Happy Meal 2019 | TF Cyberverse & My Little Pony

09.27.2019 – For those who are not updated, and not tracking what’s new in the toy meal culture world the latest Happy Meal for McDonald’s in Southeast Asia features Transformers Cyberverse and My Little Pony. Two of Hasbro’s brands have been synonymous with McDonald’s toys that every year there’s a new set released. The latest toys were released last Friday 20 September 2019 and usually the promo runs for the next twenty eight days. Now this is not the first time the latest series from the Transformers brand with the current animated series titled “Transformers Cyberverse” as this is the second iteration with first released in 2018.

TransFormers + Ghostbusters | Ghosts of Cybertron

06.29.2019 – The 1980s was the golden era of modern pop culture in the 20th Century with properties introduced from animation, movies, videogames, and merchandise. In that era, there are two of those properties introduced in cinema and television that continues to be relevant in other forms of media. Ghostbusters and Transformers have built upon the cult following with their respective brands that still are marketable and after thirty-five years has been relevant. But what if both of these properties put together a “Collaborative” symbiosis that gives birth to something fresh and out of this world? Early in 2019’s New York International Toy Fair Hasbro revealed what would be a tie-up with that property and that is with the Ghostbusters brand introducing a newly created Transformers character inspired with the elements of Ghostbusters that would become the Autobot Ectotron that turns into the iconic Ecto-1. A few months forward to today with IDW Publication revealing that there’s going to be a crossover mini-series featuring these two brands that presented Ectotron!

Movie Review | Bumblebee

01.08.2018 – Transformers has been one of the many properties from the 1980s that continues to be relevant today with a slew of toys being produced by Hasbro and Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy with so many iterations from a multimedia franchise. The film series has earned billions of dollars, but critics have almost dissed the franchise for the last decade is slowly making a course correction.

TK Toy Expo 2018 | Five Exhibits to Visit

08.24.2018 – The Toy Kingdom Toy Expo opened its doors early today to begin the weekend-long festivities featuring new and unreleased toys from exhibitors. This is first a fun-filled event for the whole family at the same time its where toy collectors gather and make the effort to pick up some new releases not available on retail. Every other year Toy Expo has become the trade show for those into the hobby of toy collecting as well as an event for the family, where event programs and meet & greet with the mascots are present up to the last day.

Happy Meal 2013: My Little Pony & TF Prime!

09.25.2013 – If you haven’t been to McDonald’s recently and no idea about the latest promotional toys is for the month of September 2013. You've heard that they brought back the Happy Meal box but you don’t know what the toys just came out. It was released early this year in the US and finally it has made it to Asia which consists of countries in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. The toys are from My Little Pony and Transformers Prime. There’s plenty more promotion for these toys besides the Philippines bringing back the iconic red box to local consumers.

TF Generations: Autobot Springer

Presenting the Autobot Springer from the Transformers 30th Anniversary Generations Toy Line.

Springer is not to be confused with the Transformers Generations Springer Asian Exclusive  - though I'm pretty sure that a lot of that will happen. This particular Transformers Generations Springer is the herald of the upcoming 30th year anniversary of the Transformers in 2014 - so do expect to empty your pockets more from now till then.

I've always loved the Green Knight of the Autobot and could never quite understand why Hasbro only released one version (G1) of Springer as a triple changer.  Everything else that followed that simply wasn't up to par. So when I saw that they finally did, I absolutely had to grab him

TF Generations: FoC Grimlock

Presenting the Fall of Cybertron (FOC) Grimlock! One of the best - if not the best - thing to come out of the Transformers Fall of Cybertron is, hands-down - is being able to play the Mighty King, Grimlock!

And what a character he is to play! Grimlock is a walking tank, he shrugs off damage, grabs Decepticons and repeatedly stabs them with his Bastard Sword to recover health or use them as handheld weapons or thrown projectiles, and has a nigh-impenetrable shield to keep him safe. He's a tank! A Lord of the Battlfield! While playing him, you can't help but mutter "Me Grimlock, King!"

And of course he commands the Dinobots who are all similarly tough and unstoppable forces of nature

TF Generations: FoC Kickback

Presenting the Transformers Fall of Cybertron Kickback.

I remember when playing the Fall of Cybertron video game that there was no way that the Insecticons would be able to trump the freshly minted Grimlock and his Dinobots - and I was right.

No one trumps Grimlock.

But the Insecticons did give it a good fight and we do have to take into consideration the fact that they did take Sludge.

To date, Kickback is the only Insecticon to come out of the Fall of Cybertron Video game as an actual figure. Hopefully Sharpshot and Hardshell are not far behind.

