So we now have, I believe, something approaching the definitive list of what will be available for United next year, barring weirdness like case assortment revisions and whatnot.

Note that only wave one, and Silverbolt being in wave two, are the only things officially confirmed by Hasbro. The rest of this is the result of leaked retailer solicitations, but it's a reflection of the plans that Hasbro is communicating to retailers, at any rate.

WAVE 1 (January 2024)

CORE CLASS
Bouldercrash (Armorizer)
Megatron (Energon)
Tasmania Kid/Snarl (Beast Wars)

DELXUE CLASS
Bumblebee (Animated)
Chase (Rescue Bots)
Magneous (Armorizer)

VOYAGER CLASS
Optimus Prime (Animated)
Thundertron (TF: Prime)
Windblade (Cyberverse)

LEADER CLASS
Laser Optimus Prime (G2; package refresh)
Tigerhawk (Beast Wars)

WAVE 2 (April 2024)

CORE CLASS
Cheetor (Beast Machines)
Dinobot (Beast Wars)

DELUXE CLASS
Chromia (Cyberverse)
Gears (G1)
Rock 2 (Armorizer)
Sureshot (G1)

VOYAGER CLASS
Silverbolt (Beast Wars)
Starscream (TF: Cybertron)
Wheeljack (Buzzworthy Origins; Target exclusive)

LEADER CLASS
Sandstorm (G1)

WAVE 3 (July 2024)

CORE CLASS
Core Rock 3 (Armorizer)

DELUXE CLASS

Hot Shot (TF: Cybertron)
Deluxe Rock 3 (Armorizer)
Sideburn (Robots in Disguise; likely Shadow Striker retool)
Strongarm (package refresh)

Deluxe 1 (Star Seekers)
Filch (Star Seekers)
Lockdown (Star Seekers)
Road Pig (Star Seekers)

VOYAGER CLASS
Ferak (Star Seekers)
Vector Prime (TF: Cybertron)

LEADER CLASS
Galvatron (Armada)
Thundertron (Star Seekers)

WAVE 4 (October 2024)

CORE CLASS
Galvatron (Energon; likely Megatron redeco)

DELUXE CLASS
Optimus Prime (G1)
Quake (G1)
Slipstream (Cyberverse?)

VOYAGER CLASS
Metalhawk (package refresh)
Motormaster (Animated; likely Optimus Prime redeco)

LEADER CLASS
Soundwave (G1?)

Zob (there are only maybe seven or eight toys on this list that I actually want, and that's kind of sad)

On Thursday, November 2, 2023 at 8:18:58 PM UTC-6, Zobovor wrote:

<snip>

I kind of wanted to talk about some of this stuff, since some of this information is brand-new (and completely unconfirmed at the moment).

> CORE CLASS
> Cheetor (Beast Machines)
> Dinobot (Beast Wars)

I find it interesting that they're venturing outside G1 for Core-class, but it's kind of an odd, haphazard approach. Instead of building a cohesive collection, a cast of characters who can interact with each other (as they've done with G1), we're getting this guy from Beast Wars, that guy from Beast Machines, a random guy from Energon... it's all over the map.

I had always thought the point of the tiny G1 toys was so they could interact with the big playsets—Titan-class Scorponok and the Ark and whatnot. There's less of a reason for tiny Beast Wars and Beast Machines characters. Although, I suppose a sufficiently large collection of Core-class Beast Wars toys would in fact be properly in-scale to what we've been getting for neo-G1. According to the Mainframe animation scale charts, Blackarachnia and Cheetor and Rattrap are around the height of human beings, with only the heavy hitters like Optimal Optimus and Depth Charge approaching the size of normal Transformers.

A Core version of Beast Wars Dinobot would not transform right. There's no way they could get the engineering right at that scale. He would have a gigantic dino head on his chest and dinosaur limbs poking out every which way, probably.

