For the literal price of a small car, you can own a life size statue of Transformers: Age of Extinction version of Optimus Prime or Bumblebee. Or for a regular car just get both. Kids Logic has revealed their officially licensed statues that will sell for $13,000.00 each. Below are the specs, more images of the statues are here.
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I am thinking that a new trailer is coming in the next week or so. On Friday was a bit of a mini info dump related to Transformers: Age of Extinction and now had another today that includes an new article from USA Today that has three fantastic promotional images (I don't think they are movie stills) and an interview with producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura as he promotes the film. All we need now is an Entertainment Tonight tease of an on set visit or the like to seal the trailer deal. Highlights and other two images below.

They "are bigger and badder-ass than they have ever been," says Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who has produced all four films, with Steven Spielberg and Bay as executive producers.

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In two brief interviews, Transformers: Age of Extinction stars talk a little bit about the film. Very little, but still get a great Optimus Prime still out of it. In the interview with Hero Complex just comments on returning for picks-up while the article reveals the budget of the film in the $165 million range (1st time seen report on the budget). USA Today has an article on top 10 iconic movie characters that posted this new still (left) along with a comment from Peter Cullen (voice of Optimus Prime).

Mark Wahlberg
“Some people think of this as a sequel,” he said. “We thought of it more as a stand-alone thing. I’ve never done a sequel.”

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Just realized allowed the toy side of news to stack up. Guess was distracted by the Age of Extinction reviews. Still while AoE has been a bit underwhelming, that doesn't mean upcoming 3rd Party plans have slacked in their awesomeness with versions of not Metroplex, not Cy-Kill (yep the GoBot) and not Ultra Magnus. This isn't to say that Takara and Hasbro are not up to some none Extinction plans. Takara has revealed their 30th Anniversary plans that includes a new truck alt mode for Optimus, a look at Masterpiece Wheeljack, and agreements for a slew of products including statues, play sets and ties. In the not quite toy news department we have a look at G1 cartoon concept art and news that the entire "Unicron trilogy" is getting a DVD release. Of course no link fest is complete without a ton of reviews. The highlights include the wave 1 Generation deluxes, Masterpiece Ratbat, not Sharkticons, not Ultra Magnus, not Masterpiece Slag, first figure of a not Bruticus combiner, not Blaster and more. Basically a series of budget busting awesome. As always hit the links for more details and pictures.
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Entertainment Weekly has posted an alternate version of their Transformers: Age of Extinction article that is in their latest newsstand issue along with a much better image of Grimlock. The new details include Michael Bay pointing out that Lockdown's ship is important to the trilogy and how elements that are part of the movie that can be explored in later in the trilogy. Below are the key new bits of information compared with the published version.

Bay isn’t revealing his own origin story for Grimlock just yet. “I like to keep things very much in the dark. But yes, you’ll understand why they’re there when you see the movie. If you think I’m supposed to give away a lot of story points? No way! Keep it secret.

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Another review for a Transformers: Age of Extinction toy that will be released around mid-May. This one is for voyager class Evasion Mode Optimus Prime. The robot mode is the old dirty truck mode seen in the trailer for Prime only with his Generation One color scheme. The robot mode sorta matches his movie look but of course without the extensive detailing that CGI brings to the table. While not sure if like the robot look, it seems like it demonstrates the difficult dance between satisfying transformation sequence that isn't too easy but not too complex either.
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A Hasbro presentation found on Transformers licensee Vilsco Textiles site has revealed a bunch of concept products and art for Transformers: Age of Extinction. The art (below) includes early designs for Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Hound, Drift, Lockdown and Grimlock that sometimes was spotted on set clapperboards. Of note is some of the art is dated for 2012 indicating that pre-production on Transformers 4 began shortly after post-production on three ended.

The 2014 roadmap indicates the home release of Transformers 4 set for Q4 (probably late October, early November just like the previous movies) along with something referred to as "Animated Stunt" with a new beast like faction symbol. The same symbol comes up for a Q1 2015 animated cartoon while another new faction symbol is used for either a second series or second season of the series for Q1 2016 that will be followed by Transformers 5 in Summer 2017. Below is a look at the new faction symbols and concept art, for the rest of the gallery of concept products head over to TFW2005.
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Thanks to Wynton R., here is a look at a new standee that might be arriving soon at a theater near you to promote Transformers: Age of Extinction. If the image seems familiar, its the Optimus Prime poster that was released last month.

As part of a promotional campaign for the Online Bank of Singapore is new image of the Transformers: Age of Extinction versions of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. The campaign includes prizes and other whatevers but doesn't really apply to most fans so the main thing is the cool image. The video below also has some background music but no telling if that is from the movie or not. If in Singapore and interested in the contest the video is below and more details at the UOB website. (via TFW2005)
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Thanks to Steve J. here are picks of the new Western Star Optimus Prime truck that will debut in Transformers: Age of Extinction in June. The vehicle was on display at the Mid-American Trucking Show 2014. As the pics show, the truck retains the flames and includes the Autobot symbol on the rims. According to more pics over at TFW2005, it appears that Western Star has decided to honor the vehicle with a new model number: WS5700-OP. Steve also reports that Town Custom Coaches in California has already received an order to begin preparations to build another Western Star Prime for Transformers 5.

The next character poster for Transformers: Age of Extinction has been released by MichaelBay.com with the first official look at the new design for Optimus Prime complete with badass sword that is part of the over all "knights" approach in the new film. Different resolutions of the poster can be found here.