Oh and if you're a fan of the Transformers Animated Movie, then do look to the homage that involves Kickback made during the Fall of Cybertron marked by those infamous lines "Excuse me"

Mark Wahlberg will star in Transformers 4

Starting off initially as a rumor and now very much real thanks to Michael Bay, it appears that rapper/ singer/ dancer/ and movie star Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg is going to join forces with Optimus Prime and his Autobots in the fourth Transformers film!

Transformers FOC Bruticus

Presenting the Transformers Fall of Cybertron (FOC) Bruticus AKA the Decepticon Combaticons. The Combaticons owe their existence to Starscream and his driving ambition to become the leader of the Decepticons. The Combaticons were built as an army to serve Starscream and hid the fact that they had the gestalt power to form Bruticus until the Constructicons showed up and formed Devastator. Bruticus beat the crap out of Devastator but was taken down from behind by Menosaur - the Stunticons.

Hence you will find animosity between Stunticons and Combaticons. In fact their hatred for each other is supposed to be greater than the hatred the Combaticons have for the Autobot Protectobots - their chief rivals.

What's so interesting about FOC Bruticus is that he's actually built mostly out of some of the most disturbed Decepticons around. They need therapy. Except for their leader Onslaught who is a cunning leader and tactician. It's actually ironic that the Combaticons' gestalt Bruticus is a berserk who has to be told what to do. If he had Onslaught's brain, he would be far, far deadlier.

Generations: FoC Shoackwave!

HONEEEY!!!! I'M HOOOMMMEEE!!!! 

Presenting the Fall of Cybertron Shockwave.

Shockwave is literally a mad scientist in the city of Kaon on Cybertron. His relationship with Megatron started when Shockwave started providing weaponry to the arena gladiator - so we can assume that that big Fussion-Cannon that Megatron uses is something that Shockwave created for him.

Ironically, FOC Shockwave only befriended Megatron because he wanted to create an army of Megatron-like clones.

Are you feeling lucky punk?

Instead he ended up becoming Megatron's second-in-command. In the War for Cybetron DS version, there's supposed to be a part where Shockwave rebels against Megatron and you have to beat him and his friends up. Unfortunately I only have the X-box version.

In the yet to be released Fall of Cybetron video-game, Shockwave finds and starts to experiment with Space Bridges in an attempt to steal energon from other planets to reboot the dying Cybertron. Along the way he finds prehistoric Earth. Impressed with the savagery and power of dinosaurs - and the intricacy of insects, Fall of Cybertron Shockwave goes home and creates the Dinobots - Transformers with immense power but sadly lacking in intelligence - and the Insecticons. Naturally the experiment goes awry and the Dinobots turn against their creator.

Transformers: MP-13 Soundwave and MP-14 Red Alert preview pics surface

Via Tformers.com and Amazon Japan, new high quality  pictures have gone up online for Takara Tomy's next batch of Masterpiece series Transformers toys! The new photos preview MP-13 Soundwave, one of the most anticipated and highly awaited figures in the line, and MP-14 Red Alert!

Check out more pictures of the sneaky Decepticon spy and heroic Autobot soldier via the source post at Tformers.com and Amazon Japan here and here!

*Originally posted by Timzster in The Crusader's Realm

Generations: FoC Optimus Prime!

Finally got that itch!!!

Presenting the Transformers Fall of Cybertron Optimus Prime - wielding the 3rd Party Corbot V Optimus Prime Battle Axe.

Transformers Fall of Cybertron is the highly anticipated sequel to the very successful shooter Transformers War for Cybertron - the game that presented one of the most unique versions of Optimus Prime in the market. This Prime is one of the first characters released as a toy preceding the video-game in order to help drum up support along with Jazz and the Decepticon Shockwave.

I'm not so sure why they bothered with a re-make of a good-design (Maybe they read my comment about the War of Cybertron Optimus Prime having stubby arms). But change him they did, and here he is.

Toy Kingdom Toy Expo 2012 Details Revealed!

08.17.2012 – Toy Kingdom: The Amazing Toy Store is promoting the much anticipated Toy Expo Philippines 2012 happening on August 23 to 26 at the Hall 3 and 4 of the SM Convention Center in Mall of Asia, Pasay City. Catch the latest toys, fun games, exciting activities and meet & greet your favourite characters at the biggest toy event in the country.



It’s probably the first in the country to promote the event which will feature such brands from Hasbro and Mattel to name a few. This is not just your average toy launch it will feature some of the products from well-known toy manufacturers in the world.

Transformers Cyberverse Arcee (Legion Class)

Presenting the Legion Class Arcee from the Transformers Prime Cyberverse Toyline.

Recently the local market has been flooded with Optimus Maximus battle-stations. I thought that it was cool that Optimus Maximus was here, but noted that there were no Cyberverse Legion Class figures in the market to man the station.