> DELUXE CLASS
> Gears (G1)
> Sureshot (G1)

I just want to say that I am looking forward to these two guys immensely. And from Gears we will almost certainly get Swerve (hopefully just a straightforward Geewunnification and not another attempt to capture the weird IDW look). From Sureshot I would love to eventually see G2 Jetstorm, since they have a very similar transformation, or possibly Powermaster Joyride (who would work, certainly, but not nearly as well as Jetstorm).
> DELUXE CLASS
> Optimus Prime (G1)
> Quake (G1)

I wonder if they will surprise us and do something wacky, like an Optimus Prime that transforms into the combat vehicle from Marvel Comics issue #1. That might explain why he's only a Deluxe... the combat vehicle was just a weird folded-up red thing with his rifle mounted on top. It didn't have a trailer. I'm probably completely wrong about this, but it would be so cool to see.

And of course the idea of a new Quake is super exciting. I hope he comes with Tiptop and Heater.
> LEADER CLASS
> Soundwave (G1?)

If this really is the Netflix toy again, I hope the justification for the Leader-class price point is that they're throwing in some new tapes. Laserbeak and Ravage have enough name-recognition power that I think they could stand on their own as Studio Series '86 Core-class toys (and if they do a new Laserbeak, I'm sure they'll do a Buzzsaw redeco), so I would ideally love to see Overkill and Slugfest packaged with Soundwave, though I would also happily accept Beast Box and Squawktalk.

Zob (poor Buzzsaw gets no love... he's the Skids of the Decepticons)

On Thursday, November 2, 2023 at 9:18:58 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> So we now have, I believe, something approaching the definitive list of what will be available for United next year, barring weirdness like case assortment revisions and whatnot.
>
> Note that only wave one, and Silverbolt being in wave two, are the only things officially confirmed by Hasbro. The rest of this is the result of leaked retailer solicitations, but it's a reflection of the plans that Hasbro is communicating to retailers, at any rate.
>
> WAVE 1 (January 2024)
>
> CORE CLASS
> Bouldercrash (Armorizer)
> Megatron (Energon)
> Tasmania Kid/Snarl (Beast Wars)
>
> DELXUE CLASS
> Bumblebee (Animated)
> Chase (Rescue Bots)
> Magneous (Armorizer)
>
> VOYAGER CLASS
> Optimus Prime (Animated)
> Thundertron (TF: Prime)
> Windblade (Cyberverse)
>
> LEADER CLASS
> Laser Optimus Prime (G2; package refresh)
> Tigerhawk (Beast Wars)
>
> WAVE 2 (April 2024)
>
> CORE CLASS
> Cheetor (Beast Machines)
> Dinobot (Beast Wars)
>
> DELUXE CLASS
> Chromia (Cyberverse)
> Gears (G1)
> Rock 2 (Armorizer)
> Sureshot (G1)
>
> VOYAGER CLASS
> Silverbolt (Beast Wars)
> Starscream (TF: Cybertron)
> Wheeljack (Buzzworthy Origins; Target exclusive)
>
> LEADER CLASS
> Sandstorm (G1)
>
> WAVE 3 (July 2024)
>
> CORE CLASS
> Core Rock 3 (Armorizer)
>
> DELUXE CLASS
>
> Hot Shot (TF: Cybertron)
> Deluxe Rock 3 (Armorizer)
> Sideburn (Robots in Disguise; likely Shadow Striker retool)
> Strongarm (package refresh)
>
> Deluxe 1 (Star Seekers)
> Filch (Star Seekers)
> Lockdown (Star Seekers)
> Road Pig (Star Seekers)
>
> VOYAGER CLASS
> Ferak (Star Seekers)
> Vector Prime (TF: Cybertron)
>
> LEADER CLASS
> Galvatron (Armada)
> Thundertron (Star Seekers)
>
> WAVE 4 (October 2024)
>
> CORE CLASS
> Galvatron (Energon; likely Megatron redeco)
>
> DELUXE CLASS
> Optimus Prime (G1)
> Quake (G1)
> Slipstream (Cyberverse?)
>
> VOYAGER CLASS
> Metalhawk (package refresh)
> Motormaster (Animated; likely Optimus Prime redeco)
>
> LEADER CLASS
> Soundwave (G1?)
>
>
> Zob (there are only maybe seven or eight toys on this list that I actually want, and that's kind of sad)

I wonder if there will be a difference between Prime Thundertron and Star Seeker Thundertron. I'm wondering what Star Seekers even are at this point.I heard they might be comic pirates?

