TF Sightings | TRU Robinsons Galleria

There’s not many new sightings nearby Makati area, but suddenly in some places where not most people thread to visit you find that some of the retail stores get their new wave of Legacy unnoticed. It’s not that the global market is changing after the pandemic it’s all about market strategy for most stores like Toy Kingdom. And just that, The Wave 2 Deluxe and Commander Class has a subtle appearance in a place, where rarely is an off-grid place. But for those passionate enough they won’t let any stone unturned and this new world is certainly a challenging one to find these on display are most of the time do not make it to the display since TK has already shopping for their customers on Viber.

Generations Selects | Hubcap

Transformers are a big franchise not only for its expanded universe spilling over various media from graphic novels and videogames, but also a plethora of characters that rarely gets a spotlight. Some of them are just background characters that in the original G1 animated series are also mistaken error. But since most of the characters never got screen time in the original cartoon their stories are told in the comicbooks originally published by Marvelm its UK piblication, then by Dreamwave, and now with IDW Publishing. Hubcap is one of these characters are considered deep cut from this expanding TF universe.

Beast Machines | Longhorn

When a new character toy or released as part of the Transformers franchise and brand they appear on the animated series or in the comicbooks. Rarely, you’ll ever appreciate a “non-show” character that gets immediately forgotten. With the resurging nostalgia and interest of the Beast Era through the War for Cybertron toyline some only knew a few characters that only scratched the surface of the 1990s series. As the Chinese Lunar Year inches close by here’s a spotlight for an unsung character that is typically unknown and immediately forgotten. If you haven’t heard of Longhorn then you only know what’s popular with Beast Wars that gave a renewed interest for the Transformers brand, but with Beast Machines then you’ll be surprised.

TF Sightings | Earthrise Wave 2 at Toys R' Us!

There has been a slow build of updates of new Transformers toys in the retail front that some might not be updated. Lately, with the pandemic there was a pushback on the release of new case assortment of succeeding wave from War For Cybertron: Earthrise, though the allotted quantities were not enough they still keep arriving in spurts with all that they are still good news. In the past weeks the figures has arrived like the Commander Class Sky Lynx and the Titan Class Scorponok is fully stocked now in major retail stores. This includes the Hasbro Selects exclusives that is only sold online can be seen on retail like Grease Pit, Exhaust, and the Micromaster Cassette which gives the locals this special opportunity.

TF Sightings | SM MoA TK & TKExpress

02.19.2020 - Sometimes the best places to find the Transformers figure that you missed are the location that had enough foot traffic and it is off the radar namely before going south bound. In case you’re in the hunt for the latest wave from Siege and Cyberverse maybe it must be the right timing for you to find it at Toy Kingdom in SM MoA. There are only two stores in SM Mall of Asia and that’s in Toy Kingdom and TK Express inside The SM Store (Department Store). Rarely, there is something worth the trip to this place unless they have restocked the latest Transformers from War For Cybertron and the animated series in Cyberverse which was sighted today!

TF Sightings | Virra Mall & Galleria

02.17.2020 – If you’re Manila-based toy collector chances are you already are familiar with the places around the metro. The usual places people frequent are the most accessible part of Greenhills, which is the mecca for anything that collector’s from other countries want to make the trip. But sometimes the retail stores nearby are sometimes overlooked for new Transformers toys by Hasbro that are distributed by Playkit Inc, which recently had brought the War For Cybretron: Siege Wave 4 Deluxe Class assortment that some thought that was exclusive only to some parts of Southeast Asia and Australasia.

TF Sightings | Babes Children's World

01.26.2020 – In case you haven’t been to Babes Children’s World, a specialty toy store which is located in the second level of Virra Mall in Greenhills has been around importing and also selling toys from local distributors in the Philippines. The last time sighting reports on what they have in stock was almost eight months ago. This time just a quick look at the store’s available assortments from the Transformers brand at the same time a sneak peek of their other products that you may find here. Interesting enough as an alternative for those who can’t find the character or toy that they can’t get at local retail is the second or third best thing to make a visit.

War For Cybertron: Siege | Spinister

12.28.2019 – There have been notable characters presented in the War For Cybertron: Siege and then there are those gems that made the mythology interesting. Not all character appeared in the G1 cartoon series, but there are popular ones that had a tremendous spotlight in the comicbooks that defined who they are in the narrative. Spinister, a Double Targetmaster is one of them and with spinning sinister name you bet there a mystery behind the character more than meets the eye. There have been several iterations of Spinister and toy form, but none captures the character based from its original G1 toy and how he was defined in the graphic novels.

TF Sightings | Babes Children's World

05.29.2019 – In Metro Manila there have so many options for collectors to acquire their coveted toys ranging from diecast cars to high end actions figures. Local retail is fairly standard default option for anything that appears in every toy shelf in the country. But sometimes it’s quite a challenge if the one you looking for is sold out. There are A LOT of specialty shops out there that offer the same toys, but sometimes the price is not about right. You’d be surprised that some of the toys that already disappeared in toy shelves end up in those stores, but not Babes Children’s World.

War For Cybertron: Siege | Sideswipe

01.22.2019 – The New Transformers toys from Hasbro and Takara Tomy introducing Siege as the first series of “War for Cybertron Trilogy”, a subline imprint not to be confused with the videogame with the same title takes place during “The Great War” prior to their escape to Earth. It was first announced during the San Diego Comicon in 2018 introducing the First Wave assortment of characters that include Sideswipe as part of Deluxe Class. Sideswipe, of course has been an iconic character in the TF mythology that doesn’t need any introduction, but for new fans here’s a look at this Autobot!

