Transformers Trading Card Game offers Big Boys a New Way to Play with their Favourite Robots in Disguise

Too old to play with Transformers? That may certainly be the case for boys who grew up in the 1980's being served Transformers cartoons during their formative years. Not so much that these Generation One (G1) Transformers fans are shy to still be buying the latest toys from Hasbro, but complex robot transformations requiring proper handling may be a tad taxing on adult minds encumbered with adult life, as well as bothersome middle-aged myopia (nearsightedness) settling in. Indeed the closest these Gen-X G1 fans get to relive their childhood “playing” Transformers toys might be with their kid!

The Transformers Trading Card Game Character Cards shown with their toy counterparts.

Now the newly released Transformers Trading Card Game (TFTCG) offers the Big Boys another way to “play” with their favourite bots enacting battles between heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons. Finally the infamous Robots in Disguise receives a legit trading card game (TCG) from Wizards of the Coast (WotC), publisher of the first and still leading TCG Magic: The Gathering (MtG). Our Outpost Intel Report here intends to comprehensively cover everything you need to know about TFTCG right here.

After 25 years, the "mother" of Trading Card Games Magic: The Gathering is still thriving with millions of players worldwide.

For non-gamers, TCGs is a strategy game using specially designed cards put together by players into customised playing decks to be played against other player(s). The game mechanics determine how cards interact for players to gain advantage over their opponents and win. Cards are typically sold at random in blind packs, i.e. buyers do not know what cards they will receive. Cards are also circulated in differing quantities whereby rare cards are harder to find compared to common cards. This then leads to the “trading” nature of the game whereby players are encourage to trade cards with other players to obtain the cards they need. Major TCGs like MtG are highly competitive with tournaments organised across the world with serious prize money to be won.

Transformers Trading Card Game Autobot Starter Set.

The Transformers Trading Card Game is a battling card game designed for two players. Players build a team of Transformers character cards and power them up with a customizable deck of battle cards. Transformers character cards — such as those in the Autobots Starter Set and Booster Packs — are twice the size of standard playing cards; they can be flipped from bot mode to alt mode and back, and they feature premium printing treatment on one of their sides. The deck of battle cards features Action and Upgrade cards to enhance Transformers character cards.

The four Autobots in the Starter are Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Red Alert, shown here in Bot Mode.

So the transforming element of the franchise is thematically reflected by flipping over a Transformer character card printed with robot mode on one side, and alternate mode on the other. Well that really saves “manhandling” transforming action figures!

Just flip the Character Cards to "transform" your bots into their Alt Mode.

The Starter Set released provides minimum cards for players to start playing this TCG. Contents include four Autobot Character Cards and 40 Battle Cards, plus counters. These cards may be split evenly between two players for a 2-on-2 robot smackdown, or used by a single player as a team of 4 bots against other players. This set comprises Autobots only so it may seem unusual to fans for Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Bumblebee and Red Alert to battle each other, or just think of the bots being mind-controlled by sneaky Decepticons like Bombshell or Mindwipe!

Oversized Character Cards are two-sided representing bot or alt modes with values shown for Attack (yellow box), Health (red) and Defense (blue).

The game objective is to knock-out (KO) your opponent's Transformers represented by the Character Cards. In Basic Rules gameplay, players choose one of their bots to attack their opponent's bot. A bot's Attack value is compared against the target's Defense value. Battle cards are drawn that may affect the respective bots' Attack or Defense. If the Attack is higher than Defense, then the difference is deducted from the target's Health. Once Health reaches zero, that bot is out of the game, i.e. KO'd.

Battle Cards drawn offer a random factor to adjust Attack and Defense values of the bots based on colour of the top right rectangles.

Watch this official How-to-Play video introducing Basic Rules as narrated by Optimus Prime and Megatron:

As a product marked for ages 8+, the Basic Rules is really for younger kids and adults / teenagers will certainly want to use the Advanced Rules for more thematic play. Players would want to customised their decks to take advantage of the strategic abilities inherent in most cards to suit their character bots and playing style.

Part 2 of the official How-to-Play video explains the Advance Rules for Combat:

Battle cards may be utilised to provide an Upgrade to bots or an Action affecting gameplay. Furthermore, “transforming” or flipping the Transformers may provide additional affects. Serious strategic play would be to combine affects between selected cards to trigger significant game advantages.

Battle Cards as an Upgrade - Weapon: Ion Blaster of Optimus Prime increases the Autobot leader's Attack by 2 and Defense by 1. 