A few days ago, while walking down a small side-stall in Toys R' Us in Galleria, disgruntled that there was apparently nothing new, I saw them: A few Transformers Prime Cyberverse figures. I'm not sure why the quantities were so small, or why these particular figures were hidden and not on the more prominent display racks, but here they were.

This particular figure of the Autobot's "Stealth Fighter" Arcee, which stands a mere 2.6 inches tall - not counting her flaring shoulder blades - is from that tiny selection.

Toy Review: Transformers Prime's Soundwave!

Presenting Soundwave from the Transformers Prime Toy-line (Robots in Disguise - not the Takara one).

I once stated that I am not a fan of the "Animated" versions of things - especially when they start distorting the heroes. But I have to say that I really like what Hasbro has done with the Transformers Prime: Soundwave.

In the Transformers Prime Animated series - and practically all Transformers canon, Soundwave is, and remains Megatron's first recruit and number one die-hard fan faithful to his unappreciative leader to the very end.

And a faceless master spy who never fights alone because he has his own loyal sidekicks - in this case he has only one, Laserbeak.

In this incarnation, Soundwave transforms into a Predator Drone (General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper AKA Predator B or Guardian)

Soundwave also actually has a... third form - kinda, sorta, could-be.

Andrew Griffith kick starts Robots in Disguise!

02.09.2012 – Transformers: Robot in Disguise is the latest comic book after the The Chaos saga that ran through the previous series which “killed” Optimus Prime and re-started IDW Publishing’s Transformers in the comic book universe.

The first issue has been out since last month from under our noses we missed getting a hold of the copy but surely there’s another way through our local retail shop to get us an issue to catch up as issue #2 is about to be released very soon.

SDCC '11: Transformers Prime S2 teaser: "He Is Coming..."

Via IGN and a post from TFormers.com, a new teaser for the upcoming second season of Transformers Prime has made its way online, showing a showdown between Optimus Prime and Megatron, which ends in bright flash of light and never shows the outcome of that battle. The scene then jumps into the cosmos, where Prime's voice can be heard talking about a prophecy Primus foretold about a great evil awakening when the time is right... Check out the teaser below and see for yourselves.



Transformers Prime Season 2 teaser: "He is Coming..."

That's pretty much it, so the guessing game starts now. Could it be Unicron? We won't know for sure til a clearer revelation comes, so stay tuned for more updates, and visit the source post at TFormers.com and IGN for more info.

*Originally posted by Timzster in The Crusader's Realm

Transformers Prime Season 2 premieres on November 28!

BeatCast! Podcast Ep. 1 - A Popculture News Mess!

Arising from the depths of darkness, Timzster and Cerbojam return to BeatCast! It's been a long time since the last podcast session, and the boys kick things off in high gear by discussing all the latest news and highlights from the popculture spectrum! With all the blockbuster movies out now in theaters, Tim and Mark give their impressions on Michael Bay's final Transformers movie - Transformers: Dark of the Moon, as well as discuss the mixed reactions surrounding DC's latest superhero material adapted into film, Green Lantern! They also look back at this past June's 10th Philippine Toys, Hobbies, and Collectibles Convention held at the SM Megamall, and give their thoughts on that two day event as well. With the impending release of the final Harry Potter movie and Captain America, as well news and buzz from this year's upcoming San Diego Comic-Con, the BeatCast! guys tackled a lot of topics on this session, so go and give this episode a listen!

You can give a listen to the episode in the player above, or download it here!

*Originally posted by Timzster in The BeatCast! Podcast

Movie Review: Transformers: Dark of the Moon

When the first Transformers film was released in 2007, I was flabbergasted and ranting ravely like a kid again, amazed at the prospect that one of the cartoons/ toy franchises I grew up with finally made the leap into the big screen. It wasn't a perfect adaptation of course, but the initial concept remained the same, and apparently Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg delivered on their promise to make the "Robots in Disguise" a kick ass movie and spawn it into a lucrative franchise. However, when 2009's Revenge of the Fallen came along, it was met with mixed to almost downright negative reactions from critics and audiences alike, which is understandable considering the presence of eyesore characters and a plot that was clustered around like crazy. Simply put, the movie universe wasn't exactly cut from the same cloth as Generation 1, but it fared well enough in the box office to make millions of dollars in ticket sales, coming to the point that another sequel would be made, and it would be Bay's last foray in the franchise.

When it was first announced, Transformers: Dark of the Moon certainly sounded like a strange way to name a movie (why not "Dark Side of the Moon"?), but after watching the final product, it all makes sense why it was given the title. Without going much into spoilers this early, I can say that the third "Bayformers" was aptly named, and lives up to the director's promise that it will be a lot "darker" than his previous two outings with the Autobots and Decepticons. After the jump, take note that it will be SPOILERVILLE from here on out, so if you plan to watch the movie with a clean conscience, come back and read this review after you've seen it.