­The first Botcon exclusive is now officially in the hands of attendees with the release of the Botcon 2011 Customising Class Minerva figure.  The figure is a recolour of the Arcee toy but remolded with new "ears".  You can see the images and the official design from Derrick J Wyatt below.

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Derrick Wyatt has posted an image of Prison Trypti­con on Twitter
The image is from the BotCon 2011 comic­

Other then the two images that were posted on Botcon.com showing Transformers Animated Motormaster another two images of the toy were also released (prior to the group shot).  The first was released on TwitPic and was the concept design by Derrick J Wyatt (see below) and the second was posted on the Transformers Collectors Club Facebook page that shows the wax head sculpt of Motormaster.  This gives fans a better chance to see the Lemmy inspired handlebar moustache.  Out of respect for the wax image we will not be mirroring the image until after Botcon so to view the image please click here to visit the facebook page.

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Derrick Wyatt updated his Twitter account yesterday with the following tweet

"DepthCharge, chief of the TransTech division of the Cybertron Police Defense Command. http://twitpic.com/43pwrh"

A copy of the image can be viewed below.

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The Botcon website has been updated with the images of the 4th member of the Stunticons, Wildrider. The figure is a recol­oured version of Lockdown but with a new head sculpt. You can view the images below.­

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Derrick J Wyatt, father of Transformers Animated, has posted two images on TwitPic showing his vision of what an Transformers Animated Predaking and Transformers Animated Bruticus would look like.  You can view the original posts here and here as well as mirrored below.

The Auto Assembly team have posted two new official videos on YouTube with two of the guests of honour from Auto Assembly 2010 Scott McNeil and Derrick J Wyatt.  You can view the videos below and don't forget that you can book now for Auto Assembly 2010.

With Auto Assembly 2010 officially starting tomorrow in Birmingham, England some of the guest and attendees have already arrived.  These include Derrick J Wyatt, Jim Sorenson and Bill Forster who's appearance at Europes largest Transformers Convention were funded by this website.

To commerate this event as well as Derrick's recent Birthday, we were proud to present him with a very special gift ... a custom made plush Transformers Animated Swindle!

The figure was specially commissioned for the event and comes complete with detachable weapons and a custom box.

Below you can see some images of the plush that we presented to Derrick along with our own version.  The toy is 10"x7"x4" in size and seemed to be well liked by those who were in attendance.  Hopefully the plush will be on display with Derrick overr thr weekend.

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Jim Sorenson has updated his blog, The Disciples of Boltax, with comments regarding his and Bill Forster's appearance at Auto Assembly 2010.

I've got some news that I find incredibly exciting.  This year, both Bill Forster and I have been invited to Auto Assembly, Europe's largest Transformers convention.  As I haven't been to England since 2006, I'm extremely excited to get the chance to go back and mingle with the terrific fan community out there.  In addition to hanging around and making a nuisance of ourselves all weekend, we're tentatively planning to use our time on Sunday to give a brief presentation on some behind-the-scenes artwork from various generations that hasn't been published before, before shifting to a traditional Q&A session.  

Other great guests include Derrick Wyatt, Garry Chalk, Scott McNeil, Simon Furman, Nick Roche, Guido Guidi, and many more.  This looks like a must-attend convention if you're native to the British Isles.  If you were at all on the fence about coming to this con, I strongly urge you to preregister now, as the spots are filling up quickly and there's no worse feeling than having to turn someone away from an event like this. 

I have to extend my warmest thanks to the convention organizers and especially to Steve and David Mapes from Transformers At The Moon for making this happen.  I love smaller conventions, so it really is quite an honor to­ be invited. AA at AA... feels like a natural fit, doesn't it?­

Here is a copy of the latest Auto Assembly 2010 press release.

­Auto Assembly 2010 Announces More Guests!

We're less than four weeks away from Auto Assembly 2010 but that hasn't stopped us from adding even more to our line-up to make this the best convention we have ever put together...

We are now proud to announce the addition of TWO more guests to the convention in the shape of Jim Sorenson and Bill Forster, writers of the Allspark Almanac and it's newly released follow-up! Making their European convention debut, they will be on hand all weekend to meet and talk to fans and sign autographs and they will be taking to the stage on the Sunday to give a presentation and take questions about their work on what is considered to be one of the best Transformers books released for years.