As an Action, the Battle Card Incoming Transmission allows its player to draw 2 cards then replace 1 to top of draw deck.

Find out how to effectively utilise Battle Cards as Actions and Upgrades in this Part 3 Hot-to-Play video:

A couple of other instructional videos are available only from the official game website here covering Special Abilities and Basic Rules in more depth.

Built-in special abilities for certain Transformers like Starscream here allows this Decepticon Aerial Commander to play more Battle Cards for Attack or Defense depending on his current mode.

Click on this link to download the official rules for reference.

When uncertain over interpretation of rules refer first to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) posted on the official Transformers Trading Card Game Facebook Page.

Watch a full game demo from this 47-min video.

Our Outpost Commander had the opportunity to playtest the Autobot Starter Set with long-time Gen1 Transformers fan Vincent Wong using the Basic and Advance Rules. Watch this video for their overview and impressions of the game:

As mentioned in the video, the Starter Set provides an initial sampling or "taste" of TFTCG by introducing the game mechanics and visual appeal of the cards. Furthermore all cards contained in Starter Sets are identical. So to fully "savour" the game will require further purchase, or "investment", of more Character and Battle Cards only found in Booster Packs. Indeed these booster contain the Deceptions as well as alternate versions of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee with different stats and abilities. Compare these three versions of Prime:

This Starter Set Optimus with lower Attack and Health may better reflect Orion Pax.

This Optimus with vastly improved stats and abilities offer players easier opportunity to use this card as it is only of Common rarity from boosters.

This Rare version of Optimus as a Battlefield Legend will be highly sought after for its fantastic abilities and very high Attack. Fans for the 1986 Transformers The Movie will also associate the artwork for Bot Mode to a legendary scene.

Deck construction is certainly a large part of playing cards from boosters as powerful versus weaker bots are balanced out by a star cost to each Character Card. A player is allowed maximum team cost of 25 stars, hence, the option of playing only 2 high cost bots, or 3-4 "cheaper" alternatives.The same named character cannot be fielded together, e.g. 2 x Optimus Prime Autobot Leader, although it is possible to use Optimus Prime Freedom Fighter and Optimus Prime Battlefield Legend together (total 25 points)! Just think that the multiverse also exists in the world of Transformers or time paradoxes happen...

This first release of TFTCG comprises 40 Characters Cards found from Booster Packs (excluding those from the Starter Set) and 81 Battle Cards; all cards numbered between 1 to 40 for the former type, and 1 to 81 for the latter. Each Booster Pack contains 1 oversized foil Character Card and 7 Battle Cards, all randomly packed. There are 4 levels of card rarity in this set (abbreviations as): Common (C), Uncommon (U), Rare (R), Super Rare (SR). The official game website quotes "Most Booster Packs contain 1 Rare Battle Card". No specific mention for the Character Cards so it seems logical to expect Commons and Uncommons from boosters most of the time with occasional rares. The same official source does indicate that the chance of scoring a Super Rare is 1:79 booster packs! This has certainly created a rather pricey secondary market for such Super Rare (and promo) cards listed around USD100 (RM400++) on Ebay.

The Super Rare Bumblebee Legendary Warrior Character Card looks to be valued over RM300 from Ebay (before shipping).

Fortunately there are only 2 Super Rares in Wave 1 which comprise Character Rares for Bumblebee Legendary Warrior SRT 09/T40 and Nemesis Prime Dark Clone SRT 28/T40.

SRT 28/T40: The dark mirror image of Optimus Prime, Nemesis Prime is a nightmare foe for the Autobots. Possessing the combat acumen and memories of Optimus, the only thing keeping the universe safe from his menace is the deep instability left behind by the brutal experiments that created him.

Here are the breakdown for number of cards by rarity:

• Character Cards (total 40): 2 Super Rare, 10 Rare, 16 Uncommon, 12 Common
• Battle Cards (total 81): 30 Rare, 27 Uncommon, 24 Common
• Convention Promo Pack (4): 2 Character Cards, 2 Battle Cards

Get the full card list from the official website here.

Alternative lists for Character Cards by ascending number / name and similarly for Battle Cards for TFTCG Wave 1 from Pojo.com. This handy resource also includes visuals of the cards by clicking on the names.

Let's just indulge a bit of G1 fanboy service by looking at Character Cards for a few popular characters:

RT 27/T40 Megatron Living Weapon unfortunately does not become a Walther P38 in Alt Mode. He also has a Common version CT 26/T40 Megatron Decepticon Leader.

