Big News: Well, here's some general news on the Transformers brand as a whole. It has been recently reported that Hasbro are working on a new Transformers line. Currently called 'Transtech', all indications are that Hasbro are going for a completely vehicle-based line. There is speculation that Hasbro will be utilizing molds from the current Japanese transformers line, Car Robots, a mainly vehicle based line, but this has not been confirmed. The news of the Transtech line was first reported at www.bigbadtoystore.com. Go for the news, stay for the toys. Or don't.

07 October: Oops, I forgot to put this in before, the Beast Machines deployers, little sub-basic animal drone thingies that turn into weapons platforms of some description have been released. It has also come to my attention that Tigerhawk is available in the UK, although it seems to me that he's somewhat sparsely distributed. If you have any UK sightings news please e-mail me with it, so I can keep all this up to date. Thanks.

02 October: Ultra Jetstorm is definitely available in the UK at this point, and being sold at Argos. I have the toy in my hands to prove it (ok, you can't see it, but you'll just have to trust me). It should also be noted that the picture in the catalogue is of a prototype and the actual toy is not coloured in this way.

23 August: The Beast Machines toys have arrived at Index stores, their deluxe assortment consists of 4 toys (according to their website), so two more must have been released in the UK (other than Optimus Primal and Jetstorm). My bets are on Thrust and Blackarachnia, although this has not been verified (If anyone can verify this, e-mail me).

It would appear that the Peter Jones in London have reduced the cost of Rampage to 9.95. If you are in the vicinity of this store and you are missing this toy, now is the chance to get it.

21 August: Two more Beast Wars season 3 videos are out now in the UK. Volume three features Go with the flow, Crossing the Rubicon and Master Blaster and sports the packaging art of Razorclaw, while Volume 4 features Other victories and Nemesis pts 1 & 2 and features Airazor's packaging art (no idea why the choice of art, Tm2 Blackarachnia and Tm2 Megatron or Tigerhawk would seem more appropriate). Optimal Situation is apparently being released on a special offer at Toys'Rus - get it free with &9 of Beast Wars merchandise. Once again, I got them in a 2 pack for 10.99, this time at Tower Records.

20 August: Some US news. I'm a little late with this news feature, sorry. Beast Machines season 2 started airing three saturdays ago. Season two has already been broadcast in Canada, but is now being shown for the first time in the US. If you are deprived of the ability to watch these episodes like me, there are some high quality but large video downloads at TFExtreme that are being put up as the episodes air, week by week.

10 August: More Beast Machines toys appear to be arriving in the UK. A look at the latest Argos catalogue will reveal that more basic sized toys have arrived. Pictures of Obsidian (vehicon helicopter/VTOL) and Longhorn (maximal bull) are in the basic assortment in the catalogue, along with the earlier releases Mirage and Scavenger. Additionally, the ultra sized version of Jetstorm is shown. I am unclear as to their actual availability, since the new basics are in an assortment with older ones (so the stock checker will be no help), and 0 Ultra Jetstorms were listed in the stock checker last time I checked. It would appear that Hasbro UK are attempting to bring UK release dates closer to US ones, catching up on the half a year delay. (which in itself, was considerably shorter than the usual whole year delay).