Transformers: EarthSpark

Undead Scottsman

Well-known member
Citizen
I was just thinking how funny it would have been if they had gotten Frank Welker back to play Megatron in Earthspark, Just this remorsful, reformist megatron still sounding like a deranged despot who smokes a pack of factory chimneys a day, laughing like a maniacal madman while he gives helpful life advice.

Like, I wouldn't want it for the show, but it'd be a funny supercut or something.
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
So I guess whatever Nick Roche is working on is either for late Season 2 or for something like an epilogue special.
 

Undead Scottsman

Well-known member
Citizen
First potential news of the post-Earthspark series from some store listings from TFW2005's Jtprime17 who I thought retired but whatever, glad to see he's still around.


TRA CYBERWORLD CC MIRAGE
Product Number: G1819
EAN: 5010996321510
TRA CYBERWORLD SCORPONOK STRIKE BATTLE
Product Number: G1659
EAN: 5010996320865
TRA CYBERWORLD ARMOR GALVATRON
Product Number: G1052
EAN: 5010996319784
TRA CYBERWORLD CC SKYBYTE
Product Number: G1050
EAN: 5010996319814
TRA CYBERWORLD CC MEG BULL
Product Number: G10435L00
EAN: 5010996319838
TRA CYBERWORLD CC SNARL
Product Number: G1042
EAN: 5010996319821
TRA CYBERWORLD CC OP OFFROAD
Product Number: G1040
EAN: 5010996319807
TRA CYBERWORLD CHOMP & BATTLE GRIMLOCK
Product Number: G0748
EAN: 5010996319166
TRA CYBERWORLD ARMORED CYBER CHANGERS AST
Product Code: G0747
EAN: 5010996320100

TRA CYBERWORLD CYBER CHANGERS AST
Product Number: G0746
EAN:5010996319845

Interesting selection of characters. I was hoping for a potential thing like the original series where the toon and animated movies would weave in and out of each other, but if Galvatron's here, I don't think that's going to be the case. :D

Mirage, Scorponok, Galvatron, Skybyte, "Meg Bull" (Mega Bull? Megatron Bull?), Snarl, OP Offroad (Offroad Optimus Prime?), Chomp AND Grimlock (Say hello to his little friend?).

Cyberworld and not Cybertron is interesting: What Cyberworld could they be on but Cybertron? I mean, you could say they just didn't want to repeat the "Tranformers: Cybertron" name again, but that has never, EVER stopped them in the past :D
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
The name "Cyberworld" almost makes it sound like a sequel/prequel/some-kind-of-tie-in with Cyberverse.

And there is that Nezha cartoon coming to China after all this time, which did share the same art style as Cyberverse...

Hmmmm...

🤔
 

lastmaximal

Administrator
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
"Cyberworld" is making me think "digital/virtual space", but it's not, like, 1994 anymore, so it's gotta be something else.

... unless it's now a world where everyone has cyber sleeves...
 
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The Phazer

Well-known member
Citizen
Eh, it's generic enough it could really be anything without context.

It might not even be a full reboot, but more of a in continuity but not so soft reset, as RID was to Prime. I imagine it will involve a pretty major art style shift though.
 

LordGigaIce

Another babka?
Citizen
Was it Cyberverse where all the toy listings were named after Seinfeld characters?

Yeah it may be a tad too early to speculate on anything 😛
 

ZacWilliam1

Well-known member
Citizen
So some interesting images from a few leaks that I saw on Twitter.

The first one:

A9954346-E5AA-481C-BDF8-7BEC320E1484.jpeg


This is for 2025. So there are Earthspark episodes in Q1 and then Earthspark Specials in Q4. Those maybe be what Nick Roche recently posted he was working on for Earthspark still.

So, here's the other one Chris McFeely shared that is slightly older if I understand correctly but interesting:

4289C405-F79E-477F-AFDB-6B105D91AC1C.jpeg


Notice that Earthspark S2 Is split into 4 segments. 1 we've already had this year and then maybe another coming this fall/winter. The one in 2025 (likely the one listed in Q1 in the first image) and one listed for 2026 which might have changed into the Q4 special listed in 2025 in the new leak.

