A plot synopsis and the first chapter of Alan Dean Foster’s Transformers novel entitled “Transformers: The Veiled Threat” have been posted to Delrey Online.

The book can be preordered on Amazon.

The description of the book reveals the meaning of the NEST acronym seen on the Ironhide toys, on the leaked call sheet and some vehicles on set (Hummers) – it satnds for the somewhat cheesy – “Networked Elements: Supporters and Transformers”.

Life on earth has changed forever as humans and their courageous robotic allies, the Autobots, must work together to protect the planet from the destructive forces of the evil Decepticons. At the headquarters of NEST (Networked Elements: Supporters and Transformers), tech sergeant Epps and captain Lennox both guard and assist cyberneticist Yoki Ishihara and the brooding Russian AI genius Petr Ivanov as they explore the differences between organics and bots. In the meantime, all around them, alliances fray, distrust grows, suspicions mount, and traitors come out of the shadows.

Optimus Prime, the powerful leader of the Autobots who is also part of NEST, is on the defense as battles flare up from Australia to Zimbabwe. But escalating Decepticon attacks will culminate in a final confrontation from which no one–man or machine–will emerge unscathed.

Via TLAMB

Roberto Orci has answered another round of fan’s questions over at TFW2005 – answers are often vague, cryptic or one-liners, but a number of answers are interesting. The new set of answers start around page 226 of the thread (all Orci posts – need to be logged in).

Some of the highlights are listed below, as collated by TLAMB:

Will Barricade’s disappearance be explained in ROTF?
Explained is a very specific kinda word… implied may be more like it

Will you guys seriously rethink about staying on?
Time for fresh blood!

Just to be clear, what is your reason for not writing it? If the other main players comes back and they don’t see a need for fresh blood, then why would you?
Not clear who is coming back yet, but the main reason we would move on is because we risk getting stale and comfortable. If you only sing one song for too long, you miss the opportunity to sing news songs. We’ll see.

who thought of the name for the movie? you, michael bay, alex, or someone else?
Alex.

how many fans do you think saw past Michael’s “no Megatron” announcement? And second, is he aware that his comment about Megs only appearing in a flashback kind of contradicts Hugo Weaving’s hint that the Allspark shard has something to do with Megatron’s resurrection?
god love him

Did the fallen enslave the Egyptians to build the pyramids (which actually are space bridges)?
Hmm. Getting warm

Did the Egyptians seal the fallen within his own design?
Also very warm but not quite.

Did you ever intend for Blackout and Brawl to speak?
Yes.

Would you consider a giant battle in the Grand Canyon?
We actually had a giant battle in the Grand Canyon in the very first draft of the first movie.

Is there really still time to add stuff and how much stuff can be added at this point?
On the first movie, we were re-writing dialogue until about 2 weeks before release!

can you let us know how many Autobots can fly in the movie?
very few

I know very early in development Mike Bay said that there would be a geriatric robot. Was it already set there and then that Jetfre would be that bot, or did you and the writers/Bay decide later that Jetfire would suit that type of character?
We decided Jetfire would fit after the idea came up to have a geriatric robot.

Would you consider this movie the “Empire Strikes Back” of the Transformer movie line (dark, feeling of hopelessness, crazy reveal/twists/turns)?
yes

Bay mentioned in passing that about 40 bots are in the movie. Sound about right or less/more?
sounds about right

Will The Fallen have any dialogue?
Yes.

Can you name the 3 scenes that were filmed in IMAX format?
Yes.

Will Prime survive the movie?
Prime’s spirit can never die.

which of the 2 movies was more difficult to get along with the story.
Movie 1 was the hardest thing have ever worked on. Period. Nobody could imagine what it was, everyone thought it was just a silly cartoon or a toy commercial, the studio wasn’t sure if the robots should talk, we had to come up with a story that would attract someone like Bay, and we had budgetary constraints that made it necessary to generate a significant human story which was counterintuitive to some Transfans. By the second movie, the paradigm of the franchise was clear.

what are your feelings towards the idea of Leonard Nimoy doing the voice of the Fallen?
Would love it. I actually talked to him about it, given the odd coincidence that he is Michael Bay’s cousin through marriage, but fan outcry has also put Welker in the running.

Griffin from the OCTA forums has reported back from the Aussie toy fair 2009 at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, complete with images of new Transformers Revenge of the Fallen toys. ON display were a couple of models from each toy class – four legends toys, two scouts, three deluxe, two voyager, two leader (including the Jetfire previews we’ve seen recently), supreme class devastator, one FAB, three power bots (unpainted Devastator prototype and Optimus Prime/Jetfire combined form), two robot heroes and three gravity bots. Notably, the devastator toy on show was an unstable, unpainted prototype that was tied up with fishing wire.

Over the weekend a selection of new toy images turned up, including Megatron’s Leader class (TF08, via Seibertron), the blue bike – a possible constituent part of Arcee and dubbed “Chromia” (TF08) after a leaked toy list and the packaging for Long Haul, Jetfire, Ratchet and Sideways Fast Action battler toys (The-Arker):

Australian forums OCTA have captured new images of the leader class Jetfire toy, one of the last remaining characters for us to see in toy mode. The packaging shows both robot mode and Blackbird alt mode, it also confirms that the toy can combine with the leader class Optimus Prime.

His bio reads:

Jetfire grew tired of war a long time ago. The reckless ambition of the Decepticons, and the senseless violence of their war sickened him, and so he left Cybertron to go into hiding. The form he eventually chose on Earth seemed appropriate for one who wished to remain unseen. He slumbered in peace for years. Now, reawakened by the arrival of the war on Earth, he decides once again to enter the fight – this time on the side of the Autobots, and this to end it for good, whatever the cost.

There is also another “Flight Mode” optimus prime toy that shows the combination with Jetfire:

TF08 have posted pictures of the Megatron Robot Replica figure with extra large right claw and tracks for feet:

Yesterday Paramount and Dreamworks officially announced that Transformers 3 shall be landing in cinemas come Friday July 1st 2011, Variety:

Paramount and DreamWorks are forging ahead with “Transformers 3,” dating the movie for release on July 1, 2011.
It’s the first word of the three-quel, although Paramount insiders downplayed the importance of the move.
They said the studio wanted to claim the date before a competitor did, considering that the 2011 summer release calendar is filling up.
No deals have been inked with director Michael Bay or franchise stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. Nor has a writer been hired for the third installment.

In response, Michael Bay has posted on his forums:

I said I was taking off a year from Transformers. Paramount made a mistake in dating Transformers 3 – they asked me on the phone – I said yes to July 4 – but for 2012 – whoops! Not 2011!!! That would mean I would have to start prep in September. No way. My brain needs a break from fighting robots.

Michael

Looks like someone messed up here. No date set for now – but we know Transformers 3 is definitely planned.

GenZhao at TFW2005 has posted images of the new Mudflap Fast Action Battler toy which is being sold on eBay. He is also selling a Deluxe Class Skids toy (view auction).

Mudflap

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