TFW2005.com board members SydneyY and Masabon have posted a translation of an interview with TakaraTomy team producer Noriaki Maeda which was recently published within Figure King magazine.

The interview consists of five questions:

1. Firstly, looking back upon this year's Transformers series, what are your thoughts?
2. What were the popular items in 2011, or the product sold unexpectedly well?
3. What were the reactions to the MechTech weapon giveaways and MechTech campaigns?
4. Why did you resume "United" series at this point?

The intervie­w explain why Arcee was released in a blue colour scheme as part of Darkside Moon in Japan, which was basically as a teaser for her appearance in Transformers: Prime to prepare the Japanese audience in advance.  Being a motorcycle Transformer, she proved popular with Japanese children which was a bit of a surprise to the TakaraTomy staff

­TakaraTomy have published a video on their YouTube channel with a video featuring their designers Hironori Kobayashi, Hisashi Yuki and Hisao Nishimoto discussing the Transformers figures Striker Optimus Prime, Leader Sentinel Prime as well as the Cyberverse series. The video can be viewed below and contains subtitles in English for non-Japanese speaker.

TFW2005.com have posted a translation of the interview with Kabaya staff members Mr. Koutaro Hayashi and Mr. Masakazu Kunimitsu which was published in the Transformers Generation Book 2011 Volume 2.

Toy Industry magazine ­­Toy News's Samantha Loveday recently sat down with Hasbro Europe's Country Manager for UK & Irelan, Foye Pascoe to discuss the recent success of the company.  Below are some quotes that contained Transformers related anwsers, but you can read the full article here.

How has the UK market performed so far this year? Are we in better shape than this time last year?
Hasbro UK has experienced a 14 per cent growth (UK NPD EPOS YTD June 2011). This is due to the strong performance of the recent Transformers movie, and a number of our key brands including Play-Doh, Furreal Friends and Nerf and our key licensed properties within the boy’s category.

What lines have performed well for you so far this year?
We are proud that we have experienced good performance across the full range of our toys and games.
Not only are some key films helping deliver the Transformers and Marvel toy lines, but we are also seeing growth of our classic brands such as Play-Doh, Furreal Friends, Nerf and Supersoaker.

Are there any sectors in particular which have stood out? Boys must have been boosted by the new Transformers lines, for example?
The boys segment has undoubtedly been boosted by a number of key films; Transformers Dark of the Moon has had a positive impact on the Transformers retail presence. Our alliance with Marvel has delivered strong product lines both for Captain America and Thor this year. Star Wars has had a good year and was the number one property in action figures UK (NPD EPOS YTD June 2011).

Finally, any hot tips from your 2012 product line to watch out for?
2012 will be another great year for action films for which we have a range of boys’ toys and games.

Star Wars re-mastered Episode One will hit cinemas in February. Battleship will preview in May, followed by the much-publicised Avengers film from Marvel later in the month.

The Amazing Spider-man will launch in July. Transformers will continue to connect with boys through Transformers Prime programming on Cartoon Network.

Within our girl’s portfolio, My Little Pony programming is currently on air on Boomerang and connecting with a whole new generation of girls.

Skewed and Reviewed recently had the opportunity to interview Transformers Prime voice actor Steve Blum (Starscream) regarding his work on Transformers Prime, Guild Wars, Bulletstorm and the Transformers: Dark of the Moon game.

Here are a couple of snippets, but please visits sknr to read the full article.

How did you become involved with the new Transformers project and your character?

I prayed a lot, bribed a little, cried some. [Laughs] Actually, I just auditioned for it like anything else – and got really, really lucky! Starscream has always been one of my favorite characters – especially as played in recent years by the great Charlie Adler and also the great Tom Kenny! In fact, after hearing Charlie’s recent performances in the films, I felt I had to get his blessing before I could even accept the role! By the way, what a gentleman – love that guy! Tom’s a hell of an act to follow too – jeez! It’s very hard for me to take over a character that has been so masterfully portrayed – especially when my friends are the previous portrayers! I didn’t try to consciously copy anything that had been done before me, I simply did what came naturally and apparently (thankfully) they liked it!

... working with a cast (like in Transformers) – is always more fun. We get to play a lot of nuance off of each other that just doesn’t exist when I’m in a room by myself. And we laugh. A lot. Sometimes too much. This cast in particular is amazing. I get a huge kick out of sitting back and watching Peter (Cullen) and Frank (Welker), the “Godfatherbots” themselves – duke it out. It’s a joy and honor to work in the same room with two of my biggest heroes! They ARE a comedy team. Like the old school, masters of improv and impersonation, the real deal. So much talent in that room, and an unusual mix of voices! It’s humbling.

What sort of research did you do for the parts and what challenges did it present compared with other work?

I read a lot of stuff on the internet and watched an episode or two from each of the older series. I was already in my 20’s when G1 came out, but I was certainly aware that Transformers was something new and different and I have to admit that I did play with my kid’s action figures. I still do. Except I have my own action figures now. That counts as research, right?

What can you tell us about your work in Guild wars 2 and the new Transformers game in terms of who you voice and what were your experiences on each?

Ah, Rytlock Brimstone, one big, nasty Charr – wields a huge sword and speaks in a gravelly, deep voice. That’s pretty much my entire knowledge of the guy. I’m not a gamer, so I play, I fight, I move on. Seemed pretty epic at the time.
If you’re speaking of the newest Transformers game – WAY too early to talk about it, methinks. Lasers trained on my temples. In the past, I’ve played a lot of bots – good and bad, including Barricade and Breakdown. Vocally stressful, but any time I get to live in the Transformers universe, I’m grateful.

­It brings me great pleasure to announce that we recently held a Q&A interview session with Transformers Prime voice actress Tania Gunadi.  Tania, for those who do not know, voices Miko Nakadi in Transformers Prime which, of course, will debut this weekend on The Hub.

The interview was held can be found on Transformers-Prime.com as well as on Transformers At The Moon.

The interview covers how Tania came to move to the United States, how she broken into acting, her current projects, her dream role and, of course, what it was like to work on Transformers Prime, her take on the recording process as well as more on her character Miko.

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.

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.