What I find interesting is the Pre-K animated series listed alongside Earthspark here. I think that miiiight be Cyberworld. Some of the leaked toy listing names sound a little "kid aimed."

Who knows I could be completely wrong Cyberworld could be in addition to the new Pre-K show... or just a toyline segment without a show attatched, but maybe Cyberworld isn't an Earthspark replacement at all, but a new Rescue Bots type think aimed at the Jedi Adventures set.

-ZacWilliam, a possibility at least.
 
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Undead Scottsman

Well-known member
Citizen
Reactivate being canceled was only a rumor so far, so it could easily still be in development.

Games take forever to make these days and we don't know how much work they threw out when they inherited the project.
 

Steevy Maximus

Well known pompous pontificator
Citizen
There is a LOT of information here (Thanks ZacWilliam for the slide images!). Unfortunately…it is all vague enough that we’re all just speculating here.
I have thoughts, but I’m not sure I have enough to really formulate a full “perspective” on this all…but here’s my take:

In regards to the media planning slides, while only a few months old (from the Seibertron copy of the slides), that doesn’t preclude changes. The general rumors point to Earthspark ending, possibly after post-series specials (like Cyberverse or Nick’s Rise of the TMNT). But given the lead times for production, it is quite possible Hasbro IS well into development of a follow up series.
That said, I do find it notable that while Cyberworld is noted as a brand initiative..it is NOT noted as part of the brand story telling segment. In fact, the slide remarks Cyberworld as a “New Kids Segment”, NOT a new series. So I think people are just assuming, at the moment, Cyberworld is a new cartoon when it could (and at this stage, likely) to be some sort of new product range.

But what could Cyberworld be? Without even pricing information, what we have is just a few assortments and some names. The lack of any direct media tie in (at the moment) says to me the line COULD be some sort of “cross generation”, a bridge between the new characters and interpretations featured in Earthspark or Rescue Bots and the nostalgia driven legacy characters of Generations. I have my “idealized version” of that, and then the reality will probably be vastly different.

Given the “World” in the title, it could be a return of the mini-figure play pattern, or possible some variation on a standardized core figure size supplemented with “play set” type products. FWIW, I said last year that I ADORED the Rise of the Beast Weaponizer figures, they were modestly sized, decently articulated, but still simple; slap a little extra paint and they’d be fine entry type toys. Another analogous offering would be the Cyberverse Spark Armor figures but without the armor parts and more paint and less “crap”. I wouldn’t be adverse to Hasbro being able to get a decent, traditional, Transformers figure out at the $13-ish range.

From the listings, it’s clear there will be some sort of big Grimlock toy, and possibly a large Scorponok toy/set. Cyberchangers feels like an entry type product like 1 steps…but I think 1 steps might remain the purview of the media-centric initiatives. Which, again, means if they are smaller, simpler traditional toys, they might not be all that bad if they don’t have to ascribe to a central gimmick. Armor Cyber Changers is clearly a ”upgrade” of the CyberChanger assortment, but without prices, it all doesn’t tell much. Names give us Mirage (who is apparently also due to make an appearance in Earthspark), Skybyte, Snarl, along with likely a Megatron BULLdozer(?) and Off road Optimus Prime.
Worth noting, if this even means anything, the G#’s associated with the leaked Swapticon gimmick line aren’t terribly far off from the CyberChanger numbers we have with this leak. Those listings were heavy on legacy characters as well, so maybe it’s part of the same line?
 

Steevy Maximus

Well known pompous pontificator
Citizen
Uh oh, Steevy’s imagination juices got flowing and now I’ll bless you with a massive splurge of ideas!