RT 14/T40 Decepticon Shockwave rightfully offers more firepower to Attack in Alt Mode plus funky abilities.

RT 21/T40 Grimlock Dinobot Commander is able to lead his team of dino-warriors Sludge, Snarl, Slag and Swoop, although it would not be possible to field all 5 of them together within 25 star cost.

The line-up of characters in Wave 1 seems to mainly comprise Prime and his car-bots, Seekers, Insecticons and Dinobots of G1 vintage. They are supplemented with notable mentions like Nemesis Prime, Darkmount and she-bots Arcee & Chromia. Browse photo album of all characters on the official TFTCG Facebook Page Photo Album.

For serious gaming, consider these top 5 Transformers to deploy in battle.

The Character Cards also offer display opportunities for Transformers collectors, such as matching action figures in either bot or alt mode with their namesake card.

Fan fav cute Bumblebee posing like his TFTCG Character Card.

Our Autobot Leader strikes a pose with his TFTCG card.

The Battles Cards looks to have adapted comic book artwork from IDW over the years, which may also have been inspiration for the card affects. Browse all 81 cards from the photo album at the official TFTCG Facebook Page.

Locally in Malaysia, the Transformers Trading Card Game has yet to be widely available and may only be found at selected hobby and gaming shops. The recommended retail price (RRP) for the two Wave 1 products are:

• Autobot Starter Set, RM54.72
• Booster Packs, RM14.62 each / box of 30 packs, RM438.60

And coming soon on 16 November 2018 is the METROPLEX Deck featuring a GIANT size character card of this classic Gen 1 city-bot and his supporting bots Scamper, Six-Gun and Slammer. The Metroplex card itself measures 14cm wide and 20cm tall!

• Metroplex Set, RM72.64

For Transformers and/or gaming fans who want to get started right NOW on the TFTCG, Outpost has made special arrangements through our online retail channel with the following deals for a limited time only:

Autobot Starter Set price: RM 50/-

Gaming Bundle price: RM380/- for Booster box of 30 packs plus FREE folder for 48 oversize character cards, oversize card hard sleeve protectors x3, battle card sleeves x100 (while stocks last).

Pack of 80 coloured sleeves price: RM18/- when purchased together with any TFTCG product; otherwise RM20/-

Products are only available for shipping to addresses in Malaysia. Now enjoy FREE SHIPPING for orders above RM150.

Submit your Order through this online Form below:



Sales Confirmation will be emailed thereafter with payment instructions. Happy Gaming!

Autobots... Transform and Roll Out!

Or in this case, "flip" yourselves over!

LOL!

#TFTCG

Disclaimer: Transformers and other trademarks are copyright to Hasbro, referenced here for fan service announcements.

NERDTASTIC Convention Roadtrip Report (Part 1) - Gen Con 2015

Back in May, Outpost Expeditions announced a NERDTASTIC Convention Roadtrip to the United States from late-July to August this year. Our Away Team is now pleased to present our Convention Recon Reports for Gen Con, Star Trek Vegas, D23 Expo and Disneyland progressively over the next few days.

Gen Con, the largest gathering of gamers in North America, is hosted annually in Indianapolis, capital of Indiana state in midwest / northern central region of United States. Gen Con dates back to 1968 as a wargames convention by Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons. “The Best Four Days of Gaming” took place this year from 30 July to 2 August 2015 at the Indiana Convention Centre (ICC) with a record attendance of 61,423 people from all over the world.

Eve before the gaming Gen Con swarm at the Indiana Convention Centre (ICC).

To appreciate the scale of this convention, the exhibit hall alone covers 283,000 sqft for game publishers and retail vendors. In comparison with local Malaysian conventions, the entire ground level of Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre hosting Comic Fiesta's 40,000++ attendees in 2014 is only about 104,500 sqft. The larger MINES International Exhibition & Convention Centre (MIECC) hosting Big Bad Wolf sales and this year's Comic Fiesta measures about 180,000 sqft. Yet Gen Con's exhibit halls G to K only comprises half of the ICC's ground level while other halls and function rooms have also been occupied for gaming activities; refer to graphic below comparing relative size of the convention centres. Plus the ICC has a 2^nd upper level and connects to 8 adjacent hotel all fully utilised to host Gen Con's 14,000+ events. Yes, Gen Con is a mega-convention!

Comparing the ICC to KL Convention Centre and MINES Exhibition Centre.

Spend many hours wandering the massive Gen Con Exhibit Hall.

