Site Sponsor, RobotKingdom have dropped us a quick email telling us that they are now taking pre-orders for the Encore reissues of e-Hobby Sunstorm and Black Megatron.  You can view the preorder pages on the robotkingdom site but visiting the pages below.

Encore Reissue Exclusive Sunstorm here
Encore Reissue Exclusive Black Megatron here

Thanks to board member Jaymz for posting a thread on our message board containing images of some of the upcoming Japanese Transformers figures including Masterpiece Grimlock, Transformers Disney Label (The official name of the line it would seem) Mickey Mouse (two versions) and Henkei Hound with Ravage which he received from one of his suppliers.  You can view the images below.

Site Sponsor Robotkingdom has dropped us a quick email to let us know that they are now taking preorders for the following up coming figures:

Takara Transformers Encore Reissue #13 Trailbreaker here
Takara Transformers Encore Reissue #14 Hoist here
Takara Henkei Classics C-12 Cheetor here
Takara Henkei Classics C-13 Hound here

All of the items will available in December.

S250 and TF08.net have posted images of some up coming Transformers Universe toys and instructions scans.  These include the instructions of what is said to be a repainted version of Transformers Energon Bruticus Maximus, probably in Generation One Bruticus colours.  Also shown are images of the Transformers Universe Legends Beachcomber and Brawn figures.

You can see the images here

SGCollect member Sparkplug has posted over on their message board that he received confirmation the Masterpiece Grimlock will be released in March 2009 in Japan at a cost of 130,000 Yen.  He then later posted that Alternity Megatron will be released in two colours (blue and silver) with the car based on the Nissan Fairlady Z.

Treat both as rumours at this stage, but no doubt more will follow in the coming weeks.

Kapow Toys have posted a comment over on TFW2005 that the next two Transformers Henkei releases will be Hound and Cheetas (Cheetor).  The figures will be released on the 27th December 2008 which coincides with the release of Transformers Encore Trailbreaker and Hoist.

Whilst photographing our set of Transformers Collectors Club Exclusive Transformers Universe Seacons we discovered a couple of flaws in the mold which we want to warn you about.

The first flaw, and the most serious, can be found on Tentakill.  The flaw can be found on the figures head (legs in robot mode) and occurs when transforming the toy.  Like several molding problems found in Transformers, the most recent example being Lockdown from Transformers Aniamted, the toy has too much plastic on a joint, which results in you being unable to rotate the legs around, thus meaning that you cannot transform the toy.

The only solution we have found so far is to unscrew the two screws in the legs, allowing you to pivot the legs around.  A permanent solution will be to sand off the edges of the pink leg plastic.

We should have a full photographic gallery of the toy online later this weekend, and will highlight the molding flaw.  What you need to remember is to be careful, too much force will break the plastic.

The second flaw in on Seawing, and is more of a minor problem.  The whole on Seawing, used to fit the Pirranacon hand and his gun, is too large to firmly hold the gun in-place.  This means the guns will fall out of the toy if held vertically.

Other flaws in the toys molding is that the whole in Tentakill, to place the Pirranacon foot, is slightly too small, though you can still fit the foot on the toy.

KapowToys have announced that Transformers Encore 13 and 14 will by reissues of Trailbreaker and Hoist. Here's a copy of their announcement at TFW2005.com

"China Wholesalers have begun taking pre-orders from retailers for these awesome G1 trucks from today."

An auction has appeared on ebay for a black testshot of the Beast Wars Optimal Optimus toy.  The auction claims that only 2 of these items have been confirmed to exist, although they also include a photograph of a certificate from Wixbang toys stating that there were probably less than 10 made.

The auction lists the item as a Hardcopy Optimal Optimus toy, although this does not appear to be the case.  Having said that we've not seen this testshot before and you don't see too many original Beast Wars testshots around, especially of this size.  The auction has a starting price of just under $2000.

TF08.net have posted two more images of the upcoming Transformers Universe Special Edition Dragstrip figure in packaging.  You can view the mirrored images below.

TF08.net have posted two images of the upcoming Transformers Henkei Lambor and Octane figure in their packaging.  You can view the mirrored images below and don't forget that you can view the latest headlines from TF08 on the most comprehensive Transformers news page on the internet, our very own In The News page which contains the latest stories from 37 sources.

Its been a while since we bought you the last NPD UK sales charts, so we thought it was time to publish the July figures:

July 2008 (£)
1 Ben 10 Figs 10cm Assortment Manufacturer - Bandai
2 Cars Vehicle Assortment - Mattel
3 Ben 10 15cm Action Figures - Bandai
4 All Surface Swingball - Mookie
5 Wall-E Deluxe Action Figure - Vivid
6 Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - Mattel
7 In The Night Garden Mini Plush - Hasbro
8 In The Night Garden 12" Talking Plush - Hasbro
9 Dr. Who 5" Figures - Character Options
10 High School Musical Country Club Friends - Mattel

July 2008 (units)
1 Hot Wheels Car Assortment - Mattel
2 Cars Vehicle Assortment - Mattel
3 Ben 10 Figs 10cm Assortment - Bandai
4 Bubbles Billion Tub 8 oz - Placo Products
5 In The Night Garden Mini Plush - Hasbro
6 Transformers Movie Legends - Hasbro
7 Ben 10 15cm Action Figures - Bandai
8 Speed Racer Die-cast Vehicles - Mattel
9 Wall-E Basic Action Figures - Vivid
10 Power Rangers Operation Overdrive 12.5cm Figures - Bandai

Year-to-date (£)
1 Cars Assortment - Mattel
2 Ben 10 Figs 10cm Assortment - Bandai
3 Ben 10 Ominitrix F/X watch - Bandai
4 In The Night Garden Mini Plush - Hasbro
5 Transformers Movie Legends - Hasbro
6 Power Rangers Operation Overdrive 12.5cm Figures - Bandai
7 In The Night Garden 12" Talking Plush - Hasbro
8 Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - Mattel
9 Ben 10 15cm Action Figures - Bandai
10 Transformers Movie Deluxe - Hasbro

Year-to-date (Units)
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 F/X WATCH - BANDAI

So after seven months of sales Transformers managed to keep two positions within the monetary chart but only one within the units.  We expect that the Movie deluxes disappeared from the charts after August, but the Movie Legend line is looking strong and may well hang in the chart for the second year, though it does need a bit of a boost if it can retain its title as Action Figure Unit Sales of the year.  Still no sign of the Transformers Animated toys though, which is not too suprising.  We hope to have the August figures for you soon