I definitely need Sandstorm, maybe Origins Wheeljack. Not much else exciting. Maybe Slipstream.

On Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 9:41:12 PM UTC-7, Irrellius Spamticon wrote:

> I'm wondering what Star Seekers even are at this point.I heard they might be comic pirates?

Yes, apparently they're a gang of space pirates from the BotCon fiction. Ferak and Thundertron are the only planned Star Seekers toys who actually appeared in the fiction as part of that group. It seems to be like the Wreckers or the Mayhem Attack Squad, which both have a ever-rotating cast of characters.

> I definitely need Sandstorm, maybe Origins Wheeljack. Not much else exciting. Maybe Slipstream.

That's the only thing that bugs me about the way they're diversifying. The gaps between G1 tributes are getting wider and wider. Bad if you want to continue collecting, but good, I suppose, if you want to spend less money.

Zob (does need to spend less money, admittedly)

On Friday, December 8, 2023 at 12:04:40 PM UTC-7, Evil King Macrocranios wrote:

> Right now though I think the ones doing the heavy lifting for the 40th will be the fans. The unofficial conventions will probably be great next year.. And I'm sure all sorts of fan media will be produced marking the occasion..

I would not be so quick to discount Hasbro's recognition of the 40th anniversary of the brand. For a brand name toy line to still be chugging along after four decades (with just a minor interruption in the early 90's) is nothing short of phenomenal. Aside from LEGO and Barbie and a few others, very few toys have managed to achieve that. So even from strictly a longevity perspective, that's pretty damn amazing.

But, I think Hasbro recognizes this is an opportunity to sell merchandise to commemorate the occasion in a way that they normally wouldn't be afforded.. I mean, sure, there's stuff we were probably going to get anyway (like the cartoon versions of G1 Soundwave and Blaster) that they're slapping a special logo on, just because it's product coming out next year. But, I don't think all the surprises have been revealed yet, and

You've got to consider that the 50th anniversary, while still a milestone achievement, may actually be less of a big deal to them, since by that point a significant number of original fans may have aged out of collecting. Consider that the 50th anniversary of Star Trek was in 2016, an event which met with virtually no fanfare as far as merchandise and collectibles. The 50th anniversary of Sesame Street was in 2019, but again, I don't remember there being anything big in toy stores to commemorate the occasion. Those are major franchises!

Anyway, I'm sure we'll see, one way or the other.

Zob (Walmart's 50th birthday was in 2012, but the company did nothing to celebrate as far as I'm aware)

On Friday, December 8, 2023 at 7:53:57 AM UTC-7, Irrellius Spamticon wrote:

> There have been a bunch of leaked pictures of Studio Commander Optimus Prime, and a leader class Soundwave, as well as Leader Sandstorm, Buzzworthy Hound

Are you talking about this?

https://tformers.com/daily-prime-thats-not-86-optimus-prime-2024-studio-series-tf-move-commander-class/51501/news.html

This was a digibash somebody posted to Twitter, and it's been making the rounds all over the Internet. It's not real.

Are you saying pictures of Soundwave and Sandstorm have popped up? I haven't seen those anywhere.

> It's hard to find exciting G1 tributes when that's 80% of what the last 8 years have been

I mean, yes, but also, no? They've absolutely mopped up with giving us great G1 updates. Basically anything released since, like, 2019 has rendered most of my neo-G1 toys prior to that point totally obsolete. The list of G1 media characters they need to do still is vanishingly small (a few Mini Autobots and Throttlebots and a handful of Decepticon cassettes, basically). But, that doesn't mean there's nothing left for them to do.

Also, we don't know what Takara may be planning separately (for them, Transformers started in 1985, a year after Hasbro was doing their thing). I wouldn't hate the idea of a commemorative Masterpiece toy, or gift set, though I don't know what form that would take.

Zob (we're gonna need a new Leader-class Octane to go with Sandstorm... just sayin')