Preceding the official first day of the convention is a Trade Day of panels / presentations for gaming industry participants and educators at the hotel meeting rooms. Some of these sessions involve previews by game publishers as well as discussions on the state of certain game genres and/or the industry. Any actual gaming on this day would be demonstrations by the publishers themselves or playtest sessions of upcoming games.

Prototype for the Conan Rise of Monsters boardgame showcased on Trade Day.

For a “dead” series, Firefly games keep on rolling... literally in this case with the new Shiny Dice game being demostrated on Trade Day by Upper Deck.

Day 1 of Gen Con started from 8am on Thursday morning as numerous events kick off such as RPG campaigns, miniatures wargames, and trading card game tournaments. Those few thousand attendees not involved in these events were on standy to swarm into the exhibition hall as soon as it opens at 10am to find out about the latest game reveals and/or snag exclusive convention merchandise. Many of the renown game publishers were exhibiting, such as Mayfair, Paizo, Fantasy Flight Games, Asmodee, Rio Grande, Upper Deck, and more.

Gamer hordes ready to swarm into the Exhibit Hall.

Follow the “red carpet” to “game heaven”.

Exhibits by Fantasy Flight Games showcased major products and preview of upcoming releases.

Privateer Press with Warcraft gaming miniatures.

Sample of convention exclusive loot, these being special miniatures from Privateer Press.

Demo for the upcoming Attack on Titan boardgame.

Fantasy Flight Game preview of upcoming Star Wars Armada starships.

Proposed Kickstarter games also featured at Gen Con, like this Battletech PC game.

Gamers will to roll a lot of “save vs. willpower” as there are too many opportunities to drain your wallet from retail vendors. Bargains were plenty as game distributors and retailers were throwing out games at huge discounts. Even if you had $$$ to spare for these bargains, luggage space may dampen your spirits as many boardgames are bulky and heavy. Fedex provided on-site shipping services for those with too much loot to carry. Unfortunately while Fedex rates for domestic shipping within U.S. are almost reasonable, international shipping charges are so ridiculously expensive that it may be better off buying a return flight ticket for a friend to fly over and lug back upto 45kg of check-in luggage!

Lots of retail vendors offering hundreds of games at bargain prices.

Magic TCG cards aplenty on the secondary market.

Customised TCG cards are also offered, some of which by the actual artists for MTG artwork.

Browsing the vendors also reveal the shear number of accessories to enhance the game experience, from dice rings, DBG card organiser systems to gaming table furniture. T-shirts are a big sell in U.S. so they come in all manner of gaming goodness with clever quotes and/or fan art. Other means to show your geekdom include D6-handbags, horny headgear, bumper stickers, etc.

  

Many gaming enhancements are also offered, like these generic buildings and structures for miniature wargaming.

Even dice have accessories like trays, towers and special containers.

Geek apparel aplenty to mix & match so as not to look the “generic” geek.

Steampunk and medieval cosplay are popular in U.S., so entire aisles of vendors are devoted for this hobby. There are many leather products here to accessorise for period wear plus make-up, wigs and even prosthetics. Game of Thrones enthusiasts could purchase replica metal swords and other weapons. Gen Con itself offers official convention souvenir merchandise comprising tshirts, hoodies, caps, backpacks, shot glasses, etc.

Fantasy, steampunk, and goth costumes are readily available that a cosplayer could easily pick-up everything needed to cosplay on-the-spot.

Many authors of the fantasy and sci-fi genre were present, offering book signing sessions for fans. Professional artists are also present selling prints of their artworks. However comic books do not have a significant vendor presence. For those, head over to one of the comic cons instead.

Margaret Weis (left) of Dragonlance acclaim signs books for the Firefly RPG. Kevin Sembieda (right) of Palladium Books signs for the Robotech RPG.

Plenty of original art available at Gen Con, although more skewed towards fantasy visuals compared to superheroes & sci-fi at the comic cons.

Eventhough this seems like a lot happening, the majority of Gen Con's 14,000+ scheduled events take place outside the exhibit hall. Major games and/or sponsors like MTG, Pathfinder, Dungeons & Dragons, Settlers of Catan, etc. have entire halls dedicated for their games. These scheduled events include numerous tournaments and popular games which are often booked out months in advance through the Gen Con online event registration system. In addition to your Gen Con attendance fee, set aside some funds to participate in gaming events, which cost between a nominal entry fee from USD$2-4 upwards to USD$52 for True Dungeon, an immersive live fantasy adventure. With over 14,000+ events, there is simply too much going on to try “seeing everything”; the Gen Con Program Book itself is 1cm thick trying to list every event! So best prepare by shortlisting “must attend” events and register in advance online.

