This blog contains contributions made by DragonX76.

As any year draws to a close, it is natural to reflect on what that year has brought us. The World of the Transformers has definitely given us a lot to reflect on this year. I retrospect some of the highlights of 2007 and thought of the best way to present them so that others could also reflect. It took me awhile to figure out how to best present it, but rather than highlight the events themselves, I took the approach to highlight what might be the majority of the feelings conveyed. Believe me, I've seen A LOT of emotion on the boards, as I'm sure you the reader have. So, without further adieu, here is the year in review.

2007 saw the end of several figure lines. Cybertron, of course, poured out it's last offerings, mostly in the form or repaints. ended it's over 4 year line with the Ravage and Rumble Walmart exclusives. Of course, should you have been lucky enough, you got the end-bang of the line with the SDCC exclusive Rodimus. The Japanese Binaltech series also ended, finishing off with the controversial KISS and Asterisk series. Classics ended it's short lived appearance with a last wave of figures as well. All this closure was due to the ramp-up of the upcoming movie, originally slated for a July 4, 2007 release.

One controversial line that took a bow in 2007 was the Titanium 6� transformable line. There was a lot of mixed feelings over this line. Some figures had a lot of potential, yet seem to fall short. Other figures were meant to be forgotten over time. However, it seemed that just when they were dialing things in right they canceled the whole project. Figures such as WW Prowl, WW Bumblebee, WW Grimlock and G1 Cosmos are seemingly mothballed forever. Meanwhile, last minute releases such as G1 Ultra Magnus were scarce to none.

In March of 2007, the fifth Masterpiece figure from TakaraTomy was released. Many people were anxiously awaiting this fifth figure, Megatron, as it was the first time Megatron has been portrayed with a pistol alt mode since the original G1 figure in 1984. However, there was much concern that, due to US safety laws, Megatron would have an orange tip permanently attached to the barrel in order to 'distinguish it from a real weapon'. Adding to the confusion was sporadic information about which reseller would have the orange tip and which one wouldn't. Adding salt to the wound was a decision by eBay that all MP-05 and G1 Megatrons would be banned from listing to comply with said US safety laws. This created a backlash of debate and perhaps more lost respect for the online auction giant.

2007 was no stranger to heated debates in the forums. The movie took front stage as people hashed it out over character designs, director Michael Bay's approach to the movie (and the fanbase) and (after it's showing) lack of proper character development. There was also a growing debate over the figures for the movie. There were many predictions that the movie based figures would fall flat on their face and be another dark moment for the troubled toy line.

There was also upheaval over voice overs. Long time fans had been pushing hard for Peter Cullen and Frank Welker to reprise their roles as Optimus Prime and Megatron, respectively. Although Mr. Welker ended up not being a part of the film (but was a part of the video games released), Mr. Cullen was selected to be the voice to Optimus Prime. Peter thanked the fans for their tenacity in helping him land that roll and even became noticeably emotional during his panel session at BotCon.

Then there was the announced venture of Hasbro and Cartoon Network. While most were excited that a new series was going to be once again Western influenced, early screen shots and designs were greeted with a wave of criticism. In fact, it took several months (until actually screen footage made it to the masses that were unable to attend either BotCon or the SDCC convention) before people began warming up to the series en masse.

BotCon offered its own controversy as well. TFCC, which holds the convention, announced the exclusives to include the remainder of the seekers for the Classics line as well as several other repainted molds. This really popped a fuse with the fanbase, who felt that all six seekers should have been commercially available to the masses. If you weren't able to shell out $329 (for non-TFCC members) for the convention, then you had to resort to eBay, which wasn't any kinder to the wallet.

One of the biggest controversies, in which details are still a little fuzzy, is the Aveo Movie Swerve figure. The only detail known is that it was an exclusive given out to customers who test drove the Aveo at participating Chevrolet dealers in China.

The movie promotions went into full swing in May 2007 as Hollywood was greeted with a banner draped over a building advertising the upcoming movie. In late June, the sneak previews started showing. Two such viewings were offered during the BotCon event, both benefiting various charities. The general public also got an early start to the movie, which offered limited releases on July 2nd and a full debut on July 3rd. Overall reviews were ecstatic and the numbers show the proof. $27.8 million was poured in for the first full day of release, becoming a new record for best Tuesday take and $29 million on July 4th, setting another new record for best holiday take. The movie ended up taking 3rd overall take for the year ($319million), which was helped by an IMAX version released in October. Among other honors, the movie ranked as the most viewed trailer of the year. The honors may continue well into next year, as the movie has been nominated for Oscars in the catagories of Best Visual Special Effects and Best Song (“Before It's Too Late�, Goo Goo Dolls). The People's Choice awards also has nominations in for the movie in the catagories of Favorite Action Movie, Favorite (overall) Movie and Favorite Song For A Soundtrack (“What I've Done�, Linkin Park).

Those that attended BotCon were first to experience a variety of new surprises. BotCon marked the official release of concepts, footage and figure line information for the Transformers: Animated series. Overall reaction might as well have raised the roof in the meeting room where it was held. Also released at BotCon was the revitalization of the Classics line, which was now being migrated to the renewed Universe (aka Classic 2.0) banner. While the panel mentioned two definite figures being released (Sideswipe and Sunstreaker), there have been mentions of other popular G1 figures being released as well. As recently as last week, TFCC previewed their Feb/Mar 08 issue announcing five Classics to be initially released in the fall of 2008.

