Sunday, March 11, 2001
Beast Machines Toys Canceled in UK!
Thanks to Optimus Prime of the Matrix TF Online Magazine, we have discovered that Hasbro UK has dropped Beast Machines in Europe. This comes as a devastating blow to all our fellow UK TransFans.

Sunday, March 11, 2001
Lost Galvatron Case!
We don't normally make a habit of linking eBay auctions on this newslog, but this is one of the most unlikely finds ever.
Behold, a box sealed for 15 years containing a set of brand new Galvatron figures. The auction if only for one of them and the asking price is high, but the pictures of 6 untouched boxes packed neatly together are astounding.
-Zac

Saturday, March 10, 2001
Gigatron, a 135-changer???
A gentleman in Japan has worked feverishly to discover 135 different modes for Gigatron/Devil Gigatron. His modes range from humanoid to insectoid to plain odd. The page is in Japanese, but Douglas Dlin at ATT was nice enough to translate all eleven sections of the page for us. A post descrbing the sections can be found here. With 135 modes, Gigatron is the 'bot that never stops giving!
-Tim

Saturday, March 10, 2001
Update on UGO's Optimus Prime vs. Hank the Angry Dwarf
The final day of the Sweet 16 matchups in UGO.com's Underground Open is today! Currently, the Autobot legend Optimus Prime is in a dead heat in his matchup with Hank the Angry Dwarf of Howard Stern fame at 50% apiece. If you have not voted yet, please do so. Show the 'net how united the Transfandom can be.
-Tim

(Come on people, Howard Stern!!! Everyone realized he wasn't cool any more back in '96 - Jim)

Saturday, March 10, 2001
Car Robots Episode 31 Available for Download
Episode 31, Gelshark's Trap, is now available at Transformer World 2005. Thanks to Tony Bacala for presenting us with another episode so soon, and props to BlueSabre for pointing out the new download.
-Tim

Saturday, March 10, 2001
Apelinq's War Journal Updated
Apelinq's War Journal at BotCon Beyond has been updated once again with Chapter Four. The plot thickens...
-Tim

Friday, March 9, 2001
Diaclone Variants Aplenty!
Flatliner of the AllSpark found this collection of pictures while surfing for BotCon Japan pictures. Shown are a bevy of lucrative, ultra-rare repaints from Diaclone, the Japanese series which many of the original Autobots were repainted from. These repaints include a black Tracks, as well as gold-chrome versions of Bluestreak and Jazz!
-Jim

Friday, March 9, 2001
The Transmanual - Cited as the TF Bible by Frenchmen!
A new TF guidebook, the Transmanual, will be released soon. It covers the first three years of Transformers toys, and hey, it has COLOR photos!
By lying and saying you saw it at BigBot first, they'll give you two dollars off. TWO WHOLE AMERICAN DOLLARS! For us Canadians, that takes care of plumbing for a year.
-Jim

Friday, March 9, 2001
Robots in Disguise Pre-Orders at Big Bad Toy Store
Big Bad Toy Store has pre-orders up for the first wave of Robots in Disguise toys: Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Megatron, Sky Shark, Basic 3-Pack, Prowl, Speedbreaker, X-Brawn, and the Spychanger 8-Pack. Blast Punch Optimus Primal is listed under the RiD pre-order section, with mention that this is the same figure as the Beast Machines one. The Beast Machines version is still available for pre-order. I assume this to mean that Blast Punch Optimus Primal will possibly be released in Beast Machines packaging, to be later followed by an RiD release.
-Tim

Thursday, March 8, 2001
Beast Machines on Indefinite Hiatus
Dave van Domelen reports on his web site that Fox Kids has placed Beast Machines on indefinite hiatus. He does not give any information besides stating the hiatus; however, Dave has always been a trusty source for information. If this report is indeed true, the next time you may see Beast Machines is on a Rhinomation VHS or DVD.
-Tim