Titans Return | Apeface

07.14.2018 – There are a few interesting Transformers characters from the vintage toyline that was overlooked that had small screen time in the cartoon. Rarely, most are into the characters that had vehicle alternate forms. But when Titans Return was released it was more of nostalgic throwback to what was the best with Headmasters. Few would remember Decepticons that stand out from its subline and Apeface is one of those interesting toys that came out from the Headmasters that was mostly didn’t get that kind of fandom attention. But this Decepticon gets a second chance as part of the second wave release of the Titan Masters.

TF Sightings | Power of the Primes

02.21.2018 – If you’re around Adelaide in South Australia chances are you might missed dropping by Target in the city. The recently released Power of the Primes royline, which is the third installment of the Prime Wars Trilogy has started appearing on retail stores across Australia with very few first wave assortments appearing in state territories. Some of the first wave assortments barely making it at Myer’s in Westfield Marion a few weeks back, but Target in the same shopping centre does noty have them and neither is K-mart that usually have new assortments than the two mentioned stores.

TF Sightings | PotP Wave 1 at Myer's

02.20.2018 – If you’re in Australia pertaining to state territories like Adelaide or Perth chances are there are very small instances that new Transformers won’t be circulating anytime soon and most collectors would rather order online to get the figures they wanted not to miss out even if general retail is delayed. But sometimes when the new wave assortments make it to your city or town it makes sure it never misses out on any of the uncommon characters. Myer’s in Westfield Marion is one of those retail stores that have the new wave for the Power of the Primes assortment which has recently arrived.

TF Sightings | Toys R' Us Noarlunga

02.20.2017 – Over the weekend a drive to Toys R’ Us Noarlunga was unprecedented as a rare opportunity to see what this store have when it comes to the Transformers brand. It’s surprising that the have something that Big W, Kmart, Target or even Myer doesn’t have that makes it even more interesting. The stores in Australia are diverse but not as complete like the ones in the Philippines or not even closely similar to the stores in South Korea. But definitely you get to see something there that’s worth the trip if you really have found that Transformer toy.

Tiny Titans | Series 4 Surprises!

12.12.2016 – The “Tiny Titans” figurines made of soft rubbery plastic is part of a blind-bagged series released alongside Transformers Robots in Disguise (RiD 2015). Most of the characters featured primarily are from the current animated series, but also include some random Generation One characters rendered in a sort of big-headed, kinda-chunky-cute style Super Deformed robots. The current blind bags that are now available are on its sixth series, but here are some of the fourth series reveals that you might find interesting. The trend of the blind bag figurines have taken over the Transformers brand and here’s a look…

Happy Meal 2016 | Robots in Disguise

07.16.2016 – Previously McDonald’s has consistently released Happy Meal toys based from the current Transformers series Robots in Disguise. For this year they continue the tradition and with Hasbro in bringing this toy premium expanding the Transformers brand. But most of them are not toy-based but rather a role play premium for the younger kids. For the Philippine market RiD is introduced as this month’s Happy Meal alongside for the boys while Sanrio characters is set for girls to collect.

Beast Wars: "Transmetals 2" Optimus Minor!

02.08.2016 – When you talk about Beast Wars most of the older generations of Transformers fans think of it as the dark part of the brand. But for those who appreciated the existence of this series would understand its huge impact. If it weren’t for Beast Wars would you know the mythology that built the succeeding series? Within the series and toylines there have been bizarre characters take the ‘Beast Wars Transmetals 2’ that introduced some interesting characters that never appeared on the TV series but had a spotlight in IDW Publications comic books…

Happy Meal Spotlight: TF RiD Grimlock!

09.01.2015 – Grimlock is one of the iconic characters in Transformers culture. Well known in the Generation One as well as various incarnation of the character has appeared in other series. But they’re not all related unless you’re a character fan. The latest iteration of the famous dinobot appears in the 2015 series “Transformers: Robots in Disguise” not to be mistaken from the Japanese produced series in 2001. This latest McDonald’s Happy Meal features the Robots in Disguise’s Grimlock!

Transformers #42: Now and On Earth.

08.14.2015 –How to you deal with losing your most trusted ally? They say you can’t stop change and personal experiences that made them. In Optimus Prime’s case it plays more than just a leader and his lieutenant. What makes John Barber’s stories about how the Transformers characters being portrayed is no longer about just enjoying a good read. The content is basically aimed at older Transformers Fans, the ones who grew up seeing the series when it started more than thirty years ago and it reflects more how reality played out if this happened in a real world, but its not and they are portrayed by robots with human elements. This issue will make you think about loyalties and moralities that define why the brand has continued to endure this long. IDW certainly has surpassed the previous publishers who originally had a hand telling stories about alien robots that could change into Earth vehicles and other things. The epilogue for “Combiner Wars” for this issue carries a lot of weight and more thought defining narratives from Cybertron to Earth how the conflict is no longer about factions its more about conversations somewhat aching to human politics that mirrors what we have seen and this is all good stuff.

Happy Meal Spotlight: TF RiD Clampdown!

08.12.2015 – The latest Transformers series right now is Robots in Disguise not to be mistaken for the 2001 series of the same name, which was originally titled ‘Car Robots’ in Japan. This new series is mostly targeted for the younger audience. For the reason why the latest Happy Meal in the Philippines features Transformers Robots in Disguise, which was also released in the US earlier this year. If anyone who hasn’t seen the show here’s one Decepticon you should know he’s Clampdown!