Their appearance at Auto Assembly 2010 has been made possible thanks to the incredibly generous sponsorship from Steve and David Mapes from Transformers At The Moon (www.transformertoys.co.uk) and means that the convention will have THREE major Transformers Animated guests this year, and all of them will be on stage in turn on the Sunday. If you have even the slightest interest in Transformers Animated, you won't want to miss this year's event!

That's not all though, adding to that the convention exclusive edition of IDW's Transformers Issue 9 with an exclusive cover by Nick Roche and Liam Shalloo, a concert by Garry Chalk, a live script performance featuring Garry Chalk and Scott McNeil from a BRAND NEW script written exclusively for the convention by Simon Furman, a Saturday night disco and karaoke with singing by Scott McNeil, dealers, 13 confirmed guests with talks, autographs, competitions, workshops, displays, and a video games area showcasing 25 years of Transformers video games... could you ask for anything more?!

The convention is taking place over the weekend of Friday 13th - Sunday 15th August 2010 at the Holiday Inn Birmingham City Centre, Birmingham, England. There will be Friday and Saturday evening programmes that are exclusive for weekend attendees and the Saturday evening will play host to a massive musical party, costume competition, and the script and disco / karaoke. And we still have lots more to announce...!

We have frozen the ticket prices for the convention from Auto Assembly 2009 and full weekend tickets are £45 for adults and £35 for children, students and senior citizens, with under 5s admitted free. Family tickets (2 adults and 2 children) are available for £145.

One day tickets for Saturday have sold out, but one day tickets for Sunday are still available and cost £25 for adults, £18 for children, students or senior citizens and under 5's as always are free. However as they are limited, if you want to come along for just the day then you need to book NOW!

Because of the rate that bookings are coming in, and the popularity of the one-day passes last year, we cannot guarantee that single day tickets will be available to purchase on the door and it is looking likely that we may not have ANY on-the-door places available for the full weekend so pre-registration this year is a must!

For more details on the convention, to see a full list of all the guests and activities taking place over the weekend, or to book your tickets, visit the website at www.autoassembly.org.uk

We hope to see you all in August 2010.

The Auto Assembly 2010 Team

Web: www.autoassembly.org.uk
Youtube: www.youtube.com/autoassembly
Twitter: www.twitter.com/auto_assembly
Forum: http://autoassembly.proboards.com
Email: autoassembly@aol.com
Tel: +44 (0)7860 948296

Auto Assembly 2010 is sponsored by www.transformertoys.co.uk and www.transformersanimated.com whose generosity have made Derrick J Wyatt, Jim Sorenson and Bill Forster's appearances at the convention possible.

Auto Assembly 2010 is also sponsored by:-

Science Fiction Collectables - www.sf-collectables.co.uk
Toyz And Gamez - www.toyzandgamez.co.uk
Big Bad Toy Store - www.bbts.com
3 Darths Comics - www.3darths.co.uk
Hobby Link Japan - www.hlj.com

Derrick J Wyatt has posted a very cool response to one of the latest questions posed to him on Formspring.  When asked "Who's in charge of financial matters on Animated Cybertron? According to the old STARS Tech Spec Manual, the Autobots were traders at one point, and I'd think a planet not at war would have commerce." Derrick replied with a post that introduces the Transformer Universe to a new character ..... Decimus Quadrillon.

"There is commerce on Cybertron. For a great deal of time before Megatron reappeared, the post Great War has been a time where the Autobots have created many ways to entertain themselves. There are refuelery restaurants, energon bars, shopping arcades with every upgrade you could ever think of, as well as various forms of theater, music, and other entertainment.

There is a commerce guild that is in charge of the credit and energon banks.The head of this guild is Decimus Quadrillon, who is the richest mech on Cybertron. Rumor has it that Decimus' cube shaped headquarters is actually a giant bin containing over 30,000 square standard Cybertronian units of raw energon. There are even some wild and unlikely rumors that he dives into and swims through the energon. An act which would be very damaging on a Cybertronian's inner workings.

The Autobots have a distrust of other alien races (organics and non-organics), and do not engage in much, if any, off world trade in modern times. Cybertron has been invaded, conquered, and nearly conquered at different points throughout its vast history, leaving the Autobots with little care to act with outside civilizations." replies Derrick.

Now I'm not sure about you, but I would love to to see how Derrick pictures Decimus now.

Don't forget that if you are in the UK you can meet Derrick first hand by attending Auto Assembly 2010 which takes place next month.