Preamble: I’ve noticed that since Kingdom, while Hasbro still makes Armorizors, the Generations figures have largely moved away from wide support of them. Siege and into Earthrise, most figures had numerous ports to support wild combinations from the modular bots being produced. But in Kingdom? None of the beast characters had any real support for that play pattern. As we’ve transitioned into Legacy, while there are still a few here and there, it seems Hasbro has largely shifted away from that play pattern. At least in terms of broad line support.
One of the slides in the presentation noted that for 2025, a theme for the year is “The Power in Your Hands”. That not only jives with some of the messaging around Earthspark, but…also customization.

Hear me out: What if Cyberworld, as I stated, is semi-customizable, “small figure line”, utilizing some of the design work we’ve seen on the Armorizer concept?
Core Changers are 4-4.5” basic figures in the vein of the RotB Weaponizers and Spark Armor Battle Class central figures. Each figure has a LOT of ports to upgrade with either the single included accessory or be built with parts from other figure sets. Retail for about $13 with one or two accessories.
Armor Core Changers would be a basic figure with an upgrade item. So Galvatron is a 4.5” figure but comes with space cruiser that breaks down into components that attach to “Armor up” Galvatron or other figures. $20-ish?
Chomp and Battle Grimlock is a basic Grimlock figure with a massive T-Rex battle mech that convert to tank-thing with copious amounts of secondary blasters, melee weapons and shield/armor pieces to attach to other figures. $35-ish
Scorponok Strike Battle sounds like a multipack, so maybe large-ish Scorponok (6” basic figure) with parts to turn him into a battle station and maybe a couple of Autobots to fight him. $50-ish?
The Swapticons even fit into this, by potentially having parts for multiple characters it allows the consumer to customize their own Transformer, to a degree. $30 offerings?

Now watch it end up being some regurgitation of Constructbots or something lol
 

Autobus Prime

New member
Citizen
I really like Earthspark. However it happened, the creators really seem to have put heart and soul into it, much more than one would expect for a Transformers show. It's extremely re-watchable and the main problem I have had with it, is that, over and over again, the show sells a character absolutely brilliantly, and then I find out there's no toy available! Or that it's a finger puppet or something. Looking at you, #GhostVan.

I don't think it's too high praise, to say that it is among a handful of Transformers shows (and parts of shows) that can truly be called Literature.

And clearly the writers followed the characters where they led (in my mind this is a characteristic of literature, as opposed to just simply commercial writing). Reading the series bible, there are interesting divergences. Certain characters, Megatron in particular, are evoked in ways that make the prescriptions of the series bible difficult to achieve with any foreseeable plotting. Megatron, for instance, has real chemistry with Optimus and Dot. To say the least, where the human is concerned... According to the bible, Megs is
supposed to make a heel-turn out of pique at these two for keeping secrets from him.
Normally that wouldn't be so tough to manage, but the Earthspark writers put things together in such a way that this
re-heel turn
would have been utterly earthshaking.


and looks like Tudyk has confirmed: No season 3.

sad chicken sounds
 

lastmaximal

Administrator
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I wouldn't go quite that far, but it's a solid series with characters that are easy to root for and a status quo that allows for weighty themes (Megatron recounting the war to literal kids who think it's just an action story is such a powerful juxtaposition) that are then explored in non-minimizing ways. The new takes on old characters (Bee trying to find and protect his good friend... Breakdown?; Grimlock dealing with something akin to PTSD) are complemented well by the new characters (Nightshade, Hashtag).

The whole post-war dynamic, with stragglers and disconnected parties, is fascinating to explore. But like Prime the CGI likely makes that a bit prohibitive, which is a shame because the characters (new and old) and their interactions are quite refreshing and fun. (Is there a way to access this bible?)

And yes, it's really hurt by the toyline split being more lopsided than ever in favor of Generations. The retail strategy shifting has really impacted the kid lines (they used to be visibly the main line, wow) negatively over the last decade. RID2015 was loaded with fun characters and designs that also never saw toy packaging, but even that was much more populated than what Earthspark's has been.

I'm glad to see Takara roll out better versions of some key characters, but I'd still like an in-better-scale Twitch, and an Arcee. (And that better-decoed Prowl being cancelled stung, although I do like we're getting a wholly unexpected Prowl I can repaint into Checkpoint).
 
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