Below is a short video that gives a tease of some of the lines that may be heard with upcoming toys. The video is part of a recording session between Peter Cullen and voice editors Rick Sellers and Wes McCraw in Ohio. While not specified the only toys I can think of coming out that could use the voice of Optimus Prime is for Transformers: Age of Extinction. While always nice to hear the voice, the lines do nothing to suss out any potential AoE spoilers. (via Seibertron)

From the Idle Hands blog via the Transformers_Movie Instagram account below are a bunch of images of the packaging for Hex Bug Transformers: Age of Extinction line. The "bugs" are themed to the major characters of the movie. For fans, the key bit is it appears the art isn't based on the toys but on the actual movie CGI art resulting in our best look yet at the new characters of Galvatron, Lockdown, STinger, Drift and the bearded visage of Hound. All images of the Toy Fair TF Hex Bug display is here. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.
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Toy Fair 2014 continued today in New York. Today provided a look at what Hasbro plans for teens (and adult collectors) that are not going to be quite satisfied with the simplistic transformations introduced yesterday. The reveals do indicate that teen and adult fans will get their chance to enjoy multi-step transformations for Transformers: Age of Extinction characters that is based on what Hasbro learned when doing the Generations/Classic toys from the last few years. From those revealed, it is now officially confirmed that Galvatron is the black and dark grey 2014 Freightliner Argosy and likely the other big bad of the movie (besides Lockdown). In addition five Dinobot characters are now confirmed: Grimlock (T-Rex), Strafe (two-headed pterodactyl), Scorn (spinosaurus), Slash (velociraptor), and Slug (triceratops). So far only Grimlock and Strafe have been spotted in the Super Bowl trailer, hopefully upcoming trailers will tease the other three and apparently all five of them do transform at some point in the movie.
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Normally I save video reviews for various linkfests, but this provides a first real look at the simplified transformation sequences that is being introduced with the Transformers: Age of Extinction toy line. We have seen it a touch with Beast Hunters and Generations but not at the Leader class scale. The result is a surprising good looking vehicle mode and not all that bad robot mode. The previous leader class transformations were often very complex and time consuming to transform. Basically not all ages could enjoy them. I agree with the reviewer's take. For collector's its "meh" but since it is aimed at kids then Hasbro can consider it mission accomplished. I am curious to see how it works line wide. The toy is available now at Amazon.com.
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Turns out that you do not have to wait until May to get one of the first toys from Transformers 4. Amazon has First Edition Optimus Prime available now for $59.99. The new design, officially revealed at the London Toy Fair, is Hasbro's new attempt at simplifying the transformation sequence to make the toys more enjoyable to play. A worthy goal, but does the final result retain its articulation and detail? According to a bunch of pictures and text review, it just might. Pics here, review here. Order now here. Press release from Hasbro below.
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Time to play catch-up on Transformers non-movie news. A few treats this month with the main one being a great video that from the 1983 Tokyo Toy Fair that introduces to the world what would become the Transformers. On the upcoming third party front, the theme this year is once again combiners with various companies doing their own take on the Protectobots, Combaticons, and another Predaking. Hasbro and Takara have their own non-TF4 news with MP Wheeljack tease, MP Prowl coming stateside, and new Rescue Bots inspired Transformers cartoon coming. In G1 news there is an interview with the guy that killed Optimus Prime, toy design art, official release of Transformers: The Movie score and a new TF book. Finally on the review front lots of great new toys with Warden (IDW Fortrest Maximus), Year of the Horse Prime, Mania King (Galvatron), Bii and Intimidator being on my to buy list. Hit the links and vids to learn more.

1983 Tokyo Toy Fair Video - A substantial piece of Transformers history is now available on YouTube with an old video that shows off the Generation One Transformers for the very first time. Taken at the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show, this was when Hasbro saw the concept and introduced it in 1984 to US audiences. So basically this show and a simple booth launched multi-billion dollar franchise.
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The UK Toy Fair was held this week which provided the first look at the toys and merchandise that Hasbro is planning for Transformers: Age of Extinction. Sadly the fair was not open to the public or press and security was tight so while there are descriptions of some of what was on display, most of the pictures are for ancillary products. Still there was at least some potential useful information revealed including more looks at the TF4 versions of Prime, Bumblebee, Drift and potentially Lockdown. It really does seem like Transformers Prime animated look was inspiration for the TF4 redesigns. Thanks to Feris O. and others for the info.
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The source of the previous image leak has posted more images on ACToys that show off the new voyager (or maybe leader) class version of Transformers: Age of Extinction Optimus Prime. The images include some nice close-ups of the robot mode so can get a better look at the face and chest area. The toy itself look "meh" but the detail potential for its CGI counterpart is interesting. Keep in mind that Hasbro is attempting to simplify transformation sequences starting with the TF4 line to make the toys more all ages which partially explains some of its clunkiness. (via Seibertron)

A new image from ACToys of Transformers: Age of Extinction Optimus Prime provides a little bit of a better look at the voyager class toy's alt mode. The pic (left) shows a better view of the vehicle mode with a new look at the robot mode compared to the previous pic (duplicated in the top right quadrant). It also let you get a decent idea of how the CGI version of the character will look but of course the movie version will have a ton more detail so it only tells you so much. Update: Turns out the product listing was faked by a fan using existing leaked information but what characters are coming out for which size classes still remains a bit murky.