully what will follow with give everyone a better understanding of the role that Transformers has to Hasbro UK.

1. Where, when compared with the other Hasbro properties, would you say that the Transformers brand lies in terms of importance to Hasbro UK?

Hasbro: Transformers is one of the top priority brands for Hasbro and always has been.

2. According to industry figures for advertising expenditure for April 2008, Transformers was the 10th highest brand that Hasbro spent money on during that period. Could you give us an idea as to how the money was spent, which media were used etc.

Hasbro: This went on TV media - a mix of satellite and terrestrial

3. What is current demographic used for marking Transformers, and how has this changed over the past 20 year?

Hasbro: We have two audiences Boys aged 6 to 12 and the Collectors - this really hasn't changed over the years, although the Movie did give Transformers mass market appeal

Were you surprised by how well the Transformers figures sold within the UK in 2007?

Hasbro: The core figures always sell well, especially legends and deluxe - but I think 2007 exceeded our expectations

The Transformers Movie Legends figures were the best selling action figure of 2007 within the UK, what does this mean to Hasbro UK, and what, if any, affect did this have on your strategy for 2008?

Hasbro: We always do well with Legends and will continue to have them in the line

How did the Transformer Movie change the perception that Hasbro UK have towards the Transformers brand, both from a sales and marketing point of view, but in terms of the general internal perception of the brand.

Hasbro: Like I said, Transformers has always been a priority brand for us and will continue to be.

Who is responsible for the assortment breakdown, Hasbro US, Hasbro Europe or Hasbro UK?

Hasbro: We all contribute to the decisions and work as a global team

Who decided which figures are / are not released into the UK market?

Hasbro: We try to bring in everything, but it depends on availability of waves/assortments

Forbidden Planet often stock figures from Waves in advance, normally in multi-lingual packaging. Are these figures official UK releases or have they imported them from the US / Canada?

Hasbro: Sometimes we bring in stock from the US to cover stock demand and in stock dates.

Has the UK release of the Transformers Movie line now finished? (Asked June 2998)

Hasbro: Most of the Movie line has now finished as we launch the Universe and Animated segments.

In the past some figures have been extremely difficult to obtain with the UK, whilst others sit on the shelves. Part of this appears to be down to the breakdown of assortments, sometimes one of one figure and three or four of another. Is this something that Hasbro UK are likely to change, to make the assortment breakdowns more of an even spread, or is this out of your hands?

Hasbro: As a Global team we take on past learning's from retail and sales and try to incorporate this into new waves.

How aware are Hasbro UK of the longtime Transformers fanbase?

Hasbro: Very aware, the brand has been around for nearly 25 years, and the fan base has always been strong. I try to visit the fan sites every week and keep up to date with new news

Are Hasbro UK likely to make an appearance at any UK based Transformers conventions? I know organised of both TransForce and AutoAssembly have contacted Hasbro UK reps in the past. (Again asked June 08)

Hasbro: I read an article about the Autobot Assembly recently, and I did want to attend except I'm on holiday the first 2 weeks of August. Please let me know when the next event is happening and I'll try to attend. I can imagine there is a great atmosphere at these events.

The current Transformers line, Transformers Animated, launched on Nick Toons towards the end of March with the toys being released at the start of June, what are Hasbro UKs plan for marking and releasing of this line?

Hasbro: We are very excited about the Animation; I think the new line looks great

Have you been pleased with the number of viewing figures that Nick Toons have received for the Transformers Animated show?

Hasbro: Yes, the numbers are encouraging.

Thanks to Oddsey for reporting on our message board regarding a rumoured offer that will be starting at Toys R Us UK next week.  The offer if likely to be either a Buy One Get One Half Price offer or a Buy One Get One Free offer.  Stay with us as we will no doubt report more in the coming days.

Yahoo Japan seller Sharbicc has really pulled it off this time, his latest auction is for what appears to be a never-seen before prototype for a Super Hybrid Model style Generation One Unicron!  This non-transforming prototype stands at 35cm tall (over 13 inches) and is described as being found in a workshop.  This piece is bound to attract attention, but with a heavy price tag of over $4600 dollars for a starting bid, its going to be one expensive piece.

Snakas has published a report on the contents of this months Hyper Hobby magazine over on his Japanse blog.   Below you will find a summary of the content but in English.

The prototype of Alternity Convoy was published along with the price tag of 4725 yen.  A packaged image was shown for the first time of BT-22 Convoy along with some general trivia.  The Coffee Boss figures are shown as were the same Henkei and Encore figures as the recent issues of Figure King and Dengeki Hobby.

TFClub has posted some high resolution images of the upcoming Transformers Universe Ironhide toy on their site.