BotCon brought one final surprise to the table. Walmart would release an exclusive Masterpiece Starscream figure towards the end of the year. The MP-03 figure it was based on had already been out for awhile, but there were complaints about the color scheme and the price tag. Walmart seemed to have both answers right, with a price of $49.88 and a mostly white paint scheme. Unfortunately, the figure has become somewhat of a sacred cow. Due to Walmart's notorious and inconsistent distribution system, some stores received as many as 12 in a shipment while other stores were lucky to get any at all. Almost immediately, scalpers took advantage of the situation. Even to this day, some stores have yet to receive any stock while others are announcing clearance prices on the figures.

SDCC 2007 in San Diego showcased info for the Animated and Classics lineup as well. At the SDCC, there were two exclusives. The Alternator Rodimus figure officially ended the Alternators lineup. Also available was the 6� Titanium Menasor, a repaint of the Rodimus Prime figure. While Alt Rodimus was a quick sell out, TiT Menasor is still available on Hasbrotoyshop.com for $20.

TakaraTomy continued to bank on the nostalgic value of the fandom by releasing the Encore series. The first wave included Megatron, Soundwave, Starscream and Optimus Prime in their original glory. The Encore series featured original style packaging and a hefty price tag. Encore will continue into 2008 with a second wave of figures being released, including Ratchet, Ironhide, Sky Lynx and Jazz. TakaraTomy also licensed Kaiyodo to provide some figures. Kaiyodo is known for their super-articulated Revoltech line, and they backed their claim by offering a super-poseable Megatron and Optimus Prime figure. Look for Starscream and Rodimus to appear next year.

Japan came out with a flurry of one offs and exclusives for the year. Included in that list is the Wonder Festival 2007 Winter exclusive Black Convoy (known here as Nemesis Prime), Rije clear version (available only at e-Hobby), Nike Sports Label Convoy, Marine Convoy(think Ultra Magnus) and Megatron shoes, a Soundwave MP3 player and a Convoy iPod docking station.

TakaraTomy also had a handful of premium Movie repaints. The first appeared as Bumblebee Metallic Version in which pre-order was only available when you bought advance tickets from Lawson stores for the Japanese premiere of the Movie. Lawson stores did another promotion for the release of the Movie on DVD with a pre-order bundle that included Blackout 4500X Version, and the most expensive promotional Movie toy was for the Starscream Vardia Red Model which would be given to people who pre-ordered the HD-DVD Vardia RD-A301. It retailed at 100,000 Yen (approximately $865 USD).

One of the biggest surprises for Hasbro themselves were the popularity of their Robot Heroes PVC figurine line, which concept is referred to in Japan as Super Deformed. Initially in the form of G1 characters, it then spawned to Movie and upcoming Beast Wars along with continuing with G1 characters.

The final surprise of the year came last week with the 90min premiere of Transformers: Animated on Cartoon Network. The premier, which occurred December 26th at 8PM EST, met with a landslide of fandom approval. The show mixed modern animated art styles with a lot of G1 nostalgic details thrown in, in an attempt to lure older fans and gain new ones. While the figures are currently slated for a June 2008 release, the first season of the animated series begins airing on January 5, 2008 @ 10:30am EST and will, for now, run on Saturday mornings.

With the New Year dawning just around the corner, what can fans expect? For starters, look for the Allspark wave of movie figures to hit shelves en masse. While some have already been spotted, retailers seem to be in recovery mode due to the holidays. The Allspark wave includes 3 new molds (Landmine, Stockade and Incinerator) as well as a slew of repaints. Hasbro will also expand on the Premium figures first seen in Target Exclusvie Robo-Vision Optimus Prime and metallic finish figures that were released in October at Best Buy. To be included in this Premium line of repaints will be deluxe Barricade, Bumblebee, Brawl, Jazz, Starscream, Ironhide, Blackout, Leader Optimus Prime and Megatron. Look for the deluxe class figures and Deep Space Starscream at Target later in the year. Walmart is also joining the exclusives list for movie figures with 4 Cybertron repainted figures. These figures seem to do a better job of paying respects to Micromasters and G2 characters, but the fans definitely don't seem to mind that.

Summer is currently the launch date for Transformers: Animated figures. While most of the lineup has been announced, prototype shots are still filtering in and some retail-ready figures have mysteriously been sold on eBay. Eagle eyes have already gotten a taste of Megatron's eventual Earth Alt mode and figure prototypes are still being awaited on for figures such as Blitzwing and Ultra Magnus.

The time and venue for BotCon 2008 has been announced. This year promises to “shatter� everything you knew about the franchise. While no other details have been announced, more details should be forthcoming within the next few weeks. The biggest hurdle for this year's BotCon may be the timing, as some may be hampered by school finals from going.

Perhaps the biggest anticipation for the older fanbase is the revival of the Classics lineup in the Fall of 2008. According to TFCC, 5 figures are already in the works to be available at startup with a teaser of Onslaught being shown on the cover of Issue #19 of the club magazine. However, those at BotCon and SDCC are also aware of Ultra class figures in the works and have seen concept art for the triple-changer Octane.

Whatever 2008 may bring us, I personally hope it brings good fortune to everyone reading this. Here's to a Happy New Year and good times ahead!

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