Thursday, March 8, 2001
News on RiD Airings and Possible Video Premiums
Kidscreen reports that Robots in Disguise will air three times a week on Fox Kids, in contrast to the previously mentioned five times a week. There is no solid confirmation of the schedule, so stay tuned. Kidscreen also reports that Rhino has approached Hasbro about developing Generation One figures to accompany the released episode as premiums. Here is the important snipet from Kidscreen's article:

In August, Hasbro will relaunch the original Transformers property with the release of a new toy line and a show that will air three times a week on Fox Kids. Rhino plans to start releasing the entire catalog on VHS and DVD in Q3 or Q4 of this year. Schorr says the company has also talked with Hasbro about building toys based on the original series, which it would distribute as a possible on-pack premium with the videos.

-Tim

Thursday, March 8, 2001
Its About Prime...
Small update to Botcon Beyond. The comic preview page has been replaced by an image of Primal Prime, that appears to be based on Mainframe's Optimal Optimus model.
-Zac

Thursday, March 8, 2001
Transformers 2D Fighting Game on the MUGEN Engine
Spiderbo from TFW2005 has found a Transformers 2D fighting game produced by a fellow named Shani. The game is free to download. However, you do need the MUGEN engine to play the game. From what I can tell, the only playable characters thus far are Starscream, Optimus Prime, and Megatron. The two background scenes are Cybertron and the Thundercats Lair. If you've got the MUGEN engine, give the game a try.
If you don't have the MUGEN engine, you can download it HEREabouts.
-Tim

Thursday, March 8, 2001
Rhino gets US rights to Beast Wars and Beast Machines
Rhino has created a new division called "Rhinomation" that will produce all future G1 episode releases, and the newly acquired Beast Wars and Beast Machines series.
Though the Alliance Beast Wars Vol. 1 DVD coming in just a few short weeks, that disc will be a Canadian only release (note: it will play on a US DVD player), Rhino has just gotten the rights for US releases of the series. They plan on both VHS and DVD releases, but no specifics on whether "best of" collections or complete series will be available. More as this story develops....
-Zac

Wednesday, March 7, 2001
Act 3 PVCs on the way.
The popular minature figures are getting a third series, before the second one has even been released! Mr Ghoul informs us that Fortress Maximus, Sixshot, Raiden (a Japanese exclusive train combiner), Chromedome, Soundwave, Bumblebee, and Ironhide will be shown at the Tokyo Toy Show on March 24.
There may also be variants and mystery figures have been hinted at....
-Zac

Tuesday, March 6, 2001
Vote for Optimus Prime in the UGO Open!
joerammstein of the AllSpark reminded me of the UGO Open, which in my haste I've failed to report on thus far. Optimus Prime has made it to the third round of this prestigious event, having beaten Cobra Commander and Christopher Walkin. Currently, he's going against a midget- well, Emmanuel Lewis has had his time! '80s retro is hip now, so only you can help solify Prime's victory. With all speed, he'll go on to face either Jennifer Lopez's butt or Bender (so vote for the one of those that you least like, too). We'll keep you posted on this as long as Prime is a combatant (which, hopefully, will be until the victorious end).
As you might know, UGO is especially cool for hosting X-Entertainment, a cynical humor site that the TFN staff loves. Ironically, Christopher Walken was representing XE, and Prime killed him.
-Jim

PS- by signing up for the UGO Open you're automatically entered to win cool swag! Do you need more motivation?

Tuesday, March 6, 2001
Bootleg Tranformers...
Doc Evil of the Allspark dug up this page. Basically just scans of catalogs featuring various japanese figures being illegally produced. Fun to see the rather creative use of coloring.
-Zac

Tuesday, March 6, 2001
New BM Publicity Stills
Cheets of the AllSpark visited Bobskir.com and found some more publicity stills from Season 2! I didn't expect any new ones to come out either, but it's a good thing he looked!
-Dru