The site, which is in Chinese, may take some time to load so please be patient.

Actoys has posted the bio for Transformers Universe Unicron, which reads as follows.

Name: Unicron
Faction: Decepticons

Bio: Immortal, indestructible and all-powerful, Unicron is the ultimate evil in the cosmos. Massive silent and unstoppable, he floats through the non-space between dimensions, reaching out with his sensors to find the universe with the most energy. Those dimensions he finds suitable, he consumes, destroying every planet, every star and every trace of life. He has been destroyed or defeated countless times, yet he always returns, hungrier and more powerful than before, for he is more than a mere monster. He is evil incarnate, and as long as there is evil, there is Unicron.

Strength: ??
Intelligence: ??
Speed: 10
Endurance: ??
Rank: 10
Courage: 10
Firepower: ??
Skill: 10

Its time for us to once again bring you the NPD retail charts, this time for the month of June 2008.  Its bad news for Transformers in terms of revenue generated as the brand falls out of the top 10 revenue chart completely.  In terms of units sold, those Movie Legends hung in their in 6th spot.  Overall, Transformers sales were high enough to keep both the Movie Legends and the Movie Deluxe figures in the Year To Date chart at the half way mark of 2008.  In general the number of action figures sold fell, though Transformers, Ben 10 and Indiana Jones all performed pretty well.  None of the Movie tie in lines (Indy, Hulk and Ironman) performed anywhere near as well as Transformers and Spider-man 12 months ago, though shelf space was getting limited with other movie tie-in figures being released in July. Anyway, here are the charts

UK June 2008 (£ Sales)
1 BEN 10 FIGURES 10CM ASSORTMENT - BANDAI
2 CARS VEHICLE ASSORTMENT - MATTEL
3 BEN 10 15CM ACTION FIGURES - BANDAI
4 BEN 10 OMNITRIX FX WATCH - BANDAI
5 ALL SURFACE SWINGBALL - MOOKIE
6 ITNG MINI PLUSH - HASBRO
7 INDIANA JONES WHIP ROLEPLAY - HASBRO
8 ITNG 12-INCH TALKING PLUSH - HASBRO
9 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT - MATTEL
10 HSM COUNTRY CLUB FRIENDS - MATTEL

UK June 2008 (Unit Sales)
1 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT MATTEL
2 BEN 10 FIGS 10CM ASSORTMENT BANDAI
3 CARS VEHICLE ASSORTMENT MATTEL
4 MATCH ATTAX CARDS 07/08 TOPPS
5 SPEED RACER DIE-CAST VEHICLES MATTEL
6 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LEGENDS HASBRO
7 ITNG MINI PLUSH HASBRO
8 POWER RANGERS OPERATION OVERDRIVE FIGURES BANDAI
9 BEN 10 15CM ACTION FIGURES BANDAI
10 DR WHO SONIC SCREWDRIVER CHARACTER OPTIONS

Year To Date (£ Sales)
1 CARS VEHICLE ASSORTMENT MATTEL
2 BEN 10 FIGS 10CM ASSORTMENT BANDAI
3 BEN 10 OMNITRIX FX WATCH BANDAI
4 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LEGENDS HASBRO
5 POWER RANGERS OPERATION OVERDRIVE FIGURES BANDAI
6 ITNG MINI PLUSH HASBRO
7 ITNG 12-INCH TALKING PLUSH HASBRO
8 HSM COUNTRY CLUB FRIENDS MATTEL
9 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT MATTEL
10 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE DELUXE HASBRO

Year To Date (Unit Sales)
1 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT MATTEL
2 CARS VEHICLE ASSORTMENT MATTEL
3 BEN 10 FIGS 10CM ASSORTMENT BANDAI
4 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LEGENDS HASBRO
5 POWER RANGERS OPERATION OVERDRIVE FIGURES BANDAI
6 ITNG MINI PLUSH HASBRO
7 WWE RUTHLESS AGGRESSION VIVID
8 BEN 10 15CM ACTION FIGURES BANDAI
9 DR WHO 5-INCH FIGURES CHARACTER OPTIONS
10 BEN 10 OMNITRIX FX WATCH BANDAI

The Transformers Collectors Club have sent out an email announcing the release of their exclusive Seacons box set and Nightbeat figure.

"The pre-orders are online now.  Please try to place your order on the web as to minimize phone calls.

Products are expected to arrive to us by the end of Sept.  I'll let you know when they get on the boat!

Thanks for your patience. We wanted to get the new credit card system running before we started taking orders as it will help our international friends.

transformersclub.com/shop  select the pre-order check box and search to find both items.

Thanks for your support!

Brian"