Layout of ICC for various gaming zones and event rooms, not including level 2 and adjacent hotels.

Entry to the Dungeons & Dragons playing hall.

DnD RPGs run all day & night.

Pathfinder games are popular.

Mayfair Game's hit Settlers of Catan as a giant-scale floor game.

Tournaments usually run during daylight hours while more casual activities like RPG sessions and friendly table-top gaming may take place well past midnight until 3-4am. Sleep at Gen Con is optional, though highly recommended!

Star Wars The Card Game tournaments.

Star Trek Attack Wing tournaments run by the community supported by WizKids although not official present at Gen Con.

Upper Deck running Legendary and VS mini-contests whereby winner of a timed game takes home the game.

Community run Star Wars Miniatures Battle of Hoth campaign is great eye-candy.

Star Wars Miniatures battle it out.

Pilot Battlemechs in these cockpit simulators.

Events also take place outside the ICC with panels and live-action role-play (LARP) events often held at the adjacent hotels. Panels mostly relate to the gaming industry with presentations by publishers as well as discussions with community experts. There are also educational panels on book writing and cosplay. On-hands activities include painting miniatures, making LARP weapons, and starship command simulator, to name only a few. Plus there are auctions of pre-loved games.

Paint miniatures.

Make LARP weapons.

Fantasy Flight Games presentation was packed.

Discussion panel by fiction book authors sharing their experiences.

Cosplay 101 panel.

Film, documentary and anime screenings.

Lelong, lelong! Auction of games, books and other parapherniaia.

Check out more sights of Gen Con from this video by The Dice Tower:

Gen Con hosts the highly popular TrueDungeon experience. Players form a party adventurers to undergo a live quest into a 3D dungeon environment with puzzles to solve and monsters to kill. Different character classes comprise each adventuring party such as Wizard, Ranger, Monk, Paladin, etc. Players can customise their character at the start of each adventure by assigning weapons and equipment represented by tokens to enhance their abilities and the party's survivability. A bunch of these tokens come with purchase of the adventure but also found as treasure, especially the more powerful ones. An official True Dungeon shop sells tokens but a secondary market has also evolved with traders buying & selling tokens. Certainly True Dungeon veterans returning year-on-year will level up!

Sample True Dungeon “Monk” character partially equipped. Upper right insert: A substantial secondary market is available for treasure and equipment tokens.  

Dungeon Crawl offers an alternative role-play adventure experience with hands-on combat using foam weapons.

Of course cosplay is aplenty at Gen Con. The official Costume Parade took place on Day 3, Saturday afternoon with cosplayers marching through the convention centre concourse by the hundreds. It was immediately followed by the Costume Contest in the Ballroom of the best cosplay in Gen Con. Some contestants were outstanding, like the 9ft tall Sauron and even a huge dragon!

Costume Parade includes all manner of cosplayers.

Marvel cosplayers.

Dark elves.

Spider-man's nemesis, Doctor Octopus in both comtemporary outfit and Steampunk inspired.

Left to right: Kanan from Star Wars Rebels, Captain America, & mythical Goatman.

Cinderella & her Prince. Game of Thrones inspired Iron Throne cosplay (right).

Finalists of the Costume Contest (top). Female DC superheroes and villains in Victorian era garb.

Check out more cosplay from videos by Cosplayer Nation:

Roam the convention corridors to find some quirky activities taking place, like signing Klingons or building a “city” from trading cards under Cardhalla: Build Donate Destroy. And for those autograph collectors, guests of honor include Terry Brooks, Marina Sirtis (Star Trek), and Summer Glau (Firefly).

Klingon opera perhaps? No actualy it sounded like country music!

What do you do with millions of excess trading cards? Build a “city” out of it then smash them out like Godzilla for a charitable cause!

There is so much to do at Gen Con that our report is unable to cover everything. For hardcore gamers, certainly include Gen Con in your bucket list. Better yet work your way over on 4-7 August 2016 or any of the subsequent dates scheduled upto 2020. Gen Con is certainly “the best 4 days of gaming”!

To close, here's a video review of Gen Con by The Dice Tower:

Find more photos on our Facebook photo album and stay tuned for Part 2 of this NERDTASTIC Convention Roadtrip when our Away Team headed to Star Trek Vegas.